The Spring Festival is coming, and the snow in the capital is getting heavier.

As the cold north wind blew into thousands of households, the blessings in the palace were rewarded one by one.

Fang Jinglan, who was a third-rank official, got a pair of hats and gloves made of fox fur, and the old lady and Li got a pair of gold foreheads and a fox felt respectively.

The families of the powerful in the palace are also enthusiastic, and the happy events are also done one after another, among them, the most eye-catching is the wedding of the prince of Yongning Bofu and the Kai'an County of Chengjun Wangfu is the most eye-catching.

Why is it so remarkable? Because of the scene, it's really weird and deserted.

Then there is Li Xiao, the king of Jing, this Li Xiao is deeply loved by the empress dowager and her old man, and he has entered the palace to accompany him five times, and then he mentioned Li Xiao's marriage, and what he said is unknown to outsiders.

But within a few days, the Empress Dowager issued an order, and the girls of all families assigned marriage to King Qi as princesses.

King Qi is the seventh emperor brother of the current saint, and he is eighteen years old this year. The biological mother is the son of Concubine Hu. Although the King of Qi is not as powerful and deep-rooted as King Jing, he is always the No. 1 Prince of Tianzi, and the girls of all families still do not suffer.

Although some people question why the girls of the various families failed to marry Li Xiao, no one will be stupid enough to question the Queen Mother on the spot. Perhaps, the Empress Dowager is an old man, and she may be confused for a while.

But some people also say that Li Xiao looked down on these girls, and automatically entered the palace to push this family affair with the empress dowager.

No matter what the rumors are, in short, the Fang family is going to drink the wedding wine again, this time it is the king of Qi's wedding wine.

Shortly after eating King Qi's happy wine, Chinese New Year's Eve came. Fangfu people had a reunion dinner, after the New Year, bad news came from the border pass, the Mongols suddenly attacked Datong, the offensive was fierce, although after the Datong defenders of the city guarded the city of the desperate hard guard, but also in danger. Later, reinforcements from all walks of life increased, and it was able to repel the enemy's invasion, but unfortunately, General Fu Lao died.

After the sacrifice of General Fu, the king of Shanxi temporarily commanded the three armies. The acting king is the eighteenth son of Emperor Taizu, the first king of Tianzi who was personally crowned by Emperor Taizu, whose fief is in Shanxi, and controls the military affairs of Shanxi Province. While building the city overnight and guarding it strictly, the acting king sent a herald to spread the news to the capital.

Heavy snow blocked the road, snowflakes flew, and it took four days and nights to rush all the way from Shanxi to Beijing.

When the news reached the capital, it was the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

General Fu Lao sacrificed, and the Mongol attack was still fierce, the capital was panicked, and finally the emperor overrode the public opinion, named the Marquis of Qingchang as the general, temporarily took the post of governor of the three armies of the border pass, and extracted 50,000 Beijing troops from the hussar battalion, Shenji battalion, and Beijing camp in the capital, and rushed to Shanxi on the same day, and the rapid increase slowed down.

The emperor issued a special decree in front of the emperor, which can be described as 100,000 urgent, the Marquis of Qingchang, the brother-in-law of the He family, only had time to say goodbye to the newlywed Yan'er's wife, so he put on his armor and wore the stars and the moon, and ran all the way to Datong.

After more than a month, the danger of Datong was alleviated, the whole country was excited, and the emperor issued a second holy decree, Feng Jing Wang Li Xiao as the Qin Mission, with material baggage, the army Fu Yin, rushed to Shanxi, rewarded the three armies, and brought back the spirit of the old general Fu who sacrificed his life for the country.

After dozens of days, in the warm spring flowering season, it was reported from the border pass that the Marquis of Qingchang was sick on the couch due to the unaccustomed water and soil, and at the same time, the Marquis of Qingchang also reported that the wife of the Hou Mansion was pregnant.

The emperor felt sorry for his courtiers, so he made an exception to recall the Marquis of Qingchang and ordered Li Xiao to temporarily act as the military affairs of the entire territory of Shanxi. He also specially praised the generals of the three armies, Fang Zhiyi, for his bravery, good fighting, wisdom and bravery, his ability to write and martial arts, his ability to lead the troops in a good way, and his command to a certain extent. He was specially awarded and awarded the title of general from the second grade of Zhenguo, rewarded with a thousand gold in silver, one hundred taels of gold, and another mansion in Shanxi.

