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

The next morning, after Zhang Pingan and others had breakfast, Wei Chengfeng came over.

With some unconcealable fatigue on his face, Wei Cunren followed and supported him.

"Uncle Wei, you're here so early, what's the matter? If you're not feeling well, you should stay in the tent and rest more. If you have anything to say, just let someone pass it on. Come and sit down!"

Zhang Ping'an said this and asked Chi Bao to help serve tea.

Wei Chengfeng smiled gently, clenched his fist to his lips, and coughed twice before saying, "Thank you for your concern, nephew. I'm not seriously ill. This is just an old ailment. Cough cough cough!"

"I came here mainly because Cunren told me that Lord Qian brought a serious criminal from the imperial court here last night. This person has committed a capital crime. You want to report him to the imperial court according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty and sentence him to death by beheading, right?"

"That's right. The country cannot be without law for a day. Since a crime has been committed, it should be dealt with according to the law," Zhang Pingan nodded and replied calmly.

Qian Jie was well aware of this connection and continued with a smile, "General, please rest assured. Although we are all important officials of the court, we will not abuse our power. We will make a decision on how to deal with this matter after the official document from the Ministry of Justice arrives!"

"Yeah!" Wei Chengfeng nodded when he heard this, without making any comment.

Then he looked at Zhang Pingan and asked softly, "Ping'an, do you have time to go out for a walk with me? Just the two of us."

"Of course there is," Zhang Ping'an smiled and stood up.

He then ordered his men to fetch a cloak, and said with concern, "Early spring is a season of sudden warmth and cold. Uncle Wei, you cannot stand the wind, so wear more clothes."

"You are thoughtful," Wei Chengfeng also smiled and stood up.

Wei Cunren wanted to go along to take care of him, but was rejected by Wei Chengfeng. "Although Ping An and I are uncle and nephew, we are actually friends regardless of age. It's fine for us to talk on our own. You don't have to come along."

When Zhang Pingan heard this, he also left his left and right, not even letting them eat.

He has been getting along well with Wei Chengfeng recently. Although they both know what the other is planning, at least on some things, they have very consistent views.

If Wei Chengfeng were twenty years younger, they would probably be good friends.

After the two men rode their horses to an open area, they dismounted and walked slowly.

The sky in early spring looks like it has been washed by water, it is pure blue and boundless, which makes people feel comfortable just looking at it.

Wei Chengfeng was already accustomed to this scenery, but he still praised it: "What a nice day today!"

"Yes, the sky is really blue, you can't see that in Beijing."

The blue of Beijing is completely different from that of the northwest. There are always obstructions, making it seem less vast.

"There are no outsiders here, so I'll be frank. You guessed right, the pangolin you are talking about is my thirteenth adopted son Wei Jichuan," Wei Chengfeng said lightly as he walked.

There is a gentle smile at the corner of his mouth. It is a smile that sees through all kinds of human conditions, and it is also the precipitation and accumulation of years.

Zhang Ping'an wasn't too surprised to hear that. Since Wei Chengfeng called him out, he must want to negotiate with him. Negotiations were the only way to get results.

"He robbed tombs so many times in Xi'an before, and all the millions he got was actually used for the Guazhou Iron Cavalry, right?"

"That's right," Wei Chengfeng nodded, and said lightly with a hint of self-mockery, "If this gets out, it will definitely make the world laugh at us. The mighty Guazhou Iron Cavalry actually needs to rely on their lieutenants to rob tombs just to survive. How sad!"

"Seriously speaking, this is not your fault. It's just a tragedy of the times. The things in the mausoleum are dead, but they can save millions of more living people. You know how to adapt. In some ways, I admire you very much." These words are Zhang Pingan's thoughts from the heart.

During the years of war, people could hardly survive. If tomb robbing could solve the problem, then what's the harm?

The dead are dead, but the living must live.

"If you can think this way, I am not wrong about you. You are different from other civil servants. Your ideas are more clear and open-minded.

In fact, this was the only solution at that time. It was easy to gather the remaining soldiers together, after all, I still had some prestige in the army, but how to feed them was a problem. Even a good cook cannot cook without rice!

The idea was first thought up by Ogawa. I didn't agree at the time, but he hid it from us and gathered a group of people in the camp to do it. I only found out about it when he brought back the food and supplies.

Since then, this business has been unstoppable. As you know, maintaining an army is very expensive. No matter how much money is thrown in, there is still no return. So I tacitly agreed to this matter. In terms of responsibility, I can't escape it."

"Hey, Uncle Wei, don't be so quick to praise me, and don't be so quick to take responsibility." Zhang Pingan waved his hand.

Looking ahead, he asked, "I believe you must have faced many difficulties in the beginning, but the imperial court later allocated a lot of food and fodder. Why do you continue to do this?"

"The reason is simple. I want to train a strong frontier army. The food and fodder provided by the court can only maintain a basic state of filling the stomach. Even if I don't eat well, I won't starve to death. But if I want to train a strong army, this is far from enough. Food and weapons are indispensable. I have tasted the sweetness of tomb robbing, so it is not so easy to give up.

Originally, the border had been somewhat stable over the past two years, and I was planning to find someone with a talent for business to do some business inside and outside the border, earning money to support the army. But who knew that His Majesty was so anxious that he actually sent you here last year!

Wei Chengfeng said this with a feeling of regret and shook his head.

"You've told me so much, aren't you afraid that I'll stab you in the back?" Zhang Ping'an raised his eyebrows and asked back.

"Can you?" Wei Chengfeng also looked at Zhang Pingan and asked back.

Then, he playfully patted the horse's back and said with a hearty smile, "It's okay to be an assassin. Wait until we get back to the barracks. I won't recognize a single word you're saying now. Don't you understand? This is what they call the unpredictable human heart!"

"Hahahaha", Zhang Pingan was really amused this time. He actually saw a hint of youthful liveliness in Wei Chengfeng, who was in his fifties.

So he asked frankly, "Since you're so frank and wise, Uncle Wei, you must know what I'm going to say. What are you prepared to offer in exchange?"

"Xiaochuan is a very important person to me, and he is responsible for the crimes committed by the Guazhou Iron Cavalry, so I will do my best to save him, but I can't exchange him for military power!" Wei Chengfeng spoke the last few words word by word, indicating that he had thought about it seriously.

Zhang Pingan also restrained his smile upon hearing this and spread his hands: "Then there is nothing to discuss? You know what His Majesty wants, and you have been preparing for it, right?"