Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 13 Forbearance
"Huan Xuan wanted to win you over, why did you refuse?"

No matter what, the Huan family is a top-notch family with deep influence in the court and Jingzhou, and is considered a big tree.

Liu Yu's face was filled with disdain. "This man speaks frivolously, acts perversely, and has ulterior motives. It's not appropriate to make close friends with him. Besides, my family is based in Jingkou. If we don't surrender to the Northern Prefecture but to Jingzhou, how can we face our clan members and neighbors?"

He started working in the industry early on, so he has some ability to judge people.

"Brother is indeed very knowledgeable." Liu Daogui agreed deeply.

The Liu family still had some reputation in Jingkou, and going to join the Huan family in Jingzhou was tantamount to a betrayal of the elders of Jingkou.

These days, reputation is more important than anything else. If your reputation is ruined, you are ruined.

Those who try to gain personal gain everywhere will not have a good ending and are destined to be rootless. This is an era that values ​​clans. A humble family is still a family. Only by establishing a foothold in the Pengcheng Liu family can one have a solid foundation.

And the Liu family is also a big tree.

There are three branches of the Liu family living in Jingkou, namely the Pengcheng Liu family, the Peixian Liu family, and the Dongguan Liu family.

The Liu family of Pengcheng has practiced martial arts for generations and established their clan through martial arts. The great general of the Northern Palace, Liu Laozhi, is also from this branch.

However, the most prestigious family was the Liu family of Pei County, who often associated with famous scholars, mainly the three brothers Liu Mai, Liu Mo and Liu Yi.

The Liu family of Dongguan governs their family through literature and produces many scholars.

"Can you please stop gambling in the future?" Liu Daogui advised again as they were about to get home.

The Diao family already knows the trick and will definitely start from here.

I often walk by the river, how can I not wet my shoes?
There will always be a time when they will seize the opportunity.

If someone on the second floor hadn't spoken up for Diao Zhan just now and he hadn't known the seriousness of the situation, who knows what would have happened.

It is difficult to guard against hidden arrows. Although Liu Yu is extremely powerful, he is always left alone.

"Okay, I'll just be patient for the time being." Liu Yu was not a reckless man. He could bend and stretch, and he would be patient when he needed to.

The second brother Liu Daolian has already entered the Imperial College. Within three years, he will be sent out to serve as an official. The Liu family no longer needs to be so cautious.

When they got home, the two brothers tacitly agreed not to mention anything about the gambling house. Their mother Xiao Wenshou and Zang Aiqin were still busy weaving straw mats, and their niece Xingdi was helping to sort the thatch and straw.

In the cold winter, straw mats sell especially well. Poor families cannot afford to buy firewood or chop firewood, so they rely on straw mats to keep warm.

However, a straw mat can only be sold for twenty-one cents.

Thinking of Liu Yu's generosity in spending hundreds of coins in the gambling house, Liu Daogui felt full of guilt.

Fortunately, Liu Yu kept his promise and did not gamble during this period. He never left the house and devoted himself to weaving shoes and making mats at home. Even the sales were done by Liu Daogui and Liu Zun together.

If you meet someone from the Diao family, just take a detour.

The Diao family also sent people to secretly investigate outside the neighborhood.

However, this aroused the vigilance of the nearby Liu clan, so Liu Huaisu went straight to find Liu Jingxuan without saying a word.

Liu Jingxuan directly sent three soldiers to live in Liu Huaisu's house and guard the entrance every day.

Xiang Jing and Meng Huaiyu received the news and took a few brothers with them, armed with bows and swords, and squatted nearby.

The entire Liu family looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Liu Yu was a gambler and was looked down upon by his neighbors, but if the Diao family took him away like this, the Liu family of Pengcheng would lose all face.

People in this world tend to stick together, especially those within a family.

The Diao family was very wary of the overseas Chinese in Jingkou, and when they saw the soldiers of the Northern Palace Army, they did not dare to provoke the Liu family.

After lingering outside the neighborhood for a few days, he had no choice but to retreat.

When Liu Daogui went out to sell straw mats, he was always followed by a large group of people, all holding bows and swords, strong and sturdy, with murderous looks on their faces, and followed by an armored soldier...