After more than a month, Jin Yiwei came back from Shanxi and brought back 12 charges such as "strong fields and people's fields, private prisons, torture and beating, flying and domineering, raping ** women, and killing people like hemp". One of the charges is even more eye-catching, acting on behalf of the king indiscriminately involved in Shanxi's military affairs, blindly commanding on the battlefield, only caring about personal interests, ignoring the overall situation, and colluding with Liu Zili, the prison army.

Later, Li Xiao also confirmed that General Fu Lao died in battle, and he was inseparable from the two.

The emperor was furious, and crowned General Fu Lao as the general of Zhengyi Zhuguo, and immediately ordered Jinyiwei and Li Xiao in Shanxi to arrest the king and enter Beijing for questioning.

At the end of April, the acting king was arrested and brought to Beijing, and the evidence of the crime was conclusive, and the emperor was furious, and took away the title of acting king on the spot, demoted him to a commoner, and stripped him of his guards. Confined in Huangzhuang, the title of acting king was inherited by his son-in-law.

In May, Jinyiwei quickly attacked again, and investigated and punished the kings all over the country, all of whom had forcibly occupied people's land, prostituted women, committed murder in slavery, were arrogant and lascivious, and disregarded people's lives. The emperor was furious and ordered on the spot to arrest the most serious crime of the Liao king, King Min, and the acting king, to seize the title, demote him to the common people, and strip him of his guards. His title was inherited by his son-in-law. The rest of the offenders will be punished. And strictly ordered the kings of all lands to return to the people's land, accumulate good deeds, and if there is any further violation, the punishment will not be spared, and they will all be deprived of the title, and they will be reduced to the common people forever, and they shall not be reinstated.

Subsequently, in view of the crimes of the kings in various places, such as arson and slavery, they stripped the kings of their right to raise iron guards and official subordinates, and moved the kings of the fortress areas to the interior so that they could be overseen by the central government.

The emperor's series of fan wang jurisdiction system, although the king of all parts of the country rebounded, but the emperor has the power of the army, before the king of Jing took the initiative to return the military talisman, after the king of Shu took the initiative to return the people's land, and dismissed the guards, the rest of the king also had to obey the order.

Gradually, everyone felt that although the previous vassal king had a feudal title, he was already a lord who did not govern the people, did not divide the land, and did not govern the affairs of the food. The real power of King Fan was greatly diluted, and there was no threat to the imperial power. Because King Jing and King Shu set an example for the kings of the world, but they were not in this regulation, they could still be guarded, and King Jing took the initiative to dismiss the officials. Due to geographical reasons, the king of Shu still ruled over the barbarian tribes in Shu and the surrounding areas, and he was very authoritative in the military and political affairs.

And King Jing has been trusted by the emperor, gave Prince Jing the real power to participate in the government affairs, and ordered Li Xiao to temporarily replace the military affairs of Shanxi. For a time, all the people in Shilin praised and admired King Jing's foresight, long-term vision, and avoiding his interests.

*

Zhiyi was awarded the title of Zhenguo General, although it was only a false position, but it was a real and great glory of the ancestors, Fang Jinglan and the old lady discussed, ready to return to Haining's hometown, open the ancestral hall, and thank the ancestors for their protection.

However, Fang Jinglan has an official position, and it is not easy to leave Beijing, so the old lady personally led three girls to worship their ancestors and visit the old family.

The tenth day of the third month of the lunar year is a good day, everything is fine, and it is advisable to visit relatives and friends. The old lady was ready to leave for Haining on this day.

But at this time, Rushan was still grounded, Rumei suddenly contracted the cold, Lin found out that she was pregnant, Zhilian wanted to prepare for the imperial examination, Lin Lin all kinds of things, and only Ruqing came alone when she returned to her hometown with the old lady.

The capital to Haining is not far away, first take the waterway, then travel half a day by land, less than two days of effort, to Haining.

