Country color

Chapter 21
"The green forests here in Erxianzhuang are the same way, and there are many thieves in the rivers and oceans. You must not cause trouble." Li Hu ordered in a low voice.

Not far away, a small river meanders by, and a small bridge across the river is a huge house.The tall buildings are connected in a cloud, and the scale is neat.If not everyone knew the details, at first glance they would have thought it was the mansion of a prince.

When the four of them came to the front of the village, two Zhuang Ding with whistle sticks came up to meet them.Wang Junkuo stepped forward to give his name.After hearing this, Zhuang Ding looked at Wang Junkuo for a few moments and went inside to report.

Not long after, a series of majestic long laughter was heard from the village. "Brother Wang, you made someone wait so hard!"

Li Chongjiu looked up, and saw this person with a square face, red face and red hair, extremely burly figure, and looked extremely powerful.

As soon as the other party saw Wang Junkuo, he took the other's hand and said in a loud voice: "In the past two years, I have invited my virtuous brother to gather for righteousness many times, and now that my virtuous brother is here, I am thinking about it."

Wang Junkuo was very moved when he heard this.Just as he was about to speak, Shan Xiongxin put his arms together and said, "Come on, our brother will not return today if he is not drunk."

Speaking of this, Shan Xiongxin stretched out his hand and tapped back several times, and said to Li Hu and the others: "You are my brother's companions, and I am also a distinguished guest of Erxian Village. Although our village does not have high-quality meals, it is also a wine manager. Enough, meat is full. Don’t dislike it.”

"Come here, please say hello."

After all, Shan Xiongxin sent his servants to greet Li Hu and the others, and he said to Wang Junkuo: "Brother Wang, let's go inside and talk." This time it was Li Hu, Su Su and the others showed displeasure.

Wang Junkuo said: "Brother, this is my sworn brother whom I often mention to you."

Hearing Wang Junkuo's words, Shan Xiongxin stopped immediately, walked up to Li Hu, clasped his fists carelessly and said, "Could it be that the head of Qiqianzhai is Li Dazhu?"

Li Hu smiled respectfully, cupped his fists in return and said: "It's just mere, I have long admired the name of the red-haired spiritual official, and it is an honor to meet you today."

"Hey!" Shan Xiongxin stopped his hand and said, "Don't be so polite, I am a straightforward person, straight to the point. Brother is exhausted, please rest, and we will talk tomorrow."

Li Chongjiu could see clearly that although Shan Xiongxin didn't do it deliberately, compared with the way he treated Wang Junkuo, this human relationship was too different.

Li Hu then repeated his salute and said: "Don't dare to nag the owner of the village, I'm telling you the truth..." At that moment, Li Hu told the story of Qiqianzhai being encircled by officers and soldiers, and euphemistically asked Shan Xiongxin to help resettle more than 400 cottages. number brother.

Shan Xiongxin frowned slightly when he heard this, and said: "Everyone has come from afar, please enter the hall to talk."

As soon as this remark came out, Li Hu and Su Su both looked ugly.Li Hu regretted that he didn't bring Erniang Sun with him on this trip, if she was here, he would definitely say something, is this the red-haired spiritual official who donates righteousness to donate money and is in a hurry?Everyone had no choice but to follow Shan Xiongxin into the room.

As soon as I entered Erxianzhuang, I deeply felt that the Shan family in Luzhou no longer had the reputation of being rich and prosperous. Although Erxianzhuang was not as good as the mansion of a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River, it had a scene of intrigue and jade buildings.But it is better than a big character, and a wide character.After entering the village, I don't know how many mansions cover the sky, and the jujube trees rising from the ground are towering and tall.

Su Su pointed to a jujube tree and said: "I heard that there is a jujube tree in the Erxian Village, which is up to eighteen years old. The owner of the latter village cut it into a spear. It’s called Hangubai, I wonder if you can let me see it later.”

Shan Xiongxin strode forward, waved his hands without looking back at Su Su's words, and said, "It's been a long time ago, and now I have already switched to using a horse instead of a gun."

Hearing that Shan Xiong's messengers, Ma Qian, Li Hu, and Su Su's expressions changed.

Unlike guns, horse lances are extremely difficult to handle, and the process is extremely complicated. It takes three years for skilled craftsmen to make them, so the cost is extremely high. In the Great Sui Dynasty, except for the imperial army, few people used them.It is generally a privilege only for the children of aristocratic families to carry a horse into battle.Not to mention that Shan Xiongxin was able to abandon his gun and replace him with Ma Li, not to mention that his family is well-off, so it goes without saying how much hard work he has put in.

Li Hu and Su Su each had their own thoughts and walked slowly, but Li Chongjiu looked around with interest.Everyone passed by a school field, and saw nearly a hundred men in the school field, holding knives, guns and sticks, practicing martial arts, or holding stone blocks on one side to build up strength.

Passing another place, I saw dozens of Zhuang Ding, half naked, carrying bags of heavy objects, walking back and forth in a row in front of a warehouse.From the leakage of the bag, it can be seen that the contents of the bag are yellow rice and wheat.In front of the warehouse, several tent-like people were sitting on the floor, each on a row of low tables, crackling and calculating.

Seeing this scene, Li Chongjiu narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the back of Shan Xiongxin in front of him. This man recruits heroes from all over the world, accumulates military power, and hoards food and grass. He really has a lot of ambition.

