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

This trip to Xiangshan was not in a personal capacity. On the surface, the two counties joined forces to eliminate pirates.

This is a very good thing for people's livelihood and future economy.

Zhang Ping'an asked County Magistrate Zhu to allocate sixty people, and then he arranged some of the better-performing people in the navy, and together with some people from Heifengdu, he gathered a total of one hundred and twenty people and went to Xiangshan together.

The county lieutenant is equivalent to the modern county police chief. The county's public security, military affairs, and bandit suppression should be the responsibility of the county lieutenant.

Although Zhang Ping'an is the head of a county, he will not overstep his authority.

Whether it is suppressing bandits or eliminating pirates, high risks are accompanied by high returns. These extremely evil people usually have a lot of gold, silver and jewelry. If you can capture them, it is a relatively lucrative job.

According to the unspoken rules at that time, the county lieutenants of the two leading counties could get a lot of silver.

In addition to reporting, some will definitely be retained privately. This is an unspoken agreement.

Moreover, this person was instigated to defect when County Magistrate Lu was in office. He has a long-term vision and is very good at observing people's words and expressions. He is a fence-sitter, but his ability to get things done is reliable.

When he saw the crossbows and fire-egg guns equipped by Zhang Ping'an's men, County Lieutenant Zhu was surprised for a moment. He couldn't help but point at the fire-egg gun and asked, "What is this?"

Zhang Pingan smiled and said, "This is the Fire Egg Gun that my sixth brother-in-law made. It can fire from a distance and is incredibly powerful, but it can occasionally explode and cause injuries. This trip to Xiangshan is a good opportunity for you to try it out and see if it works. If it does, I'll report it to the court to help His Majesty!"

"I wonder if I could give it a try?" County Lieutenant Zhu asked tentatively. Throughout history, there has been no man who does not love weapons.

"Hahaha," Zhang Pingan laughed, and ordered Chibao to take a gun and a crossbow to Zhu County Lieutenant, and then said: "As a county lieutenant, Master Zhu should be equipped with the best weapons. I have already prepared them for you."

County Lieutenant Zhu tried the method suggested by Yu Shiqi and Chi Bao, and it was indeed incredibly powerful.

He couldn't help but sigh: "If these two things can be used on a large scale in the army, the court will be able to recover the lost territory in no time!"

"Yeah," Zhang Pingan smiled.

However, he knew that it was not such an easy task. After all, the cost of the fire egg gun was not low, and how to mass-produce it was a problem.

The group quietly left the city before dawn and headed straight for Xiangshan.

Zhang Pingan watched as everyone left before he called his sixth brother-in-law back to the back hall. "Sixth brother-in-law, you've been working hard lately. I heard people say you've been working overtime, and it's not an exaggeration to say you've been neglecting your sleep and food. Now that things are over, hurry to the back hall and get a good night's sleep."

Although Yu Shiqi usually looks dull, he is actually a compassionate person deep down. Upon hearing this, he sighed, "I don't know if these fire egg guns and crossbows can really be used. I hope there are no casualties. I hope everyone can live a peaceful life!"

Zhang Pingan didn't respond. The wish for a world of universal harmony was beautiful, but it was basically impossible to achieve. There were thousands and thousands of people of all kinds, how could they all be good people?

It would be good enough to have a relatively stable living environment and social order.

On the other side, County Lieutenant Zhu took the group to the Xiangshan Yamen. After showing their ID cards, they were soon received by a special person.

Qian Yu personally attended the welcoming banquet and encouraged everyone.

Qian Yu has been very busy during this period in Xiangshan. He has shed the dandy look and attitude he had in Lin'an. He has become much rougher and has an air of authority even when he is not smiling.

"Everyone has come from afar and must have worked hard on the road. Have a good sleep after dinner. We will set out at Chou time tomorrow. This matter must succeed and not fail," Qian Yu said solemnly.

The yamen runners from Xiangshan below all echoed loudly, and County Lieutenant Zhu quickly led the people from Ci County to echo them.

In order to prevent the news from leaking out, everyone rested together in a large courtyard and was not allowed to go out.

After traveling for more than a day, everyone was really tired. Soon after they lay down, snoring began to rise one after another.

After dark, everyone got up.

The kitchen prepared a sumptuous dinner and dry food.

The staple foods are white rice and pure white steamed buns, which taste sweet when chewed.

It was a rare opportunity, so I ate two more and burped after feeling full. I then wrapped five more in oil paper as dry food.

Zhu County Magistrate kicked it with his foot and said with a smile: "Don't be so useless, okay? This will make the people in Xiangshan County look at us. If they don't know, they will think that people in Ci County can't even get enough to eat!"

After eating, he chuckled twice without saying anything. That's what people do when they are hungry.

Seeing this, County Lieutenant Zhu shook his head, reached out and put back the three steamed buns he had taken, and whispered, "We can't finish eating more if we bring too much. We have to leave some space for more valuable things later."

"What's so valuable?" Chibao was puzzled.

This really cannot be blamed on him. Due to the limitations of the times, Chi Bao had never been to school, had never worked in officialdom, and had never suppressed bandits or raided homes. He did not know these so-called unspoken rules, and his understanding of many things was very naive.

County Lieutenant Zhu was no longer surprised and explained, "If we win later and go to the pirates' lair to search, if you find any valuable gadgets, just put them in your pockets. As long as you don't go overboard, no one will mind."

If he didn't want to win over the people on Magistrate Zhang's side and do good things for him in advance, he would not have revealed this matter!

After hearing this, his eyes widened and he opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

But he was not stupid, and he figured it out in no time.

He planned to wait and see. If everyone else took it, he would take it. If no one else took it, he would not take it either.

It's always right to go with the flow.

After a short rest after dinner, the county lieutenant from Xiangshan told everyone about the plan to go to sea.

This time, in addition to the people from the yamen of the two counties, Qian Yu also mobilized a hundred soldiers from his home, striving to win in one go.

He doesn't like to be sloppy in doing things.

The date was also specially calculated, and it happened to be close to the full moon night. Even if there was no light on the bow at night, they would not get lost by following the moonlight with the help of a compass and a local needle.

After eating, he looked at the boundless sea reflecting the moonlight and suddenly felt very small. Of course, he had never been to school, so he didn't know how to describe it specifically, but he just had this feeling in his heart. He suddenly felt like a frog in a well when he was in Heifengdu.

Just as he was in a daze, County Lieutenant Zhu suddenly said in a serious voice, "We're almost there, everyone cheer up."

He has lived by the sea since he was a child and is an old sea wolf. He can roughly infer the arrival time by looking at the drawings and the speed of the ship.