"Brother Damu, you're out of sight. I'm old and he's young, and they all run this business route, and they don't necessarily have to take care of who in the future! Sun Jiu reluctantly stuffed the silver beans into Li Xu's arms again. Take it, Hugh has to make Uncle Nine angry! ”

"How dare my nephew ask Uncle Nine for a reward!" Li Xu hurriedly returned the silver beans with body temperature to Sun Jiu. Packing his bags last night, his mother told him that there were also a few silver beans sewn on the corners of his clothes, which were almost all the savings of the Li family. This thing is common to all nationalities, whether it is Hu or Han, when it is sent to the eyes of any official, he will take care of the face of Marshal Zhao Gong. (Note 14)

"Brother Da Mu, you just let Xu Qi take it, when have you seen Lao Sun give a gift and take it back?" Seeing that the two sides couldn't pull each other, someone at the other table helped out.

This person was slightly younger than Sun Jiu, with a very sparse beard and relatively clean clothes, and he seemed to be a talkative person in the caravan. How could Sun Jiu refuse to accept his affection, his eyes widened, and he feigned anger: "Okay, you little man, Lao Tzu is about to take back the silver after a few resignations, but you don't hurt Lao Tzu to lose money." This matter can't just be forgotten, the silver beans are my meeting gift to my eldest nephew, you are all elders, and you have to follow the lottery head! ”

"Brother Jiu, Brother Jiu, don't you scold me! Brothers, don't do this, otherwise I, Li Damu, will have no face to run this road again! Lao Li Mao was so frightened that although the banquet was a little expensive, it was to maintain a good popularity for his son. After Sun Jiu stirred it up like this, the cost of wine and food must have returned, but his son's affection has also become thinner.

He would not accept it, but the people would not answer. If you are generous, you will directly discharge the meat, and some people are unwilling, and they scolded Sun Jiu's ancestor in their stomachs, and they had to find two white coins from their waists. Sun Jiu took Li Xu and introduced him to the caravan partners one by one, and for each introduction, Li Xu poured a bowl of wine for the other party, and the man was bored, and then stuffed the meeting gift money into Li Xu's hand.

A circle of wine was poured down, and Li Xu's arms were so tired that he was sour. The meat is good, the white money is miscellaneous, and nearly a hundred are collected, and the people are almost familiar with each other. The person who gave Sun Jiu's gang the surname Zhang was Sun Jiu's old partner and the temporary deputy leader of the caravan. The scarred face surnamed Du, who only gave a white money, is a distant relative of the Du family in Hejian. The one surnamed Wang with a fierce face, and the merchant surnamed Li who wore open-toed cloth boots, can be regarded as Li Xu's own family. And the big-eyed young man who sat by the window far away and was incompatible with everyone was surnamed Xu, whose family was a wealthy man in Jun County, with countless fields and shops under his name. But he didn't know what terrible mistake he had made that angered his parents, and his father was ruthless and sent to the caravan to be informed.

Everyone gave Li Xu a meeting gift, and he was even more relaxed when he ate and drank. There are also people with narrow temperaments, who are calculating how to eat the gift money back into their stomachs, tearing open their cheeks and chewing violently. For a while, the sound of the order in the inn was loud, and it actually restored a bit of the lively scene of the year. Li Xu was so noisy that he couldn't leave the table, so he could only drink wine slowly. Thinking that I will be in the company of these rough people in the next three years, I don't feel sad.

"Are you really going to go to Cyprus to do goods?" Behind him, a voice asked in a low voice.

