Chapter 194 Regret is coming

Chapter 194 Regret is coming

Chapter 194 Regret is coming
When Wang Yan returned home, he saw Wang Dun studying a military book, and he felt a little comforted.

He originally wanted to take his younger brother with him and go south to Liang County.

But when he thought about how his brother's wife returned to Luoyang with cold eyes, moved to a villa outside the city without making any noise, and became a stranger to his brother, and even entered the palace once during that time, he felt a little uneasy.

Alas, I guess Chu Zhong must be very troubled too.

After sighing, he took some followers and went south to Liang County with Pan Tao.

Liang County was not far away, and the next day around noon we could see the city walls on the distant horizon.

At that time, the north wind was howling and heavy snow was everywhere, but Wang Yan did not feel bitter. Instead, he got off the carriage and looked around as he walked.

As a result, this sight made him frown.

Under a big locust tree at the entrance of the village, there were several bloody human heads hanging.

There was a man under the tree, herding sheep calmly, not feeling at all annoyed by the crowd.

Wang Yan walked over and asked, "What are you doing?"

The shepherd saw that he was dressed in gorgeous clothes and knew that he was a man of status. He did not dare to neglect him and said, "Guard the head."

"Mee..." Two sheep used their hooves to dig through the snow, searching for withered grass.

With his mouth pouting, he ate all the grass roots.

"Whose head is this?"

"A few thieves from Xiong'er Mountain."

"Xiong'er Mountain is so far away, why did you come here?"

"I was invited by Li Li."

Wang Yan narrowed his eyes and thought about it.

He had a good memory. Li Li was a powerful man in Liang County. He had been to Luoyang in the middle of the year. He didn't know who helped him find Xun Fan, the Right Prime Minister, and mentioned the various illegal things Shao Xun had done in Liang County.

Xun Fan ignored him at the time and sent him away.

A while ago, Xun Fan was appointed as the Prince's Tutor. He is no longer the Shangshu You Pushe, so he probably won't care about it anymore.

I didn't expect that Li Li was so cruel and ruthless that he actually invited the thief from Xiong'er Mountain. It was really incredible. Maybe he saw Shao Xun leading a large army to Hebei, so he became more active?
"What is the name of this place?" he asked again.

"Shiqiaofang. Seven or eight miles further south is Lijiafang, but there are not many people there now. Three hundred families will move there after the New Year."

Wang Yan was stunned.

What a weird place name. Is it a new one?
After getting the information he wanted, he left the big locust tree and continued heading south.

The land is very flat and the ditches in the fields are crisscrossed, which is pleasing to the eye.

Every few steps, you can always see a wooden sign stuck in the ground with words written on it.

Wang Yan became interested and took a closer look: "Chang Can, one hundred and thirty-seven acres and twenty steps."

He looked up at the distance from the previous wooden sign to this one, and silently estimated that it was indeed about a hundred acres.

It seems that this man named "Chang Can" owns 137 acres of land.

"Yang Zhong." Wang Yan turned around and looked at the carriage coming towards him.

Pan Tao was breathing heavily and rubbing his hands in the car. Hearing this, he said, "Yi Fu, what is there to see in this cold weather?"

Wang Yan did not answer, but only asked: "How much land does a commoner usually have?"

Pan Tao laughed and said, "According to the imperial decree on land occupation, one man is entitled to 70 mu. But in reality, haha."

Wang Yan smiled, thinking it was pretty much what he thought.

Ordinary people either had very little land, or depended on the powerful and wealthy and had no land at all.

Although he had not been back to Langya for many years, his impression from his youth should be correct - well, at that time, the people seemed to have much more land than they do now.

As we walked, it was noon and wisps of smoke rose from the kitchens of every household in the village.

"Yang Zhong." Wang Yan turned around again.

Pan Tao had no choice but to get off the car and walk with him.

"Do the people have three meals a day? I remember that they don't." Wang Yan hesitated.

"I eat a dry meal when I go out in the morning, and a liquid meal when I come back from the fields in the evening. I eat three meals a day during the busy farming season, and it has been the same since ancient times," said Pan Tao.

Wang Yan nodded slightly.

When the imperial guards were not training, they only had two meals, but they were all dry food.

We only eat three meals during training.

