Ten days later, Chen and Ji met at the gate of Shoukuan School, the south side of the complex.
A tall woman stood in front of Zheng Haizhu.
What she was wearing was just the most common coat and skirt worn by women of this dynasty, with a half-arm of lake-blue Songjiang cotton on top. There was no ostentatious attire like a cloak or a cloak at all.
But Zheng Haizhu felt in an instant that the other party's majestic attitude seemed to completely block the sunlight shining down from the sky.
Not only because of his tall stature, but also because of his battlefield power that comes from many years of military service.
This power is like the wings spread by an eagle when it soars into the sky, or like the waves caused by a dragon when it goes out to sea.
This power is the driver Ximen's confidence to show off his victory, and it is also the oath that Loulan will never return until he is broken.
Compared with such real power, the splendid and expensive brocade clothes of the royal relatives and the generous and elegant official robes of the noble courtiers all seemed like costumes on the stage, just for a mere appearance. It's just a pleasure to meet guests and ask for a fortune from the people of the world.
"Miss Zheng, nice to meet you."
Qin Liangyu lowered his eyes, raised his hands, and took the lead in greeting with fists.
She had heard Zheng Haizhu's name several times from her son Ma Xianglin after arriving in Songjiang.
Today, when she met her, even though she looked slightly startled, Qin Liangyu still felt that this girl was exactly what she imagined.
He looks like an ordinary person with no magical appearance, but given time, he will not be mediocre.
Just like the elite men and women under his command now, they were ordinary young men by the waterside and in the fields and villages in the Shili Mountains back then. However, his eye for picking people never went wrong.
The only difference between the girl in front of them and them is that she doesn't have their murderous aura - nor does she need it.
Zheng Haizhu stepped forward, thought for a moment, and pulled back his hands that were about to reach out to clasp his fists, clasped them together at his waist, and bowed slightly to Qin Liangyu in a blessing ceremony.
"I've met General Qin."
Then he looked at Ma Xianglin on the side and said apologetically: "As promised before, I should go to Guanyi to welcome General Qin today."
Ma Xianglin smiled and waved his hand: "We are early, so we should bother you first. My mother wanted to visit the scenery on both sides of the Moon River in Songjiang. After getting up in the morning, I took a boat with her and drove directly to the gate of your school. "
Qin Liangyu also showed a kind and sincere look on her face: "Miss Zheng, don't be polite. Although, in terms of age, I will consider you as your elder, but you saved Xianglin's life in the bandit village. I don't care about anything else. Let's just talk about this friendship. , as a mother, I have to come to thank you."
After saying that, she waved behind her, and her entourage hurriedly carried up several boxes.
Ma Xianglin was about to lean over, but Qin Liangyu held back, opened the box himself, and showed Zheng Haizhu one by one the Sichuan and Sichuan specialties he had brought.
"This is Shu brocade, this is Xue Tao's paper, these are the most popular Sichuan fans, the tungflower phoenix fan and the light Luo tuan fan. I heard from Xianglin that Miss Han's painting skills are even better than her embroidery skills. , I brought these fans and asked Miss Han to play with them."
Qin Liangyu has no pretensions, and the appropriateness of his words can be used as a teaching material.
The majesty you saw just now is so impressive that you want to worship him, and the kindness you see now is so refreshing.
Zheng Haizhu finally relaxed and stared at Qin Liangyu's half arm openly.
Qin Liangyu was considerate and raised his shoulders and said: "Ms. Zheng, must you have recognized it? Yes, this is the Songjiang cotton cloth sent by your mansion. After Xianglin ordered someone to send back the stone cloth last year, I asked the craftsman to do it. I am a tailor and have made dozens of pieces for women in the army. I often wear them myself."
Zheng Haizhu said with a smile: "The general likes to wear it, and my family is very honored. The mandarin duck sleeves hold military talismans, and they are armed with red makeup. Today, I have a big errand for you, and it is also related to Songjiang cotton."
After she finished speaking, Lu Xiangsheng, who was beside her, stepped forward with his cotton armor in his arms.
Zheng Haizhu had brought the cotton armor modified according to Ma Xianglin's request to the school yesterday, and went to Lu Xiangsheng to tell him the story. Today, he planned to let him appear in front of the mother and son.
There is no military fan in the world who only loves the art of war and not famous generals, but Lu Xiangsheng is by no means a low-ranking fan who only admires with his eyes.
A thousand days of reading were spent at this time. Lu Xiangsheng, the future god of war, combined the various weapons and combat skills he saw in the military books with the armor in his hand to talk to Qin Liangyu and Ma Xianglin.
So, without saying a few words, the mother and son's attention shifted from the cotton armor to the jade-faced young man in front of them.
