"The Change of Heaven"
Volume 2: The Horizon
Chapter 140 Banquet
This is winter. In Jingzhou in winter, you will definitely not feel the wind coming from the southeast mixed with a thick and humid feeling, nor will it rain so heavily.
Although the rain was heavy and fast, it stopped after a short while, which was not as crazy as the rain in Jingzhou. But the wind was still strong, and I could even feel the whirling fallen leaves under the corridor of the old courtyard in Xiangyang, the surging waters of Yunmeng, the whistling sand and gravel at Xiemu Pass, and one or more small boats drifting on the sea.
I don’t believe that Yinling will encounter unsolvable troubles; but I’m not worried about Yinling, because I guess no one believes it, including me.
So, naturally, I couldn't sit still anymore and walked quickly to the lobby door: "Hurry up and invite Li..." I paused, looking at the people rushing out: "Prepare the horses!"
Guangxin has both inner and outer city walls, but they were not newly built by the original Yuehou. The two circles of rammed earth walls can be traced back hundreds of years. The original Nanyue State Zhao Tuo appointed his brother, who seemed to be a man named Zhao Guang, as the king here, and the king city of Guangxin was established. Later, the Nanyue State was gone, and the inner city was gradually abandoned. After a long time, rain and wind blew, especially the rain here is so strange and unpredictable. No matter how solid the rammed earth is, it can't withstand the passage of time. Now there are collapses everywhere, and thick wooden piles used for reinforcement are also found inside. The brick, stone, wood and tile houses in the palace city are still relatively intact, but they are no longer the palaces they once were. Before the former Yuehou and his followers came, they had become the official warehouses, arsenals and residences of officials in Guangxin. When they came, they obviously did not like the scenery here, and it was obvious that they had planned to use this place as the palace of the princes, so there were also construction sites for rebuilding the collapsed places. At the same time, many merchants' larger residences in the outer city and outside the inner city were forcibly occupied and turned into residences for officials. But when I came, the situation would change. Those in the outer city that could be returned to those merchants were returned. In addition to the continuous thanks from those people, the people's evaluation and impression of me seemed to be good for the time being; those that could not be returned, that is, those whose original owners had disappeared, were left empty for the time being, and we would see how things would go in the future.
I arranged for everyone to stay in the palace so that it wouldn't be too lonely for my family to live alone. So, it was not as fast as walking, even though I rode for a while and others led the horses for a while. But I came to this conclusion when I almost stepped into Beihai's apartment after riding for only a few dozen steps.
His apartment is much more spacious than mine. My place is also occupied by my wife Guo Pei, Na Yan and Na Lan, and three sons Wu Yue, Song Qian, and Chen Wu. Although the courtyard is large and the people are few, with these three sons, the house seems much more spacious, because you can hear Song Qian and Chen Wu's screams everywhere. The fourth brother's place is much worse. His younger brother's wife and niece are temporarily in Jingzhou because of my order and have not come here. Some of the other people in his courtyard are his clansmen, and some are newly hired servants by the clever girl Na Lan. After a while, I will let my younger brother's wife and niece move in. In my house, there will be the fat man Kong Ming, the little girl Yi Yue, and my brother-in-law surnamed Huang. Most importantly, Yin Ling will definitely be back by then.
I don't know what happened to Si'er today. Could it be that the southeast wind made him sentimental? When I walked into his yard, he didn't seem to notice me. I only saw him sitting on the steps in full armor, holding a bamboo scroll in his hand, biting his lip and looking dazed.
I never missed an opportunity to torment my Xianbei brother, but this time things were different, so I walked straight forward to see what the bamboo slips were.
But he handed it to me directly, just when I walked up to him and was about to take a look, which made me very dissatisfied, "You know that I am not welcome to come."
This was originally a report to Cangwu County. No matter what happened, it seemed to have reached his hands first. And I didn't need to read it to know that what caused Beihai to be like this must be related to the things on the northern border.
