The Little Officials of the Song Dynasty

In the blink of an eye, March came, and the mission sent by Da Song to congratulate Emperor Liao on his birthday also came back, including a large number of items they purchased in Daliao.

Through the relationship between Yelv Niaolu and Zheng Ling, the mission also brought back Yunyan’s demand, which was a considerable amount of watermelon seeds and some Beizhu, and Yelu Niaolu also kindly asked the melon farmers on their side I wrote down the precautions for planting and translated them into Chinese.

Yunyan looked back and found that the seeds were yellow, black, red, and white. It is said that after they grow out, the flesh is also divided into red and white. According to the melon grower, the amount sent is probably enough to plant [-] mu.

At that time, the yield of watermelons in Daliao was about [-] catties per mu, which was more than half of that in modern times. Yun Yanhui also interviewed agricultural product sales before, and he knew that modern watermelon production capacity was [-] catties per mu.

And there are many differences. For example, the modern watermelon has been improved, and it must have more pulp, but it is also prone to disease.However, the ancient watermelon has stronger survival ability, is not easy to get sick, has less flesh, and is not so red.

Yun Yan went back to Zheng Ling to discuss with him as early as when Zheng Ling reported to him, and wanted to plant fruits together.Xiao Ran left [-] mu of land in the temple for him, and there is still [-] mu left, and there is no space for the time being, but when a batch of fruits and vegetables are harvested, it will be vacant, and it doesn't matter if they plant in batches.

According to the melon farmers in the Liao Kingdom, they were planted with cow dung covered sheds. Yun Yanhui really didn't have any innovative technology in this area, so he had to follow their method and hand it over to the monks of Daxiangguo Temple.

Yunyan thought about it, the watermelons probably lost after three or four months of growing, and now it is March, if there are no natural disasters and everything goes smoothly, this batch of watermelons can harvest hundreds of thousands of catties, even if they go to save the seeds In the hottest time of the year, there are enough watermelons to eat!

When Yun Yan thought of this, she couldn't keep her eyes open from laughing.

Thinking of her own watermelon, Yun Yanhui couldn't help but keep running to the melon shed in Daxiangguo Temple.

Because it is a new fruit, and Yunyan Hui pays special attention to it. The people of Daxiangguo Temple know that he has not missed it, so they also pay great attention to it. In particular, they built a shed next to the melon field and asked the monks to stay and watch it.

Yunyan ran back and squatted beside the melon patch for half an hour, which aroused the curiosity of the monks.

"Senior brother Yun, how delicious this melon is, you come to see it almost every day." The one who said this was a young monk who looked a few years older than Yun Yanhui, but he wanted to call him senior brother.

This is because the distinction between monks and peers is not based on age, but on precepts, that is, the length of time they have been ordained.

Although Yun Yanhui didn't become a monk, he also followed the time when he became a monk—everyone knows that being expelled from the gate wall is just a formality, and now it seems to be non-existent depending on the situation.

Therefore, this monk who has not been ordained for a long time still calls Yun Yan, who is younger than him, to be his senior brother.

This is not bad, Yun Yanhui also saw an old man who had just been ordained, calling a teenage boy a senior brother.

"You don't know, this melon is very, very delicious. It's much more delicious than muskmelon. The flesh of the melon is juicy and sweet, and it's cool and thirst-quenching." Yun Yan replied, and couldn't help swallowing, " Just watch, when the melons are ripe, I have to ask Master to send someone to watch the night."

"Yeah, it's so delicious, maybe someone will come to steal the melon?" The monk also yearned for a while, since Senior Brother Yun said it was delicious, it must be extremely delicious.

Yun Yan said in a daze: "Not only people, maybe there are also Yin?"

Monk: "???"

Yun Yan replied: "Oh, nothing."

He took a closer look, and found that only eight or nine days after sowing, the melon seedlings had sprouted, tender and green, and looked very fresh and lovely.Yun Yan was very satisfied, stood up and patted the monk's shoulder, "I'll leave them to you!" And my happiness!

