Chapter 14 Entering the Martial Arts Hall After returning home, Liang Qu poured out all the nine taels and three cents of silver he had saved, plus the one hundred and twenty-seven copper coins he had on him, which was all his belongings now. The broken silver rolled on the hard bed, making a tumbling sound, which made me more addicted the more I listened. After twenty-six days, almost a month, in this world, he finally saved enough money to learn martial arts and see the most mysterious corner of the world. It’s not easy. It’s really not easy. Liang Qu kept rolling the silver coins, looking at the attractive white luster, and for a moment he felt a sense of resonance with Grandet's ideas. But the purpose of spending money now is to make more money and live a better life in the future. Liang Qu took a deep breath, took out seven taels of silver, put it into the small purse that Master Hu Wu had given him, and put it carefully in his arms. Yixing City is a big city. Bald-headed Zhang is not the only gangster there. Among the thousands of people, there are always some bad bastards. But now he is no longer the orphan who cannot survive, so people will always be more considerate of him. The remaining two taels and three cents and one hundred and twenty-seven copper coins were buried in the soil under the rice jar to pay the autumn tax.
Dashun had already implemented the land-based tax system and the Single Whip System. The taxation was very simple, with only one item, but in essence there was no reduction at all, it was just merged together. One had to prepare the money, otherwise one would not be able to pay and would be arrested for labor service, which was undoubtedly not worth the loss. After paying the tax and entering the martial arts school, he had a lot more money. He bought a mattress first, as this hard bed was really uncomfortable for him to sleep on. He also saved up a few taels of silver to repay Uncle Chen, and his life would be much better. Liang Qu was so excited that he didn't fall asleep until the second half of the night. The next morning, Liang Qu, who had dark circles under his eyes, met Li Libo, who also had dark circles under his eyes. The two looked at each other and laughed. "What time did you go to bed last night?" "About midnight, what about you?" "When it's ugly." Liang Qu laughed, "No wonder you have dark circles under your eyes more than I do." Li Libo snorted coldly, looked around, and whispered, "Have you brought all the money?" "Ah." Liang Qu nodded. He had come out early this morning and just wanted to go to the martial arts gym to pay the money as soon as possible to avoid any further complications and make some people have unnecessary thoughts. After paying the money, even if the ruffians were very brave, they would not dare to ask the martial artists for it back. As for Li Libo, today was not actually the day he had planned to pay his respects to his teacher, but seeing that Liang Qu was so anxious, he had to go earlier so that he could have a companion. Li's father also agreed. Following the road, the two of them went to the entrance of Yixing City, spent ten cents, and took a cart to the next town, Pingyang. The not-so-flat road was dotted with dense trees, but it was only on sunny days. If it was cloudy or at night, Liang Qu estimated that few people would dare to walk on such a night road. At the same time, he was looking forward to arriving at Pingyang Town. In my memory, Liang Qu was just like Chen Qingjiang. In order to sell the fish at a high price, he followed his father Liang and walked more than ten miles, carrying a fish basket to Pingyang Town to sell fish. It was a completely different scene from Yixing City. "Freshly fried chestnuts, freshly fried chestnuts, freshly baked, fragrant, soft, sweet and delicious."
