Chapter 334 Jiang Yuan is transferred

Chapter 334 Jiang Yuan is transferred

There are some drawbacks, though. Zhou Baihu and his family have many siblings, so Zhou Baihu will likely not inherit much of the family property. Moreover, conflicts between sisters-in-law and aunts are inevitable.

In short, there will definitely be no shortage of trivial matters at home in the future.

This is certainly troublesome, but since they can't have everything they need, Atai and Xiaomei have no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils.

Fortunately, Zhou Baihu was also a border soldier, and it was his duty to guard the garrison for a long time. Therefore, his wife, Xiaomei, did not have to live with her parents-in-law, sisters-in-law, and sisters-in-law all the time.

To prevent his younger sister from being confined to the inner quarters by her in-laws after her marriage, Atai specifically discussed this issue with Zhou Baihu and received a promise from him that he would always keep Xiaomei by his side.

Since their child, whom they had watched grow up, was getting married, Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang naturally had to provide some material support.

Xie Wanniang subsidized each of the brother and sister with two hundred taels of silver. She also arranged for them to receive a betrothal gift and a dowry that were appropriate to their family's financial situation and social status, so as not to appear undignified or to appear to be putting on a show.

Besides Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, Hao Yu and Chen Shi also contributed one hundred taels of their private savings to each of them.

Hao Yu was the master whom Atai formally kowtowed to and acknowledged, and Atai always respected Hao Yu and Chen Shi.

Although Xiaomei had no formal master-disciple relationship with Haoyu or Chenshi, she devoted herself to taking care of Chenshi and her child during Chenshi's pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum period, and while caring for the child.

Although her original intention was to repay Hao Yu and Chen Shi on behalf of her brother, Chen Shi also developed feelings for her because of this.

Now that she's getting married, Madam Chen simply stopped treating her differently. Forget about the master-disciple relationship; they'd watched both children grow up, so they'd just give each of them one hundred taels.

When making this decision, Madam Chen chuckled and covered her chest as she said to Hao Yu, "Oh my, I've become quite wealthy now. If this were before we got married, I wouldn't have been willing to take out two hundred taels of silver all at once."

Let alone giving it to Atai and Xiaomei, she would absolutely not part with such a large sum of money even to her own nephew.

After all, at that time, all her belongings combined were not worth two hundred taels of silver, and she herself had to live. She couldn't possibly give away all her savings and the loom she relied on for her livelihood to do favors.

Hao Yu laughed, "Isn't it because our family is doing better now?"

Not to mention before he married Chen, even in the first three or four years after their marriage, he would never have been able to take out two hundred taels of silver to subsidize anyone other than Jiang Yuan.

The reason they are willing to spend the money now is twofold. Firstly, their family has worked hard to earn money with Xie Wanniang over the years, and two hundred taels is no longer a large sum that would make them feel heartbroken. Secondly, it is because Atai and Xiaomei have been helping them with chores and sending them all kinds of food, clothes, daily necessities, and holiday gifts over the years.

As the saying goes, "reciprocity is the key to everything." If children are filial, then their parents will naturally not let their filial piety be put into practice.

The couple not only gave money, but also planned to come over after the autumn harvest to help Atai and Xiaomei arrange their wedding.

Putting everything else aside, at the very least, when the formalities of marriage are being performed, shouldn't someone be there to entertain the elders on the in-laws' side?

Atai and Xiaomei never expected that Hao Yu and Chen Shi, Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang would actually subsidize their marriage with money, betrothal gifts, and dowry.

The two were deeply moved; Xiaomei's eyes were red, and tears streamed down her face.

Xie Wanniang patted her to comfort her for a while before she finally smiled through her tears amidst the children's curious and bewildered gazes.

After returning from Atai and Xiaomei's home, Xie Wanniang stayed in Guangchangwei for less than three days. Before she could even find something else to do to pass the time, the imperial court sent a team of imperial envoys to deliver a decree.

The imperial envoy brought two imperial edicts. One was for another military officer under the command of the Marquis of Dingbei, who was to be transferred to Guangchang Guard to replace Jiang Yuan as the guard commander.

Jiang Yuan was also transferred to a lateral move, but he was transferred to the southeastern coastal region.

The southeastern coast was a prosperous region in both the current and previous dynasties. Therefore, although it was a lateral transfer, Jiang Yuan's living conditions would obviously improve significantly if he went there.

Of course, his shortcomings and strengths were just as obvious when he was transferred.

The advantage is that he and his family can live a better life, especially his children. If they don't want to pursue a career in martial arts, they can certainly receive a better education in the culturally rich southeastern coastal region.

The downside is that a large part of his hard work over the years will be wasted due to his relocation.

As a border general rooted in the northern frontier, all his connections and relationships were actually within Baoding Prefecture.

The Chang family, in particular, are the heads of the garrison in Baoding Prefecture. It's hard to say what will happen in the future, but at least as long as the Marquis of Dingbei and his son are still alive, they will undoubtedly be the commanders-in-chief of the Zhenbei Army.

They all greatly admired Jiang Yuan, and he was arguably Jiang Yuan's greatest asset in the Zhenbei Army.

Now that he has been transferred to the southeast coast, even if Marquis Dingbei and Chang Yao want to help him, they can't extend their reach too far.

After all, the Great Wei belongs to the Yuan family, not the Chang family. It's one thing for them to control the Zhenbei Army, but if they extend their reach into other garrisons, the emperor and the crown prince might not be able to avoid harboring resentment.

—The more Jian was favored by the emperor, the more cautious the Chang family father and son became.

Jiang Yuan agreed with the caution and prudence of the Chang family father and son. In fact, from his perspective, if he wanted to advance further in his career, he should maintain a proper distance from the Chang family father and son.

As the old saying goes, "Having mastered both literary and martial arts, one can serve the emperor." It is true that he was promoted by the Chang family father and son, but in the end, the person he should be loyal to is always His Majesty the Emperor sitting on that chair.

Of course, this doesn't mean he's going to sever ties with the Chang family. Jiang Yuan wouldn't do something so heartless.

Among all the rulers and ministers of the Great Wei, none of them were unaware of his background and resume. He was promoted by the Chang family father and son and came from the Zhenbei Army. This was an established fact that neither he nor anyone else could change.

The Chang family father and son, especially Chang Yao, were indeed both his mentors and his superiors.

Jiang Yuan never intended to hide anything, and he would continue to maintain his private relationships with the Chang family. However, once he left the Northern Border, he would have to separate his military affairs from those of the Chang family father and son.

As for whether he will be unsuited to naval warfare after going to the southeast coast, or whether he will be ostracized by local military groups, these are questions that will need to be addressed once he arrives.