After leaving Chang'an, we headed east along the Weishui River for about 180 miles to reach Huazhou. Normally, it only takes two or three days to reach Huazhou if we travel slowly by horse and carriage. If we speed up our journey a little, we can arrive there in the morning or evening.
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In addition, the Guanzhong and Gyeonggi area has smooth roads and dense post stations, making travel the most convenient. If you don't want to ride a car or horse, there is an endless stream of water transport ships on the Guangtong Canal.
Su Wangting's ancestors had lived in Fushui Town, Huazhou for generations. They were considered a wealthy family in the area. They had land and houses in the village and shops in the town. They were not rich or wealthy, but they had enough food and clothing to support a scholar like Su Wangting.
According to the early assumptions of the elders of the clan, if Su Wangting had been following the Prime Minister, he would not be in a high position now, but he should be appointed by the court. Unexpectedly, he later went to the Western Regions to do business, and was regarded by the elders of the clan as abandoning his roots to the bottom, and he was deeply ashamed.
But later, Su Wangting sent back gold and silver property to his home several times to support the education of distant clan members. Everyone's opinions gradually changed, and the Su family was regarded as a local model by other fellow villagers. Coupled with the relationship between Prime Minister Lu's disciples, the local prefectures and counties were beaten.
Even after receiving greetings, I didn’t dare to cause trouble or forcefully recruit people.
So when Cheng Sanwu and his party came to the Su family's ancestral house, what they saw was not the old country house that was in disrepair and overgrown with weeds, but a large family house surrounded by streams and canals and painted with white walls.
When everyone in the Su family learned that Su Wangting was back, they all went out to greet him. Su Wangting's father had died of illness many years ago. Fortunately, there were other brothers in the family to take care of his mother. Su Wangting had been married for many years and had given birth to two sons while he was still serving under Prime Minister Lu. The eldest son was already
Married a wife, started a family, and had a daughter.
"Oh, Lao Su, you are now a grandfather?" Seeing Su Wangting holding his granddaughter on his lap and teasing her, Cheng Sanwu was particularly surprised. He came closer and asked curiously: "Your name is Gui Yatou? How old are you this year?"
"
The girl wearing a red coat and tiger-toe shoes said in a crisp voice, "I'm six years old!"
Su Wangting coaxed his granddaughter Gui Yatou and said, "He is your Uncle Cheng. Please call him Uncle."
Gui Yatou learned the lesson well: "Hello, uncle!"
"Uncle?" Cheng Sanwu was stunned, looking at the well-informed Chang Qing beside him, he smiled and replied: "He is my grandfather's brother."
Cheng Sanwu heard this and complained: "Old Su, you are so unreasonable. You even called me old!"
At this moment, Su Wangting lost his former shrewdness and ability, and became like an old man protecting his cubs. He blew his beard and glared: "This is my granddaughter, of course I call you uncle!"
As soon as this statement came out, the whole room burst into laughter. Afu seemed to be amused as well. When the granddaughter of the Su family saw it, she pointed at her and shouted: "Pretty sister!"
Su Wangting's heart skipped a beat, and he was so impatient that he didn't know how to respond.
Su Wangting and the others had just left Chang'an City before when they saw Afu and Qin Wangshu waiting on the official road, saying that they wanted to visit the Weinan Treasure Fighting Party. Su Wangting could not stop him and said that he wanted to go back to his ancestral home in Huazhou to see his family first.
Afu also followed suit.
Logically speaking, Su Wangting has been doing business in the Western Regions for many years, so it seems reasonable to bring back one or two Hu maids. But even though Afu was only wearing an ordinary narrow-sleeved skirt, her demeanor and behavior could not hide her nobility. Everyone could tell that she was not a maid.
Servant. The Su family is just a big family in the countryside. When the family saw Ah Fu, they couldn't help but feel ashamed. Only Gui Yatou dared to be so childlike.
