Late Tang

Early in the morning, magpies chirped and laughed from the big pagoda tree in the front yard of Li Jing's east wing.In the East Wing, a pair of big red wedding candles were still burning on the table, and Li Jing was lying on the bed and hadn't fully recovered from the hangover.

He drank a lot of wine last night. Although the fruit wine was brewed with some wild berries, it didn't seem sour and sweet when he drank it, but the aftertaste was not small.After the guests dispersed and returned to the room, he fell asleep on the bed without even taking off his clothes.

Gui Niang stayed up all night last night, first fetched water to help Li Jing wash his face and wash his hands, and put him to sleep, then sat on the bedside and watched Li Jing while guarding the pair of wedding candles.There is a folk saying that the pair of wedding candles cannot be extinguished at night, and if they are extinguished, it means that life will not be smooth in the future.Moreover, each of the two flower candles represents the newlyweds. If the two flower candles are burned together, it will be the best.Which one goes out first means that which one of the newlyweds will die first in the future.Gui Niang stared at the pair of candles all night, and when she saw which one was burning fast, she got out of bed and cut the wick short.

After staying up until dawn, none of the two wedding candles went out halfway, and neither burned faster than the other slowly.

Gui Niang looked at the pair of red candles, and then looked back at Li Jing who was still sleeping, with a happy expression on her face.

Suddenly, there were a few broken gongs and clangs from outside the courtyard.

"Listen, everyone from every household, gather under the community tree in the village, listen, everyone from every household, gather under the community tree in the village!"

Li Jing woke up shaking his head. He was hungover all night, and his head still hurts a little.When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Wang Guiniang in a blue flower hairpin dress, then he looked down at himself, he was only wearing a middle coat, and the bright red wedding dress from last night was being neatly folded set aside.

Li Jing was suddenly a little embarrassed, not knowing how to address Gui Niang.

Calling her husband and wife seems a bit too frivolous.Calling Mrs. Langjun, Niangziguanren, but I feel unable to say it.The two looked at each other for a while, Li Jing didn't speak, and Gui Niang didn't seem to plan to speak first.

Finally, Li Jing had no choice but to say: "It seems that Uncle Cunzheng is beating the gong to call for someone. I'll go and see what's going on." After saying that, he got up, put on his clothes and hats quickly, and went out.

As soon as I went out, I found a lot of villagers scattered on the village road rushing towards the big locust tree in the center of the village.The locust tree in the village is the largest tree in Wangli Village. It is six to seven feet high, with luxuriant branches and leaves, shaped like an umbrella cover.Whenever there is a calamity year, April and May are when there is a shortage.At that time, Sophora japonica was in full bloom, and the people in the village lived through this difficult period by picking Sophora japonica, leaves and wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.

In Wangli Village, this locust tree is the most cherished by the villagers.Over time, this pagoda tree became the community tree of Wangli Village.The community tree is as important as the community temple, and everyone holds a prayer ceremony under the tree every year.Usually, when a family encounters a disaster or something, they will come to burn incense and paper under the communal tree, and even the hanging branches of the communal tree are covered with some cloth strips painted with symbols.

Under the communal tree, it also became the center of the whole village. Whenever something important happened, the whole village gathered under the tree to discuss.

Arriving under the community tree, hundreds of people have already gathered here one after another.Wangli Village is not too big, but it is not small either. There are 150 or 130 households in Wangli Village, with a population of [-] to [-] people.Such a village became a big village after the Anshi Rebellion.

Four families are neighbors, five families are insurance, the town is a workshop, and the countryside is a village.

The Household Order of the Seventh Year of Takede in the Tang Dynasty stipulated that those in the field are villages, and the field refers to the area outside the prefecture and county officials.In the early Tang Dynasty, among the capitals of prefectures and counties, the imperial court took a hundred households as a li and five li as a township.But at this time, the village system gradually became looser, and the village system began to mature.The common people gathered in the village, and no longer lived strictly according to the system of one hundred households as a li and five li as a township.

