Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 197: Snow in the Hot Summer
"..."

At noon, people were busy coming and going outside the Fujin County Government Office, but inside the government office it was quiet.

After learning of Yang Zhiwen and Feng Bangyan's intentions, Liu Jilong was at a loss as to what to do.

Fortunately, he calmed down after a while and said in a difficult tone:
"To be honest with you two, I have taken in three new concubines, and now I really..."

"What are you talking about, Marshal Jie!"

Before Liu Jilong finished speaking, Feng Bangyan interrupted him and said, "In ancient times, kings had eight concubines, while county lords and marquises had six concubines."

"Jie Shuai is the founding county marquis of this dynasty. Let alone having three concubines, even if he has six, what's the problem?"

"My daughter Xiao Qi is well-educated and follows ancient etiquette, so she naturally knows this."

"I heard that there are more barbarians than Han people in Longxi. If our two families become relatives, my father-in-law is willing to give a thousand slaves as dowry."

"As for the cage flower jewelry, you don't need to worry about it, General Jie. I have it myself."

Feng Bangyan said everything he needed to say, but this made Liu Jilong hesitate.

This Feng Bangyan said that his sister is not as pretty as himself, and now he has prepared a generous gift, could it be that his sister is...

Liu Jilian admitted that he was tempted by the thousand slaves Feng Bangyan mentioned, but if he wanted to give himself to someone like Dong Shi just based on that, that was absolutely impossible.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong declined politely, "The people in Longxi are living in poverty. Although I want to settle down, I don't want to let Miss Xiaoqi suffer."

"Why don't we postpone this matter and discuss it again after I recover Tao, Diesong and other five states?"

Liu Jilong tried to decline politely, but Feng Bangyan could see that he was a little anxious, while Yang Zhiwen said:
"It's okay to postpone the wedding, but before that, why don't you ask Mr. Cao to go with me and see what Miss Xiaoqi is like?"

"After all, although Meicheng is satisfied with Marshal Jie, Marshal Jie has never seen Miss Xiaoqi."

"Marshal Jie can't leave, but Cao Langjun is Marshal Jie's close aide, so he naturally knows Marshal Jie's preferences."

Liu Jilong thought that the anxious looks of the two seemed as if they were eager to get married, which made him even more certain that the so-called Miss Xiaoqi was a Dong Shi.

If the horse-trade was not imminent and he couldn't offend the two men, Liu Jilong would have wanted to refuse.

Let Cao Mao go and appease the two of them first.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong nodded and said, "That's great."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cao Mao also walked into the inner hall from outside.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong told Cao Mao about Xiao Qi's affairs: "Cao Mao, you will do this for me. If Xiao Qi doesn't want to, don't force her."

Liu Jilong gave him a look, and Cao Mao understood what he meant, and bowed quickly: "I will obey your command."

"In that case, please let Mr. Cao accompany us to Xingyuan Prefecture tomorrow."

Feng Bangyan was eager to finalize the matter. Cao Mao looked at Liu Jilong in surprise, as if asking why he was so anxious.

Liu Jilong was helpless and did not want to disrupt the import-horse trade, so he could only nod and say, "You should go to Xingyuan Prefecture with General Yang and the others tomorrow."

"Yes..." Cao Mao could only agree, and then asked someone to serve the meal.

Soon, dishes cooked in woks were served on the table. Yang Zhiwen and Feng Bangyan ate with gusto, but their attention was on Liu Jilong. They kept talking about the so-called merits of Miss Xiaoqi.

Liu Jilong was very helpless. Fortunately, after lunch, Cao Mao saw that the situation was not right and went out to find Wang Sifeng to rescue Liu Jilong. Only then was Liu Jilong able to escape.

He spent the next day riding horses and strolling with Wang Sifeng outside Fujin County, and did not return to the yamen until the evening.

At noon the next day, Cao Mao followed Yang Zhiwen and others to Xingyuan Prefecture.

