"Well, I haven't seen a caravan look like yet!" Li Xu put down the bowl and replied briskly. Suddenly, he understood what his father meant, his eyes widened, and he murmured, "Dad, you, you mean .......!" ”

"Dad is getting older, I want you to run out of the plug for me!" Li Mao didn't dare to look into his son's eyes, and tried to repeat his meaning in a gentle tone.

"I, my strategy is the best in the school. I, I can write the entire Analects silently! I'm ......" Half of the Hu Cake in Li Xu's hand fell to the ground. At this time yesterday, my father was still discussing with himself whether to take the Ming Sutra or the Jinshi examination, but today, he has become a merchant who goes out of the Sai for him.

That wasn't his dream! In Li Xu's dream, there have been those who have been admitted to the Jinshi to stand in the court, and there have also been those who have held a lance on a horse to dominate the field, and the most common dream is to wear an official uniform with a household groove, buy a big house on the edge of the county school in Shanggu County, and take their parents in, and they can eat and drink, and they can also let Zhao Er be in charge, and Yang Lao Bald Man These scenes are bowing down to their ears. In the dreams of all the teenagers, only he did not become a businessman like his father, running around the country every year, and he couldn't get a few dollars in the sun and rain, and he was bullied by the government, the elders of the clan, and the local ruffians.

It's autumn, but the weather is still as hot as midsummer. Zhang Baosheng, the shopkeeper, moved a mazar and sat in front of his small restaurant while sticking out his tongue to blow the cool breeze while watching the sunset.

The weather of this son of a bitch is as sad as the days of a son of a bitch. The heat of the summer has been worn to the bones, and even the breath of breath is sticky and wet, as greasy as a stain on the side of the stove. On the official road, the dust carried by passers-by floats in the air, and before you know it, the upside-down "fence" (Note 1) on the wall of the restaurant is pasted into a muddy ball. It's black, it smells of rancidity, and the smell in the nostrils makes people lose their appetite even more.

If it was in the early years, Zhang Baosheng would still be in the mood to put a bucket of well water and wipe down the "fence" on the wall and the smoky signboard above his head. In the upper valley and the river, this "fence" represents restaurants and hotels, and like the official signboard overhead, it is the face of the owner's family. At that time, his restaurant had just opened, and it was a good year for Renshou year, and there were more than a dozen "good meat" (Note 2) in the account every day. Zhang Baosheng's house-filling house and the 50 acres of land near the Yishui River were purchased at that time.

At that time, Zhang Baosheng remembered that he couldn't wait to wipe the plaque on the top of his head three times a day that read "There is an inn". This plaque was written by Zhang Baosheng with the pen of three sheep and asked for the old master Yang in Yi County School. Old Master Yang used to be the recorder of Lord Yang Su of Yue Gong, if he didn't like the simple people on this side, he wouldn't have settled in Shanggu County at all. Although the plaque he wrote while drunk did not sound like "Ruyi" and "Linfeng", it was better to be appropriate and natural. Thinking that the traveler was on the official road with no end in sight, he suddenly saw the words "there is an inn", and his hunger and thirst suddenly became born, and he walked in to stay overnight, eat two bowls of wheat rice, and drink a few turbid wines It is also expected.

It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, and the year of Renshou ended soon. Immediately after the name of the year became a great cause, after the new emperor of the wise and martial arts ascended the throne, he first built the Great Wall and then opened the canal, tossing the savings in the treasury clean. At the beginning of this year, I don't know where I heard the saying that "Renjun ascends the throne and all countries come to the court", and strongly invited the khans of various countries to gather in Luoyang, and ordered that all places along the way must splash clear water on the streets, loess mat roads, market restaurants, and all Hu people are not allowed to ask for money to eat and drink.

People say that the Son of Heaven is Shengming, and what he looks at is the same pupil, that is, one eye sees two shadows, which is twice as clear as ordinary people, but Shengmingzi doesn't know the reason of paying for meals. Shanggu County is close to the border, and the Xi, Khitan, and Turkic people come and go frequently, and they have been communicating for a long time, and they can't tell who is Hu'er and who is Han. As soon as the emperor's preferential treatment order, there were more Hu people in Siye immediately. Really, fake, and fake Hu people ate like locusts along the official road, as if the locals owed them in their previous lives. After such a toss, everyone doesn't know what benefits the emperor and old man have gained. Zhang Baosheng knew that his tavern had resigned and dismissed his fellow men for this reason, and half of the fifty acres of land by the Yishui River had been pawned to others. It turned out that every day when he came home, the old man coaxed him to fill the room happily, but now his face is cold, and he wishes he was sleeping on a bench in the tavern in the front yard.

