After Dou got angry, she wanted to leave her two children behind and go to Xingyang alone.
Li Sanniang advised: "Mother, Sanlang is in much better health this year, and he is much more lively with Erlang. Erlang doesn't need to stay by his brother's bedside, and he is more lively than in previous years. If mother is not here, and grandmother is always very indulgent to her grandson, I am afraid I can't control them."
Dou was startled thinking that as soon as she left, Li Shimin would take Li Xuanba to the roof and remove the tiles.
So Dou took her two sons with her to Xingyang.
Daxing City is 450 kilometers away from Zhengzhou Xingyang, and it only takes five hours to drive there on the highway.
By this time, it would take at least three days to travel.
At this time, the soil fertility in Guanzhong and Guandong had declined, and Daxing City could hardly be self-sufficient in food, so it needed food support from the east. Therefore, the Wei River and the Yellow River were dredged from time to time to make them navigable.
However, the section of the Yellow River at Sanmenxia is very precipitous and the water transport is extremely dangerous. It is unknown how many ships have been lost there.
Even though this water transport route has been in use since the Qin Dynasty, it was only a last resort.
When Dou took her children out, she naturally would not choose to force her way across the dangerous Sanmenxia Gorge.
When they arrived near Sanmenxia, Dou took her two children off the boat, took a horse-drawn carriage to bypass the most dangerous section of the Yellow River, and then took a boat to Xingyang.
If Dou was traveling alone, after arriving near Sanmenxia, she would change to a horse carriage and go directly to Xingyang.
But the two children were young and the carriage was too bumpy, so they took the boat as much as possible. The time spent on the journey was not a big deal and there was no rush anyway.
After getting off the boat, Dou took Li Shimin and Li Xuanba to visit Sanmenxia and Dizhu Mountain.
Only nine meters of Dizhu Mountain is exposed above the river surface. In fact, it is like an iceberg, with a large volume underwater.
Dizhu Mountain lies right in the middle of the river and is the biggest killer of the Yellow River.
On the reef at the base of the Dizhu, successive dynasties dug three passages, called the "God Gate", "Ghost Gate" and "Human Gate". Canal transport ships could only pass smoothly along these three passages.
But in a turbulent river, it is difficult to see the situation below the river surface and it is difficult for boats to turn. How difficult is it to avoid deviating from the channel?
Therefore, the three gates of "God", "Ghost" and "Man" mean that "God", "Ghost" and "Man" are difficult to cross.
Li Xuanba is actually a chatterbox with a strong desire to share, otherwise after paying off the debts owed by his parents, the job he would have chosen for retirement would not be to be a marketing account editor.
Due to his sub-healthy physical condition and being tired after talking too much, Li Xuanba vented all his desire to share to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin looked up at Dizhu Mountain, listened with great interest, and asked some gossip about Dizhu Mountain from time to time.
The Dizhushan reef has always been a good place to cross the river, so it is also a place of contention for military strategists.
Li Xuanba knew all about the several river crossing battles at Dizhu Mountain. Li Shimin was so excited when he heard them that he wished he could take part in one of them himself.
"But Ah Xuan, since canal transportation is so dangerous, why not use land transportation?" Li Shimin wondered.
Li Xuanba explained to his second brother the difference between the costs of canal transportation and land transportation.
[However, after the fall of the Sui Dynasty, the navigation conditions of the Yellow River became worse. When the eastern part of the country transported grain to Guanzhong, the section from Luoyang to Shanzhou could only be transported by land, and then from Shanzhou to Chang'an, it could only be transported by water. Oh, Chang'an is Daxing.]
Li Shimin was stunned, then reached out and covered Li Xuanba's mouth.
Li Xuanba "wuwuwu", his face turning red.
Dou was curiously guessing what Sanlang was saying to Erlang, and when she saw Erlang being so excited, she hurried to rescue Li Xuanba from Li Shimin's clutches.
