Shaanxi, Ningxia Wei, Mengchengyi.
This inn, located at the junction of Ningxia Wei, Qingyang Prefecture and Pingliang Prefecture, is shrouded in a miserable wind and rain.
The New Year's Eve of the first year of Chongzhen was not so easy for the postmen of Mengcheng Station... For the poor people of this era, celebrating the New Year is just about passing the test! What joy can there be? Even if the landlord Lao Cai cuts a pound of pork and comes to pay New Year greetings, he is just a weasel giving New Year greetings to a chicken - not very kind!
After celebrating the New Year, it’s time to settle accounts!
Is it time to repay the loan shark? Even if the principal is not paid, you have to get some interest, right?
Is it time to pay off the rent owed? Although the harvest is not good, it has nothing to do with the landlord’s wealth!
There are also all kinds of exorbitant taxes and apportionments that should be calculated, right? Unless you have a reputation to protect yourself, you have to pay twice as much - one part is for the emperor, one part is for the gentry who refuses to pay, and one part is for the poor official...
For the two uncles and nephews Li Hongji and Li Jin, the Mengcheng postmasters, the end of the year means that they have to spend a sum of money to repay the loan sharks of the postmaster Zhao Bapi.
This Li Hongji is the Li Zicheng whom Zhu Youjian thinks about day and night! He is from Mizhi County, Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province. His father's name is Li Shouzhong. He also worked as a postman and also did a small business - taking advantage of the opportunity of delivering letters or transporting goods for his superiors to bring goods. He was quite well-off for a time. After the death of his first wife, he was able to marry a good house-filler and gave birth to two more sons, which already speaks volumes.
However, a horse-falling accident changed everything. Li Shouzhong was seriously injured at first, and later died. His family, which was originally decent, also declined rapidly. After the funeral, it was almost impossible to untie the pot.
In order to support his mother and younger brother, the adult Li Hongji had no choice but to follow his nephew Li Jin, who was several years older than him, to work as a postman at Mengcheng Station in Ningxia Wei.
But it’s not easy to be a postman! Because you have the privilege of "bringing goods" and you can also get a little food and horse money, you have to spend money to be a postman on a foreign mission. But Li Hongji and Li Jin’s uncle and nephew had no money. Fortunately, the two of them had worked as foreigners with Li Shouzhong since they were children, and had practiced horse riding skills. They also had acquaintances in Mengcheng Station, so they came to work as postmen first and then pay the bills - the bribes that should be paid should be owed first. , the interest is calculated according to usury.
Li Jin, who was a few years older and was responsible for managing money, originally thought that as long as he and his uncle were not afraid of hardship and saved some money, they would be able to save money in a few years to repay the loan shark they owed Zhao Papi.
But who knew that uncle Li Hongji was ignorant! I visited the brothels in Pingliang Mansion and spent most of the little money I finally saved.
Seeing that Zhao Papi was about to come to collect the bill, but Li Jin couldn't get the money, how could he live like this!
"Second uncle, I'm not talking about you. You're such an old man, why are you so ignorant? You don't think my mother-in-law would have to go to that kind of place! Work in Mengcheng Yi for a few years, save up money and go back to Mizhi Wouldn’t it be better to get married?”
In a dilapidated room that was leaky and had to fill the holes with cotton wool when sleeping at night, Li Jin, a tall man with thick eyebrows, big eyes and sideburns, was sitting on a broken chair and scolding his uncle Li Hongji. .
This is the elder nephew training the younger uncle. The nephew Li Jin was born in the 28th year of Wanli. He is 28 years old this year. Because he has gone through a lot of hardships, he looks old and looks like a middle-aged uncle. Nephew Li Hongji is only 22 years old. He is very good-looking, tall, broad shoulders, bulging cheekbones, plump, high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, thick eyebrows, and a pair of bright eyes. Even if he is being scolded, there is no trace in his eyes. timidity.
Seeing that his eldest nephew had finished speaking, he laughed: "What's there? Anyway, I don't go to the brothels, and I don't have enough money to pay off the debt to the King of Hell named Zhao, so I might as well spend a few days happily."
"You..." Li Jin was really helpless against his second uncle and stamped his feet, "Why are you like this now? If I knew you were so unsatisfactory, I would be so angry down there!"
