Ever since his sister Wei Zifu entered the palace, many people have taken the initiative to make friends with him every once in a while in the past few years.
The purpose of these people is not for anything else, but because they take advantage of Wei Zifu being in the harem, and Wei Qing's future...
For many friends, many roads.
"..."
It is true that the friendship between friends naturally depends on the situation.
It is precisely because of this that Wei Qing chose to be superficial friends with Sun Bin first.
As the first civil official and the first military officer in Houtu County, if they don't get along, the entire Houtu County will be in chaos.
At that time, the unlucky ones will still be ordinary people.
Wei Qing and Sun Bin were talking, and the street vendor's wife had already served the mutton and plain noodles they ordered.
The street vendor's wife, who was almost frightened to death by the identity of the two men, secretly replaced the Zarijiu Sauce Lamb she had prepared earlier with freshly made Sauce Lamb before she dared to come over.
The mutton filled a large plate, and it looked like it definitely weighed more than a pound. It looked a bit grand when placed in the middle of the wooden table.
After a while, Sun Bin ordered Wuliang Sauce Beef and Plain Noodles, which were ready, and the portions were also generous.
After the food was served, the street vendor carefully picked out two pairs of "high-quality" chopsticks of similar length and thickness from the bamboo tube...
She also deliberately rinsed it in clean water again and again before daring to take it over.
Not only that, for fear that the two "big men" Wei Qing and Sun Bin would find it difficult to use the chopsticks with water on them, they wiped off the water droplets with their sleeves.
Wei Qing, who was born a shepherd boy and had been a slave for many years, didn't feel anything when he saw this scene.
Sun Bin was actually in a bit of a dilemma, holding chopsticks and neither eating nor not eating.
Eat, these chopsticks have been wiped by the sleeve of the stall woman, can they really be used?
Besides, the sauced mutton smells fragrant, but if you look closely, you can see that it is all black in sauce, which makes you unappetizing.
The bowl of plain noodles also looked normal. There was no oil on the soup, so that was it. There were also a few suspicious green particles on top.
As a person from a small aristocratic family, Sun Bin really couldn't accept this kind of cuisine for a while.
Wei Qing could see that he was embarrassed by such a meal, so he didn't say anything to eat quickly and just nodded to him.
Wei Qing, on his side, used chopsticks to pick up a chopstick of noodles in the noodle bowl, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a few times and felt it was not flavorful enough, so he added a few pieces of sauced mutton into his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and started chewing.
Wei Qing's eating posture made Sun Bin a little confused.
Seeing Sun Bin like this, Wei Qing laughed and said: "These are all bad habits picked up during the march, which made the county magistrate laugh."
"When you are marching on the road, every minute and second is precious. If your hands and feet are slow, you will inevitably delay important events. Over time, you will end up looking like a starving man eating..."
"Oh, I see."
Sun Bin hesitated a few times, pushed the plate of mutton in front of him to Wei Qing and said, "Eat, you eat."
Wei Qing was not polite. He cooked the food so fast that it was like a wind and a broken cloud.
Sun Bin asked the vendor to bring them two more jars of wine.
After the wine was brought, Sun Bin picked up a jar of wine, touched it with Wei Qing, and took a meaningful sip next to the jar.
After hesitating for a long time, he said to Wei Qing: "Master Wei, there are some things I don't know whether I should say or not?"
At this point, Sun Bin suddenly stopped and stared at Wei Qing without speaking, obviously wanting to see Wei Qing's next attitude.
Wei Qing also understood Sun Bin's hint.
Regardless of whether what Sun Bin said next was useful to him or not, he always said it specifically as a sign of friendship.
It was also because of this that Wei Qing couldn't put on an air of rejection, so he could only follow his words and ask tentatively.
"Brother Sun is so anxious. Could it be that something happened to the Huns?"
"..."
"Brother Wei, you are really smart."
"I have been serving as the magistrate of Houtu County for eight years."
"If there is any trouble around Yanling, I won't be the first to know. At least I won't be too far behind others."
Sun Bin put down the wine bowl, let out a long sigh, tapped his fingers on the table a few times, and said after a while.
"The Huns' caravans have all evacuated Houtu County in recent days. This is not a good sign."
"According to previous experience, the Huns are coming soon."
"..."
Hearing what Sun Bin said, the expression on Wei Qing's face became serious.
About the Huns raising troops to go south and burning, killing and looting wantonly in the borders of the Han Empire.
Wei Qing naturally knew about it, but he didn't know much about the situation of the Huns' caravan.
The Huns come to Yanling every year to rob and plunder. Why does the local government here still allow them to enter and trade?
Facing Wei Qing's questioning, Sun Bin's face showed embarrassment and his words became stilted.
"Brother Wei, don't be surprised. There are relatively few Xiongnu merchants doing business here in Yanling, and there are more in Hebei. There are also mutual venues, which were ordered by the imperial court to open."
"The Xiongnu merchants exchanged their cattle, sheep, and horses for our cloth, salt, tea, and grain."
“Some of the richest people in the Yanling area started their families because of this.
When he said this, Sun Bin's voice immediately became filled with indignation: "What's more, there are people who secretly sell iron ore and iron tools to the Huns."
"To be honest, I caught two traitorous businessmen who were transporting iron tools to the Huns. To serve as a warning, I had their heads beheaded under my supervision."
"..."
Trade, smuggling and repression were contradictory issues that did exist on the border, which made Wei Qing's mind a little confused for a while.
Wei Qing held the wine bowl and pondered for a long time, saying nothing for a while.
The invasion of the Huns was definitely a huge event for people living on the border. No one, from the bureaucratic class to the ordinary people, could escape.
After a long time, Wei Qing bowed his hand, accepting Sun Bin's favor.
After learning about the possible invasion of the Huns, Wei Qing did not hesitate and directly declared that Houtu County was on military alert as the first person in the military and political affairs of Houtu County.
During this period of time, we are on standby.
Moreover, Wei Qing began to expand the army immediately, expanding the troops in Houtu County to a full strength of 800.
"..."
A few days later!
After most of the busy day, Wei Qing, who had sorted out his daily military affairs, walked out of the military and political hall wearing armor.
Smelling the faint aroma of roasted lamb wafting through his nose, Wei Qing suddenly felt his stomach was empty and couldn't help but swallow.
Following the scent, Wei Qing came to an open space in front of the military camp.
