Di Ming

Chapter 190 Neither of us will betray the other!

As the year draws to a close, families across the country are preparing for Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Whether from humble beginnings or wealthy families, everyone prepares for the New Year by buying goods, worshipping the Kitchen God, pasting door gods, making new clothes, writing couplets, making New Year cakes, slaughtering pigs, and making paper money.

Everything must be prepared thoroughly and completely to avoid being careless. This way, you'll feel at ease, your relatives and friends will be satisfied, and your ancestors will be pleased. Then the year will be well spent.

At this time, both cities and villages are bustling with festive activity, the atmosphere of the New Year as rich as aged wine.

Those with icehouses would take advantage of the deep winter to chisel and harvest ice. The Zhu family had already built an ice cellar and sent dozens of people to harvest ice in Lishui, delivering it to the ice cellar in blocks.

The peddlers, itinerant doctors, merchants, laborers, monks, Taoists, and matchmakers who are usually seen in the countryside are all nowhere to be found at this time, as they are busy celebrating the New Year themselves.

Those with money, needless to say, would certainly indulge in the most lavish feasts during the New Year.

Take the newly risen Zhu family for example. In terms of food alone, in addition to ordinary meat and vegetables, Ning Caiwei also purchased twelve kinds of mountain delicacies, twelve kinds of aquatic delicacies, twelve kinds of wines and twelve kinds of teas.

She buys things like shad, perch, monkey head mushrooms, bird's nest, sea cucumber, abalone, bear paws, etc., which ordinary people wouldn't even dare to dream of, but Ning Caiwei doesn't mind the high prices.

They spared no expense on their clothes and belongings, using only the finest items and never being careless.

The list included hundreds of items such as silk, satin, leather goods, clothing, hats, cosmetics, spices, screens, brass stoves, lamps, candlesticks, ritual objects, chests, bronze mirrors, dressing cases, fireworks, firecrackers, etc., all of which were carefully compiled and purchased from well-known brands in Nanjing.

Whether they were slaves from the Imperial Music Bureau or guards and servants from diverse backgrounds, they all received excellent treatment in terms of food, clothing, and daily necessities.

The Zhu family, with its exceptional treatment of its servants, is truly a rare breed.

Even the Zhu family's hundreds of cattle, horses, mules, and donkeys were provided with the finest feed and fodder. After a year of hard work, even the livestock deserved a good New Year.

As the year draws to a close, the government offices are sealed off, and the Kitchen God naturally ascends to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor. The common people of the mortal world, of course, offer him a proper send-off.

The Kitchen God is the God of Destiny and the watchman of the human world. The fortunes and misfortunes of the coming year are all in His mouth.

The ritual of sending the Kitchen God back to Heaven is certainly not to be neglected.

According to custom, the Kitchen God is sent off on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. However, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei returned late, so they sent him off on the 26th. They hoped that the Kitchen God would not blame them.

Nowadays, every household worships the Kitchen God, and wealthy families do so with even greater solemnity; even the imperial palace and government offices hold ceremonies. If the Zhu family did not worship the Kitchen God, it would damage their reputation.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. This is not just an empty phrase, but a real necessity.

On the evening of the 26th, Ning Caiwei first sent people to prepare malt sugar, walnuts, sweet beans, and New Year's cake offerings under the Kitchen God's shrine, inviting the Kitchen God to enjoy them.

Every household had a statue of the Kitchen God, and even the palace was no exception. Wealthy families would set up a shrine on the north side of the kitchen and enshrine a wooden statue of the Kitchen God.

Poor families would paste images of gods on the north wall of the kitchen.

Zhu Yin personally wrote a couplet on both sides of the Kitchen God tablet, which every household had: "Speak good words to Heaven, protect peace on Earth." The horizontal inscription read: Head of the Household.

The head of the household does not refer to Zhu Yin himself, but to the "Kitchen God".

That's right, according to custom, the Kitchen God is the head of the household.

The Zhu family is now a wealthy household. Their kitchen is not only very large, but it also has a special shrine for the Kitchen God.

Zhu Yin was dressed in a black robe, followed by the Zhu family's guards and servants. The dark mass of people, all dressed in robes, stretched from the kitchen to the courtyard.

But they were all men; there wasn't a single woman among them.

Even Ning Caiwei, who was preparing the offerings, was not among them. This was because custom forbade women from worshipping the Kitchen God.

