Upon hearing the cry, Li Xu immediately relented. He took off his belt from his waist, made a shoulder bag and put the little wolf cub in it. Then he put away his short knife, stepped forward and grabbed the wolf's legs, and dragged it out of the hole step by step.
.
With the blood trail as a guide, Li Xu finally didn't get lost. He was careful, fearing that the wild wolf's fur would be damaged and unable to be sold at a good price, so he made a sledge from kudzu and worked as a tracker for the wolf. Dragging the sledge, he walked along the
After walking on the blood trail for a long time, I finally found the body of the wild roe deer that I had hidden. I merged the two sledges into one, took three steps and then stopped, and then rolled and crawled down the mountain.
With such a big burden, it became increasingly difficult to go down the mountain. When encountering a steep place, Li Xu had to first use kudzu vines to slide the prey down one by one, then fall down the tree and climb a plow, and finally climbed down by himself. After going down the slope, he had to climb down again.
We had to load the prey into the car again and pull it forward again. After many struggles and I don't know how long it took, I could faintly see the lights of the village.
It was completely dark now. Uncle Zhong, the housekeeper, held up an angry lantern and was looking around anxiously. When he saw Li Xu's figure, he ran forward in panic and complained loudly: "Oh, my little ancestor,
Where did you run away? Master, my wife is impatiently waiting. If we don’t see you again, we will definitely gather the clan members and go up the mountain to look for you!"
"I killed two big beasts and couldn't lift them, so I went down the mountain late!" Li Xu smiled apologetically and explained in a low voice. He pointed at the roe deer and wild wolf on the sledge, feeling a sense of pride in his heart.
"You, you, let me see if the master is going to use family violence tonight, who will intercede for you!" When the old housekeeper Li Zhong saw the huge wild wolf, he was not happy and got angry. He pointed at Li Xu and cursed. "You are reading in vain.
After studying for so many years, you don’t even understand why you can’t take risks when your parents are in the house?! You and the wild wolves are fighting for their lives. If something goes wrong, who will support this family in the future?! Who will take care of your parents in old age?! Xiao
You are so heartless, let’s see how I will skin you tonight!”
"Uncle Zhong, Uncle Zhong, haven't I come back well? Besides, it's not dangerous to kill a wolf. Didn't the heroes of our ancestors still draw their bows and shoot tigers?" Li Xu hugged Uncle Zhong's arm and begged for mercy.
.
Since Li Guang, the flying general of the Han Dynasty, every clan member has been proud of the deeds of their ancestors. The heroic deeds of their ancestors were indeed convincing. Old Li Zhong stopped his scolding and put the lantern in Li Xu's hand.
He stopped, leaned over and pulled up the kudzu, and shouted angrily: "Take it, head forward to illuminate it. When I see your mother, tell me that you will be back before dark. I meet my classmates at the foot of the mountain and show off my harvest to them.
That’s why I got home late!”
"Yes, Uncle Zhong!" Li Xu happily agreed. He reached out and grabbed the other corner of the sledge, and together with the housekeeper, walked boldly toward the door of his house.
Mrs. Li Zhang was really happy to see her son come back safely and with two big prey. Before Li Mao could ask for details, she had already put a hot towel on her son's face and wiped the blood and dirt from Li Xu's face.
At the same time, he praised: "That is to say, my son is very capable. He can already shoot wolves with arrows at the age of fourteen. My ancestors shot tigers in the middle of the night..."
"Who just said that we need to take action?!" Lao Li Mao said dissatisfiedly, "You still praise him for not coming back after the time limit? If he goes to fool around with street scoundrels, you have to keep him in check!"
"Didn't the child meet a classmate and be envied by others? Why are you so angry? It's not like he was really playing in the mountains and refused to go home. Look at this, he will be familiar with someone tomorrow.
, I just made him a cloak! The winter wind is cold..." Mrs. Li Zhang rolled her eyes at her husband, smiled and defended her son. She put the towel into Li Xu's hand and said lovingly: "Here, wipe your face yourself.
It's clean and you wash your hands with this water. Your father is waiting for you to have a few drinks with him!"
Seeing that his wife doted on his son so much, Li Mao couldn't fight one against two. The teaching work could no longer go on, so he had to arrange for the housekeeper, Uncle Zhong, to drag down the two beasts and deal with them overnight. Then he patted the bench next to him and whispered
He said, "For the sake of your mother's happiness, I won't punish you today. Come sit down and eat. The meat soup has been hot several times!"
"Come right away, mom and dad will eat first. I shot a she-wolf today and took out the little one too!" Li Xu agreed, and pulled out a fluffy little wolf like a magic trick from his chest.
Wolf cub.
"Throw it out quickly, it is the disaster of ruining the family!" Old Li Mao immediately changed his face, jumped up and ordered loudly. "We have several livestock in our family, once..."
"I have shot the she-wolf! Dad!" Li Xu prayed in a long voice. His family's tutoring was not very strict to begin with. After his eldest brother died early, his parents took great care of him, so he will be fourteen soon.
Even though he is 3 years old, he still retains a bit of childishness in front of his parents.
"Then you can't feed it. A wolf is not a dog. You can't tell it when you are a child. When you grow up, you will understand the difference between yourself and a dog. You will either bite him or leave alone!" Li Mao heard his son say that the female wolf was dead and the livestock in the family
Not being threatened, I calmed down from the shock. I thought about it and explained in a low voice.
"Why don't you raise it like a dog? If it doesn't want to stay when it grows up, I will let it go to the mountains!" Li Xu smiled and said stubbornly.
Seeing their son's eager eyes, Li Mao and his wife felt weak for no reason, thinking about the internal information they had learned from the government's errand boy Zhao Erge during the day, and expressed compromises one after another.
