I traveled through time, starting with two acres of land and a dog

At the beginning of the sixth lunar month, his father also began to enjoy the benefits of the teaching reforms in the late Qing Dynasty. He took a month off from school and helped with farm work at home. Du Chenyu's days were a repeat of yesterday. He slept when he was sleepy, ate when he was hungry, and when he had nothing to do, he learned traditional Chinese characters and read the Four Books and Five Classics.

Because Du Chenyu grew up quickly, he practiced the "Bajin Gong" for two or three weeks every day. His appetite increased greatly, and his mother's milk was insufficient. His mother used a small pottery pot to cook rice porridge with cornmeal. The rice grains were crushed on the millstone to remove the coarse shell on the top, and then ground on the stone mill. For a modern man like him, it was so rough that he still couldn't swallow it after eating it for almost half a month. However, in order to survive and grow up as quickly as possible, he had to force himself to eat. He had been eating this porridge with little oil and water. After seeing the heavy rain, the river was flooded and there was an old man fishing. He went to his grandfather and said:

"Grandpa, I want to drink fish soup. Can you carry me on your back to go fishing?"

"There's no fishing hook," Grandpa replied.

"We use a needle to make a yellow catfish with a big mouth so it can eat."

"Okay, they make one."

Then Du Chenyu found a needle in the house, burned it red in the charcoal fire, and then gently bent it with a hammer and tongs. After several bends, he was basically successful, but the fish hook was a little big. Then he polished it on the whetstone. It was not possible to grind an iron rod into a needle, but it was not difficult to grind a needle into a fish hook. It took half a day to polish it.

Mid-June is close to the dog days of summer, which is a relatively slack time for farmers. Last night, my grandfather twisted a two-meter-long hemp thread into a fishing line. The next morning, he got up early and made a fishing rod. After breakfast, he dug up earthworms and prepared to go fishing.

Du Chenyu said: "I want to go fishing with you too."

Grandpa firmly disagreed: "Mo Fa, what if he rolls (falls down)?"

Then Du Chenyu used his trump card, hugging his thigh. Grandpa had no choice but to carry him on his back and take a can of rice porridge to go fishing. He found a relatively gentle backwater bay by the river. Because the fish hook was hard to come by, it must not be hung, so he suggested that it was okay to have fewer fish, but the fish hook was important, so he asked Grandpa to mix earthworms and soil and hit it by the river to make a nest to attract fish. The traditional fishing method of the older generation did not know how to make a nest, so Grandpa also felt that the new method was not experienced in the era of poisoning fish, netting fish, and electrofishing. It was like the primitive society in the mountains, and the fish in the river were flooded.

In addition, in the old days, food was scarce and people rarely fished. Cooking fish soup required a lot of lard and salt, otherwise the fish soup would be very fishy and difficult to swallow. Therefore, in this era, poor people rarely fished or caught loaches, which were particularly fishy and filled their stomachs. The key was the lack of salt and oil. After about two hours, Du Chenyu and his friends caught three or four kilograms of fish, mainly yellow bone fish (commonly known as horn fish) and a mandarin fish (commonly known as sow shell). Then they drank a few meals of fish soup at noon and in the evening.

A few days later, his father went to Wuyingbao market to buy some daily necessities. Du Chenyu asked him to buy more needles and threads to make fish hooks. After buying the fish hooks and fishing lines, he taught his grandfather to make row hooks and turtle hooks. He would go fishing in the evening and wait in the morning. This would save time for fishing and ensure the supply of fish soup. Every day, the fish that could not be eaten would be dried and stored for winter consumption.

On a hot evening, Du Chenyu was lying on a stone beside the yard, watching his father weaving a basket with bamboo strips, and he said:

"Dad, I have an idea about your teaching."

"What's the matter? Tell me," Dad answered with his head down.

"Now the court is also reforming education and encouraging the development of new-style schools. There are so many children in our village who do not go to school. This is extremely detrimental to the future development of our Linshui Village. Why don't you suggest to Chief Yu to lower the tuition standard so that more children can go to school?" Du Chenyu continued.

"As for this matter, the tuition fee has always been like this. The school was opened by several wealthy families in our village together. I can't make the decision. Do you have any good ideas to change this problem?" replied my father.

