Chapter 391 Busy Year
According to the old customs of people in Beijing, the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month is called “Little New Year”.

On this day, the customs in most parts of Xia State are similar to those in the capital, and are all called “Little Year”.

The reason why it is called this is probably because the Spring Festival, which is the “big year”, will be here in a few days.

Therefore, it can also be said that the “Little New Year” is the prelude or overture to the “Big New Year”!
Before this, in the many days since Liu Zhiye returned, apart from visiting relatives and friends, he just went to the division headquarters on time to report for duty.

In the Second Guard Division, his duties did not seem to be heavy. At the end of the year, he participated in the summary meeting and participated in the summary and commendation of the entire division; afterwards, he visited the training conditions of the grassroots troops with a small group of people and gave necessary attention and encouragement.

This year, the Second Guard Division ushered in its transformation. At the beginning of the reorganization, although some elite field troops were incorporated, and their combat effectiveness and military quality were unrivaled, the combat effectiveness and quality of the members of the original public security detachment still needed to be tempered and improved.

Faced with this situation, General Liu Zhiye tailored the “Liu Zhiye Training Method”. As soon as this method was introduced, it was regarded as a standard by the troops, quickly became popular throughout the army, and set off a vigorous training craze.

The Second Guard Division took advantage of this opportunity and made great progress. As a latecomer, it surpassed the competitions of the entire army and achieved many outstanding achievements, winning many honors.

After nearly two years of rigorous training, the Second Guard Division has been completely transformed and has a brand new look.

After visiting various departments, Liu Zhiye was filled with praise. Although he had not been stationed in the army for a year, Deputy Chief of Staff Xu Rong stabilized the overall situation with his calmness, diligence and self-knowledge.

Xu Rong was not a genius, but he was able to manage the General Staff in an orderly manner while following Liu Zhiye’s established strategy, with the rules and regulations followed and order maintained.

What is particularly rare is that he maintained a high level of respect for the much younger Chief of Staff Liu Zhiye, frequently reported work progress, and demonstrated good professionalism and team spirit.

Liu Zhiye’s evaluation of Xu Rong was growing day by day, and he had secretly calculated in his heart that when the time was right and his position was promoted, the General Staff would strongly recommend him to take over the important position.

In view of the outstanding abilities and unremitting efforts demonstrated by Xu Rong over the past year, the Party Committee of the Division would probably readily agree. After all, Xu Rong’s achievements and potential are obvious to all and are convincing enough.

If Xu Rong successfully took over the important position of Chief of Staff from Liu Zhiye, Liu Zhiye had already secretly locked in his mind the candidate for the position of Deputy Chief of Staff left by Xu Rong, that is, the commander of the armored regiment Meng Luyu, and planned to let him serve concurrently as Deputy Chief of Staff. This move would undoubtedly greatly enhance the command effectiveness and strategic vision of the general staff.

Meng Luyu is a military elite with overseas education background, and his resume is full of glorious chapters.

He once personally led a powerful tank brigade to engage in a head-on confrontation with the mechanized army of the M Army. He was able to gain the upper hand in a head-on confrontation and repeatedly defeated the M Army’s ace division, demonstrating his extraordinary armored combat command ability.

If he can join the General Staff this time, he will definitely inject new vitality and wisdom into the General Staff with his profound professional qualities and practical experience. He is a very rare armored command talent.

What is particularly crucial is that Meng Luyu has now become an indispensable and capable general under Liu Zhiye.

The two men have a deep connection. They fought side by side during the war to resist Mongol aggression and aid Korea, and they have forged an indestructible comradeship. The mutual appreciation and respect between them has lasted for a long time.

The transfer of Meng Luyu to the General Staff in the future was actually a well-considered move by Liu Zhiye, intended to further consolidate his leadership and control over the Second Division, demonstrating his far-reaching strategic vision and careful layout.

Liu Zhiye has repeatedly summoned these loyal subordinates since his return. After a long absence, he aims to stabilize the morale of the army and inject a shot of adrenaline into the supporters of this faction to boost morale.

Although Liu Zhiye has not appeared frequently in the army for a year, his prestige is growing day by day.

Everyone was smart and it was obvious that their leader had a bright future.

Once Chief of Staff Liu Zhiye graduates from the Military Academy, he will at least be promoted to deputy division commander, and even the position of acting division commander will not be out of reach.

The rumor that the commander of the 2nd Guard Division would concurrently serve as deputy commander of the Beijing Garrison District had already spread throughout the division.

Everyone is generally optimistic about the prospect that Chief of Staff Liu may serve as deputy division commander and acting division commander in the future, believing that this will be a natural thing.

Therefore, no one will be so blinded by greed that they will vote for someone else.

