Chapter 5: Chang'an (5)

The next morning, the sky was slightly shining, and a slight breeze blew, which was rare and refreshing.

The summer days in Luoyang are really dry and hot, and only this early morning is the coolest.

There was already a carriage waiting at the gate of Jiang's mansion, and dozens of soldiers and servants packed their bags and gathered neatly around the carriage.

Jiang Shanyi squatted down and gently sorted out Jiang Ge's collar sleeves, his eyes were reluctant and his heart was sour, but there were many domestic servants, and the prestige of the head of the family accumulated over the years still needed to be maintained.

The young Jiang Ge was also reluctant to go to Chang'an, although his father was strict and busy with family affairs, he could see each other every day, but he couldn't see Chang'an every day, his heart was sour, and tears were already rolling in his eyes. just held back the tears from flowing, squeezed his father's big hand tightly, and listened to the strict father's motherly advice.

Fu Bo saw that the father and son were also related, but he had to leave in the end, and he could walk faster in the cool morning, otherwise it would be really hard to travel under the scorching sun. He reminded softly: "Master, it's time to go, when the sun comes, the road is far away, and the young master will work harder." ”

Hearing Fu Bo's reminder, Jiang Shanyi reached out and pinched Brother Jiang's cheek, looked up at the skyline that was getting brighter and brighter, and said to Jiang Ge: "You can't stop reading every day, don't be lazy in practicing martial arts, you need to ask Fu Bo about everything, remember to hide it." Don't tell anyone about yesterday. If you have something, you can write a letter to Fauber, and the father will reply. ”

Jiang Shanyi stood up and rubbed Jiang Ge's head and said it was time to go, Jiang Ge wiped his eyes with his cuffs, bowed down and said goodbye to his father and got into the carriage. Fauber then got into the carriage and shouted "go", and the procession of dozens of people slowly marched towards the city gate.

Jiang Ge showed his head in the window on the side of the carriage and stretched out his little hand, waving at his father until the carriage turned the corner and Jiang Mansion could not be seen, and then returned to the car.

At the gate of Jiang's mansion, he stood for a long time and looked in the direction where the carriage turned the corner, feeling sad, guilty and helpless. How can a father not want his children and grandchildren to grow up under his knees, but in this world, maybe one night there will be wind and rain, lightning, thunder, and ghosts.

Chang'an is where the ancestral home of the Jiang family is located, and there are five hundred soldiers stationed in the manor outside Chang'an City for long-term training, if there is an accident, the soldiers on the bright side plus the twenty experienced shadow guards brought here today, as well as the mysterious Bai family who does not know what means, should be sure to protect Jiang Ge, all the way south There are clansmen in various places, and it should not be difficult to return to the ancestral land of Jingzhou. If this is still not spared, then it is not allowed by heaven and it is not feasible for man.

The west gate of Luoyang City.

Even though it was early in the morning, many people had already gathered inside the gate, mostly merchants dressed as peddlers and pawns, or carrying flat burdens on their shoulders, or pushing one-wheeled carts, and many carriages were already waiting on the main road, just waiting for the city gate to open. Fu Bo instructed the coachman to temporarily stop on the side of the road a little away from the crowd, the roadside porridge shop and noodle shop business was booming at this time, Jiang Ge was a weak child after all, so he couldn't help but be hungry and delicious, although his own chef skills were good, but the snacks on the side of the road also had a unique flavor, Jiang Ge in the car pulled the curtain and said to Fu Bo that he wanted to try the spicy soup and white bread from the stall next to him, squatting on the side of the road and snorting and drinking the sound of spicy soup was endless, and the stomach that was already eight points full was gurgling non-stop, and the saliva in his mouth was sucked and swallowed and swallowed.

Fu Bo jumped out of the carriage and walked to the stall to ask for two bowls of spicy soup, a bowl of light for the young master to try, and a bowl of pepper and spicy seeds to treat himself.

Fu Bo took out a piece of broken silver and handed it to the stall owner, first took two bowls of hot Hu spicy soup and put it on the fixed small coffee table in the carriage, and then got out of the car to take the two drawers of snow-white bags with red oil that had just come out of the cage, and said to the stall owner that there was no need to look for it, and the drawer cage would be returned after eating. The stall owner in his fifties has collected enough one or two pieces of silver, let alone taking it away, he won't feel a little distressed if he takes away these ten drawers and buns. A few buns and two bamboo drawers are worth a few dollars, the old man finally met the guests of the second atmosphere, and he must not be too petty, reached out and lifted the bottom drawer cage from the boiling water to fish out five eggs that had been cooked through, hugged the trot to the carriage with straw paper and said: "The guest officer tasted the fresh things that the old man pondered, put a lot of tea foam and salt in the pot, the boiled eggs taste fragrant and fragrant, you and the nobles in the car enjoy a face?" ”

The experienced Fauber stared at the old man for a few seconds, and saw that the old man was not very comfortable being looked at, but he still handed over the paper bag in his hand with a sincere expression. Fauber eased his expression and smiled and thanked him. Seeing that the guests had received the eggs, the old man walked back to his stall with satisfaction and continued to shout business.

