Jing is a 15-year-old young boy, half a head shorter than Heifu. His nose is covered with freckles and his cheeks are full of freckles. He has a pair of big eyes. At this moment, he is raising his eyebrows and looking excitedly at his first weapon.
.
This is a sword about nine inches long, made of bronze, with a ring-shaped handle. I held it in my hand and slashed it across the hanging roots of the big banyan tree, and the thin roots and branches broke in response.
He couldn't help but praise: "Brother Zhong, this sword is really sharp! How much did it cost?"
"It's only more than a hundred dollars."
Hei Fu was holding two grass carp bought at the rural market in his left hand, and a heavy sack in his right hand. He spoke lightly, but stuck out his tongue in surprise: "If you change it to rice, it will be enough for me to eat for more than a month."
In this era, although iron tools were widely used in agricultural and handicraft industries, iron weapons were still immature. Especially in the Qin State, bronze weapons were preferred because as military standard weapons, not only their performance but also their performance must be taken into consideration.
In terms of cost, there are a large number of copper mines in the Jianghan area. It is much more cost-effective to use the nearly perfect casting process to manufacture bronze weapons in large batches than to slowly temper iron weapons.
Even so, young boys with no income in the countryside wanted a bronze dagger but couldn't get it. After being shocked by the weapon, they kept pulling it out of the scabbard and couldn't put it down. They even said proudly: "Let's see who does it in the future."
If you still dare to mess with me! I will give him a sword!"
"What nonsense!"
Heifu frowned and began to regret buying the sword. His younger brother had an impatient personality and would often argue with others if he disagreed. Sooner or later, he would cause trouble, so he scolded:
"I bought you a sword because you are already 15 years old and will be an adult soon. Swordsmen and husbands are armed, so they can be used for self-defense. They can be used to ward off thieves and protect the home, but they should not be used to fight bravely. You want
You know, the law comes first. If two people fight, the government will send the person fighting to hard labor. As for biting off other people's noses, tearing ears, breaking fingers, etc., they will be punished with torture. If a sword is used, the punishment will be even more serious.
."
He screamed in surprise and put away his sword obediently.
But after a while, after passing by two little village girls who were pointing and whispering to them, he said happily: "Brother Zhong, I don't know, but now all the young people in the village obey me, because I am Brother Zhong's brother, so
They gathered around and asked me to tell them about your story of how you captured three thieves and took the sword with your bare hands. The two neighbor’s daughters just now were also stunned when they heard this. They all said that you are not like this on weekdays. Look at the way they look at you.
...Hehehehe."
In fact, when he first heard about the rumors about Heifu, his jaw almost dropped. In the past ten years, Brother Zhong gave him the impression that he didn't talk much and was taciturn. Although he had a lot of strength, he was far from a "warrior."
"Not even close.
Unexpectedly, Brother Zhong became famous throughout the county just after he went out to serve for the first time. He was surprised at first, but later became bright and took the initiative to brag.
"Brother Zhong, when will you teach me your ability to catch thieves?"
He was so surprised that he couldn't wait for him. He always felt that Brother Zhong must have secretly learned martial arts from somewhere.
"talk about it later."
Hei Fu ignored him and kept saying hello to the folks in Li Zhong.
When he left here to serve in the army more than a month ago, who was willing to ask him more? But now, no matter men, women, old or young, whenever they meet on the road, they have to stop to say hello and be affectionate. Even the arrogant Li Li in the past
When Tian Dian and Wu Lao met him, they would warmly invite him to their homes...
Heifu had to respond one by one. His mother once told him that in life in the village, the most important thing is the harmony between neighbors. Don't let the neighbors think you are arrogant and look down on others. The people in the village are very simple, but they are also chickens.
In the intestines, the smaller the place, the more so.
His home was at the end of the sunset, so Heifu walked through the doors of forty or fifty houses, said hello thirty or forty times, declined countless real or fake invitations, and finally moved to his own house.
When I came here, Heifu felt even stronger that he was home.
Heifu's house is a standard public house. It is larger than an ordinary soldier's house, but not as good as Li Zheng. Tian Dian's house is far away, but the open space outside the house is not wasted. There are about twenty mulberry trees planted.
The mulberry leaves have long fallen off, leaving only bare branches.
In the spring, these mulberry trees were their mother's favorite. At that time, the old man and his daughter-in-law would take turns getting up at night to add mulberry leaves to the wildly growing silkworms. So throughout the night, the house was full of silkworms eating the mulberry leaves.
The rustling sound was like gentle wind and drizzle... The mother always refused to let her three sons do this work, because she thought they were clumsy and could not serve the spring silkworms well. In fact, Hei Fu knew that it was because he felt sorry for them.
