It was the end of September, the weather was perfect, and the autumn breeze was refreshing.
Zhang Wenjing has been in Chang'an for more than ten days and is quite used to it.
Her hometown is in Shuntian Road, Baozhou. She followed Zhang Rou six years ago when she moved to Bozhou. She felt that the climate in Bozhou was better, unlike Baozhou's hot and rainy summers and cold and dry winters.
As for Chang'an... I feel better with Li Xia here.
Li Xia is busy during the day, while she is busy decorating the house where she lives now.
She did not live in a Xingtai or a government office in Sichuan, Shaanxi, but bought a suitable-sized courtyard nearby. After all, she was not married.
But Li Xia would come over every day after finishing his official duties, so he simply stayed there and occupied a guest house in the west wing.
Zhang Wenjing was busy cutting out some clothes for him and selecting bedding and furniture.
These things are simple to say, but from the cloth to the quilt core, measuring Li Xia's measurements to sewing a few clothes, she had to send people to the street to buy everything, which kept her busy for many days.
In the evening Li Xia came over, holding a long roll of cloth in his hand.
Zhang Wenjing had a tacit understanding with him and asked with a smile: "Has the map been drawn yet?"
"I can't find such a big paper. I'm looking for cloth to draw on. Can you help me take a look first?"
"Then I will praise the painting for Staff Officer Li Jieshuai, but I don't know how much salary I will be given every month?" Zhang Wenjing asked with a smile.
Li Xia smiled and said: "I have no money, so I can only pledge myself to you."
"Pooh."
Although Zhang Wenjing was angry, she still entered the hall with Li Xia and spread the newly made large map over the entire lobby.
She took a look, walked a few steps with her hands behind her hands, tapped on the map with her toes, and said: "Yanjing is here, then Kaiping City should be..."
With her eyes following Yanjing to the north, she took two steps and crossed the Yanshan Mountains, stepping lightly on her embroidered shoes.
"Here, on the north bank of the Luanhe River, there is a mountain called Longgang, and Kaiping City was built here."
"Lightning River? Duolun County?" Li Xia thought and whispered to himself.
In his previous life, he liked to fly around and visited many places, and he could name a few places.
But this was the first time that he marked the location of Kaiping City on the map.
This is not as simple as it seems.
For example, Yang Guo and his Mongolian captives have never been to Kaiping City at all. Even if they had been, it would be difficult for them to be represented on the map.
"This is Chang'an, this is Bozhou, almost a thousand miles away..."
Li Xia first told Zhang Wenjing the proportions of the map and asked, "Where are Kublai Khan and Alibu Ge now?"
"At the beginning of the year, my father led the troops to the north. More than three months ago, he sent a letter to my fifth brother to prepare for the expedition..."
Zhang Wenjing walked a few steps north from Kaiping City, thinking with her chin on her fingers, and doing calculations based on the various information she knew.
Li Xia walked to her side and muttered: "Counting the time, it's time to reach this area?"
They walked from Yanjing on the map to Kaiping, taking only two steps, but at this time they had taken another four or five steps to the north.
"Well, it should be about here."
"Xilingol?"
"Huh? The river on the hill?" Zhang Wenjing, who also knows Mongolian, shook her head and said, "There is no such place name in this area. The Mongolian people call it 'Xi Mu Tu Nao'er'."
Li Xia said: "Xi Mu Tu Nao'er is a 'what kind of lake'?"
"A lake with gnats. A gnat is a kind of insect that lives in water and sucks the blood of humans and animals."
"Gadfly?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen it either." Zhang Wenjing also had some doubts in her eyes.
Li Xia asked: "Where is Hala and Lin? Yanran Mountain?"
He took four more steps northwest.
Zhang Wenjing stepped forward, pushed him, took two steps forward, pushed him another two steps, and walked outside the map.
"My eleventh brother is a hostage in Hara and Lin. According to his letter, it is more than three thousand miles from Yanjing."
Li Xia intuitively felt the terrifying size of Mongolia's territory.
Normally I have no idea, but on this map, he walked sixteen steps from Yanjing to Haraholin, and his Hanzhong Plain was not as big as his shoes.
"All right."
Li Xia said: "Then let's make a calculation. If Kublai Khan wins in the battle of Mu Tu Nao'er, he will drive out Harah and Lin, chase Ali Buge, stabilize the situation, and wipe out Li Fen... He will not be able to fight back for three to five years...
