Nongmen Shenjue

These six peddlers are mostly in their thirties, and they are the pillars of a family.There were two more people in their early twenties, no more than the others, guessing that because they went out less often, they always looked at Mu Qingyan curiously, but they didn't dare to look too much.

These people built a fire and gathered around it to keep warm.After walking in the wind and snow for a day, everyone's face was flushed from the cold, and their hands were even cracked, red and swollen. When they warmed up, they were very itchy.The other four were fine, but the two young men were so cold that they couldn't bear to scratch them all the time, and the more they scratched, the more itchy they became.

"Don't grab it, you'll be in trouble if you break it!" The leader said, pulling out a small sack from the load, grabbing a dozen or so taro and burning it in the fire.

These yams are very big, as big as an adult's fist.After a while, the aroma of taro came out from the fire, and the hungry people smelled it, making them even hungrier.

When the taro was ripe, the leader picked two big ones and brought them over, said with a bit of restraint: "It's not a good thing, the sweet taro grown at home, if you don't like it, you can try it."

Speaking of which, the man is grateful, if it wasn't for the dry firewood Mu Qingyan gave, they wouldn't be able to discredit them and go out to find firewood, and they might just be hungry until dawn.

When Mu Qingyan saw this, he knew that these people must have very poor families, so that when they went out to sell goods, they could only bring taro as rations.In some poor places in the south, it is true that taro is one of the staple foods, but it is impossible to eat only this.These six people were working hard outside, but they didn't dare to eat more food, which shows that life at home is difficult.

"It's been a long time since I've eaten taro, thank you." Mu Qingyan grabbed two handfuls of rice and threw them into the boiling iron pot, and gave him a bamboo tube as a bowl: "Take the pot and drink some hot rice." Soup to drive away the cold."

The other party didn't have the nerve to ask for it, so they waved their hands again and again.

Wen Jixue had a smile on her face, but her words were unquestionable: "Take it, it's just two handfuls of rice."

"...Thank you, my lord." The man rubbed his hands together, and held back his polite refusal.

With rice soup to drink, several people are very happy.

Because of this, the atmosphere of being unfamiliar with each other eased, and Mu Qingyan chatted with them a few words.

It turned out that these six people belonged to the same village, and their home was in the mountains, with only one or two acres of uncultivated mountain land.The mountainous land is barren, and no matter how carefully it is cultivated, the output is limited, and taxes have to be paid all year round, and the family needs to eat and drink, so it is impossible to rely on the land alone.The mountains near their village are also owned by rich families. It is okay to dig wild vegetables, but rabbits and pheasants are not allowed.

In order to find a way to survive, they made deliveries in small groups.

For example, this time, they sent tea leaves to a tea shop in the north, and when they delivered the tea, they took the wages and used the money to sell some dried fruits from the north, such as jujubes, hazelnuts, melon seeds, chestnuts, and so on. These things are very popular.

"How much do you send the goods?"

"It's not too far from Yueliangzhou City to Changfu County. Because in winter, the snowy roads here are difficult to walk, and the foot money is more than usual. One person can have five or six hundred yuan for a trip. Let's go back. If you sell some more things, you can get another one or two hundred yuan by changing hands in Yueliang State. Then you can sell some fabrics from Yueliang State to our small place, which is another fortune. With these, you can also make a family Let's have a prosperous year." It was about Mu Qingyan who gave kind help twice, and the other party was very calm when talking about these things, and the others were also full of joy.

Mu Qingyan quickly made a calculation in his mind, the current official price is one tael of silver to one thousand Wen.In other words, these people have been tossing around since the beginning of winter, traveling long distances, barely earning a tael of silver.

From Yueliang Prefecture to Changfu County, it would take seven or eight days to walk on legs alone, not counting the wind and snow blocking the road.What's more, when they deliver goods, they push carts forward, and the speed is slower.Not counting the possible accidents on the way, just like this, one person gets five or six hundred coins, and the price is increased at the end of the year. In normal times, five hundred is not bad.

Look at the dried fruit they dumped, such a big sack, everyone has a heavy burden.All the way back to Yueliangzhou in the wind and snow, the profit was only one or two hundred yuan.

It is not difficult to understand why they are satisfied and happy.

The little mountain land they planted paid the land tax, and they probably didn't have enough food for the whole family.In contrast, it is not easy to earn money from outside.

A tael of silver is very valuable in the hands of the farmer.

Mu Qingyan thought back when he first arrived at the Mu family, when the Mu family was also poor and had no cash in hand, but somehow they had enough to eat and clothe themselves, but they owed 20 taels of foreign debt, and it was difficult for the family to marry.At that time, it was a luxury for the family to eat a meal of meat, but compared with these men selling goods, the Mu family was already very good.

"Is it snowing in Yueliang Prefecture?" Mu Qingyan thought that many places in the south do not snow in winter.

"It's falling, it's snowing. However, there are only two or three snowfalls at most. The snow is very small, only a thin layer, but it is still very cold."

Wen Jixue answered: "Although there is less snow there, there are many mountains and rain, and there are many cloudy days. The winter is humid and cold, and it is very difficult."

Wen Jixue went back twice when she was young, once to build a grave in the family to worship the ancestors, and once to send her grandfather's coffin back to the hometown for burial, both happened to be in winter.

After talking, half an hour passed, and Mu Qingyan felt a little sleepy.

