Zhen Jiang was cooking porridge, a multi-grain porridge. She added rice, corn, beans, peanuts, red dates, lotus seeds, and various preserved fruits to make it delicious.
She knew that her husband would cook this kind of multigrain porridge with his own hands on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, and would eat a lot of it until he couldn't eat anymore and was so full.
It was very uncomfortable.
He only eats this kind of porridge on this day.
Zhen Jiang didn't know why Mr. Dao Dao did this, but it must be important.
This year she wants to cook porridge for her husband.
Her cruel husband, he had ignored her for more than a month since they met once when he came back.
Really, isn't it just a little temper to get an official position for my brother? So stingy!
Besides, the words haven’t been spoken yet. Even if you guessed it, I won’t give it to you if you don’t want to. Why ignore me?
Zhen Jiang angrily knocked on the clay pot with a wooden spoon.
"Hmph! I'll hold you to death!"
"Young Master, please stop losing your temper and make a proper apology to the Lord. If you don't meet each other all the time, aren't you giving others an advantage?" Su He, the personal maid, advised softly from the side.
Zhen Jiang pouted and said helplessly in a long tone: "I know! Didn't I cook porridge for him? I'll go over and apologize later. Don't bother me!"
"It's just a quarrel between husband and wife. How can there be an overnight feud? If you apologize, they will naturally reconcile. Young Master, don't be angry. How can we not see each other for more than a month? If the prince doesn't come, why don't you just find him?
Already."
Zhen Jiang curled her lips and complained in a low voice: "He left before we even had time to argue."
Su Ho didn't hear clearly and reminded: "The porridge is ready, Shaojun, please send it over quickly."
After saying that, he put the hot porridge into a white porcelain jar, put it in a food box, and put it in a small bowl and side dishes.
Seeing that everything was ready, Zhen Jiang ordered someone to carry the food box and walk towards Liu Xiang's study.
She knew that her husband used to practice sword practice for a while in the morning, then take a bath, then eat breakfast in the study, read for a while, go to the military camp in the morning to inspect, practice riding and shooting by the way, and work in the Qinzheng Hall at noon and afternoon.
Zhen Jiang guessed correctly. When he arrived in the study, Liu Xiang was sitting next to the desk reading.
"Husband, I have cooked porridge for you." She whispered softly, serving porridge and vegetables with a smile on her face.
Liu Xiang looked at the Laba porridge in the jar and sighed. He was not cooking Laba porridge just to drink it.
He pointed to the opposite side of the desk and motioned for Zhen Jiang to sit down.
"Zhen Gong helped me a lot in those days. He helped me get my name in the clan's name book, and he often traveled around Luoyang. When I needed food, he bought food. When I needed boats, he bought boats. When I needed craftsmen, he hired them.
The craftsmen spent no less than ten thousand dollars on this."
He knew he shouldn't reason with women, but he still wanted to say that it was Zhen Jiang's business to listen or not.
Now that she is in charge of the affairs of the Zhen family, she cannot be willful like a little woman.
Therefore, he continued: "I keep it all in mind and am willing to repay it to the Zhen family. Zhen Yan looked at my internal warehouse. Under my rule, the Zhen family has more than 300 grain stores and more than 40 grain stores.
There are teams of grain harvesters, more than ten large granaries, and more than 10,000 workers working around the grain business.
Your Zhen family controls one of the two food lifelines. Isn't power enough? What else do you want?"
Fighting for power for the natal family is unavoidable in political marriages. It is understandable, but it must be done in moderation.
The Zhen family's official position is not high and their reputation is not great, but their actual power is not small.
Cai Yan's natal family has Cai Yong, a well-known scholar in the world, and Yuan Pang, a veteran of three dynasties who became an official. They were originally very famous. Now Yuan Huan is responsible for building the bookstore, Yuan Pang becomes the bookstore's wine sacrificer, and Cai Yong becomes the secretary who manages books.
With the supervision order, his reputation has reached a higher level.
