Flower arc in front of the tomb.

Mulan incense, burned paper money, and kowtowed respectfully.

"Grandpa, my daughter is about to marry Brother Junsheng, haven't you been looking forward to this thing before you died? You're happy, aren't you? I will tell you before your spiritual throne when you get married, you must bless me and my brother, and bless our family with peace and security······"

"Grandpa, in a few days, our family will move to Youzhou, and I have also entrusted General Gao to sell the property here, leaving only a house, and when I am free in the future, my daughter and younger brother will come back to see you, we also have a place to live, I have asked General Gao to see ······you during the New Year's holidays."

Then Hua Mu and her younger brother Hua Xiong also stepped forward one by one to burn incense.

Gao Xiu and the officials of the first cadre who accompanied him also bowed a few times.

On the way back to the city, Mulan rode on her horse and asked Gao Xiu: "General Gao, I have been busy dealing with family affairs these days, and I haven't had time to have a good chat with you, what is going on on on Rouran's side?" Are the incursions frequent? ”

Gao Xiu said: "The Rouran people have very little intrusion on our side of Wuchuan Town, mainly for the area of Woye Town and Huaishuo Town, I heard that it has happened twice in a row in the past three months, and the Rouran people are smarter than before, they do not attack the city, but only plunder. They moved very fast, and took the herdsmen away before they had time to drive their cattle into the city, and the soldiers stationed in Huaishuo and Woye got the news a few days later, and they couldn't catch up if they wanted to."

Hua Mulan asked: "Wuchuan Town, as the largest trade distribution center in the northern Xinjiang region, has the largest population, the most abundant materials, and the largest trading volume, why don't the people of Rouran fight the idea here?" ”

Gao Xiu sighed and said: "Speaking of which, I still have the light of the general, when the general was the general of Wuchuan Town, although he was not in office for a long time, he did a few real things: first of all, he only built the city, this city is bigger than Huaishuo and Woye, the city wall is more than twice as tall and thick as Huaishuo and Woye Town, and there is a wide moat, it is impossible for the Rouran people to attack and not kill tens of thousands of people!" ”

"The second is the border post and beacon tower that have been built, as long as the Rouran brigade appears, the beacon tower can immediately ignite a warning and the fort can immediately send troops!"

"Third, it is to strengthen and repair the Great Wall of more than 100 miles of this thing, the general has been in office for two years, and every winter in his spare time, he organizes the military and civilians to strengthen the Great Wall, repair the damaged places, so that the Rouran people can not cross the Great Wall to sneak attack and loot, and the last general will continue the tradition of the general's flow after taking over, and he has been quite diligent in recent years, and has not given Rouran people a chance to take advantage of!"

"Fourth, it is to strive for the expansion of the army for Wuchuan Town, there are 2,000 garrisons of 5,000 people stationed in the three major forts on the periphery, the remaining 1,000 are stationed in the city, and there are 2,000 elite cavalry who can deal with emergencies at any time!"

After listening to Gao Xiu's words, Hua Mulan nodded and asked, "Has there been a surplus in Wuchuan Town's finances and taxes in the past few years?" ”

Gao Xiu said: "Wuchuan Town has always been self-sufficient, and there is a surplus of finance and taxation every year!" ”

Hua Mulan was silent for a while, and said to Gao Xiu: "General Gao, now that the situation in the court is turbulent, I believe that I am afraid that the imperial court will not have the energy to take care of the frontier for a long time, even if this place is attacked, the imperial court is afraid that there will be no troops to send reinforcements!" I suggest you still plan ahead. By the way, how many spare soldiers and horses did Brother Junsheng leave for you in the first place? ”

Gao Xiu replied: "Three thousand people remained, and they are currently scattered among the caravans and factories!" ”

"I suggest that you recruit a few more thousand people, not counting them in the regular establishment at first, but only practicing combat skills and tactics first, as a reserve to supplement the troops, and if something happens, these soldiers and horses can be used immediately. In addition, the people scattered in the caravans and factories should take the time to organize them to practice, although they once roamed the field, but they have not practiced for many years, right? Can they still sacrifice their lives to fight the enemy? And that guts? ”

Mulan's words gave Gao Xiu a sense of urgency, and he couldn't help but ask, "Has the imperial court been in chaos to this point?" ”

"It's worse than you think!"

Gao Xiu knew that there was no need for Mulan to coax him, the reason why she said this was that the situation must have reached the point where it was out of control, and after he decided to send the Mulan family away, he immediately ordered the recruitment of five thousand recruits, and it was really not easy to recruit five thousand recruits with the population of Wuchuan Town, but there was no time limit.

Two days later, the Mulan family set out from Wuchuan Town to the east, and Gao Xiu specially sent 300 cavalry to escort them along the Great Wall for their safety, led by a general.

The Outer Great Wall was built since the eighth year of Taichang, more than 2,000 miles long, and the Mulan family and their soldiers walked for ten days under the escort of 300 Wuchuan Town cavalry to arrive at Juyong Pass.

Zhao Junsheng is actually very busy, but no matter how busy he is, he has to squeeze out time to meet his mother-in-law, since the death of the old man Hua Archua, this old lady is not very good to serve, if the mother-in-law is offended, then I am afraid that the days after will not be easy, other people's mother-in-law looks at the son-in-law more and more like, can not come to him but is not pleasing to the mother-in-law.

