Xiaoqi

However, unexpected events happened, and the situation in Xiliang suddenly changed.Li Li was born out of nowhere and a new army rose up, which caused Ma Teng's position as the leader of Xiliang to take a turn for the worse. After repeated defeats, his daughter and son turned against each other, making Ma Teng a prisoner of Li Li, and finally took himself in.Don't you hear that blessings are unparalleled, and misfortunes never come singly.Just when Ma Teng finally adjusted his mentality and planned to do his best to assist his son-in-law to achieve hegemony, the Zhang family's old story was brought up again, and the marriage between Ma Chao and Zhang Qiying was once again put on the table.How embarrassing is this for Ma Teng, and where is his face?

When Ma Teng was young, the elders in the clan used to call him "Xiliang Lie Ma".Ma Teng is like this, as the saying goes, like a father, like a son, Ma Chao's character is also like him, upright and stubborn by nature, and even ten bulls can't pull back what he believes in.This is the case with his relationship with Zhang Qiying.

The old Qin people attached great importance to family affection, and regarded their parents, wives, children, and family as life. All they wanted in their lives were for their families.

Ma Teng is an out-and-out old Qin person in his bones. He loves his children and knows that Ma Chao likes the girl from the Zhang family, but he thinks Zhang Qiying is too seductive and rejects her. Great future ahead.In fact, this is also a kind of fatherly love, but it is a pity that this kind of love is often not understood by others, and because of this, differences arise, resulting in father and son turning against each other and irreconcilable contradictions.

However, when it comes to the root, Ma Teng also has the heart of licking the calf. He watched his son grow up day by day, and he has been concubine for several years but has nothing. Sleeping, burning with worry.Therefore, Ma Chao and Zhang Qiying were able to get together again this time. Ma Teng was very happy in his heart, but he couldn't hold back his face. He was bubbling with joy, but he didn't let go of his mouth. He forced the marriage to his son-in-law Li Li to organize it.

Ma Chao, Zhang Qiying, and even the Ma family brothers may not have thought of Ma Teng's purpose for doing this, but Li Li knew it well, and he and Ma Teng had tacit understanding.This move seems to be out of anger, or Ma Teng is reluctant to this marriage, but it is not.This is Ma Teng's intention to elevate the status of the Ma family in Xiliang, deliberately narrowing the distance between his son Ma Chao and Li Li, making Ma Chao more loyal to Li Li, and making Li Li more trusting in Ma Chao, so the future of Ma Chao can be described as It's a bright future.

After all, Li Li's current power and status are extraordinary. There are only a handful of civil servants and military generals who can let him organize the wedding in person, except for the collective wedding of Li Xian and many generals after the Sili War, as well as Li Xuan, Guo Jia, and Huan Huan. Apart from the wedding of Fei and Xu Chu, Ma Chao was the only one.It can be seen from this that Ma Teng's move is really well-intentioned, and the world can learn from the love of his son.

Li Li knew Ma Teng's real intention, but still pretended not to know, and went to Fufeng County to prepare for the wedding in person.This is not only for Ma Teng and Ma Chao, one of the five tiger generals, but the most important thing is that this marriage was entrusted to him by Mengxin.And the most important thing is that his appointment with Mengxin is approaching, even if there is no matter of Ma Chao's wedding.He will also come to Qiang Dao, Wudu County to have a tryst with Mengxin.This was an agreement between them, for which he waited for a whole year.

Ma Chao and Zhang Qiying's wedding was held as scheduled, and everything went well.It was grand, the two families gathered together, and everyone was happy.

Li Li's civil and military officials with a rank ratio of [-] shi and above sent someone to send a "small gift" to express their wishes and wishes, even though none of them arrived.

This is a true gift.Under the rule of Xiliang, there were strict rules for all wedding and funeral banquets. Officials above the county guard were not allowed to accept gold and silver gifts of more than ten taels for any reason, once they were verified.Severe punishment.As for the dealings of officials below the county guard, they all take [-] yuan as the benchmark, no less, otherwise they will be regarded as accepting bribes.After verification, they will all be dismissed from office.Cannot be hired forever.

Therefore, officials in the four prefectures under Xiliang ruled in a clean and bright manner, and it was rare to accept gifts or bribes wantonly.At the same time, after the Xiliang government treasury became more and more full, the salaries of officials under Li Li's rule also increased. The salaries of officials at the county level increased by [-]%, and officials at the county level increased by [-]%.The salaries of Jiuqing and Sangong are increased by [-]%, and the high salaries support the integrity.Strict legislation, everyone is happy.

