The Crossing of Fortune and Prayer Jubilee

The old house is extremely lively, but the Sanfang side is harmonious.

In the middle of the night, two fast horses came straight to the third room. The tightly reined horses roared, and the dog guarding the yard barked. Lou Chengyi, who heard the sound, put on his clothes and went out.

Zhou Cheng got off his horse, handed over the rope to his attendants, and went up to knock on the door. "Uncle Lou? Uncle Lou?"

Lou Chengyi, who came to the door, hurriedly opened the door when he heard it, and said happily, "Zhou Cheng is back? Just come back, just come back."

The Huangshan couple who were resting in the back room also got up, lighting the lamps, lighting the stove, pouring water, and busy work. When Zhou Cheng got rid of the cold, Louhualou Yuzhu over there also got up. I found it.

Seeing that the whole family was up, Fu Linshu went to the kitchen to order white noodles for supper.

Zhou Cheng sipped his tea, glanced at Lou Yuzhu and turned to Lou Hua's face, and said, "In six days, the emperor's reward guard should arrive. I transferred from Nanyang City today, and I have ordered Xinyi Building to close for a few days. , when the time comes, Xinyi Building will be solely responsible for the food issues for the guards of honor."

Rewards from the Son of Heaven are always rewarded with ceremonial guards, but Zhou Cheng hurriedly went to inform Xinyilou first, it is estimated that the ceremonial guards cannot be regarded as the same.

"What did the emperor reward you?" Lou Hua asked, licking his tongue.

Zhou Cheng glanced at the third room, feeling really happy. "Many, treasures, gold and jade, a hundred hectares of fertile land, ten thousand taels of silver and a hundred taels of gold, and a nine-rank governor's official position was awarded to Lou Hua."

That is to say, he was already an official before he became an official?Lou Hua was stunned and felt that it was too unreal.

The governor is an idle job with a salary but no power, and the ninth rank is already beyond the level of the county magistrate.It stands to reason that this official position should fall on Lou Chengyi, but firstly, he is white, and secondly, Fu Linshu is a descendant of a criminal minister. Although he has changed his household registration, it is not good at all, so this official position falls on Lou Hua who has made a name for himself. .

Lou Chengyi didn't think about it so much, he was already stunned by the fact that his son had become an official!Fu Linshu was also shaking with excitement, not to mention Lou Ming and Xiao Louchen. Lou Yuzhu glanced at Zhou Cheng with a smile and said, "Look at Brother Zhou's expression, there should be a follow-up."

Zhou Cheng looked at Lou Yuzhu, his eyes softened, and he said: "Indeed, there are still. The emperor will announce the merits and virtues of the building plaques, and the golden words 'the merits and virtues will last through the ages and last forever' in eight characters."

Lou Yuzhu's face was stained with surprise.Compared with the eight characters written on the building's signboard, "the merits and virtues will last through the ages and last forever", those nine-rank governors, official positions, treasures, gold and jade, a hundred hectares of fertile land, ten thousand taels of silver and a hundred taels of gold are all rubbish!As long as the Yan dynasty doesn't fall, and they don't commit treason against the Jiu Clan, their family will stand like a building!

Lou Hua, who Lou Yuzhu thought of, also thought of it, and immediately blushed with excitement.Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he said: "There are only six days until the guard of honor, so we should arrive in time."

Lou Yuzhu pursed her lower lip: "If it's too late, I'll be there, and I can't make any mistakes!"

"The guard of honor will stay nearby. Don't worry about it until the next morning. There will be officials leading the way. The imperial decree will be read at Sishi. After the imperial decree is read out, it will probably be noon, and then the meal will be served. After the meal, the guard of honor I will return to Nanyang City and stay for about a month until the building is completed," Zhou Cheng calculated the time. "I guess it will be together with the worship on the first day of the new year." The building will be temporarily built. Is it the Chinese New Year?Once it is built, it will be worshiped once, and it will be worshiped once on the first day of the new year. It is better to put them together.This is the general flow of the whole matter. Zhou Cheng saw that they had no doubts, so he talked about the details: "The emperor values ​​it. He sent the father-in-law who is the personal manager, accompanied by eight young father-in-laws, accompanied by Mr. Pei, and a hundred guards of honor. In addition to these people, there are Nanyang magistrate and prefect Bo, etc., as well as accompanying officials and entourages, who can prepare red seals or road rituals according to their ranks. The guard of honor and the eight young father-in-laws can be given during meals, and the rest can be prepared separately. Set up a place to pick up..."