Li Xu turned around when he heard the sound and saw the big clear eyes of the young man of the Xu family. smiled helplessly and said, "My father is old, and it's very cold outside. What if I don't do it for him? Brother Xu, there are so many shops in your home, you have to be aware of world affairs, where you can't stay, why did you run away? ”

"Alas, Hughty! My father is newly married to Aunt Seven, who is younger than me. I can't get used to it, so I find fault and run out to relax. Xu Dayan smiled and explained the reason why he joined the caravan, "Besides, it is said that you can receive good leather goods this season." At present, the original leather goods are expensive? You tell me? ”

The two words of leather goods were bitten by him very hard. Li Xu's heart jumped suddenly, as if all the secrets were instantly seen through by those big eyes. Thinking that the other party was only fifteen or sixteen years old, he could never have the same insight as Old Master Yang, so he barely stabilized his mind and replied with a smile: "It is for the sake of leather goods, and recently in Shanggu County, the price of raw hides has almost doubled." Let's go and go back quickly, maybe we can? A big pen! ”

"I don't want to go back so early!" Xu Dayan's eyes flickered, always with a fierceness that did not match his age at all, "It's hard to come out once, I'll play all the sex!" ”。

Li Xu smiled and picked up the wine cup in front of him. Just as he was unwilling to tell the other party the purpose of the northward journey, what Xu Dayan said may not be the truth. A young man with such a good family background travels, and he has Yangzhou and Luoyang, where the scenery is beautiful, even if he is angry with his father, he is not guilty of finding a place in the bitter cold to find guilt.

Xu Da saw him raise the cup, and he also raised the wine cup in his hand. I found a reason to make two glasses of wine with Li Xu, and asked with a little drunkenness: "My surname is Xu Mingshiji, the word Maogong, can the virtuous brother have a table word?" ”

"My name is Li Xu, the word Zhongjian!" Li Xu straightened his chest and said, for fear that others would look down on his age.

"What about you and me? Take care of each other and walk side by side, how about Zhong Jianxian's brother? Xu Dayan patted Li Xu's shoulder, and his smile was a little mysterious.

"I am willing to obey the order of Brother Maogong!" Li Xu cocked his feet and reached out to pat it back. Both of them are developing teenagers, with large skeletons and similar heights when they stand up. After comparing their heights for a long time, they didn't compare the winners and losers, and they each held their wine glasses and smirked 'hey, hey, hey, hey'.

Li Xu drank the wine very sadly and happily, and unconsciously fell drunk on the seat. By the time he woke up the next day, Daystar had already shone through the papyrus that had been pasted on the window. Father, mother, uncle and aunt had already gotten up and packed everything for him. There were a lot of his precious bows and talisman knives, and even the little wolf Ganluo was put into a sackcloth made by his mother and hung on the back of the blue and white mule.

The big blue and white mule couldn't stand the smell of the beast on the little wolf, so he fled in shock, until Li Mao raised his leather whip, and then he had to bow his head and go out to join the caravan waiting outside.

More than 100 horses of cattle are gathered together, and the scale is very spectacular. Sun Jiu gave an order, and the merchants lined up in a long line and slowly moved. Jingle bells, jingle bells break the silence of the morning light.

"Xuzi, be careful!" Lao Li Mao greeted Sun Jiu and the others again, and after getting the other party's assurance, he walked to his son's side and admonished.

"Well, father, mother, the second elder is also careful of his body! And Uncle Zhong, Aunt Zhong, be careful! Li Xu agreed, and he always felt that something was rolling outward.

"If, if, then" Li Zhang wanted to tell something, but he was afraid of bad lip gloss, hesitated, hesitated, and was reluctant to let go of the reins.

"What your mother means is that in trouble, it's important to escape, and everything else is bullshit!" Li Mao attached himself to his son's ear and said in a voice that could only be heard by his own family. After speaking, he snatched the reins and stuffed them into Li Xu's hand, "Come on, don't fall behind." Try to walk right in the middle. Eat more meat and vegetables when you eat, and don't save ......money when you spend what you need to spend."

The mount snorted, slowly? Got on the caravan. Li Xu turned around, and with hazy tears in his eyes, he saw his father and mother supporting each other and waving to him. Behind them, the rooster crows awakens the village at dawn.

Until many years later, the figures supporting each other often lingered in Li Xu's dreams.

Note 1: A special utensil for scooping rice in the north of the fence, with a net made of thin bamboo strips at one end of the wooden handle. In the countryside of Hebei, this thing is hung outside the wall for the restaurant mark. The custom continued until the eighties of the last century.

