I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 263: Marry or Not, One Word
Huang Wan was originally afraid that this action would cause some misunderstanding to Wang Jing, but after all, she owed a favor to Cai Yong, so she had to do her best to act as a matchmaker to help make the connection.

Of course, Huang Wan didn't know the ins and outs of the matter, but Cai Yong repeatedly stated that this matter was absolutely harmless to Wang Jing, and there was no one from the Huang family around the study at this time, but Cai Yan was next door.

Cai Yan thought about it and was afraid that her father was stubborn and Wang Jing was also a very opinionated person. The two might not agree with each other, so she was always worried.

Until she heard Wang Jing's voice just now, Cai Yan, who had not met or talked with him for a long time, felt her heart beating wildly for a moment. She felt both the joy of having her wish fulfilled and the shyness of a young girl in her boudoir. Especially when she heard Wang Jing flatter her father so much, she, who was usually quiet, couldn't help but show her joy and chuckle.

Although he covered his mouth immediately, Wang Jing's hearing was so good that he heard it clearly.

"Because of you, Yuanxu, no one has dared to come to ask for my daughter's hand in marriage. Yuanxu, don't you intend to give me an explanation?"

Wang Jing was young and promising, and he was also extraordinarily handsome. After observing him carefully, Cai Yong finally understood why his daughter was so fond of him.

In addition, although Wang Jing was in a high position and had great power, he was extremely humble and polite in front of Cai Yong, and even showed great respect to him, which made Cai Yong's original impression of Wang Jing slightly change. Now he might as well make things clear and see how he would respond.

"Mr. Bo Ji, it is human nature to admire young girls. Miss Zhao Ji is as beautiful as a flower, and she is also a talented woman famous in Luoyang. I have long intended to come to her house to ask for her hand in marriage, but the situation on the front line was urgent, so I had to deal with it myself, which delayed me a lot of time, so you have to come to me in person. This is my fault, and I admit my mistake."

Wang Jing simply went all out, and his frank praise of Cai Yan's beauty and talent made Cai Yan feel both shy and happy.

It is said that women dress up to please themselves. Cai Yan was naturally very happy to be praised by her lover. If it were not for the constraints of worldly laws, she would have wanted to come out and meet Wang Jing right away.

"Alas, a girl cannot be kept at home when she grows up. Forget it, since Yan'er also loves you, I will not break up the couple and will agree to your marriage."

Cai Yong expressed some disdain, but he was very happy in his heart.

Wang Jing's words just now obviously took care of his reputation and preserved Cai Yan's reputation.

After all, in this day and age, who wouldn't wait for someone to propose to them when marrying off their daughter?

If she takes the initiative to look for a son-in-law, wouldn't that make her daughter look terrible and nobody would want her?

Wang Jing said in a slightly flattering tone: "Mr. Bo Ji, how about I come to your house and propose marriage formally tomorrow?"

Cai Yong, who feared that the night would be too long and full of dreams, was decisive for once for the sake of his daughter's happiness: "What tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Let's settle this matter today. I can't explain it to you clearly. Zhao Ji, please come out."

As soon as Cai Yong finished speaking, a delicate attendant walked out from behind the screen. Although she was not wearing any makeup, her beautiful face and graceful figure were more beautiful than flowers, which made Wang Jing couldn't help but smile gently.

A year of separation made her even more charming. Her graceful figure was still visible in her movements. Even her plain-colored clothes could not hide her natural beauty, especially her eyes and eyebrows, which showed a unique charm.

The beauty walked out slowly like a person in a painting, and her pair of beautiful eyes fell on Wang Jing's face. The look in her eyes was extremely complicated, with satisfaction, surprise, appreciation, but more of it was a sense of resentment.

Even though Wang Jing was determined, he was still shaken by this look.

"Father, please allow me to have a few words with Marquis Qi alone."

Wang Jing was staring at Cai Yan in a daze, but after not seeing her for more than a year, the person who had always been in his heart was now standing in front of him. She was dressed in court robes and looked even more handsome than before. Coupled with the words of praise he had just heard, Cai Yan suddenly felt her heart beating faster.

After a long wait, at this moment, it finally came to fruition.

