The atmosphere of the Tinian Festival is getting more and more intense.
Hua Rong and her little sister walked on the streets of Bianjing and watched the Le Che passing by.
Those that can be used as music carts are basically pulled by oxen, covered with a layer of imitation tiger skin, or even decorated as rhinoceros or elephants that ordinary people cannot see. Playing and singing swaggering through the streets.
Around the music car, there are acrobatic performers, running land boats, walking on ropes, swallowing steel swords, wrestling and fighting, dancing horses and fighting cocks, tug-of-war and drilling in fire rings...
Hua Xiaomei walked slower and slower, her eyes were dazzled and she let out excited screams from time to time.
Compared with these mobile music carts, the shops on both sides also put in their best efforts. On the colorful shed outside the main store, lantern wheels were erected, wrapped in silk, decorated with gold and silver, and colorful clouds. It was already extremely colorful during the day. It’s beautiful, and it’s even more brilliant at night.
There is also a music and dance team at the door of each house to attract business, and there are also women in gorgeous clothes and fragrant makeup gathered in front of the door, singing and dancing.
At this time, Hua Rong heard a song not far away. The melody seemed to be "Like a Dream", and she could also hear the lyrics: "Last night it rained and the wind blew, and I couldn't drink the remaining wine after a deep sleep. I tried to ask the person behind the curtain, but the crabapple was still the same. .Do you know, do you know? It should be green, red and thin."
Then I heard the comments from people around me. It was a poem written by a young lady who was only 16 years old. It was widely circulated in Shilin and was considered astonishing in the literary world.
Although Hua Rong was extremely handsome, he devoted himself to practicing martial arts. Unlike some people who had the extravagant hope of passing the imperial examination, he was naturally not interested in the literary world. He just thought the music was good and was attracted by the gambling game "Guan Pu".
We should not forget the characteristics of the times. In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, one of the great benefits of celebrating the festival was that gambling could be carried out in an especially fair and honest manner.
There was no way, gambling was still illegal in the Song Dynasty when the market was open all day long.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the "Song Xingtong" stipulated that all gamblers would be beaten with a hundred sticks. If the gambling capital was large, they would be punished as the crime of theft.
This law was strictly enforced at first. During the Zhao Guangyi period, some gamblers were discovered and executed directly. This was a severe crackdown.
When Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty arrived, a man passed the Jinshi examination. Before he could celebrate, he was reported as a fugitive. It turned out that he had been arrested for gathering people to gamble. Later, he changed his name and came to take the imperial examination. Zhenzong was furious and immediately seized this person. for his fame, he was severely punished and exiled.
This prohibition on gambling began to change in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The relevant penalties were reduced. Renzong also liked gambling very much. He would play with the palace maids when he had nothing to do. Once he lost a thousand coins, he still cheated and insisted on getting half of it back. The palace servants They all made fun of him, "The officials are too poor, and they are reluctant to give everything." Renzong answered particularly well, "Do you know whose money this money is for? This is not my money, but the people's money. Today I have misused thousands of people's money." "Money", look at how officials consider the people.
Since there were too many jokes by literati in the Northern Song Dynasty, I don’t know whether this story was fabricated by the literati. However, with officials taking the lead in gambling, the laws prohibiting gambling gradually became a decoration. Gambling became so popular that it became as illegal as eating beef. , but in reality it is something that almost no one cares about.
During the Shenzong period, "Guan Pu" officially appeared.
The so-called Guanpu refers to everything that a merchant can sell or gamble on. To put it bluntly, it means that you don’t need to spend money to buy things, but you use gambling to buy them. It is also called "Pu Mai", "Guan Bo" or "Bo Mai".
", because "博" is too direct, the official word "pu" with the same meaning is used instead.
Such an activity that integrates trading, entertainment and gambling became very popular as soon as it appeared. It was popular in the Song Dynasty. It was liked by men, women and children. Many young ladies often left their homes and went to the streets to watch people beating each other.
According to official regulations, the official opening of Guanpu is only on the three major festivals of New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, and Cold Food. During these festivals, the Kaifeng government office will post notices telling everyone that Guanpu can be closed.
But in fact, no one has paid attention to the official regulations for a long time. Not only around the Chinese New Year, Guan Pu can last about one or two months, but there are also many people who specialize in it and make a living from it. For example, in the Water Margin, "Fire Eyes Suan Ni" Deng Fei's
The hymn on the appearance said that he was "originally a Guan Pu Han in Xiangyang", which means that before Deng Fei became a bandit, he was a Guan Pu Han as a profession. Of course, this person is more famous for his sentence "Eating too much human flesh makes his eyes red".
Considered an ogre king.
On this Tianning Festival, the birthday of the official, Guan Pudu appeared in the streets and alleys, attracting countless people to watch, and the gambling products became more and more all-encompassing.
"Clothes, delicacies, calligraphy and painting utensils, tea and wine utensils, come and get them! Come and get them!"
"Singing girl and dancing girl! Precious jade and curiosity! Pounce on it at the price, one wat can cost thirty wat (one pays thirty)!"
"I'm gambling on land!!"
The last shout became the final shout, and the crowd roared and rushed past.
In a place like Bianjing where land is at a premium, do you dare to think about betting on houses?
Anyway, Hua Rong, who was so poor, didn't dare to think about it, so he took his little sister to avoid that arrogant place and came to his home court.
Shoot the lottery.
There are so many different forms of Guan Po. They are all kinds of things. The most common one is tossing copper coins, as few as two or three, as many as eight or nine. They are thrown together, and the winner or loser is judged according to the number of front and back of the copper coins.
