Chapter 43 Section Eleven

The weather is getting hotter, and Gu Third Grandma was buried, but Gu Tiancheng accepted the foreign religion unscrupulously. His original intention was that once he accepted the teaching, he would be able to take revenge, or it was just bad luck. Less than half a month after being taught, a bad incident suddenly flew in, which not only hindered his plan, but also affected his lost daughter's recruitment of younger brothers, making her take a good nap at night, It's also very difficult. It was very early when this matter spread to Chengdu.The officials in several big yamen knew about it a long time ago.In addition, this is the manager of the general ticket number, and I know it.Again, it was only spread to officialdom, to business houses, to half-official and half-gentry families, and more vaguely to the general public.

The owner of Hao Mansion on Summersock Street was originally a Hakka official who came to Sichuan for only three generations.Because in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, after the hard work of Zhang Xianzhong and the bandits to cleanse Sichuan Province, and several times of civil strife by the aboriginal army, there were already very few people who became aboriginals from the relatively long-standing Hakka people in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. And most of them are scattered in the border areas.As for the people of the sixteen counties in Chengdu, they were recruited from Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong during the Kangxi and Yongzheng eras.Afterwards, all those who came to Sichuan to be officials or merchants lived for a long time, and when they had money, they were in danger of being praised when traveling by land, and blocked by the Three Gorges when traveling by water. It is moderate, beautiful and beautiful, both of them are foreigners, and there is no long-standing habit of living together, so naturally there will be no psychology of jealousy of foreigners. In addition, Jincheng is prosperous and happy, and it is better to live in it. As long as you buy land and build If you have a house, a tomb and a tree trunk, you are naturally considered to be a native of a certain county.Another advantage is that it does not ask about your family background, as long as your house is built big, it will be called a mansion, you can read a few books, and walk around with face, and you will automatically be ranked as a gentleman.Most of these people can only be officials, and they only take it as their career. They can use money to donate to officials, and they don't have to study hard. Then, why not be an official?So donate a big or small official, walk around in the officialdom, don't necessarily want to get a job, want to get a job, just want to be able to not lose the official flavor, can boast to the township party, and be content to pass it down from generation to generation. Until it fades away, until it ends in arguing.

Hao Dasan is a typical figure of this kind of half-official and half-gentry. He donated himself as a candidate acquaintance. The copy occasionally reveals his official title and name; there are also a few colleagues in the officialdom; he is originally from Yangzhou, and when the Jiangnan Pavilion has group worship, he occasionally goes to recognize his hometown and eats and drinks.It has been in this city for three generations, so naturally there are several relatives and family friends who are connected with the family members.In Chengdu, Wenjiang, and Pixian County, each has several acres of fertile land. In addition to the main house on Shusuo Street, there are eight double-room shops on both sides of the house and the Shanbang leather goods shop, and there are twelve shops on Zongfu Street. In addition, there are four thousand taels of silver in the four-door business office, and the monthly income is one cent and two per cent of the official interest; there are also transactions on the ticket numbers of the Shanxi Gang; so he is among the top half-official and half-gentry categories. To be rich is to be blessed.

Although he reported the donation as a prison student, although he did not enroll in the exam several times, it is said that he has read a lot of books.In the study room, there is still a copy of "Liao Fan Gang Jian" written by himself, as well as "Four Histories of the Han Dynasty" and "Bai Zi Jin Dan", which have not been finished.The old learning has a solid foundation, but the new learning has only read "Words of a Flourishing Age", which was given to him by his best friend Ge Huanzhong, but he doesn't understand it very well. Not knowing the new learning, this does not hinder Hao Dasan's dressing and eating, let alone knowing the future, let alone going along with the new learning, and pretending to be against the party.Therefore, he can still be calm and leisurely, living in an orderly and comfortable way according to the old rules passed down from his grandfather.

