After the army left Baoyanzhai, Li Yanqing came to an infantry barracks located in the east of the city. This was a small barracks that could only accommodate more than a thousand people at most. At present, the three hundred township soldiers led by Wang Gui are temporarily stationed here.

Although the soldiers of Xiangzhou Township have completed the escort mission, they have made contributions to defending the envoys in Cizhou and should be rewarded. In addition, it is not easy for everyone to come to the capital. They will take a vacation and take a break for two or three days before returning to Xiangzhou.

There was no one guarding the gate of the military camp. There were a group of idle people standing at the door, stretching their necks to watch something. Li Yanqing walked into the military camp, but saw several soldiers on the playground wrestling for the show, and the soldiers around him were constantly cheering and applauding.

At this time, Wang Gui, who was sitting among the soldiers watching the wrestling, saw Li Yanqing, and quickly got up and greeted him with a smile, "I thought you would rest at home today!"

"There are too many trivial things, so how can I have time to rest?"

Li Yanqing looked around and said, "Why is the military camp a little deserted?"

"Most of the soldiers went out to visit the capital, and only thirty were left to fall and play here."

"Let's go! Let's have a cup of tea."

"I'll come with a dress."

Wang Gui ran back and put on a thick coat, and then he came to a small teahouse with Li Yanqing not far away. The two sat down by the window. Li Yanqing ordered a pot of good tea and a few plates of good snacks.

Wang Gui took a sip of hot tea and smiled: "Is there any news about the report I wrote before?"

"The Privy Council has approved it. The prime ministers will be able to approve it today and tomorrow. As long as you approve it, you can get the money. We are doing our business for the emperor and it should be very smooth."

"Didn't it mean that the finances are tight?"

"Financial tightness means hundreds of thousands of guan and millions of guan, what is our more than 10,000 guan?"

"That's true!"

Wang Gui nodded, "When I get the reward, I will take my brothers back and try my best to rush back to celebrate the Lantern Festival. To be honest, I don't like the capital at all. If it weren't for the pensions of more than twenty casualties, it would be difficult to go back empty-handed!"

Li Yanqing laughed, "I don't like the capital at all? You're a little insincere!"

Wang Gui blushed and sighed for a while: "I didn't like Xiangzhou at first, and I always felt that the officialdom of Xiangzhou was too dark, but when I went with you, I found that it was even darker and the capital was not much better? It would be better to stay in Xiangzhou, at least I am still a local."

"It's not good that you have seen through the world at such a young age!" Li Yanqing joked.

"This is not called seeing through the world or not. It's normal for human nature. Let's get through for a few years first, and then find a way to get promoted if you have the chance."

At this time, Wang Gui asked again: "Do you think the court will cancel the Northern Expedition if the supervision report is sent to you?"

Li Yanqing pondered and said, "There are many people opposing the Northern Expedition now, mainly for the Northern Expedition to increase taxes and create large amounts of money, which led to soaring prices in various places. Therefore, local officials especially opposed the Northern Expedition. It is said that many state officials have written letters to oppose the Northern Expedition, and the imperial court has great pressure, but it is still difficult to say whether the Northern Expedition will be finally cancelled."

Wang Gui pondered for a moment and said, "I think if you leak the situation of this supervision, there will probably be more officials who oppose it. Do you want me to help you!"

Li Yanqing looked at both sides and lowered his voice: "This Northern Expedition may involve a battle for the throne, which will cause a great storm in the court. Just watch and don't get involved."

"Okay! I won't be too much trouble. Anyway, I'm just a local military officer, with a slight slight word. But you, you have become famous against the Northern Expedition, so you have to take it easy."

At this moment, there was a rush of horse hooves outside, and someone shouted outside: "A great victory in the southeast, Hangzhou will recover!"

Everyone who was drinking tea ran to the window, and Li Yanqing also looked out to the street, and saw a team of cavalry wrapped in red war reports coming from afar. This was an 800-mile express, and they heard them shouting along the way, "Hangzhou victory, annihilation of 100,000 bandits."

The people along the way suddenly cheered, and Wang Gui was quite surprised, "Old Li, have you heard that Tong Yin won the battle."

Li Yanqing snorted disdainfully, "Leading more than 100,000 elite Northwest Army against 300,000 mobs, we have won until now. If there is anything worth showing off, I blush for him."

"Tong eunuchs are preparing for public opinion for returning to Beijing to receive rewards!" Wang Gui told the truth.

Li Yanqing felt awe-inspiring. If Tong Guan returned to Beijing at this time, the situation might have become more subtle.

News that Tong Guan won a great victory in Hangzhou soon spread throughout the court and the government. On the same day, the decree was heard in the palace, and Tong Guan was promoted to Tai Shi and changed his title to Duke of Chu. At the same time, he allocated millions of guan and 500,000 pieces of silk to reward the three armies. However, he did not ask Tong Guan to return to Beijing to report his duties, but asked him to continue his efforts and annihilate more bandits.

The great victory in Hangzhou was the first battle victory since the rebellion of Fang La, which means that the imperial army has taken the initiative on the battlefield from then on and began to strangle Fang La's army in an all-round way.

However, this news has little impact on the lives of the people in the capital. Prices are still rising, and the hard life has to continue. Not long after the soldiers who sent the letter disappeared from the streets, the streets returned to their original calm and busyness.

