Chapter 106 : Infertile, Yet Blessed with a Multitude of Descendants
Chapter 106 - Infertile, Yet Blessed with a Multitude of Descendants
Song Yan knew medicine.
Song Hongtao also wasn't clear on where exactly he had learned it from. Could it be that Mei Xue had taught him?
In any case, Song Yan's reputation as a 'Little Divine Physician' had, at the very least, spread throughout Song Prefecture. Especially those few young masters from Song Prefecture, who praised Song Yan to the heavens, as if his medical skills were even more exquisite than those of the successor of the Medicine King, Sun Shuji, who was as elusive as a divine dragon.
Therefore, when Song Yan was taking Lin Xiangwan's pulse, no one thought it strange. It was just that, seeing Song Yan's bizarre expression, Song Hongtao's heart skipped a beat for no reason:
"Yan'er, is there some problem?"
Huu.
Song Yan let out a small breath, suppressing the trace of pity in the depths of his eyes.
The next instant, a gentle smile, like the blooming of flowers in the spring warmth, blossomed on his face.
"Father is overthinking things."
"Concubine's body is very healthy."
"Also, I have good news for Father. Concubine is pregnant."
This was truly good news. An infertile man had actually gotten his woman pregnant. I'm afraid even the child-granting Guanyin in the temple wasn't this effective.
Which hero was this, carrying the weight for Song Hongtao?
I wonder if in the future he will be 'infertile, yet blessed with a multitude of descendants'?
In the past, he had felt that the name of Fang Hai's son, Fang Jun, was a bit taboo, and with his wife being Commandery Princess Gaoyang, he was a 'congenital green hat saintly physique.'
But now it seemed that Song Hongtao was the true 'green hat saintly physique.' From his marriage until now, the green hats on his head had been replaced batch after batch, with no intention of ever being taken off.
Complaining internally, Song Yan did not, however, tell Song Hongtao the truth. This was a very useful handle to have.
When Song Hongtao was about to die, he would tell him the truth. This way, Song Hongtao could at least be happy for a period of time. For a pitiful old man, this was a great comfort. Song Yan felt this was a good thing.
In all the world, one probably couldn't find a more filial son than him.
Thinking this, Song Yan smiled at that Lin Xiangwan.
For some reason, although Song Yan's smile was very gentle, Lin Xiangwan only felt her heart skip a beat, and a layer of goosebumps inexplicably appeared on the back of her hand.
Song Hongtao didn't think too much about it. Hearing that Lin Xiangwan was pregnant, his face suddenly flushed red, and he was so excited he could hardly control himself.
A biological son! This time, it was definitely a biological son!
Song Hongtao almost burst into tears of joy.
Heaven knows what kind of torment and suffering he had endured during this period. He had thought that this line of the Song family was going to end. Now it seemed the heavens were still quite good to him and had finally given him a son.
He couldn't be bothered with much else. After exchanging a few pleasantries, and just saying that he was inviting Song Yan back to the Duke's mansion for the evening, Song Hongtao hurriedly pulled Lin Xiangwan to the carriage to rest.
To have a son in his old age, he had to dote on her properly. Absolutely no problems could be allowed to occur.
After packing up the things from their outing, Song Yan got back on the carriage. It was just that this time, the situation was a little different. Gu Banxia did not stay by Song Yan's side as she had before. Instead, there were a few strangers in the carriage.
They were precisely those veteran soldiers who had been scattered before and had become refugees.
The inside of the carriage was even laid with a flannel carpet. For these veteran soldiers, it was truly a bit too luxurious.
The few of them looked a little restrained, not even knowing where to put their feet. Thinking of the days of fighting on the border, when they couldn't even get enough to eat, and seeing the luxurious lives of the nobles in the inner city, they couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Of course, they had no ill feelings towards Song Yan. The matter of Song Yan developing the 'wolf brush' weapon, creating the 'mandarin duck formation,' and burning several thousand Wokou was something they had heard countless times during their days of wandering.
Don't be fooled by this person's youth; he was definitely a ruthless character.
People in the army value skill. 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 a little awkward. Song Yan thought for a moment and then took the initiative to speak:
"Everyone, I still don't know your identities."
The five people exchanged a glance. In the end, it was the man who had previously shouted 'Magnificent!', who seemed to be a leader, who cupped his fists and spoke first.
"Reporting to your excellency, this one is Lei Yi."
"Lei Zhenghu!"
"Xue Qing!"
"Ding Dashan!"
"Gao Qiao!"
The five men reported their names in turn. Among them, Lei Yi and Lei Zhenghu were brothers.
Song Yan nodded: "If my guess is not wrong, you five should be from the border army in Liaodong."
The expressions of the several men gradually became serious. Song Yan could even feel Lei Yi's body instantly tense up, as if he were prepared. Of course, he wasn't preparing to attack Song Yan, but was ready to jump from the carriage and escape at any moment.
As for the others, an irrepressible expression of grief and indignation appeared on their faces.
Just by looking at the men's appearances, Song Yan could feel that there was probably some problem here.
After thinking for a moment, Song Yan asked, seemingly casually:
"The weather has turned cold quite quickly this year. It must be very cold in Liaodong by now, right?"
"Your excellency is correct." That Lei Zhenghu nodded and said in a booming voice.
