We stayed in Penglai for more than ten days, and it was time to leave in time for the New Year. The Niu family and his son would not let Jiang Shuo and the others leave no matter what. Although the military camp was simple, Dengzhou was prosperous and prosperous, and Penglai Water City naturally lacked everything. , cooking cattle and slaughtering sheep every day, and drinking a lot of wine, which is quite happy.
Xu Lai and Peng Gufan were even more happy because they could play games and gamble. In fact, gambling was prohibited in all dynasties, and the Tang Dynasty was no exception. The "Tang Law" stipulated that those who gather to gamble must play a hundred boards. When the saints of this pilgrimage first ascended the throne, they even stipulated that gambling houses should be opened at home, and the money won would be punished as stolen. However, gambling was repeatedly banned among the people. In places where poor people such as the military, foot soldiers, and boat people gathered together, gambling became more popular and it was difficult to stop them. .
But on weekdays, soldiers can only gamble secretly, and gambling is not allowed on the surface. Only before the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, during the days of universal celebration, the military camp also relaxes, and soldiers can gamble to their heart's content. After a while, the most popular gambling game in the army was Ai Pu. Ai Pu emerged in the late Han Dynasty. Because the dice used in the gambling game were made of acanthus wood, it was called Ai Pu. It means a chess game.
Unexpectedly, Dugu Xiang was also well versed in the art of osmanthus. He followed Xu Lai and Peng Gufan in and out of the military camp every day, picking them for fun. There are five wooden dices in Aipu, so it is also called "Five Wood Dice". The shape of the dice is pointed at both ends and flat in the middle, resembling a squashed almond kernel. There will be scars on the branches of the Aidopsis tree where the leaves fall off. Even if they are cut into dice, the wood will remain intact. The scars are still clearly visible, just like the bites of rats and insects. Gamblers call them "teeth" and the colors thrown are called "teeth picks". .
Generally speaking, the front of the five trees of Aipu is painted black with a white cow, and the reverse is painted white with a black chicken. The top one with "teeth pick" has five trees all black, which is called "Lu". Four black and one white are called "Pheasant". For guicai, there are also "歩", "DU", and "sai" below, which is called zaicai.
When playing games, chess pieces are placed on the Suzhan chessboard, and everyone chases according to the dice rolled. The winner can throw continuously, hit the horse, capture the piece, etc., while the miscellaneous pick can only be slaughtered by others. Everyone wanted to get riches, and when throwing the dice, they would slurp "Lu". Therefore, the acanthus root was also called "Hulu". During the first few days of the first lunar month, the entire military camp echoed with the sound of Dugu Xiang shouting "Hulu". .
Although the soldiers were fond of gambling, they all came from poor backgrounds, and all they could gamble was just a few copper coins. Xu Lai knew that Xiang'er and Jiang Shuo were the best, so he generously gave her a copper coin as a gambling capital. The money in the two capitals was nothing, but it was considered a lot of money in the military camp. Even if she lost, it would be enough for her to lose for several days. She never expected that Dugu Xiang's gambling skills were so superb. In one day, she won back hundreds of coins. After that, she got better and better at playing, and she actually won more than two thousand coins in one day.
In fact, Dugu Xiang is able to win all the time because she is smart and good at calculating chess routes, unlike the rough guys in the army who just rely on luck when playing chess. But the most important thing is that she has skill in her hands. She throws five pieces of wood according to her rules. If you want "Lu", you will have "Lu", if you want "Pheasant", you will have "Pheasant", so how can you not win?
Fortunately, Dugu Xiang is not stingy. In fact, her passion for gambling is not because of love for money, but just for fun. All the money she wins every day is given to Xu Lai, and she buys food and entertainment and distributes it to the soldiers who are playing together. . Therefore, although she won big every day, the soldiers in Shuicheng not only did not resent her, but they all looked forward to her winning, because she won and everyone could eat, drink and have fun. The pocket was tightly closed.
Jiang Shuo didn't like the excitement, so he stayed in the office reading every day. Everyone laughed and said that Dugu Xiang looked like a dandy, while Jiang Shuo looked like a lady.
Although Niu Su was a Navy Sima, he was a civil servant. In addition to the "Dibao" that reported official affairs, the government office also had various "copied newspapers" and "miscellaneous newspapers" that conveyed articles and poems from various places. When Jiang Shuo was Li Bai's boy, he often went to the county town to borrow newspapers and read the poems copied from them. Now that he sees them again, it feels like the past.
Rich people like Xu Lai were not very literate. Not to mention poems, they might not be able to understand documents that were not literary and elegant, such as the "Palace Gate Copy" and the "Yuanmen Copy". However, Jiang Shuo was holding miscellaneous reports and detailed Reading carefully, Niu Su couldn't help but be curious and thought: Young Master Jiang is already so outstanding in martial arts at a young age. He must have been practicing boy's skills since he was a child. How can he know so many words if he has so much time to spend on reading and literacy? ? I think it's just for show.
But when Jiang Shuo read the scroll with gusto, it seemed that he really
Although he could understand it, Niu Su didn't know that Jiang Shuo had studied with Master Boqin since he was a child, and later studied calligraphy with Master Zhao for two years in Jijin Cave. Not to mention enlightenment books like Thousand Character Essays, the Four Books He also knew a little about the Five Classics. As for poetry, he had read through the Book of Songs, Songs of Chu, and Han Yuefu several times. Jiang Shuo had a photographic memory. Although he was still young at the time and did not understand the true meaning, the words and sentences However, I have memorized 7788. In terms of literacy and poetry memorization alone, I am afraid that I am no less than a student of the same age.
Niu Su couldn't bear it after observing for a long time and asked Jiang Shuo: "Looking back, do you understand all these poems?"
