At five o'clock the next day, Chao Yong got up and washed up, then went to have breakfast with his parents. During this period, his mother, He Chunchun, gave him little advice.
Under He's constant urging, the breakfast lasted half an hour.
Chao Gai also gave some instructions. Seeing that his wife seemed to have endless things to say, he interrupted: "Chao San is already waiting outside, so please let him go."
Chao Yong also took the opportunity to say: "Don't worry, mother. The child is only walking around. He will definitely come back in two months or three months."
"well."
Seeing that Chao Gai was already a little impatient, Mrs. He ended her instructions, took two large silver coins from the maid's hand and gave them to Chao Yong, then turned to the door and said: "Chao San, come in."
Chao San heard his wife's call outside the door and hurriedly came in with the package on his back and bowed to say hello to the host.
Seeing that Chao San had tidied up neatly, Mrs. He nodded with satisfaction and said: "Chao San, the young master has never left home since he was a child. He has to eat and sleep in the open when he is away from home. The young master you have to serve is considerate. I think of the young master in advance, and I will never miss you when I come back." The reward. If the young master does anything wrong, you will not be able to escape the punishment."
Chao San quickly replied: "Yes, madam."
Chao Gai, however, had a free-spirited temper and could not bear to see such a scene of affection between his children. He waved his hand and said: "Okay, madam, let them go. Yong'er has grown up. It's good to go out and see the world."
When Chao Yong saw the head of the family speaking, he also stood up and said goodbye: "Dad, mother, take care, the child is leaving now."
Mrs. He glanced at her son who was about to leave, his eyes suddenly turned red, and two lines of tears ran down his cheeks.
When Chao Yong saw this, he knew it was not the boss, so he comforted him again and went out of the yard. The two of them each picked up a whistle stick and left the village.
Chao Yong had already planned the route of his adventure. The first stop was Shijie Village on the edge of Liangshan Mountain. First, he could visit the three heroes of the Ruan family, and secondly, he could see the eight-hundred-mile waterfront.
The ancient natural scenery is pleasant, the air is fresh, and walking on the road is very refreshing.
It's just that the package is inconvenient to carry. Since this dynasty did not suppress land annexation, there were many landless farmers, which also made industry and commerce particularly developed. When the court tax increased sharply, a problem also arose. There was too much money and not enough silver. In the past, money could always be exchanged. One tael of silver, nowadays, only two coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver. After the imperial court began to mint "ten coins", people were even less willing to exchange silver for ten coins, so most of the coins and gold circulated among the people. Silver is often collected by people like jewelry. Sometimes one tael of silver can be exchanged for several strings of copper coins.
As for the new banknotes that appeared in this dynasty, they were previously only issued by Sichuan merchants and were called Jiaozi. Later, their use gradually increased, and the imperial court established Jiaoziwu to be responsible for the issuance of Jiaozi. In the past few years, it was called Qianyin, although it is easy to carry. , but in recent years, the national treasury has been in short supply, and the court has begun to print money indiscriminately, and merchants are no longer willing to accept money, so the circulation of money is not as good as in earlier years.
In order to give Chao Yong the capital to be generous and generous, Chao Gai gave him ten ingots of silver. But for daily pocket use, he also gave him a few copper coins. However, these copper coins were not easy to carry. They were not only heavy, but also took up space. Fortunately, they were scattered along the way. Chao San was carrying it, and Chao Yong just felt sorry for him.
The journey along the way was nothing but farm scenery, and in the evening we arrived at Shijie Village.
This Shijie Village is a small fishing village built near a lake. As far as the eye can see, there are only thatched houses and not many large families.
The fishermen in the village were all wearing shabby clothes. When they saw the neatly dressed Chao Yong, they all looked curious and whispered about why they came.
Chao Yong walked up to a fisherman, raised his hands and asked: "Brother, may I ask where the three heroes of the Ruan family live?"
When the fisherman asked Sanxiong of the Ruan family, his expression of curiosity suddenly disappeared. He bowed and said, "You two are looking for the third eldest brother. I don't know whether you are looking for the second brother or the fifth brother.
Seventh Brother?"
It seems that the three heroes of the Ruan family are also the dominant ones in Shijie Village. When they heard the two people asking about the three heroes of the Ruan family, those who were discussing in the distance suddenly stopped talking.
"Don't they live together?"
"Second brother lives in the village, but fifth brother and seventh brother live in the lake. If you want to find second brother, just follow me."
Chao Yong cupped his hands and said, "Thank you."