"Okay, brother." The monk responded nervously.

……

Along with the watermelon seeds, there are also two northern pearls, medium in size, shiny and lustrous, made of matte gauze, which is very beautiful. It is also paired with some ordinary pearls, but they are also round and beautiful.

For these, it took Yunyan more than 300 pens, but he didn't feel heartache at all. After conversion, pearls of this quality must not be bought at the same price in modern times.

After Yunyan returned to get the Beizhu, she went to Panlou Street, where she ordered two pieces of jewelry from the jewelry store, asked them to design, made the two Beizhu and the small pearl separately, and paid a deposit. .

Gold and silver production is quite mature in this era, and the craftsmen's aesthetics is also very good, so Yun Yan is very relieved after hearing the general plan.

Today is the agreed day to pick up the goods, Yunyan came out of Daxiangguo Temple and went straight to the jewelry store on Panlou Street.

When the shopkeeper saw Yun Yan coming back, he also took out his things and put them in two wooden boxes.The one on the left is for Zheng Ping, and it was made into a neck ornament. It is inlaid with pearls and silver pendants in the shape of a gallbladder. It uses filigree techniques to make patterns such as ruyi heads, curly grass patterns, etc., and pearls are wrapped in it. The huge north bead in the middle is the most dazzling.

They only need to be wrapped around, and don't need to be fixed with piercings. If you walk around on your body, they will even shake slightly in the hollow filigree, especially the big bead. However, it is conceivable that the luster will look very good on the face when it shakes.

Yun Yan could see that the craftsmen definitely put their heart into it, not to mention anything else, this filigree craft is definitely worthy of the Beizhu, since this craft has been mostly monopolized by the royal family.

Yun Yan went back to open another wooden box, which contained a hairpin with three-dimensional raised flowers intertwined with branches, and the north bead was inlaid on the top, which was also precarious, but it would not fall down.This one is more youthful than the necklace, and it is made for Shuang Yi.

"Troubleshooting." Yun Yan replied softly, put away the two wooden boxes, and paid the rest of the shopkeeper's money.

At this time, Yunyan heard someone calling herself, "Brother Yan."

He heard that the voice was coming from above, but when he looked up, he saw a noble lady standing on the stairs on the second floor, waving to him.

Yunyan went back to the bottom of the stairs, raised her head and sang, because this lady is none other than Zhao Yunchu's mother, the eighth princess.

The princess smiled and said: "What a coincidence, Brother Yan, are you here to make jewelry for your mother?"

Yunyan replied: "That's right, I asked someone to bring back Beizhu from the Liao Kingdom and made jewelry for A Niang and A Sister." He also opened two wooden boxes and showed the princess to appreciate them not far or near. .

The princess nodded lightly, "That's right, the shape is exquisite, and the pearls match well."

Since even the concubine said so, it can be seen that it is indeed a good skill, and Yun Yan was very happy.

"Brother Yan really has a heart." The princess was very emotional, like her sons, who would have thought of making jewelry for her, and the craftsman was so careful, it must have been specially instructed by Brother Yan.

When Yunyan came back, she was silly at her.

"Actually, I still have one troublesome thing here." The princess suddenly frowned and said, "Brother Yan, you have been close to my Xiaolang, do you know what happened to him recently? Apart from going to the court and the Yamen, come back It's just depressed, shutting himself in the room, looking like he has something on his mind."

Yun Yan replied: "Uh..."

The princess leaned on the railing, thinking in a daze: "Could it be that you fell in love with some girl and fell in lovesickness?"

Yun Yan replied: "..."

I have to say that a woman's sixth sense is surprisingly accurate. Although Zhao Yunchu is not attracted to any girl, he is indeed trapped by his feelings!

Originally, he wanted to deal with it coldly, but because of the Gu incident, it was impossible to deal with it coldly. Yun Yanhui also found it difficult, so he hesitated for many days and did not dare to go to Zhao Yunchu, and Zhao Yunchu also came to him.

