In an alley not far from the Shuangta Temple, Zhang Hongdao walked alone through the alley and stopped at the door of a small house.
He once had a conversation with Li Xia here.
At that time, it was Li Xia who proposed to him to marry Zhang Wenjing for the first time.
And this time I sent someone here... to formally propose marriage.
Zhang Hongdao picked up the door knocker and wanted to knock it. After thinking about it, he put it down and pushed the door straight open.
The courtyard door was unlocked, and an old man was sitting in the courtyard making tea.
Zhang Hongdao recognized this old man. He was a younger brother of Yang Guo named "Yang Shi". He was just a useless scholar with no practical talent.
Thinking about it, the reason why Li Xia chose Yang Shi was firstly because Yang Shi was elegant and decent, and secondly because the Zhang family had friendship with the Yang family and would not kill him.
"Goro is here."
Yang Shi rolled up his sleeves elegantly, poured a cup of tea, and said: "Mountain Spring, the water has just boiled. Wulang, please sit down and taste it."
Zhang Hongdao was not in a good mood. He sat down, picked up a wine bag from his waist and took a sip without taking the tea on the table.
He remembered that when he saw Li Xia here, he didn't even have a sip of wine.
So this time he brought his own.
"Has your father agreed to this marriage?" Yang Shi asked.
"Hmph." Zhang Hongdao snorted coldly and said calmly: "The toad wants to eat swan meat."
Even so, he had serious thoughts.
His father Zhang Rou had been summoned to Kaifeng, which made him quite uneasy.
Yang Shi is mediocre and not a very good lobbyist.
But before he came, Li Xia had thoroughly analyzed the matter with him, so he was able to say a few words.
"Wu Lang, let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart. The reason why I agreed to Li Xia's proposal of marriage for him was because I was thinking about the Zhang family... Li Xia has killed the Mongolian Khan. There are many people investigating the past. The relationship between the eldest sister and him
, in case it is discovered..."
Zhang Hongdao was furious and asked: "So what?! Are you going to marry her to Li Xia instead and make the relationship between the Zhang family and Li Xia deeper?"
"Li Xia loves the eldest sister, not the Zhang family."
Yang Shi smiled apologetically and said: "Wu Lang only needs to think of a way to send the eldest sister away, whether it is to fake her death or disappear. On the surface, the Zhang family no longer has this daughter, but the love between father and daughter and the relationship between brother and sister are
, you can get the best of both worlds.”
"How dare you, at your age, say such shameless things."
"What a good marriage, what a good marriage." Yang Shi sighed: "The man is talented and the woman is beautiful, and they are in love with each other. Li Xia was nineteen years old, and he was the commander-in-chief of Sichuan and Shu. How could he choose another person like this in the world?"
Zhang Hongdao frowned.
He understands.
This sentence reminds the Zhang family... Zhang Wenjing is also nineteen, and if she makes up her mind to marry someone other than Li Xia, she won't be able to survive.
"Li Xia is married, can I, the daughter of the Zhang family, still serve the same husband as someone else?"
Yang Shi sighed and said: "Going back three hundred years, the Gao family in Dali was a family of princes and emperors. Li Xia's wife, the Gao family, was a true direct descendant of a famous family. The eldest sister entered the same family as her.
Not humiliating.”
Although he didn't say it clearly, he may not be saying that... the ancestors of the Zhang family were just local tycoons, and their background was far inferior to that of the Gao family.
Li Xia didn't care about these backgrounds, but Yang Shi and Zhang Hongdao cared about them very much.
Zhang Hongdao took a sip of wine.
Yang Shi asked: "I have to mention that the Mongolian people are really lenient to the prince, Gao Taihe, and Gao Taixiang brothers are so anti-Mongolian, but the Mongolian people are not implicated. Look at Wu Lang, Gao Qiong Shang is still in charge of Dali now. Why don't Wu Lang follow his example?"
"Dali is different and beyond the reach of a whip." Zhang Hongdao was not confused.
"The principles are the same."
Yang Shi glanced at the courtyard gate, changed his expression a little solemnly, and said: "Wu Lang, please come closer and listen to what I say from the bottom of my heart."
Zhang Hongdao always said words of rejection, but he still listened.
Yang Shi said: "Now that Kublai Khan and Ali are fighting in such a situation, it is difficult to predict who will win or lose. Are the Zhang family really going to bet all their lives on Kublai Khan?"
What kind of person is Brother Ali? He hates the Han system the most and wishes he could slaughter all the Han people in the north and turn the Central Plains into a land for Mongols to herd horses again. Once Kublai Khan is defeated, where will the Zhang family go?"
When Zhang Hongdao heard this, the meaning in his eyes was unspeakable.
He knew better than Yang Shi that Kublai Khan's current situation was very difficult and could almost be said to be "not tolerated by Mongolia."
Yang Shi added: "There are still some things that Li Xia has not said to me, but I will say one more thing from the perspective of the Zhang family."
"Yang Gong said."
"The Zhang family's marriage of their daughters to Hanzhong can be regarded as a retreat. If Kublai Khan is defeated by Ali Buge, then the Zhang family can also retreat to Hanzhong...