As for the trade of horses and slaves, Yang Zhiwen still needed time to arrange things in various states. After all the states were arranged, he would ask Cao Mao to notify the merchants in various states in Shannan West Road, asking them to recruit the hungry people as slaves and bring them to his home in Longxi.

Seeing that things had been almost settled, Liu Jilian took Li Ji and more than a hundred other cavalrymen to Minzhou shortly after Yang Zhiwen and his men left.

When passing through Dangzhou, Liu Jilong sent someone to summon Huke Guang in advance, and left Dou Jingchong to garrison troops in Huaidao.

Huaidao has a dangerous terrain and almost no plains, so the people can only make a living by turning the hillsides into terraces.

If Liu Jilian remembered correctly, in later generations, the counties of Huaidao and Lianggong in Dangzhou did not have county towns, but only townships, which also shows that the two places were not suitable for too many people to live in.

Because of this, after hearing Huke Guang’s introduction, Liu Jilong decided not to relocate the population to Dangzhou.

On the contrary, the seven states of Wuzhou, Chengzhou, Minzhou, Helin, Weilan and others have enough gullies and plains to cultivate enough arable land.

As long as there are enough people and no drought, Longxi's gullies, plains and products are enough to feed millions of people.

Thinking of this, he became more enthusiastic about the horse-import trade, and their team arrived in Yile County, Minzhou in early June.

"Come on!"

"Jie Shuai! Jie Shuai..."

On the first day of the new year, Liu Jilian arrived outside Yile City with Huke Siguang and Li Ji, while Shang Duoluo and all the people in the city welcomed them at the east gate of Yile.

The people shouted "Jieshuai", and everyone had a smile on his face.

If Shang Duo had not led the soldiers to guard the official road, the people would probably have surrounded them and left Liu Jilian where he was.

"Jie Shuai! Jie Shuai!"

A little kid in his early teens, holding a handful of wild flowers in his hand, excitedly greeted Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong glanced at him, smiled and stretched out his hand: "Little kid, study hard."

He shook hands with the little baby, then released them after a moment.

The little kid waved the wild flowers excitedly: "Jie Shuai! I will study hard!"

The cheers from all over the place almost hurt the ears of Liu Jilong and others.

The common people who used to huddle in Hezheng County and knew nothing, developed a respect for Liu Jilian as high as a mountain after just half a year.

They put on new cloth clothes and everyone washed themselves clean.

The summer crops had been harvested, and they excitedly showed Liu Jilong their now worry-free lives.

Liu Jilong smiled and nodded, gradually walked into the city, and then disappeared at the gate of the yamen.

After they disappeared, the cheers outside the government office continued, and Liu Jilong laughed heartily:
"Shang Duoluo, it seems that you have governed Minzhou very well."

"That's not right, Marshal Jie. We are just doing what Marshal Jie ordered."

Shang Duoluo said modestly: "Minzhou was the most exploited by Tubo. After the arrival of the General, he gave them clothes, land and food. How could they not be grateful to you, General?"

"Okay, okay, there's no need to say these polite words." Liu Jilong waved his hand and interrupted with a smile:
"I came to Minzhou this time not to talk to you about these things, but to discuss sending troops to retake the three states."

"I think all the states have received my order to mobilize troops."

"The recovery of the next three states will be left to the three of you."

Liu Jilong looked at Shang Duoluo, Hu Siguang, and Li Ji, nodded with satisfaction and said:
“The three states are equally important, but the Song State is crucial.”

"Huo Siguang, I am sending you to recapture Songzhou and stay there. I hope you can do it."

"Don't worry, General, I will definitely fulfill your mission!" Huke Siguang bowed quickly.

Seeing that the three of them were confident, Liu Jilong said nothing more. He just checked the population registration and farmland reclamation situation in Minzhou, and then listened to the three people's plan to recover the three states. After confirming that there was no problem, he rode back to Didao.

Two days later, on his way back to Didao, he met the Didao troops who were heading to Minzhou to gather.

Four hundred elite cavalry and eight hundred armored soldiers are already a considerable number, and in addition there are two thousand civilian laborers following the army.

