Chapter 38: The Auction (1)

October 15, 962 (the third year of Jianlong) (lunar calendar)

Early in the morning, in the guest room of Cui's Manor, Cao Deshun, a merchant from Jinling, woke up from his sleep and got up to dress. He was invited to participate in the auction, and he arrived in Mingzhou City three days ago. I have met a few friends from Mingzhou, who came to Cui's Manor yesterday afternoon and lived in this room. He is fifty-two years old, well-proportioned, with a thick beard on his face, dark hair, a wooden hairpin in his bun, and he is very frugal in his clothes, wearing a plain green robe.

Cao Deshun was a large merchant in Jinling under the rule of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and operated a number of commercial houses in various parts of the Southern Tang Dynasty, involving cloth, silk, grain, tea, etc. Three years ago, the Cui family approached him and negotiated the agency right to sell the Cui family's spirits in the Jinling area. Over the years, the two sides have worked together very happily, and he has made a lot of money. This time he received an invitation from the Cui family, he was not very interested in overseas treasures, thinking that he was well-informed, and he had never seen any treasures, and the 'auction' was just a reason, it should be that the Cui family wanted to convene a meeting of big businessmen from all over the world, and maybe there were some novel products to sell to everyone.

He opened the door and walked into the courtyard, and a servant of the Cui family stepped forward, served him to wash, and brought refreshments, "Distinguished guests, please have breakfast, and then you can walk around the manor at will, the auction will be held in the afternoon, mainly because Lord Thorn Shi has to deal with official business in the morning, and he can only come in the afternoon." ”

Cao Deshun ate early, went out for a walk, met a few acquaintances on the way, talked for a while, and continued to walk. Walking outside the fence of a small courtyard, he heard a woman's voice speaking inside: "Everyone memorize what I have taught from the beginning." Immediately a childish voice came from the courtyard, and many children were reciting: "At the beginning of man, nature is good. Sex is similar, Xi is far away. If you don't teach, sex is migration. The way of teaching is to be specialized. Xi Mengmu, choose a neighbor. If you don't learn, you will be ------- broken."

Cao Deshun listened carefully, and the children continued to recite: "The three talents, heaven and earth." The Three Lights, the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. The three outlines, the monarch and the minister. Father and son, husband and wife. Spring and summer, autumn and winter. At these four times, the luck is not endless. It is said to be north and south, and west to east. This Quartet should be in the middle. Said Shinong, said industry and commerce. These four people are the good of the country. It is said that pen and ink, and paper inkstone. These four treasures, the Tibetan Library. ”

Cao Deshun was shocked, he had been studying since he was a child, and he was not a vulgar and literate person. This article is catchy in three words, and most of its content is in rhyme, which is popular, smooth, and easy to remember, and is an excellent teaching material for children's enlightenment. He thought to himself, the Cui family is worthy of being a famous family that has been inherited for thousands of years since the Han and Tang Dynasties, with a profound heritage, this article is catchy to read, and the content is simple and easy to understand.

The courtyard door was ajar, and he looked inside, where a dozen children were sitting in the middle of the courtyard, and a woman was standing in front of a black wooden plank, listening to the children recite articles. The woman was dressed very plainly, wrapped in a towel and covered with green silk, not like the master of the Cui family, nor like a maid or servant, but like a peasant woman.

He was puzzled in his heart, could it be that the Cui family invited a peasant woman to be a teacher? This is too unorthodox. He also saw that the children were not very well dressed, so he wondered if these were the children of the servants, and the Cui family let the literate servants teach them?

He thought about it for a moment, then walked back. He looked down and walked as he could, turned a corner, and happened to collide with a man.

"Hey, you look good when you walk! Hit me to death. ”

Cao Deshun saw that a slender young man (Na Zhe is 1.75 meters tall, which is considered tall in this era) was rubbing his shoulders and looking at him with some annoyance. This young man was about 20 years old, dressed in a white silk robe, his hair was casually draped behind his head, tied into a ponytail, and he was very famous in the Wei and Jin dynasties.

Cao Deshun hurriedly apologized: "This gentleman, it's my fault, I was thinking about something when I was walking, and I bumped into Mr., I'm really sorry." Do you want me to ask Lang Zhong to treat you? ”

The young man listened to his words and flicked his ponytail in a chic manner, "Forget it, it's not a big deal, I'm fine, I'll see you back." ”

The young man Shi Shiran left, singing a strange little song as he walked: "Honey, you fly slowly, be careful of the thorny roses in front." Honey, you open your mouth, the scent of flowers in the wind will intoxicate you------"

The young man walked away, and Cao Deshun heard him speak in a very strange tone, a bit like the accent of the people of the Northland, and thought to himself, the people of the Cui family he met today are all strange, could it be that the people cultivated by the big family are different? He went back to his room, thought for a while, was a little confused, then didn't think about it, picked up a book and looked at it.

At noon, the servants of the Cui family brought lunch, he ate a little and went to bed to take a nap. After some time, he heard a knock at the door and got up to open it. The Cui family's servant invited him to the lobby in the front yard, and the auction was about to begin.

