Bidding farewell to everyone, Du Zhongxiao returned to his residence. A peach blossom in the yard, just shaking out of its bones, trembled in the breeze in the sun. Du Zhongxiao looked at the peach tree, stretched slightly, and sighed secretly.

After staying in Hequ Road for a year, Du Zhongxiao can feel that many people's psychology has changed a lot, including himself. So much has happened in this year. Moreover, the winter is long, and almost half of the year is unworkable, and people are easy to slack off.

From October to March, I couldn't do things for almost half a year, and many things were delayed. If it weren't for half a year of winter, Hequ Road would never be what it is now, and everything would have come to a standstill. Last year, the party was defeated, and the situation was very good, and we could have taken advantage of the situation to make a slight correction and attack from all sides. The result was followed by the replacement of personnel, the rectification of the whole army, and the numbness of many people.

Only now, the river meandering road has just recovered its breath and can do something. Looking at the current situation, the mentality of the people below is not optimistic. The newcomer, Fu Bi, is bent on making a big win again, while the others don't have the same heart.

Xiaoqing came out of the house and saluted Du Zhongxiao: "Official, I sent a few big fish in front of me today, saying what kind of fish are the Yellow River." I braised a tail, and the officials tasted it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's really hard for you." Kaihe fish is a famous dish in this area, the taste is fat, and there is no earthy smell, you can also taste it. ”

After speaking, when he arrived at the house, Xiaoqing had already set up the dishes and chopsticks, and Du Zhongxiao sat down to eat.

After coming for a few months, Du Zhongxiao slowly got used to the life of Xiaoqing by his side. Every day, she cooks and cleans up the house, which is much more comfortable than when she is alone. As for other things, there is no time to think about it now.

The fish in the open river is the ice of the Yellow River, and the fish caught in the river is preferably carp. At this time, there is a lot of water in the Yellow River, and there are many fish and turtles in it, which can be eaten at any time, and the price is not expensive. In the city of Shengzhou, except for the winter months, there has always been a constant supply of fish and shrimp.

After a winter without eating, the Kaihe fish did not have the usual earthy smell at all, and the taste was good.

After eating, Du Zhongxiao sat in the study and took a nap.

There was a light breeze outside the room, no chill, with the warmth of spring. In the midst of the steep season, there are already bee butterflies busy. The spring sun shines all over the earth, and the spring breeze brings a warm breath to everything in the world.

In the afternoon, Du Zhongxiao woke up and read a book in the study for a while. Seeing that it was not early, he called the soldiers and said, "Go and invite Deputy Envoy Fu and Deputy Envoy Zhang, and I will invite them to drink tonight." By the way, in Wang Pu's store opposite the mall, how is the business lately? ”

The soldier said: "Back to the festival marshal, since the camp personnel in Shengzhou are stationed in various places, the city is not as lively as before. Wang Pu's business is still good, but it is not as good as before. Although business is good now, it is not as hard to find as it used to be. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "Normal business, isn't that what it looks like?" When there were a lot of people in the city in front, it wasn't normal. Okay, tonight, I will invite the two deputy envoys to his shop to drink, and you will send someone to set up a seat first. ”

The soldier answered, turned and went out. Du Zhongxiao got up, went to the front office, met Fu Bi and Zhang Sheng, and went out of the yamen.

It was the beginning of spring, and everything seemed to wake up from a big dream, and there were a lot of pedestrians in the city. There are those who wander around, and there are those who visit relatives and friends everywhere. Take advantage of the bright spring sunshine to enjoy this relaxing time.

When he arrived at Wang Pu's store, he was already waiting outside the door, and hurriedly led Du Zhongxiao, Fu Bi, and Zhang Sheng into the store. Sitting down in the pavilion on the second floor, Du Zhongxiao asked for a table of wine and food, and Wang Pu went to prepare it himself.

