On the grill, skewers of mutton were sizzling with oil, emitting a crisp and enticing sound.

Zheng Boye grabbed a small pinch of cumin and liberally sprinkled it on top.

Beside him, Liu Ruqing was wiping the sweat from his forehead.

In the courtyard,

only Zheng Boye and Liu Ruqing were present.

The Princess was writing a family letter, which would be attached to the documents presented to the Chu court after the imperial edict conferring the title of Marquis arrived, serving as the Marquisate's first diplomatic overture to Chu.

This letter actually contained the attitude of the Marquisate of Jidong towards its neighbor, the Chu Kingdom, for the next few years.

Having the Princess include her family letter was a more eloquent statement than words could convey.

Political marriages were never reliable.

When faced with real interests, so-called alliances and the affections of family members were nothing but a joke.

Throughout history, not to mention patricide and usurpation, how rare were cases of close nephews, cousins, and in-laws swallowing each other up or stabbing each other in the back?

Even the idea of commoners overthrowing everything to become masters was a rare occurrence; upon closer inspection, most dynastic changes and power shifts revealed kinship between the parties involved.

But still,

having this relationship,

allowed for a more natural and smoother period of "rest and recuperation" when both sides needed it, providing a suitable explanation both internally and externally.

Therefore, this family letter held great political significance.

The Princess naturally did not care about the safety of the people of both countries or whether they would face war and invasion.

Well, no,

the Princess did care somewhat about the soldiers and civilians of Xuehai Pass.

According to the Blind Man's report,

during Zheng Boye's absence on the campaign,

the Princess had repeatedly represented Zheng Boye, as the Boye's wife, to comfort the orphaned and widowed families of the standard households and the retired veterans who had been disabled on the battlefield.

The Princess would hold their hands and express her concern.

Seeing that winter was approaching and the New Year was coming, she would ask if they had enough food to get through the winter and if they had prepared enough New Year's goods.

The effect was excellent, and she received immense gratitude.

Many soldiers and civilians of Xuehai Pass revered the noble Princess as a living Bodhisattva.

Then,

everyone seemed to have overlooked one thing:

the majority of the young and middle-aged men in Xuehai Pass were currently attacking the Chu Kingdom, the very country from which this noble Princess came.

The Princess cared about the soldiers and civilians of Xuehai Pass because she understood that it was her husband's foundation, and also the foundation that her son could share in the future.

Although that day,

her husband had watched the Heir of Jingnan crawling on the map,

and uttered those rebellious words,

vaguely revealing that even if he conquered the country in the future, he would give it to the Heir of Jingnan to repay the favor.

But the Princess was not worried about this.

Firstly, because her husband had no children yet.

Only without children,

could he be so generous.

Once he had children, he would naturally want the best for them.

Secondly,

the Jingnan King was still the Jingnan King, and although the Jingnan King's Heir's official status was unclear, he still had a great deal of influence.

But what about five years from now?

What about ten years from now?

What about twenty or thirty years from now,

when the world was truly at peace again?

Could the bloodline of the Jingnan King

really compare to the bloodline of the Earl of Pingye of Great Yan?

Would the people,

the soldiers,

allow someone who was not a descendant of their own Boye to be enthroned as emperor?

Therefore,

the Princess was unwilling to think too much about things that were still uncertain. She was now in seclusion, carefully considering this family letter, wanting to write it appropriately.

Firstly, to do something for her husband, a political task that her husband had personally entrusted to her.

Secondly, this family letter also concerned her dignity as a Chu Princess when she returned to Chu to visit her family, and it concerned her political influence in Chu.

She liked prestige and power, and she had never hidden this, but had confessed it to her husband, who did not mind it at all.

Therefore,

with the Princess busy with official duties,

in the backyard of the Marquisate,

only Zheng Boye and Liu Ruqing were able to enjoy some leisure.

Zheng Boye's one hand quietly reached out;

like his thousand-mile raid on Xuehai Pass,

and then,

a horizontal stroke,

a vertical stroke,

a left-falling stroke,

a right-falling stroke.

"Hiss..."

Suddenly, it was as swift as the waves of the Wang River, surging southwards;

suddenly, it was as vigorous as the fires of Jing City, continuous and unending.

Liu Ruqing bit her lower lip tightly,

leaning forward involuntarily,

and said charmingly,

"Uncle~~~~~~"

Zheng Boye's whole heart trembled with it.

It was this sound,

it was this tone,

it was this coy reluctance;

"Ruqing, turn the meat over."

"Yes, Boye~~"

Liu Ruqing reached out to turn the skewers of meat on the grill,

her body trembling from time to time.

