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

This matter is no longer a secret in the coastal areas on the front line, and it is only a matter of time before the relevant official report is delivered.

According to the letter from my father-in-law, Minister Qian, the imperial army actually has a slight upper hand at the moment.

This counterattack against the North had been planned for a long time, and the country was prepared for a protracted war.

The greatest characteristic of the soldiers of all the northern forces, whether they are the rebel Bai Chao or foreign races, is that they are ruthless and daring, which is something that the Daxia army cannot match.

But other than that it's pretty much all disadvantages.

These two forces are superficially at odds with each other, and neither is willing to submit to the other. They have been fighting frequently in the past few years and have already eaten up all the stored grain left by the major families and landlords in the north.

They didn't think about developing the economy. Moreover, they had no time to develop the economy because they were always fighting. They were afraid that if they lost the war, the other side would get the upper hand.

On weekdays, they mainly maintain their rule through plunder and oppression, focusing more on military control rather than production. In the long run, this leads to the abandonment of farmland and the people's livelihood being in dire straits.

Many civilians were forced to join the rebels just to survive.

What's even worse is that they are treated as human cannon fodder and lowly slaves by alien races, and their lives can no longer be called human.

But they didn't dare to die easily. If they died, they might be dried up and used as food reserves, which was the ultimate interpretation of misery.

These were all reported by spies sent to the north by the imperial court. Those who knew about it were all terrified, fearing that what they saw with their own eyes would be even more terrifying than what the spies reported.

Continuing the war would only result in losses for both sides, and there was no decent place left in the north.

So it is said that at the beginning of last year, these two forces completely united and wanted to move south.

The south is rich in resources, including food, fine wine, beautiful women, and even gold, silver, and jewelry. As long as we can conquer the south and completely destroy Daxia, all problems can be solved!

The frequent harassment and coveting of the South by the North has not happened overnight. It is like a sword hanging over the heads of everyone in the court, which may fall at any time. Who can sleep peacefully?

If it was someone else, it would be fine. Maybe he would abandon Da Xia and join the new king. But apart from the aliens, there is only Bai Chao left.

All the major families shuddered at the thought of this person and would never allow him to become the new ruler.

After comprehensive consideration, Lord Zhou holds military power and cannot be offended. He also strongly advocates the Northern Expedition. Generally speaking, he is one of their own. Naturally, the aristocratic families can only agree, and the Northern Expedition is a natural thing.

The best outcome would be a successful Northern Expedition, whereby the status quo of the court would remain unchanged and they could still hold high positions.

Moreover, the economy in the south is already developed and relatively wealthy. After recuperating in the south in recent years, the imperial court at least does not have to worry about food and fodder, which is much better than the north.

In addition, the imperial court had recently quelled rebellions in various parts of the south and achieved unification, so morale was high and they had the strength to fight.

At present, all civil and military officials in the court support the Northern Expedition.

Minister Qian's letter also contained this message. If they could win the first battle, he wanted to assign Zhang Ping'an to the Ministry of War after the New Year, so that he could gain some experience by working with Lord Zhou and at the same time gain some experience.

Since they are a noble family, they are not just talking big. Wherever the center of power is, they will definitely arrange their people to follow.

This is also a preparation for the next step. After the city is recaptured, those vacant official positions will naturally be filled first by those who have made meritorious contributions!

What he needed now was Zhang Ping'an to make preparations in advance, collect more food and cowhide, so that when the imperial court issued the order to levy household tax and cowhide tax after the New Year, he could collect the food and cowhide tax as soon as possible and transport them to the front line.

At the same time, the salt fields in Ci County are also a key area for salt production. After the New Year, the imperial court will also issue additional salt production orders to each salt field to ensure that the soldiers on the front line will not have no salt to eat.

At this juncture, if you do well, you can stand out; if you do poorly and fall behind, you may be dismissed at any time.

You must be careful in what you say and do, and never make any mistakes!

Hua Wanli saw that Zhang Ping'an looked unhappy and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The officialdom is not peaceful. You can read it yourself," Zhang Ping'an handed the letter to Hua Wanli.

Anyway, there is nothing that cannot be seen in it. The official bulletin will be published in a few days and everyone in the county government will know about it.

Hua Wanli sighed after reading it: "Brother Ge is still sleeping in the clinic. He just came back from the brink of death, and now you have to get involved in the ups and downs of the front line. It's really hard for you to live a peaceful life!"

"If I were alone, I wouldn't be afraid of anything, but now I have elderly parents and young children to take care of, and I'm the only son in the family. If something happens to me, how will they live? I really have to think carefully about this matter," Zhang Pingan said with a wry smile.

"Yes, now your wife is pregnant, and you are going to be a father soon. You can talk to your father-in-law and ask him not to transfer you to the front line for the time being." Hua Wanli suddenly slapped the armrest of the chair and said with sudden realization.

"Well, I know what's going on. Don't tell anyone else about this. Let's all have a peaceful and happy New Year," Zhang Ping'an said in a deep voice. After that, he turned his head and told Chi Bao: "Ask County Magistrate Yang, Chief Secretary Tao, and County Lieutenant Zhu to come see me."

"Hey," he replied after finishing his meal and turned to leave.

But I was worried in my heart. I had finally settled down and was living a stable life. Could it be that chaos was going to happen again? Where could I escape to?

After hearing what Zhang Ping'an had said, County Magistrate Yang and the others stroked their beards and sighed.

No one likes to fight a war, especially in a situation like this where the North and the South are confronting each other. The war is bound to be protracted.

However, the manpower, material resources, and financial resources required for war are enormous, and these will eventually need to be borne by the people. It may be okay once or twice, but over time it will inevitably arouse public resentment, and then it will be difficult for them to be officials.

"What does your Excellency mean?" asked County Magistrate Yang.

Now that they've all been called here, we have to come up with a set of rules!

"Although the imperial court's decree will not be issued until after the New Year, the situation on the front line cannot be concealed for long. There will definitely be wealthy families who will receive the news in advance. The common people are not rich to begin with. How much tax can be collected from them? The bulk of the tax still goes to these wealthy families. I have a list here. The three of you must keep a close eye on these people. You must not let them slip away quietly or transfer their property. Otherwise, I will hold you accountable," Zhang Pingan said in a serious voice.

Upon hearing this, Hua Wanli gave each person a copy of the transcribed list.

When County Magistrate Yang opened the box and saw that there were two wealthy businessmen here, who were his relatives.

I don’t know how much Zhang Ping’an knows. What does this mean?

Are they really unaware, or are they trying to warn them?

After all, they are from the government, so they will definitely know the news earlier than ordinary people.

It’s really hard to guess!

The three of them were a little uneasy for a moment, not sure what to do.