In the twenty-ninth month of the 29th year of Qin Shi Huang (the second month of the lunar calendar), spring flowers bloomed on the banks of Yunmengze, and new sprouts emerged from the sugarcane fields that had been cut down last year. Outside a house surrounded by sugar cane fields on the outskirts of Anlu County, a long queue formed early in the morning.

Anlu County Commander, County Cheng, and County Lieutenant stood at the forefront, surrounded by house slaves holding gifts, and behind them, there were officials such as the master Peng, the prison Peng, and the Cang Qifu, and the three township elders and Qifu from ten miles and eight townships far and near, and even the township tyrants and county lords from neighboring counties, all waiting outside the door, looking forward to it.

In Anlu County, there is only one person's home with such a card, and that is Beidi County Wei Heifu.

For hundreds of years, since Chu Ling Yin Ziwen, there has never been any big man in the small place of Anlu, but in recent years, a black man has suddenly risen, from the head of the Qian, to the official of the feudal territory, a high-ranking official of two thousand stones! I heard that he is also trusted by His Majesty the Emperor, and can often meet the face of heaven,

The Heifu family is not only incredibly expensive, but also rich. Many years ago, Heifu moved home from Yunmengze to carry wild sugarcane, and with the sweet cane varieties left by the Chu royal family in Jiangling and Shouchun, it has now taken root in the entire Anlu County, half of the southern county, and even the counties along the river.

Many tidal flats, where food could not be cultivated, have been replaced by sugarcane forests. They absorb the nutrients of the sludge, harvest a large area by the subordinates and hired farmers in winter, and are made into sweet and greasy brown sugar in the workshop, which is very popular in Jiangling, Shouchun and Huaiyang, and can be sold at a high price if it is transported to Xianyang.

This million-dollar property was in the hands of the mother of the black husband, an old woman who was revered by the merchants as "sugar concubine", and some people even ranked her under the widow Qing of Wu Shi Lu and Ba Qing, thinking that sooner or later she would become the third richest person in the world.

Power and money, the Heifu family is complete.

And today, it is said to be the birthday of the "sugar woman", and officials at all levels have come to congratulate her on her birthday. Even if there are people who feel that there is no need for this, if they see their colleagues going, if they don't go, as if they have a grudge with the Northland County Governor's family, they can only go hard.

"County gentleman, today is less than a thousand dollars, how about sitting in the hall?"

The chief official of Anlu County, Peng is the old department of Heifu, and he volunteered to be the official of today's banquet, although the master did not ask him.

The county order was noncommittal, at this time, the door that had been closed for a long time guarded by more than a dozen doormen finally opened, and Heifu's brother, Tian Qifu of Anlu County, who was dressed in soap and black crown, walked out with sincere fear, and bowed down to the county commander, the county lieutenant, and the county Cheng:

"I don't know who spread the word that today is my mother's birthday, but my mother came from a humble background, and she didn't know the date of her birth, let alone her birthday, and she actually disturbed the three elders to come, and my family was also guilty. The mother's legs and feet are inconvenient, can not be welcomed, the subordinate here to thank the chief and colleagues, the kindness of the king, my family in mind, but this gift and congratulatory money, forgive my family dare not accept it......"

Everyone looked at each other, and I don't know who first spread this matter, and there are also colleagues who have inquired about the heart of the fellow county officials, and they admitted it in a daze, but now they deny it.

Although the county commander and others were a little unhappy in their hearts, they didn't have time to stammer with the Heifu family, how could they dare to offend? scolded the "rumor" together, and after giving in kindly, they had to return with gifts......

After sending everyone outside the door away, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked the doorman to close the door tightly, and went home to report to his mother.

It was his mother's birthday, and the main hall was full of lights, and there were busy slaves and maids everywhere, all saluting him respectfully as they passed by.

Originally, there were not so many rules in the family, they were all set up in the half year when the middle brother's wife came, and at first I was not used to the life of this master, but I gradually got used to it.

