Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 93: The Expedition Begins! The Northern Expedition!

When they left the Forbidden City, Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San were like fish out of a net or birds out of a cage, with an air of freedom and boundless ambition, after all, this was the first time the two brothers had ever traveled so far.

The key issue is that my mother isn't around, my older brother isn't around, and the two Chang brothers don't dare to control me. Although Sister Jin'er can control me, she has a good temper. Sister Yu'er dares to control me, but she's just as playful as my brothers. This trip is definitely going to be a lot of fun and mischief to make it worthwhile.

But as soon as they passed Fengyang, Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San completely lost their enthusiasm for having fun.

Zhu Shuang, the second son of Zhu Lao, lowered the carriage curtain, turned to look at Zhu Gang, the third son of Zhu Lao, and said, "Third son, what kind of person do you think that Magistrate Yang is? Will he be different from the scholars of Jiangnan?"

Upon hearing Zhu Shuang embrace Yang Shaofeng, Jin'er and Yu'er couldn't help but exchange a glance. The two sisters perked up, ready to hear what the two brothers, Zhu Shuang and Zhu Gang, would have to say.

The twelve-year-old Zhu Gang glanced at his second brother Zhu Shuang and said, "Scholars from Jiangnan? Don't even mention scholars from Jiangnan. Where in the world are there any good scholars?"

“They spout a bunch of nonsense all day long, always talking about being loyal to the Great Yuan and refusing to eat Zhou grain even if it means death,” Zhu Gang said with disdain. “But look at them, which one of them is really willing to die? It’s only because our eldest brother has a good temper that I would have beaten them to death long ago.”

"As for that Magistrate Yang..." Zhu Gang imitated his elder brother and said, "He was able to join our Great Ming Dynasty when the world was still unsettled, and he governed a poor and small county town to the point of prosperity. He was able to submit a memorial to the court before the drought and locust plague occurred, and he was able to think of ways to control the drought and locusts in advance. He is a good official."

Zhu Shuang, the second son of Zhu Gang, who was a year older than Zhu Gang, glanced at Zhu Gang and said in the same manner as his elder brother, "I'm asking you, so answer me with what the elder brother said?"

Seeing Zhu Gang's nonchalant expression, Zhu Shuang's eyes darted around, and then she pointed at Zhu Gang and said to Jin'er, "Sister Jin'er, look at the third brother, take the ruler and whip him!"

Zhu Gang was furious. "Zhu Lao Er, have you no shame? You asked first, and I answered you. How dare you complain to your elder sister!"

Miss?

Upon hearing Zhu Gang's address to Jin'er, Zhu Shuang was instantly enraged. His anger rose and his courage surged—you shameless Zhu Laosan, have you no shame at all? You actually beat me to it and started calling her "elder sister," you are despicable!

In the spirit of "If Zhu Laosan can be shameless, then I, Zhu Laoer, can be shameless too," Zhu Shuang looked pitifully at Jin'er: "Sister..."

Looking at the two rascals, Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San, Jin'er couldn't help but rub her arms and then grasp the corner of the ruler. "Have the Second Prince and the Third Prince forgotten what His Highness the Crown Prince said?"

Zhu Lao Er Zhu Shuang curled his lips indifferently and said, "Sister, eldest sister, from now on you are our eldest sister. Please call me Zhu Shuang, or Lao Er, or Er Di, and call that idiot next to you Lao San or San Di. You have to act like an older sister."

Zhu Laosan, Zhu Gang, chimed in, "That's right, that's right. If you don't act like a proper older sister, how will you manage your brother-in-law in the future? Look at how our mother manages him..."

"Stop!" Jin'er was both embarrassed and annoyed. She spat and said, "It's not even a sure thing yet, what's with all this talk about brother-in-law? Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you if word gets out?"

Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San exchanged a glance and then sighed in unison.

Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Shuang, sighed and said, "My eldest sister only thinks about her brother-in-law; she doesn't care about us two younger brothers at all."

Zhu Laosan, Zhu Gang, nodded vigorously: "That's right, that's right. It's not like that when you're a younger brother. According to the two older brothers from the Chang family, their eldest sister only thinks about our eldest brother and doesn't care about them at all. It seems that the older sister and the younger brother are the same."

Jin'er was both ashamed and angry. She wanted to take out the ruler to teach these two rascals a lesson, but she hesitated because she was not their biological sister. Yu'er, on the other hand, grabbed Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San by the ears and said, "You two are bullying your eldest sister because she is thin-skinned. Have you forgotten about your second sister?"

