After lunch, the two old men, Grandpa and Mrs. Liu, moved the place of chatting to the chess club in Liu's mansion.

The old people reunited, and the two seemed to have endless topics.

The building of the chess club is built on the edge of the river, and the blue bricks and ancient tiles are carved and the beams are painted.

If it is spring and summer, open the window to face the surging river, and talk about the past and the present with wine.

In the spring of March, the ice and snow in the north are still melting, and this southern land is already full of warblers singing and dancing, and flowers are in full bloom.

The third brother of Chang'an has been with his grandfather a few times, so he knows the layout of this manor very well, so he became my temporary guide.

After bowing to Grandpa and Mrs. Liu, my brother slipped out and followed the cobblestone path to the hill behind the village.

The whole scenery of this so-called "Jiangbei No. 1 Grange" is suddenly in full view.

The area of the entire manor is far better than that of the wealthy Tucheng in the area of Hexi in the north, and it is ten times the overall scale of my Qingfengze Inn.

The river in the south is the natural barrier of the entire manor, and the north is a long street of thatched huts where hundreds of workers gather.

There is a vast pond weir in the west, which is formed by the overflow of the water of the river.

In the high slope area around the hills, the residences, granaries, academies, guest houses, and private barracks of the Liu Mansion are built along the mountains.

To the east, where we came, there was a lush forest and bamboo, separated from the outside world by a tall wall.

Further north, the endless fields and scattered cottages should all be the industries and villagers of this Liu Mansion!

Where is this private grange! It's clearly the domain of a prince!

A feeling of jealousy that has never been felt before arises spontaneously, how did this greased old lady Liu, a remnant of the former dynasty living abroad, get such a huge family business?

Listen to grandpa Liu Lao Taigong a total of five brothers, 30 years ago in the first year of Xingning in the Eastern Jin Dynasty moved from Jincheng County, Longxi, three of the younger brothers because of the meritorious service, now are a high-ranking official in the Jiankang Dynasty.

Although Mrs. Liu and his eldest brother were almost mixed, they also ascended to heaven and became one of the top overseas Chinese scholars in Jiangdong today. ”

On the way down the mountain, Chang'an briefly told me what he knew about the history of the old Longxi clan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

"This Liu family is amazing! Will Wu Wei be a son-in-law in the future, will he be bullied by the people surnamed Liu? I muttered unpleasantly.

"As long as Mrs. Liu is alive, she will definitely not! But not necessarily after the old man's death! With such a big family business, how could the Liu family allow a person with a foreign surname to be in charge! ”

Listening to Brother Chang'an's tone, this old lady Liu is going to accept Wu Wei as his son-in-law.

"Wu Wei stayed in the Southern Dynasty only to make meritorious contributions and show his ambitions, how could he go to watch this little bit of family property of Old Lady Liu!" I expressed disdain.

"The second brother must think the same way! The future second sister-in-law is the seventh sister of the Liu family, I have seen it, Mao Liji's appearance! The reason why the second brother agreed to this in-law must be moved by the beauty of her face! Hehe! ”

Chang'an smiled mischievously.

"What is Mao and Liji?" I'm a little confused.

"Big brother, it's been a long time since you've read the Book of Sages! Mao Chang Liji is a stunning beauty in the land of ancient Yue, Zhuangzi described the beauty of the two daughters and said: The beauty of people is also; The fish see it deeply, and the birds see it flying high! ”

Chang'an's white robe is full of joy, and his face is full of innocence.

Now, I will praise the woman's face with all the gorgeous words, which makes me very impressed.

"Third brother, I heard that Mrs. Liu has nine sisters and ten sisters under her knees and you are the same age, and she should also be a sinking fish and a goose, if you don't let your grandfather hire it together, how about the third brother? Do you want your big brother to help you match? ”

I patted my third brother on the shoulder affectionately and laughed, I thought that this little baby had the heart to be born without eating fireworks in the world! Now you can rest assured!

"The eldest brother Hugh wants to laugh at me, Chang'an and the second brother have different intentions, and they only want to be an idle cloud and wild crane in this life. Although the daughter of Liufu is a fair lady, this family style is extravagant and worships money. If you marry such a woman as a wife in the future, Chang'an will be really difficult to control, and your life will not be buried in the hands of a beautiful woman! ”

Hearing my suggestion, Brother Chang'an was so frightened that he begged for mercy.

"Third brother, you're worried! Who said that rich and noble families can't raise virtuous women! Our Jincheng Yi clan is not much worse than his Liu Mansion! ”

"Big brother, the most important thing is that I don't want to be an official, and in the future, I will become the son-in-law of this Liu Mansion, and the first priority in the world is to bow down to the official career, so what fun is there in this life! Big brother, don't hurt me! ”

Chang'an shouted dissatisfiedly, and strode alone towards the market of the manor at the foot of the mountain, leaving me behind.

It seems that the unfettered free nature of the family of generations of businessmen has long been integrated into the blood of our children surnamed Yi, and high-ranking officials and wealthy beauties can't impress Chang'an, a little girl.

And Wu Wei's second brother, one of our brothers, may also be forced by love.

"Third brother! Mrs. Liu's appearance is so pickled, how can she raise so many flower-like girls?"

