There happened to be a river beach nearby. As it was still drizzling, everyone went to the river beach with umbrellas. The ground was slippery and muddy. Through the green trees and grass on the small slope, a house could be vaguely seen.

It seems that people often come to the river beach. A small path goes up the slope. Once you get to the top, you can see the whole view in front of you. There is a village not far away, with hills, fertile farmland, and the densely packed houses in the village are as compact as a small town.

It is the spring plowing season, and many farmers are working in the dryland nurseries, cultivating rice seedlings, and taking care of rice seedlings, waiting for the wheat harvest in May before planting them in the paddy fields.

Since the Song Dynasty, Huainan has been a rice-growing region, not just in Huainan but also in Henan. Historical records state that it is "a county surrounded by mountains and rivers, the land of fish and rice to the west of Beijing."

Rice cultivation in the northwestern part of Beijing was mostly promoted during the Northern Song Dynasty. In the eastern part of Beijing, rice is mostly planted in various states.

Zhao Jun walked along the country road, looking around.

An old farmer came out from the side of the field. Seeing more than ten people, he was a little scared and wanted to walk around them.

Zhao Jun went up to him and asked with a smile, "Old man, where are you going?"

Seeing Zhao Jun dressed neatly and surrounded by more than a dozen sword-wielding guards, the old farmer thought he was an envoy and said hurriedly, "Sir, I just finished working in the fields and am going back to rest."

"oh."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "We are merchants passing through. The boat ahead of us capsized and we can't get through, so we got off to take a walk. We're thirsty, and if it's convenient for you, could you please allow us to stay in your house? We'd be happy to give you some copper coins."

As he said this, he winked at Jiang Dalang.

Jiang Dalang understood and took out twenty or thirty coins from his pocket to hand over. The old farmer said hurriedly, "So it's you, gentlemen. You don't need that much. You don't need that much. Just a few bowls of water. Come over here with me."

In fact, the old farmer could still notice something was wrong. Although he stayed in the countryside all year round, he had also been around when he was young and had some experience.

One look at the clothes he was wearing and the knives he was holding showed that they were obviously not something a businessman could own.

Although the Song Dynasty had laws prohibiting private possession of weapons by the people - just like other dynasties - the "weapons" here were limited to "armor, crossbows, spears, halberds, and other equipment, which according to the law are not allowed to be owned by private individuals."

As for "bows, arrows, swords, shields, and short spears, these five items are allowed to be possessed by private individuals." In other words, private individuals can legally possess bows, arrows, swords, shields, and short spears.

In Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", there is a weapons shop next to "Sun Yangzheng's Shop", and a man who is probably a customer is trying to draw a large bow.

Obviously, weapons such as bows and arrows were sold openly. In the Water Margin, many heroes traveled around with a Pudao, because the Pudao was also a weapon that ordinary people could own.

The problem was that normal businessmen wouldn't dare carry so many knives when they went out, usually just whistles and sticks. Furthermore, the man's clothes were bulging, looking like he was wearing inner armor, which was not something an ordinary person could possess. If caught, they would be beheaded.

But with so many people on the other side, if they were truly desperate criminals, it would obviously not be a good idea to offend them. Anyway, the surrounding villages were connected, and there were so many merchant ships on the river. His home was not far from the river. If they really wanted to kill him, he could just shout and the whole village would come. So the old farmer was not afraid.

He immediately took Zhao Jun to his home.

His home is on the side of a small river outside the village, a tributary of the river where Zhao Jun sailed. Next to it is a village and farmland. Many farmers are walking in the countryside. Although it is drizzling, there is a feeling of "green all over the mountains and plains, white all over the river, and rain like smoke in the sound of cuckoos."

Zhao Jun followed the old farmer to his home. There was only an old woman in the yard. She said that the eldest son had married and moved out of the family and lived in the east of the village. The second son worked in the county town, so there was only the old couple at home.

After drinking the water, the things that the old farmer worried about did not happen. Zhao Jun just sat there and chatted with them, asking about last year's harvest, any difficulties at home, and whether the local officials had done anything illegal or oppressive to the people.

Unable to identify Zhao Jun's true background, the old farmer dared not say much, only saying that last year's weather was favorable and the harvest was good. The county magistrate handled cases impartially, and the officials were also very good. Aside from his second son's unmarried status, his family had no problems.

Zhao Jun had heard a lot of this these days, some of it true, some of it false. Most of the falsehoods were about the county magistrate handling cases. When he was in Yingtian Prefecture, most people spoke well of the county magistrate.

They were generally not bullied. After all, there were so many people in a county, and it was impossible for all the county officials, landlords, and yamen runners to have bullied them.

Even if they knew that officials were corrupt, landlords were bad, and yamen runners were corrupt, they did not dare to speak freely in front of outsiders who did not know the details.

Only those who have truly been oppressed will complain.

Just like in Yingtian Prefecture, I met a small landlord whose family had fallen on hard times.

This man's surname was Yu. He had a conflict with another landlord named Li. It happened that Landlord Yu's wife was there with their son in her arms. Landlord Li was holding a whistle stick and wanted to hit them. Landlord Yu's wife wanted to scare him, so she lifted up the child and shouted, "Hit me if you have the guts."

As a result, the landlord Li really hit the child to death with a stick.

How could Landlord Yu give up now?

Report to the police immediately.

However, this landlord Li had a good relationship with Xiao, the chief clerk in Songcheng County, and he made some arrangements privately. Xiao, the chief clerk, actually forged a private settlement contract between the two families and reported to his superiors that the two families had already reached a settlement, thus getting away with it.

At that time, officials such as the county magistrate were all itinerant officials and would often be transferred after a short period of service. The main people handling affairs were the county clerks. Except for particularly large counties that had county magistrates, most counties had chief clerks and county lieutenants to assist the county magistrate in handling cases.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!