Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 107 Infertility, but a House Full of Children and Grandchildren (2)

Song Yan is skilled in medicine.

Song Hongtao wasn't sure where he learned it from; perhaps Mei Xue taught him? In any case, Song Yan's reputation as a young miracle doctor had spread throughout Songzhou Prefecture. In particular, the young masters of Songzhou Prefecture praised Song Yan to the skies, as if his medical skills were even more superb than those of Sun Shuji, the elusive successor of the Medicine King.

Therefore, when Song Yan took Lin Xiangwan's pulse, no one found it strange. However, seeing Song Yan's strange expression, Song Hongtao's heart skipped a beat for no reason: "Yan'er, is there a problem?"

call.

Song Yan let out a slight breath, suppressing the trace of pity in her eyes.

The next moment, a gentle smile, as warm as spring flowers, bloomed on her face: "Father, you are overthinking it."

"My aunt is in very good health."

"Also, tell Father some good news: Aunt is pregnant."

This is truly wonderful news! An infertile man has actually gotten his wife pregnant. Even the Guanyin Bodhisattva in the temple, who grants children, couldn't be this effective.

Who is this hero carrying the burden for Song Hongtao?

I wonder if I will be infertile in the future, and have a house full of children and grandchildren?

He used to think that Fang Hai's son Fang Jun's name was somewhat taboo, and that his wife, Princess Gaoyang, was a natural cuckold. But now it seems that Song Hongtao is the real cuckold. Since their marriage, the cuckold's hat has changed time and time again, showing no sign of coming off.

While secretly grumbling to himself, Song Yan did not tell Song Hongtao the truth, as this was a very useful handle.

Tell Song Hongtao the truth when he is about to die, so that Song Hongtao can at least be happy for a while. This is a great comfort to a poor old man. Song Yan thinks this is a good thing.

There is probably no son in the world more filial than him.

Thinking this, Song Yan smiled at Lin Xiangwan.

For some reason, although Song Yan's smile was very gentle, Lin Xiangwan felt a sudden jolt in her heart, and goosebumps inexplicably rose on the back of her hand.

Song Hongtao didn't think much of it. When he heard that Lin Xiangwan was pregnant, his face suddenly turned red, and he was so excited that he couldn't contain himself.

He's definitely my biological son now.

Song Hongtao almost burst into tears.

Heaven knows what kind of torment and suffering he endured during this time. He thought the Song family line was about to end, but now it seems that God has been kind to him and finally gave him a son.

Without thinking too much, after exchanging a few casual pleasantries, Song Hongtao invited Song Yan to return to the Duke's mansion that evening. He then hurriedly pulled Lin Xiangwan to the carriage to rest. Having a child late in life, he had to pamper him and ensure that no problems arose.

After packing up his things for the outing, Song Yan got back into the carriage. But this time the situation was a little different. Gu Banxia didn't stay by Song Yan's side as before. Instead, there were some strangers in the carriage, the veterans who had been scattered and turned into refugees.

The carriage was carpeted with velvet, far too luxurious for these veterans. They all seemed a little constrained, unsure where to put their feet. Thinking back to their days fighting on the frontier, when they often went hungry, the extravagant lifestyle of the nobles in the inner city made them feel a pang of sadness. Of course, they harbored no ill will towards Song Yan. They had heard countless times during their wanderings about Song Yan developing the wolf-tooth rake, creating the Mandarin Duck Formation, and burning thousands of Japanese pirates. Despite his youth, he was undoubtedly a ruthless man.

In the military, what matters most is ability. As long as you can kill the enemy, no one will look down on you, even if you are young.

The atmosphere in the carriage became somewhat awkward. After thinking for a moment, Song Yan spoke first: "Everyone, I don't know your identities yet."

The five men exchanged glances, and in the end, it was the man who had shouted "Hooray!" earlier, who seemed like a general, who cupped his hands and spoke first: "Your Excellency, I am Lei Yi."

"Lei Zhenghu!"

"Xue Qing!"

"Ding Dashan!"

"Gao Qiao!"

The five men then announced their names in turn, among which Lei Yi and Lei Zhenghu were brothers.

Song Yan nodded: "If I'm not mistaken, the five of you should be border troops from Liaodong."

The expressions of the group gradually turned serious. Song Yan could even feel Lei Yi's body tense up instantly, as if he was ready. Of course, he wasn't preparing to attack Song Yan, but rather to jump out of the car and escape at any moment.

As for the others, their faces betrayed their grief and indignation.

Just by looking at the people, Song Yan could sense that there was probably something wrong with them.

After thinking for a moment, Song Yan asked casually, "The weather turned cold quite quickly this year. It must be very cold in Liaodong by now, right?"

“What you say is true, sir.” Lei Zhenghu nodded and said in a deep voice, “The weather this year is really abnormal. In previous years, although the weather would start to get cold at this time, it would only be a few cold winds. This year, however, it has already been frost. When we left Liaodong, it had even snowed.”