Fauber was just about to turn around and enter the car, and the city gate in front of him made a loud creaking sound, and the crowd that had been kicking in front of the door for a long time rushed out, only to hear the noise of people crowding and bumping things, and the sound of the guard sergeant yelling loudly, and occasionally there were a few "Oh, who the fuck doesn't have long eyes, stepping on your grandfather." ”

The crowd was noisy, and the carriage parked on the road did not move for half a minute at this time, and the blindless mud legs disturbed the nobles on the carriage.

Fauber was accustomed to seeing the city gate open, so he only told the coachman to leave later. When he opened the curtain and entered the car, Fu Bo actually smiled slightly, only to see Jiang Ge sitting in the car with a red face, drinking a mouthful of spicy soup, opening his mouth and sticking out his tongue a few times, and then gnawing a big mouthful of steamed buns with red oil, and then blowing a bowl of noodles and drinking a spicy soup, which was spicy and delicious, and the snorting was endless.

Jiang Ge saw that Fu Bo came in and said that it was spicy and delicious, and Fu Bo saw that the bowl of spicy soup left on the table had not been added, so he smiled even more, took the bowl of ordinary hot and sour soup and blew it lightly on the side of his mouth a few times, put the bowl close to his lower lip, and rotated the bowl half a circle with his right hand holding the bowl, and a large mouthful of spicy soup flowed into his mouth, although there was less pepper and spicy, the taste was still mellow and spicy. The bun in his left hand bites off half of it, and then eats it with spicy soup, which is really satisfying.

In the time of half a pillar of incense, Jiang Ge's stomach was swollen and round, supporting the stool with one hand and touching the raised round with the other, the bowl on the small coffee table was already empty, and he also ate two large meat buns, and the whole lip was spicy red around him, like the naughty boy who had smeared rouge at will, his cheeks were flushed, and his forehead was covered with sweat. Jiang Ge stretched out his cuffs to wipe the dense beads of sweat on his forehead, reached out and took the kettle and took a few big sips before he could relieve a little spiciness, but despite this, he was still sweating profusely. It seems that he got up too early, the battle just now exhausted the strength in his body, Jiang Ge lay down on his side and sucked his nose, looked at Fu Bo and slowly closed his eyes, and fell asleep after smashing it a few times in his mouth.

Fu Bo looked at the child's innocent appearance and liked it in his heart, took out all the food in a few bites, took out the car and instructed the servant to return the bowl and drawer cage back to the old man in the stall, and after seeing that the direction of the city gate was not crowded, he ordered the coachman to set off, and he entered the car with his hand on his cheek, looked at Jiang Ge who was sleeping on the bed, and then closed his eyes and rested.

Starting from Luoyang, you can go north for half a day to the Yellow River ferry, the ferry has already moored a cargo ship waiting for the young master of the Jiang family, wait for Jiang Ge to go west all the way to the west for about half a day to reach the mouth of the Wei River, rest for one night, the next day along the Wei River westward boat can arrive in Chang'an City for more than half a day.

Along the way, Jiang Ge was full of interest, and it was also the first time to take a boat to sail the river, the first time to really see the majestic Sanmenxia, and the first time to see the turbulent waves of the Yellow River.

Along the way, the housekeeper Fu Bo is introducing the customs and customs of various places and where his own family is, what is the scale of the industry, Jiang Ge can also listen to the thoughts, draw inferences, and constantly ask some questions that are not quite in line with this age group, Fu Bo has long been used to it, and other Jiang clan people or servants who have only seen Jiang Ge for the first time around him are surprised, and more are admired, the young master at a young age has a careful way of thinking, and the future can be expected. And Jiang Ge's shameless and inquisitive habits and the bearing of others made those around him feel that this young master would become a generation of masters.

In the evening of the next day, Jiang Ge's cargo ship arrived at the Weihe Wharf on the edge of Chang'an City, and under the leadership of Fu Bo, the group successfully arrived at the Jiang Mansion in Chang'an City.

Chang'an Jiang Mansion is located in the clan area in the south of the city, the whole area is vertical and horizontal, all of them are deep mansions, and Jiang Mansion is inherited countless generations, the real aborigines of Chang'an City, it can be said that the rise and fall of Chang'an City in the whole history of the Jiang family is witnessing, since Taizu assisted King Wen to establish the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty Chang'an, the entire Jiang family took root in Chang'an, if it were not for the fall of the previous dynasty, the capital of Luoyang, the Jiang family had to build a new mansion in Luoyang, which was convenient for the Jiang family to contact and exchange interests with the various clans of the dynasty. Originally, many clans in Chang'an City with a long heritage also moved to Luoyang, but the mansion in Chang'an still remained, after all, the national capital is the center.

