Clam Pearl

In other words, the country has become more and more stable in the past few years. Although natural disasters and man-made disasters are not the same as before, when the family and country grow, it is nothing more than making up for leaks here, and getting better here and crooked there.Things are still old things, whether it is floods or man-made disasters, the world is far and wide, and the country is here, and the disasters will not be less, and they will end.

Different from previous years, nowadays there are disasters everywhere, the sky is constantly moving, and the flow of people is impermanent. It is rare to hide your face and endure humiliation and beg along the door.

One is that since the founding emperor, there were only three generations of emperors in Daliang, and their descendants were not prosperous, and they were fairly clean in the clan, with no drag on them.Although there are about [-] mu of good land sealed off, in three to five years, some extinct and over-occupied ones were gradually taken back, and now they are put to great use.

The second is that now the Holy Majesty is the Holy Lord, not to mention self-frugal, never putting extra burdens on the treasury, not reaching out from the treasury, and now relying on the original fiefdom of Yiwang Mansion to support his harem, In addition to the necessity, the extra ostentation is not discussed.Over the years, the harem has been ignored, and the basic necessities of life have shrunk again and again, and the budget has reached an astonishing level.Those below couldn't use the royal hat to make trouble, so they had to be careful, and didn't dare to use all kinds of methods to spread oil everywhere like before.

The third is that now treasury management, official recruitment, and tax laws are promulgated and applied properly, and key departments such as the Ministry of War have been quietly included in the current sleeve.In addition, today's emperor loves to use capable ministers and officials. Although he has not shown hostility to the old nobles and bureaucrats, the power of those old forces is indeed gradually diminishing year after year.As the rights increase and decrease, the consumption will naturally decrease.

The fourth is that today's important affairs of the country, whether it is salt, tea, iron, etc., are all managed by the current people.This thorough penetration process is silent, and when everyone understands it, no one can reach out.

The fifth is that there are fewer and fewer soldiers and bandits nowadays, and the country's largest consumption has been reduced by half.

Based on various reasons, there are today's results. Although natural disasters and man-made disasters have never stopped, with the good operation of the state machinery, disasters have become a problem that can be solved.In the past, the country's finances were in dire straits, and in order to get money as soon as possible, it was rescued from all sides.In expropriation, it is inevitable that all kinds of tragedies will be caused for the sake of speed. There is quite a tendency that the radish is too fast to wash the mud as the saying goes.Now the same disaster, the national policy that is good in the past has its own provisions for famine relief, as usual.

Speaking of this, I also want to mention the old thief Jin Shanzhu, his disciples are really talented. In recent years, Daliang has been taking advantage of others.

Regarding state affairs, I will explain it here for the time being. When it comes to the old rules, there is a family in the city who is busily doing things according to the old rules.Speaking of which, this family is also a descendant of a famous family, and is even related to the Gu family in Pingzhou Alley in the city.His 300-year-old scholarly family was once a wealthy family, but it is a pity that Junzi Zhize was killed in the fifth generation, but his family's green smoke has already run out.

This family is not someone else, but it was the main branch of the Gu family in Pingzhou earlier, and now everyone calls this branch the Xibei Gu family.The Gu family in Pingzhou Alley is called the Gu family in Xinan.

Speaking of Xibei and Xinan, it was originally an ancestor who lived in a place called Xishui in Pingzhou for generations. The surname Gu was also a wealthy family in the local area. The leaves are luxuriant, and I don’t know how many generations it has reproduced, and I don’t know how many branches and vines will go to a big tree.

In the generation of Pingguo Duke Gu Yan's father, his family was not well-known in the family, and the family was even more shabby.In order to survive, Gu Yan's father abandoned books and practiced martial arts and rebelled against the founding emperor.

For a wealthy family, Gu Yan's family was nothing more than a small fish in the family back then. The family was afraid of revenge from the previous court, so they wrote a document to drive Gu Zhao out. In the middle of the night, the bones of the ancestors of the Gu family in Xinan were removed from the ancestral grave and thrown to a place south of the stream. Since then, Pingzhou Gu has been divided into two families, one is called Xibei Gu, and the other is Xinan Gu.

On this day, Gu Maomin, head of the Xibei Gu clan in the Shangjing Old Temple, said that his mother's birthday is 69 this year, so she will celebrate her [-]th birthday early as usual.Therefore, since the beginning of summer, his family has been busy.

