The original life of the people in Pingyang City and Pingjiang County was actually no different from that of the people in Pingliang County. Everyone was digging in the soil and eating, depending on God's face.
At this time last year, the Huns in the north took advantage of the army originally stationed in Pingyang City to defend against the Khitan invasion in the east. They sent a ranger of four to five thousand people to bypass the Pingyang City defenders and directly attack the nearby Pingliang County. And plundered a lot of people.
At that time, there were still 50,000 defenders stationed in Pingyang City. Facing these 5,000 Khitan rangers, it was not impossible for them to fight.
However, Zhang Kai, the general who defended the city, saw that the Huns were so arrogantly plundering the population of Pingliang County, and thought that this was a ploy by the Huns to lure the enemy. The purpose was to wait for Zhang Kai and others to lead their troops out of the city to rescue the prisoners, so that the Xiongnu army hiding in the dark could take advantage of the situation and invade Pingyang City.
So Zhang Kai, the guard of Pingyang City, just sat back and watched Pingliang County being conquered and most of the people were kidnapped.
Nowadays, the people in Pingyang City and Pingjiang County are receiving letters from their relatives and friends from Pingliang County one after another.
The letter said that all the people in Pingliang County have lived a wealthy life, eating refined grain white rice, and mustard made of oil and salt.
Now the letter is asking them to go to Pingliang County to settle down and live a good life like gods.
Refined grain white rice? Oil and salt mustard?
The people of Pingyang City and Pingjiang County dare not even think about these things. What's more, they suffered such a tragic disaster just a year ago.
Fortunately, we are not in the information age right now, otherwise most people in Pingyang City and Pingjiang County would have thought that they had suffered telecom fraud.
In their opinion, the emperor is probably the only one who can live such a comfortable life as in the letter!
However, as the price of grain in Pingyang City and Pingjiang County is getting higher and higher, it is now almost reaching the price of one tael of silver per pound of coarse grain.
Can't afford it, can't afford it at all.
This group of honest farmers digging in the soil cannot make a few taels of silver a year.
Now one tael of silver can only buy a pound of coarse grains, not to mention how long can a pound of coarse grains last?
The people in both places were increasingly unable to survive. It was not until they heard the news about cheap food in Pingliang County in the city that they remembered the letter their relatives had sent.
Since we can't survive in Pingyang City (Pingjiang County), we might as well flee to Pingliang County.
It is also a good time to go to Pingliang County to verify whether it is as wonderful as what my relatives and friends said in their letters.
However, most of these people do not expect to be able to live a life of drinking refined grain porridge and eating pickled mustard with oil and salt every day.
Now this group of people only hopes that the price of food in Pingliang County will be as low as rumored.
Zhao Tiezhu is a blacksmith in Pingyang City, but he is not a slave, but a free man. He is one of the people who fled from Pingyang City to Pingliang County.
In Chen State, if you wanted to travel far, you had to have a road guide issued by the government.
But now the territory of Chen State is in turmoil, and the internal and external turmoil is unrest. In addition, there are countless victims on the Yongzhou border who have been harassed by military disasters. The road guide has basically been abandoned in the border cities.
In addition to being a blacksmith, Zhao Tiezhu actually has another identity, that is, he is the cousin of Zhao Xiaomao in Pingliang County.
This time Zhao Tiezhu followed the advice of his cousin Zhao Xiaomao and took his family of five to Pingliang County with all their belongings.
When Zhao Tiezhu arrived at the gate of Pingliang County with his thin wife, children, and a family of five, a tall city wall stood in front of him.
Zhao Tiezhu, he was stunned.
The city wall in front of me is no less impressive than Pingyang City where I am.
You must know that since Chen State lost Wuwei Pass, the Xiongnu, Khitan, Qiang, and Di tribes can go south to herd horses at will.
Pingyang City became the first line of defense against the invasion of the Xiongnu, Khitan, Qiang, and Di tribes. Therefore, the city walls of Pingyang City were built tall and heavy.
But now the city wall in Pingliang County is actually built so tall and thick. If it weren't for the three characters Pingliang County engraved on the city wall, Zhao Tiezhu would have doubted whether he had taken the wrong road and came to another town.
"Could it be that what Xiao Mao wrote in his letter is true? Will the government really provide food when he settles in Pingliang County?"
Zhao Tiezhu's heart felt hot at the thought of this, and his pace into the city also accelerated a little.
The gate of Pingliang County was guarded by four soldiers who looked like soldiers. Zhao Tiezhu originally thought that when entering the city, he had to pay the city fee like other counties.
As soon as Zhao Tiezhu took out the silver, he was pushed back by the guard.
"We in Pingliang County do not charge entry fees. We only need to check the luggage and belongings to make sure they are not foreign spies."
When Zhao Tiezhu heard that he didn't even charge a fee to enter the city, he immediately asked his wife and the elderly at home to open their luggage and let the guards check it.
The guard soldier Wang Erniu sat on the small table at the door and asked: "What's your name, where are you from, and do you have any relatives or friends in Pingliang County?"
Zhao Tiezhu quickly replied: "Master Guancha, the younger one's name is Zhao Tiezhu, and he is from Pingyang City!"
When Wang Erniu heard this, he immediately wrote the word "Zhao Tie" crookedly in his notebook. Wang Erniu, who couldn't write the third word, immediately asked Deng Sanpao next to him: "Sanpao? What's wrong with the pillars?" Are you writing?"
Deng Sanpao, who had just finished checking his luggage, ran to Wang Erniu and saw that he could even write the more difficult iron characters. He couldn't help but laugh and said: "You can write iron characters, but you can't write pillar characters?"
Wang Erniu laughed and scratched his head and said, "Didn't I read too much about the iron character? I forgot about the pillar character all of a sudden!"
"Just add the word "lord" next to the word "wood"!
Wang Erniu heard Deng Sanpao's reminder and immediately wrote Zhao Tiezhu's full name.
Wang Erniu, Deng Sanpao and the other two gatekeepers were originally illiterate and could not read a single word. However, due to the urgent shortage of talents, Zhou Yi had to train them himself. He started teaching at night schools when the city wall was being built. The five characters of corvee are taught every night.
In fact, people know etiquette in warehouses, and they know honor and disgrace when they have enough food and clothing. Wang Erniu and the others, who couldn't even eat enough before, naturally couldn't expect to read and write.
Confucius required ten disciplines to recruit and teach disciples. If you don't have a certain financial ability, why should someone teach you to learn?
But since the arrival of the county magistrate Zhou Yi, who not only fed them, but also gave them all free lessons, how could this group of people not cherish this hard-won opportunity?
Therefore, when everyone taught Zhou Yi, they all shed tears of gratitude, and each studied more seriously than the other.
Five words a day means 150 words a month. It is possible to know 1,800 words in half a year.
Coupled with the current shortage of talents in Pingliang County, Zhouyi can only rush to put it on the shelf and let these people who only know 1,800 words do some simple recording work.