Now hearing what Wang Hao said, Yun Yanhui could only sigh and said: "I'll go and see him."

The princess smiled at him, "I'm sorry to trouble you there, he always listens to you."

……

It would be great if Zhao Yunchu was obedient in this matter.

Yun Yan stood outside Zhao Yunchu's room, thinking this way, he raised his hand and knocked on the door, "Xiao Chu, open the door, it's me."

There was no response for a while, and when Yun Yan almost thought that no one was there, Zhao Yunchu's voice came out in a muffled voice, "What's the matter..."

"Aren't you going to open the door?" Yun Yan guessed back, maybe Zhao Yunchu was too embarrassed to see him, it was understandable, "Forget it, I can just say so."

Listening to Zhao Yunchu's previous voice, he could feel that he should be behind the door.

Anyway, there was no one around, so Yun Yan turned her back to the door, and while noticing that no one approached, she said: "I'll just say it straight, we grew up together, you may have something to do with me. I came up with some strange ideas. But that’s because you’re still young, and you don’t have a deep understanding of sex in your adolescence, and it may also be because of the surrounding environment, such as your third brother, that your orientation is a little unclear, and your understanding is wrong. emotion."

Yun Yan replied very implicitly and euphemistically, and even concealed many key words, but the meaning is still quite obvious.

At this time, he heard a loud sobbing sound suddenly coming from behind the door.

Yun Yan replied: "..."

Yun Yan replied dryly: "Of course, I am not denying your feelings, nor am I saying that you should definitely like women. I don't think there is anything wrong with you..."

Then Yunyan heard a sound similar to scratching the door, and he felt that based on his understanding of Zhao Yunchu, it might be Zhao Yunchu expressing his confusion—is there anything wrong?

Yun Yan lowered her head and said: "But you are still young and haven't been crowned yet. I support you to take it as an interesting thing when you were young. When you think back in the future, it may be funny or reminiscent, but it's all over. .And at that time, you, me, or Zheng Ling, we can still have wine together."

The meaning is also very clear, whether Zhao Yunchu likes men or women in the future, Yun Yanhui can support him, but the two of them can't, if Zhao Yunchu is willing to let go, then we can continue to be friends, but pure friendship like Zheng Ling .

On the contrary, Yun Yanhui didn't say it clearly.If you don't want to, you can only stop here with great regret, and time will also smooth everything out.

Inside the door, Zhao Yunchu squatted by the door, buried his head deeply, and did not speak for a long time.

Yun Yan waited outside for a long time, but did not hear an answer, "I'll go back first, think about it for yourself."

Yun Yanhui just walked out a few steps, when the door was opened, Zhao Yunchu stood inside with his hands on the door, his expression was very calm, but his red eyes gave away his previous emotions.

It may be an illusion, but Yun Yanhui felt that Zhao Yunchu seemed to have suddenly become a lot more stable, maybe it was because his expression was too calm now, and with Zhao Yunchu's height, Yun Yanhui always felt a little oppressive, which made him very uncomfortable. comfortable.

Zhao Yunchu's eyes met Yunyan's for a while, then he lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: "I'm sorry, Brother Yan, you are right, I am still young..."

Yun Yan suddenly felt relieved, "Yes, yes, you are still young, and you will understand when you grow up—are you okay?"

He was a little worried that his words might not be euphemistic enough, after all, he didn't have much experience in this area.Although Zhao Tiantian was really obedient, he still felt something was wrong.

Zhao Yunchu hid half of his face in the shadow behind the door, "I have something to do, I want to cry for a few days before recovering. So, Brother Yan, I won't send you off."

Yun Yan replied: "..."

Oh, that makes sense.

It's normal for a broken-hearted person to be in a wrong state, and it's not too much to cry alone, but as the person who rejected others, Yun Yanhui felt that what she said was a bit inappropriate, so she could only nod awkwardly and said nothing left.