Chapter 194 Regret is coming
When Wang Yan returned home, he saw Wang Dun who was studying military books hard, and felt a little relieved.
He originally wanted to take this younger brother with him and go south to Liang County together.
But when I think of my younger brother and sister, who had cold eyes and neither noisy nor fussing after returning to Luoyang, they moved directly to a courtyard outside the city, becoming strangers to my younger brother, and even entered the palace once during this period, I felt a little uneasy. .
Well, Chu Zhong must be very troubled too.
After sighing, he took some entourage and headed south to Liang County with Pan Tao.
Liang County is not far away. I saw the city on the horizon in the distance near noon the next day.
The north wind was howling and the sky was covered with heavy snow. Wang Yan did not feel any pain, but got off the carriage and watched as he walked.
As a result, this look made him frown.
Under a large locust tree at the end of the village, several bloody human heads were hung.
Under the tree, a man was herding sheep calmly, not feeling any discomfort at all.
Wang Yan walked over and asked: "What are you doing?"
The shepherd saw that he was dressed gorgeously and knew that he was a man of status, so he did not dare to neglect him and said: "Guardian Head.”
“Hey...” The two sheep dug through the snow with their hooves and rummaged through the withered grass.
With his mouth pouted, 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 are you here?”
"Invited by Li Li."
Wang Yan squinted his eyes and thought for a moment.
He has a good memory. Li Li is a powerful man in Liang County. He went to Luoyang in the middle of the year. I don't know whose route he took. He found the minister's right servant and shot Xunfan and mentioned Shao Xun's various illegal activities in Liang County.
Xun Fan ignored him and sent him away.
A while ago, Xun Fan was appointed as the crown prince's young master. He is no longer the minister's right servant, and he probably won't care about it.
I didn’t expect that a person like Li Li would be ruthless and ruthless enough to invite drama thieves from Xiong’er Mountain. It’s really incredible. Probably because you saw Shao Xun leading the army to Hebei, you became more alert, right?
"What's the name of this place?" he asked again.
"Shiqiao Defense. Seven or eight miles further south is the Li Family Defense. However, there are not many people there now. In the new year, 300 households will move there."
Wang Yan was stunned.
This is a defense against that, the place names are so weird. Is it a new one?
After getting the information he wanted, he left the big locust tree and continued south.
The land is very flat, and the fields are crisscrossed with ditches, which is a pleasure to look at.
Every once in a while, 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 and looked at the wooden sign from the previous one to this one. I silently estimated the distance, and it was indeed more than a hundred acres.
It seems that this person named "Chang Can" has one hundred and thirty-seven acres of land in his family.
"Yang Zhong." Wang Yan turned around and looked at the approaching carriage.
Pan Tao was sighing and rubbing his hands in the car. Hearing this, he said: "Yifu, what is there to see in the cold weather?"
Wang Yan did not answer, but asked: "One How much land does a common person have? "
Pan Tao smiled and said: "If we go by the court's land occupation order, one acre is seventy acres. If we go by reality, haha."
Wang Yan smiled, it was pretty much what he thought.
Ordinary people either have very little land, or they are dependent on powerful men and noble families and have no land.
Although he has not returned to Langya for many years, his impressions from his youth should be correct - well, people's homes at that time seemed to have much more land than they do now.
As we walked, it was noon, and smoke was rising from the kitchens of every household in the village.
"Yang Zhong." Wang Yan turned around again.
Pan Tao had no choice but to come down and walk with him instead of taking the car.
"Do people have three meals a day? I don't remember that." Wang Yan hesitated.
“Eat a dry meal when you go out in the morning, and eat a thin meal after returning from the fields in the evening. During busy farming days, you will eat three meals, which has been the case since ancient times.” Pan Tao said.
Wang Yan nodded slightly.
When the Forbidden Army soldiers are not training, they only eat two meals, but they are all dry.
Only three meals will be eaten when training.
Why do the people in this village eat three meals a day?
