A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 5: The Pear Flower Spear

There are several dishes on the table, as well as a bowl of scrambled eggs, with a tempting aroma.

In front of Wang Dou was a large bowl of steaming white noodles, sprinkled with some emerald green scallions, it was really fragrant.This is the most sumptuous meal of the Wang family during these times.

But look at the white noodles in front of me, and look at Zhong Shi and Xie Xiuniang who are eating steamed buns with black noodles with side dishes. They look very quiet, it seems that it is a matter of course for Wang Dou to eat well.

Wang Dou stood up and said, "I was quite full when I came back, mother, how can I finish such a big bowl of noodles? Help me to eat some."

He brought two bowls over, picked a handful of noodles from his hands and put them on the two bowls, and handed them to Zhong Shi and Xie Xiuniang.

Xie Xiuniang was very happy, took it and said softly, "Thank you bro."

Zhong smiled and took the bowl without saying anything.

The whole family ate happily with eggs and vegetables.

Mrs. Zhong thought of something, and said to Xie Xiuniang: "Xiu'er, I heard that these times are not easy for my mother-in-law. You can bring a few liters of white flour and a piece of cloth back with you some other day. We are all one family. If you can help, please help." .”

Xie Xiuniang said happily, "Thank you, mother."

Although Wang's family is already very poor now, Xie Xiuniang's family is even poorer. Her parents had a total of eight children, but two younger brothers died of starvation a few years ago. The two elder sisters also gave away, and now their family lives on bran vegetables every day. Compared with them, the Wang family is now considered a rich man, at least they can still eat white noodles now.

Xie Xiuniang can imagine what it would be like to go back to her natal home. In Baoanzhou, if you visit relatives and friends, you can put a few liters of flour in a bamboo basket, add some sugar, and a piece of cloth, which is already a very expensive gift. , enough to arouse the envy of others.

And Zhong is also a strong person, his own family is in trouble, and he still wants to help others.On weekdays, she and Xie Xiuniang both wear patched clothes at home, but when they go out, they must change into better clothes, just to prevent others from underestimating the current Wang family.

The three were talking, but Wang Dou mostly listened.Zhong sighed: "When I went to Zhoucheng a few days ago, the price of grain and rice has risen again. Corn costs eight yuan a bucket, and even rice chaff costs a bucket. I saw that many people can't afford grain, and some men and women starved to death by the roadside."

Xie Xiuniang also said aside: "Yes, now the pork in our village costs more than 200 yuan a catty, and a duck egg costs [-] yuan."

Wang Dou sighed inwardly, Baoan Prefecture is a fertile land, with relatively abundant water conservancy, and less drought than other places. The current price is not bad. According to his understanding of history, in the 16th year of Chongzhen, even in the land of Jiangnan , the price of goods has also risen to an unbelievable level. A bucket of rice costs two taels of silver, and even rose to six taels in the end. In troubled times, the cheapness of human life and the hardships of the common people can be seen.

When Zhong and Xie Xiuniang talked about all kinds of rumors, Zhong couldn't help but sigh, and at the same time rejoiced that she still had food at home, the people are always content, as long as there is still a mouthful of food, they will be satisfied.

After eating, Xie Xiuniang went to wash the bowls. The Queen Mother looked at her thin figure and said: "This child is also diligent, but his body is weaker. I am afraid that it will be difficult to give birth."

Xie Xiuniang grew up in Wang's family since she was a child. Like other peasant women, she has the advantages of traditional simplicity and hard work. She plows and mows in the field, cuts firewood and mows at home, cooks tea and cooks, washes clothes and raises pigs. They are doing it with all their heart, and the Queen Mother is satisfied with this.

However, she thinks that Xie Xiuniang's health is not very good, especially her small breasts and thin hips, which makes her a little dissatisfied.In her opinion, women with full breasts will have enough milk for their children in the future, big buttocks will make childbirth easier, and small breasts and thin buttocks will be bad.

In fact, in ancient times, women regarded big breasts and fat hips as their beauty. It is reasonable to look at the woman's figure rather than her face when she gets married. In ancient times, the death rate of children was high, and it was not easy to raise them. The Queen Mother once gave birth to five children, but most of them died. , only Wang Dou had a single seedling, so seeing Xie Xiuniang's situation, the Queen Mother couldn't help worrying.

But that being said, she treats Xie Xiuniang very well on weekdays, and country daughter-in-laws are always envious when they talk about it, thinking that Xie Xiuniang has found a good husband's family, and Xie Xiuniang understands this in her heart.

Wang Dou said: "If possible, we should make up for her more."

Zhong Shi nodded, but sighed again.

After dinner, mother Zhong was weaving in the machine room again, while Wang Dou was in the room carefully reading two books by a dim oil lamp, "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Records of Military Training", Although the two books were published in the Jiajing year, they are not easily accessible to ordinary people.The ancestor Wang Hu also collected a set by chance, and it has been passed down as a family heirloom from generation to generation.

Although the Wang family came from a military family, they can be regarded as heirs of farming and reading. When Wang Dou was young, his grandfather Wang Ting taught him how to read. However, Wang Dou was not interested in military books before. Now Wang Dou is naturally like a treasure. up.

