My balcony connects the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 238 New Year's Bells (1+1)

Two days passed in a blink of an eye, and this day is New Year's Day.

In the Han Dynasty, there was no saying of keeping the year old on New Year's Eve, and this did not gradually take shape until the Tang Dynasty.

Today's Chinese New Year generally revolves around sacrifices.

First, worship ancestors, then pay homage to elders, then greet each other between relatives and friends, and if you are an official, go on a pilgrimage.

The Wei clan has been passed down for [-] years, and the ancestor is Wei Qing of the Western Han Dynasty. On the long case, Wei Zifu's empress altar is also placed.

After a circle of sacrifices followed by the large army, Wei Cheng helped Cai Yan, who was a little tired, back to the small courtyard to rest.

Next, the juniors came to pay respects, and Wei Cheng had to prepare lucky money for them.

The earliest record about New Year's money appeared in the Han Dynasty.

At this time, it is not called New Year's money, but it is called money that is tired of winning or winning money.

And this kind of money is not real currency, but a commemorative coin or decoration.

The front side of the copper coin usually has some auspicious words, such as Qianqiu Long live, the world is peaceful, and the back side is usually auspicious patterns, such as dragon and phoenix, turtle and snake, stars and so on.It cannot be circulated as a real coin, but is worn on the body as an "auspicious and evil-proof" ornament.

Of course, the lucky money given by Wei Cheng must be unique.

And for today, he also specially ordered [-] pieces. Naturally, there are not so many juniors who come to pay respects. The main reason is that the merchant in Dongge's house said that [-] pieces will be ordered before accepting orders.

The period from noon to evening when the family eats the New Year's Eve dinner is reserved for the younger generation to pay New Year's greetings to the elders.

Wei Cheng thought that he would have to wait until the last one. After all, the younger generation of the Wei family has started a family, except for the elder brother Wei Kai, he is the only one. The elders and children are orderly. That's right.

However, what surprised him was that not long after the couple returned to the small courtyard, there were laughter and laughter from the juniors outside the courtyard gate, as if they were chasing and fighting all the way.

Wei Ting looked up curiously, who else is the leader not Wei Ting?

Followed by the little girl Wei Qing, she is the happiest today, because the entire Wei family is the youngest in her generation.

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt, New Year greetings to you!"

Wei Qing rushed in, while the others stayed at the door, looking forward to it, and they understood the rules, Wei Cheng should be the last one.

However, they couldn't wait any longer, and they all wanted to see what the lucky money Wei Cheng gave them.

Wei Cheng and Cai Yan looked at each other, and they shook their heads in unison, thinking that the 'New Year's money' prepared by Wei Cheng should have leaked out.

Otherwise, these juniors would not have come here in such a disregard of etiquette, is this to put Wei Cheng on the fire?
As an aristocratic family that has been passed down for hundreds of years, don't the juniors even understand the rules?
Fortunately, Wei Ting and the others are smart enough to let Wei Qing come in to celebrate the New Year first. Wei Qing is young and ignorant. Even if the elders know about their behavior, they will only say that Wei Qing is a nonsense, and a few reprimands are basically useless Never mind.

Wei Teng and the others didn't enter the door. They wanted to see what the New Year's money that Wei Teng gave them looked like before going to pay New Year's greetings to the head of the family, Wei Hao.

It's just that the cleverness of a few juniors obviously made Wei Cheng a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, Cai Yan tugged at Wei Cheng's sleeve, and suggested softly, "Husband, send those lucky money over."

Wei Ting heard the words, nodded, and waved to Wei Ting at the door.

Wei Cheng thought that Wei Cheng had seen through his little thoughts, and he wanted to reprimand him, so he trot in with a guilty conscience, not daring to look up at Wei Cheng.

Wei Cheng didn't blame him at all, after all, it was Chinese New Year, so it's hard to say harsh things.

I saw Wei Cheng picked up a small golden nanmu box from the futon beside him, and said, "Send this to the main hall and give it to brother, he knows what to do."

Wei Ji, as the eldest son, must be still in the main hall to accompany Wei Hao, Wei Min and others to plan the family's development direction for the new year.

Wei Ting took the small box, and his eyes lit up when he heard the voice coming from inside.

"Second brother, that's what's inside..."

"Okay, don't ask if you shouldn't ask, just send it over, and follow the rules in the future, don't play your cleverness again."

Wei Ting smiled resentfully, and left the small courtyard with a bewildered Wei Qing. A group of children, young and old, came and went in a hurry.

Wei Cheng shook his head helplessly, Cai Yan put his arm around him, and said softly, "Your husband won't blame me, will you?"

Wei Cheng was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "How could it be?"

···
main hall.

