I had been sitting in the tea shop until the sun was in the west, and it was not so hot, Han Zhen got up and said, "An Niang, I'm leaving." ”

"Can Erlang come tonight? If you come, I'll leave you the door. ”

An Niang said, a pair of moist peach blossom eyes couldn't help but look at the descending tiger on his chest.

The atmosphere of the Northern Song Dynasty was very open, and tattoos were a fashion trend, regardless of gender.

From princes and nobles to ordinary people, there are countless tattoos.

Even in Kaifeng City, there is a special tattoo club, called the Jinti Society.

Every time there is a competition to welcome the gods, the Jinti Society will also hold an embroidery performance to show off their tattoos.

Song Huizong had a close attendant by his side, named Li Zhen.

Li Qianqi was the son of a standard eunuch, and his great-grandfather Li Changling served as a Huainan transit envoy during the Taizong and Zhenzong periods.

Li Zhen has a large tattoo on his body, and it is very exquisite, after Song Huizong saw it, he also specially gave him the title of Jinti Immortal.

From the tattoos on Li Zhen's body and Song Huizong's attitude, it can be seen how much the Song people love tattoos.

"I'm not coming, I'll go home."

Han Zhen waved his hand and stepped out of the county seat.

Looking at his departing back, An Niang felt a little lost in her heart.

……

Han Zhen's home is in Xiaodong Village, not far from the county seat, about five miles away.

According to his footsteps, it would not take him half an hour to get there.

As soon as I got out of the county, I met the splashes who returned from playing with water.

Seeing Han Zhen, the splashes immediately greeted him, and Ma Sangou, who was the leader, had a black face on his head and grinned: "Second Brother Han, look at the harvest of the brothers." ”

It really made these guys catch fish.

Three chopstick-length crucian carp, a grass carp of more than three catties, and some shrimp and crabs in his clothes.

"Not bad!"

Han Zhen smiled and nodded.

They seem to be chic, but in fact, they have a hard time, and they can only barely fill their stomachs, and it is rare to be able to eat meat.

The main reason is that Han Zhen is unwilling to steal chickens and dogs, and bullies the weak.

Like the gang of splashes in the west of the city, they are not so particular.

A splash urged: "Second Brother Han, let's go back to the temple and cook and eat." ”

Han Zhen waved his hand: "No, I'll go back to Xiaodong Village and come back tomorrow." ”

Hearing this, Ma Sangou didn't say a word, and handed over the fish in his hand: "Since Second Brother Han is going home, how can he go back empty-handed and just bring some fish back." ”

Although the other splashes were reluctant, none of them felt inappropriate.

When you come out to mix, you are paying attention to a righteous spirit.

The key is that Han Zhen is very good to them on weekdays, if Han Zhen didn't protect them, they would have been beaten to death by the gang of puffers in Xicheng.

Seeing that someone was secretly swallowing saliva, Han Zhen smiled slightly, leaving only three small crucian carp, and stuffed the big grass carp into Ma Sangou's hand: "That's all it takes, you go back first." ”

Ma Sangou couldn't push it, so he had to take the grass carp.

After bidding farewell to his group of younger brothers, Han Zhen strode along the Xiaodong River with the fish.

Han Zhen is in the second line at home, and there is a big brother on it.

It's just that compared to his inhuman strong physique, the eldest brother has been weak and sick since he was a child, and he died less than a year after marrying his wife, leaving a widowed sister-in-law.

In order to avoid suspicion, Han Zhen spent all day in the county after the death of his eldest brother, but he only went home every three or five times, carrying some coarse salt linen cloth and helping to do some farm work, and secondly, it was also to deter Xiaoxiao.

There are many rights and wrongs in front of the widow's door, especially the sister-in-law's posture is quite good, if she does not go back, she will definitely be harassed by the lazy man.

As we approached Xiaodong Village, large fields began to appear on both sides of the road.

Among them, there are a lot of barren fields.

Most of these wastelands were left behind by fugitives, but no one dared to cultivate them.

The reason for all this is the household system.

If you have too much land, you may be classified as a third-class household by the government.

Therefore, no matter how difficult it is for the fourth-class and fifth-class households, they can only guard a few acres of their own thin fields, and dare not fight the idea of these barren fields.

Don't you think it's ridiculous to have a field but don't dare to plant it?

However, this is the truest portrayal of the peasants in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The North is slightly better, and the South is more difficult.

Because compared with the various harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the north, there is an additional tax in the south, which is called body money.

The so-called body money, which is commonly known as the poll tax, is counted as one man in the family, and as long as he is an adult, he has to pay the body money.

When they reach adulthood, they pay seven buckets and five liters of body mat rice every year.

This tax has caused poor farmers to dare not have more children, and even if they accidentally give birth, they will drown in pain.

When Su Dongpo was exiled to Hubei, he saw with his own eyes: "The small people of Huangzhou, the poor do not have many children, and the newborn is easy to be immersed in the basin of water", "The villains in the fields between Yue and Hubei only raise two men and one girl, and they are killed after this".

I don't dare to raise a child, I don't dare to plant a field, only I am a big song!

……

Along the way, from time to time, I met villagers working in the fields.

When they saw Han Zhen, they opened their greetings.

"Han Er, are you back?"

"yes!"

This is due to his good reputation, and if it were to be replaced by other splashes, these villagers would probably be afraid to avoid it.

His house is close to the west of the village, with rammed walls made of loess, a layer of dry straw on the roof, and a small courtyard surrounded by a bamboo fence in front of the door.

In the corner of the yard, two ridges of vegetable fields were reclaimed, and some leeks and weads were planted.

At this time, a pretty little woman wearing a burlap headscarf was watering the vegetable patch.

Hearing the footsteps, the little woman turned her head and said happily, "Ah, uncle is back." ”

"Sister-in-law."

Han Zhen nodded and stepped into the courtyard.

The little woman is Han Zhen's sister-in-law, surnamed Zhang, with no name, only a milk name called Runniang.

On weekdays, the village calls her Han Zhang.

Han Zhang's appearance is pretty, with an innocent aura between his eyebrows and eyes, and his figure is like a persimmon tree not far away...... The twigs bear fruit!

Han Zhang glanced at the crucian carp in his hand and said curiously, "How can there be fish?" ”

"Three dogs, they caught them in the river, and they divided some of them."

"Uncle is hungry, I'll go cook."

Han Zhang said, took the crucian carp in his hand, squatted in the yard and began to deal with it.

I saw her holding a kitchen knife in her hand, skillfully disemboweling her belly, and then carefully scraping off the fish scales.

Han Zhen stood aside and asked, "Sister-in-law, there are no scoundrels coming to the door these days, right?" ”

Hearing this, Han Zhang's hand moved slightly, and then shook his head.

Seeing this, Han Zhen said loudly: "Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, I'm here." ”

Han Zhang pursed his lips and said timidly: "Front...... Two days and nights, the fourth child of the Lu family came to knock on the door, but I didn't dare to open the door, and after a while, he left. ”

The fourth elder of the Lu family?

A cold glint flashed in Han Zhen's eyes, and he ordered: "Sister-in-law, cook, I'll come when I go." ”

Hearing the anger in his tone, Han Zhangshi hurriedly put down the kitchen knife, got up and grabbed his arm: "Uncle, don't be impulsive, it's not good to make a fuss." ”

She wasn't worried that Han Zhen would suffer, but that Han Zhen didn't take it seriously and beat people to death......

"Sister-in-law, don't worry, I have a sense of proportion."

patting the back of Han Zhang's hand, Han Zhen strode out of the courtyard.