Lei Zhenghu truly lives up to his name, he's enormous. Song Yan is now almost 1.8 meters tall, but he's still half a head shorter than Lei Zhenghu. Could it be that he grew up eating President Yao?

Due to the lack of food and clothing during this period, his body fat had become somewhat loose, and with a full beard, at first glance one might mistake him for Zhang Fei. The so-called snow particles were actually sleet.

A white, opaque solid precipitation, usually composed of a mixture of ice crystals and supercooled water droplets, about three millimeters in diameter, which is somewhere between rain and snow.

The presence of sleet indicates that the temperature in Liaodong has likely dropped below zero.

"It must be even colder over there in Haixi, right?"

Haixi is the area further north of Liaodong. It can also be considered a grassland, but unlike the boundless grasslands of the Xiongnu, Haixi is interspersed with jungles, rivers, and lakes of various sizes.

The Jurchen people living there could hunt and fish there.

"It's natural."

Because of Song Yan's fight against the Japanese pirates, although he was a nobleman, he was also regarded as one of their own by these people. Apart from Lei Yi, the others did not hide much from him.

"According to reports from some scouts, it has started snowing in Haixi. Because the snowfall came too suddenly, the Jurchens there did not have time to store up fodder for their cattle and sheep for the winter, resulting in a large number of cattle and sheep freezing to death. The river is frozen over, making it impossible to fish."

"Therefore, the Jurchens went south to raid for grain early this year."

Song Yan handed over several bottles of wine from the carriage. The men in the army were the most generous and loved to drink, but because of the rule that drinking was forbidden in the army, they were quite envious of these things. Even Lei Yi, who was always very vigilant, couldn't help but take a few sips.

Song Yan smiled and took a sip. The alcohol content was not high, but once it entered his stomach, he could feel a warm current flowing from his lower abdomen to his limbs and bones, dispelling the slight chill and leaving him feeling warm and comfortable.

He didn't care much about etiquette, wiping the water droplets from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. This unpretentious gesture made the others feel even more comfortable with him.

"There are 50,000 border troops in Liaodong. Although the Jurchen cavalry are fierce, they are not good at attacking cities."

"As for the Jurchen raids, the number of cavalry dispatched each time was not too large."

"With overwhelming troop superiority and control of the city, how could we possibly lose?"

Upon hearing this, the five men's expressions became somewhat subdued, and they slowly put down the wine bottles in their hands, the small bottles seeming particularly heavy at this moment.

For a moment, no one spoke.

The atmosphere inside the carriage was unusually oppressive.

Song Yan wasn't in a hurry; he just waited quietly.

After a long silence, Lei Yi finally sighed heavily, as if he had finally given up on something. He looked up at Song Yan and said, "I know you are a good person because you were able to lead the guards to resist the Japanese pirates. So I told you this."

"However, knowing these things may not be a good thing for a noble person; it may even cause unnecessary trouble."

Song Yan smiled and said, "It's alright. Brother Lei, just tell me what's on your mind. As you know, my mother is the Princess."

Lei Yi thought for a moment, perhaps feeling that the identity of the eldest princess was indeed significant, and then stopped hesitating: "Does Your Excellency know that although Liaodong nominally has 50,000 border troops, the actual number of soldiers is less than 20,000."

Even though Song Yan was mentally prepared, her face still twitched violently upon hearing these words.

Drawing a salary without working is considered a traditional virtue, and it has existed in every dynasty.

But this is truly the first time I've seen someone eat so much.

With fewer than 20,000 soldiers, the military pay was 50,000... Such an exaggerated ratio could probably only be compared to the late Ming Dynasty.

"This time, the Jurchens who went south to raid the grasslands numbered eight thousand cavalry. Normally, there would only be a little over ten thousand. With the advantage of the city, even if the Jurchens are brave and skilled in battle, they may not be able to stop us."

"However, the nominal general of the border defense army is General Dou Weiguo, but in reality, all of General Dou's commands are subject to the control of the supervising officer Qian Yaozu."

Military supervisor.

Upon hearing these two words, Song Yan couldn't help but sigh. Since ancient times, once a military supervisor appears in the army, the fighting capacity will drop sharply.

If the supervisors' power is limited, such as keeping marching records or preventing generals from ordering massacres after going on a killing spree, then the impact is not too great. What is truly frightening is when these supervisors possess the power to control everything.

Military supervisors were mostly civil officials.

Even eunuchs.

He doesn't understand military affairs, yet he insists on giving unsolicited advice.

From Lei Yi's tone, Song Yan could tell that the military supervisor from Ningguo was the latter.

"The border troops are mainly for defense, so they are mostly infantry. Qian Yaozu was ignorant of military affairs and actually ordered the city gates to be opened so that they could go out and fight the Jurchen cavalry in the open field."

Hey!
(End of this chapter)