There were still dozens of miles away from Chang'an City, so Zhang Xuezhou collected the black and white horses.
"What a baby!"
Seeing the huge mount turned into a hand-sized bone horse treasure, Zhang Qian couldn't help but marvel again.
"If you have nothing to do, can we go to the evil country immediately?" Zhang Qian looked at Wu Chao and said.
"I'm sorry, I have something to do now," Wuchao said softly, "I have to stay in seclusion for at least seven days, and I can't go with you until seven days later!"
"Seven days will come soon!" Zhang Qian said happily.
He had a smile on his face and felt that Wu Chao was a trouble-free person, even if something happened he could only take a few days.
Not to mention Wuchao's seven-day seclusion, even Zhang Qian's 'immediately' has to go through several official procedures. In terms of time, he can't just leave at his will, but must be approved by several departments.
There are many things to do, such as convoys, horse teams, provisions, money, and the matching of mission members.
For Zhang Qian, he had solved the most important problem of guidance immediately, and there were still many things to do.
If all goes well, he is expected to set off in half a month.
"You guys get busy first, let's walk slowly!"
Zhang Xuezhou, who had collected the black and white horses, waved towards Zhang Qian and Wu Chao, indicating that he would no longer accompany them.
On the one hand, the black and white horses were not suitable for showing off, on the other hand, he and Rong Tianding were worried about Xu Yuan, a monk from the Nong Sect.
He and Rong Tianding had been away from Chang'an City for nearly two months. Zhang Xuezhou hoped that Xu Yuan was in good health and would not be unable to survive due to lack of their support.
From the official road, we continue to approach Chang'an City, passing through patches of farmland, and then we enter the civilian area outside Chang'an City.
The shed Xu Yuan built was not far from Wei Shaoer's thatched house, and the other party also planted two pieces of land outside Chang'an City.
This civilian area is not only populated by people, but is also superimposed with fields interspersed with it. It can even spread to a hundred miles away from Chang'an City.
The stronger civilian fields and houses are closer to Chang'an City, while the weaker ones are further away from Chang'an City. The quality of the reclaimed land is average, and they need to go into the mountains and forests from time to time to find prey to satisfy their hunger.
But now that we have entered the golden autumn season, there are some harvest scenes everywhere, and many people are busy making food for the winter.
"This millet must be dried in the sun. Don't be afraid that it will be lighter in weight after being dried and sold at a lower price. If the millet grows sprouts while it is stored, it will be worthless. Even the pigs will find it bitter after taking two bites. We think If you want to store grain for the winter and seeds for next year, you have to make all preparations, and there can be no ambiguity about drying!"
Xu Yuan is weak among the monks, but he is undoubtedly strong among ordinary people.
And Xu Yuan is not pedantic, and he is not ambiguous when it is time to fight.
This means that Xu Yuan's fields are not too far away from Chang'an City, no one dares to steal the food grown by Xu Yuan, and the water source for irrigation of his fields is also relatively in place.
When Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding rushed to the place, they saw Xu Yuan harvesting millet.
The millet in his field undoubtedly grew extremely well, and many people looked at the golden ears again and again, with envy on their faces. There were also two gangster leaders standing by to help maintain order.
"Brother Xu is living a happy life!"
Zhang Xuezhou stretched out his hand to say hello from a distance, which made Xu Yuan raise his neck.
When he saw Zhang Xuezhou through the crowd, he couldn't help but wave in response.
"The two pieces of land we have planted can yield eight shi of grain. If we pay two shi, we should have no worries about the remaining grain for the winter. As long as everyone grows like me, everyone will have a good harvest next year!"
One stone is equal to four jun, and one jun is equal to thirty catties. Xu Yuan's three acres of land yields nearly one thousand catties.
Compared with modern agriculture, this yield is undoubtedly extremely low, but compared with the millet grown by other farmers, fields like Xuyuan's are undoubtedly a bumper harvest.
No matter how much you talk, it's not worth the actual practice.
