Chapter 538: Injury without killing, cut off their food supply
The man hummed and looked down at the woman in his arms.
Her eyes and eyebrows are soft and bright, and she is pretty and charming. She is less sharp and childish than when I first met her.
When he first met her, he was seriously ill.
She is different from ordinary girls from farming families. At first glance, she looks like a smart and ambitious girl.
Although I felt amazed at that time, I never thought of marrying her.
Even though she cured his illness, he only thought at that time that this girl was his benefactor and he would do his best to repay her in the future.
It happened that she was troubled by the harassment from the Huang family at that time, and while he was teaching in a private school, he also paid more attention to her affairs.
That time when he helped her escape from the Huang family on the road, he suddenly forgot what to say when he heard her mention the engagement to him.
Although I was happy, I just thought that she made the decision on impulse, so I didn't show much emotion on her face.
Later, when the marriage was really decided, he never thought of calling it off and only wanted to do his best to treat her well.
He was also worried that he had been ill for so many years, and if he didn't live long, she would be alone and helpless in the future.
Fortunately, he did not give up.
Marrying her was the best thing he had ever done in his life.
Song Yuntang saw that the man was lost in thought, as if he was reminiscing about something through her.
He raised his hand and waved it in front of him.
"What are you thinking about? So absorbed in it?"
The man smiled gently.
"I wonder what would have happened to us if you hadn't mentioned engagement to me."
"If I hadn't mentioned it, you would have been a famous scholar, and I might have become a free-spirited traveling doctor, with the world as my home." She put her arms around his neck and asked with her head tilted, "Why? Do you regret marrying me?"
The man shook his head.
“I have never regretted it.”
Song Yuntang's eyebrows curved, "When I am old and ugly, I am afraid you will not think so anymore."
Xu Qingye looked serious.
"No one can avoid birth, aging, sickness and death. I am seven years older than you. When Tang'er really grows old and ugly, I will only be older than you. Just don't look down on me then."
Song Yuntang laughed out loud.
"Do you have such concerns?"
The man touched her face.
"Tang'er always wants to be a free-spirited traveling doctor, so I naturally have a sense of crisis. What if one day you think I'm too old and leave us father and son to travel around the world? By then, I will be leaning on a cane and can't even walk to find you."
Song Yuntang just felt that his words were both funny and sad.
Thinking that he would become an old man and herself an old lady in a few years, she smiled and her eyes suddenly felt a little sore.
Xu Qingye originally wanted to make her laugh.
But I don't know how I made her cry.
"What's going on?"
Song Yuntang sniffed and leaned his head on his chest.
"I used to be alone and I really wanted to travel around the world. Now my home is here, how can I bear to leave so easily?" She paused and hugged the man's waist tightly. "If one day you are really too old to walk, I will be your walking stick. We will grow old together. Isn't that a beautiful thing?"
The man looked touched and bent down to kiss her forehead.
"Tang'er, you have to keep your word."
As he said that, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
The woman in his arms had her arms around his neck, her eyes full of smiles.
…
Regarding the war in the Western Regions, one faction in the court advocated war, while the other advocated peace.
For several days in a row, the quarrel was fierce.
Finally, the emperor summoned several ministers he valued, and after much discussion and weighing the pros and cons, he finally finalized the plan.
First create momentum, then win the hearts and minds of the people.
Daxia has a vast territory and abundant resources. Now the treasury is empty, but the momentum cannot be weakened, otherwise the foreign countries will get wind of it. If they join forces to fight, not only will the people in the border areas suffer, but Daxia’s territory may also be encroached upon by foreign countries.
So the ministers discussed it unanimously.
First, raise money, medicine and food to ship to the Western Border, so that they can hold out as long as possible until reinforcements arrive, and give orders to the Northern Border, asking King Heng to dispatch 300,000 troops to the battlefield in the Western Region.
Regardless of whether or not food can be raised, more granaries must be built on the border to make the spies in the Western Regions think that Daxia has sufficient food and grass and can fight sustainably, which can also suppress their momentum to a certain extent.
