From Ruzhou to the south, through the Fangcheng pass, to Jingxiang. Although the Xianghan Cao Canal has not been opened, this road has been an extremely important passage connecting the north and the south for thousands of years. From the Central Plains to Jinghu, you have to take this road, no matter spring, summer, autumn and winter, there will never be less travel on the road.

However, it is now a hot summer, and in order to avoid the heat after the sun rises, the chariot and horse travelers on the road will choose to leave early in the morning.

When we set off, it was still dark. First wear the stars and the moon for an hour, and then withstand the morning light for an hour, and the ground will be so hot that the horse's hooves dare not stop, so they can only rest to the sunshade on the side of the road, and they have to rest until the evening to get up again.

And this has also brought gratifying benefits to roadside tea sheds and hotels. If you can go out for a long journey, no matter what it is for, few people will be so poor that they will sit in the shade of a tree and fan themselves with a straw hat, and they are reluctant to take out a few copper coins to buy a cup of herbal tea and a bowl of weak wine.

A foot shop at the southern end of Fangcheng Pass, which sells tea and wine, is just a thatched hut, and there is a shed outside the door, and there are seven or eight tables inside and outside. But since the construction of Xianghan Caoyun began, the business has been so good that the shopkeepers have dreamed of laughing, and they only wish that there were four summers a year, twelve Junes or July.

At night, soldiers and craftsmen came to buy wine, and during the day, the carts and horses of the merchants were parked in front of the door. The wooden box filled with money in a day, and the tinkling crunch was always ringing, and the shopkeeper pinched himself from time to time to make sure he was not dreaming.

Not only the shopkeepers were in a dream, but even the merchants who had been walking this path for a long time were surprised by the number of customers in the huts. An old guy sitting in the corner of the wall was following his juniors and sighed: "In other words, during the Qingli period, there would not be so many people sitting in the store at this time." Who dares to walk at night? The merchants who were robbed had more than ten times a month, and some of them were robbed with their heads. How many people would rather be sunburned and suffer from heat stroke than risk their lives to be greedy for the cool breeze in the morning and evening. ”

The old man may have been behind his ears, and his voice was so loud that not only his juniors, but also the people in the store could hear it. The shopkeeper nodded yes again and again, and he also recognized this regular customer who had walked Fangcheng Road for more than 30 years.

"The old man is right. It is also a peaceful and prosperous world now, there are no thieves on the road, in other words, ten or twenty years ago, if you don't form a team, who dares to walk alone at night? A shriveled merchant continued, Luoyang Yayin was very standard, but the pointed beard and thin cheeks made him look like a goat.

Peaceful and prosperous? The corners of some people's mouths are curled, but no one will say what is in their hearts on this occasion, and drink tea and wine with their heads bored.

"It's still the credit of the armor protection law." In obvious contrast to the previous thin merchant who seemed to be a goat reincarnated, a fat merchant with a straight stomach that made the clothes on his body cost three feet more cloth than ordinary people, and praised one of the new laws, "There was no armor before, and the thieves had to rely on the archers in the county, think how many of them will fight with the thieves?" That is, after having the armor, even if a group of bandits came, they were shot dead in the township, and they were taken to the county and state to ask for a reward. Huaizuo Guo Qi has heard of it, right? When Xining was in Huainan in the eighth year, I saw with my own eyes that a Zhuangzi's baoding captured him alive and sent him to the county. He led more than 20 horse thieves to run rampant in Huaisi for more than ten years, and capsized in a small village. His subordinates killed Jingguang, and within a few days, he was sentenced to death, and he was hung in pieces at the gate of Sizhou. ”

"What can catch a thief? It is to guard people against thieves! There was a middle-aged man who obviously drank too much, and said loudly with a red face: "I went back to my hometown last year to visit relatives, and before I had time to sit down for tea, Bao Zheng slipped over and asked. The question was so detailed, I thought that he had a daughter at home who was going to marry and wanted to be cheap. ”

His words were a bit harsh, which drew a chuckle from the shop.