Wu Lang imagines that although Li Xia was in Hanzhong, he was shackled by the Song Dynasty; although the Gao family once ruled the country, they have lost power. Therefore, the marriage of two surnames is not enough to dominate one party, what is missing?"
Zhang Hongdao said slowly: "Soldiers and horses."
"What if we add the Zhang family and the three surnames get married?"
Zhang Hongdao didn't answer.
Yang Shi said: "If this is the case, with the troops and horses of the Zhang family, Li Xia can no longer be shackled by the Song Dynasty and gain control of Sichuan and Shu. After that, connecting Dali to the south and looking at Guanzhong to the north, he will have the power to dominate. Or burn down the plank road.
, a country of its own.”
Zhang Hongdao's eyes flashed for a long time before he said slowly: "The roots of the Zhang family are in Shuntian and Baozhou."
He straightened up, looked at Yang Shi, and shook his head.
"Mr. Yang wants to trick me. It's absolutely impossible to do what he said." Gu Chu
Yang Shi said: "I also said that this is a way out. The Zhang family only needs to marry their daughter to Li Xia and wait and see what happens. How about that?"
He held the tea, blew it, and sighed again.
"When I set out, Li Xia made several statements... First, it depends on the eldest sister's feelings. If she has no interest in him, then let this matter go."
"snort."
Yang Shi said: "Secondly, Li Xia sent me here to formally propose marriage, not to secretly abduct the eldest sister, because he cares about her father-daughter relationship and does not want to embarrass her."
"Ah."
"Thirdly, I also told your father before... There is no need to tell my eldest sister about this matter for the time being, lest she be disappointed and sad if it doesn't work out, which would not be a good thing."
"Pretend, why didn't you consider this when you first kidnapped people?"
Zhang Hongdao raised the corner of his mouth, smiling or mocking. After scolding him, he leaned forward and said again: "Li Xia owes my sister."
"Therefore, please Wulang believe that Li Xia will be good to my eldest sister."
"snort."
Yang Shi stroked his beard and sighed: "For children, it is a good marriage with the beauty of adults; for the Zhang family, although there is no name, the reality of the marriage can be secretly obtained, isn't it appropriate?"
Having said all that needed to be said, he sipped his tea and waited for the Zhang family's reply.
Zhang Hongdao got up and paced back and forth in the courtyard.
"How to send off a bride?"
Yang Shi was overjoyed and stood up and said: "If the Zhang family is willing to agree, I will repay Alang and he will go to Shouzhou in person to meet the bride at the Huaihe River."
He had always been persuading from the standpoint of the Zhang family and called Li Xia by his name, but now he changed his title.
"I didn't say I agreed."
Zhang Hongdao snorted coldly and walked out of the courtyard, stopping again when he opened the door.
"Mr. Yang, please wait for a few more days. My father has gone to Kaifeng. We will talk about it when he returns."
"Okay, okay." Yang Shi smiled quickly and said, "Wu Lang, walk slowly..."
This time he came, he had miscalculated the time for Zhang Rou to return to the army, and had been waiting in Bozhou for a long time.
But fortunately, things seem to be done...
~~
Over there, Zhang Hongdao returned home and when he arrived at the study, he saw that the lock on the door had been picked.
"Who did it?"
"Report it to Wu Lang. Twelve Lang was hanging on the tree over there just now and couldn't get down. The little people went to save him... and it turned out like this when he came back. Please punish Wu Lang."
"Go down."
Zhang Hongdao pushed the door open, looked around, and then lay down on the ground.
After squinting against the sunlight for a while, he faintly saw a delicate footprint, so he smiled bitterly and shook his head.
This younger sister in the family does these sneaky things every day, trying to find out the whole story of the war against the Song Dynasty, especially the war between Sichuan and Shu.
Zhang Hongdao no longer dared to place such official documents at home, and took great pains to guard against them.
Fortunately, maybe she will be married off...
With these thoughts in his mind, Zhang Hongdao sighed.
"I followed this ghost girl's wishes..."
~~
Hanzhong.
Li Xia just received a piece of information.
"Shi Tianze has arrived in Tongguan? He underestimated Kublai Khan..."
"What did Alang say?"
Li Xia didn't answer, he was a little distracted.
…
Some things are still bad.
Kublai Khan was much calmer than expected. For example, when he received the news of Meng Ge's death, he realized where his foundation was and did not rush back north.
Therefore, even though Song Ting knew that Meng Ge was dead, he still expressed his willingness to pay tribute.
Regardless of whether the tribute silver was given or not, how many people realized that the object of the Song Dynasty's submission to pay tribute was Kublai Khan, even if he was not the Great Khan?
Tribute silver is not important, what is important is... what do the princes think of it?
What did Kublai Khan do during this period?
How much have the thoughts of those Han nobles been suppressed?
Li Fen clearly had objections long ago, so why didn't he reply to the letter for a long time and take advantage of this opportunity to raise troops? Have you received the letter?
Shi Tianze, who had clearly contacted Li Fen early and was secretly trying to gauge the situation, was now willing to fight for Kublai Khan against Asotai's powerful soldiers. Why?