Chapter 118: Marriage

On the grasslands, the Gela'er tribe.

"Hmph!

These Tatars are becoming more and more arrogant, actually telling us to stop trading with the Great Dayu."

Tribal Chief Wugusi said indignantly.

Compared to the newly risen Tatar clan, the Guifang clan was the old hegemon of the great grasslands, with a population ten times that of the Tatars.

If it weren't for the fact that the Guifang clan was torn apart, the Tatars wouldn't have had a say at all.

"Big brother, the Tatars are just a bunch of nouveau riche.

If they dare to point fingers at us today, tomorrow they will be riding on our heads to shit and piss.

I think we don't need to pay attention to them at all!"

Batulu immediately stated his position.

Trade with the Central Plains dynasty had always been an important way for grassland tribes to obtain resources.

Without the salt, iron, tea, silk, cloth, medicinal herbs, and porcelain from the Great Dayu Dynasty, how could the luxurious lives of these grassland power-holders continue?

"Commander of Ten Thousand Batulu, don't be so excited.

The Tatars just don't want us to sell warhorses to the Great Dayu; they don't want us to terminate all trade.

In fact, a large part of the goods we trade from the Yu people also flows into the hands of the Tatars.

Cutting off the trade line won't just be uncomfortable for us; they won't have an easy time either.

Unless they can repair their relationship with the Yu people and start trading directly."

Kong Jingwen said with a smile.

Only when the tribe has trouble can his ability be highlighted.

If things were always smooth sailing, he, an outsider as the State Minister, wouldn't be able to survive.

"Mr. Kong, what you say is easy.

Without selling warhorses, how many supplies would we have to sell to exchange for the goods we want?

In trade with the Yu people, we have always lacked a say, and only warhorses can be used as leverage.

If we stop selling warhorses, who knows if they will close the mutual market again.

After all, for the Yu people, the other supplies we sell are not indispensable.

To limit the Yu people, the warhorses we sell are all castrated.

In the hands of the Yu people, warhorses become consumables.

Regardless of how many they buy, after a few battles, they are consumed.

Being able to do this much, we have already given the Tatars enough face.

To continue to push for more is just bullying people too much!"

Batulu said with insufficient confidence.

The Gela'er tribe was the royal court of the Guifang clan, but there were four other similar royal courts in the Guifang clan.

The five major royal courts each pulled a group of younger brothers to stand in a tripod formation; although the strength of the Guifang clan exceeded that of the Tatars, they were beaten by them on the battlefield.

In the previous few conflicts, the Gela'er tribe had suffered great losses.

If it weren't for the fear of being too ruthless and breaking the internal balance of the Guifang clan, it would be hard to say whether the Gela'er tribe would even exist.

"Commander of Ten Thousand Batulu, calm your anger; the Tatars are just trying to blackmail us.

The Yu people are purchasing warhorses on a large scale, clearly preparing for war.

At such a critical moment, the Tatars are too busy trying to win us over; why would they push us to the opposite side?

After all, we are not the only ones selling warhorses to the Yu people."

Kong Jingwen analyzed calmly.

For an ambitious person like him, the more chaotic the world, the better; only when it's chaotic does he have the opportunity to display his talent.

In his view, the previous defeat of the Gela'er tribe was entirely the result of being headstrong and arbitrary.

If they had been willing to listen to his suggestions, even if they couldn't defeat the Tatars, they wouldn't have suffered any losses.

Anyway, the Guifang clan had more people than the Tatar clan, and if military strength was lost, they could just replenish it.

The current scale of the Gela'er tribe was not because they could only have such a scale, but because they were limited by the natural environment.

If they wanted to replenish manpower, they could just annex the small and medium-sized tribes below.

"What Mr. Kong says is not bad; the Tatar's intimidation is not worth worrying about for the time being.

However, for the sake of caution, we still need to fool them.

Pass the order down: from now on, all warhorse trade will be handled by the small tribes below."

In the capital.

Li Mu was busy preparing for the wedding; although there were people to arrange each procedure, as the person involved, there was still plenty of work.

Besides cramming knowledge about weddings, he also had to direct people to renovate the mansion.