Jiang Shuo said: "I know all the words, but I don't know the origin of some allusions."
Niu Su didn't believe it, pointed to one of the articles, and said, "Look, read this article to me." He spoke like a master teaching a student, with a slightly commanding tone, but Jiang Shuo didn't think so. Meaning, he recited aloud: "
Liangshan felt sorry for Qi's wife and fell in love with her in mourning.
The metal and stone suddenly open, all caused by deep emotion.
There are brave women in the East China Sea, why should I be ashamed of Su Ziqing?
The more you learn the sword, the more you become a virgin.
Sacrificing one's life to avenge one's husband, risking one's life without caring about one's own life.
The white blade shines brightly on the snow, and the sky feels sincere.
Li Shijun, Beihai, flies to heaven. "
After reading this, Jiang Shuo suddenly stopped and said, "Beihai Commander Li, this Li Commander who absolved the brave woman of East China Sea, is this Li Commander Li Yong?"
Niu Su was quite surprised that Jiang Shuo could read this poem, and he was even more surprised when he heard the meaning of his words and recognized Li Yong. He said, "Yes, the Li Shijun written here is the governor of Beihai." The story of Li Yong, a brave woman who avenged her husband happened this summer. People in the world admired her for her fierceness in avenging her husband. It was Li Shijun who reported to the court that exempted her from all guilt. This autumn, the old Hanlin Li Taibai traveled with his friends. When I was in Qi and Lu, I heard about this and wrote this five-character ancient poem "There is a Brave Woman in the East China Sea."
When Jiang Shuo heard this, he was even more surprised and said, "I wonder why the writing style of this poem is so familiar. It turns out it was written by Mr. Taibai. Is he also in Beihai County?"
Niu Su was even more surprised after hearing this: "Looking back, do you still recognize Li Taibai?"
Jiang Shuo crossed his hands and said, "Niu Sima, to be honest, I was Mr. Taibai's student boy. I accompanied him on the waterway to Xijing, but I encountered an accident on the Han River and fell into the river. From then on, master and servant never met again. After that, Mr. Taibai went to Beijing to serve the Imperial Academy, and was given a gold and released. I accidentally became the leader of the Jianghu League and the Cao Gang, and traveled half of the mountains and rivers in the Northeast. Now that I think about it, even though I have only been here for four or five years, it feels like a lifetime ago. "
Niu Su was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear and said, "Seriously, were you really Li Bai's student?"
Jiang Shuo said, "It's absolutely true. If you don't believe me, Sima, please take a look at this." He took out an oilcloth bag from his arms, opened it and saw that it was a personal paper, and handed it to Niu Su.
Niu Su saw that the paper was very thick, and the outer layer was stained with something black, either blood or oil. When he unfolded it, he saw that the paper was made up of collages of different papers. The edges were frayed and even stained with water. I opened the paper and saw that the eleventh volume of Li Taibai's Poems was written at the beginning of the volume. On it were densely recorded poems in small regular script. The handwriting of the first dozen poems was very childish, but later on it became more proficient and mellow. , the ink color is thick and light, obviously it was not written in one go.
Looking carefully at the poems in it, he found that some of them had been seen in newspapers, but most of them had never been seen before. Most of the poems he had seen were Li Bai's inscriptions on the walls of temples or restaurants, while the ones he had never seen were Li Bai's daily works. Li Bai composed poems and discarded them as he wrote them. If Jiang Shuo had not recorded them, it would be difficult for these poems to survive.
Niu Su was a scribe. He held this scroll in his hand as if he had found a treasure. How could he put it down? After looking at it for almost a stick of incense, he reluctantly covered the scroll and sighed, saying to Jiang Shuo: "Looking back, you are indeed Mr. Taibai." "You are a scholar of Li Bai, what an unexpected encounter, you actually became the leader of the Jianghu Alliance... Strange, strange..." Then he said: "You said you were still a scholar of Li Bai four or five years ago? So you have only been practicing martial arts for five years at most. Situation? Could it be that... people say that Li Bai studied under Pei Min and has extraordinary swordsmanship, but it is actually true? "
Jiang Shuo said: "I don't dare to deceive Sima. I did start learning martial arts four years ago. Mr. Taibai did not teach me martial arts. It is just the magical experiences and coincidences that can be described in a single word."
Niu Su knew that Jiang Shuo didn't want to mention his kung fu heritage, which was common in the martial arts world. Jiang Shuo was the leader of two gangs, and the master behind him must be a well-known elder in the martial arts world. Since he didn't want to talk about it, Niu Su also It was hard to ask further, but he was completely wrong. What Jiang Shuo wanted to hide was just the source of the magical skills he had learned, and there was no famous person behind it.
Niu Su's thoughts at this time were difficult to take away from Li Bai's poetry collection, and said: "In retrospect, the paper of this scroll is not good, and it is seriously damaged. If it is not re-copied, it may be difficult to save it."
This scroll has been carried with me since Jiang Shuo fell into the Han River that day. Fortunately, it was protected by oil paper and was not destroyed, but it is inevitable to leave traces of water. Since then, he has been through life and death, and even experienced smoke and fire in the Songmo Desert, and his robes were stained with blood. It is extremely difficult for this portable paper to be roughly intact.
Niu Su suggested: "It's better to rewrite it. I have good Shanxi rattan paper here."
Jiang Shuo crossed his hands and said, "How dare you, Sima, give me paper and pen and I will copy it myself."
Niu Su smiled and said: "It's not me who can copy. I have a lot of pens and swordsmen here. There is no official correspondence in the first month, so it's okay to let them copy when I have nothing to do. But I don't do it in vain. I have to keep this paper. manuscript."
Jiang Shuo then realized that Niu Su also loved Taibai's poems, so he readily agreed and left the paper for Niu Su to rewrite.
