Chapter 137 It's Blissful to Have My Brother Take Care of You
Chapter 137 I’m so happy to have my brother to take care of me
Author: Fengze Fangfei
The Lingnan powerful people rushed to participate in the suppression of bandits. This is a story later.
Besides, after the family banquet at Prince Qian's Mansion, only a few people in the room could really sleep without any distractions that night.
Xia Jing woke up the next morning and when Bai Mei helped her dress up, she opened some portraits on the dressing table.
These portraits were sent by King Qian a few days ago. The beauties in the portraits are the daughters of several powerful forces in Lingnan.
King Qian sent this portrait, and his intention was obvious. He wanted to use Xiao Wu's marriage to consolidate the power of Lingnan.
But Xia Jing was disgusted by this, so she never replied to Qianyuan.
Naturally, the people who Hongmei and Baimei had seen the portrait were young girls, at the age of marriageable age, similar to the fifth master. If the fifth master really liked him, they would be very happy that the fifth master could get married.
But they knew that these things were beyond the control of slaves like them.
Seeing that Xia Jing was taking it seriously, Hongmei couldn't help but ask: "Princess, do you want to help the fifth master arrange a marriage?"
When Xia Jing heard this, her wandering thoughts came back. She calmed down and rolled up the portrait with a smile. "How can a life-long decision be decided so hastily? What if the woman and Xiao Wu have incompatible personalities? This is a lifelong matter.
Big things, related to Xiaowu's happiness for the rest of his life."
Hongmei tilted her head and looked at the rolled-up portrait, and said regretfully: "Princess, don't you want to drink your wife's tea earlier and hold your grandson earlier?"
After hearing her words, Xia Jing burst into laughter: "We first settled in Lingnan, and everything is complicated. At least in the past few years, I don't care if my little one doesn't get married. It doesn't matter if I delay it for a few years."
"However, the girls in these portraits are all very beautiful. It is a pity for Mr. Wu to miss them."
"Haha, the beauties in the world are like crucian carp crossing the river. Xiaowu is still young, and I can't bear to let his little body be drained by beauties." Xia Jing glanced at Hongmei and smiled meaningfully.
Hongmei's face turned red as she thought about the ambiguity of these words.
After breakfast and taking the gifts prepared by the butler, Xia Jing and Li Chengmu took a carriage to the summer residence together.
When the Xia family received the news, the whole family was very happy and waited at the door of the house early, preparing to welcome their distinguished nephew.
Having not seen each other for more than ten years, it is impossible to say how close Li Chengmu is to them.
The impression of the Xia family still remains on Li Chengmu's childhood. At that time, the child was still a few years old and had baby fat. He was a very cute and handsome little boy.
Li Chengmu didn't expect that the Xia family would greet him at the door. He was stunned for a moment when he got off the carriage, and then hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
"Xiao Wu has met his grandparents, his uncles and aunts, and his brothers and sisters. Good morning to everyone."
In fact, from his childhood memories, this boy recognized Father Xia and Mrs. Chen, as well as several uncles and aunts, needless to say, their age is there. But if he is asked to distinguish who is the first uncle, second uncle and third uncle, please forgive him, he really knows.
Not sure.
Not to mention his cousins among his peers. Although Xia Jing introduced him to the Xia family before coming here, the relationship between the characters in Xia Jing's mouth made it impossible for him to match them in reality, so he could only make generalizations.
See you as a gift.
Xia Jing stood behind and couldn't help laughing, "If we have anything to say, let's go in and talk about it."
Mrs. Chen noticed Li Chengmu's embarrassed and confused expression, and stepped forward to hold his hand with a loving smile on her face.
"Yes, yes, let's go in and catch up on old times. I haven't seen my sweet grandson for more than ten years. Our brother Mu has grown into a big man."
The Xia family surrounded Xia Jing and Li Chengmu and entered the mansion. The maids who followed them called the guards to drive the carriage into the mansion and carried the gifts to the main hall.
Everyone walked into the main hall and sat down separately for the guests of honor.
Li Chengmu stood up and greeted his elders seriously and received many gifts.
I received a lot of gifts, and the elders basically recognized them all.
After the guards brought the gifts in, Li Chengmu stood up again and distributed the gifts to everyone.
"Some of these gifts are prepared by the palace, and some are prepared with my own heart."
Dad Xia was surprised to receive the gift, which was a well-made leather whip. "Brother Mu also prepared a gift for us. You are very thoughtful."
Li Chengmu handed a box of jewelry to Chen's hand, "This time I went out to train, and I unexpectedly gained a lot of good things. I heard that the whip you gave to my grandfather was made of some kind of crocodile skin. In Dayu
Very rare and very rare.