"Those who know about the offense and do not report it shall be punished according to the law of joint sitting; If the robber stays on bail for three days, the neighbor will also be punished if he does not know about it. If there is a person whose whereabouts are unknown, the insurance must also be aware of the arrest and delivery to the officer. Bao Zheng also has to think about his own family. A scholar sitting at another table said with a sneer.

The scholar was only in his twenties, but he was not traveling alone, but a family of thirty or forty. The servants watched the car outside, the ladies also stayed in the car in the shade of the trees, and the seven or eight people resting in the shop were all dressed as scholars. The leading old man looks like he is in his fifties, and this scholar, judging by his age, should be the old man's son and nephew.

The scholar looks like a scholar, and the temperament of a large family is like this, it should be a scholarly family, but they are very ordinary, almost all of them are cloth clothes, even the old man who looks the most respectful is also a simple indigo fine linen robe, and his feet are not official boots, but shoes. But the two carriages and horses parked outside have the mark of the Tangzhou Yamen, which should have just been changed at the post station in front.

In addition to this family, all the merchants in the store are traveling from south to north, and a few of them may not be able to recognize a few big characters, but each of them has a pair of keen eyes honed by the experience of walking around the north and south, and they have seen everything that should be seen.

The fat merchant's voice became respectful, "Yanai is really knowledgeable, and villains can't think of so much." ”

"Yanai can't afford it, just call it Xiucai." The scholar looked at the old man at the other table and said with a smile: "Jia Yan is just an errand for education. ”

"Mr. Teaching? It doesn't look like it......" The fat merchant wondered for a moment, and then came to his senses, "Ah, I know what to say." Isn't he a professor in the county or state? ”

Professors and doctors in county and state schools are not considered legitimate officials. Although they eat the rice of the imperial court and use the carriages and horses of the government, these positions are arranged for those who fail to pass the Jinshi examination, and they have no grade, that is, they are not in the stream. No one was afraid, and several businessmen sat down peacefully.

However, the flattery also has to say: "The official family has issued an edict to run the school." Nowadays, the county runs the county school and the state runs the state school, and there are a lot of schools, but there is a lack of a gentleman who can teach and educate people. Looking at Ling Zun's appearance, he must be very good at learning, and when he arrives in the state, he will be able to teach a few Jinshi to come out. ”

The young scholar laughed when he heard this, and he didn't take such a crude flattery to heart. And when the old man saw that his son had hidden his identity and was chatting with the merchants, his brows were a little furrowed. He doesn't like to lie, but he doesn't feel the need to show his identity in a big way, so he just sits and doesn't speak, only drinks tea, and asks the juniors to greet him.

In fact, the old man also has some experience, although the new law is unsatisfactory, it is not completely useless. It is one case that the law of protecting armor costs the people and money, and it is also one case that the law of destroying the township soldiers in the border prefectures is also a case, but it is much stronger than in the past in terms of pacifying the localities and organizing households to gather the people.

Compared with the tragic situation of thieves in the world in the second half of Renzong's reign, the road is now much quieter. Many of the thieves during Renzong's time were ordinary people, who just went through the state and county to make a vote, and then took the stolen goods home to enjoy for a while, such thieves are always the most difficult to suppress.

After the implementation of the Baojia Law, peasants from all walks of life in the world had to rush to conduct military exercises during the winter slack season, and a village of 100 households, to say the least, had more than 200 baoding, and had the ability to protect themselves. And through the compilation of the armor, the government's control over the countryside has also risen to a higher level, and many thieves who are busy farming and stealing in their leisure time have not even escaped.

A horse-drawn carriage roared along the tracks, only a few dozen steps away from the grass house. The old man raised his head, his eyes following closely where the carriage had disappeared.

The fat merchant on the other side also stretched his neck and stared at the carriage full of pebbles as a roadbed, just now they had passed the busy construction site, and the tracks at both ends were still about ten miles away before they could converge in one place.