But the real power is only the five thousand soldiers and horses of the city gate captain.
In terms of power, they cannot keep up with the Zhen family.
One of the two families is powerful, the other is famous, no one is inferior. Zhen Jiang is the head wife, what else can she be dissatisfied with?
Originally, the Zhen family in Zhongshan was just a down-and-out aristocratic family. They were engaged in business, had a lot of assets, and a low social status. They were raised by Liu Xiang and have become the most powerful family under his rule. Do they still need to be greedy?
Zhen Jiang lowered his head and apologized slightly: "Husband, I know I was wrong and didn't want to fight for power. It's just that Zhen Yao is already sixteen and wants my husband to give him a good family background."
"Zhen Yao is only sixteen, why are you so anxious?"
"When my husband was sixteen years old, he had already commanded an army and was famous all over the world." Zhen Jiang looked at her husband with admiration, her eyes burning and overflowing with pride.
Liu Xiang sighed and shook his head: "It was just a last resort and a struggle to survive. I would rather live a peaceful life at that time."
This is his true words. Who would be willing to travel to the kidnapping scene? Or the one who was kidnapped.
It's just a struggle to the death. In order to survive, it is not honorable at all to do whatever it takes.
He rubbed his temples, broke away from the almost despairing mental journey, and whispered: "When Zhen Yao is twenty years old, he will be a filial and honest person and enter the official career. This will be the golden road. Now,
Why are you so anxious?"
Although the late Han Dynasty was a troubled time, it was still the right path to serve as an official with filial piety and honesty. People would look up to you and think you were a person with both talent and virtue.
Those who are directly recruited as officials will always be short.
This is the mainstream value.
"Let Zhen Yao study, study, and cultivate his character. When he reaches his age, I will promote him as filial and honest. If he becomes a dandy and dares to harm the people and kill people, I will personally hold the sword and behead him." Liu Xiang warned.
One sentence.
These kind of relatives, children of powerful families, have grown up surrounded by wealth and power, and are particularly prone to not treating people as human beings. They must be strictly controlled to make them have a sense of awe.
"Yes, I remember. I will definitely control my family and prevent them from smearing my husband." Zhen Jiang responded softly.
Liu Xiang picked up the scroll and said softly: "Go back, I will read the book for a while and then go to patrol the camp."
"Then husband, please remember to drink porridge, I have to take leave." Zhen Jiang didn't know whether her husband had forgiven her, so she bowed helplessly and left.
Liu Xiang read for a while and then led the guards to patrol the camp. This was a habit he had insisted on for many years. He still remembers that when he was learning to lead troops from Cui Yi, the first thing he taught him was patrolling.
camp.
"You have to let your subordinates recognize you."
This sentence is a wise saying.
Until Liu Xiang walked out of the study, the jar of Laba porridge still remained untouched.
Once a rift occurs, it cannot be repaired, especially with his insecure and suspicious character.
It's not that I'm afraid it's poisonous, I just don't want to eat it.
In the military camp in the twelfth lunar month, there were still drills, but there were few arrangements for heavy physical training. They watched flag formations, recited military regulations, and ran to warm up so that the soldiers would not relax too much. Liu Xiang watched on the school field for a while and returned to the Chinese Army Festival Hall.
Sit still.
I don't want to practice riding and shooting today.
He took out the Laba porridge ingredients he brought and started cooking the porridge on the briquette stove.
Watching the porridge boiling and the Laba porridge getting thicker, he stirred it with a spoon while recalling modern life.
My memory is getting blurry, and I look more and more like a real warlord of the late Han Dynasty.
The balance of power and intrigues have become daily life. Even the wives and concubines at home have to be wary of the family behind them.
A political marriage has no room for true feelings, and one has to guess at the hidden meaning of every sentence.
Regardless of the subordinates around you or the enemies you face, all of them are talented people and cannot be taken lightly. Every decision must be considered repeatedly, and every word must be carefully considered.