The land of Jingxiang, Yuezhou.

Yuezhou is close to Yunmengze, according to the Yangtze River, Nasanxiang and four waters, the rivers and lakes meet, the key place of the north and south traffic, as early as the Han Empire, Yuezhou City is a very famous state city in the Chinese region, under the jurisdiction of Junshan County, Miluo County and Huarong County and other counties, are famous counties in history.

On May 2, Li Mao and the Xu family arrived near Yuezhou City by the Tang Dynasty.

Because Guanchi could only reach a large city like Yuezhou City, and could not cover the county seat below, Li Mao and the Xu family could only choose to complete the last leg of the journey by themselves.

Xu Jiuye's hometown is in Miluo County, Yuezhou, this county has a river named Miluo River, Miluo River is divided into two branches, the south branch is called "Mishui", the main source, the north branch is called "Luoshui", to Miluo County Daqiu Bay confluence is called "Miluo River".

According to legend, the ancestor of the human race, Master Qu Yuan, committed suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River on May 5 because of the pain that there was no hope of saving the country, and the people of Jingxiang remembered his loyalty and patriotism, and commemorated Master Qu Yuan in various forms on May 5 every year, so there was a custom of the Dragon Boat Festival in the local area.

The official gallop taken by Li Mao and his entourage drove directly into the Yuezhou City outside the Jingyun Temple and stopped at the Yuezhou Branch, which is still five miles away from the Yuezhou City, located in a remote area, which belongs to the area where the government prohibits ordinary people from entering.

The people in Jingyun Guan specially arranged ordinary carriages and horses to send Li Mao and his party to the outside of Yuezhou City.

Yuezhou City is worthy of being a rich city in the south of the Tang Kingdom, located in the hinterland of Dongshengzhou, far away from the war-torn place, the development is very good, the urban area of Yuezhou City is much larger than Dunhuang City, and the population is more than two million, which can be regarded as the top ten metropolises in the Tang Kingdom.

Since the completion of Yuezhou City, it has not suffered from large-scale sword and soldier disasters, so there is no tall city wall like a border city, and the two-foot and eight-foot high city wall is more like a boundary between the inside and outside of the city, and there is almost no function to defend against the enemy.

But its long walls make one have to marvel at the magnificence of the city.

Li Mao and his entourage paid two copper coins at the north gate of Yuezhou City and entered the city smoothly.

Li Mao looked at the strong popularity condensed in the sky above this city, and had to sigh that this city has a large population, and the people's hearts and morale are very strong, which shows that this city is very suitable for living.

Because the day of the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, many people in Yuezhou City have begun to prepare for the activities and ceremonies of the Dragon Boat Festival.

The shops and stalls on the street are full of various rice dumpling leaves, glutinous rice, red dates, peanuts and other ingredients for making zongzi, and the fragrance of various ingredients wafts through the street.

There are also some newly made dragon boats docked along the river in the city, and many more are repainted and drying in the shade by the riverbank, and they will all participate in the dragon boat competition held on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Li Mao and his party, except for Xu Jiuye, the rest of them are from the north, Mrs. Xu is an authentic Guazhou native, and it was after Xu Jiuye went to Dunhuang that she tied the knot.

Everyone has never seen a dragon boat, and they don't know what kind of festival the Dragon Boat Festival is, so they asked questions along the way, and wanted to hear Xu Jiuye explain it to them.

But when Xu Jiuye saw these familiar scenes, his eyes were red, and he remembered his childhood and youth, as if everything before was still vivid.

The Xu family is a big family in Miluo, there are many children in the family, there are hundreds of people, Xu Jiuye's father is not the eldest and the next is not a grandson, so he is naturally not qualified to inherit the family business, and can only be regarded as an ordinary child in the family.

Xu Jiuye was the ninth in their generation, he was not an outstanding child when he was young, and after four years of clan school, his father saw that he was not a material for reading, so he thought that such a big family, he did not have many resources, and in the future, the child had to have a means of making a living, so he sent him to the family's business house to learn bookkeeping and business.

Xu began to work in the family's trading house at the age of ninety-two, from the errand boy, to the bookkeeper who helped the shopkeeper, after five years of hard work, relying on the sensitivity to numbers and the supply and demand of goods, and finally became a more outstanding leader in the firm.

But fate seems to play a joke with Xu Jiu, when he was about to be seventeen years old, the nine-year-old little sister unfortunately drowned, and his father was seriously injured by a galloping carriage when he was in a hurry to rush home, and he was carried back and left the next day.

Xu Jiu's mother couldn't stand such a blow, and she also committed suicide, and within three days, Xu Jiu lost all his immediate family, how could he bear it.

Xu Jiuyi wanted to avenge his father and ask for justice from the owner of the carriage, but later inquired that the carriage was ridden by the nephew of the county commander's family.

Xu Jiu knew that it would be impossible for him to avenge his father, so he begged the head of the Xu family to come forward to help him get justice, but the head of the Xu family did not dare to offend the county commander, and after receiving the fifty taels of pension sent by the county order, he began to persuade Xu Jiu not to only think about revenge, after all, life has to go on, and his eyes must be seen from afar.

