"Which emperor is in power now?" Yang Fan asked.
The little fat man frowned and thought for a while, then 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 understood, he had watched too many braid dramas. All fools know. This was 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 With the withdrawal, all kinds of mining taxes and donations, as well as the filial piety 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 clothes 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 bainai uniforms, and Yang Fan was speechless. But it was really dirty and looked gaudy.
Yang Fan saw this and thought to himself that this boy was quite kind, and most people with compassion were 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 twenty-nine, 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 a salary of two silver 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 my shoulders. 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 My work in the Wei family depends entirely on Brother Yang's wishes." The little fat man said slyly.
Yang Fan thought to himself that this boy was quite cunning. He was 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. You 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. 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 Jiannu appeared. The border troops can rely on sows to climb trees."
"Then let's leave now. If these Tatars have any accomplices, we'll 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. It was packed in a cloth bag on the horse and carried on the horse along with two sets of armor, clothes, bows and arrows, and a long knife. He hung the waist knife of that Han slave Aha on his body. Wearing a cloth robe outside, he looks like someone 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 impressed him.
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 reached 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 this high mountain and running ten miles further, we will reach Zunhua City. The gray city wall can already be seen here.
The two of them came down to take a rest. Let the horse drink some water too.
People who have never raised a horse don’t know about it, and they think that they can run around on horseback. Actually no, the best running animal in the world is human beings. A person cannot outrun a horse over a short distance, and a horse cannot outrun a person over a long distance.
If a horse runs 70 to 80 kilometers in one hour, that is, two hours, it will basically be unable to run, and it will take four or five days to rest.
He was fine, he drove 30 kilometers a day, slept and continued on the road the next day, there was no problem at all.
Yang Fan came from the countryside and cared about livestock. He fed the three horses broken dry food with his hands and water from a skin bag to the horses. Then wipe the sweat off the horse with a cloth.
The three horses were cared for very comfortably, and they rubbed Yang Fan's face with their mouths affectionately. He 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 more about the situation of this era. As he spoke, Yang Fan glanced back unconsciously and saw black smoke rising in the distance. Yang Fan stood up warily, looking as if it was the small mountain village he had 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, so they set fire to the village in anger."
"Then let's run quickly. It's not far down the mountain to Zunhua." The little fat man was so frightened that his face turned pale and he 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, 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 fathers and sons who were killed by Yang Fan. Damn it, Tatars, it was true that mountains and rivers met, it was not that enemies would never get together.