Most of the clansmen of the Fang family are in Haining, and the most eye-catching ones are Fang Jinglan's brother Fang Jingtao, and his cousin Fang Huaxiang, Fang Jingtao is one of the few wealthy people that day. It is because the business is getting bigger and bigger, and the lake thick produced by itself has become famous. At present, most of the clothes worn by the people in the Fang Mansion were given by Fang Jingtao.

The Qiao family of Fang Hua Xiangfu is mainly selling salt, and it has also entrusted the blessing of Fang Jinglan, the envoy of the third grade of salt transportation, and has become the general merchant of salt transportation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

This time, the boat that the old lady and Ruqing took was provided by the Qiao family, a boat with a length of 37 zhang long and 15 zhang wide, which was already super huge in Ruqing's eyes. There are 12 sails on board, 72 sailors, two dukes, and more than 40 samurai. The ship has advanced watertight compartments, compasses, counting methods, probes, star plates, and the recording of routes and the drawing of nautical charts, etc., Ruqing on the one hand for the development of ancient science and technology, on the other hand, also lamented the wealth of the Qiao family.

The old lady smiled lightly, "What's this, the salt merchant has too much silver at most." There are dozens of salt ships from your aunt's house in the lobby that are bigger than this. There are five boats for Qiao Jiachun's personal use, and we are just ordinary boats. ”

Ruqing couldn't stop talking, compared to the wealth of the Qiao family, the Fang family was simply unbearable.

But then again, if it weren't for Fang Jinglan, a court official, who was covered all the way, the Qiao family would not have been able to operate so smoothly. And Fang Jinglan, if it weren't for his brother and the Qiao family's silver, it is estimated that he would not be able to climb so high. Therefore, it is necessary for officials and businessmen to protect each other and join forces. Everyone is tied to each other, and they are blessed to enjoy together, and if there is difficulty, they will be the same.

Thanks to Fang Jinglan, the ancestors and grandchildren received special care along the way, especially after abandoning the ship and landing on the shore, the Fang family came to respond.

It was Fang Jingtao's son Fang Zhishu who came to answer in person, Ruqing also saw this cousin for the second time, twenty-five or six years old, two or three years older than Zhili, this Fang Zhishu is more mature and stable than back then, I heard that he has been able to run the Fang family's industry alone, this time he can leave behind the official business of the day and come to receive the old lady's ancestors and grandchildren in person, which has given Tianda face.

Zhishu was dressed in a moon-white robe embroidered with intricate patterns, and his figure was straight, which was slightly similar to the image of Fang Jinglan Yushu in the wind. Zhishu saw the old lady coming ashore, so he took his robe and knelt down, "The children and grandchildren of the poor know the book, meet the ancestors, and the ancestors are blessed." ”

Mrs. Fang hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, the two sides exchanged a few words of greeting, and Zhishu greeted Ruqing again, and then boarded the carriage and went to Fang's house in Haining.

Haining Fangfu covers an area quite wide, compared with the Fangfu of the capital, there is more than that, and carved beams and painted buildings, small bridges and flowing water, winding paths are deep, the garden is chic, small pavilions and pavilions, it is not elegant. Compared to the Fang Mansion in the capital, it is completely different.

*

Here, the old lady and Ruqing lived a leisurely life in Fang's mansion, although the old lady was only a stepmother, but she had been treating things fairly over the years, after the old lady passed away, some red-eyed clansmen took the identity of the old lady's stepfamily, and wanted to forcibly get a piece of the pie, and also called the old lady to hang herself and make a splash to get rid of the eggs. Outside, and try to secure the inside. Aunt Zhou relied on their mother and son to be favored by the old lady during his lifetime, and she wanted to fight against the old lady and the Fang Jinglan brothers, but she was also suppressed by the old lady's iron and blood, so she barely maintained the Fang brothers' share of the property. At this point, the Fang brothers are sincere and respectful to the old lady as their mother.

And Fang Jingtao's brother can have today's situation, which is also related to the old lady's upbringing, because Fang Jingtao is very polite to the old lady, and Ruqing also benefited. As soon as he arrived at Fang's house, he received many rich rewards, and his cousin Fang Huaxiang was also a wonderful person, and she liked Ruqing, and boxes and cages of gold and silver cloth treasures and utensils were given to Ruqing.

Ruqing received gifts in Haining, and the kindness and beauty in the capital were very miserable.

