Chapter 208 Da Qi
It's autumn again. The old forests outside are deserted and the vegetation is growing densely again.
Autumn in the south is a deep green with golden and red embellishments. Six or seven men carrying cloth bags are walking through the mountains. One of them asks another: "Dashan, can we really find a buyer outside?"
"Yes, there are people waiting outside the mountain for trading. If they see something they like and want, they will try to get it from the city and exchange it with us. They will just lower the price of our things."
Who else are these two people talking if not Chen Dashan and his elder uncle Zhou Dalang?
In addition to the uncle and the other two, there were also Lu Erlang, Zheng Jiadalang, Feng Liuniang's uncle, Dong Ge'er's father and Shi Daniu, who was already fifteen years old this year.
They could grow food in the mountains, and Chen Youtian and his men helped build a loom, so they could weave cloth. But salt was difficult to get. In the second year after entering the mountains, some people were in dire need of salt. So they got some mountain products out and thought of a way to get someone to go to the city to exchange them for some salt, and naturally they promised that person a benefit.
They were not the only ones hiding in the mountains. Apparently, some people had been doing this for a long time. Gradually, some people specialized in this business, and a secret market gradually formed in the mountains some distance away from Shezhou City.
With the establishment of this secret market, the lives of the mountain people hiding in the mountains became much more convenient. They grew melons and beans, vegetables and raised chickens. Although there was a lack of paddy fields, they could still fill their stomachs by growing beans on the mountains. In addition, those with strong martial arts skills like Chen Lie could hunt, so their lives were actually more comfortable than the one or two years before they fled into the mountains.
Whatever they grow and raise is their own. They don't have to pay taxes or serve in the military. They don't have to worry about being drafted into the army at any time. Several villages practice martial arts together, and no one with bad intentions dares to make a move. Isn't it peaceful and comfortable?
This was the third time that Chen Dashan had come out. He had always taken good care of his wife's family. In the past, when he went out to buy salt, he had to take his wife's family's share. Zhou Laizi didn't feel comfortable taking advantage of his son-in-law all the time, so this time he saved up some things early and asked his eldest son to go out with him.
Chen Dashan and Lu Erlang had both been there before, and when they approached Shezhou, they headed towards the old dark market as they were familiar with the place. However, this time something was a little strange, as there was usually a few people there, but now no one was seen.
"Change something?" Lu Erlang asked doubtfully.
"Look around here."
The few people dispersed and walked for more than two quarters of an hour before returning, without seeing a single person.
Chen Dashan was puzzled: "If we want to move to another place, we can't move too far away, right? If it's far from the city, who can find it?"
Everyone was dumbfounded, but Dong Ge'er's father hesitated and asked, "Could it be that the government is investigating?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Feng Liuniang's uncle said, "No way? They are too busy fighting to occupy territory, how can they care about us now?"
Chen Dashan hesitated for a moment and said, "Wait here, I'll go to the city gate and take a look."
…
The gates of Shezhou City are heavily guarded. Chen Dashan watched from afar. In addition to the guards patrolling on the city wall, there were also guards at the city gates. Occasionally, people entering and leaving would be checked. But compared to the last time he saw it from afar, it seemed that something was different?
Yes, the guard's stance.
The guards he saw this time were definitely not the same group of people as those he and Shen Lie saw a few months ago. No, they were not even the same team. Their discipline and spirit were completely different.
Another difference was that there was an earth wall not far outside the city gate. There were three or five people standing next to the wall. He didn't know what they were looking at. Seeing that the guards had no intention of interfering, he walked over with a relaxed expression.
It was originally a notice wall.
This thing used to be placed outside the county government office in Qiyang County, but now it’s been moved outside the city gate?
Chen Dashan looked at the notices on the wall, some old and some new. The words on them were quite nice, but he couldn't recognize any of them. He turned around and looked at the people next to him: "Brother, what do these say?"
The man was no better than him. He looked towards the city gate and said, "We can't read either. They said that a bailiff would come to read to us in the afternoon."
Chen Dashan: “…”
He rubbed his forehead, turned around and left.
…
“I’m back!”
"How is it? What's going on?"
Several people who were waiting in the mountains stood up and went over.
Chen Dashan puffed out his cheeks and said, "Danniu, come with me."
Shi Daniu's name was suddenly called out, and he didn't understand why. However, these people in the mountains were particularly respectful to Shen Lie, Sang Luo and Chen Dashan, so he didn't ask any questions and just put down his things and followed them.
