Chapter 67: Attacking Shuzhou
Xu Bing was 32 years old, which is not considered old in modern times, but it was indeed quite old in this dynasty. Those who got married early could have become grandfathers.
When he was young, his parents died one after another, so there was no one to help him arrange his marriage. Later, he became a disciple of the monk Puxian to learn military strategy and state governance. When he came down from the mountain after completing his studies, he was already 27 or 28 years old. He stayed with Yang Yuanqing for another three years. During this time, King Qing gave him several beauties, but Xu Bing felt sorry for them and sent them back, so he is still single until now.
Song Yuzhu thought it was not a big deal that he was always so lonely, it would be fine if he was like her and Zhao Xiao. When in Xuzhou, Xu Bing obviously had a good impression of Xiangyu, and Song Yuzhu also wanted to match the couple, but she didn't expect Xiangyu to be unwilling.
Xiangyu is a woman with ideas. Her experience in the palace made her think a lot more than ordinary women.
She was unwilling not because Xu Bing was older than her, but because she felt that she was of humble origin, could not read a single word, and had nothing in common with Xu Bing.
You may be able to seduce others with your good looks now, but when you get older, you will definitely be despised by others. It is better to earn more money and live a stable life.
After Xu Bing learned that Xiangyu had no interest in him, he gave up the idea of getting married.
"Why...why did you suddenly think of being my matchmaker?"
Zhang Qi poured a cup of tea and said, "The emperor asked me a few days ago if I knew any older unmarried girls. I thought His Majesty was going to select a beauty, but I didn't expect he was going to arrange one for you."
"His Majesty said that it's winter now, and seeing you still wearing sandals, he felt it was strange that no one was looking after your home, and he sympathized with how hard it is for you to be alone."
Xu Bing picked up the teacup, hiding the embarrassment on his face, but in his heart he felt grateful for the emperor's concern.
"The Emperor also said that when he was in Xuzhou, there was no suitable candidate due to the chaos and war. Now that things have settled down, he asked if you have any plans to start a family."
Xu Bing stammered: "I... I'm already so old, how can I find someone suitable?"
"Don't tell me, there really is a suitable girl in Shangjing, but I'm afraid you won't agree."
"Which family? How old are you?"
"The former Imperial Censor Wang Ke was an old friend of mine. He passed away a few years ago. He has an unmarried old girl at home. She is already 27 or 28 years old."
"Why haven't you gotten married yet at such an old age?"
Zhang Qikai said: "The girl is a good girl, easy-going and not bad looking, but her luck is a little bad."
"Some years ago, a girl from the Wang family was engaged to someone else. When she was about to get married, her husband's family committed a serious mistake and the whole family was exiled, so the marriage had to be called off."
"After two years of delay, when we were ready to discuss marriage, Mrs. Wang passed away. Miss Wang observed mourning for another three years and was already in her early twenties."
It is not easy for a girl of such age to find a suitable husband in Beijing. She will either have to remarry or have a hidden illness. Lord Wang did not want his daughter to suffer any grievance, so it has been delayed for so many years.
"A few years ago, Lord Wang died of a serious illness. Before he died, he entrusted his daughter to me and asked me to help find a suitable person to take care of her. It happened that the emperor mentioned you, so I remembered this matter."
After listening to this, Xu Bing thought for a moment and said, "In that case, can you let me meet this Miss Wang?" They are both not young anymore, so if it's a good match, that would be great, but if not, don't force it.
Zhang Qikai saw that there was a chance, and said happily: "Of course, tomorrow is a holiday, you can arrange a place, and I will ask my wife to pick him up."
"I'll stay at your house. I'll visit you tomorrow." The two agreed on a time, and Xu Bing returned home.
The next morning, Xu Bing got up early before dawn and asked his personal servant to help him choose clothes.
The clothes in his home were all bought when he first came to Beijing. They were old-fashioned and made him look a few years older.
Xu Bing looked in the mirror and found that none of the clothes were suitable. Finally, he had to change into court dress. Only this dress made him look younger.
