Autumn and Winter Check-in Challenge In the Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar named Wu Yonggu, who was born in poverty, and although he was famous in the examination, he only became a small county lieutenant in a remote place.
This year, his term of office was about to expire, and the next position had not yet been settled, and he thought of a fellow countryman Guo Xiang.
Guo Xiang was the nephew of the prime minister of the dynasty, and he was very talented, and worked as a staff officer under General Li of Yaozhou.
Although Wu Yonggu and Guo Xiang are fellow villagers, they have never met.
Wu Yonggu was in the mood to give it a try, and wrote a letter to Guo Xiang, with sincere words, asking him to find a small errand for himself in the army.
Guo Xiang had also heard of Wu Yonggu's name and knew that he was full of talent and integrity, so he recommended him in front of General Li and obtained him a clerical position.
Wu Yonggu received Guo Xiang's reply and was very moved, and after his term of office expired, he came to Yaozhou.
Unfortunately, at that time, the border barbarians attacked, and General Li wanted to lead his troops to conquest, and Guo Xiang also followed, letting Wu Yonggu wait in Yaozhou first.
Unfortunately, in that defeat, General Li was killed, and Guo Xiang and many soldiers were captured and taken prisoner.
The enemy did not kill the captives, but told them to inform their families and redeem them with their goods, which cost two hundred taels of silver for one person.
When they learned that Guo Xiang was the prime minister's nephew, they asked for 1,000 taels of silver.
The prime minister was far away in the capital, and the messenger refused to go, so Guo Xiang wrote to Wu Yonggu in Yaozhou, asking him to tell his uncle and send someone to send money to ransom him.
After Wu Yonggu received the letter, he immediately went to the prime minister, but the prime minister fell ill and died.
Guo Xiang has no other close relatives, and other relatives do not know the truth and are unwilling to risk spending money to save him.
Wu Yonggu was sad, thanked Guo Xiang for his previous kindness, and decided to save him personally.
He went home first, sold all the valuable things in his family, scraped together dozens of taels of silver, and came to Yaozhou to start a business.
At that time, business was a very lowly industry, but in order to save his friends, he put down his clothes and set up a stall on the street.
Wu Yonggu didn't know how to do business, so he could only grope slowly, and every penny he earned was tightly saved. After five years, he still hasn't earned enough 1,000 taels.
In those years, he still had a wife and young son at home, but he couldn't take care of them all, just to save Guo Xiang.
Mrs. Wu was at home, working hard to spin and weave cloth to earn a little money and support her son.
That year, there was a famine, the food was very high, and life was really unbearable, so Mrs. Wu had to sell the house and take her son to Yaozhou to find Wu Yonggu.
Halfway through, the coiling was finished, and there were still hundreds of miles away from Yaozhou. Desperate, Mrs. Wu sat on the side of the road and wept bitterly.
At this time, Lord Yang of Yaozhou passed by, and when he saw that she was crying sadly, he came over to ask.
Mrs. Wu told the story of Wu Yonggu running away from home to save Guo Xiang.
Lord Yang was amazed when he heard this, and immediately sent Mrs. Wu dozens of taels of silver, and arranged for someone to send their mother and son to Yaozhou in a carriage.
Lord Yang returned to Yaozhou first, sent someone to find Wu Yonggu, and confirmed that what Mrs. Wu said was the truth.
He praised Wu Yonggu for his benevolence and righteousness in saving his friend, and blamed him for not abandoning his wife and children to save his friend.
Then, he gave Wu Yonggu a few hundred taels of silver, helped him make up enough 1,000 taels, and asked him to ransom Guo Xiang.
Wu Yonggu thanked Lord Yang, went to the barbarian tribe in the south, and ransomed Guo Xiang back.
Lord Yang took them to the mansion and entertained them with a feast.
Guo Xiang waited for five years on the enemy's side, was treated as a slave, suffered many crimes, and for some reason no one came to redeem him.
After coming back, I learned that Wu Yonggu had also suffered a lot in order to save him.
He left a lot of savings at home, and when he returned, he immediately thanked Wu Yonggu and Lord Yang.
A few years later, Wu Yonggu and his wife died of illness one after another, and Guo Xiang raised their son as his own son, and passed on his hereditary title to him.