The civilian laborers and armored soldiers basically rode in horse-drawn carriages, with each group having two carriages. The first one was used for rotation and rest, and the second one was used to carry armor and rations.

Due to sufficient food, this time the troops were not dispatched according to the usual practice of sending troops in autumn, but were chosen to be dispatched in June.

"Come on!"

"Jie Shuai..."

On the official road, the soldiers passing by Liu Jilian and his team greeted them one after another.

Liu Jilong smiled and nodded, occasionally reminding: "Be careful on the battlefield. I'll be waiting for you to come back in Didao."

"Yes!!"

Their voices were loud and each of them was full of vigor, like the rising sun.

Watching them go away, Liu Jilong was in a daze for a long time. It was not until a cup of tea that he reined in his horse again and headed towards Didao.

On the fourth day of June, Liu Jilian returned to Didao, and his Protectorate had been built in the past two months.

The Protectorate was nothing more than an enlarged version of the county government office. There was a long road in the office with the main, second and third halls in front and back, and the offices of the Chief Secretary, Sima and others on the left and right.

There were also offices for the posts of recorder and military assistant, recorder, military assistant of various departments, and military assistant, as well as six departments including the military, household, punishment, engineering, rites, and personnel.

The six offices can accommodate more than 300 officials working at the same time, the canteen can prepare meals for nearly 1,000 people, the official residence can accommodate nearly 100 people to rest, and the Yin Hotel can accommodate more than 100 people for rest.

In addition, there are outer courtyards such as the prison, women's prison, death row, etc., while the inner courtyard is mainly composed of the inner hall, east and west flower halls, back garden, tax warehouse, small kitchen and stables.

The entire Protectorate covers an area of thirty acres, but except for the inner courtyard where people live, no one enters the outer hall to work in the Protectorate.

"General Jie, this is..."

In the main hall, Gao Jinda and Cui Shu brought hundreds of people to follow Liu Jilian and introduced the various government offices and situations of the Protectorate to him.

In just over two months, such a large Protectorate was built. Liu Jilong couldn't help but ask:

"Has the construction of the Protectorate delayed farming?"

"Don't worry, General Jie, there has been no delay."

Gao Jinda bowed in response, and then led Liu Jilian to the inner courtyard.

The outer hall and the inner courtyard were separated by a high wall and an inner hall door, and a group of soldiers were stationed at the door.

When they saw Liu Jilong coming, they immediately bowed and saluted, and Liu Jilong helped the leader stand up and talked about their difficulties. "General, in addition to the three ladies in the inner courtyard, there are also twelve maids and six strong women, all of whom are the ones who take care of your daily life. You can trust them."

Gao Jinda was talking to Liu Jilong and had no intention of entering the inner courtyard.

Liu Jilong nodded and said, "If there is anything, remember to let me know. I'm going to rest first."

After traveling all the way, Liu Jilong was already exhausted.

Now he just wanted to rest, but before resting, he had to meet the three concubines.

He wanted to see how beautiful the three women would be after spending more than 700 strings of cash on them.

Thinking this, he walked into the inner courtyard and sat down in the inner hall.

The maids and strong women who had received instructions long ago came before him and saluted: "General..."

"They are not all slaves, right?" Liu Jilian asked everyone. After all, he had abolished the slavery system of the Tang Dynasty, where "slaves and maids were treated like livestock."

Although there were slaves in Longxi, they were all employed and worked for a family for a few years according to a signed contract. After the contract ended, they could choose to leave or renew the contract.

If a slave was beaten to death, he would be treated as a murderer. Therefore, in Longxi, slaves were considered civilians.

"Replying to the commander, we are all acting according to the Long Law, there is nothing against the rules."

Among the six strong women, a strong woman in her forties hurriedly explained, and Liu Jilong saw that she spoke politely and couldn't help asking:
"Are you all from Longxi?"

"Replying to the commander, except for the old woman, the rest of the women are from Longxi. Only the old woman was brought back by Chen Yaya from Guannei Road."

