Horse on the World

Chapter 402 Mulan Festival (2)

On the day before the departure, the sky seemed to be very beautiful, the wind and snow had calmed down, the sun, which had not been seen for many days, slowly emerged from the clouds, lazily sprinkled a negligible amount of heat, and the light shone on the freezing cold. On the dense snow, it is so bright that people can't open their eyes.

In Dingzhou City, on the big trees on both sides of the road, occasionally a branch could not bear the weight of the snow, and shook it a few times, pouring the thick snow down, and a piece of snow powder fell down, piercing When it enters the neck of the person walking below, it is cold, and then turns into a thin water line, flowing down the spine, but it causes bursts of laughter.

There are also some half-sized boys, mischievously holding some tree trunks that are not strong enough, and when people are not paying attention, they shake violently, and the snow falls, but they quickly run away with a smile, and the passers-by who are passing by instantly Then he became a snowman, raised his head in a daze, and saw those naughty boys, but he could only helplessly spread his hands and shrugged.Shake off the snowflakes, and then hurry.

On the street, the children were having a snowball fight happily, and the snow balls were flying. From time to time, someone was hit, and the yells of ouch could be heard endlessly, but they became more and more courageous. , amidst the laughter of his companion, wiped away his tears, turned over and joined in again.On both sides of the street, countless snowmen have been piled up, and some shops are clever, using snow to build various lifelike shapes to attract passers-by.

Li Qing's guard of honor walked through the street, looking at this peaceful scene through the carriage window, Li Qing's face was filled with a satisfied smile. Once upon a time, Dingzhou was a scene of panic and chaos, and everyone was at risk, but now , with his own efforts, Dingzhou has become a paradise-like place for the entire Great Chu.

Seeing Li Qing's convoy, pedestrians on the road hurriedly avoided. Wherever the convoy passed, the adults clasped their fists and bowed to the ground one by one. Even the children stopped playing and lined up in a regular queue, standing neatly. On both sides of the street, waiting for the convoy to pass.

"These children are standing neatly! They look like an army!" In the carriage, Princess Qingcheng said in surprise.

Li Qing said indifferently: "It's nothing. These children are now studying in the free schools in Dingzhou. The free schools do not charge tuition fees. They are provided by the state government. They also provide students with a lunch every day. But in the free schools , in addition to reading and literacy, certain military training is also required. Each free school state is equipped with one or two retired soldiers as instructors. So, although these children are young, they can be considered to have received certain military training. Education, when they grow up and need them to enlist in the army, it can save a lot of training effort, and they can get started quickly."

Princess Qingcheng let out an ah, and seemed very surprised. For more than a year, she has been living in seclusion, but she doesn't know much about these political affairs. "Did this start only this year?"

"Of course!" Li Qing nodded, "I used to have the heart but was powerless. I have been fighting all the time. Where can I take care of these things? Now that I don't fight wars, I have much more financial resources. Of course I have time and energy to do these things!" Pointing to the children on both sides of the street, Li Qinglang said: "They are the future of Dingzhou, and what I want to train is the next generation of Yunwen Yunwu. They can't study hard, let alone be proud of being rude."

Qingcheng smiled and said: "You can be sure that each of these children will become the pillars of Dingzhou in the future, but that's not necessarily true. Compared with the methods used by those wealthy families to train the next generation, your method seems a bit crude!"

Li Qing laughed loudly: "I have a wide range of crops and a small harvest. Dingzhou now has millions of people under its jurisdiction. Not to mention many children, there are always hundreds of thousands. Among these people, there are always some people who just want to give them some sunshine There are not too many guys who can be brilliant, as long as one percent, or even one thousandth of these hundreds of thousands of children can become a pillar, it is enough."

"Compared with your investment, wouldn't it be a big loss?" Qingcheng laughed.

Li Qing shook his head and said: "You are wrong, how could you lose money? I have made a lot of money. Although it is impossible for these hundreds of thousands of children to become talents, all of them are knowledgeable. If you do this, you will make money. Ten years Trees, one hundred years to cultivate people, and the popularization of education is a long process. The huge investment now may not bear fruitful fruits until decades or even hundreds of years later. Maybe you and I can't see it, but I have confidence , Our descendants can always see this day, the predecessors planted trees, the descendants enjoy the shade, probably this is the reason!"

Hearing Li Qing's meaningful words, Qingcheng fell silent. In her previous decades of career, no one had ever said these words to her, neither did the emperor's brother, nor did those great Confucians who taught her to read and understand etiquette.A pair of wonderful eyes stared at Li Qing, but his hands were slowly stroking the protruding belly.

"What's the matter, is there something wrong, do you want to call Dr. Huan over to have a look?" Li Qing asked with concern.

Qingcheng shook her head, "It's nothing, it's just a feeling in my heart, the predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade, you are right, as parents, we really need to plant all the trees, so that our children can have peace of mind in the future." A little!" Thinking of the mess left behind by the emperor, the emperor's brother was exhausted physically and mentally, he couldn't eat well, he couldn't sleep at night, he worked hard, but in the end it was hard to recover, and he died for no reason. He was full of tears, and afraid that Li Qing would see him, so he didn't turn his head, pretended to enjoy the snow scene outside the car, and secretly wiped away the tears.