Although the way of life is based on the old chapters, in the end, many new things have been mixed into the material.Three years ago, I bought a large insurance lamp with a fine copper frame and five-color glass pendants, hung it in the living room, and lit it at night. I remember that it was a lot of trouble when I first ordered it.Still writing, I invited the expert Xianzhu on the Zhang Hongyuan, and taught it for a few hours before I understood how to use it. ——It is so radiant that you can even pick up a needle on the ground. How rare and precious it was back then!The whole family didn't want to sleep.But now, there are already a pair of safe-seat lamps with snow-white porcelain covers on the cabinet tables in the rooms of the wives and aunts. Sometimes when I am happy, even if there is no new year and no guests come, I often light them up.It is true that foreign lamps are much brighter than vegetable oil lamps, but foreign oil is not cheap. In foreign goods stores, it costs one tael to four catties, which is three hundred yuan per catty, which is twelve or three times more expensive than vegetable oil. Hao Dasan often lamented : It would be great if the kerosene was cheaper!More than ten years ago, wasn't it only in Guangdong that there were people who took portraits?The four colorful portraits of Grandfather Zu, Mrs. Zu, Mrs. Grandpa, and Mrs. are more than two feet high and lifelike. They are all drafts of faxes, which are carefully entrusted to jewelers who have traveled far and wide, and brought to Guangdong. to draw.It took a year and ten months to go back and forth, how many favors were entrusted, how much money was spent, how difficult it was!Now, there are still photos in Chengdu, and there is a very solemn family photo hanging in the wife's room. It was a new photo taken last winter and spent eight taels of silver.However, upon closer examination, with a mirror box, how can different shadows, even a strand of hair, be photographed realistically during half a meal. I knew that it was the reason why foreigners put medicine on the mirror.That's why some people say that taking a picture is to capture the soul of a person on a paper, and after taking a picture, if you don't die, you will suffer a serious illness.Therefore, when Hao Dasan brought in the photo craftsman like a gift, he looked at the place, arranged the tea table, chairs, flower vases, and small clocks--he was not willing to leave when he bought it newly, but just placed it in the room as a display One of the desk clocks. ——Xialu hookah, broken porcelain tea bowl, everything is ready, the master’s mending gown, court beads, big hat and official boots, all dressed up, concubine, eldest lady, etc. are also dressed up, and the wife is already wearing a big eight-pleated skirt with ribbons I happened to meet Sun's second cousin, who just came back from Hubei. ——After telling what she had heard, the wife refused to take pictures, saying that she did not want to die.What's the point of having family fun without a wife?The master waited countless times, all in vain. Later, thanks to the third master, he talked and laughed and pulled his wife out, put him on the chair on the right, and assured her: "If you catch the soul, you will die. He wishes to pray to the Bodhisattva , reduce your life for her!" The third master demanded that he would not lie, so the wife sat upright and took the photo. Although she was not sick, she had been on her mind for a long time.

As for the head of the opium stick, there is a ball the size of corn. If you look closely, you can see a naked foreign woman, still colored, and you can see that it is about two inches high, with full hair. This is easy to understand. Once people explain it, they will know that it is the principle of microscope magnification.The rubber cushion is inflated and placed under the buttocks, which is more comfortable than sitting on any cushion. This is also easy to understand, because the rubber will not lose air.The octave is also easy to understand. Like a clock, it works like a clockwork.But there is one thing that has just been heard recently, and I don't understand it, and it is called a phonograph.Why put the wax tube on the machine, and with a flick of your finger, a needle will pierce the wax tube, from one end to the other, and put the two round leather ropes on the machine into the ear holes, and you can hear See the sound of gongs, drums and strings singing together; it is Beijing opera, although I don't understand it very well, but the sonorous tune is very clear.The whole family played for a few days, but they couldn't figure it out. They could only admire the ingenuity of the foreigners.

There are quite a lot of these Western things in Hao's mansion.As for the five-coloured polished glass windows in the living room, and the large full-length mirror with the red sandalwood snail base, these were all bought by the old man.These days, the most useful and inseparable for the whole family are the daily little things such as toothbrush, toothpaste, foreign kudzu towel, foreign soap, toilet water, etc. that are seldom used by ordinary people.Foreigners look so thick and clumsy, why do these household items they make are so good, once you get your hands on them, you can’t live without them?

Hao Dasan and his old friend Ge Huanzhong often had lively discussions on these things on both sides of the opium tray.While saying goodbye, although he was dissatisfied with these strange skills and ingenuity, thinking that they were not related to the great way, they only made people get used to being small and content with indifference; The admiration of foreigners is nothing more than these small places except guns and warships. As for the importance of human relations and the great classics of governing the country, they can't talk about it.Why did Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao advocate new learning and reform, wanting to sweep away Chinese cultural relics and completely learn from Westerners?It can be seen that although Kang Liang is a so-called sage, he is actually the same as Zeng Jize and Li Hongzhang, and they are all plotters.Even though they haven't read Kang Liang's article, and haven't grasped Zeng Li's evidence, they always feel that these people are wrong. If they are right, why do people always scold them when they mention it?

