Chapter 847 Jiangnan Luo Family!
Ever since Xizi was born in Wu and Yue, it has been widely known that there are beautiful women in the south of the Yangtze River. Unlike the areas north of the Yangtze River and Huai River, the south of the Yangtze River has rarely experienced wars.
Since the Sui Dynasty conquered the north and the south and seized the world, Jiangnan has been relegated to second place in the current situation, and many scholars in Jiangnan are quite resentful.
Therefore, the Jiangnan gentry actively participated in Yang Guang's bid for the throne, hoping to turn around politically. However, only the Gusu Luo family closed their mountain gates, only served as officials locally, had many marriages and old friends, and did not try to fight for the throne.
In the early years of Kaihuang, Yang Jian abolished the county-level system in the world and completely changed it to a prefecture-county system. The name of Gusu County was changed to Suzhou by taking the word "Su". However, for this kind of aristocratic family with generations of history, people all over the world still called it by the old county name.
Suzhou seems to have not changed for a thousand years. Luo and Su passed through Yangzhou, crossed the Yangtze River by boat, and went straight through Jianye, as if they had entered a delicate painting.
Especially for Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing, who were born in the extreme north of winter, every bridge and flowing water here deeply attracted them.
The three men dismounted, boarded a small boat, and looked at the buildings with pink walls and black tiles in the narrow alleys.
"Lotus can be picked in the south of the Yangtze River. The lotus leaves are so lush and green, and fish are playing among them.
Fish play on lotus leaves in the east, fish play on lotus leaves in the west, fish play on lotus leaves in the south, fish play on lotus leaves in the north. "
Luo Xuanjing fiddled with the water with her slender hands, as if fish were swimming between her fingers.
She hummed softly the Yuefu poetry that was popular during the Han Dynasty. Even someone as cold as Luo Xuanye couldn't help but be moved and said, "If you don't go to Jiangnan, you will never know the beautiful scenery between the lines. It's actually so true."
Jiangnan brought great shock to the two of them, but for Luo Su, it made him feel deeply moved.
The most shocking thing for him when he came to this world was seeing that the land, which was once deserted and not suitable for survival at all, was now planted with abundant grain and fodder.
The roads that were once rugged and difficult to travel on have been smoothed to accommodate several horse-drawn carriages.
South of the Yangtze River, a place that was once considered too far away for exile, has now become a prosperous land of fish and rice.
People living in the present world cannot feel these gradual changes.
Only someone like Luo Su, who has lived in both eras, knows how shocking this is.
That will change the world, it will change the human world!
Suzhou, one of the central cities in the south of the Yangtze River, is a very peaceful place. Although there are officials from the imperial court here, everyone knows that there is only one master here, and that is the Luo family!
As a family that has been entrenched here for hundreds of years, the Luo family's roots are so deep that almost no one can imagine or estimate them.
But the Luo family was not that flashy. In Suzhou city, the Luo family had many mansions, or rather, an entire market town was inhabited by Luo family members and servants.
This is the shop run by Luo and its window to the outside world.
"Most of the Luo family members live in manors outside Suzhou, where the Luo family also owns large tracts of land. Twenty percent of the land in Suzhou is under the Luo family's name, which is extremely prominent."
The people of Suzhou enthusiastically introduced the Luo family to Luo Su and his companions. When they heard about 20% of the land, their faces were filled with surprise.
This is too horrible!
As soon as Luo Su made a look, Luo Xuanjing asked, "Old man, the Luo family has occupied so much land, won't it cause other people to have no land to farm?"
The old man smiled and waved his hands when he heard this, saying, "Farming for the Luo family is a good job that cannot be snatched away. The Luo family does not exploit you. I heard that the shops make a lot of money and do not care about the output of the loess. They just save it for food."
Typical Luo style!
Luo Su and the other two walked all the way to the Luo’s Manor.
It was a rather majestic gate, made entirely of stone and logs, which exuded a solemn look.
The plaque on top of the manor's gate reads "Benevolence and Righteousness Passed Down from Generation to Generation".
On both sides of the gate, there are stone tablets against the wall. On the stone tablets are many words, including names of people and descriptions of their achievements.
