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

In addition to the promotions and changes of everyone.

The official report sent along with it also mentioned the establishment of a branch of the Firearms Workshop in Yangzhou.

After a stalemate of half a year, the court finally compromised.

Half of the skilled craftsmen in the Lin'an Firearms Workshop were sent to Yangzhou by boat.

Zhang Ping'an guessed that his sixth brother-in-law was most likely among them.

The official road from Yangzhou to Ze County has now been repaired and is very spacious, and communication is also convenient.

He thought that if his sixth brother-in-law really came to Yangzhou, then he would have to find a way to go to Yangzhou to see him.

For no other reason than to ask in person about the situation of each family member and to understand the situation of the southern court.

Although the letters he received from home every month said that everything was fine at home, the adults and children were fine.

But he was always uneasy.

It’s better to ask in person to feel at ease.

Now as the prefect, he has the right to inspect the areas under his jurisdiction. It just so happens that Chang County under his jurisdiction is very close to Yangzhou, and he has not been considered to have abandoned his post in the past.

It's a perfect combination of time, place and people.

Thinking of this, Zhang Ping'an immediately wrote a letter and sent someone to Yangzhou for confirmation.

The post station used fast horses to deliver letters, and you would receive a reply within five or six days at most.

Liu Sanlang was both happy and worried when he heard the news, but of course, the worry outweighed the joy.

The joy is that the two brothers-in-law have the opportunity to get together, but the worry is that the conditions in the north are too harsh and not as comfortable as in the south. The most important thing is that they have to leave their families, and the separation is too painful!

For the time being, neither of them made a fuss about these situations in the yamen.

So as to avoid making a fool of oneself.

At this moment, everyone was happily discussing how to celebrate!

After all, it's a promotion, a happy event!

If I were in Lin'an, I would definitely invite friends and relatives to a banquet, set up a few tables with good wine and food to make it lively.

In Ze County, the food is not abundant and the living conditions are not up to standard, but it cannot be too shabby.

After the discussion, everyone unanimously agreed to catch two sheep to cook, one for stewing and one for braising.

After the discussion, everyone came to Zhang Ping'an and said with a playful smile: "Sir, although the sheep in the pen are precious, they are not as precious as us. Today is a big happy event. After all, we have been promoted. If we were in Lin'an, we would not be able to set up a banquet without eight cold dishes and eight hot dishes, and we can only make do with two sheep in Ze County. You must agree to this!"

It’s no wonder that Zhang Ping’an’s permission is needed for this matter. These livestock are really too precious, and meat must be eaten wisely.

Zhang Ping'an wasn't one to spoil the fun. He smiled upon hearing this, pointed at the crowd, and said, "You guys, is it the old baldy who's giving you advice behind your back again? Let me be the villain. I've seen that he's a mean-spirited person!"

"Hey, hey, hey, who said bad things about me? You shouldn't do that. The meat is not eaten by me alone, so why are you doing this?" When the old bald man heard this, he could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, and quickly retorted.

"I knew it was you," Zhang Pingan shook his head. "Alright, I agree. Tell the cook to slaughter the sheep, but don't pick on ewes!"

"Oh oh oh, let's eat meat today. I'm so greedy!" A ninth-rank general cheered immediately after hearing this.

"Same thing, everyone does! I have to eat my fill today!"

Ruan San's saliva was almost flowing. He couldn't eat it for a while, so he had to chew a piece of dried konjac.

There is meat to eat today and the chef has worked hard. Even if he can't eat the real meat, he can still gnaw on a few bones and drink a bowl of broth.

Therefore, we work extra hard to make the most delicious mutton with the least seasoning.

As the aroma of mutton grew stronger, the crowd became more and more agitated.

A group of people gathered in the small kitchen of the yamen.

Even Liu Sanlang is no exception.

A group of burly men squatted at the kitchen door, chatting absentmindedly and looking towards the kitchen frequently.

Zhang Pingan felt both funny and sad watching this!

I was thinking that if I could go to Yangzhou this time, I might be able to find a way to get some piglets and lambs back so that everyone could have more meat to eat.

After waiting for another half an hour, the cook could no longer bear the murderous gazes of these strong men. He wiped the sweat off his face and came out to announce, "The meat is cooked through, ready to eat!"

Ruan San jumped up upon hearing this and began to help serve the meat diligently.

Others also actively helped to set up the tables and chairs.

It was done in a short while.

They were all strong men with big appetites. They didn't use soup bowls to serve the food, but directly used large earthenware pots. They ate it with relish. There were a lot of peas mixed in the soup, and the soup had a fresh aroma of beans.

The earthenware jars were lined up in a long row.

Zhang Ping'an was not reserved and served himself a big bowl first. The others only reached out for their chopsticks after seeing Zhang Ping'an move.

After a while, the earthenware jar was empty.

The cook sat on the threshold, gnawing on a bone, and called out, "My lords, there's only so much meat, but plenty of soup!"

Zhang Ping'an didn't have a big appetite, and he felt full before he finished two bowls. The meat was stewed until it fell off the bones and melted in his mouth. The soup was also delicious, and tasted much better than Zhang Ping'an had imagined.

He was not in a hurry to leave the table. He filled his bowl again and drank the soup slowly. When everyone had almost finished eating, he naturally pushed the bowl to his brother-in-law and then left the table gracefully.

Liu Sanlang was not stupid either. He picked up the bowl and started eating with a slurp. There was still a lot of meat in it.

I really enjoyed my meal today!

A few days later, Zhang Ping'an received a reply letter from Yangzhou. Sure enough, his sixth brother-in-law went to the newly established Firearms Battalion and had just settled down in Yangzhou.

Zhang Ping'an then explained the situation to Lao Tu. After handing over the affairs of the county, he submitted the official documents to the defense envoy of the next level and left with his men.

This is a loophole in the current official system in the north. The defense officer is far away in Huainan, and communication is inconvenient. It is unknown when he will get the approval.

Therefore, the prefect's power at this time was relatively free and flexible.

As long as you hand it over to the deputy in the city, there will generally be no problem.

The people accompanying him were basically Zhang Ping'an's trusted aides. When they were walking on the road, with no village in sight and no shop behind, Liu Sanlang finally rode his horse close to Zhang Ping'an and asked, "Ping'an, will Sixth Brother-in-law go back after this trip?"

After saying that, he felt something was wrong and changed his words, whispering, "I mean, can he still go back?"

"Why do you ask? Of course you can go back!" Zhang Pingan replied casually.

"But I feel like none of us can go back for a while. To be honest, I miss home very much," Liu Sanlang said with a somewhat listless look on his face.

Zhang Pingan looked up, his expression now more serious, and asked, "Brother-in-law, do you feel uneasy about Lord Zhou's repeated disobedience?"

"The military books say this is called monopolizing the border and delaying the implementation. Sooner or later, something bad will happen," Liu Sanlang was very worried.

I was originally at ease, but the court ordered Lord Zhou to return to Beijing to report on his position several times, but Lord Zhou kept making excuses and refused to return, which made me feel uneasy.

No matter how stupid he was, he knew that when the city gate is on fire, the fish in the pond will suffer.

He, Ping'an, and his sixth brother-in-law are just innocent bystanders.

"The military manual also says, 'Frontier generals are so aggressive that they may not obey the king's orders.'"