On May 16th, Kanpu was quiet and peaceful. Jiang Shiguang sat on the threshold of his house and smoked a hookah. Since April, the town has not been quiet. From time to time, foreign soldiers passed by the town. , there were even arrests. He thought to avoid it if he could, so he returned to the village. There was property of the Jiang family here, and he lived in the home of his third son, with his daughter-in-law taking care of him, so he was quite comfortable.
The son went to work in the fields, while the daughter-in-law was busy sitting down for dinner. The year was getting worse, and more and more people were opening their mouths. Officials in the town and even the government would send people to collect grain. Sometimes the town After collecting food here, the government will also collect a share. In addition to bandits and passing troops, anyone with a gun is a master. Recently I heard that the government is arresting the Communists and has killed many people. I only hope that their defeated troops It’s better not to pass by the town.
Jiang Shiguang was thinking wildly and smoking the hookah louder. Just as he was thinking about when to go back to town, another group of children started arguing in the distance.
The old man stood up in a hurry, put the hookah on the ground, and said: "These little tricks, why don't you go to study in such a nice weather, and you are still playing there, don't you want to take the exam for merit, don't you study?" ?" He walked forward as if to persuade.
Jiaxing has had a tradition of reading in all dynasties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were 7 Weike students (No. 1 Scholar, No. 2 Scholar, Tanhua, and Chuanlu). Jiang Shiguang also attended a private school when he was young. It was built with money from his family. It is a pity that he was not admitted. The teacher took a fancy to it, but in the end he did not continue reading. Although he was old now, he couldn't stand the trick of not studying. He held the hookah in one hand, lifted up his robe with the other, patted it twice and walked towards the entrance of the village.
Huang Xuan was surrounded by a group of children at the moment. If he were a trained plane traveler, he would have countless ways to deal with this situation, but Huang Xuan didn't know these and was too embarrassed to move.
In order to save energy, Lorraine discarded all the zippers and the like on him at P11. Now Huang Xuan is not only dressed strangely, but his clothes are also cut into pieces, like a beggar, and his pants have a slit in the middle. A group of children laughed when they saw such a scene, and surrounded him.
It was time to go to the fields at this time. Although it was not busy farming, there were not many people in the village. The villagers who occasionally came out could not control the many children. Most of them gathered around to watch Huang Xuan's jokes. It was not until Jiang Shiguang arrived that a group of boys started to cheer And scattered.
Jiang Shiguang looked at Huang Xuan with a critical eye. He was a fair-skinned young man. The nails on his hands were neatly trimmed, and there were no calluses from regular work. Although the clothes on his body were in tatters, except for the dusty eyes and a slight The stains have been cleaned up, and the material of the clothes seems to be somewhat similar to that of foreign shops in the county. Although his expression was a little unnatural, he was a little more angry than his peers in the village. Old Jiang was not a person who had seen big scenes, but in his opinion, this kind of hopeful look rarely appeared on Mudlegzi.
Thinking like this, Jiang Shiguang made half a bow and said respectfully: "This gentleman, was he attacked by bandits? Don't you have any family around you?"
Although the Revolution of 1911 has been over for more than ten years, the problem of bandits has not been solved from the beginning to the end of the Republic of China. The lives of villagers are inextricably linked to bandits. Jiangjia Village is no exception. In addition to forming a stronghold to protect themselves, they cannot He had to avoid dealing with bandits, but since the village was close to Kanpu, there were no large groups of bandits. He asked because he also wanted to know the origin of the person in front of him.
After a group of wild children ran away, Huang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. When someone asked him, he also learned to bow and said: "I got separated from my family. I want to find a hotel to stay. I don't know where it is?" "
"This place is not on the road." Jiang Shiguang handed the hookah to his left hand, walked over and said, "If you want to stay, you can stay at my house. There is still an empty house."
Even if Huang Xuan had the money to stay in a hotel, he would not refuse and replied with a smile: "That's too troublesome for you."
"It's no trouble." Jiang Shiguang led the way and said: "The countryside is a big place, so no one will have any inconvenience."
