Lingzhou in Beiliang Road is a well-deserved south of the Yangtze River outside the Great Wall. Apart from being rich, it also has a bit of a bookish atmosphere that is rare in the Northwest. Therefore, Lingzhou faced Liangyou and Youzhou a few years ago, and was a little proud. The combat power of the garrison is far inferior to yours. Sturdy, but we have a lot of scholars here. It's a pity that after a young scholar named Chen Wang came out of Youzhou, the scholars in Lingzhou became a little sick. He also managed to sacrifice wine on the right side of the Guozijian in the capital, but compared to Chen Shaobao, who was ranked in the center, it was obviously still far behind. It's just that this kind of dispute can't be quarreled with a small place like Huanghua County, Huansha County. Huanghua County is a lower county, located in the westernmost part of Lingzhou. Poor, every time the county magistrate of Huanghua County went to the state city to meet colleagues of comparable rank, it was a torment. However, the poor are poor here. Compared with Youzhou’s Buxi poetry and books, there are dozens of villages, large and small, in Huanghua County. Except for the government free schools, almost every village has private schools, and the richer village families even have private schools. Sitting in the library, so the sound of children reading books here is no less than other places in Lingzhou.
Li Xian is the most knowledgeable scholar in Lijia Village, and he is the master of juren who has entered Liyang capital, but it is said that he failed the ranking, traveled thousands of miles, and returned after a long journey, so it stands to reason that he passed the exam and went to the official office of Huansha County It's not difficult to find a job, but it's a pity that scholars from the Central Plains flooded into Lingzhou, and someone took his position as a lecturer. Li Xian was originally from a poor family and couldn't find a way out. I don't know if he felt resentful Because of this, I simply went back to my village and started a private school. There are seven or eight Mongolian children in the village who go to school and barely make ends meet. If it is said that saving money to buy books is not an extravagant expectation, not to mention that Li Xian also took the initiative to recruit a few children with foreign surnames. Entering a private school, not to mention hiring money to train, but also taking care of their food and drink twice a day. As a result, many girls from good families of the right age in the nearby villages, who originally fell in love with Li Xian, flinched under the beating of their parents.
Today, Li Xian carried a small pot of wine to the neighboring village. There was no official road between the villages, only a muddy path more than ten feet wide. Those villagers and women would respectfully call Mr. Li when they met Li Xian, and Li Xian also They would respond with a smile and chat a few words. Li Xian came to a hut by the stream, surrounded by a fence, an old hen and a group of chicks were looking for food, pecking at each other. When Li Xian just pushed Chai Fei away, he saw a familiar figure walking in the distance, smiled knowingly, and stood at the door waiting. The old man walked slowly with a hunchback, but he was hale and hearty, besides carrying a jar of clay-sealed rice wine in his hand, he also had some food wrapped in oil paper. Like Li Xian, the old man is a teacher in a private school in the village, but compared to Li Xian, he has been teaching and learning for more than 20 years. The old people in the surrounding villages all say that this guy surnamed Liu is an outsider, and his ancestral home is In the Central Plains, the ancestors were very noble. When they first came here, they were very lavish, and they were full of style at that time, but after so many years, they probably spent all their wealth, or maybe they were really old. No, I can't straighten my waist.
Compared with the villagers in the same village, Li Xian needs to know more things. Mr. Liu is a survivor of the Spring and Autumn Period. There is no doubt about it. When Mr. Liu came to Beiliang, his family was in disarray, some died of illness, some got lost, some went crazy, and it seemed that Mr. Liu was the only one left. When it came down to it, Li Xian didn't know the truth, and Mr. Liu didn't like to talk about those old sesame seeds and rotten millet. In short, he took root in Beiliang and opened a private school, because of his eccentric temperament, rigid and demanding, and nagging , the situation in the private school has always been deserted, if not for some weird medical skills that the local doctor can't figure out, I'm afraid the old man would have starved to death long ago.
