Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 354: Westerners?
The farm of Wanghai Temple is not just a farm, but a small temple built there, and it also has a very resounding name, Zanghai Xiayuan.
However, compared with the lower courtyards of many large temples, this temple has a very wide wall, but the buildings inside look very shabby from a distance. Even the outermost door has an extremely perfunctory feel. Looking further inside, it seems that many tiles have been broken, as if it was not originally a temple, but a converted house.
Moreover, when Zhang Shou and his party had just passed Maliu Mountain, they saw villagers who looked like pilgrims on the mountain road. But now, in front of this genuine Zanghai Lower House, they did not see any prosperous scene with smoke curling around.
Even when Lao Xianyu shouted, "Is there anyone there?", a young man came out after a while. He was shirtless and only wore shorts. Even with a shiny bald head, Zhang Shou felt that if such a person appeared in the market, most people would think that he was an aggressive idler, not a monk from another world.
"Hey, Uncle Xianyu, you're here!" The young monk rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Seeing that Old Xianyu was staring at him with a dark face, he immediately turned around and ran away. Soon, his shouting could be heard from the small temple. When he came out again, he was hiding behind a middle-aged fat monk. Although both of them were wearing monk's robes, they still exuded a strong aura.
At this time, Lao Xianyu just laughed and said, "Dr. Zhang, Miss, this is my sworn brother, the host of the Zanghai Lower House, Zanghai. Next to him is his apprentice Tingtao. The others probably haven't finished their practice yet, so they didn't come out."
Zhu Ying couldn't help but nudge Zhang Shou lightly with her elbow and whispered, "Ah Shou, why do I feel like I've come to a den of thieves?"
What kind of hearing did Lao Xianyu have? Although Zhu Ying lowered her voice, it was not a whisper, so of course he heard it. He glared at the master and apprentice in front of him, then strode forward and introduced Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying as quickly as possible.
"Can you please stop looking so fierce? Why do you look like a bandit in this monk's robe? They are distinguished guests from the capital. One is the daughter of the Duke of Zhao, and the other is the future son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao, Doctor Zhang from the Imperial College."
"Old Salty Fish, are you capable of this? Can you get such a high-ranking figure? You used to say that I was tyrannical and created a Canghai Lower Courtyard, and those people in Wanghai Temple were angry but dared not say anything... If you become a monk, wouldn't it be a short while before you can become a national teacher appointed by the royal family?"
Seeing that Zang Hai was stunned at first and then teased him with a strange look, Lao Xianyu had no time to regret that he did not have time to send a message in advance, nor did he have time to consider whether Zhang Shou and others would doubt his relationship with Zang Hai. He dragged this brother away.
"Have you heard about the Cangzhou Palace case? Alas, it was all because of that stupid boy Yunhe who led people to make trouble without consulting me, and almost got my uncle arrested. If it weren't for the imperial envoy, General Mingwei Zhu Tingfang, who came in time, it would have really caused a horrible disaster. We just dealt with those dogs who turned the innocent people yesterday, and Yunhe is still in custody waiting for his fate!"
"The doctor Zhang from the Imperial College arrived in Cangzhou one day later than General Mingwei. He was also an imperial envoy, and the new spinning machine was invented by him. He is a very special person. He has the Taizu manuscript given to him by the emperor. I heard from the second son Zhu that he disciplined those dandies in the Imperial College and reopened the long-closed Jiuzhang Hall with the support of the emperor."
"Moreover, the things I brought back from overseas, yes, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, peanuts, etc... He saw them for the first time, but he dared to eat them... Not only did he dare to eat them, he also made them into delicious dishes. The most important thing is, I have been growing cotton for many years but there has been no improvement, but he gave me a lot of well-reasoned reasons..."
Ah Liu rode his horse in the shadow behind Zhang Shou, but he repeated the conversation between Lao Xianyu and Zhang Shou word for word. Even though Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi were always proud of their martial arts, they thought they didn't have Ah Liu's ability to hear the wind, so they could only look at each other in bewilderment.
When Zhang Shou heard what Ah Liu said, he knew that Lao Xianyu was on guard against them. He had revealed all the information that should be revealed, and not a single bit of information that should not be revealed. Lao Xianyu had revealed his and Zhu Ying's identities, but Ah Liu could not hear anything about the relationship between him and the fierce monk Cang Hai, other than being brothers.
