Two months passed in a blink of an eye, and the Ming Dynasty ushered in the New Year of Chongzhen for the fourth year.

In the capital, the lanterns were decorated with colors, and the monarchs and ministers were all welcoming the New Year. Less than a year has passed since the change of Jisi, and in the three years of Chongzhen, the military and civilians in the capital have not celebrated the New Year. Less than a year has passed, and the scars left by the Later Jin Dynasty on the Ming Dynasty have not yet subsided, but the customs and habits of the Chinese people must have a lively New Year.

But celebrating the New Year with lively, putting on new clothes and eating good food is a matter for a well-off family. High officials and wealthy people celebrate the New Year every day. When the New Year is approaching, they post couplets and ask the servants and housekeepers to carry various gifts back and forth. The children at home set off firecrackers, adding a bit of New Year's joy; while the poor are being debt-deducted at the end of the year, and it is even more difficult for the New Year to approach.

In Shabeigou City, Li Guodong, his brothers, and the soldiers and civilians in the city began to prepare for the New Year in the Little New Year, preparing for a lively New Year.

Before the New Year came, Li Guodong asked Wang Quan to represent him and went to the sidelines to send the second batch of goods to Zhang Xianzhongyun, bringing back gold, silver, treasures and a thousand refugees.

Two newly brought refugees were also arranged to live in the city. Everyone worked together and dug more than 500 land nests to provide them to the newly brought refugees.

On weekdays, the military and civilians in the city are equal. Each person has two meals a day. The breakfast is mixed grain porridge made of millet, rice, yellow rice, sorghum rice, wheat bran, buckwheat, rice bran, etc. Each person also gives a steamed bun made of sorghum noodles and soybean flour, and it is also served with pickles and dried radish as side dishes. Dinner is mixed grained buns, or mixed grain pancakes, and a bowl of tofu soup, and the pickles are served. Every ten days and half a month, you can eat meat. Sheep will be killed in the city, drinking steaming mutton soup, and eating fragrant roasted mutton.

Such food is much worse than when Li Guodong was a horse thief. However, for the refugees, and even for the Ming people who originally lived in Jizhou, such living conditions were very good. The ordinary people could not guarantee full food for two meals a day. It was normal for them to be hungry. When they came here, they could at least fill their stomachs. Not to mention the refugees, they had escaped to the barbaric gates, and they were almost starved to death, and fell to the point of eating dead human flesh. Now someone provides them with food to feed them. In their minds, Li Guodong is simply a living Bodhisattva.

He Xing and other villagers from the Ming Dynasty came here for less than a year, but they had already regarded this place as their home. In the future, they would follow Li Guodong. If Li Guodong returns to the Ming Dynasty, they would also follow him. If Li Guodong could not go back to the Ming Dynasty, they would rather stay here to accompany Li Guodong for the rest of their lives.

After all, their lives were saved by Li Guodong. If it weren't for the Invasion of the Later Jin Dynasty last year, Li Guodong and his brothers rescued everyone from the Jurchens, they would have been captured in the bitter and cold land of Liaodong and used as slaves for the Jurchens. Maybe they would have been frozen to death in Liaodong at this time.

It snowed heavily in winter, and it was white in the snow, but the Shabeigou Village was decorated with lights and was full of joy.

Since the beginning of the New Year, when adults get up early in the morning, adults are busy changing door gods and pasting Spring Festival couplets, while children are setting off firecrackers happily. Amid the sound of firecrackers, a strong New Year atmosphere filled the city with the smoke of gunpowder.

Li Guodong sent someone to slaughter twenty cows and more than one hundred sheep, slaughtered more than 500 chickens raised in the city, and took people to the Yellow River to catch dozens of large carp in the Yellow River. In short, the meat has been open for the past few days during the Chinese New Year. Everyone in the city smiled and over the years, it has been the best New Year this year.

The people in the city started working together, grinding out snow-white fine flour, chopping meat, scallions and cabbage, and wrapping dumplings. A pot of steamed hot pot, and the snow-white dumplings were picked up and eaten by everyone.

Li Guodong also gave a tael of silver to every soldier in the city, and brought people to buy New Year's goods such as red dates, dried fruits, peanuts, brown sugar, glutinous rice from Datong, and cut cloth to let everyone in the city put on new clothes.

"Last year, the Tartars invaded, and our family escaped from their families. Fortunately, General Li rescued our family. Xiuying, General Li seems to be very good to you, so I asked your brother to say to General Li to see if he wants to marry you." He Xing's mother was busy making new clothes for her three children while nagging.

"Mom, my daughter is still young, I have to accompany her." He Xiuying's face turned red suddenly.

He Xing smiled and said, "Girl, let's talk to General Li now. Brother is also General Li's good brother now. He looks really interesting to you. We might as well get married during the New Year."

"Brother, don't go!" He Xiuying, who was flushed, grabbed her brother, "General Li is a person who does big things. If he wants to marry a princess and princess in the future, how can he like an ordinary woman like me?"

After all, she was just an ordinary rural woman from the Ming Dynasty back then, so how could she know that this Ming Dynasty prince consort was not easy to be at all. When she was a child, she heard that the book that Mr. Shu said was named as a prince consort. That was the greatest honor for men.

He Xing gently pushed his sister away and walked out of the door.

Looking at his brother's back, He Xiuying was both expectant and nervous. She hoped that General Li could agree. That was the happiest thing in the world, but she was worried about being rejected.

He Xing came to Li Guodong's study. At this time, Li Guodong was calculating the accounts in the study and calculating the income and expenditures over the past period. Now Li Guodong has no shortage of money, but in this chaotic era, prices have soared, and there are so many people in the city, and the grain they grow will not be harvested in summer. It is indeed not easy to manage the food, drink, defecation and sensation of so many people.

Li Guodong was so worried that several white hairs appeared on his head.

Hearing the knock on the door outside, Li Guodong didn't raise his head and said, "Come in."

He Xing walked into the study and saw that Li Guodong was busy settled the score. He stood quietly by the side and waited without disturbing him.

I don’t know how long it took for Li Guodong to put down the account book in his hand and stretched. Seeing that He Xing was standing by waiting, Li Guodong hurriedly asked, “Brother, why are you not here to accompany Lingtang and your younger sister at home?”

"General Li..."

He Xing was only halfway through his words, but he was interrupted by Li Guodong: "There are no outsiders, why are you doing that so much? We are brothers, just call me elder brother."

"Brother, I, I have something to ask for my brother's advice." He Xing hesitated for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage to say he could speak.

"What's up?"

"It's about the marriage of my brother. Brother, you are at the age of time to talk about marriage. I haven't thought about finding a sister-in-law for my brothers?"

"The thief slave has not been destroyed. My brother is not about marrying a wife. I just think about how to destroy the enemy, so naturally I didn't think about this."

"Brother, what do you think of Xiuying girl?"

"It's pretty good, a very good girl, kind and beautiful."

"My mother wants to betroth Xiuying to your elder brother. What do you mean by brother?"
Chapter completed!