Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Lu's mother had a hard life in her early years, so even if Lu Ci made a lot of money, she still couldn't change her old habit of being frugal in her own affairs and only being generous to her only son.

Although she accepted the money that Lu Ci gave her to keep for family use, she kept saving it and never used a penny.

All the consumption of the family came from the remuneration for the trivial work she took over from the dentist.

In her opinion, Ci'er is a filial piety, but those incomes seem to be a lot, but they don't know how long they will last. After all, they are not more stable than their own hard work.

What's more, Ci'er will take the scientific examination in the future, the daily loss of pen, ink, paper and inkstone plus the travel expenses to other places to catch the examination, it must not be a small amount, how can he be extravagant and squander it at will?

No matter how kind Lu Ci could speak, he still couldn't convince his motherly heart.

In the end, Mother Lu was too poor, and she would never dare to be "extravagant" before she had a guarantee that could make her feel at ease.

After Lu Ci's persuasion was fruitless, he understood the crux of the matter, so he could only make up his mind, and when the time came, he could either go to high school in one fell swoop, or find another way out and go into business thoroughly.

That night, after Mother Lu cleaned up the dishes, she didn't want to spend too much candlelight. She just told Lu Ci not to work too hard to avoid hurting her body, so she took a rest early.

Zhong Yuan repeatedly emphasized to Lu Ci that after leaving him behind when he went to the academy tomorrow morning, he also climbed over the wall and returned to his home contentedly.

Lu Ci led Zhu, who was a little at a loss, to go to the courtyard to brush and wipe his teeth, and then went back to the room leisurely.

Since it is a low-rent house provided by the government, the conditions are naturally not much better. Mother Lu is careful, and when they went to the Perfume Hall for the third time, she borrowed a narrow table from somewhere and moved it into Lu Ci's room.

"The humble house is cramped, and I can barely get a foot in it. Please forgive me, brother Zhu." Lu Ci skillfully took out the fire starter, lit the only green lamp, and immediately invited Zhu Shuo to sit down, saying: "On the bed, there is only grievance Brother Zhu and I fell asleep together."

The room was small and shabby, but Zhu said that he felt relieved for no reason. He couldn't help shaking his head and said: "Brother Lu's words are wrong. Compared with my cave, this place is no different from Qionglou Yuyu. Besides, I was invited rashly. Sleeping overnight made Brother Lu take so much trouble to take care of her, I am really ashamed in my heart."

Lu Ci smiled: "If you continue to be so polite, I'm afraid Brother Zhong will wake up earlier than you and me."

Zhu said that he couldn't help laughing: "What Brother Lu said is true."

No matter the noise of people in the night market, or the barking of a neighbor's dog, none of this would prevent the candle from illuminating the small room through the thin oiled paper.

The blue lantern was between the two tables, and at the two ends were Zhu Yue and Lu Ci who shared a table, tacitly took out their respective notebooks and spread them on top.

Xu Shi saw that even the bed was about to share Lu Ci's, and found that it was just borrowing the other party's pen and ink, which was obviously nothing in comparison.Even with a skin as thin as Zhu said, he no longer felt ashamed at every turn, but was able to study two servings of ink frankly, and simply thanked Lu Ci who poured himself a cup of refreshing hot soup.

Although there is a seven-day holiday, Lu Ci, like Zhu Shuo, is not the kind of lazy person who is willing to postpone his homework until the last day and complete it in a hurry, purely for the sake of errands.

In the past, Lu Ci usually urged Zhong Yuan to do his homework while distracting himself from completing it. During the period, he had to calmly suppress the other party's full of complaints and bluffing, and was very busy.

Zhu said that it was much more boring than him. In the quiet and small room, Lu Ci was completely immersed in the slight movements of the ink-soaked pen tip lightly scribbling on the paper.

During the period, when the lamp oil was about to run out and the lights became flickering, Zhu Yue couldn't help raising his eyes a little, sneaking a peek at Lu Ci's reaction.

But I saw the other party's expression focused, apparently unaware of it.

The beauty under the lamp was coated with a layer of soft light, and the beautiful outline appeared warm and bright, which made him feel like he couldn't bear to disturb her.

After thinking about it, he simply rummaged in the drawer for a while, but he managed to find the lamp oil not long after, and he added it first.

So repeated, Zhu said that he didn't count them in detail, but only vaguely remembered that the lamp oil was added three or four times, followed by the sound of the monk who announced the dawn knocking on wooden fish along the alley, and the drums of the watchmen.

Only then did Lu Ci come back to his soul, and said in disbelief, "It's already five o'clock?"

Zhu said and nodded.

