Since it was the second mother of the Zhou family’s personal invitation, Zhang Ning would of course go to the appointment, but only after Youshi. He didn’t think Zhou’s mother would discuss anything important in Chenzhou. (None., pop-up window...

The time in the Ming Dynasty was based on the height of the sun as a reference, and was supplemented by tools such as hourglasses, so the Youshi in summer and the Youshi in winter are obviously not the same time point. At this time, after the sun goes down in late summer, it is about eight o'clock.

The appointment location was at Luming Tower in the east of the city. Zhang Ning walked straight down the stairs and rushed there. However, when they arrived, night had fallen. The year when the tower was first built is unknown, but it has been repaired several times. It is not used for sightseeing except for entertainment.

What's the purpose? The tower is seven stories high, but the internal space is small and there is no one stationed to guard it. It is dark at night and no one goes up.

As soon as they arrived at the foot of the tower, Wang Xian, who was accompanying them, directed two people to carry lanterns and go up to the tower to check and ensure safety.

Zhang Ning thought that Tuesday's mother would complain something like "I thought you weren't coming" after meeting her. Unexpectedly, she just said a polite greeting and said, "I have met His Highness the Third Highness."

"It's getting late. I'll take you home in a carriage. If we have anything to say, we can talk while walking on the road," Zhang Ning said.

Tuesday's mother said indifferently: "I just want to say a few words to you, and I don't have to bother His Highness to see you off in person." Then she sent away the entourage around her, and Zhang Ning also tactfully motioned to Peach Blossom Fairy and others to keep some distance away.

The entourage stood far away, and they faced each other under the tower and were silent for a while. Zhang Ning was waiting to hear what she had to say, but unexpectedly she lowered her head and frowned but did not speak, so Zhang Ning had to calm down and wait.

By chance, he discovered that the terrain here was relatively high, and almost the entire Chenzhou City was in sight. It had just fallen into the night, and many houses were still lit with lights. For a while, the stars in the night were as bright as the stars in the sky, which was very beautiful. He sighed for a moment and gossiped: "Chenzhou

There are countless people under the same night scene, and their fates seem to be related. At this time, what will other people think when they look at such a scene... Maybe people have been busy all day, and few people are interested in watching. I usually rarely

I don’t want to watch the night view.”

After hearing this, Tuesday's mother couldn't help but turn around and stared blankly at the lights at the bottom of the mountain for a while, then turned to look at Zhang Ning's face. This was the first time she had looked at Zhang Ning's face since they met.

Zhang Ning felt it and turned to look at her. Unexpectedly, she avoided Zhang Ning's eyes as soon as she caught them. After a moment, she finally said: "Why didn't you let Mrs. Yao stop this marriage, but you still sent a letter to

Mr. Jianwen?"

Zhang Ning heard this strangely and took another look at her bright eyes, which were dotted on her delicate face, making her whole face permeate with a kind of spirituality. Zhang Ning once again confirmed that he saw the scene outside the official office at that time.

Feelings, he didn't believe that there would be a very vulgar heart behind such an appearance.

"You were just pretending that day on the street, right?" he asked rhetorically.

Tuesday's mother did not answer his question directly, but said coldly: "I invite you to talk today because I have something to ask for. Can you refuse this marriage?"

"If you don't want to, it's not that I don't want to, so why should I refuse?" Zhang Ning said gently.

Tuesday's mother said: "You are asking knowingly. I want to refuse. Is it useful?"

This must be the truth. In the Ming Dynasty, if parents insisted, women had almost no power; not to mention that Jianwenjun and the imperial concubine came forward, and it had no effect on what the girl involved thought. Since the society is like this, Zhang Ning does not want to act as a

A good person, because I think it would be too troublesome to regret this matter.

He still maintained a smile and said: "I'm afraid I can't accept Miss Zhou's request. Let me tell you something. This is my third engagement. If the three engagements fail, tell me how uncomfortable I will be."

After hearing this, Tuesday's mother was stunned, and finally couldn't help but asked curiously: "Why didn't it work the first two times? Are they coming to beg you too?"

Zhang Ning said: "That's not true. The first time was that the girl was imprisoned for cheating in the examination room, and the girl's family quickly broke off the relationship; the second time was that she committed an incident in the court, and the daughter of the minister's family was also forced to break the contract. What about you?

Why do you have to refuse this marriage?" Tuesday's mother said: "Not long ago, I fell in love with someone else." Zhang Ning asked: "I'm not as good as him."

Zhou Zhou's mother hesitated for a moment and said emotionally: "I don't want to compete for favor. Besides, let me ask you, did you agree to the marriage because of my father's status? My father has always been trusted by Jianwen Jun. You are marrying the Zhou family just for business.

It’s just a step in the relationship, so who am I? I just want to have a good person. The Gu family values ​​my wife and children, and I don’t want to fight for empty names and positions, and worry about falling out of favor at any time..."

Zhang Ning was stunned after hearing this. He really didn't expect that women in the Ming Dynasty were not tools. They were just used as tools by powerful people. In fact, there is no big difference in the nature of people regardless of gender. Men have the desire to be exclusive.

, women are no exception. They may not want to share a person with others, but want a man to belong to her. There is nothing wrong with this in itself.

Tuesday's mother's emotions affected him, and he couldn't help but reflect on himself for a while. He had always been self-righteous and thought that he was a good and well-behaved person, but under the surface of obeying the rules, there was a selfish desire hidden, which was better than the kindness of ordinary people.

