PFC Page 861
Page 861
Lu Xiao just lowered his head and played with the mud without raising his head.
"I know!"
Little Bell cheered and raised her little hand, and answered first: "Today is the Waking of Insects Festival."
Lu Bu nodded slightly, quite satisfied with his daughter's answer, rubbed her little head lightly, and then asked: "Do you know why it is called 'Jing Zhe'? Man, tell me."
"I don't know." Lu Xiao answered honestly, rubbing the mud.
What Confucius said, "Know what you know, and what you don't know, don't know" is vividly reflected in Lu Xiao.
Lu Bu was so irritated by the younger son's tone that he nearly blew his beard and stared at him. At the same time, he missed his elder son: "If Zhuan'er is here, he will be able to answer the question."
Lu Xiao let out an 'oh' and didn't continue.
Apart from beating and beating, Lu Bu basically had nothing to do with Lu Xiao, he could only sigh: "You, when you can be half as diligent and studious as your brother, it will really be worth my going to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha."
Lu Bu didn't speak any more, and the little bell was still full of thoughts. He raised his small head and looked at his father: "Then why is it called Jingzhe today?"
Lu Bu didn't answer directly, but glanced at Guo Jia, and said to him: "Feng Xiao, tell Little Bell to listen."
With such a knowledgeable master here, Lu Bu doesn't need to fight with others.
Since the father-in-law spoke up, Guo Jia, the son-in-law, still had to give some face.
"Awakening of Insects, also known as "Awakening Insects" in ancient times, is the third solar term in the 24 solar terms of the lunar calendar. There is a saying in "Monkey Order 72 Hou Jijie": On February Festival, everything is shaken, and the shock is thunder, so it is called Jingzhe. It's the pinworms that got scared and left..."
Guo Jia talked slowly, explaining the origin of the allusion to Little Lingdang.
It probably means that animals will hide in the soil during the winter season and will not drink or eat, which is called "sting".When the first thunder in spring wakes up hibernating animals, people call this day "Awakening of Insects".
Therefore, when the sting, the stinging insects wake up, the weather gets warmer, and there are spring thunders.
Little Bell listened carefully to these novel knowledge, and her beautiful eyes were full of admiration for this omniscient brother-in-law.
When he came to the field, Lu Bu saw an old farmer resting with a hoe, so he went to talk to him, "Old man, how about rest?"
The old farmer turned around, his withered and thin face was weather-beaten, and he was wearing a shabby dark brown cloth jacket.After looking up and down at Lu Bu and the others, the old farmer realized that the person who came was unusual, with a hunched body, humility in his tone, and a trace of fear, he asked anxiously in a low voice: "My lord, what do you need from me?" ?”
"Old man, I'm not a noble person. I'm just an ordinary person."
Lu Bu smiled and exchanged greetings with the old man.
Lu Bu's tone was kind, but the old man knew very well that the man in front of him was extraordinary, not to mention his grandeur, the self-confidence and indifference exuded from him were completely different from those of the peasants who had been dealing with the loess all the year round.
Lu Bu didn't want to admit it, and the old farmer didn't dare to point it out at will.
After chatting for a while, Lu Bu asked about the crops: "Old man, do you cultivate so much grain, is it enough for a year's food and clothing?"
The old farmer held his hoe, shook his head and sighed, and told Lu Bu.
In recent years, natural disasters and wars have continued, and the arable land has been trampled. The people cannot cultivate it, so they can only sell the land cheaply to the rich and powerful families.Then when the days were a little more peaceful, the big families rented the acquired land to the common people again.
When Lu Bu asked about the tax, the old farmer's face became more sad.
People lease land, and they have to pay [-]% of the rent according to the grain production, and for the remaining [-]% of the land, they have to take out more than [-]% of the grain to pay the various taxes of the court, and finally less than [-]% of the grain is used for supply. Food and clothing at home.
"How can such a small amount of food support such a large family?" Lu Bu was puzzled by this.
In another field not far from the side, a young man in his 20s heard the conversation here, tried to rest for a while, and then joined in, saying carelessly: "It must not be enough to eat, so most of the time , we are all picking wild vegetables, tree roots and other things in the field, and eating them together."
"Can tree roots be eaten?" Little Bell showed an extremely incredible expression.
"As long as it doesn't kill people, there is nothing you can't eat!"
The young man's expression was indifferent, perhaps he had been numb for a long time.
"When it comes to unlucky times, bandits will invade and plunder the food in the village, but anyone who is robbed of food is almost equivalent to going to a dead end, and the only thing left is to sell their sons and daughters..." Another person As he spoke, his face was helpless.
"Don't the government come forward to take care of it?" Lu Bu looked slightly displeased.
Hearing these words, some of the farmers sneered and some resented.
"Care? Officials are busy collecting money, eating, drinking and having fun, who cares about the lives of ordinary people like us!"
"You can't say that. There are still good officials, but they are very few. Just like General Cao came to Yanzhou a few years ago, cleared out the bandits, and stabilized the situation. Our life is better. It's a pity, I was defeated by General Lu Bu not long ago, and I don’t know if this general will show some sympathy for us.” Someone retorted, feeling very emotional.
"Thank God for not collecting taxes indiscriminately anymore. If you want me to say, there is no good person in the officialdom except Mr. Cao!"
"That's because you are ignorant. I heard that Mr. Zhang Miao of Chenliu County is a very good official."
"Tch, you have never been to Chenliu, how do you know he is a good official?"
The farmers started arguing with each other, and they seemed to swear not to give up until there was a result.
Lu Bu listened silently, and it could be seen that Cao Cao won the hearts of the people here.
"I heard people say that the treatment in the general's barracks is very good. I have already entrusted someone to inquire about it. If it is really good, I will join the army tomorrow. As long as I can fill my stomach and share rations for my family , call me anything!"
"Li Tielu, if it's true, call me when the time comes, so we can have a companion."
"Count me in, even if I die in battle, it's better than starving here..."
The farmers talked and talked, and somehow they brought the topic of being a soldier.
The young men thought about it and felt full of energy, while the older generation of farmers sighed: "You can join the army when you are young, but we can't. Old men, old arms and old bones, even if they want to join the army, they won't do it." Take it... Maybe someday, I will starve to death on this land..."
Between the words, there is endless sadness.
The farmers got together and chatted for a while, and then they went back to the fields.Hu Kan belongs to Hu Kan, today's farm work still needs to be done.
The farmers got back to work, and Lu Bu got concerned, so he stopped disturbing, got up and left with his children.
On the way back to the city, walking on the muddy road, and reached a narrow path, the mooing of buffaloes was heard not far ahead.
Looking around, a little girl about eight or nine years old was holding a long hemp rope in her hand, and made several big circles.
She is not big, but the big basket behind her is full of grass, which is quite a bit higher than her head. Next to the grass is a pair of cloth shoes covered in mud.
Not far behind, a big buffalo gnawed at the weeds on the side of the road.
The little girl pulled the ox nose rope hard, barefoot, trousers rolled up high, one foot deep and one shallow foot in the pattering mud, staggering forward, shouting: duh~duh ~
That kind of tough and tenacious energy made people feel distressed.
Little Bell lay on her father's broad back, staring at the little girl's muddy calves in front of her in a daze. She asked her father, "Father, isn't she cold?"
Lu Bu shook his head.