cite Han

Chapter 8 Swollen feet

"Chunqiu Zuozhuan" is the work with the largest number of words in the Confucian classics, and the full text is less than 20 words, and Liu Jing is not a person who likes to "eat words". annotations.

So his reading progress was very fast, and he finished reading "Zuo Zhuan" in less than ten days, and then he took out "Historical Records" and "Book of Songs" from the library.

At the same time, March came to an end, and the time quietly came to early summer in April.

As his body recovered, Liu Jing became more and more energetic. He only slept for three hours a day, and spent most of the rest of his time practicing swords, reading, and writing.

In his free time, he taught his younger siblings and teased his nephew, and his life was leisurely and comfortable. It would be even better if his stepmother, Mrs. Zhang, did not jump out to make trouble from time to time.

This morning, the sky began to rain lightly.Since the beginning of summer in Changsha, the weather has changed suddenly, it may be rainy or cloudy, and there is hardly a day of sunshine.

The six members of the Liu family sat around the food table to enjoy breakfast. Liu Jing drank three bowls of rice porridge in a row. Now he gets up every morning to run and practice swords, and his breakfast appetite has become very large.

But the sister-in-law Lai Ci still had no appetite, her clear face showed an unhealthy paleness, her lips looked like flower petals that had lost their nutrients, it was really worrying to see.

Sensing Liu Jing's frequent glances, Lai Ci put down the bowl and chopsticks, and said first, "Zhongda, you have been back for a month, right? What are your plans for the future? According to my sister-in-law, you should return to Xiangyang as soon as possible and continue unfinished studies."

Lai Ci seldom steps out of the room and doesn't care much about foreign affairs, but he also knows that Uncle Ji studies all day long and works very hard. Since he has a desire to learn, he shouldn't stay at home to waste time.

The stepmother Zhang said calmly: "Li Ji, you should know that so many things have happened at home recently, the savings have been used up long ago, how can there be any money left for him to continue his study tour."

Mrs. Zhang is obviously evasive, but since Lai Ci comes from a famous family, she will never care about money and vulgar things with Jungu. She turned her beautiful eyes back to Liu Jing and said comfortingly: "Zhongda, it's about money. Don't worry, I still have some gold ornaments in my room, which should be enough for your study tour if you sell them in the market."

Since the money came from Lai Ci, Zhang naturally had no reason to object, thinking that it would be good for Liu Jing to leave, but it would be best never to come back.

Liu Jing had long ago decided not to return to Xiangyang, so he politely refused: "Thank you sister-in-law for your kindness. If my brother is still alive, I will not shirk it. Now I am the only man in the family. I should shoulder the burden of the family, leaving my mother and sister-in-law alone. , siblings, and nephew are at home, how can I rest assured even if I leave?"

"Brother, I'm a man too." Liu He protested softly, dissatisfied that brother ignored him.

"And me, and me..." Five-year-old Liu Qun raised his face and joined in the fun.

Lai Ci touched his son's bald head, and said worriedly: "Then what about your studies?"

"Didn't I bring Master Song's "Book of Changes" with me when I returned home this time? Even if I returned to Xiangyang, I would not learn anything new. It would be better to study at home. I appreciate Wang Zhongren's attitude towards learning. If I don’t follow the rules, I don’t seek to understand when I read.”

Wang Zhongren was Wang Chong, who was regarded as the leading Confucian scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty for more than a hundred years. Liu Jing compared himself with Wang Chong, which is simply ignorant.

Lai Ci thought that Liu Jing was trying to comfort her, so he made such big remarks, and sighed softly: "Zhongda, since you have made a decision in your heart, sister-in-law will not persuade you anymore."

Just as Liu Jing was about to open his mouth, he suddenly noticed a noise outside, and turned his head to look outside the door. He saw Song Liang's family of five walking towards each other, supporting each other against the drizzle.

Song Liang and his eldest son, Song Gu, both have thick eyebrows and wide lips, with honest and honest looks, as if they were carved out of the same mold. The second son, Song Jin, and the youngest daughter, Song Shi, have delicate faces, more like their mother.

When the Song family came to the entrance of the hall, they knelt down neatly, with their foreheads touching the ground. Song's wife, Zhou, hugged their second son and youngest daughter, her eyes were red and swollen, obviously she had cried a lot.

Liu Jing raised his eyebrows. It's the busy season of farming. Song Liang and his son should have set off long ago. What happened?He noticed a detail. When Song Liang was walking, he seemed to be limping. In addition, the Song family had a desperate expression of "the sky is falling", which must be a major event of "the sky is falling".

