Kai Fu Han

Chapter 2
Liujiabao is located in Changqing County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province. It is adjacent to Mount Tai in the south. It only takes less than an hour to enter the mountain.

The Changqing River flowing out of Mount Tai flows northward along the west side of Baozi and merges into the Daqing River.After the founding of the State of Zhao, the Liu family was moved here and has flourished for more than 160 years. The clan has grown from more than 100 people to the current 172 households with more than 800 people. It is the largest village within a radius of ten miles.

100 years ago, Liu Cang, the patriarch at that time, led the people in the fort to open a canal to divert water from the Changqing River to circle Liujiabao for a week, and built a fort wall, which made Liujiabao a long-term peace and stability for 100 years.

Liu Qi has just turned 17 this year. Because of the many and complicated information in the dream, Liu Qi appears to be much more mature than his peers, and because of years of exercise and farm work, his body is also very strong. He is the tallest in the castle, five feet tall. six.

After eating a bowl of barley rice, he felt like his stomach was empty. After looking at the pot, Liu Qi didn't say much. He got up and came to the courtyard to continue studying the crossbow that was almost finished.

Because it is illegal to keep crossbows privately, Liu Qi has been making a combination of crossbows from the beginning. When separated, it is basically impossible to tell that they are two crossbows. But when combined, they can fire featherless crossbows. However, because the information in the dream is not continuous, Liu Qi has been doing it. Unsatisfactory, the crossbow arrows flew away 30 steps away.

Not a quarter of an hour after he sat down, his father Liu Qing came out and called out: "Xinqi, come with me to the ancestral hall. The clan leader has convened to talk about something. It is probably about handing over summer grain. You are now an adult, so you should know something."

100 years ago, Liu Cang, the ancestor of the Liu family, led his people to build forts and walls, and stipulated that from his son down, the people of the family should be entered into the genealogy. The middle characters of the family names should be ordered according to "benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, trust, gentleness, respect, thrift, frugality", and the father's generation is the fourth generation. The clan name is Liu Zhiqing, and the clan name of Liu Qi is Liu Xinqi.

"it is good"

After answering, Liu Qi got up and followed his father to the Liu family ancestral hall located on the north side of the Liujiabao center sunbathing area.

The Liujiabao is 130 feet from east to west, and [-] feet from north to south. The inner wall of the castle covers [-] mu of land. Liu Qi's house is located in the south of the castle. It took less than half an hour to walk to the ancestral hall.

After arriving at the ancestral hall, most of the clan members had already arrived. Almost every family of the 172 households had a roofer, some with half-grown children, and nearly 200 people were noisy like a vegetable market.

After a while, three people came out of the ancestral hall. The leader was in his 3s and Liu Qi knew him. This was the patriarch Liu Lihuai. The two following were also old people and belonged to the elders of the Li generation.

"Quiet! Quiet!" The patriarch used the crutch in his hand to punch the green brick floor, making a crisp sound.The old man's voice shouted a few times, and the ancestral hall gradually became quiet.

"We are summoned this time to hand over summer grain. This summer grain is more than in previous years, because there is another war with the Jurchens in the north. The superiors have told us that an extra 5 kilograms of grain per acre is for tartar payment. This year's summer harvest is average per mu. The yield is about 200 kilograms, plus other taxes and labor deductibles, the clan calculates that the total payment per acre is 90 kilograms. We will prepare today, and tomorrow each family will send two people to go to the county to pay the grain."

There was a buzz, and a pot exploded below.

"Why are there so many? If this is paid, how can the rest last until next year?"

"It's a lot more than last year, when it was only 70 pounds."

……

"Be quiet! Be quiet! Let the patriarch tell everyone..." Liu Ligao, who was on the right of the patriarch, shouted loudly.

When the ancestral hall became quiet again, the patriarch Liu Lihuai said: "I know everyone is wondering why there are so many this year. There is a war in the north, and the county's labor levy is tight. I also went out of my way to find Zhang Dianli of the county government. This Of the 90 kilograms, 10 kilograms are used by Zhang Dianli for up and down management, and 5 kilograms are used to offset the new labor force this year."

