In 1067, Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang, urban area

☆☆☆

As the outer city gates opened one by one, a large number of displaced people poured into Bianliang City. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The first month of summer coincided with a great time for farming, but Hebei and other places coincided with a major drought, and the number of victims from Hebei who flowed into Beijing was uncountable.

There are many bronze eyes inlaid on the inner city gate, like a lion guarding the city with staring eyes, which is very majestic. For the safety of the imperial city, the homeless people who were put into the inner city were interrogated very strictly, and several children in tattered single clothes took advantage of the loopholes and ran in, some children wore broken straw shoes, and the rest were barefoot. Although they were fleeing, the children did not know their sorrows, and they were excited by the tall buildings they had never seen before, and the bustling streets of cars and horses, and some of the children ran to Sweet Water Alley and tried to scoop water from the big wells in the middle of the street to drink, and after tasting it, they all felt that even the water in the capital was sweet.

Seeing a large crowd of people gathered on the side of the street in front of him, he almost surrounded the intersection. The children curiously squeezed into the crowd, and some crouched down and slipped through the legs of the adults.

I heard someone say loudly: "Have you heard? The incense thief missed!"

There was a commotion in the crowd, and someone immediately asked, "The treasure was not stolen?"

The other people who didn't know the inside story suddenly became interested and shouted, "Tell me what's going on?"

A young man interjected: "I know, I know, I have a cousin who is burning a fire in the Rongguo Mansion, and he told me clearly!" He said the words he heard from his cousin, and the others who listened exclaimed: "What a big scene this must be, the white mantis and the marquis of the world shot together?"

The young man said proudly: "Yes, don't say that the treasure was not stolen, the incense thief ......."

As soon as the treasures were mentioned, someone asked, "What kind of treasure has Rong Guogong hidden?"

A middle-aged man next to him said to himself: "Rong Guogong is a decent person, I haven't heard that he likes to collect any rare treasures?"

There was a matchmaker wearing red and green, with her hands in her sleeves, who was also listening to the excitement in the crowd, and interjected: "That Rongguo Gong is very fond of his daughters, maybe he saved some valuable dowries for his daughters?" Someone shook his head and said, "Come on, how can those things get into Hejiulang's eyes?"

When the young man saw that everyone was talking about the treasure, he hurriedly said, "I say, you have listened carefully." Although the god hunted Baitang was a master of Jingzhao Mansion Shangjiazhuang Xinyi Fist, but his self-created twenty-way drunken mantis knife method was a lore, that night Baitang was in the treasure house, just like a white mantis waiting for its prey, as soon as the incense thief entered the treasure house, he was cut down and hit hard, and there was nothing to hide. ”

Someone chimed in: "Naturally, Lord Shenzhu is the number one master in Beijing, and the common people worship him as the pre-Qin god of war." Another short and fat man said: "Don't forget to 'wait', saying that he is the fastest player in the world, dare someone say a word? is a little stinky, but although he has no title, but the ancestors are also nobles, otherwise how could those princes and ministers be afraid of him?"

The young man answered: "Yes, yes, there is also a sword shop! The incense thief wanted to escape, but he couldn't escape the net of Kaifeng Mansion. The sword thief suddenly killed in front of him, if it was said that the incense thief had a light achievement, it was that he did not meet the real master, only to see the sword thief move like the flying swallow through the forest, and then listen to the incense thief's scream, and finally died under the sword. The others were surprised: "Wouldn't it?"

A big man carrying a burden walked past the crowd, and when he heard the crowd talking, he suddenly stopped and shouted: "That's not the case at all!"

His voice was so loud that everyone turned their heads and looked at the big man's face in unison, and immediately made way for him with a look.

He put down his burden, walked in, and pointed to the man who had just spoken: "Don't listen to his nonsense! My brother-in-law is a fast hand, and he stayed in the courtyard of the Rongguo Mansion for the past few nights. ”

The crowd was in an uproar, and this was a shout.

Someone coaxed, "What the hell is going on? Tell me about it, brother!"

