Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 103 3.10 This Qianxiang Kingdom was once the land of the former Ming Dynasty
Volume Three

3.10 This Qianxiang Kingdom was once the land of the former Ming Dynasty
In a blink of an eye, it was the end of the month. Because there was nothing to do, Zhou Yang basically spent his time and energy on training and reviewing books. At this time, the benefits of the big yard were reflected. At the same time, he did not forget the Li family brothers and the ten soldiers. For this reason, he specially recruited two other servants from Shilipu to take care of some rough work. Qingwen is still the only one in the inner courtyard.

It wasn't until November 28th that he accepted Chen Yejun's post and went to the Duke of Qi's Mansion to attend a martial arts gathering. This was also his first official visit, because as a current martial arts official, he even went to submit the post for a visit. He didn't even have the qualifications. If it hadn't been for Chen Yejun's invitation, he probably wouldn't be able to pay his respects to his "mentor" until he was a high school martial arts scholar and officially awarded an official title.

"Disciple pays homage to his master!" After being welcomed into the mansion by Chen Yejun in person, the first thing he did was to meet Chen Ruiwen. After all, he was the real master, and he had to kneel down honestly.

"Is Ziyang here?" Chen Ruiwen smiled and put down the "Spring and Autumn" in his hand, waved his hand a few times to help Zhou Yang get up, "I heard from Yejun that you are quite busy these days?"

"Disciple, I'm ashamed!" Zhou Yang quickly apologized. Even if he didn't come to the door before because he didn't have enough status, the problem could only be his own. "I've been busy with some secular affairs recently and couldn't come to see my teacher."

"Hey (three times)!" Chen Ruiwen interrupted him with a slight smile. After all, these kind of greetings are just meaningless. "I heard Yejun talk about Jinling. You are good, very good. Counting that, Xue Tu and I are too. We are old friends, we often met when we were young, but unfortunately time flies and we are all old in a blink of an eye!"

"My father-in-law also mentioned my mentor many times!" Zhou Yang replied with a smile, recalling the sentence in "Fan Jin passed the exam" that "Mr. Shi lived in the same hometown, but we have always been close to each other." "It's a pity that Jinling and the capital are far away, so it has been inconvenient to visit. , and now it’s even more of a separation between heaven and man, which is a pity!”

"I heard that you have booked the girl who lives in the eldest room of the Xue family?" Chen Ruiwen just mentioned it casually and passed by, "The Xue family is the descendant of Ziwei, and they are all members of the world. It is not an insult. It's a pity. I’m still a little anxious, but actually, there are still several good candidates from various companies in Beijing.”

"I have received great kindness from my father-in-law, so I should sincerely repay him!" Zhou Yang quickly bowed and said.

"Well, it's good to repay a favor!" Chen Ruiwen nodded with satisfaction. In total, his favor to Zhou Yang was also great, "Let's leave it at that for now. I heard from Yejun that you and Xue Tu only made an oral agreement. ? If anything happens, you might as well check it out in the future. Okay, I, an old guy, won’t delay you young people’s matters. Let’s go!”

"Disciple, please leave!" Zhou Yang quickly bowed and slowly exited the door. He met Chen Ruiwen in the study room of Duke Qi's mansion. It seemed that the Chen family had already given him enough face.

Under the guidance of the servant, we quickly entered the back garden of the Duke of Qi's Mansion. Unfortunately, because it was the severe winter, the scenery in front of us was really lackluster. However, despite the heavy snowfall a few days ago, a lot of the garden was still preserved at this time, and it still had a sense of beauty. , naturally the banquet cannot be in the snow, but in the garden greenhouse.

"Hahaha, junior brother is here?" Chen Yejun came up with a big smile and took his arm into the banquet. There were not many guests. In addition to the common noble disciples, there were also a few who should have the same status as him. Seated another seat about the same size, there were less than 20 people at full count, "We just happened to be talking about the affairs of Qianxiang Country, you should also listen to it!"

"Oh?" Zhou Yang's heart moved. This was the first time he heard about this country mentioned many times in the original work. He then looked at the children of Wu Xun and sighed secretly. Jia Zhen was also present, but Jia Lian did not come. "But the imperial army has a new arrival?"

"Hahaha——" A group of martial arts disciples laughed loudly, and the people sitting next to them also laughed.

"That's right!" Shi Meng, the eldest son of Duke Tui, smiled the brightest, "Prince Nan'an reported two days ago that Qianxiang's bandits invaded the territory, but they were repulsed by Annan's army. They also took the opportunity to send elite soldiers to pursue them. Tens of thousands of rebels were wiped out in one battle. The number of heads that were recovered for inspection was no less than [-]. Weapons, armor, and even food, grass, and flags were all seized. It can be said to be an unprecedented victory since His Majesty ascended the throne. !”

"Oh?" Zhou Yang's heart moved, he looked at Shi Meng who was full of dandy vibes and smiled, "It's time to celebrate the imperial court's victory. Prince Nan'an has been guarding southern Xinjiang for decades and has contributed a lot to maintaining the stability of the border. I'm afraid he is no longer there. Do you attach too much importance to such merit? I would like to congratulate several elder brothers for their promotion step by step!"

"Hahaha——" This time, the martial arts disciple smiled even brighter.

"I just said that I can't hide it from Junior Brother Zhou, right?" Chen Yejun smiled, patted Zhou Yang, and simply pulled him into the main table, "Then tell me, which brother is the happiest?"

"Looking at what Brother Shi meant just now, I must have already." Zhou Yang smiled and looked at Shi Meng, who was the first to explain, "I'm here to congratulate you in advance, but I wonder if there will be a celebration banquet?"