I stopped teasing Chang'an about proposing marriage, and quickly stepped forward and asked curiously.

"The people of the world envy the gate lord clan, because they have this power, they can do whatever they want! Big brother, you don't understand such a shallow truth? Mrs. Liu's wives and concubines are in groups, all of whom are stunning beauties from large families. The mother has a good demeanor, and of course the daughter will not be any worse! Ha ha! ”

How to say that the third brother of Chang'an is also a promising young man who has walked thousands of miles and broken thousands of books, and has the amorous factor of our Yi family, and now this amorous and uninhibited true temperament has finally been revealed.

As the so-called beauty I love, freedom also I love, the two can not have both, give up the beauty and take freedom!

"In this way, wouldn't it be a great thing to be a gate lord clan in this Southern Dynasty! Big brother, I think about it, when I earn enough money in the future, I will buy a large piece of mountains, forests and fields in the south of the Yangtze River, build a mansion, and marry all the beauties I like in the world! Such a fairy life, haha, hurry, hurry! ”

Listening to the words of the third brother, I couldn't help but think about it.

In the future, why not build a manor, marry all the beloved Yamika, Kuzhina, and Miss Shangguan Yanxi home, and sing every day, surrounded by beautiful women, and the joy of life is nothing more than this.

"Big brother, the good field and beautiful house are nothing, our family's current financial resources can do it! The grange that grandpa placed for the second brother at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain in Jiangnan is no worse than this Liu Mansion except for fewer customers! But even so, the second brother is still just a rich clan. It wasn't until he married the seventh sister of Liu Fu and took office as the Cheng of Xiapi County that he could barely enter the ranks of the lower-class scholars of the Southern Jin Dynasty. ”

"Why?"

The hierarchical order of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the division of scholars and scholars completely confused me.

"My family has no high-ranking officials in the court, no protégés, even if the gold and treasures in the family are piled up, they are only a common family, and they have no origin in the upper class of this dynasty."

During the five years of study in Luoyi Academy, most of my classmates were children of the Southern Dynasty scholars, and Chang'an's younger brother's understanding of the national conditions and customs here was also like a few treasures.

"There is also a saying that the same Han people have to be divided into three, six, nine and so on, what is the difference between this and the Hu people in the north who regarded my Han subjects as grass mustard fish meat!"

I shouted indignantly, I thought that the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties were the Elysium of our Han people, but now I can't help but be disappointed when I listen to Chang'an's introduction.

"The wind of the world is like this, it cannot be reversed! Ay! It is said that there is also a decree that merchants are not allowed to wear silk and that the scholars are not allowed to be in the same ranks, and those who violate it will be sent to the army. Big brother, if you used to walk on the streets of Jiankang City in this costume, one is not a scholar, and the other is not an official gentry, once you are captured by the officials, you will be imprisoned! ”

Chang An let out a long sigh and warned kindly.

"I'm a Ranger! The Gentile merchants should do it! ”

Although I have long heard that the status of the Han merchants in China is not high, even lower than that of the peasants, it is really unheard of that even the clothes wearing silk fabrics have to be punished!

"Big brother, are you still persuading me to marry and start a family here?" Chang An asked with a smile.

"No, unless you, like Wu Wei, become the son-in-law of Old Lady Liu's Chenglong and become a valve warrior, haha! If you have no ambition and only want the clouds to be light and the wind is light, poetic rivers and lakes, then follow me back to the Western Regions! ”

I patted the third brother's thin arm and smiled a little sadly.

"I don't care about the Valve Clan! It's too tiring to be greased and powdered like Mrs. Liu to show her wealth, and to go out to socialize and go back to more than three generations! How can you be happy to go to the end of the world! Chang'an said enviously.

Disdain for the rich, maybe only the rich children like us, who were born with fine clothes and fine food, have such confidence.

For those scholars who were born in a poor family, the pursuit of wealth and merit is the only motivation for them to survive in poverty.

Taishi Gongyun: The world is bustling, all for profit. The world is crowded, all for profit.

It is human nature to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and there is no right or wrong, but there are differences between ages and goods.

"The road to business is not so easy to walk! You'll understand if you've walked through it in the future! ”

Chang'an and I walked and chatted like this, the scholars and the Shu people, the rivers and lakes and the court, the Middle Earth and the Western Regions, the homeland and the homeland.

In fact, later people grew up in the river and slowly understood that we people are just a speck of dust in this world, and everything in this world is impossible to choose.

Willing or unwilling, for or not, home, life, rich and poor, marriage is all doomed.

The hundreds of craftsmen on the small street at the foot of the mountain are all customers of Liufu Manor, and most of them are descendants of the Han family refugees from the northern counties.

When he fled here to make a living, he had to live under the door of Liu's Mansion in order to seek the protection of Haoqiang.

After decades of multiplication, these craftsmen from the north have already married wives and children here, and made other places their homeland.

The ancestral craftsmanship has also been passed down to the current children and grandchildren, and the wind flag signs on the lintels of the grass liao tiles facing each house can only be seen from the origin and type of work of each family.

The two brothers walked down the bluestone street where children played and yellow dogs barked, curiously looking at the products and origins of each workshop.

The winery in Anyi, the horseshoe ironwork in Liangzhou, the weavers in Linzi, the bow and crossbow in Longxi, and so on.