A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1262 Xueyantuo is unstoppable
Wu Huaiyu didn't expect that Lao Ba would like Qinnan.

What was even more unexpected was that his opposition was met with opposition from everyone in the Wu family.

First, Balang's biological mother, Cao Shisanniang, came to Huaiyu with red eyes, "Isn't Balang your biological child? Why is your husband so prejudiced against him?"

"The saint wanted to grant the princess a marriage, but my husband refused. Now Balang wants to marry my eldest sister's daughter, Qi Niang. They are in love with each other, so why would my husband stop it?"

Cao Shisanniang, who was usually gentle, bombarded him with questions.

"I like Balang as much as other children. Balang and Qi Niang are not suitable for each other. Close relatives are not good for marriage. It is easy to cause infertility or give birth to deformed babies..."

"If you think Balang is not worthy of marrying my eldest sister-in-law and Prime Minister Ma's daughter, just say so. Why use such an excuse? For thousands of years, marriages between aunts and cousins ​​have been considered as a close relationship, and the bride calls her parents-in-law "aunt and uncle". This has been passed down since the Qin and Han dynasties. Your Excellency is well-read and knowledgeable, don't you know this?
It has been like this for thousands of years, why is it no longer the case with Hachiro?"

Wu Huaiyu was speechless.

Of course he knew that what Cao Shisanniang said was right. In the written records of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it can be seen from the written records they left behind that not marrying within the same clan was a common rule followed by people at that time.
The tribes would intermarry with other tribes.

It is inevitable that two neighboring ethnic groups with different surnames will intermarry over a long period of time. The women of Clan A will marry the men of Clan B, and the daughters of Clan B will marry the men of Clan A. After a long time, it is easy for a newly married daughter-in-law to find that her mother and father-in-law are siblings, and her mother-in-law is the sister of her father's family. Thus, her parents-in-law become uncle and aunt.

"My husband, as the old saying goes, cousins ​​are close, and the relationship is even closer. This eldest aunt's family, Qi Niang, is about the same age as our Balang, just a little younger. They have been friends since they were little, and their relationship is good. I don't know when they fell in love with each other. This is such a good thing.
It just so happens that Balang has never found a bride, and Qi Niang has never been engaged either, so isn't this a match made in heaven?"

Fan Xuanfu also came to persuade Huaiyu to agree to the marriage.

"I thought you knew about this a long time ago. My eldest sister-in-law's daughter, Qi Niang, is the daughter of the prime minister. She is now fourteen years old. Why doesn't she have a boyfriend? That's because my eldest sister-in-law knew that Balang and Qi Niang were interested in each other, and she has been waiting for you to come and propose marriage.
You are so good, now you say that cousins ​​can't get married, how can this be justified."

Li Qing, Yang Muyun, Lu Sanshiwu, Gao Twelve, Duan Wan, Fan Wu and other wives and concubines all came over after hearing the news. They all thought that Wu Huaiyu's reasons were ridiculous and opposed his opposition.

"My husband, since everything has been discussed today, I think we should quickly hire a matchmaker, prepare gifts, pick an auspicious day, and go to my brother-in-law's house to propose marriage.

Balang is not young anymore, it's time to get married.
It would be easier to have peace of mind if we could settle the two children earlier."

You and I,
These three women are equivalent to a group of ducks, and this group of women is even more amazing.

Wu Huaiyu couldn't argue with them.

He really considered the issue from the perspective of eugenics, and felt that a cousin from his uncle's family marrying a cousin from his aunt's family was a very close marriage between close relatives.

But none of his wives and concubines agreed with him.

They are all here to show off, clamoring to go to Ma Zhou's house to propose marriage right away.

"I am a miracle doctor. I presided over the revision of the Tang Materia Medica. I also co-edited "Thousand Gold Prescriptions for Emergencies" and "Thousand Gold Wing King" with the miracle doctor Sun. I told you that there are so many disadvantages of inbreeding. Am I lying to you?" Wu Huaiyu was helpless.

