In the Tang Dynasty, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival one year, the round moon hung in the sky, shining all over the world.

In the middle of the night, the fire monk Deming in the Lingyin Temple, got up and went to the kitchen to cook porridge, heard a ticking sound, felt very strange, looked at the window, the moon was bright, where did the rain sound come from?

So he opened the door and went out, and looked up, and saw countless small pearl-like particles falling from the moon and falling on the mountain peaks by the temple. He watched, and when the little particle was finished, he went to the mountain peak to look for it. Find a grain, pick a grain.

Find a grain, pick a grain...... The small grains are as big as soybeans and have a variety of colors, which is really beautiful.

He picked up and picked up, from midnight to dawn, and picked up a full pocket.

Early the next morning, Monk Deming took the small particles he had picked up at night to the old monk Zhiyi and asked him what they were.

The old monk Zhiyi looked at it carefully for a while and said, "There is a big laurel tree in the Moon Palace, and there is a reckless man named Wu Gang.

He cut down this laurel tree all year round, but he kept cutting it all the time.

Sometimes if you push too hard, it will shake the cinnamon down.

Maybe this is the guizi that fell from the Moon Palace! ”

Monk Deming was very happy to hear this, and said, "Master, let's plant it, so that everyone can see the laurel tree in the Moon Palace and smell the fragrance of osmanthus in the Moon Palace." ”

So, they planted those small particles of various colors on the hillside in front of the temple and behind the temple. After a few days, buds actually appeared; By the end of the month, the buds had grown a little more than a foot tall and pulled out their emerald green leaves.

The laurel tree in this moon palace grows really fast, one foot in a month and one foot tall in a year.

By the Mid-Autumn Festival of the following year, it grew tall and big, and each tree was full of small flowers, some orange and yellow, some white, some crimson, and all kinds of colors.

According to the different colors of osmanthus, the monk Deming called it golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus, and osmanthus...... From this time on, there are all kinds of osmanthus around the West Lake.

Now, there is a mountain peak next to Lingyin Temple, called Laurel Peak, which is said to be the place where Guizi fell from the Moon Palace.

There is a boulder in the "old dragon's head" on the south side of Shanhaiguan, and there are many blood stains on the stone, and everyone calls it "whip stone".

The sunny side of the stone is dry, and the shade side is moist. It is said that in case of drought, hit the shade with a whip, and it will rain; When the weather is waterlogged, hit the sunny side with a whip, and the sky will clear immediately. There is also such a legend about the whipstone: One year, Qin Shi Huang was determined to connect the city walls built by Yan, Zhao, Qi, Wei and Qin in the past to build a long city, so he sent the general Meng Tian to lead 300,000 troops to start construction.

But where did the Great Wall begin? The general Meng Tian went to ask Qin Shi Huang, but he couldn't come up with an idea for a while. He summoned the Chinese military minister of the DPRK to discuss the starting point for the construction of the Great Wall. At that time, the ministers of civil and military affairs who were with him all looked at me and I looked at you, and no one refused to say their minds first, for fear that what they said would not be in line with Qin Shi Huang's mind and cause death, but they couldn't help but say it.

Therefore, the ministers of civil and military affairs are thinking of a countermeasure that can not only win the favor of Qin Shi Huang, but also save their official life.

Among the ministers, there was a prime minister named Zhao Gao, who was an old * cunning minister, and he came up with a way to get the best of both worlds, saying: "My king has always been famous for being a corporal of courtesy and virtuous, why don't you go to the people to visit those old people who are old and virtuous, and listen to their opinions?" ”

Qin Shi Huang listened to it and felt that Zhao Gao's words were very reasonable, so he adopted his suggestion.

The next day, Qin Shi Huang led his entourage on a foreign visit. However, when the people here heard that Qin Shi Huang was going to build the Great Wall here, they were afraid of arresting the people, so they all fled, leaving Qin Shi Huang with no one to visit.