Mao Wenlong, a guest, was also among them, essentially serving as a sacrificial offering.

Today, he was invited back to the Zhu family home for the New Year halfway through his journey, just in time for the Zhu family's belated sending off of the Kitchen God.

Mao Wenlong was very happy. He could easily see that Zhu Yin's invitation to spend the New Year together meant that he considered him a friend.

Mao Wenlong was both happy and puzzled.

Jiang Zuo Zhu Lang is naturally intelligent and blessed with good fortune; I have already witnessed his manipulative skills and cunning today. But why does he favor me?
Do you find yourself pleasing to the eye?
Mao Wenlong couldn't figure it out for a moment. He looked at Zhu Yin, who was wearing a deep robe and writing couplets, with a solemn expression like an adult, and a thought suddenly arose in his mind.

His future might very well depend on this eleven-year-old top scholar!
The two are only a few years apart in age. If I wholeheartedly follow him and become his childhood friend, will I have to worry about wealth and status in the future?

Mao Wenlong suddenly understood. He understood why Zhu Yin wanted him to stay for the New Year and why he was being tortured.

He wants to prove his sincerity! He's giving himself this chance! He's also testing himself.

Thinking of this, Mao Wenlong suddenly felt excited. He had to seize this opportunity! He shouldn't try to outsmart a bright child prodigy; sincerity was the way to return to simplicity.

Mao Wenlong immediately made a decision.

At this moment, following custom, Zhu Yin solemnly prayed while personally smearing the mouth of the deity statue with maltose, wine, and rice cake, saying:
"Sending the Kitchen God to Heaven, please speak well of us before the Jade Emperor. The Zhu family is honest and upright; we humbly beseech Heaven to bless us with good fortune next year, and for the safety of our people and livestock..."

The maltose and rice cakes are sticky enough to seal the Kitchen God's mouth, and the wine can intoxicate him. In this way, the Kitchen God, drunk and with his mouth stuck shut by the honey, will not deliberately speak ill of others in Heaven.

Zhu Yin did not despise this, but rather held it in three parts reverence and seven parts understanding.

These practices seem to be ways of deceiving the heavens and bribing the Kitchen God. Yet, even so, because of the existence of deities like the Kitchen God, the overall moral standards of the ancient Chinese people remained relatively high. A well-developed belief system continued to influence and constrain the spiritual world of the ancients.

In later generations, the entire belief system collapsed, morality was completely unrestrained, and people had no bottom line in their pursuit of profit and desire, degenerating into a materialistic world where everyone harmed and distrusted each other, and the cost of trust was extremely high.

While Zhu Yin was praying, the hundreds of men participating in the sacrifice also silently prayed for the Kitchen God's blessing, that they had not done anything wrong, and asked the Kitchen God not to speak ill of them in front of the Jade Emperor, and to continue to bless them and their families in the coming year.

Zhu Yin led the way in completing the sacrificial ceremony. Next, they fed the Kitchen God's "divine horse" by scattering black beans, alfalfa, and other horse feed from the shrine all the way to the courtyard.

Only when the Kitchen God's horse is well-fed can it carry the Kitchen God to heaven.

Then the old idol was burned and replaced with a new one. As the old idol burned, everyone knelt down and kowtowed to the flames to bid it farewell.

"Please invite the Kitchen God to ascend to heaven!"

"Send the Kitchen God back to Heaven!"

This completes the final ceremony.

Done!

Ning Qingchen, who was not far away, looked at the crowd of people performing the sacrifice, her little face full of displeasure.

"Why can't women participate in this kind of ceremony? It makes no sense."

Ning Caiwei smiled brightly, "Perhaps in the future, women will be able to participate in all sacrificial rites!"

……

On the banks of Lishui, heavy snow blankets the land.

A dozen or so horses rode slowly by, their bells jingling softly. The riders were all dressed in fine furs and luxurious clothes, clearly wealthy young men traveling in the snow.

The first person rode a newly matured white horse, followed by a newly matured large black dog, with a newly matured falcon standing on the horse's rump.

However, this knight himself was not yet an adult.

The children having a snowball fight nearby saw the little knight and shouted together, "It's Tiger! Tiger is so cool!"

This little knight is none other than Zhu Yin (also known as Zhu Zhihu), the prodigy of the Ming Dynasty and a lucky charm of the nation.

The villagers call him Tiger Lord.

It is unknown which villager first used the nickname "Tiger Lord".

