"Just make do."
He grabbed the clay pot and threw a piece of briquettes filled with holes into it. Ying Chengyu glanced at his master with dissatisfaction, pointed at the clay pot and said:
"Do you believe that I am the reincarnation of Zhu Rong? Can my palms breathe fire?"
The master didn't say anything. How could he, a Guizhou leader, dare to question the Lord? But the meaning in his eyes was very clear - Sir, please stop joking with me.
"You don't believe it? It's normal. I don't believe it myself." Ying Cheng smiled twice and roared: "Why don't you go and get firewood for Nai Gong? Huo Zhezi! You want Nai Gong to dig into the wood to get it? Fire!"
"only!"
The door opens and closes, and the wind and snow come again.
The temperature in the room dropped, and the quilt on the bed shrank inward. Ying Chengwen stepped forward and violently opened it.
There was a hint of anger in Zhang Cang's eyes, but he refrained from making any move.
His teacher Xunzi stood by the bed and waited silently, watching with cold eyes.
"Get up! You should also learn a little bit. Nai Gong will only teach you once."
"General?"
Ying Chengyu stiffened.
The old man on the bed who woke up from the cold stood up excitedly.
The old man is still wearing a coat under the quilt, and his clothes are very strange. The colors are mixed, and the fur is different, from shape to color. Compared with Ying Chengyu's snow-white fox fur, it is really ugly.
This kind of weird clothing is called Baipi clothing, which is very common among the people.
People who risked their lives to hunt foxes, wolves, and bears would sell the intact hides to the chamber of commerce in exchange for money. Most of them are reluctant to use the whole hide to make clothing, but use the leftovers of various animal skins to save a hundred-skin clothing.
Although the white leather coat does not sell well, for the common people, this life-saving clothing is extremely beautiful.
"What a general!" The old man's face was more surprised than happy, and he quickly went down to the tunnel and said: "I'm trapped in the camp, meet the general!"
Ying Chengyu supported the old man who was bowing down with difficulty and saluted. He was silent for a moment, and then he gently patted the old man's muscles and bones.
"You're living such a hard life, why don't you come to me?"
"Pretending to be dead to save a life, Suo is not worthy of being a soldier trapped in the camp. If the general does not kill Suo, it is a great blessing to let him go home. How dare he think of anything else. Suo never thought that he would see the general again in this life. General What is this for?"
The old man couldn't figure out why he came to his house with such a distinguished status as a general?
Bang~
The door opened again, and two people, one large and one small, rushed in. Their hands were full of chopped dry firewood, and their faces were full of joy.
They are the owner of this house and his son.
"Sir, it's ready." The master's excitement stopped, he dropped the firewood, and walked forward quickly, saying as he walked: "Father, what are you doing when you get up? Go back and lie down quickly."
He supported his father and looked at Ying Chengyu with anger in his eyes.
His father had suffered from colds during the war, and the older he got, the more he could not bear the cold. Since the year before last, every winter has been a disaster of life and death.
What was lifted off the bed was not the quilt, but his father's life-saving charm.
Pa~
Suo, whose body was cold and whose face turned pale from the cold, gave his son a firm mouthful.
"Don't be rude to the general!"
[General? ]
Before the master could react, he immediately bowed down.
"The villain is at fault!"
Among the Qin people, apart from the First Emperor, even the Marquis of Che could not match the power of the generals. In the martial state of Qin, generals are the most respected group.
Ying Chengyu waved his hand.
"This is called briquettes. You see, use a fire stick to light the fire, light the firewood, and then use the briquettes as coal and put it on the fire.
"It should be noted that you should open the window when you first light it, and wait until the briquettes are burning before closing it. The smoke produced by incomplete combustion of this thing is poisonous. You should also put out the briquettes when sleeping. It will burn out when it is about to burn out. Sometimes poison is released.
"Also, be sure to place the brazier under the chimney, and don't put it next to the bed."
Ying Chengyu spoke and demonstrated at the same time.
The moment the fire burned, the nameless child Chen's eyes also burned with fire.
He cautiously approached Ying Chengyu, but the flames reflected in his pupils seemed to be brighter than the flames burning in the brazier.
He stretched out his rough little hands covered with cold sores and cracked and bloody mouth, moved them to the flames, and smiled with satisfaction.
"It's so warm."
"Hey! Keep it away!" Ying Chengyu grabbed the child's little hand that was getting closer and closer, almost reaching into the flames, and warned: "Children, don't play with fire, be careful of wetting the bed."
Zhen shrank back a little in fear, looked back at his father, and moved to run to his father.