At that moment, Cai Yan reluctantly withdrew her gaze from Wang Jing and looked at her father who was sitting on the chair with an angry look in her eyes.

"Well, it's up to you."

Cai Yong wanted to refuse, as he felt that this was unreasonable.

But when he saw his daughter's pleading eyes, he, a daughter-slave, immediately gave in. Thinking about how he had been wandering around all these years and how his daughter had suffered a lot, he felt very guilty.

Cai Yong sighed deeply, stood up and walked out the door without saying a word. When he passed by Wang Jing, he wanted to say a few words of advice, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't say them. Finally, he shook his head and walked out of the study, closing the door gently.

As soon as Cai Yong left, Cai Yan became a little shy again. The courage she had mustered and the words she had prepared were gone when she faced Wang Jing. After a moment of silence, she was about to speak, but Wang Jing waved his hand to stop her and said, "Zhao Ji, listen to me first before you make any plans!"

Wang Jing felt complicated after seeing Cai Yan, but he was mostly moved. Now things were very clear. It must be Cai Yan herself who told her father about this, and Cai Yong came to find him because he loved his daughter so much.

As the saying goes, the favor of a beauty is the hardest to fade away. Such a talented, beautiful and graceful woman is obsessed with me. Such tenderness is hard for a man to resist.

"How can a man in the world not be attracted to a talented woman like Miss Zhaoji? When I first saw you, I felt the same way. Now, I only have one question to ask: Zhaoji, are you really willing to marry me?"

Wang Jing's eyes were burning and his words were sincere. Although his voice was not loud, it was extremely firm, and he naturally exuded an indomitable momentum.

"Why does Yuanxu ask so bluntly?"

Cai Yan blushed and softened at the sight of his passionate and domineering masculine gaze, but her heart was filled with infinite joy. However, this man asked so directly, how could a girl like her answer?
Suddenly her face turned red with shame, and she was at a loss.

"Miss Zhaoji is well-read. You should know what Confucius said about food, sex and nature. There is also the saying that a gentleman is open and honest. In my opinion, there is no difference between men and women. However, I will not force you. If Zhaoji is willing, please nod your head. I will go back and prepare. I will go to Mr. Bojie's house and ask for marriage according to the etiquette another day. If you are not willing, just shake your head. Jing will turn around and leave. He will definitely not pester you."

Seeing Cai Yan's shy and timid look made her even more charming, Wang Jing felt even more heroic and asked again. In his opinion, this was the key.

Because of Cai Yong, the Cai family was considered a family of scholars, and most of the people seen on a daily basis were well-educated and well-mannered people from famous families. Even the dandies who were rampant in the capital were polite in front of her.

But the Wang Jing in front of him had a completely different temperament. His eyes were warm but by no means rude, and his words were sonorous and powerful. Now he was forcing himself to express his feelings in person. Actually, now that things had come to this, weren't his feelings obvious?

Do you have to let your daughter say such shameful words in person?

Fortunately, Wang Jing still knew how to change his methods, but Cai Yan had to admit in her heart that she liked his domineering style of doing things.

Cai Yan was a little flustered for a moment, but the situation before her did not allow her to retreat any further. After a long while, she nodded and said, "Yan is willing."

"Okay, in that case, I will send someone to pick up the elders of my family and ask for marriage today. I will follow all the etiquette and will never bring disgrace to the reputation of our two families."

Seeing Cai Yan agreed, Wang Jing laughed immediately. In fact, he didn't understand these rules very well, but he had to consider the feelings of the Cai family anyway.

Wang Jing's last words sounded like the sound of nature to Cai Yan.

The most precious thing in life is that the person you like also likes you.

Cai Yan, who had followed her father since childhood to endure the hardships of displacement, has finally got what she wanted and is filled with joy.

In her eyes, Wang Jing was not only handsome, young and promising, but more importantly, he and she had common topics and he treated her very seriously, which made her feel safe.

She was very fortunate to have met Wang Jing in Chenliu. Otherwise, how could she have the happiness she has today?
Cai Yong secretly looked up and glanced at Wang Jing's angular face, and his heart became more and more happy.

