The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 34 Little Follower?
Hu Lichang became more and more eager. He beckoned a tough-headed boy to come closer, and then turned to Ergou and said:
"Little brother of the Chen family, this is the eldest grandson of my old Hu. He is naughty by nature and has a lot of strength. I originally wanted to learn some skills from him so that I would not be bullied. But my Hu family is not well-off and cannot find any real experts to ask for advice. , so I asked you to come here."

Ergou smiled and did not answer the question. It was obvious who the whole Ye County recognized as a true expert in martial arts.

Since he was born, he has been practicing martial arts with Chen Tong'e and his wife. Although he seems to have no problem in receiving martial arts from his master, another person would never have such an opportunity.

Ergou knew very well how much he weighed. Even if what Hu Li Chang said was sincere, he would never be arrogant enough to make such a decision for his master.

Ergou sternly said: "Mr. Hu is making things difficult for you boy! You want to study for your Hu family's children, so you should come to ask for my teacher in person. I'm a yellow-mouthed child, how can I make decisions for the master and the old man? !"

Hu Lichang smiled wryly and said: "My little brother has misunderstood, no matter how arrogant I am, I dare not be so demanding! Old Taibao Chen is invincible, don't say that you are a generation with a foreign surname like me, even if you belong to the Chen family My son, you are the only one who has been passed on by his old man for decades.

Hu just wants my grandson to be a follower and companion to my little brother. By following him, you can be immersed in the world, see the world, and make some progress. "

Ergou was a little confused, follower?Accompany you?Brother Hu, are you serious?
In the Song Dynasty, attendants, servants, and maidservants were quite common, and the status of these people in this period was relatively unique in the entire classical Chinese era.

In those classical dynasties before and after the Song Dynasty, this kind of people were basically half slaves without personal freedom. For example, in a braided dynasty, the concept of family birth and slavery was definitely deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

But in the Song Dynasty, servants and maids were employees who signed a fixed-term contract. During the contract period, they had corresponding personal safety guarantees and reasonable wages, just like bosses in modern society hire employees through labor contracts.

By the way, as an additional point of knowledge, concubines in the Song Dynasty are also in a similar category.For example, if a large family takes in a concubine from a small family, they will agree in advance the number of years the concubine will serve, the gift money to be paid, and so on.

When the date between the two parties is up, the concubine is considered free.If the concubine gives birth to a child within the contract period, if the master’s family allows, she can take away the child she gave birth to (of course, this is rare); if the master’s family asks to keep the child, then the concubine can take the child with her. With an extra compensation, I can happily remarry.

In modern society, this is equivalent to a maintenance agreement protected by law. I will give you money, and you will warm my bed and give birth to children within a certain period of time. When the expiration date is over, we will go our separate ways, and no one owes the other. of.

For example, in the story of Lu Ti governing the boxing town of Kansai, the relationship between Zheng Tu and Jin Cuilian is exactly this kind, but that guy Zheng Tu cheated people with false money and deeds. Ruda was beaten to death.

The famous Su Dongpo also had many concubines, and even did the business of giving pregnant concubines to friends.Many later people said that Dasu was inhuman. This can only mean that you did not understand the role of concubines in that era.

This is just like the modern rich and famous. If conditions permit, there are only eight thousand women who are willing to open their mouths and cry and beg for help. They cannot wait until they make a lot of money before happily pursuing true love.

The topic has gone too far, let’s get back to the topic.

The profession of being a companion is somewhat different. There are contracted and non-contracted ones.Contracted ones are equivalent to servants, with various servant guarantees, belonging to confidantes; non-contracted ones are ordinary playmates, we all play games together, and after the work is over, we go back to our respective houses and find our own mothers, basically Wine and meat friends.

Ergou didn't know what kind of companion Hu Lichang wanted his eldest grandson to be, but he himself knew his own affairs.It was unbearable to be the servant of a contracted servant. Given his family conditions, he could only make ends meet, so if he wanted to pay someone to hire someone, he would have no chance.

As for the kind of companion who plays tricks?That's not a serious way, generally it's not those who have nowhere to go, who wants to make fun of others for nothing!Just for the leftovers?
Ergou didn't think that this descendant of the Hu family could be so shameless as to do such a thing.

So he waved his hand and said: "Mr. Hu Li, please don't joke! How can a poor boy like me hire your eldest grandson as a servant?! This is a joke."

Don't want Lichang Hu, but cried: "Brother Chen, my old Hu is not just joking, but I really have to!"

He pointed to his grandson and said: "A while ago, I heard that the third son of Chen Lizheng in Ye Village died of evil chong, but he was very frightened. It was because my neizi took this boy to the town to meet relatives ( Going away to relatives), unexpectedly found Liu Xiucai’s family to make a big name, since then this child has encountered danger many times, if I hadn’t been taking care of him recently, I’m afraid he would have died a long time ago.”

Hu Lichang lamented: "How can my grandson deserve this, but he has to suffer like this because of his parents' ignorance? I thought about it all, and thought that only Old Taibao Chen and Shenpo Cai could save his life. It was just that I sent him I went to invite him, but Cai Shenpo refused, saying that the time had not come yet.

I was anxious about waiting, so I came here to ask for help.I would like to entrust this grandson to be a (land) temple boy, so as to save his life. "

Temple children are equivalent to lifelong servants. Some poor families cannot afford to raise children and are reluctant to send them to others as servants, so some are dedicated to temples as children.

When the child grows up, if the family members can make an offering, they can welcome the child home; if they can't, then they are from the temple.

Speaking of which, the grandson of the Hu family would not be able to be a companion, and he would have to follow Ergou as a temple boy, so he was forced to a desperate situation.

Ergou didn't know whether he should agree to the other party's request. It wasn't that he didn't want to save the child. It was because his master and his wife had left, leaving him alone, but he didn't know if he could protect the boy.

Ergou sighed and said, "Chang Hu, it's not because I don't want to help. It's just that my master and his wife have been out of town recently. I'm at home alone. I don't know if I can protect your grandson."

Hu Lichang felt a little desperate when he heard this. He was in deep sorrow when Ergou suddenly felt an inexplicable chill coming from his surroundings.

He suddenly opened his eyes and poured spiritual energy into Tianmen, but saw a little mist around him, and a distorted shadow was slowly approaching the Hu family's grandson.

Er Gou didn't know if others could see it or not, but the half-sized boy looked around uneasily, as if something was calling him.

(End of this chapter)