In June of the third year of Xuanhe, Emperor Zhao Jinji of the Great Liang Dynasty ordered the Liangshan bandits under His Royal Highness Qinzheng, and the privy envoy Tong Guan transferred the two road armies of the Daimyo Mansion and Yangzhou Mansion to 50,000, the Huaiyang Navy Division of 8,000, and the Cuishan Battalion of Tokyo Prefecture forbade more than 10,000 troops, with a total of 70,000 horses.

At the same time, Tong Guan sent a ship across the Bohai Sea and detoured through North Korea, wanting to find the Jin people and conspire with the Liao State.

Tong Guan not only wanted to cut down Liao, but also wanted to suppress bandits, and for a while, he was famous and had the power to tilt the power of the government and the opposition; Taishi Cai Jing didn't want to see Tong Guan get the credit, so he proposed that his son-in-law Liang Zhongshu and student Wu Kui lead two lines of soldiers and horses to suppress the Liangshan bandits. Tong Guanyunzhi.

The two armies led by Liang Zhongshu and Wu Kui converged in Tongyaping, Tai'an Prefecture and Tai'an Prefecture, and the naval army drove directly to the foot of Liangshan......

All of a sudden, the army flag covers the sky, the armor covers the sun, the navy sails thousands of miles, the flag covers the sky, and the water and land armies are mighty and monstrous!

War, on the verge of breaking out!

…

At this time, the Yongtai County Ya was conducting a shooting drill-

On a small square near the workshop, a flock of ducks were tied under a row of osmanthus trees, and one by one the ducks stretched their necks and quacked, making the whole small square very lively, and the officials also gathered around.

"Bang!!" With an explosion, the bamboo pipe burst, and a steel ball shot out of the bamboo pipe.

"Gah!" Before one of the ducks could make a second call, he fell to the ground, convulsing......

"Quack, quack!" The ducks were frightened and wanted to flee in panic, but they had ropes tied to their feet, so they could only stay under the trees and quack.

Bang! Bang bang bang! Bang bang! Bang!

One after another, steel balls shot at the ducks, the ducks didn't have time to scream, and more than a dozen died at once, and those who didn't die were all frightened, and they didn't even dare to scream again.

Chen Gui threw away the wooden stick in his hand, looked at the bamboo pieces that were blown apart on the ground, and couldn't help but twitch his face, revealing a painful expression, gunpowder is too expensive, the cost of a fire assault gun is more than a dozen taels of silver, and these dozen assault guns are all used on ducks, which is really a waste.

Song Ting stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Not bad!" Experiments have proved that your current version of the 1.0 assault gun, with steel balls as bullets and a distance of five zhang, can still kill ducks......"

Chen Gui scratched his chin and unkempt beard, since the last time Song Ting ordered someone to bathe him for less than a few days, he returned to that messy and sloppy appearance, after scratching his beard, he shook his head and said: "The power is still too small, I want to invent a firearm that can kill the enemy, but I didn't expect to do it for so long, just kill the duck."

"Hey, don't be discouraged," Song Ting encouraged him, "Slowly upgrade and improve, and one day, you can make a musket that can kill people." ”

Next, Song Ting had a brief discussion with the stereotypes on how to improve the assault rifle with steel balls.

Unexpectedly, his casual words made Chen Gui's eyes light up, and after hurriedly hugging his fist, he muttered to the sky, "I understand!" I understand! Then he ran back to his invention hut and buried himself in his invention again......

"This guy ......" Song Ting shook his head, laughed twice, then looked at a group of dead and alive ducks under the osmanthus tree, raised his hand, and said to the onlookers: "What are you still doing in a daze?" Hurry up and divide the ducks! ”

After speaking, he took the lead in walking over and untying the two ducks, and while holding them in his hands, he said, "This group of ducks is so cute...... Hehe, you can have a fried duck with purple ginger tonight. ”

All the officials saw that the master had made the first move, and they rushed up one by one to coax and rob, "Catch the duck!" The ducks that did not die "quacked" fluttered their wings and screamed, and the whole small square suddenly made a noise, completely losing the solemnity that the county government should have.

