In the second year of the Tang Dynasty, thieves and robbers arose, and people's livelihood withered.

The water of the Yellow River is mighty, stretching across the vast land of the Central Plains, flowing through the Wugou Village in Dangshan County, and then flowing east into the sea. There are few decent courtyards in the entire Wugou Village, and there are earthen walls and tiles as far as the eye can see.

In the cold winter of the lunar month, one day is colder than the other. After a north wind blew for half a day and night, snow began to fall. On the second day, the snow fell heavier, and the silver floc fluttered all over the sky, and there was a white expanse in all directions, and even the Yellow River was frozen. Poor people's families can also hunt and fish on weekdays, so as to supplement some households. In such weather, I'm afraid it's hard to even eat a hungry stomach.

Old Master Liu has lived in this Wugou Village for many years, and when he saw the heavy snow all over the sky, his old-fashioned face showed a little joy. Old Master Liu twisted his beard and chanted: "If you want a good year, you must teach to take advantage of the wax; Fast and epsom silver bottle, cold drunk and easy to wake up. ”

He only hopes that this snow is an auspicious omen, blessing the coming year, the two long-term workers hired by the family will no longer be lazy and slippery, and the few acres of thin land handed down by his ancestors can have a good harvest. Otherwise, the little food stored at home may not survive next winter.

Mr. Liu's surname is Liu Mingchong, and he is a local squire. If it weren't for the chaos in the past few years and the struggling life, he would have liked to do more good deeds on weekdays. Liu Chong has a son under his knees, who is now twelve years old, but he is not very happy. Liu Chong felt that he was too straightforward here, and it would be difficult to inherit the family business in the future, so he named him a "驽" character.

Horse, the righteousness of bad horses. Ten horses, the merit is relentless. This is a famous sentence from Xunzi's "Persuasion", which means that a thousand miles of horses can only jump ten steps away, and bad horses can reach a place thousands of miles away after ten days. Liu Chong took this opportunity to hope that he could read more poetry and books, increase his knowledge, and change the sluggish habits brought out of his mother's womb.

In addition to Liu Yu, Liu Chong also accepted a student named Zhu Xun, who was the eldest son of the Zhu family, a wealthy family in the village. Although Zhu Yuanwai's family has a lot of money, his ancestors have never been a scholar, so he sent Zhu Xun to Liu Chong's knees, just hoping to cultivate some scholarly sentiments. This Zhu Xun has been studying under Liu Chong for more than ten years, he is smart, thoughtful and alert, not only familiar with poetry and books, but also his virtue is quite valued by Liu Chong.

Liu Chong couldn't help but sigh every time he looked at his unsuccessful son, and then compared with the gentle and elegant Zhu Xun on the side. The snow scene in front of him was beautiful, and Liu Chong's heart was full of poetry, so he asked the Fu family of the Hun family to treat a few side dishes in order to enjoy the snow. Liu Chong beckoned his student Zhu Xun to sit down together, and glared at his son Liu Yu angrily. Seeing this, Liu Yu chose to sit down under the table and sat down silently.

Liu Chong is very annoyed by his son's character who can't hum a fart even when he breaks the stick, and he can't help but scold him on weekdays. It's just that he was in a good mood today, and he wanted to test what the two children had learned on weekdays, so he said, "The snow is falling very hard in front of you, and you two will each write a poem to the old man on this topic." Xun'er, you come first!"

Zhu Xun was unhurried, looked at the snow scene in front of him, and said after a moment of silence: "The snow is full of Kyoto, and the palace is full of silver." Often looking at Su Yuan, it is the Jiangmei season. The whole poem is gorgeous and graceful, and even Liu Chong sighs to himself. I think that if it is a peaceful season, I will definitely be able to pass the imperial examination here, and it will not be difficult to be a big official and return to my hometown in the future.

When Zhu Xun was reciting poetry, Liu Chongjian used the corner of his eye to sweep away his unangry son Liu Yu, but saw that this child not only did poorly in his studies, but also lacked the intention of learning. Zhu Xun's poems are so good, but Liu Yu has been in a daze beside him, and it is estimated that Zhu Xun's good words and sentences, but he has not taken a word to heart. Liu Chong was slightly stunned in his heart, but he didn't want to have a seizure, so he woke up Liu Yu and asked him to write a poem like Zhu Xun.

Liu Yu lowered his head and thought for a long time, then raised his head, his face was full of shame, and said, "Daddy, I saw that the snow was falling so much, and it was freezing cold. The poor were poor, and not only did they have to endure the cold, but they also had no food to eat. A few of us are sitting here enjoying the snow, so we might as well send these dishes to the long-term workers' families to share the food. ”

Liu Chong's boss was unhappy when he heard this, and only said that his son was making excuses for not being able to write poems, and reproached: "The food, clothing, and food of the poor people are the affairs of the Son of Heaven's family, but we can't manage them." As long as you do a good job in learning, then you will be worthy of yourself, worthy of me, worthy of your ancestors and ancestors!"

