Tang Dynasty good man

Chapter [-] Cotton and Grain

"Wang Zihao joined the army, went... to the border post, and planted thousands of acres of cotton before leaving... The cotton in Fenghe Beach bloomed..." Sitting on the hill, the vast expanse of white snow under his feet, imagining the scene of flying snow shooting white deer Scenario, what does Anar Khan look like?

"What are you humming?" Lan Ling, who hadn't spoken for a long time, was attracted by my strange tune, "It's a melody."

"Does it sound good?" Laying down on the thick meadow with hands behind his head, looking up at the blue sky, his heart was as empty as the plain in front of him, "Turkic minor tune, I heard it sung by Hu merchants from the Western Regions."

"Perhaps it sounds good at first," Lan Ling imitated me and lay down on me, "Find a barbarian to sing better than you. But listening to you makes me feel comfortable and my whole body is warm."

"Oh, that doesn't have much to do with me, it's exposed to the sun." There were two bunches of wild orchid plums on hand, they were ripe, bright and bluish, and they drove away the small flying insects on them. a bit sweet. "Unexpectedly, the pieces of cotton are so beautiful, I just lie here and don't want to go back."

"Then don't go back." Lan Ling lazily turned his head, and suddenly found his mouth moving, "What are you eating?"

"There are still bunches of wild grapes." He picked up another bunch and handed it to Lan Ling, "It's dirty and sweet."

"Ah? I'm about to vomit, I can't eat." As he said, he crawled on my face, opened my chin and looked carefully, "I'm a ghost, blue tongue, don't touch me at night."

"What are you afraid of?" I used to eat this thing when I was a child. After eating too much, my tongue became numb and I couldn't speak clearly.The blue color faded within a day or two. "I don't feel ashamed. Besides, who looks into my mouth like you."

"That's true," Lan Ling chuckled a few times, and flicked on my teeth a few times, making a 'booming' sound. "You have a good temper. It's because you like the little girls. It's reasonable for your status. But you never put on airs. It's rare that you can talk to people who are tall and low."

"That is, the bigger the airs, the more tired people are in life, making themselves uncomfortable. Ordinary people are good. When they are eye-catching, others don't get jealous, and when they are depressed, others don't take revenge." My mother taught me since I was a child, except for the college entrance examination.It doesn't matter if you make a slight mistake on one or two questions on purpose when you can get [-] points, don't compare with others, and don't grab the top spot.The ability that others can't see is the real ability. Being brave for a while is not as good as an ordinary life. It doesn't mean to make you a coward, but you have to get results if you make a move. In general, just endure and don't offend others. If you offend, you can't give him another chance.If you can't kill it, you don't count as a pick-up.

"It's like the tutor of your royal family. Your grandfather was neither greedy nor robbed of merit. His ability was only admired by others and no one was jealous. The officials who founded the country and rewarded them all scrambled for the top. Only he happily took the lead. The founding marquis went to the countryside to farm." This cannot be denied, Lanling knows more about Grandpa Wang Xiu than I do, "Perhaps this is really a skill handed down in your family. If you talk about it, you can harvest cotton after another day in the sun Yes. You brought a spoiled Korean girl here, and it’s too much to give her all the power to manage?”

"Girl in Guanzhong." I corrected, "You are careful. Although you have never done farm work before, you can watch and learn. After one experience, you will be confident. Besides, those who go back to pick cotton seeds, spin threads and weave are all women's homes. work. It’s not convenient for me to ask a man to take care of it. Our mother-in-law and I are both busy, so who can we turn to if we don’t look for her?”

"You too, careless. I ran away leisurely, can you rest assured that I am not around to watch?" Lan Ling forgot to pull me out to see the scenery early in the morning, and it became my carelessness and irresponsibility.

"Okay, let's go back, I'll take responsibility now." He stared at Lan Ling dissatisfied, "Stop dragging me up and down the mountains and rivers from now on. You play on your own tomorrow."

"How rare is it to be yourself?" Lan Ling pushed my half-stretched body up and down again. "If you're busy tomorrow, stay with me today. I've got a lot of things to discuss with you."

"Oh?"

"I don't want to talk anymore," Lan Ling moved his head, resting his head on my stomach, and covered his eyes with his hands, "Sing the Turkic ditty again."