Chen Dashan led the man to the notice and said, "Didn't you study with me? Take a look at what's written on it."
Shi Daniu was stunned when he saw the notices on the wall. Some people who were waiting for the yamen runners to read the notices called out, "Young man, can you read?"
Looking at Shi Daniu's coarse cloth shorts, he showed an expression of great surprise.
Shi Daniu was a little confused and frightened by the disturbance. A patch of red appeared on his neck. "I, I'm not good at reading. I didn't learn much."
Maybe even worse than his little cousin.
I'm embarrassed to say that.
Chen Dashan urged him: "Know as much as you can, and read what you know."
Shi Daniu uttered an "oh" and picked the one that was posted the earliest and looked the oldest. He stuttered and read: "Ping Li Shiwei Da... I don't recognize these two words."
"Since... I don't even recognize the last four words."
"Jump over those you don't recognize."
"The government is in disarray, the people are displaced, bandits and thieves are in league..." This time he did not deny it. He paused and continued reading: "...Yu Li...,...head,...be...captured,...nothing..."
After reading this, Shi Daniu couldn't read any more: "Brother Dashan, I don't know enough words."
Chen Dashan was helpless, so he pulled Shi Daniu to look at some other notices: "Take a look at this one."
"I don't know the third word for encouraging farmers."
He stuttered and read out more than a hundred words on the five notices. However, Chen Dashan and the few people who were listening could not understand what they meant. After all, they had no status and could not really wait for the yamen runners to read it to them. They could only go back to the mountain and wait for the man who helped them with the buying and selling business. He was not called to wait until mid-afternoon. Not only did he exchange some salt, but he also asked the man who helped them exchange salt about the new notice board outside the city.
After some inquiries, he found out that Li Shiwei was actually a person's name. He was the King of Chu who ruled their area and was defeated by several generals under the King of Qi a month ago.
The man said, "We are now a great Qi again."
Oh, a new emperor has been appointed. He seems to be the one that Manager Xu said was quite capable last year?
Seeing that Chen Dashan and his men didn't react, the man said, "Don't take it lightly. I think it's possible that our emperor will take over the whole world. Qin, Wu, Yan, and Chu have either surrendered or surrendered. Now there is only one enemy left, Chen, which occupies the capital. I think it's a matter of time. Haven't you noticed that there are fewer people helping with buying and selling? This business is not easy to make. Did you see the notice? It was specially posted outside the city to call the mountain people back. The earliest notice also wrote a time limit. If you guys hiding in the mountains don't come out, you will be labeled as bandits. It's risky to do this business."
When Chen Dashan heard him talking about the notices, his eyes moved and he asked, "Brother, what do those notices say?"
The man said, "One is a general amnesty decree for suppressing Li Shiwei, one is a decree to encourage farming, and there is also a decree to abolish corvée and labor service. I don't know the rest. I can't read. I just heard about it."
When Chen Dashan heard this, his eyelashes drooped, and he gave the sweater a bunch of smoked meat that he had not exchanged. "Brother, can you do me another favor? There are also notices posted in the city. Find someone who can read to help me copy the notice. This meat will be the cost of writing and painting. When you send the copied notice to me, I will give you another copy as a reward. How do you think?"
The man weighed the bag in his hand, and it must be at least 6-7 pounds of smoked meat. He looked at Chen Dashan's bag and saw that he had another bag like this. "Is there so much for me?"
Chen Dashan smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not a problem at all, brother."
The man was happy: "Okay, then wait, I'll go buy paper and ink and ask someone to copy it for you, I'll be back in an hour at most."
…
Chen Dashan and his group carried more than 20 kilograms of salt, and he himself carried five neatly folded pieces of paper in his arms. It took them seven days to return to the village outside the village.
This time, Zhou Dalang, Zheng Dalang, Dong Ge'er's father and Feng Liu Niang's uncle did not leave. They sat down at a small stone table at the entrance of the village, waiting for Shi Daniu to call people over.
Everyone knows that there are a lot of people studying in and outside the village.
It was lunchtime, and Shi Daniu went into the village and shouted. When they heard that Chen Dashan had brought back five notices, Chen Lie, Sang Luo, and everyone from the Xu family came out in a hurry. Even the illiterate Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Lu all came out to listen.
Wei Qinghe, Wang Yunzheng, Shopkeeper Xu and his son, Chen Lie and Sang Luo each took a copy, read it quickly, and then took turns reading it, their eyes all lit up.
