The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Zhang Pingan staggered when he heard this. Wow, this name made him feel like he had accidentally entered the Three Kingdoms.

If the background wasn't completely wrong, he would really think he had met Guo Jia when he was down and out.

Everyone's attitude towards the tail following behind them was to ignore them and not ask anything. Both sides kept to themselves. However, a few children were very curious about Guo Jia and wanted to talk to him, but were stopped by the adults!

Another thirty miles ahead is Gao'an County. Logically, the closer to the county town, the richer it should be. However, as people look around, the landscape becomes more and more desolate. There is not a single speck of green on the ground, and the edible tree bark has been stripped away.

The most important thing is that there are no signs of the fields being turned over. Generally speaking, in order to be able to farm better in the spring of the following year, farmers will use hoes or shovels to weed and loosen the soil in the fields before the winter gets completely cold. Those who have cows will also plow the land again.

"It seems that the bandits near the county town are indeed quite rampant." Zhang Ping'an's first reaction was to think of the bandits' violence.

Guo Jia, who had overheard this from behind, stepped forward and said, "The fertile fields near the county town all belong to the wealthy families in the city, and those who cultivate them are tenants. Now the world is bad, with heavy taxes, military service, and corvée labor. The wealthy families would rather leave their fields uncultivated than reduce rents, forcing the tenants near the county town to seek a living elsewhere. Some have become bandits, and some have sold themselves into slavery, which is why we have the situation you see now."

Zhang Pingan: This is a bit like dumping milk into the sea somewhere in my past life...

Li came from a very poor family, and when she heard such stories, she felt a certain empathy. "It's the same everywhere. Those landlords and gentry are all so cruel. They feed meat to dogs, but don't even give a full meal of coarse grain to the farmhands. People are worse than dogs!"

Ma curled her lips and said, "Who can blame them for their bad luck? They were born with very little land and will only get poorer and poorer. Fortunately, our ancestors of the Zhang family left us dozens of acres of land, so we don't have to rent out the land to farm."

Li rolled her eyes and said unhappily, "How are we any better than others now?"

Zhang Pingan ignored the bickering and asked Guo Jia, "Brother Guo, do you know anything about the bandits near the county town? Is it possible for us to get through safely?"

Guo Jia shook his head: "I can't say for sure, but since they are bandits, they are definitely more cruel than ordinary people. They can't be considered good citizens."

After mid-afternoon, they arrived near the county town and could see the city wall from afar. Many people doing forced labor were working on the wall.

There was a wide moat under the city wall, and another group of people doing forced labor were digging ditches near the moat.

The closer we got, the more we could see the empty and numb eyes of the people, and the supervisors would whip them from behind from time to time to drive them away.

Everyone who saw it was shocked.

Zhang said, "Service is hard, and you might even lose your life. That's why I've always asked you to pay. If conditions permit, I'll use money to pay for the suffering instead of you!"

Zhang Lao Er also shook his head and sighed, "Our Ezhou is a good place, a land of fish and rice, the people are mostly wealthy, the corvée labor is not too heavy, and you can use silver to compensate for it. I really haven't suffered from corvée labor at all."

The same goes for Zhang Laosan. He has never suffered the hardship of corvee labor. Life is learned by comparison. Now he realizes how comfortable his life used to be.

Although the gate of Gao'an County was open, there were not many people coming in or out. It was obvious that it was not a good place.

Guo Jia also said, "This county magistrate is not a good man. He not only drives away refugees and beggars, but I heard that if he can't drive them away, he will pretend to give out porridge and then poison the porridge. After the people are poisoned, he will have the yamen runners drag them to the mass grave and dump them. That's why you see so few people at the city gate."

Zhang Pingan believed this. In any case, if the county city gate was open and public security was normal, it would be impossible for there to be only two or three people at the city gate.

"Huh," Zhang Pingan let out a long breath. "Let's keep going! But the bandits near the county town are a problem. Everyone should be more alert. I wonder if it would be feasible to travel at night?"

This question was asked to Zhang, Grandpa Jinbao and Brother Liu.

Grandpa Jinbao said, "I also think that we should find a place nearby to hide and rest for one night and the whole day tomorrow to recuperate. When it's completely dark tomorrow night, we can march all the way to a place far away from Gao'an County. Walking during the day is too conspicuous. If so many of us encounter bandits, there will definitely be casualties. It's best to avoid them."

Zhang thought about it and agreed.

So Erzhu went ahead to explore the way and see if there was a suitable valley or cave to stay.

Finally, they rested at the foot of a steep slope twenty miles away from the county town. First, it was to shelter from the wind, and second, the place was well hidden and there were no snakes, insects, rats or ants.

It took Zhang Laoer a lot of effort to lead the mule away. Fortunately, the mule was docile and quiet and didn't make any noise.

This place is some distance away from the official road, but not too far, so no one dares to make a fire. Once a fire is made and smoke comes out, it will be easily discovered.

Guo Jia also found a place to sit not far below the slope.

We still take turns to keep watch.

Everyone slept until dawn and woke up on time according to their biological clocks. However, they were not traveling during the day, so in order to save energy, everyone had to hold their children and lean against the slope to continue taking a nap.

At this time, the sound of wheels came from the official road. No one dared to look at who it was. They quickly covered the child's mouth and held their breath, waiting for the car to pass.

In the quiet early morning, even the slightest sound is clear.

As the sound of the wheels slowly faded away, everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief when they heard a strong man on the road suddenly shout, "Stop! This road is mine, and these trees are mine. If you want to pass this way, you have to pay me money!"

From the sound of footsteps, there were about twenty people running down the small slope opposite.

Everyone's hearts, which had just relaxed, immediately became tense again and they were extremely nervous.

Zhang Pingan couldn't understand: How could this damn robbery terminology be unified across the country?

Even more surprising is yet to come.

The voice of the robbed man was quite calm and sounded familiar. He said, "I'm a friend of Boss Hu from the county. I work for him. Brothers, can you please let me go? I have 20 taels of silver. This is not a small gift, but just an invitation to drink. Let's be friends!"

The man on the other side took the silver and snorted coldly, "Boss Hu is so outdated now. Now the brothers only recognize Boss Xi from Dashizigang. You guys are hiding in the county town, enjoying the best food and drink every day, while we are suffering in the valley. You think you can get away with just 20 taels? No way! I want them all!"

After saying that, he uttered an unsatisfied "Pah" and continued, "Damn it, you think the brothers are all stupid, and you chose to leave at dawn. Let me tell you, I brought people here to ambush you in the middle of the night!"

After he finished speaking, he spat on his arm and said, "Damn, mosquitoes in winter are so vicious. They bit me and gave me a big bump on my arm!"