A five-acre house with mulberry trees, and a fifty-year-old can be clothed with silk... Unfortunately, Mencius was too ideal after all. The poor were reluctant to wear raw silk and woven silk cloth themselves, and would rather sell it in the market, or even directly use it as food.
The money was used in exchange for more practical farm tools and salt. In Heifu's memory, his mother was also in her fifties. She had woven countless pieces of cloth in her life, but she had never worn silk.
In the summer, this small piece of mulberry tree became the domain of my brother Jing and the pair of nephews and nieces. He would take the two little kids around three or four times a day and pick up all the mulberries on the branches and the ground.
, Don’t let the turtle doves and their neighbors take it easy. The red and purple berries are sweet and sour, and are a rare snack for the local people. If there is a famine, they can even be the hope of the whole family to satisfy their hunger.
I walked around the bare mulberry tree and came to the outside of the courtyard wall, only to see that the wall was six or seven feet high. The yellow mud with straw was exposed, and there was no plaster on the wall. The wooden door was low and had not been renovated in I don't know how many years. It was windy.
Due to the blowing and rain, many small cracks were cracked, and most of the paint was lost, so it was black and white, forming a big painted face, which looked very unseemly.
"Didn't I ask my uncle to repair the courtyard walls and doors when he comes back with the money?"
Heifu frowned again.
Jingze said nonchalantly: "Brother Zhong, it's not like you don't know what kind of person my uncle is. He doesn't want to spend a cent of money that he doesn't think he needs to spend. All the money you asked him to bring back was left with his mother. He said he wanted to
I’ll build you a new house, but I’m afraid the money won’t be enough, so I won’t dare to spend it on repairing the old house.”
Heifu didn't think that much. If things went well, he would go to Huyang Pavilion, dozens of miles away, to take up his post. He wouldn't come back for ten days and a half, and it would make no difference whether the new house was built or not.
At this time, Jing was already knocking on the door and shouting: "Mother, brother-in-law, brother Zhong, I have brought him back!"
Soon, the door opened, and Zhong walked out with a smile on his face, but he scolded and exclaimed: "I asked you to pick up someone, but you were empty-handed all the way. What are you talking about? How old you are, how can you still be so ignorant?"
After saying that, he took half of the things from Hei Fu's hand. When he was surprised, he just stuck out his tongue, jumped into the door first, and shouted: "Mother, Mrs. Qiu, Brother Zhong is back and bought fish. Today
Just eat something good..."
Hei Fu shook his head helplessly. This third brother has been spoiled since he was a child and does not know how difficult the world is.
His family's house was very similar to that of rural families of later generations, with one house and two houses, divided into front and back yards.
Pushing the door and entering the front yard, the first thing you see is a kennel. A big yellow dog smelled a familiar scent and was barking for a long time. At this moment, it rushed over in one stride, stuck out its tongue, and walked around Heifu.
Zhong said: "This yellow dog likes to be close to you. If you are not here for a few months, it will be listless and will not move."
"That's nature. I was the one who brought it back."
Heifu also smiled and touched the yellow hair on the back of its neck. The big yellow dog narrowed its eyes with great enjoyment and kept wagging its tail.
Although people these days eat dog meat, guard dogs at home should never be eaten. As the saying goes, "If there were no dogs in the past, then he would be mediocre." In other words, if you keep one in your front yard,
If they cannot afford a dog or raise a pig in the backyard, it means that the family is so poor that they can only work as servants.
The pig pen in the backyard has been vacant for a long time, but the big yellow dog in the front yard has been raised for almost five years. It has been playing with the Heifu brothers since they were young. They have worked hard to look after the family for many years and can be considered a member of the family.
"Father Zhong!"
While he was talking, there were two clear children's sounds in the courtyard, and a pair of young children rushed over.
The one running in front was a boy with double hair and maiden hair. He was about 6 years old. He was barefoot and dirty. Fortunately, he finally put on a new pair of shorts, so he no longer had to bare his buttocks.
The person running behind was a little girl with hair in front of her eyebrows and pigtails at the back. She was less than 5 years old. She was wearing clothes that were obviously too big. She was stumbling as she ran. When she saw that her brother in front of her didn't wait for him at all, she almost burst into tears.
.
These are Zhong's children and Hei Fu's nephews and nieces, named "Yang" and "Yue".
They ran over one after another, and the boy was the first to bump into Heifu's left leg, raising his head and laughing proudly. The girl came behind, but was not to be outdone, and hugged Heifu's right leg with her slender little arms.