"Where's the old lady?"

When I arrived in the backyard, my mother's favorite vegetable garden was nowhere to be seen, so I asked the concubine who poured manure on the field, and was told that it might be at the chicken house.

I could only go to the chicken pot where hundreds of chickens and ducks were raised, and sure enough, I saw my mother, who was still wearing a simple kudzu cloth coat and holding a dustpan in her hand, and sprinkled the rotten vegetable leaves and rice bran collected in the vegetable garden for the chickens to eat......

"Mother."

I hurriedly went over and wanted to grab the dustpan: "These things, just let the subordinates do it!" ”

"Subordinate people, you now consider yourself to be a master?"

But the mother raised her hand to prevent him from touching it, and asked, "The county official outside the door is gone?" ”

"It was not easy to persuade me to quit."

smiled bitterly: "Actually, they came to pay homage to their mother's birthday, which is also a good intention." ”

"Good intentions? I can't afford it. ”

The old lady became more and more stubborn as she got older, and pouted: "A few years ago, the old woman and I saw a villager at random, and I had to bow down to the head, and now I want the county to order these big officials to kowtow to me to celebrate my birthday, isn't it to kill the old woman!" When the time comes, should I worship them, or should they worship me? ”

He smiled disapprecantly: "Compared with the lieutenant of the middle brother, the county order is also a petty official, besides, the elders are respected, of course they worship their mother." ”

Although he is an honest man, the tide has risen, and now the status of their family is very different from the past.

"Yes, the reason why those people came here is because they are smaller than my son. When my family lived in poverty a few years ago, why didn't I see them go to pay their respects? ”

Although Heifu's mother's eyes are not good, her heart eyes are still bright.

She pointed to the chickens pecking on the ground and said, "The chickens have to eat many times a day, and the reason why I don't let my concubines feed the chickens is because they are too troublesome and too lazy to run, so they put a lot of grain and vegetable leaves." Chickens are stupid, where do they care whether they are hungry or not, as long as there is one in front of them, they will bury their heads and eat violently, and they will die as a result! ”

"People are like chickens, if you accept the gifts sent by others, I am afraid that you will be strangled to death, and when the time comes, your eyes will roll and it will be too late to regret it."

She picked up a handful of grain and said earnestly: "Whether it is a human or a chicken, the stomach is limited, no matter how much money there is, the old woman and I eat three meals a day, and I only use that." Now that your middle brother is an official in the north, and your cousin takes care of the sugar cane workshop, my family will not have to worry about food and clothing, and I can also support the concubines. Those gifts are not rare, live a good life behind closed doors, and don't make trouble for your middle brother......"

People die for money, birds die for food, although the mother's philosophy of life is rough, the reason is not rough, and I am in awe.

"If any year, you sincerely want to celebrate my birthday."

The mother stopped Sagumi's hand, looked at the four fluffy chicks snuggled under the old hen's wings, and said with some sadness: "Then the four brothers and sisters come back and have a meal by my side, and the old woman will be content......

Right now, only Zhenhe and his second daughter Huan are at home.

As she spoke, her mother wept.

Zhen hurriedly said: "I am surprised to take Xiu Mu's leave, it should be yesterday by boat from Yuzhang County to Xiakou, and I can get home in the evening." ”

In the past, her mother loved her youngest son the most, but now, she is more concerned about her second son who she hasn't seen for more than two years.

He said sincerely: "The north is seeing that there is another war, and the middle brother, as a county lieutenant, wants to guard the border for His Majesty the Emperor, I'm afraid he won't be able to come back, but he just brought back a letter......"

He took out the letter that had just been presented by the doorman knight in the Northland, and he had not had time to read it, and smiled, this is his surprise to his mother: "This is the birthday gift that the middle brother gave to his mother, and my mother will like it!" “

"Show me!"

Mother hurriedly wiped her hand habitually on her clothes and took the letter.

