Quickly wear it and insist on being an old man forever

Nanhuai Mountains, in Peach Blossom Canyon.

When the first aristocratic family in Qidong was massacred by the rebels, the Li family felt that the building was about to collapse. The family's golden status was shattered and they would inevitably be liquidated in the future. In addition, their family had been on a decline over the years, so in the contemporary era After some consultations with the clan elders, the head of the family made a very decisive decision to stay away from the world for a while and wait for peace.

To put it simply, I feel that the world is about to be in chaos, and aristocratic families such as theirs are no longer safe. They should hide first, find a deep mountain and old forest to hide for a while, and then come out when the world is peaceful. Although it is difficult to gain any benefits in the chaotic world, it can do its best. May save the lives of family members.

It can only be said that people have their own ambitions, and each clan has its own ambitions.

After making the decision, their family quickly took their clan members, their children, and their servants, sold all their land and property, bought enough supplies for more than ten years, and moved together to a hidden canyon they had found in their early years.

That is Peach Blossom Canyon.

This name was given to them after they moved in.

After that, they lived a secluded life that was somewhat lonely but at least safe. At the same time, in order to reduce the number of trips out and leak traces, they even asked their servants to cultivate in the open areas of the canyon and raise a small amount of livestock to ensure self-sufficiency in food as much as possible. Self-sufficient.

As long as they can be self-sufficient in food, a batch of other condiments such as salt can be used for several years, and the inventory they brought with them such as fabrics is enough for them to use for thirty to fifty years. If they don't go out for three to five years, it will be no problem. .

Even if I go out, I only need to buy some salt and come back every few years, just to check out the situation outside.

Because the war outside has been going on for sixty years.

So they lived in seclusion for sixty years.

And it was not until the sixty-third year when they sent people out to buy salt that they learned that Emperor Xuanwu had successfully unified the world. Logically speaking, they could actually go out at this time.

After all, generally speaking, the world is unified.

It means peace in the world.

But the Li family members who went out to buy salt and inquired about the situation learned that although the world had been unified, Emperor Xuanwu was completely at odds with the martial arts sects in the world and was sending troops to attack the major sects.

The martial arts sect destroyed Emperor Xuanwu's entire clan.

Including all wives, concubines and children.

The Li family members who had inquired about this information had a private discussion, and they all felt that although the world was unified, judging from the information they had obtained so far, it seemed that it would not be strange for them to fall apart again. Besides, they had endured it for so many years and lived in seclusion for a few more years. The year doesn’t matter.

So there was no rush to leave.

Five years later, when they sent people out to buy salt again and inquired about the news, the news they learned was that Emperor Xuanwu passed away, the Tiannv Palace won the final fruits of victory, and established a female emperor. As for policies and so on, They didn't ask. Just the fact that a female emperor appeared in the world was already quite shocking.

This time they still chose to remain in seclusion.

Because they felt that the existence of the empress was too outrageous, something that had never happened since ancient times. It was impossible for the major forces to allow this empress to exist for a long time. Those forces that followed Emperor Xuanwu to conquer the world should not allow the Tiannv Palace to be like this. Picking peaches, so they naturally felt that there would be a war next.

After that, every three to five years, they would send people to buy salt and inquire about the news, but every time they heard the news was that the empress was still alive, and that after promulgating certain policies and decrees, the world was in an uproar, and there were many protests and disputes.

Whether it was the possible danger or being ruled by a woman, the Li family didn't want to be born that much.

So their family continued to live in seclusion.

It was not until the forty-third year of the New Year in the Great Yong Dynasty that Li Hong, the previous person in charge of purchasing, passed away and a younger brother, Li Rong, went out to purchase and inquire for information. Li Rong did not buy salt from fixed channels and inquire for information like Li Hong did. He I was very curious about the outside world, and I accidentally discovered that entering the city does not require household registration or registration.

There is not even a fee to enter the city.

So I thought of going in and shopping. Even if I can’t buy salt in large quantities in the city, it would be eye-opening to see more.

This is from when he was born until now.

Leaving Peach Blossom Canyon for the first time in twenty years.

It’s normal to be curious.

As a result, Li Rong discovered while shopping that the outside world seemed completely different from what his elders said.

The most simple and straightforward difference is.

As they say, salt does not require household registration or identity proof to be purchased in limited quantities. The price is very expensive and the quality is quite poor.

It will be mixed with soil and even sand.

The reality is, at least what Li Rong discovered, is that salt, sugar and other condiments, and even expensive spices such as pepper, not only do you not need to buy any identification materials, but they are also very cheap.

Snow salt costs two cents per catty, and rock sugar costs ten cents per catty.

The price of pepper is only one tael of silver and half a catty, which is not the same as the legendary price of gold among the elders.

