end song

Chapter 363 Approaching
"Who I want to marry is up to me."

Li Xia felt a little bit of resentment in Li Yong's tone, so she restrained her expression and said solemnly, "Don't hinder me."

Li Yong smiled and said with a smile: "I have no objection to your marriage."

"But you are dissatisfied with my self-assertion in your tone."

Li Yong said: "Since you consider yourself not my heir, why bother to emphasize it to me?"

Li Xia said: "Because you don't believe me, your demeanor clearly regards me as your son."

"What do you want me to do? Look at the living son in front of you, as if he is dead?"

Li Xia was silent.

Li Yong sighed subconsciously, and said: "I have never met your Dali wife who has never been married, but she ordered a few errands when arranging food and grass to go south a while ago."

"That was my idea."

"Recalling that when you wanted to marry Tang An'an, I told you that since ancient times, the important matters of marriage, the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers, have been based on family status." Li Yong said: "Do you still remember her?"

"I don't remember, but I saw it once."

"You don't want to marry Tang An'an anymore?"

Li Xia gradually felt that during the conversation, the relationship with Li Yong became a little strange.

He leaned back, shook his head, and said, "You have tested me too much."

Li Yong asked: "Do you think that little girl is scheming?"

"Ah."

Li Yong smiled wryly again, but his eyes became a little more kind, and said: "Today you have questions, and I will be open and honest. You and I... can we have a heart-to-heart exchange? At least, I will never harm you."

"it is good."

"Do you want to be Nong Zhigao?"

Li Xia said: "You really have too many allusions, I can't understand."

"Nong Zhigao is similar to Wu Xi. He was defeated by the famous general Di Qing and then went into exile in Dali."

"I don't intend to be Nong Zhigao." Li Xia said seriously.

Both of them are smart people, some things don't need to be said too clearly, Li Yong thought about it, and said: "Before Wu Qian regains his appearance, I will try my best to help you...whether you are my son or not."

Li Xia said: "After Wu Qian returns to the prime minister, I don't recommend you to prove it either."

"Let's talk about it at that time." Li Yong asked casually, "Over a hundred thousand people were resettled in Qingfu. How much food did you ask for?"

"Exemption from taxes in Qingfu County for one year." Li Xia briefly explained the matter.

"You're doing it wrong." Li Yong shook his head and said, "Don't look at Pu Zezhi and Zhu Yusun admiring you, but public is public and private is private. They are still testing how much food Qingfu County can give. Look at Zhang Yuanming's case, In the salt smuggling case and the smuggling case, how much money have you been greedy for?"

"It's not greedy."

"Listen to me, no matter how good your personal friendships with Pu and Zhu are, don't forget that they are high-ranking officials first, and your old friends second. When more than [-] people moved to Qingfu County, they didn't ask for the money and food that should be raised. How do they feel?"

Li Xia said: "I asked for it, but there is no money or food in Sichuan."

"Xuzhou and Luzhou have never been occupied. Chongqing is a majestic and important town. How can you compare it to a small county like Qingfu? Zhu Yusun said that he is poor, but it really depends on how willing you are to relocate these more than [-] people. "

At this point, Li Yong sighed: "You want these people too much, you have been seen."

Li Xia shivered slightly, realizing that he really wanted these people too much.

"How to do?"

"It's just poor." Li Yong said, "You have worked so hard to get an official position, and you need to treat yourself more as a courtier of the Song Dynasty."

Li Xia felt quite enlightened, nodded, and said, "I have been taught."

Li Yong said: "I will handle this matter for you."

"Thank you."

Li Yong waved his hand and said, "You can do it without me, it just depends on how much effort you put in. I can see that you don't want anything from me."

Li Xia really didn't want anything from Li Yong.

He said bluntly "I am not your son", and never wanted to use a fake father-son relationship to gain anything, even a little sense of belonging.

However, Li Yong became more and more convinced that he was just suffering from a loss of soul.

At the beginning, Li Yong also had countless doubts and wanted to explore many things.But in Li Xia's frankness, suspicion turned into helplessness and reluctance.

Li Xia ruthlessly uncovered everything he wanted to explore, and the only choice for Li Yong was to give up or not to give up.

Li Xia also felt helpless, he had said everything that needed to be said, and he could still force Li Yong to give up.

~~
"What's on your mind recently?"

In the early morning of this day, Gao Mingyue was sitting on the swing, peeling eggs, watching Li Xia finish exercising, and couldn't help but ask.

"Well, it's a little bit."

Li Xia took the egg and looked at Gao Mingyue's slender and fair fingers, matching the egg white, very beautiful.

"Encountered a problem? Didn't it go smoothly? Mr. Han also said that you can employ people. After meeting Mr. Li once, you can attract him as a confidant and work hard. Even the proud owner of the house is easily subdued."

Li Xia said: "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, but it's not easy to say."

"Okay." Gao Mingyue poured a bowl of milk, sniffed it, felt a little smelly, frowned slightly, and handed it to Li Xia.