Fortunately, good news came frequently, and there was a sect in the north called Yihequan, which was specially used to help the Qing Dynasty and destroy the foreign countries.He is very powerful and capable, and has killed many foreigners.Although the guns of foreigners are powerful, they are helpless when they touch Boxers.Now that the banner has been raised and it has reached Beijing, even the Queen Mother believes it.The time for foreigners to recite the time has come, and we think it will be in these few months! Hao's mansion knew the news earlier, of course, because Hao Dasan often went to and from the ticket office, and he was willing to pay attention.But he was the only one who was willing to talk about it, and at night on the opium tray, this was the Longmen Formation that became more and more vivid as he talked about it.

Just because he has a lot of news and he speaks well, women don't pay much attention to these things, and because it sounds so good, it's like hearing, every night, when the master starts, they will come to listen.The servants are outside the window, and Chunlan Chunxiu is in the room, so that they can fan everyone to repel mosquitoes.Speaking of the day when Yihequan was summoned, Hao Dasan couldn't help but beam with joy and said: "Zhang Laoxi just received the letter today, and it was written in great detail. It is probably Yihequan's ability to swallow talismans. If he doesn't swallow talismans, he is an ordinary person." , as soon as the talisman is swallowed, there will be a divine way immediately. Prince Duan was so convinced that he played the Empress Dowager Ming, saying that such people are God's pity for the Qing Dynasty. Killed all the foreigners. Although the queen mother was overjoyed, she still had some doubts: how can flesh and blood be able to fight against foreign guns? Prince Duan then asked the elder brother: Do you dare to try your spells in front of the emperor? The elder brother slapped his chest Said: Dare, dare, dare! Prince Duan followed and led the senior brother into the palace. When he arrived in front of the hall and shouted at Shangtou Mountain, the queen mother ordered the senior brother to just use it and not be afraid. Just like acting, the senior elder brother kowtowed, took off his clothes, swallowed a talisman, and muttered something, his face turned blue in an instant, his eyes turned white, his whole body was stiff, he jumped about ten feet high, and the words in his mouth Spitting white bubbles, he shouted: "I am Zhang Fei! I am here to escort you under the order of my second elder brother! The Queen Mother was only reciting Buddha's name at that time, so I didn't know what to order, but Prince Duan had seen him, so he called Tiger God Soldiers from the battalion come,... ah! Zun San, do you know what the Tiger God Camp is?"