Therefore, Ma Chao did not receive much gift money for his wedding, but Li Li waved his hand and rewarded Ma Chao with three hundred gold, ten carts of silk and satin, and prepared a new mansion for Ma Chao in Chang'an. The reward was extremely generous.

It was the night of the full moon again.There is a cool breeze on Qingsong Ridge, and a green pine several feet high stands on the hill.

The bright moon, green pines, and green rocks are blown by the evening wind, and they complement each other, just like the scene in the past.

The same scenery, the same midsummer night, the same view from a high place, the same sitting on a long stone slab, but there is only one shadow, and there is only one person missing.

This is the back mountain of the Qiang Dao camp where the Xiliang army was stationed here when they conquered Hanzhong last year.This mountain has no name at all, but it got its name because Li Li carved the word "Qingsong" on the rock at the foot of the mountain when he left Qiang Dao Camp, and then this inconspicuous mountain got its name Qingsongling.

When Ma Chao and Zhang Qiying were newly married, Li Li and Li Zhi rushed to the former Qiang Dao camp with more than a hundred riders wearing stars and wearing moons.The big camp has disappeared, replaced by an elegant and quiet courtyard, built facing south, with two front and rear courtyards, plus two entrances and cross courtyards on the east and west sides, making a total of six courtyards.

This other courtyard was built by Li Zhi, except for him and Li Li, no one knew who would build this courtyard in the middle of the mountains.The inscription "Qingsong" on the front gate is neither a mansion nor a house. It is not clear, so that passers-by who occasionally pass by here have no way of knowing the identity of the owner of the other courtyard.There are twenty servants and handymen in the other courtyard who are responsible for taking care of the courtyard. There is a large vegetable garden behind the backyard, so the subordinates can be self-sufficient and rarely go out.

On the night of the full moon, Li Li sat alone on the hill with a jar of wine beside him, drinking affectionately and melancholy while looking at the vast mountains in the southwest.So far, he has been waiting here for three days, watching the moon getting rounder day by day, but he has not waited for the beautiful shadow that he has been dreaming of.

"Bang bang bang!" Amidst the sound of falling stones, the newlyweds Ma Chao and Zhang Qiying came hand in hand, supporting each other to climb up the hill.Seeing Li Li sitting alone on the stone slab by the cliff drinking wine, Zhang Qiying took the bag from Ma Chao's hand, motioned him to wait under the pine tree, and walked lightly behind Li Li with the bag.

"Brother-in-law, you left in a hurry. Meng Qi and I went to look for you after paying homage, only to find out that you had left. The two of us hurried and inquired to find this place. Finally, we didn't delay our business."

After explaining the whole story softly, Zhang Qiying handed over the burden in Li Li's hands, and said happily: "This is what my sister asked me to hand over to you. She has something to do and she can't make it to the appointment. Brother-in-law, please don't be angry."

Li Li stood up with a groan, stepped in front of Zhang Qiying, and said anxiously: "Mengxin won't break the appointment easily, please tell me what's wrong with her, is there something wrong?"

Seeing Li Li's appearance of wanting to choose someone to devour, Zhang Qiying trembled all over with fright, and hurriedly said: "Brother-in-law, don't worry, sister is fine. It's just that she can't help herself, and really can't keep the appointment."

"Can't help yourself?" Li Li became impatient when he heard it, and said sharply: "Don't hesitate, tell me what happened to her?"

"This..." Zhang Qiying felt embarrassed when she heard the words. Before she left, Mengxin told her repeatedly, asking her to hide it for her, and she couldn't say anything no matter what.But now it seemed that it would be impossible not to say anything, otherwise Li Li would not let her go, even if Ma Chao stood behind him, it would not help.

"My sister has a baby. Just over a month ago, my sister gave birth to a boy, so,,,"

Before Zhang Qiying could finish speaking, Li Li muttered to himself in surprise and joy: "Mengxin has a baby hahaha! Good, good, great, that's my child!"

While talking, Li Li walked down the mountain with big strides, laughing while walking, hearty laughter stirred on the hills and echoed in the jungle for a long time.

Solemnly thank book friend Murong Fufu for his support, thank you!

ps: Today finally ushered in a late push, and Huben didn't know what to say.