"Sheep's blood soup, fresh sheep's blood soup." "Osmanthus buns, hot osmanthus buns." The sounds of hawking filled the long street, which was also paved with bluestone slabs, but was much wider than the one in Yixing City. Even the paths on both sides were paved instead of yellow mud roads. The long street is lined with shops, and the eaves of the shops are connected. In order to compete for business, the foot shops set up various awnings outside the shops. "Customer, please give me two. They are very fragrant." "Take two." Liang Qu threw the copper coin, took the two osmanthus bags and threw one to Li Libo. "Hiss, hiss, hot, hot." Li Libo tossed it with his hands. After it cooled down a little, he took a bite and his mouth was filled with fragrance. Liang Qu has tried osmanthus cake, but has not eaten osmanthus buns. However, after taking a bite, he found that it was not as delicious as he had imagined, and was far from the products of modern industry. The prosperity of Pingyang Town is beyond imagination, with so many pedestrians, it is almost comparable to the Bianjing in the Qingming Shanghe Tu. It seems that the productivity of this world is more developed than imagined. I wonder what the capital of Dashun looks like? Liang Qu was thinking, and unknowingly, he was led by Li Libo to the Yang's Martial Arts School that he had been longing for. There are no carved beams or painted buildings, but the place is very large. It is on the edge of Pingyang Town, backed by a fir forest, with a stone-walled backyard. People can often be seen coming in and out. Perhaps it is an accommodation of the Shiliang level. There was a long table at the entrance of the martial arts hall, where a young man was sitting. When he saw someone coming, he stood up to stop them, clasping his fists and saying, "My name is Xiang Changsong. I don't know you two. What can I do for you? Are you here to learn martial arts or to visit a friend?" Li Libo, who was older, stood up and saluted in a proper manner: "Hello, let's learn martial arts." "Do you know how much it costs to learn martial arts?" "If you know a little, seven taels will be enough, is that right?" "That's right. Seven taels of silver does not include board and lodging. Ten taels includes board and lodging. Twenty taels includes board and lodging with medicinal baths, and meals are not included. Fifty taels includes board and lodging and medicinal baths. At the same time, the semester is only three months. Of course, the teaching is the same. How much you can learn depends entirely on yourself." "After three months, if you still cannot break through the skin barrier among the four barriers of skin, flesh, bones, and blood, you must pay tuition again if you want to stay." Liang Qu was shocked. A high-grade medicinal bath cost fifty taels, and one would have to catch ten ox-horned pomfret. An ordinary person could not save up enough for that in a lifetime. As for the semester, it’s not surprising. If you don’t have talent, you can’t just stay there forever. Speaking of which, the Yang family martial arts school is well-equipped. There are professional guides at the door, and they are very kind. They didn't show any abnormality at all because of the fishy smell on the two people. It’s not the same as in the novel. Where’s the promise of pretending to be cool and then getting slapped in the face? Li Libo nodded repeatedly: "I know, I know, we only offer seven taels." Xiang Changsong showed no disdain on his face. He pointed to the long table where he was sitting and said, "In that case, please come here to register, state your name, age and place of origin, and pay the fee." The two men came up and reported the information. After Xiang Changsong finished writing, he read it to the two men. The writing in this world is also hieroglyphic, and surprisingly, it is almost the same as in the previous life. Liang Qu was also surprised when he first came here, but he got used to it over time, and did not reveal his ability to read. He just pretended to be the same as Li Libo and nodded in affirmation. After confirming that everything was correct, Xiang Changsong took them into the martial arts hall, through the corridor, to the payment counter, and handed over the paper with their information just written on it. After the silver and money were weighed correctly, Xiang Changsong received two wooden plaques and handed them to Liang Qu and Li Libo respectively. The entire apprenticeship process was familiar, and I guess the martial arts school had already received quite a number of apprentices. Liang Qu took the wooden plaque and looked at it. He found it was very simple. It was just engraved with his name and the date of joining. After March, the wooden plaque would become invalid.
There aren't too many people in the Yang family martial arts school, and whether someone is an apprentice is mainly determined by facial memory, so there's no need for any anti-counterfeiting measures. "Congratulations, both of you. From today on, you are disciples of Yang's Martial Arts School. You can call me Brother Xiang." "Xiang, Senior Brother!"*2 Xiang Changsong smiled and said, "I will take you around to familiarize you with the environment, and then briefly introduce some martial arts knowledge so that you can understand the path of martial arts." "Thank you, Brother Xiang." Liang Qu's spirits lifted; the part he had been looking forward to the most was finally here. Wasn't he looking forward to this bit of useful information after being here for a month? (End of this chapter)