This is a custom in Jiangnan.
The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River valued outstanding figures, so they would list the outstanding figures in their family to judge their status.
It was quite lively in front of the gate at the moment. The master of Luo's family sent a group of people out. Judging from their clothes and accessories, they were probably officials such as inspectors and governors sent by the court.
Forty percent of Suzhou's taxes were paid by the Luo family, and almost every official who came to Suzhou to take up an official post would come to visit the head of the Luo family.
Even though the Luo family was suppressed, had no titles, no honors, no civil or military officials, their strength did not rely entirely on official positions.
Not to mention the third-rank governor of Shangzhou, even Xiao, who holds the second-rank founding county duke title, would not be arrogant in front of Luo.
Even though the current head of the Luo family is only a Suzhou Beijia, a fourth-rank official, and even though he is a young man who has just been married.
This is Luo's!
A lean camel is bigger than a horse. With the Jiangnan Luo family's background, as long as they don't offend the royal family, they can easily spend another hundred years.
When the greetings of the people in front of the door were about to end, the Governor of Suzhou got on the carriage and left. The head of the Luo family sighed slightly. There were rumors that the main branch of the Luo family had returned to the Central Plains, and these people came to test the waters, but he didn't know the truth.
He was about to return home when he took a casual glance and was stunned.
In the corner not far away, there were three people standing tall, a man whose age was indistinguishable, and a pair of beautiful young boys and girls.
The three of them looked at him with a smile.
They came to find themselves.
This is what he saw from the looks of the three people.
The appearance of these three people is first-class and excellent. The head of the Luo family is sure that he does not know these three people, otherwise he would never forget them if he had seen them.
He was just about to go up and ask.
But the three of them raised their hands at the same time. The young boy and girl reached behind their heads to untie the ribbons wrapped around their foreheads, and the man in the middle stretched out two fingers and stroked his forehead.
The next moment.
Three holy marks appeared in front of him!
Those three holy marks were shining brightly, full of sacred meaning.
The seal is engraved between the eyebrows, shining with light from time to time. Among the winding holy marks, there seems to be ancient characters flowing, containing the highest avenue of heaven and earth.
If it were not such a sacred thing, how could it have so many kinds of divine powers?
quiet!
silence!
Deathly silence!
Luo Su and the other two felt the fixed gazes on them but remained calm.
The head of the Luo family finally moved. He slowly moved in front of Luo Su and the other two and looked at the holy marks again.
His body was extremely stiff and he was unable to speak. He felt as if he had just slept alone in the snow all night in the coldest days of winter, but his heart was as hot as boiling magma, burning his entire body red.
At this moment, he finally understood that the so-called feeling of being struck by lightning was not an exaggeration at all.
He looked up at the azure sky. That day, it was still as clear and blue as usual. In this clear sky, a bolt of lightning struck him.
“The sky is so blue.”
With difficulty, he turned his gaze from the sky back to the three people, and fell on the three holy marks.
"The sky is so blue, so beautiful, and the stigmata are even more beautiful, right?"
Luo Xuanjing took a step forward, stood beside him, tilted his head and looked at him with a smile, then he saw that he was crying, tears falling uncontrollably, just like a gurgling stream, without stopping.
“Welcome back to the Central Plains.
The Jiangnan Luo family, Luo Jingcheng, courtesy name Boli.
Luo Jingcheng stopped crying and bowed to the three people using the most ancient Bang Zhou etiquette.
"Luo Xuanye!"
"Luo Xuan Mirror!"
The two men put away the smiles on their faces and bowed to Luo Jingcheng respectfully. Luo Jingcheng looked at Luo Su with obvious confusion on his face.
It is true that there is a holy mark between his eyebrows, but this is a holy mark that has never been seen before. Moreover, I just saw with my own eyes that his holy mark can be hidden, and it is more advanced than the holy marks of Luo Xuanjing and Luo Xuanye.
Who is this?
What happened to the direct line?
Luo Xuanjing said sternly: "Bo Li, do you know the prophecy circulating in the world?
The goddess of Luo River issued an edict, and Duke Wen was born.
This is our Luo family's ancestor from 1,500 years ago, our ancestor Wen Gong!"