Hua Rong's favorite is this kind, a three-foot-large disc with hundreds of patterns of birds, fish, etc. on it. The largest one is no bigger than a little finger and the smallest one is only about the size of two peas. The shopkeeper rotates the disc
, customers use needles with colorful feathers to shoot them, and after shooting them, they can get different rewards according to the pictures.
Hua Rong didn't know that after a thousand years, this thing would become a dart played by many people and evolve into a trap game in temple fairs. He only knew that he was the best at it.
At this time, inside the shop, the disc was already spinning at a high speed. Several customers were shooting at the same time, and one of them hurriedly shot out several arrows.
"Fall! Fall! Fall!"
But before the disc stopped, the store reported the result. After the disc stopped, the onlookers saw that it was exactly the same and couldn't help but marvel.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hua Rong also secretly nodded at the store owner's sharp eyesight, while Hua Xiaomei pulled his sleeves with confidence, expecting her brother to show off his power.
Hua Rong spent three cents to buy three colorful needles, which were the most difficult to shoot, and shot them out with his hands.
Suddenly, the shopkeeper's face changed, and he said in a trembling voice: "Cai! Cai! Cai!"
There was silence all around, but when the turntable stopped, there was an immediate commotion because the three needles hit the pattern accurately.
Two of them were shot on fish as big as a little finger, and one was shot on a bird as big as a pea.
"A clay kid will be awarded! Two bowls of mutton soup will be awarded!"
Seeing the faint pleading look in the shopkeeper's eyes, Hua Rong's heart softened. Considering that the other party was running a small business, he didn't want to embarrass himself, so he won a clay child, a doll, for his sister, and two large bowls of mutton soup, one for each person.
A bowl is enough.
When he found out that Hua Rong had stopped, the shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing other customers flocking over with the idea that I could have sex with him, he suddenly grinned again.
After winning the lottery, they went to the restaurant next to the store to get noodle soup. The brother and sister sat opposite each other, and Hua Xiaomei Gudugudu drank the soup and played with the clay doll, with a happy expression on her face.
Only during the holidays can they, the family members of the Forbidden Army, experience the beauty of living in Bianjing. This is really the happiest time.
However, in the past, we had to worry about the plundering by the Wuyou Cave thieves, but now we no longer have to worry about those vicious thieves. Hua Xiaomei couldn't help but said: "Brother, besides Wuyou Cave, all the sisters in the camp are grateful to you!"
Hua Rong was happy in his heart and said modestly: "That is the credit of the Lin family brother and Judge Gongsun. I just made some small efforts."
Hua Xiaomei shook her head, feeling that her brother was the most powerful, but she asked curiously: "Where is Judge Gongsun?"
Hua Rong's eyes suddenly darkened: "Don't worry, Judge Gongsun will be back..."
The recent disappearance of Gongsun Zhao has caused an uproar in Bianjing.
Such a hero, who wiped out a centuries-old disease in Bianjing and wiped out all the bandits in Wuyou Cave, suddenly disappeared. Naturally, various speculations arose.
Some said that he was retaliated by the leader of the bandits in Wuyou Cave and was unfortunately killed; some said that he was unfairly treated by the court, became disheartened and abandoned his official position; others said that he was wiping out
He was seriously injured while going to Wuyou Cave and went out to seek medical treatment...
Due to Gongsun Zhao's high reputation among the people, many people from other states even came to pay homage to this hero. The government's response was also unresponsive. Everything was left to discussion, waiting for the passage of time for things to settle down.
But as time goes by, not only has it not faded away, people's sympathy and resentment have become more and more intense. Now every day, people gather spontaneously at the gate of Kaifeng Mansion, waiting for Gongsun Zhao's return, but no more
I can no longer see the cold-faced judge who regarded the Kaifeng government office as his home, Gongsun Yama.
Hua Rong knew very well that Gongsun Zhao was taken away by his senior brother Ding Run. His life was probably not in danger, but he definitely lost his freedom of movement.
With the help of Zhou Tong's network, the two people's movements have been traced. Lu Junyi and Suo Chao followed Shi Qian in the rescue, but they have not returned yet, and they don't know if they can be rescued in the end.
Just as I was thinking about it, there was shouting and cursing from across the street. A few idle men were drunk and strutting through the street. They happened to bump into a dirty and smelly beggar and immediately surrounded him.
The beggar seemed frightened and hurriedly bowed: "I'm sorry, all the officials! I'm sorry, all the officials!"
However, a few rogue idlers smelled of alcohol and started to attack directly: "You stinky beggar, you are blind, how dare you hit me, grandpa!"
Hua Rong frowned, and just as he was about to stand up, he saw the beggar rolling and crawling through the siege, and nodded slightly.
No one paid much attention to this little incident on the street. The gangsters continued to curse and move forward, and no one heard the exchanges between them: "Damn, did this old beggar stab me just now?"
"Why does it hurt so much?" "I also feel a little numb. I will definitely beat him to death next time I see him!"
The beggar who was walking away had already put away the black thorn in his hand and came all the way to the outside of Daxiangguo Temple.
There was a sea of people here, and the monks with rich faces blocked him out.
The beggar glanced around the outside world with his sinister eyes, followed a path and rushed in. He lay down beside the outer wall of the temple and heard the monk inside proudly saying to the pilgrims: "The official is ill, and the Queen Mother will enter the temple tomorrow."
, pray for the official family!” “All the nobles in the palace will come out!” “My Buddha is compassionate and saves all sentient beings!”
When the beggar heard this, he immediately found a hidden corner and curled up like a dirty, smelly mouse.
But the corner of his mouth that occasionally grinned was like a poisonous snake, coiling its body and making a squeaking sound.