The carriage stopped steadily, the door opened, Xiao Jing stretched out his upper body, and saw the woman standing at the gate at a glance. The appearance of this woman overlapped with the woman in his memory, as if time had not passed. This woman left even a trace on her body, which surprised him greatly.

My mother is only one year older than the woman in front of me, but now she seems to be two generations older.

Jiang Yingxue was wearing a light green plain Luo dress, which was floor-length and without a single flower pattern. Only the cuffs were embroidered with a few half-open oleander flowers with red silk thread. The waist was tied with a milky white silk ribbon, and a Wearing a small sachet and a sapphire ring, her hair looks like a willow, and she looks as timid as a flying swallow in the wind. Her hair is also neatly combed, but her bangs are casually scattered neatly, and her forehead hair seems to be slanted unintentionally. Separate the hair diagonally, then use a white jade eight-tooth comb to fluff it up behind the head, insert two broken bead hairpins, and insert a golden and golden peach blossom hairpin diagonally into the smooth and flat low bun. The long beaded necklace adds to the beauty. Delicate and beautiful color, with a little silver tassel, the light swing of the head brings out the natural beauty of fresh lotus after the rain.

Next to her, stood another bright girl with bright eyes, fair skin, and slender fingers playing with the long hair on her chest. Her black hair was simply pulled into a bun with a high bun. The silver lily hairpin inlaid with precious stones is particularly eye-catching, and a pair of small pearl pendants hang from the two ear beads, which are smart and elegant without losing beauty. At this moment, Xiao is looking at Xiao curiously with a pair of big bony eyes. Jing.

"Xiao Jing has met my uncle!" Xiao Jing took a step forward, crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, and bowed deeply to the ground.

"Get up!" Jiang Yingxue smiled and stepped forward to help Xiao Jing up. She looked up and down at the handsome young man in front of her. When she last saw this child, he was only four years old. In the blink of an eye, he had been growing up for more than ten years. Time passed. "Time really does not pass by. You have grown so old in a blink of an eye. If I saw you outside, I would not dare to recognize you."

"My aunt is still the same as when she was in Tokyo more than ten years ago. My nephew recognized my aunt at a glance!" Xiao Jing said with a smile: "If my mother saw my uncle's current appearance, I'm afraid she would be envious and jealous. jealous."

"Your mother worked too hard. It's all your father's fault." Jiang Yingxue said with a smile.

Xiao Jing smiled awkwardly, but he didn't dare to speak anymore.

"Brother Jing, I finally see you!" Finally taking advantage of the opportunity, the pretty girl next to him jumped in and said, "I'm Xiao Ning, you haven't seen me yet!"

"I've seen your portrait!" Xiao Jing said with a smile: "But you are more beautiful than the portrait."

"Really?" Xiao Ning said happily.

"Of course, how could brother lie to you? Xiao Ning, this is a meeting gift from brother!" Xiao Jing took something out of his sleeve and stuffed it directly into Xiao Ning's hand.

Xiao Ning picked it up and looked at it, and his eyes immediately went straight.

It turned out to be a ruby ​​larger than a pigeon egg, polished into an exquisite heart shape and embedded in gold wire.

Xiao Ning is not someone who has never seen the world, but this is actually the first time he has seen such a large ruby.

"Thank you, brother Jing!" She happily gave Xiao Jing a blessing to express her gratitude.

"I only salute my brother when I have a gift, but there was no rule at all before. It was your father who spoiled you!" Jiang Yingxue said with a smile: "Jing'an, if you give her such an expensive gift as soon as we meet, you will spoil her. "

"Uncle, they are not very valuable. We have a lot of these gems over there!"

Jiang Yingxue nodded: "Well, it's true that gems are produced in the Western Region, but gems like this are extremely rare."

Xiao Ning, who had received the benefit, stepped forward and took Xiao Jing's hand, and said with a smile: "Brother Jing, it's hard work coming from afar. Mom started preparing a place for you a few days ago. Everything is the best! She also prepared a lot of dishes.

, all prepared by my mother herself. Normally I would like to ask my mother to cook for me, but it’s always difficult because Brother Jing is so proud of me.”

"Don't listen to her nonsense. I'm just here to start. The one who really prepares these things is your second uncle! Do you still remember your second uncle's craftsmanship?"

Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Even though I was young at the time, I still remember that whenever my second uncle was cooking, I would always wait at the table early and never leave the table until I finished the soup in the basin. It seems that my grandmother often did this back then.

Reprimand me!"

"Come here this time, and you can try your second uncle's cooking again! He has already made 80% of it, and the cook at home only needs to reheat it!"