"Master, your letter." Suddenly, a servant ran over and handed Song Ting a letter.

Song Ting stuffed the two ducks into the hands of the servant, and opened the letter with both hands, the letter was written to him by the prefect Wu Kui, and the fire clay was also covered with the prefect's seal, and after reading the content of the letter, he couldn't help frowning.

After he finished instructing the county government affairs, he went home early.

There are only Zhao Yuanzhen and Snow Goose in the house, Zhao Yuanzhen is concentrating on painting in the house, while Snow Goose is holding a bamboo fork to pick the locust flowers on the old locust tree, presumably after eating the acacia flower meal made by Song Ting last time, he also wants to try to make it.

Song Ting walked into the room, Zhao Yuanzhen didn't put down the brush, just looked up at him and smiled: "Xianggong, are you back so early today?"

Song Ting walked over and saw that she was really painting peonies again, and at this moment the peonies had been formed, graceful and luxurious, gorgeous and delicate, with clusters of flowers, and the buds were layered on top of each other, looking dazzling, and the end was lifelike.

Song Ting praised: "What a beautiful peony!"

Zhao Yuanzhen stopped writing, smiled shyly, her beautiful face raised slightly, she smiled smartly, and her beautiful eyes were looking forward to it, which made Song Ting's heart flutter, and she praised in her heart: "Such a beautiful wife, I can't see enough of it every day......"

Song Tingfu praised: "Although the flowers are beautiful, the people are more beautiful."

Zhao Yuanzhen put down her pen, smiled Yingying took his hand, and said softly: "Don't make fun of the slave family...... Why did you come back so early today? ”

Usually Song Ting works in the county government, and he basically doesn't go home if he doesn't finish his official business, and after he finishes his official business, he usually has to go after the unitary time, and today it's only noon, and he came back, Zhao Yuanzhen couldn't help but be suspicious.

Song Ting didn't sell Guanzi either, took out Wu Kui's letter, and discussed with Zhao Yuanzhen: "The imperial court wants to fight Liangshan, and the prefect is in charge of the army, and wants to ask me to be a staff officer, Zhen'er, what do you think?"

Zhao Yuanzhen has her own knowledge and is infinitely happy to discuss this with her own affairs. It was only after hearing the news that she couldn't help lowering her head, her eyes were full of melancholy, and she held her forehead and thought about it for a long time before she finally spit out three words: "I'm not allowed!"

"Why?" Song Ting's face was full of surprise.

Zhao Yuanzhen helped him sit down in the chair, frowned, bit his lip, and said coquettishly: "Xianggong and I haven't lived a good life for a few days, so we want to make a contribution?" The concubine once read the poem: 'The penitent husband is looking for the marquis', if the husband only thinks about making meritorious contributions, the concubine will probably regret it......"

Song Ting stood up, held her soft shoulders and said, "But didn't you also say that you hope that your husband is a big hero who stands up to the sky?" Now I want to do big things, why don't you say yes? ”

Zhao Yuanzhen still lowered her head, bit her lip, and said shyly: "This time and that time, you didn't hurt me as much as you do now, and now ...... I'm reluctant...... It's just not allowed......"

Song Ting stroked her hair, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and told the truth: "Zhen'er, I'm doing this for you."

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhao Yuanzhen's eyes, and she asked softly, "For me?"

Song Ting stared at her watery eyes and asked, "Zhen'er, don't you want to be your princess?" You're a princess, but don't forget that......"

Listening to her husband's words, Zhao Yuanzhen shook her head, then stared at him affectionately, and said gently: "I don't want to be a princess anymore, I just hope that my husband can be good now, the two of us...... Live happily for the rest of your life......"

"Zhen'er......" Song Ting hugged her tightly and sighed slightly. There are many thoughts that I can't tell her at the moment, but she will understand later...... Many things must be done successfully before they can be spoken, and before they are successful, they can only work hard silently.

Zhao Yuanzhen thought that Song Ting had promised her not to be a prefect's staff officer, so she released her hands from his waist, squeezed his hand and spoke softly for a while, and then went to paint her unfinished peony.

Who knew that at dinner, Song Ting announced in public that he was going to work as a staff officer for the prefect.

