Chapter 599: Long Wilbur Becomes a Popular Person
In the early morning, Jiang Qingzhi woke up slowly.
When a person just wakes up, if his mind can be empty, his five senses will become extremely sharp.
He could hear his wife's soft breathing. One of her hands was on his chest and one of her legs was on his thigh.
A strand of long hair tickled his cheek, but Jiang Qingzhi didn't want to scratch it.
There was wind blowing outside, and the window frames were rustling slightly.
Even though the weather was still cold, Jiang Qingzhi could tell that this wind was different from the wind in winter. The sound of the swaying branches in the yard seemed to have a little more vitality.
Just like his inner world at this moment, vivid and vibrant.
The question of whether to have a child or not, all past thoughts have disappeared, and now only expectation remains.
That's my child!
Jiang Qingzhi carefully moved his wife's hand away and gently touched her lower abdomen.
No movement.
How long does the fetal movement last?
With this question in mind, Jiang Qingzhi went to the martial arts arena.
"Congratulations, Uncle!"
Everyone smiled and congratulated.
Jiang Qingzhi's knife skills this morning seemed particularly gentle. Xia Yan smiled and said, "Now that you are going to be a father, your temper has become more restrained."
Jiang Qingzhi had a big appetite for breakfast and ate three big meat buns, a bowl of tofu pudding, and two fried dough sticks. Li Tian was stunned. When Jiang Qingzhi took the third fried dough stick, Li Tian hurriedly snatched the small bamboo basket containing the fried dough sticks.
"Husband, you can't eat anymore."
Jiang Qingzhi burped and said, "I'm not full yet, have another one." Then he reached out to grab it.
Li Tian picked up the last fried dough stick and took a big bite.
I see you grab it!
Jiang Qingzhi snatched the remaining half and ate it with relish.
This guy even said proudly: "Youtiao must be paired with soy milk, and it must be sweet. Soak it before eating, and it will taste salty and sweet..."
Huang Yan'er, who was waiting on the side, couldn't help but said, "Uncle, youtiao should be served with spicy soup."
Since Jiang Qingzhi invented Hu La Tang, this soup has become a must-have in the Bo Mansion, and they have it every now and then. Huang Yaner is especially a fan of Hu La Tang.
"Hot and spicy soup should be served with fried dumplings or meat patties." Jiang Qingzhi thought Huang Yan'er was a heretic.
"My Lord, please forgive my rudeness." Huang Yan'er said righteously, "Soak the fried dough sticks in the spicy soup for a while, mix it with the hot pepper, and eat it softly, then the taste will be authentic."
“Sweet soy milk with…”
Jiang Qingzhi and Huang Yaner had a battle called the Sweet Party and the Salty Party. When the battle was over, neither of them had convinced the other.
"Where is my tofu pudding?" Jiang Qingzhi looked at the empty bowl, then at his wife who was burping but smiling smugly.
Jiang Qingzhi was used to being frugal and always ate every meal to the last grain left, and Li Tian also developed this habit.
After breakfast, Jiang Qingzhi went to the palace to announce the good news.
"Congratulations, Uncle!"
"Congratulations, Chief Wilbur!"
All the officials they met along the way congratulated them.
Jiang Qingzhi maintained his smile all the way to Xiyuan, where he felt all the muscles on his face stiffen.
The old playboy came out of Zhilu yawning. He was on duty last night. At this moment, his eyes were dull and he looked as if he had just come out of a brothel.
"Your Majesty was in a very good mood yesterday."
"There are quite a few."
Jiang Qingzhi hurried to Yongshou Palace, but the Taoist priest was still awake.
"You are going to be a father, so you need to be more stable. Also, you need to pay attention to family matters."
"Yes."
Emperor Jiajing yawned, resisting the urge to sleep and continued, "Also, it's time to accumulate some assets. Look at you, you only have a store now. If you have several children in the future, how are you going to divide them?"
"Yes."
Jiang Qingzhi was not in a hurry about this matter at all.
"By the way, I heard there's some chaos at the Ministry of War. You can go take a look."
War and chaos?
When Jiang Qingzhi arrived at the Ministry of War, the doorman was delighted and said, "My Lord, the Minister was still talking about you yesterday!"
"Why is Old Wang talking about me?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
At this moment, the situation at Wang Yiqi's place was as lively as a vegetable market. More than ten generals were blocking his duty room, all asking for muskets.
"Minister Wang, we have been training hard for a long time. Even if we cannot beat the Tiger Guards, we are not much behind, right? Now that the Tiger Guards are in the limelight, we dare not compete with them, but can we share some of these muskets?"
"That's right. All the good things are caught up by the Tiger Guards. Are we the stepmothers?"
Wang Yiqi's head was splitting with pain. "I have no say in this matter. Go ask the Prime Minister!"
A general said, "We asked yesterday, and the Prime Minister said that the Ministry of War has the final say on this matter."
Wang Yiqi was about to collapse. At this moment, he heard someone outside shouting, "Chang Wei Bo is here."
There was no one in the duty room in an instant.
Wang Yiqi: “…”
Jiang Qingzhi was surrounded outside. After learning the purpose of the generals' visit, he said, "It will take time to make muskets. As for distribution, that will happen sooner or later. However, the Armory is short of manpower, so we will take our time."
The generals still refused to give up and surrounded Jiang Qingzhi to beg. After seeing the power of the flintlock rifle, they knew that the earlier they were equipped, the earlier they could form combat effectiveness. Jiang Qingzhi gave them a lesson last time, analyzed the movements of the Altan tribe, and asserted that the war was not far away.
As the saying goes, the three biggest wishes of men are getting promoted and getting rich.