One basket per person was cleaned, and Dalai also joined the cotton picking army, while I sat under the grass shed and learned the routine of harvesting wheat to arrange meals.A few of the nurses brought here had a bowl of bone soup for each person, and they were already eating hazelnuts. The official from the Ministry of Industry named Zhang Yun sat in front of me and looked a little agitated. .Just as I was about to speak, Zhang Yun suddenly put down the bowl, picked up a basket and rushed down the field, feeling a little heroic and lonely.

He looked up at the sun, estimated the time, and said to the nurse beside him, "Go, call everyone to come up for lunch." There are many women going to the ground today, men and women sit separately, and Dalai's sweaty back is seen from afar. Half a basket of cotton came over, and I waved my hand, "Come here, eat here."

Hearing my call, Dalai's complexion changed suddenly, he lowered his head and moved towards me in small steps.Could it be that he was too scared in the carriage? Dalai became even more afraid after seeing me in the past two days, and hid in the yard as soon as he returned.

"Young Master, look." Zhang Yun held a handful of cotton and brought it over for me to have a look.

"Just look at it, I don't understand." Grabbing the cotton and pinching it a few times, it was white and soft, "Can I finish picking it in two days?"

"Are you in a hurry?" Zhang Yun threw the cotton into the basket, "It's been two days of hard work, and it's the first time I've done this job. My hands are raw, and I've been injured since I got off in the morning." He stretched out his hand for me to see, his fingers There are holes all over it, "The more you pick, the slower it will be. I'm afraid it will take three days."

"It's so powerful!" I really didn't know that picking cotton would have to suffer such a crime, so I grabbed Dalai and pulled his hand over to check it. Before I could wash it, my fingers were stained with blood.Distressed: "What should I do? What if the blood stains the cotton?"

"..." Zhang Yun didn't say a word, but there was contempt in his eyes.

Ignoring him, he untied the key of the cash box at his waist and handed it to Dalai, "The word will be passed on in a while, picking cotton for a day is five cents for medical expenses, and let the nearby Zhuangzi want to pick it. It will be better if there are more people. The doctor on Zhuangzi called , go to the medicine for the badly rotten hands, just pay for the expenses. You see, if the injury is really serious, let it stop, you are the first to stop."

Dali didn't look at me, but nodded.

"Young Master..." Seeing my generosity, Zhang Yun wanted to remind me about the tight budget.

"I'm out. I should take care of the people in Wangjiazhuangzi. This matter has nothing to do with the court." As he said that, he personally poured broth for Zhang Yun and Dalai, brought it to him, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang also rests in the afternoon. , I'm afraid I'll delay my official duties if I hurt my hand."

"Young Lord, you are being polite. I am a petty official, this cotton is on official business." Zhang Yun pointed to the big mat piled with cotton at Tiankan, "I have worked hard for this for half a year, and the snow-white color makes people like it."

"Hey..." It's good to work hard, and I like it in my heart, but Ying should be my favorite.When I came here, I almost smashed the abacus, and my eyes and mouth were crooked when I counted the items. "This is the beginning. After I promote planting in the Tang Dynasty, Brother Zhang will be busy. This will become an authoritative person. Just being in charge of this item will make you famous all over the world."

Zhang Yun listened to my compliment, smiled brilliantly, was both humble and yearning, and the bowl of soup he made was cold again.Dalai obviously heard the doorway and came out, and secretly looked at me, with a much more relaxed expression on his face.

at dusk.Dalai took the money box and sat down on the big case of Zhuangtou to distribute medical expenses, and recorded one by one, and the accounts were clearly recorded, while Zhang Yun took a human scale to roll up, and wrapped the cotton layers with practical linen into squares for storage. .Everyone is busy.I don't like to go alone first, strolling around, looking around, looking around, just doing nothing.Hear someone call me.

"Oh? The old man called me?"

"Brother Wang, don't you remember the old man?" The old man leaned forward and pointed to the east, "On the ferry, the boat we boarded together, have you forgotten?"

"Oh, I remembered, old man Bai." The one eating persimmons on the ferry.Pointing to the thatched hut next to him, he said politely, "It's such a coincidence, sit down quickly, sit down quickly. Have you eaten yet?"

"I made a special trip to see where your family harvested cotton, and I have been running towards your village six times since the wheat harvest," pointing to Zhang Yun who was busy there, "I am very familiar with that official Zhang, but I don't see you all the time." This one is in charge."

"See me? What's the matter?" He called for a bowl of broth for the old man. "Drink. It's still hot."

