Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 338 King Linyuan

"Are you really not going back?"

"No, I promised to send you to the border. It's a good opportunity for me to inspect my vineyard. They said it has expanded a lot, but I haven't seen it yet, so I'm curious. I'll also take some local specialties back so that my father and his family won't say anything to me."

Gu Fengyue wondered, is this really possible?

Song Chunlin stuffed a piece of tripe into his mouth and said, "What are you thinking about? Eat quickly. It's cold and it will get cold soon."

Gu Fengyue subconsciously opened his mouth and started chewing, and found that the taste was actually quite good, but a little too spicy.

The two men hid in the tent and ate Maoxuewang. The Gu family soldiers outside did not forget about Cricket and the others, and kept whispering that Gu Fengyue was clingy. As for why it was not Song Chunlin who was clingy, they did not dare to do so for fear of being shot in the head by an arrow from the other party. They did not have the courage of Gu Fengyue to provoke such a tough guy. Have you ever seen a guy kill a barbarian with one arrow?

"Our Da Sima is really awesome. He dared to marry such a cruel boy and put him at home. If the couple fight, will Da Sima fight back or not?"

"They haven't gotten married yet. If you ask me, since you've already followed me all the way here, why don't you just get married in the capital? It's not nice to say that a fiancé and I are going out together."

The young soldier gnawing on the bone had a look of disapproval on his face. He had the typical thinking of the ancients. For Song Chunlin, a boy who was already engaged, the drama of chasing her husband across thousands of miles was a bit too exciting.

Another person thought the same. He shook his head while eating and couldn't wait to complain before he even swallowed the food in his mouth.

"In my opinion, after this marriage is decided, you can't show up in public. You followed your fiancé all the way here. If the news gets out, it will be bad for both of their reputations."

"It's not up to you to decide whether it's good or not. Besides, is he just an ordinary guy? He's a sharpshooter who can kill a barbarian with one arrow. Who can be so tough?"

"What's the point of being tough? In the end, she still has to get married and raise children. I don't believe he won't have children in the future."

The cook was a little annoyed when he heard this, so he picked up a spoon and gave a spoon to each of those gossipers.

"You guys must have eaten too much, you guys are full, do you think you have the right to discuss the affairs of the Great Sima? You are all meddling in other people's business, get out of here, you are not allowed to eat the food I cook!"

He chased and beat everyone with a big spoon, and soon they all scattered like birds and beasts, and when they left, they did not forget to take their own bowls with them.

"You little bastards, you haven't been to the battlefield for a long time. You have learned to act like those gossipy women and dare to say anything you want."

A response from one of them was heard in the distance, and the cook was so angry that he wanted to chase him with a big spoon.

"It's no use getting angry, we are telling the truth!"

The cook was defeated. He threw the spoon away and started looking for a kitchen knife on the ground. He was stopped by others and gave up.

"Why are you arguing with those people? They are just new recruits in the past two years. They know nothing."

"That's right, calm down. It's not worth getting angry with these people."

The cook sat on the chair with a snort, "I just can't stand the way they look down on me. What's wrong with me? Who says I can only stay at home to raise children and take care of my husband? Our young master Song has killed more enemies on the battlefield than all the members of their family. They don't recognize the great man!"

"Oh, yes, yes, these people are blind. I don't know how they got in."

"What else can it be based on? Because of our good family background. If we go directly to fight this time, do you think these soldiers will follow us?"

It's no wonder these people are so angry. Many of the Gu family soldiers who came this time were sent here by the aristocratic families for gilding. They all joined the army temporarily through connections, and were waiting to stay at the border for a year or two before coming back. If they encounter barbarians invading here again, it would be even better if they could kill a few of them and earn some military merits to bring back.

It has always been a tacit understanding that the children of noble families should be sent out for training, but the Gu family army has always had strict military discipline, and those who can be squeezed in are just small minions, usually the children of these family's side branches or in-laws, who cannot be compared with the direct descendants. They are sent here for training with the mentality of taking a gamble. If they win, they will have one more general in the family. If they lose, they are not from the direct line anyway, so they lose.