"It hurts!" Zhu Laosan looked at Yu'er pitifully and pouted, "We were not only raised by our eldest brother, but also by our eldest and second sisters. We are reluctant to part with our eldest and second sisters who are about to get married. We wanted to make you two happy."

Yu'er released Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San's ears, spat, and said, "You little devil!"

Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San moved their buttocks almost simultaneously, trying to get away from Yu'er. Zhu Lao San even chuckled and said, "Sister Yu'er should be able to keep her brother-in-law in check!"

Zhu Lao Er sighed softly and said to Zhu Lao San, "Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, we'll be uncles soon."

Zhu Laosan shifted his position further out, chiming in, "Exactly! I'll have to prepare a gift for my nephew, and I'm still dirt poor myself!"

Looking at the mischievous Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San, and Yu'er whose pretty face was flushed from being teased, Jin'er felt a little more relaxed.

Having been by Empress Ma's side for so long, Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San were practically raised by the two sisters themselves, so Jin'er could more or less guess why Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San were like this.

They weren't really that reluctant to part with their two sisters; rather, they wanted to win over the hearts of themselves and Yu'er on behalf of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, so that the two sisters would be more loyal to the imperial family.

In essence, he and Yu'er were ultimately just gifts used by the imperial family to win people's hearts.

Jin'er gently shook her head and looked out of the carriage with a smile on her face.

Let it be a gift. After all, she now has the status of being the Crown Prince's sworn sister, and the magistrate Yang who receives the gift is only nineteen years old. With the methods that she and her sister learned from the Empress, it shouldn't be difficult to win his heart.

Even if we take a step back and assume the worst, it's still much better than being given as a gift to those old men in the capital.

I just don't know what kind of person Magistrate Yang is.

……

Just as the brothers Chang Mao and Chang Sheng were escorting Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Lao San, and the sisters Jin'er and Yu'er to Ningyang County, the entire Ningyang County was in a state of uproar.

Magistrate Yang Shaofeng ordered all the eggs and duck eggs that had been stored up in the chicken farm in Ningyang County to be boiled. He also ordered all the flour that had been stored up in Ningyang County to be steamed into buns and steamed bread. Even all the salted duck eggs and salted chicken eggs were taken out and piled up together, forming small mountains.

The lame yamen runners, along with more than two hundred soldiers sent by Xu Da, carried baskets woven from willow branches. They filled these baskets with eggs and steamed buns from the small hills and kept moving among the soldiers, stuffing eggs, buns, and steamed buns into each soldier's hands.

"Here, eat!"

"We've eaten our fill, now let's kill the Tartars!"

"Brothers, please kill one more Tartar for us cripples who can't go to the battlefield!"

Magistrate Yang personally brought a bowl of cool boiled water, held it above his head, and loudly proclaimed, "Ningyang County has no wine! I will use water instead of wine. I hope that Grand Councilor Chang will go on this journey, kill many Tartars, recover all the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, wash away the shame of our Han people's four hundred years of lost territory, and wipe away the hatred of our Han people's hundred years of national subjugation!"

The imposing Chang Heitan, as strong as an iron tower, sat upright on his horse, took the cool boiled water from Yang Shaofeng's hand, and gulped it down. He then turned to look at the lame Wu and his men, who were stuffing eggs, buns, and steamed bread into the hands of the soldiers. Suddenly, Chang Yuchun burst into laughter and shouted, "Good! I, the Grand Councilor, will kill ten Tartars for you for every bowl of water you drink!"

After making a promise to Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, Chang Yuchun turned to his soldiers and shouted, "Aren't the eggs delicious? Aren't the buns delicious? Aren't the steamed bread delicious?"

Hearing the soldiers shouting that it smelled good, Chang Yuchun raised his right hand and clenched his fist: "It smells good, it definitely smells good. This is the food that the people of Ningyang County squeezed out of their own mouths, how could it not smell good?"

"But!" Chang Yuchun's expression changed, and he shouted, "Can we eat the food of the common people for free? Since we have eaten it, we must kill more Tartars! We must wash away the shame of our Han people's four hundred years of lost territory and wipe away the hatred of our Han people's hundred years of national subjugation!"

Chang Yuchun drew his sword, pointed it diagonally north, and roared loudly, "Go to war! Northern Expedition! Northern Expedition!"