Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 19 0018 [My father sailed out to sea]

There are many gossips in front of the widow's door, which has been the case since ancient times.

On the second day, when the nearby villagers went out to work, they all walked this way intentionally or unintentionally.

Although no one spoke rudely anymore, when they saw Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang, weird smiles appeared on their faces.

Even if Zhu's father and son hid in the house, the villagers could still see the skinny horse in the courtyard, and then glanced into the house unconsciously.

When eating in the middle of the morning, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked sad.

In the end, it was Shen Yourong who comforted her mother-in-law: "Don't worry, Auntie, walk upright, sit upright, don't be afraid of others chewing their tongues."

"Oh, the two of us are not afraid," Grandma Yan looked at her grandson, "If this matter spreads all over the world, I'm afraid that Brother Qi will be poked in the back and say how his mother is not a woman... "

Shen Yourong fell silent for a moment. She could hold on by herself, but what about the child?
Seeing that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were in a dilemma, Zhu Guoxiang stood up and clasped his fists together: "It's because we didn't think carefully and caused trouble to you two. How about this, please borrow some corn and salt, and our father and son will move to the mountains and wait for the second day of April. The birthday banquet will go down the mountain again."

Before the two women could open their mouths, Zhu Ming said, "Moving out is useless. Rumors have already spread in the village. Don't say we left the village. Even if we leave Xixiang County, the rumors will continue to spread, and The more it spreads, the dirtier it becomes, and the more it spreads, the more outrageous it becomes."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone fell silent.

Zhu Ming asked his father: "Do you know how to 'dispel rumors' when a celebrity overturns?"

"Issuing an announcement?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

"You old comrades in the system don't know how to make announcements, let alone how to do crisis public relations, so it's no wonder that such embarrassing things happen," Ju Ming corrected angrily, "It's to divert the public's attention! Rumors are talking stuff, and spreading rumors is a social way to express oneself. As long as you give them enough talking stuff and divert their attention, no one will care about the original rumors anymore.”

"It makes sense, what can you do?" Zhu Guoxiang quite agreed with this.

Zhu Ming looked confident: "You, the old lady, Mrs. Shen, took Brother Qi to hide in the mountains, and you can go to the forest to chop some firewood. When you come back in the afternoon, this matter will probably be settled."

"Are you sure?" Zhu Guoxiang expressed doubts.

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Not to mention [-]% certainty, [-]% to [-]% is still possible. There are only a few foolish men and women in the village, how difficult is it to fool them?"

What system, what celebrity, what overturned car, what crisis public relations, although the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law don't understand, they know that the Zhu family has a way.

When Mrs. Yan went to wash the dishes, Shen Yourong wiped the mulberry leaves and said to Zhu Ming, "Da Lang, I swept the silkworm dung and the mulberry leaves were also wiped clean. At noon, please help feed the silkworms. A total of There are six dustpan silkworms, I divide the mulberry leaves into six piles, and feed each dustpan to one pile."

"Don't worry, I know how to feed silkworms." Zhu Ming said confidently.

Of course, Zhu Ming doesn't know how to feed silkworms, but he knows how to use free labor.

Seeing that Zhu Ming was slapping his chest to confirm the ticket, Shen Yourong didn't say any more, anyway, feeding the silkworms four times a day, and occasionally missing a meal would not have much effect.

After everything was ready, Zhu Guoxiang followed his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and took their children out to the mountains.

When passing a wheat field, there happened to be villagers working.

The man took a few glances at Zhu Guoxiang, and said hello, "Grandma Yan, are you going to chop firewood?"

"Chopping firewood, we don't have enough firewood at home," said Mrs. Yan.

"Then be careful, the broken road is very steep, don't fall down the mountain." The villager seemed to be very kind, but the smile was weird, and he had already made up his mind to go home and gossip.

Grandma Yan thanked her, then stepped forward quickly, always feeling that she was being stared at, and her whole body was uncomfortable.

Halfway up the mountain, there is a large tea field, and few people can be seen here.

Shen Yourong was still feeling uneasy, and asked: "Mr. Zhu, Da Lang really has a plan?"

Zhu Guoxiang assured: "Don't worry, both of you, although Gouzi doesn't do business, he is very clever at playing tricks. A few villagers should not trouble him."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law didn't ask any more questions, they could only choose to believe that Zhu Ming could make things right.

……

Only Ju Ming and a scrawny horse are left at home.

This guy's hands and feet were not very clean, so he ran to grab a handful of beans, spread his hands and said to the horse: "Come and eat it, steal it, it's delicious."

