Three thousand miles in exile

In mid-April, the cold air on the mountain has not dissipated, and the unmelted snow is still piled on the ridges of the fields.

The seedlings in the seedling field are covered with straw at night to keep warm, and they are exposed to the sun during the day. The climate on Qiyun Mountain is harsh. Even in April, it still snows from time to time. If you don’t pay attention, you will freeze to death. The seedling field cannot be separated from people for a day .

Liu Xueyi and Liu Xueli don't like farm work, and they hide when they can. It has always been Liu Zhan's task to take care of the seedling field. This year there is more Song Fenglin. worked hard.

"I'll collect the rest, you go and rest." Liu Zhan stacked the straw in his arms to the ridge of the field, and Song Fenglin over there also came to stack a bundle of straw.

Liu Zhan grabbed him. "Go to a meeting."

Song Fenglin is not hypocritical. After a serious illness, he often feels top-heavy, and after picking up such a little straw, he feels starved.

"Want to eat fish soup at night? I'll go to the stream to find some small miscellaneous fish later." Liu Zhan said at the other end of the field.

"The stream is too cold before the ice melts." Song Fenglin refused without thinking.

Liu Zhan said with a smile: "It is easy to catch if it is not melted. It is not far from the gate where the water is released."

"Why do you have endless strength?" Song Fenglin wanted to ask this question a long time ago.

Liu Zhan laughed out loud, and he collected another bundle of straw and put it down, and suddenly said seriously: "I want to make some fish soup to replenish your body, so I have the strength."

Song Fenglin whispered. "It doesn't have to be."

Liu Zhan stared at him. "I'll be happy to serve."

Song Fenglin was speechless.

The seedlings in the nursery field are growing well, and they will be able to be transplanted in two days. Planting is hard work. The water from the ice and snow in the field is icy cold, and even Liu Zhan is too tired to bear the cold.

Transplanting rice seedlings is a major event, Liu Xueyi and Liu Xueli can no longer be lazy, even the Zhao family will come to help, and the brothers Liu Zhan, the Cao family, the Wen family and the Zhang family will all come to help, as for Li Xiaolian and the Li family, they have to cultivate the private land left by their deceased husbands, It is not easy for mother and son.

It was Song Fenglin's first time planting rice seedlings, but he couldn't bear to do the seemingly simple things repeatedly. After a long time, his feet were numb and unconscious, and his waist could hardly straighten up. He was bitter, tired and hungry. No.

At this time, the entire Liu family was extremely quiet. They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, fell asleep when they fell asleep, and got up before dawn the next day to go to the fields.

"Give it to me." Liu Zhan took the seedlings from Song Fenglin's hands and took the seedlings from Zhao's hands. "Mother, go back, there is not much left, you don't need to come every day."

Mrs. Zhao was so tired that she had her hands on her hips. "It's just a few days of suffering, just get through it."

Liu Zhan insisted, and Mrs. Zhao went home to cook.

With the help of so many people, it took more than ten days to build such twelve acres of land.

In addition, the newly opened wasteland last year has been plowed and the seedlings have been raised, just waiting for the students to come back to plant seedlings. It is impossible for the Liu family to plant the ten acres of new land.

The Liu family's own fields were finally planted with seedlings, and Liu Zhan was finally free.

This day Liu Zhan came early to look for Song Fenglin.

Liu Zhan climbed onto the kang and took out the white wolf hair that he had bought for some time from his arms. "For you."

Song Fenglin was stunned for a moment, since the Song family was in trouble, he never wrote again, including the time when Liu Xueyuan detained him in the academy, he just read books and never wrote.

The things he used to be proud of are worthless in this mountain, but here he is just a tenant farmer from a military household, the most humble citizen in the world, working in the fields these days, Song Fenglin has gradually accepted his identity as a tenant farmer, he I don't want to write anymore, just be a humble tenant farmer like this.

Liu Zhan gave the pen forward again, and Song Fenglin had to take it.

The color of this white wolf is not good at all, there is only a handful of white hairs, and the rest are yellow or gray mottled hairs. Every pen tip of his previous pens is snow-white and snow-white white wolf without any mottled hairs. The pen is worth one hundred taels.

However, no matter how poor the quality of the wolf hair is, it is extremely rare in this mountain.

"Why bother?" Song Fenglin still accepted it, but he thought in his heart that he didn't need it.

Liu Zhan is in a good mood, as long as he faces Song Fenglin, he will be in a good mood.

"And these rice papers should be enough for you to write for a long time." Liu Zhan took out a roll of rice paper from the skirt of his clothes again like a magic trick.

Song Fenglin moved his mouth, wanted to say something or let it go, he took the rice paper and put it aside.

Liu Zhan smiled next to him. "I bought two books and can't read them, can you read them for me?"

Song Fenglin didn't push him away. "what book?"