"Yifu." Pan Tao said helplessly: "Don't you think the name Shiqiao Fang is weird?"
Wang Yan nodded subconsciously.
“Defense is a military garrison.” Pan Tao explained: “The entire Shiqiao defense is a military garrison. There are hundreds of soldiers from the township regiment, each with its own tribe. The fields around the village, They all belong to the soldiers of the Homecoming Regiment. A little further away, do you see the wasteland? It is not divided, but it is still here. The man you saw under the big locust tree is often there. "He is guarding heads and tending sheep for his master."
After that, Pan Tao explained in detail the ins and outs of rural regiment garrison areas such as Shiqiao Fang.
After hearing this, Wang Yan was a little surprised. He took another look at Pan Tao and secretly guessed what his relationship was with Shao Xun.
He may not be Shao Xun's person, but the relationship is definitely not ordinary.
While the two were talking, they had arrived at the door of a house.
Chang Can’s wife Liu, with her big belly, accompanied Chang’s mother in doing housework.
Chan’s mother no longer has many teeth, but she has a smile on her face, as if she has experienced all the hardships in her life and is living a good life that was unimaginable in the past.
Chang Can was organizing the equipment rack, and from time to time he took down a weapon from it to try.
At the beginning, there was only a heavy sword and a ring-headed sword on it, but now there are also spears and wooden poles.
It seems that the owner has also begun to try to use more equipment to make himself more comprehensive.
When Wang Yan, Pan Tao and others walked by outside, Chang Can's eyes condensed. After hesitating for a moment, he quickly drew out his sword and chased after him.
The followers of Wang and Pan were shocked and took out their instruments to protect them.
"Who are you? Are you a spy?" Chang Can looked at Wang Yan without fear and asked.
He didn't pay attention to any of those servants and guards.
There are dozens of households of soldiers in the village. If they are surrounded, none of these people will be able to escape.
"Bold!" One of the guards scolded: "This is Situ, the Marquis of the Northern Army. Do you dare to charge?"
Chang Can was stunned, his sword lowered slightly, and said: "Recently, some thieves came to spy on Shiqiao during the defense. The general ordered us to conduct a strict investigation..."
"Are you the captain of the regular team?" Pan Tao walked over and said with a smile: "Before setting off for the expedition. Met once.”
"Shilang Pan?" Chang Can put away the knife.
“Now I am serving in the Taifu Shogunate.” Pan Tao said. "King of East China Sea..." Chang Can smiled, waved his hand and said, "You can go by yourself."
After that, he left.
Wang Yan has been watching with cold eyes.
He discovered something interesting.
The "team leader" named Chang Can never saluted him from the beginning to the end. He even insisted on using a sharp knife and spoke arrogantly.
Where did you find this kind of soldier? How did you practice it?
Even in the Luoyang Central Army, the soldiers were well-behaved and cautious. When they saw Wang Yan, they didn't dare to breathe, and they couldn't speak at all.
What kind of generals really lead what kind of soldiers?
Within a few years, all the soldiers Shao Xun had led were all arrogant and powerful generals?
Wang Yan winked, and a follower understood, 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. Seeing that the other party didn't say anything, he nodded and said, "People from the countryside have rough food. I'm afraid Situ won't be used to it. "
"No problem." Wang Yan waved his hand and walked in directly.
Pan Tao and several followers followed closely, while the others stayed outside to guard the carriage.
Chang Can's mother and wife seemed to be afraid of strangers, and after curtly bowing, they hid in the kitchen.
Wang Yan didn’t take it seriously and entered the main hall.
There is a small couch in the hall for guests to sit and lie down. The couch was covered with a straw mat, and a layer of mattress was added on top of the straw mat.
Poor families cannot do this alone. They have straw mats all year round. This is even the case for some declining families of poor scholars with distant branches. Wang Yan has seen this a lot.
He took off his shoes, sat directly on it, and looked around.
There are two single beds on the left and right sides of the couch.
