The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 293 Joining the Army
It's midnight, the moon is rising above the starry sky.

Li Ying came to the yard and heard some noise coming from the kitchen. He went over to take a look and saw several servants still chopping chickens and washing vegetables.

Li Ying asked curiously, "It's so late, why are you still preparing ingredients? Are you preparing for tomorrow's meal?"

The servants looked puzzled when they heard this.

A servant said, "Your Highness, these are the leftover ingredients from the dinner."

Li Ying took a closer look and saw forty or fifty dead chickens and dozens of cabbages on the ground. He became even more curious and asked, "How come there are so many left?"

The servant said: "Madam He likes to eat chicken tongues, and she only likes vegetable hearts..."

The servant stopped talking here because He Jin came in.

He Jin looked at Li Ying with a timid expression. He wanted to speak but hesitated and didn't know how to start.

Li Ying walked forward and stroked He Jin's hair, and took the initiative to ask: "Has your life been like this since you were a child?"

"Yes." He Jin nodded obediently, "I know that Your Highness advocates frugality, I will pay attention to it in the future."

"Since you lived like this before, you can live like this in the future." Li Heng smiled slightly, "If your life becomes worse because of following me, what's the point?"

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness." He Jin bowed to Li Ying and asked, "Can I still personally manage the He family's business as before?"

"Of course." Li Heng nodded, "As long as you like it."

He Jin said: "Will others say that we are colluding with officials and businessmen?"

Li Ying said: "Collusion between officials and businessmen is when they work together to obtain ill-gotten gains. As long as they obtain it in a legitimate way, it is cooperation between officials and businessmen."

"That's right." He Jin smiled sweetly, "Your Highness is really strict with himself and lenient with others. If I had known this, I should have married you earlier. It is said that once you enter a marquis's house, it is like entering a deep sea. I was worried before."

"No one is perfect, and it is precisely because you have your own preferences that you are even more precious." Li Ying praised He Jin and went back to the house with He Jin. As they walked, he asked, "Over in Hexi Liangzhou, after Mi Qian and Kang Yi left, did the He family take over all their previous businesses?"

He Jin said: "Most of them have been taken over."

Li Ying said: "That means we are still a little short."

He Jin said: "There are some industries that Your Highness doesn't like, so I didn't let He do them, such as the slave trade."

As they talked, they walked into the house.

In the room, Yang Yuhuan was composing music. Seeing Li Ying and He Jin, she put down her pen, stood up and said with a smile, "It seems that my husband doesn't blame Sister Jin."

Li Heng said, "You are the one who makes the decisions about everything in the mansion. If you have no objection, then naturally I have no objection either."

Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "This is not just a family affair. The He family's business is getting bigger and bigger. The transportation of grain and grass on the Silk Road is basically done by the He family. If I offend Sister Jin because of such a small matter, it may affect Your Highness's plan."

"Sister!" He Jin hurriedly stepped forward and took Yang Yuhuan's hand. "Sister, you are so kind to me. Your kindness is as great as a mountain. I will never blame you no matter what."

Yang Yuhuan played a big role in the marriage between He Jin and Li Ying. She also made a lot of efforts to expand He's business and held shares on behalf of Li Ying. Therefore, no matter from which angle, He Jin would not be hostile to Yang Yuhuan.

But apart from this, Li Ying also heard the hidden meaning of Yang Yuhuan's words.

Tian Renwan is now in charge of the logistics of Helong, but due to his lack of official luck, He is responsible for a large part of the transportation of grain and fodder. If he wants to deal with Tian Renwan, he can let He hinder him and then accuse Tian Renwan of poor coordination.

Moreover, although it was true that caravans were used to transport government grain, there was no institutional support for this. If this excuse was really used to target Tian Renwan, Tian Renwan would not be able to shirk his responsibility and could only swallow his anger.