Now Gu Maomin has a servant official in the department of the Ministry of Punishment, who is the fifth grade.His son, Gu Yunsheng, has a sixth-rank idle Sima position in the Duhu Mansion, so he doesn't have to go to Dianmao often.

The aristocrats raised in 300 years, although their families were in decline, encountered major events, but the ostentation was not as simple as usual, and the process was not simple and exquisite. This is also an old practice.For the sake of the old lady's entire life, and also for the sake of Xibei Gu's face, Gu Maomin used the strength of the whole family to support this face.

One month before the birthday, the family sent posts to old relatives, famous scholars in the city, and famous friends in the literary world, such as Lu Zhitian who is good at painting, Wang Xingtang who knows calligraphy, Xiaozhai layman from Dundingshan, lecturer Wenchong from Lianhuatang, All are guests on the post.These old customers are old friends of several generations, and they will not stop coming because of the decline of the Xibei Gu family.

One month before the birthday, as usual, the construction of Gu's house in the old temple has already started. His old house is very big, and it has been nurtured by several generations. It may be that the interior has been empty for more than ten years and has not been repaired. For this old ancestor's renovation The life is glamorous, and the power is getting farther and farther away, so they can only support the family business on the rich and noble culture. Although it is helpless, it is also a way, and what they spend is the family's ancestral property, which no one can say Half a word.

This time, the Gu family in Xibei took a lot of blood. Once the construction started, all the buildings in the family's courtyard were greatly renovated. What are the plain roofs, flower backing boards, flower pendant columns, and flower air on the old buildings? Eyes, sparrows, ancient coins, horseshoes, and three-chat heads have all been replaced with new ones.On the floor, all the carvings on the flower wall have been removed and replaced with a new style, including a variety of Yunzi grass and star anise clouds.This item totals thousands.

Home furniture, ancestral spirits, Buddhist altars, yards, houses and other property are all made of high-quality setting powder, gamboge, realgar, green powder, sky green, rouge, stone green, stone two green, stone three green, red gold , paste gold, eggs, silver beads, laterite tobacco, earth powder, indigo ball, persimmon yellow, sanlu, goose yellow, pine flower green, varnish and other high-quality materials, all of which were painted in detail. Go to the whole eight hundred silver coins.

There used to be a waterside pavilion in his home, but because there was no family banquet in the past few years, the place was abandoned, and now he has spent 1000 yuan to repair several scenic courtyards in his home, what is drunk, white, clear, stay, Liuyuefang , Sheng Yuwan or something.He even spent [-] or [-] guan to buy high-quality wood, and made a finely carved painting boat at home, named: Yibo.for the entertainment of guests.

There are also the famous teams and actors invited from all over the world, not to mention the rewards, in order to become famous, it is actually the team that comes here, as long as it is a role, it will buy a whole set of new outfits.This outfit is exquisite, just take the role of Laodan as an example, the single jacket skirt can be divided into Laodan clothes, Meixiang clothes, Shuitian cloaks, lotus picking skirts, white silk skirts, etc., not to mention the matching crown on the head. Zi, Miaochang, tie the head, just this item, a total of four hundred guan.

300 years of scholarly family status, among which wealth can be nurtured overnight.This point is incomparable to the dignity of the current emperor's heir, Gu's family who have iron scrolls and alchemy books. It is only said that his family's garden does not cost a penny, and it has been planted everywhere for a hundred years or decades. Varying autumn trees, mountain willows, white beetroot, wenge fruit, fragrant pears, red and white cloves, large and small mountain apricots, etc.In terms of flowers, ivy, spinach, Qianyelian and so on are just normal.

On the seventh day of June, the birthday of the old lady came, and the old temple Gu Mansion opened its doors to welcome guests from all over the world. Gu Maomin led his son Gu Yunsheng and a group of children in the family to welcome guests at the door. His family is really struggling now. On the other hand, it is more than ten times that of the Gu family in Xinan. For these children, no matter what, the family has to swell their faces to support this fat man.There are only a few generations in Pingzhou Alley, so to speak, the four generations live together!

Their side... hey!This kind of sadness is not enough for outsiders to understand.Especially for the hundreds of years old clan today, it is not just the Xibei Gu family who have problems.