Seeing that the lower eyelids of this well-behaved young man turned a faint blue, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and he yawned several times, Lu Ci couldn't laugh or cry: "I accidentally forgot the time, you Why didn't you remind me, and stayed with me until this time without saying a word?"

Even the morning market is about to start now.

Zhu said that he squeezed a handful of his robe sleeves in embarrassment, and lied: "I was fascinated by the book, and I accidentally forgot it. I'm really sorry, Brother Lu."

"..."

Such a well-behaved and sensible child, how could it be Fan Zhongyan who wrote the Yueyang Tower that he memorized so hard back then.

Lu Ci sighed subtly in his heart.

He couldn't figure out the truth of the matter, but he didn't expose it. He just quickly turned off the lights, pulled the bamboo curtain, dragged the person onto the bed, and threw the clean bedding on the person: "It's my fault. Hurry up." Take the time to sleep."

The room was plunged into darkness, Zhu Yue quickly agreed, and obediently closed his eyes.

However, the most sleepy moment has already passed, and it is difficult to arouse sleepiness again.

But it's not okay to not sleep.

Not to mention going to buy a new pot... Today he has to go back to the cave in the temple, so he can't cause Brother Lu any more trouble.

Zhu said that he thought about the things he had to do when he woke up, so he closed his eyes tightly and began to try hard to get sleepy.

However, being in a completely unfamiliar environment, with Lu Ci's shallow breathing close to his ears, there was the sound of Lu's mother getting up on tiptoe from the next room, and at the same time, there were shops opening and shouting for morning The guests' voices are mixed together...

Zhu Ming obviously felt extremely sleepy, but for some reason, he couldn't fall asleep.

But he didn't dare to move, for fear of waking up Lu Ci who was lying next to him.

He told himself over and over again that he was carved out of a piece of wood, and he had to remain motionless and breathe evenly, so that Lu Ci couldn't find out that he hadn't fallen asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally fell asleep under persistent self-hypnosis.

Also slept very deeply.

When Zhu said he woke up comfortably and naturally, his eyes were half-closed, and he only vaguely felt the darkness where he couldn't see his fingers.

What time is it?

Zhu said that he wanted to sit up in a daze, and he pushed his hands to the sides a little bit, and with all his strength, his forehead hit a cold hard object unexpectedly, making a loud "嗡——" sound.

"What is this!"

Zhu said that he was shocked severely, and the confusion that had been lingering just now disappeared in an instant.

The forehead headache is not very painful, but the voice is scary.

He pushed forward in a panic, and pushed away the culprit who hit him—it was nothing but a shiny and small new iron pot.

Zhu said that he stared at it blankly for a while, and before he could react, Lu Ci, who was urging Zhong Yuan to do his homework in the small courtyard, also heard the sound of the "organ" he had arranged, Shi Shiran came in.

"Brother Zhu woke up." Lu Ci smiled and said, "Go and wash up, it's time for dinner."

Zhu said that if he was in a dream, he obediently obeyed the instructions, turned over and got out of bed, took the toothbrush and the small porcelain cup handed over by Lu Ci, and was about to walk into the courtyard. The orange sky is like a blow to the head.

There was still a trace of luck in his heart, and he said with a dazed expression: "... What time is it?"

Lu Ci said slowly: "It's still early before going to bed, but it's definitely too late to go up the mountain."

Lu Ci was locked in the yard early in the morning, and there was a vicious mother outside with a stick guarding him. Zhong Yuan, who was forced to painfully write most of his homework on the first day of the holiday, was already very angry, and at this moment echoed: : "It must be too late. The pot has been bought, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Zhu said that he squatted down slowly and covered his face in shame.

He only felt that the temperature of his cheeks was as if he had been burned by the afterglow of the setting sun, and his brain was also dizzy due to the heat.

—He actually slept through the whole day!

Lu Ci saw what he was thinking, rubbed the top of his head gently, and said with a smile: "You are growing up, so it's good to sleep more. I made you stay up all night with me last night. See you today." You are sleeping soundly, so I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

Zhu said that he wanted to cry but had no tears.

Lu Ci winked at Zhong Yuan, and Zhong Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "Why are you so upset? It's just buying a pot, and it's not for building a house, so why send three people to mobilize the crowd like that? You don't have to think too much Trouble Lu Lang, you also saw the entrance of the perfume shop last night, similar dividends are not only available to soap balls, you, brother Lu with great powers, can make a lot of money."

He is not aimless: I don’t know how Lu Lang’s brain is so long, God knows that he is also studying, and his wife is the same, why is he so smart, come up with so many ghost ideas that can make money, and sometimes the income can’t even be seen. His good brother couldn't help but stare hotly.