Liu Zhan reached into his skirt mysteriously and took out a copy of "Regions of the World". Song Fenglin took it and flipped through it. The whole book was full of place names and geography, so Liu Zhan couldn't understand it at this level.

At this time, Liu Zhan fumbled into the skirt of his clothes again and took out a "General History of Zhou and Chu".

Song Fenglin chuckled. "What else is in your pocket?" He gestured to pull his skirt.

"The last one is gone." Liu Zhan shyly opened the front of his shirt to show him that it was gone.

"Boring." Song Fenglin kicked him.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhan had sharp eyes and grasped it quickly, but his snow-white feet were cold.

"The weather is getting warmer, why are you still so cold?" Liu Zhan frowned, before Song Fenglin could react, his feet were covered by Liu Zhan's clothes, sticking to his hot belly.

In an instant, Song Fenglin's entire face was pale and rosy, especially his ears were so red that they could bleed, he hurriedly twitched his feet, but Liu Zhan didn't let him, but covered him even tighter.

Liu Zhan knew that Song Fenglin was thin-skinned. Although he really wanted to do something more at the moment, he still held back.

"Help me read the "Regional Chronicles of the World" first? I want to know the Yandi to the north of Qiyun Mountain."

Song Fenglin frowned. "What do you want to know about these?"

Liu Zhan put away his playful thoughts and said seriously. "I want to map it."

"You want to make a map?" Song Fenglin thought about it in surprise. "No, why do you want to draw a map of Yandi?"

Liu Zhan knew that he couldn't hide it from him and confessed honestly. "I heard that if you go further inside Tiancang Village, there is a Tongtian Pass in the forest of the Wild Boar King. After passing through the Tongtian Pass and going down the mountain, you will find the Kingdom of Yan. I want to visit the land of Yan."

It might be possible to fool Liu Xueyuan with these words, Song Fenglin is so smart, he knows that Liu Zhan is not the kind of person who does something just out of curiosity, he has a purpose in everything he does.

"What do you want to do in Yandi? Not just to see it? What are you planning?" Song Fenglin's sharp questions stopped Liu Zhan.

Getting along these days not only allowed Liu Zhan to understand Song Fenglin's temperament, but Song Fenglin also knew the person in front of him very well.

"..." Liu Zhan wanted to divert his gaze.

Song Fenglin kicked his stomach with the covered foot. "to be honest!"

Liu Zhan felt bitter.

"Go back to your room if you don't tell me!"

"No, I'll say." Liu Zhan hurriedly covered his hands tightly, he faltered.

"The Yan people burned, killed and looted in the Cangxia Plain, causing the people to live in poverty, but I heard that the Yan land to the north of Qiyun Mountain is very rich, and it is the granary of the Yan army."

"I was thinking..."

"Maybe……"

Liu Zhan shifted his gaze. "I can rob the enemy's food and grass..."

Song Fenglin couldn't believe it. "Are you going to be a bandit?"

"I'm not a bandit, am I that kind of person..." Liu Zhan suddenly felt wronged, hugged his feet and didn't speak.

Song Fenglin was suddenly blessed. "No, you must be tired of hunting wild boars and want to beat people, right?"

These words made Liu Zhan dumbfounded. "Am I not crazy to hit someone for no reason?"

With a long sigh, Liu Zhan still confessed. "The remote place on Qiyun Mountain is a large no-man's land. It borders Yan Kingdom. It doesn't matter when you leave Tongtian Pass, but you don't care about it when you go to Qiyun Mountain. Whoever has power here can control this area. I want For my own power, I need money, food, and people."

Song Fenglin was dumbfounded when he heard it, and it took him a long time to curse. "you are crazy!"

At this point, Liu Zhan simply opened up. "The Yan people are attacking the northern border in the Cangxia Plain, and the Yan's army is retreating steadily. The main force of the Yan army must be in the Cangxia Plain, and border areas like the foot of Qiyun Mountain must be neglected. If I organize some people to take the opportunity to attack... "

"How dare you be so bold!" Song Fenglin was shocked.

The firmness in Liu Zhan's eyes did not waver. "I have no other choice. The world is divided into classes, and the livelihoods that can be done in the county are monopolized by wealthy households. I also want to rely on formal channels to gather wealth and cultivate power, but it is too slow, and I don't want to wait."

Liu Zhan continued: "Don't you think that our life is precarious now? If the dog emperor Zhou went crazy one day and wanted us to die, we would have to die! This kind of day is being watched all the time and may be wiped out at any time. , I felt as if I was scratching my heart and scratching my liver."

The room was suddenly eerily quiet.

Liu Zhan's soul comes from the 21st century, a society with a high degree of freedom, and he can't bear this feeling for a moment. Deep in Liu Zhan's soul, he keeps shouting that he must break free!

