Here in a community in Beijing, with the arrival of the New Year, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks is deafening, one after another, resounding through the sky, lighting up the dark night.
This year's firecrackers and fireworks are more noisy and lively than last year. It can be seen that everyone is having a pretty good life this year.
Wen Zhang’s family is happily preparing to eat New Year’s Eve.
Wen Zhang's wife Du and his concubine Wen Lian had already prepared everything for New Year's Eve. The already hungry children were already gathering around the table and drooling.
New Year's Eve is naturally the most sumptuous dinner of the year. Wen Wen's family is in pretty good condition, so naturally they prepare quite sumptuous meals.
There are more than twenty dishes on a large table, including those that fly in the sky, those that run on the ground, those that swim in the sea, those produced in the Ming Dynasty, those from overseas, and those from outside the customs. There is also a dish of the Ming Dynasty produced in Liaodong on the table.
Cellar wine.
Look at the house in front of you. It is also very well decorated. The glass lamps are lit by whale oil lamps instead of cheap kerosene. The bright whale oil lamps illuminate the whole house.
"mom!"
"time to eat!"
Wen Zhang came to live with his mother, Sun Er Niang. Wen Zhang lost his father when he was young, so he relied on his mother, Sun Er Niang, to raise him up.
"Come and kowtow to Mr. Liu!"
Sun Erniang nodded, then brought the article to a longevity tablet and said.
The longevity tablet clearly says ‘Liu Gongjin’s longevity tablet’!
This turned out to be the longevity tablet dedicated to Liu Jin.
"Um!"
Wen Wen nodded, and then he solemnly knelt down in front of the longevity tablet and kowtowed three times respectfully.
"God bless Mr. Liu to live a long life, be free from illness and disaster, and live a long and healthy life!"
Sun Erniang also lit three sticks of incense and prayed softly to God in her heart, praying for her benefactor Liu Jin.
Wen Wen finished kowtowing, Sun Erniang finished burning incense, and the family sat down at the Eight Immortals table.
Sun Erniang didn't move her chopsticks, and everyone didn't dare to move their chopsticks. They all looked at Sun Erniang, waiting to recall what happened nearly 20 years ago as in previous years.
"Back then, there was a snowstorm in the three northern provinces, and the weather was freezing. Your grandfather died of illness, and there was no food at home. I took my article with me and went out to beg. Along the way, I almost froze to death and starved to death at the foot of the city wall.
.”
"Fortunately, I met Liu Gong of Liu Jin, who is also the chief minister of the current imperial cabinet. He took pity on us, mother and son, and not only gave us food, but also gave me a job and gave the article its current name."
"He is a great benefactor to our Wen family. Without Mr. Liu, our mother and son would have froze to death and starved to death in the wilderness. It would be impossible for our family to have everything we have now."
"Our family must always keep this kindness in mind, and if there is an opportunity in the future, we must repay our benefactor for his great kindness!"
Sun Erniang tells the story that children hear every New Year's Eve.
For Wen Zhang, he has heard his mother talk about this every year since he was a child. His mother would burn incense and pray for Liu Jin's longevity tablet every day.
In Sun Erniang's words, this is the only thing their family can do for Liu Gong now.
"Yes, mother~"
The article nodded solemnly and said.
Of course, the article has no memory of the poor life before.
Ever since he was sensible, he has never worried about eating or getting dressed.
His mother, Sun Erniang, was initially assigned to cook meals for the workers in the Xishan Coal Mine. At least there was no problem with eating. Later, she joined a textile factory.
Relying on his hard work and learning ability, he also became the supervisor of a textile factory. He managed dozens of female workers and earned a good income.
Not only did he raise Wen Wen, but he also bought a house in Beijing early and settled down.
Wen Wen also grew up in the courtyard of a family member of Liu Jin's business, and attended a new-style school.
Because I am smart and studious, I was admitted to Imperial College London. I started working a few years ago. Because I was a top student who graduated from Imperial College, I successfully entered the Mercedes-Benz car factory, and I started working from the management level as soon as I entered.
From now on, the income is very good.
So I didn’t quite understand what Sun Erniang was talking about, so I even asked many elders who had been together in that era.
From the mouths of the elders, I learned that there were many people who were about to starve to death, not just the mother and son, but many people could barely survive the snowstorm and the famine that followed next year.
Fortunately, Liu Jin and Liu Gong recruited many people back then, so that everyone had a job and food to eat, and they survived. It was also because of Liu Gong that the fate of many people changed dramatically.
Many elders were just illiterate farmers at first. After joining Liu Gong's industry, they not only had stable jobs and income, but also learned a lot of words and knowledge in the factory and were able to read and write.