While speaking, the convoy had already left the city, headed towards Shanglinli, and was heading along the Chidao. In the past few days, the Chidao leading to Shanglinli was overcrowded, and a large number of people were flocking in this direction, most of them bought People from Dingzhou who bought the tickets and were ready to join in the fun, and many merchants drove their carriages with their own goods, and the signboards were arranged in a hurry.

Because there is Qingcheng in the convoy, the speed of the convoy is very slow. It is estimated that it will not be able to reach Fuyuan until noon, and it will be able to reach Shanglinli at night. This is the privilege that Li Qing's convoy enjoys. Along the way, all vehicles and pedestrians As a result of giving way, some other people may arrive even later.From time to time, on both sides of Chidao, there would be guards in yamen official uniforms patrolling the road to prevent any disputes or accidents. Seeing that although there were many people, everything was in order, Li Qing couldn't help praising: "Lu Yiming's work is really good. Watertight."

At noon, the tall city walls of Fuyuan had already been seen. After the suppression of the barbarians, the effectiveness of Fuyuan as the forefront of resisting the barbarians had been lost, but Li Qing still stationed a battalion of troops in Fuyuan. The purpose is self-evident. Between Fuyuan and Shanglinli is the settlement of the barbarians. More than [-] barbarians are distributed over hundreds of kilometers of land between the two. Important facilities such as Yiling Iron Mine and Craftsman Camp should not be ignored at all.

The general Wei Xin stationed in Fuyuan and Ruan Fangyu, the magistrate of Fuyuan County, had already walked several miles away. At this time, they were standing by the road, respectfully waiting for Li Qing and his party.

Li Qing jumped out of the carriage, walked up to veteran Wei Xin with a smile, and patted him on the shoulder, "Old Wei, I haven't seen you for a while, how are you doing in Fuyuan?" Wei Xin smiled gratefully, and raised his goatee He raised his head and said, "Thank you, Commander, for your concern. The general is very comfortable now, but he is too comfortable and feels a little uncomfortable. Life without a war is even more difficult."

Li Qing laughed, "You guys are quite old, and you are still as young as the boys, don't worry, as long as you are in good shape, there will always be a time for you to show your talents!"

Wei Xin's eyes brightened: "Commander, although the general is nearly sixty years old, he still eats meat in big bowls, drinks in big bowls, and fights, no matter how young he is, he is no match for me. If there is a war, Dashuai can't forget me!"

Li Qing laughed and nodded. Wei Xin was known as the master of defense in the Dingzhou Army, but his nickname was not very elegant. A wonderful counterattack among them, a typical defensive counterattack master.

Seeing that Wei Xin was so familiar with the commander-in-chief, Ruan Fangyu, the magistrate of Fuyuan County, showed envy in his eyes, but he knew that he could not compare with Wei Xin, an old subordinate of the commander-in-chief, so he took a step forward, "Fuyuan Ruan Fangyu, magistrate of Yuan County, has seen the commander in chief!"

Li Qing nodded, "Ruan Fangyu, I remember you, you and General Wei have cooperated well, and the governance of Fuyuan has also been effective. Both Ren Ruqing and Xu Xiaodao have told me about you, you are very good!"

Ruan Fangyu was both surprised and delighted, "This is the duty of a subordinate official."

Li Qing nodded, "If you can do your job well, you are a good official. That's enough. Let's go to Fuyuan City if we have anything to do. Madam is heavy, but she can't bear to stay outside the city for a long time!"

Wei Xin and Ruan Fangyu showed some strange expressions on their faces. Ruan Fangyu looked at Wei Xin, raised his chin, and winked at him, as if he was urging Wei Xin, but Wei Xin hesitated, hesitant to speak. .

Li Qing looked at it strangely, "Is there anything else you two want?"

Wei Xin stammered: "Marshal, this, this, Fuyuan City is now... now..."

"What's the matter, what's wrong with Fuyuan, is there something inconvenient for me to go in?" There was already a trace of anger in Li Qing's words.

"No!" Ruan Fangyu swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "Mrs. Jiyue is in Fuyuan City now!" Li Qing stared at Ruan Fangyu, and he didn't care about letting Wei Xin talk about it.

"What did you say?" Li Qing couldn't believe his ears, "Who do you say is in Fuyuan City?"

Wei Xin said in a low voice: "Commander, this morning, Ji Yuefu arrived in Fuyuan City under the guard of a team of attendants. He said he was waiting for Commander here, and he wanted to go to the forest with him!"

"Nonsense!" Li Qing was furious, "What's the situation with her now, can she still travel such a long distance? Is she going to die?"

Seeing Li Qing's anger, Wei Xin and Ruan Fangyu lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.

"Let's go, what are you still doing in a daze? Go to Fuyuan City." Li Qing hummed authentically, "This little girl is really lawless! Let's see how I deal with him!"

(End of this chapter)