Not to mention that the people from the Diao family didn't dare to come forward, not even one person came to buy a straw mat.

Occasionally someone would come up to ask the price, but Meng Huaiyu and Xiang Jing, holding knives, would look left and right, up and down, scaring them all away... It seemed like this business was going to fail.

Liu Daogui could only stay at home and practice martial arts with Liu Yu and Liu Zun every day, mainly bows, swords, fists and kicks. He also practiced some heavy weapons such as stone locks, mainly to build up his strength.

After Liu Daolian went to Jiankang, Xiao Wenshou seemed to place his hopes on Liu Daogui again.

The requirements have been raised a lot. In addition to practicing martial arts, students also have to read. I don't know where she got a copy of the metaphysics classic "Commentary on Laozi" written by Wang Bi.

"Mother... isn't this putting me in a difficult position?" Liu Daogui felt his scalp tingling when he saw this thing. The whole letter seemed like a tongue twister.

The whole article is full of things like "The way that can be spoken of, the name that can be named, referring to things and creating shapes, is not its usual state, so it cannot be spoken of, cannot be named", and every word is full of profound principles.

"The profound principles of morality are like a person's arms, they are indispensable." Xiao Wenshou acted like an old scholar.

If you don't understand the profound principles, you don't even have the qualifications to talk to scholars and literati.

Xiao Wenshou was obsessed with reviving the Liu family. If no one in this generation of the Liu family could climb up, they would slide from a humble family to a commoner clan.

Life is already so difficult for the poor, let alone the common people.

"Mother is right. Agui must stop being lazy and study hard." Liu Yu gloated and added insult to injury.

"Learning alone is not as good as studying together. The profound truth lies in debate. Brother, you are very talented and quick-witted. Why not study together?"

He is unkind and Liu Daogui is unjust, so just drag him into the water together.

"No, no, no, I can't even recognize all the characters. I am really powerless to understand such profound principles." Liu Yu looked terrified.

Liu Daogui quickly offered a compliment, "Brother, you are too modest. Everyone in Jingkou knows that you are a master of both civil and military affairs."

Liu Yu was so angry that he laughed: "You bastard..."

Xiao Wenshou glanced at Liu Daogui, then at Liu Yu, "Ji Nu is already past the age of studying Taoism, and his mind is scattered."

"Mother, you are absolutely right." Liu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had been pardoned, and fled without looking back.

Liu Daogui was speechless for a while.

Xiao Wenshou's eyes softened, "Agui, it's never wrong to study hard."

Filial piety comes first, and now I can only bite the bullet and do it...

Although the Liu family had fallen into decline, she had always hoped to revive the family and placed all her hopes on her two sons.

Liu Daogui didn't hold much hope and was very open-minded. As long as his family was reunited and he could make a living, that was enough. Even if he joined a small aristocratic family, his life would not be much better than that of a poor family.

It has been more than seventy years since the people of all ethnic groups migrated south. Those who crossed the river first excluded those who crossed later, those who became high-ranking officials first excluded those who became officials later, and the gentry tried to win over and collude with each other, with the rich families fighting against the rich families and the poor families fighting against the poor families.

Everything has become solidified: official positions, interests, and territory are all divided up, and even the mountains and swamps have been occupied by others.

After the imperial court voluntarily gave up the area north of the Huai River, it was equivalent to giving up expansion, and only involution remained, and the national situation deteriorated day by day.

For so many years, the court remains the same, and the local governments remain unchanged. Outsiders have no chance of squeezing in no matter how hard they try.

Ordinary people have no chance of advancement unless the mountains and rivers change color and everything that exists is broken...

Liu Daogui studied and practiced hard every day, firstly because he didn't want to disappoint his mother, and secondly because he had to find something to do in the winter.

But in the final analysis, I am more interested in bow and sword martial arts.

Liu Huaisu also borrowed a horse from the Northern Palace so that the Liu brothers could learn to ride a horse.

In this world, no matter how much books the Liu family reads, it won’t be of much use. However, being proficient in martial arts will be of great use.

Liu Huaisu also said that sooner or later the imperial court would need the Northern Army.

Even if one wants to live in peace in the Jiangzuo area, one needs to have enough military force to stop the northern barbarians from moving south.

(End of this chapter)