However, in Qingqiao Village today, the villagers privately call Zhu Yin "Tiger Lord," Ning Caiwei "Little Guanyin," and Ning Caiqingchen "Guanyin Child."

"Tiger Lord?" Zhu Yin was unhappy with the villagers' way of addressing him. Did he look like a bully?

Ning Caiwei was charitable and had an excellent reputation. She also had natural feet, so marrying a little Guanyin was an overstatement.

Ning Qingchen is still young, but her reputation for kindness and benevolence has already begun to spread. She's also the younger sister of Little Guanyin, so the title "Guanyin's Child" makes sense. But Tiger Lord… do the villagers fear me more than they love me? I'm still just a child.

As Zhu Yin was deep in thought, Mao Wenlong, who was traveling with him, suddenly rode forward, pointed at the river, and laughed, "Brother Zhihu, those ice-breakers, are they from your household?"

Zhu Yin had, of course, already returned his fine horse to him.

Zhu Yin took a look and saw that they were indeed his own servants, dozens of them dressed like bears, wearing non-slip spiked shoes, picking ice on the Lishui River.

The ice, more than a foot thick, was painstakingly chiseled and pried out by the ice harvesters and loaded onto ice rafts.

In Lishui, there are only a handful of families harvesting ice in the entire Qingqiao village. They are all wealthy and powerful, so there is no need for disputes.

In fact, the top nobles of Nanjing throughout history have mostly harvested ice at Hengtang (Mochou Lake) and Sangbo (Xuanwu Lake).

Zhu Yin nodded and said, "They are indeed the ice harvesters from my family. Dozens of people harvest 100,000 catties of ice, working on the ice for several days. How much ice will we have available next summer?"

"So icy! So icy!" Mao Wenlong said, then changed his tone, "But it was indeed hard work."

Zhu Yin gazed at the glacier, but his thoughts ran deeper.

The Lishui River is clear and its current is gentle, but in the dead of winter, it freezes over a foot deep. Now, during the Little Ice Age, even Hainan Island has experienced heavy snowfalls that have blocked off mountain passes, and snow often blankets the entire length of Guangdong and Guangxi. Southern Zhili (Hebei) is particularly harsh in winter, with its icy landscapes adding to its bitter cold.

The Ming Dynasty's last three hundred years can be summed up in four words: frost and snow caused disasters.

Fruits were expensive in the Ming Dynasty, and pork was more expensive than beef and mutton, all because of the Little Ice Age.

Moreover, Zhu Yin knew that the Little Ice Age would become increasingly cold, and would be even colder over the next hundred years.

This led to a series of disasters and upheavals.

Alas, the people suffer so much hardship.

However, the Western powers of the same period occupied tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, India, and Africa.

With these tropical resources, the Western world shifted the risk of the Little Ice Age.

Zhu Yin looked south, towards the South Seas.

Nanyang!

Only by taking over the grain-producing areas of Southeast Asia and turning Southeast Asia into a land of plenty and a maritime estate for China can we safely weather the Little Ice Age.

Looking at Zhu Yin's expression, Mao Wenlong suddenly felt that this child prodigy of the Ming Dynasty was unfathomable.

Mao Wenlong didn't know what Zhu Yin was thinking, but he could see the loneliness, remoteness, and emptiness in Zhu Yin that was so incongruous with his age.

He rode on his horse, his youthful figure standing tall against the wind and snow like a sculpture, a stone monument.

The endless snow fell thick and fast, covering his black fox fur coat, but he remained unmoved.

This scene seems to be frozen in time, isolated from the world.

Mao Wenlong's heart trembled. Without the slightest hesitation, he rolled off his horse, threw away his whip, and knelt on one knee, saying:
"Mao Wenlong is willing to follow Zhu Lang, serving him faithfully and doing his utmost! Wenlong is willing to regard Zhu Lang as his benefactor, and will remain so for life..."

He was a smart man and knew he had no chance of entering officialdom through the imperial examinations. To achieve anything significant, he needed to make a name for himself immediately, and this was his ambition.

However, in this dynasty, military generals needed the support of civil officials to have the opportunity to realize their ambitions. Without the patronage of a civil official, they could accomplish nothing.

When a benefactor arrives, you must seize the opportunity!