As for the person they visited with wine, he was also an unknown teacher in Huanghua County. Li Xian's enlightenment of three hundred thousand was taught by that old man. As a gentleman, the old man kowtows. Now that I think about it, this gentleman's knowledge is really neither high nor deep. Compared with the hidden Mr. Liu, it must be incomparable, but in the eyes of Li Xian, who is already famous, Mr. is Mr., and he will not add a surname like the Mr. Liu in front of him. The folks in the village do not have so much respect for this poor private school Mr. who was born in the village. They do not believe in Li Xian who is a teacher for one day and a father for life. Sometimes, or when the husband borrows money from their parents on credit, he dares to laugh and call out Wang Laobald. As for whether he will be punished in the future, it is another matter. Flying all over the mountain, what is it to take a few boards
Li Xian's mentor, Wang Changqing, is well-known for his disagreement with Mr. Liu. Two old men who are about the same age but born in different backgrounds have quarreled from middle age to old age. Whenever they meet, they quarrel. Generally speaking, Mr. Liu quarrels. Wang Changqing's rhetoric is relatively cloudy and foggy, and it will take people to recall it after several years. At the moment, it is not harsh. Wang Changqing's folk slang can always be exported, not so literary, and the lethality is naturally not comparable to that of Mr. Liu. However, the latter always has a calm and invincible posture. The two often quarrel and quarrel and become talking with each other, playing the piano with each other, and have never tired of it.
This time Li Xian spent some money from his savings to buy a pot of good green ant wine. It was because his husband had just occupied the magpie's nest and squeezed out the private school's business, and was bedridden in a fit of anger. The new young man Sir, he is younger than Li Xian, who is nearly thirty years old. Li Xian met once, and he has a good conversation. He is a foreign scholar. As an official, he only loves preaching and teaching. As for why he came to Beiliang to teach, God knows. However, there are also rumors that the scholar fell in love with a young lady in this village at the market in Huanghua County earlier, so he ran all the way to the village to settle down. I am a person who is unwilling to explore this matter, thinking that it is true, he can be regarded as a talented man and a beautiful woman, and of course he is willing to wish a lover in his heart that he will finally get married.
Out of the corner of Li Xian's eyes, he had already caught a glimpse of the gentleman who was thinking of going out to bask in the sun. After seeing the figures of the two of them, he immediately retreated into the house. His legs and feet were very agile, and he probably went back to bed to pretend to be sick.
Li Xian and Mr. Liu walked into the slightly dark back room together. The latter patted the rice wine and food on the small table heavily, and said angrily: "There is wine and meat today. If Wang Laobald can get up, then you I eat and drink cleanly, if I don't get up, then I will help you eat and drink in front of you!"
Wang Changqing, who was lying on the bed, snorted coldly, "Yellow wine?"
Mr. Liu said angrily: "If it's not rice wine, could it be the green ant wine from Beiliang?! You want me to drink green ant wine, unless the sun comes out from the west! Do you want to drink it or not!"
Li Xian had no choice but to smile and say: "Sir, I brought a pot of green ants, and Mr. Liu has sauced meat, how about it?"
Only then did Wang Changqing get up slowly, and straightened his clothes after getting up.
Mr. Liu said with a sneer: "Win the monkey and get the crown."
Wang Changqing squinted his lips and said: "Look at this one on me, it's brand new! This year's Chinese New Year, I will add a new dress. On the other hand, look at the shirt on your body that has been mended year after year, it is so gentle!"
Mr. Liu said indifferently: "If nothing is precious, if you don't go to bed early, you are rich, if you take your walking as a car, if you eat late food as meat, and as a coat, you are living in poverty. If you don't change your original intention throughout your life, you are living in poverty carry on."
Wang Changqing rolled his eyes and said: "If you are poor, you are poor. Is it reasonable to be poor?"
Mr. Liu sneered and said, "It's not like some frogs in a well. I have traveled thousands of miles in my life, and I have seen the principles of nature in human affairs. I have read thousands of books in this life, and I have seen human affairs in the principles of heaven. It’s ridiculous, ridiculous, to be obsessed with old paper piles for decades, and not knowing the east, west, north, south, and north as soon as you leave the gate. Especially the old paper piles are placed in the Central Plains where farming, study, and family heirlooms, and ordinary children can recite them backwards.”
Too lazy to pay attention to the surname Liu, Wang Changqing sat down on the small stool, took the opened pot of green ant wine from Li Xian, lowered his head and sniffed vigorously, and said intoxicatedly: "Just this smell, you can drink wine." It's worth seven or eight silver coins!"