Perhaps moved by Lao Xianyu's explanation of the pros and cons, Monk Zanghai finally came forward with a smile on his face. He first put his palms together in a salute, then he coughed and said, "I didn't expect such a distinguished guest to come. I... cough, I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. Please forgive me. It's all because of my brother's dishonesty that he brought a distinguished guest here without informing me in advance. Please come in, everyone!"
Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying no longer had much hope for this small temple with a perfunctory entrance. However, after they dismounted their horses and entered, and walked around the unremarkable front yard, they saw something unexpected.
Because behind the second small door, there is a... martial arts arena!
On the right side of the martial arts field is a huge weapons rack. There are not all kinds of weapons on it, but only various sticks from thin to thick - whistle sticks, eyebrow-high sticks, iron sticks... and next to the weapons rack, there is a row of stone locks from small to large.
Seeing that there were still disciples holding stone locks and practicing strength, Zang Hai's face suddenly darkened. Fortunately, he heard Lao Xianyu's voice immediately: "It's okay. The Duke of Zhao's family started with military merits and has seen all kinds of scenes. Besides, I have already told them that you came from Shaolin Temple, so it's nothing to have a bunch of stick monk disciples."
When did I become a Shaolin Temple graduate?
Zang Hai was almost choked. Seeing that the other disciples had just noticed the guest, they hurriedly put down their sticks and stone locks and rushed forward. He didn't know who took the lead, but all their eyes suddenly fell on Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, who was dressed in men's clothes. Many people's gazes were explicit and hot, and he suddenly felt a pang in his heart.
These young masters and daughters of noble families all think highly of themselves. Who could tolerate being stared at so rudely?
Zhang Shou was used to being stared at. Besides, these were a group of hot-blooded monks, not a group of young nuns, so he naturally reacted calmly . As for Zhu Ying... the eldest lady was least afraid of being stared at. On the contrary, she glanced at the group of bald heads with interest.
She found that there were monks of different ages, the oldest was in their early thirties, the youngest was only eight or nine years old, and they were chubby and cute. She suddenly thought of Xiao Cheng, who often came to her house, and the third and fourth princes. However, her body and hair were given by her parents, and it was impossible for her to shave the heads of those three little ones for her to touch and play with.
When Zhu Ying was distracted, Zang Hai quickly shouted, "Okay, stop disturbing our distinguished guests and get back to work!"
With just one sentence, he drove everyone away, and signaled Tingtao with his eyes to follow and watch, lest anyone sneak back to watch the fun. Then Canghai said to Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying with a smile: "Others bring back spices and gems from overseas, but Lao Xianyu often brings back strange things, even a lot of seeds, all of which I plant here."
"Hey, his vegetable garden occupies the largest area in my lower house. Loosening the soil, weeding, fertilizing, and watering are much more troublesome than ordinary vegetable gardens and rice fields. Especially the cotton, he insisted that it was brought from overseas and is better than the kapok we have here... Pah, what a waste of energy!"
Zhang Shou then glanced at Lao Xianyu and said with a smile, "I was wondering, Ah Liu and Zhu Erlang said that you were in Shuishi Street all year round, how did you have time to come here to farm? So you borrowed someone else's land and used someone else's manpower?"
"That's right, this damn salted fish always likes to take advantage of others!" Zang Hai saw that Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were not angry because of the rudeness of his stupid disciples just now, and Zhang Shou even teased them at this time. He took the opportunity to lead the way in front and deliberately made up some embarrassing stories of the old salted fish, which caused the old man to retort half-truthfully and half-falsely from behind. He took the opportunity to observe Zhang Shou and his group.
In his entire life, he had at most dealt with wealthy families in the prefectures and counties, and had never had the chance to meet officials like county magistrates and prefects. Therefore, when Lao Xianyu suddenly brought over such an engaged couple of such extraordinary status, he was really frightened.
But as they walked, he saw Zhang Shou chatting and laughing freely, Zhu Ying chattering about this and that out of curiosity, the man was handsome and elegant, the woman was beautiful, it was really pleasing to the eye, but there was no sign of overbearing arrogance in them. Even though he was always dissatisfied with those wealthy families, he couldn't help but secretly praise them in his heart.
