owlsbooks Chapter 267 Moving House
Chapter 267 Moving House
A month later.
A two-courtyard house within the city of Yidu Prefecture was bustling with activity.
The main gate was wide open, with a plaque hanging above it bearing several lines of large characters.
Yang Silang, a military scholar appointed by imperial decree.
The inscription reads: "Recorded in the 72nd year of the Yongchang reign, Zhenwu Imperial Examination."
The 155th person in the third class of the lower register.
The plaque is carved from fine hardwood, with red background and gold lettering. The border is carved with knife, spear, bow and arrow patterns, and dragon patterns surround it at the top.
The plaque is made in a grand and solemn manner, inspiring awe. It is a plaque for a military officer, which immediately reveals the status of the owner of the mansion.
Yang Silang and Wang Daniu stood outside the door, both dressed in fine clothes.
Beneath their feet, a large black animal, about the size of a calf, circled around them, wagging its tail and shaking its head.
However, this dog looked rather strange. Its entire body of black fur had been shed, revealing flesh-colored skin, which made it appear muscular and very robust.
It just looks really strange.
Today is their joyous occasion of moving into their new home, so of course they want to host a banquet for old friends and relatives.
Behind the door, the fifth sister peeked out, only to be grabbed by the ear and pulled back by her eldest sister.
They arrived half a month ago; once the river freezes over again, the boats will be unable to sail.
Ever since Shi Xuangu started clamoring for a room of her own, Yang Silang decided to buy a house.
On the one hand, he was already a military scholar, and his status was different from before. It was not appropriate for him to still live in a rented courtyard.
On the other hand, during the days of fighting in Jiangbei Province, I personally witnessed how vulnerable the prefectures and counties were in the face of the army.
With the current chaotic situation becoming increasingly apparent, it's safer to stay in the provincial capital. Buying a house sooner will bring peace of mind.
He made up his mind and acted immediately, sending Wang Daniu to find Tong Baisui for help.
The Tong family has extensive connections and is best suited to do this.
Sure enough, they soon found a house whose owner was a fifth-rank garrison commander in the imperial court. The house had two courtyards, neither too big nor too small.
The front yard was where he practiced martial arts, while the back yard had a main house and side rooms.
Because this garrison was transferred to Jiangbei Province for support, the entire army was wiped out, and the garrison commander also died on the battlefield, so his family was in a hurry to help.
Yang Silang finally bought it for 800 taels of silver, including the contract price, since the other party left all the furniture in the courtyard, so he got a small bargain.
Eight hundred taels of silver is not even half the price of a bottle of Sea Essence Shell Marrow that he has consumed in his cultivation.
So he asked Wang Daniu to personally make a trip to Gongzhou Prefecture to bring his eldest sister and fifth sister over so they could get acquainted with their family.
Whether the two are willing to stay is another matter; Jiangdong Province has not yet reached that dangerous situation.
Inside the courtyard.
Because the weather had turned cool, the banquet was held indoors.
Fortunately, Yang Silang didn't invite many guests.
Fu Liunian, Kong Meng, and a few other instructors were present; they were colleagues from the martial arts academy, but not enough to fill half a table.
Yan Nanxing, Jin Xiangyu and her husband, and Sun Shiwei and Ye Liuyun are the two couples in the military system.
After traveling for more than half a year, Yan and Jin have finally gotten married, and the lovers have finally become a couple.
Also present were Tong Renyuan and his son Tong Baisui from Hanshan Martial Arts School; they were friends of the school.
Finally, there are Pei Buqi, Bai Lang, Zhuang Sheng, Ji Jinliang, and Su Zhixiu.
Including my own family, three tables are enough.
Yang Silang returned to Yidu Prefecture and had small gatherings with them separately. Today is a good day to reciprocate by treating everyone.
Most of the guests have already arrived.
The two were still waiting at the door.
At this moment, Ji Jinliang came out again. Today, he considered himself half a guest, and the other half a hanger-on.
He was very particular about money, but he was very willing to help with jobs that didn't require him to spend money or exert himself.
What's more, he was helping Yang, the guy he admired.
The sound of horses' hooves echoed.
