The chattering of voices in the room and the chatter and laughter of women slightly calmed down Xiao Ding's anxious mood.

The large row of bungalows in front are tall weaving houses.

Gao Yi not only raised chickens, ducks and geese, but also raised pigs, sheep, harvested wool, spun yarn, and knitted sweaters.

Under her leadership, every household in Xingqing Prefecture followed suit.

Gao Ao had no choice but to do this because his husband seemed to have never been well-off and was always extremely poor.

In Xingqing Mansion, women who can play music, chess, calligraphy and painting are not very popular, but their ability to breed and spin thread can win praise from everyone.

Gao Min walked out of the knitting room, still holding a half-finished sweater in his hand. Two wooden needles interlaced flexibly to knit a long thread into a sheet-shaped sweater.

"Is there anything unhappy?" Gao Yi asked softly, sitting next to Xiao Ding.

More than ten years later, the bright young noblewoman from earlier has now developed thin crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, and her body has become plumper. However, what remains the same is that she still speaks in a soft voice and is unhurried. slow.

Whenever Xiao Ding felt anxious, he would always come here to listen to the voice of wit. After listening to his wife speak, he would feel much better.

"The Western Army is now in danger, and the Liao Kingdom is sharpening its sword. I'm afraid that it won't be long before they invade the west in large numbers. The civil and military officials cannot see such a dangerous situation, but they keep urging self-reliance. Do you think it's ridiculous? !" Xiao Ding kicked away a small piece of dirt and watched it smash into pieces against a tree.

"Everyone wants to become the prime minister." Gao Yi is a daughter of a wealthy family. She grew up in a place like Tokyo and married a person like Xiao Ding. Naturally, she is no stranger to politics. "If you don't go further, Everyone was unable to move. Nowadays, the Western Army controls hundreds of thousands of soldiers, controls thousands of miles of territory, and has hundreds of millions of soldiers. It is not surprising that these people have ideas. Fame and wealth have been the most attractive thing since ancient times!"

Xiao Ding sighed: "Yes, even Zhang Changshi can't pass the test of fame."

"Da Lang, this matter should be sparse rather than blocked. Isn't it that everyone is following you to seek glory and wealth? Let alone here, even in the land of education in the Central Plains, it is not like this! Nowadays, various ethnic groups are mixed, and everyone's My thoughts are even more urgent." Gao Ao said: "But as long as the serious relationship is made clear, I think with Dalang's prestige, we can still pass this level."

"I talked with Chang Shi, and his intention was to leave me ambiguous and give everyone a hope." Xiao Ding smiled bitterly: "I know that he has always wanted to become a prime minister who will be remembered in history, so he also wants to push me to go further. "

"Second uncle, what does he mean?" Gao Yi asked.

"Does this need to be said?" Xiao Ding said: "Back then, he arranged for me to come to the northwest just to implement the strategy of three-pronged expedition against Liao. At that time, he planned to use ten to twenty years to complete this matter. First, Let me establish a foothold in the northwest and establish a partial division, and then go to the south to integrate the southern army and economy, and then use these achievements to return to the capital in one fell swoop and become the first assistant in the political hall with more than one person under ten thousand people. , and then promote the use of the whole country to conquer Liao."

Hearing this, Gao Yi couldn't help but feel a little dazed: "Did Uncle Er think so far back then?"

"What's the use? Who could have thought that things would develop like this?" Xiao Ding shook his head and said: "I have gained a foothold in the northwest, but the Song Dynasty is finished. Although he has rebuilt the New Song Dynasty in the south, Everything is difficult at the beginning, and it is still difficult now. There are many internal contradictions, and there are endless wars externally. I wonder when we can really start the campaign to conquer Liao."

"Will Third Sister really come to beat us?" Gao Yi put down the half-knitted sweater in his hand and asked, "What can I say, you are also his eldest brother! We are all one family."

Xiao Ding laughed and reached out to rub Gao Yi's head: "At this time, I am naive again! Everyone is in the game and we can't help ourselves! I am the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, and she is the Empress Dowager Chengtian of the Liao Kingdom. Her second brother

He is the chief assistant of the New Song Dynasty. Sitting in this position, he is a natural enemy."

"You three brothers and sisters used to love each other, but now you want to kill each other. Think about how cute your three sisters were back in Shentangbao?" Gao Yao looked darkly.

"The third sister regards this as a game. She probably regards defeating the second brother in this world-wide battle as her last and biggest goal." Xiao Ding said. "As for the second brother, she wants to take back the old brother.

To rebuild China, we must defeat Third Sister. The two of them have long been mortal enemies."