Luo Jingcheng felt that what he encountered today was more than in the past twenty years. Even when he took over as the head of the Jiangnan Luo family, he had never been so confused, but today was really one wave after another.
First, the direct descendants of the Luo family suddenly appeared in front of him without any preparation.
I thought this was the most shocking thing. Now Luo Xuanjing, the direct descendant of the Luo family, told me that a living ancestor was standing in front of me, and he was the kind of ancestor whose name could not even be found even if he counted dozens of generations back.
He knelt down almost instantly, and kowtowed three times, "I, the descendant Luo Jingcheng, kowtow to our ancestor. May our ancestor live a thousand years and enjoy everlasting peace."
Luo Xuanjing burst out laughing when she saw this. She recalled that when they first met Luo Su, she was in a similar situation to Luo Jingcheng now. His whole body felt weak and he couldn't even stand.
Luo Su helped Luo Jingcheng up. His forehead was already red. He gently patted the dirt off his body and said with a smile, "No need to do that. Let's go inside and talk."
"Ancestor, please!"
Luo Jingcheng didn't dare to overstep the line in the slightest. He let Luo Su go first, and he stayed by his side to show him the way.
After entering the manor, you will be suddenly enlightened. This manor covers a very large area. It is even connected to a small hill and includes many lakes among the Thousand Lakes. There are bluestone paved paths, with green trees and flowers on both sides.
The courtyard even had the small bridges and flowing water seen in Suzhou city, and real mountains and artificial mountains were matched everywhere, so graceful that Luo Su and the other two felt like they were appreciating a classical painting.
Luo Jingcheng introduced the three people, "Our ancestors lived in Jiangnan and devoted themselves to studying culture and literature. Today, Jiangnan literature is the best in the world. Most of these scenes were passed on to the north. As the saying goes, one step, one scene; one step, one painting. We can take in infinite beauty with limited space."
The beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains, with their well-arranged layout, made Luo Xuanjing indulge in it and he simply couldn't leave. The strange peaks and rocks that made up the rockery were all unique and ingenious, making people marvel at the magic of nature.
"After several generations of hard work, Suzhou is now the pearl of Jiangnan and the best among all the cities in Jiangnan. The only city that can be compared with it is Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, which was built by Yang Guang, the King of Jin. Jianye, the ancient capital of many dynasties, has been destroyed by war and is no longer as good as Suzhou and Yangzhou."
Luo Jingcheng's words were full of pride. During the years when the direct descendants of the Luo family were not in the Central Plains, they had been able to strictly abide by the various rules of the Luo family and develop the family to where it is today. This was all thanks to the Jiangnan Luo family.
Luo Su looked at Luo Jingcheng, nodded slightly and said, "It's very hard."
Luo Jingcheng was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then replied in a low voice: "It's not hard. It's because of the reputation of our family that we are where we are today. What's so hard about it?"
Luo Su patted his shoulder, and the group walked around a corridor before entering the main hall. Luo Jingcheng brought Luo Su to the main seat, and then he, Luo Xuanjing, and Luo Xuanye sat on other chairs. Luo Jingcheng asked, "Grandfather, do you need me to call the rest of the family here now?
Your birth is a great event, worthy of celebration by the entire family. We have been silent for too long, now is the time to make a move!"
Luo Su stretched out his hand to stop him and said, “No hurry.
This time, the three of us came to Jiangnan to see how the descendants of our family who are still alive are doing.
Is there any change?
It has not been easy for you. You have survived until now in the chaotic situation and let the world still know the name of the Luo family.
Now that I see you are doing well, I feel relieved."
Hearing this, Luo Jingcheng already felt uneasy. As expected, Luo Su immediately said, "I will be away from the Central Plains for at least a few years, or even ten years later. There is no need to spread the news. It will only add some inappropriate words.
All the successive god thrones of the Jiangnan Luo family will be sent to Winter City after the family returns to the south in the future, and will be migrated together with other god thrones. In Winter City there is the throne of Luo Chu, and your lineage will be arranged in order.
It has not changed for two hundred years, and people's hearts are as majestic as Mount Tai and as long-flowing as the Yellow River. This is the honor you deserve."
