"When you look up, you will see brothels with painted pavilions and embroidered beaded curtains. Carved carriages compete in the sky streets, and BMWs compete in the imperial roads. Gold and jade are dazzling, and Luoqi is fragrant... Eight wastelands are competing for it, and all nations are connected. Treasures from the four seas are collected...
…The streets are full of flowers, why not limit spring outings, the sound of flutes and drums, and several night banquets.”
Ye An, who was on his way to Wang Daguan's village, was sitting on a bullock cart, looking to the east and muttering softly. The old Taoist silently looked at Ye An from the side.
Ever since Ye An learned that Xuan Chengzi was going to Tokyo City under the imperial edict, he became a little excited.
The prosperous city of Tokyo has only one famous painting that can give a glimpse of its true appearance in later generations, but it is just a remnant of the dream of Tokyo.
Now he will soon be able to see Bianliang, Tokyo in this era. For someone who has had a glimpse of history, it is undoubtedly an adrenaline rush.
For Xuan Chengzi, this cheap apprentice brought him too much shock. In just a few words, he described everything about Tokyo City accurately, and he could also hear his understanding of Tokyo City from it.
That sentence "When the lanterns are at night and the moon is shining, when the flowers are blooming on the snow, I beg for skills to climb high and teach the pond to play in the garden."
What is described is the scene of the Lantern Festival. Only at that time will the water army drill in Jinmingchi appear. So his elders must have been to Tokyo City!
Xuan Chengzi knew why Ye An did this. He was telling himself that his people were also people of the Song Dynasty and had memories of being at the feet of the emperor. But what kind of person would suddenly disappear from Tokyo and then appear in the vast world?
In Songshan Mountain?
Either this was not something Ye An saw in person, but was someone's description of him. This is more appropriate and reasonable, and can also be explained to the elders behind Ye An.
Nowadays, the old Taoists are more and more convinced that Ye An comes from a hidden family. Such a family has abilities that ordinary people cannot imagine. Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring is one of them. Although no one knows the truth now, there is no conclusive evidence that it is fake.
Yes, then this kind of secret realm really exists.
At present, Ye An and everything he brings indicate that there is still a hidden family, which is quite a shock to Xuan Chengzi.
It is true that there are no hidden families. The four most powerful clans in the past finally declined and became reclusive families. The Lanling Xiao family, the Chenjun Yuan family, the Chenjun Xie family, the Langya Wang family, and now there is another one.
Moreover, this hidden family is even more powerful and unfathomable, just because of those ingenious objects brought by Ye An.
Through the dialogue between Ye An and Wang Yuan, Lao Dao understood that his reclusive family possessed extremely high knowledge of things. Although Xuan Chengzi did not have very deep attainments in literature and Taoism, he was familiar with the Confucian classics and history.
The study of objects has always been regarded as something unworthy by the scholar-bureaucrats of the Han Dynasty. The great Confucian scholars were often poor in learning and did not have the opportunity and did not bother to practice the study of objects.
What kind of existence is Ye An's family?
"Is this what your elders did?"
Ye An nodded: "An elder in the family named Meng used "Tokyo Dream" as a record to describe the prosperity of Tokyo. My disciple was fascinated by it. Now he is going east to the capital, hoping to see the true appearance of the prosperous age."
The old Taoist nodded, but then smiled and said: "What this elder of your family saw was indeed the grand scene of Bianliang in Tokyo, but those last few sentences were quite inappropriate, and I don't dare to say them again!"
Ye An was stunned for a moment, and then the old Taoist patted his head and reminded him: "...the ancients dreamed of traveling to the country of Huaxu, and their joy was boundless. Now I think about it and look back with sadness. Isn't it just Huaxu's dream?!
These words are too melancholy, and there is also some anger. It is really weird to feel like the city is destroyed and the country is destroyed! I must not treat others like this."
Ye An was suddenly startled. He had just recalled Meng Yuan's "Tokyo Dreams" and read it out casually. He forgot that this was Bianliang where Meng Yuan was immersed in his memories. Fortunately, he did not read out the last paragraph of the preface, otherwise
The old Taoist will definitely fight him desperately again.
But even so, Xuan Chengzi could read between the lines the desolation of a country destroyed and a family destroyed.
With a long sigh, Ye An patted Tie Erdao, who was close to him but could not understand anything: "The elders of the family originally lived in Bianliang City, but their family fortunes were in decline and dilapidated. They had no choice but to hide from the world, so
Quite sad and angry!”