Huang Xuan has participated in such conversations since he was a child, and he has become extremely proficient. Although times have changed and the polite words have gradually changed, the core meaning is nothing more than talking nonsense. After dealing with one or two, Huang Xuan relaxed. To the old man of the Jiang family, he sounded more like a kid from a wealthy family who came from out of town. He was not familiar with the local customs and habits, but he was still well-educated. This four-character comment was enough to get him a free hotel stay in Jiaxing.
Kanpu is where the ancestral tomb of the Chiang family is located. The mansion at that time looked a little older, but it was not far from dilapidated. The main house in the center of the village was built with blue bricks, and the tiles were at least two palms wide. There is a long extension in front of the door. At the front of the main entrance, there is "Haichang Jiang's Bingshe". The stone forehead and the stone couplet "Wancang Mountain connects to the north of Hubei, and the beautiful peaks are close to the West Stream".
The handwriting was excellent, better than many of the literati Huang Xuan saw at his grandfather's place. Huang Xuan's heart moved and his lips moved slightly: "Can you check this?"
"No problem." Without interference from bases of the same level, Lorraine could hear everything he wanted to hear. He answered while adding: "Searching for information requires a network connection, which is a waste of energy."
"I'll connect you to the Internet when you get back." Huang Xuan comforted him while following Jiang Shiguang.
Seeing that Huang Xuan noticed the ancestral home, Jiang Shiguang slowed down and said, "In the past ten years, all the books collected by the Jiang family were kept here. In those days, there were dozens of ships to transport these paintings and calligraphy." chin.
Jiaxing has always had a tradition of collecting books. It probably started in the Southern Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although it has declined since the Xianfeng period, in the consciousness of the villagers, there is almost an inevitable connection between farming and reading heirlooms and the series of books, especially for the so-called wealthy families. The library is missing, and the Jiang family is exactly the one that meets many of these elements.
Huang Xuan satisfied Jiang Shiguang's vanity with a slightly surprised but reserved smile. At this time, news from Lorraine also came: "This building should be the Xijian Thatched Cottage, where the Jiang family and Jiang Guangzhen's library is located. According to standard history, it is about 10 Years ago, he stored all his books here, and later they probably moved them back to Yanfen Cottage."
"Are those books valuable?" Huang Xuan looked at the antique houses around him, a little obsessed, and if he wanted to continue traveling through the planes, he needed funds to buy energy.
Lorraine paused for a moment, as if searching for information, and then said: "According to the information, there should be 100,000 volumes of books, but according to standard history, these books will be donated to the Chinese government in the 1950s."
"Aren't you trying to cheat?"
"No, although rare books are rare, they are not unique. Even if they are orphans, there is no guarantee that they are truly unique in the world. However, the owner of the Jiang family cherishes books. To buy these books, I am afraid that it will take a lot of trouble." Lorraine said It became more and more humane and the words became more and more accurate, but Huang Xuan still focused on those books and said with some frustration: "I originally wanted to transport some books back."
It is said that scholars love books, but poor scholars like to copy down books and aim at tens of thousands of books. Rich scholars have even higher requirements. They not only require content, but also hope to get some rare and rare books in the country. Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, the price of valuable books has become higher and higher, as Huang Xuan said. I know that the dozen or so old books that my father hid in his study are worth millions. The old man in the family even exaggerated. He once exchanged a painting by Zhang Daqian for a small calligraphy book of Song Dynasty, and he even shouted that he had made a profit. Thinking of this, Huang Xuan felt itchy again.
Seeing that Jiang Shiguang was still intoxicated in the vanity just now, Huang Xuan whispered to Lorraine: "Then you said, no one sells books around here?"
"There is insufficient information, but according to analysis, Jiaxing libraries have been in ruins since the Xianfeng period. As long as there are enough funds, we should be able to acquire many books. But there are still some problems."
"what is the problem?"
"Although books are fragile goods and their preservation methods are not considered when traveling across the plane, the energy consumed by books is still far greater than food. With the current energy reserve, it is recommended that the total weight of books does not exceed 5 kilograms."
Huang Xuan curled his lips and started buying books. Comrade Lorraine knew everything he wanted to know, so he focused on Old Jiang, hoping to take this opportunity to ask for more information. (To be continued)