The confidence and domineering implicit in Xiao Jiang's tone made both Qiao Sheng's eyes dazzle. Then Qiao Sheng looked at his two daughters and looked at Xiao Jiang with a special look. He touched his beard and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty, although my Qiao family is not a wealthy and wealthy family, it is still a famous person in Lujiang. Qiao Sheng wants to recommend two girls to serve the Prince. I wonder if the Prince likes these two vulgar daughters of mine?"
Xiao Jiang was a little surprised. Although he had thought about Er Qiao's idea when he came, he thought it would take some time. He didn't expect that Qiao Gong mentioned it first.
"The two young ladies are beautiful and elegant, and can be regarded as the assets of the country. I will not look down on the two young ladies, but there are several concubines in the palace. If the two young ladies follow me, they can only become side concubines.
I don’t know what the two young ladies think about it.”
Xiao Jiang told the truth, but Qiao Sheng was overjoyed. Xiao Jiang was now at the peak of his status and reputation. As the prison prince, he was equivalent to the emperor without an emperor. If his daughter could become the concubine of the King of Ji, she was equivalent to the imperial concubine.
, this is simply a good thing for him.
Qiao Sheng hurriedly looked at the two women. Qiao Ying and Qiao Shuang both nodded slightly with their faces red. Qiao Sheng laughed and said:
"In this case, I will marry my two daughters to the prince. From today on, they will be members of the Xiao family. It's just that the prince has difficulty in moving. He needs to arrange when they go to Chang'an."
The two girls were blushing with embarrassment at this time, but they felt extremely happy to be able to marry Xiao Jiang, who was number one in the world. Xiao Jiang was free and easy. He cupped his fists and bowed to Qiao Sheng and said:
"So, Xiao Jiang has met the lady and the two ladies."
Xiao Jiang turned around and saluted Xiao Qiao again, and the two women hurriedly knelt down and said:
"I have met the prince."
Xiao Jiang raised the two girls up. As a place of chaos in troubled times, the Qiao family knew not to do things with great fanfare. Duke Qiao directly agreed and the two girls were married directly. Xiao Jiang married the Qiao family and naturally had to get some dowry, so he took
He gave Qiao Sheng a box of thumb-sized pearls obtained from Shi Changshi's treasure house, and the two women slept with him that night, and changed into women's hair accessories early the next morning.
Xiao Jiang originally planned to stay at Qiao's house for two days, and then go to Jiangdong to inquire about Yu Ji's whereabouts. Unexpectedly, just at noon, a nearby neighbor hurriedly came to inform him that Lujiang had been occupied by Sun Ce's army, and Qiao Sheng's nephew Qiao Rui was already fighting on the front line.
die.
After hearing the news, Qiao Sheng and Xiao Jiang arrived in the study. He frowned deeply and whispered:
"Good son-in-law, my nephew and Sun Ce got along very well with Yuan Shu. They are close friends. But the two armies fought without mercy. I don't blame Sun Ce for this. It's just that Lujiang was occupied by the Sun Army. I don't know.
How will Yuan Shu respond?"
Xiao Jiang touched his beard and said:
"Yuan Shu relied on his Yuan family background to make his fortune, and he had no achievements. Now that Lujiang is occupied, he has no choice. He only has two generals, Ji Ling and Zhang Xun, and counselor Yan Xiang. They are not very resourceful. If they want to
It is almost impossible to recapture Lujiang.
You must know that Sun Ce is known as the little overlord of Jiangdong, and his military force has reached the top level. He also has the extremely resourceful Zhou Gongjin, and the old general Huang Gai, Cheng Puhan and Zhu Zhi. Recently, he has recruited super generals such as Jiang Qin and Zhou Tailing. It can be said that he is full of talents.
, if Jiang Dong hadn't been subdued by him yet, Yuan Shu would not be his opponent at all.
So, Yuan Shu can only sit back and watch Sun Ce capture Lujiang, and Sun Ce only dares to attack here. He is worried that if both Yuan Shu and Yuan Shu lose, Cao Cao in Yanzhou will be able to take advantage, not to mention that my army has been stationed in Yuzhou and Sizhou. If
If he draws my army to Yangzhou, he will lose more than he gains."
Xiao Jiang is not confident but stating a fact. Xiao Jiang still has not expanded his army on a large scale, but after taking over the Wuhuan in the north and the Xiongnu in the south, he has recruited 250,000 Wuhuan and Xiongnu young people to mix with the troops in various places.
, and the number of troops he had recruited successively was nearly 400,000.
In other words, in addition to having an army of 50,000 fighting in the Western Regions and a navy of 150,000 moving southward, the remaining 500,000 troops are deployed in Qing, Ji, Si, and Henan while training and cultivating the army.
These are regular armies, and county soldiers from various states are not counted among them.
With such a large-scale army, even if Xiao Jiang is not arrogant, those who work carefully can roughly figure it out. Since the major forces are already wary of King Ji's existence, they will definitely study the threat Xiao Jiang's current strength poses to them.
Qiao Sheng nodded. He naturally understood how powerful Xiao Jiang was, otherwise he would not have easily married his two daughters to Xiao Jiang. Just when he was about to say something, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves outside the courtyard.
The sound stopped, and a crisp, hearty and domineering voice came into the room and said:
"Sun Bofu from Jiangdong asks to see Duke Qiao."
Qiao Sheng's expression changed, but Xiao Jiang said with a smile:
"Sun Ce is actually here. He seems to have some ideas. Don't worry, old man. I heard that there are only ten horses outside. Even if all his generals are here, they are just chickens and dogs in front of me. You can relax, I
If you dare to come here alone, even if you are surrounded by thousands of troops, I can still lead you away safely."
Xiao Jiang's confidence influenced Qiao Sheng, and Qiao Sheng also relaxed. He opened the door and walked out of the courtyard with Xiao Jiang. He cupped his fists and said to a strong man in silver armor outside the door:
"This is General Jiang Dongsun, and the little old man is Qiao Sheng. I wonder what the general wants from me?"
The burly man nodded and said:
"This is Sun Ce and Sun Bofu from Jiangdong. This person next to me is my sworn brother and my military advisor from Jiangdong, Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin. I came this time because I heard that Duke Qiao has two daughters who are extremely beautiful in the world, so our brothers came to propose marriage."
Xiao Jiang stood aside and stared at Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. Not to mention that Zhou Yu was indeed a handsome man, with a face as jade-like as eyes and eyebrows as sharp as swords. He was tall and tall, and his face was full of wisdom. Despite his young age, he gave people a scheming look.
Feel.
In comparison, Sun Ce was just a rough guy. Although he was the leader of an army, he lacked the spirit of a true king.
These two people would come to propose marriage, which was developing according to historical trends, but Xiao Jiang had already cut off Hu, and Qiao Sheng didn't have much favorable impressions of them. Qiao Sheng said leisurely:
"It turns out that General Sun is here for my daughter. It's a pity that both of my daughters are married. The general can invite him back."
Sun Ce frowned and said:
"Brother Qiao Rui mentioned that Er Qiao was still young, but it was a pity that Duke Qiao actually married them."
Sun Ce was very upright and would not say much unless the matter was resolved. Zhou Yu on the side narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Xiao Jiang beside Qiao Sheng and said:
"This gentleman looks very imposing. Even though he saw us, he showed no signs of wavering. He looks like a man who has been through the battlefield for a long time. May I ask what your name is?"
Xiao Jiang said with a smile:
"Zhou Gongjin has good eyesight. I have indeed fought many battles. I was passing by here, but I was attracted by Qiao Gong's two daughters. Now they are my husband. But I don't think Gong Jin wants to know my name."