With the light from the dilapidated window, Wang Changqing and his student Li Xian drank green ant wine, while Mr. Liu drank rice wine alone. Wang Changqing, with thinning hair, stepped on the bench. Compared with Mr. Liu, who was sitting upright, he really didn't look like a gentleman. On the contrary, Li Xian, taught by Wang Laotu, is not much less elegant than Mr. Liu.
Wang Changqing poured two bowls of wine, Li Xian shook his head with a smile, Wang Changqing pointed to the proud student, and said regretfully: "If you don't drink, how can you write a good poem that will be passed down through the ages?"
Mr. Liu sarcastically said: "Old Wang, have you drank hundreds of catties of wine in your life, and have you ever written a smooth article? Although Li Xian can barely be regarded as half of your student, he is a serious student. From my point of view, the Juren of Er Ba Jing failed to be a Jinshi because of his status in Beiliang, and you, Wang Laotu, can teach you a lesson?"
Wang Changqing took a sip of the green ant wine, wiped his mouth, and confronted each other: "I can't teach you a lesson? You Liu Shudai can teach you a lesson? With a better family background, it's no big deal to memorize a few more books!"
Mr. Liu hesitated to speak, and finally he still didn't say something, but said angrily: "It's unreasonable!"
Wang Changqing took another sip of wine, then hiccupped, picked up a piece of sauced meat with his fingers and threw it into his mouth, and immediately felt relieved.
In the end, Li Xian couldn't resist his husband's persuasion, and his face flushed after drinking half a bowl.
The two old people silently fight wine and eat meat, but one uses hands and the other uses chopsticks.
It was rare for Mr. Liu to drink too much. He was a little embarrassed, but also a little proud. His trance eyes were full of nostalgia, and he said to himself: "I wish I could marry a girl with ten surnames, I wish I could be a great Chu person..."
Wang Laotu gently poked the slightly drunken student with his elbow, and asked in a low voice, "What's so special about girls with ten surnames?"
Li Xian smiled and said: "There were ten great powerful men in the Spring and Autumn Period in the past, probably because of allusions."
Wang Lao baldly laughed, "Isn't it the grandson of our general?"
Wang Changqing's voice was quite loud, and Mr. Liu glared at him immediately.
Wang Changqing drank most of the pot of green ant wine, and he was seven or eight points drunk. He hung his neck, "What, you are not convinced?! Don't think that you are a remnant of that age, and you underestimate us in Beiliang. You really think you are superior. Already?! Hmph, I have put up with you, Liu Mao, for many years! You used to say that His Royal Highness is a dude, but I was also blind at that time, thinking that His Royal Highness is not as good as a general, and may not be able to support the North. Liang's burden, I just scolded you a few words, and today you're acting weird with me again, see if I won't take care of you! I can't take care of you, and Li Xian, my student!"
Mr. Liu's eyes were bloodshot, and he said softly: "If you know how to kill someone, it's a big deal? How can there be such a reason in the world? It is recorded time and time again in the history books that a general will be successful and his bones will be wiped out? This is not the reason of a scholar."
Wang Changqing suddenly slapped the wine bowl hard, and half of the green ant wine spilled out of the big white bowl. Usually, when he goes to the market and wine shop to drink a bowl of loose wine, he can drink Wang Baldy, who is not left with a drop of wine. Seeing Mr. Liu, he said angrily: "The general kills people like hemp, and let you sink the Central Plains. I don't know if it makes sense! I only know that from the general to the king of Xinliang, two generations of the Xu family have taken the lead outside the Northwest Pass. You Central Plains blocked millions of cavalry in Beimang! Take a step back and say, even if the general owes you the survivors of the Spring and Autumn Period, the King of Xinliang and the Beiliang Frontier Army, this year, in the second year of the auspicious talisman of this dog day, will also replace him The old man returned it to the Xu family for them! Zhao Shunzi from our village, Li Erwa from Li Xian’s village, and two young children from your Liumao village, of the four, only one survived and one died in the tiger’s eye. Toucheng, two of them died at the mouth of the gourd! Zhao Shunzi, in his early twenties, was the same as Wang Changqing and me. In your Liu Mao’s eyes, he was a person who had never been able to read anything in his life. The result? It turned out that I, Wang Changqing, and you Liu Mao This old bastard, Mao, is here leisurely drinking wine!"