"Brother Chen has a good junior brother!" Liu Dong, the eldest son of Liguo Palace, said with admiration, "Yes, Brother Shi was originally with the Annan Army, but unfortunately he was just a trial hundred households. Now with his merits, he has not only been promoted Hundreds of households can just take advantage of the opportunity to be transferred back, and under the command of Uncle Shi (Shi Guangzhu, the inheritor of the Duke of Tui's Mansion, first-class male, and the commander-in-chief of the Tongzhou Battalion), the future is bright!"

"I would also like to thank the brothers for giving in!" Shi Meng couldn't help but clasped his fists around him, obviously very satisfied, "I haven't said anything yet, brothers, I will hold another show in a few days. If anyone doesn't come then, don't blame me for coming home. Drag you out!"

"I have been listening to several elder brothers talking about Qianxiang Country. My younger brother is shallow, but I don't know what kind of place Qianxiang Country is?" Out of curiosity, Zhou Yang couldn't help but ask. "After all, this Qianxiang Kingdom was once the land of the former Ming Dynasty." The person who spoke was Niu Ben, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhenguo. "At first, we opened a mansion and built a government office. Unfortunately, later generations were unworthy and could not keep it. In the end, it was lost again and was The Li family's rebel control should be officially called the Li Dynasty, but the court has never recognized it. Because it is rich in madder and is very popular in the Zhou Dynasty, it is called the "Qianxiang Kingdom".

When Emperor Taizu of this dynasty founded the country, the Qianxiang bandit army took advantage of the chaos and invaded our territory many times, killing our people. They were incompatible with our dynasty. Therefore, after Emperor Taizong stabilized the world, he has been adopting an offensive strategy. The Prince of Nan'an, the Chai family, even led the Annan army to conquer southern Xinjiang and made great military exploits. "

"I see!" Now Zhou Yang understood that the so-called "Qianxiang Kingdom" was roughly equivalent to the Annan Kingdom in real history. Of course, it was not without doubts, "Just considering the national strength of the small Qianxiang Kingdom, how could it be possible? It has been so long with my Great Zhou Dynasty?"

"Xianxiang Kingdom is not small." Shi Meng, who had just benefited, said, "This group of thieves not only attacked me in Dazhou, but also took advantage of the instability of the Central Plains to sweep the surrounding areas, and they won a lot of land. The territory, if the Supreme Emperor hadn't wanted to destroy it at the beginning and fought for several years, I am afraid that the entire Nanyang area should have belonged to Qianxiang.

Even so, today's Qianxiang Kingdom also borders Dian Province, Guangxi Province and Dazhou Province. These two provinces are now protected by Prince Nan'an. Otherwise, I am afraid that the suffering of the people at the founding of the country will be repeated. Fortunately, I heard that Qianxiang Kingdom is now In addition to the Li family, there is also the rise of the Ruan family. The two sides are fighting among themselves, but it gives us a chance. "

"Thank you, Brother Shi, for clearing up the confusion!" Zhou Yang thanked him with a clasped fist, and fully understood that the Qianxiang Kingdom now controls roughly half of the Indochina Peninsula, which is equivalent to occupying the entire northern part of Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and other countries in reality. That is indeed It’s a big piece of territory. “It’s a pity that for the time being, we can only let these thieves be arrogant.”

"It's okay!" Ma Shang, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhiguo Mansion, said calmly, "It's just a military achievement left there waiting for us to get it. There's nothing to worry about!"

"Hahaha--"

"Okay, we are obviously having fun together as brothers, but why are we back to military matters while talking?" Jia Zhen said half-truthfully, raised her glass and smiled, "Why don't we have a good drink? One cup, just think of it as a celebration for Brother Shi Meng!”

"Done!" The host Chen Yejun smiled and raised his glass, and everyone else followed suit.

"Brother Zhen, it's easy for you. Not to mention Uncle Jing above, even the guys below are trying their best." Shi Meng, who was congratulated, went over to give Jia Zhen a hammer and smiled, "But I heard that Brother Rong at home is very happy? I just don’t know which family’s lady is lucky?”

"I didn't ask for details. It was decided by my father." Jia Zhen didn't seem to take it seriously. "She is a girl from the family of Qin Ye, the maintenance man of the Ministry of Industry. My father also said it. There are so many people in Beijing now, why did it be decided? She is the daughter of a mere carpenter."

It doesn't matter what he said, the whole banquet fell silent, and even the atmosphere in the conservatory dropped sharply, a needle could be heard, a group of Wu Xun disciples looked at each other, no one spoke for a long time, so that Jia Zhen was a little confused .

"What, brothers, what's wrong?" Jia Zhen asked nervously.

"Brother Zhen really didn't ask anything?" Niu Ben asked seriously.

"No!" Jia Zhen said blankly, "It's all arranged by my father, it's not my turn to speak!"

Zhou Yang didn't know what to say. It was obvious that Jia Zhen didn't know Qin Keqing's identity, but the other princes of the Eight Dukes already knew it, so they all had suspicions. In fact, he couldn't determine the specific situation, because Qin Keqing His identity in the original work is a mystery.

"Since it's Uncle Jing's arrangement, there's no problem!" Chen Yejun laughed suddenly, and the others also laughed, "Okay, this is a private matter of the Ning Guo Mansion, so we don't need to ask any more questions, but there is a good thing. I want Junior Brother Zhou to know."

"I wonder what good thing can make Senior Brother Chen value it so much?" Zhou Yang asked with a smile.

"Next year will be the [-]th birthday of the Supreme Emperor. His Majesty has officially decided that Jia Enke will celebrate with the world. The imperial edict must only last for these few days!" Chen Yejun said with a smile.

"What?" Even though Zhou Yang had already guessed, he still couldn't help but shout in surprise.

(End of this chapter)