This was the last day of the seventh year of Mengge Khan. Zhang Rou hurriedly hurried and finally rushed back to Haozhou City on this day.
"Hush!"
She turned over and dismounted, threw away the whip in her hand, and without even looking at the many people coming up to her, Zhang Rou strode towards the Military and Civilian House.
"Let's talk after we enter the hall."
There is not much to say, just "Tacha'er was defeated."
It was no surprise to everyone, they had never thought of helping Tachaer capture Fancheng.
"Fortunately, it didn't delay the commander's return home for the New Year."
Zhang Rou was in a bad mood, spat, and said: "Aren't you delayed? I still want to go back to my hometown in Shuntian to celebrate the New Year, damn it!"
For him, Bozhou is just a guarded place, and it is more lively to return to his hometown during the New Year...
Many of his sons are also in Suncheon.
Zhang Rou's eldest son died young, and his second son Zhang Hongji is now in charge of Shuntian. His third son and fourth son are also assisting in Shuntian. His sixth son Zhang Honglue has just been appointed as the councilor of Henan Province, replacing Yang Guo. His seventh son Zhang Hongyan has been appointed as Hu.
The deputy commander of Bilie's bodyguard army; the eighth son Zhang Honggui was transferred to the new army; the ninth son Zhang Hongfan just became an official and has been appointed as the deputy commander of the march; the eleventh son Zhang Hongqing is serving as a hostage in Hara and Lin.
The only ones in front of me now are the fifth son Zhang Hongdao, the tenth son Zhang Hongzheng who just returned from Sumenshan Academy, and the twelfth son Zhang Hongyi.
Thinking again, if one cannot be chosen to take over the family business, if more than ten sons have to split up the family in the future... Zhang Rou felt irritated again and waved her hand impatiently.
"What are you doing here?! Do you want me to wear armor and join you for the New Year's Eve dinner?"
"Yes, Commander, please take a break."
Everyone retreated, only Zhang Hongdao stood there with his head lowered, as if he had something to say.
Zhang Hongdao really didn't have much confidence in front of Zhang Rou. There were ten brothers in his family, and they had been dancing with guns and clubs and making noises with their brothers in the clan since they were young. He could tell that Zhang Rou had already annoyed them.
"Father, child..."
"I don't have the ability, but my spirit is high." Before Zhang Rou heard what Zhang Hongdao said, she leaned back in her chair and said angrily: "You don't overestimate your capabilities."
It’s better not to lecture your son too much during the Chinese New Year. Zhang Rou changed her tone and sighed: “Think about it for yourself, what were you doing when you were seventeen? Get pregnant with your maidservant and elope? You almost ruined your relationship with the Yan family.
Marriage. You caused me to chase you for dozens of miles on horseback."
Zhang Hongdao was ashamed and buried his head even lower.
Since his fight with Li Xia, he had always regarded Li Xia as his equal opponent. Only then did he realize that if he were to compare with him when he was younger, he would probably be fooled even more.
But what needed to be said had to be said. He took a step forward and whispered: "Father, my eldest sister's thoughts are probably..."
"Oh, let's start from the beginning and talk about it carefully..."
After returning to the back house, Zhang Rou looked at his wife and daughter at home, and her anger subsided a little.
He married three wives in total and had several concubines.
His first wife, Mrs. Li, died young. She was born in the Li family of Gaoping, into a family of two generations of Jinshi;
His second wife, Jing, gave birth to most of Zhang Rou’s children and passed away ten years ago. Jing’s father, Jing Anmin, was one of the Nine Dukes of Hebei;
The third wife, Mao, was from a prominent family in Daming Prefecture. She was from the same clan as Yuan Haowen's wife, and was a sister to Deputy Marshal Qiao Weizhong's wife.
The concubine is the Ma family, whose father once served as the horse commander of the Jin Kingdom; the concubine is the Zhao family, a branch of the Wanggu Zhao family...
In short, the Zhang family's marriage basically covers the families with some strength in the North.
Today, the mother-in-law of the Zhang family is Mao. When Mao married Zhang Rou, she was already over thirty and had nothing to do in the past ten years. However, her family was prominent and she treated her children well. She single-handedly raised Zhang Rou's several young children.
When Zhang Rou came back that day, what Mao kept talking about was also about Zhang Wenjing.
"...I've been sick for a long time, and I don't know what to do. It's also my fault that I, a mother, am not the biological mother, so I dare not be harsh..."
"I understand. Today is the New Year's Day. You can go and take care of it first. I'll talk to my eldest sister..."
After a while, Zhang Wenjing came in.
But she had recovered, and she had three maids with her. One was holding a small stove, one was holding a box of plasters, and the other was holding a box of cakes.
"Father, let's warm up over the fire first. My daughter has prepared a plaster. Can she put it on her father?"
Zhang Rou patted her knees and said, "Yes, in that area in the south, it rains every day and the cold is very severe. My father's old cold legs are not good... they are not good."
"The daughter guessed it. After applying this plaster, she would pat her father's back and ask the doctor to use old ginger to remove the wetness tomorrow."
Zhang Rou couldn't help laughing.
"As expected, the eldest sister is still sensible, unlike your brothers who always cause trouble."
"Then father, try this rice cake again. My daughter made it with her own hands."
"Cooked by yourself?" Zhang Rou was very surprised, "Why did you learn to cook?"
Zhang Wenjing nodded seriously and said, "I want to learn a little bit of everything, my daughter is getting older too."
"Okay, okay, the eldest sister is smart and the rice cakes she makes must be delicious. I'll give it a try for my father..."
The rice cake was really beautifully made and arranged neatly. Zhang Rou took a piece, but when she took a bite, it was so hard that she couldn't even bite it.
