The north wind blew all night.
In the early morning, the inside and outside of the courtyard are crystal clear and truly beautiful.
Waves of pine waves could be heard not far away.
The branches are vigorous and powerful, standing proudly despite the severe cold.
When the wind blows, the snow on the pine needles drifts down, forming a large dreamlike mist.
After Shao Xun got up and washed, he came to the dining room, where the servants and maids saluted one after another.
The decoration of the dining room is quite elegant, and the most eye-catching thing is a painting.
The theme of the painting is a spring outing, and I don’t know who painted it.
There are more than ten men and women in the painting, and they are "beautiful and clear." The lines of the characters are drawn with strong and coherent strokes of handwriting that was highly praised by the people at the time. It can be said that the brush strokes are flying, giving the characters a "wind-moving" effect.
In terms of expression of meaning, exaggerated painting techniques are used to better express the characteristics of the characters. For example, men are drinking happily and dissolutely in the bamboo forest, women are dressed in colorful clothes, and are extremely gorgeous, etc.
There is also a red seal in the corner of the painting.
The size is larger than ordinary seals, at least one size larger than Shao Xun's Pingdong General Seal. In addition, this seal is actually in Yang script, not the common Yin script. The outline of the characters is clear and deep, and the seal script is gorgeous and graceful.
Both the writing and the seal are in a wonderful state.
This Xiangcheng Princess Seal is not simple.
Due to the relationship between materials and craftsmanship, Yin script seals have been used since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and Yang script seals have rarely been used. The reason is that the writing lines are not clear enough, and the latter requires a knife to clean the bottom of the seal. It is very troublesome to clean it every time it is printed.
The seal of Princess Xiangcheng is so clearly engraved, which shows the exquisite craftsmanship.
"The painting is from the palace painter, and the seal is from my family's craftsmen." Princess Xiangcheng's voice came from the door.
Shao Xun turned around and saw that Sima Xiu was wearing a loose jacket.
The clothes are painted with birds, beasts, sun and moon, which are elegant, simple and solemn.
The inner layer of the jacket is made of fur, which seems to be made of white fox fur. It has excellent thermal insulation effect and gives people a sense of luxury and holiness.
There seemed to be a blue underskirt underneath the white fur coat. The train of the skirt was trailing on the blanket, and the folds and patterns were so complex that it was dazzling.
Overall, this is a majestic, solemn, mature and beautiful noble woman. Standing there, she gives people the feeling of being worshiped.
The only thing that ruined this temperament was probably the woman's growing belly.
"Mr. Chen." Sima Xiu bowed with the support of his maid.
"Mrs. Sima." Shao Xun returned the greeting.
Hearing Shao Xun's name, Sima Maobao glanced at him.
Shao Xun was a little embarrassed and looked away.
He could call Sima Mao the princess because she was Emperor Wu's favorite daughter. He could also mention her other identity, Mrs. Sima, Wang Dun's wife.
The corners of Sima Xiu's lips raised slightly, and he gave a few more instructions to the maid.
After a while, breakfast was served one by one.
"According to your preference, I sent someone to build a high table and a bed." Sima Mao sat down and said, "I don't want it to be convenient for me at this time."
"The princess is right." The two of them were so polite that they seemed a bit unfamiliar, which made Shao Xun a little confused.
After you borrowed the seeds, you kept your distance from me?
But think about it, with such a big family fortune, she can indeed live leisurely and comfortably without herself. She used to be afraid of people trying to take away her family property, but now she doesn't seem to be afraid anymore.
fraud!
It's too much to deceive me and do business in my name.
At this time, he finally understood that he was not a succubus, and that women who approached him had their own agenda.
"This is the 'frog-croaking rice' on my farm. The porridge is smooth and fragrant. You can eat more of it." Sima Maobao took two mouthfuls of the porridge, wiped his mouth with silk and said.
Shao Xun glanced at the square silk handkerchief. The material seemed to be similar to what he was wearing.
Well, the clothes he was wearing also belonged to the princess. He changed them when he went to the toilet in the morning. They were made of high quality materials and were not something that ordinary powerful men could own.
It can also be seen from here how much money the average aristocratic family has to spend if they want to maintain their reputation. No wonder some declining aristocrats in later Europe had to borrow money from businessmen in order to maintain their social life. It is not easy to maintain the so-called respectability.
The toilet in the princess's house has dried dates to stuff the nose, spices to remove the smell, and a beautiful maid to hold the lid. Some people bring new clothes for changing. Even the buttocks are wiped with silk, although it is of average quality.
But Shao Xun wasn't too envious.
He is indifferent to these enjoyments. After all, he is a person who has experienced modern convenient life, and his threshold is very high.
Good days are lived, and hard days are also lived.
When you go on an expedition, your body is covered with dirt, your head is covered with oil, your complexion is very bad due to irregular work and rest, and you haven't changed your clothes for a long time, isn't it the same?
I really felt that it was hard, so I came to the princess's house for a few days to adjust. She was really able to drive the child's father away, even though Shao Huangmao stayed in the guest room last night.
Well, aside from that, the porridge was indeed delicious, and Shao Xun finished a large bowl of it quickly.
The maid brought another bowl, and her timing was just right. She had obviously been estimating how quickly he would drink the porridge, and the porridge was neither cold nor hot, and the temperature was just right.
Two more side dishes he liked were placed in front of him, and he had probably figured out what he liked to eat more.
Whatever you think of, others have thought of it.