Looking back,

she gave her own Boye a very resentful look,

and then,

she could only helplessly continue to turn the meat skewers.

She was extremely娇羞,

but she couldn't refuse,

and after closing them from time to time,

she had to open a slight gap,

she couldn't let him mistreat her,

she couldn't let him not mistreat her,

she couldn't let him think she was casual,

she couldn't let him think she was not casual at all;

In the end, she had given him her heart and her future,

and she could only let him do as he pleased,

pleased~~

"Boye, the barbecue... is ready."

Zheng Fan nodded,

withdrew his hand,

and Liu Ruqing picked up a towel that was placed beside her to help him wipe it.

Immediately,

Zheng Boye took a skewer of meat and ate it;

In fact, the taste of barbecue was just the taste of barbecue. Rather than saying he was eating meat, it was more like he was eating seasoning.

Eating barbecue was all about the mood, the environment, and who you were with.

Liu Ruqing also ate. She wasn't too formal. She held the skewer in one hand and lifted a strand of her beautiful hair with the other, eating with her face slightly tilted.

It could only be said that,

a truly beautiful person,

didn't need to do too much,

she was beautiful in herself.

Zheng Boye's heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Coming back from fighting outside,

teasing his beautiful concubine,

that was life, that was how to live.

"Boye, I'm full."

Eating meat was easy to fill you up.

Zheng Boye nodded, picked up the skewer again, put it back on the grill and continued to grill it, while saying:

"Send word, let those few come in."

"Yes, Boye."

Liu Ruqing went down.

Zheng Boye reached out and gently stroked his chin.

Saying he was leisurely, saying he was on vacation, saying he didn't want to be disturbed by things, but once he was in the game, how could he completely detach himself?

It was fine when he wasn't there,

but now that he was in Xuehai Pass,

some things,

still had to be dealt with by him personally.

Before long, several tribal chiefs of the wildlings and some young men wearing the armor of the Xuehai Pass Marquisate's guards walked in and knelt down together to Zheng Boye, who was grilling skewers.

"Greetings, Boye."

"Greetings, Boye."

Zheng Boye withdrew his hand from grilling the skewers,

reached out and pointed to a young guard, and then pointed to the grill.

The guard understood and immediately got up to take over the job of grilling the skewers.

Today, Zheng Boye was wearing a grizzly bear fur coat, made by Si Niang, with gold trim around the neck, looking mighty and restrained.

With both hands in his sleeves,

Zheng Boye, sitting in the chair, leaned back slightly,

leaning against the chair,

his gaze,

swept over the people kneeling on the ground,

not in a hurry to tell them to get up.

In the courtyard,

only the sound of oil sizzling from the skewers remained.

After a while,

Zheng Boye opened his mouth and said:

"Hailan Yanggu, long time no see, you've gotten richer."

Hailan Yanggu, the chief of the Hailan tribe, who was kneeling on the ground, immediately kowtowed and said:

"Thanks to your protection, Boye, our Hailan tribe has abundant pastures. I usually can't help but eat a few more mouthfuls of meat and drink a few more mouthfuls of wine, so, this, my body, has grown."

"Hahahaha, you have good fortune. This Boye just returned from a campaign a few days ago, and this Boye's wife said that this Marquis has lost weight."

Hailan Yanggu's heart trembled,

and he immediately said:

"Boye is still extraordinarily brave and martial. In my eyes, Boye is the star on this snowfield, high above, shining in all directions!"

"Hailan Yanggu."

"I am here."

"Raise your head and let this Boye take a good look at you."

Hearing this, Hailan Yanggu obediently raised his head.

On his face, there were two whip marks that, although faded a lot, were still clearly visible.

These two whips,

were personally drawn by Zheng Fan.

"Do you still want to be whipped on the face?"

"I, I know my sin, I know my sin!"

In fact, Hailan Yanggu really didn't know what sin he had committed, but at this time he could only plead guilty.

"Oh, how can we let you, the great patriarch of Hailan, confess your sin? You, what sin do you have?"

"I am guilty, I am guilty!"

"Good, where is your sin?"

"This... this..."

"You are not guilty."

"No, no, no, I am guilty, I am guilty."

"No, you are not guilty. Not only you, but also you, you, you, you few chieftains, were the first to attach to my Xuehai Pass and the first to submit to this Boye. You are the most loyal to this Boye on this snowfield.

Isn't that so?"

Hailan Yanggu and the other chieftains immediately kowtowed and said:

"We swear to be loyal to the Earl of Pingye to the death."

When Zheng Fan first arrived at Xuehai Pass, the Hailan tribe was just a small tribe close to Xuehai Pass, with a population of only two thousand people.