If there was one, Liu Zhiye would not have relied on him as his confidant. He believed that he had his own vision for people.

As a person in a higher position, Liu Zhiye’s demeanor is also admired by his followers.

“If a person in a high position is not generous, if he is not respectful in performing ceremonies, if he is not mournful in front of a deceased person, how can I view him?”

As a superior, you need to be magnanimous, have a respectful and fearful attitude, have sincere emotions when encountering things, and treat everyone sincerely.

Therefore, Liu Zhiye was well-versed in history books and knew success and failure.

Therefore, he is broad-minded, kind to others, lenient to others and strict with himself, and is deeply respected and loved by commanders and fighters.

After Liu Zhiye returned, his first task was to frequently visit the grassroots level, to show concern for the officers and soldiers, and to show meticulous care. He actively communicated with the grassroots soldiers and discussed military training strategies. What he had in mind was the unswerving dream of strengthening the army and the blueprint for its construction.

…………

After completing these tasks, Liu Zhiye no longer needed to stand guard in the barracks. After all, he was in the learning stage, and his rotating status allowed him to enjoy this relative freedom.

Therefore, he was free again on the Little New Year’s Day, and rarely went to the military camp. Because he had accidentally provoked “Empress Dowager Deng” in the morning, he was now staying at home with his head lowered and being ordered around to clean the house!

You say he is a chief of staff at the division level who is in charge of 10 to 20 thousand people, but it is rare for him to be so embarrassed.

“I say, at such a young age, can’t you be more nimble with your hands and feet?” Mother Deng Ru is still very angry and I am still not calm down!

She saw Liu Zhiye working for a while and then secretly slacking off, and couldn’t help but scold him.

Seeing this, Gan Ning and her younger sister Liu Zhiruo smiled secretly with their hands covering their mouths, but no one dared to provoke Deng Ru easily. They ignored Liu Zhiye and each buried their heads in the work in their hands.

Today, their family is extremely busy. The huge courtyard needs to be cleaned thoroughly, which is by no means an easy task.

“Oh! I should have known not to build such a big yard to live in. It’s too troublesome to clean it up…” Liu Zhiye thought depressedly as he stood on the ladder and cleaned the cobwebs on the roof.

Today is the Little New Year, and the Liu family has two tasks, one is “spring cleaning” and the other is “worshiping the kitchen god”.

The Kitchen God worship ceremony in the capital area is held on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the night of the Little New Year.

It is also called “sending off the Kitchen God”, which means sending the Kitchen God to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on his work for the year.

The people in the capital are quite particular about “worshiping the kitchen god”. When worshiping the kitchen god, they have to put offerings in front of the shrine, including a dish of Guandong sugar, a dish of sugar melons, a dish of southern sugar, a dish of hard-wheat cakes, a dish of horse grass and feed, and a bowl of cold water.

When offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God in the evening, light “small double-pack” (a kind of small candles packaged in pairs).

During the worship, three incense sticks are lit and inserted into the incense burner. There are many rules in the old capital, and meat, dried or fresh fruits and the like cannot be used as offerings.

The offerings to the “Kitchen God” do not require chicken, duck, fish, meat, dried or fresh fruits, nor are there any cattle or sheep. Just some “sugar melons” will do.

Families that are a little more sophisticated would offer him a bowl of “lotus seed eight-treasure rice” steamed with glutinous rice, and the old man would be even more satisfied.

The divine horse that the Kitchen God rides is also offered with fried beans with fragrant dregs and clear water.

In addition, there is the rule that “men do not offer sacrifices to the moon, and women do not offer sacrifices to the kitchen god.”

Therefore, when worshiping the Kitchen God, women, young and old, had to hide; the man who was the head of the family would lead the way, and the others would kowtow and worship in order of seniority.

After the worship, Guandong sugar should be melted on the stove and smeared on the mouths of “Kitchen God” and “Kitchen God’s Wife”, which means to cover their mouths with sugar. When meeting the “Jade Emperor”, one should have a sweet mouth and only say good things, not bad things.

After the worship, the offerings are removed, the “Kitchen God” statue and the shrine are taken down from the wall and burned in the courtyard to send the “Kitchen God” away. After the worship of the Kitchen God, only the “receiving the Kitchen God” will be held on the night of New Year’s Eve, when the newly invited “Kitchen God” will be placed.

“Kitchen God” is a god in folk legends. The full title of Kitchen God is “East Kitchen Siming Jiuling Yuanwang Dingfu Shenjun”, which means the god of the kitchen.

“Kitchen God” is an official sent by the Jade Emperor to the human world to investigate the good and evil deeds of each family.

