Lin Fan and the others did not have too much delay in Anzhou City, but they had only rested for one night, and the three of them set off again and went straight to Yongyang County, where Lin Fan was going to take office.

Yongyang County has been built for thousands of years, and it has been burned down by war for several years and rebuilt several times.

The county seat is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the scenery is beautiful. It is located on the east bank of the Zhuanshui, bordering Hengwei Mountain in the north and hundreds of miles of Yunmengze in the south.

For thousands of years, countless literati and elegant guests have lingered on this, splashed ink, and never hesitated to praise it, leaving countless beautiful chapters.

In addition, Yongyang City guards the south and looks north, the geographical location is dangerous, and most of the merchants from the north and south rest here. In the peaceful years of the past, the prosperity and wealth of Yongyang City were almost not inferior to those of Jiangnan County.

Unfortunately, in recent years, due to natural and man-made disasters, chaos has gradually arisen in the world. In particular, Zhongyuan Province has long been a piece of erosion, and countless refugees have gathered in Huainan Province from north to south, and Yongyang is the first to bear the brunt.

These refugees have no way to make a living, and the local officials are forced to do nothing, and those who dare to act recklessly fall into the grass.

Up to now, whether it is in the stretching Yokoo Mountains or in the vast clouds, there are mostly bandits entrenched.

They plundered everywhere and took the blame. The local government was also powerless to suppress bandits, resulting in thieves gradually gaining momentum.

Although most of these thieves are from poor backgrounds, they are also ruthless when they attack the poor!

Outside Yongyang City, Lin Fan and a few people rode slowly on the potholed official road, and the outline of Yongyang City was already faintly visible not far away.

It is now early spring, and even the willows on both sides of the official road have begun to pull out green shoots; The green grass is green, and little by little it pokes its head out of the ground, adding a touch of greenery to the earth.

But Lin Fan and the others had no intention of appreciating this spring scenery, because although it was now spring in February, the spring breeze was still cold, and it was not so pleasant to blow on people.

The wind was blowing, the sand and rocks were flying, the loess was all over the sky, and the pedestrians who were blowing almost couldn't open their eyes, and Lin Fan and the three of them were also complaining on the horse, and even the people and horses were about to be dyed yellow.

Finally approaching the city gate, several people turned over and dismounted, beat the dust on their bodies, and entered a tea shed. An Ning said to an old man selling tea: "Uncle, please come to the pot of tea!" ”

The old man was a little busy, he didn't raise his head, he answered casually, and then began to work on his own.

Lin Fan didn't urge, and quietly looked around carefully with his eyes.

Probably because of the wind today, except for the side of the roadside, the other three sides of the tea shed are blocked with coarse cloth.

Lin Fan first looked at the entire tea shed and found that there was hardly anything extra except for a few simple seats and benches and some kettles and tea bowls.

And at this time, in addition to the three of them, there are only a few guests in the entire tea shed, and the old man who sells tea is busy alone, and it is enough.

Lin Fan quietly looked at the old man who sold tea, only to see that the old man's figure was rickety, and his skinny body was out of breath after he didn't take a few steps. Its weather-beaten face is furrowed, full of age spots and wrinkles, full of traces of age.

After looking around the tea shed for a week, Lin Fan looked through the gap in the coarse cloth at Yongyang City not far away.

It was already under the city walls, and when he looked up, he could see that the low, dilapidated walls were covered with dead grass. In some places, the masonry has cracked, and the rammed earth inside has been exposed, weathered and peeled off.

This situation made Lin Fan frown, if there was a real war in the future, a huge city wall would still play a role now, it was conceivable.

Under the city gates, there were a dozen sergeants standing guard, dressed in tattered and rusty armor, shivering in the cold wind.

One by one, they shrunk their necks, put their hands in their sleeves to keep warm, and kept cursing and swearing in their mouths, and from time to time they impatiently interrogated the people entering and leaving the city, and beat and scolded at the slightest disappointment.

No, there was a man who was going into the city who didn't know how to offend them, and was knocked to the ground by a group of sergeants.

The man could no longer stand, but the men did not stop, ignoring the man's pleadings, and continued to punch and kick.

It wasn't until the man who was traveling with the man handed a money bag to the leader of the team, who weighed the weight of the money bag and nodded lightly to the others, that the sergeants all snorted and let him go impatiently.

Then they got together with a smile and discussed how the money should be spent, and by the way, they went to find the next unlucky bastard, the living ruffian.

Lin Fan kept everything in his mind silently, didn't speak, just took his gaze back.

After a while, the old man who sold tea brought the tea of the three people, and Lin Fan saw that the guests were almost gone at this time, and the old man was also free, so he talked to him: "Uncle." How's your business going? ”

The old man who sold tea chuckled and shook his head, but he seemed to be very open-minded, and said with a smile: "Listen to the accent, the guest officer is from the south, right?" ”

After Lin Fan nodded, the old man smiled: "Then it's no wonder that the guest officer asked!" ”

"The guest officer has just come here, and he may not know something. Now that the world is so chaotic, the common people can't survive, how can there be a few people who have spare money to come to drink tea with a bad old man like me! ”

"The reason why this small teahouse can be maintained is because of the pity of some neighbors around it, and they often receive help, so that a few copper plates can be put into the account and chatted to make a living!"

