A burst of rapid and loud baby cry suddenly broke through the silent night sky of Longya City.
The courtyard was full of people waiting anxiously. At this time, their expressions were all overjoyed, and they couldn't help but walk to the delivery room.
Mr. Zhao was still a little more reserved, rubbing his hands, looking over his shoulder and seeing his mother-in-law pushing open the door and walking out of the delivery room, and then he eagerly ran to the corridor and asked, "Will I be born a boy or a girl?"
"A woman has to go through hell to give birth. You don't care what happens to your daughter, but you only care about whether the child is a boy or a girl? If you give birth to a girl, do you still want to throw it away?" Mrs. Zhao glared at Mr. Zhao and said nothing.
He said angrily.
"Master Zhao is also concerned and confused. How is your wife's health?" Tian Cheng stepped forward and asked.
Han Qian led the Chishan Army in Jinling, and it could be said that he was walking on thin ice at every step. No one could be sure that no accident would happen. And if Zhao Ting'er could give birth to a male heir for Han Qian at this time, this pair
The significance of stabilizing people's hearts in Xuzhou is obvious.
Tian Cheng, Yang Qin, and Xi Chang rushed to Longya City to visit Zhao Ting'er in the two days before she was due to give birth. They were eager to hope that Zhao Ting'er could give birth to a male heir to Han Qian's surname.
"Mrs. Xi thought I was in the way and kicked me out, as if I could still harm Ting'er? I forgot to take a look at whether it was a boy or a girl." Mrs. Zhao said with aggrieved face.
"Han Qian has written many times, saying that you will not be allowed to interfere with Ting'er's childbirth. He especially emphasized that you must listen to Ah Jiu in all matters concerning childbirth and childbirth. Yet you still force yourself to come in and cause trouble?" Zhao Laoguan said angrily.
"Those of mine are old rules passed down from our ancestors. How many women have given birth and raised them like this, so why would it cause trouble by using my own daughter? How old is Ajiu? She has never been married and had a child. What can she know?"
Mrs. Zhao's wife said angrily.
Tian Cheng, Yang Qin, and Xi Chang shrugged. This was a family matter that they couldn't get involved in. But seeing how angry Zhao was and hearing the loud cries of the baby in the delivery room, they couldn't continue to ask Zhao Ting'er whether the child was a boy.
She was a woman, so she could only wait patiently in the yard.
After a while, Du Jiuniang, who had been waiting in the delivery room all day and night, pushed the door open and walked out tiredly, stretching. But when she suddenly saw so many people standing in the yard, she was startled, stuck out her tongue, and hurriedly gave birth to the baby.
Tian Cheng, Yang Qin and others bowed and said: "Madam, young master, mother and son are safe. I would like to congratulate Mr. Zhao on becoming a grandfather..."
Seeing that Zhao Ting'er had given birth to a boy, Tian Cheng, Yang Qin, and Xi Chang looked at each other with a satisfied smile.
Although the young master born now may not be Han Qian's only heir, or even his legitimate son, under the current circumstances, if Han Qian can have an heir to stay in Xuzhou, everyone can do whatever they need to do next.
I am worried that if something unexpected happens to Jinling, Xuzhou will fall into pieces.
"Should we send someone to Jinling next to announce the good news to you?" Yang Qin asked, rubbing his hands.
"I'm going to Jinling to announce the good news." Xi Yan opened the door of the delivery room and walked to the corridor. She was exhausted from taking care of Zhao Ting'er for several days and said to Tian Cheng and others.
Xi Rong did not sneak into Jinling with Han Qian before, but chose to stay in Xuzhou, mainly to take care of the pregnant Zhao Ting'er.
Zhao Ting'er is currently giving birth safely, with Du Jiuniang, who is considered a master of gynecology at a young age, taking care of her. At the same time, she has given birth to a young master who can make many people feel at ease. Xi Rong thought that it was time for her to join Han Qian in Jinling.