"Why didn't Third Sister come to win over you?" Gao Yi suddenly laughed, "If you also defected to her, wouldn't it mean that Second Uncle would be completely defeated?"

"Third sister knows me." Xiao Ding sighed: "I have been fighting with the Liao people for so many years, and our hatred is as deep as the sea. How could I defect to them? Moreover, when the second brother made the plan, he did not avoid the third sister."

"I'm afraid someone under the Western Army will be persuaded!" Gao Yi was a little worried.

"Don't worry too much about this! At least I'm not worried about the Eighth Army Division. What's the benefit of them defecting to the Liao people? Will they still have the power and benefits they have now? Definitely not!" Xiao Ding said with a smile: "Back then, two

The younger brother believed that many Yi generals were weak, so he tied them together with their interests. It was easy for them to form an alliance with the New Song Dynasty, because everyone understood that only the weak could unite to fight against the strong enemy. If we really wanted to go

Hug the thigh, and after the thigh has trampled the weak one to death, the other weak one will not live long."

"Isn't it said in the art of war that it is better to be strong and brave enough to chase down the poor bandits? Why didn't the third sister take advantage of the victory and go south after defeating Tokyo? Didn't this give the second uncle time to consolidate his strength?" Gao Yi was puzzled.

"She would like to, but in fact she can't do it! Once Yelujun dies, if she doesn't handle the domestic affairs well, she is afraid that she will be the first to fall!" Xiao Ding said: "Besides, people from the north are good at horses, and people from the south are good at horses.

Xi Zhou was not sure about going south to fight, so before leaving, she supported people such as Liu Yu, Cui Ang and others. However, these people failed to live up to expectations and were defeated in the two key battles of Xiangyang and Xuzhou.

Defeated by the second brother, if the second brother had lost both battles, I'm afraid the Liao army would have rolled south by now."

"She can't gnaw on her second brother for a while, so she wants to gnaw on you?" Gao Ao was surprised.

Looking at Gao Yi's appearance, Xiao Ding laughed.

"I will definitely support Xin Song and the second brother. Third sister understands this, so now she wants to defeat me first while the second brother is still entangled with Liu Yu, Qu Zhen and others.

"

"So, we are really in danger!"

"Don't worry, the Western Army will not be defeated by anyone who wants to. It's just that there will be some bumps in the road." Xiao Ding said proudly: "This is why I can never be as self-reliant as my subordinates persuaded me to do. I really want to be self-reliant.

, Jiangning will also regard me as their enemy, and I’m afraid the third sister will feel happy."

"There is always no peace!" Gao Yi sighed: "Can't we stop fighting and just cultivate the land, raise sheep and spin thread?"

"When there are people, there are fights. Or as my second brother said, only by defeating all enemies and establishing a unified country can it be possible to eliminate most of the wars!"

"But if we really want to do this, how many people will die!"

"If we don't do this, will fewer people die in the past hundreds of years? I'm afraid more people will die!" Xiao Ding stood up, stretched out, and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll fall down here.

After such a hard time, I feel much better now, oh, I forgot to tell you some good news."

"Where does happiness come from?" Gao Yi was a little surprised.

"Gao Jian is back." Xiao Ding said: "In three years, he has managed a county in an orderly manner. This year's top rankings ranked first. Chang Shi is very happy and is ready to promote him."

Gao Jian is the younger brother of Gao Yi, and he is also one of the several Gao clan members sent to the Western Army by the Gao family. The others are older, but they have all become Liao Liao, and now they are just a bunch of young people.

Well, Gao Jian is the youngest, but also the most eager to learn and endure hardships. He has risen up the ranks step by step.

Gao Yi was really happy when he heard the news.

Speaking of which, every time she heard the complaints from her brothers, she felt unhappy. After all, they were all members of the Gao family, and she was embarrassed by everyone. How could she not be happy now that she finally had someone who was promising?

"Why didn't you see him come to see me?" Gao Yi started to speak, looking like a young girl back then.

"He is an official. Of course he has to finish his official duties and go through the procedures before he can come to see you. Otherwise, he breaks the rules and the promotion will be shelved again."

"I will cook the food myself in the evening. You have to come back for dinner. Let Jing'er come back too so that she can have a few drinks with her uncle. This is the first time Gao Jian has come home in the past few years!"

"Okay, let's get together as good friends!"

As soon as Luo Xin opened his eyes, he jumped up from the bed, walked to the window, opened the window, and the fresh and sweet wind blew into his face. He took a deep breath greedily.

Got up late!

He blamed himself a little.