December 24th is the day when the Kitchen God leaves the human world and goes to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on what the family has done in the past year, so every household has to “send off the Kitchen God”.

When offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, offerings are arranged, incense is burned, and then the first wine is offered. At this time, a sincere prayer is made to the Kitchen God. After this, the second wine is offered. After the third wine is offered, the old image of the Kitchen God is torn down and burned together with the armor horse and money, which represents sending the Kitchen God to heaven. The ceremony is then successfully completed.

After the Kitchen God Festival, preparations for the New Year officially begin. From the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year’s Eve, the old capital city calls this period “Welcome Spring Day” or “Dust Sweeping Day”.

Sweeping the dust is the year-end cleaning, which is a traditional custom of the Xia people. In addition, from this day on, people will prepare food for the New Year.

On the day of Little New Year, every household will cut window flowers.

After cutting the window paper-cuts, you can paste them in the newly cleaned house, adding a lot of New Year’s joy to the home.

The window paper-cut patterns include various stories about animals, plants, and people, such as magpie climbing on plum tree, peacock playing with peony, lion rolling embroidered ball, three sheep (yang) bringing good luck, two dragons playing with pearls, deer, crane, tung tree and toon (six harmonies in spring), five bats (blessing) holding longevity, rhinoceros looking at the moon, lotus (continuous) year with fish (surplus), mandarin ducks playing in water, Liu Hai playing with golden cicada, the two immortals of harmony and unity… and other things with beautiful meanings.

Those who were better off prepared “lanterns”. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the production of “lanterns” in the capital was very sophisticated and there were many varieties.

For example, Tang Yin, a painter from the Ming Dynasty, wrote in a poem: “Without the moon there is no entertainment, without the lanterns there is no spring. When spring comes, people’s hearts are like jade, lanterns burn and the moon is like silver. The streets are full of village girls wearing pearls and jade, and the music and singing are like the gods of the community. If you don’t open your mouth and smile, how can you spend this good time?”

No matter in his past or present life, Liu Zhiye’s favorite time when he was a child was the days from Little New Year to New Year.

Because children love to worship the Kitchen God the most. After the worship, the remaining Guandong candy, sesame candy and popcorn candy become children’s favorite foods.

And not only because there are candies to eat, but also because of the upcoming New Year. “Sugar melons are offered to the Kitchen God, the New Year is coming, girls want flowers, boys want firecrackers!”

The first thing children do during the Chinese New Year is to buy mixed fruit, which is a mixture of various dried fruits such as peanuts, dates, hazelnuts, chestnuts, etc. mixed with candied fruits.

Ordinary mixed vegetables have skins, while high-end ones are skinless – for example: ordinary mixed vegetables use hazelnuts with skins, while high-end ones use hazelnut pulp.

Children love to eat these odds and ends, and Liu Zhiye was no exception when he was a child. Even if there were no dumplings to eat, he had to buy mixed dishes.

Their second priority is to buy firecrackers, especially for the boys. The third priority is probably to buy toys—kites, diabolos, harmonicas, etc.—and New Year pictures.

In addition, during these busy New Year days, you can also eat a variety of traditional foods that you would not normally be able to eat.

After Laba Festival, people begin to prepare New Year’s goods. The so-called “New Year’s goods” refer to food, clothing and daily necessities during the New Year.

The book “Spring Ming Collection Records” which describes the customs of the old capital states: “All the things needed at the end of the year, when the twelfth lunar month comes, stalls are gradually set up in the streets…door gods, hanging money, calligraphy and paintings, couplets, Buddhist flowers, firecrackers, honey offerings, Lantern Festival, fish and shrimp…kites, playing cards, revolving lanterns, children’s toys, everything is bought, it is called the busy year.” The old capital people called this busy phenomenon of a series of purchases and hard work before the New Year the “busy year.”

As soon as the twelfth lunar month begins, many suburban farmers who are off-season and peddlers specializing in seasonal goods gather in Liujiazhuang to hawk their wares along the streets or set up stalls in greenhouses to sell New Year’s goods.

The New Year goods on the stalls are also varied, with a wide variety of food, drinks, clothing, accessories, and New Year supplies, ornaments, and decorations.

During the Chinese New Year holiday, from the afternoon of New Year’s Eve to the fifth day of the first lunar month, all businesses must be closed, no matter how big or small the store is.

Therefore, everything to eat and use for the New Year must be prepared before the New Year. Food and drink are the main items of New Year’s goods. The stomach has been empty for a year, and people are looking forward to replenishing it during the New Year. In addition to chicken, duck, fish and meat, fruits should also be bought, such as mountain red, frozen crabapple, frozen persimmon, apple, radish golden cake strips, peach preserves, apricot preserves, melon strips and other preserved fruits, plus peanut sticky, sugar beans, fruit candies, etc., which are colorful, messy and rich.

