While Xin Wubing was sighing, it got dark in the blink of an eye and it was time to turn on the lights. Merchants along the street took out their own lanterns, filled them with kerosene, and hung them on the bamboo sheds erected by the government. The best way to whitewash peace is the scene of people enjoying themselves and the colorful lanterns.
Many singing and dancing teams appeared in the market, performing "puppet, pestle singing, bamboo horse and other performances". They wore bright and beautiful clothes, which seemed to be decorated with jade, gold and silver. During the Lantern Festival, large households in Xinghua will also invite these song and dance teams to perform. In places like Jinzun Restaurant where there are many customers, these jugglers will perform even harder. If they perform well, they may be rewarded.
After waiting all day, the two girls walked to Xinghua, dressed in neither men nor women, and were frightened by a homosexual in the middle, just to see these spiritual performances. They didn't care about Liang Chuan and Xin Wubing at the moment. I ran to the balcony of the restaurant and happily watched the crowds of people and various performances on the street.
Liang Chuan and Xin Wubing looked at each other and smiled. The girls didn't care because of their nature. Liang Chuan has never seen any scene before. In his eyes, these are just like playing house, but Xin Wubing has no intention of doing this, and is even a little disgusted, so he won't pay attention to it.
"Isn't Brother Xin a local?"
"Brother Liang has a keen eye. My ancestors are from Shandong. Later, there were frequent wars and the people were in dire straits, so our ancestors moved south with their families. It's just that my younger brother was born to be wild. After studying for several years, he couldn't stand the restraint. He liked to travel around the world with his sword. He didn't want to I meet you here today, it’s so late, and it’s just the right time, isn’t it?”
"Hey, we are destined to meet each other. There is destiny in the world. There are many talents in Qilu. Brother Wu Bing is the best among people. It is a great comfort for me to meet you today. But you are a capable person, and the imperial court is currently employing people. On this occasion, I will definitely do something in the future. I am just a small citizen. How can I say that I am not at the right time? If Brother Xin comes to the rescue today, my two female relatives will suffer a big disaster today. Brother Xin, doesn’t it? Will you stay here for a long time? Are you going somewhere else?"
"Today I had a high-level talk with my subordinates, which made me enlightened. I really think I have the same opinion. But now, I have no hope of an official career, and I can't bear to live up to my martial arts. However, there are frequent wars in the northwest. The Li family is ambitious, and the Tubo and Liao Kingdoms are fighting on multiple fronts. , the Song Dynasty will inevitably have to fight again. Although the serious problem is in the north, the scabies now has to be eliminated. I died for the country and deserved to die. This time I want to try the northwest to see if I can do anything."
Liang Chuan knew the situation in the northwest. Now Li Yuanhao in the northwest was not an ordinary person. He had a purple number in his destiny. The rewards given by the Song Dynasty for sending beggars could no longer satisfy his ambition. There will eventually be a battle between Song and Xia. Although it has not yet started, it will happen soon.
Many people in the Song Dynasty were dissatisfied with the fact that they were brothers of the Liao Dynasty. Even this small place in the northwest dared to claim to be equal to the emperor. The court could not bear it. The war between Song and Xia was going on for a long time, which was unprecedented in history. Quite famous. Moreover, the Xixia, which the Song Dynasty never looked down upon until the end, was not caused by the Song Dynasty, but by Mongolia until its demise.
Xin Wubing was very discerning. If he wanted to achieve something, it was right to go to Xixia at this time. However, the imperial court is very strict and civil servants wield power. He wants to be promoted based on military merit. This is not easy!
"Why is Brother Xin so hopeless?" Liang Chuan asked softly.
Xin Wubing sighed, remembering this painful memory, and said: "When our ancestors went south to Jiangyin, the situation was turbulent. At that time, we failed to obtain the household registration. Later, I became famous in my studies. My father saw this and went to the county. Apply for settlement. However, Jiangyin is a Wang County with many students, but the number of places is limited. The local clan colluded with the government and obstructed in every possible way to prevent my family from settling. Decades have passed, and the little family wealth has been squandered. When I think about it, I will go to another place. When I settled down, my family had no money left to squander. From then on, I felt like dying. I traveled everywhere and saw the magnificent mountains and rivers. I walked around the great rivers and mountains, and I couldn't bear to fall into the hands of outsiders and be ravaged!"
Liang Chuan knows this. Just like registering for the college entrance examination, not allowing the college entrance examination in other places limits the number of places you can be admitted. Moreover, if you don't have a household registration, you are a black household, and if you pass the exam, it will still be a felony.
Liang Chuan admired this Xin Wubing very much, because this young man was a scholar, but he was not as rigid as Meng Liangchen. He even fell into a demonic barrier because of his study. This young man made him believe in something called responsibility and literati integrity that had disappeared for many years in later generations, which was very valuable.
"Brother Xin, I have plenty of money. Brother Xin doesn't know how much money is missing. I will support my brother first. In this life, since you have achieved fame, how can you be worthy of yourself and the world if you don't try to gain fame."