After Zhou Cheng finished speaking, Lou Yuzhu thought about it: "Uncle Pei, the father-in-law who announced the decree, and the prefect need to set up two main tables. The guard of honor needs to prepare [-] tables for the official errands, and another [-] separate tables. People who are close to each other, such as shopkeeper Jiao Zhai, big family in the town, and famous squires, etc." The square table used for the banquet can only seat eight people, and there are many more tables invisibly.

"I have asked several chefs in Xinyi Building to prepare several menus, and I will pick them up when they arrive tomorrow. I will prepare the ingredients, ingredients, and utensils. Tables and stools are more troublesome."

Lou Yuzhu thought for a while: "It doesn't matter, there are so many wealthy households in the town, and there are shopkeeper Jiao's Jufulou, it is not a problem to get 32 ​​tables."

When the hardware is complete, it is the software.Lou Yuzhu thought for a while and rushed to Lou Chengyi and said, "Father, go to grandpa's house tomorrow and ask grandpa to bring their whole family over, and then tell Li Zheng to arrange for someone to build the road with the three uncles. Just say Our family wants to entertain distinguished guests, and the wages are [-] yuan a day, not including meals." It's very time, and there is no time to entertain the villagers for dinner. "Brother, go talk to your classmates and let them come over to help you borrow tables and chairs. As for the reason, you can figure it out yourself; second brother, take someone to the town to prepare more four treasures of the study, snacks, tea, etc. "Father, please tell the Wei family and the others to recruit a few quick-witted daughter-in-laws to help with the cooking..."

"In the dining area, two tables are set up in the main hall, five tables are set up in the yard, and the rest are repaired in the fertile fields outside, and 25 tables are opened for borrowing... To avoid rain, we must prepare for the awning... There must not be enough in the kitchen and home Yes, we need to set up a stove outside... If there is not enough manpower, go to the town to recruit workers..."

In order not to make mistakes, all resources must be used!

At dawn, Zhou Cheng hurriedly went to prepare, and Sanfang also started to act.Needless to say, the Zhang family, Mr. Zhang immediately brought his family to help, and Li Zheng started recruiting people to repair the road without saying a word.Sanfang made such a big move that the villagers all looked sideways, and rumors spread everywhere to speculate what Sanfang was doing, but would Sanfang know what to say?Certainly not.

On the third day, a team of fast horses went straight to Sanfang. The deputy magistrate of Nanyang Mansion saw that Sanfang had already started preparations, and while secretly nodding, he gave Sanfang a general introduction to the process of receiving the guard of honor.Li Zhengyi participated in it, and his face flushed with excitement, and he held Lou Chengyi's hand so excitedly that he didn't know what to say.

On the fourth day, five large stoves were set up, and an awning was set up because of the drizzle.

On the fifth day, the ingredients and utensils have been delivered to Sanfang.

On the sixth day, all the preparations were complete and the tables, chairs and benches were put away.

The seventh day was sunny!Before dawn, a fire was lit outside the house, and the kitchen was already busy. A few quick young daughter-in-laws wiped the tables and chairs that had been arranged, and covered them with brand new floor-to-ceiling tablecloths.The floor-to-ceiling tablecloth was Lou Yuzhu's idea. The weather in November is very cold and we eat outdoors. At least it would be much better to put a stove under the tablecloth.Sanfang emptied the space after having breakfast, Lou Chengyi and his wife were invited back to the house to rest, Lou Hua and Lou Yuzhu began to check for any omissions.

At the end of Mao, shopkeeper Zhai and others had already entered the door. Lou Chengyi and Lizheng were sitting in the main hall waiting. Lou Yuzhu glanced at Lou Hua and asked, "Grandpa, why haven't they come yet?" It was already notified yesterday. He also sent new clothes and shoes to the whole old house, and the time for confession should have come long ago.