"Your elder's surname is Meng?"
Seeing the old Taoist squinting his eyes like a policeman interrogating a thief, Ye An frowned and looked at him: "Ah?! Who said that!"
"Brother Ye, what did you just say?"
Tie Er hit the target very promptly, and Ye An patted his strong shoulder with a smile: "If you are tired of sitting on the bullock cart, just go down and walk!"
…………………………
"Brother Ye still has seven or eight miles to go before he reaches Dawang Village. You don't know that Wang Daguan's village is so big!"
Looking at Tie Er, who was unable to get out of the car and stretched out his arms to make a big circle, Ye An rolled his eyes with disdain. Who said honest people are stupid? He doesn't feel embarrassed at all if he learns and sells now...
…
The oxcart is provided by the post house, and the old Taoist has the post coupon, so renting the oxcart is not a problem. Dawang Village is the village where Wang Daguan lives. Almost all the people here have the surname Wang Zhan, so they are named Wangjiacun.
.
However, the Dawang Village where Wang Daguan is located is not the Wangjia Village of Wang Fu. One is in the west of the city and the other is in the east of the city. Therefore, in order to distinguish the local people, the Wangjia Village where Wang Daguan is located is called Dawang Village, and the Wangjia Village where Wangjia Village is located is called Wangjia Village.
Wangcun.
The speed of the ox-cart is not fast, but it is more stable and there is no need to stop on the road. The endurance of the ox is surprisingly good, but because it is an unobstructed cart, the smell is not very good.
It is an unavoidable fact that all livestock have a smell, but the ox-carts used by officials are different from the ox-carts provided for transportation in the post. Officials’ ox-carts have carriages and incense...
…
After wandering around on the oxcart for half an hour, we arrived at Dawang Village. A square stone was erected on the edge of the official road with the words "Wangjiazhuang City East" on it. This is the most original and simple road sign.
The Song Dynasty inherited the system of the Tang Dynasty, with one hundred households as a li, five li as a township, four families as neighbors, and five families as protectors. Each li was assigned a person to be responsible for the situation. If the valley was dangerous or the land was far away and sparsely populated, he could be placed as he pleased.
Li Zheng is in charge of household registration, planting mulberry trees, checking for violations, and urging taxes and servitude. Those in the fields are villages, and each village has one Cun Zheng. If the village has more than a hundred households, one additional person will be assigned, and the same person will be in charge of Li Zheng.
Li Zheng, the head of the household, and the village clerk jointly supervised taxes, and Li Zheng was the yamen, so it was also called "Li Zheng yamen". Ye An knew all these things. After all, he had not read the books in vain for so many years.
In the ancient political system, the lowest level managers were also the most important link.
These local government offices constitute the rural management class, and most of them are country gentry. When hearing this name, most people subconsciously associate country gentry with local tyrants and evil gentry, but in fact this is not the case.
The countryside implements gentry autonomy. Although it is not ruled out that there are "local tyrants and evil gentry" among the gentry, generally speaking, the civilized quality of the gentry is relatively high, and the gentry is also the most ethical and honest.
If village officials tend to become gangsters, not only will the spiritual civilization of the countryside lose support, but it will also undoubtedly be a manifestation of the collapse of rural grassroots governance, and this kind of manifestation will never be allowed by the central government.
As the old saying goes: A poor man's wealth leads to his conscience. What a wealthy country squire needs is fame. He wishes that people from all over the country would praise him for his good deeds and would not do anything that would cost him his conscience.
In this era, when farmers encountered injustice, they did not rush to the county government immediately to complain, but sought justice from the squires. Of course, many of these squires were heads of wealthy families and village elders.
When the oxcart entered the inhabited village, someone immediately went to report the news. The village has its own rules, and the appearance of outsiders can easily arouse the locals' alertness.
However, the old Taoist appearance seems to be very famous in Yangcheng County. As the man in short collar ran over, after a while, people appeared in twos and threes, each shouting like an old god.
When he learned that the old man was visiting Zhuangzi, where Wang Daguan was staying, he went there with a huge crowd and was not afraid of Wang Daguan at all.
Although he had been prepared for it, in Ye An's imagination, this official Wang should be a fat man who was careless, or someone with a plaster on his face, at least a few evil servants, and a few evil dogs.
But in fact, this official Wang was a scholar with a good face, and his scholarly aura almost made Ye An disappear. At least when he was young, he should have been a handsome young man...