Wei Hao glanced at the door curiously. In previous years, the children would come to pay New Year's greetings at this time. Why haven't they come this year?

Wei Min also frowned slightly, he had always treated the younger generation with a serious attitude, and the younger generation would make a detour when they saw him.

Because it was the New Year's Eve, there were still a lot of things waiting for him to deal with at the city guard office, so he had to go there today, but the juniors didn't come to pay New Year's greetings so late, which made him very angry.

Wei Hao, Wei Ji and others also frowned, intending to ask people to see what was going on, but as the head of the family, Wei Hao didn't speak, so it was hard for them to say anything.

at this time.

Wei Ting hurried over with a group of children, seeing that the faces of the elders were not good-looking, they quickened their pace a little guilty.

Seeing Wei Ting coming to pay New Year's greetings, Wei Ji frowned and asked, "Sixth Brother, what are you doing?"

Wei Ting hastily explained: "Brother, this is what the second brother asked me to send, just leave it to you."

Everyone was startled when they heard the words, Wei Hao looked at Wei Ke.

Wei Ji nodded to the old father, got up and went over, and opened the wooden box.

Wei Ting took the opportunity to peek at it, and his heart beat faster.

Wei Ke also had a similar reaction.

He hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Wei Hao, cupped his hands with a smile in his eyes and said, "Father, this is specially sent to you by my second brother."

When Wei Hao and the others heard that Wei Teng asked Wei Ting to deliver it, they surrounded them regardless of their appearance.

Wei Hao took the lead and walked up to Wei Ting, first glanced at Wei Ting who was dodging his eyes, and then his attention was directly attracted by the objects in the box.

"This, this is..."

Behind Wei Hao, Wei Min put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "This thing is called a pocket watch."

Wei Hao and the others looked at each other, and suddenly remembered that Wei Cheng seemed to be wearing such an object with him.

Wei Hao said excitedly: "I heard from Cheng'er that this thing is used to tell the time, and it is very accurate."

Wei Min replied: "That's right." When he agreed, his eyes still stayed in the box, and his eyes were also full of fire.

Inside the box is a brass pocket watch worth 50 yuan. The workmanship is quite exquisite. The front cover is engraved with a moiré pattern, the middle is a big [卫] character, the back is a polished copper mirror, and a brass chain is attached to the watch. It can be hung around the neck as a necklace, or pinned to a coat button as an ornament.

Wei Hao picked up a pocket watch, lifted the cover, and saw a modified dial.

Under the glass mirror, there are marked: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao...the twelve hours of Shen, You, Wu, and Hai. Three quarters, one quarter is 15 minutes.

Different from the watches of later generations, the pocket watch customized by Wei Cheng will be slower by one lap, that is to say, it takes half a day and twelve hours for the watch of later generations to go around, while the pocket watch customized by him takes twelve hours for a full day. That is 24 hours.

This is why the merchant requires a minimum order of [-] pieces. If it is just for decoration, they can also ship one.

And Wei Cheng wanted to change the parts, adding a few small gears, the workmanship naturally became cumbersome.

"Strange, I remember the piece of Chenger's. Does this needle move?" Wei Hao also picked up a pocket watch and asked curiously, pointing at the second hand.

Hearing this, Wei Ting eagerly said: "I know this, I saw my second brother operate it, and I need to twist the mechanism on it."

Wei Ting was holding the wooden box with both hands, and he really couldn't move his hands, otherwise he would have done it himself.

At this time, Wei Yan stepped forward to take the pocket watch in Wei Hao's hand, and gently turned the mainspring. He also saw Wei Rong twist it, and more than once, he had already noted it down.

After winding up the clockwork, Wei Min asked the housekeeper at the door, "What time is it?"

The housekeeper looked towards the sundial in the center of the yard, and replied loudly: "Go back to the second master, it's about time."

That is around two o'clock in the afternoon.

Wei Min adjusted the hour hand to the end of the hour, but there was no minute hand, but there was a second hand, ticking and ticking.

Wei Min handed the pocket watch to his elder brother Wei Hao.

Wei Hao took the pocket watch, played with it joyfully, and asked Wei Min how he saw the time.

Seeing this, Wei Hao and the others looked at Wei Hao eagerly.

Without changing his expression, Wei Min picked up a pocket watch, wound it up, adjusted the time, and put it in his pocket.

Wei Hao and the others saw his operation clearly this time, and each took a pocket watch.

There are more than a dozen brothers each, and there are actually more than [-] pocket watches in the wooden box, but the juniors outside the door don't know.

Seeing that his New Year's money was gone, Wei Qing rushed in and knelt on the ground regardless of the rules.

"Grandfather, grandson wishes you New Year greetings!"

The little girl's voice was very clear and loud, and immediately awakened everyone who was playing with watches from their immersion.

