Suning County is only more than 500 miles away from Jingshi, and if you take the county's carriage and horse, you can get there in about ten days.

Although Liangchen has traveled to many places in the county in the past two years, it is the first time he has gone to such a far place. But he is not afraid, and his father is not afraid, because in this era, 16 years old is already an adult.

There are two teenagers of the same age as Liangchen in this village, one has just married a daughter-in-law, and the other child will be called father. In the case of girls, they get married earlier.

Liangchen's eldest sister, Wei Chunhua, the daughter of the second uncle Wei Zhongxian, was sold to the Yang family as a child daughter-in-law at the age of 6, and shared sex with her husband Yang Liuqi at the age of 13. Today, the eldest daughter is ten years old and the youngest daughter is seven years old.

This kind of thing, placed in Liangchen's previous life, must be intolerable. But for now, it's all too commonplace.

Until liberation, the average life expectancy of Chinese was only 36 years. Good ministers who know this will naturally not be surprised and rejected by early marriage and early pregnancy in this era. Succession is obviously more important than land.

Therefore, in the eyes of his father Wei Jinde and eldest brother Wei Liangqing, Liangchen has been angry for the past two years, and he is always an adult, so there should be no big problem when he goes to the capital to find his second uncle alone.

Today, there is peace, the law and order are good, the people live and work in peace and contentment, there are no bandits and thieves on the road, and there is no need to worry about what is good or bad on the road.

Going to Beijing needs to be entangled, no matter how much you save some money on the road, round-trip expenses and food and accommodation are a lot of expenses.

Wei Jinde took the purse given by his niece Chunhua to Liangchen, and there was a silver bean and two small flat coins missing in it.

The few ones were returned to the neighbors by Wei Jinde, and the rest were intended to be returned to relatives in the village, but because of the land requisition by the imperial court, Wei Jinde didn't care about it. Fortunately, Wei Jinde didn't pay back all the money, and he really couldn't make up the money for the bad minister's journey to Beijing for a while.

The matter of entering Beijing should be done sooner rather than later. If it is late, the court will requisition the land, and the raw rice will be cooked into rice, and then it will be in vain to run to the capital.

Liangqing made a few flatbreads overnight for Liangchen to eat on the road, and helped Liangchen pack up his clothes and make them into a burden.

Because of his youngest son's past, Wei Jinde was still a little worried, so he came over to explain a few words to Liangchen.

Liangchen listened to them one by one, and his attitude was deferential, which made Wei Jinde feel much more at ease.

The old Wei family was literate with Liangchen alone, and this time he went to Beijing to find the second uncle who had not heard from him for 20 years, and the second uncle did not know Liangchen, so Wei Jinde asked Liangchen to write a letter to the second child.

In order to confirm the identity of the good minister, Wei Jinde took out the family letter that the second child brought back and handed it to the good minister for him to carry with him.

After all this, the night was already very late.

Liangchen's father and eldest brother Liangqing were tired and went to rest, but Liangchen couldn't sleep. Just lying on the bed with his clothes, tossing and turning, it was really difficult to sleep.

I don't know how many days it has been outside, and Liangchen fell asleep in a daze

On this night, the dream was full of nine-thousand-year-old figures.

More than once, the sleeping Liangchen would have a mysterious smile on his face.

In the dark, it looks very weird.

………

The next day, before dawn, the rooster at home had not yet been announced, and Wei Liangchen couldn't wait to get up.

The eldest brother Liangqing got up earlier than Liangchen, cooked a bowl of gnocchi and served it to Liangchen, so that he could eat enough and go on the road.

"Don't argue with people on the road, don't be alone, walk with others, and take care of anything you encounter..."

On the way to send his youngest son to the entrance of the village, Wei Jinde chattered endlessly. Liangchen was not annoyed by listening to it, and agreed a few times from time to time.

There is no horse-drawn carriage directly to the capital in Lishu Village, and there is only one country road leading to the official road more than ten miles away. Walk more than 20 miles north along the official road, and it is the county seat of Suning.

Liangchen had to walk to the county seat by himself, and then take the big bus sent by the county to the capital. This is the same as the rules for the departure of cars and trains in later generations, but the means of transportation are primitive and backward.

"Dad, big brother, go back."

Liangchen took the burden from his eldest brother Liangqing and tied it to his body.

Liangqing nodded, and said again: "The money is put away, hide it closely, don't ask someone to steal it." ”

"If you see your second uncle, let him go home no matter what." Speaking of this, Wei Jinde hesitated, and then instructed Liangchen: "If... If your second uncle is gone, ask someone about it, and if possible, bring your second uncle back. ”

"Dad, don't worry, the second uncle must still be alive."

