After sitting in the tea shop until the sun turned to the west and the weather was no longer so hot, Han Zhen stood up and said, "An Niang, I'm leaving."
"Erlang, can you come tonight? If you come, I will hold the door open for you."
An Niang said, her moist peach blossom eyes couldn't help but look at the downhill tiger on his chest.
The atmosphere in the Northern Song Dynasty was very open, and tattooing was a fashion trend for both men and women.
From princes and nobles to common people, there are countless people with tattoos.
There is even a special tattoo society in Kaifeng City, called Jinti Society.
During every festival to welcome the gods, the Jinti Society will also hold a flower embroidery performance to show off their tattoos.
Song Huizong had a close attendant named Li Zhi.
Li Zhi was a standard official's son, and his great-grandfather Li Changling served as a transit envoy to Huainan during the Taizong and Zhenzong periods.
Li Zhi had a large number of tattoos on his body, and they were very exquisite. After Song Huizong saw them, he specially gave him the title of "Jin Ti Exiled Immortal".
From the tattoos on Li Zhi's body and Song Huizong's attitude, we can see how much people in the Song Dynasty loved tattoos.
"I'm not coming. I'm going home."
Han Zhen waved his hand and stepped out of the county.
Watching his leaving figure, An Niang felt a little disappointed.
…
Han Zhen's home is in Xiaodong Village, not far from the county seat, about five miles away.
According to his footsteps, he can reach it in less than half an hour.
As soon as I left the county town, I met some rogues returning from playing in the water.
Seeing Han Zhen, the gangsters immediately came forward to greet him. The leader, Ma Sangou, had a dark face and grinned: "Second brother Han, look at what our brothers have gained."
These guys really caught the fish.
There were three crucian carps as long as chopsticks, a grass carp weighing more than three kilograms, and some shrimps and crabs carried in the clothes.
"good!"
Han Zhen smiled and nodded.
These gangsters look cool, but in fact they live a hard life. They can barely fill their stomachs, and rarely eat meat.
The main reason is that Han Zhen does not want to engage in stealing and bullying.
Like the gang of thugs in the west of the city, they are not so particular.
A rogue urged: "Brother Han, let's go back to the temple to cook and eat."
Han Zhen waved his hand: "No, I'll go back to Xiaodong Village and come back tomorrow."
Hearing this, Ma Sangou handed over the fish in his hand without saying a word: "Second Brother Han is going home, how can he be empty-handed? He just happened to bring some fish back."
Although the other rogues were reluctant to give up, no one thought it was inappropriate.
When you come out to hang out, you must pay attention to loyalty.
The key is that Han Zhen treats them very well. If Han Zhen hadn't protected them, they would have been beaten to death by the thugs in Xicheng.
Seeing someone swallowing secretly, Han Zhen smiled slightly, leaving only three small crucian carp, and stuffed the big grass carp into Ma Sangou's hands: "These are enough, you go back first."
Masangou couldn't give in, so he had to take the grass carp.
After bidding farewell to his group of brothers, Han Zhen strode along the Xiaodong River carrying the fish.
Han Zhen was on his second trip at home, and he had an elder brother above him.
But compared to his inhumanly strong physique, the eldest brother was frail and sickly since childhood. He passed away less than a year after marrying his wife, leaving behind a widowed sister-in-law.
In order to avoid suspicion, Han Zhen spent all day hanging out in the county town after his eldest brother died. He only returned home every three to five times, bringing some coarse salt and linen and helping with farm work. Secondly, it was also to scare Xiaoxiao.
There is a lot of trouble in front of the widow, especially the sister-in-law who is very pretty. If she never goes back, she will definitely be harassed by rogue and lazy people.
As we approach Xiaodong Village, large fields begin to appear on both sides of the road.
Among them, there are many deserted fields.
Most of these abandoned fields were left behind by fleeing households, but no one dared to cultivate them.
The reason for all this is the household system.
Once your family has too many fields, you may be classified as a third-class household by the government.
Therefore, no matter how difficult the lives of fourth- and fifth-class households are, they can only guard their own few acres of thin farmland and dare not take any chances on these abandoned fields.
Don’t you think it’s ridiculous to have land but dare not plant it?
However, this is the most realistic portrayal of farmers in the late Northern Song Dynasty.
The north is slightly better, but the south is more difficult.
Because compared to the various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the north, there is an extra tax in the south, called dingqian.
The so-called stipend, also known as the head tax, is counted for every man in the family. As long as he reaches adulthood, he must pay the stipend.
After reaching adulthood, one has to pay seven dou and five liters per year.
This tax makes poor farmers afraid to have more children, and even if they accidentally give birth, they will drown in pain.
When Su Dongpo was exiled to Hubei, he saw with his own eyes: "The poor people in Huangzhou have many children and do not raise them, so they are easy to kill in the water basin when they are born." "The little people in the fields between Yue and Hubei only have two boys and one girl. Anyone who passes this point will be killed."
I don’t dare to raise children, I don’t dare to plant fields, but I am the Song Dynasty!
…
Along the way, we met villagers working in the fields from time to time.
When they saw Han Zhen, they all opened their mouths to say hello.
"Han Er, are you back?"
"yes!"
This is due to his good reputation. If it were any other rogue, these villagers would probably avoid him.
His house is close to the west of the village. It has walls made of rammed loess, a layer of dry straw on the roof, and a small yard surrounded by a bamboo fence in front of the door.
In the corner of the yard, two ridges of vegetable land were cultivated, and some leeks and cabbage were planted.
At this time, a pretty little woman wearing a linen headscarf was watering the vegetable field.
Hearing the footsteps, the little woman turned her head and said happily: "Ah, uncle is back."
"Sister-in-law."
Han Zhen nodded and stepped into the courtyard.
The little woman is Han Zhen's sister-in-law, her surname is Zhang, she has no name, only her nickname is Runniang.
On weekdays, the village calls her Han Zhang.
Mrs. Han Zhang has a pretty face, an air of innocence exuding between her brows and eyes, and her figure is like a persimmon tree not far away... thin branches bear fruit!
Han Zhang glanced at the crucian carp in his hand and asked curiously: "Why are there still fish?"
"Three Dogs and the others caught them in the river and gave some to me."
"Uncle, you must be hungry. I'm going to cook."
Mrs. Han Zhang said, took the crucian carp in his hand, squatted in the yard and started handling it.
She was seen holding a kitchen knife in her hand, skillfully disemboweling the fish, and then carefully scraping off the fish scales.
Han Zhen stood aside and asked: "Sister-in-law, no scoundrels have come to your door these days, right?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Han Zhang paused slightly with her hands, then shook her head.
Seeing this, Han Zhen said loudly: "Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, I'm here."
Mrs. Han Zhang pursed her lips and said timidly: "A...two nights ago, the fourth son of the Lu family knocked on the door. I didn't dare to open the door. After a while, he left."
The fourth child of the Lu family?
A cold light flashed in Han Zhen's eyes, and he ordered: "Sister-in-law, please cook. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Hearing the anger in his tone, Mrs. Han Zhang quickly put down the kitchen knife, stood up and took his arm: "Uncle, don't be impulsive, otherwise it will be bad if you cause death."
She was not worried that Han Zhen would suffer a loss, but she was worried that Han Zhen would be careless and beat someone to death...
"Sister-in-law, don't worry, I have a sense of discretion."
Patting Han Zhang on the back of her hand, Han Zhen strode out of the yard.
