"When is the spring flower and autumn moon? How much do you know about the past? Xiaolou had another east wind last night, so the country can't afford to look back at the moon."

"Are you crazy?!"

Also on Chinese New Year's Eve, in the mansion of the Hu father and son, Hu Hancang was drunkenly drinking wine, and his mouth was turning over and over a few words of Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

It's about that Fu Xian has been bored at home for a long time, maybe it's through the strength of wine, or maybe it's the truth confiding, Hu Hancang actually snatched the wine glass that was pulled away by his brother, and shouted: "I want to read it. I want to read it, what's wrong with reading a few words? ”

After all, there was a song "Breaking the Array".

"In the past 40 years, the country has been 3,000 miles of mountains and rivers. Fengge Longlou is even Xiaohan, Yushu Qiongzhi is a smoke, how many times have you ever known a fight? Once classified as a captive, Shen waist Pan sideburns the most, the most hasty resignation temple day, the workshop still plays a parting song, weeping right, Gong E. ”

Hu Hancang groaned to the emotional place, and he burst into tears.

At this time, firecrackers were all over the city, and even the brocade guards who pretended to be servants to monitor them had gone home, and only the guards on the periphery or the guards were still sticking to their posts, so no one really cared about what these homeless people said.

"Confused! Confused! ”

Hu Jichen was already drunk, but although he was about to enter the earth, he was the most visible of the three father and son, and he was seen groaning while drinking.

"The willows of the big city and the young city are green, and the snow is sunny in the east and west of the city.

The warbler dreams of the New Year, and the silk bamboo often hears the sound of the quiet night.

The smoke of the waste garden welcomes the horse, and the Qingjiang River rises in spring and beats the embankment.

The wine in the bottle is full of strength, and he has not hated to float in this life. ”

After that, he actually laughed out loud.

"Hu Jichen, confused!"

While scolding themselves, while holding the dishes, the dishes on the table for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner are also simple, and what they drink is the Tusu wine made of Tusu grass that means strengthening, and many dishes also have peach leaves on them, taking the meaning of "always replacing new peaches with old charms".

Seeing his father and younger brother like this, Hu Yuancheng also smiled bitterly for a while, paced the cowhide boots on his feet, and said helplessly: "Let's light the fire." ”

Different from the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's New Year's Eve is more distinctive, that is, the people of the Ming Dynasty like to light a bonfire at home, the countryside is generally cut after the autumn harvest to light the remaining straw, and the city does not have this condition, usually take some branches and firewood and grass into the pot or jar to ignite, this is called "Wanghuo", people believe that the more vigorous the fire, the better the luck will be in the new year.

At this time, don't look at the crackling of firecrackers outside, but in fact, it is not yet time, so most people still continue to eat and drink, eat and drink enough, gnaw melons and peel oranges, or do some play, such as playing leaf cards and the like.

The fire was lit, and the father and son sat in front of the copper basin and looked at the fire blankly.

The flames jumped and burned, as if forming a whirlpool, engulfing their thoughts.

The ancients had "being alone in a foreign land as a stranger, thinking of relatives every festival", but they are a family of relatives here, but it is a pity that they are still strangers in a foreign land.

Hu Yuancheng has something to do every day in the cannon foundry, and he was not the emperor before, plus his interests and hobbies are more suitable for work, so he doesn't have so much sense of loss and complaints, but Hu Hancang stays at home every day, and his temperament is so gloomy, just he is depressed, and he is also depressed.

"Dad is old, in this Daming, even if he is healthy for a few years, it is a blessing, but I can't tell when I will go. You two need to remember that. ”

Hu Jichen broke the silence, but made the silence even more silent.

That sentence is naturally a poem written to Hu Yuancheng when Hu Hancang was chosen to ascend the throne.

"Remember, no matter what, I will take care of my brother in the future."

Hu Jichen looked at Hu Yuancheng and had a lot to say, but in the end he patted him on the shoulder, and then changed the topic and asked, "How have you been doing lately?" ”

Hu Yuancheng replied: "Daming's iron-smelting technology is much stronger than that of Annan, and now under the guidance of Jiang Xinghuo, it can smelt molten steel on a large scale, and a lot of high-quality steel has been made, and it is very busy every day." ”

"Are they all used to cast cannons instead of bronze cannons?" Hu Hancang asked casually.