For a moment, Xin Wubing's wine glass was in his hand and he had nowhere to put it. He only met Liang Chuan today because of an injustice. He didn't expect that after a few words, the other party would be generous to him. He had traveled to so many places and met so many people, but meeting Liang Chuan made him feel like he had met a long-lost friend.
But even more because of this, he didn't want Liang Chuan to look down on him. His career was full of ups and downs, and his literary talent was as bright as Li Du's. Even if he took Liang Chuan's money, his life might be wasted. Since he decided to go to the northwest, he shouldn't go to the northwest again. In love with Liang Chuan.
Xin Wubing had already decided on his plan, but it was hard to refute Liang Chuan's feelings, so he sat at the wine table with a confused look on his face. Liang Chuan looked at it and said, "Brother Xin, I'm just telling you a safe way. Everyone has his own ambitions, and I won't force Brother Xin. I just don't know where Brother Xin is going when he goes down this staircase. Today is the Lantern Festival. It's a pity that it's the Lantern Festival." A bad boy, I'm afraid it will be uneventful at night, but I have a good place to go, I don't know if Brother Xin wants to go."
Xin Wubing was not stupid. On the contrary, he was very smart. Otherwise, he would have died ten or eight times by traveling around alone and carrying a sword and fighting with people every day. When Liang Chuan said this, he immediately became angry. Spirit, said: "I wonder what you have in mind?"
"Tonight, the magistrate held a Shangyuan Lantern Festival. My two lively girls couldn't help the lively scene and asked me to bring them here, so they met with this disaster. In this case, why don't Brother Xin go with me? At the lantern festival, one more person is not much, so how about pretending to be one of my disciples? At the lantern festival for the county magistrate, even if the Xue family has connections in Xinghua, they don’t dare to have a public outburst, what do you think?"
Xin Wubing was overjoyed and said, "If that's the case, then I'd rather be respectful than obey your orders."
The two girls were still watching with great interest on the balcony. Liang Chuan called them and rushed to the square terrace in front of the county government office with some unfinished content.
The Lantern Festival is not only a festival for the common people, but also the lighting of lanterns among the people has been encouraged by the imperial court. The government will even distribute money and wine to each singing and dancing team in the name of the government every day as a reward. Every evening, if the merchants along the street don't have enough oil candles to light lanterns, the government will also distribute them to increase the festive atmosphere. This kind of benefit from the government is more common in big cities such as Hangzhou and Bianliang, but in Xinghua it is just a meaning.
As soon as I came out of Jinzun Restaurant, the number of people on the street was completely different from when I came in the afternoon. Men, women, old people and children, all with smiles on their faces, crowded around in the lively crowd, looking here and there, but no one paid attention to the hurried expressions on the faces of the four people in Liangchuan.
The crowd suddenly surged in the direction of the county government office. Suddenly, there was an exclamation from the crowd: "The magistrate is coming out." The gate of Yanchipu's government office opened. The magistrate was sitting in a soft sedan, followed by a large group of people. And out.
Several subordinates were holding small bags and seemed to be distributing something among the passing crowd. Liang Chuan asked curiously: "What are they distributing?"
Zheng Yuzhi said: "Give me money, you haven't seen this before, right?"
"Distributing money?" Liang Chuan couldn't believe that such a good thing could happen, "Tsk, tsk, I've never seen this before. How much?"
"It's not much, maybe a dozen pennies per person, just think of it as a lucky draw." Zheng Ruoying said.
It turns out that on the day of the Lantern Festival, Song Dynasty officials had the habit of visiting citizens. At this time, officials from all over the country would sit in small sedans, surrounded by dance teams, swaggering through the market, playing flutes and drums, and giving small sums of money. To bring joy to the public, to enjoy the day with the people through a beautiful name. Whenever they meet merchants doing business, they give them money, dozens of coins each, and wish them prosperous business in the new year. This is called "buying the market."
Although some people will take the reward money for a small advantage and then hide behind the crowd to receive it again, the money is not big money. Besides, it is meant to be distributed, and it is not given to anyone. The government will not deal with these small businessmen. Let the people care about it.
The crowd became excited after the magistrate came out. Everyone followed the magistrate's team and rushed to the temporary terrace on the square in front of Yanchipu Gate. In the evening, there will be a wonderful show on this terrace. Naturally, everyone doesn't want to miss.
"Let's go and join in the fun." The four of them pushed their way through the crowd towards the terrace and slowly pushed their way over.
The terrace is not open, and ordinary people cannot enter at will. There are several government officials guarding the entrance, and ordinary people are watching under the terrace. After the county magistrate's team on the terrace distributed the red packets, he led his colleagues to the table and sat down. Everyone took their seats one by one, and naturally they were particular about where they sat. The county magistrate sits in the front and center, the most conspicuous and distinguished position. Behind him are all the officials of the county, big and small, then some famous people in the county, and finally some related households.
The four people finally squeezed into the entrance of the terrace. The two government officials looked at the four country bumpkins with indifferent expressions. They were even more alert when they saw that one of them was carrying a sharp weapon.
"Go, go, go down below to watch the excitement, this is not the place for you to come."
"We were invited here."
"You? Where's Mingla?"
