Master Hu Yizhang Hu of the Tianjin Salt Merchants Association received two guests from Luohe in the mansion today, both surnamed Dai. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The old one's name is Dai Deen, who is the housekeeper of the Dai family, and the younger one's name is Dai Zhiyun, who is the second young master of the Dai family. His father's name is Dai Fu, is a banner man, the most famous ancestor is Yongzheng did not succeed to the throne of the great strategist Dai Duo, once for Prince Yong on the famous 'Dai Duo Ten Enlightenment', deeply favored by Yongzheng, but later was executed for greedy ink.

Because of this, the Dai family gradually declined, and many descendants avoided disasters and fled far away, one of which was exiled to the territory of Luohe, Henan, and settled down to make a living from farming. When Dai Fu's father arrived, because he had studied private school for a few years and knew how to write, he later asked for an errand in the Yamen of Changlu Salt Transport and served as a secretary.

In the era of the former Qing Dynasty, this kind of yamen, the secretary of the official office, and the sword and pen clerk were all hereditary systems inherited from the father to the son, and Dai Fu inherited the widow of his father, starting from a book office, and has been the head of the inspection department of the salt affairs department, and from the Manchu Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the successive salt envoys have a very good relationship, especially Yan Xuan.

Yan Xuan's father is the famous translator Yan Fu, and Yan Fu's advocacy of translation should achieve the norms of 'trust, reach, and elegance', which is regarded as an iron law by the translation industry. In addition to the errand of the salt transport envoy, Yan Xuan also served as a counselor of the Ministry of Finance and the director of the Department of Public Debt. There are many official duties, lack of skills, and the errands of the salt transport envoys, in many cases, they are handed over to Dai Fu to handle, and after a long time, Dai Fu's prestige is great.

Most of the salt merchants tended to be inflammatory, and one of them had the surname Wenren, known as Wenren's million--after knowing that Mrs. Dai had given birth to Lin'er, he had the heart to attach himself to the dill. At that time, the third-room concubine who heard millions of people was 6 months pregnant, so during the period when the second young master of the Dai family washed the third, when the guests gathered, through Hu Yizhang, the two families agreed that if the third-room concubine of the Wen family gave birth to a daughter, they would marry Qin and Jin.

A few months later, the sky followed people's wishes, Wen Ren million really had a daughter, asked someone to line up the eight characters, it is said that there is a lifetime of helping the husband's luck, three sons and two daughters, longevity of 70, died before her husband - as a woman, this is of course an excellent number of lives - reported to the man's family, Dai Fu was also very happy, the two sides changed the Geng post, and the matter was settled.

The Dai family has two sons, the eldest son is called Dai Aoyun, the younger brother is called Dai Zhiyun, the two brothers are 4 years apart, but when Dai Aoyun was 5 years old, he was taken out by the housekeeper of the family to play, and when he went to the most lively place in Jinmen, the young master saw that the red rock sugar gourd was fun and good-looking, and the housekeeper turned his head to buy it for the young master.

The housekeeper hurriedly went to the police station to report the case, the Dai family is a well-known official gentry in Jinmen, and the police station is also very nervous, turning Nanshi upside down, and finally found nothing, the Jinmen police chief had to hang the case, but everyone knows that the eldest young master of the Dai family is afraid that it will be more auspicious.

That's not all, Dai Deen felt sorry for his master and wife, and harmed his young master's life, so he turned around and committed suicide, but fortunately, the people in the house found out early and saved him.

In less than two months, there have been so many adverse things in a row, as if hurting the yin owl, the Dai family's family fortune began to decline, first of all, Dai Fu sought the unfavorable director of the inspection department, and then he made trouble for Shangfeng again and again in official affairs, he had the habit of smoking a lot for many years, and he was in a coma for a while, and when the family brought the doctor, he had already lost all six pulses, and he ignored it.

Mrs. Dai died of her husband, lost her support, hugged the one-year-old little one and cried day and night, and after sorting out her husband's funeral, she worked hard to raise her young son. The family cut off the source of income, and had to dismiss some unnecessary subordinates, leaving only the old housekeeper and three or two necessary servants to wait, but even so, it is not a long-term solution to sit and eat empty, and when Dai Zhiyun grew up, the family simply sold the house in Jinmen and returned to Luohe.

The years of returning to his hometown were not peaceful, and the warlords fought endlessly until 1930, at the beginning of this year, Wang Jingwei, Chen Gongbo, Zou Lu, Xie Zhi and others successively went to Taiyuan to visit Yan Xishan, and then Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Hu Weisan and other 21 large and small warlords sent representatives. Even Zhang Shaoshuai, who was far away in the northeast, sent Wang Shuhan, secretary general, to the capital of Jin Province to jointly elect Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, and Zhang Shaomarshal as the chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of the navy, army, and air force.

The warlord coalition army totaled more than 70 thousand, known as one million, but was killed by Jiang's 300,000 pieces, which lasted more than 5 months, with sufficient finance, flexible wrists and command, and through diplomacy, mediation, and wooing, Zhang Shaoshuai, who was entrenched in the northeast, won over, and finally defeated the warlord coalition in September of this year! As a result of this battle, Chiang's prestige grew, and there were no more warlords in China who could pose a formidable threat to him and the Nanking authorities.

The main battlefields of the Central Plains War were in Anhui, Shandong, and Henan provinces, among which Henan was particularly badly affected. Luohe is located at the junction of Pinghan Road, and the disaster is the most tragic. Wan Xuan was appointed chairman of Henan Province -- he was born as a bandit, and he did not understand or care at all about the truth of rest and recuperation, and before the war began, he increased donations, taxes, and arrest strong men, and by April, the tax in the name of pre-levy and surcharge tax was increased to the 33rd year of the Republic of China ahead of schedule!

The Dai family naturally has nothing to do, in addition to spending money, two servants were also taken away in the house, Mrs. Dai walked to the mansion to theorize, the other party not only ignored it, but beat Dai Deen, who accompanied the housewife, Mrs. Dai was in a hurry, went home seriously ill, and almost died.

In the past ten years, the Dai family has been scattered, and Dai Zhiyun has changed from a rich young master in Jinmen to a poor child who can hardly sustain three meals.

Mrs. Dai and Dai Deen are taking care of family affairs one mile and one away, and the master and servant both discuss, and they both think that this is not the way, the little master has gradually grown up, and he can't read a basket of watermelon-sized words, how can this work? Besides, he will always marry a wife and have children in the future, if he doesn't even have a way to make a living, why should he marry the eldest lady of the Wen family?

Dai Deen suggested that the young master should be given an apprenticeship, and he had already asked someone to find it in advance, and selected an oil mill in the county town," ...... As long as the little young master is sent in and the three-year apprenticeship is guaranteed to expire, the little young master will be able to set up a household by himself. When the time comes, it will be not as rich as it was back then, but it will never be a problem to have three meals a day. He said to his mother.

Mrs. Dai knew that what the old housekeeper said was reasonable, but as a mother, how could she not be willing to let her son go to that kind of place, and after being called by the master and the master, she did a little bit of unsatisfactory work, and even scolded and beaten - although she had not experienced this kind of thing, she had heard too much - think about her delicate child, who was covered in brocade clothes and jade when she was young, not to mention that luxury was comparable to that of a prince, and she did not have to worry about food and clothing, and now she is actually going to fall to this step?

Because there is a huge gap in her heart, Mrs. Dai always refuses to use words whenever she encounters such a topic: "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer, right?" ”

Time flies, and in a hurry for several years, under the excuse that Mrs. Dai has been delayed again and again, Dai Zhiyun is not literate, martial arts, 16 or 7 years old, born a burly superhuman body, but he can't lift his hands or shoulders, he actually raised a waste for his mother! That's not all, he doesn't know if it's because he had a high fever when he was a child, and his mind is a little muddy. Question 10 and answer one, the big and small babies in the surrounding neighborhood all used him as a stupid boy.

Mrs. Dai regretted that she was too late, so she brought Dai Deen to discuss a solution, "I see, will you marry the little master?" After getting married, you can rest assured that there are people in the family. ”

"Yes, yes, the lord had a marriage contract with the Wen family back then, so it is better to let him go to Jinmen and set a date, so that he can marry him."

The Lord agreed with the two, found Dai Zhiyun, and talked to him. He is stupid and doesn't know what it means to marry a daughter-in-law, so he listens to whatever his mother says? Carrying luggage, he and Dai Deen took Pinghan Road and went straight to Yue's house.

Out of the old dragon head railway station in Jinmen, the wide Haihe River flows in the city like a show belt, the east side of the river bank is the concession land, all kinds of different styles of European-style small buildings are arranged in a staggered manner, the street is crowded, the trading shops open and accept customers, a busy scene. The silly boy looked straight at it, this place is too much more lively than Luohe!

Dai Deen looked at the familiar street scene, and his heart was sour, once upon a time, the Dai family was also a big mansion with a head and face in Tianjin, but unexpectedly, a catastrophe fell from the sky, and it fell so miserable today? ! "Young master, young master, let's go?"

"Medium." Although Dai Zhiyun was born and raised in Tianjin, the children's memories are short-term, and the changes in the past ten years have long forgotten the local accent, replaced by a fluent Henan Provincial dialect, "Zhong, Uncle Dai, where are we going?" ”

"Let's go to Master Hu's Mansion first."

Master Hu is Hu Yizhang, that is, Dai Zhiyun and Miss Wenren's Da Bing. He was Dai Fu's colleague in the Salt Affairs Inspection Department, and the relationship between the two families was quite good, but the Dai family was defeated, and the family moved out of Jinmen, and the transportation was inconvenient, so they cut off each other's inquiries in the past ten years.

Dai Deen carried the luggage, Dai Zhiyun followed behind with a swagger, the master and servant crossed the Haihe River, arrived at Hu Yizhang's mansion, and asked the housekeeper on the door to pass the word, and soon, the two people were invited to the second hall flower hall. The subordinates of the Hu family sent tea and snacks, and entertained them very courteously, "Young Master Dai, the old housekeeper, my master has a guest to visit, please wait for a while." ”

"It's okay, it's okay." Dadden said with a warm smile.

"Young Master Dai, you can taste the dim sum produced in Jinmen, Gui Shunzhai, a real halal time-honored brand, who honored Kangxi Ye back then."

Dai Zhiyun's eyes lit up, he looked at Dai Deen, and saw that the other party nodded, so he picked up a piece, "Uncle, do you eat?" ”

"Young master, eat, I'm not hungry."

Dai Zhiyun nodded with a smirk, picked it up honestly and unceremoniously, took a bite, it was fragrant and soft, the outside was baked black brown, but the inside was snow-white, rolled with the tip of the tongue, the cake melted in the mouth, sweet honey and moderate oiliness, brought a strong stimulation to the taste buds, so that the teenager who tasted the delicious food for the first time couldn't stop eating, and ate four or five pieces in a row, and when he reached out again, the plate was already empty.

"Young Master Dai, you really know how to choose, this is called groove cake. It is made by mixing mare's milk with honey and sesame oil. Don't say that we locals, even from Beiping, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, all of them take a bite as a happy thing. The Hu family smiled sharply: "Young Master Dai, if you like to eat, try these eight pieces again, they are also the best snacks." ”

Dai Zhiyun is young and strong, and when he is growing his body, when he encounters such a delicious delicacy that doesn't cost money, he can't bother to ask Dai Deen's opinion, one bite at a time, and after a while, he eats up eight pieces on a plate. took a sip of tea to relieve the dryness in his mouth, and patted his belly with satisfaction, "Oops, medium!" It's so hit! Uncle, there is really no such good thing in our realm! ”

Dai Deen smiled bitterly and nodded, his young master was like a starving ghost reincarnated, which caused the Hu family to laugh one after another, Dai Zhiyun couldn't see it, but he had it all. "Young master,......" He gave Dai Zhiyun a look, but the latter only smirked and didn't notice anything.

The master waited for a while, and Hu Yizhang finally came out, "Old housekeeper, I haven't seen you for many years, how are you doing?" ”

"The old slave has seen Master Hu!"

"Don't dare, don't dare." Hu Yizhang hurriedly stopped Dai Deen's kneeling action, and the tip of his nose was also a little astringent, "Old butler,...... Hey, you...... For more than ten years, has it always been good? ”

"Master Duochenghu asked, everything is fine with the old slave."

"Then, what about the sister-in-law of the Dai family?"

"Good, good. Thanks to Master Hu's concern, my housewife has become more and more healthy in the past few years. Dai Deen said a few words, took the package, and there were some walnuts, pears, persimmons and other local specialties, "Master Hu, I haven't visited for many years, this time, I can only be careful, please smile." ”

Hu Yizhang also made some fake politeness, ordered someone to put away the gifts, and the three of them sat down separately and chatted a few words, and then they set their eyes on Dai Zhiyun's face; "This is the second son of the Dai family, right? Young age, a talent! ”

Dai Zhiyun began to be nervous from Hu Yizhang when he came in, listening to the housekeeper talking to him, just smirking with him, and when he heard that someone finally mentioned his name, he got up in a panic, maybe he got up a little too quickly, and the chair legs under him rubbed against the terrazzo floor, making a sharp sound! "Ahh

Hu Yizhang smiled with relief, but he was disappointed in his heart! How can such a country bun be worthy of the eldest lady of the Wen family?!

Dai Zhiyun's fiancée is called Wenren Xiling, and there are three brothers, a brother, and a little sister, many years before the little sister was born, she was the only daughter in the family, so although she was a concubine, she was favored by millions of people; Now she is studying in Nankai Girls' High School, and she is born with a beautiful face and moon appearance, and everyone knows it. Since three years ago, Wen Ren has broken the threshold for the media, but due to the appointment of the year, it is not easy for Wen Ren to agree for a while.

One day after the autumn of last year, Wen Ren Million found an opportunity to invite Hu Yizhang to a banquet, and after a while, Wen Ren Million tactfully told him about the old things, "I was anxious for a while, and I made a family appointment with the Dai family; In the past ten years, there has been no news of the Dai family, Brother Yanqin, in these chaotic years, if the mother and son of the Dai family really encountered an accident, what do you think? ”

Hu Yizhang knew that the other party had the idea of quitting his family, but he couldn't say such things clearly, he always had to come around the bend. He selfishly didn't think that the Dai family would suffer such a great misfortune, and even so, can't you learn from other people's virgins and keep a widow for a lifetime?

He took a sip of wine, picked up a piece of honey and put it in his mouth, and tasted it slowly; Wen Ren million now indirectly leans on the 29th Route Army, the commander of the 38th Division and concurrently the mayor of Jinmen, Zhang Zizhong, this big tree - among the many subordinates of the 38th Division, there is an independent 26 brigade, garrisoned in the horse factory, the brigade commander is named Li Zhiyuan, 39 years old this year, his wife died the year before last, leaving a son and a daughter, intending to continue the string, I heard that the girl of the Wen Ren million family was born with a beautiful appearance, so I moved my mind, and several times I found someone to come to the door to say goodbye, but I gave Wen Ren million a million on the grounds that her daughter had already been engaged to marry someone else.

Li Zhiyuan didn't give up, and inquired from the side, it was not that he was lying to himself when he heard that there were millions of people, but Dai Mansion followed his mother to Henan, who knows if he will come back and forth? Besides, in this era when having a gun is the king of grass, as a major general and brigade commander, he has two fully equipped regiments under his command, with a total number of more than 7,000, marry your daughter, don't you want to give face? If it weren't for the fact that he was a millionaire in Jinmen and quite popular, Li Zhiyuan would have led his troops to rob him. (Note 1)

It's not that Wen Ren is unwilling to recruit a son-in-law like Li Zhiyuan who has a gun on his body and someone around him, but he is just afraid of being infamous as 'snobbish, disliking the poor and loving the rich'. This time, I asked Hu Yizhang to drink, just to ask the other party to share one or two for him. Hu Yizhang naturally understood this meaning, but he couldn't say it like he heard the hearts of millions of people.

"Wen Renweng, you are thinking about your daughter, don't I feel sorry for my niece? But think about it, if the son of the Dai family comes to the door, do you really want to tear your face and say that you are not virtuous, and then drive people out of the door? ”

"I know, I know, why would I want to?" Wen Ren made a sad look, and said with a sigh: "But it's been almost ten years, and there is no news of the Dai family's mother and son, you Brother Hu can't really watch my family's Lingzi guard the door, right?" You've got to give me a deadline, right? ”

"That's it, next year, April 22 of next year's lunar calendar, is the 17th birthday of the second son of the Dai family, if you don't come by then, you can choose another son-in-law for Ling Ai, how about it?"

"So, what if he comes?"

Hu Yizhang glanced at him, does this still need to be asked? Of course, it was to give them a young couple to get married. "What do you mean by that?"

"Brother Yanqin, I won't tell you, I'm just such a girl, I will inevitably be too arrogant and ......, hey, there is no need to mention this. Thinking about the Dai family boy, if he is really a good person, he and I have a half-son friendship, and I will marry my daughter to him, and I will have a big marriage in the past, so that their young husband and wife can be harmonious and beautiful, and they will grow old, and I will not have the appointment of the year; But if the one can't support the wall, you think about it for me, just for the sake of the words of the alliance back then, I want my daughter to marry and suffer? ”

Hu Yizhang immediately understood, hearing that millions of people are pressing step by step? Just now, he was still exploring the tone of his own meaning, but now he is showing the carriage and horses, and he is simply going to regret his marriage? "Then, from the point of view of Wenrenweng, how can it be regarded as promising, and how can it be regarded as unable to support the wall?"

Wen Ren smiled and clapped his hands, and several people in the house flashed out, holding two large plates painted with red lacquer and gold, and neatly stacked unopened silver dollars, all of which were 30 pieces of each, a total of 10 letters! "Brother Yanqin, do you have any chance, can you hide your brother's discerning eyes? The brothers are all asked for this. ”

Thousands of miles to the dragon, come to this point! Hu Yizhang glanced at the tray in the hands of his subordinates, and hummed noncommittally - although it was just a one-word promise, it was nothing less than a sound when he heard millions of people, and he laughed and raised his wine glass.

The guests and hosts talked and laughed, and they broke up happily.

Note 1: Two regiments. According to the "Sorting Out Military Case" adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee in 1928, the total number of a regiment of the Chinese army was around 2,200, but this is only official data, and the figures for the private expansion of the army by local warlords are quite exaggerated, as detailed below.