Unexpectedly, Hu Yuancheng shook his head and only said, "Part of it." ”

"Is that to build weapon armor?"

"Not exactly." Hu Yuancheng said truthfully, "In fact, most of the steel is used to make parts and machine tools, and the rest is mostly used to make steel bars, and there are not many weapons and armor cannons." ”

Hu's father and son were surprised for a while, and after listening to Hu Yuancheng explain what "parts and machine tools" are used for, Hu Hancang sighed: "This is the hen that was used to make eggs." ”

"Not exactly."

Hu Jichen said: "There are many armors, blades, and artillery, and there is no need to improve the quality for a while." ”

After that, Hu Jichen drank another glass of Tusu wine, and sighed: "The development of this Ming Dynasty is really changing with each passing day, and after a month, it will change the same, and our craftsmen still have to rub these things with their hands. ”

"What has my father been up to lately?" Hu Yuancheng felt a little guilty, he didn't seem to care much about what his father was doing recently.

"Idle clouds and wild cranes, follow the blind busy."

Hu Jichen poured the wine jug, and there were indeed a few drops of wine.

"Have you read Ming Pao?"

"Looked."

"The King's System", the School of Ancient and Modern Literature, and the Separation of Classics and History. How many big moves, Jiang Xinghuo turned Confucianism upside down in a snap of his fingers, and in the past, ordinary people followed these things to sort out the "Yongle Canon", and I was quite Confucian, so I picked a head and made a mess, people saw that I was more or less useful, but they didn't care much about the identity of the descendant. ”

Hu Hancang said in frustration after hearing this: "My father and brother are capable, but I am a wreck." ”

Hu Yuancheng had something to blurt out, but he pursed the corners of his mouth and didn't say it, Hu Jichen directly raised his head and finished pouring the wine in the wine jug, squinting at his waste son, but he said the truth: "If Liu Chan didn't behave like a waste, would he be able to die well?" You, if you are really capable, people will not be able to eat steadily. ”

When Hu Hancang heard this, he was stunned, and he was speechless.

As the sound of firecrackers outside became louder and louder, the Hu father and son also understood that it was about time to be a child.

In fact, in addition to burning the fire, the New Year's customs of the Ming Dynasty are basically similar to those of the Song Dynasty, and the traditional fireworks and firecrackers are used to expel the beasts and bless peace, which is naturally no exception.

And the Hu father and son were inconvenient to go out of the house, and they were not young, so naturally they didn't join in the fun, and the dishes were almost eaten, so they staggered up and planned to go back to the house to sleep.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door of the backyard of the mansion.

"Who?"

A guard who was nominally in charge of protection, but was actually in charge of monitoring them, came in and said, "The national teacher has sent some New Year's gifts. ”

A few gadgets, Hu Yuancheng opened them, but he didn't recognize them very well.

"What is this?"

"It smells good." Hu Hancang interjected.

When I turned it over, I saw the words engraved under the glass bottle.

——A gentleman is like a bamboo, and there is fragrance in the wind.

In the other bag, a card was written, which was Jiang Xinghuo's greetings, and he felt that it was not appropriate to send anything, but he sent three boxes of perfume samples.

Perfume is not only for the female market, the retro model of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest is aimed at male literati, who doesn't like to retro the Wei and Jin dynasties?

Sure enough, this gift was sent to Hu Jichen, a Confucian.

Hu Jichen took the moon and looked at it for a long time before he sighed: "This national teacher is really a humble gentleman!" ”

——————

"Don't run away for me, boy!"

The humble gentleman in Hu Jichen's mouth was at the door of the mansion at this time, holding a horsewhip-shaped burning firework at Zhu Yong, followed by a team of children.

Zhu Yong's athletic ability is amazing, Jiang Xinghuo didn't catch up for a long time, but it's a pity that the team of children behind his butt don't have this athletic ability, and the two little girls of the Wei Mansion were so frightened by the fireworks that they directly covered their faces and sat on the snow.