After Liu Jing thought about it for a while, he had a guess, and his face gradually became serious.

"In the morning, why are you crying!" Mrs. Zhang was obviously still confused, so she looked very impatient, pointed at Song Liang, and shouted: "What happened? Song Liang, tell me."

Lai Ci hugged his beloved son Liu Qun in his arms, and said softly: "Song Liang, you have served the Liu family for more than ten years. Come in and talk about something."

"No. Thank you, Mistress." Song Liang replied tremblingly.He is only in his early 40s this year, and he is in his prime, but at this moment, he is like an old man, almost being pushed in by his wife and children from left to right.

Mrs. Zhang was greatly surprised by Song Liang's current physical condition. He was still in good health a few days ago, but why did he suddenly become such a ghost, and hurriedly asked: "Song Liang, did you suffer from some emergency?"

Song Liang didn't even dare to raise his head, and said in a muffled voice to the ground: "To tell the truth, the old mistress, since the beginning of spring, the villain has often found that his left leg is swollen and painful. After a long time, the right leg also swelled up, and now both legs are swollen, and it is difficult to even walk, I am afraid, I am afraid... I have swollen feet."

Liu Jing sighed secretly, he had already guessed before, and he guessed it, Song Liang got swollen feet, or both feet, he thought to himself that he is really a miserable person.

Swelling foot disease is a very common disease in Jingnan area. Once suffering from swollen foot disease, it will completely lose its labor force and become a disabled person. If it is serious, it will even threaten life.States and counties hate this disease deeply, because getting swollen feet means exemption from tax and labor, but swollen feet are quite common in Jiangnan.

When the stepmother Zhang heard that it was swollen feet, she immediately sentenced Song Liang to death, and sighed, "Song Liang, you also know that swollen feet are incurable. , and the fields at home need to be plowed, what do you think should be done?"

"This..." Song Liang's lips trembled, unable to answer.

The Liu family’s 240-odd acres of land are all 12 acres, and only Song Liang and his eldest son Song Gu are the laborers. The second son, Song Jin, is only [-] years old this year, and can only work by the side. Therefore, even if the Liu family has two buffaloes , and cannot plow all the fields.

Every year during spring plowing, the Liu family spends an extra sum of money and grain, hires two helpers, and with the combined efforts of four people and two oxen, they can barely plow all the land.

Originally, Mrs. Zhang hoped that Song Jin would grow up quickly, so that she could have an extra labor force and save a lot of money and food.

Unexpectedly, Song Liang got swollen feet and became disabled. At present, only the eldest son Song Gu is left as a strong man, but the Liu family has to pay five rations for Song Liang's family.

Changsha has countless asylum seekers fleeing from the north every day. It can be said that the most indispensable thing is labor. Zhang decided to drive Song Liang's family away and recruit another family to enter.

In a flash of thought, Mrs. Zhang said, "Song Liang, don't blame me for being unreasonable. It's not that I don't want to help you. I really can't do anything. You go back and clean up, and leave my house now."

Song Liang's face was ashen when he heard the words like thunder, while Song's wife, Zhou Shi, cried helplessly in her arms with her young daughter.

The young daughter of the Song family was the playmate of Liu Rao and Liu Qun. Seeing the little girl of the Song family crying, Liu Rao, Liu Qun's aunts and nephews couldn't help crying too.

For a while, there was loud crying in the hall.

Liu Jing has been watching with cold eyes from the beginning to the end. At this time, an idea gradually took shape, and he weighed it in his heart. He thought it was an opportunity, so he got up and left the table, and bowed to Mrs. Zhang: "My lord, please wait a moment, please forgive me." Son said.

When my elder brother left, I was sick in bed, so I couldn't help the coffin for the funeral in person. This is the regret of my life.As for the elder brother's funeral, Song Liang and his son contributed a lot. Now that the elder brother's bones are still alive, we want to drive Song Liang's family out of the house. I feel very disturbed. "

Sister-in-law Lai Ci's heart was touched when she heard that, Song Liang and his son did make great efforts in regards to the husband, so they echoed: "Zhong Da's words are reasonable, Auntie, please think again."

The stepmother Zhang secretly hated, the two sang together, where will she be?Tie Qing asked Liu Jing: "I don't care if you want to be a good person, I just ask you, who will cultivate the fields at home? Are you going?"

"Master, my son is willing to farm on Song Liang's behalf."

When Liu Jing said this, he was shocked. Everyone looked at him in surprise, and even stopped crying for a while.

(End of this chapter)