The sky was overcast, and the rain finally stopped. Yun Zheng had a lot of things today, half a bag of copper coins, three buckets of rice, and a pot of pig water. He returned home with a full load. The shoulder pole was heavy on his shoulders, which made Yun Zheng full of achievements.
feel.
I have never seen what silver ingots look like, and now I have three ingots in my sleeves. It would be a lot troublesome to use this thing if there is no official title. Only officials use this thing. The so-called official silver refers to this thing.
Ordinary people are not qualified to use it. If they want to use it, they can only go to the money store to exchange it for copper coins, otherwise they will be locked up as big thieves by the merchants.
Yun Zheng resisted the desire to take a peek and hurried home with his burden. When he passed the big blue stone, he saw a small mark there. Yes, tomorrow's business was settled.
The straw sandals made strange noises when stepping in the mud. Fine mud came up from between the toes and covered the feet with mud. It was impossible to shake them off. After a while, the two feet felt like they were wearing a pair of mud.
boots.
Xanthium and the others could not return home, so they had to spend the night in a rotten thatched hut. All Yun Zheng could do was help him dry the blanket every day, so that it would keep him warm when he slept.
The village was deserted, but the small building of the Yun family was very lively. The old patriarch had led some old people in the village to burn the fire pit. Yun Er sat in the arms of the old patriarch and listened to them talk about some past events.
, as for Yun San, he had been lying on the stairs for a long time, eagerly waiting for Yun Da to come back, because he would have food only when Yun Da came back.
No one asked Yun Zheng where the rice he was carrying came from. As long as a man can bring the rice home, he is a good man. This is the consensus in the village.
With the help of an old man, Yun Zheng hung the cauldron on the fire pit and took out a wine gourd from the basket. This was real wine, good wine that had passed through a sieve, not too much, but very precious.
Country people are not that particular. Yun Zheng warmed the wine in hot water, and then presented the wine syrup in a large pottery basin to the old patriarch. The old patriarch couldn't help but laugh a lot louder, and he raised his neck and took a sip.
Then he handed it to the old man next to him and swung it in a circle. Yun Zheng picked it up and made a gesture. He really couldn't put down his mouth with so many pottery basins that his mouth had touched.
The meat pot was boiled and the brown rice was cooked. Yun Sanzhi tried to move forward with his slanted ears, but was kicked away mercilessly by an old man. Yun Zheng took out the cooked pig lungs from the basket and cut them open with a knife.
, put it in a pottery pot with a large piece missing and gave it to Yun San. Yun San chewed it hungrily and made a low purring sound from his throat to protect the food.
"This kid is just trashing good things. How can he feed the dog so much good meat?" An old man held half of an intestine in his mouth and a section on his chopsticks. He still had time to watch Yun Zheng feed the dog.
"You old man is joking, and I can't bear to let him go, but we are the only three people in the family. I call him Yun San and raise him like a younger brother. He is also considered a member of the family."
Yun Zheng found a piece of belly in Yun Er's small bowl and put it in his arms, letting him grab it and eat it. He also told him: "Eat less. If you eat too much, you will be in trouble."
Yun Er immediately obeyed his kindness, ate a little, and poured the rest of the small bowl into the old patriarch's big bowl. The old patriarch immediately hugged Yun Er, who was desperately resisting, and gave him a big kiss.
After they had finished drinking and eating, everyone dispersed. The old patriarch looked at the bottom of the pot where there was no soup left and said with a bitter smile: "They are all people who have never seen the world. They are more affectionate when they see meat than when they see their own mother and father. Children
Ah, you are an insightful child. I went to see Xanthium at the construction site, and he told me that only the people you are responsible for on the construction site can still have full stomachs and chicken soup to drink. Do you know that you are responsible for it?
Most of these people are people from our village, and nothing has happened to them so far. They are all well taken care of.
Grandpa doesn’t ask you where the extra grain comes from or why you still have it to take home. He only knows that you didn’t deduct the laborers’ rations or steal them. This is enough. This is how a man’s family makes money.
These are all secrets that are not told. Grandpa knows this taboo. I just ask you if you have forgotten to study?"
The old patriarch's eyes became sharp when he said this. In his opinion, as long as Yun Zheng dealt with the errands every day, he needed to continue to study. He asked Xanthium and did not find Yun Zheng studying on the construction site, thinking that he had already
Forgot your most important task.
Yun Zheng took out the books given by the patriarch, put them in front of the patriarch and said, "Junior has finished reading these books." After that, he took out a pile of paper from the side and pushed it in front of the patriarch and said: "
This is a book I wrote down silently. The younger generation compared it and found nine omissions, which have now been filled in. In this way, our family has two sets of books. These books are fine for the county examination, but if you want to pass the government examination
, it is impossible to take the college examination. Nine Classics, Five Classics, Kaiyuan Rites, Three Histories, Three Rites, these books are not something that our village can afford. What's more, when taking the exam, you need to "jointly guarantee it with five sons."
Grandpa Patriarch, these things are all big troubles. The number of our clan is too small, and I am the only one taking the boy exam. Not to mention where can you find the scholar to recommend the juniors to take the exam?"
Yun Zheng's series of words made the clan leader speechless. Just now, he was happy that Yun Zheng had finished reading his book. When he heard about the tedious examination process, he suddenly fell from the clouds into the abyss.
"Grandpa Patriarch, these things are not difficult to say. This junior made a bet with Liu Dutou. He set the questions and I answered them. But he lost. So he found guarantees for scholars and joint examinations for boys. All these things were decided by him.
Come and do it. As for the books, they are available in the county school. I heard that there are only three students in our county, so you need to be a child student before you can enter. I think there is no problem."
After hearing what Yun Zheng said, the old patriarch took a long breath and complained to Yun Zheng: "You brat, can't you finish what you said in one breath? Look at how sweaty I am."
The old man looked at Yun Zheng, and the more he looked at him, the more he liked him. He couldn't help but patted Yun Zheng's forehead affectionately, and said proudly: "This is the first child born in our village." After that, he looked at Yun Zheng and sat in his arms.
Yun Er happily patted his forehead again and said: "This is the second one. Oh my God, you must let me live. Seeing these two children admitted to the meritocracy, if you talk about it while burning paper, I will be panicked.
Who are you showing off to?"
The old man talked nonchalantly for a long time, then returned home with his books in his arms, leaving behind those that Yun Zheng had written silently. He insisted that Yun Er still needed these books.
The old man went out, and Yun Da and Yun Er quickly started to clean up the mess. They scalded the bowls and chopsticks with boiling water. Yun Er grabbed Yun Da's clothes and asked for something delicious. They had hinted just now that they were not allowed to eat those pig intestines.
, it means that Yunda still has better things for himself.
Yun Zheng found a piece of newly cut bamboo, cut it into two pieces, poured out the bamboo drain inside the bamboo knot, filled it with polished rice, took out a cooked pig heart from the bamboo basket, and mixed it with a little vegetable oil.
, also stuff it into a bamboo tube, tie the bamboo tube with a straw rope, and throw it into a pot of boiling water to cook.
Finally, he broke off a piece of pig liver and handed it to Yun Er and said, "I'll keep the liver for you. If you're hungry, just break off a piece and eat it as a steamed bun."