"My... our... Xianbei people were beaten by you Han people." He gritted his teeth and didn't look at me.
"You finally know it." I sighed, waved my sleeves, shook off the water droplets on the steps next to me, and sat down: "But you will know it eventually, and you should know it."
He and I sat together and looked at the court bulletin again. For the time being, there was no major movement, except that some princes' rules and regulations were not in accordance with the rules, and the emperor drafted an imperial edict to strictly order these people to correct them. The only thing left was the article that my father had newly opened the Hubei County, and the Xianbei people's losses were very obvious: "Your brother had a hand in this matter, and I helped to come up with the idea. What's the matter? This time we are sorry to you, not your brother who is hypocritical. Our Han and Xian peoples have been suffering from each other on the border for more than one or two years. I won't hide it from you, and I'm afraid you don't know. In our Han Dynasty for a hundred years, there have been some guys who want to stand out and make meritorious deeds, so they always want to attack you Xianbei people. Although there have not been many big battles, border harassment is inevitable. But you Xianbei people also have problems Come to our border to plunder whenever you have nothing to do. You can just kill some evil officials and gentry. Those people didn't bother you." I shook my head and smiled bitterly: "In fact, in my mind, the Xiongnu, Xianbei and Wuhuan were all evil and greedy thieves. My brothers and I, including the second brother, played games that involved attacking and killing Xianbei people. Until one day, I suddenly rushed to your place rashly, and then I realized that everything was not what I heard and thought. But the fighting in Hetao has been going on for a long time, and it should end. This year when I was in office in Luoyang, your Xianbei Qujin tribe in Hetao robbed our Han herdsmen or the people of the Han Dynasty again, which gave my father and others an excuse... This is politics, or something that can be written into history, and I have nothing to say about it. Everyone needs living space, but the strong should not be slaughtered like sheep. Since it is always going back and forth, I think it is better to have a fair fight, whoever wins will come? What do you think?"
There was silence for a long time, and I didn't know what to say. I respected my brother and didn't want to lie to him, so I chose not to argue with him. Maybe other Han people would think I was a little strange, why should I consider those uncivilized barbarians. I don't know. Maybe in the future we Han people will be able to consider everyone. At that time, I really want to ask him how to solve the problem when a piece of land is really in a struggle for survival and development. Note 1
"We Xianbei people are made up of many tribes, and we have no ability to restrain each other. Some large tribes live in places with the most abundant water and grass, and the tribes next to them are small tribes. We Xianbei people also gather regularly, maybe every three months, maybe a year, or even longer, to discuss what to do, but each tribe still acts independently. Sometimes, the strong tribe will attack the weak tribe. To our west, there are several larger tribes, such as the Houmochen tribe, which annexed some of the surrounding tribes to become strong. I once thought that if there was no Han Dynasty, we would one day be unified into a powerful Xianbei country."
I was confused. I could think of this: Xianbei and us Han people often clashed, and their unification was also hindered from happening. This was good for the Han people, but not for Xianbei. I was helpless, but there was nothing I could do.
"In fact, I've listened to Wan'er telling me a lot about your history, and I've thought a lot about it. Our Poliu Han tribe might one day be submerged in this kind of annexation and swallowing up, perhaps on the night that brother found us." He sighed, "If it weren't for my third brother who risked his life to cover our retreat that day and brought us to the Han Dynasty, we should have been dead. We, the Poliu Han tribe, should actually be dead to the Xianbei... I've figured it out. There is no more Poliu Han Lieya; to the Xianbei we are just dead, but to the Han people we are Han people. My name is Li Beihai, and my courtesy name is Longxing." He straightened his body and stood up. Although he was smiling, he looked at me firmly: "But... my heart will always be with the Xianbei people. I will never go to war with the Han people against us Xianbei people; and if one day the Xianbei people want me to go back, I will resolutely leave immediately and return to the Xianbei people."
I smiled proudly, stood up and patted my brother on the shoulder, "You are my good brother, I am proud to be Li Beihai's brother."