Of course, materials were scarce in those days, and almost all goods were supplied based on book value, tickets, or per capita.

Although many grocery stores organized “New Year trucks” to go around the streets, queues were still inevitable. Every household queuing up to buy meat became a big event that “mobilized the whole family.”

Let the children go and occupy the space first, and when the parents think it is soon their turn, they rush in themselves, just to say a few good words to the butcher and get more fat meat to take home to make oil for cooking.

In addition, some families will buy some chicken and seafood. These foods are also supplied in fixed quantities, so you have to line up early, otherwise you won’t be able to buy them if you go too late.

For some families who are not well off, being able to buy frozen hairtail at 38 cents per pound means they will have “abundance every year”.

On New Year’s Eve, the whole family sits together and chooses their favorite food. It is the happiest moment of the year.

It’s a busy New Year, a busy New Year. Although everyone in the family is busy, the busiest people are actually the housewives in each household.

After buying the New Year’s goods, women’s work has just begun. Not only do they have to make new clothes for children and adults, but they also have to prepare and process food for the New Year, steaming, boiling, frying and deep-frying. Although it is tiring, they are happy in their hearts.

Before the Chinese New Year, people in Beijing would steam several large pots of the snow-white big steamed buns and flower rolls that they usually wouldn’t eat.

The steamed buns are also decorated with a red dot and a red date. They look good and delicious, like a work of art. Fried tofu, meatballs, chops, bean paste, made tofu, etc. The fragrance fills the entire courtyard.

When Liu Zhiye was a child, he liked to hang around busy adults. When the adults were not paying attention, he would steal a piece of candy or a few soaked red dates…

In addition, his favorite dish is “bean paste”, also known as “New Year’s beans”, which is made by cooking pork skin, soybeans, diced tofu, diced carrots, and diced pickled dumplings together.

Put the prepared bean paste into a clean container, close the lid and place it in a cold place. It will solidify when it cools down and can be cut into small pieces when eaten.

It means “year after year, colorful and varied”, and is a Beijing-style cold dish served during the festival.

Also, Liu Zhiye likes to eat the tofu made at home the most.

People in Beijing say: “On the 23rd, sticky sugar melons; on the 24th, sweep the house; on the 25th, grind tofu; on the 26th, go cut meat; on the 27th, slaughter the New Year chicken; on the 28th, let the dough rise; on the 29th, steam buns; stay up all night on the 30th, twist your body on the first day of the new year, and eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve every year.”

The “25th, grinding tofu” is actually the beginning of the preparations for the essential “New Year’s goods” for the old Beijingers during the Spring Festival. The “腐” in tofu is homophonic with the “福” in happiness, so tofu represents praying for “happiness”.

According to research, tofu was invented by Liu An, the King of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty. Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote in his poem “Tofu”: “I planted beans but the sprouts were sparse, my strength was exhausted and my heart was rotten. If I had known the Huainan technique earlier, I would have been able to sit back and enjoy the spring cloth.”

Tofu is white, simple and clean, and can be paired with any food. There is a saying among the people that “green vegetables and tofu ensure safety”. Tofu can be used as a “home-cooked dish” and can also be included in the “Manhan Banquet”.

People in Beijing love to eat tofu, from the simplest “tofu with green onions”, to the most common “Mapo tofu”, to the complicated “eight-treasure tofu”… a piece of seemingly ordinary tofu can evolve into millions of dishes.

The tofu in some restaurants in the old capital are also very famous, such as the big tofu from Tongheju, the clay pot tofu from Shaguoju, and the fish head tofu from Fuqinglou in Xidan Hutong… They are all mouth-watering delicacies.

To this day, there is still a children’s song that goes like this: “If you want to be fat, go open a tofu shop and fill your stomach with hot tofu pudding all day long.”

“They grind tofu in the middle of the night, grind it into soy milk, boil it in a pot, add gypsum or brine, and press it again and again to make tofu.”

In order to celebrate the Spring Festival, people start preparations early, usually starting from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month of the previous year and continuing until New Year’s Eve.

People have to prepare food and clothes for the New Year, worship their ancestors, worship gods, post couplets, prepare firecrackers, and so on.

So, the approximately one week from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year’s Eve is all about preparations for the Spring Festival.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Liujiazhuang will hold the last big market before the New Year. People from the surrounding areas will go to the market to buy New Year’s goods. In addition to food and drinks, they also buy some festive decorations, such as New Year pictures, spring couplets, incense sticks, firecrackers, etc.

After buying these things, and pairing them with the food prepared for the New Year at home, the festive atmosphere comes out all at once.

(End of this chapter)