Zheng Haizhu said at the right moment: "General Ma is the descendant of General Fubo Ma Yuan and Duke Ma, and Master Lu is the descendant of Duke Lu Zhao, one of the four outstanding figures in the early Tang Dynasty. Both of them indeed have the legacy of martial arts in the Han and Tang Dynasties. Master Lu is familiar with the art of war. I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child and have excellent arm strength, but after all, I have never led an army in battle, and I don’t know how to rectify the military discipline of an iron division. If we open a martial arts branch, it is not enough for Mr. Lu to teach alone. I want to give him a heavy gift. Recruiting some strong men from the Shi Dian Army to come to Songjiang, I hope General Qin will approve it."
Hearing this, Qin Liangyu pondered slightly, stared at Zheng Haizhu and said: "Miss Zheng, thanks for your respect for our native people, I sent a few good soldiers from the army from Shili. It didn't cost anything. However, private schools in private schools do this. Is it appropriate?"
Zheng Haizhu is saving this section so that Qin Liangyu will suddenly realize what he has said to his seniors.
After all, this is the first time I meet such a famous general, and my age is also on the line here. I must not hang the words "I am smart and capable" on my forehead.
She then brushed off 60% to 70% of the hesitation on her face, changed her expression to a cautious one and said, "I have experienced last year, and I have personally seen that the inspection department and health center in Susong area are either underpopulated or have a lack of military discipline. , thinking about how powerful the Ming Dynasty was in the past, as a people, I feel unwilling to accept it. But General Qin is right, there are many taboos about this matter, but I am naive and impatient."
Ma Xianglin couldn't see that the enthusiasm of the woman in front of him was suddenly extinguished, and said: "In fact, it may not be so taboo. Isn't the Escort Bureau also a place where martial arts people gather? There are private schools for civil examinations, but why can't there be schools for martial arts examinations? Azhu, you go and ask first Ask Magistrate Zhuang and Brother Huang, if they report to the court and there are proper rules and regulations to follow, they will inform mother and me. Don't be indifferent to such ambitions first."
Zheng Haizhu nodded repeatedly and thought to himself, how could I think like this?
In the timetable in my memory, two years later was the Battle of Sarhu, and four years later was the bloody battle of Hunhe. So many elite soldiers from Sichuan and Zhejiang were lost to Nurhachi’s troops, so that the court was temporarily helpless. Soldiers are adjustable.
By the way, General Ma, your father-in-law, Zhang Quan, who will be the patrol commander of Liaodong, will also commit suicide after the fall of Liaoyang.
And in the meantime, you Shili Tusi soldiers and Xiong Tingbi finally transferred the Zhejiang soldiers who went north, and there was an internal strife, and they almost became incompatible with each other.
Even so, I, a humble but unwilling time-traveler, still wonder if I can save the Ming Dynasty from its impending embarrassment.
With every passing day, we are trying to reverse certain historical junctures.
After all, the current commander-in-chief of Zhenjiang in South Zhili is still Qi Jin, a descendant of Qi Jiguang.
After all, it would be no exaggeration to say that you, General Ma, and I have a close relationship.
After all, Lu Xiangsheng was also fooled by me.
After all, my other brother, Yan Siqi, is about to become extremely rich.
Therefore, why can't I build a Huangpu Military Academy on the bank of the Huangpu River, which has been dug three hundred years in advance?
…
It's night, in the official post of Songjiang Prefecture.
Qin Liangyu sat in the front hall of the upper room and looked at the banknotes on the table.
The Chengdu Prefecture and Chongqing Prefecture in the Shu region have also begun to use this kind of deed paper that can exchange silver.
However, the printed patterns on the banknotes here in Jiangnan are more complicated and exquisite, which even discourages forgers.
Not long after, Ma Xianglin came back from the practice banquet held at Zhuangfutai.
After Qin Liangyu waited for his son to drink a cup of sobering tea brought by the waiter, he said in a deep voice: "Xianglin, you were not here just now. I didn't have a few words with Grandma Shen, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Gu family, before she left and left this The wooden box said that the elders of the Gu family knew that I was going to the capital to propose marriage, so they gave me a small gift to join in the excitement of the happy event. My mother thought it was a hairpin ring or something like jewelry, but she didn't expect it to be a thousand taels of silver notes. Is this gift, right? It’s too heavy.”
Ma Xianglin took the banknote and took a look at it, then opened the small paper bag sealed with fire paint in the box, tore it open, memorized the secret code accompanying the banknote, and burned it on the candlestick.
One thousand taels is nothing, it is just a small change that I got for some people during my trip south.
He then said to his mother calmly: "Mom, don't be afraid. I protected Miss Han when I was suppressing bandits, and later I helped Dong Qichang. The Han family is the in-laws of the Gu family, and the Dong family are family friends of the Gu family." , it is reasonable for the Gu family to respect me as an honored guest. Here in the south of the Yangtze River, the government officials are poor and the gentry are rich. A thousand taels of silver is really nothing to them. Yesterday, the Dong family also gave me a pair of jade bracelets. A set of gold jewelry is worth at least a thousand taels."
Qin Liangyu stared at his son's face and fell into memories.
Four years ago, there was a rebellion in western Sichuan. Qin Liangyu, a female chieftain of Shili, led the army to put down the rebellion as before.