These gemstones given to my grandmother were all selected by me personally. Regardless of the water color, they are all top-quality gemstones. I hope you and I will like them."
"This is too expensive." Mrs. Chen was shocked when she heard this and quickly pushed the box back.
Father Xia often travels away for business, so he must master the skill of riding a horse, so he couldn't put it down after getting such a rare whip. When the old woman pushed the box back, he had to put the whip away.
on the table.
"Your grandma is right. You are leading troops and fighting outside. This whip is more suitable for you. It would be a waste to leave it in my hands. It is a waste of natural resources."
Although several uncles in the Xia family also coveted whips, they all nodded in agreement after hearing what Father Xia said.
Xia Jing looked at this scene with amusement. Dad Xia was very fond of this leather whip. The reluctance in his eyes was noticed by Xia Jing.
She laughed and said: "Xiaowu grew up in the palace. What kind of whip does he want? This time he got good things and knew how to give them to his elders. This is his filial piety. Gifts have a price, and filial piety is the most precious. You two can
Take it."
After listening to Xia Jing's words, Mr. Xia and Mrs. Chen accepted the gift with confidence. Then they smiled and praised Li Chengmu for his filial piety and being a good, sensible boy.
Li Chengmu was in a good mood after receiving praise from his elders. He sent gifts from several uncles and aunts to them, and received a lot of praise from them.
Xia Jing looked at her son's sullen expression and believed that if he had a tail behind him, it would probably move like a propeller.
After dividing the gifts among his peers, Li Chengmu was enthusiastically taken to the side hall by his cousins. The elders were very happy for their brothers and sisters to communicate with each other.
There was no junior in the main hall, so Father Xia started talking about Li Chengmu's suppression of bandits.
“Lingnan borders the sea to the south, and the coastal areas have always been troubled by pirates. It borders Annan to the west, and there are many chieftains. In addition, the Yu Dynasty’s control over the borders has weakened, resulting in banditry in the Lingnan mountains.
Xiao Wu used the training of generals to wipe out many gangster nests, and the harvest was good, and the safety of the place was restored. He has just begun to show his talents, so you must protect him in the palace."
Xia Jing smiled helplessly: "Dad, he is my son, how could I put him in danger?"
"It's good that you know." Mr. Xia had personally experienced the banditry in Lingnan and hated it deeply. Li Chengmu's performance this time was very satisfactory to him.
Speaking of bandits, Xia Qingshan spoke up at this time, "This time we sold salt to Lingling County in Jingzhou. The salt was easy to sell, and the snowflake salt was very popular with the powerful families in Lingling County. But just when we were about to leave,
I heard something."
These words caught Xia Jing's attention, "What's going on?"
The Xia family all looked at Xia Qingshan, he had been back for a few days, why hadn't they heard him talk about it?
"After the governor of Jingzhou heard about the clearing of hidden houses in Lingnan, re-measurement of land, and registration, he must have known the benefits of doing so.
Therefore, he also wanted to implement it in Jingzhou, but he would implement it in Lingling County first to see the effect or the reaction of powerful families to this decree."
When Xia Jing heard this, she sneered: "Needless to say, I definitely gave up halfway in the end."
Xia Qingshan looked at her in surprise, "How do you know? Did the palace also get the news?"
Xia Jing shook her head: "Yuan Rujiang, the governor of Jingzhou, is also a capable minister. There is no precedent for this kind of decree. How can he implement it without preparation? The situation in Lingnan and Jingzhou is different. How can he copy this decree rigidly?
?”
A first-class family in Lingnan may be reduced to a third- or fourth-class family in Jingzhou.
Prince Qian's Palace was able to suppress the power of the Lingnan Family, so Prince Qian's Palace implemented this decree smoothly.
But things are different in Jingzhou. Jingzhou occupies a very large area and is known as a land of plenty. In later generations, there was a saying that if Huguang is familiar with it, the world is rich.
This shows how rich the land is.
The rich natural resources of this place are also the cradle for incubating famous families and powerful families.
These local snakes in Jingzhou occupy the vast majority of the land. How could they let Yuan Rujiang affect their interests?
Their combined strength cannot be underestimated, even the governor of a state has to avoid their sharp edges.
Xia Qingshan shook his head and guessed: "Who knows what he is thinking. It may be that Jingzhou's fiscal revenue is decreasing year by year, forcing him to imitate Lingnan reforms in order to increase Jingzhou's taxes."
The current situation of the imperial court can be said to be that the imperial court cannot control the local area, and the local area cannot take care of the imperial court. Under such an opportunity, it would be strange if Yuan Rujiang did nothing.
Xia Jing guessed that he must not have reported this to the court during this reform and implementation of the administrative decree.
The country is in turmoil. How can the "capable ministers" in the court let the local officials act indiscriminately? For the sake of safety, they must prefer the original policy.
