October 13, 8th year of Yongzhen.

But how can Wang Dou be idle these days? There is an endless stream of congratulatory people from all sides, and even relatives who can't beat together with eight poles on weekdays are also coming to the door, especially there are more officials in each fort, some want to take a pass, some want to take a step up in their positions, some have vacancies, and some want to keep their existing official positions, and the people who come to visit every day have not been broken.

Yesterday, the officer of Huiyao Castle came to visit Wang Dou and gave him a generous gift, hoping to keep his current official position and try to see if he could go further. Today, the sticker officer Zhong Dayong is here again.

On the day of the wedding, Zhong Dayong actually came, but Wang Doucheng was busy that day, and the integrity officer Xu Zucheng came, how could he take care of him, the two spoke less than three sentences in total, and Zhong Dayong came again today, presumably with the help of old acquaintances to solemnly pull the relationship.

Wang Dou said: "This Zhong Dayong is my old boss when I was in Jingbiandun before, and he is indeed an old acquaintance, call him in!"

Xie Yike responded: "Okay!" Xiu Dagger rushed out happily.

Wang Dou heard Xie Yi boast that he was a well-known hunter in Xishan Sunjiagou, this time his sister came to Jingbian Fort as a parent, hoping to stay in the fort to eat, but Wang Dou had not yet thought about Xie Yi's arrangement, so he let him stay in the house to help, similar to doing an errand with his entourage.

Soon I heard Zhong Dayong's shrill laughter coming from afar: "Alas, alas, alas, this mansion is magnificent, worthy of being the mansion of the defense lord, this style is different!"

Then I saw Zhong Dayong and his wife Wang walking in with a smile on their faces, both of them were blown blue by the cold wind, and their lips were purple, especially when Wang was carrying a huge gift box in his hand. Entering the hall, a warmth greeted them, and both of them subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Before Wang Dou moved, Zhong Da was quick with his hands, and he had already taken a step forward, knelt down and kowtowed to Wang Dou, and said in a loud voice: "Zhong Dayong, the lowly Huiyao Fort post officer, congratulations to the adults, congratulations to the adults on being promoted to the position of defensive officer, congratulations to the newlywed Yan'er, and the family is healthy." Maybe it was the newlywed Yan'er, there was a flush on her face, like a layer of rouge, which added a bit of beauty to her. Coupled with her identity and clothing, there is a grace in this dress, and the rustic atmosphere of the old country girl has disappeared a lot.

As soon as they saw Xie Xiuniang, Zhong Dayong and Wang hurriedly stepped forward to salute and called them Mrs.

Wang even sighed in his mouth: "Looking at Mrs. dressing up, it's really extravagant, worthy of being a defensive lady, it's decent!"

In the Ming Dynasty, in fact, the wife of the wife must also be qualified, the wife of the scholar, the age of thirty can be called the wife, but now the Ming Dynasty etiquette system is chaotic, Lun is the wife of any official is called the wife, Xie Xiuniang is now inside and outside the fort, everyone respectfully calls her Mrs.

This Wang family has seen Xie Xiuniang a few times before, and when she saw the former village woman in the blink of an eye, she had the graceful demeanor of the official wife, and the ugly duckling became a white swan, and she was also surprised and envious in her heart, looking at the style of others, and then looking at herself, she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself.

The Wang family has already made up her mind, and she must be a good lady in the future, which is a solemn task entrusted to her by her husband.

Xie Xiuniang spent her time inquiring about and learning the etiquette of those official wives, and she didn't dare to make a mistake by half a step, her husband has now become a defensive officer, and the decent behavior in front of this person cannot be ignored a little, so as not to lose Wang Dou's face and let others see the joke.

At this time, she was meticulous on her little face, her eyes did not squint, and she strictly saluted Zhong Dayong and Wang, and both of them hurriedly returned the salute, and they didn't even dare to say it.

Wang Dou said softly, "Madam, you beckoned Mrs. Zhong to speak!"

Xie Xiuniang answered, said Wanfu to Wang Dou, and took Wang in.