After saying this, he left with a big laugh.
But there were still some people who were not completely confused: "Third brother, you came to see me for this?"
I immediately lowered my head and turned around, then got close to him and punched him, which really hurt my self-esteem.
"Go to Nanhai to pick up your sister Yinling." I took out the map in my arms and pointed out the current situation to him: "Your sister Yinling will lead the troops from Nanhai. If Nanhai is peaceful, she can also bring all the troops here. Our east is also stable, and we can concentrate on dealing with the chaos in the west and south. I will let a few locals go with you. I will give you 5,000 people and only give you one month's food and grass. The others will be recruited in Nanhai. Xiangzi will be your deputy. He is familiar with the navy. Tian Jian will be your military officer. If there is anything, you can discuss it with him and make a decision. Don't worry, there are some chaos in Nanhai. You need to know the situation clearly before you act. Go easy on me. If you pick up your sister, tell her about our situation. You will listen to your sister's dispatch below. There is no need to ask me. Your sister is better at fighting than your brother. And... Most importantly, go easy on the common people. You also know that you are a Han Chinese Li Beihai. Remember!"
He immediately packed up and prepared to leave, and I immediately felt relieved. At this moment, Nan came in and saw the scene. He was quite smart and immediately realized that something was going on, so he immediately asked to participate. I said in a very political way: "Old Four, you can do it."
I transferred some people from Bōcai Han Xian, and explained it to Yu Xiangzi and Xuelin. Bōcai frowned in the middle, but it was nothing. He just told Han Xian to select the navy. However, I immediately asked: "Shouldn't I send someone?"
"No, I was just going to use that Fierce Fang." The honest uncle said very seriously.
"What?"
"Supervise the soldiers to shoot arrows."
"Then... let Nan go, he's not bad at archery." He originally wanted to learn from Mao Sui and recommend himself, but he was afraid that he would be too busy to leave, and he didn't know if he could pick up his shooting skills again. In fact, he was sure that Bei Hai would definitely leave that guy behind.
But for this, I specifically went to find the longbow of the former Lie Ya, the one who "died". He later changed to an iron bow, so this six-foot bow was naturally mine. Today I specially packed it out, and ran to the open space in the north of the palace, looking for a target and shooting. I think shooting is very simple. The first few arrows are good at aiming and shooting, and after some adjustments, you can hit the target every time. I also tried to shoot on horseback, which immediately became much more difficult, but in the end at least I can be proud of myself, of course not to Lao Si, so as not to be laughed at by him. It is easy to shoot an arrow one foot away from the target within a hundred steps, but it is also easy to do twenty feet, and forty feet is no problem. In fact, I have also done sixty feet...
I had just returned from dinner that day and they were waiting for me. Naturally, I didn't say anything polite. I was hungry, so I asked if anyone had come to see me to report something. When I got a negative answer, I sat down to eat, but my head was full of miscellaneous things.
This was the first day that all of us in our family had dinner together since arriving in Guangxin. In the previous few days, Guo Pei sent people to take me to where I handled official business.
The meals in my house are always simple, but the quantity is quite sufficient, at least it has been like this for 18 years, without any change, and no matter who cooks. At least I am not very sure whether it is Pearl who cooks this meal, because the main part of my body is never the mouth and nose, but the intestines.
I have to admit that without Yinling, there was nothing for our ears to do at the dining table. At least the sound of the three children slurping their soup and Nayan tearing the roasted meat were not pleasant to hear. On the other hand, Pei'er and Nalan chewed their food very politely, slowly and silently.
But usually the details that allow me to remember so many things must have been something interesting that happened at the time. So, when we were halfway through the meal, footsteps were heard in the corridor, and I heard a slightly older man respectfully report in the accent of Jingzhao Yin: "Zhang Jian... Old... Master... is here."
"It seems you are not afraid of him." I laughed. The messengers in our family are always interesting. I don't know how to choose them.
