Qin Official

Jing is a 15-year-old young boy, half a head shorter than Heifu. He has freckles on his nose and cheeks. He has a pair of big eyes. He is raising his eyebrows and looking excitedly at his first weapon. .

This is a sword about nine inches long, made of bronze, with a ring-shaped handle. Holding it in his hand, he slashed across the hanging roots of the big banyan tree, and the thin roots and branches broke in response.

He couldn't help but praise: "Brother Zhong, this sword is really sharp! How much did it cost?"

"It's only more than a hundred dollars."

Hei Fu was holding two grass carp bought at the rural market in his left hand, and a heavy bag in his right hand. He spoke lightly, but stuck out his tongue in surprise: "If you change it to rice, it will be enough for me to eat for more than a month."

During this era, although iron tools were widely used in agricultural and handicraft industries, iron weapons were still immature. Especially in the Qin State, bronze weapons are preferred, because as a standard weapon in the military, not only its performance but also cost must be taken into consideration. There are a large number of copper mines in the Jianghan area. It is much more cost-effective to use the nearly perfect casting process to manufacture bronze weapons in large batches than to slowly temper iron weapons.

Even so, young boys with no income in the countryside still want a bronze dagger but cannot get it. After being frightened by the weapon, he kept pulling it out of the scabbard, unable to put it down, and proudly said: "Who dares to mess with me from now on! I will give him a sword!"

"What nonsense!"

Heifu frowned and began to regret buying the sword. His younger brother had an impatient personality and would often argue with others if he disagreed. Sooner or later, he would cause trouble, so he scolded:

"I bought you a sword because you are already 15 years old and will be an adult in a short time. Swordsmen and husbands are armed. Therefore, they can be used for self-defense to fend off thieves and protect the home, but they cannot be used to fight bravely. You want You know, the law comes first. If two people fight, the government will send the person who fights to do hard labor. As for biting off other people's noses, tearing ears, breaking fingers, etc., they will be punished with endurance. If a sword is used, the punishment will be even more serious. .”

With a cry of surprise, he put the sword away obediently.

But after a while, after passing by two little village girls who were pointing and whispering to them, he said happily: "Brother Zhong, I don't know, but now the young people in the village obey me, because I am Brother Zhong's brother, so They gathered around and asked me to tell them about your story of capturing three thieves and seizing the sword with your bare hands. The two neighbor's daughters just now were also dumbfounded. They all said that you are not like this on weekdays. Look at the way they look at you. ...Hehehehe.”

In fact, when he first heard about the rumors about Heifu, his jaw almost dropped. Over the past ten years, Brother Zhong gave him the impression that he didn't talk much and was taciturn. Although he had a lot of strength, he was far from a "warrior." "Not even close.

Unexpectedly, Brother Zhong became famous throughout the county just after he went out to serve for the first time. He was surprised at first, but later became bright and took the initiative to brag.

"Brother Zhong, when will you teach me your ability to catch thieves?"

He was so surprised that he couldn't wait for him. He always felt that Brother Zhong must have secretly learned martial arts from somewhere.

"talk about it later."

Hei Fu ignored him and kept saying hello to the folks in Li Zhong.

When he left here to serve in the army more than a month ago, who would want to ask him one more question? But now, no matter whether they are men, women, old or young, whenever they meet on the road, they must stop to say hello and behave in a friendly manner. Even the proud local officials Tian Dian and Wu Lao in the past would warmly invite him to their homes when they met him...

Heifu had to respond one by one. His mother once told him that in life in a village, the most important thing is harmony with neighbors. Don't let your neighbors think you are arrogant or look down on others. The people in the village are very simple, but they are also small-minded. The smaller the place, the more so.

His home was at the end of the sunset, so Heifu passed through the doors of forty or fifty houses, said hello thirty or forty times, declined countless real or fake invitations, and finally moved to his own house.

When he came here, Heifu felt more like he was home.

Heifu's house is a standard public homestead. It is larger than the homes of ordinary soldiers, but not as far away as Li Zheng and Tian Dian's houses. However, the open space outside the house is not wasted. There are about twenty mulberry trees planted. The mulberry leaves have long fallen off, leaving only bare branches.

In spring, these mulberry trees are their mother's favorite. At that time, the old man and his daughter-in-law would take turns getting up at night to add mulberry leaves to the wildly growing silkworms. So the whole night, the house was filled with the rustling of silkworms eating mulberry leaves, just like the gentle breeze and drizzle... The mother always refused to let her three sons do this work, because she thought they were clumsy and could not serve the spring silkworms well. In fact, Hei Fu knew that it was because he felt sorry for them.

