Let's say that the Jiansheng Marquis Mansion, which has been lively for a few days, suddenly became very lonely again. Yun'er and Jin Sheng completely moved out of the Hou Mansion; Shui Sheng and Guo Lin went to the territory of Dongye again; Feng Ran, accompanied by Deng's daughter-in-law, is still busy in and out of the house.

Before Guo Lin went out, in the dusty armory room in the backyard, he turned out two stone locks and a few legging sandbags for Sui Yu.

Sui Yu saw these long-lost things, not to mention how excited he was. He practiced every day, and if he hadn't been reminded by Feng Ran from time to time, he really wanted to run out and have a good time.

Sui Yu stood at the head of the door of Baxiazhou, looked at the bleak autumn scenery in the courtyard, and felt that the year he came to Jinxian County was slow and fast.

Now the constant attendant who often serves by his side has been replaced by Rongwang and Shengwang. The two of them no longer have to take care of Hou Ye like Jin Sheng and Shui Sheng in the past, after all, the current Sui Yu is basically able to take care of himself.

"Master Hou, it's time to drink medicine." Rong Wang called behind Sui Yu, holding the decoction that had just been boiled in the kitchen.

Sui Yuwei tilted his head, looked at the still steaming decoction, and frowned unconsciously. He raised his hand and picked up the medicine bowl and swallowed it with a bitter look on his face.

"How long has Madame been away from the house?"

Rong Wang calculated in his heart, and said with a low smile: "The lady has only been out for more than an hour." ”

"Did Shengwang follow?" Sui Yu turned around and slowly walked towards the east main room, "The sky is so gloomy, it seems to be about to change. ”

"The Deng family took his wife to see the charcoal fire, and there are some things to prepare for the winter that need to be bought back quickly."

Sheng Wang followed Sui Yu on the side, feeling that the master was walking much slower today than before, and thought that it was because the weather was getting colder, and his legs were very sore and uncomfortable, so he wanted to step forward and hold his arm several times.

"I'm fine." Sui Yu saw that Rong Wang was worried, and his fingers slightly lifted the hem of his robe, only to see that both of his calves were tied with sandbags.

Rong Wang's heart was relieved, and he smiled frankly: "I see, Master Hou, don't be too anxious to exercise, let's take it easy." ”

"I'm idle, I don't have anything to do." Sui Yu said sourly, "How many days has Jin Sheng been to Shengzhou?" ”

"It should be the third day." Rong Wang bowed and replied, "Guo Jiang is the same with them. ”

Since the last time Ling Tian'er left the Hou Mansion, Dongye has not sent spies to Daxing Mountain to monitor the Hou Mansion of Jiansheng. Maybe they still came, but the Hou Mansion didn't notice it. Because the rice fields have been harvested, few people in the house open the back door to go out to work.

"Higashino doesn't have time to take care of me now." Sui Yu coughed, and a bitter smell of decoction came up in his throat, "The autumn harvest has passed, and the whole country is busy paying tribute and paying taxes. I can select a part and send it to Beili at the end of the year. ”

"Higashino is not reconciled."

"If you are unwilling, you have to endure it, they haven't reached the time to oppose Beili." Sui Yu walked back to the house, put one hand on the back of the circle chair, and did the exercise of raising his legs, "Go and help me push the wheelchair out." ”

Rong Wang thought that he had heard it wrong, and immediately confirmed: "Master Hou wants to use a wheelchair?" ”

"Hmm." Sui Yu responded, and smiled lightly, "I've been holding back in Baxiazhou for too long, and I want to go out for a spin." ”

With the first painful experience, this time they crossed the border to Dongye, Shui Sheng and Guo Lin made sufficient preparations, at least the two of them carried silver on them, so that they would not be unable to eat enough.

The two of them wandered in the Chihuyi for several days, and every day they could see a large number of horses and marches pouring into the Chihuyi at the city gates on both sides. After careful investigation for a long time, it was learned that the twelve counties of Dongye were paying tribute to the imperial court.

Guo Lin and Shui Sheng rested at a small tea shop near the city gate, and Dr. Tea enthusiastically recommended a good pot of tea.

"This tea tastes very strong." Shui Sheng blew the tea foam and took a sip, "It's also expensive." ”

Guo Lin couldn't get used to the taste of this tea, so he only pretended to sip it on his lips and said, "The last time that little county lord came to our Hou Mansion, it didn't take much effort to communicate with them. This time when I came to Chihuyi, I realized that their local accent is like this. ”

Guo Lin glanced around a few times as he spoke, showing a helpless expression from time to time.

"Since Dongye became a vassal to Beili, he has learned the Central Plains culture of Beili in an all-round way. Clothing, written language, farming, and so on. Shui Sheng patiently explained to him, "But the vernacular can't be completely replaced. ”

"You're a good guy, and even your accent is a little similar in the past two days." Guo Lin glanced at the urn city again, "Will there be a horse team entering the city today?" ”

Shui Sheng took a big sip of strong tea and said slowly, "Wait and see." ”

Suddenly, I saw a few individual customers around me stand up suddenly, poke their heads out and look out, and kept muttering something.

The aquatic beings immediately followed, and looked in the direction they were looking, only to see a group of light-armored iron riders rolling in the setting sun. After the iron horse, there was a long row of horse-drawn wagons.

"With such a lot of money, there must be no doubt that he came from Danjun."

"Except for Danjun, there is no place with such a big pomp!"

"Hey, did you just see the man in charge? It is said that that is Ma Dizhen of the second county. ”

A few people who watched the excitement kept laughing, and a few other big girls and little daughters-in-law had already followed Di Zhen's direction.