The salt that Li Hong bought was always 300 Wen per pound.

He also said it was a friendship price from the same aristocratic family.

At this time, Li Rong obviously would not be stupid enough to go back to the original fixed channel and buy the high-priced salt of 300 yuan per catty. He directly bought thousands of catties of salt, hundreds of catties of sugar, and other things from the condiment shop. Various seasonings. As for asking for information, he did not go to the original regular channel, because he saw the newspaper from the condiment shop shopkeeper, asked about it, and then went to the nearest newsstand to collect all the news that could be found in that newsstand. I packed up all the old newspapers and bought them back.

His family has always insisted on practicing martial arts, so although these things are not light in weight, weighing nearly three thousand kilograms in total, Li Rong still brought all the things with him after the merchant helped transport them outside the city. On the large cart, a person pushed it back.

And as soon as he returned, he hurriedly told his grandfather, the current head of the Li family, about these situations.

After checking the quality of the supplies.

Li Rong's grandfather, Li Zhangde, was also full of doubts and muttered how could this happen. Never in recorded history had he heard that salt could be sold so cheaply and the quality was so good. The prices of other things were also shockingly cheap. They were so cheap. It made him feel as if his family had been taken advantage of for decades.

After he read a few more newspapers, he kicked Li Rong out and stayed alone in the room, reading the newspapers for two days and one night with only cakes and strong tea.

Then with red eyes, he called a meeting of his clan members.

At the beginning of the meeting, he asked his grandson Li Rong to explain in detail what he saw and heard when he went out, focusing on the quality and price of the newly purchased materials.

Then before he finished speaking, Li Hong's son Li Quanyi stood up quickly and shouted with disbelief:

"This is impossible, what do you mean?

You mean to say that my father embezzled the money to buy those supplies. It's really ridiculous. Even if you want to frame my father, you have to find a reliable reason. You just said that these salts are sold for 250 renminbi, or even 200 renminbi each. catty.

Maybe some people believe it.

But you said that these salts are sold for two cents per catty, are you fooling us into fooling us? How is this possible? Let alone salt, you can’t buy even brown rice for two cents per catty.

Patriarch, what on earth do you mean? "

"Don't be impatient. I didn't say that your father embezzled money. When I bought the salt a hundred years ago, it was only 300 cents per pound. It would sometimes rise during the process. And if you don't trust your father, you can't let him buy it." Fifty years.

But this guy Li Rong bought salt this time.

It was indeed two cents a pound.

The difference is that he didn't buy it through the original regular channels, but went to the city alone and bought it at a certain grain and oil department store in the city.

No user registration is required, the price is cheap, and by the way, there is no limit when purchasing. As long as there is stock, you can buy whatever you want.

It can be seen that the problem does not lie with your father, but with the fixed channels we originally relied on. They are purely bullying us and do not know the changes in current affairs outside.

I don’t know the price changes outside.

Today's new dynasty should have undergone earth-shaking changes, even beyond our imagination. "

Li Zhangde hurriedly stood up and signaled Li Quanyi not to worry, while explaining the cause and effect. After speaking, he also produced a series of evidence such as receipts issued by the grain and oil department stores, showing that he and his grandson were not lying.

Then the elders present were speechless.

And they all looked at each other.

It took a long time for the discussion to begin.

"This is outrageous. How can the price of salt be so cheap? At this price, not to mention the court salt tax, I'm afraid I won't even be able to recover the cost!"

"Purchase in unlimited quantities and no one is hoarding?"

"Is the salt output very high, or is there some new method of making salt, has a salt mine with a terrible output been discovered, or is it just a loss-making business?"

"Impossible, who is so stupid? Even if the court is so stupid and salt is so cheap, it can't afford the loss!"

"Is it possible that the new dynasty outside has created an unprecedented prosperous age? The past prosperous age was nothing more than low food prices, and people could live a comfortable life. But this kind of salt price can be reduced to the same level as food prices. In the prosperous times when it was even cheaper than the price of food, I simply can’t imagine how great the national power would be!”

"Can such a prosperous age really be born?"

"What a wise king! Could it be that Yao and Shun are reincarnated?"

"But didn't you say last time that the previous Empress Feiyan abdicated, and the new one is still the empress? It seems that she was an outstanding student among the first batch of graduates of Tiannv Academy. She started as a junior official and rose up step by step."

"Isn't this the abdication of Yao and Shun?"

"But why are they all empresses? Is it possible that the entire world is still under the control of the Tiannv Palace?"

"Are we being too conservative? Why don't we send people out to learn more about the situation? If we continue like this, we will really feel out of touch with the times."

Seeing that the discussion among the clan elders present showed no sign of stopping, Li Zhangde, who had been up for two days and one night, was very sleepy and couldn't bear it anymore, so he quickly patted the table and said: "That's enough, please just calm down.