A five-acre house with mulberry trees, and a fifty-year-old can be clothed with silk... Unfortunately, Mencius was too ideal after all. The poor were reluctant to wear raw silk and woven silk cloth themselves, and would rather sell it in the market, or even directly use it as food. The money is used in exchange for more practical farm tools and salt. In Heifu's memory, his mother was also in her fifties. She had woven countless pieces of cloth in her life, but she had never worn silk.

In the summer, this small piece of mulberry tree became the domain of my brother Jing and the pair of nephews and nieces. He would take the two little kids around three or four times a day and pick up all the mulberries on the branches and the ground. , Don’t let Turtledove and the neighbors get off easy. The purple-red berries are sweet and sour and are a rare snack for local residents. In times of famine, they can even be a hope for a family to satisfy their hunger.

I walked around the bare mulberry tree and came to the outside of the courtyard wall, only to see that the wall was six or seven feet taller. The yellow mud with straw was exposed, and there was no plaster on the wall. The wooden door was low and had not been renovated for I don't know how many years. Due to the weather and rain, it cracked and cracked, and most of the paint was peeled off, leaving it black and white, making it look like a big painted face, which looked very unseemly.

"Didn't I ask my uncle to repair the courtyard walls and doors when he comes back with the money?"

Heifu frowned again.

Jingze said nonchalantly: "Brother Zhong, it's not like you don't know what kind of person my uncle is. He doesn't want to spend a penny of money that he doesn't think he needs to spend. All the money you asked him to bring back was left with his mother. He said he wanted to I’ll build you a new house, but when the time comes, I’m afraid the money won’t be enough, so I won’t dare to spend it on repairing the old house.”

Heifu didn't think that much. If things went well, he would go to Huyang Pavilion dozens of miles away to take office. If he didn't come back for ten days and a half, it would make no difference whether the new house was built or not.

At this time, Jing was already knocking on the door and shouting: "Mom, brother, brother Zhong, I have brought him back!"

Soon, the door opened, and Zhong walked out with a smile on his face, but he scolded and exclaimed: "I asked you to pick up someone, but you were empty-handed all the way. What are you talking about? How old you are, how can you still be so ignorant?"

After saying that, he took half of the things from Hei Fu's hand. Jingzi just stuck out his tongue, jumped into the door first, and shouted: "Mother, Sister Qiu, Brother Zhong is back and bought fish. Today Just eat something good..."

Hei Fu shook his head helplessly. This third brother has been spoiled since he was a child and does not know how difficult the world is.

His family's house was very similar to the rural families of later generations, with one house and two houses, divided into front and back yards.

Pushing the door and entering the front yard, the first thing you see is a doghouse. A big yellow dog smelled a familiar scent and was barking for a long time. At this moment, he rushed over in one stride, stuck out his tongue, and walked around Heifu.

Zhong said: "This yellow dog likes to be close to you. If you are not here for a few months, it will be listless and lie down without moving."

"That's natural. I was the one who brought it back."

Heifu also smiled and touched the yellow hair on the back of its neck. The big yellow dog narrowed its eyes with great enjoyment and kept wagging its tail.

Although people these days eat dog meat, guard dogs at home should never eat it. As the saying goes, "He who had no dogs in the past and no pigs in the future is mediocre." In other words, if you can't raise dogs in the front yard and pigs in the backyard, it means that this family is extremely poor and can only Work as a servant.

The pig pen in the backyard has been vacant for a long time, but the big yellow dog in the front yard has been raised for almost five years. It has been playing with Brother Heifu since they were young. They have worked diligently to look after the family for many years and can be considered a member of the family.

"Father Zhong!"

While talking, there were two clear children's sounds in the courtyard, and a pair of young children rushed over.

The one running in front was a boy with double hair and maiden hair. He was about 6 years old. He was barefoot and dirty. Fortunately, he finally put on a new pair of shorts, so he no longer had to bare his buttocks.

The person running behind was a little girl with her hair in front of her eyebrows and pigtails at the back. She was less than 5 years old. She was wearing clothes that were obviously too big. She was stumbling as she ran. When she saw that her brother in front of her didn't wait for him at all, she almost burst into tears. .

These are Zhong's children and Heifu's nephews and nieces, named "Yang" and "Yue".

They ran over one after another, and the boy was the first to bump into Heifu's left leg, raising his head and laughing proudly. The girl arrived later, but not to be outdone, her slender little arms hugged Hei Fu's right leg...