Lou Hua frowned, and Lou Ming got up: "Brother, you wait here, I'll go and have a look." Lou Hua must not lose the chain on such an important day.

Li Zheng was worried that Lou Ming would not be able to urge anyone to come, so he got up and said, "I'll go with Erlang."

As soon as the two of them arrived at the old house, they were still eating breakfast slowly when they got there. Even their clothes and shoes were still worn out. Let’s ask, why are you so anxious? The meaning is that the third room entertains distinguished guests and it’s not them entertain.Not to mention that Lou Mingqi's eyes were dark, and he was gasping for breath. He finally endured it and urged his family to put on new clothes and rush to the third room. The sound of the ceremony and music of the guard of honor has already been heard over there.

Lou Hua supported Lou Chengyi to welcome him to the door, Lou Yuzhu supported Fu Linshu, followed by Lou Ming, Xiao Louchen and Zhou Cheng, followed by Mr. Lou and the old man, then the Zhang family, and then several people from the town The rich family and Lou Hua came to help a few classmates. In the end, Lizheng led the villagers. Of course, it is impossible for the entire Yanjia Village, just a few representatives.

The villagers who were guarded by the officials circled around and stared at it with wide eyes.

As the ceremonies and music drew closer, the majestic guard of honor marched in front of everyone.The sound of ceremony and music stopped, and the team of hundreds of people immediately fell silent. The mighty and solemn atmosphere infected all the villagers who watched the excitement, even they dared not make a sound.

The carriage surrounded in the middle drove to the front, and the father-in-law who read out the imperial edict got off the carriage on the back of the little eunuch and came to the front, and took out the bright yellow imperial edict from the brocade box in his arms.The eight little eunuchs lined up in the back were holding rare treasures such as gold and jade bestowed by the emperor.

"Kneel~~!"

Lou Hua supported Lou Chengyi and knelt down, the people behind followed suit, and the surrounding villages were infected by the serious atmosphere and knelt down one after another.

"The emperor called and said..."

In the empty and silent sky, there is only the sharp and hoarse voice of the chief executive who proclaimed the decree, and the rhetoric is gorgeous. The students who are quite academically accomplished can understand it, and the villagers can hear the words clearly, but they can't listen to them together. I don't understand, but fortunately they understand the rewards that follow.

"...reward a handful of Hetian jade, a set of emerald paperweights, a pair of jade plum vases from a makeup kiln...a hundred taels of gold, ten thousand taels of silver...a hundred hectares of fertile land...a meritorious building plaque...Lou's Dalang recorded meritorious service, A special gift to the governor of the ninth grade..."

Dazzling rewards were carried out like running water, and finally Lou Chengyi knelt down to accept the imperial decree and thanked him, Lou Hua knelt down and held the nine-rank magistrate's official uniform sent by the little eunuch, kowtowed to thank him and supported Lou Cheng Yi stood up, handed the official uniform to Lou Yuzhu to put it away, and then went back to entertain Xuanzhi's father-in-law and Pei Shengyi.

The six days of preparations were not in vain. The guard of honor of a hundred people was arranged to be seated, followed by the first-class entourage of the magistrate. Hot meals were served one after another. Eight dishes, one soup, one vegetarian and two snacks were eaten by the crowd. The two cousins ​​of the family led two young servants to present red envelopes respectively, not many, just take two silver tickets for ten taels.After the meal was finished, the nimble young daughter-in-law stepped forward to put away the bowls and chopsticks, and then brought hot tea and dried fruit snacks.There is a warm fire underneath, hot tea in hand, and exquisite dried fruit snacks are served, not to mention how comfortable it is.

The guard of honor outside the courtyard ate to their heart's content, and the courtyard was also in full swing. The high-quality liquor produced by the winery was supplied free of charge, and they could make the atmosphere lively without specially arranging them. Although the two tables in the main hall were not as lively as outside, the atmosphere was also very good.Lou Hua led Lou Chengyi to accompany Pei Sheng, the manager's father-in-law, and the prefect of Nanyang, and at the other table, Lou Yuzhu led Li Zhengyan to accompany the deputy magistrates.

