Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

Standing up from the stone ledge, Zhou Jun said to Hua Yue: "The Tang Dynasty was already very broad in terms of ethics and education. If it were any other time..."

Seeing that Zhou Jun didn't say anything further, Huayue turned around and saw that the former had already entered the room.

After putting away the washbasin, Huayue looked towards the side room, but she remembered something, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

Walking into the study, Zhou Jun came to the desk, first took down a volume of Tang Dynasty Records and Miscellaneous Records from the bookcase, sat down, and flipped through a few pages, but he was thinking about another thing.

In a few days, as the Secretary of the Lingshi, I will go to the Ministry of Punishment to take up the post.

Shu Ling Shi mainly dealt with documents and archives, while Du Guan Si was mainly responsible for prisoners and slaves, and he didn't know what kind of work he would be assigned.

But no matter what job he is assigned to, this second-grade Shu Ling Shi is a subordinate official. If he wants to join the ranks, he has to pass the "eight exams", one exam a year.

Even if everything goes well and all eight exams are rated above, it will still take eight years before you can become a Liu Nei Guan.

Even if you become an internal official, you may still be an external official with a side job, or even worse, a supplementary official without any actual duties.

Of course, the worst-case scenario is that you fail the eight exams and spend your whole life being a bookkeeper who lives on the desk.

Zhou Jun inadvertently remembered a sentence, "Old officials will die with their hands on the case", and couldn't help but shudder.

If you want to speak to the saints, you don't have so much time to spend, so you have to find a way to find another way.

Still thinking, Hua Yue's voice suddenly came from the door of the study: "I'm going to Bahe, will you go with me?"

Zhou Jun turned around and asked Huayue, "What are you doing in Bahe?"

Hua Yue: "You don't know? The Fan family's oil shop has been built, and everyone is planning to go and see it."

Zhou Jun glanced at the book in his hand, thinking that he had no time to think about it now, so he simply put down the book, walked to the door, and said to Hua Yue: "Let's go and take a look."

The two of them walked out of the gate of Bieyuan and followed the path of Bachuan Jiazhou, heading east.

After walking for a quarter of an hour, I saw a large house standing next to the endlessly flowing Bahe River.

As he got closer, Zhou Jun discovered that the big house was three points higher than an ordinary hall. There were double stoves outside the house, and white smoke curled up from the stove chimneys, shrouding the surroundings of the big house into a realm of clouds and mist.

Walking to the big house with Hua Yue, Zhou Jun found that many people in Bieyuan had received the news, not only the Pang Mansion, but also the Yin Mansion. People came to watch everywhere.

While exchanging greetings with others, Zhou Jun smelled the rich aroma and came to the stove. Fan Raoyuan was in charge of two stoves and was frying the pressed ingredients.

Seeing Fan Raoyuan wiping his hands and wanting to come over to greet him, Zhou Jun quickly spoke and told him to continue working and ignore him.

When he reached the stove, Zhou Jun saw sesame seeds being fried in the pot.

Feeling suspicious in his heart, Zhou Jun looked around again and understood the reason.

After leaving the stove and entering the big room, I saw three main things in the huge room.

One is a rolling plate with a diameter of nearly four meters, the other is a bamboo platform with iron hoops on it, and the last one is the most critical "main engine" of the entire oil mill - the pressing tank.

Aunt Gongsun, who was busy playing tricks, saw Zhou Jun and handed over the rest of the work to her son. She came over and saluted and said, "Er Lang is here, let's take a look at this oil shop."

Zhou Jun didn't understand this, so he could only praise him a few times.

Aunt Gongsun took Zhou Jun Huayue and the others around the big house.

As she walked, she introduced: "Put the wet ingredients on the stove and stir-fry them first. You want to stir-fry them to get the aroma, but don't dare to burn them, and don't stir-fry them raw."

"The dry ingredients are fried, then put on the grinding plate and ground into powder."

"Put the powder into the steamer and steam it into clinker."

"The clinker is added with straw hoops and iron hoops to make cakes."

"Finally, fill the cake into the pressing tank and you can press the oil."

Hua Yue watched with interest and said: "It turns out that this is how oil was extracted in the Tang Dynasty."

Aunt Gongsun asked with a smile: "How did you draw the moon in your hometown?"

Huayue gestured with her hands and said: "I saw the drawings in the library. There is a large mortar. The material to be squeezed is placed in it, and then a heavy falling weight is hung high in the sky."

"Using pulleys and booms, a group of people raise and lower the hammer, and so on, to squeeze out the oil."