"Second uncle has many things to do, but he still remembers to prepare food for my nephew! I am really flattered by my nephew. It's just that, aunt, this time I am the deputy envoy of the Western Army, so I will stay in the post house later."

"What kind of post house are you staying in?" Jiang Yingxue held Xiao Jing's hand and walked in while saying: "When you come back, of course you will stay at home. I don't care what kind of deputy envoy you are or not, and your second uncle is back.

If I can’t see you, wouldn’t I be blamed again? There’s no need to talk about this matter again.”

Xiao Jing looked sideways at Jiang Yingxue, his mouth moved, but in the end he said nothing.

The aunt in front of me is no ordinary woman.

He only gradually learned about many things in the past two years.

For the second uncle to be able to achieve what he is today, the help of this aunt in front of him is absolutely indispensable.

Unlike my mother who was praised by the people in the northwest, in the Song Dynasty, not many people knew how powerful my aunt was, but my aunt, who was inconspicuous, held astonishing wealth in her hands and possessed incomparable wealth.

Unparalleled influence.

For example, Wu Ke, the leader of Zhiqiuyuan of the Song Dynasty who is now famous all over the world, was just a leader under his aunt's command back then.

"Didn't you say that my second uncle is very busy and won't be home these days?"

"That's just to deceive Tuoba and show off his power!" Jiang Yingxue said with a smile: "You are already living at home, why would your second uncle not come back? If you don't see Tuoba show off your power, it is to cool him, but how can you cool your own nephew?

The truth?"

"Why do you want to cool General Tuoba?"

Jiang Yingxue smiled and said: "Jing'an, Tuoba came here this time to see the true strength of our Song Dynasty so that he can make further choices, right? Your second uncle is very angry. Back then, your second uncle helped him a lot with the Tuoba clan.

, but at the critical moment, people like him and Ren Duozhong did not think about how to help your second uncle, but they only thought about some trivial things. This Tuoba, he was thinking only about establishing a country with the Dangxiang clan as its core.

What about the core country! Humph, that’s a beautiful thought!”

Xiao Jing's mouth was a little bitter, and he glanced at Jiang Yingxue secretly. He saw that this uncle was speaking harshly, but still had a smile on her face. He really couldn't guess what she was thinking.

"I don't blame General Tuoba. In fact, in the northwest, not only the Tuoba clan, but also the Tubo, Uighurs and even Xin Da Commander have this intention!"

"Really? What do you mean, Jing'an?" Jiang Yingxue glanced at Xiao Jing with a half-smile.

"My nephew doesn't mean anything. Everything depends on father's arrangements!" Xiao Jing whispered.

Jiang Yingxue nodded: "We know very well what your father means. Because your father knows that if the northwest is really split from the Song Dynasty, after defeating the Liao Kingdom, your second uncle will have to do it again.

It’s over the mountain!”

Xiao Jing's heart was shocked.

"But uncle, the Liao Kingdom is now powerful and is about to attack with all its strength. The Song Dynasty is really in danger! I heard General Tuoba and others talking about it. If they can't unite the Western Army, then this time, I'm afraid

The Song Dynasty is in danger!"

Jiang Yingxue stopped and said calmly: "Your aunt has been impatient since she was a child. Even if she became the most respected person in the country, this has not changed at all. It is because the country is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change. Waiting for you here

After Jiang Ning stayed for a while and saw the real strength of Song Dynasty, he would no longer think so."

"The real Song Dynasty?" Xiao Jing was stunned.

Jiang Yingxue nodded: "The Song Dynasty is changing rapidly, Jing'an, you are in the northwest, you can't get a glimpse of it."

Jiangning Inn is located on a very high ground. From the wooden balcony on the second floor, you can see half of Jiangning City.

Tuoba held his wine glass in awe, stood on the balcony, and stared at the city outside.

Although it has fallen into the night, the whole city is brightly lit, and wherever the lights shine, it is bustling with people. The business of those shops seems to be better than during the day.

"This place is as prosperous as Tokyo back in the day!" A voice of emotion came from beside me. It was another deputy envoy of the mission, Han Hong.

The Han family in Xinyang is the in-laws of the Xiao family. After the fall of Tokyo, one of the Han family's direct family members fled to the Western Army and defected to Xiao Ding, while the other common family family ran south to join Xiao Cheng. Now, it is a side branch.

Han Duan, who was born in Han Dynasty, became the Minister of Rites of the Song Dynasty, but he was much more prestigious than his direct descendants.

Just like Tokyo back then, there is no curfew in Jiangning now.