As soon as he spoke, Zhao Yuanzhen stared at him in surprise, shocked for a long time, and couldn't say a word.

Youjian slammed his chopsticks and said angrily, "Don't eat it."

Xiaoman, Qingzhu, and Snow Goose all stared at him in surprise.

There was silence at the table, and he was the only one who ate alone, and all the women did not eat.

Xiao Man tentatively spoke: "Do you also have to go to the battlefield as a staff officer?"

Song Ting said: "The staff officer is the strategist, the one who gives the general an idea, there is no danger, and the main opinion is not good, you can run away......

Xiao Man didn't understand this, he believed it, and the tense expression on his little face suddenly relaxed a lot.

Qingzhu opened his mouth to say something to Xiaoman, but was glared at by Song Ting, and he didn't dare to speak.

Song Tingxin said: I finally deceived a small man to support, don't make peace with you again.

This time he went to assist Wu Kui to fight Liangshan, of course, he didn't go to be a staff officer, he also had a more important purpose - to collect Liangshan for his own use.

"Move tomorrow and go back to Yangzhou!"

Song Ting didn't care what the women would think, after eating, he put down his chopsticks and announced in his mouth.

The other women were silent, only Xiaoman clapped his hands and applauded: "Okay! The houses in Yangzhou are big, and there are many streets, which is more lively than here! ”

Song Tingchao smiled at Xiaoman: "Well, then we will move back to Yangzhou tomorrow." You will go back first tomorrow, and I will come back the day after tomorrow after I have entrusted the affairs of the county government. ”

Xiao Man nodded her little head, indicating that she would obey the arrangement, but when she went to see Zhao Yuanzhen, Youjian and the others, she found that they were not very happy. She tilted her little head, not understanding why they were upset.

When he went to bed, the moonlight was shining outside the house, Song Ting did not go back to the house, but paced outside the house to think, there were lights and shadows in his room, and there were also shadows of people, and he knew that Zhao Yuanzhen was still waiting for him at the head of the bed.

At the second watch, Zhao Yuanzhen finally couldn't help but come out of the house, with an extra light piece in his hand, draped it on Song Ting's shoulder, and said softly: "It's cold at night, wear more, don't freeze it......"

Song Ting took off the light coat, put it on her shoulder, and said softly: "I'm not cold, you wear it, your cold poison hasn't healed yet, go back to the house and sleep, don't suffer from the wind and cold anymore......"

Zhao Yuanzhen wanted to put the light coat on again, but was stopped by Song Ting, he bluffed and said: "If you are disobedient again, you will be angry for your husband......"

Zhao Yuanzhen had to obey him, hold his hand, and stand quietly under the moon shadow with him.

Tonight, the jade plate was very round and bright, and Song Ting sighed for no reason: "Zhen'er, how difficult do you say it is for poor people to live too peaceful and comfortable lives in this troubled world?" In today's imperial court, traitors are in charge, and Zhao Jinji ...... Belch...... Your father is so confused, pampered and treacherous, and the order is changed every day, but the people of Li are in the midst of fire and water, but the people who live in the temple can't see it at all...... Don't say far, it is this small Yongtai County, with a population of 78,000 and 314, but the average annual income is ...... Per capita is consistently less. Fortunately, there are no disasters in this county, and if this happens, many people will not survive......"

The data he said are the facts of Yongtai County. Adult men of ordinary residents in the county earn at most two yuan a year, that is, 2,000 yuan, while women earn at most three to five yuan. One tael of silver can buy three stone of rice, and one tael of silver is about 1,000 yuan, that is to say, an adult man can earn at most six stone of rice a year, barely enough to support his family. If there is a famine, then say another.

He spit out the words "Zhao Jinji" in his mouth, talking about the emperor of the current dynasty, that is, Zhao Yuanzhen's biological father. Zhao Yuanzhen heard him spit out these three words, but she was not surprised, she herself was kicked out of the palace by this biological father, and she had no feelings and feelings for this biological father at all.

Zhao Yuanzhen listened to his words, nodded his head, and said softly: "The prince has the ambition of a great bird, and the concubine understands." The concubine will never stop her husband again......"