While they were talking, the father and son had already arrived at the entrance of the village.
Dongshan Village is the largest village in the Laodong area, with more than a hundred households.
The Xu family's old house is located at the end of the village. It has a layout of three rooms and three entrances. There are latrines, pig pens and cattle pens in front and behind the house. The whole layout is full of rural atmosphere.
The news of Xu Yingwei's return to his hometown had been sent back in advance.
So not only the family, but the whole village came to watch the fun.
Nothing else, just because Xu Yingwei was the first scholar from the Xu family in Laodong in the past two hundred years, and he also went to Xuzhou under the imperial edict of King Qin. This was a big event for such a remote mountain village, and it was rare in a hundred years.
one sight.
So when they heard that the scholar had returned home, the whole village rushed to the entrance of the village to watch the fun.
Xu Yingwei's family was the youngest, so he hurried forward to greet each other, including the third grandpa, seventh uncle, and third uncle. After going around, he finally met all the elders, and finally came to a pretty young woman holding a child.
This young woman obviously comes from a scholarly family, and she has a bookish air about her.
"Husband." The young woman knelt down and said to the child in her arms, "Call me daddy."
The child in her arms was about three or four years old, and she timidly called Xu Yingwei: "Daddy."
"Hey." Xu Yingwei agreed and reached out to take the child from the young woman's arms.
Xu Shiyi, who was standing next to him, frowned slightly and said, "Youzhen, a gentleman stays away from his sons and stays close to his grandchildren."
"Dad, those ancient rituals are outdated." Xu Yingwei said nonchalantly, "When the current Holy One gets along with the Crown Prince, Prince Ding and Prince Yong, he is not bound by the ancient rituals at all. They are very affectionate between father and son. Children
I think that’s pretty good.”
After saying that, Xu Yingwei gently scratched his son's nose, and his son immediately burst into giggles.
Xu Shiyi's brows became more and more frowned, but he couldn't say anything else. It can't be said that the current emperor did something wrong, right?
Then, two more young men who looked somewhat similar to Xu Yingwei came forward to greet him. The one standing on the left looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old. He was also tall and strong. The one on the right was smaller and wore a t-shirt.
He was wearing a scholar's shirt and was still a boy, but these two people were Xu Yingwei's second brother Xu Yinglong and third brother Xu Yingxiong.
"Brother." The two brothers greeted Xu Yingwei solemnly.
Xu Yingwei returned the gift and helped his two younger brothers up one by one.
Then, under the envious eyes of the villagers, the family returned home.
When he got home, Xu Yingwei took out the gifts he had prepared in advance and distributed them one by one.
What he prepared for his father was a crutch, for his second brother a cleaver, for his third brother the Four Treasures of the Study, for his wife a box of rouge, and even for his son, a delicate wooden horse.
"Where's dad and mom?" Xu Yingwei took out a piece of silk and asked, "Why haven't you seen me?"
"I'm back to my parents' house." Xu Shiyi said with a dull expression, "I said I won't be back until a while."
The second and third brothers next to him winked at Xu Yingwei repeatedly. Xu Yingwei felt a little funny, thinking that he was still fighting at his age.
Dinner was quickly prepared and the family gathered around the table to have dinner.
Xu Yinglong was so in love with the horse-cutting sword that his eldest brother gave him that he even refused to put it down while eating.
"Second brother, we are eating, what are you doing with this thing?" Xu Shiyi scolded angrily, "I know how to wield knives and guns all day long, but I don't know how to help the family."
After finishing speaking, he blamed Xu Yingwei and said: "You are the same, why did you give him the whole knife?"
"Brother, did you buy this knife from Nanjing?" Xu Yinglong ignored his father's nagging and asked Xu Yingwei, "How many taels of silver did it cost?"
"Boy, I didn't buy this knife."
Xu Yingwei shook his head and said, "I captured Jiannu's sword from the battlefield."
This horse-cutting sword was indeed captured on the battlefield, and it was captured by Xu Yingwei himself.
"Really? Have you ever killed a Jiannu with your own hands?" Xu Yinglong had a strange look in his eyes and said eagerly, "Brother, tell me the story of the war? I want to hear it."
Xu Shiyi's face showed a look of surprise.
He really didn't expect that his son would actually go to the battlefield.
Moreover, he had a life-and-death fight with Jian Nu and even beheaded Jian Nu.
So, wouldn’t my son be like Confucius with a sword on his waist, capable of both civil and military skills?
Thinking of this, Xu Shiyi suddenly felt an inexplicable pride in his heart.
After the meal, the family chatted for a long time. The village chiefs, Jia chiefs and clan elders of each village came to Dongshan Village one after another and gathered in the large ancestral hall at the entrance of the village, which is also the ancestral hall of the Xu family.
Xu Shiyi and Xu Yingwei finally walked into the ancestral hall.
Xu Yingwei was greeted with another greeting. Who knows that their family is young.
"Everyone, you have also seen the situation this year." Xu Shiyi sat on the main seat in the middle and said in a deep voice, "Without a drop of rain for two months in a row, the crops in the fields are about to wither."
"Oh, who says it's not the case? I'm afraid there will be another famine this year."
"Your big village is better off, but the people in our mountains are in more trouble."
"Chief, look at this situation, people may starve to death this year. Shouldn't the clan think of a solution? We can't just watch the villagers starve to death, right?"