"If you want to keep it, just keep it. Anyway, this thing grows against the season, and no one can ever feed it!" Lao Li Mao babbled while pouring himself a drink.
Most wild beasts are conceived in spring and give birth in early summer. The cubs take advantage of the abundant food in summer and autumn to grow so that when winter comes, they can grow enough to survive the cold and hunger of winter. And Li Xu
The little wolf cub that was hunted was obviously just born before it was a month old, and the chance of survival was less than 10%. So even if Li Mao didn't like it in his heart, he didn't have to be serious with his son over a wolf cub that was impossible to raise.
"Remember not to pamper it too much. Once you find it showing its wild nature, either kill it or drive it away. Don't let it bite you back!" Mrs. Li Zhang picked up the bowl and filled a bowl full of meat soup for her son.
"Drink a bowl of soup first, and then touch the wine. Your uncle sent you a lot of wine, and you can't finish it in half a month!"
"Thank you, dad, thank you, mom!" Li Xu happily agreed, not even hearing what the old couple was chatting about. He ran out of the door like flying, put the wolf cub under his bed, rushed into the kitchen, and cooked
I gave him a bowl of rice soup, and then he happily ran back to eat with his parents.
Liangzi was also so out of control back then, but unfortunately... Mrs. Li Zhang saw tears in the corners of her eyes again when she looked at her son who was busy going back and forth. During the day, her husband rushed to the city to inquire about the news, and spent more than twenty dollars to buy it.
The government errand boy Zhao Ergouzhiguo. According to the surname Zhao, the emperor is planning to personally conquer Korea. At the moment, officials in the four border counties of Shanggu, Zhuojun, Yuyang, and Lulong (Beiping) are already in a panic.
.These places are close to the border, and soldiers can adapt to the climate of Liaodong, so they are also key areas for drawing troops.
"Brother Damu, you have to make preparations early!" At ten o'clock in the afternoon, Zhao Erguan, who had received Li Mao's benefits, mysteriously revealed, "It is said that the emperor has sent word that all the good sons of the border counties will enlist in the army. No matter how many brothers are in the family,
From forty to fourteen..."
"Xu Zi is the only child left in my family. He is not even fourteen yet, and I am over forty!" Li Mao still remembers the embarrassment he felt when he lied. He stuffed the last few dollars in his pocket into Zhao Shuoshu, hoping that
The other party will then be able to show off.
"The war won't start right away, my brother Damu!" The satisfied Zhao Erguan patted Li Mao on the shoulder and enlightened him earnestly, "I said above that we should prepare food, clothing and armor this year, and draw ding after the spring plowing next year.
, and then gather and train, and actually send out troops, it will probably be in the spring of the year after next. To be honest, our friendship is a friendship, brother, I really can’t guarantee that I can still take care of you for three years. If there is a solid-eyed county guard on top,
For those of us who work as errands, we can’t agree to what others say!”
Thinking of Zhao Erguan's kind reminder, the wine in Li Mao's mouth began to taste bitter. The Sui Dynasty had regulations that prohibited the recruitment of old and weak people into the army, and also prohibited the recruitment of only sons in the family. But those were all stipulated by the old emperor, saying
To put it bluntly, when the old emperor was alive, the new emperor did not take his rules seriously, not to mention that the old emperor has been dead for so many years!
No matter how bitter or reluctant you are, some things still have to be done. You can't escape from it. The more you escape, the more panic you will have when things happen. Li Mao sighed, put down his wine glass gently, and looked at the man who was eating.
The son said: "At the beginning of next month, there will be a caravan going outside the Great Wall. The leader is an old acquaintance of mine named Sun..."
"Yeah, yeah!" Li Xu agreed absentmindedly, holding a large bowl of mutton soup in one hand and grabbing half of the biscuits with the other hand. He was probably very hungry after playing outside all day and ate so much.
It was as smooth as the wind and the remaining clouds. Mrs. Li Zhang felt sorry for her son and kept saying gentle words beside her: "Slow down, slow down, don't choke, there is a lot in the pot!"
"The leader is Sun Anzu, an old acquaintance of mine. I think you are getting older and it's time to go out and see the market!" Li Mao said cruelly, lowering his head and loudly.
"Okay, I haven't seen what a big caravan looks like!" Li Xu put down the bowl and replied cheerfully. Suddenly, he understood what his father meant, widened his eyes, and murmured: "Dad, you, you
says…….!"
"Dad is getting older, and I want you to run across the Great Wall for me!" Li Mao did not dare to look into his son's eyes, and repeated what he meant in as calm a tone as possible.
"I, my policy theory is the best in the school. I, I can write the entire Analects silently! I..." Half of the biscuits in Li Xu's hand fell to the ground. At this time yesterday, his father was still discussing with himself whether to take the exam or not.
Once upon a time, he was admitted as a Jinshi, but today, he has become a businessman on his behalf.
That was not his dream! In Li Xu's dreams, he had been admitted to the imperial examination and stood in the court, and he had also held a horse and dominated the battlefield. The most common dream was to wear an official uniform and go to the county school in Shanggu County.
Buy a big house nearby, bring your parents in, have something to eat and drink, and have Zhao Er in charge, Old Baldy Yang and other figures in the scene obey you. In the dreams of all teenagers,
The only thing I didn't do was become a businessman like my father. Every year, I traveled across the Central Plains outside the Great Wall, exposed to the sun and rain, and couldn't make a lot of money. I also had to be bullied by government agents, clan elders, and local ruffians.
Moreover, once he joined the Shang Dynasty, according to the practice of the Sui Dynasty, he automatically gave up his status as a son of a good family and could never take part in the imperial examination again. (To be continued)