A group of more than a dozen people set off in the direction of the county seat.
There was an ox in the team pulling a cart. The cart was covered with withered grass. You couldn't tell what it was. There was an old man and a young man sitting on the cart.
Most of the people following the oxcart were women, many of them carrying burdens on their shoulders and some dark things in bamboo baskets.
This is the team starting from Nanshan Village.
The old man and the young man sitting in the bullock cart were Sun Yaozu and Pei Yun. They were accompanied by Qin Qier, Aunt Zhao, Sun Youniang, Niu Lili, and some women who were strong enough to walk long distances, many of whom were Qin.
Member of the Detachment of Women.
These people can hunt when they pick up the crossbow, and work when they put down the crossbow.
This time Pei Yunhui and Sun Yaozu went to the county town together because they wanted to see the face of this era.
In fact, for some villagers, these things have nothing to do with their lives.
For many villagers, until their death, the scope of their activities is only one-third of an acre of land in their own village.
The villagers only have two legs to travel. Unless something happens, they will not go far.
And what can happen to the villagers? What they have to face every day is to work and live... the cycle starts over and over again.
What the world is like and how it will develop is actually far away from the people, and they cannot affect it.
But Pei Yun is different. He has many things to do, and he needs to think about what to do and how to do it.
This time, Pei Yun had another purpose in going to the county seat.
"Mononitrate, disulfide, and charcoal." This is what Pei Yun said.
A simple formula, but it contains terrible power.
Yes, this is the recipe for making black powder.
Among them, charcoal is easy to find, but as for saltpeter and sulfur, they are not available in Nanshan Village and can only be found in the county.
You will think of making black gunpowder, which can play a big role in mining.
Of course, it would be equally terrible to use black gunpowder in other places.
The nearest county town to Nanshan Village is called Min County. Even to the nearest county town, it took a whole day to travel.
The world is not peaceful, and the most active bandits in Min County are the Wa bandits.
However, there are only a dozen or so people in the team, and a team with a larger number of people is relatively safer.
Of course, with the existence of the Qin Detachment of Women, if anyone is really short-sighted, it can only be said that he is asking for trouble.
It took the group a day to reach Min County.
It is forbidden to enter and leave Min County at night, so we can only wait until tomorrow morning to enter the city.
The group was considered experienced and found a place to spend the night outside Min County.
Although we haven't entered the city, we can already see the outline of Min County.
Historically speaking, the average county town covered an area of several square kilometers and had a population of about 10,000 people.
Of course, this is a general number, not a standard.
Generally speaking, the residential population of a county is relatively fixed.
There are broadly three types:
First, county government officials.
Second, businessmen.
Third, the rich and powerful gentry in each township like to live in the county town because they are easily robbed by bandits in the countryside.
The population of residents in the county is very fixed and generally does not need to be expanded. It has remained the same for hundreds of years.
correspond to it.
In ancient times, when farming was the mainstay, farmers were unwilling to live in the county even if they had the ability.
There are many rules for management. In the county, the city gate will be closed at a fixed time, and farmers must go home on time every day. This is very unrealistic for farmers, especially during busy farming seasons.
Farmers who want to enter the county town cannot do so casually. They need to show their tooth tags and sometimes have to be searched.
As a farmer, the countryside is your real home.
At night, you can see the city wall in the distance.
With today's eyes, people would be surprised when they see the county wall for the first time.
But for Pei Yun.
Visually, the height of the city wall is about five meters.
A five-meter city wall is really not enough for a person who is used to seeing modern high-rise buildings.
Pei Yun is not denying the city wall. With the current level of people, it is considered magnificent to be able to build such a city wall.
Although I didn't really take a closer look, if I'm right, the city wall in Min County is a rammed earth wall.
Rammed earth wall is a wall made of earth.
Pile soil on the wall base. The soil needs to be loose and soft. When doing this, add water to the soil to wet it. Use wooden boards on both sides of the wall as plywood to retain the soil. At this time, use tamping to pound the soil to make the soil firm.
, this is called rammed earth.
Use tamped soil and external force to make the local foundation and wall foundation strong as a whole.
Among the construction of city walls, rammed earth walls are the simplest ones, which have various defects.
The wall will crack over time, the wall surface will not be smooth, and there will be honeycomb pitting.
The protective power is also not as good as other city walls.
In addition to rammed earth walls, there are also brick city walls. The method is to build a layer of brick skin on the inner and outer surfaces of the earth wall.
After the earthen wall was completed, bricks had to be laid immediately, so that both the inside and the outside were close to the earthen wall.
Building city walls with stones is another method.
In areas with a lot of stone, stone walls can be built.
The city wall was built with stones, and the interior was also made of earth. The earth wall was also built first, and then stone strips or stones were laid on both sides of the wall.
The characteristic of the stone city wall is that the stones are large and easy to construct.
But again, no matter what kind of wall it is, in Pei Yun's eyes, it is just like that.
