Patriarch, he doesn't want to take the imperial examinations

Chapter 63

Since the flood receded, the scorching sun hung in the sky, followed by anger, becoming more vicious day by day.

The villages and farmlands that had been submerged by the floods were exposed. Nine out of ten houses and crops were destroyed, and the roads and fields were all covered with mud.

Before the rainstorm came, it was the time when the farmers were busy farming. Every household was busy harvesting wheat, and some families had not yet had time to harvest.But no matter whether it was collected or confiscated, after the flood passed, all of them were washed away.

There is not only wheat in the farmland, but also corn, millet, soybeans, potatoes and other crops that are not ready for harvest.However, after the flood, none of these crops were spared, and they were all submerged and destroyed in the farmland.

The imperial court sympathized with the people and exempted the disaster-stricken households in Xianghe County from taxation for three years, and each household distributed disaster relief food per head per month to ensure that every disaster victim survived the winter safely until the summer grain harvest next year.

When this news reached the ears of the victims, the victims were so excited that they kowtowed their heads and thanked each other. They could return home after the imperial court rebuilt their homes. It's better to have so many people crammed into a shelter.

There is a custom in every dynasty and every generation. Whenever the government builds civil engineering and water conservancy projects, citizens must serve corvee service without payment. That is, men of the right age must go to the construction site to serve after being summoned by the government. If they disobey, they will be severely punished by the government.

This dynasty is no exception. Taxation and military service are the obligations of every citizen.In addition to the officers and soldiers sent by Shuntian Prefecture, as long as males aged between 35 and [-] in Xianghe County, each household must send one person to the disaster area to help the victims repair their houses and farmland together with the officers and soldiers, so that the victims can recover as soon as possible. back home.

This is true for men of the right age in ordinary households, not to mention the men of the disaster victims living in the simple sheds of the shelters. Men who meet this age group actively participated and went to their villages to repair houses.

Some old and weak women and children were left behind.Although the flood has receded, the weather is very hot, and there are so many people living together. In order to prevent the epidemic, the government ordered the officials to send a large amount of realgar, Chuanqiong, mugwort, Phellodendron and other medicinal herbs to eliminate the epidemic, or burn them Aromatherapy, or decoction in a pot of water, let the medicinal gas permeate the air for disinfection, after a few days like this, everyone will live in peace.

In addition to burning and decocting medicinal herbs, they can also be made into sachets. Wearing them on the body can not only prevent mosquitoes and diseases, but also pray for the safety of the family.

The government distributed needles, herbs, and pieces of cloth to the women who knew how to do needlework in the simple sheds of the shelters, and asked them to make simple sachets for their families or themselves to wear, so as to pray for blessings and avoid disasters.

Not only the women in the shelters make sachets, but women from ordinary families also follow this method and make their own sachets to keep themselves and their families safe from the epidemic.

These days, the maids and women of the Limeng Mansion also hide in their rooms to make sachets. The family, men, women, children, and masters and servants each get at least two.

Meng Zhen also got two. At first he was reluctant to wear them, but was forced by his sons to wear them.

After breakfast that day, the young people went out to do their own business, while the elderly and children stayed at home.

As usual, Chen Qiushi was going to go to the area where his family lived in the west of the city to repair his house. It stands to reason that he was not required to serve because he had a reputation as a scholar.

But he wanted to live in a new house earlier, so he couldn't live in Meng's house all the time, so he went out to build houses with officers, soldiers and migrant workers every day against the scorching sun.

When they were leaving the gate of Mengzhen courtyard, they happened to collide with Meng Hong who was entering the gate, the two looked at each other, no one paid attention to the other, they staggered and walked away.

Meng Hong walked into his father's yard, Meng Zhen and the others were sitting under the grape arbor enjoying the cool and chatting.

Meng Hong came over to say hello to everyone, Meng Zhen saw his happy face and asked him where he went early in the morning.

Meng Hong scratched his head and smiled, saying that the air was fresh in the morning, and he took a stroll outside.On the contrary, Meng Che pointed to the sachet on his brother's body and said, "Second brother, where did you get this sachet? Why is it different from ours?"

The sachets of their Meng family are mostly red, with the words "Fu, Ping An" embroidered on them, while his second brother's sachets are embroidered with a pair of silk juniper flowers.

Meng Hong didn't shy away from it, saying that Deng Zhaozhao gave it to him.Meng Che leaned over to have a look, saw that the sachet was very unique, and said he wanted one too.

Meng Hong was a little unhappy, pushed him away, and said: "That's not okay, Deng Zhaozhao only made this one for me, if there are more, there will be no more."

Meng Che cheekily begged, "Then ask my sister-in-law to make another one, won't there be one?"