It's a game similar to an eagle catching chickens, but it's two teams, a bunch of kids from each family screaming, and some people setting off fireworks next to them.

In the Ming Dynasty, fireworks and firecrackers have basically developed to the peak, any look can be made, there are hundreds of kinds of products sold on the market, the one wrapped in mud is called "casserole", the one wrapped in paper is called "flower tube", the one that is sealed in a basket is called "flower pot", the one that only makes a sound is called "cannon", the one that can fly into the sky is called "fire", the one that makes a sound after flying into the sky is called "three-level wave", and the one that rotates on the ground is called "ground mouse".

After playing for a while, Jiang Xinghuo felt bored, so he handed over the fireworks to the person next to him, this one who was the "old hen" was replaced, but no one dared to catch him, just looking at the little children who were snorting, Jiang Xinghuo felt a little lonely for no reason.

Suddenly, looking back, the lights were empty.

Jiang Xinghuo put his hand in his pocket and walked to the steps of the Chengguo Mansion.

On the stone lion on the right, Zhu Neng, the Duke of Chengguo, and Xu Jingchang, the Duke of Dingguo, are pulling the snow on the steps with their boots, chatting with each other.

"Better? Don't catch a cold again. ”

"I can't."

Zhu Neng looked at Jiang Xinghuo, handed over a friendly smile, and reached out to tighten the sable on his body.

Jiang Xinghuo pulled him back from the Ghost Gate, and Zhu Neng was grateful from the bottom of his heart for the life-saving benefactor, and the previous hostility had long since turned into remorse.

"I heard that Gansu is going to build seventeen fortresses?" Xu Jingchang on the side accosted at this time.

After a year of training, Xu Jingchang at this time is no longer so young, but he is still a small character, although he is in charge of the handicraft workshop area in Jiangnan and has a lot of power, he still doesn't dare to speak, so he can only find something unimportant to say, so as not to show his timidity.

"Yes, to guard against the expedition of the Timurid Khanate."

Jiang Xinghuo gestured with his hand: "In fact, it is to change the fortress of the city from a convex polygon to a concave polygon, so that after improvement, you can arrange more side-fire firepower, we have a lot of small-caliber artillery, which is very convenient to kill and injure the enemy's infantry attacking the city, no matter how the enemy attacks, it will be exposed to more than one fortress surface. In addition, we can use crossfire to carry out multiple strikes, and we can also fire longitudinally at the moats, which can effectively block the enemy's follow-up offensive routes. ”

"The cities in the Hexi Corridor are connected into a line, and if the fortress is of great use, it may as well build more. Seventeen is just the first batch of plans. Zhu Neng added at this time.

Jiang Xinghuo nodded, and only said: "Well, let's take a look after the year, a one-to-one version has been built with bricks and stones on the plain outside Nanjing, and it will be completed and watched after the year." ”

Because the concrete has not yet been done, the reinforced concrete structure will not be used on the fortress for the time being, but in fact, the masonry structure is enough to verify.

In fact, if it is to defend against the Mongols, any fortress is the same, and the Mongols do not have any siege technology left at all, and if the opponent is weaker, there is no need to defend at all, and it will be pushed all the way back.

Therefore, the built fortress is also used to show the actual combat effect to the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, as for what kind of material the building is, it is actually the same, and the most important thing is that the principle of changing the defense mechanism must be explained clearly.

"National teacher, do you think Timur will really come?" Xu Jingchang asked curiously.

"I don't know, I hope he's dead halfway."

Jiang Xinghuo is telling the truth, although the necessary precautions must be made, but if it is really because of the change of historical line, the Ming Dynasty is caught in a war with the Timurid Empire, then the process of changing the law will undoubtedly be greatly affected, and even stagnate.

Without a good external environment, it is impossible to build the Ming Dynasty itself, it doesn't matter if the Annan country is heavy-handed, and even these small countries around it are not enough for the Ming Dynasty to fight together, the most critical issue is to try to avoid a full-scale war with the Timurid Empire, which is undoubtedly the second most powerful country in the world.

