Chapter 132: Making the Bed in Lingzhou
September 17th, the day before the wedding.

To "open a house".

Early in the morning, the Sheng family sent Changbai, Rulan and Liu Mama to the Yang family to decorate the bridal chamber. Some dowry was also delivered in advance in the accompanying motorcade, including curtains, bedding and other utensils for the bridal chamber.

Yang Wenyuan got married. Although Yang Wenyan had been in Lingzhou before, fortunately he was under the command of Ningyuan Hou Gu Yankai. After some pleading, he was granted leave. He traveled all the way and just managed to get back yesterday. However, he has to set off again the day after tomorrow.

Yang Wenyan was tall, with a typical square face. He had none of the frailty of a son of a noble family; he looked more like a mighty general.

In front of Yang's house.

Yang Wenyan warmly welcomed Changbai and Rulan in, and then invited everyone to go to the prepared wedding room.

The bridal chamber was well-equipped with beds, mats, tables, chairs and other furniture.

Mother Liu walked in and took a look around, then asked the maids accompanying her to take out the home textiles she had brought from home.

First, she directed the hanging of the curtains, and then arranged for everyone to spread out the bedding, and put in place the dressing table, utensils, jewellery and other items.

Mother Liu then signaled Changbai and Rulan to warm up the room.

After everything was ready, everyone quickly left the room and closed the door.

The female servants accompanying this time were all the dowry maids that the Sheng family had already arranged. Mother Liu asked them to guard the surroundings and not allow outsiders to enter, waiting for the newlyweds.

After the matter was settled, Yang Wenyan immediately invited Changbai and Rulan to the banquet that had been prepared. Yang Ruijin also appeared at the right time and moved next to Rulan.

Ever since Nanny Kong went to the Sheng family to teach etiquette, Rulan has had no free time. The two close friends haven't seen each other for a long time. Now it's a happy occasion for both families, so they immediately held hands and whispered to each other happily.

And Changbai also looked at Yang Wenyan with shining eyes!
Changbai has been concerned about family and national affairs since he was a child.

At present, the Great Zhou is prosperous. The only thing to worry about is that the country's martial virtue is not sufficient, which leads to instability in the border. Therefore, he pays great attention to military issues.

When in Yangzhou, it was a geomancy map of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that brought together a well-behaved gentleman and a dissolute young man, who shared the same love for their country and family, to become close friends.

At the moment, based on the news from Yang Wenyuan and his father Sheng Hong, Changbai has vaguely realized that the imperial court is about to start a war with Western Xia. Lingzhou is the fuse between the two sides and is very likely to be the main battlefield between the two countries in the future.

And Yang Wenyan had just returned from Lingzhou!

What you learn from books is always shallow. There is a person of high status right in front of you. How can Changbai not be excited?
Thinking this in his mind, Changbai spoke to Yang Wenyan more enthusiastically.

Yang Wenyan couldn't help but be stunned by the unusual behavior of the scholar in front of him.

Originally, Yang Wenyan heard from his cousin Yang Wenyuan that the brother-in-law of the Sheng family was an unusual scholar and was not as biased as others in distinguishing between civil and military affairs. He did not take it seriously, but now seeing Changbai's current performance, Yang Wenyan thought to himself that it was strange: what his cousin said was right, but also wrong.

It's true that Sheng Changbai doesn't look down on the military, but now he actually seems to be praising them. What does this mean?
Yang Wenyan knew that the young man in front of him, like Yang Wenyuan, had just passed the imperial examination and was full of vigor and vitality. Therefore, he did not think that it was his unfounded "kingly and domineering spirit" that made him so diligent and enthusiastic.

Could it be that he really likes the military?

Yang Wenyan tilted his head, glanced at Changbai's slightly thin body, and thought to himself what a pity.

But then he was relieved.

This man had a smooth path to the imperial examination, and I was overthinking it. At the banquet, Changbai pulled Yang Wenyan and called him brother, and then asked about the relevant matters in Lingzhou.

Yang Wenyan guessed what he wanted to ask.

Taking the relationship between the two families into consideration, Changbai had no discrimination against this "rough warrior" and was very respectful of him, so he spoke freely. Except for some particularly important military secrets, he told him everything.

Knowing that the imperial court was sending troops to Xixia, and that all the dignitaries in the hall had made it clear that they must fight, Changbai could not help but feel excited and said in a clear voice:
"As it should be! A small country on the border actually dares to provoke our Great Zhou. Do you really think that everyone in our Great Zhou can be bullied?!"

Compared to Changbai's excitement, Yang Wenyan, who has been in the army for many years, is not so optimistic.

Considering Changbai's close relationship and potential, he thought for a moment and said:
"I know you have a passion in your heart, but the outcome of this battle is still uncertain. Don't be blindly optimistic."

Changbai knew that he was still a layman, so he bowed sincerely and asked respectfully:

"Please teach me, Brother Yan!"

Yang Wenyan nodded and replied:

"On paper, our Great Zhou has a large number of troops in recent years, but in reality, that's not the case. Even in the capital, if someone in your family serves in the imperial army, you'll find that the number of people on duty is far from enough, not to mention the local army."

Yang Wenyan saw Changbai's expression froze, and continued:
"Logically speaking, the elite troops of the Great Zhou should all be in the Imperial Guards to protect the Imperial City, but you are one of us, so I will tell you the truth. There is a saying among us military nobles that the Imperial Guards, the Hebei Army and the Capital Army, are all useless, and only the Shaanxi Army can be used."

At this time, Yang Wenyan said lightly:
"But in this dispute between the Great Zhou and Western Xia, Your Majesty has already said that the Shaanxi army must stay where they are, in case the Western Xia army is defeated and heads straight for the capital."

"This...?" Changbai looked incredulous.

If it is true as Yang Wenyan said, that the government did not allow the Shaanxi Army to be mobilized for the battle of Lingzhou, then wouldn’t the soldiers mobilized by the Great Zhou all be “old, weak, sick and disabled”?
The capable troops don't go to the front line, but instead watch the battle from behind?

And they consider defeat before the battle even begins.

In any case, this move is not conducive to military morale.

If it weren't for his duty of loyalty to the emperor and the country, Changbai would have said, "Your Majesty is confused!"

"Then is this battle still necessary?" Changbai hesitated.

In this way, it seems that this battle has already shown signs of defeat before it even started.

Is there any need to fight then?

Yang Wenyan glared and shouted:

"Fight, of course we have to fight! Lingzhou is the only place in our Great Zhou where horses are raised. If it is occupied like the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, then the 'annual gift' will have to be increased several times in the future!"

For the military strategists of the Great Zhou, annual grants and annual tributes are the unspeakable pain in their hearts!
Obviously, the war could still be fought, as the Liao Kingdom was already powerless. However, even though they were very excited in the court, the war was still forcibly stopped by the previous emperor, thus "making" the two countries reconcile.

This also led to officials and emperors seeing the "benefits of peace talks". Even in Western Xia, the court and the people used the merchant mentality that the input and output were not proportional, and also paid annual tribute!

It was just that in order to have a better reputation, the word "Sui Ci" was adopted.

(End of this chapter)