Li Ying pondered for a moment and felt that now was not the time to deal with Tian Renwan. He said to He Jin: "Whatever Tian Yunshi wants to do, you should try your best to cooperate with him. In the current situation, we should unite and do our best to deal with Tubo."

"Yes." He Jin replied respectfully. "What about Jiannan?" Yang Yuhuan asked.

Yang Xuanjiao joined forces with the He family and turned the Yang family into the largest family in Jiannan. Now that Prince Rong Li Wan is in charge of Jiannan, many things require the cooperation of the Yang family.

Li Ying said, "We should follow the rules, so as not to curry favor with others, and we will not have to cause trouble for the government office."

"I understand." Yang Yuhuan nodded, "And sister Xianyi also hopes that Wei can cooperate more with He and Yang."

Li Ying asked, "Where is Xianyi?"

Yang Yuhuan said, "I went to the temple to pray during the day, and I am a little tired, so I have already fallen asleep."

Li Heng nodded and said, "Since Xianyi has entered the mansion, she is no longer an outsider. Since she has this request, we will grant her wish. However, the Wei family is a big family in Guanzhong after all, and they don't value business, so the cooperation doesn't need to be that deep."

Li Heng did not want to have too close contact with Wei, because firstly, he was not very familiar with Wei and did not believe that Wei would follow him wholeheartedly; secondly, most of the big families in Guanzhong had a high opinion of themselves and acted absurdly, and the closer the contact, the greater the harm.

Yang Yuhuan and He Jin both understood Li Ying's meaning and responded in unison.

The three of them chatted for a while and then fell asleep together.

……

The recruitment of new soldiers is proceeding in an orderly manner.

On this day, Li Heng went to check on the training of the new recruits. Li Siye, who was in charge of training the soldiers, handed Li Heng the list and said, "Your Highness, according to your request, after a thorough understanding, I have recorded all the new recruits who I think have outstanding abilities here."

Li Heng took the list and took a look at it. His eyes suddenly lit up and he asked, "Where is this Ma Sui from?"

Li Siye said: "Your Highness, his ancestors were from Fufeng County and later moved to Ruzhou. His father, Ma Jilong, passed the military examination and is now a minor official in Lanzhou."

Li Ying said, "Let him come to see me."

"Yes."

Li Siye took the order and soon brought Ma Sui into the tent.

Ma Sui looked to be about twenty-two or twenty-three years old, with a sturdy build and a firm look in his eyes.

Li Ying said to Ma Sui, "You are the son of an official. The imperial court cannot recruit you. Did you come to join the army on your own?"

"Yes." Ma Sui said respectfully.

Li Ying asked, "Why?"

Ma Sui said, "Your Highness, Yang Jiong of the early Tang Dynasty once wrote a poem that says, I would rather be a centurion than a scholar. Although I am not talented, I also believe that a man should make contributions to the world and save the world. How can I be a scholar?"

Li Heng asked, "You live in Lanzhou, which is closer to Hedong. If you want to join the army, you should go to Hedong. Why did you go to Longyou in the first place?"

Ma Sui said: "Because I admire your Highness, and now the biggest enemy of the Tang Dynasty is Tubo, so I came to Longyou, I want to follow your Highness to eliminate Tubo, this great threat."

Li Heng nodded and said, "Hedong Jiedushi Han Xiulin, what do you think? Tell the truth."

Ma Sui hesitated for a moment, leaned forward and said tremblingly: "I dare to speak frankly. General Han Jie has some talents, but he is not a general who can lead the frontier. Since he took over Hedong, the elite soldiers of Hedong have been borrowed by General An Jie to build a castle in Fanyang."

Hearing this, the generals present couldn't help but look at Ma Sui, because Ma Sui was just a new recruit, but he dared to judge the imperial commander, and there was a lot of arrogance in his words.

　I had an exam the day before yesterday, and after that I met up with friends and drank some wine, so I didn't have time to write. I have another exam on the 30th, and I also have to attend classes and read books. I will try my best to make up for it after the exam. Thank you all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)