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

He didn't believe the result.

With my brother-in-law's military power, we will definitely be safe along the way.

The most likely possibility is that something went wrong in the Yangzhou camp.

Everyone gathered together to discuss the matter and prepared for the worst.

But on the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, Liu Sanlang came back.

It surprised everyone.

They hurried forward to ask what was going on.

Liu Sanlang smiled innocently and explained, "There was a problem with the defense at the Yangzhou camp. Since I'm tall and strong, they asked me to go and help out, so I was delayed for two days."

"Let Sanlang eat first and have a good rest. Don't gather here anymore. Go and do your own things," the bald old man waved away everyone like a fly.

Only Zhang Ping'an, Liu Sanlang and Lao Tu were left in the tent.

Liu Sanlang only then revealed a tired look, and whispered to the two of them, "There really was a problem with the second batch of food, but fortunately, the problem has been resolved now."

"What do you mean? Did the court go back on its word?" the bald old man guessed.

Zhang Pingan was also thinking about something, he guessed that there might be more to it.

Liu Sanlang shook his head and nodded again, saying slowly, "When I arrived at the Yangzhou camp, the guards there all looked very unhappy. They didn't tell me the details, but it seemed that the court wanted to use the issue of food and fodder as an opportunity to replace the guards on both sides of the Cangwu River. No one paid any attention to me. By the third day of the first lunar month, the problem was resolved, and I rode back early this morning."

"I see," the old bald man said with disgust, "they think replacing the commander is so easy. They have no sense of the overall situation and are even worse than a rough man like me. The imperial court is ruined by people like them!"

There was another sentence he kept in his heart and didn't say it out loud. Da Xia is now in a state of complete destruction. It wants to pick peaches before they are ripe, and it doesn't worry about the sour taste. Ugh!

Zhang Ping'an knew his brother-in-law and knew that there must be some things he hadn't said yet, but it was not convenient to do so now.

She just picked up the chopsticks and handed it over, asking her brother-in-law to eat first.

Liu Sanlang was really hungry, and only after drinking a bowl of hot porridge did he feel warm.

After eating, Zhang Ping'an asked someone to get some hot water for his brother-in-law to soak his feet.

When Liu Sanlang rolled up his trouser legs, Zhang Ping'an saw that his shoes were soaked inside and out, and there were many red blood spots on his legs, which were all caused by the cold.

"Stay here for a while, you must have worked hard on this trip!" Zhang Ping'an said, and then told Chi Bao to get his thick socks and fur coat.

"This is warmer, put it on first!"

After a busy time, it was already late at night and most people had gone to bed except for the patrol team.

At this moment, Liu Sanlang looked outside and made sure that no one was around. Then he said solemnly in a low voice, "Ping'an, let me tell you, this time the food and fodder issue has really caused quite a bit of trouble. Although everyone is clamoring to recapture the north and return to their homeland, I think the waters are deep!"

"I knew you hadn't finished talking in the evening. Tell me about it," Zhang Pingan was not surprised.

Liu Sanlang frowned and continued, "When I went there, the grain had already been transported to the Yangzhou camp for several days. A lot of civilians were brought in from the south to join the grain transport team, but the imperial envoy who delivered the grain insisted on replacing the garrison commander first before transporting the grain to the front line.

No one would be happy with such haste. Deputy General Luo and his men disagreed and insisted on delivering the grain first. The conflict between the two sides was deep. And do you know who the escort officer who was transporting the grain to the front line was?

"Who is it?" Zhang Pingan was also curious.

"Jiang Fengping, that's your classmate. I met him once when you had a party!"

"Isn't he in the Hanlin Garden? Not to mention he's never fought in a war, even if his father and brother were assassinated and he's the only one left in his family, he shouldn't be sent here!" Zhang Ping'an said thoughtfully. "But then again, even if Lieutenant General Luo and the others are unhappy, the world still belongs to the Xia family, and the emperor's orders cannot be disobeyed!"

"Yes, after all, it's hard to disobey the emperor's order. They held out for a long time. The next day after I arrived, I heard that Lieutenant General Luo and his men were about to agree, but the imperial envoy and your classmate disappeared with their men. That evening, their bodies were found at Wild Wolf Hill, ten miles away. They had been torn to pieces. Another garrison commander named Gong immediately detained them all for investigation, which is why I was late!"

"Surely the investigation didn't yield any results?!"

"Indeed not. Everyone was killed, except your classmate Jiang Fengping. No trace of his body was found. He might have escaped," Liu Sanlang nodded in reply.

"In the end, General Gong insisted they were killed by wild beasts, closing the case. He then urged the grain transport team to deliver food to the front line. They are on their way now! But I saw Jiang Fengping and others tied to the carriage that night!"

"In the long run, they are right to do so. The current situation on the front line is just right. If they put it aside because of the food and grass problem and retreat to Huai'an, all their previous efforts will be wasted. Moreover, this is not just a matter of retreat. Once defeated, it will cause heavy damage to the court, and they will be unable to launch a northern expedition in the short term. If it were me, I would also execute first and report later," Zhang Pingan said in a deep voice.

"Don't tell anyone about this anymore, just pretend it never happened!"

"Of course I know this, don't worry," Liu Sanlang replied.

Even if the food and fodder for an army of 200,000 were transported in batches, the amount would still be enormous.

It was naturally difficult to move forward quickly with such heavy baggage. It was not until the afternoon of the eighth day of the first lunar month that the outposts in Ze County came to report that they had seen the grain transport team.

Zhang Ping'an went up to the city wall, picked up a telescope and looked forward. He saw a team that was as far as the eye could see, winding along the road.

There were horse-drawn carriages, ox-drawn carts, and laborers following behind with baskets on their backs.

A rough estimate is at least 20,000 people.

After Zhang Pingan finished reading it, he handed it to Zou Ping next to him. They took turns to look at the situation not far away.

"War really costs a lot of money!" Zou Ping sighed.

"It's a waste of money and time. These laborers probably won't be able to return home in the short term. I hope everything goes well for Lord Zhou," Zhang Ping'an replied, his hands behind his back, looking into the distance.

At least the food problem has been solved, and the token in his hand probably won't be used anymore.

The people of Ze County all stayed at home peacefully during the winter, surviving on a bowl of thin buckwheat porridge a day.

Pregnant women are treated better and can even have dry steamed bread to eat.

At this time, Ze County was like a forgotten paradise, with no official reports and no one active around.

It is unknown how the imperial court handled the incident of the imperial envoy who was escorting grain and fodder being killed.

But at the end of January, before the ice thawed, Zhang Ping'an received a report from his men that they saw the third and final grain transport team outside the city.

News from the front also arrived at this time. Lord Zhou won a great victory on the front line. The army marched westward, won victory after victory, and broke through the two major passes of Zhengyang Pass and Huaiyang Pass.

Head straight to Xi County, the heart of the Central Plains!

When this news came, the entire army in Ze County was shocked.

The location of Xi County and its significance are self-evident!

The old bald man excitedly hugged Zhang Pingan and spun around like crazy: "Hahahaha, great job! Xi County is my hometown! I finally see hope of going home!"

Zhang Pingan also smiled, with tears in his eyes, "Yes, there is finally hope. Xi County is not too far from my hometown, Ezhou Prefecture!"