There are hidden pockets on and around the bed board - the so-called hidden pocket is made of cloth or brocade and other fabrics, and the inside is made of light and soft things (silk, reed, feathers are acceptable), placed behind the back 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 to be very wealthy.
Moreover, the hostess also has some taste. She is not an ignorant village woman, she should have seen the world.
Wang Yan looked up again.
There is dust on the roof. Judging from the condition, it should have been newly added this year.
The covered area is not large, it can only protect the place where you sit and lie down - the so-called "chengchen" means "applying dust to the upper body", mainly to prevent the dust from the beam from falling on the body, so it is used on the bed The top rack is designed to bear dust, similar to the ceiling.
This thing is dispensable to ordinary people.
It does not have much effect and the cost is not low. It seems not too necessary, but this thing is one of the symbols that distinguish ordinary people from well-to-do people.
Do you mind if guests get dust on their bodies when they come to your house?
If you mind, just spend money to pretend to be Chengchen.
If you don’t mind, you can completely omit this thing.
Wang Yan didn't understand, but he came into contact with too many scholars.
The poor, the rich, the talented, the untalented, etc., even visited their homes.
This Chang Can family is not simple.
Shao Xun has only been in Liang County for more than a year, and his soldiers have followed him and grabbed a lot of money?
Wang Yan continued to look at it while thinking.
Suddenly, he saw two incense burners.
The two furnaces are different in size, old and new, and have different shapes. It looks weird when placed there.
Even if most people buy incense burners, they will definitely buy two of the same ones. These two in front of them - they were probably snatched, right?
Wang Yan's mouth twitched slightly, and then he remembered that he was a proud soldier.
It’s really crazy to go on an expedition and even rob the incense burner.
Of course, Wang Yan didn't know that Chang Can was not the most outrageous. Some people even snatched the tiger's cubs and planned to give them to the mistress.
Chang Can quickly brought the food, which was mainly corn rice and Hu cakes, plus some pickles and a little bacon.
Wang Yan and Pan Tao stood up to say thanks.
Chang Can finally returned the gift and then left.
Wang Yan picked up the bowl and chopsticks, took a few bites and then put it down, saying, "Yang Zhong, you said these people are from the rural troupe, I'm afraid that's not necessarily true."
Pan Tao ate quite well. He was very happy. When he heard Wang Yan's question, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "What do you think of Yifu?" With all the skills, he must be a sharp soldier and should not be underestimated. "
Wang Yan is not familiar with military affairs. He only considered it from the simplest perspective, but his conclusion was correct.
After saying that, he looked outside the door and lowered his voice: "How many township regiments does Marquis Lu Yang have?"
"This place is called Shiqiao Fang, and there is also Yongxing Fang in the southeast of Yongxing Temple. As for the Lijia Defense, it should be newly built and the staff is not yet fully staffed," Pan Tao said.
"Does it cost money to raise 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 a little dissatisfied, but his face remained calm as he picked up his rice bowl and took a few more bites.
The bacon does not belong to the genus of dolphin or sheep. It seems to be venison. It should be obtained from hunting. It tastes pretty good.
Venison is edible, but what about deer skin? Can make armor!
These rural regiment soldiers have tribes, and the deerskin armor can be used by themselves or given to tribes. When estimating the number of soldiers in each defense, you must not only count the soldiers themselves, but their units cannot be ignored either.
Aren't these just little tycoons?
Quietly, Shao Xun created such a big situation in Liang County. I really don’t know if I didn’t come here, but I was shocked when I came.
You may not care much about many things when others say them. But when you see it with your own eyes, it's a different feeling.
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 came to the world, the treasury of Xuchang was opened; Luoshui stopped flowing, and the real person came out...
Wang Yan's face was solemn, like a sculpture, without any change for a long time.
He felt that he had met a person who didn't like to follow the rules and liked to start over again outside the rules.
He subconsciously rejects such people.
But - alas.
(End of this chapter)