The horse was overjoyed, and opened his mouth to chew.

About half an hour later, on the small road outside the courtyard, a farmer passed by with a hoe, and suddenly stopped to peek at Zhu Ming feeding the horse.

Zhu Ming didn't hide, and even took the initiative to greet: "Come home after work?"

The farmer came to see the joke, but now he couldn't fix it anymore, and said with an embarrassed smile: "Ah... yes yes yes, call it a day and go home."

Zhu Ming introduced himself: "My name is Zhu Ming, and I'm from the south."

"The south is good, the south is warm." The farmer could only chat awkwardly, not knowing how to deal with it.

Zhu Ming said again: "The rapeseed is about to be harvested, does this big brother want to help?"

The farmer quickly shook his head: "Don't help, my family has labor."

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "If you need a helper, just call out. I don't have a livelihood, I just want to earn a few meals."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you, and call you if anyone needs a helper. I... I have something to do at home, so I'll leave first." The farmer hastily ended this exchange.

Zhu Ming waved off, and said familiarly: "Brother, it's easy to go, come and play when you have time."

After a while, another middle-aged woman came.

"Hello, auntie, my name is Zhu Ming, and I'm from the south." Zhu Ming said generously, imitating the local accent and calling himself "I".

This middle-aged woman is also an acquaintance. Seeing Zhu Ming take the initiative to talk to her, she immediately ignited the spirit of gossip: "Where is the young man from the south?"

Zhu Ming babbled nonsense, picked it up and said, "My family lives on Guangnan Road."

The middle-aged woman asked: "Where is Guangnan Road? I only know Zizhou Road, Kuizhou Road, and Jingxi Road, but I have never heard of Guangnan Road."

Zhu Ming said, "It's far away, on the south side of Jinghu Road."

"Where is Jinghu Road?" The middle-aged woman became more and more curious.

Zhu Ming waved and said, "Auntie, come in and say, I'll draw a map for you."

"That's great." The middle-aged woman stood outside the door, smiling and waiting for Zhu Ming to open the courtyard door.

Zhu Ming invited the woman in and drew a simple map on the ground with a stick.It couldn't be simpler, and the territory of the Song Dynasty was drawn by him as a piece of cake: "This is our Song Dynasty, and Kaifeng, the official imperial city, is here. This is Lizhou Road, and below is the Zizhou Road and Kuizhou that my aunt said. Road. Here is Jinghu Road, and further south is Guangnan Road.”

It was probably the first time I saw a map. The middle-aged woman stopped asking for gossip and stared at the map for a long time: "Where is Hangzhou? The last time I headed the city, I heard that the new county magistrate is from Hangzhou."

Ju Ming drew a circle casually: "Hangzhou is here."

The middle-aged woman was surprised and said: "That's so far away, how long does it take for an official to come to our county."

Zhu Ming began to talk nonsense, afraid that he would not understand too much, so he deliberately learned the local accent and slowed down his speech: "I have been to Hangzhou, there is heaven on the top, and Suzhou and Hangzhou on the bottom. The people in the city of Hangzhou alone There are more people than in the entire Xixiang County. It is difficult to walk on the street. There are people in front, back, left, and left, as well as mules and donkeys pulling goods. There are shops on both sides of the street, and you can buy anything you want. Hangzhou people like to eat shark fin , do you know what shark’s fin is? It’s a shark in the sea. Rich people don’t eat shark meat, they only eat shark fins…”

The middle-aged woman was stunned for a while, her mind was full of imagination about the unknown world.

Ju Ming continued to make up nonsense, talking all over the world, and even told the story of overseas cannibals.

While talking, another villager "passed by" outside the courtyard.

Based on the principle that a sheep is herding and a flock of sheep is herding, the villagers were also invited by Ju Ming to listen to the story.

Unknowingly, the audience gradually increased to five people.

Two men, two women, and a child.

At the critical point, Zhu Ming suddenly shut up, turned around and walked towards the silkworm house.

A village woman shouted: "Little scholar, what are you doing? Finish telling the story of the savage country!"

Scholars in the Song Dynasty were not fame, but only respectful titles for scholars. .

Zhu Ming grinned, showing his white teeth, and said with a smile, "I haven't fed the silkworms yet, wait until I finish feeding the silkworms."

"I'll help you, feed and talk." The woman hurried after her.

Including the child, the five of them followed into the room and picked up the mulberry leaves deftly. There was no need for Zhu Ming to do it himself.

Those who work hard govern people, and those who work hard govern others.