Wang Dou smiled and watched the two go in, for Xie Xiuniang, she is now officially his wife, Wang Dou plans to let her take care of some relief for the homeless people inside and outside the fort, and care for women and children, so as to better win the hearts of all parties!"

Wang Dou said: "Old Zhong, you can still come to the house often in the future!" Zhong Dayuan nodded and said, "Definitely, definitely!" Seeing that Wang Dou was about to stand up, he hurriedly said, "My lord, you stay, you stay!"

Zhong Dayong went out of the house, and after a while, his wife Wang was also sent out. Seeing Zhong Dayong, Wang said eagerly: "Dayong, how are things?" ”

Don't look at Zhong Dayong nodding in front of Wang Dou just now, in front of his wife, he is very majestic.

He coughed with a straight face and said, "Needless to say, with my Zhong Dayong's friendship with the defense lord in the past, the lord must be affectionate and kind to me!"

Wang folded his hands and said, "Thank God, it seems that your position as a team officer has been retained, maybe you can even mention it, hehe!"

Zhong Dayong snorted and said, "Then you don't need to say!"

Remembering that when he was the officer of Huiyao Castle that day, Chang Zhengwei, the officer of the team, was a lot of exclusion of himself, but after Wang Dou was promoted, Zhong Dayong intentionally or unintentionally hinted at his friendship with the new defense lord, and especially pointed out that he and the defense master were brothers who had fought together in the past, the expression of Chang Zhengwei, the guard officer of Huiyao Castle, was immediately different, and he was much more polite and affectionate to him.

But how can Zhong Dayong be satisfied? He was also jealous of the position of the team officer.

Seeing Zhong Dayong standing proudly, showing a rare manly style, Wang couldn't help but be a little flattering, and she said coquettishly: "Dayong......

The Wang family still has a bit of a posture, looking at his wife like this, Zhong Dayong couldn't help but be a little moved, but he looked around, coughed, and said: "What are you doing, you should pay attention to etiquette and behavior in front of people, you look at Mrs. Wang, people's demeanor is different." wanted to throw himself into Zhang Gui, but Zhang Gui was going to be transferred to the state city, and this thought was also abandoned. Now that Wang Dou is the new defender of Shunxiang Fort, Xu Lu came to explore Wang Dou's tone.

Xu Lu led this team of family members, but he was not worried about losing his position, but these family members were difficult to support, and if he didn't find a new owner, what should he do?

It is not comparable to the guerrilla generals, generals, and soldiers under the command of the general soldiers in various towns, and the soldiers in the barracks need a monthly salary of two or three dollars and five cents, plus five buckets of rice. The families of the officers of this guard only need one tael of silver per month, and their true color is five buckets of rice. However, these fifty family members, plus weapons, armor, horses, etc., the cost of raising soldiers is not a decimal 6o in a year

And the guards generally have to feed themselves, and they have to pay grain every year, and it is even more difficult to raise soldiers, counting on the upper level to allocate food and salary, that is no need to count on it, at present, the Ming Dynasty is in financial difficulties, and even the war barracks are in arrears every year.

During these times, Xu Lu's mind was panicked, thinking that he and Wang Dou also had a friendship, and he didn't wait for Wang Dou's wedding period to end, so he hurriedly came to the door.

At this time, he looked respectful, only half of his buttocks were sitting, and there was a faint worry on his face, and he did not have the sense of superiority in front of Wang Dou in the past.

Wang Dou pondered for a long time, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Brother Xu will follow me in the future, those soldiers under you, don't say anything else, it's no problem to eat and drink enough!"

Xu Lu was overjoyed, he was very grateful, satisfied, and went with a smile on his face.

Wang Dou sat down, he had several waves of guests today, he was a little tired, and he wanted to have a good cup of tea.

Suddenly, Xie Yike walked in like a crab again, and he smiled and said: "Brother-in-law, there are just a few people kneeling at the gate outside, and I heard them say that they are the tun chiefs of Zhouzhuang, Huzhuang, and Chafangbao, and they said that they were disrespectful to their brother-in-law in the past, and they are here to ask for sin!"