My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

At the end of September, Yang Sanli received news that the Tatars from the north were invading.

The Tatars launched an attack in five routes, one of which targeted Shimen County, where Li Lin was located.

Fortunately, Meng Xin was prepared and quickly repelled the Tatar soldiers. Although Li Lin had no merit in this life, he spared the people of a county from the suffering of war.

The Tatars were actually composed of multiple tribes, which cooperated with and suppressed each other, and disagreements were inevitable.

In particular, a large grain merchant came to Lanzhou this year. He offered low prices and plenty of grain, and even allowed people to exchange furs for it. He was not stingy when exchanging grain.

If the fur is of good quality, the grain you can exchange for it is much more valuable than selling the fur alone.

This year, the north is experiencing drought, and many grasses have died early on. The sheep and horses in the tribe are starving and thin, and some have even contracted diseases and died.

Just then, grain merchants arrived in Lanzhou. They offered to buy the grain with money or exchange it for grain.

When the two sides were not at war, there was trade between Lanzhou and the Tatar tribes in the north, in a small valley open space north of Lanzhou city.

Soldiers were stationed all around, and anyone who caused trouble was immediately driven out.

Many Tatars originally wanted to buy some grain, but when they saw that they could exchange furs for grain, some of them went home to get it on the spot.

Good furs are expensive everywhere, but in the eyes of the Tatars, they are far less desirable than grain. Grain can fill the stomach, while fur can only keep warm. For ordinary families who are not very wealthy, fox fur, mink fur and ordinary sheepskin are about the same in terms of keeping warm.

Now that they see that furs can be exchanged for grain, they quickly bring out all the furs in their homes, hoping to exchange them for more grain.

Actually, this idea wasn't Xu Yong's own; he heard about it from a local friend when he came to Lanzhou.

After all, Lanzhou is a remote place, and some people still retain the habit of bartering.

Xu Yong thought that since the grain was brought from Lingnan, the cost was low. Even with the expenses along the way, the average cost wasn't much higher. Even if he sold it at a low price, he wouldn't lose money, but it might attract attacks from local grain merchants. It would be better to barter for good quality furs, which would also save him some time in buying furs.

The matter was settled, saving manpower for purchasing. Most of them stayed in the grain store, which made the local grain merchants wary and dare not provoke them.

After all, Xu Yong and his group were veterans of battle. Although they were wounded and had some disabilities, their ruthlessness was something they couldn't fake.

The influx of this grain into the grasslands provided food for the three southern tribes, thus reducing their desire to invade southwards, since war inevitably leads to death.

This year, the Tatars' attacks seem fierce, and Meng Xin was well prepared, so the border counties and towns withstood the Tatar attacks.

Of course, there were casualties as well. In the five battles, 1,300 people died, including a deputy general named Zeng Gong.

When the news reached the capital, the emperor was overjoyed and repeatedly praised Meng Xin for his skillful command of troops and his meritorious service in defending the border.

"Good, good, good! We annihilated 30,000 enemy soldiers, while we only suffered 1,300 casualties."

As luck would have it, the emperor was convening a meeting of his ministers at that time. Seeing the emperor's delight, one of the ministers suggested that Meng Xin should be rewarded.

Meng Xin was the General of Lanzhou, commanding 200,000 elite troops in the Northwest. The General was a second-rank official, and some ministers suggested that Meng Xin should be further awarded the title of Dragon and Tiger General, also a second-rank official.

The Emperor trusted Meng Xin and approved it on the spot.

Later, Liu Cheng, the Minister of Rites, had an audience with the emperor and suggested, "Why not let General Meng return to the capital to receive his reward and promotion? This would also demonstrate His Majesty's wisdom, martial prowess, and ability to recognize and utilize talent."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor immediately agreed, but winter was the time when the Tatars in the north launched their fierce attacks, and Meng Xin could not leave.

Even if they return to the capital to receive their rewards, it will have to wait until next spring, when the earth awakens and the grass turns green, before the border regions can relax for a moment.

"We'll discuss this later."

Although Meng Xin's matter was suppressed, those who were interested had long guessed that Meng Xin would definitely receive a reward; it was only a matter of time.

The Meng residence became lively again, with a constant stream of people coming to offer their congratulations. There was no rest all day long. Among them, many people subtly mentioned Meng Ruohua's marriage, indicating that they had unmarried sons or widowers waiting to be married.

Mencius' mother pretended not to understand and refused them one by one.

Given Meng Ruohua's status, it was inconvenient for her to go, and she didn't want to sit there bored. However, she couldn't leave the mansion, so she had to stay in the courtyard every day.

But she was happy. Her father had won the battle, and unlike in the previous life, this time he distributed all the credit equally.

He only took credit for the command; the credit for those five battles was given to the commander and his deputy.

Even if the emperor wanted to reward him, Meng Xin would definitely promote all his achievements, giving young people a chance to be promoted.

Yang Sanli told Meng Ruohua all of this. Yang Sanli and Meng Xin had a secret way of communicating, which no one in the Meng family knew about.

Meng Ruohua didn't ask any further questions; of course, the fewer people who knew about these things, the better.

Even if the Meng family is strictly disciplined, there are still many people and many opinions, and anyone could be someone else's spy.

Meng Ruohua had a reclining chair made, and she would sunbathe in the yard when the weather was nice.

The autumn air is crisp and clear, the sky is blue for miles, and the sun shines just right.

Gu Qiongfang took advantage of this opportunity and came over on a free day.

Upon meeting, she apologized profusely, saying, "I haven't had a chance to see you since your accident. You won't blame me, will you?"

Meng Ruohua smiled calmly: "Why blame you? I know you had no choice in the matter."

The Wang family is a large clan, and Gu Qiongfang is the eldest daughter-in-law, who will become the head of the family in the future. Now she helps manage the household, and she is busy with all sorts of important and trivial matters every day, so she really doesn't have much free time.

Furthermore, the Wang and Meng families have never had any relationship, and there is a distinction between civil and military officials, so it is normal that they do not interact much.

Meng Ruohua smiled and took her hand, "You seem to have lost some weight?"

Gu Qiongfang sighed softly, "You have lost some weight. You're so busy every day, it's no wonder you've lost weight."

Meng Ruohua didn't ask what she was busy with, it was nothing more than matters concerning the Wang family, but she couldn't help but ask, "How's your seventh son?"

Gu Qiongfang's heart skipped a beat, and she asked in confusion, "What's wrong with Seventh Brother?"

As the matriarch of the clan, she naturally knew about Wang Yuanzhi's affairs, but she could not tell outsiders at this time. She only vaguely said, "It's all good. They will get married in December."

Meng Ruohua smiled and said, "Your household will be even more lively after the wedding."

She was telling the truth. In his previous life, Wang Yuanzhi had a public feud with that man, which angered his wife so much that she divorced him and went to the temple not long after.

I wonder what kind of trouble will escalate after Song Tian joins in.

Gu Qiongfang thought she was referring to Song Tian as having a restless nature, but she was prepared for this. "They are from the second branch of the family, and even if they are under the supervision of the second aunt, they have nothing to do with me in this isolation room."

Meng Ruohua smiled again and said, "Yes, just live your own life well."

She was unaware of the Wang family's affairs, and Gu Qiongfang was intelligent, so Meng Ruohua wasn't worried about her. They just chatted for a bit and then dispersed.