"No...no, my Lord, I...just...stutter." I could tell from his speech that he was stuttering. I was even more helpless about this: "Let...him...come up." I was thinking, why are they all...
Actually, I am also a famous stutterer in Xiangyang. I still remember Zishe said seriously: "Zirui is a good boy, he never quarrels with others... because he is a stutterer." Usually, the bad guys would have laughed at this point. I must reiterate that I am not a stutterer, I just stutter a little when I speak fast, but I found that if I feel guilty, shy and have no confidence, I usually stutter a little; but if I make up my mind and act shamelessly, it's okay. Especially now that I am not in a hurry, I rarely stutter.
Before I stood up and put my clothes in order, even Guo Pei was about to go out with me to greet him, but Uncle Zhang clasped his fists and came up to salute from a distance, saying first: "I apologize, I apologize, and I'm sorry to bother you at this time."
"Oh, Uncle Zhang, look at you. Although you are the Marquis of Yue, you are your junior. In the court, you can just give me face and call me the Marquis of Yue. On weekdays, when you come to my place, you are like a family. Hey? Uncle Zhang, I wonder... what... you are here for?" Zhang Jian was greeting his wife at this time. My wife has always behaved very virtuously, no matter which one she is, but the situation behind it is slightly different, and this word "slightly" is worth discussing.
“Uh, this?” Uncle Zhang saw that my wife was right next to me and there were other people behind me. He felt a little embarrassed and lowered his voice: “This… your uncle had no money when I came out of the mountains, and I was taken care of by the army every day… I was considered to have no worries about food and clothing, but your uncle… was greedy for that bit of yellow soup, but now he doesn’t even have a salary, your uncle… he…”
I smiled and raised my hand to ask him to stop for a moment, then turned back to Nalan and asked, "Nalan, do we have any good wine in our house?"
The clever girl immediately ran over and reported with a smile: "My Lord, there are some aged wines in the cellar of this mansion, all left by the previous masters. Now that the mansion has been handed over, they are all yours. I don't know much about wine..."
"Haha... That's fine, ask someone to bring some over. Hey, Uncle Zhang, you haven't eaten yet, eat here, they'll bring the wine over soon." Guo Pei also hurried to help Uncle Zhang, and my husband and I finally managed to coax the old man to sit down happily. The old man was smiling and expectant, especially his eyes, which kept looking behind him, and could even be described as sneaky. A large, not very pretty flower stump bloomed on his handsome papaya face - mainly because the upper half was too wrinkled, affecting the overall look. But apart from a certain sense of bad taste, I still understood my respect for this interesting elder, so I was happy to continue to make fun of him.
As soon as the wine jar arrived, the host came on stage to open the jar and test the wine. Once it was confirmed, the dinner table became a banquet table. I naturally drank with him, and so did Pei'er. I asked Nayan if he wanted to drink some, and he didn't have any problem with it. So, this is "If the master wants to drink, he needs three people to accompany him." I don't know how this phrase came out, for no reason.
In fact, there were still people who wanted to drink at that time. If there were no guests, the two mao leaders might have been beaten by a big man. If "Chun Qiu" was continued to be written, Confucius would definitely not remember this paragraph because it was not in accordance with etiquette. I have been enduring my wife's Confucian classics education recently, and finally I know these; I also know that in Jiaozhou, in addition to Sanchen. There are two scholars who are masters of classics. But the only difference is that the first three have set off, and the last two have not yet gone, and one of them is actually the governor of Jiaozhi, jumping around happily.