Zhu Yin looked at Mao Wenlong lying in the snow, smiled inwardly, quickly jumped off his horse, helped him up, and said:

“Brother Zhennan, there’s no need for this! We’re practically destined to meet, but we address each other as brothers. There’s no question of a benefactor…”

Mao Wenlong cupped his hands and said, "Although we are brothers, Wenlong is determined to acknowledge Brother Zhihu as my benefactor. Wenlong is crude and incompetent, and has accomplished nothing, but I have a heart full of enthusiasm and will follow you for life."

"My lord, please accept Wenlong's bow!"

"I dare not deceive my lord, but Wenlong is actually heavily in debt; he is merely a wealthy man in name only. Back when the Japanese pirates attacked Hangzhou, his family was robbed, and his entire fortune was wiped out. I came to see you yesterday to beg for your money; I am ashamed, truly ashamed..."

Zhu Yin had to admire Mao Wenlong; he was a man who knew how to seize opportunities.

"In that case, if I were to refuse again, it would be to belittle Zhennan." Zhu Yin certainly wouldn't refuse this talented person.

He needs talents like Xu Wei, Xiong Tingbi, and Mao Wenlong.

"Thank you, my lord!" Mao Wenlong was overjoyed.

He was well aware of the immense potential this young lord possessed. More importantly, he discovered that Zhu Yin was also a very loyal and sentimental person.

Such a benefactor is simply one in a million!

Both were teenagers, yet they put on a very convincing act of recognizing and accepting a master.

However, it doesn't seem ridiculous at all.

Zhu Yin cracked his whip and said, "Let's go! Let's go hunting! Zhennan, today we'll see your archery skills!"

"Before my lord, how dare Wenlong conceal his talents!" Mao Wenlong seemed to have found a patron, and his whole body was full of vigor. "Today, I will shoot a golden pheasant for my lord and present its feathers as a reward!"

According to ancient customs, scholars would often present pheasant feathers to noblemen or benefactors. This was because pheasants were believed to "commit suicide to uphold their principles and die for righteousness," symbolizing loyalty and dying for one's cause.

This is Mao Wenlong's statement.

Zhu Yin laughed heartily, "Zhennan, this is a reinterpretation of the pheasant offering! Alright, today I'll wait for you to shoot a pheasant for me! Let's use this as a prize!"

Although Mao Wenlong was not yet fourteen years old, he had loved martial arts since childhood, and his riding and archery skills were already quite impressive. He was also very confident in himself.

He laughed heartily and said, "If I don't present the pheasant before you today, Wenlong will never turn back!"

A group of people, dressed in fine clothes and riding spirited horses, surrounded Zhu Yin as they galloped along the woods on the sunny side of Lishui. Suddenly, the falcon on Zhu Yin's horse soared into the sky, and the little black horse in front of him shot out like a black arrow.

The hawks and hounds came out in full force.

Dozens of riders braved the wind and snow, rounded a hill, and suddenly several golden pheasants took flight, their colorful plumage quite beautiful.

These startled pheasants were about to take flight into the distance.

Mao Wenlong reacted quickly, having already drawn his bow and nocked an arrow. With a "whoosh," an arrow shot out.

A golden pheasant, about seven or eight zhang away, let out a mournful cry and fell from the sky, pierced by an arrow from Mao Wenlong.

They shot incredibly fast and accurately.

Even the sharpshooter Lancha couldn't help but nod. This young man's archery skills were excellent, no worse than his own, only his strength was far inferior.

"Haha!" Zhu Yin laughed in a clear, childlike voice, "Good, good, good! Zhennan, great arrow!"

Mao Wenlong spurred his horse forward, dismounted, picked up the pheasant with the feathered arrow stuck in it, held the prey in both hands, walked to Zhu Yin's horse, raised it high above his head, and said:
"Wenlong presents this pheasant as a token of his heartfelt sentiments!"

Zhu Yin happily accepted the phoenix-like pheasant and smiled:
"Zhennan, you are very kind. I will keep this pheasant's feathers forever, to remember this friendship, and to never betray each other!"

"Come on! Come home with me for the New Year!"

Mao Wenlong was even more elated when he heard the words "neither of us should betray the other".

Become!

He also shouted, "Alright, let's go home with our lord for the New Year!"

P.S.: I managed to update a little over 4,000 words today, just in case you all forget about me. I'll be going to the hospital for the next few days, so updates will still be irregular, but I'll try my best. As for my health, it's not serious, so please don't worry. Thank you, goodnight. Praying for you all… Thank you for your concern, it warms my heart… I wish you all the best.

(End of this chapter)