Although the third master took the mixed cigarette bag out of his mouth, he only opened his mouth to smile, expressing that he didn't know. His brother shushed a big cigarette to the bottom, took another sip of hot tea, and then explained: "This is a specially trained Imperial Forest Army, which specializes in fighting foreigners. Foreigners are commonly called foreign devils, and foreigners are also sheep, so they use tigers to kill Assassinate him, God is the master of ghosts. From the name alone, you know how much the imperial court hates foreigners. Only blame the Kangliang people for trying to seduce the emperor to learn from foreigners. Li Fuxiang—that is, Li Hongzhang— Since his son recruited a son-in-law in Japan and defended foreign countries in everything, these people should be killed! According to the words of the saint, they are traitors and thieves, everyone will be punished!..." The concubine interjected impatiently: "It's time to write again! I know you have studied, so why bother to praise us? You just show your righteousness and fists!" The master laughed and said a few witty words, and then continued: "Sure enough, a soldier walked by, holding a big knife weighing about thirty catties in his hand, and slashed at the elder brother at the head. Unexpectedly, the steel knife rebounded after a touch. Come here, cut off a big bag on the head of the beheaded man, look at the big brother, I don't feel it at all. This has surprised the queen mother. I also called the foreign gun team, loaded the ammunition in front of the emperor, and pointed at the big brother Let it go all the way, but it won't go off. Another team came, and the blow went off, but the foreign gun exploded into several pieces. The senior brother still jumped ten feet high, and kept yelling: No matter how fierce you foreign devils are, if you get hurt I lost a single hair of my old man, and my surname is no longer Zhang! Now, the queen mother was convinced, and she personally appointed the elder brother as a Zen master, and asked Duan Wangtong to take him to destroy the foreign countries. ...... Zhang Laoxi's name Believe me, it's true." Another day, when he was giving lectures and boxing news, when it came to the red light, Hao Dasan was a little confused. It just so happened that his friend Ge Huanzhong came, and the two of them discussed on both sides of the opium tray on the kang bed in the living room.Hao Da said: "We call it the Red Lantern Sect here, why is it called the Red Lantern Sect in Beijing?" Ge Huanzhong lit a cigarette and said: "I know, the red light is the sisters of Yihequan. Their morality is higher than that of Yihequan. They are the disciples of the Holy Mother of Huanglian. When they practice the Dharma, there will be a ghost in midair. A red light is hanging. It must be because they are called red light believers because they use red light to preach." Officer Hao Dasan nodded and said, "That's right! That's right! Your brother's words are true! They all said that the red light is so powerful that it can set fire to foreigners' houses!" Ge Huanzhong put down the pipe and said, "It's true! When she sacrificed the red light, she just knelt down, invited the old mother of Lishan, Guanyin Bodhisattva, pointed her hand, and there was a thunderbolt, and the fire started. How well the foreigner’s church is built, it will be reduced to the ground in an instant!” He then asked the third master who was sitting next to him, shaking a plantain fan: “Master, you pay attention to the Taoism, you see the Taoism illuminated by the red light, is it true?” Which faction?" The third master said without hesitation: "This must be the orthodox method of Wulei. In Taoism, it can be regarded as the direct sect of Longhushan. When foreigners encounter this sect, they will recite the time!" His brother said: "It's time for foreigners to recite time too! Since the Middle East War, I don't know, foreigners have become more and more crooked day by day. The more recent, the more crooked it is. Foreigners are crooked, so are the churches, and so are the church people. Lao Ge, do you still remember what Song Daoping said when Nei Jiang came down? He said that no matter what the case is, if there are religious people, you will not be able to enforce the law. The religious people will not kneel when they go to court. He must win the lawsuit. That's why he said in a fair manner that day, the current official who is close to the people is not a court official, but a servant of the people!..." Ge Huanzhong also sighed and said: "Isn't it? So now, only you and me are the most difficult officials in the prefectural and county teams! Most people compliment Liu Taizun for being tough and not afraid to teach the people. Ask him to be a county magistrate, see if he dares to be tough? If you are tough, you can join your office!" The third master said: "It's all right now, as long as the Red Lantern Cult of the Yihe Fist destroys the foreigners, we will turn around!" Ge Huanzhong said again: "But it's a bit strange. Some people want to say that this group of people is a cult. I was at Lao Qi's and saw something called "Shenbao", which was printed in Shanghai, and said it was written every day. Two, it said that when Yuan Zhongtang was in Shandong, Yihequan had existed for a long time, he said it was a cult, and he banned it vigorously; until the empress dowager believed it, he even made a memorial with many people today, It is said that it is not suitable to believe in cults, and there will be a memorial tomorrow, saying that it is not appropriate to believe in cults..." "What is "Shenbao"?" His two brothers both felt a little strange and asked together. "It seems that the "Beijing News" is copied from the Yuanmen. It has articles and small things in various places. It can be used to discuss and help. Most of the old Qi's words come from there. So when the old Qi talked about the uprising and the Fist is always a cult. He also said, if Guoyi and Fist Red Lantern Sect really have magic, why did they still do