The equalization of taxes on square fields is the core content of Wang Anshi's reform.

After Cai Jing came to power, he immediately restarted Fangtian. To put it bluntly, it was to count the acres of land. For the sake of political performance, local officials pointed to the barren mountains and said it was dry land, pointed to the riverbank and said it was paddy field, and forcibly registered it under the names of ordinary people.

As a result, the whole country was in chaos, and even the landlords who were not strong enough were forced to abandon their family properties and run away.

Zhu Ming asked again: "How far ahead is the county seat?"

"It's far away," Tian San pointed to the west. "It's still dozens of miles to Xixiang County. You have to take a boat there. There are mountain roads along the river, and they are winding. It may take two or three days to walk."

Ju Ming asked again: "Is there a market town?"

"You mean the grass market?" Tian San replied, "Ten miles up the street, there is a white market. I usually go there to buy salt."

After chatting for a while, Tian San's brother Tian Er came home and the woman had already prepared food in the kitchen.

Tian San invited the father and son to have dinner together, but Zhu Ming and Zhu Guoxiang were naturally disrespectful. They had not tasted rice for a long time.

Tian Er and Tian San both have wives and children. The youngest daughter is only five or six years old, looking at the stranger with wide eyes and curiosity.

The meal is a pot of mixed porridge. There is rice, but there are a lot of bran husks. I don’t know whether the rice was not pounded cleanly, or the bran husks were deliberately left in it to fill the stomach. There are also unknown wild vegetables, which are also cooked in the porridge.

, it looks pretty good with the green accents.

The dish is a bowl of pickles, which are quite salty. You can drink half a bowl of porridge in one bite.

With such a meager meal, the father and son found it indescribably delicious, devouring it as if they were reincarnated by starving ghosts.

I was embarrassed to eat too much because the porridge was not enough.

Finally, the porridge pots were scraped clean, Tian Er's wife went to wash the dishes, Tian San's wife went to feed the chickens, and the men sat in the yard and continued chatting.

Before I knew it, it was completely dark.

The family only has a few houses, no guest rooms, and not even a woodshed.

The father and son were arranged to rest in the kitchen. Although the conditions were very poor, they would not have to eat or sleep in the open.

Hearing the footsteps outside the house walking away, Ju Ming looked through the crack in the door for a while. After making sure no one was there, he whispered: "There is something wrong with this village. When we first entered the village, the eyes of the villagers were too penetrating."

"I also feel something is wrong." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Ju Ming said: "The horse is right at the door of the kitchen. If the villagers had evil intentions, they would definitely grab the horse first. As soon as we heard any noise, we would grab the door and run away, leaving the horse to them."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The old rule is to take turns to watch the night."

"What should we do if there are too many people? If we are blocked in the kitchen, it will be difficult to escape." Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang thought about it, but there was no good way, so he suggested: "How about we go out to sleep. I see that there are a lot of firewood piled under the eaves on the side of the house. It is difficult to find them if they are hidden inside. If someone comes, we will look for an opportunity to escape. If

If no one comes, we'll go back to the kitchen before dawn."

Zhu Ming glanced at the firewood in front of the stove: "There is no need to go out, we are here. Lock the door. If you find something wrong, just light the house on fire. When the fire breaks out, open the door and rush out in the chaos. When you see the house,

Light a fire. Every household in the village has firewood under the eaves, which is easy to ignite. If they dare to mess around, we will play hard and burn down all the houses in the village! By then, the villagers will go to put out the fire. Who will

Do you still have time to chase us?"

Zhu Guoxiang was a member of the system and tended to be conservative in his behavior. How could he come up with such a method? He was so shocked that he didn't know how to speak. He held it in for a long time and only gave a thumbs up: "You...are amazing!"

Just as they were told, the father and son piled straw, bamboo shoots and other flammable firewood around branches, bamboo poles and other good firewood.

Once there is any disturbance, it can quickly ignite.

While the father and son were preparing to set the fire, the Tian brothers were also discussing in the hall.

Tian San said: "These two foreigners are probably not ordinary people."

Tian Er said: "That young junior has a weapon wrapped in rags on his back. I'm afraid he is still a skilled practitioner."

"I'm afraid that the official horse was left over from last year's robbery and escaped to the Waste Tea Mountain and was met by them." Tian San guessed.

Tian Er asked: "Do you want to snatch it back?"

Tian San smiled and said: "I'm so skinny that I can't take it back for you to serve? I can only kill it and eat its meat."

Tian Er said: "It's okay to eat meat. I haven't eaten meat for a long time."

Tian San shook his head: "If you really are a Lianjiazi, it's not worth it for a meal of horsemeat. It depends on whether they leave. If they stay for two days and then leave, we won't cause trouble. In a few days, it will be time to pick tea again. Everything will happen."

You must be careful not to make a big fuss and call in the government. Go to the village overnight and inform the brothers about what happened to these two strangers."

"Okay, I'll go right away. You can keep an eye on me at home." Tian Er stood up immediately.

Tian Er returned to his room, took off the hatchet from the wall, took out a stick from under the bed, and connected the hatchet and the stick together.

A simple knife is assembled and formed.

Although the control of knives was strict in the Song Dynasty, lawless people also had ways to deal with it.

The short blade and long handle were separated and placed. When the government found out, they said it was a farm tool. When there was a fight, they assembled it into a simple knife and fought.

The Pu Dao has no fixed format and comes in all kinds of shapes. It is a very flexible and free DIY weapon.

But in the darkness of night, Tian Er went out with a simple knife, walked out of the village from the west, and turned into a valley.

Follow the valley into the deep mountains, and after walking for several miles, you will find vast areas of tea mountains.

And deep in the tea mountains, there are more people.

Weapons are hidden in every household here, and they are connected with the Xiaobai Yuanwai further upstream. The Xiaobai Yuanwai is responsible for opening up government channels. Therefore, there is no need to pay tea tax on the tea mountains hidden in the mountains. After collecting and steaming the tea leaves, all the tea is used

in the private smuggling trade.

Deeper in the Tea Mountain lies a dangerous mountain range.

Earth and stone walls were built at key locations throughout the mountains, and there was a bandit village on the top of the mountain, and farmers also lived in the village.

Smuggling tea is just one of them. Occasionally they also go down the mountain to rob business travelers.

Even, rob the official product!

The official supplies that were snatched were sold through external channels found by novice members.
Chapter completed!