The big man rolled up his arms and sleeves, and said: "My brother-in-law told me personally, that night the moon was dark and the wind was high, and the people of Kaifeng Mansion quickly surrounded the Rongguo Mansion with three layers inside and three layers outside. ”

As soon as these words came out, several people said in unison: "Isn't it strange that one said that he was not caught, and the other said that he was stabbed to death?"

The young man was provoked and said loudly: "Who said I was talking nonsense? Tell me yourself, who can escape if the two gods join forces?"

"How can you guess if you want to see people in this life and corpses in death?" Seeing that the young man couldn't tell why, someone turned his head and asked the big man, "This old man, did your brother-in-law say that he didn't say what the incense thief looks like?"

"He didn't even see a figure, let alone know what it looked like. ”

The young man raised his chin and said, "Listen, everyone, he's talking nonsense!"

At this time, someone suddenly realized, patted his head and said: "I just said that why did the people of the Divine Capture Division search people door to door that night? It turned out to be the arrest of Hejiulang!" The smile next to him: "Door to door?" I remember that the Divine Capture Division searched Hualiu Lane, could it be that your brother settled in a brothel, right?" The previous man blushed and said, "So, you are not also in the brothel, otherwise how do you know?"

The crowd burst out laughing.

"That night, the embroidery building was searched all over again, and in the end I heard that no one was caught. ”

Someone said in a deep voice: "In this way, the two gods joined forces, but they didn't catch him, this incense thief is indeed capable enough!"

Several people listened to his words, nodded and said: "The incense thief is a character, and the god hunt is not a vegetarian, but it's a pity that one of them is an official and the other is a thief, and water and fire are incompatible." ”

Seeing the situation in front of him, the young man frowned and said, "That Hejiulang is obviously a big thief, and you people even say that he has the ability, and you are shielding people." He pointed at the crowd again, "I see that Lord God almost caught him this time, and he won't be able to run next time!"

There are contradictions in his words, and everyone knows that he is talking nonsense, so they naturally don't believe it. It's just that when he talked about the official thief, some people shook their heads, and some people reluctantly nodded.

It can be seen that there are both fans of the god hunt here, as well as supporters of incense thieves, to put it bluntly, the small citizens of the Great Song Dynasty are not exempt from the custom of gossip, such a conversation, within half a day, will be in full swing in Bianliang City.

A child listened to them and was very lively, and finally couldn't help it, pulled the person next to him, and asked, "Who is Hejiulang?"

The man was wearing a silk shirt, slightly blessed, and when he looked down, he saw the child pulling the hem of his clothes with his dirty hands, and hurriedly covered his nose and kicked his feet: "Where is the dirty monkey, get out of the way!"

The child flashed backwards and sat on his ass.

Seeing the man's anger, the matchmaker hurriedly persuaded: "What are you angry with the child?" She took out a few copper plates from her sleeves, beckoned to a larger child, and said, "Come, the mother-in-law will give you a few dollars and lead them to buy steamed buns!"

The children received the bounty and dispersed in a hurry.

The big man who came out to correct the young man before also took the burden and left, busy with his own livelihood.

The well-dressed man said indignantly: "The streets are full of these beggars asking for food these days! The government doesn't care about it!"

As soon as everyone heard his accent and looked at his dress, they knew that this was a merchant from the south who came to the capital to do business.

The middle-aged man just now replied: "They are not beggars, they are refugees from Hebei. ”

"I think it's pretty much the same. ”

The middle-aged man smiled at the merchant in the silk shirt and said, "This big official, if you don't know something, the difference is big!"

Someone couldn't help but interject: "This person doesn't know about the rivers and lakes at first glance, so he doesn't know how powerful the beggars are." ”

The middle-aged man heard him mention the beggar gang, and said with a smile: "Over the years, the beggar gang has done a lot of good things for the people, and such a martial arts gang that cares about the lives of Li Min has to be respected." I don't think the beggars will ignore the matter of the displaced people entering Beijing. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement. At this time, a person suddenly shouted: "If you talk about characters, the leader of the beggar gang can be regarded as heroes!"