The weather was fine that day, and the drummers invited by the family were playing congratulatory music on the porch. Gu Maomin's uncles and uncles were all famous poets, so the first people who came here were all the elegant people who can be counted in Beijing today .These people didn't come empty-handed, they all brought enough congratulatory gifts, and it was really lively for a while.

Gu Yunsheng took his family back and forth today, he is the son of the eldest son, so he naturally wanted to be a good start, so he was very busy receiving gifts, and in a blink of an eye, half morning passed, and his father asked four or five times about the situation in Pingzhou Alley Is anyone here?Gu Yunsheng said in his heart, father, you greet guests at the door yourself, why do you always ask me.I thought so, but he could only reply: "Father, don't worry, it's not because outsiders are unreasonable, they must have come! I'm afraid our house is busy today, and we don't know if we are blocked outside the alley." .”

Just like that, I waited for a long time in a state of confusion in my heart, and finally someone over there called out. First, Uncle Yun Ke from the four gates of the Gu family in Xinan came, and then, there was another gift from the big mansion, but the people from the big mansion unexpectedly One didn't arrive.

Gu Yunsheng saw that his father's face was not good, so he quickly grabbed Tao Ruo's family and gave him a reward first. Tao Ruo thanked him, and then explained: "Don't blame the young master, now the third master has gone, he and your master The same generation, so the family is afraid of bumping into the good life of the old lady. This is not the case. Last night, the grandma went into the warehouse to find the high-quality jade peaches for the old lady. When we came, our grandma said, wait for our house. The filial piety period has passed, and the old lady will personally come to make an apology."

He was just a bastard, but he didn't want to really keep the etiquette over there.Gu Yunsheng's face turned red when he heard the words, and he didn't know how to explain to his father.

Although the Gu family had turned their backs a long time ago, they still had to live up to their face. This is etiquette, so the words must always be mellow, and it is good if the two get along well.No one can come to the old man's side, but now that it's almost time to start the banquet, how come the seventh grand master doesn't come?If today is Gu Maomin's own birthday, that's all, he is a junior.

But today, the ancestor and Gu Zhao are considered to be of the same generation.Therefore, the child was also in a hurry, so he asked Tao Ruo again, "What about your Seventh Grand Master?"

Tao Ruo was impatient, but she still didn't show it, and said with a smile, "Your question is interesting. The younger one is the housekeeper of the Duke's Mansion. How do you know about the affairs of the Duke's Mansion?"

Just as he was talking, someone shouted over there: "Master! Uncle Seventh of the Pingzhou County Government Mansion has arrived."

Gu Zhao was helped out of the car, looked at Gululu's kneeling head in front of him, couldn't help but rolled his eyes, and cursed in his heart: Damn it, why did more than 30 grandnephews fall out in a blink of an eye?

Cursing in my heart, I could only smile.The old lady here, no matter how you say it, she really wants to be called sister-in-law.He has to come because of emotion and reason.

In the past few years, the life of the Gu family in Xibei, Pingzhou, has been difficult, but they are not particularly annoying here, although the division of the sect was very troublesome, and the dirty things they did in the early years are even more annoying.However, if it was the other way around and the world was in such chaos, then the patriarch would dare to leave the bones of his ancestors.Later, I cried and shouted not to divide the clan, but also for the benefit of the children in the family.

Why!In ancient times, this was not good, they were very hypocritical, and they wished to shoot each other to death with bricks, but their etiquette was not bad at all.Therefore, when the ancestors of his family celebrate their birthdays and Gu Yan does not come, as a representative, Gu Zhao is bound to come.

In the past, when his brother was in good health, Gu Zhaocai didn't bother to care about these things, but now, he is the only elder in Shangjing who can represent Xinan Gu to celebrate his birthday.

Looking at the group of nephews, nephews and grandchildren greeting him, Gu Zhao sighed inwardly, but his face was extremely kind, he helped him with a smile and said, "Hurry up! You're not an outsider, it's so polite, get up." ...You see, I usually don't like socializing, but now my family doesn't know which one is which."

The biggest stone in Gu Maomin's heart finally settled down. If Gu Zhao didn't come, he would cry.His family did such a big thing, but they just wanted to borrow the face of the Gu family in Xinan, and find a bowl of food for the children of the family in a corner.If Gu Yan and Gu Zhao were not here today, from tomorrow onwards, the children in the family would really have no way out.Who is capable of doing things now?It's all about facial expressions.

