In the early morning of the next day, a cavalry team of more than a hundred people set off from the capital in a mighty manner and headed straight for the Western Mountains.
Except for Zhang Yanling and the seven or eight servants who accompanied him, the rest were all from the East Palace. Liu Jin, Zhang Yong and others, as well as a hundred guards selected by Wu Xuanhe, accompanied the escort. The formation was quite large. Although they were traveling in plainclothes
, but in fact, such a big battle cannot be hidden from anyone, it can only be hidden from ordinary people.
According to the plan, the team first set up camp at Zhang Yanling's Xishan Manor, using Xishan Manor as a temporary base camp. During the two-day hunting activity, Xishan Manor was used as a place to stay. They had to come back to rest at night. And Xishan Manor was only a few kilometers away from Xishan.
It's a distance of ten miles and it's very convenient to go back and forth.
When a large number of cavalry and carriages arrived at Zhaojiazhuang, the tenants who were harvesting crops in the fields were really startled. They thought something terrible had happened. Until they saw their boss riding a horse in front,
Only then did I feel relieved.
Everyone did not stay in the village and went directly to camp on Yelang Ridge. The terrain there was high, there was a beacon tower to look out into the distance, and there was a dam below, so it was an ideal place to camp.
The soldiers were busy setting up camp. Zhu Houzhao, Zhang Yanling and others were sitting under the temporary awning tent and resting by the river. Suddenly the soldiers reported that people were coming to see the Marquis of Jianchang. Zhang Yanling stood up and looked around, and saw a few guards on the west side of the mountain.
Someone stopped him at the bottom of the slope. Zhang Yanling recognized Axiu at a glance, so he ordered people to let him go immediately.
"Mr. sir! Mr. sir!" Axiu ran up the mountain. She was barefoot, wearing ordinary clothes, with her trousers rolled up, and her body was covered with mud. She looked like a wild girl from the mountains.
"Who is this?" Zhu Houzhao frowned and asked, "Who are you calling my husband?"
Zhang Yanling laughed and said: "Prince, I don't know, but this is my new concubine, the girl from Zhaojiazhuang."
Zhu Houzhao was stunned. Liu Jin covered her mouth and snickered: "I didn't expect that Mr. Hou would be so good at this. A girl from a mountain village is full of game."
Zhang Yanling ignored him, stepped forward and said with a smile: "Xiu'er, hahaha. Come quickly."
Axiu returned to her parents' home before the Mid-Autumn Festival. She originally wanted to go back for one day, but the crops were about to be harvested after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Seeing that the farm work was busy, Axiu felt sorry for her parents, so she insisted on staying to help harvest rice. How dare the old blacksmith and his wife let Axiu
Xiu was tired, but Axiu refused to leave, so she just wanted her to stay. On August 16th, Axiu sent someone back to the capital to tell Zhang Yanling how many days she would stay at home. Zhang Yanling happened to make arrangements to come, so she agreed.
her request.
"Ms. sir!" Axiu came flying over, her face flushed from the sun, and her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Zhang Yanling smiled and grabbed him and laughed.
"Why did my husband come suddenly? He didn't even say a word." A Xiu said.
"I missed Axiu. One day is like three autumns apart, so I came here." Zhang Yanling said.
"That's weird! Why are so many people here together? There are so many people. You don't know each other. They are not from home, right?" Axiu's chirping nature began to take effect.
Zhang Laoji and his wife Zhang Yuancheng came up from behind, panting, and Zhang Yanling hurriedly stepped forward to salute.
"Hey, Yanling, don't blame us. It wasn't us who kept Axiu, it was her who insisted on staying here to harvest rice. This Nier has a very stubborn temper, and we can't persuade her. Look at this crazy look.
What did the Marquis think when he saw it?" Zhang Laoji explained while scolding Axiu.
Only then did Zhang Yanling realize that there was mud and water on Axiu's bare feet because she was harvesting rice in the fields. She couldn't help but smiled bitterly and said: "I told you before, you don't have to work in the fields at all. Why are you doing so hard?"
Zhang Laoji smiled and said: "We are farmers, what can we do if we don't cultivate the land? We feel uncomfortable when we rest. It's just hard work."
