Chapter 31: Laughing at the Rise of Wind and Clouds (Part 2)

  The weather in November is very cold.

  In this era, it is impossible for there to be any greenhouse effect, the climate is normal and the four seasons are distinct. After entering winter, Pei County had two snowfalls.

  The snow isn't too heavy, but it makes people feel very comfortable.

  It was noon, and Liu Jian was alone in the empty space of the prison, treading the Three Palace Steps as described in the Red Flag Scripture. He held a heavy weapon carved from the roots of an ancient tree that had stood for hundreds of years, its shape similar to the Red Flag. With a loud shout, he began to practice the art of flag manipulation.

  The old tree's roots had been soaked in water, so it was especially heavy.

  Its weight, calculated by the jin system of later ages, was over fifty jin, exactly half that of a red flag. Although it had been reduced in size, wielding it single-handedly still required great effort, and would be just as exhausting for anyone else. Liu Guang wielded the large wooden flag with his shirt off and barefoot on the icy ground, his feet nimble and body spinning round and round, the heavy flag making a whooshing sound in his hands.

  Snowflakes fall from the sky and are swept away by the wind.

  Ren Ao Tang Lie and others stood in the room, looking out through a small window, shaking their heads one by one, sighing, and then sat back down at a distance.

  A broken copper cauldron, with a thick layer of mud stuck inside, dried and became a stove.

  Inside the stove was burning bright red charcoal, on top of the stove was placed a clay pot filled with water, and inside the water was a wine jar.

  "On such a cold day, you guys say that Ah Jian doesn't sit down to drink some wine, but instead practices martial arts alone... This guy is simply a martial arts fanatic. Even Butcher didn't have as much energy as him back in the day... Either he's practicing martial arts or recognizing characters, doesn't he get bored?"

  The wine was sent by Lü Zhi, made from millet, and its flavor is much better than the ordinary millet wine.

  What is called "xiǎo jiǔ" is a way of referring to it. In ancient times, this wine was divided into three wines and five flavors. Using glutinous rice and millet as raw materials, the three wines can be divided into shì jiǔ, xiǎo jiǔ, and qīng jiǔ. Shì jiǔ means that it is brewed for a specific occasion, the time is very short, and the taste is not good. Xiǎo jiǔ requires a short period of storage, meaning that it was brewed in the past, with a slightly thick and mellow taste. As for qīng jiǔ, winter brewing and summer ripening, it was the best wine at that time.

  Wu Qi wine refers to five different colored wines. It is divided into Fan Qi, Li Qi, Ang Qi, Ti Qi and Chen Qi. Among them, Fan Qi and Li Qi are the most common types of wine on the market, with sediment floating in the wine or mixed with dregs.

  The flavor is mostly sweet wine, men and women, young and old, can drink a mouthful when they have nothing to do.

  Of course, apart from sweet wine, there is also a saying about spicy wine. However, this kind of wine is mostly used for sale rather than kept for oneself.

  It seems like Liu Kan had drunk a similar wine in Wang Ji's tavern, which belonged to the category of spicy mouth wine.

  Since it's for sale, it's naturally different from the wine at home. In addition to the taste, some processing is also required, that is, the Ang Qi wine in the five flavors of wine. The color of the wine is light white, and it has a strong sour taste unique to spicy wine, which is loved by many wine customers.

  Lü Zhi brought over some aged wine, and it was a full jug of that aged wine.

  This wine, at least on the market, is worth more than ten taels of silver, and it's not something that ordinary people can drink. Unfortunately, Liu Kan was extremely unimpressed with this wine. In his opinion, drinking this so-called fine wine was no different from suffering.

  Throw it there and don't drink it, so just divide it among everyone.

  However, Liu Kan gave Ren Ao and others a suggestion: the wine of the past was actually the most primitive type of Huangjiu. Autumn harvest and winter storage, in the cold season, it is not suitable to drink cold wine. If you want to drink wine, it's better to heat it with a small fire, which has a rich flavor.

  For drinking, Liu Quan also came up with a primitive stove for Ren Gao and others to warm their wine.

  Drinking warm wine after meals is extremely beneficial for the body and conforms to the principles of health preservation. Paired with flavorful snacks, it has a unique taste on winter days.