"The Taiping car can carry five or six thousand catties, but it requires ten horses and mules. This carriage running on the track, with four sections before and after, carries tens of thousands of catties of goods, and only needs two horses. He looked back at his carriage and let out a long sigh, "It's too much to spare." ”

Another scholar beside the old man said in a low voice: "No wonder Han Gang dares to take over this errand of Xianghan Caoqu, as long as he has a track, he can directly skip this section of the difficulty of Fangcheng Pass." It's ridiculous that the mines and ports in the world have already been built on tracks, so no one thought of using them to build official roads, and Han Gang himself has to say it. If anyone thought of it, Han Gang wouldn't be able to monopolize it. ”

"I don't know what Uncle Duan thinks of Han Gang?" The old man's voice was equally low, but the tone in which they addressed the current Jingxi Capital Transit Envoy had actually revealed his identity.

It should be a young man with 'Uncle Duan' as the expression, not to mention Han Gang's merits, but to say: "My parents live on the right side of Long, and the thieves are on the side." He is an only son, but he is an official in the Central Plains. He doesn't care about anything, but only filial piety, it is not advisable. ”

The old man nodded, this is a good thing.

I only heard Uncle Duan say in a low voice: "Wen Zhenggong is the most filial piety, Han Gang has gone far in this matter alone, and he is even further away." ”

Since the founding of the country, there are only a few who can be called Wenzheng, and now there is only one Fan Zhongyan who can be worthy of words. The identity of the old man is naturally about to come out - the new Xinyang Army Zhijun Fan Chunren.

The Fan family is loyal and filial piety. Fan Zhongyan was two years old and lonely, and his mother remarried and brought him to the Zhu family and changed his name to Zhu Shuo. After Fan Zhongyan passed the Jinshi examination as an adult, he changed back, and he later asked for a gift for his stepfather.

In Fan Chunren's generation, several sons of the Fan family are also filial. Fan Chunyou, Fan Chunren and others have been serving by their parents' side until Fan Zhongyan died, and Fan Chunren did not come out to be an official. And while being an official, Fan Chunren is still taking care of his eldest brother Fan Chunyou. Fan Chunyou has a heart disease, and several people can't treat it. In order to take care of him, Fan Chunren resigned several promotions.

If Uncle Duan praised himself, Fan Chunren would not be happy, but if he praised Fan Zhongyan, Fan Chunren would naturally not refuse.

"But Han Gang is a genius in the world," in terms of filial piety, Fan Chunren is not worth Han Gang's actions; But he spoke highly of Han Gang's ability, "The current railroad is one of them." In Kansai, in the capital, and in Guangxi, the military and political affairs can only make people sigh to themselves. Because of the Luo Wucheng incident, he has a very high reputation in the Huanqing Army. Duanben is in Yanyan, you should be clearer. ”

Duanben, or Fan Chunren's disciple Li Zhiyi - he is known as Duanben - has served in Dunyan Road for many years, of course, he knows Han Gang's popularity in the Yan army, and he also understands Han Gang's connections: "Han Gang and Chong Jianzhong, the son of Chong Yi, belong to the same family, and have the same deep friendship with Chong Pu, the son of Chong Ge......

Fan Chunren's smile was a little bitter, and then he let out a long sigh.

He was anti-war, so he turned his face with the breeders who advocated war against Western Xia. Since the Battle of Hengshan, Western Xia has not dared to make any more moves for two years. Fan Chunren only hopes that such a peaceful life can continue, even if it can't last, it shouldn't be broken by the initiative of the Great Song Dynasty, for the sake of the three or two people's fame and fortune, and the revival of military affairs is definitely not a good thing for the country and the people.

Fan Chunren opposed the war, and Li Zhiyi, his disciple, opposed the war on Yanyan Road. Now Fan Chunren has been transferred to the Xinyang Army, and Li Zhiyi has been demoted to Chenzhou and went south together.

Fan Chunren apologized: "Just for this matter, it has affected Uncle Duan." ”

Li Zhiyi smiled freely: "It's only because of state affairs, how can you talk about it." ”

Another horse-drawn carriage full of road-building materials sped by. Fan Chunren lowered his head and drank the coarse tea in the township, Li Zhiyi's free and easy made him appreciate it very much, as for Han Gang, Fan Chunren only thought about how to persuade him when he met him.

If you can convince Han Gang and stop the war, you should be able to give more help.