Chapter 696: Talk about marriage

In the early morning, a quaint carriage drove out of Wubenfang and slowly drove towards the west market. More than a hundred cavalry guarded him around the carriage, showing the extraordinary identity of the carriage owner. Many passers-by would stop when they saw the carriage and salute him.

Many people in Wubenfang know that this carriage is the carriage of Princess Zhao. At this time, the owner of the carriage Dugu Mingyue was sitting in the carriage. She leaned against the window and stared at the outside of the car through the thin embroidered car curtain. The outside of the car was very familiar with her. Although her eyes seemed to be very well-born, she seemed a little absent-minded in her eyes.

She was back to Dugu Mansion. In the past few days, she had been thinking about one thing repeatedly, that is, her sister Mingzhu's lifelong event. Since Mingzhu followed Li Qing'an to Jiangnan, Mingyue knew that she could no longer oppose her sister's choice.

My sister was willing, and her mother insisted. Even last night, her husband formally proposed this matter and expressed his willingness to marry Mingzhu. Almost everyone supported Mingzhu. Mingyue felt that if she persisted, she would only hurt everyone. Last night, she almost didn't sleep all night and was thinking about this matter repeatedly. She felt that it was necessary to have a good talk with her mother before she could finally confirm the matter.

The carriage walked for a quarter of an hour and entered Yanshoufang. It stopped in front of Dugu Mansion. A family member had already reported that in front of the mansion, Mrs. Pei had already led a dozen maids to wait on the steps.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the steps, and several maids came up to him and helped Mingyue down from the carriage. On the steps, Mrs. Pei was paying attention to her daughter's every move, her dress, and every detail of her. She found that when she was holding the handle of the car door, she would only use three fingers, ring finger and little finger slightly raised. In addition, her slender and fair hands gave people a pleasing beauty.

My daughter is already a mother of two children, but her skin is white and elastic, and she has no slackness or aging feeling after giving birth to two children.

Her every move has a kind of unrestrained atmosphere. Her clothes are gorgeous but not vulgar, noble but not forcing, and a kind of implicit and unrestrained nobleness. Thinking of her daughter's mother's mother's embrace of the world and becoming the queen admired by all people, Mrs. Pei's eyes were a little wet, and she felt a kind of pride and a kind of sincere joy.

Mrs. Pei heard from her husband that many people inside and outside the court have recently proposed that the young emperor abdicate. The young emperor is only three years old and cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility of reviving the Tang Dynasty. The implication is to prepare for Li Qing'an's ascension to the throne.

However, Chang'an City also recognized that Li Qing'an ascended the throne was only a matter of time, which made Mrs. Pei feel infinitely moved. Eight years ago, when she first met Li Qing'an, she felt dissatisfied. She felt a little dissatisfied with his official position and was just a small general. But who would have thought that he was a royal family and would have ascended the throne one day. If anyone told her eight years ago, she would not believe it. But now, she had to sigh at the wonder of the God of Destiny.

This is the favor of the God of Destiny to the Dugu family. Who would have thought that the whim of Dugu's old man, who asked Li Qing'an to go on a blind date, actually changed the fate of the Dugu family. This is the arrangement of fate, which has an advantage over the Pei family's later consciousness.

"Mother!"

Mingyue bowed to her mother slightly, and Mrs. Pei hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed her, then looked back and laughed, "Why didn't my two grandchildren bring me?"

"Tan'er was a little cold the day before yesterday and was unwell, so she didn't let him go out."

“Is it important?

Mrs. Pei asked worriedly: "Have you hired an imperial doctor? Mingyue, you can't be careless!"

She seemed a little nervous. The two children were Mingyue's foundation, so she couldn't be careless. Mingyue smiled, "Mother, it's okay, I just play with snow and feel a little cold. I've been much better yesterday afternoon. I'll be fine if I take care of it for another day today."

Mingyue held her mother's hand, and the two walked into the mansion while talking and laughing. They sat down in the inner room, and a maid served them tea.

Mrs. Pei waved her hand and asked all the maids around her to go down. She closed the door and then came back and asked her daughter in a low voice, "When will you prepare for the matter of Dalang?"

"What is mother referring to?" Mingyue didn't understand.

"Hey! What else can I do?"

Mrs. Pei looked at both sides and lowered her voice again: "Of course it's the matter of ascending the throne!"

"Oh! He talked about this to me last night."

"Then what did he say?" Mrs. Pei became a little nervous. Now there are all kinds of statements, and she didn't know if that statement was true. Of course, Li Qing'an's pillow words were the most true. She was waiting for her daughter's answer with expectation.

Mingyue didn't want to say it, but if she didn't say it, her mother would be unhappy. She hesitated for a long time before saying: "Then my mother promised me that, besides my father, we must not spread the word, and my father could not go out to talk."