When Mulan and his entourage arrived in Yuyang County, the Yuyang County Government had sent someone to Jixian County in advance to inform Zhao Junsheng that Zhao Junsheng got up early in the morning and cleaned himself up, in order not to let his mother-in-law feel that he was prestigious, so he specially picked out a slightly old noble son's costume, and put on a precious fur cloak outside.

Zhao Junsheng hadn't worn it like this for several years, and it was a little unnatural to suddenly wear such a body, but he quickly got used to it, but he stood at the gate of the city with a few family members and personal soldiers, but it became a beautiful scenery, and some girls actually stood at the gate of the city and pointed at him.

Welcoming the mother-in-law is a big deal, Zhao Junsheng had to be cautious, originally wanted to make the pomp bigger, and wanted to bring the officials of the Jixian Thorn Mansion, the Taishou Mansion and the county government to fill the number, so as to show that he attached importance to the arrival of the mother-in-law, but in this way, he was afraid of provoking criticism, so he just thought about it and did not send someone to inform him.

"Li Bao, you sent someone to the front to take a look, why haven't you arrived yet?" Zhao Junsheng looked a little anxious after waiting for an hour.

"Okay, General!" Li Bao agreed, and immediately sent a personal soldier to ride a horse to the front to check.

At this time, a large number of officials came out of the city, some on horseback, some in chariots, and these people quickly came to the side of the road and cleared the passage of the city gate.

"General, why don't you ask your subordinates to wait when you greet your mother-in-law?" Pei Jin and Dongfang Chen came over with a large number of officials, bowed together, and said with a smile.

Among them, there are more than a dozen officials from the Assassin's Mansion, as well as the officials of the Yan County Taishou Li Yuande and the Taishou Mansion, and even the officials of the Jixian County Government are also following behind, and these officials plus the entourage, subordinates, and soldiers are two or three hundred people, and the roadsides on both sides of the city gate are crowded.

Zhao Junsheng looked back and said in surprise: "Why are you here?" General Ben also ordered the news to be blocked, how did you know? ”

"Hahaha, but the general is too underestimated by his subordinates and others, if he can't even guess this, how can he give advice to the general?" Dongfang Chen said with a laugh.

Zhao Junsheng said helplessly: "The reason why the general didn't tell you is that he didn't want to work hard to mobilize the people."

"The general didn't tell his subordinates and others because he thought about his subordinates and others, but since his subordinates guessed it, they couldn't help but come!"

Zhao Junsheng waved his hand: "Forget it, let's come if you come, but General Ben can tell you that my mother-in-law and fiancée don't know when they will arrive, if you stay here, I am afraid that you will be blown by the northwest wind for a while, and it is not a joke to be infected with the wind cold!" ”

There is no shortage of whiskers among the officials, and they all speak better than they sing, but some of them have good horses, and some people have poor horses.

Hua Mulan and his entourage didn't let Zhao Junsheng and the others take them for too long, and the cold wind that continued to blow for about an hour before Zhao Junsheng and the others appeared in everyone's sight.

Zhao Junsheng immediately pulled out his legs to meet him, and the officials behind him naturally had to follow, and the two or three hundred people all moved.

The flower mother sitting in the carriage lifted the curtain and saw this scene, and her face showed satisfaction: "Junsheng is still quite sensible!" ”

Hua Mulan, who was sitting next to the flower mother, wrinkled her nose: "Hmph, if he only comes alone today, you're afraid that you will be very unhappy, right?" ”

The flower mother reprimanded: "What did you say, this child? He is the lord of a state, he is busy with official business, and he has to take care of the whole Youzhou, and it is good that he can come to greet my mother-in-law! ”

"Hey, that's a nice thing to say at this time!"

The mother and daughter were arguing, and Hua Xiong, who was riding a horse at the front of the team, raised his hand and kept waving: "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law!" ”

The team stopped, Hua Xiong jumped down from the horse and looked behind Zhao Junsheng, and said in a low voice: "Wow, brother-in-law, you have made such a big show that I am a little embarrassed to make my little brother!" ”

Zhao Junsheng couldn't help laughing and said: "You guy, you have grown into an adult after not seeing you for a few years, but you are becoming more and more narcissistic, brother-in-law, I am not here to greet you!" ”

After speaking, he patted Hua Xiong's shoulder and walked towards the carriage, Hua Hai and Hua Yu hurriedly saluted Zhao Junsheng: "I've seen my uncle!" ”

"You've worked hard all the way!"

Zhao Junsheng came to the carriage and bowed down and hugged his fists: "The little son-in-law welcomes his mother-in-law to Youzhou!" ”

The curtain of the car was lifted, Hua Mulan and Hua Mu both sat in the car, Hua Mu looked at Zhao Junsheng, and said with a smile: "Junsheng has a heart, you are the lord of a state, how can you leave important official business for my wife, and these officials don't have to deal with government affairs?" Not in the future! ”

Mulan covered her mouth and twisted her head to the side to snicker.

Zhao Junsheng's face twitched a few times, and he could only agree like a grandson: "Yes, yes, my mother-in-law has taught me a lesson, my son-in-law must put official affairs first and set a good example for the officials in Youzhou!" ”

"That's good!" Hua Mu nodded thoughtfully, very satisfied with Zhao Junsheng's attitude of admitting his mistake, she saw Hua Mulan twist her head to the side, knowing that she must be snickering, she immediately got angry, and reprimanded: "Mulan, why don't you call Junsheng when you see him?" It's getting more and more rude! ”

Hua Mulan had no choice but to hold back her laughter and make a blessing to Zhao Junsheng: "Mulan has seen Brother Junsheng!" ”

Zhao Junsheng: "······"