Thanks to the editor-in-chief of Yuanzheng and editor-in-chief of Black Tea. Without their full support, Xiaoqi would not be able to make it to where it is today, and even almost died halfway, let alone push it.

Huben sincerely thanks the book friends who have silently supported Xiaoqi all the time. It is because of the meticulous care of the book friends that Huben can persist until now. It has passed 300 million words without any pause in the middle, and the writing style has become softer. The stories are coherent.The motivation comes from all the book friends, and Huben is grateful for this.

The last thing is to hope that the book friends' monthly tickets and recommendation tickets will be supported, and some makeup will be done to avoid being underestimated.Xiaoqi can be poor, but he lives with a strong spirit and strong bones. This requires the book friends who have always supported Xiaoqi to support him and let him go through this last journey smoothly.

Sincerely, Huben Zhonglang.

Chapter 927

In the first year of Jian'an in history, the territory of Xiliang was full of wars and wars, and the warlords of Xiliang fought in a melee, destroying the western capital Chang'an abruptly, causing the people to die.

However, with Li Lili's strong rise five years ago and the integration of the Xiliang Army, all this was reversed.After five years of fighting in the east and west, the Xiliang army not only did not fight and kill each other, but was tempered and baptized by the flames of war, and grew into an invincible iron cavalry that ruled the world, occupying Liangzhou, Yongzhou, Bingzhou, and Sili successively. Sanfu, Hanzhong and Saishang Shuozhou and other thousands of miles of territory have established the dominance of the world's most powerful army.

Since the first year of Xingping, Li Li implemented the strategy of self-cultivation in Yongliang and Liangzhou, reduced taxes and taxes for two years, vigorously cultivated land, built water conservancy, and encouraged farming and mulberry. By the end of the second year of Xingping, initial results had been achieved.Afterwards, Li Li reformed the old system, revised the law, worked hard to govern, and kept the enemy out of the country every time, so that the two prefectures of Xiliang were spared from the torment of war and the people were far away from the disaster of war.

Unknowingly, the bitterly cold Xiliang, which was once plagued by wars, has become a pure land for the first time in the troubled times. The government is lenient, the people live and work in peace and contentment, the business is booming, and there are more and more caravans coming and going in Xiliang.It is no exaggeration to say that in the four states of Xiliang, Hanzhong, Shuozhou and other places under Li Li's rule, the lives of the common people are getting better day by day, and they are flourishing;

So far, except for the people in Beidi County, Dai County, Hangu Pass, and Hedong County adjacent to Shuozhou, who have experienced brief wars and disturbances, the states and counties under Li Li's rule have been free of war for four full years.In the meantime.Although the battle in Hanzhong lasted for half a year, the battle was not intense and had little impact on Hanzhong, Wudu and Fufeng counties.There was no mass exodus of the people.Moreover, after the war, Li Li distributed a large amount of grain from the treasury of Hanzhong to the people of the three counties, and gave a certain amount of gold and silver compensation, so that the people who suffered from the war could quickly rebuild their homes, open up wasteland and cultivate fields, and their lives tended to be peaceful.

In July last year, the emperor and all the officials fled Chang'an.This may be considered a major event for the princes of all walks of life in the world, and it directly affects the situation of the world, but for the people of Xiliang under Li Li's rule, these things have nothing to do with them.They work from sunrise to sunset every day.Seeing the canal being built to the top of my field, I feel very happy, as if I saw a good harvest in the new year.This summer, the common people heard that the emperor and all the officials had gone to Jizhou.It turns out that such a big thing happened in Chang'an City.

to this end.Many people don't understand why the emperor and all the officials left when they live well and live well.You must know that it is very difficult for many people in the Central Plains to come to Xiliang to settle down. The population of each village and town under Xiliang’s rule is large, at least three times that of previous years. To the war-torn Jizhou.Now the people of Xiliang know about it.Except for the states and counties under the rule of the general Li Li, all the states and counties are peaceful, the rest of the states and counties in the world are not safe.Fighting at both ends for three days, there is no peaceful life to live, and the people live in poverty and panic all day long.

Because of this, the people of Xiliang cherish and take pride in the present peaceful days. They respect the general Li Li like a god, and they highly respect the Xiliang army under the general's command.Therefore, young men from every village and town want to join the army, even if they are soldiers from the county government. If they can directly enter the main battalion under the command of the general, it will be great news and great honor.