Afu just smiled faintly when she heard this, took a small wooden box from Qin Wangshu beside her, handed it to Gui Yatou and opened it. Inside was a pair of blond hairpins decorated with pearls. She asked: "This is my sister."
I gave it to you, do you like it?"
Although the six-year-old girl has memorized the incident, she may not be aware of the preciousness of gold and silver jewelry. Seeing this, Su Wangting quickly refused: "No, no! This gift is too precious."
"How about treating it as a dowry for her?" Afu smiled and gave the jewelry to Su Wangting's daughter-in-law. The other party was very surprised and at a loss for a moment.
Su Wangting shouted at his son and daughter-in-law: "You haven't thanked me yet?"
The son and daughter-in-law quickly saluted and thanked him, and Su Wangting continued: "Clean the guest house quickly, don't neglect your nobles!"
The daughter-in-law said she was leaving, and Gui Yatou asked again: "Does my beautiful sister like Uncle Cheng?"
Hearing this, Cheng Sanwu, who was drinking water, choked on the spot and slapped his chest repeatedly. Afu turned around, smiling like a flower, but Su Wangting quickly covered his granddaughter's mouth, scolded, and then apologized to Afu: "
Country people don't know etiquette and they talk nonsense. Please forgive me, Miss Afu."
Afu leaned down slightly and said with a smile to Gui Yatou: "Sister, I just hope that your uncle Cheng will marry me back home one day, but it's a pity that your grandfather refuses to let him go."
"Cough cough cough!" Cheng Sanwu coughed continuously, and the sound of beating his chest was like beating a drum.
Su Wangting's wife usually manages the family business and is not an ignorant woman. She could tell there was something strange in it. She stepped forward and held Afu's hands, comforting her and said: "Sister, some men have great ambitions and cannot be restrained by their thoughts. All of a sudden,
But there's no rush. Just talk to me carefully, and I'll help you with my advice, sister-in-law."
Su Wangting was really worried that his granddaughter would talk nonsense again, so he had to let his son take him away. Qin Wangshu also followed Afu and Mrs. Su to the back hall. In a blink of an eye, there were only three men left in the main hall, and they fell into an awkward silence.
"It's the dominatrix who insists on following me, and there's nothing I can do about it," Cheng Sanwu said, spreading his hands.
Changqing lightly dusted his sleeves and said sarcastically: "Otherwise, how about asking Brother Fu to help you negotiate an agreement? By the way, the etiquette will be taken care of."
"What are you talking about?" Cheng Sanwu scolded: "You haven't seen Du Jianzhang's half-dead state. I don't want to provoke a dominatrix and be sucked into me by her."
Su Wangting sighed helplessly: "I can see that Miss Afu doesn't mean any harm, she is just joking... Lao Cheng, you are now a grown man, should you start a family?"
"Getting married? That's so boring." Cheng Sanwu said bluntly: "When you are tempted, go to a brothel, change one every day, and be the groom every night."
"Changqing, what about you?" Su Wangting turned to ask: "As far as I know, it is not impossible for those who practice Taoism to have a family."
"I have no intention of doing this." Changqing said calmly.
Su Wangting shook his head: "I think your vision is too high. If you weren't a couple of gods and immortals, you wouldn't be tempted."
Changqing smiled and didn't answer, but Cheng Sanwu said bluntly in displeasure: "Old Su, why do you become so nagging when you come home? Just like those idle countrymen who only care about saying goodbye to others."
"You have also seen that I am a grandfather, so I must be thinking about this." Su Wangting pointed at the two people opposite him and said: "You are just two children. You don't know that you are sensible only if you have a family and a career. Look at my two sons.
Although he is not allowed to take the imperial examination, one of them is running the property at home, and the other is working as a foreigner in the state government office to help manage the company's money, so he doesn't have to live in the Western Regions like me."
"What kind of money do you want?" Cheng Sanwu didn't understand at first.
"It's the money the government lends to the private sector and earns interest to supplement officials' salaries," Su Wangting said.