One day, Qin Shi Huang met an old woman sitting under a locust tree spinning thread in a ravine, and he felt strange and thought: Why is this old woman not afraid of me? So he went up to the old woman and said to the old woman, "Old man, all the people here have fled, why don't you flee?" ”

The old woman said: "In this area, there have been wars every year in the past, and the people have not been able to live in peace, but now that the King of Qin has unified the world, he wants to build the Great Wall to protect the peace, which is a good thing, why should I flee?" ”

When Qin Shi Huang heard this, he was very happy and said: "Old woman, the Qin Dynasty has people like you, and there is no worry that the Great Wall will not be built, so where can the Great Wall be built?" The old woman said, "Where the golden ox enters the sea." ”

Qin Shi Huang asked the old woman again, where is the golden bull? The old woman told him: Tonight, send someone to wait on Longmen Mountain, and then you will know.

That night, Qin Shi Huang sent the general Meng Tian to wait for the golden bull to appear on Longmen Mountain.

After the third watch, I saw a golden light rising from the high mountains in the northeast, Meng Tian took a closer look, and among the golden light was a golden bull, heading straight to the South China Sea. A column of water several feet high surged up in the South China Sea, wrapped in an oolong, and fought with the golden bull. A bull and a dragon are raising waves in the South China Sea, fighting until the sky is dark, and the turbid waves are monstrous.

The oolong rises, and the waves are ten thousand feet high; The golden bull roared, and the sonic boom was in the sky.

The golden bull and the oolong fought until the fourth watch, and then returned to the high mountains in the northeast.

The next morning, Meng Tian told Qin Shi Huang about the anecdotes of the golden bull fighting oolong last night. Qin Shi Huang suddenly realized that the place where the old woman said that the golden bull fought the oolong was the starting point of the construction of the Great Wall, and the road that the golden bull walked, that is, the route of the Great Wall.

So, Qin Shi Huang said to Meng Tian: "Tonight, you will mark the road with white ash on the road that the Golden Ox has walked, and this is the route for building the Great Wall." Meng Tian obeyed.

After the starting point for the construction of the Great Wall was chosen, the construction of the Great Wall began. However, the road that the golden bull has walked is full of mountains and cliffs. Each brick weighs 32 catties, and the stones of the foundation weigh hundreds of catties, and the strong people can only carry two bricks up the mountain, and it is even more difficult to transport stones to the mountain.

Later, the people used goats to carry bricks up the mountain, but it still didn't work, and the people fell to their deaths every day. The people complained endlessly, and some of them said: "They all complain that the old woman who spun the thread pointed out the road that the golden ox had walked, which caused us so many difficulties."

Let's all go find her. So the men went to the old woman who was spinning the thread and said to her, "Since you old man knows the way to build the Great Wall, please help us think of a way to build the city." When the old woman who spun the thread heard this, she took out a lot of spun thread and gave it to the people, saying, "Take it, and carry the bricks with the thread, and the bricks are light; Pull the stone with a thread, and the stone walks. The people were very happy to hear it, and each of them divided three threads, and went back to try it, and it really worked.

The general Meng Tian saw that the people were tied to the boulder with a line, and no matter how steep or high the mountain was, they could drag it up.

Meng Tian felt strange, so he went to ask Minfu, and Minfu told Meng Tian. Meng Tian made this matter clear to Qin Shi Huang.

After Qin Shi Huang heard this, he took his entourage to see it, and it was true. He ordered the threads of the stones to be collected and sent to make them into a whip.

Qin Shi Huang took the finished whip and wanted to test the power of the whip. He shook the whip, and with a "horn", he didn't want the mountain to flash three times with the sound of the whip.

Qin Shi Huang thought that the mountain was moving slowly, and on a whim, he successively "Horn! After the sound of the whip, I saw that the mountains rose up, and the sound was like a thunderbolt, and the boulders soared into the air, and the wind rushed southward. Qin Shi Huang followed behind, and drove the big stones, like cattle, to the mountains and the useless stones to the South China Sea.

Qin Shi Huang whipped the stone into the sea, alarmed the South China Sea Oolong, and hurriedly raised waves to intercept it. Those boulders that entered the sea were blocked by the monstrous waves of the oolong, piled up like mountains, and the shape was majestic, like a dragon's head that opened its huge mouth to swallow the waves. Seeing this, Qin Shi Huang said happily: "Okay! This is the dragon's head, so let's use it as the starting point for building the Great Wall! ”

Since then, on the beach, under the city walls, that "whipstone" has been left.

