The next morning we checked out early, and the four of us set off for Zhaowang Hotel.
More than ten years ago, Zhaowang Hotel was regarded as the most upscale hotel in Handan. Now this hotel is still there, but the business is not as good as before.
We took the city bus from the train station and it was not a long journey. It took about an hour to arrive at the place. I ran to the front desk to ask if there was a man named Liu living here. Could you please let me know and say that someone is looking for him.
The waitress at the front desk said sorry, but it is not convenient for us to proactively disclose guest information. You can ask the guest to call the front desk.
He shook his head and said that he had tried but could not contact the beggar Liu.
"Changchun Club." With the mentality of giving it a try, I looked at the waitress and said these three words carefully.
The waitress's expression changed, and she immediately changed her words and said, "Wait a moment, and I'll check it out for you."
At that time, computers were not widely available for registration at the front desk, so they were all handwritten in a thick black notebook, including ID number, name, and so on. There was no such thing as Internet monitoring.
The waitress flipped through the registration book for a few minutes and said: "Mr. Liu has an annual card with us, room 406, but Mr. Liu should not be here now. He goes to Nanminghe Park to exercise at 5:30 every morning, maybe at noon
If you come back, you may not come back for the whole day."
We thanked the front desk clerk and went to Nanminghe Park to look for Liu, the beggar.
I really found him this time, but he wasn't exercising in the park
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To the north of Nanminghe Park is the ticket office. There is a small fitness square next to the ticket office. The beggar Liu is sitting on a chair in the square. His clothes are shabby and ragged. There is an equally shabby enamel tea jar at his feet, which he is holding in his hands.
He was napping on his sleeves. There were fifty cents in his enamel jar, and even one dollar was very small.
The forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. Beggar Liu must be rich, and he is not an ordinary kind of rich. He can get an annual pass at the most upscale hotel in the area. I really can't figure out why he does this.
Later I asked the boss and he told me the reason.
In 1992, a movie was made called Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier. It was originally a comedy movie that was nonsensical and funny. Very few people knew the prototype character behind the story.
The beggar Liu Benming was named Liu Changsheng. His great ancestor had won the first place in the martial arts examination in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign, which was commonly known as the Wu Zhuangyuan. At that time, it was very difficult to obtain the Wu Zhuangyuan exam, which was definitely much more difficult than the current civil service examination.
At that time, the first test was a horse riding and archery test, the second test was a skill and courage test, and the third test was a literary test.
"Skills and courage" include drawing the bow, dancing the sword, and lifting weights.
The knives and stones that need to be danced are divided into three levels, and the bows are also divided into three levels, namely: eighty, one hundred and one hundred and twenty (kg). The assessment process has requirements, that is, "the bow must be fully opened three times."
, The sword must be pressed against the chest front and back, and the stone must be struck off a foot from the ground, and it must be level with the shoulder.”
Beggar Liu's great-great-grandfather ranked first in all three exams, and set a record of 320 kilograms in lifting stones.
After passing these three levels, you will basically be admitted to the martial arts examination. The literary examination is just for the purpose. It consists of two symbolic questions. But the beggar Liu’s great-grandfather was not only illiterate but also had a bad temper. He thought that the examiner was deliberately making things difficult for him.
He was so angry that he kicked the examiner on the head and gave him a concussion. Afterwards, his great ancestor was arrested and brought to prison for two years.
So if we check the Qing Dynasty archives online now, we will find that Wu Zhuangyuan is not the beggar Liu Gaozu. Instead, what we find is that in the 19th year of Qianlong's Jiawu Branch, 1754, the first Wujia was a man named Gu Lin. His great ancestor was originally the first,
Because he kicked someone and gave him a concussion, Gu Lin, who was second at the same time as him, became first.
The family that he caused a concussion was very powerful. In order to retaliate, they paid for their connections to break the legs of his great-great-grandfather in prison. Later, he became a lame when he was released. People who practiced martial arts in those days paid great attention to rowing.
On the other hand, his great ancestor was still good at martial arts after he was released from prison, but because of his disability, his life was not easy, and later he became a beggar.
Things took a turn for the better in the 24th year of Qianlong's reign, when Qianlong was 49 years old. His favorite thing to do was to go to the south of the Yangtze River to pick up beautiful women. In the twelfth lunar month of this year, Qianlong disguised himself and walked to Yuanze Mountain (in the northern part of Shaoxing) when he suddenly encountered a mountain.