Those people also understood that they were just pawns of the family, so they came here without any intention to be with the real soldiers and abide by the military discipline of the Gu family army. Anyway, as long as it was not too excessive, the Gu family army would not do anything to them.

Song Chunlin in the tent was aware of the noise outside, but he didn't care. No matter how much these people talked, it wouldn't hurt him.

After they had finished their meal, they cleaned up the mess on the table and opened the curtain to let the smell out.

This time, the Gu family army did not march quickly to the border, and moved slowly on the road. Song Chunlin followed Gu Fengyue and walked slowly all the way. When they arrived at Linyuan, it was already a month and a half later.

King Linyuan still looked as handsome as before, but the difference was that there were three glutinous rice balls standing at his feet.

Song Chunlin's face was full of question marks. While Gu Fengyue was talking to King Linyuan, he squatted down and looked at the three little ones in front of him. Well, they were three heads tall and had similar faces. It was not difficult to see that they looked a lot like their biological father. One of them even had naturally curly hair, with a head of curly hair, just like a doll.

Song Chunlin poked the little bun's cheek and curiously asked the three little ones who their father was.

The three little ones seemed to understand. They looked up at their own father, and simultaneously reached out to tug at the hem of King Linyuan's clothes, then shouted in unison: "Dad!"

The youngest one realized it later. After he found out that his brothers and sisters were calling him, he walked forward ignorantly, tugged at King Linyuan's clothes, and called "Dad" in a baby voice.

Song Chunlin was amazed by the scene of this group of little kids collectively calling for their dad. If he was not mistaken, the ages of these children should be not much different. Two of them looked like twins, and the remaining one was even younger.

King Linyuan, who was called dad, looked down at the group of babies at his feet. He saw the youngest one also tilting his head back and looking at him with a confused face. Oh, what a cute baby, he is worthy of being his own child.

So he leaned over, held the smallest one in his arms, and then showed it off to Gu Fengyue.

"Look, I have three babies in two years. I am awesome, right?"

Gu Fengyue had a blank expression on his face. He looked at Song Chunlin who was also squatting on the ground. After thinking for a moment, he pulled him up and the two stood side by side.

"I have it too."

Song Chunlin: “???”

Brother, what do you have? That's my son, not my wife!

Song Chunlin angrily pinched the flesh on Gu Fengyue's arm and twisted it hard, but found that the muscle was too stiff and could not be twisted...

King Linyuan looked at him with disdain: "You only have one, but I have seven!"

Gu Fengyue: "Wife?"

King Linyuan: "...beautiful concubine."

Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue were both speechless. So this man doesn’t even have a wife, but he has seven concubines?

King Linyuan: "What are you looking at? I am a prince of foreign blood. Who would be willing to marry me? It would be better to marry a few concubines. They are pleasing to the eyes and worry-free. The children born will be more beautiful. Besides, if I really want to marry a noble lady from an aristocratic family, will my brother, the emperor, agree?"

This is not wrong. After the mutiny in the previous emperor's palace, King Linyuan is the only one among all the emperor's brothers who has military power. If it weren't for the fact that he was stationed in Linyuan and he was born to a concubine of a foreign race, he would probably have to be an idle prince like those brothers.

At night, the Gu family army camped outside Linyuan City. Gu Fengyue brought Song Chunlin and some generals into the city. King Linyuan prepared a welcoming banquet for them and also handed over the supplies brought from the capital.

When Song Chunlin heard that Gu's army was actually bringing supplies to King Linyuan, he was stunned for a moment. He asked Gu Fengyue what was going on, as it seemed that they didn't do that last time.

Gu Fengyue explained to him: "Last time it was because of the military emergency, so we came in a hurry. This time... because the emperor had already asked the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue to make preparations, so this time we helped them get all the things from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works. Ahem, you can think of it as doing two jobs for one salary."

Song Chunlin thought to himself, this is not just doing two jobs for one salary, it is more than just two jobs. The emperor must have assigned a task to Gu Fengyue in private, asking him to supervise Prince Linyuan. After all, he is the only prince with a large army under his command.

King Linyuan brought a bunch of baby kids from his own family into the hall. Song Chunlin discovered that he had actually found time to change clothes for the three little kids. When they were at the city gate, the three children were all wearing goose yellow brocade clothes of similar styles, but now they changed into silver-white outer clothes and golden-red inner clothes, which made these babies look very cheerful.

