1

In the late Qing Dynasty, two figures emerged from the grain merchants in Xiangcheng County. One is Shopkeeper Jia, who lives in Jia Village. When he sells grain, he always waits for it to be weighed before adding another handful. People give him the nickname "Jia (plus) a handful". With each handful, Jia earns more money from repeat customers. The other one was Shopkeeper Liu who lived in Chengguan. When he sold grain, he always sold one tael less, so he was nicknamed "Liu (Liu) one liang". Liu Yiliang made more money from returning customers and made a fortune. Get wealth.

One evening in early winter of that year, Jia Yiliang was taking a walk on the bank of Beiru River. His family came running over, sweating profusely, and said to him with joy: "Liu Yiliang passed by the red stone bridge when he was crossing the river. He fell into the river and was splashing in the water. He must drown now..." Before his family could finish speaking, Jia Yi quickly ran toward the Hongshi Bridge.

The south gate of Xiangcheng County is close to the Beiru River, and the connection between the gate and the foot is a red stone bridge. Over the years, people and vehicles have come and gone on this bridge. The red stone strips on the bridge deck have long been built and polished until they look like glass. In addition, the guardrails on both sides were removed by the unscrupulous ferry boatmen. When the river is strong, it overflows the bridge deck. Pedestrians crossing the bridge in order to save boat money will fall into the river under the bridge if they are not careful. In the worst cases, their clothes will be wet, and in worst cases, they will die.

Liu Yiliang went to the south bank for business and wanted to save money on the boat when he came back. Unexpectedly, he walked to the center of the bridge, staggered, and fell into the river with a splash. After drinking a few mouthfuls of river water, he was about to sink to the bottom. Jia Yiyi, who happened to come to save him, arrived. Jia took off his coat, jumped into the river with a splash, and easily rescued him ashore.

After being rescued ashore, he put Liu Yiliang into his own dry clothes. Under the warmth of dry clothes, Liu Yiliang returned to normal after a short while. At this time, Liu Yiliang knelt and bowed, and said with tears that he could not repay Shopkeeper Jia's great kindness and had to recognize his son as his godson. Jia Yiliang had a five-year-old daughter at his knees, and Liu Yiliang had no heirs.

Jia couldn’t resist and agreed casually. The next day, Liu Yi really brought gifts and went to Jia's house to get married. Peonies were blooming in Luoyang. Because this kind of peony was strong and determined in Wu Zetian's palace, people praised it as the "burnt bone peony". Later, after careful cultivation by Luoyang people, the flowers became redder and more colorful, so later generations named it "Luoyang Red". . Jia Yi's son Jia Bao became the son of the Jia and Liu families. In the Jia family he was "Jia Bao" and in the Liu family he was "Liu Bao".

2

Before he could speak, Jia Liubao grew to 16 years old.

It was the custom in Xiangcheng at that time that men should get married when they were 16 years old. This Jia Liu Bao is the apple of Jia Yiyi's eye. In order to make his son get married in a grand manner, and to show off the Jia family's financial resources, Jia Yiyi asked a Feng Shui master to look at a place more than a mile outside Jia Village near the Beiru River. She bought the 10 acres of land for her homestead at a high price, started a lot of construction work, and built it for her children. Baima was anxious because the stable was so dark that she couldn't see anything or light, so she couldn't change; If you can't change, you can't escape. Suddenly, I saw a hole in the window paper was poked by a child outside, and bright white light came in. The white horse changed into a sparrow and flew out of the window paper hole. A four-story building. In those days, there were not many buildings in Xiangcheng City, especially four-story buildings. The homestead of the Jia family is adjacent to the thoroughfare from Xuchang to Nanyang. The building is very eye-catching, and people passing by call it "Jia Lou, Jia Lou".

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when the building was completed, Jia Yiyi invited relatives and friends from all over the country to celebrate. In order to grab the top prize, Liu Yiliang led his family members to arrive early carrying congratulatory gifts.

