The eldest lady returned home smoothly, and everyone in the Xu family was in peace and harmony.
The banquet was set again, Xu Guangqi and Xu Erjue didn't eat a bite, and concentrated on watching Xu Ruolin feast.
After running around for many days and experiencing life and death, she finally returned home and ate her hometown food again. Xu Ruolin completely forgot about her ladylike appearance and felt so happy when she ate.
However, neither Xu Guangqi nor Xu Erjue restrained her. Xu Ruolin was the most relaxed in front of these two relatives.
Seeing that Xu Ruolin had almost eaten, Xu Guangqi said as if unintentionally: "Nanny, have you suffered a lot these past few days?"
Xu Ruolin said whatever she wanted.
"When I first escaped from Qingxian County, I almost lost my life. But later I assisted the guerrilla general Liu Yuanqing in Nanpi to fight, and things got much better. The Zuo family is very hospitable. My granddaughter ate a lot of Shandong cuisine and was very friendly to us. Jiangnan’s cuisine is very different.”
Xu Guangqi was so funny.
You are the granddaughter of the Minister of Rites. No matter where you go, no one will dare to neglect you.
The chat box is open, but Xu Ruolin will not hold it back.
They all told how the city of Qing County was attacked by bandits, how Zuo Mengeng rescued her, and then how he fought fiercely with the horse bandits, how Zuo Mengeng came up with the idea to disguise himself as a horse bandit to stab her in the back, how he helped Liu Yuanqing regain the county seat, etc. come out.
Xu Guangqi and Xu Erjue were frightened when they heard the cry, and almost fainted.
In that kind of environment, let alone Xu Ruolin, even they couldn't bear it.
Hearing that Xu Ruolin and Duzuo Mengeng rode on the same horse for several days in a row, Xu Guangqi felt something was wrong.
"Nanny, how is Zuo Menggeng like a person?"
Xu Ruolin smiled brightly.
"My grandson thought he was outspoken enough, but he didn't expect that Zuo Menggeng was even more outrageous. Even his grandson thought some of his words were too extreme. But he knows a lot, especially about Western things. He My grandchildren don’t even know many of the things he said.”
Xu Guangqi smiled slightly.
"The world is huge, and no one can know it all. By the way, how is Zuo Mengeng's knowledge?"
Xu Ruolin covered her mouth directly this time, as if Zuo Mengeng was right across from her, letting her laugh at her.
"How can he have any knowledge? The writing is so ugly. He also makes excuses, saying that moral articles are not down to earth and are useless in governing the country and the people."
Xu Guangqi was stunned, and his heart was slightly disturbed.
Xu Erjue couldn't help but curl his lips.
"You are really not ashamed of your words. In today's world, self-cultivation, family management, and world governance all depend on moral articles. How can I not be afraid of being scorned by everyone in the world if I am so wild and rebellious?"
Xu Ruolin looked at this second brother with a half-smile, and only said one sentence.
"Second brother, do you know that the crazy boy you mentioned was accepted as a student by Nian Taigong?"
"How can it be?"
Xu Erjue exclaimed, unable to hide the envy in his expression.
Even though he is Xu Guangqi's grandson, when it comes to knowledge, Liu Zongzhou is the best in the world. In the land south of the Yangtze River, there are countless people who are eager to worship Liu Zongzhou as their teacher, just like the crucian carp crossing the river.
However, Liu Zongzhou never accepted students, adhering to the principle of being cautious and independent, and became increasingly aloof and independent.
Unexpectedly, he made an exception and turned out to be a person who criticized moral articles.
Xu Erjue thought he understood.
"Huh, he's just a person seeking fame. It's hard to get into the elegant hall with some tricks."
This time Xu Ruolin decided to use facts to teach Xu Erjue a lesson.
"Second brother thought that Zuo Menggeng was accepted as a student by Nian Taigong, and what he wanted to learn was a moral article? Before my sister came back, she had read a wonderful article there. Although it has not yet been completed, its greatness has been revealed. Xiaomei My sister copied it, so my second brother might as well correct me."
Xu Ruolin took out the manuscript from her bag and prepared to hand it to Xu Erjue.
Xu Erjue sneered, not thinking that an unknown person could write anything heroic. Just as he was about to take it and take a look at it and point out the errors and absurdities in it, he heard Xu Guangqi coughing.
I had no choice but to hand over the manuscript respectfully.
Xu Guangqi took it and looked at it silently. The hall was quiet for a while, except for the sound of him turning the pages of his manuscript.
"The Wealth of Nations" written by Zuo Menggen didn't have much content, so Xu Guangqi read it very quickly. After reading it, my eyes looked at the empty space with no focus.
But only he himself understood the shock in his heart.