It may be an exaggeration to say that the Timurid Empire has a million armor, but it is definitely not too much to control the strings of three or four hundred thousand, if there is a full-scale war with an empire of this size, the war will definitely burn to the west of Tongguan, and the Ming Dynasty must concentrate the manpower and material resources of the whole country to support the northwest front, and at that time, any change in the law must give way to a full-scale war, which Jiang Xinghuo does not want to see.

"Since the beginning of the country, the northwest has withered, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia to the west of Tongguan have a total of barely one million people, and the population of such a large place is not as good as a city in Nanjing, and most of them are military households. Construction is already difficult, and if this battle really starts, even if it is won, I am afraid that there will not be many people left in the entire northwest. ”

Zhu Neng answered: "Jindi is not stable. ”

The word is less and the matter is bigger, Jiang Xinghuo and Xu Jingchang obviously know what this means, it is the first day of the first month of the second year of Yongle, and in the first half of this year, the main force of the Yan army, which has been stranded in the south for two years, is about to pull out the camp and return to the old nest.

These soldiers have completely fed up with the weather and life in the south, and now this result has been delayed again and again, and after the completion of the military reform of the three major battalions, no matter what, they have to go north.

At that time, the unlucky ones were naturally the only remaining Qin and Jin kings, the Mongols, and the Jurchens.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't want to stay on this topic for longer, but turned to Xu Jingchang and asked: "Then the envoy sent to study in Luzon, and the prince from Japan, after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the factory area will resume work, so let them visit." ”

Xu Jingchang was slightly stunned, and immediately nodded in agreement.

Because the handicraft workshop area still involves some secrets of the Ming Dynasty, if the prince of Luzon and the prince of Japan do not return to China in the future, it will be fine, if they return to China, whether these things are convenient to show them is indeed a problem.

If they want to see it, it must not be a superficial and sloppy look, and all aspects of the interior must be seen more or less, and they may not be able to see any doorways, but there must be some scruples in it.

That's why they hadn't been scheduled to see it before.

But since Jiang Xinghuo nodded today, then Xu Jingchang naturally has nothing to do, and the national teachers have agreed, just look at it.

"Arrange for Chief Tang to entertain them well."

Well, through her own efforts, Tang Yin has been promoted from a female textile foreman to a factory manager.

I have to say that capable people are really like cones in their pockets, and they can rise to the top wherever they go, even if they start from scratch.

I haven't seen Tang Yin for a long time, this woman is very interesting, Jiang Xinghuo even had a hint of a world away for a while.

After watching it for a while, the children were in good spirits, but Zhu Neng said goodbye and bluntly said that he was sleepy.

Under the stone lion of the Chengguo Mansion, Jiang Xinghuo and Xu Jingchang were left.

"I mentioned Jiangnan just now, in fact, there is something I have always wanted to ask."

Jiang Xinghuo suddenly said: "Your sister-in-law said that she was going to Jiangnan to have a look, but she suddenly changed her head. ”

Xu Jingchang was not surprised at all, and said: "Actually, I don't know the specific process. ”

But he immediately added: "But that day, the eldest aunt (Queen Xu) recruited the younger aunt into the palace and talked for a long time. ”

"Where's your sister-in-law?"

"I'm going to retreat."

Jiang Xinghuo was silent for a moment, but Xu Jingchang turned his head and asked, "What does the national teacher think?" ”

"Your sister-in-law is a very good girl, she has no bad intentions, and she is also beautiful, if she lives a life, she should be a good family who respects each other like a guest to the white head, maybe it will be like a kiss for a long time, but I am a person, my heart is too heavy, and I have too many scruples, but I have not been able to give birth to feelings."

"It's a pity." Xu Jingchang didn't know what to say.

"There are regrets in life, and the perfect thing is that I thought I just couldn't see one and love one, but in the end, I found out that I didn't love anyone, and some roads could only be walked alone." Jiang Xinghuo is quite free and easy.