So, after a few drinks, I took the lead and started discussing Confucian scholars. I am not a Confucian scholar, so naturally there is no taboo in my words; Zhang Jian is not a Confucian scholar either, but after three drinks, the old man started to talk a lot, and he had a very interesting description of Confucian scholars: "In my opinion, there are two kinds of Confucian scholars in the world, one is the sour Confucian scholars, and the other is the corrupt Confucian scholars. The sour Confucian scholars may be useful, but the corrupt Confucian scholars are bound to be harmful. The sour Confucian scholars always follow the words of Confucius and the classics, but when it comes to public affairs, they still know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. Although they are sour, they are sour and hard. I, Zhang Jian, used to think that there are a few sour Confucian scholars who can be friends with; but the corrupt Confucian scholars are different. They have long rotten bones. They succumb to the power of the rich and powerful, but this is loyalty; they are greedy for money and self-interest, which is courtesy; they wantonly oppress the people and call it diligence in government affairs; they are lustful in the inner chambers..." He took a sip of wine here, and then he stopped. I can feel the problem, so we all temporarily gave up on continuing to mock Confucian scholars.
"This wine..." The three of us who were drinking were about to make a comment on the wine at the same time to dispel the bad follow-up topic of the previous topic, and we all realized that others had the same idea: "You first!"
I used palm reading to ask Uncle Zhang, and Uncle Zhang pointed at Nayan, who spread his hands towards me.
"Well, I'll go first." I volunteered: "This wine... is not bad. Okay, it's your turn, Nayan, you go first, let Uncle Zhang take the last step."
"I," Nayan began, pausing for a long moment, "when I was a Yulin Lang, I didn't drink much, except occasionally when I took a break."
"Wait a minute." I decided to interrupt. "Not only are you a Yulin Guard, but you are also a Yulin Lang with a salary of 300 shi?"
"yes!"
"Then why is your sister still a slave of the Situ family?" I looked at Nalan again, "Can't you redeem her?"
"Well, actually, I became a Yulin Lang because Lord Wang asked for me to do so. I couldn't find a good in-law for her, so I can't redeem her." Nayan was a little embarrassed, and Nalan lowered her head in shame. But I suddenly felt that Wang Yun was more complicated than I thought. Maybe this old man was not the same as we thought. I was a little worried, but I still put my mind at ease and signaled him to continue. I also said, "I will find a marriage for Nalan sister, but Nayan, if you find a good one, remember to keep it for our Nalan sister."
Nayan was smiling happily, while Nalan was just eating. The two bad guys were making a fuss, but they were hit on the head by their eldest brother.
"I am so grateful for your kindness to me. In fact, I had already felt that something was wrong, but I just didn't think of it. I won't mention it here." He looked at us and sighed, but a little vaguely. Perhaps Mr. Zhang still worried him a little, so he continued the story: "My appearance is a bit eye-catching. I was often criticized all the way north, but I dared not speak out. Fortunately, you gave me a generous amount of money, and I had a sword with me, so I started to travel steadily. I felt depressed and wanted to drink some wine, but I didn't expect that one time I woke up from a drunken stupor and found that my wallet was gone. At that time, I had just arrived in Jizhou and the weather was cold. Since then, I have never been able to look back. I had no choice but to sell my sword and got some money. I had no money for traveling, but no sword. Seeing you in life, some local rogues dared to come and fight. Relying on their numbers, I suffered several losses. Once I even lost my penny. I don’t know if it was robbed or lost. Anyway, the situation down there is getting worse day by day. I have to eat. No one dares to beg for food. I have to rob people. If I meet a kind-hearted aunt, she will give me some leftovers. If not, I will chew some leaves. I made it to Youzhou like this. "His eyes were moist, "If it weren't for your letter and my sister in Luoyang, I'm afraid I really couldn't make it."
"How did you get out of this predicament?" Guo Pei seemed to be immersed in the story, so she decided to ask first. The three children also stared at Nayan very seriously, very anxiously.