Luo Su has a very high opinion of the Jiangnan Luo family. People's hearts are fickle, and it is extremely difficult for the Luo family to stick to their original intentions. One can tell how much the family has paid just by looking at their current situation.
Luo Jingcheng clenched and released his hands on the chair, and he said with joy and sadness: "Ancestor, what the Jiangnan Luo family has been thinking about these years is to wait for the family to return to the south, and the family has made many preparations for this.
Even though our ancestor is about to travel far away again, please let me introduce it to you.
According to legend, there is a magical weapon in the hands of the direct descendants, which has the power of Mount Sumeru and mustard seeds. If it is true, please ask our ancestors to take away those things that are inconvenient to store.
It is really difficult to keep these things in the family, and many of them have been lost and damaged over the years.”
The Jiangnan Luo family has collected quite a lot of good things over the years, especially during the Liang Dynasty. At that time, the Luo family was frantically collecting calligraphy and paintings, utensils, and ancient books.
These objects of cultural value could fill an entire warehouse.
Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing were both shocked by the collection of Jiangnan Luo's family. This certainly does not mean that the main branch is not as good as here. This is different. Those are things that the main branch has collected for countless years, while here are things that were collected by Jiangnan Luo Su alone.
With the collection of the Jiangnan Luo family, the gap in the main branch of the Luo family in the past two hundred years has almost been made up. The history that took place during these two hundred years can be recorded bit by bit in the history books when the fortune and foundation are sufficient, but those cultural relics are hard to come by.
Once it is damaged, there is no way to recover.
“Ancestor, when the Yinghou lineage was destroyed, they brought all their collections to Jiangnan.
We have carefully collected all those things, and these things are also the credit of Yinghou's lineage."
Luo Jingcheng pointed to one part of it and said to Luo Su, his tone full of nostalgia, that the fate of the Jiangnan Luo family was at least better than that of the Yinghou lineage, which was destined to perish with the demise of the Han Dynasty.
Luo Su had learned about the history of the Luo family over the past thousand years and understood the lofty status of Ying Hou. He walked to the bookshelf and touched it. There was not a speck of dust on the bookshelf, which showed that it was often wiped. "They are all the glory of the Luo family, and they are all good men who should be recorded in history books."
Luo Su swept his eyes across the entire quiet room. He slowly raised his hand and glanced around. The things placed on the bookshelf disappeared one by one in front of Luo Jingcheng. He stared at the scene with wide eyes and was shocked. The rumors were indeed not false. There really was such a magic weapon in the family, a magic weapon called Sumeru Mustard Seed.
When the last piece of calligraphy was about to be put into the ring, Luo Su stopped, walked over to take it down, and looked at it carefully. Luo Jingcheng said proudly: "Grandfather, this is the Lanting Preface, which is known as the best running script in the world. Countless people in the world want this calligraphy, but I didn't give it to the King of Jin when he asked for it."
Luo Su looked at the flying dragon and phoenix characters, and could almost see how unrestrained and carefree the person who wrote these words must be. "It is indeed a good calligraphy. Keep it in the family first. When your child is born in the future, give this calligraphy to him. I have collected the treasure of several generations of your family. What should I do to repay your contribution?"
Luo Jingcheng was a little anxious when he heard this, and immediately said: "Grandfather, we did this voluntarily, not for the family's reward. Jiangnan Luo's family is originally a branch of the Luo family, and we always understand what the roots are."
Luo Su smiled upon hearing this and said, "Since you said you are from the Luo family, then you should know that the family has always been generous in rewarding members who have made contributions. In history, there have even been more than one case where a son who was not the head of the family inherited the position of head of the family.
You really don't want a reward?
Don't you want to hear what I have to give you?"
Luo Jingcheng said firmly: "As long as I can return to the family, this is the best reward. I really don't need anything else."
Hearing this, Luo Su said to himself with a playful look: "Just now you seemed to say that you didn't marry. I remember that there are many daughters of marriageable age in the clan. Xuan Ye, are some of your sisters of marriageable age?
I want to arrange a marriage for Boli, is that possible?"