But as Zheng Fan led the Yan army to sweep the snowfield several times, creating a certain vacuum on the snowfield, these small tribes that had originally submitted to Xuehai Pass ushered in an opportunity for rapid development.

Backed by the Yan people, they were "using the fox's prestige to scare the tiger" on the snowfield. Not to mention the entire snowfield, but at least this area close to the south, these former small tribes were making a lot of money.

Taking the Hailan tribe, which had only two thousand members in the past, as an example, the population of the Hailan tribe is now no less than fifty thousand!

Yes, no less than fifty thousand, not counting the small tribes attached to the Hailan tribe.

According to the ratio of one soldier per five people, the Hailan tribe now has more than ten thousand warriors!

The former little guy, since becoming a dog of the Yan people, has grown into a new Tibetan Mastiff on the snowfield.

Of course, their combat power remains to be questioned. Even with ten thousand warriors, Xuehai Pass could probably crush them with three thousand riders with their eyes closed.

After all, the ethnic groups were annexed too quickly, and the sense of belonging and lower-level governance could not be implemented in time. It was nothing more than another form of mountain king combination.

Zheng Fan smiled,

In the courtyard,

only he was smiling.

The others did not dare to ask why Boye was suddenly laughing. The more Zheng Fan was like this, the more frightened they became.

Although the Yan army had never entered the snowfield on a large scale, their several sweeps of the border were always victorious, and the ratio of victories to losses was extremely exaggerated, causing the wildlings on the snowfield to have a reverence for the Yan people and the Black Dragon Banner from the bottom of their hearts.

"This Boye, will reward you well!"

Zheng Fan paused,

and said:

"Hailan Kecha, Hailan Bogu..."

Zheng Boye spoke out the names of more than a dozen of his personal guards present in one breath.

These guards had been following him since last year.

They were all sons of these tribal chiefs.

"This Boye will appoint you as military advisors."

Appointing more than a dozen military advisors in one breath was definitely a big deal.

But considering that Zheng Boye would soon be promoted to Marquis Zheng, these were nothing.

Personal guards were like the leader's secretary. It was a common practice in the army for personal guards to be sent out to lead troops. The Four Great Nations were all like this.

Of course,

appointing an official was just appointing an official,

A military advisor must have at least a battalion of soldiers under his command, right?

Zheng Boye would not send a single soldier,

or even,

a single piece of military equipment.

They were all sons of snowfield tribal chiefs,

After I conferred an official position upon their heads,

they should be grateful.

Then,

they should take out their family fortune,

to add warriors, add war horses, and add military equipment to their sons.

Warriors and war horses were easy to obtain.

But what about military equipment?

The smelting technology of the snowfield was not up to par. Furthermore, the Xuehai Army was about to usher in a new round of equipment upgrades. He couldn't let his son's troops be tattered or mixed, right?

This was not a problem,

they could buy it,

place orders with the Xuehai Pass Foundry,

gold and silver could be used to pay,

cattle, sheep, and horses,

could also be used to pay,

tribesmen working in the various workshops of Xuehai Pass, they, could also offset the payment.

They could even,

take it on credit first,

and pay it back when the pastures were lush and the cattle and sheep were fat next year!

The group of chieftains, led by Hailan Yanggu, were first stunned, then panicked, then hollow, and finally, forcibly ecstatic,

and kowtowed together;

"Thank you, Boye, for the reward, Boye's great kindness and virtue will forever illuminate the snowfield!"

"Thank you, Boye, for the reward!"

"Boye's grace is boundless!"

More than a dozen military advisor positions,

were issued just like that.

To put it bluntly,

it was nothing more than another version of Zheng Boye's trick of coaxing the Grand Prince to the snowfield with a carved radish seal.

These official titles, for Zheng Boye, actually had no cost at all.

But Zheng Boye could immediately harvest,

nearly 20,000 wildling cavalry!

These wildling cavalry were all skilled in horsemanship, the war horses were of high quality, and they would purchase military equipment from the official foundry at their own expense.

This not only added a new force to his hands,

but also greatly weakened the power of these tribes who were relying on his big tree to enjoy the cool on the snowfield.

Dogs,

had to be fed,

but not too fat,

if they were too fat, their courage would also grow,

and they might bite their master.

Bleeding them in an orderly manner,

Zheng Boye's trick,

could be described as deeply versed in the scientific development of continuous harvesting of leeks.

As for the problem of combat power,

there was no need to worry,

the differences between human races were actually not that big, at least, not as big as imagined.

You could say that the combat power of the wildlings was not good, and they were often beaten violently by the Yan army with a fraction of their strength.