Rushan punished copying the precept book, and life was miserable, and Rumei went to laugh from time to time, and was later inadvertently bumped into by Fang Jinglan, and scolded Rumei fiercely. Rumei was aggrieved and indignant, and wanted to go back to Li to cry, but Li had been in a bad mood since the old lady left, and when she saw Rumei hit the muzzle, she scolded her head and face, "It's all big girls, and they are like children, and they are angry with Rushan all day long." Can't you grow your skills and make your father hurt you? ”

Rumei said: "I am a concubine, and my status is higher than that of my concubine." Will Daddy still wronged me? ”

Li Shi was angry, "What if you are a concubine?" It's not that there is no kindness and sunshine to be favored. Although Rushan was punished and grounded, his mouth was well-behaved, and it was only two days of hard work, and it had already made your father angry. Maybe it will be released again soon. Ruqing is even more powerful, people have a sweet mouth, and they will be attentive, far away in Haining are still thinking about their parents, yesterday brought your father a pair of boots made of cow tendon soles and sheepskin, and brought me beads to wipe my forehead, the style is not exquisite. Do you know how touched Daddy is? made up her mind on the spot, and in the future, she would give Qing Yatou a rich dowry, so that she could live a decent life in her in-law's house. ”

Rumei's chest was slightly sore, but she didn't think so, "She's just a concubine, she can only rely on her father to live, of course she has to please her father." "She doesn't bother to do things that are low-brow and pleasing to the eye.

Li Shi was so angry that he fell on his back, and couldn't help but reach out and poke Rumei's forehead, "Say you're stupid, why don't you understand what I mean." This time, Ruqing followed the old lady to Haining's hometown, your uncle and aunt in the lobby have a lot of money, and a hair is thicker than your waist. In order to please your father this time, I wonder what kind of reward you will have. Again, do you think Ruqing is just accompanying the old lady back to her hometown to worship her ancestors? ”

"In addition to worshiping the ancestors, it is just to play, what is there to do in a small place in Haining." The capital is fun.

Li said hatefully: "You are wrong. Your father called Ruqing to go back to the ancestral temple to worship this time, probably to greet the relatives of the old family to know, this child will be recorded in my name! ”

Ruqing remembered that she didn't mind her name, anyway, there was no harm to her. It's just a dowry. However, thinking of how much Fang Jinglan loves Ruqing, it is estimated that she will not be treated too lightly when she marries in the future. Again, Ruqing went back to her hometown this time, according to the temperament of the uncle of the Fang family and the aunt of the Fang family, Ruqing definitely made a lot of money this time. So in this way, if the dowry after the sunny day is definitely like the abundance of beauty.

Rumei was shocked, "This, is this so possible?" Ruqing is just a concubine, right? "Why is the dowry more than her?

Li looked tired, "That's why I told you to be smarter, so that I can please your father, but you are always like a bull, always wringing dry." It's better to be clever and skillful, why is it still surpassed by Ruqing? You're useless, you only know how to put on a concubine and make you stinky all day long. In fact, it is annoying to suffer losses everywhere. ”

Rumei was scolded unconvinced, on the one hand, she was jealous of Ruqing's father's favor, and on the other hand, she hated that her father only liked her concubine and didn't like her as a concubine, she was already resentful, but Li also said in front of her how rich her uncle and aunt's family were, Rumei became more and more uncomfortable when she heard it, and couldn't help yelling: "You only know how to scold me and accuse me, why did the old lady stop me when she left?" "If she goes to Haining with Ruqing, she may get more rewards than Ruqing. Because, she is a descendant.

Rumei is very uncomfortable in her heart, although she has always regarded money as dung, but if there is no silver, she can't buy satisfactory jewelry and clothes, if there is no silver, the waist is not hard, if there is no silver, she can't stiffen her waist in front of Rushan, imagine the scene of Ruqing receiving gifts, her chest is stuffy and uncomfortable, and she can't help but lose her temper when she sees that her mother is still unforgiving.

Li was stunned, speechless for a long time, and finally couldn't help but defend: "I didn't think that while Rushan was grounded, Ruqing left again, and no one will compare this time, so you can take the opportunity to please your father." ”

Don't worry, dear friends, ** is coming soon, and we'll see you in the next chapter