Even a cold-faced person like Luo Xuanye could not help but suppress a smile as he said, "Reporting to the ancestor, intra-clan marriage is a tradition of our Luo clan. Brother Boli has long been out of the fifth mourning period, so he can naturally marry the legitimate daughter. His offspring will have the Holy Mark and will completely return to the arms of the Su King."
ah?
Luo Jingcheng was stunned. He never expected that such a thing would happen. Is it too late to regret now?
He really didn't need any reward or wealth or glory. If he needed it, he could go to the Sui Dynasty to be an official. With the reputation of the Luo family, he would soon become famous.
But he didn't care about any of that.
But this doesn't mean that he doesn't care about the stigmata!
That's a holy mark!
Even if he cannot possess the Holy Mark, if he becomes the husband of the legitimate daughter of the Luo family and gives birth to a child with the Holy Mark, his status in the Luo family will be almost the same as that of a person with the Holy Mark. According to legend, he can even ascend to heaven to meet the Su King.
Almost in an instant, he was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks. Now he regretted that he had said too much.
Luo Xuanjing couldn't help but want to laugh when she saw this. She had been with the old ancestor Luo Su for so many years and had long understood what kind of person the old ancestor was.
He is just like every elder of the Luo family. He is very cold and even a little unkind in front of outsiders, but he is very kind and even has a bit of a naughty old man in front of his family.
Along the way, the old ancestor would tease himself and his fifth brother from time to time. When he was with Li Yuan, the old ancestor suddenly teased Luo Xuanye, and now he started teasing Luo Jingcheng. This was a sign that the old ancestor treated Luo Jingcheng as his own.
She covered her mouth and chuckled, holding Luo Su's arm and said, "Grandfather, Brother Boli is so anxious that smoke is coming out of his head. Please stop teasing him. Brother Boli should marry a sister. I think the third sister is very good. She is well-educated and well-mannered."
Luo Xuanye had a cold face, but he complained: "A Jing, what you said is like a woman of my Luo family, who is ignorant of etiquette."
Without the blessing of their ancestors, the direct line of the Luo family lost their guaranteed talent, which indeed had a great impact on the family. This was also the reason why, after Luo Su appeared, he was eager to find a reliable dynasty for the Luo family to bind to in order to obtain a large amount of foundation.
He wants to restart the ancestral blessing!
Even though he didn't know that thing was called ancestor's blessing, he knew that a guaranteed mechanism that consumed a lot of foundation had disappeared, which led to the decline of talent in the Luo family.
However, even if there is a decline in talent, with the support of education, the situation will not be too bad, especially for women who do not have too high demands. Being well-educated and well-mannered is enough to surpass most people.
Luo Xuanjing looked at Luo Jingcheng and said with a smile: "Brother Boli, I have three sisters and three aunts, all of whom are well-educated and well-mannered. Needless to say, their looks are no worse than mine. When I return to Winter City, I will propose marriage for you, and I will make sure you are the best in the world.
When you get married in the future, you must be nice to them.
You know, if you are not from the Luo family, it is almost impossible to marry a Luo family girl. "
Luo Jingcheng certainly knew that since Huo Qubing, no one from another family had married a daughter of the Luo family. Either they did not marry, or they married within the family. As daughters of the Luo family were born to be close to gods, they were completely different from sons of the Luo family in this respect.
Luo Su looked at Luo Xuanjing talking freely, and even patted his chest to assure Luo Jingcheng, with an expression of "leave it to me", and then smiled and said leisurely: "I think you, Jing, are very good, and you and Boli are a good match. Why don't I arrange a marriage for the two of you today?
Then send a letter to Winter City and have the spirit soldier take it back to inform your parents."
ah?
Luo Xuanjing didn't expect that he was involved in this. Luo Xuanye still had a cold face, but his eyes narrowed slightly. He recalled that when Li Xiuning came, Luo Xuanjing smiled and said to him that he would have another sister-in-law.
As the old saying goes, who can escape the punishment of heaven?
This is really true, who can our ancestors spare?
————
There are two peculiarities in Luo family marriage: one is intra-clan marriage, which means marrying a relative within the five mourning periods of mourning, and having pure blood; the other is monogamous marriage, which means not taking concubines and not distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate children.
(End of this chapter)
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