After watching for a while, Xie Xiuniang came in with a plate of hot water, and lowered her body to wash Wang Dou's feet.Wang Dou touched her hair gently, Xie Xiuniang smiled at Wang Dou with her face up.Under the light, she could see the abnormal paleness on her face, and Wang Dou was worried that this could not be some kind of disease, and he would find a doctor to show her when he could.

After washing, Xie Xiuniang took out the water and went to the yard to sort out the farm tools and fertilizers.

The sound of mother weaving in the next room kept coming, and Wang Dou lost the mood to read and wandered back and forth in the room.

……

At dawn the next day, Wang Dou got up, took his spear and walked to the backyard, where there were several vegetable fields and a water well.In recent years, more and more wells in Xinzhuang have dried up. Only the well in the backyard of the Wang family is still full of water, and the water quality is clean, which makes many villagers jealous.

The air in this world is much better than that of the later generations, a fresh wind blows, which lifts Wang Dou's spirit.

He took off his shirt and punched a set of punches vigorously, fiercely and powerfully. When he hit the hard point, all the muscles in his body were twisted like rocks.This punch is called "Pi Hang Fist", it is a popular boxing method in the Qi family army. Back then, Grandpa Qi highlighted it in the "Ji Xiao New Book" Boxing Sutra, and it is the sharpest for actual combat.

After a complete set of punches, Wang Dou's upper body was dripping with sweat, and his muscles were even more slick. He still didn't give up, took his long spear, and made another strike gesture.

Yang's pear blossom gun originated in the Song Dynasty. Grandpa Qi once praised it as an invincible player in the world, and it was widely promoted in the army.

Holding the gun, blocking the gun, bumping the gun, catching the gun, scull the gun... The gun is like a dragon swimming, Wang Dou's eyes are focused. This physical skill is the greatest guarantee for him and his family to survive in troubled times. After clearing the surrounding environment, he practiced endlessly every day.

It wasn't until Xie Xiuniang came in and asked him to have breakfast that Wang Dou stopped.

Breakfast is black flour scones, served with a large bowl of clear soup. Of course, the taste is not as good as the white noodles last night, but the advantage is that the quantity is large. After all, from today onwards, we have to do heavy farm work, so we can’t eat enough.

During the meal, they talked about today's farm work. The autumn sowing needs to be plowed, but the cattle of the Wang family have been sold long ago. Now his family's [-] mu of land can't afford cattle, so they have to rent cattle from the village chief Jiang An. In order to grab the farming time, two oxen are needed to pull the plow, so that the plowing speed can be fast.The rent was not a small sum, Jiang An didn't even accept cash, but insisted on exchanging white flour for the rent.

Also, the iron plow at home was taken away by the Tartars a few years ago. I have been unable to afford new plows these years, so I have to rent them.The calculation of several rents made Zhong feel very heartbroken. She once considered not using oxen and plows, but using a plane to dig the ground for her family, but Wang Dou vetoed it.

Mrs. Zhong had already negotiated the rental of cattle and plow tools with the district chief, Jiang An. After dinner, Wang Dou followed his mother to Jiang's house, but Jiang An was not there.After taking the oxen and plow implements, Wang Dou carried the plow to drive the cattle, Zhong carried the wheat seeds, and Xie Xiuniang followed the mother and son with two boxes of manure on her back. In order to accumulate these manures, she could collect manure for a whole year. .

It's still early at the moment, but the main streets and alleys have been showing people who are working in the village. When they see Zhong, they say, "Good morning, Fourth Aunt!" and other greetings sound from time to time. Both have good reputations.

There were also some people who saw Wang Dou behind Zhong, and subconsciously wanted to make fun of him, but when they saw Wang Dou's indifferent appearance, they withdrew their words again, secretly wondering how strange this fool Wang is these days.

When they were about to leave the villa gate, a young girl hurried past the three of them, and someone pointed at her from time to time. The girl held her head high, as if she disdain other people's comments, but her pale face and the trace of panic in her eyes revealed that Her inner weakness and restlessness.

Xie Xiuniang said softly behind Wang Dou: "Sister Xu is so pitiful..."

This girl was the one who almost bumped into Wang Dou yesterday. Wang Dou knew that her name was Xu Yue'e, and she was the daughter of Xu Kuan, the head of the village. She was eighteen years old, and she was quite attractive in the village. It all came to an end last month.

After July 23, the Jin army captured the city of Baoanzhou, and the army divided and plundered various places in Baoan. Xu Yue'e had no time to return to the village, and was taken captive by the Hou Jin soldiers. She escaped two days later.However, the people in the village are talking about it, saying that it was plundered by the Tartars, so how can they be spared?It must have been spoiled.

Under the rumors and rumors, the man quickly came over and asked for an end to the engagement, willing not even the dowry. Her father Xu Kuan was naturally furious. He is considered a respectable figure in the village, how could he bear such humiliation?She scolded Xu Yue'e at home all day for being ashamed, why she didn't die.The indifference and criticism of the villagers made this once proud woman haggard quickly, but in front of outsiders, her head seemed to be held up even higher.

Hearing the sarcasm coming from beside him from time to time, Wang Dou snorted and said, "It's nothing for a man to protect his wife and children, but to take his anger out on a weak woman."

Hearing Wang Dou's words, Xie Xiuniang behind her widened her eyes and didn't quite understand, but Zhong looked back at Wang Dou approvingly.

(End of this chapter)