After running a few steps, Gu Maomin ran over and bowed deeply.

Gu Zhao didn't know how he felt in his heart, but this bow contained the shame of everyone in the Gu family in Xibei.For a moment, a strange atmosphere circulated in the air, and many children of the clan couldn't bear to look at each other, so they could only turn their faces away.

"Greetings to Uncle Qi, it's hot weather, Uncle Qi please go inside."

Gu Yunsheng, who was standing at the other end, couldn't bear to look at his father anymore. He looked around to see if there was no one around, so he shrank to one side and stretched out his sleeve to wipe away his tears. He told himself in his heart that he should not cry. If he cried, all the efforts of the whole family would be lost. I was implicated by myself.When he retreated into the corner, he didn't expect that his little uncle Gu Maoli was also weeping silently there.

I think of my little uncle, a psychic with seven orifices, a person like spring plums and snow, he has been smart since he was a child, although he doesn't like official career, his family will not force him, although he can't say that he is a handsome talent in the middle school, but he is also a top-grade calligraphy, painting and melody The delicate son.Not to mention his little uncle, the father at home, the kneeling family uncle, brothers, and nephews, they are all first-class talents.Poetry, prose, poetry, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, that is not enlightenment since childhood, and years of hard work.

However, you have beautiful articles like flowers in your chest, and your family also wants to live in this vast world.

The uncle and nephew were relatively speechless, Gu Maoli stretched out his sleeve to wipe away the tears of his nephew, forced a smile and said: "Go quickly, don't make your father tired, he won't sleep well for three months, you and I can't sleep anymore It's up to you."

Just like that, the two uncles and nephews came together in front of Gu Zhao. This was the first time that Gu Maoli took a serious look at himself, the fabled No. [-] dandy in the capital, the mother of the Gu family.The seventh uncle in the family, the current Duke of Pingzhou County.

Today, Gu Zhao is wearing a robe with emerald cloud patterns, a pine deer and versicolor jade belt tied around his waist, a golden double bead crown on his head, and a pair of shiny white boots with forged white bottoms.Judging by his appearance, he is also a top-grade person, not to mention his icy muscles and bones, but as he looks at him, he feels that this person has all kinds of spiritual senses, and a thousand kinds of richness can't form a part or two of charm. Appeared among the young people next year, but now there is one standing in front of him.

Gu Maoli is a lover of calligraphy and painting, so he is a natural visual animal. Suddenly, his grievances disappeared a little. In the past, he imagined Gu Zhao as a person wearing red and green, with a horsewhip in one hand and a cattail fan in the other. It's a face full of flesh, and between coming and going, the neighbors are flying around, and it's no problem to rob civilian women.

"Who is this?" Gu Zhao saw a handsome man in his thirties standing blankly in front of him. The man didn't move or speak, and just looked at himself straight.Gu Zhao was puzzled, so he turned to ask Gu Maomin.

Gu Maomin's face turned pale, and knowing that his younger brother was stupefied, he hurriedly said: "Little uncle doesn't know, this is the third younger brother..." Before he finished speaking, Gu Zhao suddenly revealed an unabashed joy on his face and said: "But Gu Ziyu from our family?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard the words, even Gu Maoli was stunned.

Gu Zhao chuckled, and said to the people around him: "Zhao has been naughty since he was a child, and he has a bad reputation outside, which really caused my brother a headache. Last year, my brother really couldn't see it, so he invited Mr. Ranxi to teach at home. Everyone in the first school just wants to calm down my temperament. But I don’t want to. After we gave the gift, Mr. Ranxi said that your family, Gu Ziyu, studied under Yu Ting. Next! Since your family already has such a bright and handsome character, why bother to look far away?"

Gu Maoli's face was thin, and his face turned red immediately.The juniors who saluted here were originally reluctant in their hearts, and many of them felt insulted in their hearts.Hearing what Gu Zhao said now, he had a faint feeling of goodwill.

Hearing that Gu Maoli said that he didn't dare, Gu Zhao stretched out his hand to untie a purse from his waist, and turned his hand to pour out two small pieces of gold-painted ink sticks from it.

Gu Zhao put the ink stick into Gu Maoli's hand and said with a smile: "Third nephew, this is something I found an ancient recipe and played with at home when I had nothing to do a few days ago. Although it is not as good as the famous ink in the city, but here I am. But it released a strange fragrance, and when the third nephew went back to paint, he would know what the smell was after smelling it."