He had to attend clan activities, the gatherings of noble children could not be absent, and banquets between colleagues in officialdom were also indispensable.

After the busy socializing, Li Mu felt more tired than fighting a war.

Finally, the wedding day arrived, and according to the rules of the Great Dayu Dynasty, he went to the bride's house to welcome her under the guidance of the matchmaker.

"It's just welcoming the bride; do you have to be so nervous?

Where is that calm and composed spirit you had on the battlefield!"

Facing Marquis Wuyang's teasing, Li Mu was very helpless.

Calm and composed was based on experience and judgment.

Marriage was something he was experiencing for the first time; where would he get any experience!

Moreover, this was a typical arranged marriage; from beginning to end, he had only seen the bride once, and that was from a distance.

From beginning to end, the two sides hadn't said a word to each other.

"Marquis, please stop teasing your subordinate.

I don't believe you weren't nervous when you welcomed your bride!"

Li Mu immediately retorted.

Having gotten familiar with each other, he no longer had the original awe for this old superior.

Especially after being transferred away from the Five Cities Military Commission, the two, who had lost their subordinate relationship, got along more like friends.

"Hehe!"

"I don't have as little confidence as you.

My wife lives across the street, we grew up together, and the in-laws' house is no different from my own."

Marquis Wuyang said smugly.

Major clans have many rules; he married his childhood sweetheart.

Before the engagement, both sides were ordinary commoners, and there were no such requirements.

Later, after accidentally becoming an imperial relative, his confidence was even greater.

Chatting all the way, they soon arrived at their destination.

After dismounting, he tidied up his round-collared robe, inner robe, flower-adorned black gauze cap, leather belt, red sash, and black boots.

Guided by the etiquette officer, Li Mu followed into the Duke's mansion.

Behind that, he was like a puppet, completing the wedding process under the guidance of the etiquette personnel.

Only when he heard "The ceremony is complete" did he react.

Then, returning to the mansion with the bride, it wasn't the familiar "worshiping heaven and earth, worshiping the high hall" from TV dramas, but taking the bride to worship the ancestral temple first.

After a series of cumbersome rituals, he finally made it to the bridal chamber at night.

The next morning.

"Husband, it's time to get up!"

Disturbed from his sweet dream, Li Mu realized he was no longer a single dog.

Unfortunately, his exhausted body didn't want to move at all.

Thinking of last night's absurdity, he couldn't help but blush.

It was all the alcohol's fault; his wife couldn't handle it after her first experience, so she directly ordered the maid in the room, who was providing technical guidance, to join the battlefield.

Before he could open his mouth to refuse, the two maids rushed up, and the bridal night directly turned into a battle against three.

Even though Li Mu's body was very good, after a night of tossing and turning, he was still exhausted.

"Sleep a little longer; it's still early!"

Li Mu said lazily.

Anyway, his parents weren't there, and many procedures could be omitted.

His own rules were the rules of the mansion, and being a little reckless didn't matter.

"Husband, that won't do; it's time to get up and offer incense to your parents-in-law.

After breakfast, we still have to return to the bride's home.

If we miss the time, we will be laughed at."

In the gentle voice, there was also a trace of refusal.

"I know, wife; your husband knows what's important."

Li Mu said helplessly.

Everything about a lady from a good family is good, but the only drawback is that she pays special attention to rules.

It's just breakfast; you won't starve to death if you miss one meal.

At worst, he could just grab two steamed buns and deal with it on the road.

However, these words could only be thought about secretly.

If he said them out loud, it would be too much of a mood killer.

Being a little feudal and traditional isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Duke Cheng's Mansion.

Visiting again, Li Mu's feelings were completely different.

After visiting his father-in-law and mother-in-law, his wife went to the inner chambers, leaving only Li Mu and Duke Cheng sitting opposite each other.

After a few simple pleasantries, the topic involuntarily drifted to the court.

As a son-in-law, Li Mu belonged to the side being tested.

Most of the time, it was Jing Guoliang asking questions, and Li Mu was responsible for answering.

Nodding from time to time, shaking his head from time to time, leaving him confused.

"It seems your uncle was right; you kid are born to be in officialdom.