In Cai Yan's eyes, Wang Jing was not only a great hero, but also comparable to the ancient sages in terms of knowledge. He improved the classics of Mohism and Taoism and promoted physics and chemistry. His achievements were enough to be called a master. How lucky she was to have such a good match.
The more Cai Yan thought about it, the more satisfied she became. She couldn't help but smile and looked at Wang Jing with shining eyes.

At this moment, the beauty smiled, she was more beautiful than flowers and full of charm. Even Wang Jing was stunned, and Cai Yan was even more delighted to see his performance.

The two of them were in the same room, looking into each other's eyes, and the atmosphere gradually became romantic.

Wang Jing did not dodge or avoid, his burning gaze seemed to be like a blazing flame, melting Cai Yan's body and mind. Cai Yan felt hot and soft all over when Wang Jing looked at her, and she felt ashamed and happy. She was even more hesitant. If Wang Jing could not control himself and pounced on her, should she agree or refuse?
The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt. Cai Yan's delicate cheeks were already flushed with red, and the depths of her bright eyes were full of spring.

"Ahem, have you guys finished talking?"

Cai Yong was still worried about his daughter, so he knocked on the door and walked in. He saw that his daughter and Wang Jing were both dressed neatly and had not done anything impolite. Only then did he, as a father, secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing his future father-in-law appear, Wang Jing naturally had to give him some face. He restrained the unscrupulous look he had just given Cai Yan, and then met him respectfully.

Although in fact everything the Cai family has now was bestowed by himself, even Cai Yong's official position as Secretary General and his power to control the Publishing Bureau were given by himself.

But after all, my identity is different now. In a few days, the old man in front of me will be my old Taishan.

Although Wang Jing himself was not a talented scholar, he had a huge database of knowledge in his mind and could quote any classic at will. With just a few words, he made Cai Yong smile.

Seeing that his daughter was safe and happy, Cai Yong no longer cared about what happened before, and in his heart he approved of Wang Jing as his good son-in-law.

The father-in-law and son-in-law were chatting very happily, and Cai Yan was helping to pour wine obediently. Although she didn't say a word, the smiling expression on her face revealed the joy and satisfaction in her heart at this moment.

In order to complete the marriage as soon as possible, Cai Yong did not care about his daughter's presence and specially pulled Wang Jing aside to discuss the specific details.

After all, Cai Yong was a famous scholar in the world and an orthodox Confucianist, so he attached great importance to matters of etiquette and law.

After discussing with Wang Jing, Cai Yong put forward a number of requests.

Firstly, the elder of the family must come to propose marriage. Wang Jing was born in the Wang family of Taiyuan. As the second son in the family, he now wants to marry a wife, so the natural person to come is Wang Yun.

But just this alone is not enough for the wedding.

In addition to his genuine love for Cai Yan, Wang Jing actually had political considerations in marrying her. There were many women around him now, but only Cai Yan was of importance.

Although Wang Jing mainly used suppression and control when dealing with aristocratic families and wealthy clans, he still needed their strength after all. Therefore, he had to make a compromise in marrying a wife and married a descendant of a famous family to ease the relationship between the two sides.

Cai Yong was a world-renowned Confucian scholar and a former member of the Old Party. He had close ties with conservative forces such as the Old Party and the royalists.

The advantage of marrying into the Cai family is that it can ease the conflict with the conservative faction of the imperial dynasty. At least Wang Jing does not intend to go to war with the other side for now.

It will take time for Wang Jing to train new people to replace these old bureaucrats. Even if it is just a false peace, it would be good to create a truce period of about ten years.

In order to paralyze the conservative forces, Wang Jing obviously planned to hold a grand wedding with Cai Yan. He thought about it and said to Cai Yong: "Mr. Bo Ji, do you think this is okay? After I go back, I will meet His Majesty and ask him to grant me a marriage."

The emperor personally granted the marriage, which was a great honor for his ministers and no one could find fault with it.

When Cai Yong heard this, he agreed immediately: "This is a great idea!"

However, the time will have to be postponed, at least for a month, to allow the Cai family enough time to make arrangements and preparations, and also to give Liu Xie a chance to show up.

After all, Liu Xie was the emperor, so the matter of granting a marriage should be more solemn. He couldn't just do it whenever he was summoned, right?