Why do the people in this village only eat three meals a day?
"Yi Fu." Pan Tao said helplessly, "Don't you think the name Shiqiaofang is weird?"

Wang Yan nodded subconsciously.

"Fang means soldiers garrisoning." Pan Tao explained, "The entire Shiqiao garrison is a military garrison, with hundreds of local militia soldiers stationed there, each with their own troops. The fields in front, behind, left and right of the village all belong to the local militia soldiers. A little further away, do you see that wasteland? It hasn't been divided, but it also belongs to this garrison, and troops often go there to graze. The man you saw under the big locust tree just now was a troop. He was guarding the head of the people and also herding sheep for his master."

After that, Pan Tao explained in detail the origins of rural militia garrisons such as Shiqiao Defense.

After listening to this, Wang Yan was a little surprised. He looked at Pan Tao again and secretly guessed what his relationship with Shao Xun was.

He should not be Shao Xun's man, but the relationship between them is definitely not ordinary.

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the door of a house.

Chang Can's wife, Liu, was pregnant and helping Chang's mother with housework.

Chang's mother has few teeth left, but she has a smile on her face, as if all the hardships in her life have paid off and she is now living a good life that was unimaginable in the past.

Chang Can was tidying up the equipment rack, taking a weapon from it from time to time to try it out.

At the beginning, there was only a heavy sword and a ring-handled knife, but now there are also spears and wooden clubs.

It seems that the master has also begun to try to use more instruments to make himself more comprehensive.

When Wang Yan, Pan Tao and others passed by, Chang Can's eyes froze. After hesitating for a moment, he quickly drew out his ring-handled sword and chased after them.

The followers of Wang and Pan were shocked and took out their weapons to protect the two men.

"Who are you? Are you a spy?" Chang Can looked at Wang Yan calmly and asked.

He didn't take any of those servants and guards seriously.

There are dozens of government soldiers in the village. If they are surrounded, none of them will be able to escape.

"How dare you!" a guard shouted, "This is Wang Situ, the Northern Army's general. How dare you tamper with him?"

Chang Can was startled, his sword slightly lowered, and said, "Recently, there have been thieves and traitors coming to spy on Shiqiao. The general ordered us to investigate strictly..."

"You are Captain Chang, right?" Pan Tao came over and said with a smile, "I met him before we went on the expedition."

"Minister Pan?" Chang Can put away the knife.

"Now I am serving in the Taifu's office." Pan Tao said. "King of Donghai..." Chang Can smiled, waved his hand, and said, "You can go by yourselves."

After saying that, he left.

Wang Yan just watched coldly.

He discovered something interesting.

This "team leader" named Chang Can never showed any courtesy to him from beginning to end, and even held a sharp knife and spoke in a domineering manner.

Where did they find these soldiers? How were they trained?

Even in the central army of Luoyang, the soldiers were well-behaved and trembling with fear. When they saw Wang Yan, they dared not breathe and could not speak clearly.

Is it true that what kind of general you lead is what kind of soldiers you have?

All the soldiers led by Shao Xun became arrogant and brave generals within a few years?

Wang Yan gave a look, and one of his followers understood. He took out two pieces of silk, walked into the yard, and negotiated.

After a while, Chang Can came out again. He glanced at Pan Tao first, and when he saw that he didn't say anything, he nodded and said, "We are from a rural family, and the food is simple. I'm afraid Situ won't be able to get used to it."

"No problem." Wang Yan waved his hand and walked straight in.

Pan Tao and several followers followed closely behind, while the others stayed outside to guard the carriage.

Chang Can's mother and wife seemed to be afraid of strangers. After a quick greeting, they hid in the kitchen.

Wang Yan didn't care and went into the main hall.

There is a small couch in the hall for guests to sit or lie on. The couch is covered with a straw mat, and there is another layer of mattress on the straw mat.

Poor families could not do this alone. They lived on straw mats all year round. Even some of the distant relatives of poor scholars who had fallen on hard times were like this. Wang Yan had seen this many times.

He took off his shoes, sat directly on it, and looked around.

There are two small single beds on the left and right of the couch.

There are hidden bags on the bed board and its surroundings. The so-called hidden bags are made of cloth, brocade and other fabrics. The inside is filled with soft things (silk cotton, reed fluff, feathers are all fine). They are placed behind or beside the body for people to lean on.