After drinking tea, Du Zhongxiao said: "It's March now, and the grass on the meandering road is green, and it's spring." At the beginning of last year, there was a big victory, and then the whole army was reorganized and trained, and it was busy until the autumn. In autumn, everything is sluggish, and you can't do anything you want. Finally, I waited for spring, and what big things to do this year should be planned early. ”

Fu Bi said: "That's what the marshal said. After the big victory at the beginning of last year, the party sued for peace and occupied Blackwater City, and there was no major event after that. The winter of nearly half a year is too long, and I think the road is handsome, and most of them are a little slack. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "Of course. In the past few months, except for the normal military city of Wudu, other places have been suffering. Now the Yellow River is thawing, the grass is green, and the city is full of joy. Not only the people, but also the military, the spirit of the personnel is obviously different from the previous months. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There is no way to do this, you have to go through it." In the past, the place occupied by this dynasty was the northernmost to Hedong, so how north could it be? Everyone is used to doing things step by step throughout the year. Hequ Road is different here, it has reached the bottom of Yin Mountain, which can be regarded as the extreme north. When we first arrived here, everyone was naturally at a loss, and it was normal to be affected. ”

At this moment, Wang Pu took the little servant to serve the wine and food, saluted, and then retreated. Zhang Sheng poured the wine, and Du Zhongxiao led the three rounds of drinking, and then they drank separately. The three of them dined to talk about the commander's gossip, and the wine was not important.

After eating a few bites of food, Du Zhongxiao said: "This year's affairs, in my opinion, are the most important two things. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "Please also ask the marshal to speak clearly." What was said in today's official office is a bit too big, and I didn't listen to it carefully. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Khitan and the two countries, according to my estimate, there will be no major events this year. Of course, when we are stationed on the border, we are first and foremost guarding the two countries. Prevention is to be guarded, but the affairs of this road cannot be done according to them. There are two important things, one is to enter the Western Regions. The most important thing in this matter is what Chen Ximing said to him when he entered Beijing. This is a big deal, we are border ministers, and it is not good to intervene too much. ”

Fu Bi said: "The marshal is temperate all the way, and the affairs of the Western Regions should be taken care of more." If you let it go yourself, the court may not appreciate it. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Deputy envoy, although I said that, it may not be good to say more." In my opinion, for Chen Ximing, it is best for the imperial court to let him stay in the capital and not go back. How old is Illino? It's just a small place with thousands of homes. But once the railroad gets there, it's a different story. The personnel used by the railway alone, plus the people who do all kinds of things at the station, will be in the thousands. If you add all kinds of people who do business, all kinds of miscellaneous people, Yizhou will become a land of tens of thousands of households. The thousands of indigenous households, facing tens of thousands of households, plus Zhao Zi's army, are actually a minority. At such times, there is a city lord who has countless obstacles. But how do I say that? can only rely on the imperial court to say that Chen Ximing's power will be realized for him, and let him be a rich man in the capital. ”

Fu Bi said: "It's inconvenient to say this to Chen Ximing, you can explain it to the imperial court——"

Du Zhongxiao smiled when he heard it: "Deputy envoy, it's not easy to talk to the imperial court." Now that Chen Ximing has not entered Beijing, the imperial court does not know how to arrange it. I brought up this matter first, the court was restrained and didn't say anything, so it was difficult to talk to Chen Ximing. ”

Chen Sheng said: "The festival marshal is right. Who knows what Chen Ximing said to the saint when he entered Beijing? Or let them go. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Yes, this matter can only depend on Chen Ximing himself, we can't say anything." In addition to Illino, there is another big thing on this road. ”

Fu Bi said: "I don't know what else is going on?" Looking at the meaning of the festival handsome, it is not a small matter. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, this matter is not small. Last year, the deputy envoy came to the future, and he did not know the affairs of the battalion and the army. Since Hue Du's First World War, the original battalion and field army were separated, and only a few thousand people in the current army are still the original people. Although there are many new recruits, there are few years of training. Let me be discouraged, the current army of Hequlu Road is far from reaching the combat strength of last year's soldiers and horses. In particular, the middle- and low-level generals are far from the level that the battalion field and the army could achieve before. Taking advantage of the warmer weather, the Shuaifu should organize several more powerful drills to temper the generals. ”

Fu Bi and Zhang Sheng nodded slowly and did not speak. Both of them were transferred later, and they didn't know what was going on. The current army is already very strong in the eyes of these two people, and no generals can do it, and they don't even know where to start.