Aunt Gongsun frowned after hearing this: "I'm afraid there will be a lot of people."

Seeing that Zhou Jun was still looking around, Aunt Gongsun said again: "Erlang, I'm afraid it will take some time for the oil to come out. We can only wait in the dining room first."

Zhou Jun saw Mrs. Gongsun's eyes squinting when she spoke, and naturally understood what she meant, so he nodded and said: "This matter is not urgent. We will wait until the oil shop is settled properly and the kitchen is ready."

Aunt Gongsun smiled and nodded, but soon she stopped smiling and looked embarrassed: "Erlang, there is one more thing."

Zhou Jun saw her expression was different and just asked: "What's the matter?"

Aunt Gongsun: "The person who brought food to Duke Yin was the eldest man of the Fan family. Can he be replaced by the eldest son of the Fan family in the future?"

Zhou Jun was confused: "Isn't the eldest son of the Fan family willing to go?"

Aunt Gongsun: "It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I didn't want to say anything, so I wasted so much time."

Zhou Jun was even more confused.

Hua Yue couldn't stand listening anymore and said to Zhou Jun: "Have you forgotten what I told you? The eldest son of the Fan family has already fallen in love with Rou Xing of the Qu family."

Zhou Jun was stunned after hearing this.

Unexpectedly, the tall and strong man of the Fan family actually fell in love with the daughter of the Qu family.

Aunt Gongsun rubbed her hands and said awkwardly: "That man is usually very taciturn. He brings meals home every day. Aye and I asked him if he had anyone we liked, but we didn't say anything."

"At first, I thought the gangster had a high vision, but later I found out that there was something else hidden."

Zhou Jun actually thinks this is a good thing. If the Qu and Fan families get married, they will be taken care of by the Bieyuan in the future.

So, he asked: "Since the eldest man of the Fan family has fallen in love with the daughter of the Qu family, has he come to propose marriage?"

Speaking of this matter, Aunt Gongsun became even more embarrassed: "The Qu family has signed the deed, and it is for the Pang family to take charge of the household. The Fan family has not yet signed the deed, so they come to visit rashly. There may be something wrong."

After hearing this, Zhou Jun could understand.

Aunt Gongsun said again: "I am thinking of putting this oil mill into operation first, and after the oil is produced, I can then ask for a lease from the master's family to settle down."

"After settling down, I will go to the Qu family to talk about Dalang's marriage."

After hearing this, Zhou Jun nodded and said, "This is the truth."

Aunt Gongsun looked at Zhou Jun and smiled sheepishly: "As long as Erlang knows, the person who brought the meal..."

Zhou Jun nodded and said, "Just change it."

Aunt Gongsun was overjoyed and hurriedly said a blessing to Zhou Jun: "I thank you Erlang for making me happy!"

After leaving the oil mill and walking on the way to Bieyuan, Huayue suddenly said to Zhou Jun: "The boundaries and rules set between common people and slaves in the Tang Dynasty were much stricter than those in Dashi."

After hearing this, Zhou Jun asked with interest: "How is Dashi?"

Hua Yue: “In the time of the Prophet, many of Muhammad’s disciples were born slaves. Some of them pioneered culture; some became imams in prayer halls; some even married princesses.

, was brought into the palace by the royal family.”

"After the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr became the caliph. According to the teachings of the scriptures, he forbade the use of Arabs as slaves."

"Even among the foreign slaves in the Great Eclipse, many of them intermarried with the royal family."

"For example, Caliph Omar once captured three daughters of the Persian King Yezdgild and brought them back to the palace as slave girls."

"Later, Ali presided over it, and the eldest daughter was given to Umar's son Abdullah as his wife, the second daughter was given to Abu Bakr's son Muhammad as his second wife, and the third daughter was given to his own second son Hussein as his wife."

"In addition, Yazid bin Walid, the governor of the province of Kaleb in Dashi, is the son of the royal family and a slave girl. His mother is respectfully called Umm. Even the generals were jealous when they saw her.

You have to salute."

After a pause, Hua Yue continued: "But here in the Tang Dynasty, things are much stricter. I have heard a saying that people have their own destiny, and they must be of the same color. Since the good and the bad are different, how can we cooperate."

Zhou Jun nodded. This sentence comes from "Tang Lu Shu Yi·Household Marriage".

Hua Yue: "No matter how noble your status was before, or how superb your skills were, once you become a slave in the Tang Dynasty, you will be treated like an animal. You can only choose people of the same color in marriage, and it will be difficult to get ahead."