"It's true that you are a miracle doctor, but we are cousins, and it's a matter of generations. The current saint even married his eldest daughter, Princess Changle, to her uncle's son, Changsun Chong. They have given birth to several children in the past few years, and all of them are smart and healthy.
Princess Dongyang also married her uncle's son and cousin, and the child she gave birth to is also very healthy."

But,
It can't be said at all.

When he thought that even in later generations, there would still be such marriages between aunts and uncles in some rural areas, Wu Huaiyu knew that it would be very difficult to change everyone's inherent ideas.

It doesn't mean that if these cousins ​​get married, they won't have deformed babies.
But in this era, even if the marriage was not between cousins, the probability of having deformed babies was actually quite high. In addition, there were also many disabled and idiot babies due to untimely treatment of illnesses such as fevers in infants and young children. Therefore, people would not link these things with marriage between cousins.

The emperor's family is like this.

What about the common people?

The obedient Balang also showed his infatuation and focus at this time, saying that he would not marry anyone other than his seventh cousin in this life.

Wu Huaiyu still has a headache.
Cao Shisanniang also fought for her son. She took a carriage to the Duke of Yan's Mansion in Xuanyangfang to look for her elder sister-in-law, Lady Wu Yu'e.
When we meet, we wipe our tears.
Wu Yu'e thought something had happened to her.
"Shisan Niang, what trouble have you encountered? Tell me, but Erlang has wronged you. Tell me clearly and I will support you."

Cao Shisanniang then wiped her tears, held her aunt's hand, and told her the whole story.

This matter is about my daughter.
Of course it was right that Shisan Niang came to find her.

Wu Yu'e did know about the changes that had taken place between the two children, but she did not stop them. After all, neither of them had gotten engaged, and she was happy to see a closer relationship.

So in the past few years, many people have come to Qinniang to propose marriage, but Wu Yu'e has not agreed to any of them.

In fact, I am just waiting for the child to grow up a little and for my brothers' family to come and propose marriage.

Unexpectedly, Huaiyu now objects, and the reason is very strange.

"Sister, if Erlang wanted Balang to marry the princess, then he said that inbreeding is bad and opposed Balang and Qiniang. This is understandable, but he refused Balang to marry the princess, and now he opposes him to Qiniang. Why is Erlang doing this?"

Wu Yu'e was puzzled for a moment.

"Let's go and ask Erlang in person. Our Qi Niang is good in every way. How can her uncle look down on her?"

Cao Shisan Niang called for reinforcements, burst into laughter, and returned to the Taiwei Mansion.

Wu Huaiyu was still being bombarded by his wives and concubines when suddenly his eldest sister came.

Just ask him what he means.
Huaiyu had many brothers and sisters, especially Wu, who later gave birth to dozens of children after Huaiyu became successful. However, Wu Huaiyu was actually only close to the four brothers and sisters he had when he first returned to Sanyuan.

The eldest, Huaiyi, the third, Huailiang, and the eldest, Yu'e, and fourth, Yuwan, were not very close to the second and third sisters. Not to mention the younger brothers and sisters who were born later, who were always a little more distant.

Wu Huaiyu seriously explained to her elder sister the disadvantages of marrying close relatives.
But the eldest sister also refused to listen and did not believe it, and questioned Wu Huaiyu why he looked down on Qiniang.

"Is my Qi Niang not worthy of your Taiwei Mansion? Qi Niang is the daughter of the prime minister of the dynasty. She is also good-looking. She is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework and cooking..."

Wu Huaiyu apologized with a wry smile.

My eldest sister was very angry.
"Since you don't dislike Qi Niang, I will be overbearing today. I agree to this marriage. Let's get married. Invite a matchmaker, choose an auspicious day, and propose marriage."

He couldn't refuse.

On the other side, Fan Xuanfu also agreed immediately and apologized to his eldest sister. Cao Shisan Niang stopped crying and feeling aggrieved, and was as happy as a blooming hibiscus flower.