Not as good as anything. When he lamented that family love and marriage were nothing more than this, had he ever truly given sincere love and considered other people's emotions? Many things were his own fault. Zhang Ning felt very ashamed.

However, the reality is not so beautiful, and he has no intention of becoming a good person immediately. At the moment, he just said lightly: "Since Miss Zhou was born into the Zhou family, she should fulfill her obligations to the Zhou family."

After hearing this, Tuesday's mother sighed softly and said: "It's getting late, I have to go back. You don't need to send me off, we brought the carriage ourselves."

Zhang Ning did not insist. He glanced at the Peach Blossom Fairy, then turned his attention to Wang Xian again, and ordered: "Bring a few people with you, and be sure to escort Miss Zhou home safely." Wang Xian said with a salute: "The general will have the order."

The group of people went down the mountain from the stone road. Zhang Ning said goodbye next to Zhou Zhou's mother's carriage and said: "Maybe Miss Zhou found this conversation unpleasant, but we are finally able to talk, which is a kind of progress. I will miss tonight."

Conversational.”

Tuesday's mother said: "Your Highness, please come back and say goodbye." After saying that, she lowered the curtain without hesitation.

Zhang Ning returned to his residence and heard Peach Blossom Fairy say something bad about Miss Zhou. He smiled and said: "I remembered the pony that Feng Youxian recommended in the stable. It has not yet been tamed, but it is still a pony.

A good horse. I vaguely saw her birthday and birth date. She seems to be two months younger than my little sister. She has extraordinary experience... She has a lot of experience."

"Can she compare with my little sister? If she's half as good as my little sister, just burn incense and worship Buddha." Peach Blossom Fairy said angrily.

Zhang Ning said: "My younger sister is as good as my younger sister, and she is as good as her. Is it because you don't like her because you regard her as someone who competes with you?"

Peach Blossom Fairy said quietly: "I have nothing to argue with. Unless my father did not die for Jianwen Lord back then, but followed him and escaped."

At this moment, there were two knocks on the door, but the door was not closed. Sure enough, Gu Chunhan and Fang Ling came in soon. She said, "I thought I heard something outside just now."

Ping An mentioned Feng Youxian, and by chance, Feng Youxian sent a letter to the official office, but Ping An had already left at that time. I saw that the letter was important, so I brought it back."

Zhang Ning really paid great attention to it. He hurriedly took it and opened the letter and browsed it briefly. He quickly raised his head and laughed, feeling very happy: "This is another good horse that has been tamed."

"Which Feng Youxian is willing to join Ping An?" Gu Chunhan asked. After she settled in Chenzhou, she insisted that acquaintances call her by the name she gave her in Yangzhou, perhaps because she didn't want people to know that she had stayed in the old hospital.

Zhang Ning nodded: "Feng Youxian is only in his thirties. He is young, capable and high-spirited, but has no place to use it. He is determined to be unwilling. After being convicted by the court, it is impossible to have a future; at that time

He didn't agree to surrender, maybe because he didn't think it through well, and he didn't have confidence in us. Now that the Suzaku Army is growing rapidly, he finally figured it out."

Fairy Peach Blossom said: "After Lao Xu recruited some people to set up the Guards Bureau, he said that the Jinyi Guards had already sneaked into Chenzhou. Is it reliable that Feng Youxian suddenly surrendered?"

"If you hire someone you don't trust, you don't trust those who doubt you. If I want to hire him, he must first pass the examination." Zhang Ning said, "If other surrendered generals in the army are spies, I think it is possible, but it is unlikely for Feng Youxian. He thinks of himself."

Very high, I disdain to do such a thing. It’s just that Fan Laosi learned from the past and asked Lao Xu to send two people to the cavalry camp to take precautions."

The arrival of Feng Youxian made Zhang Ning immediately decide to form a cavalry regiment. The horses captured from various places were enough, but the key was people. The new cavalry regiment was affiliated to the Yongding Battalion of the Suzaku Army. In ancient regiments and camps, battalions were generally larger than regiments, such as

The third battalion of the capital has swelled to hundreds of thousands of troops.

At present, the Suzaku Army has two battalions. The Yongding Battalion is the early establishment. Now the roster has been basically determined. The total number of officers and soldiers in the battalion is about 13,000. The main combat force is 3,000 regular infantry: four sentries in the front, rear, left and right, each sentry

The five brigades have a total of 750 people; one brigade and two flags have a total of 150 people. There are also 5,000 peasant soldiers and 6 sentries. The new cavalry regiment has 1,500 combat troops, 3,000 auxiliary troops and artillery.

There are 500 people in the team. The total number of officers and soldiers in the entire battalion of the three armies is more than 10,000.

In addition to the Yongding Camp, another Changde Camp has just been established. However, Yao Erlang, who was appointed as the commander, was not able to find combat-effective men for the time being, so he recruited a group of masons and bankrupt refugees to train peasants and soldiers.

The supplies of the small territory of Chenzhou and the three counties of Yuezhou are already stretched to support the military supplies of more than 10,000 troops. The Council has just expropriated the land of many people. If it is squeezed further, serious conflicts will inevitably arise. The only solution

The way out is expansion, which is imperative.

But at this time, the governor of Huguang also believed that the officers and soldiers still had the initiative to attack, and they wanted to regain Zhang Ning's only territory.
Chapter completed!