Wang Xiucai, who was sitting on the side, smiled and said, "Don't ask for it, Fourth Young Master. This is a gift between husband and wife, so it's not good to give it to others."

Meng Che looked at his second brother, curled his lips, and couldn't ask for more.Seeing his pitiful appearance, Meng Hong couldn't bear it, so he took off the sachet on his body and handed it over, "Forget it, there is only one sachet on the left and right, if there is anything I can't give you, since you like it, I will give it to you."

But Meng Che didn't accept it any more, saying that he couldn't take what others like, otherwise he wouldn't be a gentleman.

Meng Hong was amused by his words, tied the sachet on himself, and thought to himself, as expected, people who read books are different from others, and at a young age, he knows that a gentleman does not take what others want.

After finding a place to sit down, he saw his father holding Meng Yuan talking to Mr. Chen.

Meng Yuan writhed non-stop in Meng Zhen's arms, and Meng Zhen thought he was restless, so he handed it over to Father Chen.Father Chen was very happy to hold the child, and coaxed Meng Yuan with a piece of candy, and Meng Yuan was obedient in his arms.

Father Chen continued what he said just now: "Master Meng, when we return to our own home in the future, can we come to your residence to look after our children at any time?"

When he asked this question, he was very unconfident, afraid that Mengzhen would not agree.Because when he married the girl from their family, it was clearly written in black and white that they were selling their daughter for marriage. After the daughter married into the Meng Mansion, she had nothing to do with their Chen family, and they were not allowed to communicate with each other in the future.

Now he proposes that he wants to come to the house to see the child at any time. Isn't this against the promise they made at the beginning? If this word gets out, people will laugh at it.

Father Chen lowered his head to look at the little grandson in his arms, not daring to look at Meng Zhen again.Meng Zhen didn't make things difficult for him at all, and said: "Meng Yuan is your grandson, you can come to see him whenever you want, I have no objection."

"Really?" Father Chen suddenly raised his head, his face full of disbelief.When he married his daughter a few years ago, he had heard of Mengzhen's bad reputation. Not to mention that he was lewd, his wives died after marrying each other, and his temper was extremely bad.

But even so, he resolutely resolutely married his daughter, because their family needed the money too much. The son in the family needed to study, his wife needed to take medicine, and the hard-earned money he earned was only enough for food and clothing. Unable to pay for anything else.So knowing it was a trap, he still pushed his daughter down cruelly.

I thought that I would never have any intersection with the Meng family again in this life, and I didn't want a heavy rain to implicate them again.He didn't have the face to make this request, but he couldn't bear the fact that the child was so cute. He liked it so much that he wanted to see the child every day.

It was beyond his expectation that Mengzhen would agree. Father Chen looked at Mengzhen with confusion in his eyes.Didn't it mean that this old man is not easy to get along with, so why did he agree.And as far as he was getting along with Mengzhen these days, he felt that Mengzhen was not bad, not as heinous as the rumors said.

Meng Zhen was a little displeased by his stare, and only said: "Really, you can come whenever you want, no one at home will stop you."

It is said that old man Chen first looked at Meng Zhen for a long time, then looked at several people around him, and finally his eyes fell on Meng Hong who was not far away.

But Meng Hong thought, what old father Chen is watching him do, his father has already agreed to it, how can he still object, but he can't be happy with this Chen family in his heart.

"Thank you, your family is good people." Father Chen looked at the well-behaved grandson in his arms, and for some reason remembered his daughter who died early, feeling clear in his heart, feeling sad and sad.

"Wang Huan, Meng Che!" Wang Xiu called out when the surroundings became quiet.

Due to the torrential rain, the schools and colleges in the county were more or less damaged, and they are working hard to repair them these days.When the weather was hot again, the government was afraid of the epidemic and strictly prohibited the residents from gathering together, so the school gave the students at least one month of summer vacation.

Wang Huan entered the academy at the beginning of this year. It was the critical time to learn knowledge, but the school suddenly took such a long vacation.Wang Xiucai was afraid that he would slack off in his studies, so he personally taught him and became his master.

It happened that Meng Che was also at home, so Wang Xiucai asked him to join in.After breakfast and rest for a while every day, Wang Xiucai took the two people to his place to give them lectures.

A few days ago, Meng Qing told him that the two schools he sponsored would be completed soon, and that he would be invited to be a teacher to teach the children, so as to subsidize the family.

Wang Xiucai agreed without even thinking about it. Since the imperial examination is hopeless, it is not bad to be a famous teacher.

After watching Wang Xiucai lead Wang Huan and Meng Che away, Meng Zhen also got up and went to his room to read a book.