In addition to the three children, Song Chunlin also saw the seven beautiful concubines that King Linyuan mentioned at the banquet. Wow, this bunch of red, orange, red, green, blue, and purple, is this guy going to collect all seven fairies? Look at this cluster of flowers, fat and thin, King Linyuan has a good eye, each one is a great beauty.

Among the seven concubines, there were both men and women. One of them, a veiled girl, walked at the end, but the others sat below King Linyuan. Only he walked steadily to King Linyuan's side and sat down directly.

Song Chunlin looked at those beauties dressed in gorgeous clothes, and then at the girl sitting next to King Linyuan. Although she was wearing a veil, it was not difficult to tell from her eyes and eyebrows that she was also a beauty. It was just that she was wearing a goose yellow dress, which was simple, elegant and dignified. She was the only one sitting next to King Linyuan, and she had the aura of a queen.

When the youngest kid saw her, he kept reaching out for a hug, but King Linyuan pushed him back with great force.

"Little brat, your father can't even hold me, so just behave yourself."

When the beauty heard what King Linyuan said, she glanced at him and King Linyuan immediately became obedient.

Very good, this person is definitely the real culprit. Look at how cowardly King Linyuan looks.

The beauty took the little baby, and the little guy immediately became obedient when sitting in her arms. The remaining two older ones also clamored to be by the beauty's side. Now Gu Fengyue and Song Chunlin were more and more certain that this girl was the apple of King Linyuan's eye. It was possible that the three children were all born to her alone. No wonder King Linyuan said that he would have three children in two years. This was really amazing.

Although the food in Linyuan City is not as rich as that in the capital, it tastes pretty good. People here like to eat lamb, and when entertaining guests, they kill a whole lamb and roast it, just like in Baita City.

Song Chunlin has also tasted the roasted whole lamb in Baita City, but the one in Linyuan City is slightly different. The lamb in Baita City has less mutton smell, and less spices are used when roasting. The lamb in Linyuan City has a slightly stronger mutton smell, so it takes more effort to roast, and a lot of other ingredients are added to it, as well as pasta. Song Chunlin tasted something similar to dumplings, and King Linyuan said that this was a mutton bun unique to Linyuan City.

Looking at the thin layer of dough filled with mutton filling, Song Chunlin felt that the people in Linyuan City had some misunderstanding about the word "baozi".

In addition to mutton, there was some chicken on the banquet, but no pork. People here don't eat pork, saying that pork tastes bad.

"Stinky? How can pork smell bad?"

King Linyuan smiled at Song Chunlin and said, "No one here raises pigs. It takes too much effort. It's better to raise sheep. But the sweet potatoes you guys have grown are quite suitable for feeding livestock. It's just that the yield here is not as good as potatoes. It would be great if you could double it."

Gu Fengyue complained to King Linyuan without any hesitation: "You still want to double it. Is this the first time you know about the climate here? Since potatoes are more suitable for this place, why don't you grow potatoes here? As for sweet potatoes, they are now planted everywhere in Dajing Dynasty. If you want to eat them, you can just buy them. There is no need to go to so much trouble to grow them yourself."

Song Chunlin also echoed from the side: "That's right, you haven't planted corn here yet? I remember that the Ministry of Agriculture said last year that it would promote corn produced in Baita City. Linyuan City is close, so haven't you got the corn seeds yet?"

Speaking of grain cultivation, King Linyuan also put away his joking expression.

"It's here, but there aren't many. It's enough to plant about 20 acres of land."

"Twenty acres is not too little."

"Then do you know how many people there are in Linyuan City?"

Song Chunlin calculated it in his mind and shut up.

King Linyuan raised his head and drank a glass of wine, then said, "Linyuan City plus several small cities around it have a total population of more than 200,000. If the 20 mu of corn is distributed equally to each person, I'm afraid there won't be even one plant left. Even if all of it is left as seeds, it will take two or three years to get everyone to plant corn."

"This is almost done. The corn yield is high. It just takes a little longer. Let's wait for now."