This kid Li Rong has brought back a lot of newspapers from outside. Not only are those newspapers cheap, but they also contain a lot of important government affairs and news from various places. They are all here. You take a look first, and I will go back and catch up on my sleep.

I'll have a meeting with you when I wake up. "

Because he really couldn't stand it anymore, and considering that it would take some time for these people to read newspapers, Li Zhangde hurriedly went to catch up on his sleep after saying these words and asking Li Rong to help distribute newspapers.

Next came a group of old men who knew nothing.

Start reading the newspaper.

Some are relatively quiet. At most, they look confused or their eyes widen when they see certain content, but there are also some who are not quiet and startled, and even murmur endlessly about how they can be so rebellious and have ruined rituals and music.

The society outside has also gone through more than thirty years of subtle changes, and even some turmoil and conflicts in the process, before most people can barely accept and adapt to these changes. It is quite normal for these old antiques in Peach Blossom Canyon, who have been sheltered from the world for nearly a hundred years, to suddenly be impacted by such earth-shaking changes in current affairs and customs. Their thoughts and views and even their entire brains are a little confused.

Four hours later, it was getting late.

After Li Zhangde made up for his sleep, he began to hold candlelight talks with the elders who had not read the newspaper. Although a few people were more stubborn and unwilling to accept the new changes in the new era, and even refused to contact them, and wanted to continue to hide from the world. , but more people still feel that they are out of touch with the times and no longer try to keep in touch and catch up.

I am afraid that in the future, we will be even more incompatible with the outside world.

Li Rong's words completely strengthened their determination to be born. He said this:

"Grandpa, elders, I have something to say."

"I don't know if you have noticed that the newspaper mentioned a lot about the academy, including the Tiannv Palace. It is no longer called the Tiannv Palace, but the Tiannv Academy. Even the current Empress Changhuang is the Tiannv Academy. Graduates, and there seem to be many prime ministers and high officials who are also graduates of Tiannv Academy.

or graduates from other colleges.

It is conceivable that the status of these colleges should be comparable to that of the Imperial College in the past, or even more powerful.

After all, Taixue cannot train an emperor.

In addition, I also saw requirements for college graduates or diplomas in the recruitment section of the newspaper and the Yamen Announcement section. It seems that any position with a certain social status, or if you want to be an official, requires a diploma.

That means you need to study in those colleges.

Then get your diploma and diploma.

So I have a guess. Does it mean that the Four Books and Five Classics that we studied at home, or the abilities that were recognized by the past, are not recognized by the new dynasty?

In this case, the family background we thought was useful may no longer be useful at all.

If we don’t quickly contact the outside world and learn, we will only lag behind the times in the future. Now we still have some gold, silver and heritage in our hands, and we are still qualified to study in those colleges after leaving work, but once we reach the end of our lives, we will be born again. I'm afraid it will be difficult.

Grandpa, clan elders, what do you think? "

In the past, even if aristocratic families stayed in seclusion, they would not slack off in their studies. Therefore, they did not have to worry about making money after birth, and it was easy to become an official if they wanted to.

After all, there are few scholars and educated people.

There are even fewer educated people with foundation.

In addition, the world has just been unified, the population and other aspects have suffered huge losses, and the talent gap is also huge, so the aristocratic family does not have to worry about losing official positions and having no rights.

If the official given is too small and the status is too low.

People are not happy yet!

But now the situation has obviously changed, and the social world has also changed. Just through these newspapers, you can see that the outside world is no longer dominated by their aristocratic family, and the academics are the mainstream. If they don't seize the time to contact the society and cater to the mainstream, I'm afraid It won't be long before we are reduced to poverty, or even worse.

The final result was quite obvious, that is, they had to come out and could no longer hide. But after all, they were indeed strangers to the outside world, so they did not choose to leave in a swarm as a whole. Instead, they sent a few young people out first to register and settle down. Also gather more information.

So another half a month passed.

After settling down and collecting intelligence, Li Rong and others came back again and began to tell the specific situation of the outside world:

"Grandpa, clan elders, the changes outside are indeed quite big. Let me tell you from the beginning, starting with the emperor. Now the emperor is no longer inherited from father to son, but has a very complete set of promotion channels.

Theoretically, all officials are qualified to be emperor. If an official is very capable, he can be promoted continuously until he becomes one of the thirteen cabinet ministers, and then becomes the emperor once every ten years. By recommendation, one of the thirteen cabinet elders who obtains the support of the majority of the cabinet elders and officials can become the emperor. The term is held every ten years and can only be succeeded once. In other words, a cabinet elder can only be emperor for twenty years at most. .