He followed the servants to the auction site, and met many acquaintances on the way, and everyone chatted while walking, speculating about what treasures the Cui family could come up with. A fat man from Wenzhou came up and asked with a smile: "Brother Cao, do you know what treasure the Cui family took out this time?" ”

Cao Deshun shook his head: "Brother Han, I don't know, the Cui family doesn't show any tone at all, and no one knows." ”

Han Fatzi's eyes rolled, "Brother Cao, are you going to make a move this time?" ”

"Let's see what we're going to do."

The two talked about unnutritious words all the way to the main hall of the Cui family.

There were two tables at the door, and behind them sat a steward, an accountant, and several servants stood beside them. ”

Cao Deshun said his name, and the steward looked at a booklet and said to the account room: "Mr. Cao is the sixth." The bookkeeper took out a wooden plaque from a box and handed it to Cao Deshun with both hands. He took it, and when he saw the word 'Lu' written on the wooden sign, he asked the steward, "What is the use of this sign?" ”

"At the time of the auction, if you want to bid, you can hold up this sign, the highest bidder will get the treasure, the waiter will record the number of the brand, and the last winner will take the wooden card to pay for the treasure." The steward explained.

Han Fatzi also took a wooden plaque, and on it was 'Forty Qi'. When the two entered the main hall, they saw long tables on both sides of the hall, covered with snow-white muslin, and cups and plates on the tables, with various kinds of pastries, fruits, and wines. In the middle of the hall are more than a dozen neat rows of high-backed chairs, with strange styles, armrests on both sides, and curved backrests, unlike the straight-backed armless chairs that were popular in this era.

At the innermost point of the lobby is a wooden platform about three feet high, the size of an ordinary room, with seven or eight chairs placed in it. There are many lanterns hanging on the beams of the whole lobby, of different sizes, all of which are round lanterns in the shape of watermelons, and the surface is covered with red satin. The candles inside were lit, and the entire lobby was lit with red light.

Cao Deshun looked at this never-before-seen furnishing, and thought to himself, the Cui family is full of strange atmosphere today, and I don't know what is so strange about those treasures.

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On the beach of Qishan Island, An Dalang is practicing with Boris and Du Dalei. All three were armed with wooden sticks more than a meter long and chased and fought on the beach. said that it was a sparring exercise, but in fact, An Dalang was beating Boris and Du Dalei.

The two of them were beaten very miserably, with a blue and purple body on their bodies, Du Dalei was more cunning, and ran away when he saw An Dalang rushing over, which was called 'guerrilla tactics'. Boris was so honest that he didn't know how to dodge, so he was beaten upright. An Dalang's shot was like electricity, and the direction of the wooden stick was very tricky, which made people unguardable. Boris was worthy of being born in a 'fighting nation', and the fierceness in his heart was aroused, howling and waving a wooden stick, and rushed towards Andaro.

An Dalang easily dodged Boris's onslaught and slapped him on the back, and Boris fell to the beach with a bang, never able to get up again. More than ten meters away, Du Dalei shrank his neck in fright, squeezed out a smile on his face, and said very doggedly: "I said Da Lang, let's practice here today, what do you think?" I invited you to drink in the evening, and today I got the good wine that Lao Wei treasured. ”

An Dalang walked towards Du Dalei with an expressionless face, shook his head and said, "No, today's training volume is not enough, let's fight again." ”

Du Dalei turned around and ran, "Why are you so dead-eyed!" We just exercise and exercise, and we don't want to go to the battlefield to fight. ”

An Dalang accelerated to catch up and started a new round of beating, Du Dalei hugged his head and ran away, and finally ran into the sea, saying nothing.

At this time, Boris slowly got up from the beach, picked up the stick, and walked towards Andal. With a fierce look in his eyes, he said, "Come again, I can still do it." ”

An Dalang nodded, praised his tenacity and tenacity in his heart, rushed forward again, and beat Boris mercilessly.

Boris roared again and again, parryed and dodged hard, and fought back a few times from time to time, but there were more and more injuries on his body, and his movements were much slower.

Du Dalei felt a little embarrassed to see Boris so tenacious in the shallow sea. He walked to the beach, picked up the stick, and ran towards Anda. With Du Dalei joining the battle group, Boris's pressure was reduced a lot, and the three of them were inseparable for a while.

Hu Yidao and Tian Renfeng, who were squatting next to them, were dumbfounded, thinking that they must not provoke these three people in the future, otherwise their lives will be lost.

Zhao Zizhong and Wei Hongye came over at this time, and when they saw that the three of them were still fighting, they shouted: "Stop fighting, I have something to tell you." ”

An Dalang took a few steps back and threw the stick on the ground. He was also a little tired, gasping and said, "Big brother, what's the matter?" ”

Zhao Zizhong supported the crumbling Boris and said: "Today is the day when the Cui family holds an 'auction', and I don't know what the specific situation is. ”