The next morning, Li Yanqing took a ox cart to the Zhunshi Taoist Mansion. On the one hand, he was going to visit the former Enshuai, and on the other hand, it was also his main task today. He wanted to follow Zhunshi Taoist to Cao's mansion to propose marriage.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of Master Zhong’s mansion, he saw Master Zhong sitting in the carriage, waving to him, "If you don’t come, I will leave by myself!"

Mr. Zhong was energetic and rosy in his face. When he returned home, he seemed to be ten years younger. Li Yanqing stepped forward and bowed and smiled, "Did Zhong Shuai drink immortal tea when he returned home? Why did he suddenly get ten years younger?"

Master Zhong laughed loudly, "There is no immortal tea, but I brought you two pounds of Wuding Tea from Zhongnan Mountain. I will give you back to you and get on the bus first!"

Li Yanqing got on the carriage of Zhong Shidao. Zhong Shidao smiled and said, "I liked Cao Ping that nerd granddaughter since I was a child. I didn't expect to become your wife. It's really interesting!"

"Zhong Shuai and Mr. Cao have a good relationship?"

"When I was young, I was hit by a board in the military camp. Do you think the relationship is good?"

Li Yanqing was very happy. It turned out that if he had this relationship, he would be even more like a fellow man.

The carriage started, and after walking for a moment, Zhong Shidao asked, "I heard that you went to Hebei to supervise military funds. I guess the situation should not be very good!"

"I'm afraid it's worse than what the Grand Marshal thought. The various military funds in the account are very sufficient, but the actual inventory of materials is only 30% of the ones in the account, and many of the weapons are old and cannot be used."

Zhong Shidao smiled faintly, "It's normal. It's like this from Emperor Zhezong. This is called military laxity. The northwest border army has been fighting against Xixia and has some combat effectiveness. But the Hebei border army has not fought for a hundred years. It is absolutely impossible to expect them to be strong and equipped with sufficient food and grass. To be honest, I'm not surprised at all."

"But that's it. The emperor and the court still think about the Northern Expedition every day, just like the Liao army would surrender, while the Jin army was all great scholars who knew etiquette and kept trustworthy. I was afraid that the final result would be that they would not be able to beat the wolf, but instead they were eaten by the wolf, and the tiger and leopard would finally rob the door and enter."

"You said nothing. I have been guarding the border for fifty years and have seen through these barbarians, whether it is Dangxiang, Khitan, or Jurchen, they are all birds of a feather. If the Jurchens destroyed the Liao Kingdom, they would inevitably invade the south in large numbers. It's a pity that the imperial court would still have to form an alliance with them. What's the difference between this and arguing that he is trying to conspire with the tiger? This is called a scholar who ruined the country!"

Li Yanqing nodded silently, and he said to Master Zhong again: "I have a saying in my heart, please be sure to listen to it!"

"you say!"

"If the court insists on the Northern Expedition, the emperor may order the general to go to the expedition. It is best to avoid it and not destroy his reputation for life at the last moment."

Mr. Zhong didn't speak. After a long time, he sighed softly, "I only have family and country in my heart. What is my little honor and disgrace?"

Li Yanqing was shocked. When he savored this sentence carefully, he suddenly felt an indescribable shame in his heart. This was the real pillar of the country, and he was too far away from him.

Zhong Shidao patted him on the shoulder and smiled, "Today is your important day, we won't talk about this."

The carriage accelerated and drove quickly towards Cao's mansion on the banks of the Jinshui River.

The six rituals refer to the six etiquettes from the process of discussing marriage to the end of marriage, namely, Nacai, Naji, Nazheng, and Nei, and the people of the Song Dynasty thought the six rituals were complicated, so they merged Nacai and Nei, and merged Nazheng and Nei, and became the four rituals.

Today, Zhong Shidao went to Cao's mansion to propose marriage as a matchmaker, which was the first step to accept the marriage. In fact, this is just a form. Cao Ping and Li Daqi had already decided on their marriage in advance.

However, even the form is extremely important. The ancients paid attention to the formal marriage of the media when marrying a wife. The media refers to today's proposal, which must be public and let everyone know.

According to custom, there is indeed no need for Li Yanqing to go with him. If the woman refuses to agree, wouldn’t the groom be embarrassed? It’s just that Li Daqi values ​​etiquette and must let his son go to show sincerity, because Li Daqi should have brought his son with him when he came to a blind date last time, but Li Yanqing went to Hebei for business, so today we have to make up for the last time’s shortcomings.

Zhong Shidao had sent someone to deliver the post in advance, so when his carriage stopped in front of Cao's mansion, Cao Ping led his family to welcome him from the gate. Today, Cao Ping specially invited Gao Shen to witness.

Master Zhong got off the carriage and bowed and smiled, "I want to congratulate my brother on getting his grandson."

"Happy together!Happy together!"

Gao Shen joked and said, "You two old ladies are anxious. Let's say this when you are about to have a wedding banquet!"

The three of them laughed together. At this time, Li Yanqing hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "See Mr. Cao and Mr. Gao!"

"Yanqing is here too today!"

"Last time I went to Hebei for business, but I failed to come with my father to pay my respects to Mr. Cao. I will apologize today!"

"You are going to work for official business, not hunting and outings. What's the crime? Please come to the mansion quickly."

"Wait a minute!"

Master Zhong called Li Yanqing and smiled and said, "I'll talk about the etiquette first!"

He took out a newly woven basket from the carriage and opened the lid. Inside it was a wild goose tied with red silk to tie her wings and feet. This was a formal ceremony of picking and had multiple meanings. One of them was the ceremony of marriage, which was orderly and ended with oneself, etc.
Chapter completed!