It should have ended here, but at this time, Xu Jingchang suddenly came up with a very philosophical sentence.

"But no matter how ugly a person is, he loves himself very much."

This sentence directly stunned Jiang Xinghuo.

Looking at the fireworks, Xu Jingchang suddenly felt a little emotional, he said: "My father told me before he died, don't hate my eldest uncle, don't hate my uncle, the family has to bet on both sides to be invincible." ”

"Bet on both sides."

"The eldest uncle wants the uncle to be the thorn in the eye of the north."

"Who are you with?"

"I'll follow you."

——————

In the second year of Yongle, the first day of the first month.

New year, new atmosphere, as the beginning of the year, can be said to be very important, and in this day the palace can not be idle, to hold a lot of ceremonies to celebrate the New Year, the fifth watch is not yet bright, the palace people will burn incense and set off firecrackers in the palace, and then pull out the door latch from the palace, put it on the ground and fall three times, meaning "fall a thousand gold", that is, the next year can be able to roll in the source of wealth.

And when the sky is about to break, the annual Zhengdan Dynasty will begin.

Don't get me wrong, it's not going to work, it's the sixteenth day of the first month to go to work, this is the civil and military officials coming to the emperor to pay a collective New Year's greeting.

The custom can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, and by the Ming Dynasty, it had become a royal ritual on an increasingly grand scale.

Zhengdan Dynasty will generally be divided into two parts, one part is the "Pilgrimage Ceremony", the object of the pilgrimage is different, the civil and military officials and foreign envoys want to congratulate the emperor on the New Year, and the wives of each family want to congratulate the New Year to the lord of the harem, the general order is the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother, the Empress, and now there is only the Queen, and only the Queen worships the Queen.

The second part is the "Great Banquet", that is, the emperor holds a banquet in the palace after the official greetings, and officials, members of the royal family and foreign envoys can participate, followed by the ladies to eat with the queen and others in the harem.

The scale of the entire Zhengdan Dynasty is very large, and the banquets are also diverse, divided into large banquets, medium banquets or small banquets, and different banquets also correspond to different dishes.

The banquet does not talk about state affairs and government affairs, it is pure eating and drinking, a small number of people, dishes that cannot be eaten, and those who want to bring back to the old mother's family can be packed, and the court supports and encourages packing, and does not advocate waste. This is because in the past, there were many loyal ministers and filial sons, who could not eat meat on weekdays because of their honesty and self-discipline, and they were reluctant to eat at the banquet and wanted to bring back the story to the old mother's family.

There is nothing to say in the Zhengdan Dynasty, no one wants to find trouble at this time, the emperor also adheres to a closed-mouthed attitude towards any government affairs, and the eldest prince is still thinking about it behind closed doors, so nothing happened, Jiang Xinghuo ate well in the morning, and went home after eating, and he had to come to eat in the evening.

But this is not the end of the first year of junior high school, and he still has a lot to do.

Because although the family temple of the Rongguo Mansion is not for his use, he has to take Jiang Xuan to worship his ancestors.

Jiang Xinghuo doesn't believe in God, but the eldest brother is like a father, and the necessary things still have to be done with Jiang Xuan, and the ritual of worshiping the ancestors is not complicated.

After worshipping his ancestors, he wished his elders a birthday, and Jiang Xinghuo sent blessings to all the old comrades he knew, wishing them to accompany him for a long time on the road of changing the law.

Then there is the whole family to make plaque food, which is not a southern custom, it is northern, plaque food is a local dialect of Yan, which generally refers to noodles such as wontons and dumplings, and generally refers to dumplings.

Jiang Xinghuo likes to eat leek egg filling and sauerkraut beef filling, Jiang Xuan wrapped some, beef is usually not eaten, although the Ming Dynasty is not as strictly forbidden to eat cattle as the Tang Dynasty, but beef is not ordinary people can consume, the price of beef cattle is very high, and the folk still take pork and mutton as the main intake of meat.

After eating a few dumplings in a hurry, Jiang Xuan said to him.

"We're going to let our spirits go!"

"Go ahead, stay safe."