"I remembered!" Tuoba suddenly shouted loudly, but it startled Han Hong beside him.

"General, what did you remember?"

Tuoba raised his neck in a show of force, drank the wine in the glass, stared at Han Hong and said: "Since coming to the Song Dynasty, I always feel that the Song Dynasty in front of me is a little different from the Song Dynasty in the past, but it is also different from the Song Dynasty in the past.

I couldn’t figure out what the difference was, and now I finally understand.”

"What's the difference?" Han Hong was a little confused, "In my opinion, there doesn't seem to be any difference."

"No, it's very different!" Tuoba said with authority: "Many years ago, when I was in Tokyo, I saw a man from the Song Dynasty wearing long robes, high crowns, and incense and hairpins. He took this as his beauty. He liked to write Chinese and beautiful poems, and he was very charming.

Rewarding is considered a hero. However, the Jiujiu man is very rare. Even if you see him occasionally, he is always a loser. In front of those scholars, you can only look down on him."

"The Song Dynasty used literature to control military affairs. The status of literati was high and the status of military men was low. This has always been the case!" Han Hong said with a smile. "This was the national policy formulated by Taizu Taizong at that time. Didn't the prince also say that it was this strategy that was implemented for many years?

Did it take a hundred years to castrate the heroic spirit of the men of the Song Dynasty?"

"But this time in Jiangning, have you seen such people who smoke incense and wear hairpins?" Tuoba asked in awe.

This question made Han Hong wake up.

"I didn't see people who smoked incense and hairpins, but people who carried bows and swords could be seen everywhere. It seems that the pain of national subjugation has changed the Jiangning New Song Dynasty. Scholars are no longer popular, but they are brave people.

I’m going to stand out.”

"That's not the case!" Tuoba said with authority: "Xiao Chongwen once told me one thing back then. He said that if a nation wants to prosper, it must civilize its thoughts and barbarize its body. Now, he is in power.

, he can finally implement such an ideal into his governance strategy. Look at the current Guizhou Road, Yunnan Road and other places in Guangdong and Guangxi, these places that were first affected by him, are they exactly like this?"

"In our northwest land, it goes without saying that the body is barbaric, but it is difficult to civilize the mind!" Han Hong said with a smile: "General, you have worked so hard to come up with the Dangxiang characters. How many people are there now?

Can you read and write?"

Tuoba Yangwei smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"The situation in the northwest is too complicated now. No matter which ethnic group you are, it is difficult to gain an absolute advantage. The reason why it still maintains a certain degree of strength and is able to withstand the squeeze of hundreds of thousands of Liao troops

, firstly because of the prince's own prestige, and secondly because of the rules established by Xiao Erlang back then. Those rules that seemed inconspicuous back then, but looking at them now, one has to lament Xiao Erlang's foresight and connection of interests.

It is indeed much stronger than the so-called oath."

"But problems are gradually arising!" Han Hong said: "The original group of people tried hard to expand their own interests without wanting to share the profits. Later, they wanted to take a piece of the pie to satisfy themselves. The contradiction is actually becoming more and more serious.

It’s big. Everyone wants to build an independent country, but actually they also want to get more from it, right?”

"We lack Xiao Chongwen's ability to govern a big country like cooking small dishes!" Tuoba said in awe. "So this time, I came here to find the answer. No matter what the answer is, it is better than trying to find it ourselves. Once

If you take the wrong path, it will never be possible to turn back.”

"Luo Gang has arranged so many visits, but I don't know what it means?"

"What's the point? It's just a show of strength!" Tuoba said with a mighty smile: "Look at the schedule and content he arranged, it can be regarded as a comprehensive demonstration of the strength of the Song Dynasty to us."

"What I most want to see is their army. In the end, they will eventually land on the battlefield!" Han Hong said: "The Song Dynasty was much richer than the Liao Kingdom back then, but in the end, it was still defeated.

"

"But now there is no such person as Cui Ang, and there is no more fool like Zhao Suo!" Tuoba said with authority: "Now the people commanding the army are Lu Wenhuan, Yang Wanfu, Gao Yingxiang, Wang Zhu, Wei Wu and others who have experienced hundreds of battles.

Generals. With experienced generals, an army that dares to fight and can fight, and strong economic support, and of course, the most important thing is the unsuspecting support of the court, victory can be expected."

"I wonder when Erlang will see us?"

"Before we finish reading these things, Xiao Chongwen will not see us!" Tuoba said with a powerful smile: "He will definitely hit us hard with this killing stick. Since we have already given candied dates,
Chapter completed!