Three horses galloped towards the intersection, and three people hurriedly jumped off—it was Pei Zhuangbai and his two companions.
They served as fourth-rank commanders in the garrison outside the city, the furthest from here.
Looking at the three horses, they weren't particularly outstanding; in fact, they were quite ordinary.
Needless to say, it is far inferior to the Daqing horse, and even to the chestnut horse from the northern desert that was delivered on the day of the weight calculation.
Yang Silang remembered that when he left the city for the capital last time, the horses of these three men were at least decent warhorses.
It seems that after six months, their debt situation is quite worrying.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Brother Yang, the journey is too long." Pei Buqi walked over quickly first.
The other two were holding gifts.
Yang Silang laughed heartily, took Pei Buqi's hand, and led the three of them inside.
"We've been waiting for you! Good things come to those who wait, and the later it gets, the better the meal... Please, please come in..."
Ji Jinliang had already taken the reins from the three men and their horses and tied them to the hitching posts outside the gate.
The group walked into the courtyard.
The courtyard was not small, divided into two sections, front and back. In the front courtyard, there were iron puppets, plum blossom stakes, arrow slings, and weapon racks, clearly a place left by Yang Silang for himself to practice martial arts.
This courtyard might not be considered spacious for an ordinary martial artist, but for Yang Silang, who had already become a grandmaster, even a small space like a reclining ox could be used to complete a full set of punches, let alone this courtyard that was several meters long and wide.
A new stable has been built on one side of the front yard. It is constructed of blue bricks and is very well-made. Inside, there is a large bed.
There are very spacious and straight mangers.
Besides the large blue horse, there were also two fish-shaped horses tied to it.
This horse was clearly brought by Yan Nanxing and Jin Xiangyu. Because it was so precious, it was not tied to the outside hitching post, but was also placed in the stable.
Daqing diligently circled the rumps of the two fish-shaped horses, sniffing them.
Next to the stable, there is a small wooden house with two floors. In the middle of the first floor, a comfortable kennel is made of high-quality hay, and it looks like a doghouse.
The second floor is open on all four sides, with a roof supported by several pillars. The interior is covered with a thin layer of five-colored stones, as well as various fragments of roof tiles and porcelain.
It's unclear what kind of pet this was prepared for.
Pei Buqi blinked.
He seemed to see a subtle yellow hue among the pile of stones.
"Hmm...it looks like Tianhuang stone."
"Waaah... I must be so afraid of being poor that I'm seeing things wrong. Who would be willing to pave their pet's den with Tianhuang stone?"
After passing through the second gate, the group entered the central courtyard and headed straight for the main house.
After the original furniture in the main room was temporarily moved, there was finally enough space to put three round tables inside.
After exchanging greetings, everyone took their seats.
Pei Zhuangbai went to find Ji Jinliang, Su Zhixiu, Yan Nanxing, Jin Xiangyu, Sun Shiwei, and Ye Liuyun to form a table.
The Tong father and son sat at a table with the instructors from the martial arts academy.
There was another table, which Yang Silang had prepared for his family. In this world, women's etiquette wasn't so strict, and they were allowed to come out and dine with guests.
Wang Daniu was running around, and had already rushed to the kitchen to serve the dishes.
On the kitchen stove.
She Nu used a supernatural transformation with three heads and six arms.
She was seen simultaneously spitting fire from two stoves of different sizes, picking and chopping vegetables all by herself.
The other four hands were used to toss the wok with one hand and stir-fry with the other, simultaneously tending to two iron woks.
Big Black squatted on the ground, sticking out its tongue.
She Nu would occasionally toss down a large piece of meat, which Da Hei would tilt its head back and swallow whole, thoroughly enjoying it.
In addition, Shi Xuangu was squatting on the big black head, her mouth watering and her cheeks bulging as she ate meat.
It seems she inherited this trait from her mother; she enjoys eating large amounts of meat.
"You two, the guests haven't even had a chance to eat yet, and you're already eating?" Wang Daniu was furious when he saw the two of them like this.
"Especially my aunt, how can you, with your seniority, be so disrespectful to your elders?"
