Chapter 4: It turned out to be the Great Tang

  Yang Heng inquired and found out that it was now the autumn of the 6th year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty, and his family was currently going through a difficult time.

  "Heavens, earth, why do people who cross over always end up in the bodies of nobles or generals? Why am I so unlucky to have crossed over into the body of a blacksmith's son, and on top of that, a family that is about to suffer disaster?" Yang Heng silently complained about the unfairness of fate.

  Yang Heng's family was not bad either, they were a small workshop owner, considered a small business family, and also quite special. His mother's side had several generations of connections that helped them establish themselves here, processing some iron tools for sale, and sometimes even making farm tools for people. Otherwise, in this ancient era where salt and iron were controlled, how could they have opened such an ironwork shop? It is said that when there were the most people in the family, there were over a dozen people forging iron at the same time. Now, however, it's just three of them, his mother's ancestors had always been a single branch, and by her generation, there wasn't even one male heir. That's why more than ten years ago, she secretly adopted him from the snow in front of their door, making an under-the-table agreement, but on the surface, it was still his father who married his mother. His parents' feelings for each other were actually not bad, and his mother didn't look down on his father at all.

  In the nearly ten years since Yang Heng was born, many big things happened, such as the change of dynasties, war and chaos, which directly led to the household registration of these people, even this neighborhood or a county town becoming a problem. Every time it stabilized, when the new head of the household had sorted out the household registration, something would happen again, and the household registration would be lost again. This time, just as it was said that stability was about to return, it was once again destroyed by some rioting troops, and it was under such circumstances that Li Sanlang appeared.

  Li Sanlang, the only son of the Li family in a village five miles outside the city. This only son is called Sanlang, actually this old Li has many wives and concubines, but he only has one legitimate son. Although he is ranked third, his two older siblings are sisters, it seems like they wanted to show off how many brothers they have, so instead of being called Dalang, he was called Sanlang. This led him to develop a bad habit of being arrogant and self-centered, giving him whatever he wants. Moreover, this old Li has some unclear connections with the county magistrate. So Li Sanlang became even more arrogant, looking down on Yang Heng's workshop location, thinking that he could buy it for a small amount of money. When his father disagreed, he prepared to take it by force, not even giving the small amount of money.

  The Yang family, at this time, was just a small business family, and even now they didn't have a registered household. In later language, this would be called a "black household", but now the whole county was like that. This battle had been going on for six years since the establishment of the Great Tang Dynasty, but it still hadn't truly stabilized.

  It's just that things have stabilized, and the Yang family doesn't have any other options. You're just a small merchant, going up against a large landowner - what good can come of it? And right now, Yang Heng is most grateful that his household registration hasn't been reported yet, which means there's still room for maneuvering. This place can be temporarily abandoned, and he can come back to settle accounts with Li Sanlang after he's made a name for himself in the future. As people always say, "A gentleman takes revenge ten years later" - Yang Heng thinks that as a transmigrator, if he can't even make a name for himself in the Tang Dynasty, then he's not much of a person. Unfortunately, he's forgotten that by the time he does make a name for himself, he won't be bothered with these things anymore.

  "Grandfather, about our family's financial situation," Yang Heng asked with some guilt. "Money, I have to mention your father," the old lady said in front of Yang Heng and his father, trying to give his father some face. "You don't know, since you were born, your father has spent all our money on that ancestral medicine recipe from my family. Now we barely have a few copper coins left at home. Do you have any ideas, Heng?"

  "What medicine is this." Yang Heng asked curiously, what kind of medicine could make his father spend so much money. "It's a strengthening and bone-building bath formula, passed down from my mother's ancestors. Originally, it was used by blacksmiths to soak in the medicinal liquid after a day of hard work, which is the best way to use it. Generally, we only soak once a year, and this is only for our own family members. We wouldn't let outside blacksmiths use it. This formula is passed down from father to son, not daughter, and from older to younger generation. Since my mother was an only child, your father passed the formula to me after he married into our family. Of course, this had nothing to do with your father. When you grow up, I'll pass the formula to you. But when your father heard about it, he didn't want the formula itself, but instead asked me to prepare a bath for us three every day. Indeed, the formula says that whenever we're tired, soaking in the medicinal liquid will make our bodies feel better. That's how we ended up bathing three to five times a month, and before we knew it, all our money was gone."

  "Girl, you're speaking a bit too rashly. Haven't you noticed? Our strength is quite considerable now. I just don't know what's going on with your ancestors - to have such good fortune and yet not use it."

  What's going on, the things passed down from ancestors are good things, although there aren't many precious medicinal materials inside, but they can't withstand long-term use. Moreover, the people who get the prescription won't spend ten years testing its effects, if it can relieve fatigue that's already great, what's the need for a long trial? Besides, in folk sayings, medicine is three parts poison, even if used for bathing, it shouldn't be used for a long time.

  It was fortunate that I met this silly old man, and he often came to use it. No, every time after ironing, he would use it. Since Ah Wong passed away, the old man had been letting the old lady use this medicinal herb for bathing after each ironing session. Even the old lady and Yang Heng were following suit, so Yang Heng was the one who benefited the most from this, and hadn't even discovered any side effects yet.

  "Grandfather, how dare you use medicine randomly? If something goes wrong, what would we do?" Yang Heng said with some fear, and even his mother's face didn't look good. "Yes, yes, fortunately nothing happened." "You should be grateful, if not for these medicinal herbs, you little stinker wouldn't be sitting here safely," the old man thought it was just a result of taking a bath, Yang Heng hadn't died, but what the old man didn't know was that his son had already switched to a different soul.

  "Ah, I've said so much, you little scoundrel has been led astray. You stinky brat, what did you say about the family's money?" The old man said viciously.

  "What's with the scolding, don't scare the kid." The old lady was unwilling, "You've wasted all our money, what are you talking about? Look at how we're living now." "Alright, alright, let's hear what this young one has to say first."

  "I think we should temporarily move out first, our current identity is not good either, it's better to move out. They say there are four occupations: scholars, farmers, workers and merchants, with merchants being the last one. By the way, where is A Ye's old home?"

  "Not far from here is Yunyang County, Father's home is on the border of Yunyang, in Jingyang territory. Father's home is a good place, with clear mountains and rivers, but there are many wild beasts. It's been over ten years, it's time to go back." The old father showed a hint of nostalgia.