Mingyue is actually not worried about her father. Her father is very cunning and refuses to speak casually at the family meeting. He will never go out to say such things. She is just worried about her mother, afraid that her mother will not know the importance of the matter. She reminded her again: "This matter is of great importance and is related to the vital interests of many people. Mother must not be circulated outside the world."

"Oh! Don't worry, I'm not a three-year-old child, can't even tell the difference between this? Just tell me! It won't make me sleep."

Mingyue then said slowly: "The night before yesterday, Dalang secretly entered the palace and met with the Queen Mother..."

"You mean he secretly entered the palace tonight?"

Mrs. Pei couldn't help but interrupt her daughter. She felt a little uncomfortable. She secretly went to the palace to meet the empress dowager at night. This statement seemed a bit ambiguous. Empress Dowager Shen was also very young, less than thirty years old, so there would be nothing wrong! But she thought again, maybe it was a big deal, so she went to the palace at night. When she saw that her daughter didn't seem to care, she smiled mockingly. Really, the daughter didn't care, she was worried about something. She hurriedly said, "You continue to say, I won't interrupt you."

In fact, Mingyue was more or less suspicious, but she couldn't say anything about such a thing, and she couldn't interrogate her husband. The last time when Yang Guifei was involved, her husband was extremely dissatisfied with her and was indifferent to her for nearly a month. It was not until she agreed to let Yang Guifei enter the palace to practice Taoism that the matter was settled.

With Yang Guifei's lesson, she didn't want to ask more about Shen Zhenzhu's affairs. She believed that her husband would not do anything stupid. Mingyue continued: "Dalang said that he had reached a compromise with Empress Dowager Shen, and the Empress Dowager announced that the young emperor had abdicated due to his physical weakness next year. As for when next year, Dalang said that Shi Siming's rebellion would be completely quenched."

"Did you say when will the Shi Siming Rebellion be quelled?" Mrs. Pei continued to ask, this was the key.

"I don't know either, but I heard that I'm already preparing for war, maybe it's spring!"

Mingyue sighed softly. Last night, her husband said that he might go on the battle in person, which made her worry again. She has only been back for a few months and is she going to go on the battle again?

The two were silent for a while, and Mingyue suddenly remembered what she had come today before she could say anything. She smiled, "Look at me, I forgot all the things today, it's about Mingzhu."

"Pearl?"

Mrs. Pei suddenly became nervous. If there was anything more important to her than to become emperor in Li Qing'an, it was the marriage of her little daughter Mingzhu. It was a big trouble for her. She had been torturing her for so many years, and she also wanted to fulfill her little daughter, but she had not succeeded in the past few years.

Mrs. Pei couldn't help but look at Mingyue vigilantly. The eldest daughter opposed this matter the most fiercely. She wouldn't have to set up any obstacles again!

Mingyue felt the vigilance in her mother's eyes, and she couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Mother, the reason I objected at the beginning was that I didn't want the Dugu family to be too strong. The wood was fascinated by the forest, and the wind would urge him. But in fact, my father no longer cared about government affairs. Except for his brother, other Dugu children were not talented and could only work in a county at most. They were far from being as talented as the Pei family and the Cui family, so it was difficult for the Dugu family to become strong. Since this was the case, there would be no obstacles for Mingzhu to marry into the Li family. At the end, Dalang had officially proposed to me that he decided to marry Mingzhu."

Mrs. Pei's eyes flashed, and until the end she heard it suddenly asked, "Da Lang uses the word "marriage?"

This is very important, and it is related to her youngest daughter's position in the palace in the future. Mingyue understood her mother's thoughts, so she laughed, "In fact, it doesn't matter whether it is to marry or marry, it doesn't matter. Dalang had agreed last night that Mingzhu is at least one of the nine concubines."

"Nine Concubines!"

Mrs. Pei's face showed disappointment. Although the Nine Concubines were not inferior, Li Qing'an had no wives and concubines. She thought that her younger daughter was at least one of the four concubines, Gui, Shu, De, and Virtue, and could at least be one of them. However, she did not expect that she was just the Nine Concubines, which made her sigh secretly, but she also understood in her heart that the eldest daughter was already the queen. If the younger daughter took another concubine, then Dugu would really be tolerated by the world. One of the latter and one concubines were the best match, but she felt a little wronged about her younger daughter.

"Okay! When will that Zhu pass by?" Mingzhu is already very young, and she doesn't want to have too many dreams at night.

Mingyue lowered her head and thought for a while, and said, "This is what my daughter came to discuss with her mother. Dalang has no objection, but I think it's better to wait until the big thing is decided before talking about it."

Mrs. Pei knew what Mingyue meant, which meant that Li Qing'an ascended the throne. She frowned, "Is it too late?"

"Actually it's not a matter of time, but whether Mingzhu enters the palace or the mansion. I thought about it all night last night. I think since Mingzhu wants to marry the Li family, it cannot be sent quietly like Pei Wan'er. My sister should have a throne ceremony, which should be very formal and grand. Mother, this is to lay the foundation for her to slowly rise to power in the future."