That really shows that you don't take the Han Dynasty seriously!
Despite the current situation, few of the princes in the world still take the Han Dynasty seriously.

As for the dowry, is Wang Jing still worried about this now?

Not to mention gold, silver, jewelry and the like, after the civil strife in Jizhou, a huge amount of wealth poured into Luoyang. In order to survive, many wealthy families had to sell their property and then seek to purchase some local industries.

Therefore, Wang Jing naturally had a lot of rare treasures in his hands. In addition, there were of course calligraphy, paintings and ancient books.

Rare and precious treasures were not very rare for a traditional scholar like Cai Yong, but famous paintings and calligraphy, rare ancient books and other elegant items were exactly what he wanted.

Wang Jing's few words made Cai Yong breathe heavily, his eyes became impatient, and he looked like he couldn't wait to marry his daughter off tonight.

Once the marriage is arranged, the identities of father-in-law and son-in-law are established.

That evening, Wang Jing and Cai Yong drank happily at the Taiwei Mansion until late at night.

As for the details here, Cai Yong has decided to find an opportunity to tell Huang Wan clearly in the future. It would be better not to mention it today. Since it concerns his father-in-law's face, Wang Jing naturally will not object.

As for Cai Yan herself, her father gave her many instructions and told her to return home first.

Cai Yan looked back, her eyes wandering over Wang Jing several times, feeling very reluctant to leave. But thinking that things would be settled in a month, she went obediently, and today she was finally satisfied.

Huang Wan also joined in the evening banquet. The topics he discussed with Wang Jing were naturally different from those discussed by scholars like Cai Yong. Almost every sentence was about military affairs and wars.

The world is now in chaos, with the princes fighting each other. Although Huang Wan is old, he still has some loyalty in his heart, so he is very concerned about the future changes in the Central Plains.

Looking across the country, Wang Jing is now the strongest among the heroes in terms of both strength and background, and is the person with the greatest hope of unifying the Central Plains.

Therefore, Huang Wan also wanted to exchange views on the future with Wang Jing through more in-depth communication. After several internal reorganizations, none of the aristocratic families and powerful families that can still survive in Luoyang have the courage to stand up and oppose Wang Jingming.

Even if there are still those who are not convinced, they have to just lie down obediently.

It is the local big families like Huang Wan who now want to settle down in Luoyang, so they want to seek cooperation from Wang Jing.

Wang Jing did not hide anything and told Huang Wan everything he had in mind about his development plans, as long as they did not involve confidential information, especially his determination to develop industry.

After Huang Wan finished listening, he asked the question that had been buried in his heart for a long time: "Yuan Xu, there is one thing I don't understand. The world is in chaos now. If we want to unify it, shouldn't we follow the strategy of the powerful Qin in the past and emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce?"

Wang Jing shook his head after hearing this: "The policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce was suitable for the Xian Qin Dynasty back then, but not for the current Yan Han Dynasty."

Huang Wan was amazed after hearing this: "Shang Yang reformed and strengthened Qin, and later swept across the world and unified the country. Could it be that if Xian Qin could use it, why can't we Yan Han use it?"

"Captain, you have led troops to fight in the past, so you should know that water has no fixed shape and soldiers have no fixed positions. Similarly, a country's strategy must be tailored to its national conditions and the right medicine must be used to cure the disease."

Huang Wan felt that Wang Jing's answer made sense, and then he further explained, "When Shang Yang visited Qin State in the past, he not only observed the suffering of the people, but also saw the progress of technology. Thanks to the large-scale use of iron tools, the change in farming methods greatly increased the yield of crops, so the number of self-cultivating farmers increased significantly."

To prevent Huang Wan from not understanding, Wang Jing then explained to him what a self-cultivating farmer was.

The so-called self-cultivating farmers are actually farmers who engage in individual agricultural labor combining farming and weaving based on the private ownership of small plots of land and with a single family as the economic unit.

These self-cultivating farmers were the main bearers of taxes and corvee labor in feudal society.

After all, the problem of levying taxes on the powerful was not solved perfectly until thousands of years later. However, self-employed farmers were different. They had no ability to evade taxes, nor could they resist the exploitation of the government.

(End of this chapter)