After the arrival of 300,000 reinforcements, once the battlefield situation became clear, he would immediately send civil officials to the Western Regions to make the rulers of the Western Regions willingly submit to Daxia.
After all, sufficient food and fodder are just for show.
In recent years, natural disasters and man-made disasters have continued, and the actual silver and food supplies to support the battlefield in the western border are limited and cannot withstand years of consumption.
At present, except for the envoys sent to the Western Regions, everyone has gone about their respective tasks after the preliminary matters have been finalized.
After everyone left, Li Junyao asked the palace servants to set up the chessboard. While playing chess, he smiled at Xu Qingye who was sitting opposite him.
"This move is risky. If the Western Regions are not fooled, do you have any other tricks?"
The emperor is now only in his early thirties, at the peak of his career, and not the time to stick to the old ways.
He did not want to advocate peace.
As for advocating war, at the beginning it was indeed as most ministers said, the national treasury was empty and could not withstand the consumption.
But for now, Princess Le'an has solved the urgent problem of the Western Regions. But if the Western Regions are not affected in the future, the cost of the war will be a bottomless pit.
The national treasury simply cannot afford the consumption.
"If the Western Regions don't fall into the trap, we can probably cut off their supply of food." Xu Qingye looked calm. He placed the black pieces on the chessboard and took out the white pieces in the middle one by one. "We can only injure them but not kill them. We can cut off their food supply."
Injuring but not killing sounds like a merciful act.
But on the battlefield, if a soldier is injured, as long as he is still alive, he will need food, water and medicine, and someone has to take care of him, which is a considerable expense.
Not only that, there are many injured people. Once someone's wound is infected, the others are also very likely to be infected, causing the injury to worsen.
The injuries alone are enough to disrupt the Western Region army's formation.
If a plague is eventually caused, there will be no need for Daxia to intervene in this battle.
Of course, if the people of the Western Regions were smart enough, they would withdraw their troops without waiting for the plague to break out.
After listening to this, Li Junyao thought about it first, and then he laughed out loud after he figured out the trick.
"It's good to be young. You are much more flexible than those old-fashioned people in the court. I now feel that the sixth-rank Imperial Academy lecturer is a bit unfair to you."
Then he looked at Fan Chihai standing beside him.
"Pass on my decree to promote Lord Xu, the Imperial Academy Lecturer, to the rank of Fifth Grade Imperial Academy Lecturer, and to concurrently instruct the First Prince in the Six Arts and historical texts."
"In addition, I will reward the Princess of Le'an County with two boxes of jewelry, fifty rolls of silk and satin, a thousand acres of land, and a hot spring villa."
Xu Qingye stood up and clasped his fists.
"Thank you, Lord!"
…
A hot spring villa is a resource that cannot be purchased even with money.
It is now early August, and winter will come in another month or two.
The hot spring villa rewarded by the emperor is located in the suburbs of Beijing, not far from the capital. It is a very good place whether for family members to live there during the winter, or to renovate it and add some entertainment facilities to attract guests from the capital and make a profit.
Song Yuntang was a man of action. After he had this idea, he took Xia Ning and Jinshu to visit the hot spring villa the day after he got it.
In addition to the three of them, there were also several craftsmen traveling with them.
Song Yuntang had asked Jinshu to find someone to go to the hot spring villa with him the day before.
There was originally a yard on the villa, but it was quite old.
After checking, the craftsmen said that the wood on the walls and beams was still relatively solid, so Song Yuntang did not allow them to be demolished, but let them renovate and use them instead.
I walked around the villa and planned the layout of the villa before going down the mountain and going home.
On the third day, Song Yuntang handed the drawings he had drawn to the craftsman, and asked Qin Ju and Xu's husband Zhou Songwu to go to the hot spring villa to monitor the progress.
Since Haoting turned one year old, he was not willing to drink Xu's milk. Seeing that he was unwilling to drink, Song Yuntang did not force him.
After all, he is one year old. You can spend more time on complementary food and occasionally squeeze some goat milk for him to drink to supplement his nutrition.
After Haoting was weaned, Xu took care of Zhou Heran. When everyone in the family was busy, she would help look after Haoting or do some simple chores like sweeping.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