"Old Su, I think you can still live a comfortable life even if you don't work for Mr. Lu." Cheng looked around and saw that although the Su family's ancestral home was not as good as the tall buildings and halls in Chang'an, it was better than it was in its neatness and simplicity.
Su Wangting said, "Old Cheng, if I let you leave with Miss Afu, and concentrate on serving the Ministry of Internal Affairs from now on, would you be willing?"
Cheng Sanwu immediately shook his head: "Unless I really have nowhere to go, I won't join those dead eunuchs."
"You see, you understand it yourself." Su Wangting said: "My current achievements are all dependent on the support of Prime Minister Lu. Even if I don't mention repaying my kindness, I don't need to find another way."
Changqing didn't seem to agree with what he said: "It's important to be supported by nobles, but if it weren't for brother Fu's personal efforts, nothing would be accomplished. How can you attribute everything to others?"
Su Wangting himself had been a minor official who had been exiled from abroad, and he knew that it was difficult for the common people to be promoted, but he did not blame Changqing for this. He just sighed: "I hope so too, but people can't control things in this world."
…
It was rare for Su Wangting to go home, and he would definitely have to get along well with his family. Even if there was a wife and the eldest son taking care of the family, he was the head of the family after all, and he could not help but have to make friends with the neighbors.
Returning home from wealth, if you only do things like purchasing land and property, I am afraid that you will be a little greedy and will only make others jealous. Su Wangting's ancestor did not dare to say that he came from a scholarly family, but he was also a literary person and would not do such a thing.
Things that ruin the family tradition come.
In this dynasty, the priority for obtaining scholars through the imperial examination was to study. Although Su Wangting himself entered the business career and was not eligible for the imperial examination for three generations, he now funded a rural school next to the shrine of the shrine in Fushui Town and allowed the children in the village to attend.
Hire scribes from prefectures and counties as teachers. In addition to reading enlightenment texts and sentences, they also conduct a rough study of classics and laws so that students can pass the prefectural and county schools in the future.
This move naturally attracted praise from the villagers, and even the nearby county government sent the county magistrate and a doctor of Confucianism to visit him in person.
Su Wangting was busy entertaining guests, so Cheng Sanwu and others did not disturb him too much, but went to Xiyue Taihua.
At first, it was just that Changqing wanted to go to the mountains to explore, so Cheng Sanwu and Cheng Sanwu naturally came together when they had nothing to do. After learning about it, Afu also followed, and Qin Wangshu accompanied him closely without any surprise. In the end, it became four people traveling together.
"Oh, before I know it, Lao Su has turned into that boring old man." Cheng Sanwu rode on the horse and complained: "I am married and have a family, and last night I kept nagging.
"
Afu smiled faintly. Seeing her like this, Cheng Sanwu came closer and asked, "What did my old sister-in-law say to you?"
"She said that to tie up a man's thoughts, the best thing to do is to be his good wife so that he has no worries." Although Afu had a smile on her face, anyone could see that she was not happy at all.
"Ha! You are the virtuous wife?" Cheng Sanwu clapped his thighs and laughed loudly, ignoring Afu and Qin Wangshu's cold glances.
Chang Qing said from the side: "Brother Su has been doing business abroad for many years, and his family naturally relies on his wife to support him. But I don't understand why Brother Su has extraordinary martial arts skills, but his wife is an ordinary woman?"
"Old Su is the descendant of Lei Shou Iron Palm. While he was practicing martial arts, he abducted his master's daughter." Cheng Sanwu couldn't stop snickering. He naturally knew this past: "This Iron Palm Kung Fu is too powerful.
, women cannot practice. Lao Su has not used much force in recent years and has gained weight, but you can’t tell it. Ten years ago, his pair of iron palms could smash the opponent’s heavenly spirit cover to pieces!”