She blamed, "Erlang, what are you doing bullying your brother?!"
Li Shimin said: "I didn't bully you, mother, you don't know what he said... Forget it, it's better for mother not to know."
The little Li Shimin put his hands behind his back, looked up at the pillar of the nation and sighed.
He had to bear this pain alone.
Seeing Li Shimin's reaction, Dou asked in confusion: "Sanlang, what did you say to your Erlang?"
Li Xuanba said honestly, "I just said that the grain transport was difficult."
Dou was even more confused. What was there for Erlang to be excited about when he just said that the grain transport was difficult?
But no matter how she asked, the "confessions" of Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were very consistent.
It's just about water transport, nothing else to say except water transport!
Dou was helpless.
The twins have only shared their secrets with each other since they were little. As a mother, what can she do even if she feels a little jealous?
After getting on the carriage, Li Shimin and Li Xuanba immediately "reconciled". Li Shimin moved closer to his younger brother, continued to listen to his story, and whispered to him from time to time, asking him questions that his mother could not hear.
"The late emperor actually took hundreds of thousands of Daxing people to Luoyang to beg for food?"
[Yes, the same thing happened to the emperors later. They all lived in Luoyang and refused to return to Chang... Daxing.]
"Then why build the capital in Daxing?"
[This is very complicated, and we have to start from the Northern Wei Dynasty established by the Yuan family. ]
"You speak slowly, and I will listen slowly."
Li Shimin stuffed a candied fruit into his brother's mouth and then stuffed another candied fruit into his own mouth.
One for my brother and one for me; one for my brother and one for me.
When Li Xuanba said he didn't want to eat anymore, Li Shimin stuffed all the preserved fruit into his mouth, then took out some dried meat, broke it into pieces and gave one to his brother, one to me, one to his brother, one to me...
Li Xuanba said he didn't want to eat anymore, so Li Shimin changed it.
It was not until Li Xuanba said that he could not eat anymore that Li Shimin handed the cup of water to Li Xuanba, and then he ate his own food and continued to listen to the "story".
The historical stories told by Ah Xuan are much more interesting than reading history books by myself.
Dou was really curious, so she asked the two children what they were whispering about.
There is nothing in history that can be hidden from mother. Li Xuan said domineeringly: "I am talking to my brother about the Eight Pillars and the capital of Daxing."
"Eight Pillars of the State..." Dou waved to Li Shimin, telling him to stop rubbing against Li Xuanba, who was already sweating profusely.
Li Shimin moved to Dou's side and snuggled up to her without feeling hot.
"Do Erlang and Sanlang know who the eight generals are?" Dou asked.
Li Shimin nodded.
Li Xuanba also went over the matter of the Eight Pillars of the State in his mind.
The Eight Pillars of the Northern Wei Dynasty were Yuwen Tai, Yuan Xin, Li Hu, Li Bi, Zhao Gui, Yu Jin, Dugu Xin, and Houmochen Chong.
Li Hu was the great-grandfather of Li Shimin, and his descendants inherited the title of Duke of Tang in the Sui Dynasty; Li Bi's great-grandson was Li Mi, who would compete with Li Tang for the world, and his descendants inherited the title of Duke of Xing in the Sui Dynasty; Yu Jin was conferred the title of Duke of Yan in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and his descendants also inherited the title in the Sui Dynasty.
Zhao Gui was originally titled Duke of Chu in Northern Zhou, Dugu Xin was originally titled Duke of Wei in Northern Zhou, and Houmochen Chong was originally titled Duke of Liang in Northern Zhou. They were all involved in the struggle of the royal family of Northern Zhou and were killed. However, although their descendants did not inherit the title of Duke in the Sui Dynasty, they all held high positions and were all appointed as generals in the Sui Dynasty.
Yuwen Tai was the founder of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and his direct descendants had been massacred by Yang Jian; Yuan Xin was a member of the Northern Wei royal family, and was included in the Eight Pillars of the State. He represented the power of the Northern Wei emperor, and his power had declined during the change of dynasties.