The merchant in the silk shirt said, "Isn't the leader of the beggar gang the leader of the beggars, what's the big deal?"

As soon as he said this, many people around him laughed, obviously laughing at his ignorance.

The short and fat man corrected the merchant and said: "Speaking of this Hong gang leader, he can be described as a young hero, and he is famous in the rivers and lakes when he is just starting out. The predecessor of the beggar gang, the leader of the Jiang gang, died of illness, and he became the leader of the gang at a young age. Since he sat on the throne of the leader of this gang, he swept away the evil and eliminated the evil, helped the poor and helped the poor, and made the beggar gang have a great momentum; now, this beggar gang has long been the largest gang in the Central Plains!"

The matchmaker suddenly said: "This old woman knows the inside story!"

The person next to him asked: "What does your mother-in-law know about martial arts?"

The matchmaker glanced at the man disdainfully and said, "I have a sister who lives in Luoyang and also acts as a matchmaker. She said that those who invited her to propose marriage to the Hong Gang broke through the threshold of her family. Not only those famous families on the rivers and lakes, but also the big businessmen on the rich side, and some of the concubines and concubines of the official lord's family also want to marry him. ”

It was the first time I had heard of this, and everyone around me fell silent. The matchmaker continued: "It is said that the beggar gang is huge, and the leader of the Hong gang is even more prestigious. It's just that he seldom makes friends with outsiders, and the friendship is really not easy; so these people came up with the idea of using happy events to get married, if he can be made a son-in-law, wouldn't the entire beggar gang become a backer? Although they all hit nails when they returned, the matchmakers in Luoyang City were like chicken blood, running to the beggars every day. ”

Hearing this, everyone laughed in unison.

In the final analysis, whether ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign, there is always a price to be paid for being a celebrity.

The merchant in the silk shirt asked the matchmaker: "I heard you say that the leader of the Hong gang, what is the surname of this beggar gang leader?"

The matchmaker replied, "I remember my name is Hong ...... Hong Qi......" The short and fat man interjected next to him: "Hong Qili." ”

The matchmaker shook her hand with the handkerchief and said, "Yes, yes, yes! I heard that he was the reincarnation of the Dragon Venerable, because after 1,420 years of cultivation could not achieve positive results, Guanyin Bodhisattva sent him down to earth, born at the water's edge, and was falling in the flood, he fought with the water dragon king for seven days and seven nights, and finally surrendered to the dragon king. Guanyin Bodhisattva said that he has seven lifetimes of dust, and this trip will let him be in the mortal world. ”

The Humpty Dumpty man scratched his head and said, "How did I hear that the Hong gang leader is an orphan, and when there was a flood, he was picked up in a broken temple seven miles away in the eastern suburbs, so he was called Hong Qili." ”

The matchmaker said with great certainty: "That's not exactly what I said, it's the son of God from heaven, born by the water." ”

Humpty Dumpty said, "There is some truth to that. To be honest, I've seen Gang Leader Hong with my own eyes. ”

The people around him exclaimed in surprise and said, "Have you actually seen the Hong Gang Master?" Several people asked, "What does the Hong Gang Master look like, and how powerful is his martial arts?"

"It's better to be really famous, it's better to meet, he looks magnificent, heroic, and martial arts. Humpty Dumpty said excitedly, "That time I went to Luoyang Province, walked to the street, and saw a salt cart pulled by twenty donkeys overturned, blocked in the middle of the street, more than a dozen men couldn't turn it over, just when the Hong gang leader passed by, he stepped forward and turned the thousand-pound cart with only one finger!"

When everyone heard him describe the shocking divine power of the Hong Gang Master, they were all shocked again, and asked together: "Then isn't he invincible in the world?

"It's not, so I said that what my mother-in-law said is reasonable, if this is not the reincarnation of Arhat, how can it be so powerful?"

