Chapter 36 first quarter

On the tenth day of April, the people of Tokyo happily sent off the Northern Expeditionary Army.On the parade field, Cai You, the deputy envoy of Xuanfu, made a fool of himself.The performance of this scene became an excellent material for people to talk and laugh in those days.Someone else imitated his movements and kept groping around his waist, but suddenly he missed, and the sword fell to the ground "brightly".This quickly became popular in the city of Tokyo, and within a period of time, the word "huo lang lang" became synonymous with Jiuzi Toneren. During that period, people in Tokyo were indeed very interested in a war they had never experienced in their lives. When they met each other, they would use hot news about the war as the content of their conversations, and share real and real facts about the war. Mixed falsehoods and outright fictitious rumors circulated, as if it were not enough to show that he was a hipster.

The reason why people in Tokyo have such a great interest in war is first of all because it is "something that has never been experienced in a lifetime."People are interested in new things, unless he is a conservative.There is nothing any fashionable person in a big city dreads more than being given a conservative hat. Moreover, so many people were directly and indirectly involved in the war during the first few days of the army's departure that they and those connected with them had to be concerned about it. Shi Dalang is a young man who lives in Jiuqiaomen Street.His father owned a local deli.The scope of Dalang's activities has long surpassed his father's social status and climbed up to a group of high-ranking officials and nobles, becoming a medium between them and street bastards and rogues.Dalang has always lived such a lively and happy life, and he has become the core figure in the "children's class" in that area.Unexpectedly, the third son of high school would drag him into the ranks of the Northern Expedition Army and become a small officer.As soon as he left, there was no leader who caused trouble in the area, which made everyone miss him more than ever.This is a man who has attracted everyone's attention because of the war.

Another example is a large-scale ready-to-wear shop on Panlou Street, which has always been famous for tailoring ladies' fashions.Everyone knows that it is the capital of Gao Jie's eldest brother, Gao Jie, who has a large sarcoma under his eyelids and is nicknamed "Sima Shi".Since the beginning of the first lunar month, this tailor shop has suddenly put up a signboard saying "Our shop pays a lot of money to hire master masters to refine armor flags", and has contracted all the armor flags and other business for the Northern Expeditionary Army, making a large fortune.This not only aroused public indignation among colleagues, but also made the general public feel aggrieved.Because the principle of economic distribution that Tokyo people believe in is that everyone eats when they have food, everyone spends money if they have money, and they oppose monopoly.Violation of this principle will be spurned by the public.Sure enough, one day, the head of the Armor Industry Guild led a hundred or so fellows, smashed the signboard of this tailor shop in such a grand manner, that "Shi Ma Shi" was so frightened that he only dared to sneak out through the back door.The citizens who appeared on the street clapped their hands and cheered for it.This is another piece of social news caused by the war.

During that period, one could hear similar news and messages everywhere.Taken together they give war a sense of reality that can be seen, heard, smelled, and touched.Tokyoites are not only fashionable, but also realists. They are always very sensitive to real things. Furthermore, people in Tokyo are all interested in anything that can tell the difference between winners and losers, such as sports competitions for young children, sumo wrestling at temple fairs, and dragon boat races during the Dragon Boat Festival, etc.It just so happens that war can also be included in this category, not to mention that this war is described by the authorities as being so easy to win.Xiaoguan Suo Libao had to sweat to defeat his opponent in a corner fight, how could he win the battle so easily?To be honest, people in Tokyo are not afraid that they will not win the battle against Liao, but they are afraid that winning is too easy to watch.For example, if one side of the dragon boat race pulls the opponent down sixty or seventy feet, it will disappoint the spectators who are excited to go out of the city to visit. They will definitely complain: "This is rowing for everyone. What kind of race?" Tokyo people like to win or lose within minutes, seconds, and milliseconds, and the victory they want to see in the war is the kind of victory that is only narrowly missed by the opponent. Have fun with great interest!

But when the Sixth Army set off, the former factor gradually diminished, and the news of victory was not sent to Tokyo as soon as they expected.Although the people of Tokyo like a victory that is only a slight difference but can be achieved immediately, the protracted result is not to their taste.Tokyoites don't seem to have thought of this in the first place, which is a real bummer. For the above two reasons, people's interest in war has decreased.After a month, few people talked about the war or cared about the war, except for families whose relatives were in the army.But there are exceptions besides exceptions. In some families, although someone participated in the war, the family members only regard him as going out to do business, and don't care about his fate at all.This is because they are neither prepared for defeat nor associate war with unpleasant concepts such as death and danger.

This level of indifference to the war reached a freezing point in late May. "I saw your Dalang come home the day before yesterday!" Someone asked his neighbor.This Dalang is the lively and cheerful young man Shi Dalang who lives in Jiuqiaomen Street.His expedition has been warmly concerned by the neighbors.Now that he has quietly returned from a desertion, it will naturally cause doubts among some people. "It's not that they all came back." Da Lang's father replied nonchalantly. "How is Da Lang on the front line?" "Who knows about him."

"Have you ever won a battle on the front line?" "God knows.". "Da Lang is back, will he still go?" "God knows." "What have they been doing on the front line for more than a month?" "Eating shit," Da Lang's father, starting from the deli owner's shrewd calculation of the real interests, thinks that it is best not to talk or talk less about this issue involving the reputation of the senior high school boy who led the desertion.He was eager to get rid of that nagging neighbor, and said impatiently, "This big event of entry and exit is the same everywhere, regardless of the front line or rear."

"Eat shit, who doesn't know. What I'm asking is how many battles he has seen and how many Liao soldiers have he killed?" "God knows." "If he's going back to the front line, shouldn't the government investigate him?" With the support of the third grader, are you still afraid of being investigated by the government?This is obviously a stupid question.He didn't bother to answer. Unwilling to let this go, his neighbor intentionally raised his interest by mentioning the grand farewell event for Dalang in April.Unexpectedly, he replied with a colder and harsher word.

"Zan!" Stirring Ninetowns, the war against Liao, which had been headline news for a long time, actually fell to "Zan", which shocked this respectable neighbor. But the owner of the deli meat shop is right. On the one hand, there are real interests involved. On the other hand, he also saw that the war against Liao has long since cooled down in people's minds. The return of his heroic son is not worth making a fuss about. The neighbors want to get to the bottom of it and keep asking, what is he if he is not a "chan"?

---

Notes: