Due to the severe cold, the Tang army's offensive against Baekje was suspended, but Chang'an City, which was in the rear, was revitalized again because of the approach of the Spring Festival. Several rare heavy snowfalls after the winter solstice caused the polo tournament held by the palace to be postponed again and again, and seeing that the Spring Festival was approaching, the ball game had to be temporarily canceled and the game would start on another day after the Spring Festival. It was a wise decision, at least I thought so, it would be inhumane for both the coach and the players to stand on a desolate field on a cold day to train the players, especially for the coach who was already weak.

The goose feathers and heavy snow aroused the interest of Chang'an people to enjoy the snow. Chang'an in this era was very warm, like snow that could bury the ankles, even many old people felt happy, not to mention the hairy young people.

Ying was summoned by a friend of a county lord early in the morning, and Lanling went to the villa in Nanshan a few days ago to watch the snow. At home, my second daughter and I were left staring at each other, sitting bored on the threshold of the back house watching the snow, and dozing off.

I've got to find something to do for myself, or I'll suffocate people to death if I'm in the house.

Build a snowman? Immature!

Snowball fight with the second daughter? She can be beaten to death by me, not at a level.

Eating snow? Thinking of this, I wanted to smoke myself, I was ashamed of this idea, this kind of mentally retarded thing was actually thought of, but I couldn't suppress the impulse in my heart, and finally pretended to wander, grabbed the snow and chewed it a few times with the second daughter on my back, it was a little cold.

"Husband is eating snow?" The second girl leaned against the door and asked curiously, "What smell?" ”

"Huh? No, I didn't eat it, I smelled it. "Shame on you, why was you seen by the girl? Didn't she lean against the door and take a nap? Blunder.

"Will my husband take me to see the pig slaughter?" The second girl stood up and jumped on the thick snow, copied a handful and wiped it into her mouth, and shrunk her neck vigorously, "Cool, cool!" I want to roll in the snow. ”

I noticed the terrible screams of pigs in the distance, and today on the twenty-second day of the lunar month, the farmers began to kill pigs, chickens and sheep. Guanzhong pays attention to the fact that it is not allowed to kill after the 23rd of the lunar month, and all the meat needed for the New Year must be prepared before the 23rd.

"What's the point of killing pigs, it's pitiful, you just eat it," seeing the disappointed look of the second daughter, I couldn't bear it, "Put on the leather jacket and take you there!" I don't have any compassion, and I worship the Buddha all day. "After speaking, I remembered that it was Ying who worshiped the Buddha, not the second daughter.

The second daughter didn't care what I said, and happily went into the house to change her clothes.

The second girl put on a fox fur coat (probably), put on a white fur cloak and ran out, and also brought me a fur coat, the fur was turned outside, and it looked like a white-haired savage. I belong to the animal lover, I am not interested in fur, I once had the idea of joining Greenpeace, but my mother spat on this idea.

When I led the second daughter out, I met Steward Qian with a bundle of thin bamboo poles coming in, if it was someone else, Steward Qian would never do this kind of physical work, and the sun came out in the west on a snowy day? The old man's actions aroused my curiosity.

"Little Hou Ye," the housekeeper put down the bamboo pole and ran over, "Are you going to go out after such snow?" Wait, I'll call a few people to follow, the road is slippery outside. ”

"No, just take the second lady to the outside of the village to watch the pig killing, a few steps." I declined the butler's kindness. It's not a glorious thing to see the killing of pigs, and if you bring a few more people, you will be embarrassed to even kill other pigs. I pointed to the bamboo pole on the ground, "What is this for?" ”

"Burst the rod, burn it for the New Year, draw an auspicious picture, and ask for a blessing for the coming year." Steward Qian pointed to the bamboo pole and proudly introduced, "For more than 20 years, all the explosive rods burned in our house for the New Year were prepared by the old man himself." No, it worked, and our house was much more moisturized. I prepared nine bundles, and there were still them outside. ”

Of course, it was moisturized, and yesterday I called Ying to make a fortune to the people in the house, and I released more than a hundred taels, and my flesh hurt, and I asked the housekeeper to say that it became the same as he burned the blast rod. (If you think that I send a year-end bonus a little little, I have a reference here: during the Zhenguan period of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, a bucket of rice was only sold for 5 yuan, and a tael of silver was folded into 1000 copper coins (also known as consistent), so that you can buy 200 buckets of rice, and 10 buckets for one stone, that is, 20 stones.) One stone in the Tang Dynasty was about 59 kilograms, and 20 stones are 1,180 kilograms today. Today's rice price is about 1 yuan, and it takes 2,360 yuan to calculate it according to 1 yuan per catty! That is to say, during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, one tael of silver was equivalent to the purchasing power of 2,360 yuan)

"Uncle Qian, you are busy first, I took the second lady out," I pulled the second daughter and prepared to go out, but I found that the second daughter was heavy and dragged me back, "What's wrong?" Isn't it to see the killing of pigs? ”

The second daughter carried the housekeeper on her back and secretly pointed out the bamboo pole to me, her big eyes were spinning, and there was a simple smile on her face.

After all, she is still a little girl, and she has no resistance to these things, and when she sees the bamboo pole, she wants the housekeeper to burn it for her. I called the housekeeper, "Uncle Qian, I haven't seen this, I'll see if I can burn some of it?" ”

Steward Qian looked embarrassed, "This, the little marquis has to see it of course, but it hasn't been done yet, and it will take a while." Why don't you watch the pig slaughter first, and I'll do a few first? ”

There were no fireworks in the Tang Dynasty, and there was a custom of burning bamboo poles to ward off evil spirits during the New Year. As for the burning bamboo poles, they still have to be processed, which makes me curious and want to see them. Seeing that the second daughter had already paid attention to the explosive pole, and saw that the idea of killing the pig had been thrown out of the clouds, she just pulled her to see the housekeeper processing the bamboo pole.

Steward Qian has a crazy temperament, and when he heard that I wanted to observe, his spirit was raised by at least three levels, and he shouted at the subordinate to bring tools and charcoal basins for him, and he performed directly in the gatehouse.

The process is really simple, use a bamboo knife to dig out the compartment between the bamboo nodes, fill in the saltpeter into it, and then plug it a little bit, a bamboo is to fill three to four sections in the bamboo head and bamboo tail, there is no technical content, I dozed off when I saw it. The second daughter watched it with relish, and from time to time gave the housekeeper an admiring look, and the old man who watched it was even more like a knife, and the bamboo pieces were splashing everywhere.

It's really lively to make this during the Chinese New Year, but it's perfect to replace saltpeter with fire yao, isn't there no black fire yao in China during this period? I remember that there was one in the Han Dynasty, and I remember reading a book before, Cao Cao set off a rocket to bomb the enemy, and I was excited to see it.

"Uncle Qian, why don't you get a fire to go in?" I asked, puzzled.

Steward Qian smiled casually: "This is the fire, take the fire and light it for a while, it will be on fire, and it will be very hot." ”

Illiterate! Despise him! Lie to me as a cultural person with saltpeter, "It's not this, I remember that there is a kind of black powder, which is a little bit more powerful than saltpeter, is there such a thing?" "I'm holding on to the last glimmer of hope.

Steward Qian pondered for a while, shook his head and said, "I can't remember the black one." That is, there is definitely no saltpeter to use, or why don't you sell black outside, only saltpeter? Little Hou Ye, don't let people cheat you, we won't buy it when we see the black in the future, saltpeter has been used for more than 20 years, reliable! ”

Am I mistaken? Lan Ling is not in front of him, so there is no way to obtain evidence, but since there is no black fire yao, we have something on hand, and we can prepare it ourselves, it is not a difficult matter. Regardless of whether there is or not, let's get some firecrackers for the New Year, after all, it is the first time I have celebrated the New Year in ancient times, and I am sorry for myself if I don't make a crackling sound.

The proportions of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal are controlled at about 75%, 10% and 15% respectively, and this recipe can be reported by anyone who has gone to junior high school. Immediately instructed his subordinates to prepare the raw materials, got two big shoulders and waist round to crush the charcoal, and asked the Hu account room for a silver coin (a small balance scale with high precision, seen in the museum), everything is ready.

Just when the concierge was opened, an hour before and after, a small bowl came out, easy.

"Uncle Qian, you fill this in, and you will burn it in a while and try it." I handed over a bowl of fresh fire to the housekeeper, and I didn't know if it would work. If you want to do it, you can use it for Yingxian at night, and celebrate the New Year, first lively.

—————————— Dividing Line——————————————————

Strongly recommend Mengdongyuan's great work "Lu Han" ISBN: 63012, the book is good, really good!

In addition, I strongly recommend "Smuggling Beauty", ISBN: 65514 Smuggling is a great work, a boutique.