Heze is the hometown of peonies, and there are many people who specialize in raising flowers and make a living by selling flowers. There is a small garden in the south of Wanhua Village, with a chaimen fence, which is very elegant. The gardener's name is Chunbao, eighteen years old. When he was a child, both his parents died of illness.

Xiao Chunbao lived with his grandfather. Xiao Chunbao is smart, hard-working, and loved by everyone. Unfortunately, my grandfather also passed away after he became an adult. Chun Bao was very sad. Whenever the moon hangs high and the night breeze blows, he blows the bamboo flute left by his grandfather to express his sorrows.

On this day, Chun Bao had just eaten dinner and picked up the bamboo flute again. In the sky above Wanhua Village, his melodious and melodious flute sound wafted again, which made people feel an indescribable charm when they listened to it.

I don't know when, it rained in the sky. He moved the bench into the room, looking out at the drizzly night outside the door, and Chun Bao sank into deep thoughts about his grandfather again.

Suddenly, a person stumbled from outside, and before Chun Bao could speak, the man spoke first: "I'm sorry to disturb you, let me take shelter from the rain here?" Hearing that the voice was a woman, Chun Bao hurriedly lit the lamp.

Under the light, Chun Bao can see clearly. It's a girl, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes. The rain poured down the ends of her hair, and her delicate white face became even more beautiful.

Chun Bao didn't know what to say for a while. I thought to myself, it was raining so hard outside, and a woman came to ask for help, and she couldn't help but agree. But the house is so small. What if she is left behind?

When the girl saw that he did not speak, she said, "If you are really troubled, I will find another one." "Turn around and go out.

Chun Bao hurriedly stopped the girl and said, "Girl, please stay!" If the girl doesn't like the mess here, stay and shelter from the rain. He thought to himself, if the girl is really gone, then I will be unkind. The girl was very happy and thanked her again and again.

Chun Bao saw that the girl was soaking wet, and her body trembled a little. But he had no clothes for her to change.

He thought for a moment, and said to the girl, "Warm up in the house first, and I'll go into the garden to see the flowers." He took up the cloak that hung on the wall and went out, leaving the girl alone in the house.

Chun Bao walked around the garden for a while in his robe, and saw that the rain had no intention of stopping. He walked up and down the garden, and before he knew it, he came to the door of the house, and saw that it was closed. He was about to step forward and knock on the door, but he felt that something was wrong. Thinking about it, he leaned against the eaves and waited in the gatehouse.

Chun Bao was like this, and stood outside the door all night in a cloak. Towards dawn, the rain finally stopped.

At this time, he heard the door of the house "squeak", the door opened, the girl came out, saw Chun Bao dressed in a robe, full of tiredness, very uneasy, said: "I am sorry to disturb you." I'll be sure to thank you again another day. ”

Chun Bao said again and again: "No, no." Looking at the girl's back gradually moving away, for some reason, Chun Bao felt a little lost.

Three days later, the moon will be bright. Chun Bao blew the bamboo flute again, the flute sound was melodious, floating in the night sky, and the flute seemed to have a little more charm. I don't know how long I blew, and suddenly I heard someone behind me speak: "Brother Chunbao, your bamboo flute is so good!" Hearing the voice, Chun Bao felt a little familiar, and Chun Bao looked back. Sure enough, it was the girl who came to take shelter from the rain that night. The girl carried a bamboo basket in her hand and smiled at him.

"It's you! When did you come? How do you know my name?" Chun Bao asked several questions in a row. The girl smiled and said, "I've been here for a long time, and I didn't dare to disturb you when I saw you playing the flute." As for your name, I won't tell you. The girl took out some fragrant food from the bamboo basket in her hand, and took out a new pair of cloth shoes. Chun Bao didn't know what to say, since his grandfather died, no one had been so considerate of him.

When they met again, the two were like old friends, and there was no longer that sense of restraint. Under the moon, beside the flowers, they talked freely.

Conversational questioning, both of them revealed their love for each other. Chun Bao didn't want the girl to leave in a hurry, and the girl always delayed leaving. I didn't feel that the sky was about to dawn, and the girl had no choice but to get up and say goodbye. Leaving temporarily, the girl said to Chunbao: "I live in the fence garden in the south of the village, and my surname is Lan. Tomorrow, you go to my house, face this hairpin, and we will become husband and wife. ”

After that, he plucked a golden hosta from his head and gave it to Chunbao, which floated away, leaving a fragrance.