After a harmonious lunch, the guard of honor and a group of Nanyang officials were sent away, and the breath was raised.Lou Hua has a good capacity for alcohol, and after drinking a bowl of hangover soup, he automatically took over the rest of the work, while Lou Yuzhu brought a food box to find Zhou Cheng who was still busy in the study.

Putting the food box on the table, he said viciously, "Eat!"

Zhou Cheng, who was still settling accounts, was taken aback. "...?"

If Lou Yuzhu could help a little yesterday, then today I will be with the guests, and the internal and external affairs will fall on Zhou Cheng. I ate two steamed buns for breakfast, let alone lunch. Yuzhu asked Huang Ying to come over and stuff two pancakes to watch him eat, otherwise Zhou Cheng, who is a workaholic incarnation, might even forget his lunch.

"Huh?" Lou Yuzhu narrowed her eyes.

Zhou Cheng rubbed his nose and took out the food from the food box on his own.

Lou Yuzhu rolled his eyes: "Drink the soup first."

Zhou Cheng, who was about to make a quick decision, silently turned his hand towards the food to the stew in the stew pot.The soup is stewed with squab and gastrodia elata. It is light and delicious. A small portion looks like a small stove in the kitchen. Reminiscent of the incident when Lou Yuzhu asked Huang Ying to deliver the cakes, it is estimated that the soup had already been ordered by the kitchen to prepare it. .The corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitched, he finished the soup in one go, and then started to grill the rice.

Seeing the bottom of the bowl of rice, Lou Yuzhu buried her eyes on the account book in her hand, without raising her head, said, "Go to sleep after eating, and I will only invite the villagers of Yanjia Village to eat for the evening meal, so you don't need to worry about it."

The dinner at night has been agreed a long time ago, so there is no shortage of ingredients and utensils. With the experience of this meal at noon, there is really no need to worry about it at night.

Zhou Cheng thought about it for a while and realized that it was all right, so he took out the account book in Lou Yuzhu's hand and said, "There's no rush for this matter, and it won't be too late to calculate it when you have time."

"Don't forget about it, leave it to a few accountants, and I will make up for the less. If there is more, I will share the rewards." Before, only 3000 taels were used, and the rewards for ingredients, utensils, red envelopes and helpers, seven A total of 3000 taels is probably not enough.

"The matter of money is not urgent," Zhou Cheng smiled. As far as his current wealth is concerned, the few thousand taels are not in his eyes. "I asked, apart from drawing pictures and selecting buildings, the road from the town to the entrance of the village needs to be repaired, and the road from the entrance to the village needs to be paved with blue bricks. It will take a lot of time. Taking advantage of this In time we can rebuild the house."

As far as Sanfang's current concierge is concerned, it is definitely not in line with the Gongde building, and it is inevitable to rebuild it. "I'm also considering this issue." Lou Yuzhu thought for a while and continued: "Excluding the 3000 taels of expenses, I still have 500 taels of silver notes in my hand, and the rewards are 1 taels and a hundred taels of gold. What is not lacking is manpower. People need people to build buildings, build roads, and lay floor tiles, but there are not so many craftsmen at their disposal."

"Are you afraid you won't be able to recruit people if you have money?"

Lou Yuzhu was stunned for a moment and then smiled: "I was thinking about it." His thoughts went into a dead end for a while and he couldn't get out. Fortunately, Zhou Cheng woke him up.

Zhou Cheng shook his head to show that nothing happened, and continued: "I mean, since it is necessary to build, it should be built at one time, and the good ones should be built, and the ones that are firm should be built, and the foundation should be enough for money, so that we can start construction later."

After the building is built, the house will not be moved again, so it is taboo to avoid tricks.It's just that if you estimate it like this, you have to consider five or six generations later, that's a big project. "It's a hassle to draw a picture like this."

"Wufang, when I was preparing to settle in Yan's Village, I asked someone to draw a few pictures, and I will use them first."

The two of them had a good talk, and they invited the villagers of Yan's family to have a meal and started preparing for building the house the next day.The layout of the new house is completely different from the current one, so all the old houses have to be demolished. Seeing that the big house that has only been built for a few years is pushed down like this, some villagers are all sorry, but this can only be said in their hearts, because Everyone knows that the current Sanfang has gone beyond their thinking and has entered the ranks of 'nobles'.

