Chapter 544: Hand-picked, Surprised

Although Kaipingwei can no longer see the traces of the former Shangdu, it is really a good place surrounded by mountains and rivers. There are Nanping Mountain, Luanhe River in the south, Xianghe River, Dustpan River, Lu River in the northeast, Rabbit River in the southwest, several rivers downstream all merge in Luanhe River, it has always been a grazing area with fertile water and grass.

After the weather warms, the grasslands that have been withered and yellow for a winter are revived. However, due to the tighter defense of Kaiping, even though the Luanhe River is surrounded by a large area of grassland suitable for grazing, ordinary Mongolians no longer dare to approach, even some herdsmen who are close to Kaiping Weizhong officers are no exception. Kaiping is the transshipment and transportation place of the Northern Expeditionary Army's rations, so it is natural to be more careful.

The blue sky seems to have been washed by water, and the white clouds float leisurely, looking at it can make people leisurely, but since the news of the Beijing division sent troops at the end of February, more than two months have passed now, and everyone here has never been leisurely, even if they stand at the head of the city and face the beautiful scenery of the prairie, most of the discussions are about the scenery.

For example, Arutai made another attempt to make peace and returned in vain.

For example, Uliang Ha was infighting, the chieftain of the clan was killed, and his son led his men to migrate north with 800 people.

For example, the Tatars were preparing to install a new Great Khan to oppose the Great Khan supported by Warat.

For example, Warat submitted to the table, but avoided sending troops to accompany the northern expedition under various pretexts.

The depths of the steppes meant that there was a lot of news about the Mongol tribes, but the only news in the capital was the official news that came through the four post horses. Even Zhang Yue can't keep sending messengers to his home like he did in Xuanfu, at most, he sends a letter home once a month, and there is no way to get a reply to his home. It's just that Peng Shisan, who wants to know the most news, has already told him, and he is finally less worried now.

Because the King of Shouguang was deposed from the throne, Xiyuan was placed under house arrest and Li Maofang, the Marquis of Fuyang, as a companion! Now he only hopes that the connection between his father and Yuan Fang can be well hidden, this kind of thing can be big or small, as long as no one knows the details, once the emperor is too lazy to investigate, everything can be let go.

"Your Excellency!"

With the loud voice behind him, Zhang Yue immediately turned around, only to see Niu Dare in a bright black shirt. Compared with when he was down, now he not only looks strong and sturdy, but even his eyes have become very different, and he has become almost unrecognizable. Covering his hand and looking at the sun in the sky, he looked at the guard with an inquiring gaze.

"Xing'anbo asked his subordinates to come and invite the adults to come over."

It is not easy to repair the city and renovate the house on the grassland, so Kaipingwei does not have any decent official office at all, Xing'an Bo Xu Heng and Zhang Yue, like Zhang Yue, simply set up a huge linoleum tent, handling official business and meeting subordinates are in it. The only difference is that there are more than ten pro-soldiers with swords on their waists standing in front of the big tent, and the idle sergeants are not allowed to approach.

Hearing the report outside, Xu Heng turned around with a command. Seeing Zhang Yue coming in, he didn't beat around the bush, and said bluntly: "The emperor has ordered that the Marquis of Cheng'an prepare for Kaiping, and as for me, I will unload my defense and prepare to go north with me." Now the 300,000 army has been stationed at the Pavilion Station, tomorrow the emperor will parade the whole army, and it is estimated that he will be able to reach Kaiping in three days. Your name was also directly handpicked in the military newspaper, so you can go back and make good preparations. This battle must take two or three months, and you should bring enough with you, especially dry food, tents, medicines, and felt blankets, which are all important things, and they must not be missing! There is always a priority in the rationing of the army, and although the British Duke will take care of you, I don't think you want others to stare at you, right? ”

Xu Heng accompanied him on his two northern expeditions, and these reminders were all good words, so Zhang Yue hurriedly thanked him. It's just that when he returned to his big tent and ordered everyone to organize their things and get ready, he felt a little uneasy in his heart. Although they are both five products, Yang Rongjin Youzi is a cabinet minister, and the first two times were accompanied by Zanxiang military affairs, but he is different. The grain route of the Ming army was in charge of dozens of high-ranking officials such as Xungui Shangshu, and he was not needed. This time is not as good as before, and it is better for him to see more and talk less during his time in the army.

With the arrival of Cheng'an Hou Guo Liang, the already tense and solemn atmosphere in Kaiping escalated sharply, and the reconnaissance cavalry more than doubled than before, and the military report that originally arrived once a day also increased to three solstice a day. After the previous feint of Xingxing and fruitlessness, Arutai fled away overnight, and now he has fled without a trace, and now everyone thinks that this northern expedition is as inevitable as before. Seeing that the grain reserves in Kaiping City are becoming more and more sufficient, even the veterans who have tasted the hardships of food shortages before are full of confidence.

On May 15, the day when the 300,000 army arrived in Kaiping, the Yangwu Bofu of the Beijing Division was having a birthday feast. Nowadays, although there are many nobles, there are few people who have the longest lifespan among each family, so the seventy years of the Gu family are naturally extremely rare. Even if Gu's condition has been good and bad for a while since a few years ago, and now it has just improved, but for such a big birthday, the Zhang family still decided to handle it well, hoping to use this joy to wash away the illness.

