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

By dinner time, Chen Jianqiu had already made up his mind. He said to Zhang Pingan, "I still have to go to Jinling in person to listen to their ideas. If they live well in Jinling, I will stay with them. If they don't live well in Jinling, I will bring them to Ci County. Then they will come to you for help. Please don't think I'm annoying!"

"How could that be? I can't say I welcome you enough." Zhang Pingan smiled and handed over the banknote he had prepared in advance. "It's just a small gift from me, please don't refuse it!"

Chen Jianqiu opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally accepted it. "Thank you very much!"

"Don't say such polite words! Have a safe trip!" said Zhang Ping'an.

After Chen Jianqiu left, Zhang Pingan felt lost for a long time.

Fang Ziqi intentionally or unintentionally showed himself in front of Zhang Pingan, meaning that even if Chen Jianqiu left, he could still stand on his own.

Now the tax collection issue has been almost dealt with.

Zhang Ping'an understood his fifth brother-in-law's little thoughts, but he really needed to promote his own people. After weighing the pros and cons, he arranged for his fifth brother-in-law to be the head of the household department in Hu County, which had just been merged.

Firstly, this position is very important, with real power and benefits. It is more reassuring to arrange one's own people and they are not easily fooled.

Secondly, Hu County is right in the middle of Yu County and Ci County, which makes it easier to manage.

In the future, it will be much easier for my fifth brother-in-law to continue to be promoted to the position of chief clerk, registrar, county magistrate, etc.

If nothing unexpected happens, my fifth brother-in-law's official career will end when he becomes a county magistrate.

Fang Ziqi was very happy with this result. At least he was registered in the court and was receiving the emperor's salary. All his hard work during this period was worthwhile.

Originally, he wanted to take up the post alone, and he had already made arrangements with Wu Ya.

However, when Xu, Zhang Pingan and others found out, they all opposed it.

Xu said, "Why are you going to Hu County alone? Leaving Wu Ya here alone is just like leaving her in Lin'an. She's not pregnant now, and she's in good health, so of course she has to go with you!"

Zhang Ping'an also agreed with this: "Indeed, it is not a good thing for a couple to live apart for a long time. Although Hu County is not far from Ci County, they are still two places apart. This is not appropriate. Let Fifth Sister go with us!"

Having said that, my brother-in-law is still my immediate superior and I cannot offend him.

Fang Ziqi had no choice but to agree: "What mother and Ping An said makes sense. I was not thoughtful enough. I will take Wu Ya with me when I take office this time."

Fang Ziqi felt a headache when he thought about taking Wu Ya, such a burden, with him. Never mind, life has always been full of dilemmas. One should not be too greedy. Just bear with it!

This time, Fang Ziqi also left.

Zhang Pingan doesn't have a single advisor around him.

He immediately wrote a letter and had it delivered to the Hua family in Lin'an, hoping that Hua Wanli would come over.

He is married now. As the saying goes, a real man should start a family and a career. Now that he has a family, the next step is to start a career.

Fortunately, the county government did not have much official business at that time and was not very busy, so Zhang Ping'an was relatively relaxed.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have let his fifth brother-in-law take office so quickly.

The experimental field has been re-plowed. In order to maintain soil fertility and prevent the occurrence of pests and diseases, experienced and diligent farmers will go to the woods to pick some rotten leaves and loose black soil and put them in the fields to fertilize the fields.

This time, Zhang Ping'an planned to plant Annan rice in four places: superior fields, medium fields, inferior fields, and woodlands.

Although the sunlight and temperature in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are certainly not as good as those in small overseas countries in the south such as Bagan, if Bagan and other places can achieve three or even four harvests a year, then it is not impossible for Jiangsu and Zhejiang to achieve two or three harvests a year.

Only action can bring results!

Knowing that Zhang Ping'an had been very idle recently and his two advisors had left, Lieutenant General Zhou would come to the county government office from time to time to harass Zhang Ping'an and chat with him.

It makes Zhang Pingan extremely annoyed!

"No, Commander Zhou, aren't you in charge of a navy of more than 20,000 people? Why are you so idle?" Zhang Ping'an finally couldn't help it that day.

He doesn't mind chatting, but he can't stand the other person always talking about trivial and boring things, which feels like a real waste of his time.

If he had this free time, he would read a few more books and feel so relaxed and happy.

Lieutenant General Zhou crossed his legs, holding a teacup, and said leisurely, "I'm not the only one in the camp. Are all these lieutenants just sitting around eating for free?"

After saying that, he smacked his lips and nodded, "Well, the tea here is more delicious, and the food is good too, Master Zhang. The camp is full of rough guys, and eating from the big pot with them is making me almost tired. Now I have to rely on you to eat for free, so please don't chase me away!"

"Alas," Zhang Ping'an sighed. The key point was that it was useless to chase him away. It was not like he had not been chased away before. Soldiers were thick-skinned, and those who could become generals were even thicker-skinned.

"By the way, let me tell you some good news," said Lieutenant General Zhou, putting down his teacup.

"What?" Zhang Pingan looked up.

"Lord Yu, your sixth brother-in-law, will probably come to Ci County in the next few days," said Lieutenant General Zhou.

Zhang Pingan was puzzled: "Isn't he in charge of firearms research in Lin'an? Why did he suddenly come to Ci County?"

My sixth brother-in-law, this technical talent, was poached by Lord Zhou before I had even used him for a few days!

Upon hearing this, Lieutenant General Zhou laughed heartily and replied, "Your Sixth Brother-in-law is truly a man of talent, very gifted at research and invention. I heard that he has invented quite a few new and useful gadgets in the workshop in Lin'an. My master is very pleased with this and admires him very much. He has even recommended him to the court for merit, and has been appointed the eighth-rank Director of the Ministry of Construction. It's not a high position, but at least he has an official position.

This time, the workshop has put a lot of effort into crafting a batch of weapons to be shipped here for the navy. Your sixth brother-in-law is here to help test their effectiveness and see if there's room for adjustment. I don't think he'll stay long, probably only a month or two before he's back!"

"I understand," Zhang Pingan nodded. He is just a technical consultant!

Calculating the time, my sixth sister will probably have given birth by the time my sixth brother-in-law returns, which is a perfect double happiness!

Zhang Ping'an turned around and told Old Man Zhang, Xu, and the others. Xu was overjoyed: "Oh, that's great! You've all made it big! I was right about the Yu family. I didn't expect your eldest sister, fifth sister, and sixth sister would all become wives of high-ranking officials!"

My fifth brother-in-law is just the head of a household department. In fact, he has no rank and is not an official in the true sense.

But it is already a big deal in the eyes of ordinary people.

But seeing that his mother was so happy, Zhang Ping'an was tactful enough not to say it out loud.

A few days later, my sixth brother-in-law arrived with the escort.

The Chen family was also accompanying them, and it was estimated that the two sides met halfway.

Xu saw Aunt Chen in the crowd at a glance, and Yingniang, who was standing nearby, also saw her and her face turned pale.

"Oh, Aunt Chen, it's really you, am I seeing things?" Xu quickly rushed over and pulled the person over and said in surprise.

He doesn't even care about his own son-in-law!