  Ren Ao, Cao Shen and Tang Li were often idle in the gatehouse, drinking wine while watching Liu Quan practice martial arts outside to add to their interest, and this life was quite comfortable.

  Cao Shen laughed and said, "If it weren't for this period of hard work, how could Ah Guan have killed Wang Ling? Tu Zi said that in seven or eight years, Ah Guan would be able to fight him evenly. In my opinion, it won't take three to five years, and Tu Zi will be in danger. As for recognizing characters... Ah Guan probably has other ideas."

  "It's fine if one can just write their own name; what's the use of recognizing too many characters?"

  Tang Lie's expression turned serious: "Old Ren, you can't say that. Knowing more characters is always beneficial... at least it allows us to understand reason and distinguish right from wrong. Take the Qin Code for example, if we didn't recognize a single character, wouldn't we run into all sorts of trouble? Recognizing a few more characters has its benefits."

  "What's so good about it?"

  Ren Ao rubbed his head and said: "There are too many characters under the sky, it's a headache to look at them. It's just one character, but there are many ways to write it, which is very troublesome."

  "So, King Qin... Ah, Emperor Shi Huang abolished the characters of the six states and used only the Qin script, which is not unreasonable."

  Cao Shen bit his lip and said in a low voice, "The characters of the six nations, the style of the six nations! If Emperor Qin is so tough on the characters of the six nations, I'm afraid that the scholars of the six nations will have a backlash. In this way, the surface of the six nations may be calm, but privately, it's possible that there are hidden dangers."

  Tang Li smiled, "This generation of scholars may not be honest, but what about the next? Or the one after that? After a hundred years... or maybe it won't take a hundred years, just several decades, how many people will still recognize the Six States' script under this sky? In my opinion, unifying the script is a good thing. A short pain is better than a long one, perhaps Emperor Qin's method of promoting the Qin script was a bit too forceful, but for the future, it has great benefits."

  Cao Shen could no longer debate with Tang Li and fell silent.

  At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and the wind swept in with snowflakes, bringing a chill. The three people couldn't help but shiver. Looking up, it was Liu Quan walking in with that large wooden flag on his shoulder. His whole body was steaming with mist, and he was drenched in sweat.

  After a period of recuperation, Liu Jian's muscles looked less solid than before.

  But in fact, the strength has not decreased at all, and instead, a kind of gentleness and a thread of agility have been added to the majestic.

  Wiping off the sweat on his body, Liu Ke put on his clothes and sat down beside the stove with a thud.

  He snatched the wine cup in front of Tang Lie, drained it in one gulp. Then he let out a long sigh, and said with a smile: "Green ants new wine, red mud small fire stove. Late at night, snow is coming, can drink a cup? Several brothers, looking at this little wine, it seems to be quite delicious, the wine is getting more exciting."

  During the Qin dynasty, five-character absolute verse had not yet appeared.

  Liu Kan suddenly came up with a five-character verse, Ren Ao didn't have any feeling about it, but Cao Can and Tang Li had different feelings.

  Breaking the old and innovating is easy to say, but difficult to do. Especially in this text, any innovation requires a long time of accumulation and improvement. Moreover, the deeper the learning, the stronger the rejection of new things. Tang Li's eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

  "Ah Jian, this poem of yours seems a bit off rhyme."

  Liu Quan was taken aback, looked at Tang Lie's expression, and immediately understood the situation. He smiled and said, "Old Tang, I just casually mentioned it, why do you have to take it to heart?"

  "Ah, poetry expresses one's will, and songs express one's words. What is called the Six Arts are: Feng, Fu, Bi, Dian, Ya, and Song. How can one speak recklessly and chaotically? Being incompatible with propriety, you should be cautious."

  It can be seen that Tang Lei attaches great importance to poetry and lyrics, and the words are naturally unceremonious.

  Cao Can shook his head, "I think Ah Kan's poem is quite good, although it doesn't conform to the traditional poetic form, but it has a unique charm. This feeling and scene, using this poem, is actually quite fitting. Poetry should be in harmony with one's feelings, singing should be used to chant poetry... Old Tang, I think you're being too rigid."