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

By dusk in the evening, we arrived in Ze County.

Zhang Ping'an ordered the grain escort officers from several counties to take their men into the city to rest for one night and then continue their journey the next morning.

The grain escorting officers hurriedly bowed and expressed their gratitude, which was of course acceptable.

Liu Sanlang and Ruan San were on duty on the city wall at that time, and they were very excited to see everyone coming back.

He hurriedly ordered the soldiers guarding the city to open the gate.

The two of them scurried downstairs. Liu Sanlang glanced Zhang Ping'an up and down, and when he saw that he was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Why are you so late?"

"I was delayed for a few days at Huaiyang Pass. I'll tell you in detail later," Zhang Ping'an explained.

Then he pointed at the people behind him and said, "Let's make arrangements for them first. Let them rest for a night and then continue our journey tomorrow."

"Okay!" Liu Sanlang nodded, and then asked his men to take the people to rest.

Ruan San jumped up and down beside them, looking at everyone for a long while before he smiled and said, "No wonder people often say that a day without seeing you feels like three autumns. We haven't seen each other for so many days, which is like several autumns. Seeing you again feels really different, hehe!"

"What's the difference, you little brat!" The bald old man slapped Ruan San on the shoulder without any hesitation.

"It just feels like we haven't seen each other for a long time. Everyone misses you guys," Ruan San said without getting annoyed.

Pointing at Liu Sanlang, he said, "Especially Sanlang. He looks at the official road countless times a day, worried that something might happen to you. If it weren't for Brother Zou stopping him, he would have rushed to Huai'an long ago!"

"Haha!" Liu Sanlang laughed innocently and said helplessly, "Why are you asking me about this? Aren't you worried? Who asks you about this every day?!"

Zhang Ping'an and Lao Tu looked at each other and smiled. Looking at this scene, they felt warm in their hearts.

I don’t know when, but returning to Ze County actually felt like home.

Speaking of home, Zhang Pingan thought of his parents, wife, son, sisters, uncle and others in Lin'an.

Even my third aunt Ma and my uncle's family, who I usually disliked, didn't seem so hateful when I thought about them now.

Zhang Pingan felt a lot of emotion when he returned safely this time.

I thought I must write home tomorrow to ask about it, to ease the pain of missing you.

I’m afraid that when I go home again, my son won’t recognize me?

At this time, Zou Ping heard his subordinates report that Zhang Ping'an and Lao Tu had returned with their men. After a moment of surprise, he quickly put on his outer robe and took his men to the city gate to greet them.

After all, he was going to the front line, and he was worried for a long time, fearing that something might happen to everyone.

I am even more afraid of bad news coming from Huaiyang Pass.

Fortunately, everything is fine, God bless you!

After chatting for a while, Zouping asked the chef to prepare some delicious dishes so that everyone could have a full meal first.

Zhang Pingan said with a smile, "Just make a big pot of rice. Cook some for the soldiers and porters who are accompanying us to transport the food and fodder. They can eat something hot to warm themselves up and sleep well."

It was different then than it is now, most people didn't have much fat in their stomachs.

Some porters would save their dry food and take it home to eat later, then go to bed hungry and wake up in the middle of the night.

It would be fine if he couldn't see it, but since they came back together, Zhang Pingan wanted to give everyone some compensation to the best of his ability.

Zou Ping nodded: "Okay, I'll have someone cut some fat slices in."

"It's not long since the Chinese New Year and it's spring now. Where does the fat meat come from?" asked the bald old man in confusion.

"Well, you don't know," Ruan San answered quickly, "Yesterday the herder accidentally let some pigs run into the manure pit. There was no time to stop them, and three of them fell in at once. By the time we called for help to fish them out, the pigs were already dead. We had no choice but to kill them and eat their meat. Thinking you'd be back soon, I left you a small half of one and put it in the well water to calm you down. So, at least you'd made it in time, and the meat is still fresh!"

"What a pity! The pigs are not big yet, and one of them is still a sow." Liu Sanlang felt it was a pity. If they were raised until the New Year, he could eat a lot more meat.

"Damn it, why did the pigs get driven to the manure pond? Did the pig herder do it on purpose?" The old bald man slammed the table and said angrily after hearing the whole story.

You know, pigs, cattle and sheep are important assets of the county. To put it bluntly, they are more valuable than people. It is really heartbreaking that three of them died at once.

"That shouldn't be the case. The other soldiers can all get the meat, but the shepherd boy just stares at them. What good does he gain by doing this?" Zou Ping said helplessly.

"Forget it, I'm going to die anyway. At least I have meat to eat. Don't be angry," Zhang Ping'an waved his hand.

When he was angry, he was really angry. When the food was served on the table and he smelled the aroma of meat, the old bald man was happy again, "It smells so good!"

Zhang Pingan rolled his eyes when he heard this and continued eating.

The others also laughed quietly.

After the meal, Zhang Pingan told everyone in detail about the situation on the front line.

Zouping smiled and said, "This way, we can start spring sowing with peace of mind."

Liu Sanlang and Ruan Sanze felt their blood boiling after hearing this, dreaming of being heroes on horseback!

Basically all men admire heroes. After this incident, the two men had a better impression of Mr. Zhou.

On the second day, everyone discussed the spring sowing.

Zhang Pingan pondered, "If we squeeze our food rations, we can still get a lot of seeds. I've also looked at the map. There are still many uncultivated fields and hilly lands around Ze County that are not being taken care of. It's a pity to leave them lying idle. We couldn't do it last year, but this year I want to plant at least another 1,000 acres. Not all of it grain, but also some cotton, ramie, sesame, peanuts and other crops."

"Why is that?" asked the bald old man.

Zouping was more knowledgeable about the affairs of the people, so he immediately understood and explained, "People need food, clothing, shelter and transportation. Just having food is not enough; you also need clothes to wear and oil to eat. If we take care of each of these things step by step, our lives will only get better and better."

"Yes, that's right," Zhang Ping'an nodded. "There are also some saplings planted on both sides of the official road in the northern mountains. They can prevent mud and sand from sliding, and when they grow into timber, they can be used as firewood or used to build houses. As the population grows, these things must be planned in advance."

"Okay, just do whatever you say. You are better at it. Anyway, I will be responsible for doing it according to your instructions." The bald old man was really impatient with these mundane matters.

It’s too troublesome, much more troublesome than fighting a war!

More than ten days passed in a flash, and the people reclaimed and renovated the wasteland in an orderly manner under the arrangement of the government.

On this day, the outpost of Ze County suddenly reported that they saw a large team transporting food and fodder.

After hearing this, Zhang Ping'an guessed something and hurriedly went up to the city wall and took a look through the telescope.

Sure enough, on the official road a few miles outside the city, there was a long winding team transporting food and other supplies.

Judging from the scale, there are probably no less than 10,000 people.

The old bald man asked in surprise, "Is this the grain allocated from Lin'an?"

"I guess, apart from Lin'an, no one has the ability to deliver food to the front line," Zhang Ping'an said solemnly.

He guessed that Lord Zhou had suppressed the report of the previous victory, which made Lin'an think that the front line was in danger and they rushed to send food.