The last day of December in the fifth year of Taiping.

This day and night is called New Year's Eve, also called "New Year's Eve", and is a day for family reunions. Relatives in other places rush home all the way to reunite with relatives and friends. At night, every household has bright lights, and some are still burning in the yards, fields and graves.

Starting fire, setting off firecrackers, and not sleeping until the end of the night is called staying up late.

The main activity of staying up late is making dumplings.

The whole family sat together. They rolled out the dough and stuffed the stuffing. They laughed and laughed. The newly married daughter-in-law and her son-in-law returned home and brought generous gifts to visit their parents. They returned on the same day and did not stay at their parents' house. "There are no vacancies in the first month."

customs.

At this time, Fengjing was also very lively. Except for a few officials who needed to be on duty, most officials had returned home for the holidays. Emperor Zhao Zhi of the Jin Dynasty also followed the old rules and issued an edict. From the New Year's Eve to the beginning of January next year

10. Postpone the curfew to a quarter past midnight.

As the foundation of Dajin, Fengjing already had a strong New Year atmosphere half a month ago. Many people joined forces to beat gongs and drums, dance dragons and lions, perform operas and sing songs, and it was extremely lively.

When the bus was approaching, the gate of the imperial city opened slightly, and Li Xun and Li Mancang, father and son, came out. Dahei came forward with a cloak and put it on Li Mancang. The driver was Jiang Daxiong, who had been waiting outside for several hours.

, I didn’t even eat dinner, I was already very hungry.

"Boss, you finally came out and starved me to death."

Li Xun rolled his eyes: "When I came here, I told you that we would have to wait for a long time. Don't you bring some food with you?"

Jiang Daxiong touched his head and said embarrassedly: "I forgot."

Today is New Year's Eve. Li Yi invites Li Xun and Li Mancang to the palace to have New Year's Eve dinner together. This is the case every year. To be honest, Li Xun doesn't want to come, but it's not okay if he doesn't come. The emperor's family is quite large, although

Zhao Zhi was diligent in political affairs, far more than a womanizer, but he also had dozens of concubines and more than twenty children. With such a large family dining together, the atmosphere was really lively on the surface, but in fact, the whole banquet was full of secret fights and verbal exchanges.

There was always intrigues and intrigues among them. Seeing the hypocritical faces of those people, Li Xun, who had always had a good appetite, suddenly lost his appetite. In the evening, he served Zhao Zhi and his aunt Li Yi a few glasses of wine, and then chatted there with Zhao Xun.

After returning home, there were lanterns hanging everywhere in the house, just like the daytime. There were twenty-eight servants in Li Xun's family. Before entering the palace with his father Li Mancang, four tables of rich food and wine were set up at home for them to celebrate the New Year on their own.

.

"The young master and the master are back."

When the housekeeper Laosheng saw Li Xun and others returning, he rushed in and shouted loudly. The servants at home rushed over, bowed to Li Xun's father, and shouted in unison, saying New Year's greetings.

Li Mancang was not as taciturn as he was in the palace. He had a smile on his face, waved his hands repeatedly, and said happily: "We all share the same interests."

After that, he touched his body, but he didn't prepare a red envelope. He said apologetically: "I just went to the Imperial City and I was in a hurry, but I didn't prepare any wedding money for you."

"We don't care about this."

The housekeeper, Lao Sheng, said emotionally: "My master has been very kind to us. Without him, how could we live till now? I have no other abilities and can only work like a cow or a horse to repay my great kindness to you."

"I would like to be a cow or a horse to repay my great kindness."

Everyone knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly. Li Mancang was moved in his heart and said loudly: "Everyone, please get up quickly. We are all a family, so there is no need for so many courtesy."

The housekeeper Lao Sheng and others really felt very happy. Li Mancang and his son were kind and approachable, and they did not treat them as servants. As the master, Li Xun never shouted, yelled, beat or punished them, but instead

Uncle Sheng, Uncle Tan, and Aunt Wang kept calling each other their elders, which moved the servants in the mansion so much that they truly regarded this place as their home.

Li Mancang whispered to the housekeeper Lao Sheng that tomorrow everyone would be given two taels of silver as a new year's gift. Then he looked at everyone and said strangely: "It's so late, why aren't you sleeping?"

The housekeeper Lao Sheng said with a smile: "How can we celebrate the New Year if the master is not at home, so everyone decided that no matter how late it is, we will wait for the master to come back and have a New Year's Eve dinner together."

Li Mancang smiled and nodded in agreement.

The housekeeper Laosheng quickly shouted to everyone: "Everyone, hurry up and get ready. It's almost midnight, but we can't go past the hour."

Li Xun was in a better mood at this time and said with a smile: "Aunt Wang, I will go to the kitchen to help you."

A woman in her forties reached out and tapped Li Xun: "If you come to the kitchen, no one can expect to eat tonight."

When Li Xun heard this, he raised his head and laughed.

The servants chuckled and dispersed, each busy with their own business.

Li Xun was about to go back to his room to change clothes, but Zhu Zhengguo came back with Xiaolian.

Uncle Xiaolian's family was arranged by Li Xun to work in the manor. They no longer had to live a wandering life. Although they were not rich, they could still have enough food and clothing, and were not trapped by food and drink.

Today is New Year's Eve. Xiaolian went to the manor to celebrate the New Year with her uncle's family. She originally planned not to come back tonight.

Zhu Zhengguo, on the other hand, has no parents, only his wife and child, and no relatives. Therefore, every New Year, Zhu Zhengguo and Yan Yi take turns spending time in the homes of Li Xun and Yu Guang.

"Xiaolian, aren't you not coming back tonight?"

Xiaolian shook her head and said: "I have never stayed out at night. I was really not used to it, so I asked Brother Zhu to send me back."

"You came back just in time, let's all have New Year's Eve dinner together."

"Didn't you eat at the palace?"

Li Xun smiled and explained the reason. Xiaolian nodded and left.

"How is the training of the new recruits?"

Half a month has passed since the recruitment of soldiers. As recruits, of course they need training. Li Xun asked Zhu Zhengguo for help. The latter didn't hesitate. He led a hundred soldiers to strictly train the recruits and also monitored them.

After all, everyone has been given food. What if they take the food and run away?

Zhu Zhengguo nodded: "Since you issued the reward system, their enthusiasm for training has been extremely high. Even many of my soldiers are interested and want to participate."

Li Xun evenly distributed the 500 acres of land in his manor to 1,000 soldiers, with each person receiving 50 acres per household, but there were conditions: serving in the army for ten years or dying in the line of duty.

Of course, the land contract is still in Li Xun's hands. If they regret the contract, they have nothing to do, but the refugees are still extremely moved. Regardless of whether what Li Xun said is true or false, at least it gave them a head start, or a life.
Chapter completed!