Wang Xiaolie held down his horse's hair and said to Jie Qian: "This place is already ten miles away from the city. It won't take long for Zhijun to send it away. In this battle, most of the money and silk seized from the Jin army was taken away by me. Don't be resentful to Zhijun. In extraordinary times, Our army is really short of money and no one can do anything about it."
Jie Qian said sincerely: "This battle all depends on defense. I hardly fought in the city. After the victory, defense gave me a lot of cloth and other good things, which is extremely rare. I will keep it in my heart for the great kindness I received from defense. I will try again later." Pay it forward!"
Wang Xiaolie smiled, said nothing more, and waved goodbye to Jie Qian. It will be of great benefit to the future to maintain a good relationship with these people around you. To develop power, peace is very important.
Back in Xiangyang, it was already mid-April and the weather was getting hotter. The city was bustling and lively. Department stores gather here and merchants come to do business. Xiangyang has become a nearby central city.
Chen Qiudao and his officials arrived outside the city early to welcome Wang Xiaolie back to the city.
After entering the Yamen, everyone sat down. Wang Xiaolie said: "These days in Jingmen, official documents are not arriving. I wonder what major events are happening in the world?"
Chen Qiudao said: "It has been dozens of days since Lieutenant Han blocked Wushu's army at Huangtiandang. The world is talking about whether it will be easy for the Jin army to go south this time, but it will be difficult for the Jin army to return north. The defense is at Jingmen, and it is fast, one to the east and one to the east. West, it’s two big wins!”
Wang Xiaolie was curious: "I heard that Han Taiwei's soldiers were less than 10,000, and it is rare to be able to block the Jin army. I wonder if they won?"
Chen Qiudao said: "I got the official document the day before yesterday. The two armies are still fighting fiercely. However, the water route back to the north of the Jin army is blocked, so it is not easy to leave."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "That's right. The Jin army used a small country to fight against a big country. Regardless of it, they marched straight in, spanning thousands of miles. There was no smooth sailing. After this year's failure, I don't dare to cross the river easily."
Chen Qiudao said yes again and again, extremely excited.
Since the Jingkang Incident, the Song army suffered consecutive defeats in several years, and the morale of the Song Dynasty's army was deeply affected. At the beginning of this year, Wang Xiao went to support Shaanzhou, and in April he fought in Jingmen, winning two games in a row, which greatly boosted his morale. It was because of Wang Xiao's victory in the hunt for Shaanzhou that Chen Qiudao recognized him, came to Xiangyang, and officially served as the deputy envoy for the southwestern route of Beijing. Chen Qiudao's official position was before Wang Xiaolie was appointed as the envoy of South Jingxi Road, and he only took up the post now, which shows his original distrust of Wang Xiaolie. As a general, victory can give people confidence.
Asked about some recent chores in Xiangyang, Wang Xiaolie said: "After pulling out the Su Yi army to cross the river, they fought on the Jiangxi and Hunan roads, breaking through more than ten states and plundering countless wealth. In this great victory, the looted wealth was really Quite a lot. Except for a small part that went to Xie Zhijun, most of them were transported back to Xiangyang Mansion by me. With this money, many things can be done."
Chen Qiudao breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. To be honest, Xiangyang is very lively now, and the commercial tax collected has exceeded that before Jingkang. It's just that in rural areas, only three measures of grain per mu of land are collected, and the government tax is less. It’s a lot, it’s extremely difficult. Now that you have money, you can do a lot of things.”
Wang Xiaolie said: "We have to discuss this matter in the long term. We will discuss it together in a few days. There is no need to rush. By the way, there are also 20,000 porters captured by the Jin army. Counselor Chen will escort them back to Xiangyang and resettle them in the surrounding areas. I heard that Suizhou is idle If there are still many fields, we can place them in Zaoyang and Tangcheng counties."
At this time, officials from Suizhou and Yingzhou had returned to Beijing, and the place came under Wang Xiaolie's control. The area under Wang Xiaolie's jurisdiction is almost administratively similar to Jingnan Road. Among the local forces, it has a very large territory.
Chen Qiudao was born as a Jinshi and was arrogant. After arriving in Xiangyang these days, I saw the prosperity of Xiangyang and realized Wang Xiaolie's success in local governance. I admired him very much and managed the place with all his heart. And unlike Wang Ruohai, he does not oppose Wang Xiaolie's policies.
After chatting about government affairs, Wang Xiao went to his residence to rest. After the battle in Jingmen, my nerves were tense every day, and I was really tired.
Chen Yuyi went into the city, went to the market and bought a bream, two kilograms of eels, cut three kilograms of meat, made a large gourd of wine, and happily took them home. This time is different from the past. There are two soldiers beside him, holding things for him.
After entering the door, the soldiers rested next to their residence. Chen Yuyi staggered into the courtyard gate with wine and meat in hand.
Dalang was just studying and playing with the cat alone in the yard. Seeing Chen Yuyi coming in with wine, fish, and meat, he couldn't help but clapped his hands and said, "It's a good day, and I have wine and meat in my mouth again!"