However, in order to show their kindness to the previous dynasty, each emperor would appoint members of the royal family of the previous dynasty as officials. In particular, those who made outstanding contributions to the change of dynasties were deeply trusted by them. Therefore, although the Yuwen and Yuan royal families were destroyed, the Yuwen and Yuan families still had a high status in the Sui Dynasty.
Dou was also explaining to her two children what she knew about the Eight Pillar States: "The Eight Pillar States started in the Northern Wei Dynasty of the Yuan Dynasty, and went through the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty. They intermarried with each other and were of the same blood. Just like the Five Surnames and Seven Families, which also started in the Northern Wei Dynasty of the Yuan Dynasty."
"The former Northern Wei nobles represented by the Eight Pillars controlled the border troops, which were derived from the tribal system and were the 'military' of the Sui Dynasty. The Five Surnames and Seven Nobles once had private soldiers from Wubao, but now most of them have been incorporated into the government troops and can no longer use troops privately, supporting the 'civil' of the Sui Dynasty." Dou patted the back of Li Shimin's hand and said slowly, "The Five Surnames and Seven Nobles, like the descendants of the Eight Pillars, mostly intermarry with each other and do not marry outsiders."
"The position of the Great Sui imperial family is stable, and the world has been settled. I am afraid that those of us who hold military power will make His Majesty wary. Gradually switching from military to civil may be a necessary path." Dou smiled and said, "The wives of the Tang Guogong Mansion will no longer marry military generals, but will marry the noble Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan. Perhaps His Majesty will recognize our loyalty."
Dou was indeed very happy. Although her husband did not listen to her advice, she was still a little wary of the emperor and had a clear understanding of the future of the Tang Guogong Mansion.
Now that the world has been settled, it belongs to the Yang family and is no longer the world once shared by the military heroes of the Northern Zhou Dynasty as if elected by the tribes.
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, he continuously reduced the power of military honors.
Whether it was the mixture of Han and Hu soldiers in the palace troops, or letting princes replace the original Northern Zhou military heroes to lead the army, these were all manifestations of Emperor Wen of Sui weakening the military honors.
Moreover, after the empire was stabilized, there were not many wars left to fight. A military family should turn from military to civil, so that wealth and honor could last long.
The civil and military officials in this world are mutually transformative, without any clear boundaries. As long as the Duke of Tang's mansion is married to the Five Surnames and Seven Nobles, it can take advantage of the reputation of the Five Surnames and Seven Nobles to pursue a career in literature.
Most of Li Jiancheng's friends in Daxing City were from prominent families in Guanzhong, and he was quite famous among the children of the gentry.
Li Shimin raised his feet and said, "This marriage is very important to my family."
"Yes." Hearing Li Shimin's cute tone, Dou couldn't help but hug Li Shimin in her arms and rubbed him.
Li Xuanba moved quietly to the side.
Dou's not-so-young face showed a mischievous smile as if she were still a 28-year-old girl. She pulled Li Xuanba, who wanted to hide away, into her arms and rubbed him together.
Li Xuanba said weakly, "Mom, it's so hot in here."
Dou smiled and said, "Mother is not hot."
Li Shimin said: "I'm not hot either!"
Li Xuan said domineeringly: "But I'm hot."
Li Shimin said, "Ah Xuan, you can't be unfilial. Mother and brother are not hot, and neither are you. Be good."
Li Xuanba: "…"
I really want to pull out the tuft of hair left on my second brother's forehead. So angry!
...
Knowing the necessity of marrying into the Five Surnames and Seven Families, the flame of fighting spirit ignited in Li Shimin's eyes.
Li Xuanba felt that his second brother was sick.
It's not you who's getting married, why are you so excited?
But Li Shimin was ignited, and the twin Li Xuanba could only be passively ignited by Li Shimin.