"The reason why our Liujiabao has never been in decline is because we insist on using money and food as deductions for labor, so that we can keep the young and strong labor force in the family. It is the same this year."

Liu Ligao echoed from the side: "That is, after all these years, you still don't know what kind of person the clan leader is? If anyone calls you tight again, do you want to do hard labor?"

"Where, where"

"I trust the patriarch."

"But if you pay so much, what will you eat later?"

"There will be a way later. For more than 100 years, no one in the clan has starved to death. In my place, it will not happen. I promise everyone here. Let's hand over the summer grain tomorrow." After Liu Lihuai finished speaking, he turned and entered the ancestral hall. Later, the others gradually dispersed.

On the way back, Liu's father told Liu Qi: "You go with me tomorrow. Remember, talk less. The clan elders will make decisions when things happen. Don't interfere."

"I know, I say this every time I go to the county. Are you still worried about me?" Liu Qi replied.

When you get home, prepare yourself.

The next day, Liu's father got up early and woke up Liu Qi. The two pushed out two wheelbarrows from the backyard. This was not Liu Qi's "invention". The wheelbarrow had been invented in the Han Dynasty 1000 years ago, and it is now in the Han Dynasty. It is very common in the north and is more suitable for activities in the mountainous and hilly areas near Mount Tai.A car can carry up to 500 kilograms of things, but if it is loaded too much, it will be difficult to control, and people with weak strength will not be able to use it.

Liu Qi's family has 4 acres of land (irrigated with water) and 10 acres of dry land. The 90 pounds per acre mentioned by the patriarch yesterday is water irrigated. According to the tradition of previous years, 2 acres of dry land is converted into one acre of irrigated land, which means that Liu Qi's family needs The summer grain delivered was 810 kilograms, Liu's father packed 400 kilograms, and Liu Qi rushed to pack 420 kilograms, leaving some margin.Then I stuffed two long wooden spears under the grain bags, filled them with some big cakes and water bags, and went out as the sun was rising to gather at the drying ground.

Halfway through the hour, the patriarch counted the number of people, including 30 militiamen, and nearly 380 people set off in a team. Liu Qi saw that the patriarch had arranged 5 people to explore the way in front, and 5 people in the rear.In recent years, there have been continuous wars. The terrain near Mount Tai is complicated, and there are Liangshan Rivers 150 miles to the west. Since last year, they will carry weapons such as spears and broadswords.

Liujiabao is 80 miles away from Changqing County. It will definitely not be reached in one day. We will rest in Lujiazhuang for one night on the way. If everything goes well, we will arrive in Changqing County before noon tomorrow. After delivering the food in the afternoon, we will do some shopping and return lightly. Rest in Lujiazhuang for another night and arrive home on the third day.

Maybe it was because Liujiabao had a large number of people, or maybe it was because the county had carried out a crackdown on nearby bandits before delivering the summer grain, so the journey went smoothly without any surprises.

Lujiazhuang and Liujiabao are family friends. Many men and women in the two villages marry each other. The people in the two villages are always related to each other. When they arrived at Lujiazhuang in the evening, the patriarch was invited to stay at the head of Liujiazhuang Village. However, The clan leader didn't agree, so he and everyone slept in the sunbathing field in Lujiazhuang. In the summer, apart from the fact that there were more mosquitoes, it was quite cool.

I got up early the next day, packed my things, checked the food on the truck, and set off again.

Just after noon (11 o'clock), we entered Changqing County and came to the grain collection office. Liujiabao's cars gathered together. The clan leader went to negotiate with Zhang Dianli, and everyone took out dry food and water bags to satisfy their hunger.

Half an hour later, the patriarch and Zhang Dianli came together and negotiated with the head of the field collection for a while. The leader directly brought people over to count, count and weigh, and the grain was collected within an hour.There was no ups and downs in the middle, and it has been like this for so many years. Liujiabao is a big castle, and the whole county is famous for its large number of people and unity. It is also the only village in the county that has not been occupied by gentry.