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By the end of July, the scorching heat had gradually dissipated and the weather had turned cooler. However, heavy rains had poured down on the states south of the Yangtze River for days, making the land muddy and threatening flash floods, which intensified the famine in Jinling.
Fortunately, after quarrying in Jinling, when Tu Xi entered Chizhou, the passage to Jiangzhou was not closed. When Xi Rong, in disguise, took Xi Fa'er and others to land from the northeastern foot of Jiuhua Mountain, many people were so hungry that they were skin and bones along the way.
The famished and hungry people fled west and south.
Of course, they came all the way by boat. After leaving Ezhou, the conditions in the rivers and lakes on both sides of the Yangtze River and the Shuchao states they saw along the way were not optimistic either.
Han Qian once criticized the writings of historians of the past dynasties, which mainly focused on the life records of princes, generals and ministers, which were too limited, but did not know that the continuation of one dynasty was based on money, grain, and goods production. Xi Eun's feelings became more profound at this time.
After the Jinling Incident, Anning Palace's control over Shujiangchi, Shouchao and Chuliu Prefectures to the west of Jinling and north of Jinling was strengthened. However, it was hindered by the Chuzhou Army and lost control of the Jiangdong prefectures a year ago.
Not to mention the loss of money and food supplies from the Jiangzuo states, the salt fields affiliated to the Salt and Iron Transfer Department were mainly located in Chuzhou and the coastal beaches east of Yangzhou fell under the control of the Chuzhou Army.
During the Jinling Incident, the Chuzhou Army raised its flag to fight against rebellion. This also caused Chu to establish a large team of salt officials under the Salt and Iron Transfer Department, and the millions of salt profits that could be raised every year were also lost.
However, at this time, in addition to the salaries of the officials in the court and the nearly tens of thousands of eunuchs and maids in the imperial city, the Nanya Imperial Army and the Shouzhou Army, a total of 120,000, were distributed inside and outside Jinling City. In addition, there were also Lao Lian
There were 50,000 to 60,000 official servants, including weak women and children, all of whom needed to be supported by the Duzhi Envoy.
At this time, Xu Mingzhen commanded 40,000 elite Shouzhou troops on the north bank of the Yangtze River, waiting for an opportunity to attack the Chu and Yang states. At the same time, he also contained some of the elite Chuzhou troops on the north bank of the Yangtze River. As Li Zhigao led his troops to Ezhou to recruit troops, Anning Palace was also forced to
Increase the garrison in Jiangzhou - Anning Palace's expenditure on soldiers' pay, food and fodder outside Jinling has not been reduced, but has been further expanded.
All this makes the gap in Jinling's branch wider and wider.
However, everything had to be maintained, and Anning Palace could only continue to collect more money and food from Jinling County and the six prefectures of Jiangchi, Shuchao, Chushou.
In half a year, the grain tax was levied three times, each time more and more.
The aristocratic families passed on a considerable part of the miscellaneous taxes and taxes to the common people.
The overwhelmed people either fled their places to avoid excessive taxes or excessive taxes, or they gathered together to resist the taxes.
Xi Rong took a small boat all the way eastward and saw that there were more and more people fleeing famine in the rivers and lakes, and civil unrest also occurred one after another. Of course, the bad situation that Han Qian was most worried about did not happen. Along the way, she saw
Although there are many hungry people, they can always find food to satisfy their hunger and barely survive the day by searching the rivers and mountains.
The outskirts of Jinling were in chaos. The river swelled in the summer and autumn. Most of the river channels in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River were not restricted by river embankments. The water surface was often tens or even hundreds of miles wide. The water camps of the Louchuan Army and Jiangchi and other states
, no matter how many warships and horses there are, there is no way to completely block the Yangtze River waterway.
Coupled with the large number of hungry people relying on the river for food, when Xi Rong left Ezhou, it was quite inconspicuous to transfer to a small black-topped boat.
