The high gate in front of him was in sight, and the young man stopped and sighed, and said to the old servant who carried the burden: "The road is safe, we are too careful!" ”

The old servant put down his burden, straightened his waist and said with a smile: "The Great Song Dynasty, although this is a frontier, it is not comparable to Jiaozhi, where did the thieves come from in broad daylight." ”

The two of them talked a few words, rested for a while, and the old servant picked up the burden and walked towards the gate of Ningming Town.

At this time, the sun was slanting in the west, and it was not as hot as at noon, and there was a cool breeze blowing in the face, and the two masters and servants who were relieved were in a good mood, and followed the pedestrians into the gate.

Huang Anming's family has been sent to Yuezhou Prison City on Jinghu North Road, which has been changed to a town directly under the jurisdiction of Taiping County, and the current prison town is a small leader of the forbidden army from Yongzhou. The local officials were abolished, the taxes paid by the merchants dropped all of a sudden, and they flocked here from all directions, and Ning Ming quickly became an important town in Zuojiang Province as if he blew his breath.

As a commercial-dominated area, the inspection of the walled gate of Ningming Town is very relaxed, as long as there are no prohibited items, they will be released immediately, and the master and servant have not encountered any trouble.

When he arrived in the town, the boy saw that the road was wide, the newly paved stone road was neat and clean, the vendors on both sides of the road were enthusiastically lifting, and the pedestrians on the road were leisurely strolling, and it was peaceful. On both sides of the road, there are willows, and there are a few plantains, and even peach trees are mixed in, and the pink peaches are ripe, which is particularly attractive.

"This is the **** kingdom, how can there be such a weather in the foreign state? Pity my family has been living in a foreign country for more than 200 years, and now I have only seen the people of the country! ”

The young man said as he wandered along the road with the old servant carrying the burden.

Before you know it, it's late June, and the weather is getting hot every day. During the day, the scorching sun hung in the sky. I can't wait to scorch the whole world. At night, there is no sun. The water vapor is steaming again, wet and hot, and from morning to night, people's bodies are like being drenched in water, and there is no time to dry.

Xu Ping couldn't stand the hot weather, so he built a pavilion in the backyard of the official office and stayed there every day.

There are many more people here in Pingxiang now, but they are all officers and soldiers and personnel of the sugar industry, and there is no trade route. There were no merchants. There are also several new restaurants on the market, all of which serve the above-mentioned people, and they are not prosperous compared with these places in Ningming.

Although Li Xiang'an, the original Zhitong, also co-founded a restaurant, the whole family moved to Taiping County, leaving only a supervisor here to take care of his business. Pingxiang is really not a good place to live now, except for those who can't leave the business, the rich have already moved away, or go to Taiping. Or go to Ningming.

The whole Pingxiang Mountain is now a big construction site and a big military camp. Everywhere is busy.

The people below are all busy, Xu Ping is not so busy, he is not a person who likes to make trouble, he has nothing to do with Sang Yi in the back office to talk about the situation and play chess. The chess of this era is still slightly different from that of later generations, Xu Ping felt awkward, and changed it to the appearance of later generations, which is also quite interesting to play. However, the Song people generally gamble heavily, and this kind of game is played by him and Sang Yi, and his team is not very interested.

On this day, Xu Ping and Sang Yi were fighting on the chessboard in the pavilion, and a soldier came in to report that a young man had come out and wanted to see Xu Ping.

After reporting it, I handed over the name post.

Xu Ping took it, and the name was a person named Chen Tianming, whose ancestors were from Quanzhou, Fujian, but now he lives in Jiaozhi and Tangzhou.

There was only a name post, and there was no written pleading, and Xu Ping didn't know why this person wanted to see him, so he thought for a while, remembering that his ancestors were Han and fell into a foreign land, or let the soldiers take him to the flower hall.

After sealing the chessboard with Sang Yi, Xu Ping turned to the flower hall, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw a sixteen-year-old boy standing there, looking around curiously.

The soldier announced loudly, and when the young man saw Xu Ping, he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Student Chen Tianming, I have seen the promotion official. Come presumptuously and hope for forgiveness! ”

"No need to be polite, sit down and talk."

After speaking, Xu Ping sat down in the main seat first. Chen Tianming saw that Xu Ping was sitting down, so he sat down.

Xu Ping instructed the soldiers to serve tea, and then asked, "Why did your ancestor come to Jiaozhi?" How many years? ”

Chen Tianming said respectfully: "The student's ancestor was originally a scholar from Quanzhou, and he participated in the Ministry of Rites Examination. Later, someone from the same township came to Jiaozhi as an official and recruited him as a staff member, and he lived in a foreign land for more than 200 years. ”

"Oh, then you're also a native of Jiaozhi, how did you come to Pingxiang?"

"Students have read poetry and books since childhood, and have always admired the hometown of the sages and sages of their homeland. In the past few years, I have often heard people talk about the promotion of officials to Yongzhou, the study of engraving books, and the prosperity of humanities, and the students are admired. Last year, my father went to the fairy, and there was no concern, and the students sold their property and decided to return to the country to study. ”

After Chen Tianming finished speaking, he looked at Xu Ping cautiously.

Xu Ping was silent for a while.

After accepting Chen Tianming, he is a reformed person, although there is no precedent in the imperial court now, there are also traces of it. A series of preferential policies are nothing more than to let him go to school, give him idle land to cultivate, and be exempt from taxes. There are so many preferential policies for reformed people, and naturally there are no restrictions, mainly because they are not allowed to move at will, and the marriage government also has to ask about it, mainly because they are afraid that they will have different intentions and cause trouble.

