When Yang Haiyan heard Tao Shan's question, she felt that Tao Shan was very thoughtful, but she did not answer directly: "No matter what the reason is, are you willing to wait for three years?"
Tao Shan is 22 years old this year, and he wants to get married soon. But he has been with Qin Fang for two years, and he has gained some experience. Besides, he has been to the city several times, and what he has seen and heard on the road has broadened his horizons. He said, "I am willing to wait." The three years of waiting are a process of getting to know each other. Marrying a virtuous wife, in three years, you can always find out what kind of person the other person is, which he thinks is good. "County lord, may I ask who the other person is?"
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "I won't tell you the girl's name. I'll ask her what she thinks. If she thinks it's good, I'll introduce you to her. But I'll tell her your name. Do you think it's okay? If not, I can keep it to myself."
Tao Shan said, "It doesn't matter to me. You can just tell them. Besides, in my hometown, when you meet someone, you usually tell them your name."
Yang Haiyan said, "Okay, I'm fine now. I'll tell you when I have news." Through this short chat, she saw that Tao Shan was a man with his own ideas, and they were quite strong. Perhaps even his parents couldn't influence his ideas. In fact, she liked men with their own ideas, as long as they were not chauvinistic.
Tao Shan stood up and looked at Qin Fang: "General, do you have anything else to say?"
Qin Fang waved his hand: "You go and have a rest."
Tao Shan: “Yes.”
After Tao Shan left the inner courtyard, he did not rest immediately, but took out the monthly salary he had saved and gave each of the guards who accompanied him to the capital two hundred coins, which was the monthly salary of the guards for one month. If he had not received the emperor's reward this time, he would not have given it, but since the emperor had rewarded him, naturally the other guards also had a share of the credit.
After giving it away, he still had eight taels of silver, which Tao Shan hid. Thinking of Yang Haiyan's words, he felt that his capital for marrying a wife was now more abundant. In fact, in the two years following Qin Fang, he had saved five taels of silver, of which he sent five hundred coins to his parents in his hometown every year, and the rest was this, which he saved.
He had to support his parents in his hometown, but he also had to save money for his family in the future. Looking at the extra money, Tao Shan was very satisfied. He went to take a cold shower and then fell asleep. He didn't even want to eat because he was tired.
In the inner courtyard, Yang Haiyan and Qin Fang also took a bath. Yang Haiyan lay on the bed, reading the secret letter from the emperor to Qin Fang, while Qin Fang fanned himself. In Qin Fang's heart, his wife was the most important thing. Now that his wife was pregnant, she was even more important.
After reading the letter, Yang Haiyan was a little surprised: "The emperor gave you 100,000 taels of silver to raise horses?"
Qin Fang said, "Yes, it's a deposit receipt for 100,000 taels. I have to go to the bank to withdraw the money, but there is no such bank in Yunxiang County. I have to go to Hedong Prefecture. The emperor probably knew about my horse breeding from my teacher. Didn't my teacher's letter arrive in the capital? I guess his gift to the emperor has also arrived."
Yang Haiyan heard this and said, "The emperor is quite generous. He actually gave you 100,000 taels of silver so that you can raise horses."
Qin Fang: "... I don't have money. If he doesn't give me money, how can I raise the horses? And 100,000 silver may seem like a lot, but after building a horse farm and hiring staff, they still need to be sold. The biggest sale is horse feed..." He suddenly stopped talking halfway, and after a while he continued, "If we build a horse farm, don't we have to buy the land here? That will cost even more money. I'll discuss it with the emperor and reclaim the land here myself, so that we can save a lot of money on buying land." Qin Fang stood up and said, "I'll go write a letter now."
Yang Haiyan: "Don't worry, if you write now, Tao Shan won't be able to deliver the letter tomorrow, so you have to let him rest for a few days, right?"
Qin Fang said: "Don't let him go."
Yang Haiyan raised her eyebrows, very puzzled.
Qin Fang thought for a moment and said, "I'll go deliver the letter myself."
Yang Haiyan: “…” She was shocked. Qin Fang actually wanted to deliver the letter himself. What did this mean
Qin Fang pursed his lips and said, "I haven't seen the emperor yet."
Phew... Yang Haiyan couldn't help laughing out loud. So that's what it is. She was jealous of Tao Shan for having met the emperor, so she wanted to deliver the letter herself.
Seeing her laugh, Qin Fang pretended to be expressionless and said, "Don't laugh. If you laugh again, I won't fan you."
Yang Haiyan was not afraid of him: "I don't care if your daughter gets too hot."
Qin Fang said: "I can't make her hot, but even if I make you hot, I won't let you go."
This man, now he speaks sweet words casually. Yang Haiyan looked at him with a smile, what should she do? Her words were very pleasant to hear.