Everyone followed Shan Xiongxin into the living room, Shan Xiongxin took the main seat without hesitation, Wang Junkuo took the first place on the left, and Li Hu took the first place on the right, and the rest followed in order, and there were four or five accompanying guests, obviously The hero in the village is in charge.Li Hu winked at Li Chongjiu, and after Li Chongjiu knelt down knowingly, he deliberately knocked the bow bag wrapped with a three-stone strong bow on his back against the edge of the table, making a soft sound.

Wang Junkuo looked at Li Chongjiu and asked, "Who is this young man?"

Li Hu said: "Master Shan, this is my child, Xiao Jiu, I don't want to meet the owner soon."

Li Chongjiu listened to Li Hu's words, and didn't get up, but lazily clasped a fist at Shan Xiongxin.

"I don't understand the rules," Li Hu said with a smile, "Master Shan, my son has lived in the mountains since he was a child and has never seen the world. Please forgive me for being negligent."

"Hey!" Shan Xiongxin said with a wave of his hand, "Where Li Da is in charge, if the young man is not arrogant, how will he be able to succeed in the future? I think this little brother's bow bag is very delicate, obviously hidden It's a good bow."

Li Hu laughed and said: "In a rough place, there is no good bow, but it can be regarded as having a history. Come on, Xiao Jiu will show your three-stone bow to Master Shan. Master Shan is extremely skilled in martial arts, and I will teach you as you like." One hand is enough for the rest of my life.”

Shan Xiongxin laughed, half untied the bow bag, and when he held the three-stone strong bow in his hand, he nodded and said: "Good bow!"

At that moment, Shan Xiongxin stood up, took out the three-stone bow from the bow bag, looked at the bow arm and said: "It was made in the eighth year of Kaihuang, huh, it is still the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court, it really is a strong bow with three stones."

Shan Xiongxin stretched out his ape arms lightly, holding the bow in one hand and the string in the other.I saw Li Chongjiu's three-stone bow in Shan Xiongxin's hands, and it was easily filled.

In the next song, Li Hu couldn't help but praise: "Shan Da is really strong!"

Shan Xiongxin put down the three-stone bow, looked at Li Chongjiu playfully and asked, "Is this your bow?"

Li Chongjiu nodded, and Li Hu said beside him: "Returning to the words of the owner of the village, this time the officers and soldiers encircled and suppressed the cottage, Xiao Jiu shot and killed an officer and a soldier in armor from 120 steps away with this bow."

"120 steps away!" Shan Xiongxin narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Good at archery! If you are a hero, you will be a hero in the future."

Li Chongjiu smiled slightly, clasped his fists together, and looked calm about honor and disgrace.At present, Zhuang Ding of Erxianzhuang offers everyone a bowl of yogurt (Note [-]).

Shan Xiongxin took a look and shouted: "There are distinguished guests here, how can you use this vulgar food, come, serve me good wine."

"Yes, owner." After hearing this, several Zhuang Ding hurriedly went down to serve the wine.

The wine bowls in everyone's hands are all large Haikou bowls, and the wine is also a large jar, which is in line with the nature of bandits who drink heavily and eat meat.

Pull out the mud seal of the wine jar, the wine is aged yellow rice, pour it into the wine bowl, it is amber in color, and the aroma of the wine is overflowing.Shan Xiongxin had a bold temperament, raised his wine glass and said: "This is the best Hedong Ganhe, aged for three years. Since everyone came from afar today, I will treat you with this fine wine."

After finishing speaking, Shan Xiongxin raised his bowl and drank three bowls in a row.

Li Hu, Su Su and others saw that their master had already drank, and it would be disrespectful not to drink, and they continued to drink even now.After everyone drank it, they really felt that the wine was as spicy as a knife, but after a long time, everyone's faces were flushed, and they seemed to be staggering when they were sitting or standing.

But Shan Xiongxin drank three bowls in a row without showing any emotion. He has always held a lot of alcohol, so he didn't care about it at all.Although this wine is sweet, it is also easy to get drunk. In the past, he entertained the Quartet to vote for heroes, and all the bankers used this wine.It has always been only seven bowls, and there is no one sitting on the table.

In the eyes of a hero like Shan Xiongxin, it is the easiest way to know a person's character through tasting wine.Shan Xiongxin saw that even Wang Junkuo, a hero on the other side, was getting swollen now, so he couldn't help but smiled slightly, and said: "This wine has a little stamina..."

When he said this, Shan Xiongxin suddenly paused, and he saw that the young man who was Su Su's subordinate actually drank three cups in a row, just like drinking water.

Shan Xiongxin's expression suddenly changed drastically. A green forest lord like him always regards wine as a real hero.And this boy has such a good capacity for drinking at a young age, which is not as good as waiting for a few big guys.Unexpectedly, now Li Chongjiu heard that this wine is Hedong Ganhe, and in later generations this is the predecessor of Shanxi Fen Wine.

He was used to drinking national wine in his previous life, now Li Chongjiu couldn't help but want to taste this wine, although this wine has not been distilled, but it has a special flavor, but after drinking three bowls in a row, it still didn't taste much.Li Chongjiu tapped the lower table with his fingers, and smacked his lips a few times, as if he was reminiscing.

Shan Xiongxin naturally did not believe that a 15-year-old boy could drink more than him.At that moment, Shan Xiongxin stopped his hand and signaled Zhuang Ding to serve the food a little later. Instead, he raised his wine bowl and said to Li Chongjiu: "This little brother is really good at drinking."

Note [-]: In the Sui Dynasty, apart from Sichuan and Shu, as well as temples, aristocratic families in the south, especially ordinary people in the north generally did not drink tea.The real popularization of tea drinking still needs to wait until the tea sage Lu Yu wrote the tea scriptures.

(End of this chapter)