"This is what I thought. The last time I went to your school, I saw there was a shabby house behind your school. You can clean it up and treat the newly recruited children from poor families and tenants as registered disciples, and put them in that shabby house to study separately, and teach them some characters and algorithms. Also, you can reduce the tuition to farmers and send their children to work for us three days a year and for the head of the village three days a year, and you don't need to prepare expensive things like dried meat and salt." Du Chenyu said.

"Hmm... Hmm... This is a good method. Working six days a year, and being taught separately, other children from large families can accept it. I'll talk to the village head, and he should agree."

"In two days, take me with you and pick a few big fish for them, so we can discuss this matter together and strengthen our relationship."

"Okay, I'll go fishing too these few nights. We'll go together after you're ready in a couple of days." My father agreed readily.

Five days later, after breakfast, his father carried him on his back, holding a three-pound foreign fish and five or six yellow croakers strung together with willow branches. The foreign fish was caught the night before. Then they went to the home of the head of the village, Yu Yuedong. His home was halfway up the back mountain, and it took about an hour to climb the hill.

On the way, Du Chenyu lay on his father's back and said, "When the time comes, you have to explain to him that our local farmers' children are all studying and learning knowledge. If some of them are particularly talented, recommend them to him in advance and train them for him. This will be especially helpful for him to expand his power and get promoted in his career. After all, local people can be used with confidence."

After hearing this, my father agreed with his point of view, because Yu Yuedong himself is a power-obsessed person. He will stop at nothing to expand his power and increase his authority. That’s why he is known as “the rich man Yu who is obsessed with power” today. Several nearby forts, with a radius of 50 kilometers, are within their sphere of influence. He is also a prominent figure in Wuying Fort and a strong contender for the position of fort chief.

After two breaks, they arrived at the courtyard of the wealthy Yu, a typical northern Sichuan wooden stilt house. From a distance, it looked like a crouching tiger nestling in a mountain nest, with a cliff behind it, a stream on the left, a mountain ridge on the right, and gentle terraces in front of it, with layers of steps. There was a big cypress tree with a thick embrace on the right side of the main gate, and a stone staircase made of bluestone slabs in front of it. The courtyard was east to west, more than 100 meters wide, and the stilt houses on both sides extended outward for more than 10 meters, with green tiles on the roof, flying eaves, hollow window grilles, and two columns with a diameter of about one meter in front of the main hall. It showed luxury everywhere, and it is still a cultural relic in the st century.

When they arrived at the door, several farmhands were still adding hay to the horse trough downstairs. Seeing them, a shirtless, skinny young man about 16-7 years old threw his messy braids over his back and greeted them:

"Master Du is here." Because my father was a scholar, some people called him Master.

"Yes, Zhu San, you are helping to feed the animals. Is Captain Yu at home? I came to visit him. Please help inform him." My father replied.

"Okay," Du Chenyu turned around and ran towards the stairs.

My father was just outside the gate, chatting with the other guy for a few words. After a while, the gate of the wooden fence opened, and an old man in his 50s came out, opened the door, and shouted:

"The wind must have brought you here, Mr. Du. What a rare guest! Please come in! The master is waiting for you inside." The old man greeted with a smile on his face.

"How is Mr. Yu? Is Captain Yu at home? I'm sorry for disturbing you with my sudden visit." My father bowed in return.

“No, no, please come in.” The old man returned the greeting.

Then he led the way in front, walked up the steps, and came to the warm room on the left.

"Brother Du, how come you are free today? Come to my place and take a seat," a powerful voice came from the house, and a middle-aged man with a square face, thick eyebrows, and a turned-up nose came out from the door. He wore a black robe and was saluting with his fists clasped.

"Mr. Yu has always been so nice. I'm sorry to bother you so much," my father hurriedly clasped his fists in return.

My father handed the fish to the housekeeper. After the host and the guests sat down, he held Du Chenyu in his arms and introduced him:

"My son is more than half a year old. He caught a few live fish last night. It's really disrespectful for us to come to see Master Yu today." My father politely said that fishing in the river usually requires paying taxes to Chief Yu. They fished privately without paying taxes, so my father apologized in advance.

"Hey, those are all small matters. I heard recently that you had a baby boy, but I didn't see you inviting your neighbors to have a drink at the wedding. That's your fault." Yu Baochang said with a smile.

