Chen Baishun, a native of Yong'an County, Yanping Province, during the Daoguang years, had been selling groceries with his father since childhood, and at the age of thirteen he had practiced martial arts with the wulin masters, and was proficient in everything. As an adult, he engaged in business alone, married his wife Zhao, and had a son named Xiao Bao.
Since the age of fourteen, Xiao Bao has followed his father's side, father and son have worn through the province, there is no fixed place to live, they sell what is good to sell, although they also have losses and profits like other traders, but Chen Baishun has been drilling the way of doing business for many years, so he has earned more and less.
Merchants of the Qing Dynasty
Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like shuttles, in the blink of an eye, Xiao Bao has become a twenty-year-old boy, and Chen Baishun has also become an old man of half a hundred. Chen Baishun is well versed in the truth that shopping malls are like battlefields, and it is easy to change from a winner to a loser after years of non-stop. Moreover, the son Xiaobao has reached the age of marrying a wife and having children, if he is not in a hurry to choose a family affair for his son, he will have a happy family for his son, and the father is only afraid of owing his son.
Therefore, Chen Baishun resolutely abandoned the sale, took out all the silver that existed in the silver trumpet, bought a boat, moved all the belongings to the ship, shook the oars, returned to his hometown, and consummated Xiao Bao's marriage.
Both father and son are good at making ships, and they don't have to hire a husband to steer the ship themselves. After several days of boating, there was nothing to do, and the father and son went down the waterway during the day, and at night they moored the boat in the reeds, slept overnight, and then walked again at dawn. The reason for this is that the water thieves on the river are rampant, and it is too unsafe to sail at night. During the day, there is an endless stream of passing boats, and there are soldiers from the government patrolling the river, so the water thieves dare not do anything during the day.
Even so, the father and son were a hundred times more careful, afraid of letting the water thief's eyeliner be targeted. At night, after parking the ship in a hidden place, the father and son did not dare to rest at the same time, Chen Baishun slept in the middle of the night, and Xiao Bao slept in the second half of the night. While forbearing sleepiness, I also had to endure the bites of mosquitoes, and my eyes widened all the time, my ears straightened, and I was suddenly nervous.
Qing Dynasty figure photos
One night, the father and son hid the boat in the reeds, Chen Baishun was distressed about his son, and after a little sleep, he climbed outside the cabin to replace Xiao Bao. At this moment, a whistle sounded, and then the sound of the pulp plate driving wave was heard.
The father and son panicked, and Xiao Bao hurriedly picked up a steel knife for self-defense, only to wait for the water thief to come and fight with the water thief. Chen Baishun snatched the steel knife from Xiao Bao's hand and threw it into the water, not allowing Xiao Bao to scatter wild.
Suddenly, more than a dozen small boats rushed into the reeds like flying arrows, surrounding the boat carrying Chen Baishun's father and son, and a black-faced man holding a ghost-headed knife stood at the bow of the boat, with strange eyes wide open and a sound like a hong bell, calling himself "Old Lady of Sanjiang", threatening to chop the father and son into minced meat and throw them into the river to feed the fish.
Chen Baishun quickly pulled Xiao Bao to kneel on the board of the boat, gave the black-faced man a nod, and begged Grandpa Good Han to spare his father and son's life, and everything on the ship was filial to Grandpa Good Han.
As soon as the black-faced man waved his hand, the water thieves jumped over and looted their belongings. Chen Baishun pressed the back of Xiao Bao's neck, kneeling and not daring to move. When the black-faced man saw that he knew him, he did not kill him and ordered him to return to the water village. The boat was like an arrow, and it was gone.
Qing Dynasty warrior
After the water thief walked away, Xiao Bao broke free of his father's hand, stood up and angrily asked his father, why didn't he dare to fight with the robber? Now that all the silver accumulated has been robbed by water thieves, hasn't all these years of hard work been wasted?
After Chen Baishun sighed, he comforted Xiao Bao, there are many people on the other side, there are few people on his own side, he really wants to do it, and his two sons are not 100% opponents of others. When the money is gone, you can still earn it again, and if you don't have a life, you really have nothing, so you have to leave a small life, and you are not afraid of not making money in the future.
Although it is the most reasonable and famous saying, Xiao Bao's heart can't come out of this nest of anger no matter what, complaining that his father is too weak, and at present, in addition to this broken ship, he is already penniless, relying on what to return to his hometown, and what face to return to his hometown?
Chen Baishun thought about it and said that he might as well borrow this boat to do the ferry business, although he could not make much money, but it was still okay to barely mix with food and clothing, and when he was a little richer at hand, he would try to return to his old business, and he would be able to become a rich man for three years and five years.
Xiao Bao was not convinced, saying that he had run out of patience, had had enough of the wandering and uncertain days, he wanted to go home, marry his wife and have children, and never leave his hometown again.