He must retire and step down in twenty years.

At the same time, blood relatives within three generations and marriage relatives within three generations are not allowed to run for the next emperor.

Although the selection is still quite strict, in theory, all officials are qualified to be emperors.

Surrender in the true sense of the word.

A more perfect surrender than Yao and Shun in ancient times.

Also, it seems that the aristocratic families have been basically destroyed now, so if you want to become an official, you no longer need to be recommended by the aristocratic family members, such as filial piety and integrity, as before. In addition, the barriers between officials have also been eliminated, and officials can be transferred to each other. , petty officials can be promoted to official positions if they do well.

If an official does something bad, he will become a local official.

However, all officials must have a twelve-year college education diploma and take exams. The exams have a lot of content. Different content is required to compete for different official positions, and they must start from the grassroots level.

No one can directly serve as county magistrate.

As for the Four Books and Five Classics, they are no longer compulsory to learn. Only some of them are selected into Chinese textbooks, and the rest are elective courses that can be studied or not. They are basically not tested in the exam.

So if we want to be an official, most of the content we learned in the past is useless. We must study in a college for twelve years and then pass the exam.

It's very difficult, much more difficult than in the past.

In addition to the fact that we have no background in this area, the most important thing is that more than 20 years ago, Tiannv College began to comprehensively promote 12-year compulsory education. It is difficult for the older generation to say, but there are very few people in the younger generation who have not studied.

The competition is quite fierce.

A small official can have hundreds of people sign up for the exam.

We were born at this time, but we are actually already behind most families and even most common people. Alas, our generation is probably hopeless.

We can only place our hope on the next generation. "

"In addition, there are many changes. For example, the customs of marriage have changed. The court stipulates that blood relatives within three generations, whether cousins ​​or cousins, are not allowed to marry. If it is illegal, they will be divorced immediately, and both parents will be jailed.

The execution period shall be based on the date when the law is introduced.

This was enacted twenty-seven years ago.

In addition, there is also a limit on the age of marriage. Both men and women need to be over twenty years old. At the same time, they must go to the relevant county government departments to register and receive a marriage certificate. Only by retaining a copy can it be recognized by the court and protected by court laws.

There are quite a lot of specific terms and conditions. Anyway, the general meaning is that both men and women can propose divorce, and the child will be given priority to the mother unless the mother does not want it. At the same time, the father needs to pay child support until the child reaches adulthood, etc.

Moreover, the court only recognized monogamy.

It seems that concubine is not legal anymore.

Brothels are also illegal. The priesthood was outlawed more than 30 years ago, and the birth of children by slaves is also outlawed. Human trafficking is also illegal. The original contracts of sale have all been changed to twenty-year employment systems, and all the children of servants are free. People, killing them is the same crime as murder, etc.

Oops, there are just too many clauses.

Anyway, many things that you could do before can no longer be done. They are all crimes, ranging from jail time to beheading. I bought all the law books in this dynasty. Before we are officially born, it is best to read them carefully, so as not to violate the laws of the new dynasty inexplicably and lose our lives because of it.

Nowadays, the outside world pays attention to the rule of law. Even if the current emperor breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people. The current Empress Changhuang's biological brother broke the law. Her father and mother came to plead to no avail, and they were beheaded in public.

However, it is said that Empress Changhuang has the idea of ​​amnesty.

Only to be rejected by the National Preceptor.

Then a new rule was added, that is, if the emperor wants to do something contrary to the law, the cabinet ministers can impeach him. Once all thirteen cabinet ministers participate in the impeachment, the emperor will also have to step down, immediately. "

"So you must read the Torah books I brought back carefully, and you must not break the law. If you really break the law, no one can save us."

Next, Li Rong rambled on about a lot of information he had heard and learned from outside.

The people present were shocked and frowned.

At the same time, I also feel that it is a bit outrageous and difficult to accept.

But they obviously couldn't stay in Peach Blossom Canyon forever. They had to work hard to adapt to the new order outside, so in the end they could only study hard and memorize the Torah books that Li Rong brought back.

And after passing the basic assessment.

Only then did he dare to officially give birth, and go to the nearby government office to register the entire clan. At the same time, he changed all the deeds of prostitution of his family's children into employment contracts, and actively cooperated. Everything was in accordance with the current court requirements, which was quite sensible.

There are actually quite a few similar branches of aristocratic families, hidden sects, or simply hidden populations. Some of them, like the Li family, are so sensible that they naturally and quickly integrated into the new era and new society. If they are not sensible, they think they are. They are those of the old society in the past.

Of course, it can only be swept into the trash.

Either interrogate or rebel, capture or kill.

The torrent of the times is rolling in, and how can those families or forces that hide themselves from the world and protect themselves in troubled times be able to contend with it.