Chapter 281 Long Life
The small courtyard was decorated and finally had some festive atmosphere.
Unlike the palace where the courtyard is deep and you can see the end at a glance, Chen Zhao spotted Xie Tingzhou under the eaves without any effort.
He was wearing a dark-colored cloak, which made his skin look white. Shen Zhao walked over and looked around, then asked, "Where's A-Yu?"
"Unfortunately, not long after she left, Qingyun Guard found Ben Xiao. She went to see if there was any problem. If you are not in a hurry, you can stay and wait."
Xie Tingzhou was holding a pair of scissors in his hand. The dead tree in the yard turned out to be a wintersweet. It finally bloomed in the past few days. Chen Yu said it smelled good last night. Xie Tingzhou was going to cut a few branches and put them in the bedroom.
Chen Zhao had a blank expression on his face. "It's good that she's out. I have something to talk to you about."
"Wait a moment." Xie Tingzhou picked up two and raised his hand, "Brother, sit inside."
The maid was about to take the flowers from his hand, but Xie Tingzhou avoided them and told the maid to serve the tea while he put the flowers in the vase himself.
"Brother, do you have something important to talk to me about?"
Shen Zhao looked gloomy and didn't speak for a long time.
Before coming to find Xie Tingzhou, he thought about it for a long time. This was originally a matter between them and he should not interfere. However, his parents were not around, so he was the only one as her brother to support her.
"What are your plans for the future?"
Xie Tingzhou knew that Shen Zhao came here not just to ask this question, so he answered seriously, "I have discussed with Ayu that we will attack Xuanping Hou after the spring."
"This is official business." Shen Zhao said, "I'm asking you, what are your plans for Ayu."
Xie Tingzhou was slightly surprised, "She is my wife, so my plan is naturally to stay with her."
Shen Zhao sneered, "You stayed with her when you were alive, but what if you died? What would she do?"
Xie Tingzhou's expression suddenly changed. Shen Zhao mentioned a topic that neither Xie Tingzhou nor Shen Yu wanted to touch.
"Don't try to evade me with excuses. Doctor Yu told me everything under my questioning."
Chen Zhao got angry when he thought about it, "You knew the condition of your body but still wanted to provoke her. Have you ever thought about her?"
Xie Tingzhou stared at the two wintersweets without saying a word.
Chen Zhao said: "How dare you? How can you bear to do that? She is living such a hard life, and you still want to make her worry."
"Why shouldn't I dare?" Xie Tingzhou did not remain silent. He said firmly, "I am unwilling to hand her over to anyone else. If I can have fifteen years, I will give her fifteen years of happiness.
Chen Zhao was furious. "What about ten or fifteen years later? You left her and walked away. She is still young. How will she live in the future?"
“How?
"Xie Tingzhou touched the remaining snow on the wintersweet with his fingertips, his eyes deep, "Believe me, I want to be with her forever more than anyone else, and I am willing to pay any price for it. I will give her enough love so that when she thinks of me, she will not feel pain, but will never feel regret."
Chen Zhao stared blankly at Xie Tingzhou standing by the window. His back looked so desolate. He suddenly understood that keeping her by his side would make him suffer more than anyone else, and he was more worried about her future than anyone else.
Facing Xie Tingzhou's confidence, Chen Zhao didn't know what else to say.
He sat in silence for a long time, then stood up and left in silence.
Xie Tingzhou saw him off in silence, and when he returned he saw another beautiful wintersweet.
When the maid saw him stop, she hurried forward and asked, "My Lord, do you want a pair of scissors?"
Xie Tingzhou stared at it for a long time and said, "No, there are already two."
He doesn't like being alone, and even wants wintersweets to be in even numbers.
The maid left, and Xie Tingzhou raised his foot to leave, but stopped again. After standing for a moment, he walked straight towards the pillar.
Chen Yu leaned her back against the pillar, biting her lower lip tightly, with her head down, and there were spots of faintness on the ground.
A pair of boots appeared in front of her, and Shen Yu knew who it was.
Xie Tingzhou lifted her chin, stroked her face gently, then lowered his head and gave her a sickly kiss in the snow.
He tasted the tears and said between pecks and kisses, "I want to be with you and live a long life."
