The four postmen were busy helping everyone move fodder, food, and food, so they were the last to start the fire themselves. By the time they started the fire, the aroma of rice was already wafting around.
At this time, Zheng Anping saw Lord Xinling, General Jin Bi, and Postmaster Masan walking towards his fire. He quickly knelt down, and the other postmen also knelt down and bowed to Lord Xinling. Lord Xinling knelt down in front of the fire, and Jin Bi knelt beside him. The postman was at a loss as to where he should kneel.
The so-called sitting back then actually meant kneeling today. The fundamental reason is that Chinese people were not used to wearing trousers at that time. They had two bare legs under their robes. In winter, they would only need thick thermal insulation socks. If they were not kneeling, their beauty would be revealed in any other sitting position.
As if he didn't notice the postman's embarrassment, Lord Xinling took out a small bag from his arms, bowed slightly and said, "Sorry to excuse you for borrowing your land. I have some salt here, let's enjoy it together." He handed the salt to him. The post official signaled him to add salt to the cauldron.
At that time, salt was an absolute luxury. As the saying goes: Use all the money in the world and eat all the salt in the world. What I'm saying is that salt, like money, can never be annoying in excess. The person who said this never imagined that one day salt would become a prohibitive "poison". I hope money will also have this day.
Wei's original homeland in Hexi was one of the main producing areas of salt, but it was ceded to Qin more than ten years ago. Over the years, salt has become increasingly expensive and often out of stock. So when Lord Xinling talked about salt, Zheng Anping and his group's eyes lit up.
The post official took the bag of salt tremblingly, opened it carefully, pinched out a little with his fingers, and sprinkled it into the cauldron. Mr. Xinling smiled and said: "More..., more..., more..., add, add, add, oh, that's right!" Seeing that a pack of salt was almost finished, Mr. Xinling let go The postman stopped. He took the few remaining salt packets and put them in his arms.
When the rice was cooked and the soup was ready, Lord Xinling signaled to the post officials to share the soup. A postman served the steamed corn rice and placed it in front of Lord Xinling. Lord Xinling called everyone to sit around, and the postman gave each person a bowl of soup. Lord Xinling took the soup, stood up, picked up a small plate, pulled out his dagger, cut a handful of cornmeal into the plate, and walked towards his driver. It wasn't until everyone got their own soup from the post official and sat down in front of the rice bowl that Lord Xinling came back, took a bowl of soup from the post official, and returned to his original position. The post official finally took his own soup and didn't know where to sit. Lord Xinling pointed to his side: "Please offer wine!" The post official sat down next to Lord Xinling with a look of emotion on his face, his face shining.
Lord Xinling stretched out his hand to take out a handful of rice from the gui, sprinkled it beside the gui, and made a sacrifice to heaven and earth. Then he picked out another handful, put it elegantly into his mouth, and chewed it slowly. He picked up the soup and took a sip.
Jin Bi picked up the rice for the second time, offered sacrifices to heaven, took a sip of the soup into his mouth.
The third one should be Postmaster Masan's turn, but Masan didn't dare to stretch out his hand, looked at the ground, and didn't dare to breathe.
Lord Xinling looked at Jin Bi and said, "General, let's go to other places. Everyone eats first." He stood up, turned around and left. Jin Bi also stood up and followed behind.
Seeing them leaving, Ma San came over with a sigh, turned around and said to everyone: "Eat, eat, eat quickly!" He grabbed a large handful of rice, kneaded it into a ball with both hands, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed hard. The other postmen also made a sound of "ouch" and stretched out their hands to grab a lot of food, and the sound of slurping soup could also be heard.
After they devoured the food, the bottom of the gui began to show, and Lord Xinling and Jin Bi also returned. They seemed to be talking for a long time on the road. Lord Xinling took out a piece of bronze talisman from his arms and handed it to Jin Bi. Jin Bi took the bronze talisman with both hands and put it in his arms.
They approached the fire where the postman was and knelt down again. Lord Xinling looked at these postmen with a smile: "I still have to work hard for you all! Please follow General Jin to go first."
Jin Bi immediately issued the command: "Stand up and unify the bunch!"
The postmen immediately stood up, turned around and walked into the post station, washed their hands and faces, straightened their clothes, belts, and crowns, drew water, and filled the water gourds.
By the time they packed up everything and returned to the site, the soldiers had almost finished their meals and were sitting around the fire with their heads down to rest. Lord Xinling and Jin Bi were standing at the door. Jin Bi was holding some backpacks in his hands. They should be filled with steamed corns, and there was a faint aroma wafting out of them.
When the postmen came out, Jin Bi and Lord Xinling bowed to each other and said goodbye. Jin Bi handed each of the postmen a rucksack in his hand, took the dry food, and walked into the dark with the five postmen.
There are three military vehicles parked here, with three drivers sitting in the vehicles. Jin Bi whispered: "Ma San and I are in one car, the one on your left, the one on your right, get in the car!"
"You can't light torches. Keep your ears and eyes alert!" He turned around and added.
Six people got into three cars, and the three cars drove nine people into the thick dark night.
The cart drove up the post road and passed through a stone bridge over the river. This is the end of the post road. After crossing the bridge, the post road disappears into the wild wilderness.
After crossing the bridge, the three cars formed a team. Jin Bi's car was in the middle and came forward, and the other two cars followed ten feet away on the left and right. There are paths in front of the car that have been trampled by previous people, guiding people in the direction.
Zheng Anping looked around with wide eyes. The half moon is waning in the sky, and under the dim light, the surroundings are endless. He listened carefully again, and there seemed to be no sound except the breeze.
As the chariot went faster and faster, he heard only the creaking of wheels, the tapping of horse hooves, and the whistling of the wind. Nothing else could be heard.
The night was getting darker and darker, and Zheng Anping found that it was difficult to see clearly the paths trampled in the grass. He didn't know how the driver knew the direction: "Is it really the old horse that knows the way?" he asked in his mind.
At the turn of autumn and winter, the night wind is quite cold. The car was driving through the grass, bumping and shaking violently. Zheng Anping stood in the car, holding on to the chair with both hands, trying to maintain his balance. He felt very uncomfortable; he was constantly being bumped up; his hands were holding the chair too tightly, and his arms were sore. stand up. He secretly glanced at the postman next to him, whose expression seemed worse than his. There is only the driver, who pulls the reins now and flicks the whip, with nothing to support him. He relies entirely on his two legs to maintain balance, but he seems completely unaffected by the bumps. This made Zheng Anping feel admired.
He also learned horse-trading and archery when he was a boy, which is one of the "Six Arts of a Gentleman" and is a required course for adulthood. But after leaving school, I never had the chance to use it again. Later, he went to Daliang and joined the military service. He specialized in foot combat and was basically useless for the imperial army. He did not use a bow for shooting, but a crossbow. As for reading rituals and music, I simply don’t know where to put them! But after all the training, I can still tell a little bit about my skills.
He looked forward again and vaguely noticed that Jin Bi seemed to be turning around and looking around. He also looked back and saw that the firelight on the inn site was faintly visible, but he found nothing else.
He quietly paid attention to the driver's figure, and recalled the driving tips he learned from his teacher when he was a child: relax your body, spread your legs apart, and then clamp them tightly. After a while, it became easier to maintain balance, but my waist hurt again.
"Riding in a car is such a chore, it's better to run on the ground!" Zheng Anping concluded.
I don’t know how long I’ve been walking, but there was the sound of running water in front of me. A bell rang on the middle car and the three cars stopped.