The rebels were defeated and peace returned to Ming Dynasty's western frontier. However, Qin Liangyu's youngest brother Qin Bangyi was killed by an arrow. Qin Liangyu fell ill due to grief and exhaustion, so his only son Ma Xianglin, who was only sixteen years old, went to Beijing to offer prisoners and receive rewards from the court on his behalf.
After my son came back that time, he changed a lot. The knot in the young man's heart that originally arose from his father being framed and killed seems to be unraveling.
At that time, Qin Liangyu finally felt relieved after hearing his son say things like "Long Live and the military officials all praised my mother" and "The Ming Dynasty still valued our Shili soldiers."
She only has this one son, and of course she is afraid that on the day when her son inherits the title of chieftain of Shili, the hidden hatred will suddenly change from deep pain to determination to rebel, causing the whole of Shili to fall into the abyss.
The last thing a general who has truly experienced a cruel war wants to see is a new war.
After that trip to Beijing, his son showed his ambition to repay the favor of the imperial court. He led the army to help Hanzhong several times. After suppressing the rebellion of the refugees, he was promoted by the Ministry of War to train troops near the capital.
After three years of separation, mother and son were reunited only once during the Spring Festival. It wasn't until last year that Qin Liangyu learned from the good news sent by the Chongqing government that his son had made new achievements, annihilating a large number of water bandits in South Zhili, and moved to Zhenjiang to assist Qi Jiguang's descendant Qi Jin in training troops.
The Qin family is full of talented generals, and Xianglin's two uncles, Qin Bangping and Qin Minping, heard from their sister that their nephew was so promising, and they were so happy that they held a banquet with hundreds of tables for three days in the village.
However, as a mother, Qin Liangyu soon fell into new worries.
The son's letter not only said that he would not return home during the Spring Festival and would escort the Weaving Bureau south to sell goods, but also asked his mother to leave Sichuan after the spring. After meeting him in Songjiang, he would go north to the capital to propose marriage to Zhang Quan, the minister of the Ministry of War. The matchmaker was the Third Battalion of the Imperial Guard. One, the admiral of the Shenji Camp.
The Weaving Bureau and Shenji Camp are both under the supervision of eunuchs.
Although Qin Liangyu had sincerely hoped that his son would not have any dissatisfaction with the court, he did not expect that the son who lost his father due to the eunuch's rape would have an unusual relationship with the eunuch in both official and private affairs in just three years. friendship.
When they met in Songjiang this time, the worried mother received only the filial respect and respect from her son as before, but she did not receive a straightforward explanation from him.
What Ma Xianglin and his mother said was no more profound than the few words in the letters home. It was simply that Liu Shimin took great care of him, and although Zhang Shilang was a civil servant, he could find a chieftain and military general as his son-in-law. Such a good opportunity would never be lost. Not to be lost.
Qin Liangyu felt for the first time that his son's face was covered with a strange shadow.
The generous gifts from the Songjiang gentry, which cost as much as a thousand taels of silver, made her even more uncomfortable.
But at this moment, Qin Liangyu no longer asked about the banknotes and the Gu family, but stood up and took out a bamboo leaf and brocade pattern baggage.
"Xianglin, today Miss Zheng accompanied me to Sheshan to enjoy the scenery. When she sent me back, she gave me these forehead wipes, cloud shoulders and handkerchiefs. She said they were embroidered by her and the lady, or they were new styles produced by her own weaving workshop. Please The bride accepts it with joy."
Ma Xianglin didn't look through it like he did when he saw the banknote.
He glanced at her, twitched the corner of his mouth, then returned his gaze and said indifferently, "She's interested."
In such a short moment, the subtle changes in the son's expression still cannot escape the mother's eyes.
Qin Liangyu saw a hint of unwillingness in his son, and then suppressed it, replacing it with a false disapproval, trying to cover up the sadness that followed.
In fact, even without this moment of ups and downs, Qin Liangyu had already discerned her son's thoughts clearly in Miss Zheng's school that day - her son, who had been silent since his boyhood, suddenly became talkative in front of Miss Zheng.
However, Qin Liangyu confirmed with regret that there was no disturbance in Miss Zheng's heart. The way she looked at Xianglin was no different from the way she looked at the official Yao family and Mr. Lu.
Qin Liangyu tied the baggage again under the lamp, and said to his son in a complicated tone that was both serious and kind: "We are all giving generous gifts to those close to us, which shows how important the marriage is. Xianglin, you can think of it." Okay, do you really want to marry Mr. Zhang’s daughter?”
Ma Xianglin took a few more sips of tea and said with a smile: "Now that I've decided, I'll invite my mother out of Sichuan. Aren't you looking forward to having a grandson?"
Qin Liangyu sighed inaudibly: "Just think about it."
The female general stood up, her tall figure looking like a god against the candlelight in the dark night.
"Mom is going to rest first. I have only known war for half my life, and I don't know anything about other things. The Han people have a lot of etiquette among civil servants, and they will pay attention to taboos after entering the capital. Remember to tell mom first."