But in the end, he just hugged his knees and lowered his head, as if he wouldn't be afraid if he didn't look at Ying Chengyu. He couldn't bear to part with the fire, it was really warm.
Suo squatted next to his grandson, feeling the long-lost warmth. The rising body temperature made him extremely comfortable. The meridians that seemed to be frozen and ready to break were thawed and turned into warm currents washing through the body.
"General, how much will this cost?"
The old man looked worried, and his son's originally excited expression dimmed.
Charcoal can only be used by high-ranking officials or wealthy businessmen. The briquettes in front of me, which are almost as effective as charcoal, should have the same value as charcoal? How could an ordinary family like them afford it?
"What nonsense are you talking about? We haven't seen each other for so many years. You are so brave that you even dare to tease me. You treat me as a bitch? Can I ask you for money?" Ying Chengyu moved his eyes to his master who was standing motionless. , said: "Are you Suo's son?"
"yes."
The master responded hurriedly. Ever since he knew that the young man in white fox fur in front of him was a general, his stature had become a bit shorter.
"Your father is a hero. He lived and died for the Qin Dynasty. The Qin State will not treat heroes badly. From now on, your family will have enough briquettes, and you will not need any money."
"General, the lock is not"
The old man looked ashamed. People like him who pretended to be dead on the battlefield to save their lives were not heroes in Qin, but a shame.
"I remember when you were charging forward, you fell off your horse, with no sword in your hand, and you were left in the enemy's formation with your bare hands." Ying Chengyu interrupted the old man's words, fiddled with the briquettes, and said: "You have no weapons, stand up. It's just another corpse. It's right to pretend to be dead to save your life. But military discipline does not tolerate personal relationships, so I can only send you back. All the military achievements you made before are gone, and I didn't find you afterwards. I didn't know you were living like this. Bitter, don’t hold grudges.”
Suo was stunned.
The old man stared blankly at the general next to him who was more mature, a little less childish, and a little more heroic than before. His eyes were moist and his voice was trembling.
"General, do you remember the lock?"
"Remember, I remember that you are from Qiujia Village. I searched for you several times but couldn't find you. It turns out that your kid came to Xianyang and married Xijun and had a son. You are only a few steps away from my house. You have no money. Come to me instead. Didn't I tell you earlier that I am rich? Forget it if you don't come to me. You haven't seen any of your old brothers. We are all in Xianyang. You are really cruel after hiding for so many years."
The old man rubbed his eyes.
"Zhao has no face!"
After chatting with the old man again, Ying Chengyu patted the old man on the shoulder, stood up and said:
"Let's go. I have to go to the next house. I'll catch up with you when I have time next time."
"General."
The old man called to stop Ying Cheng.
Ying Chengyu lowered his head and smiled:
"What's the matter?"
"Condolences."
Ying Chengyu's smile remained unchanged, he nodded heavily and said "Yeah".
"I know." He waved his hands and said, "Let's go."
Xunzi and his disciples followed closely in Ying Chengyu's footsteps. The old man's eyes followed Ying Chengyu's figure, watching Ying Chengyu leave the door and disappear through the door with his white fox fur on.
The old man knew that Meng Gong's death had a big impact on the general. It was so big that the general had to send briquettes to the homes of Xianyang people one by one during the snowstorm.
His general is actually very lazy and doesn't like to do everything himself...
"Father, you don't have to die! You don't have to die anymore..."
the host repeated excitedly.
The old man smiled, stopped his grandson's little hand that was getting closer and closer, and looked at the bright flames in front of him in trance.
The soldier and his horse conquered so much territory for the Qin State throughout his life that even he, an old man, would be called the Champion of Duke Meng according to his age. He did not survive this winter.
Killing winter is the old man killer.
But with this pot of briquettes in front of us, no more old people in Xianyang will freeze to death this winter.
It’s not just fire that burns, it’s hope.
The next day, the imperial doctor came to see Suo, and craftsmen came to renovate Suo's house, making the bed hollow and connecting it to the flue.
"This thing is called a kang. You can add honeycomb briquettes inside. It will keep you warm and cold, so don't refuse. Mr. Chang'an said: 'This is what I deserve.'"
On this day, Xunzi and his disciple Zhang Cang silently followed Ying Chengyu, delivering briquettes to one household after another.
This winter, the court sent a bag of briquettes to every household in Xianyang.
Ying Chengyu was not the only person delivering briquettes on the road, but many people.
Xianyang, which was originally lifeless, became even colder and colder in winter, but it was initially ignited by bags of briquettes.
The price of briquettes, which is comparable to charcoal, is not expensive. As long as you don't know right and wrong, every household can afford it.