Working on it."
"Three to five years is already as fast as lightning."
"It took me half a year to attack Guanzhong after taking Longxi." Li Xia said: "Besides, if Ali wins, then Kublai Khan will return to defend Kaiping, followed by the Yanshan defense line, and the Yanjing defense..."
"Brother Ali must have destroyed the Central Plains in the early stage, burning, killing, looting and destroying Kublai Khan's foundation?"
"What I'm afraid of is that if Ali wins, he will be able to advance from Hetao to Shanxi within a year or two, or even...detour from Liangzhou, advance to Longxi and Guanzhong, plunder money and grain, and replenish military supplies."
"can you?"
"This is inevitable. Outflanking is the most common strategy used by the Mongols, and Kublai Khan needs to manage the land under his control. Ali Bu Ge never needs it, he just robs and kills."
At this point, Li Xia smiled bitterly and said: "What I'm afraid of now is that Kublai Khan won't be able to win this battle. For me, the best result is that he refuses Ali Buge to the north of the Yanshan Mountains, and then counterattacks Hara."
He was frustrated when he was with Lin."
Zhang Wenjing thought hard and said, "This situation is too difficult to control."
"It cannot be controlled. Its main battlefield has been moved too far and is beyond our reach."
Li Xia said: "As for sending troops to Henan and Shanxi, it is impossible. There is no such opportunity at the moment, and I do not have the strength. The troops at hand to defend Sichuan and Shaanxi are still stretched. In short, all available opportunities have been grasped. Next, when it comes to accumulating
When you gather strength."
Together with Zhang Wenjing, he rolled up the large map on the ground and put it away.
With this deduction, he also had a clearer inference about the situation in the north.
He prefers that he still has three to five years to accumulate strength.
First, Li Xia wanted to control Guanlong in less than a year so that Song Ting could not reach out.
But at this time, he still cannot be considered to have complete control over Sichuan and Shaanxi... It is still the simplest question, once he becomes independent, how many people will follow him.
In this year, we can only plan to dispose of envoys in Sichuan and Shaanxi first, and then plan to establish the authority to establish a government. Only then can we have the name to gradually form a semi-independent situation in Sichuan and Shaanxi in the next two or three years.
At the same time, soldiers, horses, money, food, and people's hearts must reach a state that can compete with Mongolia and the Song Dynasty...
Early next morning.
Zhang Wenjing and Li Xia learned a few stretching movements in the courtyard, and had breakfast together.
"What are you doing today?"
"I have a brother... who has arrived in Chang'an. I took him to Liu Heima's house to propose marriage."
"Speaking of this, I remembered something." Zhang Wenjing pursed her lips and smiled, "When my fifth brother got the news from Guanzhong, he heard that the Li family and the Liu family were getting married. He thought you were going to marry the Liu family, and he didn't know what to do.
How frustrating."
"I don't believe it. He couldn't have gotten such news in Bozhou before you went out. It's more likely that he got such news when you were in Shanxi..."
"Don't say it."
Li Xia couldn't help but laugh again and asked, "What about you?"
"I'll help Sister Yuan organize the manuscript."
"Speaking of this." Li Xia said: "The arrival of Master Wuxi with Mr. Yishan's manuscript has really inspired the literary world in Chang'an. When Mr. Yang spread the news, many scribes who refused to join the Mongolian government after Jin's death took the initiative to let me build it again.
I had a literary library and asked for help in sorting out the manuscripts. Originally, they were unmoved by my solicitation."
"Great."
Zhang Wenjing spread her hands and said with a smile: "Bring me the money, Sister Yuan and I will take care of this matter."
"You know what I want to do?"
"I took the opportunity to recruit these scribes under your command."
Li Xia peeled off an egg and put it in Zhang Wenjing's hand, saying, "Yesterday, a famous doctor came to me with dozens of his disciples. Do you know Zhang Xiaoming?"
Zhang Wenjing bit the egg and shook her head.
"He said that it was not because of the name of the envoy of the Song Dynasty in Sichuan, but because his uncle and Mr. Yishan were close friends, and their name was Zhang Congzheng."
Zhang Wenjing took a leisurely sip of water and said in a polite manner: "In the Zhang family in Kaocheng, Zhang Congzheng was the first of the four famous doctors in the Jin Dynasty when Zhang Gong was alive. He was very famous and wrote books and biographies to be passed down to future generations.