If the government forces the people to rebel, the court will not even be able to collect the original taxes. Risky things are not suitable for the old scholars and stubborn people in the court.
Without taxes, everything is a castle in the air. The court is constrained by what it wants to do. It is restricted by powerful families, and its control over local areas will also be weakened.
The same principle applies to local areas. Yuan Rujiang, the governor of Jingzhou, must also be worried about taxes.
Without taxes or with taxes exceeding his income, he would not be able to raise troops to increase the force he had. In the troubled times that would follow, he would not have the ability to protect himself.
The weak, whether in prosperous times or troubled times, are the ones who are bullied and wronged. If Yuan Rujiang wants to gain a foothold in troubled times, he must meet the standard of force, otherwise he will only be eliminated.
"I heard that Yuan Rujiang has a salt well in Jingzhou. You sold snowflake salt to Lingling County. Didn't you encounter any difficulties from them?"
Xia Qingshan said uncertainly: "That's not true. It may be our first time to go to Lingling County to sell. The local government or the governor's office haven't reacted yet. We just don't know if we will be punished by them next time we go there.
Making things difficult?"
Xia Jing nodded, "Actually, you can recruit more people, train a group of smart and capable people, and promote them to managers. The caravan can then slowly let them go and let them stand alone."
Being a businessman was both physically and mentally tiring, and Xia Jing disapproved of the fact that her family had become physically exhausted after spending a few taels of silver.
In the future, she will tinker with more good things. Is it possible that the Xia family will lead the business trip by themselves?
Now that the Xia family has settled down in Lingnan with the support of Prince Qian's Mansion, when Father Xia is fine, he will think of his hometown in Yanzhou again.
Once people get older, they will love their hometown very much.
No, he suddenly interjected: "Do you think there will be a day when we return to Yanzhou?"
As a stranger in a foreign land, Xia Jing fully understands the feeling of homesickness in a foreign land.
She was reborn and often misses the end of the world.
Missing the end of the world doesn't mean that you can't survive in this world, it just means missing it.
Xia Qingshan frowned, "Let's wait for the day when the imperial court can fight back to the capital. But the city has not been defended. It is not easy to fight back after losing it!"
Xia Jing sighed, "Beidi enters the Gyeonggi area, and the destructive power to the Gyeonggi area is inestimable. If Gyeonggi has become a ruin, even if the imperial troops drive away the Beidi people, Gyeonggi will be useless to the Yu Dynasty!"
Xia Qingshan deeply believed that it was tasteless to eat and it would be a pity to discard it.
Father Xia asked Xia Jing, "Is the new emperor now a diligent emperor who works hard to govern?"
Xia Jing had not seen anyone from the royal family since her rebirth. She retrieved the memories of several princes from her memory. She shook her head, "I have very little contact with them and don't understand their personalities. But from the past few months,
Judging from the trends in the imperial court, he may be a conservative emperor."
To put it nicely, he is Shoucheng Emperor; to put it worst, he is a mediocre person.
As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent.
The women of the Xia family did not participate in their conversation. Seeing that they could not get a word in, they quietly left and went to arrange a banquet for the guests at noon.
——
Side hall.
Xia He and Xia Hu, who live in the main house of the Xia family, are both similar in age to Li Chengmu.
Others either have families or are still young.
As soon as he entered the side hall and sat down, Xia Hu couldn't wait to ask: "Cousin Mu, are you in danger while you are out suppressing bandits?"
Xia Hu, Xia Qingshan's third son, is sixteen years old this year, a few months older than Li Chengmu, and has a more lively and cheerful temperament.
Li Chengmu answered him with a smile, "Everything is risky. To suppress bandits is to directly face the most vicious bandits. There are definitely dangers, but as long as you protect yourself, the dangers can be reduced."
Xia He personally poured a cup of tea for him and placed it in front of him. Li Chengmu was flattered and said, "Wow, if you don't dare to take it seriously, how can you trouble your cousin to pour me tea? Just let the maids and servants do these things.
"
Xia He smiled. He was the second son of Xia Qingshan, the eldest brother, and he had the responsibility to take care of his younger brothers. If he could do such small things by himself, he would do it himself without hesitation.
"It's a little effort, nothing worth mentioning."
Li Chengmu said with envy: "My younger brothers and sisters are so lucky to have a caring brother like you!"
Hearing this, everyone else grinned, obviously agreeing very much with what Li Chengmu said.
Xia He laughed when he heard this: "Hahaha, actually I can take care of cousin Mu, as long as you are willing."
"Then let's move around more!"
Xia He nodded and asked casually, as if inadvertently: "Cousin Mu, is it okay if I follow you to the military camp to suppress the bandits?"
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