Note 2: The meat is good. Emperor Wen of Sui reminted five coins and banned the bad coins issued during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This money, "the back meat is good, there are Zhou Guo, each money weighs four catties and two taels per thousand", so the folk call it good meat. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was used as currency throughout the country at the same time as silk cloth.

Note 3, the Sui Dynasty county set up a household groove and a military trough, and the status is equivalent to the county. The household is responsible for tax collection, population statistics, etc. The subordinates can recruit helpers (assistant management), and the state does not issue helpers and idlers, and the households deduct them from local taxes, which gradually becomes a shortcut for officials to loot the localities.

Note 4, hair tie, generally refers to a man around 15 years old, at this time should go to learn various skills. "The Great Dai Li? Bao Fu": "Tie your hair and go to university, learn great arts, and perform great festivals." ”

Note 5, Han ruler, one ruler is about 23.1 centimeters now.

Note 6, Xianggong, that is, to lift people. The Sui Dynasty pioneered the imperial examination system, stipulating that the localities recommended talents to the central government, and the central government hired them based on the results of the examination. In the fifth year of Emperor Yang's great cause (609), he issued an edict to the counties, "to learn well, talent and skill; Strong and strong, super equal; Be diligent and prudent in officials, and be able to manage political affairs; Integrity, do not avoid the strong four imperial examinations"

Note 7, Ming Jing, Jinshi. At the beginning, there were many subjects in the imperial examination, including Ming Jing, Jinshi, Ming Law, Ming Zi, etc. The most popular in the Sui Dynasty are the Ming Jing and Jinshi, which are recorded in official documents.

Note 8, crowning, in ancient times, men twenty lines of crown salute, means adulthood.

Note 9, spitting and foaming at the mouth and smashing a pit, the northern vernacular, refers to people who have faith in their words, and the promised things are like stones on the ground and can never be taken back.

Note 10, white money, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty succeeded to the throne not long ago, because of the construction of the national treasury was empty, and then a large number of tin, lead and other base metals in the newly minted copper coins, resulting in the copper coins white, greatly depreciated. Therefore, the people call it white money, fierce money, to distinguish it from the standard five-baht money minted by Emperor Wen of Sui.

Note 11, bucket, here is Sui bucket, the weight is close to Tang bucket. In the Han Dynasty, one bucket was about 4 city catties now, and half a bucket was equivalent to 2 city catties. According to research, each bucket of millet weighs 3.6 catties, and the wheat and bucket are 4. Tang Dou is three times that of Han Dou, and each bucket is about 12 catties of the current city.

Note 12: In the structure of the Chinese bow in the Han and Tang dynasties, the two ends of the bow arm were called the strategy, and the end of the bow was equipped with ears. The ear is used for hanging strings, mostly made of bones and horns, and there are also copper, the tomb of the Marquis of Han Ruyin in Fuyang County, Anhui Province and unearthed the wrong copper bow ears of gold and silver. The concave string hanging from the ear is missing the famous string. Both the string and the ear are required to have a smooth surface to avoid scratching the bowstring. However, there are also practices in which strings are tied directly to the bow arm, which is called "edge". Bowstrings are made of leather strips, and some are made of silk twisted together, and most of them are hung strings. The bow handle in the center of the bow arm is called (bow + pay). The two curved parts between the bow handle and the bow tip are called Yuanyuan, also known as the shoulders.

Note 13, Artemisia annua. There is a superstition in the northern countryside, believing that the birth of Artemisia annua on the ancestral grave indicates that the descendants of the person will become a great cause. So the elders would say, "Xuzi is the artemisia on my family's ancestral grave." ”

Note 14: During the Sui and Tang dynasties, silver had not yet become the mainstream currency, and there was no fixed exchange price with copper coins, but it was only used as a heavy gift for the government. There is a small amount of circulation in Yunnan and outside the Saiwai. This book refers to the price of the Jin Kingdom in the Song Dynasty, and one tael of silver is equivalent to two thousand copper coins. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, when there was too much silver inflow from the outside world, a thousand dollars was converted into one tael of silver.