"Dad, why did the Song Dynasty insist on allying with the Jin Kingdom? Aren't you afraid of being eaten by tigers if you drive away tigers and devour wolves? It has only been a few short years since the Jurchen uprising and they have annexed half of the Liao Kingdom. Such a country of tigers and wolves Is it so easy to get along with someone like this?" Wang Zhi asked in confusion.
Wang Zhen did not attack him this time, but sighed and said: "Even a young boy like you understands the truth, do you think the officials will not understand it, and the whole hall of Gonggun and other guilds will not understand it?"
"You also said that half of the Liao Kingdom has been lost in just a few years. How long do you think the Liao Kingdom can last?"
"Do you think it would be easier for us, the Song Dynasty, to send troops now to retake the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun from the remnant Liao, or would it be easier to retake it from the Jin after the Liao Kingdom is destroyed?"
Pressed by three obvious questions in a row, Wang Zhi was speechless. Sure enough, if you were not born in this era, you would not understand the hardships of this era. Many things are not taken for granted, but you are at that time and in that position. Things not to do.
As for what some people in later generations said from the perspective of God, "the lips are dead and the teeth are cold", "the Liao Dynasty destroyed the Jin" and so on are even more ridiculous. Not to mention that the Jin Kingdom has no enmity with the Song Dynasty now, just say that you helped to bully you. Is it reasonable for enemies of more than a hundred years to attack a stranger?
Wang Zhi took a deep breath and said: "Dad, brother, I don't understand any strategy or state affairs. I only want one thing from you."
Seeing his serious look, Wang Xun also became serious, "Second brother, tell me, the eldest brother who can promise you will definitely do it."
"This expedition must not underestimate the enemy or advance rashly."
Wang Zhi's eyes were blazing, and his voice was pleading.
"Yes! Brother, I promise you."
Wang Xun nodded in response, and Wang Zhen also nodded slightly. No matter how immature this Shuzi's mind was, his intentions were still important.
"Okay, it's very late. You two should go back to your room and rest."
Wang Zhen spoke, and when he saw his two sons getting up, he thought of something, and ordered: "Erlang will get up early tomorrow. I have made an appointment with the Cao family to come to propose marriage tomorrow."
"oh."
Wang Erlang said helplessly "Oh" and left the central hall.
"Oh yeah!"
Wang Erlang, who came out of the central hall, clenched his fist and roared, his face filled with uncontrollable joy.
"Second brother, what's wrong with you?" Wang Xun caught up behind him and asked.
"Oh, it's okay, there are mosquitoes." Wang Erlang slapped his neck and shook his head.
"mosquito?"
Being blown by the cold wind at night in late March, Wang Xun shivered and tightened his collar.
"Hey, second brother, let me tell you, this woman..."
Seeing her two sons walking away, Mrs. Zhong took her husband on her arm and walked to the back room. She said with some scolding, "I mean, you are already old and you are still angry with your son. In the past two years since you have been away, Here, Erlang has become a lot more sensible, and he handles all the big and small things at home very well. He is no longer the troublemaker he used to be. You need to communicate well with him and don't treat him like a child."
"Well, madam, please rest assured. My husband understands. I can also see that Erlang has indeed grown up."
Wang Zhen patted her hand, then said helplessly: "But when I saw that boy's careless behavior, I became very angry."
Mr. Zhong said angrily: "You were just doing nothing when you were his age, weren't you?"
"Did I? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Wang Zhen refused to admit it.
"Okay, okay, you didn't."
Zhong did not argue with him. He knew that even if he continued talking about this for decades, he would not get anything out of it, so he asked: "Then at his age, do you know what academics are? Do you know how to appease the refugees? Do you know how? Treat malaria?”
Wang Zhen "..."
"Now, I don't know how many women are envious of me for having a good son. Every time they see me, they praise Erlang. If Erlang hadn't been engaged, believe it or not, the threshold of our family would have been trampled..."
…
"Hurry up, put this box over here. That box is too expensive. Be careful when handling it. Where is Wang Po, why hasn't she come yet? Ah Fu, please hurry up..."
The genius was bright, and the front yard of the palace was already in full swing. Dozens of people were coming and going, carrying boxes of various sizes, and the whole yard was almost filled. Wang Zhi's mother-in-law, Zhong Shi, was in the middle of the command, looking busy and happy. .
"Oh, grandma, I'll leave the matter to Uncle Zhong. Come and eat first. The food will be cold in a while."
Wang Zhi shouted at the top of his lungs in the dining room, his words full of indifference, but when Zhong entered the room, he saw that he was wearing the Marquis uniform just issued by the imperial court.
The marquis uniform is not one of those plain-colored official uniforms, but with bright colors, flowers, birds, fish, and insects, showing elegance and elegance. Coupled with Wang Erlang's good-looking human body, he is the most beautiful star in the crowd no matter where he is.
"My son is so handsome!"
Mr. Zhong couldn't help but praise him, and Wang Zhen snorted in agreement.
Not long after Mr. Zhong took his seat, Wang Xun also led his wife Liu, holding little Wang Hang, who was still confused, to arrive. Little Wang Ling also jumped behind and ran over. Her eyes widened when she saw her second brother's new clothes. He kept clamoring that he wanted it too.
"This is a Marquis uniform. What do you want? Marquis, do you know?"