The Central Plains is the lord of the world, although the world is big, it is not the king, and it is like home. The Song Dynasty added a gui character to the people who came from abroad, mainly divided into Guizheng and Guiming people, and many other names such as loyalty and loyalty, such as loyalty and bravery, were only a table, or under these two categories.

Returning to the righteous people, Yuan was a native of the Central Plains, and then fell into Tibet and returned to the Central Plains, covering himself from evil and returning to righteousness. In fact, it is the Han people who have fallen into a foreign land, and for various reasons, they choose to return to China. The territory of the Tang Dynasty was vast, and although it did not immigrate on a large scale like the Han Dynasty, there were still many people living in the surrounding small countries for various reasons such as official business and business, and there were many of them.

Returning to the Ming people, Yuan is not a person from the Central Plains, it is a person from the cave who came to return to the Central Plains, and the cover is from the dark to the Ming. It is a minority group itself, and it is chosen to be attached, mainly including some names such as returning to the Ming Dynasty, raising the clan to the Ming, and descending to the Ming. Typical such as Huang Tianbiao, that is, the land is returned to the Ming, and the family is attached, so he enjoys many discounts.

Although the official policy of the Song Dynasty welcomed both reformers and Mingers, there were nuances. The most important thing is that the reformers are mainly in the north, and the southwest border of Xuping Yongzhou, as well as the two roads of Jinghu, are all Guiming people. The identity of this teenager is fine, but the place is a little awkward.

The governance here in Yongzhou is not strict, and it is not that there are no people who have returned from foreign countries before, but they have all quietly settled down and entrusted the small officials to be included in the household. This young man is the first serious person Xu Ping has met who comes in the name of a reformer, so it is inevitable to be cautious.

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Ping still decided to follow the usual policy. Although it has been in a foreign land for more than 200 years, it has indeed been a long time, but I hope that I will not be turned away from returning.

"In this way, you live here for a few days first, and when there is a reliable person to return to Taiping County, you will go back with you. There is a school in Taiping County, you will first attach a book there to study, and I will make it difficult for you to arrange the rest of the necessities of life. ”

Chen Tianming was overjoyed when he heard Xu Ping's response, and hurriedly said: "The officials are deeply gracious, and the students are unforgettable!" However, the daily needs are not bothered by the officials, and the students have a small amount of savings here, which is enough for daily use. When I heard that the official was a first-class jinshi in the fifth year of the Heavenly Sage, I was grateful to hear the teachings! ”

Xu Ping knew that he was a Jinshi with a lot of water, although he had also studied hard for a few years, he always had no bottom in his heart, so he generally didn't talk about learning with cadres. After listening to Chen Tianming's words, he said: "I'm busy here, and I want to talk to you about learning, but I don't have time." You still go to Taiping County, where there is a new teacher named Li Jing, who is from Jiangnan, and has excellent learning. In the hometown of Jiangnan poetry and books, his knowledge is also extraordinary, you still go to him to study. ”

Chen Tianming was slightly disappointed in his heart, but it was not good to show it, so he still thanked Xu Ping for his kindness.

As for the preferential policies that should be given, how to deal with them is Chen Tianming's own business.

After talking about business, he chatted a few words, and Xu Ping asked: "Jiaozhi is the land of the Central Plains, and it has been a thousand years, and there are many people who want to come there to the Central Plains. ”

"Compared with the natives, we are still too few people in the Central Plains, and we are often bullied by them. However, over the years, a few settlements have been formed, and the place where I live is all descendants of the Central Plains, and there are thousands of people. ”

Xu Ping was taken aback: "So many? I didn't expect it! ”

Lingnan, even if there is a large plain in Jiaozhi, the settlement of thousands of people is not a small force, but I didn't expect the Han people to have this scale. The Han Dynasty opened up the frontier, accompanied by a large number of people from the Central Plains who moved out, and there were still a large number of Han barbarians left in the southwest at this time in Xuping. In the Tang Dynasty, on the contrary, most of the frontier people moved to the interior, but they did not expect to be able to keep so many people in Jiaozhi.

Chen Tianming said: "After hundreds of years of accumulation, there are not many thousands of people. In addition, there are many intermarriages between the Central Plains and the natives, and they have also saved a lot of people. ”

Xu Ping nodded, remembering this in his heart. After chatting a few more words, he asked the officials to take Chen Tianming down.

When he returned to the back office, he saw that Sang Yi was still waiting for him there, Xu Ping smiled and went over, and after playing the remnants of chess with him, he couldn't stop and said to rest for a while.

The soldier served tea, and Xu Ping drank it while talking to Sang Yi about Chen Tianming.

In the end, Xu Ping shook his head and sighed: "But I didn't expect that there are so many Han people in Jiaozhi, you say, what would happen if they were like the Han people in the north, hundreds of thousands of places came to reform and annex them?" ”

"I advise you not to use this note! Here in Yongzhou, the imperial court only thinks about the tranquility of the frontier, and since the Zhenzong period, the attached reformed and Ming people often do not stay, or send them back, just for fear of making trouble under the pretext of Jiaozhi. If you attract thousands of people at once, I'm afraid that a hat that is arrogant in the court will be buckled on your head! ”

"Yes." Xu Ping nodded, but he was always a little unwilling in his heart. (To be continued.) )