After trimming his beard and tying his hair, Xu Bing paced back and forth in the room.
"What time is it?"
The servant said, "It's just past the hour of Yin."
The time he and Lord Zhang agreed to set out at was Chen, so it seemed too early to set out now.
Xu Bing walked to the study, picked up the book, flipped through two pages, and couldn't read a single word. A man in his thirties was like a boy of eighteen or nineteen, extremely nervous.
Finally the time came, Xu Bing hurriedly asked his servants to prepare a sedan chair and rushed to the Minister of Justice's house.
Arriving at the door of Lord Zhang's house, Xu Bing hesitated and was reluctant to go in.
Just as he was hesitating, a carriage came from a distance and stopped at the gate of Zhang's house. The curtain was lifted and a woman with a slim figure and dignified appearance walked out.
She saw Xu Bing bowing from a distance and saying, "Greetings, Master Xu."
Xu Bing was stunned for a moment, and stammered, "You, how do you know I am Lord Xu?"
"You are wearing an official uniform."
Xu Bing scratched his head awkwardly: "Are you Miss Wang?"
"That's right." Wang Tingyue looked at him with sparkling eyes and a smile in her eyes.
Xu Bing blushed and didn't dare to look at her. Fortunately, Zhang Qi arrived in time.
"Come in, both of you. It's cold standing outside!"
Normally, unmarried men and women cannot meet alone, but they are both not young anymore, so it would be a good thing if they could facilitate a marriage. Mr. Zhang and his wife simply cleared out the living room and let the two of them spend half a day together.
Both of them were a little reserved at first, but after introducing themselves to each other, they started chatting.
Xu Bing was knowledgeable and could answer a few words about anything Miss Wang said. He also had unique insights, which quickly won Miss Wang's favor.
Xu Bing was already 80% satisfied when he saw that Miss Wang was gentle, well-educated and well-mannered. Hearing that she also understood Buddhism and could paint, and that she had brought a picture of Guanyin that she had painted as a gift, Xu Bing was extremely happy.
The two of them were chatting so happily that they forgot about lunch time. It was not until it was getting dark that Xu Bing got up to say goodbye. The two of them agreed to go to Qingfengzhai for tea the next day.
After he left, Madam Zhang came over and asked, "Yuer, what do you think of Lord Xu?"
Wang Tingyue said shyly, "A modest gentleman, an upright man."
Mrs. Zhang was delighted, knowing that this was almost certain!
*
People feel refreshed when good things happen. In the past few days, Song Yuzhu saw Xu Bing always smiling and speaking more generously when he went to court.
After the morning court session, Song Yuzhu summoned him to the study to talk.
"Is there a happy event in Xu Xiang's family?"
Xu Bing put his hands in his pockets and smiled like a silly boy who had just fallen in love: "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, there is indeed good news."
"Zhang Qikai has acted as a matchmaker for you, right? Whose daughter is she?"
"The daughter of the former Imperial Censor Wang Ke, she is 28 years old this year and is a gentle and lovely woman."
Seeing him in love, Song Yuzhu was also very happy: "Have you set a date? Do you want me to grant you marriage?"
Xu Bing knelt down to thank him: "That couldn't be better!"
"Hurry up, do we need to be so polite in our relationship?"
"The king is the king and the minister is the minister. We should still express our gratitude." Xu Bing was indeed grateful to Song Yuzhu from the bottom of his heart. If it weren't for him, perhaps he would still be by the side of Prince Qing, serving as a military advisor, walking on thin ice.
If he hadn't saved me, I would have been injured by Prince Qing that day and my body would have been left on the street. Now he has arranged such a good marriage for me.
To be honest, even brothers can't do this!
All Xu Bing could do to repay his gratitude was to be loyal to him and devote himself to his work until his death.
"The date has not been decided yet. We will choose a good date after the Chinese New Year." Both families have simple populations. Xu Bing has no parents and has lost contact with most of his relatives. Wang Tingyue's parents have also passed away, and her two younger brothers have started their own families. As long as the two of them are willing, they can choose any date.