Song Fenglin suddenly found that he had an outlet for his suppressed heart. That's right, it was this kind of precarious life where he was detained in a square inch and killed at any time, and he couldn't resist. It was this kind of day that made him give up on himself and give up on himself.

Liu Zhan said firmly: "I don't know if this is feasible, and to what extent I can achieve it in the end, but I think if I have my own power, at least I will not be passive when danger comes. I don't like to be passive and wait for death."

Liu Zhan looked directly at Song Fenglin. "Also, the Yan people are attacking the northern border. How many innocent people have been killed and how many villages have been burned. You can see that the refugees outside the county are all people who fled from the front line. They come to commit crimes. Why should we take revenge?"

Song Fenglin was silent for a long time, Liu Zhan thought he would scold him for being overconfident, thinking that he would tell him one, two, three, four or five reasons that he could not refute to make him give up.

"Aren't you afraid that Yan soldiers will come up the mountain?" Song Fenglin asked.

Liu Zhan said: "When you go up the mountain, you will be in the land of Chu. Qiyun Mountain is so vast. Unless the Yan soldiers go up the mountain in a big way, as long as a small group of soldiers go up the mountain, there is nothing to be afraid of. We pretend to be bandits, and the Yan people probably don't think much of them. I intend to gather funds. and forces, we won’t do too much in the early stage.”

Song Fenglin frowned in thought. "After all, bandits are not well-known and can only hide in the dark, and it is very inconvenient to do things."

Liu Zhan was discouraged and said: "I once thought about joining the army, but because of my background, I would be killed as cannon fodder if I went there. There won't be a good way out."

Song Fenglin seemed to be inspired. "Since you've thought about joining the army, why don't you spend money to buy a small soldier officer? People can't avoid places like Tongtian Pass. If you are willing to go and give another tribute, I think the magistrate of Pei County will not refuse. Xiang At that time, everything will be justified when you cultivate your own power in Guanzhong."

Liu Zhan was enlightened. "Yes! Why didn't I think of it!"

Liu Zhan looked at Song Fenglin with even more loving eyes.

"How much money do you think is appropriate to spend? I only have 50 taels of silver."

Song Fenglin avoided his sight with red ears. "The owner of the Shanchengguan in this small border area is probably not a regular military officer, maybe a general soldier of a hundred households who is not in the ranks. I heard that the merchants in the county town pay less than a few taels and a few tens of taels. Big, it should be enough to buy a small military officer in Shanchengguan who is avoided by others."

100 taels of silver was a lot of money for Liu Zhan at this time. After the beginning of spring, the wild boars became active again, and it was impossible for him to go hunting in the mountains like he did in winter.

"Don't worry, there will always be a solution." Song Fenglin was relieved again.

These days, every family is busy with spring plowing, and it is impossible for Liu Zhan to take his younger brothers up the mountain on such an important day, so the matter of making money has to be postponed.

Now that he decided to understand the geography around Qiyun Mountain, Liu Zhan simply stuck to Song Fenglin to study the regional annals.

Liu Zhan felt that it was too difficult to understand just by imagining, so he made a three-foot-square wooden basin with the leftover wooden boards from the construction of the house. In the basin, soil, moss and stones were used to simulate the mountain situation, and small squares were cut out of wooden blocks to make a house. Made a crude version of the sand table model.

Liu Zhan couldn't read the □□ crawling characters, so the drawing work could only be done by Song Fenglin.

Tea is simmering on a charcoal stove, and the fragrance of tea is wafting.

Ever since Liu Zhan knew that Song Fenglin was afraid of the cold and his hands and feet were cold, he always hugged his feet. At first, Song Fenglin was very uncomfortable. Slowly, he also gave up resistance.

The two of them saw a controversial point that day. Liu Zhan was still uncertain as he moved around on the sand table. Song Fenglin waited for him to make up his mind and fell asleep without knowing it. This sleep was very comfortable and the dream was warm. Hot.

After waking up from the dream, Song Fenglin saw that he was snuggling tightly in Liu Zhan's arms. Liu Zhan held him in one hand and studied "Regional Chronicles of the World" in the other.

When Liu Zhan saw that he was awake, he immediately recommended himself. "How about I warm your bed? I don't snore or move around when I sleep."

Song Fenglin. "..."

Liu Zhan recommends himself every day, but it's a pity that he doesn't succeed once.

After that, the students of Yunzhong Academy also came back one after another, including the newly opened ten acres of land on the mountain, dozens of people worked hard for a few days and quickly finished it.

In the blink of an eye, it was May, and the first township examination was on the tenth day of the fifth lunar month. As soon as the work in the fields was over, Liu Xueyuan stepped up to teach the students. There were 15 students in Yunzhong Academy who took the exam, all in May.

Liu Zhan doesn't know much about imperial examinations in history. As far as Dachu is concerned, the township examination is held once a year in early May, the county examination is held every year in early summer, and the government examination is held every three years in early autumn. The test will be held every three years in the spring of the coming year.

