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

Under this situation, although the area around Lin'an was relatively stable, everyone was still in danger.

Ci County was also affected.

The most obvious thing is that food prices have been rising.

Restaurants, diners, teahouses, theaters and other places where ordinary people like to spend time became much quieter overnight.

Everyone is waiting and watching.

Zhang Ping'an had anticipated this situation and had already informed all the major merchants in the county that they could raise prices, but they were not allowed to take the opportunity to stockpile goods, drive up prices, and disrupt market order.

Several major merchants were unwilling but had no choice. After all, money was not as important as power. They were miserable because of this operation and watched the opportunity to make a lot of money slip away.

Even Green Bean Eyes shook his head and lamented, "Now is not a good time for businessmen to do business!"

"What? Then you won't go out to sea?" Zhang Ping'an asked with a smile.

Green Bean Eyes immediately said in a firm tone: "Go to sea! Why not? Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing!"

"Hey," Zhang Pingan patted Green Bean Eyes' shoulder, "I won't say anything else. Just be careful when you go out to sea!"

"Yeah!" Green Bean Eyes nodded. He was almost ready now. He asked a Feng Shui master and the experienced Old Hailang to agree on an auspicious day based on the solar terms.

We will be setting out to sea in ten days!

At this time, the county government's reports were delivered very slowly, and Zhang Ping'an had no idea what the war situation was like, and he had no idea whether he had won or lost.

However, there are two pieces of good news. The first is that the seedlings in the experimental field planted by Su Erleng are obviously thicker than those planted by other people in Guantian.

A noticeable difference is visible to the naked eye.

This shows that Su Erlang's farming method is not accidental, and it can indeed increase production. If he persists, the difference will be even greater when the grain filling period comes. Even if the yield per acre is only increased by one third, it will be a great thing for the people!

The second good news is that the navy trained by the adults has become quite capable.

He also specially invited Zhang Pingan to watch their rehearsal.

This was also a disguised hint to Zhang Pingan that if he was satisfied, he would continue to allocate funds.

Maintaining an army is a very expensive thing!

There was even a court in the previous dynasty whose finances were dragged down by redundant soldiers and systems.

Cai Gong of the previous dynasty succinctly summarized the court's financial predicament: "The revenue of the whole country is no more than 60 million strings of cash, while the cost of maintaining the army is about 5,000. This means that one-sixth of the country's resources go to maintaining the army, and one-tenth goes to the suburban temples and state expenses. How can the country not be poor? How can the people not be in hardship?"

Zhang Pingan didn't realize it when he learned this text in history class, but when he became a county magistrate, he found out that it was really difficult!

And we can't save money on maintaining troops.

Zhang Ping'an had no intention of telling the details of this matter to Yang Dianshi, Tao Zhubu and other people in the county government.

This is just one part of his plan, and he doesn't want to reveal too much for the time being.

The scale of naval exercises is severely restricted by the weather.

Director Mai specially observed the stars and weather to set the date.

On the day of the navy drill, the sky was clear. Zhang Pingan got up early and took a car to the beach after dinner.

In order to train this group of navy, Zhang Ping'an also specially allocated them ten medium-sized ships to facilitate combat drills.

When Master Mai saw Zhang Ping'an coming, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Master, everything is ready!"

There was confidence in his words, and even a sense of impatience.

Zhang Ping'an knew that Director Mai was a relatively stable person and would not make boasts easily, so he was also looking forward to it.

Director Mai introduced the formations as they walked, "Our warships primarily practice the fish scale and goose formations. Arranged in specific formations, we practice encirclement, assault, and defense. Inspired by the fire egg guns, I've also prepared rockets. When the wind direction and timing are right, combined with the fire attack, we can make the offensive even more swift and fierce."

"Then I'll wait and see!" Zhang Pingan said with a smile.

As a member of the navy, good swimming skills are the most basic requirement.

Although there are not many people on a warship, each of them has his own duties. First of all, the helmsman, oarsman and sailor cooperate with each other to operate the warship, then the archers, boarding soldiers, hook and reel soldiers, divers, and lookouts must cooperate with each other in combat.

The captain of every ship is the commander.

After Zhang Ping'an got on board and sat down, Director Mai ordered his men to sail out to the open sea.

The exercise of ten medium-sized ships would certainly make quite a lot of noise. If it were conducted near the coast, it would easily be discovered and cause trouble, so it was decided to conduct it in the open waters off the coast, which is also more convenient.

After a while, we arrived at the designated location.

Director Mai started to have people beat drums, signaling the start of the drill.

The lookouts hold small flags of different colors in their hands, representing different instructions.

Some naval forces used bows and crossbows to suppress enemy ships from a distance, while other naval forces dived into the water, used giant pendulums to smash the bottom of the ships, made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, and used hooks to destroy the sails and cables of the enemy ships.

After the people in front have almost destroyed the enemy ship, the boarding soldiers will board the enemy ship and confront it head-on.

Although they are all cold weapons, the head-on combat is also very exciting to watch.

In the sunlight, you can see that everyone's exposed skin is oily black, and there are even pink marks left by repeated peeling due to long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays. It is obvious that they have practiced a lot.

"Well, not bad," Zhang Pingan commented objectively.

This navy team has begun to take shape.

"However, the loss of weapons in this exercise, as well as the cost of repairing sails and oars, is estimated to be quite high," Director Mai said somewhat nervously.