The little fat man frowned and thought for a while, and said: "The emperor just passed away not long ago, and there was a lot of chaos. I don't know who the emperor is now. There has been a lot of chaos these years. I heard adults say that in the first seven or eight years,
There were three emperors in one month. They all said that the world was going to be in chaos."
Yang Fan understands. He has watched too many braid dramas. All fools know this. This is the first year of the Chongzhen Dynasty. Only the last year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty saw three emperors change within one month. The emperor who just died now should be Emperor Tianqi.
.
The little fat man continued: "But my father said that this is a good thing. Two generations of emperors favored the eunuchs and collected mining taxes everywhere. They levied excessive taxes. Many small mines could no longer operate. In the 30th year of Wanli, Zunhua had iron
There are more than 400 mines and more than 300 iron-making workshops. Now there are less than 100 mines left, and there are more than 40 iron-making workshops. Now that the new king has succeeded to the throne, the government is full of power, and the mine supervisory capital is
If it is withdrawn, all kinds of mining taxes and donations, as well as the filial piety paid to eunuchs, will be waived. From now on, everyone's life will be much easier."
"What month is it now?" Yang Fan asked another idiot question.
"Brother, don't you read the almanac when you go out? You don't even know what month it is?" The little fat man had a speechless expression on his face.
"I have been practicing in the mountains with the master. I was picked up by the master. The master passed away. I took care of the master's funeral affairs and came out of the mountain. When I walked here, I happened to bump into these three Tatars. They were unreasonable.
, they wanted to kill people when they came up, so I sent them to be reincarnated."
"So that's it. I asked you why your hair is so short, and you're still wearing floral clothes. It turns out it's a hundred-pin garment sewn with rags." A trace of pity flashed in the little fat man's eyes, seeming to sympathize with Yang Fan's life experience.
The old-fashioned camouflage uniforms worn by the workers were regarded as robes, and Yang Fan was speechless. However, it was indeed dirty and looked gaudy.
Yang Fan saw this and thought to himself that this boy was quite kind, and most people with compassion are not bad people.
"Brother, what do you call me?" the little fat man raised his head and asked
"My name is Yang Fan, Mu Yi Yang, Mortal's Fan"
"Brother Yang, my name is Wei Fugui, my father's name is Wei Nancheng, everyone calls my father Wei Bancheng, half of the iron smelting workshops in Zunhua belong to my family." The little fat man said proudly.
"It's the end of August now, today is the 29th, and it will get cold soon. Brother Yang, if you have nothing to do, winter will not be easy. Winters have been cold these years, and food is expensive. Why don't you come to my house and be a clerk?
, take care of food and housing, and still have a salary of two coins a month, what do you think?" the little fat man said, patting his chest.
It was confirmed in August 1628, the first year of Chongzhen.
"I don't have a household registration, so I'm afraid it won't be possible to work in the city. I plan to find a place in the countryside to settle down first," Yang Fan said thoughtfully.
"It's easy to say, my Wei family can't handle such a small matter in Zunhua. Brother Yang, don't worry, the household registration is on me. You can send me back to Zunhua first. My father will definitely thank you very much when I get home. As for whether you are willing to come
When I work in the Wei family, it all depends on Brother Yang's wishes." The little fat man said slyly.
Yang Fan thought to himself that this boy was quite cunning. He had been separated from his father during the chaos of war and he would definitely not be able to go back. Now he wanted to trick himself into sending him back.
But I still don’t know if I can go back. At least I have to survive first. If I want to integrate into the local society, my identity is very important. I can’t just be a refugee in the mountains.
"Is Zunhua far from here? Do you know the way?" Yang Fan made a decisive decision immediately. This is not a place to stay for a long time and it is wise to leave quickly.
When the little fat man heard this, he was overjoyed and said quickly: "It's not far. It's only about fifty miles away. I know how to go."
Yang Fan was shocked when he heard that this place was only fifty miles away from Zunhua City.
"So close, how did the Tatars sneak in?"
The little fat man drooped his head and sighed like an adult. "Ever since Commander Qi Jiguang disappeared, this Ji Town has been like a sieve. Mongolian Tatars often come in in small groups to smuggle and plunder. This time even slaves appeared.
, the frontier army can rely on the sow to climb the tree."
"Then let's leave now. If these Tatars have any accomplices, they will be in trouble. Can you ride a horse?"
Yang Fan asked.
"Yes, yes, I came here with my father on horseback."
"Okay, let's pack up and leave." Yang Fan thought that the heads of the Tatars could be exchanged for money, so he chopped off the heads of the three Tatars. They packed them in cloth bags from the horses, along with two sets of armor, clothes, bows and arrows,
He put the long knife on the horse's back. He hung the waist knife of the Han slave Aha on his body. He wore a cloth robe and looked like a person from this era.
The little fat man looked at his short hair, found a bamboo hat for him to wear, looked around, and said with satisfaction: "This is what he looks like."
Yang Fan's hometown in the countryside is in Weichang County, Hebei Province. Every family there has a horse, so there is no problem in riding a horse. But the little fat man's ability to ride a horse at such a young age makes him impressed.
Seeing that it was already around ten o'clock in the morning, Yang Fan decided to set off immediately. The two men and three horses flew away in the dust and rushed towards Zunhua City.
An hour later, they finally ran to a mountaintop in the distance. The two stood on horseback to observe, and could still see the small mountain village in the distance. After climbing the mountain and running ten miles away, they reached Zunhua City, where they could already see the gray
The city wall.
The two of them came down to take a rest and let the horse drink some water.
People who have never raised horses don’t know about them, and they think they can run around on horseback. In fact, that’s not true. The best running animal in the world is people. People can’t run horses over short distances, and horses can’t run people over long distances.
If a horse were to run 70 to 80 kilometers in one hour, that is, two hours, it would basically be unable to run, and it would take four or five days to rest.
I'm fine. I drive 30 kilometers a day, sleep a bit and continue on the road the next day. There's no problem at all.
Yang Fan came from the countryside and cared about livestock. He fed the three horses chopped dry food with his hands, and fed the horses water with a skin bag. He also wiped the sweat off the horses with a cloth.
The three horses were cared for very comfortably, and they rubbed Yang Fan's face with their mouths affectionately. They also became familiar with Yang Fan.
The two rested for an hour, eating something and drinking some water, and letting the horse eat some grass on the ground.
Yang Fan chatted with the little fat man, trying to learn as much as possible about the situation of this era. As he was talking, Yang Fan unconsciously glanced back and saw black smoke rising in the distance. Yang Fan stood up vigilantly, looking like
The small mountain village we just left.
The little fat man saw Yang Fan standing up with a solemn expression. He also looked over there, "Brother Yang, are the Tatar accomplices burning the village? Has the body been found?"
"Nine times out of ten, the Tatar accomplices discovered the body and couldn't find anyone to take revenge. They were so angry that they set fire to the village."
"Then let's run quickly. It's not far down the mountain to Zunhua." The little fat man turned pale with fright and panicked.
"Calm down, the Tatars are at least forty miles away from us, and they won't be able to come for a while. We've had enough rest, so let's go now."
Before he finished speaking, he saw a horse carrying two people on the mountain road. One of them was held horizontally on the saddle with an arrow stuck in his back.
The other one was beating the horse desperately while looking back nervously. Both of them were wearing leather armor and looked like they should be officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.
There were two knights chasing behind them. They looked like they were not officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. They wore blue cloth armor with red edges, and their helmets had tall lightning rods.
They were exactly the same as the two father and son who were killed by Yang Fan. Damn it, Tatars, they really meet each other in the mountains and rivers. It's not that enemies don't get together.