Declining Zhang's grandpa and grandma's invitation to stay, Lou Yuzhu led Lou Chengyi and his wife out of Yan's Village, intending to take this opportunity to let the couple have a good time.Live in Nanyang City for a while to appreciate the prosperity of Xiafu City, live in Linnanwan for a while to experience the style of coastal towns, plus the time spent slowly on the road, and return to Huya Town for two days to recuperate, and it will be 24 years in a blink of an eye.

Just make some New Year's goods in the town, and the party returned to Yanjia Village on the day of 24 Xiaonian.Just near the gate of the village, you can see the newly replaced giant stone village stele and the words "Gongde Loujia". With the stone stele as the boundary, the blue brick road is spacious enough for two carriages to pass all the way to the third house, and you can still see it even if you are far away. The roof of the Gongde building is carved with white marble.The carriage approached, revealing the entirety of the building sign covered by tree shadows.Huagang stone is the base and white marble is the top.The top is divided into three layers, the first layer is finely carved cloud patterns, and the second layer is the inscription, because before the time, the inscription and the eight characters engraved on both sides of the column are covered with red silk. , the third floor is the top of the building.The twelve-foot building is majestic, dignified, majestic, and sacred, which makes people awe-inspiring when looking at it.

"How?" Lou Hua came out when he heard the sound.

"Very flattering!" The bigger the building itself is, the more important the meaning behind it will be! 'Gongde Loujia' sounds beautiful~ Seeing his intoxicated face, Lou Hua couldn't help but spit at him: "Take Dad and Dad out to relax, you are so comfortable, we almost died of exhaustion."

Lou Yuzhu laughed dryly, turned to Xiao Lou Chen and stuffed Lou Hua's hand. "I'll give you the fourth one."

Xiao Louchen, who is also a member of the Sanxin gang, blinked and immediately acted cute: "Brother, I miss you."

Lou Huabai said, "Would you miss me while eating and playing? Wipe off the pastry crumbs around your mouth."

With a guilty conscience, Xiao Louchen turned his head and winked at Lou Yuzhu.What if being cute doesn't work?

Then be stupid!

Xiao Louchen was as good as he was and rushed to Lou Hua with a smirk. "The fourth child really misses Big Brother, more than fifty roast ducks! More than a hundred red shrimps! More than two hundred crabs!"

The stupid Lou Hua didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said angrily: "So I only have fifty roast ducks, one hundred red shrimps, and two hundred crabs in my fourth child's heart?"

Xiao Louchen opened his eyes wide, and said with a look so stupid that people couldn't bear to look directly: "There are already enough!"

Knowing that the little Lou Chen who can't win Lou Yuzhu's true biography by breaking up like this, Lou Hua simply put him down, bypassed the two little ones, and welcomed Lou Chengyi and his wife into the house.

The current three-bedroom house has changed a lot, with a towering lintel, stone lion town house, a wall enclosing the whole house, and the roof can be seen from the outside.Entering it is even more luxurious, not to mention Huya Town, even Nanyang City is one of the most luxurious houses.

Xiao Louchen touched this and looked there, looking extremely excited.

After hearing the news, Lou Ming and Zhou Cheng rushed over, Xiao Lou Chen immediately pulled Lou Ming to see his yard, and Lou Chengyi and his wife were led to their own yard by Lou Hua, Zhou Cheng took a deep look at Lou Yuzhu , smiled and said: "Go, I will lead you to your yard."

The entire mountain top belongs to the Lou family, so the foundation can be expanded several times before. For the reception, a main hall and a side hall were built. Lou Chengyi and his wife lived in the largest main courtyard. , Lou Ming, Lou Yuzhu, and Lou Chen are all small courtyards with different styles. The study room is not built because each small courtyard comes with it. After passing through the [-]-fold courtyard, there are two small courtyards for guests. The courtyard and several wing rooms, followed by the large kitchen and the servants' bunk, and finally the stables and carports, it can be seen that the whole house has been carefully planned.