But even so, the prosperity of Chang'an has not declined, with the continuous growth of national strength, the continuous rise and development of the scholars, Chang'an City has become a more extravagant and prosperous huge gold cave, Luoyang's scholars and doctors have become extravagant, the children of the clan of Chang'an are wandering, and the two giant cities not far away are the world of adults on the one hand, and the paradise of the children of the scholars and literati on the other. Moreover, Emperor Wu's grandson, King Sima Ye of Qin, was enshrined in Chang'an, and he was still young, how could the major clans give up this kind of investment opportunity with huge potential. Therefore, as long as the court has a little eyesight, they will send the children of the clan to Chang'an, and Chang'an Wenfeng is prosperous, which is the first choice for teenagers to study. As a result, the children of the extravagant scholar clan supported the night sheng song of Chang'an City. And those businessmen who have asked for something but can't get the door will gather here, and there are simply as many children of the kings, grandsons, nobles, scholars, and doctors in the restaurant Qinglou gambling house. As long as you can afford enough money, you just want small things in the palace, and you will naturally have a way to get your hands on these yamen. Who called the one who sat on the highest in the world to be the king of the East China Sea who was ignorant of the world and had the power of the world, as long as there was a little bit of kinship and reason, it would be easy to do something. If you want to entrust someone to do something, bring enough gold, and go to the most expensive restaurant in Chang'an, Qinglou, you will walk on a wave, no matter whether you are a cow, a ghost, a snake, a chicken, a dog, a thief, there is nothing that cannot be done, the key is whether you have enough in your pocket.

Jiang Ge's return to Chang'an Jiang Mansion has not changed anything except that this six-entry compound has become more popular, and the two mansions adjacent to each other on the left and right are still quiet, no matter how long your ears stretch out, you can't hear the slightest movement next door.

Jiang Ge, who settled down, got up every morning and followed Fu Bo to play a set of marching boxing in a random manner, which is considered to be exercise, and after breakfast, he would go to the study hall and wait for the gentleman invited by Fu Bo to come to class, Mr. is an old gentleman over sixty years old, the old gentleman has a good reputation in Chang'an, and has taught many children and grandchildren of dignitaries, Fu Bo did not reveal Jiang Ge's genius, just took out a bag of gold and put it on the table and said: "Mr. only cares about teaching every day, as for my son-in-law does not attend classes, does not listen to lectures, so I will not bother Mr. Lao." Originally, I wanted to reprimand a few words about how the young man could waste his time, but when he looked at the money bag with enough weight and the slightly opened opening, the barefoot gold ingots in it made the old gentleman hold back those high-sounding words. This Chang'an, it is difficult to teach students, but class is really a first-class idle business, who can't get along with gold?

Although he had no interest in class, Jiang Ge still respectfully waited for the old gentleman to arrive in advance every day, but after seeing the old gentleman salute, Jiang Ge deserted or slept by himself, and the old gentleman in the hall also took care of the time according to the book, shaking his head and reciting some articles that he thought Jiang Ge should learn at this age, the old gentleman who was full of gold ingots liked it very much, but if he didn't do anything, he seemed to feel ashamed, so every few days the old gentleman would change an article or recite poems, There will always be some effect on the ears and eyes, and it will be worthy of the heavy gold that can make me old and still recite every day.

In Chang'an, Jiang Ge would occasionally ask Fu Bo to accompany him to walk around the bustling streets of Chang'an City and taste Chang'an's famous dishes and snacks. Go to those wine shops to listen to the punches and scolding mothers of the peddlers' pawns, and I will also go to the top restaurants to see the high-minded talk of those celebrities.

The most popular style of Qing talk is Chang'an, and the nouns and sentences that often circulate are produced from these large and small restaurants, and then drift away with the aroma of wine.

Jiang Ge has also been to the Jiang family manor outside the city several times, the whole manor is like a small city, the city wall is not short, the watchtower, the beacon tower is readily available. It also introduced the water of the river next to it to flow into the moat outside the city wall, and there was not only a ditch in the city that introduced living water, but also a deep well at intervals.

In addition to the Jiang clan's more than 100 people, the rest of the manor were all tenant farmers who had lived in the clan for generations, and some servants who fled and volunteered to become slaves in order to survive, and these people added up to about 5,000 people. Coupled with the regular five hundred military guards, it is already a first-class force around Chang'an. Nearly 50,000 acres of high-quality grain fields are planted in the entire manor, and the granary alone accounts for one-fifth of the entire manor. According to Fauber, if you encounter bandits, you can't get close to the manor at all, and the formed army can't break through this small and unusually strong city without four or five thousand people. No one will really lose thousands of elites in order to capture a manor, and they can't calculate it, and they are bound to buy and sell at a loss.