Balang also came over and knelt down to thank Yu'e, but he almost changed his words to call her mother-in-law.

Such a big marriage event,
As a result, Wu Huaiyu, the father, was thrown aside.

Fan Xuanfu took Wu Yu'e, Li Qing, Yang Muyun and other women to the garden to have afternoon tea and discuss the auspicious date and engagement ceremony.

Wu Huaiyu was left in the living room.

They also specifically told him not to disturb them.

He wanted to exercise the power of a parent, but he was not an authoritarian parent. Moreover, it was not only his wife and son who agreed to this matter, but his eldest sister also expressed her intention to strengthen the relationship, so Wu Huaiyu had no choice.

He could only comfort himself in his heart that, except for a part of Li Shimin's daughters who married into the prime minister's family, the rest basically married royal relatives, and many of them were cousins.

The impact of inbreeding on the next generation is just a matter of probability. Moreover, in this era of one wife and multiple concubines, the birth of children is also more common, so if there are indeed deformed children, people will not take it too seriously.

Ordinary people would just drown their babies and then give birth again, but wealthy people would take good care of them.

Thinking this way, it seems like I have figured it out.

Prepare to find a few nice girls to be concubines for the Eighth Brother, or arrange for some nice maids to go over there.

Just in case.

In the summer of the 16th year of Zhenguan, the eighth son of Wu Huaiyu, the prime minister and duke of Chu, in Chang'an, was engaged to the seventh daughter of Ma Zhou, the prime minister and duke of Yan.

The engagement ceremony was grand and spectacular, and many nobles and ministers from Chang'an were invited. The emperor and the crown prince both sent people to send congratulatory gifts.

There was no rumor among the people that the emperor had planned to marry Princess Gaoyang to Wu Balang again, and even after Prime Minister Wu refused, he proposed three recently divorced princesses and let him choose one of them as his daughter-in-law.

Regarding this matter,

Both the royal family and the military family kept the secret very strictly and did not spread the news.

This is a matter concerning the royal family's reputation. There are only a few people in the Wu family who know about this matter. No one would be unaware of the seriousness of the matter, and no one in the royal family would leak it.

After the Wu and Ma families got engaged,

Princess Chengyang was soon engaged to Xue Guan from the Hedong Xue family. The father of this new consort was a third-rank imperial guard.

Soon after, Princess Baling also got engaged to Dou Huaiqi, the great-nephew of Empress Taimu and the son of the Shaofu Supervisor.

Rumor has it that the matchmaker for the two princesses' new husbands was actually the Grand Marshal Wu Huaiyu.

Among the three divorced princesses, only Princess Gaoyang has not been engaged again yet. However, there are rumors that the emperor first chose Wang Yi from the Wuhuan branch of the Taiyuan Wang family for her. Wang Yi is currently a Qianniu Beishen and is the great-grandson of Wang De, Duke of Hejian in the Western Wei Dynasty, and the son of Wang Lang, a writer and Duke of Xiuwu in the Sui Dynasty.

But there was gossip that Gao Yang was satisfied with this Five Surnames Man, after all, Wang Yi's grandfather was the Minister of Personnel of the Sui Dynasty, and the Wang family was one of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans. But the Wang family declined the marriage proposal, and Wang Yi fell ill when she heard that the emperor wanted to marry Gao Yang to him.

Although the emperor knew that Wang Yi was pretending to be sick, he could not force him.

So they chose another one, this time not the sons of the aristocratic families of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, but Liu Xuanyi, the son of the meritorious official Liu Zhenghui. Liu Zhenghui was one of the meritorious officials of Taiyuan Yuanmou in Wude, and was actually granted 300 households at the beginning of Zhenguan. He died of illness in the ninth year of Zhenguan, and Liu Xuanyi inherited the Duke of Yu State and was also serving as a Qianniu Beishen.

Li Shimin thought that this son of a meritorious official was good, with both good looks and good character.

He directly expressed to him his intention to choose him as Princess Gaoyang's consort, but Liu Xuanyi did not respond for a long time.