Their county school also had a vacation of more than a month.The weather is hot these days. After eating in the morning, Mengzhen sits in the shade of the courtyard and chats with everyone for a while. After the sun is very hot, he goes back to the house to read a book. Then it is lunch time again. After eating, he will take a rest noon.When the evening became cooler, everyone gathered in his yard to chat and enjoy the coolness. Day after day, ten days passed in a blink of an eye.

Half a month later, the Chen family's leaky house was renovated, and Chen Qiushi took his father to bid farewell to the Meng family.

After more than half a month of exposure to the wind and sun, Chen Qiushi became quite dark, and his already deep eyes looked even more unfathomable.During the time he lived in the Meng Mansion, he didn't speak much. He usually only answered when others asked him, and he wouldn't take the initiative to say something if others didn't ask him.

Regardless of the previous grievances, they were all written off from the moment the Meng family took them in.Especially in the past half month, the Meng family treated their father and son like their own relatives, because of the little nephew Cheng Huan's knees, his father's face lost the color of sorrow, and he played with his grandson every day, enjoying a few days of peaceful and leisurely family happiness .

Chen Qiushi is sincerely grateful to the Meng family, but he can't say the words of thanks when he gets to his lips.He lowered his head, just in time to see the sachet tied around his waist, with the words "Peace and success" embroidered on it.

Suddenly his eyes were filled with tears, he turned around and stubbornly wiped them away, then turned around again, with a resolute expression on his face, then bent down and gave them a deep bow.

"Today's kindness will be reciprocated by springs in the future. May you all be safe and free from disasters as stated on this sachet, and your wishes will go smoothly."

When he straightened up, he looked calm, but his father was crying bitterly.Meng Yuan ran up to the two of them, grabbed Old Chen's clothes and said, "Where is grandpa going, are you coming back?" After getting along with each other these days, the grandparent and grandson fell in love, and Meng Yuan was very close to this grandfather. .

Father Chen knelt down, hugged him, and said in a choked voice, "Come on, grandpa will come to see you in a few days."

"When grandpa comes, bring me a lot of sweets." Obviously, when we were parting, the atmosphere relaxed a lot when the child teased me.

Father Chen also laughed through his tears: "Okay, I'll bring you a lot." Laughing, he turned his back and began to cry secretly.

Chen Qiushi hurriedly helped his father up from the ground, and said to Mengzhen who was opposite: "I am a filial piety for my mother. After school starts, I will ask the school to drop out, and then I will find a job outside to support our family."

"What happened in the academy before..."

He wanted to apologize for this, but he couldn't say anything.

"Understood, let's go home with your father earlier." Seeing his stubborn look, Meng Zhen answered for him.When he was in the academy, Chen Qiushi was aggrieved by his sister's death, and would come to him from time to time to trouble him, and his despicable means would not be able to stand on the stage, which ruined his reputation in the academy.

But this is already a thing of the past, Meng Zhen is not the kind of person who holds grudges, he has already left this matter behind, and now it is brought up, it is just a cloud of smoke, which has long been blown away by the wind.

He watched as Chen Qiushi helped Mr. Chen out of the courtyard of his house. Under the scorching sun, their shadows were pulled very short until they turned out of the alley, and the black shadow could no longer be seen.

"Father, why do I think this person is weird." On the way back to the house, Meng Hongpong whispered next to his father, "Obviously he used to be so arrogant towards us, but now he lowers himself a lot. And I Looking at this person, I always feel that he is not a kind person. If you anger him, he will punish you to death. In short, it is better for father to stay away from this person in the future."

For Meng Hong's whispering words, Meng Zhen did not give an answer.A person who is kind to his parents, how bad his heart can be, if Chen Qiushi can kowtow to Meng Qing to thank him, then he has a conscience.

Moreover, young people are like young trees after the rain, if they are treated with kindness, they will not grow crooked.

A few days after the Chen family left, Wang Xiucai's house was also repaired.A few days before Wang Huan started school, the Wang family left the Meng Mansion early in the morning.

The hot weather that lasted for nearly a month has finally cooled down in the past few days.

The night before the start of the county school, it started to rain.

The author says:

The next chapter should be a year later, and the protagonist should take the provincial exam.

Posting here two of my favorite poems about summer.

Tang Gao Pian "Summer in the Mountain Pavilion"

The green trees are long in the dark summer, and the terrace reflects into the pond.

The crystal curtain moved in the breeze, full of rose fragrance.

Song Su Shunqin's "Xiayi"

The other courtyard is deep in the summer Xiqing, and the pomegranates are blooming all over the transparent curtain.

At noon when the trees were overcast on the earth, there was a cry when I dreamed of a warbird.

Haha, happy summer!

感谢在2022-05-1223:59:14~2022-05-1402:02:30期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~

Thanks to the little angel who threw mines: Ben1;

Thanks to the little angel of irrigation nutrient solution: Jie 25 bottles;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!