The opportunity is here.
Jiang Qingzhi was surrounded and had no choice but to say, "It can also be built outside the city, but the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry have not been assigned yet. Let's wait a little longer."
Swish!
In an instant, the Ministry of War fell silent.
In the Ministry of Industry, Jiang Hua is discussing several major projects for this year with his subordinate officials.
"The biggest problem nowadays is that there are too few good craftsmen."
"Good craftsmen are hard to find, Minister. Why don't we give them to Chang Wei Bo's 100 craftsmen?" someone suggested.
"That guy is not a good person!" Some people were afraid of Jiang when they thought of his glorious past achievements.
"Also, don't forget the Armory Bureau. Chen Shi is eyeing them covetously, hoping that we won't give them to him."
Everyone gasped. Jiang Hua said angrily, "Ten days. I will hold Long Wei Bo back for another ten days for you. After ten days, you must give him the craftsman no matter what."
"Minister, the generals of the capital guards request to see you."
Jiang Hua was startled, "What are they doing here?"
He found out later.
"Minister Jiang, I'm willing to admit defeat. Those craftsmen from the Ministry of Works should be handed over to Long Wei Bo, right?"
"If you don't give it to us, we won't leave the Ministry of Industry today."
When Jiang Hua was in a state of panic, Jiang Qingzhi was in the Jinyiwei.
Lu Bing said in a deep voice: "An Da suddenly launched an attack, three Jin Yi Wei secret agents were killed, and the rest are in hiding. But I have already sent someone to pass on the message, and we must find out valuable information as soon as possible."
Jiang Qingzhi said: "The most important thing is the movements of Altan's troops."
Lu Bing asked, "You mean, there might be some changes this year?"
Jiang Qingzhi nodded.
Lu Bing said, "I'll pass it on."
"By all means!" Jiang Qingzhi urged.
Lu Bing looked at him, his eyes burning with fire. "The Jinyiwei never back down for the sake of state affairs. As I said before, if all the secret agents of the Jinyiwei are dead, I, the commander, will go to the frontier and fight for the Ming Dynasty!"
……
Although Altan Khan was also a Khan, he was not of the traditional Mongol Khan lineage. This Khan had some of the flavor of a self-proclaimed king, and in the eyes of outsiders, he inevitably seemed like a monkey in human form.
The snowstorm two years ago caused heavy casualties to Altan's tribe. After a year of recuperation last year, they still failed to fully recover.
The biggest difference between the foreign kings and bandits on the grassland is whether they have settled down.
The Liao Dynasty not only settled down, but also built cities and proclaimed itself emperor, thus breaking away from the characteristics of a nomadic people and becoming an orthodox dynasty. This is also one of the reasons why the Liao Dynasty could exist for many years.
Not to mention the Mongols, who once ruled the Central Plains and even half of the world.
But when he arrived at the frontier area, Altan had lost face for his ancestors and led his tribe back to the old way of living by following the grass.
Wherever the sheep go, there may not be any grass left, but for the sake of sustainable development, after grazing in one place for a while, they have to migrate to another place.
This is called living among the grass.
That is, go wherever there is pasture.
The only exception is winter and spring.
The grass turns yellow in winter, and the same is true in early spring. Even if there is some tender grass, it cannot be eaten by cattle and sheep. This is when the hay stored last year comes in handy.
Altan Khan brought a group of people to inspect the royal court. Although the herdsmen were still respectful when they saw him, they could not help but express dissatisfaction in their words. They said that if there was another snowstorm this year, their entire family would have to sell themselves into slavery next year.
But the snow disaster did not distinguish between civilians and nobles. The civilians were unlucky, and the nobles were even more unlucky.
The dignitaries who followed the inspection also looked unhappy. They had more cattle and sheep, and the losses caused by the snowstorm were greater.
"Khan, this matter cannot be underestimated."
Tuotuo followed behind his adoptive father and whispered, "Many people have been complaining recently, saying that life has become increasingly difficult in the past two years. If things continue like this, let alone recreating the old dream of the Yuan Dynasty, I'm afraid we won't even be able to hold on to this little territory."
Altan leaned over and touched a lamb in the sheepfold. The lamb raised its head and licked his finger with its tongue.
Along the way, Altan felt a sense of depression.
Back in the big tent, he called his confidants.
"People's hearts are a little scattered now. If this continues, Khan, I'm afraid those people will develop ambitions."
"Yes! Great Khan, the newly annexed tribes have been a little restless recently. Some even say that if they had known that the Great Khan would not dare to go south, they would have gone north to join those barbarians."
The barbarians in the north... Altan thought of what happened to his subordinates whom he sent to the north to raid the valleys last year. Those arrogant and brave generals thought that all the northerners were fools, but who would have thought that they would be stunned by a beating from those barbarians.
The land of the far north... Altan was thinking about whether to go north and completely subdue those barbarians, but then he changed his mind and thought that those barbarians were extremely poor. Even if they were subdued, apart from having countless more mouths to feed, the benefits would be limited.
"Great Khan," said his nephew Jineng, "We have been resting and recuperating for the past two years, but God has sent us disasters. It seems that it is God's will for us to go south!"
Altan knew what he meant. After a long pause, he said, "This matter... needs more consideration. The day after tomorrow, let those people gather in the royal court to discuss this matter."
"Yes!"
Everyone looked happy and then left.
At the same time, in the far right side of the king's tent, two men squatted outside a tent, seemingly avoiding the cold wind.
"Jineng and the others looked happy, which is rare to see. It shows that something big is going to happen."
"We have been lurking in the royal court for a long time, but have not obtained any valuable information. This is an opportunity!"
(End of this chapter)