"Tell me, brother, what are you going to do?" Li Xuanba was dizzy from being shaken by Li Shimin. "Go to sleep after that. I'm sleepy."
Li Shimin smirked: "You said that if we go to the Zheng family, they will definitely test our knowledge so that we can judge our brother's knowledge."
Li Xuanba immediately guessed what his second brother wanted to do: "You want me to help you cheat?"
Li Shimin said seriously: "What do you mean you helped me cheat? We cheated together... No, we beat them with our own abilities, how can that be called cheating?"
Although Li Xuanba didn't want to save face for Li Jiancheng, every time traveler would like to "slap" the aristocratic family.
What is cheating? Isn't plug-in our own ability? We won by our own ability!
"But if we take the initiative to provoke the Zheng family, I'm afraid it will lower their impression of us." Li Xuanba burned a little, and immediately returned to being incombustible. He yawned and said, "Go to sleep and don't make trouble. It's not easy to see your father once. Do you want to be beaten by your father?"
Li Shimin muttered: "Yeah, I won't beat me...Okay, I won't take the initiative to provoke you. What if they take the initiative to provoke us?"
Li Xuanba narrowed his eyes and said, "They are seeking death."
"Hehe." Li Shimin crawled into bed, "Good night, Xuan."
"Well, good night..." Li Xuanba yawned a few more times and finally fell asleep.
The temporary inn we found was rather simple, and the bed could not accommodate one adult and two children.
Dou asked her servants to sleep on the floor in the corridor outside the door, and she slept next door.
She tossed and turned, feeling uneasy, and came to visit her two children, dressed in clothes, to see how they were sleeping.
Then, she heard the two naughty kids' plan to "slap her in the face".
Dou smiled helplessly and went back to her room to sleep peacefully.
They still have the mental preparation to do bad things, and it seems they can sleep well.
Another half day passed, and Dou and her two children finally arrived in Xingyang.
Li Yuan skipped his official duties early and waited outside the city.
The carriage stopped and Li Yuan just got off the horse when a little fat boy rushed over.
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"Yeah yeah!"
Li Shimin jumped up from the spot, and Li Yuan leaned down to catch him, and Li Shimin hung steadily on Li Yuan's neck.
"Oh, yeah, Erlang has gained weight again." Li Yuan smiled and rubbed his second son's face.
Li Shimin smiled and rubbed back: "I'm not heavier, I've grown up. Ah Xuan has grown up too."
Only then did Li Yuan see the short child with short arms and legs who was trying to help his mother out of the carriage.
Li Xuanba bowed respectfully: "Greetings, father. I hope you are well."
"Okay, very good." Li Yuan was a little embarrassed.
Why is this kid so polite? He doesn't know how to respond.
Not only did Li Shimin hang his hands on Li Yuan's neck, but his short legs were also clinging to Li Yuan, like a sloth.
"Ah Xuan, come here quickly and let Ye Ye hug you too." The sloth Li Shimin enthusiastically invited Li Xuanba to come and be a sloth as well.
Li Xuanba took a step back and hid behind Dou, pretending to be shy: "I can't."
Li Yuan looked at his timid third son, then weighed his second son in his arms, thinking that his second son was better.
Dou pulled Li Xuanba out from behind her and said, "It's been a long time since I last saw Yeye. Hurry up and learn from Erlang and get close to Yeye. If you miss this opportunity, you won't know when you'll see Yeye again."
Li Yuan joked, "Madam, are you blaming me?"
Dou laughed and said, "How dare I?"
Li Xuanba said with a mature manner: "Okay."
He moved towards Li Yuan step by step, then leaned against Li Yuan perfunctorily.
Li Yuan: "…"
Li Shimin leaned close to his father's ear and whispered, "Ah Xuan is always very concerned about his reputation. Whenever he is concerned about his reputation, the queen will hold Ah Xuan in her arms and rub his head hard. Ye Ye, come too! His reaction will be very funny."