Having said that, martial arts often leads to regression if one does not advance. Su Wangting has not used martial arts for many years, and his palm skills may not be as strong as before. And running a trading company, with trivial chores, will also hinder the improvement of martial arts. In the beginning, Wu Maocai was able to easily defeat Su Wangting, in addition to having the advantage of magic blessing, is also related to Su Wangting's delay in martial arts.
"Lei Shou, Lei Shou...I seem to have heard this name somewhere before." Changqing muttered.
"It's Lei Shou Mountain. It's not far from here to the northeast, just across the Yellow River." Cheng Sanwu raised his whip and pointed in the distance.
Changqing thought for a moment and suddenly said: "It turns out to be the ancient name of Zhongtiao Mountain. Shanyin is Puban, the capital of Shun, and Shanyang is where Uncle Boyi picked weeds and ate."
"What? What is all this?" Cheng Sanwu looked puzzled.
Changqing didn't bother to explain. He raised his eyes and looked ahead. A large continuous mountain running east-west stretched across the front. The mountain seemed to rise straight from the ground. There was no unnecessary gentle slope. It was quite abrupt. The large blue-gray steep cliffs towered into the sky, making people hold their breath. Look up.
Taihua Mountain in Xiyue is famous for its steepness. Although many plank roads and stairs have been built throughout the ages, it is still inconvenient to climb and sparsely populated. Therefore, Taihua Mountain has always been regarded by Taoist sages as a blessed place to live in seclusion and repair. Emperors of ancient and modern times set up altars and temples to worship There are also many actions.
It is said that during the Eastern Expedition of Taizu of this dynasty, the army passed by Xiyue Mountain and suddenly saw a golden-armored god general standing on the top of the mountain among the clouds, which attracted everyone to bow down. The officers and soldiers in the army thought that this was the manifestation of the god of Xiyue Mountain, and their morale was greatly boosted.
Later, after several fierce battles, the Central Plains was initially settled. When Taizu's troops returned to Chang'an and passed by Huashan again, he immediately issued an edict to build a shrine and consecrated the Huashan Mountain God as the True King of Protectors and Mighty Soldiers.
In this dynasty, martial arts were popular, and there were many scholars who were eager to make contributions on the battlefield. If they had the opportunity to go to the border military towns, they would come to the Xiyue Zhenjun Temple to worship before leaving and pray for military luck, so the incense lasted for a long time.
"You said this mountain god appeared, is it true or false?"
The group passed by the Zhenjun Temple, and Changqing offered incense respectfully. Afu and Qin Wangshu were not good at this, so they just wandered around. Cheng Sanwu looked at the broad head and big face on the altar, sitting there with angry expressions. He asked Changqing about the gilded statue of the True Monarch.
Changqing did not answer immediately. He bowed politely and said after walking out of the main hall: "Do you want to listen to the court's statement or mine?"
"Uh...is there any difference?" Cheng Sanwu scratched his head and saw Afu whispering to Qin Wangshu not far away.
"According to the imperial court, Grandfather Taizu obeyed the heavens and responded to people. He was aware of the mountains and rivers, and the natural mountain gods appeared to support and praise his achievements." Changqing said expressionlessly.
Cheng Sanwu had a strange expression: "This sounds like a lie to a child."
"Fu Rui appeared in response to the order. Whether it is true or not is difficult for outsiders to predict. It is more likely that it was a deliberate act." Chang Qing said in a calm tone.
"But it is said that many soldiers saw the mountain god appear. It can't be all made up, right?" Cheng Sanwu couldn't help but speculate.
"You also said that it is a 'legend'." Chang Qing sneered: "If it is not an illusion deliberately constructed by a magic expert, maybe it is the army passing through Taihua Mountain, and the atmosphere of military conquest has a subtle resonance with the Huashan Mountains.
"The energy of the earth rises into the sky, and Lieutenant General Gou Lianjun described it as turning into a golden-armored god general. If this is really the case, it would be like a mirage at best. It is purely the result of the natural movement of the energy of heaven and earth, and there is no divine destiny. And this , that’s what I say.”