As soon as Xu Shiyi finished speaking, there was a chorus of complaints below.
"What can the clan do?" asked the head of Dongshan Village. "The clan has only a few acres of clan land. The harvest will be bad this year. Maybe even the husband who is acquainted with us will have to be sent away."
"Then why did you ask us to come here?"
"That's right, it's more than ten miles round trip."
"If I save my energy, I can water two more acres of land."
The ones underneath were long, and the armor chief immediately called out.
"Shut up!" Xu Shiyi took out the crutches his son had just bought for him and stamped it heavily on the ground. At his age, he actually didn't need a crutch at all. It was just to show off.
Xu Shiyi's prestige in the clan is quite high.
With this loud shout, the people below immediately fell silent.
Xu Shiyi said: "I called you here this time to find a way to survive this year's famine."
Speaking of this meal, Xu Shiyi continued: "Last year, my son was ordered by King Qin to go to the north and fight several battles against Jiannu. Fortunately, he survived and made some minor achievements, so the Holy Emperor gave him some grace."
When everyone heard this, they immediately became energetic and said: "Patriarch, what grace has the Holy Spirit given you?"
"It's like this. Isn't the imperial court recruiting soldiers?" Xu Shiyi said, "The Holy Father specially gave my son some quotas and asked my son to go back to Laodong to recruit soldiers."
A commander asked: "Chief, do you want to recruit soldiers to eat the royal food?"
"You're really ignorant." One of the village chiefs said sarcastically, "Recruiting soldiers not only eats royal food, but also gets salary and silver."
"Really?" Dozens of armor commanders, village chiefs and clan elders all turned to Xu Yingwei, "Master Xiu Cai, is it true that there is money to be paid for recruiting soldiers?"
"True." Xu Yingwei nodded and said, "The monthly salary is one tael and five taels. If a slave is killed on the battlefield, there will be another reward. A true slave will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver, and a reduced soldier or coat will be rewarded with ten taels."
"Oh my god, the monthly salary is one, two, five yuan?" The whole ancestral hall exploded.
"Clan leader, choose our second eldest son. Our second eldest son is as strong as an ox and will definitely be a good fighter."
"Xiucai Gong, take your Huzi brother with you. Your Huzi brother has been herding cattle with you since he was a child. He can be by your side and be your personal companion. He can block your arrows at critical moments."
"Wait a minute, this matter cannot affect your Dongshan Village."
"That is, this is the grace of the Holy Spirit, and you cannot take it all to yourself."
"Shut up!" Xu Shiyi roared again, suppressing the clamor of the crowd, and then said, "This is the grace given by the Holy Spirit to our family's chastity, not to the entire Laodong Xu family. Please figure it out."
"If anyone makes a fuss here again, we won't give you a place."
After a pause, he added: "However, I, Xu Shiyi, have always been fair in handling matters since I became the patriarch, so this time will not be an exception. In this way, thirty strong men will be produced from the big village and ten from the small village. Tomorrow we will go to Dongshan Village
Assemble in the drying field, my son will select 270 strong men from them and take them away, but..."
After another pause, Xu Shiyi said again: "But don't play any tricks on me. Cripples, blind people, and deaf people have crooked melons and bad dates that are not worth four or six, so don't use them to make up for it."
"I only want people who are strong and honest," Xu Yingwei said.
"But once you are hired, you will be given 1 tael of silver on the spot. This is a special grace from the Holy Spirit."
"Did you hear everything?" Xu Shiyi glanced around and said, "The whole Laodong is only so big. I know what kind of virtue each of the children has. Don't think about Hu Nong's leader."
The dozens of li chiefs, armor chiefs and clan elders present quickly claimed that they did not dare.
"That's the specific thing." Xu Shiyi waved his hand and said domineeringly, "Let's all go back."
After seeing off all the village chiefs, Jia chiefs and clan elders, Xu Shiyi suddenly became interested and said to Xu Yingwei: "Youzhen, come with dad for a walk on the ancestral tomb mountain."
"Dad, why are you going to the ancestral tomb mountain this late at night?" Xu Yingwei asked in astonishment.
"Go if you are told to go. What are you talking about?" Xu Shiyi turned around and left.
Xu Yingwei quickly asked Wu Niu and another long-term worker to put up lanterns and accompany them up the mountain.
After climbing for almost half an hour, the father and son came to a large tomb. Xu Shiyi said: "Youzhen, the ancestor of the Xu family of our Laodong moved to Laodong during the Wude period of the Tang Dynasty. It has been more than a thousand years.
In these more than a thousand years, our great-grandfather, the Xu family, has never produced any great figures."
After a pause, he continued: "But the night before yesterday, my father had a strange dream. He dreamed that a dazzling star fell from the sky and hit the ancestral tomb of our Xu family. The entire ancestral tomb was covered in smoke.
.”
"Ha." Xu Yingwei couldn't help but laugh and said, "Dad, this is a good thing, there is smoke coming out of the ancestral graves."
"Don't laugh, dad is serious." Xu Shiyi said, "Father feels that this dream is likely to happen to you. In the future, you may not know whether you will become the prime minister, so you should be careful what you say in court.
Be careful and don't hesitate to make friends with colleagues, the glory of our grandpa Dong Xu family is tied to you Youzhen."