After saying that, he let go of the hands and feet that were wrapped around Li Yuan, signaled his father to put him on the ground, and quickly went to "bully" his younger brother.
A sly smile appeared on Li Yuan's face.
He put Li Shimin down, then suddenly picked up Li Xuanba and threw him into the sky.
Li Xuanba's eyes were as big as bells, and he was thrown up by Li Yuan, caught, and thrown up again.
Li Yuan was an expert archer who could fire seventy arrows in a row. He had amazing arm strength and could easily throw a child.
Dou's face changed drastically: "My dear! Don't scare Sanlang!"
Li Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I can definitely catch him!"
Li Shimin looked at his brother's embarrassment and laughed out loud.
Seeing that his father and second brother wanted to laugh at him, Li Xuanba closed his eyes stubbornly, hugged his knees and huddled into a ball, refusing to beg for mercy as they wished.
Li Yuan looked at his third son, who was curled up into a ball with a stubborn look on his face, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Just as Jilang said, the third son is really fun!
Dou was so anxious that she was spinning in place, but she didn't dare to try to snatch her son away for fear of throwing him to the ground. She could only shout in vain at her husband to stop, and then she punched Li Shimin hard on the head for mocking his brother.
Li Shimin held his head and said, "Ouch!"
Li Xuanba opened his eyes, saw his brother being beaten, and smiled.
Dou couldn't help it and laughed with her hands covering her mouth.
A family of four was blocking the middle of the road and laughing together, causing passers-by who wanted to scold them for blocking the road to smile and shake their heads, sigh, making the long-parted reunion of the family feel a little more warm.
"Come on, Yeye will take you to eat something delicious!"
"Okay yeah!"
"Yes, father."
"Yeah yeah."
"No."
"Yeah, tickle Xuan! Xuan is most afraid of being tickled!"
"Li Shimin!!! Ah, hahahaha, I was wrong, I was wrong, yeah yeah, yeah yeah, I was wrong."
Dou wiped away the tears from her laughter, and all the frustration she had from the housework in Duke Tang's mansion was swept away, and her mood seemed to be lifted.
…
After the mediation of the bad boy Li Shimin, although Li Xuanba was unwilling to be too close to Li Yuan, he had to do so.
Otherwise this shameless father will tickle him.
Li Xuan rode on Li Shimin so arrogantly and punched his second brother.
Li Shimin was beaten so hard by the "infinitely powerful" Li Xuanba that he cried out in pain.
When Li Xuanba fell to the side gasping for breath due to exhaustion, Li Shimin jumped up and down on the bed, making faces and mocking his brother for not hurting him at all.
Li Xuan rolled his eyes in angrily.
If I were really the powerful Li Xuanba in the novel, I would definitely hang you on a tree!
The energetic Li Shimin only rested for one day before pulling Li Xuanba to prepare for the test by the Zheng family.
Although he did not take the initiative to attack, what if the Zheng family provoked him first?
Li Xuanba could only accompany his brother to flip through the book and prepare for the possible provocations in advance.
On the other hand, Dou felt a little worried after hearing what Li Yuan said.
"Are there no girls of the right age?" Dou said, "The closest girl would have to make Dalang wait for ten years, and Dalang is already sixteen!"
Li Yuan said calmly, "Girls from the five surnames and seven noble families are all betrothed at around ten years old, so how can they be of the right age for Dalang? The clan wives of our Tang Guogong Mansion must not only be the main wife of Zheng family from Xingyang, but also the daughters of high-ranking officials."
It doesn't matter whether a woman is legitimate or illegitimate when she gets married. Both of Li Yuan's illegitimate daughters married well.
For the aristocratic families, the daughters of the main branch of the main house were the most honorable; and the woman that Li Yuan wanted to marry privately had to have a father with a high official position, otherwise, just being a "Xingyang Zheng" would not be able to help the Duke of Tang's Mansion.
After much deliberation, Li Yuan found the daughter of Zheng Jibo, the governor of Gaozhou, to be the most suitable.