Wang Changqing slammed his fist on the table, "The two of us didn't die, we didn't die, we died! What are you trying to do? Yes, Zhao Shunzi and the others didn't die for you, Liu Mao, or for me, the bald man. , but we can’t give him a copy? Can’t you, Liu Mao, take a copy of our 300,000 frontier army in Beiliang?!”
Mr. Liu raised his head and took a sip of wine, his face was calm, but his lips were ashen, and he said slowly: "I miss those who died in the battle, what's the problem? But why should I miss the Xu family? There are more than 300 members of Chu and Liu's family, and one Hongjia ran northward, and I was the only Liu Mao who died, and you are right in saying that those who deserved to die are not dead, and those who are not deserved to die are all dead!"
Wang Changqing yelled: "Fuck you! Liu Mao, I don't care how many people you died that year!"
Mr. Liu got up suddenly, smashed the jar of rice wine, and strode away.
Li Xian hesitated for a moment, and ran out after him.
Mr. Liu staggered, Li Xian wanted to help, but was swung away.
Li Xian said in a hoarse voice: "Mr. Liu, unless you are an old man in this village, maybe you don't know that my husband's two sons died in battle outside Liangzhou Pass a long time ago, and my wife also died because of this."
Liu Mao stopped by the stream.
Li Xian looked at the creek, "When I went to Beijing to rush for the exam, my husband gave me all my savings, and said Mr. Liu that you like a set of "Chuanglu Conghua", and told me that I must bring a set back to Tai'an City for you. It’s just that among the few of us who went to Beijing together, one of them wanted to stay in the capital to take the exam. On impulse, I gave him all the money, hoping that he would be able to stay in the capital that was full of hostility towards us in Beiliang. Life is difficult, so I can study with peace of mind as much as possible. I didn’t even dare to confess this matter to my husband, because at the time of parting, my husband told me that no matter what, Mr. Liu has real knowledge, which is far beyond him. A real scholar can teach in Beiliang for 20 years, so Beiliang owes Mr. Liu, so he, Wang Changqing, should do something."
Li Xian said softly: "Mr. Liu bears the hatred of the country and the family. My husband never dares to let you forget anything."
Li Xian looked around, "But we in Beiliang, the backcountry in Mr. Liu's eyes, are never ungrateful! Never ungrateful!"
Li Xian smiled, "I have never met the general, nor the king of Xinliang, but I have met Mr. Wang Changqing, I have seen Li Erwa who went fishing with me in the early years, and I have seen the man who scolded me when I was a child." I used to be a nerd and beat up my Zhao Shunzi, and even met my husband's two sons and my teacher's wife... Then I think, since we were born in Beiliang, we should die in Beiliang as a matter of course. For us Beiliang people who are facing the Beimang iron cavalry, as long as the border war continues for a day, it is actually very common for people to die every day and every year. Maybe one day it really falls on our own head, and we will feel unwilling , but if you are afraid, you will be afraid."
"Death is death! Because Beimang can't let us live in Beiliang. And we don't want to live!"
"Mr. Liu, you said that in the early years of the Central Plains Spring and Autumn Period, you hated not marrying a woman with ten surnames, and hated not being a member of the Great Chu. Today's Liyang, hates not being born in the south of the Yangtze River, and hates not living in peace."
Li Xian smiled and said: "As for me, Li Xian, a frail scholar, I only hate Liangzhou!"
The stooped old man of Xichu stared blankly at the distant back of the young Beiliang scholar.
The old man suddenly lay down by the stream, stuck his head into the stream, and drank heavily.
Then he sat cross-legged like that, laughed and said, "Good wine!"
The old man turned his head to look at the young man who ran back quickly, he must have mistakenly thought that Liu Mao couldn't think about it.
The old man laughed.
On the contrary, Liu Mao finally thought about it today.
Compared with the Central Plains, whether it is the Central Plains in the Spring and Autumn Period or the Central Plains in Liyang, there are not many scholars and fewer books in Beiliang.
But, who says there is no chivalry between the lines here? !