"Speaking of the house," Lu Ci pulled Zhu Shuo up, watched him blushing and wiped his face, then remembered something, and wrote lightly: "I seem to have forgotten to tell you, right? I have already made an agreement with Uncle Zhong , we have settled down two houses in the west of the city together, and we will move in together when they are installed at the beginning of next month. Shouldn't you start tidying up your messy gadgets?"

Zhong Yuan's face was blank: "...what?"

Zhu said he couldn't help but stop what he was doing, and looked at Lu Ci with wide eyes.

Lu Ci couldn't help laughing and said: "Just now you were so fond of my income, why did you forget it all at once? I just bought a house, and you still seem to have seen a ghost?"

In fact, from Lu Ci's point of view, for the sake of studies alone, of course, living anywhere is not as good as living in the dormitory provided by the college.

However, Lu's mother is not in good health, and she often loves to work hard, and she insists on enduring minor illnesses and pains, for fear of dragging her only son down.

If she is far away, it will be inconvenient for Lu Ci to take care of her.

Moreover, these low-rent houses are mostly places where refugees from all over the country have no choice but to live temporarily before they can gain a foothold. The smallness and noise alone make it unsuitable for them to live in.

And in another two years, he should seriously enter the examination preparation stage and prepare to take the imperial examination. He must not only have a good review environment, but also relieve all worries.

A residential complex with above-average conditions and a warm and familiar old neighbor seem to be a standard configuration.

Lu Ci has been frugal for the past few years, and he has already saved enough money to buy a decent house. He just didn't find a suitable place, and he put it on hold for a long time with the idea of ​​"rather lack than excess".

Later, seeing that the Zhong family and his wife were nice, they deliberately made friends with each other, and the results were very good, so they changed their minds and decided to take the family away together so that they could help take care of his mother when he was busy.

Zhong Yuan, who was always fearless, stared at Lu Ci this time with a rare complex awe.

Normally, it's not that he doesn't know that Lu Ci doesn't show himself, but his ability is so great that even his parents can't help but love each other and love their own son.

But he never expected that such a big deal as buying a house would be easily done by Lu Ci, and he directly discussed it with his father, directly bypassing all his peers!

Zhong Yuan was silent for a long time before he remembered to ask: "Does Aunt know?"

Lu Ci had already thought about how to deal with it: "She doesn't know yet, but I have also made an agreement with my uncle. It would be more appropriate for him to come forward to persuade her."

Lu's mother is quite convinced of the Zhong couple who often help her, but she doesn't know that the other party is most convinced by her son.

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. Yaren: Similar to an intermediary that provides domestic services for women. "Tokyo Menghualu" said: "Everyone who hires manpower (male servants), dry servants (handymen), wine and food craftsmen (cooks) and the like, each has an old man for employment. Looking for maids (maids) means There are people who lead to tooth."

Please note that the Song Dynasty prohibited human trafficking, and there were no lifelong slaves. It must be a contract signed by both parties voluntarily, and it can also be terminated.

In order to prevent the situation of lifelong slavery, the law of the Song Dynasty also stipulated the number of years for hiring slaves: "In the law, the employment of slaves is limited to ten years." The servants and labor employed by these people are called "maids" and "manpower".

An interesting detail: In the second year of Chunhua (991), a famine broke out in Shaanxi. sold to the Rong as slaves).After Song Ting knew about it, he sent envoys with official money to redeem the sold children from the Rong people and return them to their parents. ("Song: The Dawn of Modern Times")

2. Brush your teeth: a toothbrush.Toothbrushes in the Song Dynasty have become daily necessities for ordinary people. In the "Menglianglu" section of "All kinds of miscellaneous goods", after "carrying loads and selling", "mirrors, wooden combs, grates, brushes, and teeth brushes" are listed.Usually made of wood, a few small holes are drilled at one end, and horsetail hair is inserted. (Song Dynasty Zhou Shouzhong's "Health Preservation Class Compilation")

3. Announcing dawn: Because there were no self-ringing bells, many cities in the Song Dynasty had bell and drum towers. During the day, the bells were struck to announce the time, and the bells were struck once every hour; at night, the drums were struck to announce the time, also every hour.In addition, in cities such as Bianjing and Lin'an (even including some villages), there have also been spontaneous civil service announcements, usually performed by monks in monasteries. "At five o'clock every day, walkers in various monasteries hit iron signs or wooden fish follow the door to announce the dawn, and they also divided their places to seek blessings (alternatives) during the day. People who are going to the market will get up when they hear this."

Later, the monks also increased the business of weather forecasting ("If it is sunny, say 'the sky is clear', or report 'Da Shen', or 'Si Shen', or 'Chang Chao', or 'sit in the back hall'; If it is cloudy, it means 'the sky is cloudy', and when it is dark, it means 'rain'". Every morning, the weather must be reported.