Zhang You still did not return, Zhang Zhuo and his wife both returned to Nanjing after the year, plus Zhang Yue was outside, the entire Zhang family was not complete, even the three brothers of Zhang Fu, Zhang Hui and Zhang Xuan of the family were also some leaders, some of them were holding grain, and some were prepared, all of them were outside. Even so, relatives and friends in Beijing sent people to give gifts and eat wine. As the eldest son of the long house, Zhang Xin personally greeted him at the door, with a smile on his face. The few entourages who received the gift list and received the gift next to him were also busy sweating profusely, and the shouts of the report were endless.

As a birthday star, Gu Shi received a junior gift in the room early in the morning, and it was rare to have a good appetite for breakfast, using most of the bowl of porridge and a roll, at this time, many noble ladies around were talking flatteringly, and she was even more smiling. It's just that she has always been a careful person, while speaking, she still pays attention to the expressions of everyone, and her right hand twists the Buddha beads unhurriedly.

"Old lady, now your first three grandsons and two granddaughters have been married separately, but if I remember correctly, the eldest grandson of your knees is also of old age. This is a genius prodigy who has been called a genius since childhood, you can't keep it hidden, right? It's not that I said, not to mention that all the girls from our family are noble, and the elders in the family are all close to the emperor, and their mother's family will only help. The top character of the third child in your family, if your daughter-in-law's maiden family is more powerful, the official position is far more than five grades! ”

This statement immediately attracted a lot of echoes, all of which said that the strengths of the Xungui family and the shortcomings of ordinary officials and eunuchs, Gu's face did not move, but his right hand clenched the Buddha beads in his hand. Zhang Yue has been away for more than half a year, especially in the past few months, there are even few family letters, which is really worrying. Thinking of the hardships and dangers of the previous time, she couldn't help but chant Amitabha Buddha in the bottom of her heart, and simply didn't listen to the nagging of these people.

At this time, someone asked out loud: "On this good day, why don't you see Du Shi come to serve?" said that it came out of the scholarly family, it wouldn't be so unruly, right? By the way, why didn't the in-laws send anyone to congratulate? ”

Seeing that a lady even talked directly about the Du family, Gu frowned, and then smiled: "Labor everyone is thinking about that child." is also because of the emperor's northern expedition before, and every family was very busy, so the family was silent. She has a body since she came back from Xuanfu, and I asked her to rest more, and the first few months of joy were originally the most important. ”

As soon as he heard this, several orders who had just changed their methods to compare immediately stopped talking. They are all people who are good at observing words and feelings, and they have discovered the meaning of protection in Gu's words, so they only talk about their own school-age girls' homes, and don't mention anything else. Although Zhang Xin is only a four-grade civil official at the moment, and Zhang Zhen is not a serious background, Zhang Xin and Zhang Fu are serious cousins, and Zhang Zhen is the grandson of the old lady, will he be rich in the future? So, Feng Shi, who was taking care of it next to her, only listened to it overwhelmingly, but her heart was useless, Gu Shi always talked about it left and right, and she didn't let go.

The old lady's seventieth birthday, Qiu naturally won't come, but it's a little late. When she entered the gate, she had just given the four-color birthday gift that had been prepared a long time ago, and the voice of "Congratulations to the British Duchess" came from behind. Turning around, she saw a graceful lady being surrounded by people and hurriedly making way to the side. And Mrs. Wang stood at the door for a while, and Gao Quan handed over the word next to her, and when she learned that it was Du Juan's mother, she immediately walked straight up and called Sister Qiu affectionately. Although Qiu had heard his daughter mention that Mrs. Wang was kind and generous, she had never seen her in person after all, and when she was about to be humble, she was stopped by Mrs. Wang.

The two walked all the way inside, Mrs. Wang thanked Du Juan for introducing Dr. Feng, and now her son's body is getting better day by day, and her tone can't help but be very kind; And Qiu's was grateful that Mrs. Wang had brought her daughter into the palace several times before, and she was also grateful. After the two went to the upper room of the North Courtyard to visit the Gu family, Mrs. Wang thought that almost all of them were noble women, and it was difficult for the Qiu family to sit in the middle, so she simply took her out and went to visit Du Juan in the west courtyard together.

Although she is only more than three months pregnant, Du Juan is not yet pregnant, but it is much harder to conceive this child than the previous one, and she often vomits so much that she doesn't want to eat anything. So, Xiao Wu, who was not at ease, simply moved over a few days ago, and changed his ways every day to turn over his diet and tricks, so now Du Juan's face is finally much better. At this time, seeing that Mrs. Wang actually came to visit with her mother in person, and the girls who followed her came up one by one, she thanked and thanked, and even Qiu Shi felt that she couldn't go away, and Xiao Wu next to her only smacked her tongue in the face of this pile of things.

"Thank you what, I want to thank you for the good blessings that your husband and wife have brought to our family, now my two children are alive, and there is another one over there who is waiting to give birth, and the house has never been so lively."

Mrs. Wang remembered that in the past, she could only envy other people's children, but now her wish has been granted, and the smile on her face can't be hidden. After talking to Du Juan, she smiled again: "Others say that it is good to have a son, but I hope that Brother Yue's daughter-in-law will give birth to a daughter this time, so that it will be complete." By the way, I almost forgot, count the days, the army should also arrive in Kaiping, my lord will definitely take care of Zhang Yue, you just have a good baby at home. In the future, a few children can read together, and they can have a companion. ”

Just as Du Juan was about to say yes, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside. Immediately after, I saw Lingxi rushing into the house, his always calm face full of panic.

"The old lady suddenly fainted, where is the little fifth girl? Please come and have a look! ”