Outside the Canghai Lower Courtyard, there was only a shabby gate and a wall that enclosed a large area. Walking inside, Zhang Shou discovered that, apart from the buildings and the martial arts arena in front, there were rows of vegetable fields in the back. There were cabbages, eggplants, and loofah racks. It was obvious that the rice, grains, and vegetables here were self-sufficient.
However, in addition to the bald monks who had taken off their robes and were busy working, he also saw many shirtless men. Unlike the monks before, these men all had hair, some were strong and young, some were old and thin, and their skin was probably dark because of too much sun exposure - of course, it was still far from the black of Africans.
When they found these outsiders, most people just glanced at them and then turned their eyes away to continue working, but there were a few people who secretly peeked at him and Zhu Ying. He found that one of them was busy picking something, and immediately walked forward. However, before he could get behind the person, Lao Xianyu had already rushed over.
"Dr. Zhang, you have a really good eye! You actually spotted the tomato at first glance?"
Zhang Shou did see those small tomatoes - in his time, they were called cherry tomatoes, and this was the original state of the large tomatoes in later generations. When he was making tomato scrambled eggs, he discovered the problem of tomato size, but the fruits that had been picked were naturally not as good as the real plants that he saw today. What surprised him even more was that all these tomatoes were grown on racks.
It was not a tall rack like a loofah rack, but a low triangular wooden rack like a tree support rack. He had once pulled a tomato rack when he was studying agriculture in the countryside, so he was impressed. However, he could not believe that tomatoes, which were originally from America... or were not eaten until Europeans occupied America on a large scale, had been built on racks so early.
They know how to build racks for primitive tomatoes, but don’t know how to cultivate cotton after it is introduced?
Zhang Shou ignored Lao Xianyu's interruption. He looked at the middle-aged man who was still busy picking tomatoes and asked gently, "Let me ask you, why do you need to build a rack for these tomatoes?"
Old Salty Fish had never expected that Zhang Shou would not only come to watch the tomato picking with great interest, but would even personally ask a farmer about it. His expression changed immediately. Although he quickly concealed his expression change, Zhu Ying, who had been paying attention to him, still saw it. The next moment, the eldest lady rushed over without thinking and grabbed his sleeve without hesitation.
"Hey, what's on that shelf over there? Are they grapes? I climbed a grape shelf when I was a kid and almost crushed it... What kind of grapes are those? Are they sour or sweet?"
Seeing Zhu Ying dragging the old salted fish away, Zhang Shou praised the young lady in his heart, and then continued to look at the confused farmer in front of him leisurely. Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi also tasted a little bit of the taste at this time, and stopped Zang Hai directly, asking questions with a smile, as if they had never seen a vegetable field before.
As for Ah Liu, the young man continued to stand there with his arms folded. Seeing that the other monks around him were working or peeping because Zang Hai didn't say anything, those guys with long hair and who looked like farmers stopped their work unconsciously, and some even stood up. He couldn't help but frowned slightly and took two steps closer to Zhang Shou without making a sound.
The farmer who was being stared at by Zhang Shou finally spoke, but his voice was dry and he said: "After the scaffolding was built, the crops grew well and produced a lot of fruits."
"I see."
Zhang Shou nodded happily, and then he smiled and stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to pat the other person on the shoulder to show encouragement. However, as soon as he stretched out his hand, the person scurried out like a rabbit, and then looked at him warily. This time, he saw the other person's figure and height clearly, and smiled generously, not caring about the action, and turned away with a smile.
When he walked up to Ah Liu, he saw the young man raised his eyebrows, as if asking him what to do next, so he patted Ah Liu on the shoulder. Seeing the fat monk Zang Hai, who was entangled by Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi, quickly got rid of the two and came over, he smiled and said, "So your Zang Hai branch, in addition to the monks working themselves, also hired these people to work?"
Old Salty Fish was being urged by Zhu Ying to go up to the grape racks to pick grapes. When he heard this, his eyes flickered. But after hesitating for a moment, he left Zhu Ying and hurried back. Then he smiled and said, "Dr. Zhang, to be honest, these people... ahem, were not hired. I brought them back from the distant West. They are poor people who have lost their homes and relatives."
"What!"
Zhu Ying had just felt that something was wrong with Zhang Shou's attitude, so she rushed back with an expression of disbelief: "Don't think I've never seen Westerners before. They are all blond and blue-eyed guys, and they look very different from the people of the Ming Dynasty!"
