The Yuan family has prosperous heirs, but from the generation of their brothers, there have been more sons than girls. Empress Yuan was the only legitimate daughter in the family, but by the time of Crown Princess Yuan Min, there were twenty or thirty cousins and only two girls. When it comes to the grandchildren, there are finally a little more girls. Yuan Qing, the eldest brother, has a granddaughter, Yuan Hai, the fourth brother, has a granddaughter, and Yuan Lin, the eldest son of the fifth brother, has a daughter.
In short, in the Yuan family, the boys were raised rough. They learned martial arts at the age of five. When they were thirteen or fourteen, they had to go to the military camp to train. After they got married and had children, they had to go to the frontier army camp.
The girls of the Yuan family are all charming and pampered.
Yuan Jiang has not returned to the capital for several years. In fact, he has never even seen his granddaughter Yuan Yue. However, when he heard that his granddaughter was going to be betrothed, he was not happy from the bottom of his heart.
"It's okay to get married," Yuan Jiang thought for a moment and said, "However, Yue'er has been raised in the capital since she was a child, so she can't bear the hardships of the border towns. If you have a boy of the right age at home, just marry Shen You's daughter."
Yuan Lin glanced at Yuan Jiang helplessly: "The girls of the Yuan family are delicate, doesn't Shen You cherish his daughter? Furthermore, getting married is for the sake of good marriage between two surnames, and only by marrying a daughter can you show your sincerity. There is no way to ask for it. The reason for marrying someone else’s girl.”
"This is not a marriage, but an enmity."
Yuan Jiang's face darkened: "Why is this a feud? Shen You's daughter is also seven or eight years old. She will grow up in a few years and will have to get married. Isn't it true that we, the son of the Yuan family, are not worthy of the girl of the Shen family?"
"In terms of family status, the Yuan family is the number one general in Da Qi and has great power. The queen and princess are all daughters of the Yuan family. The boys of the Yuan family are more than capable of being consorts, so why can't they be Shen You's son-in-law?"
"When the time comes, it will be up to Shen You to choose any of the Yuan family's sons who are of suitable age."
This also makes sense.
Yuan Lin thought for a moment and said in a low voice: "The children are still young, so there is no rush for the moment. We will talk about it in a few years. I will show my goodwill to Shen You first and start walking slowly. When we get to know each other well in the future, we can propose marriage. It will be a matter of course. .”
Yuan Jiang stroked his beard and nodded.
…
Three days later, His Highness the Prince left the border army and returned to the capital.
General Meng, Yuan Jiang, Chenyou and others sent them all the way thirty miles away. His Royal Highness the Prince got down from the carriage and smiled at the generals: "We have sent you so far, so there is no need to send them back any more. Let's all go back!"
All the generals came forward one by one to say goodbye to His Royal Highness.
When it was Shen You's turn, Shen You spoke concisely as usual, cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, have a safe journey, take care of it."
Zhu Yun was very familiar with Shen You's temperament, so he didn't take it seriously and responded with a smile: "General Shen will be cherished in the future. Looking from afar in the capital alone, I only hope that General Shen will become a famous general in Da Qi and a pillar of the country."
These words were enough to make the blood of all the generals boil. If it had been anyone else, they would have patted their chests and expressed their loyalty.
Shen You remained silent as usual and handed over his hand again: "I will definitely live up to His Highness' high expectations."
In short, don't expect Shen You to be impassioned.
Zhu Yun smiled again, his eyes falling on Shen Jia beside Shen You.
Shen Jia is now also a third-grade general, and he is worthy of being ranked among the frontier troops. Zhu Yun glanced at him, and Shen Jia immediately stepped forward and said loudly: "General, I wish your highness a safe journey. Your highness cares and cares for the general." , I will always remember it in my heart. I am willing to sacrifice everything for the peace of Daqi border and die for the emperor and His Royal Highness."
This flattery was so loud that it created a strong contrast with Shen You!
Zhu Yun's eyes were full of smiles and he nodded: "You are so loyal and loyal, even I know it."
Shen You couldn't help but glance at Shen Jia.
I really didn't realize that Shen Jia was so capable of flattery and flattery.
Shen Jia took advantage of His Highness the Crown Prince to talk to other generals and winked at Shen You.
I'm so flattering to His Highness the Crown Prince, and it's not just for you. Why do you think you are such a boring gourd? As your elder brother, shouldn't I be the one to take the lead?
Shen You twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and quickly looked away.
…
It took less than a month for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come to the frontier army to award rewards. The frontier army camp was lively for a while, and soon returned to normal.
The injured continued to recuperate, and the soldiers practiced daily as usual. General Meng was busy arranging the pensions for the wounded and fallen soldiers. Shen You did not go to inquire about what was going on in the infantry camp. All his thoughts were focused on the cavalry. On the training of military formations.
In this battle, the border army won a great victory and killed the Tatar leader Telibige. However, there were Rouran and other large nomadic tribes outside the pass. There may be another big war in three to five years.
Moreover, in this battle, the soldiers in the cavalry battalion also revealed their shortcomings in riding and shooting. Compared with the Tatars, who have been riding horses since birth, they are indeed a step behind.
There is nothing we can do about it, we can only continue to practice.
If an individual is not as brave as the Tatars, he will have to find another way.
Shen You worked hard on the military formations, putting strict military discipline first, training the cavalry to charge in neat military formations, and detailing the soldiers in the cavalry battalion. In addition to the necessary bows and arrows for each person, there were pikemen and swordsmen. etc.
Shen You also wrote a memorial and sent it to the court, hoping to set up another heavy cavalry in the cavalry camp. The so-called heavy cavalry refers to selecting the most courageous cavalry, wearing armor all over the body, and the war horses must also be armored.
If the cavalry is the elite of the frontier army, then the heavy cavalry is the elite of the elite. The money and food required to support one heavy cavalry is enough to support five ordinary cavalry and fifty ordinary infantry.
After Da Qi had rested and recuperated for several years, the national treasury gradually became full and had a surplus. Every year, an additional one million taels of military pay were allocated to train a force of about two thousand heavy cavalry.
As he got busy, Shen You quickly forgot about His Highness the Crown Prince.
In a blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. It was a custom in the military camp to have a seven-day long holiday. The exhausted soldiers, wearing new cotton-padded clothes and carrying thick military pay in their arms, swarmed into the border town.
Shen You and Shen Jia Fangpeng returned to Jiangjunfang together to reunite with their wives and children.
According to the usual practice in previous years, on New Year's Day, Shen You held a banquet at his home for everyone in Jiangjunfang. After the banquet, everyone went home to stay, and there was no need to go out and move around anymore.
No one expected that at this year's Shen family banquet, there would be a group of "distinguished guests" taking the initiative to visit.
"What? That guy Yuan Lin is really here?"
Before Shen You could say anything, Shen Jia had already blurted out.
Fang Peng also frowned and said in a low voice: "The Yuan family usually doesn't deal with our cavalry battalion. They secretly stumble and compete with each other when we meet. They never look good. Why did you come here today?"
To describe them as rivals is a bit too much. However, it is well known that the Yuan family and Shen You and their entourage have not dealt with each other over the years.