The healthy woman hurriedly explained, and Liu Jilong also asked: "I don't know how to address you. You are educated, so how did you end up like this?"

"Replying to the commander, my name is Wang. My family had some land in the early years, so I read some books such as "Female Commandments", "Nei Xun" and "Female Fan Jie Lu"."

"It's just that the imperial court and the Tanguts mobilized troops, and my hometown was looted by the soldiers, so I had no choice but to flee to Lingzhou."

Wang spoke honestly, and Liu Jilong sighed after hearing it, saying, "The soldiers are like bandits, and they only make you common people suffer."

"That's not the case. At least in my opinion, the soldiers under the commander are much stronger than the officers and soldiers."

"If all the officers and soldiers in the world were like the officers and soldiers under the command of the general, then the people would be able to enjoy peace."

As Wang explained, Liu Jilong smiled bitterly.

The Longyou Army was the army he had spent a lot of effort to lead. Even he could not guarantee whether the soldiers in the army could maintain the current military discipline as the Longyou Army continued to expand.

As for Wang, Liu Jilong thought for a moment and asked, "It's not good to just call you Wang. Do you have a specific name?"

Wang didn't expect Liu Jilong to be so approachable. She was touched and said, "When I was young, my parents called me Third Lady, and other people called me Third Lady Zhang. After I got married, they just called me Wang."

The practice of a wife taking her husband's surname took shape during the Han and Wei dynasties, became a trend by the end of the Southern Dynasties, and became stable by the Tang Dynasty.

Most women do not have names in government records. Only after they marry someone else can they be given titles such as Li, Wang, Ah Li, Ah Wang, etc.

This title can only be recognized under the premise of being attached to the husband. If the husband is deceased, or for other reasons, they need to appear in public places or official and private documents as legal persons or independent persons, it can be recorded on paper.

If Liu Jilian remembered correctly, the practice of wives taking their husband's surname would reach its peak in the Five Dynasties, and various titles such as Zhang Li, Wang Zhang, etc. would appear one after another.

"Since the government has recorded your names, you don't have to call yourself by your husband's surname."

"From now on in this inner courtyard, you can just call each other by your own names."

In an era when productivity has not reached standards, the so-called liberation of women is just empty talk.

Liu Jilong did not think that he could raise productivity to the level of modern times, nor did he think about liberating women, but the proper name still had to be given.

The reason why wives take their husband's surname is that when the Jin Dynasty moved south, the Han people declined and the people had to live together with their clans in order to survive and develop. Therefore, they took their wives' surnames as a way to enhance the cohesion of family members.

The bad habits of the Northern and Southern Dynasties should have been abolished after the Han people regained control of the country, but they were unexpectedly passed down for thousands of years.

It would be nice to have it abolished in one's own hands.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said to Mrs. Zhang San: "From now on, I will call you Mrs. Zhang."

"General Jie! This won't do!" Madam Zhang San was shocked, but Liu Jilong smiled and said:

"You are older than me, so it is normal for me to call you sister-in-law. Since you know the Long Law, you should also know that the Long Law was written by me."

"Since I wrote that servants and common people are equal, why should I be lenient to common people and harsh to you?"

"If you don't want me to call you Aunt Zhang, do you want me to call you Aunt Zhang?"

"General Jie! Please don't bother me." Mrs. Zhang San was frightened, but Liu Jilong laughed happily.

"In that case, I'll call you Mrs. Zhang!"

Liu Jilong made the decision and Mrs. Zhang San had no choice but to nod in agreement.

After all, they were the ones who took care of his daily life, so Liu Jilong was relatively lenient towards them.

If he abused someone and caused him to poison his food or stab him when he was relaxing, Liu Jilong would have nowhere to appeal.

Although he couldn't remember the specific names, Liu Jilian remembered that there were many people in history who were killed or almost killed by cooks and maids.

He didn't want to follow in these people's footsteps, so it was better to be courteous.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said to Madam Zhang San, “By the way, Madam Zhang, are there three ladies in the courtyard?”

