Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 124 Consolation of this Expedition (3)

After following Duan Huaixian to Du Chuijiao's house, Zhao Xingde would often go to the sergeant's house. He inquired about the sergeant's family situation, sometimes very casually, and after Dianmao training, he would go to someone's house to sit for a while, sometimes very solemnly, and specially bought some Great little gift for kids and families.

With the visits again and again, many things that Zhao Xingde never imagined, like a raging flood after a floodgate was opened, rushed towards him.The retired sergeant worried about being mobilized due to the expansion of the war, and said worriedly, "I have just made the land grant and straightened it out. It would be a pity to abandon it again." When a family comes to seek refuge, they rely on their salary to support their families. Although they have courage, their lives are more difficult than others.Sergeants generally get married later than shade households.People like Du Chuijiao who have many heirs are worried about not having enough family property, while Liu Zheng has been worrying about having no heirs. The expedition is imminent, and he is looking for the secret recipe to have a son all day long.Zhao Xingde comforted him, entering Chengying Camp, maybe he can earn enough money to support his retirement.Zhang Changling plans to start a small business after retiring, but he is worried about being cheated and losing money.The previous generation of Chen Yongqi's family moved from Kanto to Hexi, and they never went to the frontier to receive land grants. They rented and planted the land, and their son became a sergeant, but the old man was very content. "In my life, I've eaten [-] full meals, and it's worth it."

In Kanto, whenever people talk about Xia Guo's sergeants, a group of bloodthirsty tiger and wolf soldiers with heads in their left hands and captives under their right arms will appear in their minds.However, as he got to know more and more about the lives of sergeants, young and old, gentle and vulgar, Zhao Xingde felt that even the sergeants who were most enthusiastic about enlistment were instinctively wary of starting a war. They were worried about bloodshed in vain, about the emptiness of the treasury, and about the fact that after a long expedition, the family members would switch to others and their family members would lose care.In essence, sergeants are just another group of scholars.Imperial court orders are usually issued by sergeants to guide Yinhu households to obey them. All the sergeants said that the orders of the prime minister's mansion are becoming more and more complicated, which puts a lot of pressure on many sergeants.In order to maintain water and soil, encourage innovation, cultivate improved seeds, and promote technology, the Prime Minister’s Office has issued dozens of government orders with subsidized money. The government order is implemented, and the family goes to the government to receive subsidy money on behalf of the family, thereby indirectly increasing their own income.

Zhao Xingde sometimes had to go to three or four sergeants a day, and sometimes he had to accompany the sergeants to go to the county government office, or even go to the court to argue.Fortunately, many soldiers in Ming Hongdu have not yet married, and their hometown is not Hexi, otherwise, he really would not have time to accompany Li Ruoxue.

It was already dark, Zhao Xingde returned home and found a carriage parked at the door, the groom saluted him respectfully.When Zhao Xingde stepped into the threshold, he felt that there was a refreshing fragrance in the courtyard.

The evening wind floated, and the wind chimes hanging on the courtyard porch jingled.Li Ruoxue was sitting opposite a noble lady, and when she saw Zhao Xingde walking in, her eyes showed joy, she stood up to greet her, and said in a low voice: "This is the one I mentioned to you. Mrs. Lu." After speaking, Zhao Xingde also came in and sat down, and introduced his husband to the distinguished guests.

The female relatives of Xia Guo's Gaomen do not shy away from meeting foreigners, and they wear veils when they go out, mostly to prevent their cheeks from being wrinkled by the wind and to look graceful.Mrs. Lu nodded to Zhao Xingde, smiled and said: "This handsome man must be Mr. Zhao. My sister is really lucky." Although she is not young, her voice is still clear and melodious.He said again: "The slave family and sister Ruoxue hit it off right away, and they often come to the house to bother them, which really caused a lot of trouble for the house."

Zhao Xingde heard from Li Ruoxue that Mrs. Lu's husband was also in the army, and he was busy with official duties all year round, so he cupped his hands and said, "Where is it, Ma'am's arrival will only make the succulent shine." After speaking, he sat next to Li Ruoxue, for her The two poured lotus seed heart scented tea, and said with a smile, "This is the new tea that I picked with Ruoxue at Shouchangze the day before yesterday, and I just made it."

Mrs. Lu picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Zhao is really a considerate person. He is somewhat similar to my husband." After drinking, put the teacup in a cup made of reed leaves Pad.

Zhao Xingde was waiting to say some polite words, but he heard another voice coming from outside the door.

"This is Zhao Xingzhi, Brother Zhao's residence? His old friend Chen Kang took the liberty to visit."

When Mrs. Lu heard Chen Kang's voice, a look of surprise flashed in her eyes.Zhao Xingde accused her of a crime, got up and walked to the door to meet her.As he walked, he murmured in his heart: "I didn't look at the almanac, so is today an auspicious day for visiting relatives and friends?"

Chen Kang was sizing up the carriage at the door, when he saw Xingde, he cupped his hands and smiled and said, "Sure enough, Brother Zhao, your place is so quiet." There were two female relatives sitting in the hall, and they were even more taken aback when they saw Mrs. Lu clearly.

Madam Lu also turned her head to look at him at this time.After Zhao Xingde introduced them respectively, Chen Kang bowed deeply to the ground and said in his mouth: "Chen Kang, junior, see Mrs. Lu." His expression was extremely respectful.Li Ruoxue didn't know his identity, and treated him as normal, but Zhao Xingde felt slightly confused.