While they were talking, Zhu Houzhao came over to join in the fun, and Zhang Yanling introduced: "This is His Royal Highness the current Crown Prince. We are going hunting in the Xishan Mountains, and we will camp here for backup."
"Ah! Prince?"
Zhang Laoji's knees softened and he knelt down. The whole family hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed. Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "You don't need to be polite. You are my uncle's relatives, and you are also my relatives. There is no need for this. This is Ah
Auntie Xiu, right? When we meet for the first time, we must give them a gift. Liu Jin, give them some money."
Liu Jin chuckled and said: "Your Highness, there is no need to reward. The Marquis is richer than Your Highness, and they have no shortage of money. We reward three melons and two dates, but they still don't like it."
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "That's right. My uncle has a lot of money. Well, then I won't reward you."
Zhang Yanling rolled her eyes and thought to herself: Liu Jin, you are a bitch, will you die if you don't speak?
…
Under the leadership of Zhang Laoji, Zhang Yanling went to the lower dam for a walk. In fact, Zhang Yanling had been standing on it for a long time just now. Since the dam was basically completed the day before yesterday, the river next to it has been blocked, and the entire dam has stored no more water.
There is so little water that it has flooded the grassy bay below the mountains, with a water surface area of 20 to 30 acres. Now there is only a small amount of work left. There are only five or six people on the dam repairing and strengthening some weak spots and doing some piling to strengthen the dam.
, the work of building roads with stones.
Zhang Yanling is very satisfied. With the current amount of water storage, it can basically achieve the purpose of the previous construction. In the future, the water storage and release will only need to be adjusted according to the season and demand. The water volume will be adjusted in the rainy season, and the water will be released for irrigation according to the plan in the dry season. The downstream number should be maintained.
Irrigation of tens of thousands of acres of farmland provides livelihoods for thousands of households.
"The Zhou family sent someone here on the day it was completed. They said they wanted us to fulfill the agreement and that the dam was half of the Zhou family's." Zhao Laoji said with a smile.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "That's true. I promised them that the water supply for the Zhou family's manor will also be guaranteed."
"My boss, what did you promise them to do? Those bastards from the Zhou family almost killed my sister." Zhao Yuancheng said.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Brother, please don't call me boss, just call me by my name. I am your brother-in-law. Your name, boss, boss, seems too strange."
Zhao Yuancheng smiled naively and said: "How dare you? My sister is just marrying you as a child. We know who we are, but we don't dare to entrust her to the elders."
Axiu said angrily: "Brother, what kind of plan are you talking about? What's wrong with me marrying my husband-in-law as a child? Isn't he a thief? Others want to marry me. Isn't it embarrassing for me?"
Zhao Yuancheng hurriedly waved his hands and said: "Don't dare to say nonsense, sister, is my brother like that? Besides, everyone envies our family, how can it be embarrassing?"
Zhao Laoji chuckled and said: "Xiu'er, what your brother means is that we can't be rich or young just because the Marquis marries you. Your husband is the uncle of the country and the Marquis. Let's not let others laugh at Hou.
Master. I just said that the Marquis married you. Those people above looked strange, couldn’t you see it?"
Axiu muttered: "It's none of their business. You are really timid. My husband didn't say anything, but you are worried about yourselves."
"Xiu'er, please don't talk nonsense. Be a good husband and teach your children, and restrain your temper." Xiu'er's mother said hurriedly.
Zhang Yanling felt quite emotional when she heard these words from her family. The concept of hierarchy, the solidification of classes, the distinction between good and bad, and the classification of people into three, six or nine. These things are not only the result of indoctrination by the ruling class, but even the ruled.
I agree. The ruling class of the Ming Dynasty was too easy to deal with, because the vast majority of the people were sheep, and they had set themselves the shackles of being inferior to others and unable to exceed the rules. Don't embarrass them, let them call them directly.
The name may also embarrass them.
"Brother, we are irrigating the Zhou family, not for the Zhou family, but for the tenants in his manor. Those tenants rent the Zhou family's fields. If we don't provide them with water, won't these people all starve to death?
.So, these are two different things." Zhang Yanling returned to the topic as if she had not heard their family's previous argument.
"My husband is right. That's not harming the people." A Xiu nodded.