Jia Yi hurried to Er. Many days passed, and Taiyang finally waited for his sister. It was late at night, and the sun stole the moon's magic medicine while she was asleep. This was the first time Yang Yang had stolen something, so he couldn't help but feel a little flustered. He was so frightened that he couldn't even take care of Bao Bao, so he ran away in embarrassment. The sun ran for a while and couldn't move anymore, so he picked up the magic medicine to ascend to heaven and drank it. The sun immediately felt like it was rising lightly into the sky, but it immediately felt so hot that it emitted thousands of golden lights. It happened to be dawn when the sun was taking medicine, so he stepped on the auspicious clouds and curiously observed the appearance of the ground in the sky. At the door, he held Liu Yiliang with his hand and laughed politely.

The two of them went into the building together. Liu Yiliang raised his eyes and looked up. Mr. Xu had a sickle in his hand. He had quick eyes and quick hands. He swung the knife and slashed at the rope. The rope broke with a "snap", but the donkey still went forward. Rushing forward... Zhang lay on the ground, moaning in pain. Mr. Xu shouted angrily: "Damn it Zhang, did you steal my donkey? You deserved it!" Zhang cried. He cried and said: "It's really evil. This donkey is so good, why did he suddenly become so crazy?" At the same time, he said to Jia Yiyi: "Brother Jia, this building you built for us is really enviable. No. To tell you the truth, I also want to build a building for my son in the city and marry him, so that no one will say that he is not his biological father. I came here early today just to take a good look at this building. It's all the same."

Jia Yiyi smiled and said, "That's good, you don't have to look at it, can I just let the original craftsmen go?"

Liu Yiliang said: "That's good, so I won't have to worry about it anymore.

”

After the Lantern Festival, the original craftsmen who built Jia Yiyi’s building, led by Jia Yiyi, went into the city to Liu Yi’s family. Soon, they met Jia Yiyi’s family. An identical four-story building stands out from the crowd in Nanguan, Xiangcheng County. The new building built by Liu Yiliang for Jia Liubao is just across the river from the new building built by Jia Yiliang for Jia Liubao. Separated from each other, the two new buildings faced each other.

After the building was completed, Jia Yiyi began to look for candidates and arranged for Jia Liubao to get married. Jia Yiyi fell in love with the daughter of a well-to-do local farmer, who was well-educated and dignified and beautiful. After telling Jia Liubao and his mother, he asked someone to write a letter of engagement and send a betrothal gift to the girl's family. After accepting the betrothal gift from the Jia family, Jia Yiyi was eager to get married for his son, and soon asked the fortune teller to tell his son the birth date of the woman. Choosing a good fortune, the fortune teller pointed and calculated for a long time and said: "Congratulations to Shopkeeper Jia, what is his other treasure?" It's his old scalper. Congratulations to Shopkeeper Jia. This September 16th is an auspicious day for the newlyweds. I guarantee that you will have a fat grandson next year. "Hearing what the fortune teller said, Jia Yi felt really happy, so he set the auspicious date for his son's marriage in September. Without words, they finally carried the boy back to the Wu Mansion and placed his body in the prepared place. In the coffin, they also wiped their hands with yellow paper to wipe away bad luck. After their marriage, Leather Chopsticks became a loving couple, and the firewood collector became even more diligent. He could only sell firewood to his wife twice a day. After making delicious food, he kept admiring her beauty and was often in a daze. He was a little reluctant to leave his wife. Later, he bought a portrait of his wife. Now he was tired of chopping wood. He felt less tired after looking at his wife's portrait. He hung the portrait on the bundle of firewood. The more he looked at it, the more he loved it. He wanted to keep her in his heart forever. Lang enjoyed his wife's beauty and food every day. He was so happy that he had to endure the stench in Zhou Hulu's mouth, so he forced him to rinse his mouth and put some spices in his mouth. When the person was about to leave, a black shadow suddenly flashed across his eyes. It turned out to be a black cat that suddenly broke into the mourning hall and passed over the young man's coffin with a "swoosh" sound.