What you didn't think of, others thought of for you.
This decadent life is really...
No wonder Liu Bang couldn't stand it any longer when he first entered Xianyang, and immediately became obsessed with it in Xianyang Palace.
After finishing the second bowl of porridge, Shao Xun asked: "I heard that you opened a ranch in Runan? Are there so many livestock?"
"It's not all pasture." When he heard that they were talking about business, Sima Xiu stopped eating. After wiping his mouth, he drank a bowl of tea soup to rinse his mouth, and then said: "The internal history of Runan built a pond in the east of Shenyang, saying, ' Longpi'. This Pipi can irrigate three thousand hectares of fertile land, of which 300 hectares belong to the King of Runan, and I asked him to use it to grow millet and wheat. Beyond Longpi, there is a vast swamp, which also belongs to the King of Runan. Use it to raise donkeys and mules.”
“Whose donkeys are sold by the Donkey Shop?”
"Collected from the people of Runan."
Shao Xun nodded and said: "Female horses are not allowed to be sold, and mules are not allowed to be sold."
Hearing this, Sima Maobao covered his mouth and chuckled, then stroked his belly and said: "Trafficking a donkey is no more profitable than two pieces of silk, and only three mules. If you want it, don't sell it."
Shao Xun was a little embarrassed.
Mules are large animals, and they are cheap alternatives to horses, so they are not cheap.
They are just taking advantage of your strength to do business, but you want them to go bankrupt. This is really too much.
Previously, Shao Xun sent Jiang Ke, the former owner of the eighth building of the Silver Spear Army, south, and then assigned him more than 20 newly graduated student officers to teach combat on mules.
Their army consisted of more than 500 people and 200 mules, all of which were purchased by Princess Xiangcheng. The cost was actually very high.
"This time we seized some bulky things in the Zhemati camp, which are difficult to value. I will send someone over in a while, and you can watch and dispose of them." Shao Xun said.
Simiao Yao nodded, not paying much attention.
"I will send a letter to all the counties to allocate a batch of money and silk. You can send someone to receive it," Shao Xun said again.
Sima Maoyuan then became serious.
"Transfer" actually means apportionment.
The man in front of me seems to be poor and doesn't have much money on hand, but he can distribute money and food to wealthy families, and they can't help but refuse to give him. From this point of view, he is not poor at all.
He let his retainers and servants run the donkey business and sell livestock.
The man himself runs the Silver Gun Army and sells security.
It's obvious who earns more.
"It's enough if you have money and silk." Sima Maoyuan said: "There are some places where there is not much fighting, but they are still willing to accept money and silk. I will find someone to collect some more mares, and the donkeys will come back."
"How many are there now?" Shao Xun asked.
"There are more than a hundred females, six or seven hundred donkeys, and more than five hundred mules," Sima Mao replied.
"There are only four thousand horses in Guangchengze, of which there are only a few hundred females. You really have a lot." Shao Xun said with emotion: "The place at Longpi should be good, right?"
"The land is cool and the water and grass are abundant, which is really good." Sima Mao said: "The cattle, horses and donkeys are worth twice, and the sheep are worth four times. Before the New Year next year, hundreds of donkeys and mules should be reproduced."
To be honest, Shao Xun was a little disappointed.
This time he asked Wu Qian and Wei Fu to go to Qinzhou to buy horses. He specifically asked them to buy more mares and a few male horses.
The female horse is the key to expanding the population. Whether it is a horse or a donkey, it can give birth to calves.
Isn't it ridiculous to have Liu Han in the Northern Expedition, without the ability to maneuver? Is it possible to build a city one by one right at the doorstep of someone's home? Well, it seems that the Northern Song Dynasty did this. After Liu Yu got off the ship from Xuzhou, he also built a city thirty miles away. The city maintains food routes.
But how can I put it, even if Shao Xun's army is mainly infantry, it cannot be without any cavalry.
In the previous battle of Zhemati, after crossing the river at Xia Shijin, he sent his cavalry to clear the way and quickly defeated the harassing Huns' light cavalry. The main force of the infantry was able to maintain a speed of thirty to forty miles a day.
Without this cavalry, the Huns would use all kinds of methods to harass you. In extreme cases, you could only travel five or six miles in a day. If you go faster, it would only be more than ten miles. It is very passive. By the time you get to your destination, the situation may have changed. , this is the problem caused by insufficient mobility.
Even in the 21st century, the military's mobility is still a very important indicator.
In this indicator, Xiongnu is superior, he almost scored zero points.
"I will go to Runan tomorrow, or I may go to Shenyang." Shao Xun said, "You..."
Sima Maoyao quickly shook his head and said, "I will send you a family order to go with you."
She was already five months pregnant, and she definitely didn't want to have to travel all the way and get pregnant.
I have a child at this age, no matter how precious it is, I will rely on this child to accompany me for the rest of my life.
"That's it, I'll just go on my own." Shao Xun nodded and said, "You——Mrs. Sima, you should just rest in peace and raise the baby."
Sima Mao laughed quietly again.
Men can be quite childish sometimes. Did you make the relationship between the two too distinct this time?
It was impossible for her to go to the back house of the Shao family.
It would be great to be a free and wealthy princess. Could it be possible that I would dedicate my property to Yu Wenjun, that little lady? I’m dreaming.
If she had to keep in touch with him, she wouldn't even do it.
Sometimes this man is very shrewd, and sometimes he is horribly stupid, haha.
Chapter completed!