At this time, a maid wearing a short linen cheongsam brought two cups of tea, placed them on the table, and then left.

"There will be plenty of opportunities to invite you for drinks in the future. The main reason I came here today is to report a small matter to you, Master Yu." My father took a sip of tea and said.

"What's the matter? Do you need to go there in person?" asked Captain Yu.

Then my father talked about expanding the school's enrollment.

"Expanding the school's enrollment is a good idea. I agree in principle, but there are a few other issues that need to be discussed, and I can't make the decision on everything." Yu Yuedong said after thinking for a while.

"You see, now the court is also encouraging the establishment of new-style schools and supporting the children of farmers to attend school. Master, you are now in a successful career and your rise to prominence is just around the corner. When you go to the township or county in the future, you won't need some people to help you, right? The children of officials and gentry who go to school in the village all have their own family channels, and they may not be able to be used by you. If there are some outstanding seedlings among farmers, I will definitely recommend them to you as soon as possible. After all, the children of this village can be used with confidence." My father explained.

Mr. Yu's eyebrows twitched upwards, his eyes rolled, and he picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"Brother, you are very thoughtful. My biggest trouble now is that I have no one to use. Our place is mountainous and far away, sparsely populated, and backward in education. You are the only scholar among the nearby few. Mr. Wang was recruited by me from other places, and he is too busy with all the writing and calculations. I will talk to other companies about this, and I will give you one of the jobs with the annual workload. There are also a few broken tables in the warehouse. They can still be used if put together. I will ask the housekeeper to send them to the school later," Yu Yuedong replied.

"I would like to thank Mr. Yu on behalf of all the villagers. I will recruit students when school starts in the second half of the year and tell everyone in the village about the contributions Mr. Yu has made to the children." said the father happily.

Du Chenyu had been sitting silently in his arms, listening to their conversation, looking at this pure wooden room, with a wooden floor above his head and a wooden floor under his feet. There was also some cursive writing on the opposite wall, but he didn't recognize the words. The room was relatively cool. It was said that there was a passage under the floor, where fire was burned for heating in winter and water was released for cooling in summer, so it was commonly known as the warm room.

After talking for about half an hour, my father stood up and prepared to leave.

"Housekeeper, go and get some of the candies and cakes you brought back from the city for me to feed the children," Yu Yuedong stood up and ordered.

When they reached the steps, the butler took two square paper packages and handed them to my father, saying, "It's just a small token of my appreciation, not a token of respect."

"Thank you, thank you for the money," replied the father, taking it with both hands.

Then he walked down the stairs carrying Du Chenyu on his back and turned back to express his gratitude.

On the way home, the father carried Du Chenyu on his back. The father introduced to Du Chenyu the history of Yu Yuedong's rise to wealth. Yu Yuedong originally lived in the upper reaches of Mingdong River, belonging to the eighth class. His family was average. When he was young, he was a righteous man and wandered around Sichuan and Shaanxi for a long time. It is said that he joined the bandits in Yangpingguan area of ​​Shaanxi and robbed several large families. Then, fearing that the government would confiscate his property, he crossed the Daba Mountains and ran back. With the money in his hands, after more than ten years of development, he became the richest man in this area and a strong contender for the head of Wuyinbao Village. He The housekeeper was brought from their hometown. The one who opened the door for them, Zhu San, was 17 years old. He was an orphan at the age of 3. It was said that his father was killed by Yu Yuedong. When Yu Yuedong moved to their village, he took a fancy to Zhu San's several acres of paddy fields, but it was not easy to rob them openly, so he became brothers with Zhu Fugui. As a result, the two of them waded through the river together one day, and Zhu Fugui was drowned. Then Yu Yuedong insisted on raising Zhu San for the sake of brotherhood, and Zhu San's mother also followed him and obeyed Yu Yuedong. In this way, he successfully took over Zhu San's land and forests.

I heard this from your mother-in-law (grandmother). She was at the riverside and saw Yu Yuedong pushing Zhu San in the middle of the river. Zhu San fell in the rapids and was washed away by the water. It took Yu Yuedong a while before he called for help. She only told me about this because she knew they couldn't afford to offend Yu Yuedong.