At that time, Xiang. Here in the city, most people get married in a sedan, or the bride rides in an ox-drawn iron wheel cart with a tented roof. "What?" You beast, you scolded me for eating young grass." Seeing that the old man was shaking with anger, Lizhen quickly helped the old man sit down on a chair and said, "Uncle, your old man's injury is not healed yet. If you have anything to say, sit down and speak slowly. . "Rich people use horse-drawn rubber-wheeled carriages, known as "big carriages." For the purpose of grandeur, Jia Yiyi rented ten "big carriages" for Jia Liubao on the day of his wedding, and the one the bride sat in also had a harness. Jia Liubao had just spent his honeymoon, so Liu Yiliang drove a tall rubber-tired carriage to ask him to live in the city. A little bit reluctant to leave. The bride is a reasonable person. When the news of the Japanese army's capture of Nanjing reached Suzhou, Matsui Iwane, the leader of the invasion of China at that time, was ecstatic. He personally led more than a hundred guards to rush to Hanshan Temple. Taking a group photo in front of the poem monument "Mooring at Maple Bridge". This poem monument was handwritten by Yu Yue, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty. She advised Jia Liubao: "Go, it's not like going anywhere else. It's just that you won't make people worry about you when you go. Well, if you don't come back at night, hang a lantern in the south-facing window. "In this way, Jia Liubao turned back three times and took Liu Yiliang's carriage to the city.

On this day, Jia Liubao spent a day in the city, and in the evening, he was clamoring to go back. Liu Yiliang tried to persuade him, but to no avail, so he had to ask someone to drive him back in frustration. After sending Jia Liubao back to Jia Lou, Liu Yiliang came to Xianghua Zhai in the west of the city. Zhai is a theater. Whenever Liu Yiliang is depressed, he comes here to listen to the opera. He and the female boss are old friends. When Liu Yiliang arrived, the female boss glanced at him a few times. After listening to the play, the female boss came over and said to him with a smile: "Boss Liu, why don't you go sit in the guest room for a while, I have something to say. "Liu Yiliang immediately followed her to the guest room upstairs.

After entering the room, the female boss closed the door and then divided the guests and guests to sit down at the Eight Immortals table. The female boss started to give Liu Yiliang poured a cup of fragrant tea. At this time, the female boss said to Liu Yiliang with a cheerful face: "Boss Liu, I think you have something on your mind. Can you tell me and let me help you? Liu Yiliang raised his head and looked at her. The old man said, "The characters you made for horse, donkey, and mule all have legs, right?" , and cows also have legs. Why does the cow character you created have no legs and only a tail? "Shaked his head and said: "You are just guessing, is it nothing? After hearing this, the female boss covered her mouth with her hands and smiled, saying, "Guess?" Nothing? If you lie to others, you can also lie to me. There's nothing you can do with such a big investment? It’s buying a car and building a building. "Then, the female boss said something, which made Liu Yiliang sweat on his forehead. Then, the female boss said something again, which made Liu Yiliang's eyes gleam.

Chapter 1 The next morning, Liu Yiliang drove to Jialou again and took Jia Liubao to the city. At that time, Jia Liubao seemed a little reluctant. On the way, Liu Yiliang said: "Yehei'er (last night) came from Kaifeng." A famous actor is here, singing in Xianghuazhai, let's go and have a look. "Jia Liubao became happy when he heard that he was going to the theater.

He took the whip from Liu Yiliang's hand, shouted "drive" loudly, and whipped the horse. The carriage ran quickly and soon arrived at Xianghuazhai.

As soon as Liu Yiliang and his carriage stopped in front of Xianghuazhai, the female boss, with a smile on her face, called two more carpenters from the Pharaoh to chop down the tree. When he came out of the door, it turned out that the female boss had been watching from the window facing the street on the second floor. When Liu Yiliang's carriage appeared at the street corner, she ran downstairs and stood waiting at the gate.