Everyone nodded and said to the matchmaker: "You really know some strange things, what else do you know?"

The matchmaker smiled bitterly: "Actually, my sister worries every day, it's really difficult to match the matchmaker for this Hong gang leader, no matter which girl looks at it, she doesn't want to look at it, with her mother-in-law's many years of experience in protecting the matchmaker, this big hero shouldn't like women and men?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Suddenly, a man slapped the table at the tea stall behind them, and the lid of the cup on the table rang out.

Everyone turned their heads to look at a tall and thin old man, his face was ugly, blue and white.

The Humpty Dumpty man was also unhappy, and scolded first: "You mother-in-law, don't talk about your sister's ability to pull matchmakers by herself, how can you talk about the nonsense of the Hong gang leader, it's really unreasonable." Besides, the Hong Gang leader is a hero of the world, how can he ......"

The people in the teahouse also gathered around, watching the excitement.

The matchmaker crossed her waist, shook her head, and said very publicly: "Who said that big heroes don't have the fetish of Longyang?"

Before she could continue, the thin old man in the tea stall couldn't bear it anymore, and saw his hand on the table, and a row of copper coins on the table, with a strong wind, flew towards the matchmaker.

The matchmaker didn't dare to slack off, shook the handkerchief in her hand in the air, turned over a flower, and who knew that the copper plate also had a whirling force, twisting her handkerchief into a twist, and the strength was used to the end, and the handkerchief was torn. The matchmaker hurriedly pocketed her sleeve and tucked the handkerchief into her sleeve.

Both of them were extremely fast, and the onlookers didn't see what was going on at all.

The matchmaker laughed, stretched out her hand from her sleeve, and the copper plates were falling on her palm, she opened her hand and said: "Let's see if the old woman's mouth is powerful, tell a story and reward the money will be sent to the door! ”

Before everyone could react, she squeezed out of the crowd.

The thin old man at the tea stall suddenly stood up and slowly walked out of the tea stall, and everyone saw that he first scolded his mother-in-law for talking nonsense, and then rewarded others with money.

As soon as the two left, someone argued: "Kaifeng Mansion hasn't caught the murderer yet, who did you say killed that 'Sai King Kong'?"

"Hey, I heard that he conspired with the owner of the gambling house to defraud everyone's gambling money, someone must be ......"

The tea stall at the intersection of Sweet Water Lane came out, turned left into an alley, and the thin old man raised his eyes and saw colorful clothes. He snorted coldly and said, "What are you talking nonsense about these people all day? The more you talk, the more ugly it becomes...... The gang leader has already left Luoyang, and you want to let him enter Beijing to listen to these angers?"

The matchmaker pursed her lips and said, "Who let him not see the girl I told him, the helper is not small, it's time to talk about marriage! Always avoid me as if avoiding ghosts, if he is like this, I will really think that he is going to play with broken sleeves! I will let this news spread all over Beijing." ”

"You! nonsense!"

The matchmaker took small steps, and in the blink of an eye, she walked away. The thin old man looked at her back, shook his head, and chased after her helplessly.

Five dynasties to the Song Dynasty, the world is in turmoil, the common people live in distress, there are not a few beggars who join the beggar gang, until the Song Taizong period, there are still many beggars in Beijing, or use blackmail and deception methods, or begging with self-mutilation, the former gang leader Jiang is to put forward serious gang rules, expressly forbidden "hitchhiker", "call the street" these begging methods, as for the "beggars" to each place, they also have to worship the entrance of the hall first, obey the rudder of the hall master.

The general rudder of the beggar gang is in Luoyang, and the rudder of the capital is called Qiliangtang.

Due to the special status of the capital, Qiliang Hall does not have a permanent hall master, but the four elders of the beggar gang take turns to sit in the formation.

The general impression is that beggars are called Hanako who are ragged and idle, and who beg for a meal. In the hands of Hong Qili, the flowers don't have to beg to live, and each rudder of the beggar gang has its own livelihood, not to mention that this "food that comes from the mouth" tastes different.