After a while, the three of them arrived at Ruan Xiaoer's house.
In front of the door when I arrived, I saw several small fishing boats hanging on dry piles, a few broken fishing nets hanging outside the fence, and three or five thatched houses built along the lake.
The fisherman who led the way called out: "Second brother, are you at home? There are people from outside the village looking for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a lean man walking out of the house. He was about twenty-four or five years old, wearing a tattered turban, old clothes, and bare feet.
When the fisherman who led the way saw Ruan Xiaoer coming out, he obviously didn't dare to do anything. He bowed and left, suppressing his curiosity.
Ruan Xiaoer came out and saw Chao Yong and two people with angry expressions. He raised his hands and bowed. He couldn't help but wonder: "You two brothers are very jealous. What do you want to do with me?"
Chao Yong returned the salute with his hand and said with a smile: "I am Chao Yong from Dongxi Village. I have heard of the three heroes of the Ruan family many times. I came here to pay my respects."
Speaking of Dongxi Village, Ruan Xiaoer's name quickly appeared in his mind, and he said, "Is this little brother the nephew of Chao Gai, the king of Tota?"
"It's my father."
Ruan Xiaoer heard that Chao Yong was the son of Chao Gai, and hurriedly walked up the two steps: "It turns out that he is the son of the King of Heaven, Chao Tianwang. Our brothers have been famous for a long time, but we just didn't have the chance to meet. Today, Brother Chao Yong came here, but he wanted to
It would be best if we stayed around for a few more days, so that we and other brothers could fulfill their friendship as landlords."
It is true that Chao Gai's reputation was not just for boasting. Chao Yong was also puzzled at first. With Chao Gai's character of spending money like water, why his reputation was not as good as that of a county official.
Now it seems that most of them were left behind and rarely went on expeditions, so their reputation was robbed by Song Jiang.
"But it depends on my brother's arrangement."
Ruan Xiaoer laughed and said: "In that case, Brother Yong, just listen to my arrangements. Let's go have a few drinks first."
"Okay, heroes meet and are about to get drunk before resting."
Chao Yong was accustomed to drinking spirits brewed by modern techniques when he was in college, but the wines of the Northern Song Dynasty were purely natural fermented wines, most of which only had more than ten degrees of alcohol content, so they naturally tasted huge.
Seeing Chao Yong's bold temper, Ruan Xiaoer immediately said: "There are several hotels across the lake. Let's go there and look for Xiao Wu and Xiao Qi to have a drink together. Please wait a moment while I go in and put on a pair of shoes.
Come."
Not long after, Ruan Xiaoer came out, took the two of them directly to the lake, and untied a small boat from the dry pile. When Chao Yong's master and servant got on the boat, the waiter pulled up a bamboo pole from the water and gently shook it.
When the boat is propped up, the boat seems to fly away from the shore, very fast and steady.
Not long after, they came to a high port in the water, surrounded by water. Only a few thatched houses were built on the high port, and a man was lying in front of the house humming a tune.
Seeing the second brother coming, a carp jumped up and asked: "Where is the second brother coming?"
Chao Yong looked closely and saw that Ruan Xiao had a pomegranate flower on his temples and was wearing a rag collared vest, revealing a green leopard tattooed on his chest. His appearance was the same as that of Xiao Er, but there were more
Some romantic atmosphere.
Ruan Xiaoer did not go to the shore, but just shouted: "Xiao Wu, you go boating to find Xiao Qi. I will take Brother Yong to sit in the water pavilion for a while. Come quickly."
Ruan Xiaowu responded, then he also took a small boat and flew away without asking any questions.
"Could it be that Xiaoer and Xiaowu are born from the same mother?"
Ruan Xiaoer said with a smile: "Brother Yong has good eyesight, but not only Xiaowu and I, but also Xiaoqi and the three of us were born from the same child. Our father passed away early, and our family was poor. When we were in our teens,
I haven’t given a name yet. One time, my mother was ill, and the doctor said that she could cure it by eating a catfish called “mud drill”. My three brothers braved the severe cold and dived into the water to find a catfish each.
We were asked to weigh all the fish, and the result was that one weighed two kilograms, one weighed five kilograms, and one weighed seven kilograms. I named us according to the weight of the fish, so we were called Ruan Xiaoer, Ruan Xiaowu, and Ruan Xiaoqi. Xiaoqi
He has loved soaking in water since he was a child, but he is the best at water."
Chao Yong didn't know how the names of the three people came from, and he also had a deeper understanding of the water properties of the three people. How good they were at catching the slippery catfish in the water.