"Are you going to the barracks today?"

"Well, come back early tonight, you can continue to teach me Yi."

"Okay, I want to test you. By the way, I heard from Yan Yunyun yesterday that I saw a big bamboo bear on the southern commercial road. It was very beautiful. Qiaoer talked about it all night."

"panda?"

"I haven't seen it, and I don't understand. I checked the account of the private salt, and there was no mistake. Yan Yunyun said that he wanted to open a few more salt wells, but Qingfu, Junlian and the southward business route, the sales are still good. not enough."

"Have you asked her to help arrange the wedding dress?"

Gao Mingyue lowered her head and said, "No...how can a bride say such things by herself."

"Then I'll take a look at the arrangement."

"That... didn't the second brother say that he will do it for us after he has gained a foothold in Weining?"

"Don't pay attention to him, fighting every year, it's rare to have a little leisure recently...you have a drink too."

"Don't drink it, it's too smelly."

"Drink it to make it whiter."

Gao Mingyue looked at Li Xia with disbelief and emotion in her eyes.

Li Xia handed over the bowl and let her take a sip, the thought of getting married soon came up again.

Every morning, there was only a short period of time to be able to talk like this. When the sound of bangs came from the front office, Li Xia changed into his official uniform and went to deal with a few official matters before heading to the Qingfu military camp.

~~
Nowadays, construction projects are being carried out everywhere in Qingfu County, and two more arch bridges have been built on the Fujiang River.

Walking across the arch bridge, a new city is being built on the east bank, and refugees have also begun to move from Syria. It is a busy scene.

Although Li Xia assigned these matters to the chief secretary and staff, he would find time to chat with the refugees in person every day.

He didn't wear official robes or armor, only clothed clothes, and asked people about their accommodation, relief and other matters from time to time.

"There is porridge every day. I don't feel full. It's good to be able to survive. But little brother, the old man told you that this city will not survive if it is built by the river. It has to be built on the top of the mountain. What do you think of those people here? Officials..."

"Old man, don't worry, Qingfu County is bordered by the Yangtze River in the north, mountains in the south, and there are soldiers and horses stationed there. The Mongolian army will not come here."

"Hey, little hairy boy, can the old man trust you? There is no city wall, so worrying..."

Such knowledgeable old men are often only a minority, and the more refugees are mostly tired and numb, with dull eyes, as if they don't even have the strength to speak. It's bright.

When Li Xia walked to the Qingfu camp, he saw rows of recruits carrying wood and stones under the arrangement of the general.

This is what Li Yong discussed with him. Instead of training the recruits and letting them waste their energy, it is better to do some work... It is an expedient measure.

But this is only the physical training in the morning, after which these recruits will practice fighting, horse archery, first aid, literacy and so on.

Li Xia has always liked to do military training by himself, and would come here every day whenever he was free.

Someone in the Qingfu army said in private: "Li Zhixian is not like a magistrate, but a general."

"What are you talking about, Li Zhixian is going to be Shu Shuai in the future..."

On this day, Li Xia was busy in the camp until the evening, and Li Yong came to see him again.

Recently, the two have met more often, and they are obviously a little awkward with each other, but Li Yong prefers to come.

"The workshop has made a batch of armor, come and report to the county magistrate."

"Mr. Li has worked hard. Let people move to the arsenal. Let's go and have a look."

Li Yong didn't seem to be working hard, he waved his hand and said, "It's still more cumbersome when I was an official in Yuhang. The folk customs here are simple and there are few troublesome things."

The two walked side by side, Li Xia was already taller than Li Yong, and he could see the white hair on his head when he turned his head.

Going to the arsenal to look at the armor and equipment, seeing no one around, Li Yong sighed slightly, and said: "If you have time, please persuade your elder brother."

Li Xia glanced at him lightly.

Li Yong has been talking like this lately, "Your elder brother" and "Your aunt" as if Li Xia is his son, and Li Xia has nothing to do with him.

"What's up with him?"

"My mind is always on small cooking matters, and I don't think about making progress." Li Yong said: "Zhaocheng is talented and intelligent, and he can help you in the future. If you ask him to help with something, he will listen."

"Ah."

Li Yong said: "When I saw Li Zhixian's face, I couldn't help but treat you as my son. Don't blame the magistrate."

"You don't have to be sorry." Li Xia said with a straight face, "I know you did it on purpose."

"You saw it." Li Yong shook his head and smiled wryly, turned his hands behind his back, and walked out of the warehouse.

"By the way, can you do one more thing for me?"

"Magistrate, please tell me."

Li Xia pondered for a moment, and said, "My marriage...can you help me prepare?"

Li Yong didn't look back, turned his back to Li Xia, and said, "Three letters and six ceremonies are really troublesome, so let Liu Niang go to the county government office tomorrow."

"Thank you."

Li Yong didn't look back, stepped over the threshold, raised his head, and couldn't help smiling.

"Liu Niang is right, it's a disease, and it will recover eventually..."

(End of this chapter)