Gu Maoli was a fool, so he stood at the door, held up a ink stick and smelled it seriously.

Gu Zhao smiled lightly, grabbed him directly and said, "Hey, I'm also here to play tricks. I didn't know I would see you today. If I knew earlier, I would have prepared something else for you. I'm ashamed to say that I, an elder, always It's time to be idle. Where do you come to me some other day, I have a few scrolls of good paintings for you."

Gu Maoli said yes repeatedly.

Now that the atmosphere is just right, Gu Maomin over there said, "Third brother, hurry up and bring Uncle Seven to the table. The sun is shining now, so don't expose little uncle to the sun."

So, the so-called family went in talking and laughing.They both gave each other face with full sincerity, and they were very satisfied.

The host and the guests had gone, Xizai and the others waited for the servants, and then they were taken to one side of the corridor to have dinner, eight young servants had a table, one table and one room.They sat at the upper table among the servants, and they also had eight dishes and eight bowls, a jug of old wine, and the dishes were very rich.While eating, the little servant who came over there with him quietly asked Xizai: "Uncle housekeeper, before you came, Uncle said that we are no longer with this family, how can our seventh master treat them so well?"

Carefully looking around and no one around, he lowered his voice and said, "What do you know? It's not been a few years ago. Our seventh master is now an official outside, so he has an official voice. We don't care what other people do. In addition, the family has separated from this family a long time ago, so it is not easy for his family to make trouble and depend on it. Since they both have the surname Gu, why bother to offend him with such a vicious voice? If the Gu family can't say it together, it's really bad for our Seventh Master! Do you understand?"

Careful about a bunch of good and bad, you add him to his family, and you get dumped in the end, understand?It just made the little servant dizzy and dizzy for a long time.

Not to mention what was discussed below, but said that Gu Zhao was taken behind by the Gu brothers, and as soon as they left, the women at home and the female relatives who came to celebrate the birthday hurriedly avoided.Gu Zhao didn't need to make big salutes to the old sister-in-law, so he only gave half a salute, presenting birthday peaches, birthday noodles, and a birthday star carved in silk, with the word "Shou'er", six pieces of satin with crane pattern.Now, this old lady has been confused for a long time, and she doesn't say anything stupid, and she doesn't recognize her, she just laughs.She didn't speak, just looked at you so kindly, dementia, but also very temperament of a literary old lady.

Seeing the old lady like this, Gu Zhao thought of his old brother, and felt a little pity in his heart.He saw that the old lady was taken care of very well. The care of people is not something that happens overnight. He can see from a young age that the family really takes good care of the old lady. The old lady's hair, nails and complexion have been cared for all year round, so they have such a good color today.

Therefore, I have a better impression of the Gu Brothers in my heart.

After celebrating his birthday, Gu Zhao was led to sit at the table, ordered a discount of "Auspicious Grass", and Gu Maomin personally accompanied him to chat some gossips. When he met Lao Zhi'er's children, there were plates and bowls on the table in front of him, and they put The dishes are steamed deer tail, pheasant slice soup, wind pig slices, wind sheep slices, pig brain soup, hibiscus egg, goose gizzard soup, steamed anchovies, Xishi milk, Wensi tofu soup, soft-shelled turtle meat soup... Delicious accumulation In Chengshan, Gu Zhao saw some dishes for the first time.

During the banquet, there were also officials who heard that Gu Zhao had come here to celebrate his birthday, and temporarily found out the post.Seeing that Gu Zhao was at the head, those people also came to offer a toast. Gu Zhao was not good at drinking, so he smiled and recommended the Gu family's children from this room to accompany him, but he also added a few good words, which didn't take much effort.Even so, unconsciously, he also drank a few more glasses.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and he told Gu Maomin that he was being rude and wanted to go down to change clothes, so Gu Maomin stood up and personally led Gu Zhao down.This road has countless beautiful scenery, twists and turns, four bridges in the distance, misty rain, and in a blink of an eye, he came to a small room. Gu Zhao was about to go in, but he didn't want to, a young boy suddenly ran out from under the rockery, wearing a fine cotton shirt, biting his finger , smelling the fragrance in the air, hugged Gu Maomin's leg and said coquettishly: "Grandfather! When will those guests leave? Leave the meat for Gui Guaner to eat?"