Mrs. Lu also smiled back.Chen Kang actually got a little cautious, and he didn't sit down until Zhao Xingde asked him to sit down.

Zhao Xingde also asked Chen Kang about the current situation of Liao and Song.Chen Kang told him that General Yang Yanqing of the Song Dynasty had recovered Gaoyang Pass, and the border between Song and Liao had returned to the situation before the Liao invaded Hebei.It was just because the Song State cut off trade, and the Liao State did not get any benefits from the invasion, the Khitan people in Nanjing Road complained a lot.

"On the contrary, the merchants in our country took advantage of the opportunity to do business with both Song and Liao countries." Chen Kang laughed.

In addition, the southeast battalion deployed Wang Yan to command an army of 15 to march south. A new hero named Yue Fei who joined the Xiangzhou army emerged under Wang Yan's command. Now he and Han Shizhong are the forwards of the left and right armies respectively. After the defeat, they all set fire to the city and left.Now there are no large groups of Mingjiao "chaotic" thieves in Southeast states and counties, and the "chaos" of Mingjiao can be regarded as basically pacified.Wang Yan dispatched the generals to suppress the remnants of Mingjiao.However, as soon as the officers and soldiers of the brigade leave, there will be a remnant party of Mingjiao "chaotic" thieves resurgent.Some county government offices were rushed in and smashed by unreasonable people, and the officers and soldiers came late.There was also the county magistrate who was assassinated, and I don't know who did it.

The commander-in-chief of the Southeast Camp is permanently stationed in Xiangyang, because sporadic rebellions and wars still occur from time to time, and the large army is also stranded in the south of the Yangtze River.Wang Yan is more tolerant towards the scholars implicated in the case of exposing posts. In addition, Chen Dong and others keep running to contact each other. The gentry also regarded themselves as members of the Confucianism party.

Yelu Dashi was appointed by the emperor of the Liao Kingdom to stay in Nanjing, but judging from the situation, it seems that the emperor found him troublesome and found an excuse not to let him return to Beijing.Recently, the Jurchens have also made a lot of noise in Liaodong. The generals of the Dongdong Road in the Liao Kingdom have been ambushed several times.The Jurchen tribe and the anti-Liao Han army showed faint signs of an alliance, and the emperor of the Liao Kingdom was still sending more troops to Liaodong to calm the "chaos". Not worried about him, he still sent his confidant Xiao Feng to lead the army first.

When Zhao Xingde and Chen Kang were talking, the two women continued to talk about the topics they had just talked about, such as snacks in Luoyang, brocades in Sichuan, makeup mirrors in Chang'an, jewelry in Kangguo and so on.

Seeing that it was getting late, Mrs. Lu and Chen Kang took leave one after another.After the two left, Li Ruoxue said to Zhao Xingde with a smile: "Madam Lu is so kind, she specially brought me a pair of embroidered shoes from Sichuan." After speaking, she tried on the shoes Madam Lu gave her.The soles of these shoes are carved from sandalwood, about three inches and a half inches thick. After wearing them, the woman will look tall and graceful.The lotus steps move lightly, and every time you take a step, a flower-like incense powder will leak out from the incense powder hidden in the sole of the sandalwood shoe.The whole house is filled with a fragrant smell.

Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "This Mrs. Lu is an elegant woman." He put his arms around Li Ruoxue's waist, but found that the beauty seemed to be different from usual.Li Ruoxue is petite, snuggling in Zhao Xingde's arms like a bird clinging to a person, these embroidered shoes make people a few inches taller, her eyes are facing Zhao Xingde's gaze, her pretty face is slightly red, and her eyelashes are drooping ' trembling slightly.

Chen Kang followed Mrs. Lu, walked out of Zhao's house, walked a few more steps, bowed and said: "Your junior is abrupt, disturbing my aunt's visit, please don't blame me." It turned out that this was the wife of Prime Minister Liu Yi. send wife.When Chen Xuan, the current emperor of the Xia Kingdom, had not ascended the throne, he and Liu Yi were close friends, and the two families were good friends. Chen Kang always respected Liu Xiang's wife, Mrs. Lu, as his aunt.

Mrs. Lu smiled and said: "Your Highness is always so polite." She paused, then said softly: "The Empress said that you don't go to see her all the time, I think you have made friends with a handsome friend like Mr. Zhao, and your behavior is also very moderate. It's not as useless as she said."

After being reminded by her, Chen Kang remembered that he hadn't entered the palace to see his mother for two days, and said slightly ashamed: "The boy is not filial, thank you for reminding me, aunt."

The crown princes of Xia Kingdom have a strict order of succession. Although Chen Kang is not the crown prince, he is deeply loved by the queen. The depth of love is not exempt from responsibility. Madam also casually reminded him.The carriage returned to the Prime Minister's mansion, and the servant told him that the Prime Minister was still discussing matters in the palace and had not returned. Mrs. Lu couldn't help but sighed softly. She often went to Li Ruoxue's place to sit idle, seeing her as if she was alone in her boudoir when she was young. A little more intimacy and sympathy out of thin air.

At this time, in the Linquan Palace by the Shouchang Lake, the emperor Chen Xuan personally presided over the court meeting, and the important officials of the court gathered together.In addition to Prime Minister Liu Yi, three of the five generals in the General's Mansion were General Zhang Shanfu of the Marching Division, Wu Ting of the Military Intelligence Division, and Xie Yuan of the Supply Division.General Xiang Shi of the Anbei Army Division made a special trip back from Mobei, and General Xu Wenhu of the Anxi Army Division made a special trip back from Hezhong to discuss the war with Ross.