But the daughter of Zheng Jibo, the governor of Gaozhou, is only six years old now, the same age as Li Shimin and Li Xuanba.
Dou hesitated and said, "Since he is the same age as Erlang and Sanlang..."
Li Yuan reprimanded him, "I know you love Erlang and Sanlang more because they grew up by your side, but the order of seniority should not be messed up! If Erlang and Sanlang marry the daughters of the first wives of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan, how noble will the clan wives have to be to suppress them? My cousin doesn't have a daughter of the right age to marry Dalang!"
Dou lowered her head and said, "I spoke out of turn, please don't be angry, my lord. I just thought that maybe Erlang and Sanlang could get engaged to the daughters of the Zheng family's side branches, and maybe Dalang could find a daughter from another family of the Five Surnames and Seven Families?"
Li Yuan shook his head: "How can it be that easy? Although the Five Surnames and Seven Families are not as powerful as us now, they are very arrogant because of their ancestors' influence. If Dalang and the Zheng family fail to reach an agreement, the other families will definitely not propose marriage to Dalang because they are related to the Zheng family. That would offend the Zheng family."
Dou was very distressed: "So should Dalang wait for the young lady of the Zheng family for ten years? Can the young lady of the Zheng family be married earlier?"
Li Yuan shook his head again: "No. Zheng Jibo loves his daughter and insists that she marry at the age of sixteen."
Dou was angry and said, "Hasn't the Zheng family already made their decision? Why are you asking me to come and discuss this?"
Li Yuan held the back of Dou's hand and patted it: "This is not a pre-arranged plan. Do you think it's so easy to marry the daughter of the Zheng family? If I hadn't been the governor of Zhengzhou and the governor of Xingyang, I would have given them a lot of conveniences, and it wouldn't have been our turn."
Dou gritted her teeth and said, "You mean, they asked me to come here to pick on my Dalang?"
Li Yuan sighed and said, "Madam, the daughters of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan are indeed precious, please be patient."
The Zheng family invited Dou to be their guest this time because they really wanted to see Dou's character and personality and whether she was worthy of marrying into the Zheng family.
For the Zheng family, daughters who do not marry into the five surnames and seven famous families must carefully choose their in-laws to avoid bringing disgrace to their family.
But for Dou, this was really an insult.
Dou's mother was the Princess of Xiangyang of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Her father was from a family of the Eight Pillars of the State and married Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, who was also a descendant of the Eight Pillars of the State. Li Yuan's mother was the sister of the former queen.
The Tang Guogong Mansion can proudly say that they are a royal family and a noble family. But in terms of power in the court, the Zheng family, which only has one door left, cannot catch up.
The Dou family does not think that their status and position are inferior to that of the Zheng family, who only rely on the dry bones in the tomb.
But seeing that Li Yuan was determined to make this marriage, if the Duke of Tang's Mansion did not want to choose a daughter-in-law from among the nobles, only the daughters of the five surnames and seven families would be suitable. Dou could only swallow her anger and said, "Then I will go and meet Zheng. I want to see how powerful Zheng is."
Li Yuan consoled her: "Of course I am not as smart as you, Madam."
Dou rolled her eyes and smiled, "Then I'll take Erlang and Sanlang with me."
Li Yuan said: "They will definitely test Erlang and Sanlang, if..."
Dou said, "No ifs. My dear, you can trust Erlang and Sanlang. But I have only one request."
Li Yuan said, "Madam, please speak." He did feel a little guilty for letting his wife go to Zheng's house and suffer humiliation in order to arrange this marriage.
Dou snorted coldly, "If Zheng wants to marry Erlang and Sanlang, you must refuse!"
Li Yuan was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Okay! Our family can only have one daughter of Zheng. Even if they beg me, we won't give Erlang and Sanlang to them."
Only then did Dou calm down.
Humph, wait until you see Erlang and Sanlang, you will regret it!