As far as Liu Zhan knows, the Dachu practiced a system that coexisted with the imperial examination and the nine-rank Zhongzheng system. After being admitted to Juren, one must be recommended by a family to become an official. Also abound.

As for the examination of Jinshi, that is the privilege of the family, and non-family members cannot apply for the examination.

Last year, the new emperor Kai Enke and the three talents from Yunzhong Academy all failed the rankings. This year there will be another one. If they fail again, they will have to wait until three years later to try again. Therefore, Liu Xueyuan pays special attention to it. He asked Song Yijun to guard Lu Shusheng and other three talents every day. , Start preparing for the exam half a year in advance.

On the day of the township examination, the entire Wuyuan County was as lively as a festival, students from all over the country gathered together, and every teahouse and wine shop in the county was overcrowded.

Three days later, when the announcement was made, the entire stone-slab long street was filled with gongs and drums.

"Congratulations to Dean Liu, congratulations to Dean Liu!"

Of the 15 people who went to Yunzhong Academy, eight of them were selected, among them, Wen Qingshan was admitted to Tongsheng!

Those who announced the good news quickly surrounded Lin Ji, where everyone in the Yunzhong Academy was staying. The yamen servants would not take the initiative to announce the good news to the candidates for the provincial examination.Liu Xueyi had been prepared for a long time, and those who came to announce the good news first were given a copper coin.

The two brothers Cao Zhuang and Cao Ming held Wen Qingshan, Zhang Xiaoman, Li Xiaolian, Zhou Ziming, Wei Chenggui and other young people cheered and hugged each other happily holding Wen Qingshan to parade through the streets.

Liu Zhan sat in Linji and didn't join in the fun.

Yunzhong Academy has accepted eight students at once, and the youngest is only 13 years old. This kind of acceptance rate is the first in Wuyuan County. Liu Xueyuan's face stiffened from smiling just because of socializing today.

After the county examination in early June, Yunzhong Academy won three more scholars, and Liu Xueyuan's reputation in the local area became even stronger for a while.

Due to its remote location, Wuyuan County is the poorest of the six counties in Qiyun Mountain. There has always been no serious academies, so if you want to study, you can only go to neighboring counties.

Taking advantage of this upsurge, Yunzhong Academy has attracted another group of students.

Speaking of Yunzhong Academy, the Meng School is overcrowded and no longer accepts students. Most of the Meng School are farm children from nearby villages with mixed grades. Liu Xueyuan and Song Yijun are discussing the division of the Meng School into two classes, A and B.

The qualified students are divided into Class A, and the beginners and dull students are divided into Class B. Class B has a quiz every six months. Those who pass the quiz can be promoted to Class A. As for the teacher's problem, Liu Xueli usually There is nothing to do here, and Liu Xueli is also competent in teaching children to read and write in Class B.

At the same time, Song Yijun suggested that the duration of Class B is three years, and students graduate after three years of study. In other words, if they cannot be promoted to Class A within three years, they will be dropped out of Yunzhong Academy. This also sets a threshold for Yunzhong Academy. Some children It's really dull. There are many people who can't write their own names well after learning for half a year.

With the help of Song Yijun, Liu Xueyuan finally set the rules.

Even though Liu Xueyuan set stricter requirements, there are still many students who come here admiringly. They read thousands of books and take the imperial examination for fame. Even if they only have the fame of a scholar, they can find a decent job in the county Better than farming.

Soon the dormitory of Yunzhong Academy was full again, and now the three brothers Liu Xueyuan at home had to teach and had no time to meddle in chores, so the idler Liu Zhan was naturally responsible for such things as building a house.

Liu Xueyuan said that Liu Zhan could figure it out by himself, so Liu Zhan waved his hand and built three more rows of earthen houses behind Yunzhong Academy, and built a walled corridor to separate the teaching area from the dormitory area. Liu Zhan Seeing that the earthen walls were not good-looking, they asked the craftsmen to whitewash the academy and the interior and exterior of the Liu family's house. Immediately, the Yunzhong Academy looked completely new.

At that time, Liu Zhan encouraged Liu Xueyuan to open the academy just because he wanted to earn more income, but he didn't expect that Yunzhong Academy would become more and more prosperous by Liu Xueyuan.

Liu Zhan was also worried that the reputation of Yunzhong Academy would lead to murder. After all, the Liu family was not an ordinary citizen. It was not until Pei County Magistrate sent a congratulatory gift to thank Liu Xueyuan for his enlightenment of the people that Liu Zhan was relieved.

The merits of teaching and educating people will last forever, but it is nothing more than teaching a few scholars, and neither the left nor the right can be an official. Apart from adding some political achievements to the county magistrate of Pei, nothing else can be changed.