Character, I have his "Confucian Affairs" in my home."
"There is also one who claims to be a descendant of the Li family."
"Zhen Ding Li, I think he was a disciple of Duke Li Gao. He was also one of the four famous doctors in the Jin Dynasty when he was alive. He donated a lot of money to practice divine medicine and medical skills. He wrote many books, including "Theory of Distinguishing Internal and External Injury" and "Theory of Spleen and Stomach"
I can’t remember all of “Medical Inventions” either.”
At this point, she added.
"In those days, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li were close friends with Mr. Yishan, and they were famous all over the world. When these disciples heard that Mr. Yishan's manuscript was in Chang'an, they must come to visit him. Wait a minute, I'll call Sister Yuan to talk to you.
"
…
Li Xia was also quite emotional when she went out that day.
Originally, Yang Guo was already a well-known scholar in the north and had attracted many literati from the north. However, compared to Yuan Haowen, his reputation and connections were still much inferior.
In the contemporary literary world, southerners say that Wu Qian, Liu Kezhuang, Wu Wenying, and Liu Chenweng are just a few stars in the bright stars of the Song Dynasty, but Yuan Haowen is a lone star lighting up the north.
The title of "the crown of the northern literary heroes of the generation of Wen Zong" is by no means just talk.
This is prestige.
Speaking of personal connections, Yuan Haowen made friends from all three religions and nine circles. In addition to famous officials, powerful ministers of vassals, there were also painters, hermits, doctors, monks, scholars, and farmers.
When the Jin Dynasty died, Yuan Haowen wrote to Yelu Chucai to protect many Confucian scholars of the Jin Kingdom. Many of these people regarded themselves as survivors and refused to become officials, and dozens of those who became officials have become high-ranking Mongolian officials.
Li Xia, who had a close friendship with Yuan Haowen and was still a living scholar, included Yang Guo, Shang Ting, and Bai Pu.
Today Yuan Yan casually mentioned a few more people, such as Yan Zhongji, Xu Shilong, Li Ye, Li Tianyi...
Among them, Yan Zhongji was not only a brilliant poet, but also a great prince, with tens of thousands of households marching on Dongping Road; Xu Shilong had already served as the Xuanfu envoy on Yanjing Road in Mongolia.
Li Ye was also extraordinary. Not only was he excellent in his writing and poetry, he was also the founder of a sect of arithmetic.
According to Yuan Yan, even Li Xia couldn't understand Li Zhi's theories on geometry, fractional equations, higher-order equations, and decimal notation...
I can only be shocked that arithmetic has reached such a high level in today's world.
For the time being, the people who really come to Li Xia are just some young people, but the influence of the manuscripts and connections brought by Yuan Yan is already very impressive...
"Li Jieshuai is an extraordinary person."
After Li Xia left, Yuan Yan was sitting in the courtyard copying manuscripts, and suddenly he said something.
"Really?" Zhang Wenjing responded happily.
"But have you ever thought about it, the more remarkable a person he is, the more you have to bear when you marry him... Li Jieshuai is also magnanimous. He has married his first wife and is pregnant. Before the end of the year,
I want to have children."
Yuan Yan didn't even raise his head when he finished speaking, but the speed of writing in his hands slowed down a lot.
"People like him can be admired and admired, and some women may be willing to become his concubines, but with your background and your ambition..."
"The world in his heart is too big." Zhang Wenjing responded in a low voice, smiled to herself, and said: "He is married to a real wife, but I think that neither I nor Gao Mingyue can completely occupy his heart...
…If I can occupy a small part, I am already very powerful.”
Yuan Yan was stunned.
I heard Zhang Wenjing say in a low voice: "It's really amazing. It has been very difficult for me to occupy this corner these years. I want to understand what I want, and I feel willing to do so."
"That you……"
"He said that Fifth Brother will definitely send someone to talk to him."
"As long as you are sensible." Yuan Yan sighed slightly and then said thoughtfully: "Yesterday, I met Mr. Yang and talked about some past events. Afterwards, Mr. Yang said that he does not have an official position yet..."
"When Li Xia can establish a government, he will naturally have an official position."
"That's not what I'm talking about. Mr. Yang said that he now has women serving in Li Jieshuai's shogunate."
After Yuan Yan finished speaking, he raised his head and asked: "What do you think, I also join the Hantai shogunate?"