"You're welcome, you're welcome. You can't tell from the ferry. After chatting with Mr. Zhang, I realized that my brother is a big shot in the capital. He is a man who seals a marquis and worships a minister. He really doesn't show his face." Old Bai stood up and cupped his hands, laughing: "Old man You have never seen the world, and you don't know how to practice so many etiquettes, so don't take it to heart."

"Sit down quickly, don't be polite, folks in the village, how can there be so much etiquette." While talking, Dalai wanted to run away after handing over the list of subsidies, but I grabbed him, "Wait a while, there is still something to discuss .”

"This one?" Seeing Dalai's exquisite attire, old man Bai quickly stood up without knowing his identity.

"The housekeeper, the housekeeper in charge of cotton. You're welcome, old man, let's talk about our business."

Old Bai smiled politely at Dalai, cupped his fists, and said to me: "Ever since you bought this Zhuangzi, the old man has seen that this owner's house is not ordinary. They grow and harvest wheat, but there is no movement in this piece of flowers and plants. The last question Only then did I realize that the tenants in this village are not normal now, and they have all eaten the imperial rations." Looking enviously at the tenants outside who had just received medical expenses, "It turns out that they are all people who depend on the sky for their food, but now it is not counted to guarantee their income due to drought and flood. I still pay wages when I go to the field, I don’t know if this cotton is..."

"It's a substitute for linen and silk weaving." I got up and grabbed a handful from the mat over there and handed it to Old Man Bai. "It's just started now, so I can't say it's good or bad. It's also good to put it in a jacket to keep warm."

"It's much better than raising silkworms to make silk." The farmer could tell the difference at a glance, and Lao Bai tore the cotton wool curiously. "Is your family growing it now?"

"It's not my family, it's the imperial family, just borrowing my family's land."

"What about the cottonseed? If the imperial court wants to grow two acres next year, my Bai family has nothing else, and I still have some Susukida. I also want to contribute to the imperial court. Do you think it is possible?"

"Hey, it's hard to say." This old man is a man of knowledge, no wonder he came here to do research over and over again, and he has been thinking about it for a long time. "If the imperial court plans to plant land extensively next year, maybe it can. I'm not sure, so I can't give you a guarantee."

"It's enough to have your words!" Lao Bai clasped his hands together excitedly, "Blessed is the old man, he can sit and talk with the prime minister at this age, and he can't set up a family motto when he goes back this time, and ask his ancestors for credit." Go. Not daring to interrupt your busy affairs, the old man borrowed the next door to go to the village, intending to see the cotton picking. If you talk about it, you have to go back." He said that he took off the bag, took out a bag of persimmons and put it in front of me, "also Can't salute, no good things, you like to taste it, don't take it when you don't like the old man and throw it away."

"Okay, okay, take it, old man, go slowly." Stand up and send Lao Bai away, turn around and take a look at the persimmon, and pass it to Dalai with a smile, "Take it as a snack. It tastes good."

"Thank you..." Dalai took the persimmons carefully.

"It's almost there, let's go back." It was getting dark, and I had to hurry back, Lanling should have come to this meeting.Dalai pretended to be looking for her maid, picked a path in the field and was about to escape, "Let's go together, which corner did you turn?"

"I still have something to do." It was probably urgent.Stand behind me timidly and speak sophistry.

"Stop talking nonsense, let's go! If you don't go, I'll do it." Raised his arms, it worked. "The key is to be obedient. I said east is not allowed to face west. If you dare to make me angry, who...does the white-haired girl know?"

"do not know."

"Do you know the end? First use tofu to strangle her father to death, then spoil the house for several days, and throw it into the cellar where the moldy white hair grows!" He gave Dalai a vicious look. "It's because of disobedience!"

"..."

"What about you, if you have an identity at home, you can work hard, and you don't have to worry about eating and wearing. In the future, I am not allowed to hide like a ghost. The most annoying thing is that my family is wary of me. There are so many maids in the house. I can inquire about it. See if anyone in the palace has treated anyone badly?" One speeded up and crossed a ditch, and looked at Dalai on the opposite side in a brazen manner. She was not as explosive as I was, and she went down to the bottom of the ditch little by little.I walked out along the way and found a place to build a plank far away to go around.I'm so evil.

"I'll go out for a stroll tomorrow, and I won't be back until the day after tomorrow. I'll leave it to you to take care of the cotton collection. You can figure out what to do." After entering the yard, he waved to the two nurses and told him, "Don't be with me tomorrow, you can take care of me." Listen to Dalai's assignments, and do whatever you want. Now they are all gone."