The tavern, which has no money to hire a chef and can't afford to feed its diligent guys, is naturally becoming more and more deserted. Zhang Baosheng, who used to be busy every day without touching the ground, is now leisurely, and he can carry Mazar to look forward to the sunset after noon. At sunset, the neighbors who had been busy all day went home, and if any of them could sell half a catty of turbid wine, they could satisfy his last hope of making money for the day.

Although the business is deserted, the taxes in the yamen still have to be paid. A few days ago, Zhao Er, a trotter under the door of Master Li in Yixian County (Note 3), specially came to take care of it, and this year, "there is an inn" to pay an additional five raw cowhides. Zhang Baosheng begged for evil, and Zhao Er's family looked at the face of two jars of sesame oil and a jar of aged flower carvings, and reduced the number of cowhides from five to two, but required that they must be delivered to the county before winter, otherwise, Zhang Baosheng will bear any consequences.

There is a saying that "the county order of the broken family, the too shou of the skin", Zhang Baosheng knows what the consequences of not paying taxes are. Several of his colleagues in the county town are now living in an inn (prison) opened by Yamen. It is said that there are two meals a day, and there is a meal of "fried pork slices with bamboo shoots". Every once in a while, a bloody man was carried out the back door and thrown into the wilderness to feed the dogs. However, the government did not allow the people to kill cattle, and sick cattle and crippled cattle have always been in short supply. Even if you find a way to fill the number with donkey skin, you have to find a place to find the donkey.

The number of pedestrians on both sides of the official road gradually increased, and the villagers of large families resisted wooden shovels and led their cattle to the master's house to hand over the work. These people won't buy Zhang Baosheng's water and wine, so he can't lift his spirit to greet everyone. His eyes looked straight at the end of the official road, looking forward to the stars and the moon, and looking forward to the passing of merchants returning from outside the fortress. Only they have good leather goods in their hands, and only they can give Zhang Baosheng hope to continue to survive.

"Uncle Baosheng, business is good today!" On the side of the official road, a young man on a horse raised his halberd and pointed at it.

"Five babies, thanks to the blessing of your old brother, there are three groups of guests today, and the stove hall is not cold!" Zhang Baosheng thumped his numb legs and stood up and agreed loudly.

The fifth child of the Zhang family in the former village who greeted him was Zhang Baosheng's nephew according to his generation. Although since Zhang Baosheng opened a restaurant and started business, the two families have stopped moving. But after all, they are an ancestral hall, and the closeness between the bloodlines is constantly separated.

"My dad said, if you really can't support it, close the inn! There are so many juniors in the clan, no matter what, Uncle Baosheng will not starve! The five babies rode their horses a few more steps forward, turned around, and pointed at him with a leather whip.

"I'm tired of my old brother, five babies, go back and send someone to hold a jar of wine and rinse my mouth!" Zhang Baosheng tried his best to stand up straight, and replied, which was already a little burdened. Wuwazi is the best in the county school, and it is said that he has the opportunity to be promoted by the county and go to the capital to participate in the scientific examination. In front of such a promising young man, he didn't dare to put on any uncle's stinky shelf. As for the words of Zhang Baoliang, the father of the fifth baby, Zhang Baosheng just didn't hear it. Last year, the inn could not be opened, and the price Zhang Baosheng paid was to sell 30 acres of good land. really closed the inn and retired in the Hui clan according to what the other party said, Zhang Baosheng estimated that his remaining 20 acres of good land would have to change owners.

"Uncle Xie Baosheng, I'll send someone to fetch it when I go back, my father doesn't love anything else, just take this one!" The five babies said goodbye to Zhang Baosheng with a smile, patted the mount, and dissolved into the afterglow of the setting sun.

"Alas!" Zhang Baochang sighed. Don't blame the sky, don't blame the earth, just blame yourself for not having a son who is also studying under the county school Yang Laofu. If you have a son with a bright future like the five children, who would dare to come to the door to bully people among the helpers in the yamen, the gangsters in the township, and the longhouses in the clan?