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

After receiving the news, the county magistrate hurriedly took the people from the yamen to wait at the city gate.

At this time, seeing Zhang Pingan and his group entering the city, they were as enthusiastic as if they had met their reborn parents.

"Sir Weng, this is not the place to talk. Let's go to the inn first," Zhang Ping'an waved his hand, indicating that the other party did not need to be polite.

"Okay!" Mr. Weng, the current official of Wushan County, is a knowledgeable and interesting person.

He immediately ordered people to light gongs to clear the way and personally led everyone to the post station.

After the chaotic times and the establishment of the new dynasty, such pomp and circumstance rarely occurred.

Mr. Weng is about forty years old, a bit old, but in good spirits. He is also an old acquaintance of Tan Yaoqi.

We were looking for topics all the time, so the conversation was not dull.

As for Zhang Ping'an and Liu Sanlang, he focused more on Zhang Ping'an.

Both of them are civil servants and have dealings with many people.

He had already found out about the Zhang family's situation.

After the greetings, without waiting for Zhang Ping'an to ask, he recounted the situation in the county in detail.

"It is thanks to the wisdom of His Majesty that he unified the country, and the people are now living a good life. However, it will take some time to restore the former prosperity. It cannot be done overnight. Look, sir, this is the academy you used to study. In the past, our county was a land of fish and rice, and the people were wealthy. The four academies were all doing well. But now, only two of them are barely doing well," Lord Weng said while pointing to the distance.

A look of deep sorrow and anguish on his face.

"The two academies that Lord Weng mentioned are the Bailu Academy and the Qingsong Academy," Tan Yaoqi explained. "They were renovated two years ago and look pretty much the same now. As for the Jingui and Wenzhu academies, there are no students there. They've collapsed!"

"People are poorly fed and clothed, so naturally fewer people read. Now academies are different from before. In order to expand the student population, they have even opened classes for children," sighed Lord Weng.

Then he continued with a smile, "However, after all, studying is the way out. Families with a good background will still send their children to school. When I was inspecting the academy a few days ago, I ran into a fellow villager of yours, named Luo, who is now working as a tutor at the academy!"

"The surname Luo?" Zhang Pingan's mind moved, "Could it be Luo Fugui from Luojia Village?"

"It's him!" County Magistrate Weng said with a smile.

When he saw that Zhang Ping'an still remembered this person, County Magistrate Weng knew that Zhang Ping'an was a nostalgic person, and he must have done the right thing this time.

It's not that Zhang Ping'an must promote him, but it's always better to have someone above him to look after him. He knows that he is not a very smart person and it is actually a bit difficult for him to get around in the officialdom. It would be best if he could lean on a big tree to enjoy the shade.

"It's been a long time since we last met. I started my education with him in Luojia Village. He was very hardworking when he was studying. Now he can make a living with what he learned, which can be said to be putting his knowledge into practice," Zhang Pingan said as he recalled.

"Yes, Master Luo is very rigorous in teaching, and he is also a scholar of the new dynasty, which is quite rare. I also learned by accident that he and you are from the same hometown. If you want to meet him, why don't I send someone to bring him here?" County Magistrate Weng asked tentatively.

"Not appropriate!" Zhang Ping'an shook his head, rejecting the proposal. "He and I have a friendship from childhood, regardless of seniority. Calling him over here will inevitably cause more awkwardness for both of us. I will pay him a private visit later. Thank you, Lord Weng, for taking the trouble!"

"Haha, no trouble, no trouble," Lord Weng replied quickly.

"Speaking of which, I really have a lot of things I want to ask Lord Weng. I have been away from home for many years and experienced war, and my relatives have been separated. This time when I return home, I also want to find them and reunite with them as much as possible," Zhang Pingan continued.

He thought Lord Weng was a good person, much more down-to-earth than Du Zaiqing in the provincial capital, and was someone he could be entrusted with small matters.

"I understand," County Magistrate Weng pondered. "To be honest, sir, when I learned you were returning to your hometown to worship your ancestors, I sent people to Zhangjia Village to inquire ahead of time. I also had my subordinates repair your ancestral home and the ancestral hall. But as you know, those years were indeed very chaotic. Now, less than one-fifth of the villagers left in Zhangjia Village are left. Many either died in the war or are missing. I'll have someone bring you the Yellow Book later, and you'll know."

"Well, I understand, but my fourth sister and her family have always lived in the county town. I wonder if you know where the Sun family is?" Zhang Ping'an frowned.

"I know the Sun family and have sent people to inquire about them. It is said that there are still some people in their family, but not in this county. They are in An County to the north, which is some distance away from this county," Lord Weng replied.

"Didn't they return to the county to claim their ancestral property?" Tan Yaoqi asked.

"Yes, it was the eldest son of the Sun family who replied. That was when the decree was just issued. Two days after receiving it, he sold the ancestral home, exchanged it for cash and left. It was because of this that I knew that there were still people in the Sun family."

"Okay, then ask someone to find the address left by the head of the Sun family." Zhang Ping'an felt more excited knowing that there were still people from the Sun family.

Moreover, the fact that they were able to return just as the decree was issued showed that the Sun family was not living in isolation, at least not in a remote village.

Tan Yaoqi thought the same thing: "Most of the Sun family members are literate and have skills to make a living. As long as the world is peaceful, they won't starve. There's no need to worry too much for now."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Zhang Ping'an nodded. He could only wait until he returned to his hometown and settled down before letting Chi Bao take people on a trip.

As they were talking, it wasn't long before noon arrived.

The lunch banquet was very sumptuous, no worse than that in the provincial capital.

Mrs. Zhang, Old Man Zhang, Mrs. Xu, Daya and others were all the focus of attention.

No matter what you say, people will agree with you and the atmosphere will never be dull.

Most of the words were still from their hometown accents. It was not until this time that Xu and Zhang Laoer felt a little more down to earth.