Shui Sheng listened to the general situation, pulled back, and sat back opposite Guo Lin, "The second county horse is very majestic. ”

Guo Lin leaned forward and said in a low voice: "Are they Dongye the county horses able to inherit the position of the lord of the country?" ”

Shui Sheng pressed him back, silently admitted, and said in a low voice, "Let's go out and talk." ”

In the Dongye Imperial Palace, Ma Dizhen of the second county knelt in front of Ling Che and asked to represent Dongye as an envoy to Beili.

Ling Che's eyes were fixed on the list of tributes presented by Di Zhen, and he didn't respond for a long time, but the old national teacher who was still on the side reminded the lord of the country with a smile.

Ling Che put the list back on the jade case and said loudly, "You get up and talk." ”

Di Zhen hesitated for a moment, Fang stood up, he was very eager for this opportunity. Although it is not a good envoy to go to Beili, being able to represent the envoy of Dongye is, in a sense, a symbol of being recognized and cared for by the lord of the country.

"Are the fairies and children all right?"

"They are all very good, and they originally wanted to come with me to meet the lord. But we brought a lot of tribute, and we hurried non-stop along the way, for fear that they would suffer on the way. Di Zhen replied truthfully, "But on New Year's Day this year, the county lord and the child will come over as soon as possible." ”

Ling Che looked at Di Zhen back and forth, feeling that he was becoming more and more sophisticated in doing things, and he was also more and more able to ponder the mind of the lord of the country.

"This year's tribute is 10% less than in previous years."

As soon as Ling Che's words fell, Di Zhen immediately knelt down again and admitted: "This year's national harvest is not good, and so is our Dan County. I can only take some medicinal herbs, horses, mink fur and exchange some food with other counties to satisfy my hunger, and there is really no way to do it. These have done their best in Dangun, and I hope the lord of the country will understand. ”

"Why didn't the lack of food report to the Privy Council?" Ling Che waved his hand at him and motioned for him to get up and speak, "Or is it that the Privy Council has suppressed the news of Danjun's lack of food?" ”

"We didn't report it." Di Zhen lowered his head and said, but the corners of his mouth grinned slightly, and he couldn't hide his smile and said, "My father said that if you can not trouble the court, you will not trouble." Now that Dongye has just moved the capital to Chihuyi, there are many wastes waiting to be lifted everywhere, and there are many places to use money. Since we can solve it ourselves, why do we add to the obstruction of the imperial court. ”

"After a long journey, you should retreat and rest first."

The smile on Di Zhen's face slowly froze, why didn't Danjun get the approval of the lord of the country for doing this. Compared with the lack of food, it is not too cost-effective. There is also the opportunity to represent Higashino to envoy to Beili, hasn't the lord of the country considered him?

Di Zhen was helpless in his heart, so he could only obey the order and retreat.

Ling Che handed the list to the old national teacher, and said, "Actually, things are not much different from last year, and Danjun is indeed doing this to reduce the burden on the imperial court." ”

The old national teacher leaned on the scepter and said with a smile: "The Erjun Ma family has a heart, why is the lord of the country still so worried?" ”

"The national teacher asked knowingly."

"This time, Di Zhen didn't bring the second county lord and the child back, but brought his younger brother, Di Ge."

"This is to pounce on Tian'er, and not miss any opportunity." Ling Che said in disgust, "What the hell is Tian'er's idea." ”

"You don't need to tell the lord of the country anything to tell the little county lord, she will take care of it." The old national teacher said confidently.

"I want to send Tian'er to Beili this year." Ling Che said what he thought from the bottom of his heart, "Let her go out to see the world, see the prosperity and richness of Beili clearly, and let her understand how aggrieved Dongye is in Beili." ”

"The lord of the country has already had this intention, right?" The old national teacher broke his words, "Send the little county lord to hang the big county horses and the second county horses, and it can be regarded as a balance between the two of them." ”

"There are a few young generals in the Guard Mansion that I value very much, let them accompany Tian'er to see how he performs? If I can, I'll come back and I'll be entrusted with it. ”

On this day, at the border market, there were suddenly many more people in Higashino than before. It's not a big gathering today, so it is said that there will not be so many people. Feng Ran and Deng's daughter-in-law finalized the charcoal fire, and after paying the deposit, they sent someone to send it to the Marquis of Jiansheng's mansion tomorrow. The place where the charcoal was sold was near the border market, so the two of them walked in and took a look.

"What are they ......," Feng Ran said in a low voice, and had already gathered near those Dongye people to find out.

It turned out that these Dongye people had come to the border market to buy grain. Jinxian County has no bumper harvest this year, barely surviving, and Dongye, which is separated by a pass, is not much better. The cold winter has come, and the people have to stock up on food for the winter.

It didn't take long for several rice shops in the bazaar to be looted. Feng Ran was so engrossed that he slowed down for a long time before he said, "Daughter-in-law Deng, you said that it would be good if our rice shop was opened here." ”

"If we open here, we won't have enough food to sell." Deng's daughter-in-law blocked the passers-by who walked back and forth for Feng Ran, "The people who can open rice shops here are all big landowners in the county, and the fertile land at home must be hundreds of acres." ”

"So much?" Feng Ran asked rhetorically, "I thought that more than 100 acres in our house were a lot." ”

"No matter how much they have, they have to pay taxes the same, and the county lord will rely on them to feed them." Daughter-in-law Deng led Feng Ran to the front of the market, "Our family is different. The slave heard Old Man Li say that our family is a land gifted by the Holy Gods, and there is no need to pay taxes. ”

Such an opportunity to make a fortune slipped away from Feng Ran's eyes like this, and she felt very far behind.

"Stay for next year." Feng Ran sighed.

However, things were far from being as simple as she thought, and soon after, famine broke out.