Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 342 Backyard
AD 196, the first year of Jianxing, the first month.

When Zhang Yu returned from the expedition, it was the beginning of the new year, so he took the opportunity to celebrate with the officials of the General's Office. Zhang Yu returned home in high spirits, and because Wang Ji was pregnant, he had sex with Cai Yan at night.

Although the first month of the lunar calendar was the beginning of spring, the cold air was still there. The air in the house was filled with warm air from the burning coal in the beast cauldron, and the warm air was mixed with the smell of milk.

"Husband, stop making trouble!"

A shy voice of a beautiful lady came from inside the cloud-patterned gauze tent, saying, "I will have to feed Xi'er later."

"What's wrong? You don't want a husband anymore because you have a son?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, my husband?" The beautiful lady said angrily, "My husband went on a long expedition to Longyou, and I thought about you day and night. In order to protect your safety, I even went to the temple outside the city to ask for Buddha's blessing!"

Zhang Yu's mouth was blocked, so he couldn't speak.

Cai Yan looked at her husband's rogue appearance and raised a satisfied smile. After years of getting along, Cai Yan could hardly put on any airs in front of Zhang Yu. Even every time they got on the bed, her intellectual temperament would be replaced by a coquettish look, probably because she dressed up to please herself.

After playing for a while, Zhang Yu finally got up from the bed slowly and changed into clean underwear. Cai Yan's cheeks were rosy and her hair was disheveled. While the maid was away, she hurriedly put on a light purple bra.

"Come here, take off your clothes!"

"promise!"

After a while, two maids came into the hall carrying hot water and helped Zhang Yu and Cai Yan wash and brush their teeth.

"Sir, how are you this morning?" Cai Yan asked.

"The young master cried a few times this morning. I saw that Madam had not yet gotten up, so I asked the nurse to take him away to feed him!" The maid combed Cai Yan's hair and said, "Madam, do you want to see the young master?"

"Let the wet nurse take care of the child and play for a while. There's no need to worry!" Cai Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said after seeing that someone was taking care of the child.

"promise!"

Compared to wasting time on dressing up as a woman, Zhang Yu quickly washed up, put on a dragon-patterned brocade robe, and hung a black belt inlaid with jade around his waist, looking neat and dignified.

"My lord, breakfast is ready in the kitchen!" said the maid.

"No need!"

Zhang Yu suddenly felt full and said meaningfully, "We have just had breakfast. You just need to serve Madam!"

Looking at Zhang Yuhu's figure walking out of the room, the maid was slightly stunned. She remembered that there was only tea in the room. Where did the prince's breakfast come from?

At this time, Cai Yan, who was dressing in front of the mirror, heard Zhang Yu's words and her cheeks immediately turned red. If the maid knew the secrets in the boudoir, she would probably gossip about her behind her back and she would lose all face.

"It's so embarrassing!"

Cai Yan secretly made up her mind that she would never let her husband torment her next time and that she would bravely resist.

Zhang Yu, who had already left, naturally had no idea what was going on in Cai Yan's mind. However, even if he knew what Cai Yan was thinking, Zhang Yu would only tease her and then enjoy the beauty's gradual obedience.

After coming out of Cai Yan's room, Zhang Yu went to Wang Ji's room to visit his youngest son Zhang Wei who had just been born.

Now Zhang Yu had both sons and daughters, five sons and two daughters. The eldest son and the fifth son were born to Wang Ji, Alahai, Li Suyi, and Cai Yan each had a son, and Hongniang and Hu Yanle each had a daughter. If He Yan, the adopted son, is included, Zhang Yu had six sons and two daughters.

The eldest son Zhang Luo was born in the second year of Chuping (191 AD) and is now over five years old.

"Father!"

"Luo'er!"

Because he had been taught by Wang Ji since childhood, Zhang Luo was very well-behaved and greeted according to etiquette.

Zhang Yu touched Zhang Luo's head and said with a smile, "Do you want to learn today?"

Zhang Luo shook his head and said, "Today, He Yan and I have an appointment to go outside the city to learn horse riding."

"The boy from the He family is quite talented and has the ability to read the scriptures and understand their meanings. Your husband has found a good son!" Wang Ji teased.

Zhang Yu smiled awkwardly and said, "Yin is lonely and He has no one. If we don't take He Yan as our adopted son, won't Yin be sad?"

Wang Ji rolled his eyes at Zhang Yu, with a hint of dissatisfaction, and said, "There aren't enough rooms in the mansion for you to feel sorry for the woman outside!"

Zhang Yu laughed and pretended not to understand, saying, "Anyi is not a place to live for a long time. We must move to Chang'an in the future!" Zhang Luo pulled Zhang Yu's skirt, opened his eyes wide, and asked curiously, "Chang'an is the capital, does it mean that Chang'an also belongs to father?"

