Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In the Han River, two boats went down the river.

A passenger ship, smaller in size.

A cargo ship is much larger.

The Bai family's servants had been waiting on the shore for a long time, and as soon as the boat docked, they immediately gathered around.

Fat pigs were driven off the ship one after another. There are also people carrying burdens full of various ingredients.

There are still more than twenty days before the old lady's ninetieth birthday, and the Bai family is already preparing a birthday banquet. Moreover, there was a large display of running water mats. There were not enough fat pigs in the surrounding villages, so we went directly to the county town to purchase them collectively.

There are many sheep in the village, so the animals can just eat grass.

There are not many pig farmers. After all, pigs need to eat food. How can the villagers have enough leftovers to feed the pigs?

If sweet potatoes are promoted, there will be more and more pig farmers.

The person in charge of purchasing matters is Bai Chongwen, the eldest son of the Bai family, who is over forty years old.

He was very busy on the shore, but his third brother Bai Chongyan was relaxing on the bow of the boat.

After working for a while, Bai Chongwen looked back at his third brother with a sinister look on his face.

I am busy all day long, but my third brother is happy and happy. However, the father obeyed his third brother in everything, but he always ordered him around. Who can stand this? Psychological imbalance.

Bai Chongyan, the third son of the Bai family, is about twenty-five or six years old. Wearing a Dongpo scarf and holding a white folding fan, he pointed to the distant mountains on the other side and said: "This mountain is like a tiger crouching, and the mountain behind my house is like a dragon's pan. The two mountains stand across the river, and it looks like a tiger crouching on the dragon's pan. Our ancestors It is because of this feng shui that we can settle down, build houses, open up wasteland and establish businesses.”

"It's really a beautiful scenery." The scholar next to him nodded in approval.

This scholar's name is Li Hanzhang, the son of Li Rui, the general magistrate of Yangzhou. He has lived in Yangzhou with his father for more than half a year.

When I heard about the position of state magistrate, it seemed that he was the deputy of Zhizhou. In fact, it was not the case. It was designed to contain the Zhizhou. At first, it was almost on an equal footing with the Zhizhou.

The bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty was complex. Not only did civilian officials restrain military officers, but the civil servants also restrained each other within themselves.

Tong San, controls the financial power!

"Brother Ke Zhen, please get off the boat." Bai Chongyan invited.

Li Hanzhang said: "Brother Juncai invites you first."

The two of them humbly disembarked from the boat and enjoyed the pastoral scenery along the way.

They don't see the poverty of the people, they only know that the scenery in the countryside is pleasant. The old farmers working hard to hoe the crops and the shepherd boys covered in mud are all the scenery in this landscape painting.

Not far away, I met two boys on the road.

A boy held a bamboo stick and shouted with all his strength: "Old Jade Emperor, take a stick from my grandson!"

Another boy quit: "You have been Sun Wukong three times. This time it is my turn. I am Sun Wukong."

"I'll do it again."

"No, no, if you try to be Sun Wukong again, I won't play anymore!"

"Then you will be Sun Wukong. I won't be the Jade Emperor. I will be the Erlang God Yang Jian. The Jade Emperor is too old to be beaten."

"..."

As a result, Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen started fighting on the roadside, and they fought with sticks.

From time to time, he also casts spells to transform into eagles, temples, and the like.

What the hell?

Li Hanzhang asked curiously: "Brother Juncai, the children's play in Guixiang seems to be very unique. I wonder which poetry play it comes from?"

"I don't know either." Bai Chongyan was a little confused.

The Northern Song Dynasty already had "The Poems of Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty", and the prototype of Sun Wukong had already been born. But instead of being called Sun Wukong, he still has a common name like "Monkey Walker".

As for Zhu Bajie, there is none for the time being, only the "Shensha God", the prototype of Monk Sha.

A hundred years ago, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty officially enthroned the Jade Emperor, and the Jade Emperor was also named Zhao. Since then, the Jade Emperor has become the master of all immortals and quickly became a household name across the country.

Bai Chongyan called the boy and asked, "Why do you disrespect the Jade Emperor? Then who is Sun Wukong?"

The boy replied: "Sun Wukong is the Monkey King, and the Monkey King is Sun Wukong."

"Who is the Monkey King?" Bai Chongyan asked.

The boy said: "The Monkey King jumped out of the stone."

What is this all about?

Bai Chongyan became more and more confused as he asked, "Who did you listen to?"

The boy said: "Zhu Xiucai told it. Zhu Xiucai can tell stories."

"Who is Zhu Xiucai?" Bai Chongyan asked.

"Zhu Xiucai is Zhu Xiucai." The boy replied.

How old was the kid? I couldn't figure it out, so Bai Chongyan waved the kid away.

There happened to be a servant of the Bai family passing by carrying ingredients for the birthday banquet.

Bai Chongyan called him and asked, "Is there a Zhu Xiucai in the village?"

The scandal about Shen Yourong not only spread in the village, but also reached the Bai family mansion.

Of course this servant knew about this, but since Bai Chongyan and Mrs. Shen’s deceased husband were classmates, and there was also Mr. Li present at this time, the servant did not dare to answer directly, and could only vaguely say: "There is Mr. Zhu Da, and Mr. There is a young Zhu Xiucai, a father and son from a foreign country, who are staying at Mrs. Shen’s house these days. They also said that Mr. Zhu Da... once studied abroad with him. "

Two grown men living in Mrs. Shen’s house?

Bai Chongyan was immediately angry, thinking that the widow of his classmate's friend was unruly. Even if you want to find a man, you should seriously remarry. What’s the point of keeping a wild man at home?