Xu Jiu saw that the patriarch did not stand up for himself, so he proposed to split up and stand on his own, and was ready to leave the Xu clan after taking his share of the family property.

How could the patriarch sit idly by and immediately convene a general meeting of the whole clan to expel Xu Jiu from the Xu clan.

Later, under the persuasion of the clan elders, the patriarch Kuankong gave Xu a large amount of nine hundred taels of silver, including a pension of fifty taels, and sent Xu Jiu out of the Xu family.

When Xu Jiu left home, he vowed that he must return to his hometown in fine clothes and let the patriarch admit his mistakes back then, but now that he is back, he is so close to Miluo County, but he himself is a little timid and hesitant to move forward.

Xu Jiu wandered around Yuezhou City aimlessly with everyone, and everyone didn't know what he was looking for.

In the end, Xu Jiuye found a wharf, after seeing this wharf, Xu Jiuye finally showed a gratified expression, he came to Yuezhou City from Miluo County, and then went all the way north from Yuezhou City, and finally arrived at Dunhuang City, which was transferred from this wharf.

Although almost 30 years have passed, not much has changed here, as if 30 years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Xu Jiuye looked at it here for a long time, and finally turned back to Li Mao and said, "Virtuous nephew, go rent a boat, let's go up the river tomorrow and go to Miluo County to see the Xu family's clan."

If it's suitable, we'll stay and develop, and if it's not suitable, we'll come to develop in Yuezhou City, what do you think?"

Mrs. Xu said: "Naturally, I listen to the master's arrangement, and I have no opinion." ”

Xu Jiuye nodded and said, "Okay, then let's prepare and prepare to return home." ”

Xu Jiuye led everyone to find an inn near the wharf, chartered a small courtyard, and settled everyone, they were going to stay in Yuezhou City for a day, and rush to Miluo County early tomorrow morning.

Xu Jiuye took the small plug and the small pillar to purchase the specialties of Yuezhou City, and asked Li Mao to accompany Mrs. Xu and Xu Ai to buy some cloth, silk and rouge gouache, and all the purchased items were packed and divided in the store, which was useful when returning to Miluo County.

Everyone went out separately to buy the corresponding items, and by the way, they also had a general understanding of the business atmosphere of Yuezhou City.

Yuezhou City was too big, in order to buy these souvenirs for the relatives of the Xu family clan who didn't know who were still there, Xu Jiuye and Li Mao had to rent two carriages to buy them in different markets.

Because the goods in Yuezhou City are too rich, Xu Jiuye deliberately moved a lot more places for reasons of professional sensitivity, while Mrs. Xu and Xu Ai were out of a woman's love for beauty, and they couldn't stop.

The little bolt and the little pillar followed the old man and broke his legs, and Li Mao followed Mrs. Xu and Xu Ai helplessly, even his grandmaster-level body was a little sore, and Mrs. Xu and Xu Ai still had the strength to walk, which surprised Li Mao.

At dusk, the two groups returned to the inn and brought back two carts of various gifts.

After exchanging a helpless expression with Xiao Zhuzi and Xiao Zhuzi, Li Mao hurriedly beckoned the guys in the store to unload the goods, settled the carriage fare, and sent the two carriages back.

Xu Jiuye saw the gifts placed in the hall and said happily: "Madame is in a good mood today, it seems that she has gained a lot in Yuezhou City." ”

Mrs. Xu picked up a piece of fabric and said to Xu Jiuye: "Master, you see, how delicate this cloth weaver is, it is definitely the best material to make a robe, if it is in Dunhuang City, this cloth is worth at least twelve taels and eight dollars, and here it only takes three taels or three dollars to buy, it is too cheap!"

Xu Ai also held a box of rouge gouache and said: "Dad, look! Yuezhou City is really prosperous, things are super cheap, this big box of rouge gouache only sells for six taels or seven dollars of silver, and it costs at least about twenty-five taels in Dunhuang City,"

Xu Jiuye looked at the mother and daughter, pointed to the cart of gifts they bought, and asked astringently: "Did you two buy such fabrics and rouge gouache?"

Mrs. Xu saw that there was something wrong with her husband, but Xu Ai said like a cousin: "Of course, there are more than that, there are also beaded flowers, silver jewelry, sachets and jewelry boxes, etc., which are all girls' favorite things, and they must be very popular when brought back to the clan." ”

Xu Jiuye looked at his beloved daughter and couldn't bear to ask, and then looked at his wife, and found that his wife had realized that she was wrong, and it was even more difficult to say that she was not in front of the juniors.

In the end, Xu Jiuye looked at Li Mao and asked, "Virtuous nephew, do you think it is appropriate for Mrs. and Xiao Ai to buy these things?"

Li Mao said: "Uncle Jiu, I think that Mrs. and Xiaoai buy these things, the variety is okay, but the price is not advantageous, because these things are rare in Dunhuang City, but they are definitely very ordinary things here."

And I think the price is a little too high, Mrs. and Xiaoai insist on buying, and I can't stop it, although I suffered a small loss, but I made up for it elsewhere. ”

After speaking, Li Mao took out a dirty snuffbox from his arms and handed it to Xu Jiuye.