Mingyue sighed, "I am her sister. I don't want my sister to marry so casually. I want her to get married in a grand manner. This is my long-cherished wish."

Mrs. Pei nodded. She was worried that it was just a long night and dreams, but since Mingyue had agreed, there was no problem. Of course, it would be better to formally enthrone the enthronement than to marry it secretly. In that way, she would not be wronged.

"Okay, we'll decide on this."

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The news of An Lushan's death has reached Chang'an, which has inspired the army. The morale of the Tang army is high. An Lushan's death can be said to be a turning point, which means that the rebels are beginning to decline and that the war is about to end.

However, the Tang army's preparations were still actively carried out. Two million dans of forage transferred from Fengxiang Warehouse were piled up in the warehouse of Sinong Temple in the western suburbs of Chang'an and began to be sent to Taiyuan. The grain from the official warehouses in various parts of Hedong was also concentrated to Taiyuan.

There were also war horses, and 100,000 Dayuan war horses were also sent from Hexi to Taiyuan. The Ministry of Revenue allocated one million stagnant of military expenses. In addition, there were tens of thousands of craftsmen under the military weapon supervision who were building weapons day and night, especially arrows. Based on the 100,000 army, two pots of arrows per person, it would take six million arrows.

This Northern Expedition, arrows will be the most important weapon of the Tang army. This time it will fight against the northern nomadic peoples, and it will also be the largest battle in which the Tang army sent troops after the destruction of Tubo.

Two hundred thousand elite troops will gather in Taiyuan Prefecture, take Taiyuan Prefecture as a base, advance northward, and send troops to the Uighurs.

Li Qing'an arrived at the Bashang Camp early in the morning. There were 80,000 troops here. The general was General Li Sheng. All the troops in Shu had withdrawn. Li Guangbi had led his army back to Henan. There were currently 50,000 troops in Shu. Among them, Xi Yuanqing led 20,000 troops to be the governor of Dongchuan, Zhao Chongyi led 30,000 troops to be the governor of Xichuan, and Cui Guangyuan led 20,000 troops to be the governor of Annan. In addition, hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Southern Tang have been discharged from their armor and returned to their fields.

The training for a day has begun in Bashang Camp. Li Qingan listened to Li Sheng’s report while walking.

"This three-month intensive training is mainly based on riding and crossbows. The brothers from the Anxi Army have little problem, mainly the Central Plains soldiers. The riding skills are obviously weak, and the most cruel training must be used to make them qualified cavalry within three months."

"What a cruel method?" Li Qingan asked with a smile.

"With long-distance raid training, 20,000 soldiers have been divided into 20 groups and headed to the inner road. After a month, the soldiers cannot leave the saddle and must sleep on the horse. Only in this way can they become one with the horse and compete with the Uighurs who have lived on horseback since childhood."

Li Qing'an nodded. He never asked about the specific training method. At this time, he walked to a training ground and saw three hundred soldiers lined up in three rows, practicing three sections of crossbow shooting, one round of ten arrows. The soldiers were rising and falling like waves, and the sound of "click! click!" crossbow machines, and the dense crossbow arrows shot towards the scarecrow a hundred steps away like locusts.

"Those two soldiers are OK!"

Li Qingan pointed to the two soldiers on the edge and smiled: "Their speed is very fast. At their speed, the Uighur cavalry is within a hundred steps. They can fire five arrows, with an average of twenty steps per arrow. It's good. This speed is very fast. All soldiers must use them as the standard and reach their speed."

At this time, the two soldiers had already called Li Sheng. They knelt down on one knee and bowed. Li Qingan asked them with a smile: "What are your names? Where are you from?"

The two immediately replied loudly, one was named Li Jianfeng, the other was from Nanzheng, the other was named Song Lun, and the other was from Fengxiang, both of whom had been in the army for three years.

Li Qingan asked them how long they had been shooting crossbows, but the answer was surprising. Both of them had only practiced for three months and were archers before.

Now even Li Sheng couldn't help but exclaim. He was indeed talented. Li Qing'an encouraged them. The two of them went back. At this time, they smiled at Li Sheng and said, "This time, many people advised me to stay in Chang'an and not to go to the northern expedition. What about your opinion?"

"We also believe that the general should stay in Chang'an. Now Chang'an is more important than the Uighurs. We can just fight against the Uighurs, and we can go there. The general must consider the whole world."

"Yeah!" Li Qing'an sighed, "Let me think about it again! If I don't go, I plan to let Siye be the commander of the West Road and you be the deputy general; Li Guangbi is the commander of the East Road Army and Tian Ganzhen's deputy general. You will lead a hundred thousand troops from Hedong and Hebei to the north at the same time."

"But, isn't Li Guangbi going to attack Shi Siming?"

"You're thinking too simple!" Li Qing'an shook his head and smiled: "Now there is no difference between Shi Siming and the Uighurs."
Chapter completed!