When he handed the manuscript back to Xu Ruolin, he specifically ordered: "Keep it carefully and don't show it to others."
Seeing Xu Guangqi's solemnity, Xu Erjue became anxious.
"Grandpa, I am not an outsider."
Xu Guangqi looked at him and said softly: "Mediocre people, please don't tarnish your masterpiece."
Xu Erjue almost wanted to vomit blood and became even more curious.
What on earth could have caused Xu Guangqi to act like this?
Xu Guangqi's words made Xu Ruolin extremely happy. She quickly put the manuscript away, then remembered something and said quickly: "By the way, Yaya, Zuo Mengeng asked me to ask you for help before leaving."
"Oh, what is he going to do?"
Xu Guangqi waited quietly to see what Xu Ruolin said.
This is the last observation of Zuo Mengeng.
If Zuo Mengeng wanted to seek official status and fame through Xu Ruolin, Xu Guangqi would immediately look down on his character and give up some of his thoughts.
Xu Ruolin said: "Zuo Menggeng asked you for some Western seeds. He said that there was a severe drought in Linqing this year and the crops failed. I don't know what will happen next year, so I want to plant some Western crops to see if they can have miraculous effects."
It turned out to be this.
Xu Guangqi stroked his beard and thought deeply, and couldn't help but become curious about the young man far away in Linqing.
"I know."
Xu Guangqi returned to his study, sat quietly for a while, and wrote a letter. After sealing them carefully, he took down some manuscripts from the bookshelf and called the housekeeper Xu Xiang.
After giving the manuscript and letter to Xu Xiang, he also ordered: "Go and prepare a cart of thoughtful gifts, as well as the seeds of those Western crops, and pack some of each. You can personally send them to Linqing and give them to the Zuo family. .”
Xu Xiang was startled.
"Master, is this too grand?"
Xu Guangqi did not explain, but just said: "Go. Go early and come back early, and you can still catch up with the New Year."
Of course Zuo Mengeng didn't know that Xu Guangqi was thinking about him.
He is now busy recruiting troops and is dizzy.
The recruiting location is right at the dock, so it won't delay the project. It's a killing two birds with one stone.
Zuo Mengeng took Huang Zongxi, Liu Yiyuan, Zhou You and others to personally check the situation.
The recruitment process is not troublesome and is divided into several steps.
The first step is to ask about your age. Anyone under 18 years old or over 30 years old will not be accepted.
There are so many refugees at the dock, and after this process, there are only more than 3,000 left.
Next is the physical test.
There are no medical methods these days, so comprehensive examinations cannot be done.
The only way to know if a person is healthy or not is through a physical test.
Three thousand people were running around the open space on the pier, causing dust to fly. Those who run less than ten laps will naturally be eliminated.
Under this process, more than 300 people were wiped out.
After that, there were further tests such as lifting stone locks and testing eyesight. In the end, more than 3,000 people passed all of them.
This time, Huang Zongxi and others were in trouble.
"We need further selection to get the soldiers we want."
Zuo Mengeng didn't see it that way.
"These are all very good, why do we need to select them again?"
Zuo Rong thought he was negligent and had to remind him: "Master, according to the system, the number of soldiers and horses in a battalion..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zuo Mengeng shouted.
“What’s wrong with my battalion having eight rounds?”
He Li Yunlong...
"Eight...eight rounds?"
Everyone was stunned.
In the military system of the Ming Dynasty, the most basic unit was the team.
Each team has twelve people, with one captain; three teams form one flag, with one flag general, who is often called a small flag officer; three flags form one division, with one hundred generals; three divisions have one bureau, with one hundred generals. Put the total name.
Finally, the three bureaus were combined into one battalion, with the commanding officer being General Qian.
Zuo Menggeng opened his mouth and said that there were eight rounds in one battalion, completely ignoring the current military system.
But when everyone thought about it carefully, they suddenly realized that there seemed to be no problem.
Although this rear camp nominally belongs to the Linqing Association, General Liu Yuanqing has no control over it at all.
There are Qu Shichun and Zhang Jimeng covering it. Let alone eight bureaus in a battalion, even if it is 18 bureaus, is it not just a matter of Zuo Mengeng's words?
And increasing it to eight rounds means there are more soldiers.
Which general in charge of the army doesn't want to have as many subordinates as possible?
Besides, more soldiers means more positions for officers.
Don’t they all have official positions?
After understanding this, no one raised any objections and everyone acquiesced.
Liu Yiyuan raised a practical question.
"These refugees regard us as their backbone. If we only take 3,000 people, what will happen to the remaining 2,000 people?"
Zuo Mengeng had already made plans.
"Those more than two thousand people can't be wasted. I'm of great use. Wait a minute, I'll go find the military constitution and book the soldiers."