The more Liu Chong spoke, the more angry he became, and Zhu Xun smiled when he saw this: "It's not that Brother Yu doesn't learn anything, he has learned Taishi Gong's "Historical Records" very well, and he especially likes to read the biography of the rangers. ”

After hearing this, Liu Chong slapped the table and said angrily: "Liu Yu, how many times have I told you. Writing good poetry is orthodox, what's the use of you learning those Laoshizi? Ranger rangers, those are all outlaws, they all like to do some murder and arson, they are not good people, why are you not good at learning, you have to learn from those people?"

The Fu family of the Hun family on the side was sitting sewing clothes, and when he saw that his husband had trained his son to be red-faced, he thought about what method could persuade Liu Chong to leave. Just through the door, I saw a figure in the distance carrying a burden slowly away, as if it was an oil seller. Fu Shi said: "It's freezing this day, and there is no food at home." You go out to see if the one who is walking is an oil seller, you go and chop a pound of duck, and then sell two pounds of wine, and give your father a boost to enjoy the snow. ”

Fu Shi means that he wants to get rid of his son, and when Liu Yu leaves here, her husband should also be angry. It is said that in the Tang Dynasty, he not only sold oil, but also carried some braised vegetables and rice wine, so that he could make more money by going down.

As soon as Fu said this, the three of them looked out of the house in unison. The oil seller wore a hat on his head and a coat, and his body was covered with snow. At the two ends of the flat pole are two large vats, which should be filled with oil, wine and marinated food. The sky is full of wind and snow in front of him, but this oil seller can lift weights as lightly as if he were light, and it is really not easy to stride alone in the snow.

Zhu Xun said: "In such cold weather, it is really not easy for this person to come out to do business." Seeing him walking in the snow, his pace is still so steady, most of him is a practitioner. So he smiled at Liu Yu and said: "Brother Yu, if you want to learn from a hero, there is a master in front of you, you might as well learn from him!" Zhu Xun's words were ironic, meaning that if Liu Yu wanted to be a hero, then this suffering oil seller was his role model.

Liu Yu didn't answer, took off the wine gourd on the wall and ran out of the house. He was only twelve years old, not tall, but he was a fast runner. Most of the villagers in Wugou Village are not wealthy, and it is freezing cold at the moment, so the oil seller probably did not make a deal in this village, so he walked straight to the bank of the Yellow River, apparently on the way to a neighboring village.

Liu Yu was afraid that he would not be able to catch up with him, so he was in a hurry, so he tried his best to catch up. However, although the oil seller in front of him was carrying heavy loads and did not run enough, he walked so fast, and he was more than ten zhang away in a blink of an eye, which is really rare. Even if Liu Chong, Zhu Xun, Fu Shi and others didn't know martial arts, they were surprised to see it.

Liu Yu was anxious to make a mistake, so that a stone under the snow tripped, and he fell in the snow. Seeing that he could no longer catch up with the oil seller, he raised his voice and shouted: "Hero, don't go!" At this time, he still remembered Zhu Xun's ridicule with him about the hero, and he unconsciously called the oil seller a hero.

After Mai Youyun heard the voice, he turned around and glanced at Liu Yu, with a slight surprise in his eyes, and said, "Child, I won't do this business today." It's so cold, you should hurry home. As he spoke, he swept towards the door of Liu's house, and fell into his eyes all the people in the house. After finishing speaking, he didn't stop at his feet, and in a moment he was already far away, so that Liu Yu couldn't catch up anymore.

Liu Chong and the others also roughly heard the words of the oil seller from a distance in the house, Liu Chong frowned and said: "This oil seller is so ignorant, it is rare to have a single business, but he doesn't do it." Doing business like him is afraid that sooner or later he will have to lose. After hearing this, Fu Shi responded: "Master, people have tempers, maybe he was unhappy today because of the heavy snow." ”

Zhu Xun said with a smile: "It makes sense for my master to say this, but when an elegant person like my master sees the heavy snow, he will only be happy, and he will never be so depressed." Liu Chong was very satisfied after listening to Zhu Xun's words, and his face was a little proud.

While the three of them were talking, Liu Yu had already returned in frustration. Fu put down the needle and thread in his hand and brushed away the snow for his son. The snow outside the house was getting heavier and heavier, and after a while, the wind changed direction again, and the snow poured into the house.

Seeing this, Fu Shi could no longer take care of her husband's Yaxing, who was appreciating the snow, and hurriedly closed the door and was about to drop the latch. At this time, a bright knife took advantage of the crack in the door to insert it, and a voice said, "Open the door!" Listening to the voice is a big man, there are other sparse laughter voices next to it, it sounds like there are several people.