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

The old lady thought about it and felt that this was not a bad thing for her family at all. After all, she would get a monthly salary if she went there. If she didn't do her job well and was sent back, it wouldn't be a big loss. Farmers have nothing but strength.

Although Erlangzi is stupid, he is very filial and listens to his grandmother's words.

After the old lady agreed, Erlangzi also nodded.

The family still had to pack up their things, and the rice seedlings in the fields had not been planted yet, so it would take a few days before they could go to the county government office.

Zhang Ping'an was not an unreasonable person, so he nodded in agreement. He thought the village chief was a nice and down-to-earth person, so he asked the village chief to help send people to the county government office when the time came.

From now on, please take care of the crops in Erlangzi's family's fields.

"If I find out that someone is deliberately destroying something, I will hold you accountable," Zhang Pingan said calmly.

"No, no, please rest assured, sir, I will definitely keep an eye on it," said the village chief with a bow.

After resolving the matter, Zhang Ping'an and his group returned home to the county government office.

When we arrived at the county government office, it was already late.

Knowing that the new county magistrate Zhang Ping'an did not like wine and food, everyone consciously went home.

It was only after returning to the rear court that Zhang Ping'an realized that he had received three letters today.

Haven't opened them yet.

Qian Youyi did not ask about these things and respected Zhang Ping'an's personal privacy very much.

Zhang Ping'an sat down and opened the letters. The first one was from his eldest brother-in-law. It had been almost a month since he received his instructions, and his eldest brother-in-law had indeed been helping with the investigation diligently and responsibly.

Some clues were also found.

The people who came and went around Guo Jia were a very mixed bunch, from all walks of life, including officials of low rank.

Moreover, he recently bought a large house in a remote area of ​​the suburbs. There is someone on duty at the gate from morning to night, and the security is very strict. I don’t know what is going on inside.

My eldest brother-in-law said that he once asked Xiao Yifei to use his position to let his colleagues go to check out the house. Apart from the fact that there were very few furniture, they didn't see anything unusual at the time.

But Guo Jia went there very frequently, and his brother-in-law always felt something was wrong. He felt that this doubt needed to be raised with Zhang Pingan.

He also talked about the situation at home in detail. His grandparents were in good health, and his uncle, third uncle, and Erya's families were all doing well.

The prices in Lin'an are getting more and more expensive, and my uncle and his family have no good livelihood, so they don't live a very rich life.

The last sentence was written in Daya's handwriting. It was crooked and the characters were large, making it very recognizable.

It was said that Liu Ya was pregnant now and it had been three months. Because of the lack of experience and the lack of reactions that a pregnant woman should have, it was not discovered before.

In any case, this is a great joyous event and we should tell them about it.

Zhang Ping'an frowned when he saw the first half, but couldn't help but smile when he saw the second half.

He planned to write back to them later and send some gifts to them. As for his uncle and third uncle's families, he thought about it and decided to ask his eldest uncle's relationship to find them a job first.

Firstly, it is a better income, and secondly, it is a chance to gain experience. If necessary, I can ask them to come to Ci County to help me.

My eldest uncle is more tactful and thorough than the other uncles, and he has real power. He just received 600,000 taels of silver from me not long ago. Whether it is for this relationship or for the money, it should not be difficult to arrange a job for him.

The second letter was from Lin Junhui. It started with a flowery greeting, then praised him for his excellent handling of the smuggling salt case, and finally subtly suggested that the higher-ups would soon increase their efforts in salt mining.

Every new policy and every regulation promulgated by the court has a purpose.

If you want to get into the officialdom, you must learn to interpret the inner meanings and respond in time.

Salt and iron are both important materials. It is impossible for people to live without salt. There are many salt fields in the south, so it is easier to get salt than in the north.

Now they have to increase the intensity of salt mining. Zhang Pingan guessed that they were probably preparing for war.

A northern expedition is unlikely as the imperial court does not have the capability to do so at present. In addition, the flood season is approaching and it is not a good time.

It would be good enough if we could hold the front line temporarily and avoid being attacked from the north.

Then, the battlefield can only be in the south.

There are still many rebels in various places in the south. For example, Yuezhou, where Zhang Pingan had stayed before, has declared himself king for two or three years.

Also, places like Yichun that I passed through when I came to Lin'an were not peaceful.

The outside must be safe first!

If you think about it, this is a good tactic.

Now that Nanxia has recuperated, the people's hearts have gradually stabilized, and financial resources have been accumulated. With Lin'an as the center, it will move eastward and gradually recover lost territory. There is a great possibility of success.

Moreover, during the flood season, there is no need to worry about two groups of people from the north crossing the river south.

It’s a good time!

Considering Lord Zhou’s massive shipbuilding plan, there must be people within the court who have the idea of ​​moving further north.

Whether for the court or the people, a unified court is a good thing.

Otherwise, with constant fighting every day, the people would not have enough to sustain themselves.

After thinking about this, Zhang Pingan felt a little excited and prepared to go to the salt field tomorrow.

The third letter was quite unexpected. It was sent by my fourth brother-in-law Qian Yu. After a few pleasantries, he talked about his work in Xiangshan.

The government office over there was in a mess and it took him a lot of effort to clean it up.

Then he also mentioned that the court wanted to increase the intensity of salt mining. After all, Xiangshan also had salt fields, so he gave him some information.

Finally, he mentioned two things in a tactful way. The first was that it would be better not to report the salt field's output truthfully to leave some room for himself. The second was that he was planning to organize people to go out to sea to suppress pirates and asked him if he wanted to join.

These pirates frequently rob and kill people, which has a very bad impact. We have to wipe them out!

Maritime trade and smuggling were both prosperous in the two places, so naturally there would be pirates. However, no vicious incidents had occurred in Ci County yet, and people could basically be redeemed by paying silver.

In comparison, the pirates on Xiangshan are more rampant. It is said that there is a group of pirates entrenched on a small island in the East China Sea a hundred miles away from Xiangshan.

Zhang Pingan understood that on the surface they were asking him if he wanted to join them, but in reality they were asking him for help and asking him to provide manpower.

This is no joke. The county's maritime inspection department usually just hangs around the coast, catching smuggling or merchant ships. Letting them clash with those battle-hardened and vicious pirates is like a little Karami, and they probably won't be able to handle it!

After pondering for a while, Zhang Ping'an got up and replied to each letter one by one.

Now that his fourth brother-in-law had said this, it was definitely not possible for him not to send people, but he also didn't want these people to die in vain.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of what his sixth brother-in-law had mentioned before, that he was making a fire egg gun. Zhang Ping'an felt that this was the prototype of a tubular firearm.

I don’t know what stage I have reached now and whether it can be of any use. I have to write to ask.

Zhang Ping'an stopped writing only after he had written five letters in a row, addressed to his eldest brother-in-law, sixth brother-in-law, eldest uncle, fourth uncle and Lin Junhui respectively.