His old tooth hurt so much that he finally bit it down a little. He looked a little embarrassed, but said: "Hmm...it tastes very good."
"Not bad, right?" Zhang Wenjing stood behind Zhang Rou, slapping her back, and asked, "Mother and fifth brother must have complained to father about their daughter, right?"
Zhang Rou didn't answer, patted her knees again, and said: "We northerners are really unaccustomed to that area in the south. Not to mention the humidity, the food is different, and we can't understand a word spoken. It's not good.
,not good."
Zhang Wenjing refused to follow his lead and asked: "If it is really bad, why should father work so hard to defeat it?"
Zhang Rou sighed: "If the Wanli chariots and letters are mixed up, how can there be separate borders in the south of the Yangtze River?"
Zhang Wenjing smiled and asked: "I heard that a while ago, an uncle from the clan made a mistake in the army and fled from Qizhou to the Song Dynasty?"
One moment Zhang Rou was reading poetry, and the next moment she was cursing: "You son of a bitch."
"It's such a long journey from Henan to the Song Dynasty. Is it true that Sixth Brother can't catch him?" Zhang Wenjing said: "At that time, the hook test was getting more and more intense. Didn't the family want to have a backup plan?"
"Stop talking nonsense! My daughter's family doesn't care what they do." Zhang Rou shouted.
His temper was relaxed and he quickly changed the subject and said, "You have made your mother very worried. She has always treated you like her own children..."
"Speaking of my mother, when Vice Admiral Qiao was appointed General Jin Guodingyuan, my father repeatedly sent letters to recruit him, but he refused to obey. But what happened later? My father captured Vice Admiral Qiao alive and made him brother-in-law with his father. Now he is
The biggest help from the Zhang family.
My daughter has been thinking recently, my Zhang family has always relied on tolerance rather than exclusion, right? Does my father rely on loyalty to establish his foothold in the Central Plains? Or does it rely on marrying various families to make the Zhang family deeply rooted? "
"Marriage? My father wants to marry the Xu family, why don't you agree?"
"I don't like it." Zhang Wenjing sneered and said, "At this point, my daughter wants to sue Fifth Brother."
"You bullied your fifth brother again."
"I don't want to bully him. When it comes to the children of the Xu family, they are far behind compared to... Li Xia. What the fifth brother did in Kaifeng was wrong. If it were his daughter who did it, he would definitely win over someone for his father."
Extraordinary talent."
Zhang Rou didn't answer.
Zhang Wenjing added: "If Li Xia can be as good as Deputy Commander Qiao, my father will be as powerful as a tiger."
Zhang Rou closed her eyes and thought of Qiao Weizhong, brother-in-law...brother-in-law...son-in-law...
It's not that he hasn't thought about this matter. As early as last year, he asked Jingxuan if he could retain Li Xia.
It's a pity that I still underestimated his ability at that time...
Now thinking about the pursuit in Weishan, Zhang Rou had to admit that Zhang Wenjing's suggestion at that time was right, but she was wrong...
"The time has passed."
"My daughter dares to say that if her father doesn't believe her today, he will lament that the time has passed tomorrow."
"Oh, really?"
"How about my daughter comes up with a solution?"
Zhang Rou snorted and said, "My father is supposed to teach you a lesson, but you dare to be clever in front of me."
Zhang Wenjing smiled and said, "My daughter has made some progress in the past two years."
Zhang Rou pondered for a long time, but she didn't say the words she was going to scold Zhang Wenjing anymore. She just said slowly: "Next year, I will capture that boy for my father and let him marry into my Zhang family. As long as he is willing, everything will be easy to negotiate.
"
"Father……"
"I don't care if he has a wife or not. If he does, he has to divorce me. From now on, he will be as devoted to the Zhang family as Qiao Xiaoxian was. If he refuses, you will give up."
Zhang Wenjing lowered her head and said nothing.
Zhang Rou's tone was very stern, not allowing for refutation, and she added: "As a father, I have taken a step back, so this can only be the case."
As a father and the head of the family, he did his best with this statement. He waved his hand and told his daughter to step aside and not talk further.
He did not tell Zhang Wenjing why he was sure that Li Xia would be captured next year.
In the final analysis, Li Xia has become a trivial matter in the face of the general trend.
Zhang Rou sat there alone and thought for a long time. She got up and walked into the study. She opened the hidden compartment on the wall and took out a few books.
This was the information that was taken from Li Xia in Weishan last year. Zhang Rou thought at that time that Li Xia had left it behind on purpose...
He skillfully picked up one of the books and flipped through it to a page in the middle.
"In the year of Wushen, all the kings gathered in the land of Alatuohu Lawu, and Batu was the first to advocate it. He said that Brother Meng was smart and knowledgeable and could be a great Khan. Everyone responded..."
Zhang Rou squinted her eyes and looked at the word "Brother Meng" again.
Someone had drawn a circle there, and next to it were written six small simple characters written in blood. The handwriting was very sloppy.
"Brother Meng dies and Mongolia falls apart."
…
"Boy, what do you mean?" Zhang Rou murmured in a low voice.
There is the sound of firecrackers in the distance, and in half a day, it will be the eighth year of Meng Gehan...
"It will be the sixth year of Xingchang soon."
In Qingfu County, Li Yong listened to the sound of firecrackers in the distance and sighed softly.
As far as he was concerned, Wu Qian's plan to become prime minister was only for one or two years, and by then, the days he could spend with his family would be over.
He knew in his heart that this would probably be the last year or two in his life.
"Let's go... Taoist Master Hao please go first."
Hao Xiuyang put on a brand new Taoist robe and patted Li Yong on the shoulder.
"Those who are celebrating the New Year, why are you so angry? Let's go to the county government office for New Year's Eve dinner..."