"Replying to the commander, the three ladies have been living in the courtyard for more than half a month." Madam Zhang San replied quickly and asked:
"Marshal Jie is back now, do you want to look for them?"

"Come over here." Liu Jilong nodded, and Madam Zhang San also returned the greeting respectfully, then turned around and instructed the maids and strong women:

"Go and ask Madam Chen, Madam Guo, and Madam Hu to come over."

"Also fill the bathhouse with hot water, as the Marshal will be taking a bath later."

"Yes……"

Madam Zhang San is very good at managing people, no wonder Gao Jinda chose her to be his manager.

As Liu Jilong was thinking this, he saw Zhang Sanniang and two maids coming to stay. They came forward and saluted Liu Jilong and said, "General, I will change your clothes for you."

"Okay." Liu Jilong stood up and raised his hands, then watched Madam Zhang San and two maids change his clothes.

After the changing of clothes was completed, footsteps were heard outside the inner hall. Three maids came in with three young ladies with high buns, red silk draped over their shoulders, short shirts with narrow sleeves, long skirts that trailed on the ground, and red belts around their waists.

"Ladies, this is Commander Liu Jie."

Madam Zhang San introduced Liu Jilong to the three people. Upon hearing her words, the three people slowly raised their heads to look at Liu Jilong, and couldn't help but be amazed.

I thought I was serving a pot-bellied old man, but I didn't expect him to be such a tall and handsome guy.

"Meet the Marshal..."

The three men saluted Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong also felt his breath was a little hot.

Admittedly, the three women were very pretty, but he, Liu Jilong, was not a lustful man. It was just that the three women were wearing half-sleeve skirts that exposed their chests, and when they performed the ceremony, they inevitably exposed half of their chests, which made Liu Jilong feel a little hot.

There is a saying that goes, "The dancing sleeves are like real butterflies, and the red lips are different shades of fake cherries. The pink chest is half-hidden like sunny snow, and the drunken eyes are slanted back at the little knife."

For the first time in his 22 years of life, Liu Jilong felt that coming to the Tang Dynasty was not a bad thing.

"Ahem! Just call me your husband from now on."

Liu Jilong coughed twice, said a few words, then stood up and looked at Madam Zhang San.

"Mrs. Zhang, take me to the bathhouse."

"My dear, please come this way." Mrs. Zhang led the way for Liu Jilong and at the same time looked at the three young ladies.

The three young ladies understood what he meant and followed Liu Jilong and Zhang Sanmao into the bathhouse...

　Four Poems for Beauties

　　Tang Fang Qian

　　Just because of the hard work of being versatile, the mind is exquisite and the style is high.

　　The dancing sleeves are like real butterflies, and the red lips are fake cherries.

　　Her pink breasts were half-covered with doubts about Qingxue, and her drunken eyes squinted back at the small knife.

　　Only then will the rain clouds go away, and my words cannot match the sound of the pipa.

　　The severe winter suddenly becomes a time for viewing flowers, and the hot summer turns into a time for viewing snow.

　　She sits there making coquettish sounds without moving, and her smile in front of the wine is hard to tell.

　　Her singing and gaze are as charming as peach leaves, and her dancing is as light as willow branches.

　　I am still timid at this young age, and I am afraid people will suspect me when I whisper to them.

　　Wine contains the natural spirit, and art in the world is always related to emotion.

　　She peels onions with her ten fingers moving quickly, and dances with her slender waist following the beat of the music.

　　I am always afraid that the spring snow on my chest will melt, and I am worried that the clouds of celebration will arise above my seat.

　　If Mei Wei had no immortal bones, how could he get the immortal maidens to stay in Yujing?

　　The fairy of the past is now a beautiful lady, and meeting them in the deep winter is like spring.

　　The double reward is paid with a slight smile, and the singing is already stirring the dust.

　　In the past, I was Xiao Shi’s companion, and now I should be Song family’s neighbor.

　　To know who is there after a hundred years of separation, one must use paint to capture the truth.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)