Several old fellows looked at each other with embarrassment on their faces, they should not have lost their position in front of the juniors.

Wei Hao loved this little granddaughter very much, put the pocket watch in his pocket with a smile, and then took out a copper coin.

"Come on, this is Qing'er's lucky money." Wei Hao smiled kindly.

Wei Qing froze for a moment, glanced at the wooden box in Wei Ting's arms, and pouted suddenly.

Wei Hao thought she thought it was too few, so he took out one with a smile, "Then I'll give you two, and when you get married next year, there won't be any left!"

Wei Qing still knelt on the ground and did not move, his small mouth was so pouted that he could hang an oil lamp.

Now everyone noticed something was wrong, Wei Ji, as a father, was going to scold her immediately.

But before he could speak, Wei Ting spoke.

"Brother, actually, we just went to the second brother's place first..."

Wei Ji's expression changed, he glanced at the wooden box in Wei Ting's arms, and then at Wei Ting, Wei Ting smiled and nodded to him.

Seeing this, Wei Ke took a deep breath, walked to Wei Hao's side, and whispered something in his ear.

Wei Hao's old face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, the corners of his eyes twitched a few times, and he laughed awkwardly.

In the end, all the juniors who came to pay New Year's greetings got a pocket watch.

It's just that it was not given in the name of Wei Cheng, but in the name of the head of the family, Wei Hao, although it was a bit superfluous.

As for the New Year's money given by Wei Cheng, it was really New Year's money... Wei Cheng gave them a bunch of tickets.

···
Located in the center of Anyi County.

That is, Xuanwu Avenue, Suzaku Avenue, Qinglong Avenue, Baihu Avenue, the intersection of the four main roads.

This place was originally a tower, and its main function was to dispatch city defenses. Soldiers held flags and waved signals upstairs, and the information conveyed by the flags could be clearly seen on the gate towers in the distance.

However, as early as half a month ago, the tower was sealed off with straw mats, and people standing outside could not see what the people inside were doing.

And this fortification that has been covered for half a month, there is movement today. Just when everyone is immersed in the joy of the New Year, the straw mat outside the tower is covered with red silk.

All the pedestrians who came and went stopped and watched.

Some people guessed what kind of shop opened. Of course, opening a shop in such a good location, the business must be booming. It must be Wei’s handwriting to convert a wartime tower into a shop. I just don’t know what good things are being sold this time. .

Some people think that it is the fortifications of the city guards. Everyone has seen the fortifications outside the city, and many people have even witnessed the power of those fortifications. Compared with them, the fortifications in the city cannot be compared at all. Sooner or later, they will have to upgrade of.

Just when everyone was talking about it.

Wei Min led Tian Feng, Xun Yu, and several people from Wei's Goodwill Hall, and walked out of the straw mat wall talking and laughing.

Tian Feng said regretfully: "Second Master, is it true that Young Master won't come?"

Wei Yan shook his head with a smile, and jokingly replied: "He said that it is enough to just remove all the mats. This child, since Yan'er became pregnant, has become more and more fooling people."

Tian Feng and Xun Yu smiled at each other, and then looked at the luxurious carriages driving not far away.

After the carriage stopped, the patriarchs and speakers of the aristocratic families appeared on the stage one after another.

Behind the carriage, followed by a group of sons riding bicycles, the first generation of car owners in Hedong.

"Hahaha, the old man is not late, is he?" Old Mrs. Xie was in good spirits, walking slowly with Xie Yu's support.

Wei Min and the others rushed forward to greet him.

Wei Min rarely showed a smile on his face, and said politely: "It's not too late, it's not too late, the old lady came just in time. It's the Chinese New Year, and the old lady is honored to come here. I am very grateful."

On the other side, three old men came hand in hand.

Well-informed people will find that, including Mrs. Xie, here are the four longest-lived elders in Anyi County.

All four of them were from great families, because ordinary people can't live to their age.

Under Tian Feng's guidance, the four Mr. Xie stood in the four directions of the tower.

Mrs. Xie just faced Xuanwu Avenue, and the other three people faced the other three streets.

At this time, the sky gradually darkened, and many businesses on the street lit oil lamps and torches.

Following Tian Feng's voice: "The auspicious time has come!"

Mr. Xie and the four followed the procedure and pulled a piece of red silk.

Crash, the mat covering the tower fell from the sky, revealing the fortifications that had been hidden for half a month.

Boom, boom, boom...

At this time, the time came to exactly six o'clock in the evening.

A huge bell rang from the top of the tower, and the loud bell rang all the way to every corner of Anyi County.

Below the big clock, there are four big clocks that look like pocket dials, each with one side in the southeast and northwest.

The first landmark building in Hedong has been born since then!

(End of this chapter)