nothing to him when Yuan Zhongtang banned it?..." The third master interjected: "He doesn't understand, the magic of Yihequan is a cult that can only be used on foreigners. Yuan Zhongtang is the official of the imperial court!" What Hao Dasan said was different, "Old Qi is not right, he is still a police officer! He will say something different from others! He is not afraid that it will be heard by his superiors, so he will be dismissed?" "You're still talking about the boss, I'm about to tell you! It was the day before yesterday? The boss sent a telegram from the empress dowager, ordering to kill all the foreigners here and destroy all the churches..." Hao Dasan sat up abruptly, slapped his thigh vigorously and said, "The Empress Dowager Shengming!..." Ge Huanzhong waved his hand and said: "Don't interrupt me!... The superior has given this order, and there is nothing I can do. Hurry up and invite the general and the two divisions to discuss it. When the discussion was over, the general came up with an idea: the telegram cannot If you don't obey, foreigners can't kill randomly, just follow the middle way, and take a trick, that is, send a battalion of soldiers to station around the church, and take foreigners into the yamen, treat them with courtesy; The common people did not know the benefits and violated it, and told the court that the foreigners had been captured and the church had been surrounded. Looking at the situation in the provinces, if all the provinces implemented the telegram, it would be easy to do, and the executioners and soldiers were the same. It is ready-made; if the provinces have other good ways, they will follow others. Lao Qi said that the superiors are very happy, and they have followed suit yesterday.... Do you think that the superiors have the right way?" Hao Dasan was meditating, when Gao Sheng came in with a large plate of dim sum, he stood up and invited Ge Huanzhong: "A new cook, Bai An, is here to try the flower cakes made by himself. Try it, do you want more?" After a few days, the whole city knew that Prince Duan was commanding Boxer to attack the Beijing embassy. Boxer had been renamed Hetuan, and had killed many foreigners and Ermaozi, whose followers were called Ermaozi. ——every day we are winning battles. Hao Dasan and Ge Huanzhong also got some quick news, one from the ticket number, and the other from the Taiwan government office. They all said that the city of Beijing was in great chaos, and traitors brought foreigners and Ermaozi to kill people and set fires everywhere. , even sneaked into the palace.The empress dowager was furious, and ordered to arrest and kill many traitors, and killed dozens of high-ranking officials, most of whom were promiscuous with foreigners.Now Dong Fuxiang is ordered to raise 100,000 troops to help the Boxers attack the embassy. Hao Dasan doesn't know how many countries there are foreigners, and how many people are there?Ask Ge Huanzhong, he once served as Yu Daotai's entourage and has been to Shanghai, so he knows something new. Ge Huanzhong crooked his fingers and said: "There is Japan, there is Russia, there is England, and there is Holland. England is the largest, and the people in this country are divided into two types: black barbarians and white barbarians. They are also called Indian Devils. In addition, there are Germany, Fernancy, and Belgium. I observed that the last time I set up a machine, I negotiated business with people from Germany. Probably these countries are the only ones in the world.” Hao Dasan suddenly thought of it and said, "What about the United States? Isn't the kerosene we order just said to be made in the United States?" "Uh! Yes, yes, America! Jesus came from America. I remembered, and Mexico. The Moyang we envoy in Shanghai, also called Yingyang, came from Mexico..." The third master respects the third and doesn't know how to be next to him, and because brother Ge Shi is a family member and has known each other since childhood, they can still talk about each other, so whenever he comes, he will always come out to accompany him.Immediately he interjected, "I vaguely remember what kind of tooth country is there?" His brother laughed loudly and said, "Lao San's novel is out again! If there is a country of teeth, then there must be a country of claws!..." The third master himself laughed and said: "I don't count what I say, but I remember that there is a word for a tooth?..." Ge Huanzhong said: "Look! I remembered! Are you talking about Spain?" The third master didn't dare to make a decision: "I can't remember, or the name of this country." Ge Huanzhong smiled at Hao Dasan: "You said the country of claws, isn't there a country of Java?... There are so many countries in the world, and the number is clear. It is said that only China is the largest, and some countries are no match for us. A county is big, and there are not many people." Hao Dasan said: "The country is small, so there are not many people. If after the Beijing embassy is broken up, we don't know whether foreigners will come or not, that would be bad! Where do we buy these foreign goods?" Ge Huanzhong said: "I think that foreign goods will never become extinct. Foreigners are very poor. If they don't do business, how can they live? I was in Shanghai, and all the foreigners I saw were doing business. On the main road, Door to door is full of big foreign firms that are skyrocketing." Hao Dasan smiled with satisfaction and said, "That's right! Foreigners can be killed, but they don't have to finish it. You just have to kill them together, and let them know that we are not easy to mess with in China, and they are not allowed to be so tyrannical in the future! No! Missionary! Don’t shelter the people! Don’t bully the government! Business, just do it, as long as there are good things, we will trade fairly.” Ge Huanzhong clapped his palms and said with a smile: "That's right! That's right! This is our Brother Hao's economics! Right now, Zhijun is looking for talents, so you can write a note and submit your thoughts. . . . "