Chen Baishun was distressed, he didn't have any money in his hand at the moment, what did he rely on to go home? Xiao Bao said that the rich people in the world, there are a few serious people, not all rely on pits and abductions, open robbery and secret robbery to get rich, those evil thieves rob us, we can also rob others, why bother to guard a broken ship to live a hard life, so that there will never be a day out.
Chen Baishun at first thought that what Xiao Bao said was really absurd, but after thinking about it again, Xiao Bao's words did not seem to be unreasonable, he had worked hard for half a lifetime, but in the end he gave up his filial piety to others, this evil breath was really uncomfortable in his heart, simply followed Xiao Bao's words, and also came to get it for nothing!
Seeing that his father was touched by his own words, Xiao Bao was very happy, found a sharp axe from the cabin, painted the surface with sludge, rowed the boat out of the reeds, and groped along the waterway, and finally found the "prey" at five o'clock. It was a small black-tented boat, parked alone in the dark, with no ships passing by, and it was a good time to start.
Chen Baishun rowed the boat over, and Xiao Bao jumped on the black canopy boat with a sharp axe in his hand, threatening the two men on the boat that if they wanted to live, they would take the silver, and if they didn't take the silver, they wouldn't want to live.
The two men were dressed as readers, and the frightened souls were not possessed, and they quickly took out the silver. Xiao Bao took the silver and escaped to his own boat, and Chen Baishun used all his strength to quickly punch the boat to escape. When he reached no one's place, Xiao Bao took out the silver and swept it up to twenty-two.
The first time he was a thief, he earned twenty-two, the father and son were both excited and nervous, Chen Baishun thought it was appropriate to stop, with these twenty-two pieces of silver in hand, there was no need to worry about the belly. Xiao Bao did not think so, thinking that twenty-two pieces of silver was too little, if two hundred and two was almost the same, he refused to accept it, and had to do a few more votes.
Chen Baishun could not help his son, that is, by the son's temperament. Since then, the father and son have crossed the river, and when they see a lonely boat, they follow them, and when they reach nowhere, they get on the boat and rob it. Again and again, again and again, the father and son duo soon changed from raw hands to skilled workers, within half a year, dozens of crimes, the looted property was far more than the property they had been robbed of, but the two had eaten the marrow, more and more greedy, Chen Baishun had thought many times to take it, but as soon as he saw the silver of the white flowers, he immediately dismissed this idea.
One day, Xiao Bao found out that he had robbed the hiding place of his black-faced man, the man's nickname was indeed called "Sanjiang Old Lady", a Jiangyang thief who specialized in eating waterways, there were forty or fifty cubs under his hands, and the government rewarded him for arresting this number of times, but this person's luck was excellent, he could escape the pursuit every time, and for many years he had been across the water, and it was said that he alone had more than a dozen lives on his hands.
Xiao Bao was bent on revenge for the day, and since the old lady had let him know where the enemy was hiding, it was Providence that he had completed his hand-bladed enemy. Therefore, Xiao Bao told his father that he wanted to take revenge. Chen Baishun advised his son not to come hu lai, and Xiao Bao's mind was already determined, and he could not listen to his father's words at all.
Chen Baishun saw that he could not convince his son, so he went along with his son's thoughts. Just like that, the father and son quietly rowed the boat to the hiding place of the "Old Lady of Sanjiang", And Xiao Bao held a sharp blade, avoided the eyeliner, and quietly entered the residence of the "Old Lady of Sanjiang", and the knife fell in his hand, resulting in the life of the enemy.
Unexpectedly, when I went in, I was not found, but when I came out, I was discovered, and the water thieves heard that the scoop was killed, and each took a knife and gun to hunt down the murderer. As a result, the river was in chaos, and after hearing the news, the government immediately dispatched soldiers and horses, not only capturing the water thieves, but also capturing Chen Baishun and Chen Xiaobao, the father and son.
Prisoner of the Qing Dynasty
After three consecutive lessons, Chen Baishun and Xiao Bao had to confess what they had done under the great punishment. In this way, the evidence is conclusive, and the father and son were sentenced to death along with the great thieves. Xiao Bao was not convinced, claiming that he had stabbed a wanted criminal of the imperial court, and he also worked the imperial court, hoping to be able to offset the merit and leave him with a life. However, the government thought that his words and deeds were too absurd to fulfill his wishes, and cut off his head.
Originally a father and son who were honest and honest, after encountering a catastrophe, they changed from victim to perpetrator, and in the end they had to pay the price of their lives for their own confusion, which could not help but make people feel sad, pity, and sad. As for whether it is pitiful or not, it is really difficult to say. If we have to say that the father and son are pitiful, doesn't that correspond to the old saying that "there must be something hateful about the poor"?