Of course, Liangchen's words were not to comfort his father, but the fact that the future nine thousand years old must still be alive now.

"Ugh."

Wei Jinde sighed and waved his hand to signal Liangchen to go on the road, he was really afraid that his brother was no longer alive.

"Dad, big brother, I'm leaving!"

Liangchen exhaled, looked at the north, and under the gaze of his father and eldest brother, he happily embarked on the road north to find his relatives.

Many villagers in the village have already started to work in the fields, and when they pass by the entrance of the village and see the third master of the Wei family, they can't help but be curious. From time to time, someone asked Wei Jinde and Liangqing where Liangchen went.

Wei Jinde didn't dare to tell them the truth, because no one in the village knew about this matter, and it was not easy to talk about it, so he squeaked and said that Liangchen was going to visit relatives.

This statement made many villagers even more confused, because the Wei family had no relatives outside. But people don't talk about it, and they don't want to get to the bottom of it.

……

After only six or seven miles of walking from Lishu Village, Wei Liangchen was a little overwhelmed.

Accustomed to the convenience of transportation in his previous life, he suddenly returned to hundreds of years ago and walked with two feet, and Liangchen was really uncomfortable.

After resting on a stone slab on the side of the road for a while, Liangchen gritted his teeth and continued on the road. He had to get to the county before noon, or he wouldn't be able to catch the bus.

After walking for a few miles, although his feet hurt, Liangchen finally survived.

As the sun rose, an idyllic scene appeared in front of Wei Liangchen's eyes. On both sides of the road, in addition to the wheat fields and hills, there is also a large pasture.

The air is very fresh, as far as the eye can see, a piece of green, which makes people feel happy.

That large pasture was used to raise horses by the horse factory of Taifu Temple in Suning County, and Liangchen stole people's horses here more than once. More than three months ago, it was also in this grassland that the people who called the horse factory were caught and broke their legs alive.

If it weren't for the lack of time, most of the good ministers would have stopped and picked up their pens to write down the matter in the booklet.

Liangchen knows a lot about the horse factory.

Fortunately in recent years, in the early years, the people in this area of Hejian Mansion had a burden, that is, raising horses for the imperial court, that is, the so-called "official horses and people's raising".

"Official horse breeding" was formulated during the Xuande period in the early Ming Dynasty, and the government designated the horse raising households, and five households raised one horse, one of which was the "horse head". Fifty horses are a group, and one household is chosen as the "shepherd". According to the rules, a mare must hand over a foal to the court every year.

All horse households are exempt from paying land rent and can graze on government pastures. This system played a great role in the development of military horses in the Ming Dynasty in the early days. It's just that after a long time, like all systems, "official horses and people raising" is also full of drawbacks.

Because the horse is dead, the horse owner must compensate, and the horse household must also pay if the horse cannot hand over the foal. This alone was not enough to destroy the system of "official horses and people's support", and the most fatal blow came from the imperial court itself. Or rather, those royal relatives.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, most of the pastures in Hejian Province have been zoned as farmland, and without the pastures and horses of the imperial court, the horse households can only grow grass in their own fields, so that they cannot grow grain. There was nothing to eat, and as soon as the contradictions accumulated, several Mahu uprisings broke out in succession.

Until now, the horse household system has existed in name only. If it weren't for the Taifu Temple, which was responsible for the important task of the imperial horse, the royal family would still need the last face, but I am afraid that the horse factory and pasture in Suning County would not exist for a long time.

While sighing and gritting his teeth, Liangchen passed through the path on the side of the racecourse, and finally saw the official road leading to the county in front.

The official road is paved with bluestone slabs, and it is said that it was paved a hundred years ago. Many of the slabs have turned black, and the edges are covered with moss. In the event of a rainy day, walking on these stone slabs, not only will you slip if you don't pay attention, but you will also splash water on the ground when you take a step.

There is a pergola at the fork, which is a tea shop built by nearby villagers to subsidize their livelihood. If travelers from the north to the south are tired of walking and want to take a break and drink a cup of herbal tea, then this cheap tea shop is the best choice.

Liangchen was a little thirsty, and he didn't have a water bladder on him, so he thought of buying a cup of tea at the tea shop.

There was an old woman busy in the shop, boiling water and greeting three or two guests.

"Bring me a cup of tea."

As soon as Liangchen entered the shop and sat down, he heard the sound of cars rolling on the road. He turned his head to look over, but found that it was the carriage of the Zhang family.