…
Chen Zhao had to rush back to Hezhou to spend the New Year with Yu Wanqiu and the old lady, so he didn't stay long and left overnight.
After the war, they need to rest, both people and horses need to rest. They have just taken Ganzhou and have not left for the time being. They also need to start preparing for spring plowing after the spring, so they will have to stay here for a while.
The small courtyard could not accommodate so many people, so Xie Tingzhou bought a new house not far from where they lived and let others live there, but he and Shen Yu did not move there.
Everyone gathered together to celebrate a lively New Year.
There is not much free time, and we have to start preparing for spring ploughing a few days after the New Year.
The staff came from Beilin. Xie Tingzhou's condition had improved a little. He discussed matters with his staff in the hall of the new courtyard. Several staff members talked to each other.
"A few days ago, Yongzhou prefect Zhang Jinglian wrote to me saying that the refugees had been properly registered, but many people froze to death this winter, so providing them with aid alone is really a drop in the bucket."
"Spring ploughing is about to begin, so we need to hurry up. Before the ploughing, we need to re-measure and verify the land in Beilin, Ganzhou, Yongzhou and other places as the basis for collecting land tax. The number will definitely be very different from the number reported in previous years, and the extra amount may be
Resettlement of refugees.”
"This method is feasible, but the land has been allocated and the refugees have no money to farm. If they borrow money from the people, at the end of the year, the money will still go to the people who lent the money, and the people will still not have enough to eat."
The hall fell silent again.
An aide turned his head to glance at Chen Yu who was sitting in the upper seat, and quickly looked away before Xie Tingzhou's eyes swept over.
Chen Yu had now changed back into women's clothing and stayed beside Xie Tingzhou during meetings, but she rarely spoke.
The staff member bravely asked, "Lu's Bank..."
Xie Tingzhou looked over suddenly, and the aide quickly stopped talking, not daring to say anything more. This idea of taking the princess's money was out of the question.
"The government lends money to the people, and the loans are divided into two periods, February and May." Xie Tingzhou said, "The interest is 2% every six months, and it is returned with the summer and autumn taxes respectively."
Since Xie Tingzhou had spoken, it was the final decision and no one dared to question it.
"Your Highness," the staff said, "We must quickly make a decision on the matter of Qingzhou Prefect Tan Yu asking Yongzhou to borrow grain."
Another staff member said, "Yongzhou's surrender to Beilin sounded the alarm for Qingzhou. Tan Yu borrowed grain from Yongzhou, but in fact he was borrowing grain from Beilin. Qingzhou was already in an awkward position between Yongzhou and Beilin. It is said that Tan Yu submitted several memorials but received no response."
One of them smiled and said, "There is definitely no news. The Ministry of Revenue cannot provide money, and Jiang Lianzhi is left with nothing. The Southern Camp has to pay for the troops themselves. This is a joke in every dynasty."
"Yes, those people in Shengjing are fighting each other to death and have no time to care about the people. This also gives us an opportunity." The staff looked at Xie Tingzhou, "Your Highness, the Qingzhou prefecture's request to borrow grain this time is not to borrow grain from Yongzhou. It is obvious that he saw that the battle along the northwest line was a big victory and the situation was leaning towards Beilin. He used the grain borrowing issue to get closer to Beilin. Should we do this? Please give me a definite answer, Your Highness."
"Yes." Xie Tingzhou said, "Even if it's not for winning over, it's for the people."
This is easy to say, but with just the word "yes", what comes out is real silver. Beilin is self-sufficient, and has to bear the responsibilities of post-war and spring ploughing, so it is somewhat stretched. From now on, every expense has to be met.
There are still many things to do, and after agreeing on one thing, we have to move on to the next.
The staff member said, "Although Xuanping Hou did not declare himself king, he was undoubtedly the Wild King. Many places in the south have imitated him. I heard a funny thing a few days ago. It is said that there is a mountain in Fu'an County under the jurisdiction of Xinzhou. Two thousand mountain bandits came down the mountain and killed the Fu'an County Magistrate. They occupied the county and became kings. They also lavishly rewarded people in the city. They randomly gave more than a thousand titles to the two thousand bandits, and even gave the soldiers guarding the city the title of Grand Marshal. It's completely nonsense."
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