Looking at the city wall in Min County, Pei Yun murmured to himself: "I wonder if there is a chance to make reinforced concrete. Cement shouldn't be a problem, bricks won't be a problem either, as for steel bars... Just think about it now."
"Sir, be careful if you catch a cold." Qin Qier came over and said.
It’s already dark, and winter is approaching. If you’re not careful, you can easily catch a cold.
A fire had been lit where the group stayed to keep people warm.
Pei Yun found a place to sit down.
Qin Qier thought for a while and sat down in Pei Yun's arms.
Anyway, there is nothing to be ashamed of about my relationship with the young master.
But when he sat down, he still said, "I'm afraid that the young master will catch a cold. If I hold him in my arms, the young master will be warmer."
Pei Yun didn't bother with her reason and just teased the tip of her nose with his fingers to punish her for making excuses.
But having said that, it's really a bit cold.
Although I am the most dressed of all.
But people's bodies are different.
Everyone is obviously more tolerant to the cold than themselves, after all, they are used to it.
Pei Yun hugged the girl in his arms tightly, looking for the warmth in the cold night.
After traveling all day, they were both tired. Feeling each other's warmth, Pei Yun and Qin Qier quickly fell asleep.
At this time, a pair of eyes looked at Pei Yun and Qin Qier, it was Sun Youniang.
"What are you thinking about? Tell Aunt Zhao." Aunt Zhao said at the side.
"No." Sun Youniang looked away and had no intention of talking to Aunt Zhao.
Aunt Zhao shook her head and sighed in her heart: "It's a pity that I have the intention, but the man is ruthless."
The next day, when the city gate opened, a group of people lined up early.
Accompanying him were other people who wanted to enter the city.
When entering the city, you must show your tooth tag, and if necessary, you will be searched and interrogated.
Sun Yaozu was at the forefront of the team and handed the dental plaque to the officer.
"The head of Nanshan Village?" After confirming Sun Yaozu's identity, the official's attitude improved significantly.
Although the village chief is not an official, he still has a certain status.
For example, the village chief can meet with the official, but ordinary people do not have this kind of treatment.
The village chief is not considered an official, but he is also a member of the official circle.
"They are all from my village. They came to the city this time to sell some things, and I asked the official to help them." Sun Yaozu said kindly.
What he said was good, and he didn't hit the smiling person. Seeing Sun Yaozu's attitude, the official became easy to talk to.
After taking a look at the other people, there were quite a few of them, but most of them were carrying burdens. The contents of the bamboo baskets were clearly visible, they were dark things.
"Okay, go over there."
After being released, the group walked towards the city gate.
"Wait a minute," the official said suddenly, looking at the bullock cart.
Sitting on the bullock cart is Pei Yun.
Could it be that the official noticed that Pei Yun was unusual and wanted to investigate him? Pei Yun was not a villager in Nanshan Village.
The official walked towards the bullock cart, but passed by Pei Yun without stopping.
The officials care about the things on the oxcart, not the people.
"What's in here?"
The bullock cart was covered with withered grass, and there was obviously something under the withered grass.
When the officer asked about what was under the withered grass, Sun Yaozu's face became strange. Just as he was about to explain, the officer uncovered the withered grass.
The officer's original intention was to see if there were any prohibited items under the withered grass, but when he uncovered the withered grass and saw clearly what it was, he was frightened.
Also frightened were the people on the side.
Seeing that the officials were about to search the ox cart, the people were all attracted to it. When the officials uncovered the dead grass, they also saw the contents of the ox cart.
"Tiger...there is a tiger." Some people shouted in fear.
All of a sudden, the people at the city gate were in chaos.
When a tiger suddenly appears, everyone is afraid.
"It's not a tiger, it's a tiger skin, just a tiger skin." Sun Yaozu said hurriedly.
The person who could see it most clearly was naturally the official who was closest to him. He only saw it when Sun Yaozu said it was tiger skin.
Indeed, it is not a real tiger, just a tiger skin.
Although tiger skin looks scary, it is still a dead thing.
The official felt that he was frightened by a dead tiger skin. This really shouldn't be the case. He coughed twice and shouted at the chaotic people, "Be quiet, everyone. It's just a tiger skin. What's the matter?"
What a fuss.”
As he spoke, he puffed up his chest, as if to say that he was not making a fuss.
After the official's scolding, the people calmed down. They also saw that it was just a tiger skin, but they still pointed at it.
The official swallowed his saliva and said to Sun Yaozu: "What is this tiger skin about?"
Sun Yaozu said: "Of course I got it while hunting."
He didn't directly say that it was Qin Qi'er who killed him, but it would be bad if he did.
If a woman kills a tiger, it will inevitably arouse curiosity and doubt in others.
What kind of ability does this woman have to be able to kill a tiger?
To explain clearly, we have to mention the existence of crossbow.
Pei Yun was unwilling to tell outsiders about the crossbow.
If such a lethal weapon spread, who knows what kind of impact it would have. This is not something Pei Yun wants to face.