"But as long as I can survive and be less hungry, I'm already very content with a bad old man who has half buried in the loess!"

Lin Fan smiled: "Uncle, you are very open!" By the way, why are you the only one doing this? You're so old and you've been busy all your life, so it's time to rest at home. What about your family? Why can't you see it to help with it? ”

The old man looked a little sad when he heard this, and said gloomily: "Except for one grandson, it's all gone!" ”

"I originally had a son, and he and his daughter-in-law ran this teahouse, and although the family was not free of food and clothing, they were able to barely eat and drink, and they were able to enjoy themselves."

"But just the year before last, my son and daughter-in-law were robbed by bandits when they went back to their hometown in the countryside to farm, and they haven't even found their bodies yet. Now it's just me and a seven-year-old grandson who is now in school and not in the store. ”

Speaking of his grandson, a glimmer of light bloomed in the old man's cloudy eyes: "That child is obedient, and he is quite competitive in his studies, and he is quite loved by Mr. Juri." I don't want him to have any great success in the future, and I can't even think about being an official or anything, I just hope that he will be able to read and write in the future, and not be like his ancestors who can only dig in the soil for food, even if I am worthy of this child's dead father! ”

After the old man who sold tea finished speaking, Lin Fan was a little uncomfortable. He stood up, clasped his fists and saluted, and said apologetically: "Uncle, I'm sorry! I don't know this, I'm abrupt! ”

The old man waved his hand to Lin Fan casually, and said with a smile: "Hehe, don't blame the guest officer, this is all in the past, I have long been used to it." However, my old man is old, and he only cares about talking to himself, but I am afraid that it will affect the mood of several guest officers drinking tea, and I hope that the guest officers will not blame! ”

"Uncle, what did you say, as long as you don't blame you for being abrupt, you will be grateful!" Lin Fan bowed to the old man before sitting down again.

Lin Fan looked in the direction of the city gate again, pointed to the city gate sergeants who were checking the people, and asked the old man: "Those soldiers are doing such nonsense, is there no one to care?"

The old man was also indignant about this, but he was helpless! "Who dares to care, these people are arrogant and domineering, and a few years ago, some people went to them to theorize, but they directly discounted their legs. Slowly. No one dares to care! And in the past few years, they have become more and more excessive, more and more insatiable, and do not know how to restrain. Alas! On this kind of day, I don't know when it's a head! ”

Lin Fan asked, "What about the local county order?" As a parent official, shouldn't he punish adultery and eliminate evil, and make decisions for the people? If you sit back and ignore it like this, aren't you afraid of the court's blame? ”

The old man's body stiffened when he heard this, and he stared at Lin Fan vigilantly. After a while, he said: "The affairs of these officials and masters are as far away from us as the sky, where can we, the small people of Shengdou, understand!"

Then he said nervously: "Hehe, I see that a few guest officers have almost drunk tea, so let's hurry up and hurry, don't delay the hour!"

Lin Fan was a little surprised, "Why did the old man drive us away?" ”

The old man quietly glanced at the sergeants outside, lowered his voice and said carefully: "I see that you are from other places, and you speak in a crepe, and you look like scholars, so I will tell you directly!"

"It's not that I'm going to drive you away, but the county magistrate, how can we talk about it. A while ago, there was a person who was heard and reported to the county office because he said a few bad things about the county magistrate behind his back, and that person was beaten to death directly in the lobby. ”

"Since then, no one has dared to say that the county magistrate is not a word in front of people. Moreover, if you inquire like this, you will be regarded as bandits, and if it was someone else who asked me about these things, I would have reported to the police a long time ago. Alright, that's all there is to say, you guys should leave after drinking tea."

"Uncle reminded us that we were negligent and almost affected the old man, I really didn't want to go, and the younger generation thanked me here!" Lin Fan thanked.

"But the old man said so much to us, aren't you afraid that we will really be bad people?"

The old man who sold tea laughed and said: "I have lived for most of my life, and I have never seen anyone from the south to the north." From the time you came in until now, I have watched every move; Although I am old and confused now, I can still distinguish between good and bad. Besides, I'm a lonely and helpless old man, what can you want from me? The reason why I tell you so much is because I am afraid that you will not know the rules when you first arrive, cause trouble, and lose your life in vain. My grandson is also studying, helping you is to accumulate virtue for my grandson, hahaha! ”

Lin Fan said: "Old man Gaoyi, it really makes the younger generation ashamed!" The juniors and others will leave. Boy Lin Fan, if the old man has a place to find the juniors in the future, he can come to me at any time, as long as he can do it, the juniors will never refuse! ”

The old man who sold tea smiled and nodded, but he just regarded the young man's momentary words and did not take it to heart.

Lin Fan didn't force it, in the final analysis, it was just a meeting in Pingshui, even if he wanted to help, but if he was too eager, it seemed to be a bad plot.

He asked An Ning to leave a few pieces of silver as tea money, then got up and walked out of the teahouse, leading the horse in the direction of the city gate.

Seeing this, An Ning and Wang Hu followed closely behind.