The chimneys of residential houses emit black smoke, but in exchange, Xianyang City is full of vitality.
Every house in Xianyang has fireworks.
Fireworks in winter represent hope and life.
Relying on the fire of hope, these lives gathered together their gratitude to the First Emperor and their recognition of the Qin State. This is the people's heart.
The next day.
Xunzi's residence.
It's still the same brazier, with expensive charcoal on the bottom and cheap firewood on the charcoal.
Xunzi was still fiddling with it.
"Have you changed your mind about your Majesty now?"
Zhang Cang nodded silently, speaking from his heart.
Having witnessed with his own eyes what Ying Chengyu had done, he could not go against his conscience.
"Mr. Chang'an, why don't you go by yourself?" Zhang Cang said nit-pickingly, "Is this just a show?"
"Performing a show? You have heard a lot of new words from your Majesty. Your Majesty still needs to put on a show? Who can show off to? The King of Qin, or some noble family, stretch out your hand."
Zhang Cang shrank his neck, shook his head vigorously, and quickly put his hands behind his back.
"This disciple just said something casually, shouldn't he be beaten?"
Xunzi held a ruler in his hand, with an expression of calmness and authority on his face that left no room for doubt, and said in a serious tone:
"Reach out."
Zhang Cang stretched out his hand with a grimace.
The long and thick ruler flew through the air, and the wind made a loud noise, which showed that this blow was definitely not light, and it landed heavily on the fat hands with a "pop" sound.
"ah!"
Zhang Cang felt as if he was electrocuted, his whole body bounced up, and he shook his hands vigorously, but the severe pain and numbness still lingered.
Xunzi waited for his disciple to stop, then sat back down with a frown on his face.
"Come again."
Zhang Cang started playing again, the muscles in the corners of his eyes twitching, and he prolonged his voice imploringly.
"teacher!"
Xunzi was unmoved. He held up the ruler and said in a deep voice:
"Come again."
Zhang Cang's forehead was covered with sweat and he wanted to rush out of the door, regretting what he said.
If he had known that a word would cost so much, he would have kept his mouth shut.
It was hard to disobey the teacher's orders, so he finally extended his hand.
Pa~
Pa~
There were two soft sounds in a row. The second and third blows were far less severe than the first, and they were more like perfunctory.
But Zhang Cang was so frightened that he closed his eyes tightly and did not dare to look when he was beaten. It was not until after the beating that he opened his eyes in disbelief and looked at the teacher in confusion.
[Teacher, why are these two blows so light? ]
Xunzi put down the ruler and knew the doubts in his disciple's mind without him opening his mouth, so he explained:
“The first blow was purely punishment.
"Although the second and third blows are also punishments, the purpose of being a teacher is not all punishment, but your courage. Although you are afraid, you can still reach out. Courage can allow you to reduce the punishment."
Zhang Cang said with a sad face:
"Yesterday, I said that to the teacher, but the teacher was not angry with me. He praised me for being good and thinking. Why did the teacher get so angry today just after saying a word to Lord Chang'an? The disciple couldn't figure it out. It's just because the teacher is Lord Chang'an. Are you a retainer?"
Xunzi looked evil.
"Tell yourself, did you think about it when you said that? The reason for arguing is to seek the truth. Although what you said yesterday is contrary to me, I know that you are doing it for the truth.
"And what about today? You are not speaking for the truth, but for your face, for winning or losing. If you argue just for the sake of debate, if you don't argue for the truth, you should fight!"
Zhang Cang lowered his head and stopped talking. He could not refute the teacher.
"The common people won't know about briquettes, they won't think about briquettes, they can live without briquettes, and they won't have any demands. Tell me, should this briquettes be given to the people?"
"should."
Zhang Cang whispered.
Although he knew that when he said this, he overturned his views yesterday, but as a disciple of Xunzi, no matter which family or sect he belongs to, conscience is the most basic.
"But, Cang thinks that Chang'an Lord can do better and provide free supplies to the people."
Xunzi raised the ruler again, Zhang Cang's ears were sharp, and his face trembled with fright when he heard the movement, and he hurriedly waved his red and swollen hands and said:
"Cang is not lying this time! Cang has asked Lord Chang'an! This thing is not expensive!"
"Hmph!" Xunzi said coldly: "You have learned so many weird words from your Majesty, why haven't you learned any good ones? Things you get for free will not be cherished. Didn't your Majesty tell you this? !”
"In the balcony, he always told me that he was sitting on the lotus again after hearing the sound, and the old [man] was pushing the cart. How could he make any sense to me..."
Zhang Cang muttered softly.