This made the emperor very angry, but he could not force him to marry the princess.

As a result, Princess Baling and Princess Chengyang both chose new princes-in-law and held engagement ceremonies. The emperor even changed the titles of the two princesses and added actual seals as a consolation.

But no one dared to marry Princess Gaoyang.

Just as several families in Chang'an City were busy with the excitement of engagement, the war officially broke out in the northern frontier.

The Eastern Turkic Khan Li Simo received an urgent report.

When Xueyantuo heard that the Tang Dynasty had sent out seven armies with 200,000 troops to the north, Yinan Khan did not show weakness and immediately sent his eldest son Dadu to lead 200,000 troops in Mobei and marched towards Qinan with great momentum.

Before the seven armies of the Tang Dynasty reached the northern desert, Yinan wanted to strike first and take the southern desert first, defeat the Eastern Turks led by Li Sihui, seize the southern desert, and even stop the Tang army south of the Yin Mountains and even reach the foot of the Great Wall.

Li Simo was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Central Army, commanding the six military governorates of the Eastern Turkic Khanate north of the Yin Mountains and south of the Daqi, and had 40,000 cavalry under his command.

But this Khan, who had always claimed that he would be the watchdog of the Tang Dynasty for generations,

After receiving the news that Dadushe was leading 200,000 troops to the south, a cold light flashed in his eyes and he made a prompt decision.

"Pass on this Khan's Golden Wolf Arrow Order,

All men and women, march south immediately."

The 200,000-strong army led by Xueyantuo Dadu was coming from the north, but Li Simo, with 40,000 Turkic soldiers under his command, was heading south.

Well, this is a strategic shift.

Is to run away.

He did not dare to confront Dadu directly in the south of Qi. Li Ji's 60,000 troops had not yet left the Great Wall. Li Simo thought he could not defeat them at all.
Forty thousand against two hundred thousand, five times the enemy, is indeed a huge disparity.

This Khan, who had outlasted countless Khans on the grassland, ran away without hesitation.

But he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

He told the dissatisfied Tang army staff officers around him that we are luring the enemy deep into our territory. By the time the Xueyantuo chase us all the way across the Yinshan Mountains and reach the foot of the Great Wall, they will be exhausted. We will also have to set fire to the grass while we are running.

So when they arrived at the foot of the Great Wall, they found that they were facing the high Great Wall and the 60,000 elite Tang soldiers led by the Duke of Ying behind the Great Wall. It was too late to run away.
Then we will turn our guns around and fight back, and cooperate with the Duke of England to wipe out these damn Tiele people in one fell swoop.

Li Simo's words made the Tang Dynasty staff and officers in the Eastern Turkic Khanate admire him very much. It turned out that the old ones are the wisest.

"Head south,"

"Order all the troops not to fight the Xueyantuo people, and to retreat behind the Great Wall!"

Then a bizarre scene appeared.

Datushe led 200,000 Xueyantuo soldiers to attack south of Qi, vowing to fight and wipe out the remnants of the Eastern Turks. However, the Turks who had enslaved them ran faster than rabbits.

When the Xueyantuo army finally crossed the desert Gobi, Li Simo had already led his troops across the Yinshan Mountains.

So they had no choice but to continue their pursuit, and finally crossed the Yinshan Mountains.

Li Simo had already escaped to the foot of the Great Wall.

Datushe was so angry that he was jumping up and down. Is this guy the Great Khan of the Turks?

What about your face? Don’t you want it at all?

The Xueyantuo army was very tired.
What was even more terrifying was that they discovered that Li Simo, the lackey of the Tang Dynasty, not only ran fast, but he also burned the grass along the way.

This left the Xueyantuo army's horses with no grass to eat.

"Chase him! Even if he escapes into the Great Wall, we must chase him into the Great Wall and chop off his head!" The Xueyantuo commander, who was once named Moheduo Yehu Little Khan by the Heavenly Khan Li Shimin, roared the order.

(End of this chapter)