It's time for the beggars to send the incense owners of the "auditorium" to the shops to collect the "awakening money".

On the street of the east gate of Xiangguo Temple, there are many shops, and it is very lively. The streets are full of bookstores, and there are also some storefronts selling men's ornaments with heads and belts. Outside a shop, two well-dressed young men stood upright, and they were beggars from their appearances alone, but a discerning person could recognize them as the children of the beggars from a flower-patched belt around their waists. The beggars have always liked to make a fuss around their waists, but if they have some identities, they will hang iron rings on their waists, and cloth bags representing different identities will hang on their waists. "Li" originated from the ancient ritual of worshiping the gods for blessings, ritual worship is a solemn thing, the main thing is black, the incense master of the "auditorium" will hang a black cloth bag on the waist of the iron ring.

The beggars are particular about collecting money, and they are very low-key. Generally, when the beggar helps the incense master to the cabinet, he will say: "Open the mountain and break the ground!" and put a hollow piece of waking wood on the cabinet.

When the shopkeeper saw it, he replied: "Gather water into a trickle!" Then he took the waking wood, put the corresponding gift money into it, pushed it back in front of the other party, and said, "Wake up!"

When the incense owner receives the gift money, he will add an auspicious sentence: "The gift comes to the benefit!"

In fact, "awakening money" is "protection money". In any case, as long as the beggars' territory is prosperous, and the lives are stable, no one will be stingy with this little money.

Indeed, as everyone said, the beggar gang has long become the largest gang in the rivers and lakes.

Yue Yu'er hung up an idle position as an auditorium incense master in Qiliang Hall, but every time it was time to collect the "awakening money", she was still willing to go in person.

The beggar gang in Beijing has been in business for a long time, and everything is naturally familiar. The two beggar disciples were waiting outside the store, and Yue Yu'er walked into the store alone. After collecting the money and walking out of the store, she nodded to the two beggar disciples at the door, and one of them hung a small wooden sign at the door of the store, indicating that the store had already paid the "awakening money".

The street was all closed, and they headed north towards Little Sweet Water Lane.

The young disciple of the beggar gang with a bunch of barefoot children sat and frolicked by the canal on the side of the street.

"Little wanderer!"

The boy combed his hair and was dressed in clean clothes. He stood up and shouted affectionately, "Sister Yue!"

Yue'er pointed to the group of children and asked in a low voice, "Are they all orphans?"

"Well, some children don't know that their parents are gone, and I remember them for the past two days. The boy nodded.

Yue Yu'er took out a small string of copper plates from her pocket: "Take it, buy sorbet to eat." ”

"Grandma Sun gave me money just now, and I bought them steamed buns to eat. ”

"She's her, I'm me, take it. ”

The boy was not tall, but he had a pair of big hands, and he shook the water in his hands, took it, and grinned.

"Huh, Brother Ouyang!" When Yue Yu'er raised her head, she suddenly saw Chris dressed as Ouyang Feng across the street. Yue Yu'er guessed in her heart: He was dressed very strangely today, and he wore a crumpled cloth shirt over his shirt, why did he look a bit like a homeless person entering the city?

Looking at the resolute and handsome face again, I suddenly felt that such a strange dress seemed to be more elegant and handsome on him, and there was a trace of uninhibited style.

Yue Yu'er saw Ouyang Feng walking with another man and stopped outside a library.

The little wanderer saw Yue'er staring intently at the man across the street, without even blinking an eye. He shook Yue Yu'er's arm and said, "Sister Yue, don't look at bad men. ”

"What bad man?" Yue'er frowned when she heard him say this.

The little wanderer pointed at the man and said, "I was begging near the embroidery building that day, and I saw them enter the embroidery building through the back door, they are bad men!"

"What did you say?"

"At that time, I thought it was strange how he could have the money to go to prostitution when he was dressed in tatters......

Yue Yu'er's face suddenly sank, and she grabbed the little wanderer's hand.

"Sister Yue, don't be angry. ”