For two days in a row, I took Lanling to visit the Diaoyutai and Famen Temple a hundred miles away.If I hadn't stopped them, the two of them would probably have gone to Taibai Mountain by now.There are so many beautiful scenery on this road, it’s a lot of work to spend two days visiting, especially the lodging for lonely men and widows is not convenient, there is only one inn in Guo Town, we pretended to be a couple of Shangxiang, and lied to the innkeeper It is said that the guest rooms outside the temple are full, so they can only come down to stay.Said it was an inn.It's just a small courtyard.The conditions are simple and the sound insulation facilities are not complete.If I hadn't wrapped up the yard in one go, Lan Ling really wouldn't have dared to live in it.

"The place in Famen Temple is pretty good, why do you want to stay here?" Lan Ling changed into a so-called farmer's attire. She did not know where to get the clothes. The silk and satin were changed to linen, and the style didn't change much.

"Hei Miao, I haven't heard of any female pilgrims staying in the temple. As soon as you say it, she agrees. I guess we both get a lot of money, and we want to do something wrong at night." Famen Temple is a relatively famous temple, and the incense is relatively strong. There are a lot of people staying in the guest room at the back, if there is an acquaintance, I hate it, I am most afraid of meeting someone who knows you, and you don’t know someone.Moreover, the old abbot seemed to be very knowledgeable, and after a few words, he slandered nonsense, trying to swindle the sesame oil money.

"Talking nonsense," Lan Ling fiddled with the chopsticks in the food, not knowing whether to eat or not, "There's something in it, it's not clean, it's like a pig in the water."

"Choosing, I don't even prepare water for you when you go to the temple." Throwing a piece of fat sausage into his mouth, good guy!A strange smell rushed straight to my forehead, and I spit it out as soon as I opened my mouth. After eight times of rinsing my mouth with water, I couldn’t get it clean, "Refreshing! Relieve fatigue! I think it’s better for us to have a hungry meal. The vegetarian meal at noon is not fully digested. I guess I can survive tonight."

"Hehe," Lan Ling took a few sips of soup mixed with a bowl, "I'm ashamed to say that a person who has seen the world can't even stand this. Next year you have to go out with me to play, first temper yourself."

With a bitter face, he rubbed his stomach, lamenting that the tourism industry in the Tang Dynasty was backward, and there were no pots and helmets. The cakes from Mizi Kang, the taste, one bite would kill people, if you have the courage to eat two bites, you can run rampant in the world Now, there is nothing to be afraid of in the future. "I want to go home. Ma'am, let's go to bed early so that we won't be hungry when we fall asleep. Don't bother me at night, the environment forces me to do so, and I have more energy than energy."

"Go to the shopkeeper and ask her to change it for us!" Lan Ling didn't know what he drank, so he took it out of his mouth for a long time, but failed. "Forget it, don't change, I have no appetite! Tell me, how do people who are away from home all the year round come here?"

"Don't ask me, it's a peaceful and prosperous world all day long, but now it's less than three hundred miles away from the capital, and everything is different. You and I are not used to it, but when they serve it to us, they still smell it a little more, This is the local food for entertaining distinguished guests. Do a good job of reviewing, don’t always look at how prosperous Chang’an is, you’ve lived a blinded life for too long.” It stands to reason that this place is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has rich products, but the reality is not satisfactory.

Lan Ling pondered for a moment, then pulled me to sit on the edge of the bed, "At least come here and see that the common people are full. Maybe the taste is different from ours. They don't want to eat white noodles here. Take some of the things we think are delicious in your house. Come on, people might vomit all over the place here."

"Don't mention delicious food." I looked at Lanling and said with a smile: "You know you're lying to yourself, don't you? Hehe, pitiful. You don't want to eat white noodles, and the wheat is only plentiful near the capital. I didn’t know about Fufeng before, but now I have Zhuangzi in Qishan, so I’ve heard a little bit. It’s going to get better slowly, and it’s not something we should worry about.” Touching Lanling’s face, “I’ll go back tomorrow, Out of sight, out of mind, you can’t see clearly, you’re dazzled.”

Lan Ling gritted his teeth, didn't know what to think, and said softly: "I was thinking that if you are so close to the capital, you are not rich, and if you are farther away, you may not know what it looks like. The key is food. No matter how big the territory is, you will be hungry. Isn’t the inner government rich? According to what you said last time, there is a specialization in the art industry, and a lot of money is devoted to food production. There is always something to look forward to!”