"The weather this year is truly a bit abnormal. In previous years at this time, although the weather would start to turn cold, it was just a few cold winds. But this year, there has already been frost. When we left Liaododng, it was even snowing pellets."
This Lei Zhenghu truly lived up to the 'tiger' in his name. His frame was huge. Song Yan was now almost 1.8 meters tall, but he was still shorter than Lei Zhenghu by half a head. Could it be that he grew up on some special giant's food?
It's just that because of the recent lack of food and clothing, the fat on his body had become a bit loose. With a full beard, at first glance, one might have thought they had run into Zhang Fei.
[N: Zhang Fei, courtesy name, Yide, was a Chinese military general and politician serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China.]
The so-called 'snow pellets' are graupel.
A type of white, opaque solid precipitation, usually formed from a mixture of ice crystals and supercooled water droplets, about three millimeters in diameter. It's considered something between rain and snow.
The appearance of graupel means that the current temperature in Liaodong has probably already dropped below zero.
"On the Haixi side, it should be even colder, right?"
Haixi is the area further north of Liaodong. That place could also be considered grasslands, but unlike the boundless great plains on the Xiongnu side, the Haixi side is also interspersed with some jungles and rivers, as well as lakes of various sizes.
The Jurchen people living there can hunt and fish in them.
"That's natural."
Because of the matter of Song Yan resisting the Wokou, although he was a nobleman, he was faintly regarded as one of their own by these few men. Besides Lei Yi, the others did not hide too much.
"According to reports from some scouts, it has already started to snow on the Haixi side. Because the snowfall came too suddenly, the Jurchens over there didn't have time to store up winter fodder for their cattle and sheep, leading to a large number of cattle and sheep freezing to death. The river surfaces are frozen, making it impossible to fish."
"Therefore, this year the Jurchens have come south to 'raid for grain' early.”
Song Yan passed over a few bottles of wine from inside the carriage.
Men of the army are the most straightforward and love to drink. But because of the rule against drinking in the army, they looked upon these things with great envy. Even Lei Yi, who had been on high alert, couldn't help but take a few sips.
Song Yan smiled and also took a sip. The alcohol content wasn't high, but after it went down, he could feel a warm current spreading from his lower abdomen throughout his whole body. The slight chill from before was dispelled, and his body felt warm.
He didn't care much for etiquette either. He raised his sleeve to wipe the drops from the corner of his mouth. This casual gesture made the few men feel even more of a connection.
"There are fifty thousand border defense soldiers in Liaodong. Even if the Jurchen cavalry is fierce, they are not skilled in siege warfare."
"And when the Jurchens raid, the number of cavalry they dispatch each time isn't too large."
"With an absolute advantage in troops and the advantage of holding a city, is it still possible to lose?"
Hearing these words, the expressions of all five men became somewhat suppressed. Even the wine bottles in their hands were slowly put down. The small bottles seemed especially heavy at this moment.
For a time, no one spoke.
The atmosphere in the carriage became exceptionally oppressive.
Song Yan was not in a hurry, just waiting silently.
After a long while, that Lei Yi finally let out a heavy sigh, as if he had finally given up on something. He looked up at Song Yan:
"Your Excellency was able to lead household guards to resist the Wokou. I know your excellency is a good person, so I will tell you."
"It's just that, knowing these things may not necessarily be a good thing for your excellency. Perhaps it will even cause unnecessary trouble."
Song Yan smiled: "It's fine. Brother Lei, just say whatever you need to say. As you know, my mother is Her Highness the Grand Princess."
Lei Yi thought for a moment. Perhaps he felt that the status of Grand Princess really did carry some weight, so he no longer hesitated.
"Does your excellency know that although Liaodong nominally has fifty thousand border defense soldiers, in reality, the number of troops is less than twenty thousand."
Even though Song Yan was mentally prepared, upon hearing these words, his face still twitched violently.
The matter of collecting pay for ghost soldiers could be considered a 'traditional virtue'; it has existed in every dynasty.
But to do it to this extent was truly a first for him.
Less than twenty thousand troops, but collecting pay for fifty thousand... such an exaggerated ratio, I'm afraid only the late Ming Dynasty could compare.
"The Jurchens who came south to raid for grain this time numbered a full eight thousand cavalry. Normally, even with just over ten thousand men, with the advantage of a city, even if the Jurchens are valiant and skilled in battle, it's not necessarily impossible to hold them off."
"However, the nominal general of the border defense army is the Great General Dou Weiguo. But in reality, all of Great General Dou's commands are subject to the control of the Army Supervisor, Qian Yaozu."
Army Supervisor.
Hearing these two words, Song Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Since ancient times, once an army supervisor appears in an army, its combat effectiveness plummets.
If the army supervisor's power is not great, and they only do things like keeping campaign records, or preventing a general from ordering a city massacre after going blood-crazy, then the impact is not too great. What is to be feared is these army supervisors having the power to control everything.
Army supervisors are mostly civil officials.
Or even eunuchs.
They don't understand military affairs, yet they insist on giving orders.
From Lei Yi's tone, Song Yan could judge that the army supervisors of the Ning Kingdom were the latter.
"The border defense army is mainly for defense, so it is mostly composed of infantry. That Qian Yaozu knows nothing of warfare, yet he actually ordered the city gates to be opened to go out and fight a field battle with the Jurchen cavalry."
Fuck!