In the past, the family letter was just a hard wooden sheet, which was written on both sides and couldn't hold many words.

Today's letters are thin pieces of hemp paper, and there are a lot more words and things to say on them, which is the reason why my mother likes paper the most, not only because it is something supervised by Heifu.

As a mother, she is afraid that her son will not be heard from, how can she think that he talks too much?

After the wrinkled hand touched the handwriting of the second son, as if it could touch him, the mother handed the letter to her heart again, and said with a straight face: "The old woman is illiterate!" Read it to me! ”

"Yui."

Sincerely supporting his mother, he came to the back hall, and asked his wife to call his sister Huan, son Yang, and daughter Yue, and whenever Heifu wrote a letter, they would listen to it together as a family.

After opening the letter, he couldn't help but show joy on his face, and he didn't read it anymore, and said concisely: "Brother Zhong said that my brother-in-law gave birth safely in Yiqu City, and gave birth to a black and fat son last month, that is, on the tenth day of the first month of the summer calendar!" Weigh seven pounds and four taels! ”

"Mother and child are safe?" Mother asked excitedly.

"Mother and son are safe!"

Ye Zijin's birth day, her mother was secretly calculating, and she had guessed that it must be for this, so her hand was tightly holding her wife, so nervous that she didn't dare to let go for a moment.

Hearing that the mother and son were safe, the tense body relaxed, patted his chest with his hand, and smiled again.

When she came to her senses, she pulled her grandchildren and granddaughters, took them to the courtyard, knelt down in the direction of Yun Mengze, kowtowed, and said, "Shao Si lives and blesses, it is not in vain that I pray to them for a smooth birth of my daughter-in-law......"

Shao Si Ming is the god of life worshiped by the Chu people, and he is also in charge of the heirs of the world.

The mother decided that in a few days, she would invite the witch of the county to go to Yunmengze to kill pigs and sheep and sacrifice to repay the vows.

But then she became worried again: "Seven pounds and four taels, isn't it a little light?" ”

The heartfelt wife nodded: "When Yang was born, he weighed it in the middle of the room, and it was seven catties and nine taels." ”

"Not really!"

The mother muttered: "The old woman also wants to set up a shrine for the young master by the lake, build a statue, and worship with incense every year, so that the young man will always protect the middle grandson......"

This is also the wish of her mother for many years, she has always felt that she can pull three men and one woman up, survive all epidemics, wars, and not die a single person, this is simply a miracle, it must be blessed by the gods

"One more thing."

Before he finished speaking, after the family calmed down, he held the letter in his hand and said with trembling hands: "Brother Zhong also said that His Majesty the Emperor heard that he would have an heir, so he gave it to him, which can be regarded as a gift to our family!" ”

"Uncle, what did you say? The Son of Heaven!? ”

When the whole family was stunned, there was a startled voice at the door, he just returned home in high spirits, stepped into the threshold, and was startled by this sentence, his legs weakened, and he fell to his knees!

Everyone couldn't believe it was true, and my mother felt that her ears were buzzing, God, this birthday gift was too scary.

"Surprise, these words are too awkward, you can read them."

I couldn't hold it back, so I hurriedly handed the letter to the surprise who was easy to stand up, and sat down behind the desk to drink water and gasp for breath.

For their small family, the emperor and Cangtian are almost synonymous, in the words of their mother, they are like the most revered aunt of Jing Chu, Donghuang Taiyi, who suddenly spoke to herself one day, can it not be scary......

After swallowing several times in shock, he finally stammered and relayed what Qin Shi Huang had said to Heifu two months earlier.

"Jiande, the Son of Heaven, was born with a surname, and the land of the Son of Heaven was born. The princes take the word as a sycophancy, because they think they are a clan. If the official has the merit of the world, there is the official family, and the same is true of the yi. ”

"Although the ancestors of Heifu today have no clan characters, and their people do not have a fiefdom of the soil, they have an official position, as the captain of the northern land, and they can follow the example of the Liang people in the past, and the official name is the clan, and the name is given to the 'captain'!"