But the Wildling King had once led the wildlings into Xuehai Pass and defeated Situ Lei and the Grand Prince's eastern expedition army.

These wildling cavalry, if divided, each belonging to each town, dispersed, and kneaded, would be digested.

Under unified training,

they would surely be another elite force!

With A Cheng, Gou Moli, and now Jin Shuke and other newly emerging generals, coupled with the ideological and political education of the Blind Man's men, Zheng Boye was really not worried about training soldiers at all.

Two major passes and one city,

the land of Jidong,

had expanded too quickly and too much at once,

was the strength enough?

It was certainly not enough.

Therefore,

wildling soldiers had to be used at this time. Fortunately, with the First Town in front, Gou Moli had already contributed enough sincerity with the blood of the wildlings during the war against Chu. If wildling soldiers were used again, the resistance of the local military and civilians would be much weaker.

Moreover,

the military town system established in imitation of the "Eight Banners" could greatly weaken ethnic divisions, integrate war and production, and form a new system of belonging with the standard households, the battalions, the towns, and then, at the very top, Zheng Boye as the core.

The situation that Huang Taiji faced was actually similar to that of Zheng Boye now, so Huang Taiji changed the Jurchen to the Manchu.

Zheng Boye was the same.

He was nominally a Yan person,

but the number of Yan soldiers under Zheng Boye only accounted for a small part.

There was a ready-made successful example in front, why not use it?

Of course, this wildling army would not all belong to the Wildling King's First Town, but would be distributed evenly.

The Wildling King could lead troops in the future, but most of the time, he would have to stay by Zheng Boye's side as a military advisor.

It was impossible for him to have a large-scale, purely wildling army to deploy. Not to mention that Zheng Boye would feel uncomfortable, even Gou Moli would probably feel a chill down his spine.

In addition to the wildling army, the recruitment of young men from the Jin refugees and the auxiliary soldiers from Yan would be quickly absorbed into the Xuehai Army in a short period of time, including the part that was intercepted with the tacit approval of the Jingnan King.

Equipment, training, and ideological and political education could only be postponed for now.

In short,

the manpower and the battalions had to be pulled up quickly first.

Being conferred the title of Marquis was a certainty, and it was just waiting for the imperial edict.

But the entire land of Jidong needed to guard against threats from the snowfield and the Chu Kingdom. At the same time, it also had to keep an army to suppress possible unrest in Jin. The troops needed were really not a small number.

Zheng Boye and the Devil Kings were originally perfectionists and didn't like to blindly expand the army without sufficient combat power and quality, but now they really could only focus on the main contradictions first.

If you didn't have enough troops,

would the imperial court leave you a few generals to help you guard?

With the beautiful name of joint defense?

Wasn't that just letting people plant nails in your house?

At the moment,

with the Jingnan King in front, he could block most of the imperial court's means of disintegration and early suppression.

But the premise was that you had to be able to hold the fort yourself.

Anyway, there would be no war recently, so he would just pull up the number of soldiers first, and then slowly train and improve their combat power.

The chieftains and their sons went down,

taking two skewers of mutton in their hands when they left, eating as they walked.

It was estimated that they were shedding tears in their hearts while eating. This was probably the most expensive and black-hearted barbecue in the world.

After sending away this group of chieftains,

Zheng Boye originally thought about going to get intimate with Liu Ruqing again,

and listen to a few more "Uncle"s,

but at this time,

Ji Laoliu's letter,

arrived.

When Ying Du was captured, the messenger set out for Yanjing, and then took the letter back from Yanjing. The journey was long and time-consuming. By the time he received the reply, Zheng Boye himself had already returned to Xuehai Pass.

The letter paper,

was a lot,

Zheng Boye looked at them one by one,

and threw them away one by one.

"Is Ji Laoliu playing performance art with me?"

A few lines of words, and then crossed out;

Then a few lines of words, then crossed out;

What's wrong,

from so far away, are you sending me your mental journey when you wrote the letter?

Tsk, that's a bit too mushy.

In the end,

it was actually the real reply content:

Beast, help me.

———Bitch.

"Heh."

Zheng Boye raised his eyebrows,

and smiled.

Being able to write this letter,

proved that the Yan Emperor's body really couldn't hold on for long, and some things were imminent.

Zheng Boye picked up a pen,

and wrote a reply,

The incoming letter was very simple,

Zheng Boye's reply,

was even simpler:

I am a loyal subject of Great Yan!

——————

My writing state has been good these past few days, but the plot is a bit stuck, so there will be only one update today. I'll make it up tomorrow, don't panic!