She stepped forward, grabbed Jia Liubao's arm with her arm, and pulled him toward the door. He also shouted: "Master, you are a rare visitor. Auntie must serve you well." The carved beams and painted buildings in Xianghua Zhai were filled with fragrance and mist. After Jia Liubao came in, he felt that his eyes and nose were not enough. Raise your head, look here and sniff there. The female boss grabbed her and said, "Baby, the back is even prettier than this, let's go to the back." As they spoke, they came to a wing in the backyard. At the door, the female boss pulled up the curtain with her hand, pulled Jia Liubao again, and said, "Come in, there is a sister inside, waiting for you." Jia Liubao stood in the middle of the room and smelled an inexplicable smell. Fragrance, he felt that the fragrance seemed to be the same as that of his new wife, but when he smelled it carefully, it was different and even more intoxicating. Just as Jia Liubao stood there blankly, a woman came out of the room. Jia Liubao turned around and looked a little stunned, because this woman was the same as the one he saw in the picture, "Goddess, look at it, the evil dragon has caused us so much pain!" The woman looked at the dumbfounded Jia Liubao, smiled, and said softly: "Let's go to the bed and talk for a while."

Seeing that evening was approaching, the female boss came to the wing. , asked Jia Liubao if he would go back to Jialou, Jia Liubao said impatiently: "No. I will stay here tonight (tonight)!"

That night, Liu Yiliang gave A lantern was hung in the window of Jia Liu Baogai's building.

...

Three

Half a year later, the female boss of Xianghuazhai filed a complaint and filed a lawsuit against Jia Yiyi at the county government. The complaint stated that Jia Liubao owed her 80,000 taels of silver. The complaint was accompanied by a note of arrears written by Jia Liubao, written in black and white. Jia Yiliang had to sell the house in Jia's building before she could barely cope with the lawsuit.

That day, Jia Yiyi passed by the official road next to Jia Tower and saw a large basket on the side of the road, filled with golden copper coins. At this time, he heard someone shouting: "Young and old people passing by, listen up. As long as you shout 'Liu Lou' to this building, you can grab a handful of copper coins from this basket and take it away." He turned around and took a look. , is a family member of Liu Yiliang. Although he yelled until his mouth went dry, few people came to catch the coins. After hearing the shouting, most passers-by looked around, said "poof", turned around and strode away. Jia Yiyi looked around again and saw Liu Yiliang sitting under the shade of a tree not far away, crossing his legs and eating melon seeds with his eyes closed. Seeing Liu Yiliang's triumphant look, Jia Yiyi suddenly understood something.

He took a few steps forward, pointed at Liu Yiliang and said, "The unjust person turns out to be you!" Liu Yiliang, who was feeling proud, turned his head when he heard Jia Yiliang's words. He said with a playful smile: "Brother Jia, are you okay? You can't believe it, now it's too late for you, Jia Yiyi, to say anything. This building is already named Liu!" Seeing Liu Yiliang being so ruthless and ruthless, Jia Yiyi Said: "I really shouldn't have rescued you from the river..." Liu Yiliang laughed, interrupted Jia Yiyi and said: "You are soft-hearted. When I saw you on the shore, I concluded that you would come to rescue me, so I acted "The drama of falling into the river." After Jia Yiliang heard Liu Yiliang's words, he felt like he was doing it at this time

It was already setting in the west

It was indeed not a good contest. when. Wan Yongyuan looked at the sky

tilted his head and thought

and agreed to the child's suggestion. The two parties agreed that there was a "Lu Ji Pawnshop" in Jingxian County. On that day, the shopkeeper Lu was busy in the pawnshop. Suddenly, a carriage stopped in front of the pawnshop. The man driving the carriage shouted into the pawnshop: "Shopkeeper Lu, I'm expecting something!" Shopkeeper Lu looked up and saw that the man driving the cart was Shopkeeper Ma from "Ma Kee Winery". On the morning of the next day, I went to the teaching field to compete. Before leaving

Wan Yongyuan asked about their surname and place of origin

The old man replied

Their surname was Zhuang

They were from Pheasant Mountain in Changle

Because my daughter is getting married

I brought my young son Zhuang Xiaozhuang to the town to buy some dowry

I will put it on the boat for now

I wanted to take the boat tonight The boat goes back

Now you stay here again to see me

You have to return home late. After the agreement was reached

both parties said goodbye and left. After having a dream, he blamed himself and said: "I didn't expect that you would cast such a wide net for the sake of hegemony. I'm blind!" After that, he raised his head and walked towards the official road.

Jia and Liu have long since passed away. Interestingly, this place is still called "Jia Lou" today.

Past events