Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

After eating the hot pork belly and chicken, Jiang Shangxian held his stomach contentedly and handed the task of drying the duck to his three apprentices. He happily carried the packed "employee benefits" and left work.

She had been lying in bed last night, but she got up and took out the chain and the wooden box that Cui Bianxu had given her, looking at them over and over again. After looking at the dowry and moving in, she waited for the Cui family to come and arrange the engagement.

This matter won't be completely settled until it's fully implemented. However, judging from Zhao Yue's expression yesterday, there shouldn't be any major problems.

In order to sleep a little longer today, Jiang's mother didn't even have lunch. When Jiang Shangxian got home, she was combing her hair in the yard with her head tilted.

"What food did you bring back today?" Jiang's mother saw her holding an oil-paper bag in her hand, sniffed it, and seemed to smell meat.

"What a treat! I don't know where Manager Wang got so much beef. I made braised beef today. Bring some back so we can eat together in the evening." Jiang Shangxian was really satisfied with today's employee benefits.

She felt greedy when she was making it, but she resisted the urge to bring her own portion back for her family to share.

When Jiang's mother heard it was beef, she was also surprised. She happily combed her hair while staring at the oil-paper package: "Oh, what luck have I had these past two days? I can actually eat beef for two days in a row, wow."

Old Madam Xia came out of the house when she heard the noise. She was wearing a new dress and her hair was neatly combed. "It must be that a cow accidentally fell to its death."

"Hahahaha." Jiang's mother and Jiang Shangxian immediately laughed.

This is actually a joke among the people. In an agricultural society, oxen are important production tools. A large number of people resist eating beef, and the law also stipulates that oxen cannot be slaughtered at will.

If one wants to stop people from eating beef, a certain amount of feudal propaganda is necessary. "Taiping Guangji" and "Da Ci'en Temple Records" record many stories about people suffering retribution for eating beef.

There are also many people who love to eat beef. After all, beef tastes really good. Ordinary people don’t have the ability or connections to eat it, but the rich and powerful have it.

What if they want to eat beef?

They found a way to make the cow have an accident, and then reported it to the authorities so that they had to slaughter it.

Falling to death is the most commonly used reason, and this was also the most common cause of death among the cattle in the Tang Dynasty.

When the three of them arrived at their new home in Jiahuifang, there was indeed someone already inside. Jiang Shangxian couldn't help but smile when he saw him. It was an acquaintance!

"Old Fan, why are you here?"

"If you don't come soon, I'll be scolded to death by this lady!" Old Fan was really conflicted. He wanted to die if he practiced martial arts every day, but he felt that practicing martial arts was still a bad idea after being scolded by Cui Shuhua every day.

Now, I got what I wanted. I changed my job to a new one, from guarding the back door to guarding the whole house. Rounding it off, it can be considered a promotion. I can do my old job without being scolded or practicing martial arts. I can have some peace and quiet for a while.

When they were some distance away from Old Fan, Jiang's mother tugged at Jiang Shangxian's sleeve with some concern and whispered, "Jiulang, why did you choose someone so old? Is this okay? If there really are thieves, who can he defeat?"

Jiang's mother felt that Old Fan looked older than herself, and his temperament was lazy and unreliable. When she thought of such a large dowry, she felt uneasy!

"Yes, Nian Nu."

There was also some worry in Old Madam Xia's eyes. That person looked not much younger than herself. Tsk tsk tsk tsk...

At such an old age, he still has to do such dangerous work. Otherwise, why is it said that unless it is absolutely necessary, you must never sell yourself to be a slave?

Jiang Shangxian actually wanted to say that the dowry was all paid by Cui Bianxu, and those who paid for it were assured, so why should they be worried about taking it for free?

It's a pity that she is always kind! He immediately patted Jiang's mother's hand, which had frostbite in the winter and was swollen but soft after it healed, and said: "Don't worry, Cui Bianxu doesn't keep idle people under his command."

Not to mention humans, even if a cat wants to eat a bowl of rice from Cui Yi, the cat will have to train its abdominal muscles!

The two were skeptical about this statement, but since Cui Bianxu had already sent this person over, they could only whisper a few words. If they were to have the audacity to tell others that they wanted to replace the person, it would be shameless.

They can't do such a thing yet.

But soon, they were completely absorbed by the dowry. Old Madam Xia got a piece of charcoal from somewhere and some paper. "I'm old, my body is numb, and my brain is not working well. Please write down some things when I ask someone to write the gift list later so that I won't make any mistakes."

Jiang Shangxian was quite surprised. Her grandmother could actually write?! So the oldest in the family was the only literate one!

As the large huanghuali wood boxes were opened one after another, Jiang Shangxian felt that his eyes were about to be dazzled. There were four exquisite dressing mirrors alone: ​​a mother-of-pearl bronze mirror, a white jade carved bronze mirror, a bronze mirror with two phoenixes flying together, and a bronze mirror with hibiscus and southern pearls.

The sound of "swish, swish, swish" woke her up from the dazzled wealth. She saw Jiang's mother bending over with her big butt sticking out as a human table, and Old Madam Xia was writing furiously on her back.

She leaned over to take a look out of curiosity, and then her vision went dark: "Grandma, what are you drawing?"

Old Madam Xia didn't even have time to look at her. "You don't understand this? Of course, they are four makeup mirrors: a bronze mirror with eight petals and mother-of-pearl inlays, a bronze mirror with white jade and scroll patterns, a bronze mirror with twin phoenixes and flowing clouds, and a bronze mirror with twin magpies, southern pearls, and sunflowers."

Jiang Shangxian rarely failed to respond to the question, but at this moment, she was really trying with all her strength but still couldn't continue the conversation. There was not a single Chinese character on the paper, only abstract patterns.

"Grandma, if you remember it this way, what will you do if you forget it later?"

She felt that there was really no need to remember it. Cui Bianxu had also given her a list. Wouldn't it be enough to just tick the boxes?

"How could I forget this? I remember it so clearly!"

Old Madam Xia had her own ideas: "Although Jiulang prepared this dowry, we can't say that to others. This is not only about your face, but also Jiulang's face. If I take Jiulang's gift list and ask someone to copy it, who knows if anyone will see it and gossip about it?"

As long as they don't make this matter public, even if people say something behind their backs, it will only be for a while.

Jiang's mother also spoke up at this time, looking up. Her face was a little red, which was caused by congestion. "In our Chuzhou, how can ordinary people afford to teach their daughters to read and study? Every family remembers things this way. Don't worry, I've seen all this. I can understand everything your grandmother wrote."

Women are the most resilient beings in this world. Ordinary people also have to live their lives and remember interpersonal relationships. Otherwise, over time, who can guarantee that their memory will not be wrong?

The wife of a commoner family had to make a living even though she was illiterate, so she came up with various ways to keep records, just so that she could understand them.

Jiang Shangxian's idea of ​​not liking to study was shaken for the first time. He decided to start learning the Thousand Character Classic after getting engaged!

Old Madam Xia was still drawing circles on the paper, muttering to herself, "An octagonal box with tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl lotus flowers and mandarin ducks, a golden bowl with mandarin ducks and lotus petals, a silver sachet with grapes, flowers, and birds..."