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

"This... I'm afraid I may not be able to do this job," Director Mai said hesitantly.

Zhang Pingan waved his hand and said encouragingly, "You are in charge of the Inspection Office and have worked there for ten years. No one in the county knows more about water warfare than you. If even you can't do it, then the others will be even less capable. You should train these three hundred people first and see if you can produce any results. We can deal with the rest later."

After a pause, he continued, "Could it be that Director Mai has some concerns after hearing that the county is going to send people out to sea to eliminate pirates?"

Director Mai quickly bowed and said in a deep voice, "I dare not. Besides, destroying pirates is my duty. I have no concerns."

"That's good," Zhang Ping'an nodded. "I can provide fifty people, and you can select thirty experienced people from the Inspection Office. The remaining two hundred or so people can be recruited from the county. Everyone will receive a monthly salary of two taels of silver, including food and accommodation."

When Director Mai heard the salary, he looked up in surprise: "The salary is so high?"

"Only when there is a big reward can one be a brave man. This job is not that easy, and I don't want just anyone. The candidate must be a good swimmer, a man of courage and bravery," Zhang Ping'an said seriously.

Director Mai asked hesitantly, "Only young ones?"

Zhang Pingan saw that Director Mai seemed to have something to say, so he asked, "Do you have any insights?"

Director Mai replied, "Actually, youth has its advantages, and age has its advantages. Many young people lack the mental fortitude to survive and are afraid of the sight of blood. On the contrary, some older people, while not as strong as the young, are more experienced and calmer. They can handle dangerous situations on the water more calmly. So, when recruiting, I want to set aside fifty spots for older people, between thirty and forty-five."

"Okay, you take care of the arrangements. I will also inform Yang Dianshi about this matter so that he can go to the household department to allocate the money," Zhang Pingan said decisively.

After Director Mai left, Zhang Pingan leaned back in his chair and thought about how to get more gunpowder and iron, which he needed for weapons and equipment, as well as the expenses of various departments in the county government.

Although 100,000 taels of silver were distributed from County Magistrate Yu's case, 5,000 taels were given to each of Green Bean Eyes and his men, leaving only 85,000 taels, which could not withstand long-term consumption.

Increase revenue and reduce expenditure, we must both increase revenue and reduce expenditure!

After resting for a while, Zhang Pingan picked up his pen and wrote a letter to Lin'an, asking his uncle's family to find an escort agency to escort his grandparents over here.

The two sides were not far apart. Five days later, Zhang and Old Man Zhang came over, and Yingniang also came with them.

Although Xu was a little confused, she didn't ask any more questions.

It was Zhang who took advantage of Yingniang's absence to explain, "Meizi and Yingniang got pregnant at the same time, and both were very pregnant. Your sister-in-law couldn't take care of two pregnant women by herself. Now that she's three months pregnant and the fetus is stable, I asked her to come with us to Ci County. She can go back after giving birth during the New Year."

"Ah? Both of them are pregnant?" Xu was surprised.

"Well, about three months," Zhang nodded.

Xu was a little angry when she heard this. She sat down and said, "Nar Yingniang is a legitimate wife. It was fine if they didn't have children before, but now they are both pregnant at the same time. Why is she the one coming here?"

Zhang lowered her head and lit a cigarette as she spoke, "You don't live with us, so you don't know. Whether it's your sister-in-law or Dazhu, they both favor Meizi now. Two pregnant women seeing each other all the time is easy to cause conflicts. Instead of living in that awkward place and affecting your mood, it's better for you to stay with us. When Yingniang gives birth, whether it's a boy or a girl, at least you have a boy and a girl to rely on, so it won't matter anymore!"

"Well, it's not easy for her. She's pregnant for the first time at such an old age. Has she consulted a midwife?" asked Mrs. Xu.

"I saw it and it's said to be a girl," said Zhang.

"No wonder," Xu shook her head and said no more.

Yingniang, who was hiding beside the flower hall, had already burst into tears.

I went back to the backyard, wiped my face, and stayed there for a while before going to the flower hall to eat.

Xu could see that Yingniang had cried, but she didn't point it out to avoid embarrassment.

Warmly invite a few people to have dinner.

As the saying goes, things smell good from a distance but smell bad up close, and this is really true.

I didn’t think it was a big deal before, but after living in Ci County for a while, I suddenly saw Zhang and others and felt quite familiar with them.

"Yingniang, eat more, don't be polite," Xu helped pick up some dishes.

"Enough, enough," Yingniang said quickly, looking at the half bowl of food in the bowl.

Xu looked at Yingniang's chapped hands again and said, "I'll have Cui'er bring you a bottle of my facial cream later. Rub your hands and face. Look at how cracked they are! You're only thirty and already looking so old."

After saying that, he looked at Zhang and smiled, "Mom, too. My face isn't so dry after I wipe it."

Zhang was eating voraciously. After finishing, she wiped her mouth and said lightly, "You are quite particular now."

"Haha," Xu smiled, "I learned this from Youyi. Ping'an also told me to wipe it more often, otherwise it would be uncomfortable if the wind blew it dry."

Qian Youyi drank the soup quietly, but smiled without saying a word.

Zhang Ping'an happened to go to his sixth brother-in-law's house today and was not there at noon.

When I came back in the evening, I found out that my grandparents had come and they brought my eldest cousin's wife with them.

So Zhang Ping'an sent someone to pick up his sixth brother-in-law, and they all had dinner together.

Zhang was shocked when she saw Yu Shiqi's expression. "Wow, what have you done? You have such an untidy beard!"

Yu Shiqi smiled shyly, scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Grandma, I've been a little busy recently. It will be ready after a while."

"No matter how busy you are, you must take care of your health," Zhang said with concern. She was quite satisfied with her grandson-in-law and had a good impression of him.

Everyone had dinner together happily.

Yu Shiqi sat for a while, drank a cup of tea, and then went back.

He was even more anxious to finish the work than Zhang Ping'an, wanting to see the results of mass production as soon as possible.

Before they knew it, more than half a month had passed. All the gunpowder and iron they brought were made into fire egg guns, a total of twenty-three, and a batch of bows and crossbows were also improved.

During the process of continuous use, gunpowder would occasionally pop out. Yu Shiqi would take the defective ones and continue to improve them, but the improvement took longer than the forging.

In the end, only fifteen muskets were actually usable.

Soon, the day arrived to go to Xiangshan to suppress the pirates.