"Go to sleep." There are outsiders, it's not easy for the two of them to hug each other, but the "bed" made out is quite loose for Mu Qingyan to sleep alone.

"Has the snow stopped?" Mu Qingyan didn't refuse, and wrapped the cloak around his body after lying down.

"Well, it's gone." Wen Jixue wanted to cover him with her cloak as well.

Mu Qingyan stopped him: "No need, just move the fire over a little bit."

After all, if it's an overnight stay, Wen Jixue doesn't worry if he doesn't wrap some warm clothes.

Mu Qingyan was awakened by the commotion in the temple.

Wen Jixue didn't seem to be asleep, she was lighting the fire, the fire was still burning brightly, the iron pot above was boiling white rice porridge, and the rice fragrance wafted out, waking up the stomach that had been empty all night.They didn't just drink porridge when they got up early. They bought steamed stuffed buns, and when it was cold, they made frozen steamed stuffed buns.Cut a few bamboo slices and stick them vertically and horizontally on the top of the iron pot, put the buns in, the rice porridge is cooked, and the buns are also hot.

Next to the temple gate, six peddlers had already eaten the burnt taro, packed their things, and were about to leave.

"My lord, be careful, I'm going to open the door." Because the temple is just one room, once the temple door is opened, the cold wind will blow in directly, and people inside cannot avoid it, so the leading man reminded him.

Mu Qingyan wrapped the cloak around his body, and Wen Jixue protected him from the wind. When the cold wind blew in from outside the door and the flames swayed, he didn't feel how cold it was.

The young man sneezed and couldn't help complaining: "Second Uncle, the weather is freezing to death!"

"Walking will warm you up." It was the leading man who answered, and he was the tallest among the six.

It was only said that they belonged to the same village before, but now it seems that they are still of the same family.

Wen Jixue got up to close the door.

Mu Qingyan glanced out twice, his genius was dim, and the group of six people walked further and further away, leaving only a series of deep footprints.The six of them just kept their heads on the road, not talking, so as not to open their mouths to drink the cold wind, not to mention exhausting their physical strength.

Although the snow had stopped, it was too deep. Mu Qingyan and Wen Jixue stayed in the temple for three days before going on the road again.

These three days did not wait, Wen Jixue went hunting in the nearby woods, there were no big things, but a few rabbits and pheasants were caught.After eating game for a few days, the rice and noodles I brought were almost consumed. Before leaving, I boiled the last handful of dry powder, filled a bucket of clean snow water, and re-ignited the stove.

The snow began to melt, and because of the thickness of the snow, it would last for a day and a half, so we were on our way.

In ancient times, it was no different than in modern times. Even if there were not many vehicles on the official road, there were at most a few ruts. The snow would not be compacted, and naturally it was not considered slippery.Wen Jixue's carriage drove steadily, not too fast, and after another two days of walking, they arrived at a small county town.

Stopped overnight in the county town to make up for the charcoal fire.

From here to Yueliang Prefecture, you have to pass through several villages and towns and a county seat.Now that the snow hasn’t continued, the roads around the county town have been easily cleared of snow, but the snow is piled up on both sides of the road, and the melted snow water flows on the road, and there are cars coming and going, muddy, and the wheels are especially prone to slipping.

If you want the road to be easy to walk, you have to wait for the sun to dry, or wait for the next snow, the time is difficult to estimate.

It's normal to encounter this situation when traveling in winter.

The two of them didn't intend to delay here, they wrapped the wheels of the wheel with fur, made some simple protection, and walked a little slower, that's about it.It is said that the road conditions will get better further on. There is very little snow near Yueliangzhou, but it has rained a lot. It is not heavy, and it is cold and humid.

On the sixth day of the lunar new year, the two finally arrived at Yueliang Prefecture.

Yueliangzhou City is an ancient city with quite a history. The two of them were really tired after bumping all the way, so they decided to rest in the city for two days.Although Wen Jixue didn't come back very often, there are people here, he needs to contact them first, and prepare some things.

Early in the morning, the two went to the street to have breakfast.

I found an old restaurant to eat rice noodles and crystal shrimp dumplings. The taste is very authentic.

"Old He, why didn't the old grandson open the door? I still want to eat his glutinous rice rolls. It's really delicious to accompany a bowl of Tianjiu glutinous rice balls." A guest asked, who seemed to be a regular customer.

Lao He is the owner of the rice noodle shop. He is in his forties and is cooking rice noodles.

Seeing someone ask, he said, "Didn't you hear about what happened two days ago? Someone ate his glutinous rice rolls, and something happened. Oh, although the government didn't lock him, how could he dare to open a shop before the matter was cleared up?" Ah, no one dares to eat his food."

"What's going on? I haven't heard of it." This person really doesn't know.

"It's Li Daxing who often hangs out on the street. He was found dead at home the day before yesterday. His lips were black and blue, and he died of poison. The government even said it was arsenic. Arsenic is so powerful that it will kill you if you touch it. It is said that Li There was half an unfinished glutinous rice roll next to Daxing's corpse, and someone said that they saw him come out of Lao Sun's house, took two glutinous rice rolls in his hand, and walked home while eating.

Although Li Daxing always ate and drank for nothing on the street, Lao Sun didn't have to kill people for such a thing, let alone he never bought arsenic.In order not to be punished, the Sun family went to the yamen to collect a lot of money. Just yesterday, it was said that they had found the murderer. They were a few countrymen from Changliu Town, who seemed to often work as porters for merchants. "