"Captain!"

After reading it, he laughed out loud, he had also been in the officialdom for a while, and he was troubled by his lack of family, but now, he was stained with his brother's light and solved this big problem!

He pointed to the tip of his nose and said, "From now on, I will be surprised!" ”

"Brother's name is Wei Zhen!"

Shocked and patted his nephew on the shoulder and said, "Remember, you will be called Yuyang in the future!" ”

"As for Brother Zhong, he should be called ...... Lieutenant Hef! ”

……

"...... Lieutenant Hef"

At the same time in Yiqu City, Beidi County, Heifu was pushing the cradle bed made by craftsmen, and at the same time complained to Ye Zijin, who was still a little weak after giving birth:

"Your Majesty has given me a gift, and I am very grateful. But this Lieutenant Hef, it's always a little strange to read! is also based on Wei Wei's clan, and Wei Yuzi sounds much more pleasing to the ear......"

Having said that, Heifu recalled that Qin Shi Huang's mouth was narrowly smiling, and he almost didn't scare him to death at that time, and thought that the emperor was going to give some kind of weird clan such as "public toilets, dogs, and silence".

Fortunately, Qin Shi Huang did not force him to rebel, and found a ceremonial officer, found out the process of the ancient Shi clan, and gave him a stable "captain......

Hawkers, what Sima, Sikong, these clans also changed from ancient official positions.

Hearing Heifu say this, Ye Zijin was already laughing so brightly, and his lower abdomen, which was easily healed, hurt with laughter, and by the way, he woke up his sleeping son and cried.

In the end, she could only helplessly say to her husband: "The beloved, it's not that the concubine is rude, it's just the name of the beloved, and it's easy to call it alone, but no matter which clan it is paired with, it's a little awkward......"

The wife didn't say anything, but Heifu heard it, but he said with a straight face: "I can change my name, but I don't want to change my name." ”

From ancient times to the present, it is very easy to change a name, Zhao Ying can be renamed Zhao Zhifu, Liu Ji can be renamed Liu Bang, Zhu Chongba can be renamed Zhu Yuanzhang, Mao ...... Forget it.

But the name of Heifu means something extraordinary to him.

After reassuring his son to fall asleep, he whispered: "I took off my brown clothes, threw away my grass shoes, smoothed my calluses, healed my scars, and left my hometown." ”

"Sometimes I even feel strange when I look at the person in the bronze jian, watch him with fine clothes and food, hold great power, watch him feast guests, and raise tall buildings."

"If I even change this name, I'm afraid that in the future, I will really forget about it...... Who you are! ”

He's a traverser, and he's a blackman. Heifu's ancestor is an eighth-generation savage, the third generation of Qiantou, and the second son who was raised by a peasant woman and a weaver girl. After the fusion of the two souls, he stood up from the suffering land, threw away the farm tools in his hand, and tried to climb up in this cruel era of murder and death.

At first, it was to survive and live a good life for the family, and later to bring the township party subordinates home so that they could avoid historical disasters. It wasn't until he entered Xianyang, standing in the center of the world, looking up at the crown of power, that he began to think about what to do for this era, this country that will suffer from reincarnation and suffering in the future.

These are things that cannot be forgotten.

History is changing, but his original intention cannot be changed.

"The concubine knows, and the concubine will never mention this matter again."

Ye Zijin listened solemnly, although he didn't quite understand why Heifu was so stubborn, but he also felt that her husband must have a reason for her husband.

After a moment of silence, Heifu laughed again.

"However, the past cannot be admonished, and the coming can still be chased."

Heifu touched his wife's hair, looked at the sleeping baby in the cradle bed, his eyes were full of love, and said with a smile: "I can't help it, but fortunately, I have already given my son a catchy name!" ”