At dawn, Chun Bao recalled what the girl said, and kept chattering about the south of the village and the fence garden... He suddenly realized that he was busy walking towards the peony bushes in the garden. But when I saw the dew swaying on the Dudan, there was only one blue peony, which was dry and loose, and never touched a drop of dew. Chun Bao immediately thought of the girl's surname Lan, and he had already guessed that this Blue girl must be a peony fairy.

Another thought: yes! This blue girl stayed in my house all night, and naturally there was no dew. So he hurriedly pulled out the stamens and carefully looked at the competition for one missing.

He took out the hosta that the girl gave him and put it on a pair, and the peony suddenly turned into the blue girl of last night: Chunbao was surprised and delighted: Blue girl! I've found you! Miss Lan also said: "I can find a hard-working and intelligent offspring like you, and it can be regarded as a lifelong dependence." From then on, the two became husband and wife. The husband and wife respect and love each other, and live a harmonious and beautiful life. middle

Mapo tofu is not a noble dish, but in Paris, London, Golden Shasha in Africa, and Melbourne, Australia, it still leaves its fragrance everywhere today. Shunhe Street, North Gate of Chengdu, is a timber concentration area, all over the street, almost every house is a wood shop, even if there are three or two families, not a timber business, but also rely on timber to live. The exception is about the mapo tofu restaurant that was converted from a wooden shop.

It turns out that Mapo's maiden surname is Wen, and she is the seventh girl of the big shopkeeper of Wanfeng Sauce Garden in the North Gate Fire Temple, with a nickname Qiaoqiao. She has three older brothers and three sisters, all of whom have mediocre qualifications. Only when Qiaoqiao grew up, she came out with a hibiscus like a willow and an eyebrow

。 has a pair of watery eyes and a delicate figure, but God is biased and narrow, sprinkling some white pockmarks on her pink face, but she is delicate and numb.

At the age of seventeen, he married Chen Zhihao, the fourth shopkeeper of Shunji Timber Company. After the newlywed, the two of them were very affectionate, and because of this, the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law spread some slanderous rumors intentionally or unintentionally in jealousy. After a long time, her mother-in-law, who used to love her a lot, slowly scolded her from being snubbed.

Her third brother and sister-in-law couldn't stand the cold words of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law in the past, and she flew away, and opened another pharmacy in Chongqing, hundreds of miles away. Probably under the influence of these two people, the husband and wife secretly discussed it, shared a small amount of cash and three street houses, and also left the Chen family's nest.

Three street houses live in one of their own homes, and the other two are still leased to the original mutton shop and a tofu factory.

The four shopkeepers went to Majiamian twenty miles away, and worked as a steward for a squeeze, leaving early and returning late every day. During the day, she used needles and threads to pass the loneliness, closed the door all day long, and lived a sweet and sweet life.

It's a pity that she didn't give birth to a boy and a girl for the four shopkeepers.

In the spring of the second year, her sister-in-law Shuhua, because of a quarrel with her second sister-in-law, left her father and mother in anger and took refuge with her fourth sister-in-law.

Since then, my aunt and sister-in-law have relied on each other, and there have been laughter and laughter in the days. The area around Majianian is full of oil mills. Most of the people in the triangle near Chengdu are engaged in the cultivation and oil extraction of rapeseed, called rapeseed, and most of these rapeseed seeds are concentrated in Majia to extract oil.

After a year or two, he was promoted from a steward of oil weighing and hair oil to a purchasing, salesman, and cashier. As long as it is the incident he handles, he is extremely compassionate and merciful to those poor and pickers, and will never let the coolies lose their blood and sweat in vain. The place where her family lives is the only way for the Ma family to enter the city, and most of those pickers regard this place as a relay station, and they often send some small things of their own house in return in order to thank the four shopkeepers for their kindness.

Although they repeatedly refused, but the poor people, courtesy is light and benevolent, so after receiving it, Qiaoqiao always buys some mutton from the store on the left, and buys some tofu from the store on the right to burn a plate, and then two side dishes in return. Such a happy life, just spent ten years, but the unfortunate fate fell on her, Guangxu 27 July 15, the fourth shopkeeper in Jintang Majiadu capsized, since then she lost her beloved husband, since then she disillusioned the dream of life.