"Soul" is the meaning of "scattering joy", which is the dialect of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but this piece of Jiangnan is basically universal, Jiang Xuan and Jiang Xinghuo are from Xuancheng, and naturally it is no exception.

And the older ones, not so jumpy, will keep "string feasts" to pass the time, each family is holding a banquet, as long as it is a familiar person, send a gift of hundreds of copper coins, you can eat a good feast, so during the Chinese New Year, many people's three meals a day are all solved by "string feast".

And most importantly, the liquor in the liquor workshop was sold out during the Chinese New Year.

The rich people of the Ming Dynasty generally make their own wine, and the more famous the family, the more pay attention to this, when the Spring Festival banquet guests, the guests are basically invited to drink their own good wine, in fact, a year's wine production, basically a four or fifty percent is to be consumed during the New Year, and many small households want to hold a banquet, and there is no condition for their own winemaking, they have to buy wine. And what better liquor than good and cheap liquor? The common people don't care that this kind of high-grade wine is at the bottom of the chain of wine contempt in the eyes of the aristocracy, and they don't care whether it meets the taste of the moment, they only know that this thing is not only inexpensive, but also drunk to the thief.

Jiang Xinghuo watched the guards follow Jiang Xuan and them out, but he didn't go out in a hurry, because if nothing else, many people should come to give him a name.

The New Year's greetings of the officials are actually simpler than the New Year's greetings between the common people, because as long as they are not particularly acquainted, then there is no need to bring gifts for the New Year, there are two conventional ways to pay New Year's greetings, one is to get a long table in the front hall of the house, put a signature paper on it, and the guests themselves or entrust their henchmen to come to the home of the person who wants to visit, and sign the pen to sign the New Year; The other is to send a name, which is about the same as the combination of business cards and greeting cards, this way of greeting the New Year does not even have to enter the door, just send a business card outside the door, everyone defaults to even if they see you as a person, the New Year is the same everywhere, you are convenient for me.

Even for the convenience of others and themselves, officials simply put a red paper bag in front of the house, with the words "Blessing" written on it, that is, the name is used, and the person who comes and goes will deliver it to the inside, and if he wants to ask for a lottery, there will usually be a red envelope, or candy or a few big coins.

And this custom has been for a long time, not only in the Ming Dynasty, the earliest Song Dynasty Zhou Xuan's notes "Qingbo Magazine" recorded that "during the Yuanhua period, the New Year's Festival, often use servants to hold the name of the thorn to go to the place", and in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, Wen Huiming, one of the four great talents in the south of the Yangtze River, also has the poem "New Year's Greetings" "Do not ask to meet but to confess, and the famous paper is full of openness." I also throw a few pieces of paper with others, and the world is not too simple", and you can also get a glimpse of this custom.

But compared to the minimalist style of officials, non-official communication is much more troublesome.

Jiang Xinghuo waited for a long time, and encountered this kind of trouble when he went out at noon, and met his colleagues and friends on the way, if he took a junior, the junior would have to kowtow to his elder on the street. Kowtowing at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty is still a big gift, and it is really not the kind that kowtows when you see people with a clear eye.

And on the street, regardless of men, women and children, all fold gold leaf paper into flying geese, butterflies, grasshoppers and other shapes of ornaments on the head, a bit similar to hairpins, but much simpler, belong to the handicrafts that children can do, mainly used to set off the festive atmosphere, called Dai "noisy shouting".

And to the real sense of the "friend" of the home, according to the New Year's custom in the early Ming Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River, the house is put on the wine, the guests come to the New Year's greeting generally have to drink some wine to leave, at least have to sip the meaning.

Jiang Xinghuo walked around, his face was already a little red, and the shops on the road also had some of them started to open, basically selling small snacks, most of them sold rice balls part-time, the rice balls were filled with walnuts and sugar, and then while sprinkling water, they rolled on the thin noodles of glutinous rice, rolling bigger and bigger like a snowball, until they were the size of a child's fist, not only the child next door was crying, Jiang Xinghuo couldn't help but buy a bowl to taste, and after eating, he felt a little supportive.

(End of chapter)