"That day, I was hungry and sleepy. I fainted in the wilderness and couldn't move at all. When I was still able to remember, I thought I was going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw a white-robed general and several soldiers surrounding me in the dark. One of them was feeding me water. The few sips of water made me feel better. I could see clearly and hear some sounds. Then I heard the white-robed general asked his men to leave some dry food for me. Since I was a big person, he asked me to go to the city five miles northwest along the main road to find a meal. He also asked me if I could stand up. I staggered and stood up. They had to leave for something. How could I let my benefactor go? I asked these questions. When I asked the soldier and the general's name, the general stopped. He looked at me. I couldn't really see his face. He said, "Your voice is still very deep, like an extraordinary person. I have urgent business to go east and can't stay here for long. You can go to the city to join the army. If they ask you, tell them that General Zilong asked you to come." I need to go to Lelang to find Liu Bei. He took out some money from his pocket and asked the people around him to collect some money for me. He also told me to report Zhao Yun's name or report it to Lord Xuande, and there should be no trouble along the way. Later, there was no trouble along the way until Lelang."
"Zilong is truly a hero, and Lord Xuande's reputation is truly admirable," I sighed.
"Well, Mr. Xuande is really good. The people in Lelang all love him. Some people even moved to Lelang because of him. And his two sworn brothers are really good men. It's refreshing to train and drink with them every day." At this point, Nayan's eyebrows stood up and the corners of his mouth grinned.
"Then why are you here?" I was a little surprised. "If you live well, just write me a letter and I'll let Nalan go. Why do you have to travel so far?"
"My lord, how can you say that? I will repay General Zilong's kindness to me in the future. Brother Xuande and I are friends, and we can meet again and reminisce about the past. And Nayan received your life-saving grace when you were in trouble, and even the favor of entrusting his sister to me in trivial matters. The only thing I can repay you with is this remaining life." He actually stood up and called Nalan to step back and bow to me again. I was so panicked that I quickly stood up to return the gesture.
"Nayan, you are a real hero." Before I could say anything, Zhang Jian had already praised me.
"Get up, get up." I hurriedly pulled them up and went back to the table, but found that Pei'er had quietly come to my side to return the greeting, which made me think of words to ease the atmosphere: "In fact, when Nalan came here, I didn't take care of her much. Instead, she was always used as a maid. Nalan is smart and has helped me and my wife a lot. I have to thank you brother and sister." Immediately, I also bowed, which made Zhang Jian say: "This time, the master has a bit of a sour scholar's nature."
Now I can understand why Uncle Zhang Jian was disliked by the eunuchs above him. I am afraid that I am the only one in the world who can be so straightforward in his confrontation with them.
"Uncle Zhang, it's your turn." We finally sat down, continued drinking, and started another topic. The children were whispering something, and I really wanted to know, but I was too far away to hear clearly.
"When I was the Supervisor." When he talked about this, the flower that had been blooming all the time withered, and he replaced it with a bitter vegetable flower on his face: "I don't drink alcohol at all. Shanyang County has eleven townships and forty-eight pavilions; there are a total of 136 wealthy families. Most of the village elders and village leaders are from these wealthy families. The imperial decrees are mostly good, but it's not the same at the grassroots. The county magistrate is a guy who is a sour scholar or a corrupt scholar. If he is good, he can't be good; if he is bad, he can't be bad either. When it comes to this matter, he doesn't care, but even if he doesn't care, I can't ignore it." At this point, he pointed to the sky, his face was stern, and his voice became louder: "I can't ignore it!"
No one said anything, but I think everyone cheered in their hearts: "Good!"
"I am a cruel official, what can they do to me? I have no scruples. In three years, I have raided fifteen families and killed more than thirty evildoers. What do you think? The wealthy people in Shanyang call me Zhang Jiangui, so what?" He patted his chest and stood up, which made me feel that Uncle Zhang must have been drunk. "What about his family members? He thought I wouldn't dare, but I do. He has done so many unscrupulous things, and he still wants to live?" ("Book of the Later Han: Biographies of Party Prisoners", author's note)
The old man twisted his neck, his face suddenly fierce, "If I catch these people who ride on the necks of ordinary people and do whatever they want, taking human lives lightly, and corrupting the law, I will kill them no matter how high their positions are."
He suddenly frowned, his fierce face turned into a grimace, and he rushed out of the house. We all felt very strange, so I yelled, "Uncle, what's wrong?"