Just based on the information circulating outside, you've sorted out the complex relationships in the court seven or eight out of ten.

It's just that these judgments aren't that accurate.

In fact, everyone in the court can be a 'Qingliu' (pure faction), or a eunuch faction, or a neutral faction.

If interests require it, Zuo Guangen can become the leader of the 'Qingliu'.

Don't use party labels to judge a person's position.

Although it applies most of the time, accidents will happen at critical moments.

We are not scholars; there's no need to distinguish between right and wrong!"

Facing his father-in-law's lecture, Li Mu could only nod continuously.

"Father-in-law's insight is profound; your son-in-law has benefited a lot!"

Regardless of whether he agreed in his heart, on the surface, he was an obedient, good child.

"Mm!"

"By the way, how is the training of the Yangzhou Regiment going? Do you have the strength to fight?"

Jing Guoliang asked with concern.

If a military officer wants to climb fast and stand firm, it won't work without troops in his hands.

The court continuously expanded the army, the power of the Nine Borders' military families continued to expand, and the nobility camp also felt the pressure.

Besides Li Mu's Yangzhou Regiment, the nobility group also promoted the formation of the Huai'an Regiment, Yong'an Regiment, Tongzhou Regiment, and Baoding Regiment.

"The Yangzhou Regiment has five infantry battalions and one cavalry battalion under its jurisdiction.

Currently, the five infantry battalions are full, totaling over 5,600 people, all of whom are carefully selected young men.

Dealing with ordinary rebels is absolutely not a problem.

The cavalry battalion is currently being formed, and the biggest difficulty now is the lack of warhorses.

Through your son-in-law's efforts, I've barely managed to scrape together 500 cavalrymen.

It will still take some time to form combat effectiveness.

Secondly, there is a lack of financial resources; the military funds allocated by the court are limited, and it mainly relies on local coordinated pay.

Because of the war, the support that can be provided locally in the short term is limited."

Li Mu took the opportunity to complain.

To get more military pay, when reporting troop numbers, everyone counts people and livestock together.

Soldiers plus warhorses and pack horses, as well as logistics personnel providing support for the soldiers, are all calculated together.

It wouldn't be strange if 500 main combat cavalrymen became 2,000 on the Ministry of War's roster.

But Li Mu doesn't like doing that!

Historical experience tells him that when high-level officials make decisions, many times they don't use their brains.

If you encounter a fool who doesn't know military affairs, he will think you have that many combat soldiers based on the establishment you report.

They calculate combat effectiveness based on all of them being combat soldiers and then deploy combat missions.

Being able to win is a miracle; failure is the norm.

These bad habits were formed later; the great armies of the early founding years were all truly full, without any deception.

Even if it became an unwritten rule, these things couldn't be brought to the table.

Since it couldn't be brought to the table, Li Mu simply pretended not to know and expanded his troops legally.

"The warhorse problem is easy to solve; the court just purchased a batch from the grasslands.

When you go back, submit an application, and getting it approved won't be difficult.

The military pay problem is only a temporary difficulty; it will be fine once the autumn grain is in storage.

The key is the combat effectiveness of the troops, which must be improved as soon as possible.

The Emperor intends to recover Liaodong; once the border war breaks out, no one can guarantee when it will end.

In case there is a change in the country, we can't just rely on the Capital Regiment; you also have to take on tasks.

Don't wait until you get to the battlefield and the troops have no combat effectiveness; that would be fatal!"

Listening to his father-in-law's words, Li Mu suddenly felt that he should build more cavalry.

The domestic situation of the Great Dayu is still stable, and the probability of a major change in the short term is not high.

The key is the Liaodong front line; in case of another defeat, the Northern Barbarians will inevitably break through the pass.

The border army was able to block them last time, which doesn't mean they can stop them this time.

In case the Hu Ren kill their way in, the newly formed troops in the country should be put to use.

Yangzhou seems very far from the capital, but because of the Grand Canal, moving troops is actually considered fast.

Li Mu doesn't have a definite concept of the specific combat effectiveness of the Northern Barbarians.

The only certainty is that in the current age, the combat effectiveness of the Northern Barbarian cavalry is considered the strongest among cold-weapon armies.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 119 =====