Qin Fang also looked at her and sat down again: "And it's not just about the horse farm, but also about fruits and vegetables. Didn't the emperor ask us to take the seeds of these vegetables and fruits to the capital? He wants to plant them on the imperial farm. But Niu Da is still a novice in this kind of thing, and he hasn't figured it out yet. He still needs some time. Do you think the emperor would like to bring Niu Da to the capital?"
Yang Haiyan said: "I don't know about that."
Qin Fang: "So, I still have to go to the capital and talk to the emperor... I will buy you something good when I go to the capital."
Yang Haiyan raised her eyebrows.
Qin Fang realized that she had said the wrong thing. She grew up in the capital, and in Tutor Yang's mansion. What good things could there be that she had not seen
"As long as it's something you buy, I like it no matter what it is." Yang Haiyan said before his smile faded.
Qin Fang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and a smile reappeared on his face: "Then write down what you want on a piece of paper, and I will go to the capital to buy everything for you. You must want a lot of things, right? You can write down the things you used to use in the capital. I didn't have the conditions to give you good things before, but now we have money, you can buy anything you want." The five thousand taels of silver he got for suppressing bandits before, plus the silver rewarded by the emperor for his meritorious service later. Although Qin Fang's rank was not promoted, the silver rewarded by the emperor was not reduced.
In Qin Fang's opinion, money is more real than official position.
Yang Haiyan laughed and scolded, "Stupid, when I was in the capital, although I could eat good food, I used the servants' food. There were regulations, and it was not as good as it is now. Now I am the wife of General Qin, and I use the official wife's food, which is naturally better than the servants' food. So, I don't lack anything. If you really want to go, I just want you to come back intact."
Qin Fang was deeply moved after hearing this, and thought that if he went to the capital, he would buy more things for the official's wife.
The next day
The matter about the horse farm was not that simple. First of all, if Qin Fang wanted to requisition the land in Yunxiang County, he had to discuss with County Magistrate Yang whether the land in that place could be requisitioned. At the same time, he had to ask the horse farm manager whether the land in that place was suitable for building a horse farm. He had to make all the plans clear before he could see the emperor. With such a plan, some things were indeed not clear in the letter or memorial, so he had to report to the emperor in person.
Qin Fang went to see County Magistrate Yang. Yang Haiyan was not idle either. She asked Uncle Hong to give a message to Uncle Yang San, asking him to come over in the afternoon to discuss Qiu Ya's matter.
Uncle Qin understood as soon as he heard it.
In the afternoon, Uncle Qin came.
Because Uncle Qin is a man, Yang Haiyan and Uncle Qin met in Liuxinyuan, where Grandpa Qin, Grandma Qin and others were present, so they could avoid suspicion.
Uncle Qin came after lunch. He helped Aunt Qin at noon, otherwise he would have come in the morning. After arriving, he greeted Grandpa Qin and Grandma Qin, and then asked Yang Haiyan impatiently: "Afang Wife, what do you want to discuss about San Ya?"
Grandma Qin said, "You look so anxious. Drink a cup of mung bean soup to cool down first."
Uncle Qin smiled with emotion: "Thank you, mother." In front of his mother, a son will probably always be a child who never grows up.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry, Uncle San. Just listen to me and I will tell you slowly."
Uncle Qin responded: "Hey, I'm listening, go ahead."
Yang Haiyan told her about Tao Shan's situation: "The young man is my husband's personal bodyguard, and usually follows my husband in and out. He has a stable personality and is smart. Compared with Qiu Ya, he is a little older. He is 22 years old this year. I also asked him about marrying into the wife's family. He did not agree to marry into the wife's family, but he agreed that the first child could take the woman's surname, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl."
When Qin Fang heard that the person was the one who followed Qin Fang in and out, he thought of Tao Shan. He had also seen Tao Shan, and knew that Tao Shan was the only guard beside Qin Fang who was not married. But when he heard Tao Shan's age, he was a little confused: "The boy is already twenty-two?" He didn't look like it.
Yang Haiyan said, "He has completed five years of military service. It's not surprising that he is twenty-two. He is the same age as my husband. This is his situation. I have also mentioned to Tao Shan that girls should wait three years before getting married. He said that if he likes a girl, he is willing to wait. However, he didn't know that the girl was Qiuya. For Qiuya's reputation, I didn't tell him this."
After hearing this, Grandma Qin said, "You've thought it through carefully. This way, even if it doesn't work out, Qiuya and Taoshan won't be embarrassed when they run into each other."
Yang Haiyan said: "That's right."
Uncle Qin thought for a moment and said, "Daughter-in-law Afang, can you let me think about it for a few days?" It was related to his daughter's life, so he had to think about it. Besides, the other party was 22 years old this year, and in three years, the other party would be 25. He was also a man, and he knew that it was very difficult for a man of this age to wait for three years. Moreover, if his daughter married and didn't give birth for several years, or the first child was a girl, then the other party would be 30 years old. Would he mind this? For a moment, Uncle Qin had no idea.
Yang Haiyan said: "Don't worry, take your time to think about it."