"That's true!" Cui Hongdu also showed a smile: "By then, we may have already taken turns to return to the hometown, by the way; you should not be married yet, right? There is a sister in the seventh room of my family, who is just fifteen this year , we are not married yet, how about we get married after we go back?"
"This -" Wang Wenzuo Gujing Wubo's expression was suddenly broken: "It's not too good, isn't it?"
"What's wrong!" Cui Hongdu has obviously been thinking about it for a long time: "Sanlang, don't look at me like this, but I am also a branch of the Cui family in Qinghe. My seventh-room girl is like this in appearance, beauty, and knowledge. You are one of the few in my generation, if the emperor had not issued an edict the year before last that prohibited the 'seven surnames and ten families' from marrying each other, I would not have mentioned this matter to you!"
"Brother Cui, that's not what I meant!" Wang Wenzuo looked a little embarrassed. The "seven surnames and ten families" mentioned by Cui Hongdu are the famous "forbidden marriage families" in history, namely the Qinghe Cui family, the Boling Cui family, the Fanyang Lu family, The seven surnames are the Zheng family in Xingyang, the Li family in Zhaojun, the Li family in Longxi, and the Wang family in Taiyuan. They are the sixth son of Li Bao of Longxi in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the fourth son of Wang Qiong of Taiyuan, the third son of Zheng Wen of Xingyang, the fourth son of Lu Dushi of Fanyang, the sixth son of Lu Fu, and Lu Pu. I don't know how many sons there are, the second son of Cui Zongbo of Qinghe, the second son of Cui Yuansun, the eighth son of Cui Yi of Boling of the former Yan Dynasty, the fourth son of Li Kai of Zhaojun of the Western Jin Dynasty, these are the families of ten people.
These families were among the noble families in the Guandong region with profound family knowledge and the most luxurious family backgrounds. They had a very high reputation in society. When Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty reformed, these families intermarried with the royal family of the Northern Wei Dynasty, thus entering the upper echelons of the ruling class and lasting for a long time. Even after entering the Tang Dynasty, these families still relied on the purity of their family's etiquette and despised the "turbidity" of other families. Relying on their family prestige, they still married within the five surnames according to the old customs since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and were ashamed to marry with other surnames.
The founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, such as Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Li Ji and others, rushed to marry these high-ranking families, and even spent huge amounts of wealth for this purpose. Li Yifu, the prime minister at the time, was born into a poor family. He proposed marriage to these high-ranking families for his son, but was rejected. In anger, he asked Emperor Gaozong to issue an edict to prohibit internal marriages among these famous families. This is the famous "Seven Surnames" in history. "Ten" incident.
"What does that mean? Could it be that you are worried about not having enough money?" Cui Hongdu smiled and said: "Don't worry, Sanlang, you and I are close friends of life and death. I have seen with my own eyes your talent and character, and although your family is in decline, , but you are also the 'Langya Wang Family', I don't think your family will embarrass you in this regard!"
"Don't you think the age difference between me and your little sister is too big?" Wang Wenzuo said with a wry smile: "Your sister is only fifteen this year, and I am already twenty-seven, so there is a difference of twelve years!"
"Isn't this just right?" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "A good man should first build a career and then consider a wife. This is a beautiful thing in the world! Besides, at your age, Sanlang, where is there a woman of your level who is not yet married? Do you want to marry? A widow, or a divorced daughter?"
Hearing this, Wang Wenzuo was speechless. As Cui Hongdu said, women got married very early in the Tang Dynasty. They usually started getting married at the age of thirteen or fourteen. The so-called cardamom years refer to this age. They have not yet been married at the age of eighteen. If Wang Wenzuo wanted to find someone of the same age, he would probably only have a widow or a second-married woman. If a scholar from a scholar family married a widow or a second-married woman from the beginning, it would be fine in modern society. It was indeed shocking at the time.
Seeing that Wang Wenzuo was silent, Cui Hongdu thought he had been persuaded and said with a smile: "Sanlang, you don't have to worry. It should still be half a year before we take turns to go back. Just have a good idea. Although you are more talented than others, you still have to do it." Prepare something for your family business. If you can break through Pyongyang City this time, you can’t take everything like last time!”
Wang Wenzuo knew that Cui Hongdu said that he did not seize the spoils when he broke through Baekje last time. After all, the Tang army's military pay was almost zero at that time. If you want to make a fortune, you can only rely on yourself to rob it. No wonder that in the later years of Emperor Gaozong, the soldiers were already too weak to fight. , had to be replaced by recruiting troops, which in turn caused a huge burden on the empire's finances. In order to reduce the burden on the central finance, military and financial officials were created in the border areas to provide support for the Anshi Rebellion and the separatist rule of vassal towns that later broke out. Foreshadowing was laid. Of course, these are all things for later. It is not Wang Wenzuo's turn to worry about these now. The only thing he has to worry about right now is his own wallet and life.
Jin Renwen crossed the river very quickly. In the evening of the third day, the last grain truck set foot on the land on the north bank of the Han River. He left about two thousand men to garrison the ferry on the north bank, and then ordered the entire army to march toward Pyongyang. Along the way, the north wind was bleak and snow was flying. The villages on both sides of the road were deserted, and the mountains and cities were fighting each other like ghosts.
"Sanlang, look!" He Bayong pointed to the horse dung that was pulled open on the ground: "It's still soft inside, and it won't take more than an hour to pull it out. The thieves are getting more and more aggressive!"
"Yeah!" Wang Wenzuo broke a branch, poked the horse dung on the ground, and nodded: "Almost, we are only a day or two away from Pyongyang. As long as the Goguryeo people are still alive, they will not sit idly by. That’s right!”
"Well, it's best for the two sides to open up their posture, fight against each other, and fight the generals!" He Bayong geared up, and Cui Hongdu on the side snorted coldly: "The Goguryeo people are not fools, how can they fulfill your wish? This is under the city of Pyongyang. If they lose, the country will be destroyed. If they win, they will only kill a few more Tang people and capture a few prisoners, which is obviously not worth it!"
Wang Wenzuo smiled. He did not participate in the argument between Cui Hongdu and He Bayong. In his heart, he agreed with Cui Hongdu's view. After all, this was in the heart of Goguryeo. The Tang army was a guest army from afar. A defeat would mean all was lost. The army was destroyed and there was no way to escape; and the Goguryeo people were the main force, and the soldiers' hometowns were nearby. Once the situation was unfavorable, they could easily flee back to their hometowns. The fighting will of the two sides in the field battle was simply incomparable, and once Pyongyang was defeated in the field battle, If the defeated army flees into the city, it is likely to cause people's hearts to collapse and become irremediable. In this case, an experienced general will definitely not rush into a decisive battle with the Tang army. Instead, he will use various strategies and tactics to weaken the Tang army outside the city and wait for a turn. .
The horn sounded, interrupting Wang Wenzuo's thoughts. He frowned and looked towards the place where the sound came from. He saw that the flag of the Silla Central Army stopped moving. Could it be that he encountered some accident?
"Captain Wang!" Silla Hwarang, who served as the liaison officer, said in blunt Chinese: "It should be the order to set up camp and rest!"
"But it's still early!"
"We are not far from Pyongyang now. We should station the camp early and let the soldiers eat and rest well so that we can deal with the unexpected tomorrow!"
Lewen