"Of course!"

Zhang Yu held Zhang Luo in his arms and said proudly, "All the territory west of Taihang Mountain belongs to father."

"How big is that?"

"The distance from east to west is four thousand miles, and the distance from north to south is three thousand miles."

"The circumference of Anyi is only over 20 miles. Doesn't it mean there are hundreds or even thousands of cities under my father's rule?" Zhang Luo said with shock on his little face.

"Correct!"

Wang Ji smiled and said, "Father governs not only hundreds of thousands of cities, but also millions of people. Luo'er needs to study hard and inherit your father's business in the future."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu straightened his expression and said, "Luo'er, although my father governs thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, he is entrusted by the people to govern the land of Shanxi."

"Oh?"

Zhang Luo seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "Doesn't that mean I have to inherit the territory ruled by my father, and I have to accept the trust of the people as well?"

"All right!"

Seeing that it was getting late, Wang Ji urged, "It's almost time for horseback riding practice, Luo'er, hurry up and don't keep He Yan waiting for too long!"

"promise!"

After bowing, Zhang Luo walked out of the hall.

After Zhang Luo left, Zhang Yu looked at Wang Ji and said worriedly, "Shu Lan, Luo'er is still young, so it's not appropriate to talk too much about succession and ruling the people. I'm afraid Luo'er will become arrogant because of this. Conquering the world is different from ruling the world. In the past, Qin conquered the six kingdoms, but perished in two generations. You and I should learn from this."

"Besides, Yuan Shao has not been destroyed yet, and Yuan Shu is very powerful. It is still unknown whether I can deny the world!"

"Ok!"

Seeing Zhang Yu's rare expression, Wang Ji restrained his expression and replied softly: "I will teach Luo'er well!"

After a pause, Wang Ji smiled and said, "I have been practicing the piano piece "High Mountains and Flowing Water" that my husband gave me recently. I wonder if you are interested in listening to it tonight."

"Since both madams have invited each other, how could I be unwilling?" Zhang Yu said with a smile.

When Zhang Yu and Wang Ji first met, he promised to find three popular zither pieces for him: "High Mountains and Flowing Water", "Yangchun Baixue" and "Guangling San".

Although more than ten years have passed, Zhang Yu still remembered the promise he made to his wife, so since he started his army, he would send people to inquire about the situation whenever he arrived at a place. During the Western Expedition to Longyou, Zhang Yu obtained "High Mountains and Flowing Water" from the Zhao family of Tianshui, and then sent someone to give it to Wang Ji.

After spending most of the day in the back house, Zhang Yu slowly went to the general's mansion. Because he had dealt with a lot of official business after returning from the war, there was no important matter for Zhang Yu to deal with after this year.

"Sir, there are many iron mines in Longshan. We may be able to set up iron smelting workshops in Tianshui and Weizhong counties to cast armor and weapons and refine farm tools." Seeing Zhang Yu arrive at the government hall, Yu Yi brought official documents to the desk and asked Zhang Yu for his approval, saying.

Zhang Yu held up a pen and signed his name. As he was stamping his seal, he asked, "There is abundant grass and water in Longyou. In the past, the Han Dynasty raised hundreds of thousands of military horses in Longyou. Do you have any plans to set up an official ranch in Longyou?"

Yu Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "We are in a hurry to go to Long, and I have no time to make plans. Now that we have finished the smelting workshop, I will start to build the pasture!"

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Since the attack on Longyou, the army has suffered many casualties in horses. The horses from Shuofang and Guanzhong are insufficient. If we want to fill the gap in the army, we need to start with Longyou."

Although Zhang Yu ruled Bingzhou and Yongzhou, his main source of war horses was trade in the northern border and tribute from the Hu tribe. According to common sense, the war horses from trade in the northern border and tribute from the Hu tribe should be able to meet Zhang Yu's cavalry riding needs. However, due to Zhang Yu's equipment standard for everyone to be equipped with horses, the troops under Zhang Yu's rule were short of horses. Only the most legitimate of the legitimate heirs, the National Defense Army, could provide infantry with horses.

Moreover, when Zhang Yu was on the western expedition to Longyou, he spared no effort in pursuing the Longyou troops, which resulted in many horses being killed or injured, and further aggravated the horse shortage in the army.

Yu Yi said: "Yi should select officials to go to Long as soon as possible to find a site for our army's pasture."

"good!"

Zhang Yu said: "Yuan Shu has sent a letter asking for horses. We will first sell a thousand horses to Yuan Shu. According to the market price in southern Jing, a thousand horses are worth two thousand horses. Our army will be able to make a profit from it, and then buy horses from the Xianbei."

"As ordered!"

(End of this chapter)