The person in charge of Jiang's manor is a branch of the old Jiang Beiwei lineage, the director Jiang Kui is the same generation as Jiang Ge, and is the son and nephew of Jiang Shanyi. Although Jiang Ge is young, Jiang Kui still has to call Jiang Ge Uncle in terms of seniority, and the status of the head of the family in the hierarchical clan is transcendent, so all the children of the Jiang family call Jiang Ge the young master or young master when they see Jiang Ge. Jiang Ge saw Jiang Kui and listened to Fu Bo's introduction, and felt a little embarrassed in his heart, he really wanted to call such a macho man who was about the same age as his father and was full of muscles to call him uncle, and he always felt a little uncomfortable. Although he was reluctant to be called the young master or young master, after all, he was used to it, Jiang Ge himself still liked to listen to the old Jiang Zhen, who was about to turn 100, call himself Jiang Ge'er, and felt kind and natural, and he was not so restrained.

The days passed quickly, and unconsciously when Jiang Ge opened the window one morning, the window was already covered in snow.

Winter seemed to come earlier than usual, Jiang Ge looked at the snowflakes falling outside the window, thinking that this year's Chinese New Year's Eve, his father must come back to Chang'an to accompany him. Missing in his heart, Jiang Ge quickly got dressed and walked to the study, and instructed the maid who took care of his daily life to prepare the stove, and he wanted to write a letter to his father, asking when his father would come to Chang'an, and the child missed his father.

The New Year is approaching, Jiang's house is replaced with a newly made red lantern, the threshold is pasted with festive red couplets, the dead branches in the garden are also hung with red ropes full of small red lanterns and red lucky bags, there will be two copper coins in each lucky bag, the wind blows the branches and swings these lucky bags will hear the sound of ding ding dong dong, in the Jiang family this is called "ringing head", indicating that the next year's wishes come true, the children in the family will come to the New Year to pick up a lucky bag and hang it on the waist or wrist, and there will be a crisp sound when running and playing, Full of joy.

It's just that those teenagers of the same generation never dare to get close to themselves or invite themselves to play together, and when they see themselves, they will stop far away and learn to look like adults, bow down and hug their fists, and call themselves "young masters". And there will always be Fubo by his side, and there will be several domestic servants following him.

In fact, Jiang Ge really wanted to learn from those children in his heart, running wantonly, rolling in the snow, and no longer aggrieved to sit quietly like a bell, standing like a pine.

Jiang Shanyi's eyes moistened for a long time after seeing his son's letter, and then he wrote a reply to inform the specific time.

Chinese New Year's Eve is approaching, Jiang Shan returned to Chang'an Jiang Mansion as promised, a team of hundreds of people, everyone knew that the boxes of this car must be full of New Year's gifts for the young master, there are not a few toys and books collected, food and clothing are all valuable. Even if it is priceless, it can only be regarded as a little floating wealth for the Jiang family, and the key is that the father's heart is the most precious. For Jiang Ge, as long as his father can come to Chang'an, it is the best gift.

In the evening, Jiang Shanyi and Jiang Ge entered the study after dinner, Jiang Shanyi will talk about the recent family events and listen to Jiang Ge one by one, as for whether Jiang Ge can remember all and understand the key points depends on Jiang Ge's own, Jiang Shanyi does not want to pull out the seedlings to help grow, but as the head of the family, he has to contact the management matters of the family since he was a child, from important decisions to the balance of a shop, no matter how big or small.

Jiang Shanyi spoke very slowly, Jiang Ge listened very attentively, compared to those poems and songs, Jiang Ge preferred to listen to his father's gentle words about the big and small things of the family business, and also liked to listen to the officialdom's deception and the development trend of the general trend in the world.

In fact, it's not that these contents are very interesting, the key is that my father always makes a good pot of tea and talks to himself for a long time. As long as it's what my father said, it's all interesting.

Speaking of the general trend of the world, Jiang Shanyi pondered for a long time and said slowly: "Since the king of the East China Sea issued an edict of amnesty after welcoming back the emperor, there have been occasional frictions between various forces in the Central Plains, and small-scale armed confrontations have continued, and the king of Nanyang has also quelled some rebellions. ”

Jiang Shanyi sighed and continued: "It's getting more and more difficult to see the situation, most of the old people, women and children in the Hao clan have returned to Jingzhou in batches, and the summer arrangements have basically been implemented. In fact, what I am most worried about is your situation in Chang'an, but it is useless to think too much, and when the manpower is exhausted, it depends on the will of God. After the New Year, I will return to Luoyang, and you have to take care of yourself in Chang'an. You're still young, don't think too much, have a happy New Year, earn a year after a year, it's not too early, rest. ”