The last time Zhang Xuezhou met Xu Yuan here, he persuaded everyone not to grab water. The plants themselves are drought-tolerant and are not so easy to die of thirst.
Xu Yuan's prestige at that time was far from enough. Everyone was beating and scolding him all the time, but few people listened to Xu Yuan's words.
And when Xu Yuan's crops matured, it was obvious that more and more people were willing to listen to Xu Yuan's words. Even the little boss here looked at Xu Yuan eagerly.
Food in this era is bigger than the sky.
There are rich people in Chang'an City, but 90% of the people in the world are poor, and many people even live below the subsistence line.
Correspondingly, people with real skills are respected by others and even regarded as masters.
It just so happened that what Nongzong was best at was planting, not to mention planting precious things such as medicinal materials, even if it was just millet for subsistence.
Xu Yuan has been busy for several months and has achieved a good harvest.
But it was his first time here, and he had no stored ingredients. He had obviously had a hard time in the past few months, and his body had lost weight.
Xu Yuan ran out from the crowd after accepting a reward of two kilograms of millet from several farmers who harvested millet.
"It would be great if everyone could meet you earlier," Zhang Xuezhou said: "You don't know that when we were young, we had to starve when the harvest failed. Even the animal skins on the bed had to be used to cook soup. eat!"
"Have you ever been so hungry?"
Xu Yuan was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that Zhang Xuezhou, who seemed free and easy, would also have terrible moments.
When it comes to chewing animal skins, there is really nothing left to eat. This is a desperate situation for most people.
"Then how did you get through it?" Xu Yuan asked puzzled.
"Oh, we still have my parents. They went out to hunt some birds and beasts, and then stuffed a piece of meat into my mouth. Many of our friends came back to life like this," Zhang Xuezhou said, showing his hands.
"It's great to have parents!"
Xu Yuan pursed his lips.
His parents obviously didn't have a friendly memory for him, and there was some darkness in his eyes, as well as a bit of unwillingness to give up.
If he hadn't been burdened with a heavy burden, how could he have crossed thousands of miles of mountains and rivers to pursue spiritual progress.
"I haven't seen my parents in several years, and I don't know where they have gone!"
It wasn't until Zhang Xuezhou's melancholy voice came that Xu Yuan was slightly startled.
"Are your parents missing?" Xu Yuanqi asked.
"Everyone in our village has disappeared." Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand and said, "My parents went to trace it, but they haven't seen where they traced it until now. Even the information has been lost!"
"Are you being arrested for corvee service?" Xu Yuan said uncertainly: "In some places, when there is a lot of construction work, the entire village is arrested for work, and no one is seen for several years!"
"Our mountain nook... what you said makes sense, I will check this aspect in the future!"
Zhang Xuezhou sought help from monks, such as Dong Zhongshu and Wu Chao, but all to no avail.
Rong and Zhang Zhong have never returned to Rongcheng.
Zhang Xuezhou thought about it for a while, and then thought about people like King Liang who were carrying out large-scale construction projects, and realized that what Xu Yuan mentioned was not impossible.
There are no relevant records in Rongcheng, but there are too many people who can cross the Rongcheng County Government to do things.
It is very difficult to verify this matter. Even if Zhang Xuezhou rides around on a pair of black and white horses, it will be in vain. But as long as the official position is in place, the corresponding inquiry will become simpler.
He was not too anxious at this time.
On the one hand, Zhang Xuezhou's work and rest problems caused him inconvenience.
On the other hand, it has been so long. If something happened, it would have happened long ago. If nothing happened, everything would be easy. Given the survival ability of many people in Zhangjiazhuang, they would definitely be able to survive.
Although suffering is inevitable, as long as you can survive, it doesn't matter.
"The entire village has disappeared? Are they doing corvee labor? Are they carrying out large-scale construction projects?"
Zhang Xuezhou and Xu Yuan reunited and had a lively chat, while someone in the crowd frowned.