Shuhua saw that she was lonely, coupled with the emotion of ten years of dependence, although she was nineteen years old, how could she abandon her fourth sister-in-law who was in trouble and loved her very much? Of course, after this situation, the Chen family and the Wen family sent someone to take them back, but they all sternly refused, and they knew that the bowl of idle rice was not easy to enjoy.

At the beginning, although the mother-in-law's family also had some slight help, but it was a drop in the bucket, and the sister-in-law had to face the reality, open the door, and work hard for a livelihood in order to live. Both of them do a good hand of needlework, can cut and cut, but the nearby people, are not wealthy, except for the Chinese New Year, usually rarely add clothes, want to rely on this craft to eat, not counted!

Fortunately, this relay station is still full of people every day, those "vegetable seeds" who plant and squeeze oil, and the "pickers" who sell coolies' oil burdens, whether they have known each other in the past or have just met, are all grateful for the kindness of the four shopkeepers in the past, and they still come to rest every day when they open the shop. Some bring some rice, some bring some food, and the empty-handed ones are in the two shops next door, buy some mutton, tofu, wash and make it, and wait for the coincidence to come to the pot and burn it, you can have a full meal.

Everyone deliberately saved a mouthful, which was enough for my sister-in-law to have two meals in the morning and evening.

These sincere friendships not only inspired Qiaoqiao's withered heart, but also enabled her to practice a special skill of cooking tofu. In the public publicity, Qiaoqiao's good name of Zhenzi (mutton) tofu has spread all over more than ten counties in western Sichuan.

Anyone who knew the four shopkeepers in the past always tried their best to bring some gifts to visit her, just to taste her roast tofu skills.

The old proprietor of the fourth shopkeeper thought that since Qiaoqiao's aunt and sister-in-law had stated that they would not marry, and they were unwilling to return to the second mother-in-law's family, they repeatedly persuaded Qiaoqiao's stepson Chengyu (inherited as the heir) to entertain the evening scene, and kindly lent her funds to help her open a shop as a stove and show her cooking expertise.

At that time, it was the thirtieth year of Guangxu, the social atmosphere was conservative, and women showed their heads, who could avoid the accusations of others? Wen Chen's relatives and friends thought it was a great shame, and they came to the door one after another to dissuade them, but they were determined, the store was still open every day, and the tofu was still burning every day.

Later, she simply stated to the two families that as long as she took out 5,000 taels of silver to "earn interest", she would close the store. mentioned asking for money, and the brothers had no choice but to shut up and wrap their feet. Since then, my sister-in-law has cheered up and greeted business wholeheartedly, my sister-in-law chops meat and cooks vegetables, and my sister-in-law wipes the table and washes the dishes. The two of them behaved rightly, sat upright, and showed the facts for a long time, and people's hearts slowly changed from contempt to respect.

In the second year of Xuantong, her third brother brought her twelve-year-old second son back to Chengdu and officially passed it on to Qiaoqiao as a son, but unfortunately because she was not her own child and was busy with business, she neglected to care, and as a result, at the age of sixteen, she secretly ran to the army as an adjutant.

In this way, year after year, the store expanded and the business flourished, but their youth passed slowly in the rapid movement of "a pair of little golden lotus". In order to avoid gossip, there are "five-foot children who have no answers" in the store.

Tofu and mutton are required to be purchased by the guests, and the fire and meal money paid by the guests are indisputable to the sister-in-law.

Due to overwork, in the twenty-third year of the Republic of China, Shuhua fell ill first, and had no choice but to find a distant grandson to come to help. As a result, within a year, my sister-in-law passed away one after another.

Before her death, some people called her Qiao Girl and Four Young Milk; Some people call her Chen Si's sister-in-law and the shopkeeper's mother. Mapo is the signature she earned after her death: hemp is the nostalgia of others for her beauty and delicateness; Po is the honorific title that others give to her when she is old and De Shao.

And mapo tofu has become an outstanding famous dish in Sichuan, who can know that behind this bowl of tofu, there are countless bitterness and struggle, endless tears and sweat!