Or maybe it’s because we are about to reach the end of the field and we are relaxed!

This trip is really not that close.

From Jiangning all the way to Qinfeng Road, and then from Qinfeng Road into the area controlled by the Western Army, he walked for more than a month on the road.

After entering the area controlled by the Western Army, he was more relaxed than on Qin Feng Road.

Li Chun, Qin Fenglu's pacifying envoy, is now a little unpredictable.

The Song Dynasty established a new court again, Zhao An ascended the throne in Jiangling, and then moved to Jiangning Mansion. During this process, Qin Fenglu's pacifier Li Chun expressed his support and expressed his absolute loyalty to the new court and the new emperor, but he

I, however, just refused to go to Jiangning to meet the emperor.

Zhiqiuyuan is certainly not a vegetarian.

It was discovered that the Liao Kingdom was wooing him, and the current King of Zhao, Quzhen, was also wooing him.

He became a piece of cake.

There are also many tribes on Qinfeng Road. Li Chun has served on Qinfeng Road for many years and has managed Qinfeng Road like an iron barrel. Moreover, this gentleman is extremely slippery. He has fought several battles, whether it was the conquest of the Western Army at that time or the later Liao Army's southward march.

He is living his little life in the cracks, and you can't catch him at all.

Qinfeng Road is now the key link between the area controlled by the Western Army and the New Song Dynasty court. Other roads such as Yizhou Road going west are really difficult and dangerous.

So Xiao Cheng couldn't help him for a while.

Unable to move, I could only coax him.

Luo Xin is a close relative of Xiao Cheng. This time he went to Xingqing Mansion with an important mission, but when it comes to feeling uneasy, it is really only when he was on Qinfeng Road. Luo Xin felt that the officials on Qinfeng Road were...

The officers and soldiers looked at him a little strangely.

It wasn't until I set foot in the Western Army area that I truly had a good night's sleep.

This official post was built on the roadside, with endless wheat fields on both sides of the road. Standing in front of the second-floor window, you can see the rolling waves of wheat and the gurgling cool water in the ditches in the fields.

When he was in Jiangning, he only felt that the northwest land must be bitter, cold and barren, and the people must be poorly clothed and dishonest. But it was not until the true face of Xingqing Mansion appeared in front of his eyes that he truly felt it.

Come on, what is meant by hearing a hundred times is better than seeing it once.

The wealth of Xingqing Mansion exceeded his imagination.

Along the way, the only flaw was that there were many disabled and injured people working in the fields, including women, young people, and the elderly.

The shortcomings of the Western army's insufficient manpower were fully exposed.

But at the same time, it also shows another problem, that is, the Western Army has been quite successful in resettling retired soldiers. Xingqing Mansion does not build walls, but uses people as walls. These people are Xiao Ding's walls.

There are 30,000 households in Xingqing Mansion and nearly 200,000 people, all of whom are the most loyal supporters of the Western Army.

Because they must rely on the Western Army to maintain their current happy life.

Yes, happy life.

Work at sunrise, hoe the cows, rest at sunset, have a few drinks, watch the children playing, listen to the crowing of the roosters and the barking of the dogs, and have a leisurely time!

Who wants to deprive them of such a life? Why not draw a sword and fight?

If it were Luo Xin, he would do the same thing.

Today, the officials from Xingqing Mansion who came to pick him up will arrive. Looking at the time, it is probably almost there.

I quickly washed my face, went downstairs, greeted all my followers and finished breakfast hastily, when the sound of horse hooves could be heard outside.

I'm afraid that the people who came to greet him would have left before the fifth watch.

To Luo Xin's surprise, the person who came to greet him turned out to be a lame man with several scars on his face. The Western Army fought every year, and injuries were common, but this man was wearing civilian clothes.

, is it possible that he is still an all-rounder in both civil and military affairs?

"My lower official, Cui Jin, has been ordered by Chief Shi to welcome the envoys of the Song Dynasty." The visitor crossed his hands and saluted Luo Xin.

When Luo heard this name, he was a little dazed.

Cui Jin?

Same name and surname?

Cui Ang's second son was named Cui Jin. Luo Xin heard Xiao Cheng mention this person many times, with a lot of regret in his tone, saying that he was a talented person, but it was a pity that his father had cheated him.

Looking at Luo Xin's appearance, Cui Jin seemed to understand something. He straightened up and said calmly: "Envoy, there is no need to be confused. This official is exactly the Cui Jin you have in mind. A person without a country and a family. Fortunately, Manager Xiao."

She was taken in, and she finally didn’t starve to death or freeze to death.”
Chapter completed!