Seeing this, Wang Yan and Pan Tao exchanged glances: This family is really not poor, it can even be said that they have some wealth.

Moreover, the hostess has some taste. She is not that ignorant village woman and should have seen the world.

Wang Yan looked up again.

There is a dust cover on the roof, and judging by its age, it should have been added this year.

The covered area is not large, and can only protect the place where you sit or lie down - the so-called dust collecting device means "a device to collect dust from above". It is mainly used to prevent dust on the beams from falling on your body, so a dust collecting device is set up on the top of the bed, which is similar to a ceiling.

This thing is dispensable for ordinary people.

It has little effect and costs a lot, so it doesn't seem necessary, but it is one of the symbols that distinguish ordinary people from wealthy families.

Do you mind if guests come to your house and get covered in dust?

If you mind, just spend money to install a Chengchen.

If you don't mind, you can completely skip this.

Wang Yan didn’t know anything else, but he had come into contact with too many scholars.

Poor, rich, talented, untalented, etc., even visited their homes.

The Chang Can family is not simple.

Shao Xun had only been in Liang County for over a year, and his soldiers had already followed him and robbed him of all the spoils?
Wang Yan continued to look around while thinking.

Suddenly, he saw two incense burners.

These two furnaces are of different sizes, newness, and shapes, and it looks very strange to place them there.

Most people would buy two of the same when buying incense burners. These two in front of me - they were probably stolen, right?

The corner of Wang Yan's mouth twitched slightly, and then he remembered that the other party was a proud and brave general.

When going on a campaign, they even steal incense burners. How cruel.

Of course, Wang Yan didn’t know that Chang Can was not the most outrageous one. Some people even snatched Hu Zi and planned to give it to the mistress.

Chang Can quickly brought the food, which was mainly corn rice, Hu pancakes, some pickles and a little bacon.

Wang Yan and Pan Tao stood up to express their gratitude.

Chang Can finally returned the greeting and then left.

Wang Yan picked up the bowl and chopsticks, ate a few bites and put them down, saying: "Yang Zhong, you said these people are from the countryside, I'm afraid that's not entirely true."

Pan Tao was enjoying his meal. When he heard Wang Yan's question, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked, "What do you think of Yi Fu?"

"We can't just leave all these weapons there for fun, right?" Wang Yan said, "If someone is proficient in all these skills, he must be a sharp soldier and should not be underestimated."

Wang Yan was not familiar with military affairs, he only considered it from the most simple perspective, but his conclusion was correct.

After saying this, he looked outside the door and lowered his voice to ask, "How many township groups does Marquis Luyang have?"

"The name of this place is Shiqiaofang. There is also a Yongxingfang on the southeast side of Yongxing Temple. As for Lijiafang, it should be newly built and the personnel may not be fully staffed yet." Pan Tao said.

“Does it cost money to support these soldiers?”

Pan Tao shook his head.

"How many soldiers are there in the First Defense?"

Pan Tao still shook his head.

Wang Yan was somewhat dissatisfied, but he remained expressionless and picked up the bowl and took a few bites.

The smoked meat was not pork or mutton, but seemed to be venison, probably obtained from hunting, and it tasted pretty good.

Deer meat can be eaten, but what about deer skin? It can be used to make armor!
These local militia soldiers have their own followers, and the deerskin armor can be used by themselves or given to their followers. When estimating the number of soldiers in each defense, we must not only count the soldiers themselves, but also their followers.

Aren’t these just a bunch of little tyrants?
Without anyone noticing, Shao Xun had created such a big situation in Liang County. It was really shocking until you saw him.

You may not care much about many things when others talk about them, but when you see them with your own eyes, you will feel differently.

What exactly does Shao Xun want to do? Wang Yan suddenly regretted coming to Liang County and didn't want to have anything to do with Shao Xun.

Taibai descended to the world, Xuchang reservoir opened; Luoshui stopped flowing, and the immortal appeared...

Wang Yan's face was solemn, like a sculpture, and there was no change for a long time.

He felt that he had met someone who didn't like to follow the rules and liked to start a new life outside the rules.

He subconsciously repulses such people.

But - alas.

(End of this chapter)