The bandits were robbing, and the king of the country was about to be killed by the bandits. At this moment, a ragged middle-aged beggar suddenly emerged from the grass on the roadside. Although this beggar was lame on one leg, he was very skilled in martial arts and could be eliminated in three strokes.
The second one repelled the bandits and saved Qianlong.
Qianlong was very grateful to this man afterwards. Qianlong said: "You have done a great job in rescuing me. Just tell me what kind of reward you want."
Qianlong originally thought that he would ask for some ten thousand taels of gold, or a high-ranking official. Unexpectedly, the beggar said: "Long live my life, I want a golden rice bowl to use when begging for food."
Qianlong laughed loudly after hearing this, and was rewarded with a rice bowl made of pure gold. With this gold rice bowl, he was asked to beg for food. No one from the princes to the local gentry would refuse to give him food.
At the same time, his great ancestor felt lucky to see the real dragon. In his later years, he passed down a family motto that the descendants of his Liu family would only be beggars in the future.
After learning about his origin from the leader, I couldn't help but sigh, no wonder a beggar can be so skilled in martial arts and still have a lot of money.
It turned out that he was from a famous family and was given a golden bowl by the emperor, making him the king among beggars.
He pushed his head in the wheelchair by himself and coughed twice.
The beggar Liu squinted his eyes and saw that it was us, and he immediately woke up.
"It's Wang Xiansheng, I was shocked. You guys came faster than I thought." After saying that, he looked at Douyazai and Zhao Xuanxuan and asked who the two kids were.
The leader said: "Master Liu, don't be offended, these two are new members of our team."
"Oh?" Beggar Liu looked at Dou Sprouts and said, "Where are the girl and the two brothers?"
With a gloomy look on his face, he said: "This is why we came to see you, Mr. Liu. After all, I am in a wheelchair because of the revenge of the Changchun Society. The whereabouts of Xiaohong and Sun Da are unknown now."
The beggar Liu put away the small enamel jar he used to beg for money and said with a gloomy face: "It seems that Xiao Tuantou is not dead. Those people have escaped. The coastal area is the weakest point of the Changchun Society. You will be followed wherever you go."
Well, it seems things are more difficult than I expected."
After a moment of pause, the beggar Liu stretched out his hand and said: "Xian Sheng, as an old friend, I will give you two unilateral suggestions regarding your matter."
"First, I'll find someone to take the lead for you and ask what the Changchun Society wants from you. Personally, I'm not afraid of the Changchun Society, and they don't dare to do anything to me. You can stay in Handan, and it's totally fine for me to protect you for the time being.
, but if you want to solve this matter from the root, in the final analysis, you still have to rely on your team. The role I can provide can only be regarded as a middleman at best. "
"Second, the road is dark, and you choose to fight to the death with the Changchun Society. The Changchun Society is no longer the Changchun Society fifty years ago. Most of the people who left in 1988 are still alive. You join them to keep warm.
It’s better than fighting alone.”
After hearing what beggar Liu said, he looked at me and nodded.
I looked at the beggar Liu and bowed and said: "Back to Mr. Liu, Xiao Tuantou is a sinister person and has repeatedly persecuted our team. After Sister Hong's incident, there is no possibility of reconciliation between us and the Changchun Society."
"So, we choose the second path."
"I, Xiang Yunfeng, am young and have no power, but our industry is the most profitable. By joining that group of people, we can provide financial support and seek our own safety."
"Haha," beggar Liu laughed and said, "Okay, you are Timely Rain Song Jiang. What that group of people lack most now is money, so I promised to introduce it to you."
At this time, he raised his head and tried to ask: "Mr. Liu, I guess among the people you mentioned who left in 1988, there was someone with the surname Zhao?"
The beggar Liu nodded and said: "Yes, Ms. Zhao Qingwan, the 31st grandson of Wu Guanhou Zhao Kan, is here."
Seeing the excited expression on the leader's face, beggar Liu waved his hands and said: "In addition to the descendants of Wu Guanhou, there are many other people. As long as this group of people let me know, I will protect you."
"Even those old immortals in the Changchun Society will never dare to touch you."