After handing over the food, the clan leader gathered everyone together and said:

"If you don't plan to buy anything, stay and look at the car and the remaining grain (because everyone has some extra grain, and they are afraid that the weight will be different). Others can go shopping. It is late now, and there is still time before the sun sets. There are more than two hours, so you go back quickly and come back here to gather when the city wall blocks the sun. We will leave the city and return to Lujiazhuang before it gets dark."

"Don't cause trouble or argue with others. Buy what you can and leave if you can't. Don't make trouble with the locals in the county. You must return here on time and don't make everyone wait for you." Liu Ligao added next to him. One sentence.

"Okay, it's all gone, go and come back quickly." It seems that the patriarch probably didn't plan to buy anything, so he found a wheelbarrow and lay down to rest.

Liu's father left the car to the third master Liu Lisheng to take care of, and took Liu Qi to buy cloth, millet and oil, gun heads, hoes, arrowheads, etc.

Arriving at Buzhuang, Liu's father negotiated with the clerk, while Liu Qi looked around idly.

There were not many people in the cloth village. Counting the Liu family and his son, there were only three pairs of guests. One of them seemed to be a farmer who came to deliver food and buy things on the way.The other one is better, the clothes are not new but very clean, and there are no patches on the body. He should be a master or a housekeeper of a wealthy family, and he has a servant.The person negotiating with him should be the shopkeeper of Buzhuang. Liu Qi had been hearing and seeing well since he was a child. Standing not far away, he could vaguely hear their conversation.

"I heard that the north suffered a huge defeat this time and was in chaos. Taxes have been increased this year. I guess everything will go up in the future..." said the man who looked like a butler.

"Who says it's not the case? Now I go to the village to collect cloth, and each piece of cloth costs 1100 yuan."

"You smart guy, tell me this, don't even think about getting a higher salary from me. My master is smart, and I also know that your prices are too high, and it's hard for me to explain."

"..." Listening to the conversation, he was indeed a butler. He said something too much and was caught by the shopkeeper at the end of his sentence.

After listening to the bargaining for a while, Liu's father had already bought the cloth. He bought 1 foot of cloth and spent 115 wen. It seemed that the shopkeeper's price was very high and he couldn't sell it for 50 wen per piece.

I and Liu's father went to the grain store, grocery store, blacksmith and other shops, bought everything, and returned to the grain collection field before the sun was blocked by the city wall.

Today was probably an auspicious day, making it easy to travel. No one encountered any trouble, and they all gathered in front of Guancheng Gate and left the city smoothly.

On the way back, because the car was light and everyone was eager to go home, everyone walked faster. When they arrived at Lujiazhuang, it was a little faster than in the morning. I bought some dry food and went to bed early on the floor.

On the third day, he got up early and headed back to Liujiabao at noon (15:[-]). After saying goodbye to his familiar friends, Liu Qi returned to Dao's house. His mother, Lu Congxue, had already prepared soup and rice. The hungry and thirsty father and son finally ate it. Had a peaceful meal.

PS:

1. One foot in the article is equivalent to 33 centimeters today, which is 1.3 meters, ten feet and one foot, and one foot is 3.3 meters.One mile equals two hundred feet, which is equal to 660 meters today.
2. In the article, both left and right feet step forward once in one step, which is equal to the current two strides, 1.5 meters.That is to say, taking one step is a step, and taking two feet is a step.

3. In the world, one load is equal to 100 catties, and one catty is 10 taels. It is different from the ancient times, where one load was 120 catties and one catty was 16 taels. To facilitate understanding and calculation.

4. In the world of this article, a piece of cloth is equal to 10 feet and is generally 3 feet wide, so a piece of cloth is equal to 33 meters * 1 meter, 33 square meters.

5. This is an imaginary historical text from another world. Any similarity with the Song Dynasty is purely coincidental.

　With the Pinyin input method, even if you check it three or four times, since Chinese characters are pictographs and ideograms, there will still be typos. You can point them out and I will correct them.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)