Some people even became sailors and worked overseas. There were many explorers and big mine owners in Golden Continent. They were all workers under Liu Jin.
In Nanyang, many plantation owners, trading house owners, fleet owners, captains, etc., they were just cats and dogs on the roadside who were about to freeze to death.
Among the thousands of households in the capital, there are many factory managers, many business shop owners, etc. Back then, they were just beggars, poor people fleeing famine in winter.
The reason why the Dong family is what it is today is all because of one person, and that person is Liu Jin, Liu Gong, the current chief minister of the Ming Dynasty cabinet. There are many people who set up immortality tablets for Liu Jin. Wen Zhang himself has seen many of them.
He also slowly came to believe everything that happened that year.
I believe that in the past, people in the Ming Dynasty did not have enough to eat or wear warm clothes. I believe that the houses that everyone lived in in the past were the kind of dirty and rotten mud houses. Nowadays, even livestock live in worse conditions than that.
good.
"Let's eat."
Sun Erniang looked at everyone, smiled, picked up her chopsticks and started eating the New Year's Eve dinner.
Looking at the dishes on the table, they were delicious, but she had no appetite.
Looking out the window again, there are bright lights everywhere, fireworks and firecrackers are blasting, and heavy snow begins to fall in the sky.
Her thoughts suddenly seemed to go back to that winter, that cold winter.
I was alone and fled to the capital with my infant article. However, the gates of the capital were closed and they were not allowed to enter the capital.
It was also snowing, the wind was howling, and it was biting.
Because I didn't eat, I didn't have any milk, Wen Zhang couldn't get milk, and couldn't even cry. I was really at the end of my rope and almost starved to death.
At that time of despair, I was lucky enough to meet Liu Gong. He gave me food, arranged for me to work, and found someone to feed Wen Zhang with milk, and I finally came back to life.
Sun Erniang thought of the steamed buns she ate at that time, which were the most delicious things in the world.
In the eyes of Sun Erniang, these delicacies from the mountains and seas in front of her are not as delicious as steamed buns.
"Mom, eat more food."
Wen Wen saw that his mother seemed to be thinking about something. She was eating the steamed buns slowly and picking up vegetables for her.
"Okay, okay, everyone eat."
Sun Erniang came back to her senses, looked at the family in front of her, and said with a smile.
Now my family is much more lively, Wen Zhang has grown up, married a daughter-in-law, taken a white slave concubine, gave birth to several children, and lived in a spacious and beautiful house like this.
Such a life was unthinkable back then. At that time, I just wanted to be able to survive and be content with writing articles and growing up.
Everything we have today is all because of Liu Gong. It is Liu Gong’s great kindness that we have everything we have in our family.
Li Da’s home in Shangyun Town, Heitu Province.
Li Da's family of three was also happily eating New Year's Eve.
The son was only born a few months ago, and now it was time to eat, sleep, and eat. At this moment, he was fast asleep, and only Li Da and his wife were left enjoying the sumptuous New Year's Eve.
Because it was an immigrant, and it was the first New Year in the place of immigration, the emperor and the court paid special attention to it, so they had already sent a piece of New Year's goods to each immigrant's home early.
This New Year's goods include snacks such as raisins, dates, and melon seeds, dried salmon from Huangjinzhou, beef jerky, and mutton jerky from the Hezhong area, as well as fresh pork transported from the river, as well as some cabbage, potatoes, and carrots.
and other vegetables.
They are all foodies, so that the immigrants can have a decent New Year's Eve dinner.
The Lis didn’t mean to skimp. Fresh stewed mutton is the most nutritious and is very suitable for my wife to eat. After eating it, she will be in good health, produce more milk, and her son can also be full.
Pork stewed vermicelli, plus potatoes and onions, tastes quite good. Dried salmon is soaked in water and steamed, and it tastes extremely delicious. Add some fried beef with pickled cabbage, and this New Year's Eve dinner is quite good.
At least in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Li, this was an extremely luxurious New Year's Eve meal.
They are all mountain people deep in the Qinling Mountains. Although they are as carefree as a paradise in the mountains, their life is very hard. The food is seriously insufficient, especially since the Li family has many brothers, all of them are average.
In the case of big and small.
During the Chinese New Year, let alone eating meat, just being able to have a full meal is already pretty good.
There are beef, mutton, pork, fish, and vegetables to eat. If this were in the mountains of my hometown, I would probably swallow all the tongues of my brothers.
"I wonder what's going on here back home?"
Li Da was eating New Year's Eve, and suddenly he felt very homesick. He missed his parents and younger brother in the mountains, and missed every bit of it, even though he was very poor there.