After landing at the northeastern foot of Jiuhua Mountain, we stayed in the day and night, and also went eastward along Jiuhua Mountain smoothly, entering Guangde Village on the third day of August.
"You guys, your childhood was much more prosperous than ours. Seeing how healthy and strong you are, I have to ask the adults to keep you here this time so that you can suffer some hardships with us." Han Qian heard the report and said,
Guo Que was specially ordered to come over to welcome Xi Rong and others into Guangde Village. Guo Que had a deep friendship with Xi Fa'er. When he saw Xi Fa'er, he happily punched Xi Fa'er in the chest.
Guo Que was considered an important general in the army. Looking at his face, combined with what they had seen and heard since they entered the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain, Xi Rong knew that the situation of the Chishan Army at the northern foot of Fuyu Mountain was worse than theirs.
What they saw along the river was worse than they had expected in Xuzhou.
After asking Guo Que, Xi Rong learned that more than 300,000 generals, women and children could barely survive with only one-third of the normal supply of rations, and even so, the army's food reserves were only enough to last for more than ten days.
In comparison, the Chuzhou Army is still in the best condition.
After all, the strength of the Chuzhou Army crossing the river is enough to control the three states of Run, Chang and Su on the northern shore of Taihu Lake.
These three prefectures are extremely rich in grain, and the normal backlog of unpaid grain taxes last year alone amounted to millions of dan.
In addition, the Chuzhou Army also took control of the Huaidong Saltworks immediately.
Although Huhang and other two Zhejiang regions are recruiting troops to protect themselves, they are more willing to remain neutral until the Chuzhou Army wins another decisive victory. However, in order to ensure their own needs, they will not refuse Huaidong Salt to enter the local area.
; This can actually raise millions of dollars in military resources for the Chuzhou Army.
Except for Yueyang, who controls the land of Jiuzhou in Hunan, among the three forces entangled in Jinling and surrounding areas at this time, only the Chuzhou army has strong troops and horses and is in the best situation.
Sui Guo walked directly into the courtyard where Han Qian usually handled military affairs and daily life. Xi Rong saw a beautiful figure coming out of the study room from a distance, walking through the moon gate of the corridor to the courtyard on the west side.
The man was walking in a hurry, holding a large stack of books in his hands. His figure looked very beautiful from the side, but Xi Rong didn't have time to see his face. She saw this man entering the secret place of the military aircraft, and the guards in the courtyard
They all turned a blind eye, secretly thinking that Han Qian was not lonely, so who was he colluding with?
It was not convenient for her to ask Guo Que directly, but seeing that the courtyard on the east side was much more heavily guarded than where Han Qian handled military affairs, she curiously asked Guo Que: "What is the occasion over there with so many guards standing around?"
"Your Excellency was talking there with the old lady and the second master. Your Excellency said that Mrs. Xi was coming, so he went directly there," Guo Que said.
"Old Master? Han Wenhuan?" Xi Rong didn't know about the plan to recruit Gu Zhilong. When she heard what Guo said, she was startled. She thought that Han Wenhuan shouldn't be in Yueyang at this time, and the boss Han Daoxun was tortured at the time.
Tragic death, Han Daoming, Han Daochang, even if he is not the most direct culprit, cannot escape the crime of adding insult to injury. How could he have the nerve to suddenly come to Han Qian?
Although the recruitment of Gu Zhilong was a top secret, Xi Yin was the core figure who was absolutely qualified to hear about it, not to mention that Han Qian had already ordered Guo Que to take Xi Ying directly to the east courtyard to meet him.
Guo Que led Xi Rong and Xi Fa'er to the heavily guarded Dongkua Courtyard. He whispered to them about the recruitment of Gu Zhilong and told them the important things: "What a coincidence, the old man came here earlier than you and together with Marquis Xinchang
come over."
Xi Rong had too many questions in her heart, but at the moment she could only suppress her doubts and wait until she saw Han Qian first.