"Go to the toilet." At this point, the man was already several feet away.
The children laughed the happiest. In fact, the adults laughed too. However, according to the spirit of "Chun Qiu", it was not in accordance with etiquette, so I did not record it.
That night, Uncle Zhang didn't even know why he started drinking, but I think it might be similar to Nayan, and it should be the result of the period of fleeing. Uncle Zhang slept at my house that night, and Nayan and I carried the drunken old man to the side room, while Nalan found him some bedding.
On the next morning, the messenger woke up Nalan, who woke up Guo Pei, and together with Nayan, they picked me up.
The situation is not clear at the moment, especially since our family has such a professional stutterer: "Outside...outside...face...one..."
At this time, Uncle Zhang should have stood up from the side room. Before he even pushed the door open, he shouted in the room: "Old Hu! Sing it!"
The messenger suddenly cleared his throat: "The sun rises in the east and the red light shines on the mountain... Ah, there is a carriage... It enters
The city... You can blame it, but it's not to blame. The four horses are in front and the carriage is behind... Alas... Alas, alas, alas..."
I think everyone present, except the guard who was singing and Uncle Zhang, was sweating coldly.
"It's strange, isn't it? The man on the horse looks like a eunuch, hahahaha... That man is wearing a palace robe, holding a stick, with three tufts of hair on it, and a rope in the middle to connect them, hahaha..."
After hearing this description, I quickly interrupted the one who seemed to be singing in high spirits: "Pei'er, quickly... quickly... change your clothes. That's the envoy holding the imperial seal. I'm afraid it's some eunuch coming to issue an imperial decree."
After a while, my wife and I dressed up and came out. When we arrived at the door, a middle-aged eunuch who called himself Zhongchang Shi So-and-so or So-and-so stood in front of us and read us a few hundred words of imperial edict. There was nothing new. He still made me the Marquis of Yue, but added a clause that officials from the Salt and Iron Department would be sent to me to receive and settle me. I didn't pay attention to the names of the two people. Anyway, the imperial edict was to be kept with me, and I was too lazy to remember it. They will probably come next year, and they will probably come back after they are settled here.
In fact, I was wondering where they found eunuchs of this age. Judging from what Brother Meng De had done, most of them should be young. I don't know where this one came from. I guess he was transferred from some palace.
When I turned back and entered the courtyard, I saw Mr. Zhang running around in our house. I could guess what he was going to do from the anxious expression on his face that didn't care about anything: go to the toilet. But I remember there were two toilets in this courtyard, one on the left and one on the right. But judging from the total number of people in the courtyard and the number of people who appeared in front of me, it is very likely that two people have already started their business there, and it seems that they are all important things. The stench blowing in the wind can give us a clue, but my nose is not yet able to distinguish between two odors, so I just think it is very likely, not certain.
However, I have no interest in proving anything.
I had scheduled an early court meeting for this day, but I chose to hold the meeting at Si hour, rather than the Mao hour, which was the time for the emperor's court meeting. There were some problems. First, my father had told me that the etiquette of the princes could not be the same as that of the emperor, so there had to be some differences in all aspects. Second, the brothers in Jingzhou had discussed it together and agreed that the only people who could get up before Mao hour were those who went to the bathroom or those who had slept before dark the day before. Therefore, I always felt that it would be better to hold the court meeting at Chen hour, or even later, but it must not be after Si hour, so as not to delay lunch because of the court meeting. Third, since I also have a meal time, my whole brain is in a state of wanting to eat everything I see, and I am also very annoyed by endless and meaningless disputes, so the court meeting should be simple, short and compact. Then Si hour seemed to be the only choice.
This morning, I rode on horseback without my guards, wearing my old civilian clothes, tied my hair up casually, and went out for a walk, feeling relaxed and comfortable. Today was the first day I had so much free time. I usually stayed at home and read something, but recently the house was full of poisonous gas. I calculated that today was the beginning of the winter month, so it was suitable for killing and arson. If you went out and had a ghost, you would fall to the ground and die instantly; it was not suitable for cleaning the room, reading, writing, or handling government affairs.