When Dahei was criticized by Wang Daniu, he bared his teeth and acted extremely arrogantly, completely disregarding the criticism.
Shi Xuangu hurriedly chewed the piece of meat in her mouth, swallowed it with great difficulty, and then spoke in detail.
"Nephew Wang, that's not it at all. Dahei and I were just helping She Nu judge whether it was right or wrong..."
"They're still young, and you're accusing me of being disrespectful to my elders..."
"I'm not taking this role as the aunt anymore, it's too unfair..."
Not to mention the noise in the kitchen.
As the dishes were served in a continuous stream, and after several rounds of drinks and dishes, the atmosphere became relaxed and comfortable, and the conversation flowed freely.
With her short hair wrapped in a cloth, Fu Liunian looked as if she were several years younger.
That Yin-Yang Rebirth Tea actually worked on a martial artist his age.
He was in a good mood and frequently raised his glass. If Granny Shi Ji of Tianjing saw this, she would definitely scold the old scoundrel for eating and drinking so much while making his mother eat vegetarian food with him back then.
Since everyone had already gathered separately when Yang Silang returned, he didn't need to discuss matters in the capital or his journey back.
The most meticulous observation is usually made when weighing and measuring.
He couldn't hold his liquor; after a few drinks, his cheeks were flushed. With one hand holding the treasure-hunting rat in his sleeve and the other hand feeding his pet peanuts, he turned to ask Pei Zhuangbai and the other two.
"Brother Pei, why are the horses you rode today not as good as last time?"
"No wonder the three of you arrived late."
"If money isn't readily available, I... uh... can anyone think of a solution?"
He was secretly alarmed; he had indeed drunk too much and almost got himself into trouble.
Yang Silang and the others also turned around.
Pei Buqi sighed as soon as he saw that the three of them had become the focus of attention.
"Alas, Brother Yang, the three of us have wasted our time as officials..."
They waited several years for their official appointments, and finally, by taking advantage of the opportunity to kill the Golden Spear Trout Demon, they passed the official examination and became the deputy commanders of three garrisons.
They just hadn't had a chance to make money according to the old rules.
Rebel kings from various surrounding provinces began to cause trouble.
The provincial governor was also anxious and ordered the heads of all the garrisons to make up for the shortage of military equipment and soldiers.
His method was neither to seek funding from the imperial court nor to solicit donations from prominent families.
The governor was a genius; he actually allowed the garrison officers to replenish all the weapons, armor, equipment, and mounts under their command.
It should be understood that the land of the garrison was constantly being encroached upon and reduced during the centuries of peace, and the loss of personnel and the decay of equipment were not caused overnight.
The policy of making officials pay out of their own pockets to cover the losses of the garrisons has prompted countless officials to extend their warm greetings to all the female relatives of the governor for eighteen generations.
Well, the exes made a killing, left with a fortune.
When it's our turn to come up, are we supposed to make up for their deficit?
To establish his authority, the governor even arrested two commanders and imprisoned them as a warning to others.
Now everyone is scared.
I dare not fish anymore, and I can't bear to spend the money.
Therefore, the resources of the garrison were optimized in a reasonable way.
"Our garrison is doing alright. We just replaced the good horses with inferior ones and saved the money to buy some decent weapons and armor, at least they're made of iron."
"Some garrisons replaced all the horses with donkeys, and made some wooden armor and knives, which were then painted black."
"Do you think soldiers like these can fight?"
"Originally, a garrison should have at least a dozen elite soldiers who could fight. Leading a bunch of rabble, they could still maintain the garrison's structure. Once on the battlefield, they could at least fight a few battles."
"After all this commotion, we've even lost the money to support the servants... It's all ruined."
Pei Buqi looked worried.
"How can we let you foot the bill for public affairs?"
Bai Lang picked up the conversation.
"It's one thing for us officials not to take bribes, but if we put money into it, then there's really no justice."
Zhuang Sheng, this honest man, seemed to have been pushed to his limit. He drank a cup of wine, slammed it heavily on the table, and said in a deep voice.
"This Da Shun dynasty, I think it's doomed sooner or later!"
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a tremor in their hearts.