Then he began to doubt again, thinking whether he had really met a scholar named Zhu when he was studying abroad.

After hearing the question and answer between the master and the servant, which woman seemed to be involved, Li Hanzhang pretended not to hear and turned to look at the scenery of the distant mountains.

This matter is not urgent for the time being. When I have some free time, I will go and see what the situation is.

Bai Chongyan pretended that nothing had happened, and said to Li Hanzhang with a smile: "Brother Ke Zhen has been tired of traveling and traveling all the way, so he will go to the humble house to rest for a night, and then go up the mountain to watch the grand spectacle of tea picking tomorrow morning. Brother Fool accidentally found a spring in the mountain and named it." Lingquan', the spring water is sweet and refreshing, which is the best for making tea."

"Then I will definitely try it." Li Hanzhang said with a smile.

The two of them walked together to the Bai family mansion and walked into the house from the front door.

After passing through the hall and rooms to an inner courtyard, the maid led them into the room.

"My grandson pays homage to his grandmother!" Bai Chongyan knelt down and kowtowed.

The old lady of the Bai family was about to turn ninety years old. Her eyesight was not blurred, her ears were not deafened, and her body was quite strong. She held a string of rosary beads in her hand and said with a cheerful smile: "Stand up quickly and let me see if you have lost weight."

Bai Chongyan stood up and stepped forward and introduced: "Grandma, this is my grandson's friend who he met in Yangzhou. Brother Li Kezhen, the son of Prime Minister Li Xianggong of Yangzhou."

When he heard that he was the son of the state magistrate, the old lady was in awe and stood up to speak.

Li Hanzhang said quickly: "Madam, please sit down quickly."

After some pleasantries, the two of them retired, and the old lady personally sent them out.

Immediately afterwards, he went to visit Bai Chongwen's parents.

Mr. Bai is over 70 years old and his health condition is worrying. After a stroke, one of his legs cannot walk normally.

After receiving Li Hanzhang warmly and exchanging pleasantries, Mrs. Bai asked her servants to tidy up the guest's bedroom.

After bidding farewell to his parents, Bai Chongyan took his friends to see his wife.

When Li Hanzhang went to the guest room to rest, a servant suddenly came over and said to Bai Chongyan: "Master Sanlang, I have called you over if I have something to do."

"Wait a minute, I'll go right away."

Bai Chongyan changed into home clothes and followed the slave to his father's room again.

Member Lao Bai asked outside: "When you were studying abroad, did you ever have a friend named Zhu?"

Bai Chongyan knew what his father wanted to ask and replied: "My child seems to have made friends with people named Zhu, but the friendship is not deep. Father, do the father and son named Zhu really live in Mrs. Shen's house?"

"It's almost ten days." Old Bai said.

Bai Chongyan said: "This matter is quite inappropriate. It will damage the reputation of old friends and our Bai family. Is there any other indecent behavior towards the father and son named Zhu?"

Although Lao Bai stayed at home, he was very clear about the affairs in the village: "These two strangers kept a horse, which was a branded official horse. During the day, they helped with the work and taught the posthumous son ( Bai Qi) studied and told stories when it got dark at night. There were hundreds of villagers listening to his stories every day. Apart from that, he did nothing else."

"This is strange. Could it be that he is a storyteller living here?" Bai Chongyan muttered.

Old Bai said: "The servants at home are also talking nonsense. I asked people to ask questions, and finally asked two servants. One is a servant who serves the woodshed. He went out to chop wood and heard about this Just come back and tell everyone you meet. One of them is the maid next to your mother, but someone secretly instigated her!"

"Who?" Bai Chongyan asked.

The old member of the White House sneered: "Who else? Bai Fude from the east end of the village. There are five brothers in this family, and they have been jumping up and down in recent years. If it weren't for the sake of the same clan, they would have been driven out of the village long ago."

Bai Chongyan said angrily: "This guy occupied a ridge of Mrs. Shen's land last year. No boundary trees were planted on that land, and the boundary stone was moved by him. It's hard to explain why he was so messy. I warned him at that time not to attack Shen again. The lady’s idea didn’t come to fruition, but he still persisted in his evil intentions!”

Member Lao Bai said: "Ms. Shen's dead husband was your classmate and friend. Mrs. Shen's father also had some friendship with me. I will ignore this matter for the time being and will just wait for you to come back and handle it personally. Then the Zhu family and his son , you go and find out the details, and if you should be beaten, you should be beaten, and if you should be sent to an official, you should be sent to an official."

"My child understands." Bai Chongyan said.

Old Bai said: "Those five Baifu brothers, although the sister has become a concubine for the nobleman, I have already found out clearly. She gave birth to two daughters in a row, and the nobleman has a new love, so she has long been out of favor and disliked. In this case, You can clean it up however you want, no need to worry about anything. This year, let them take turns."

The fatal mistake made by the five Byford brothers was not jumping up and down, bullying men and women, but often not listening to the greetings of the old white man.

For example, he had been warned not to touch Mrs. Shen's family, but Bai Fude was still making evil plans, and even tried to use the old white man to kill people with a borrowed knife.

In recent years, there have been more than one or two similar incidents.

The powerful can kill people without blood. Just let them serve as servants, and they are guaranteed to destroy their families.

"Yes!" Bai Chongyan bowed.

Bai Chongyan was about to leave when he suddenly heard his father say: "The Zhu family father and son told a good story, and it was related to Tang Sanzang's Buddhist scriptures. Your grandmother believed in Buddhism, so she compiled the story into poetry, and picked a eloquent slave to tell it to her sooner or later. It’s okay for your grandmother to have some fun.”