Wangli Village has 150 and eight households with a population of more than [-]. It is a large village.There are two village officials in the village, who are responsible for guarding the village wall and gate, and taking turns to be on duty at the county government.In addition, he had to help the county government collect the two taxes, transfer servants, and issue decrees from above.

"Uncle Village Chief, what's the matter, call the big guy here early in the morning." Li Jing saw that the two village officials under the locust tree were all present, and beside them was an official wearing a round neck robe, And a bearded man with a height of eight feet and a horizontal knife on his waist. He can be seen as an officer at a glance.

Wangli Village is a large village with a population of over a thousand, and an earth wall of nearly two feet was built around the whole village for defense. Take turns on duty.And because Wangli Village is composed of the two surnames Wang and Li, and it exceeds the size of a hundred households, there are two village officials in Wangli Village.One is the old village chief Wang, and the other is the village chief Li Shugen in his prime.

Village head Wang has been the head of the village for decades, and he has won great prestige in the village. Moreover, his family is the largest family in the village, with a field of thousands of acres. It is said that he also took refuge from the capital in the early years.The Wang family did not choose to live in the city, but bought fields and houses in Wangli Village and lived in seclusion here.The old village head is fair and kind. Although he is the largest family in the village, he has never done anything to bully others, so he has always been respected by the villagers.It's just that the old village head has grown old in the past few years, so he gradually handed over the affairs of the village to Li Shugen.

Li Shugen was just over [-] years old. He was a soldier in the state in his early years, and he was said to be the leader of the team.After returning to the village, hundreds of mu of land were also set up. Now the old village chief doesn't take care of much, and he handles most of the village's affairs.

Li Shugen's body was as strong as a cow. The cow was tall and big, and his voice was like a bell, but there was a scar at the corner of his eye that disfigured him.As soon as he saw Li Jing, he immediately shouted with his iconic loud voice: "Scholar, why did you wake up so early in the morning? Good guy, last night the wives and concubines got married together, so there's no need for a big fight." A hundred times. Tell uncle, your feet are soft!"

All the old and young men under the community tree burst into coaxing laughter. The Li family was considered a big family in the village a few years ago. Xiang Gong, who had obtained the prefectural and county recommendation letters, almost went to take the imperial examination.Such poets and calligraphers are more respected.This time Li Jing had an accident, everyone had heard about it, and they were sighing at first, but never thought that he escaped from death and came back again, everyone was happy for him.Li Shugen's joke was filled with a lot of concern.

Li Jing smiled: "Uncle Gen, what's going on, why are you making such a big fight?"

Li Shugen frowned and sighed: "It's not because of the severe drought in Henan and Shandong this year, and many people in many places have no food to eat. It is said that a few years ago, the remnants of Pang Xun in Xuzhou started to make trouble again, and bandits everywhere. The imperial court had to order all localities to strengthen their vigilance, lest people with ulterior motives such as Qiu Fu and Pang Xunna take the opportunity to cause chaos. Our Song Jieshuai in Ziqing has already written a letter to every prefecture and county in Ziqing. Counties are training together in case of need."

"Fifteen households levy one Ding? What if there is no Ding family?" Li Jing asked. In the early Tang Dynasty, Ding was 20 years old, and later changed to Ding at 21 years old, and then changed to Ding at 23 years old.Li Jing is now 20 years old and has just been crowned.Demographically, he belongs to middle-aged men up to the age of 23, not adults.

Li Shugen shook his head: "It's said above, regardless of whether there are ten cents or not, anyway, fifteen households must smoke one cent, and if the ones drawn do not have cents, they will choose middle-aged men. If there are no middle-aged men, then you have to ask for it yourself." I think it’s different from previous years, and judging by the style above, it’s estimated that he won’t be able to return for a while.”

Uncle Gen was still talking, but Li Jing froze there and began to think.

ps: The book has already been signed, let everyone's recommendation votes come more violently!