Song Yuzhu directly asked the eunuch to prepare pen and paper and draft the imperial edict granting marriage to Xu Bing.
After chatting about personal matters, the two began to get down to business. Song Yuzhu planned to set up a scientific research department, which was responsible for researching and creating new things. This department was not among the six departments and was directly under the command of the emperor.
He considered this matter for many days before making the decision. After all, it is difficult to discover many useful things by just making miscellaneous plans.
Although Xu Bing didn't understand what the Scientific Research Department was, as long as Song Yuzhu proposed it, he would support it without a second thought and immediately decided to help choose a position in the Scientific Research Department.
The second thing is to select scientific researchers. Don’t underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were already mathematicians and astronomers like Zu Chongzhi. Of course, there were also people who specialized in science in this era.
Song Yuzhu planned to gather them to Shangjing, provide them with resources, and let them give full play to their strengths.
*
In the blink of an eye, it was December, and the frequency of military letters changed from once every ten days to once every five days.
Zhao Xiao had already entered Shuzhou. The roads in Shuzhou were difficult to travel, and there were too many mountain roads that were not suitable for charging. The army gave up riding horses and marched directly on foot. They encountered several ambushes along the way, but they won them all without any danger.
We finally arrived outside Shuzhou City in mid-December.
Yang Yuanhao had only 30,000 soldiers and horses, and he guarded Shuzhou City and did not dare to come out to fight.
The Qi army besieged the city, and the Shuzhou city raised a white flag. Yang Yuanhao requested peace talks.
Zhao Xiao led his army all the way here, wasting time and effort. Who would negotiate peace with him? What a joke!
It has to be said that the Yang family has strong genes. Yang Yuanhao is as ruthless as his brothers. He even threatens the entire population of Shuzhou. If the Qi army attacks, he will order a massacre in the city.
When sending troops, Song Yuzhu had issued an order that civilians should not be harmed. Zhao Xiao really put him in a difficult position.
If they attacked Yang Yuanhao by force, he would inevitably become desperate and perish along with the people in the city.
*
In the palace in the city, Yang Yuanhao hadn't slept well for three consecutive days. His face was pale and his eyes were dark.
He knew that if he continued to resist he would only delay time, but he was unwilling to accept that. He really didn't want to accept that!
It seemed that he always had bad luck. When the previous emperor passed away, he immediately headed north after receiving the news, but ended up in Jizhou. When he heard that Yang Yuanchao was forcing the emperor to abdicate, he was so scared that he immediately returned to Shuzhou.
Later, Yang Yuanli seized the throne. Hearing that Yang Yuanli was seriously ill and might not live long, Yang Yuanhao regained hope. Unexpectedly, he passed the throne to his young son.
Later, the Chengtian Army emerged and seized the world, but Yang Yuanhao still refused to believe that the Great Sheng Dynasty had fallen.
It was not until the army reached the outskirts of Shuzhou that he was forced to face reality.
"Your Highness, it's time to eat." The servant came over carrying exquisite dishes.
"Take it down, I'm not hungry."
Just then, his adviser Zhuang Yu walked in and said, "Your body can't handle this."
Yang Yuanhao stood up and walked to the window, opened it and looked at the mountains in the distance.
"How long will the food in the city last?"
"One month is no problem. We should be able to wait for King Yunnan to come to our aid!"
Yang Yuanhao closed his eyes and said, "When I was a child, Yang Yuanji's mother's palace was close to the Queen's palace, and we often played together."
"One time, when I was playing with him, I accidentally broke the Seven Treasures Glazed Lamp that my father gave to my mother. I could have framed a palace maid for this, but he was afraid of being punished and sold it out to me."
Zhuang Yu didn't understand why Yang Yuanhao said this.
"My good brother will not come. He is as timid as a mouse. If he knew that the army was going to attack Shuzhou, he would have already surrendered to the capital with all his belongings."
Zhuang Yu was silent. If the King of Yunnan had not come to their rescue, they would have been dead. It was just a matter of time.
"I will send someone to escort the prince out of Shuzhou!"
(End of this chapter)
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