Wang Erlang deliberately raised his voice, as if he was afraid that no one in the big family would be able to hear him.
Xiao Wang Ling opened her big black and bright eyes and asked him, "Second brother, what is a Marquis?"
"A marquis is a very, very big official."
Wang Erlang opened his arms and described it as being about...the size of a dining table.
"Wow, it's so big!"
Xiaoling's eyes were filled with little stars, and she looked at her second brother with admiration.
Wang Erlang put his hands on his waist for a while, and then said, "Sister, let me ask you, do you know how many officials there are in the Song Dynasty?"
"I don't know." Xiao Wang Ling shook her head.
Wang Zhi raised five fingers and waved them in front of her.
"five hundred?"
Xiao Wang Ling asked, Wang Erlang shook his head.
"Five thousand?"
Xiao Wang Ling asked again, but Wang Erlang still shook his head.
"That's...50,000?"
Xiao Wang Ling asked again, and Wang Erlang finally nodded.
"Ah, so many!"
Xiao Wang Ling exclaimed. After her tenth birthday, she already had a clear understanding of the quantifier 'wan'.
"Yes, there are so many, twice as many as the previous Tang Dynasty, but the place is not even a quarter of the size of others."
Wang Erlang opened a small popular science theater and also stepped into Cousin Zhao's family.
His own father, Wang Zhen, had a dark face on the side, gnawing on steamed buns, but he didn't express any opinions, because what he said was... right.
"Let me ask you again, do you know how many marquises there are in the Song Dynasty?"
Wang Erlang asked again, and Xiao Wang Ling shook her head like a rattle.
Wang Erlang puffed up his chest and said, "Let me tell you, there are not even a hundred people alive."
"Ah, so few!"
Xiao Wang Ling exclaimed again, and then asked, "Are my father and eldest brother marquis?"
Wang Erlang groaned and said: "Your father and eldest brother, except that they are still alive, they have nothing to do with Bai Na."
"They are just two inconspicuous little shrimps among the fifty thousand officials above."
Wang Zhi stretched out his hand to indicate, which was only as big as a fingernail.
His father, Wang Zhen, and his brother, Wang Xun, stood aside with dark faces, chewing steamed buns, but still did not express any opinions, because there was nothing wrong with what they said...
"Second brother is too awesome!"
Little Wang Ling jumped into Wang Erlang's arms and hugged his neck, the admiration in her big eyes almost overflowing.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Wang Erlang laughed happily, his father and his eldest brother were embarrassed, his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law snickered, his sister admired him, and his nephew...where was his nephew?
Wang Zhi looked at little Wang Hang, who was still lying in his elder brother's arms with his eyes narrowed, wandering around, opening his mouth from time to time to eat the food he was fed.
It feels so good that the family is safe and happy together!
I really want to freeze this scene on this day forever, and by the way, I also want to add her into it, that would be perfect.
Wang Erlang had wonderful fantasies.
"Come on, finish eating. When you're done, follow me to worship your ancestors."
His own father, Wang Zhen, walked past Wang Erlang with a dark face, without even looking at him.
"Ah, I haven't eaten yet."
Wang Zhi quickly picked up little Wang Ling and put it on a seat aside. He picked up a bowl of hot soup cake and put it in his mouth.
"No, you're done eating."
His brother Wang Xun came and took away his bowl, pulled him and walked out.
"Hey, hey, hey...let me take another bite, another bite..."
The desolate pleading gradually faded away, leaving the three women laughing incessantly. Little Wang Hang also woke up a little, looking around blankly.
In the Song Dynasty, the first step for a man to get married was to worship his ancestors, offer the fragrant cakes used in Nacai, offer incense to his ancestors, and ask them to bless this marriage to be happy and happy.
In the ancestral hall, Wang Zhen took the lead, followed by Wang Xun and Wang Zhi, who in turn placed incense on the ancestral tablets, bowed three times and kowtowed nine times.
When Wang Zhen and his son left the ancestral hall, Mr. Zhong greeted them and said, "Okay, the betrothal gifts are all on the car. Grandma Wang is already here. Let's go quickly."
Wang Po, also known as the matchmaker, although the Wang and Cao families were married because of their ancestral friendship, and there was no matchmaker to set up the relationship, but it was clear that the matchmaker was marrying. How could they get married without a matchmaker?
Even if you don't have one, you have to find one. Both Wang and Cao belong to wealthy families, so etiquette cannot be careless at all.
Wang Zhi seemed to have thought of something and hurried to the backyard. When he came back a short time later, he was wearing peonies on his head and holding a white horse in his hand.
Mrs. Zhong was not angry this time, not only because today was her son's happy day, but also because it was the time when the peonies were in full bloom, and there were no less than one or two peonies.
But she still frowned and said, "You have to ride in the same carriage as Wang Po. Why are you leading the white horse?"
This was the first time Wang Zhi had heard of such a custom, and he said dissatisfiedly: "Who wants to ride in the same car with an old woman? Then I will have to hold myself back all the way. If you don't, I will ride a white horse."
Mr. Zhong was about to say something, but was interrupted by Wang Zhen: "The son of my general family doesn't want to ride in a car, so he rides a horse."
Mr. Zhong had no way to deal with the father and son, so he let him go.
In front of the palace gate and in the Alley of Scholars, thirteen carriages were lined up, one was occupied, and twelve were without sheds. Each carriage was piled full.