Combining the five proclamations, it can be seen that Da Qi had taken over 60 to 70 percent of the country. Several imperial edicts were actually issued to encourage the people living outside to leave the mountains and surrender. Among them, it mentioned how the newly surrendered people should be allocated land, exempted from corvée and taxes, and should not be required to perform corvée without special decree.
After hearing this, everyone's expressions became serious, especially the older people like Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and Uncle Feng. As soon as Manager Xu finished speaking, they asked anxiously, "Did you say how to divide the land?"
"Are you really going to exempt corvée and taxes? For how many years?"
"Is it really peaceful outside?"
"The war isn't over yet, are they going to arrest people again?"
You asked one question after another.
Shopkeeper Xu and the others looked at each other, not knowing how to answer for a moment. Firstly, the specific years were not mentioned in detail, and secondly, the emperor who had brought the Dagan Dynasty to pieces always wrote beautiful articles about things, but how about his actual actions?
He looked at Chen Dashan and the others who had gone out and asked, "How do you feel about this trip?"
The others were hiding in the mountains, so they had no idea what was happening outside. Finally, Chen Dashan answered, "There's no one in the countryside, and we can't get in touch with people in the city. But the man who bought us salt seems to be quite confident that the Emperor of Qi can conquer the State of Chen as well."
Shopkeeper Xu looked at Chen Lie and Sang Luo again: "What do you think?"
Chen Lie subconsciously looked at Sang Luo. Sang Luo lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then said, "I think you should go out and investigate more carefully. This person's actions are quite big. Now it seems that they are all strategies to calm the people and rest the people, and this one."
She placed the paper in her hand on the stone table, lightly tapped one of the lines of words, and said, "Order all states to recommend scholars who are proficient in classics and to recruit candidates based on their proficiency in classics and archery... Each state, county, and township shall establish a school."
With a superficial knowledge of the history of her own time and space, she knew too well what this meant. The royal power was going to compete with the nobles, and the emperor was going to allow a third party to enter the game to seize the resources that had long been controlled by the nobles.
A weak emperor would not dare to do such a thing, nor could he accomplish such a thing, but for this Emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty, Sang Luo's eyes fell on the line of small words at the end: "August 19, the third year of Wuding".
The country has only been established for three years. If it is true as Shopkeeper Xu heard last year, that this man holds military power and has a ruthless style, and now encourages agriculture and sericulture to develop education, Sang Luo feels that now may really be the time for them to leave the mountains and return to the fields.
The others didn't understand what Sang Luo said, but those who studied hard had already sensed that their opportunity might have come when they saw the imperial edict in Sang Luo's hand.
Older people like Wei Qinghe and more mature people like Wang Yunzheng thought more deeply, while younger people like Chen An and Xu Wenbo came over to read the imperial edict, then looked at Sang Luo in surprise and said, "Sister-in-law, the new court wants to run a school?"
Sang Luo smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's not just about running a school, it means that children of common people can also find a way out through studying."
The families whose children were studying suddenly became excited. Lu Erlang immediately came over, carefully picked up the paper, and called Shen An, unable to hide his excitement in his words: "Xiao An, come, read this to your uncle."
Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Lu, Mrs. Gan and the others who were listening nearby and only half understood what was said nodded one after another: "Yes, yes, Xiao An, read it to us."
Chen An was not afraid and immediately responded with a smile. He picked up the imperial edict and began to read it word by word. The young man's voice was clear and his pronunciation was distinct. In addition, as someone who could write an edict for the emperor, his writing was brilliant and every word was precious. Even though Chen Po and the others didn't understand two out of three sentences, it didn't stop them from thinking it sounded particularly good. They didn't dare to interrupt him until Chen An finished reading before asking him to tell them what he meant.
There was a lot of noise and bustle over there, and Wang Yunzheng couldn't hide his excitement after listening to it again. He looked at Shopkeeper Xu and said, "Uncle, why don't you find a way to find your old friend to find out what's going on outside."
A provincial school was set up, and candidates were recruited based on the knowledge of classics and archery. How could he not be excited after studying there for so many years?
Chen Lie also looked at Sang Luo and said, "Then I will go out with Shopkeeper Xu?"
Chen Lie didn't think too much about it. He also liked reading, but most of the time it was because he could read and practice calligraphy side by side with Sang Luo, and because reading and books themselves brought him pleasure. As for more, he didn't think too much about it at the moment.
What he wanted more now was to give Sang Luo a stable and happy life. This was the end of autumn of their third year living in the mountains. If the situation outside had indeed been settled, there would be many more options available to them if they went out first.
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