It is a pity that since the end of the Sili War, the Xiliang Army no longer recruited soldiers on a large scale, and even the county soldiers did not recruit soldiers on a large scale.As a result, many young and middle-aged people have nowhere to join the army, so they have to join the self-defense forces in villages or towns. They are responsible for protecting the safety of villages or towns in their spare time, and farming at home during autumn harvest and spring plowing.

This year is another bumper harvest year. Except for the states and counties that have reduced or exempted taxes, all the taxes of the states and counties under Xiliang's rule have been paid in just two months, and the grains have been returned to the warehouse.

The thirty-seven tax system is the lightest tax nowadays.For the people of Xiliang who haven't paid a grain of grain for more than two years, this tax is nothing but a drop in the bucket, and they can easily pay the tax without defaulting on it.Merchants who run shops have no food, so they convert it into gold and silver. It is also a three-seven tax system, and the rent of shops is not included in the rent, and there are other management rules.Apart from this, there are no other additional taxes.

In contrast, in the Central Plains and even in the south of the Yangtze River, the five-five-year tax system and the six-four tax system are very common, and some counties and counties are still implementing the seven-three tax system (that is, the government collects [-]%, and the common people only get [-]%).Moreover, many places are not limited to grain collection, but also exorbitant taxes of various names, making the people under their rule work hard for a year, and in the end, only the next year's grain can be left, and the rest is some government officials. The leftovers that don't look good can't fill your stomach at all.The hardships of livelihood and the hardships of the people can be seen from this.

From autumn to winter, Chang'an City is becoming more and more prosperous, with many shops and business travelers coming and going.

This year is the second winter that Li Lian has spent in the General's Mansion safely.Last year was the first one, but Li Li did not stay in Chang'an, but went to Bingzhou with his family and children, which lasted nearly three months.This winter, Li Li has no inspection plan. He handles official business during the day and stays with his wife and children at night.

Speaking of which, now Li Li's family is really quite a lot, excluding more than 30 maids and handymen, there are more than 50 members of the family, if counting the wives and children who do not live in the mansion, there are already more than [-] people.It is estimated that after this winter, there will be more people in the General's Mansion, ranging from five or six people to as many as a dozen. By then, Li Li's family will have nearly [-] people, and all of them are direct relatives.After all, Li Li now has fifteen wives and concubines, with quite a few children.In addition, there is no family planning in this era. It is rare for a woman to have one or two children. Most of them have two or three children. Four or five children are also very common, and more than five are not uncommon.

Therefore, Li Li now has a group of wives and concubines, and a house full of children; if he does not restrain himself, he will definitely be a big family.It is conservatively estimated that there are more than [-] mouths, and it is impossible to estimate if it goes up.

This may seem absurd, but it is not.Looking back, Emperor Kangxi of the later generations had hundreds of concubines in his life, far more than the 72 concubines of the Sangong and Six Courtyards, and had more than 60 children with well-documented records.

On this day, Li Li sat in the General's Mansion as usual, sitting high on the upper steps, reading government affairs sent by various states and counties, and writing books at his desk from time to time.

Near noon, Li Xuan and Guo Jia came hand in hand, with a calm expression and a faint smile on their faces. Li Li closed the bamboo slips after hearing the sound, and raised his hand to indicate that the two of them don't need to be formal, just sit down.

"It's been a while since I saw you, it's rare to get together today, so I'll stay for lunch at noon, and have a few drinks by the way." Standing up and walking down the hall, Li Li sat on the head of Li Xuan with a smile, waving while talking Signal the maidservant to serve tea.

Indeed, Guo Jia was ordered to go to Bingzhou and Sili to inspect the defense of the garrison a month ago, and he just came back yesterday; while Li Xuan was in charge of the reconstruction of Luoyang and has not been in Chang'an, so he must have just returned this time.

Li and Guo nodded happily when they heard the words, Li Xuan said with a smile: "My lord invites you kindly, but I and Fengxiao are not respectful. Moreover, I heard that my lord has made a new innovation recently, asking craftsmen to create a new Stove, you can put the fire stove on the table, put vegetables and raw meat in it, it is said that the taste is extremely delicious. This kind of stove is called,,, uh, look at my memory, why I can’t remember it when it comes to critical moments. Hehehe, let the lord laugh!"

Li Li couldn't help laughing, pointed at Li Xuan, and said with a smile: "You are getting more and more cunning! You pretend to be confused in front of me, thinking I can't hear it, you are probably thinking about the new stove .This time you not only want to have a meal, but also want to take the hot pot away before leaving. Am I right?"