Li Hongji shook his head and said with a smile: "Well, Ada is gone. I'm still angry, so don't worry!"
"But..." Li Jin was very angry at his careless uncle, "You are so angry, grandpa, but what about that old boy Zhao Papi? We can't get the money, how can he give up? What will we do if our postmen are driven away?"
"This poor postman has long been unwilling to be a soldier..."
As soon as Li Hongji finished speaking, Zhao Papi's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Well said! Well said... This shabby postman has nothing to do!"
Then I heard the door creaking open, and a middle-aged man with a fat head, big ears, and a rosy complexion laughed and walked in. He was also carrying a jar of wine and a few ropes tied with hemp ropes. Oil paper package together.
The person who came was none other than Yi Cheng from Mengcheng Station, and he was sending Zhao Hong, nicknamed Zhao Bapi.
Li Hongji glanced at Fatty Zhao, looking nonchalant, but Li Jin was so anxious that he jumped up from his chair and stepped forward to kneel down for Zhao Papi, but was stopped by Zhao Papi.
"Li Da, don't bow to me. I really can't keep you and your uncle." Zhao Bapi said with a smile.
"Zhao Yicheng, you sir, don't be as familiar as our uncle and nephew..." Li Jin was so anxious that he almost cried.
Times are bad these days, and it’s not easy to find a job! Moreover, the two uncles and nephews Li Jin and Li Hongji had no skills, so they could only ride horses and shoot arrows - they were postmen and rode horses every day! Moreover, they are not running in the Taiping realm. They have to guard against thieves and wolves, so archery skills are also a must.
But besides being a soldier, this skill in horseback riding and archery is of no use in other livelihoods!
Moreover, there are too many military towns in the northwest. Yulin, Ningxia, Guyuan, Gansu... four towns are crowded together. How many children of military households need to find a way out? There are too many people who can ride horses and shoot arrows, and the border generals in the four northwest towns are not very wealthy, and they cannot raise too many servants.
Therefore, the abilities of the two uncles and nephews Li Hongji and Li Jin did not have much use. Even if they joined the army, they could only serve as frontline soldiers.
Zhao Bapi seemed to be in a good mood today. He was not angry even after being scolded behind his back. He even put the meat and wine on a broken table with a smile, and then sat down on the chair in a dignified manner.
"Don't get me wrong. When I come here today, I actually have a good future for you two uncles and nephews... a future as a servant!"
"A servant?" Li Jin was stunned, "Yi Cheng, are you entertaining us? Which general can you like us?"
yes!
Zhao Hong also thinks so. Although Li Jin and Li Hongji look very powerful, they are either Yiding (Mongolians) or military households. They are just ordinary households in northern Shaanxi. Who would want them to be servants? ? Can you fight?
But the superiors specified that they wanted a man who was "Ningxia Wei Postmaster", "surnamed Li", "between 20 and 30 years old"... Aren't the two uncles and nephews of the Li family just right?
This time the call was not in vain. If you hand over one, you will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver!
Of course Zhao Hong did not keep Li Jin and Li Hongji.
And he also saw that these two Li family members were not made to be post soldiers at all! I don’t know how to carry goods and I don’t know how to collect money, so I’d better leave as soon as possible.
"It's not the general," Zhao Hong said with a smile, "it's the long live master! The long live master wants to raise a family..." Zhao Hong smiled, "The imperial envoy to recruit has arrived in Guyuan Town. You two don't celebrate the New Year either. Come over after a good meal. If you are recruited, you will become the emperor's retainer from now on, the popular one, the spicy drinker... Oh, I heard that those who fail to win the aunt will be given to the palace maid as their wife! "
"What? You're sending a wife and a palace maid?" Li Hongji's eyes lit up, "Niece, we have to go!"
Li Jin sighed when he saw his uncle's lecherous appearance, but he was still worried. He turned around and said to Zhao Hong: "Yi Cheng, if we can't recruit servants, can we still come back as post soldiers?"
"Yes!" Zhao Hong said, "It's not like a postman is a good job, why don't you accept it? Don't worry, you two. If you can't recruit, just come back! We won't lay off people!"
He is not particularly easy to talk to, but the superiors have recently issued an order - it is strictly forbidden to lay off employees at the post stations in Shaanxi!