Although it was winter, it was not that cold here, at least it was much warmer than Jingzhou. Some trees along the streets in the city were still green, and some flowers that I had never seen were blooming in the nurseries of the courtyards next to them. Most of the people who got up early on the roadside and in the courtyards were hardworking women. Their clothes looked the same as those of people in the Central Plains, and there was not much difference. Most of them took advantage of the good weather today to dry their bedding outside the house; some of them were wearing wooden clogs and washing clothes; or they were tidying up the walls of the house, tidying up the baskets and other daily things. There were also some men and children who got up late and were cooking for the morning meal. The men who could be seen were helping with the work; some were standing on the roof adding grass; and some were squatting in the sunny corner of the yard eating. Note: Children who wake up early are always the happiest. At this time, Guangxin City is completely theirs. Boys and wild girls will, regardless of their mothers' scolding, make mud balls from the mud on the roadside after yesterday's rain, and roll them into anything they imagine. They will also chase and play in groups of three or five, with the children whistling seriously behind them like brave soldiers charging and chasing the enemy. The quiet girls will sit together, laying out some broken tiles and stones, and playing house games with some straw figures, as seriously as if they were preparing a dinner for hundreds of people. However, they are definitely not as happy as Yinling and the neighbors, because at that time they had a free life-like doll toy - me. Of course, there were also some families who were lazy or slept late yesterday, and their doors were not open at this moment.
Their view of me as a strange ruler was only based on being a stranger, not a ruler. They would look at me and continue to do their own things, and some neighboring women would whisper to each other; but the children were different, they would even jump and follow my horse until they heard their mother calling, then they would shout and scream happily and run back.
The sky gradually brightened, and the noise gradually became noisy. Groups of men, some carrying shoulder poles, some holding axes, and some pushing carts, left the city or went to other places in the city. Outside Guangxin, there were only empty ridges of fields. At this time of year, the work that men could do was mostly to chop wood in the wild, or to carry things for merchants. Thus, Guangxin's day began in its entirety.
The busiest place is always the market. Guangxin has the East Market and the West Market, located in the southeast and southwest of the city. When the soldiers at the market entrance beat the drums at 7:00 p.m., people in need or with free time will flock here from inside and outside the city. Farmers in the north have some free time only at this time of year. Although it is warm here, and grain can be grown twice a year, and farmers work all year round, it seems that this place is the same as in the north. Farmers from outside the city led their animals and dragged some of this year's harvest to sell; the blacksmith's shop was always filled with the clanging sounds of hammering and the whirring of bellows, and the sound of quenching was the most crisp and beautiful, like a whistle between lovers; in contrast, the screams of the animals that would become pigs in the meat shop, having their ears pulled and prepared for bleeding, were somewhat unbearable to hear, and the smell in the shop was even more disgusting than the one that drove me out of home; in addition, the bargaining with dialect slang, the chatting and laughing of groups of aunts, and the passing of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl leading an eleven or twelve-year-old boy, could all take me back to Xiangyang.
I miss home a little.
But this is my home, at least it has seemed that way in recent years.
"Not bad!" I said to myself with satisfaction, "I'm back!"
Note 1: Since the characters in the book are from the Han Dynasty, I cannot let his thoughts be too profound and far-reaching, so his ideas must have certain problems, but this is the limitation of the times. I think it is better not to let some ideas be advanced by 2,000 years. In fact, it is not only you who feel that it is not smooth, but also I have a hard time writing it. I always keep myself back to 2,000 years ago and don't overstep my bounds, so many words cannot come out. The author's helpless note.
Note: Some documents say that ordinary people in that era only ate two meals, about eleven meals in the morning and one meal in the afternoon, and went to bed when it got dark at night, while wealthy families ate about four meals. The author noted this, but in order to avoid everyone being accustomed to it, I still let them follow the later three meals system.