Chen Yuyi scolded: "You are a foodie! Where is mom? Let him fix it early."
Dalang said: "In the past few days, my mother has been raising silkworms and has gone to pick mulberries with her neighbors. I heard them say that she won't come back until the sun goes down."
Chen Yuyi put down his things and sat down on the chair next to him. He said: "I have really worked hard for you in the past two years. From now on, you don't have to work so hard, just stay at home. Mom will take care of the housework, and you can study in peace, so you don't have to worry anymore."
Dalang smiled and said: "Dad said that, is it a promotion? You have increased your salary, so of course mom doesn't have to worry about it."
Chen Yuyi smiled. He said: "How have you been studying these days? Come, let me give you a test."
Dalang said: "I recently borrowed a copy of "Historical Records" and my son is reading it. But Dad, I heard everyone saying that Xiangyang is different from other places. Many schools have been built. Once you enter there, you can learn With many skills, it is not difficult to find a livelihood ministry.”
Chen Yuyi said: "What do you know about your kid's family? Those are schools for the common people. After studying, you can find a job. Our family is different. You have to study classics and history, and in the future you will be admitted to the imperial examination and become an official! Don't think about it Those who are messy, just calm down and study!"
Dalang curled his lips and said nothing.
At this moment, I heard the voices of my wife and the neighbor woman outside the door. Not long after, the wife came in with a basket filled with mulberry leaves.
Seeing Chen Yuyi sitting there, his wife said: "The officials are back? It's been a long time since you left. I just heard someone say that you won a great victory at Jingmen, and the Jin army lost their armor and fled eastward. .”
Chen Yuyi nodded: "Yes, this time it is much more prestigious than the aid to Shaanzhou at the beginning of the year. In Shaanzhou, Lousu has tens of thousands of soldiers, more than our soldiers and horses. If you are not careful, you may be defeated. Jingmen is different, Jin The army only has ten thousand people, and if we can’t defeat them on the battlefield, we will have no choice but to flee.”
The wife said: "I heard people say that just these ten thousand people crossed the river from Huangzhou and conquered dozens of states. No one could stop them. Your Jingmen victory has made great contributions to the country! I was walking on the street just now, and many people were buying wine. Buy meat and celebrate.”
Chen Yuyi said: "Yes, this is the best battle since Jingkang! I also bought wine and meat when I came back. You clean it up, and we will celebrate tonight. Also, my salary has been increased this time when I come back. You don’t have to work hard in the future.”
"How much has it increased?" My wife's eyes lit up when she heard that the money had increased.
Chen Yuyi said: "From now on, like several other generals, I will eat everything on January 5th. As a family of four, we will have wine and meat every day, and this is enough. From now on, you can live a peaceful life at home without having to worry about it. Work hard.”
Fifty years a month, in this era, is definitely a high-class life. The wife stood there, calculating how many things fifty guan could buy, but she couldn't do it for a while. He shook his head and said: "Even if the money has increased, you still have to live hard. In the past year or two, life has stabilized, and many people have spent their free time raising silkworms. When I have nothing to do, I follow others to collect mulberry leaves, raise silkworms and weave to make a living."
Chen Yuyi said: "In the past, when we were raising silkworms at home, we had to have a maid. If we were just one person, how could we be so busy? Don't do it. What kind of silk can't you buy with fifty thousand dollars a month? After so many years of hard work, you can't do it." It’s time to take a rest.”
The wife smiled and said nothing. After putting the collected mulberry leaves in the place where silkworms were raised, and setting them up, they came to see the wine and meat that Chen Yuyi brought back.
The bream is a specialty of this area, and my wife has already learned how to do it. Just looking at the eels I bought, I felt a little confused: "When I was in Luoyang, there were eels around. I just didn't eat them, but I didn't know how to cook them."
Chen Yuyi said: "A few days ago in Jingmen, Xie Zhijun invited him to drink. He had a dish called Panlong eel, which was very delicious. I asked him how to make it. Just learn to make it. Defense doesn't like officials hiring people, so you have to learn more dishes. It’s better to eat well at home.”
In addition to weaving, women in this era also had to be good at cooking. Of course, most wealthy families hire female servants at home, and the hostess only needs to be able to command. My wife comes from a wealthy family and has never cooked by herself before. After Chen Yuyi was demoted to Chen Liujiao, life was difficult, so he learned to cook. After arriving in Xiangyang, Chen Yuyi gradually got used to this kind of life and kept urging his wife to learn new dishes.
The wife also did not argue with Chen Yuyi. As a woman, she couldn't do such a bloody job as killing eels. He called Dalang and asked him to kill the eel together with Erlang. Process the fish there yourself and prepare the meat for frying.
Chen Yuyi watched from the side. The family was busy, but he was leisurely.
This kind of smoke from fireworks has a strange magic power that makes people feel the warmth of home. Chen Yuyi came from a family of officials. He was smart since he was a child and was a young Jinshi. If it weren't for the Jin soldiers going south, he would never have experienced this kind of life. In recent years, after wandering around in the world, I feel that this kind of life is particularly warm. This kind of warmth makes life feel precious.