Isn't this done?

After feeding the silkworm babies, everyone returned to the courtyard.

"Snapped!"

Zhu Ming hit the ground with a stick and used it as a wake-up log: "But there is a Huawai island in the far south of the ocean. My father once went out to sea with a boat, encountered strong winds and waves, and floated on the sea for two months. Almost died of thirst!"

An old woman asked a question: "Xiao Xiucai just said that the sea is full of water, why did he die of thirst in the sea?"

"It's true that the sea is full of water, but the sea water is very salty. The more you drink, the thirstier you will become. If you drink too much, you will die." Zhu Ming explained.

An old man was pleasantly surprised: "There is salt in the sea, so people who live by the sea don't need to spend money to buy salt?"

Zhu Ming said: "Salt water can be boiled. The government of the Song Dynasty set up many salt farms by the sea. Pour sea water into a pot and boil it dry. What is left is salt. However, sea water is poisonous, so drinking it directly is not acceptable. If you drink too much, you will be poisoned to death."

"Don't talk nonsense, listen to the story told by the little scholar," another woman urged, "It has been floating in the sea for two months, where has it gone?"

"Cough cough!"

Zhu Ming coughed twice, and took out the video bragging posture: "This aunt is not in a hurry, but she said that my father lost his bearings on the boat, and he has been floating in the sea for thousands of miles. I am thirsty, and I can only drink water when it rains." You have to get the food yourself. The rotten food on the ship is thrown on the deck as bait. People hide by the side, and when the seabirds come down to eat, they jump out and catch the seabirds..."

"There are whales in the sea, and my father saw one. The whale is blue and has no gills. After swimming in the water for several hours, it has to float to the surface to breathe. Do you see the mountain on the opposite side? Good guy, whale Floating, there is that big mountain. Turning over, almost capsized the boat..."

"Let's say that on that big island, there is a very weird animal. Its head is like a mouse, but it can stand on two legs, and it has a long tail behind it. There are pockets on the mother's stomach, and the cubs are put into the pockets to raise..."

"That night, my father and the crew went to the village. The villagers didn't wear clothes, and they wore animal skins around their waists to hide their shame. They were still hospitable and invited my father to dinner. My father was happy, but when it was time to eat, he was so frightened that he became jaundiced The water was spit out.

As time goes by, more and more people go home for dinner in the afternoon.

When they passed by, they heard that the yard was very lively, and they couldn't help but come to watch out of curiosity, and then they were attracted by various bizarre stories.

The audience surrounded Ju Ming, sometimes engrossed, sometimes startled, and when it came to the bloody horror, the timid trembled with fright.

Many of these villagers who live in the inland mountains don't even know what the sea is, and even trivial things are considered sensational news.Where have they heard such new knowledge?

Gradually, when it was time for dinner, some villagers came to call their families to go back for dinner.

Not only did he not call his family back, but he couldn't help but stay behind, for fear that he might miss a word.

Some people were so hungry that they ran home quickly, picked up their rice bowls and left.The family hurriedly asked the reason and answered the story, so the whole family came over with their rice bowls.

Aunt Yan was afraid that the time would be short and that Zhu Ming would not be able to solve the problem, so she reckoned that it would be dark before going down the mountain.

It was dusk when the three of them came back with their children.

I saw dozens of people sitting or standing in the courtyard of my own house, with Zhu Ming as the center of a circle.

"However, the Monkey King learned spells from the Bodhi Patriarch. After paying respects to the Patriarch, he twirled the magic formula with his hands, and flew a thousand miles away with a somersault cloud!" Seeing that his father had returned, Zhu Ming slammed him with a stick. The ground knocked on the ground, "Crack! It's getting late, let's talk about it tomorrow. If you want to know what happened next, let's listen to the next chapter to break it down!"

Those villagers who hadn't eaten hurried home hungry.

There were even more people, holding empty bowls in their hands and refusing to leave.

"Little scholar, let's talk a little bit more, it's not dark yet!"

"That's right, that's right, I haven't listened to it yet."

"Little Xiucai, eat first, and then talk after eating. We are waiting for you."

"Talk while eating, don't delay things."

"..."

Shen Yourong was dumbfounded, the scene was so lively, it was unimaginable.

And the attitude of the villagers towards Ju Ming is no longer ridiculed for hooking up with the widow, but a warm welcome from the heart.

Gossip about widows is common, but overseas stories are never heard.

Which one is rarer, the villagers naturally know.

Diverting attention is only the first step in "dispelling rumors"!
(End of this chapter)