Xuejia Village, Anyang.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

"Good! Ah Ping, you have worked the bow and arrow for two years! These three arrows are also passable! A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy looked at the feathered arrows on the target, and saw that the three arrows had hit the target, although one of them was still three or four inches away from the red heart in it, but considering the distance of seventy paces, it was quite a good result.

"It's all taught by Xiao Langjun properly!" Zhou Ping put down his bow and replied to the young man respectfully, at this time he had completely changed his appearance from two years ago, and his fair face was tanned by the sun; The body that was originally a little fat has become lean; The green tendons of one hand are exposed, and the palms are covered with calluses, like iron and stone; He wore a bun on his head and wrapped it in a black cloth, and he looked no different from the taller archers on both sides of him who were ready to shoot, but his eyes were clear and bright, which was unforgettable at first sight.

"It's just that this is still the shooting method on the school field, I don't know if I can get on the line!" The young man walked up to Zhou Ping and said with a smile: "You shoot another arrow and take a look with me to see if it is a real skill!" ”

"Yes, Xiaolang!" Zhou Ping took out another arrow from Hu Lu, put on the string, straightened his chest and opened his back to pull the strong bow to the full, and was about to release the string when he suddenly heard a crisp sound in his ears, but Zhou Ping was calm and constant, and as soon as his fingers were loosened, he heard a whooshing sound, and he hit the target early, but it was in the middle of the red heart.

"Okay, that's the way to shoot!" The young man high-fived and praised, it turned out that he had slashed the horsewhip in the other party's ear when Zhou Ping was bending his bow to aim, but Zhou Ping didn't seem to hear it at all.

"The white blades on the battle array are facing each other, the arrows are like rain, and life and death are between breaths. If you are flustered and can't do anything, it will not only harm your own surname, but also harm others, do you all know? The boy was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, but his expression was very serious. Strange to say, the dozen or so men waiting for the shot on the side were all older than him, but they all looked respectful and nodded yes one after another.

The young man wanted to say a few words, but a majestic man in his early thirties quickly walked in from outside, and shouted loudly: "Hurry up and pack up the house, there are thieves who set fire to the Dayjin Hall last night, and the county has issued a big order, the thief can't go one, take the thief's first reward of 100 yuan, and the thief is every five times, regardless of life and death, it is all Zumo copper coins, not to pay money!" ”

The man's words were like a scoop of cold water poured into boiling oil, which immediately aroused a lot of discussion, and everyone was dissatisfied with the look of hope and yearning. It is no wonder that they are so, due to the lack of copper among the people in the Song Dynasty, and the rapid economic development, the currency used for currency is insufficient, so they have to use iron money, Jiaozi and other currencies, in contrast, the value of copper money is higher, enough to double or even triple the iron money, at that time the price of a stone of rice is only six or seven hundred Wen, a hundred Guan Zumo copper coins can buy at least three or four hundred stone rice, enough for a family of five for ten years, no wonder everyone is so excited.

The young man was also surprised and delighted when he heard this, and asked in disbelief: "Second brother, this matter is serious, should it be coaxed to us!" ”

"The archers in the county sent a message to the heroes of the four townships to gather quickly, and the good wine and meat were ready, and they would come back to celebrate the victory as soon as they took the thief. What your second brother and I and Liu Da have heard with our own ears can still be fake, go and clean up the house, we must not let others take this generous reward! As he spoke, the big man beckoned to the others to prepare their horses and weapons, and was about to prepare to set off.

The young man was unmoved: "Second brother, I think this matter is very strange, first use a generous reward to lure us to take the thief, and then take some worthless iron money and Jiaozi to send it away, it's not unprecedented!" ”

"Probably not!" The big man also hesitated when he heard this, it seems that he is not so confident in the unusual reward of the government, since the accession of the Daojun Emperor of this dynasty, the methods of the government have been constantly renovated, and the people have not suffered less, and the small people who have no way to make a living have to gather between the mountains, forests and grasses, and become thieves, these thieves have no other way to live, they are very fierce, and they have to take a great risk to arrest them, if the reward is thin, it is really not worth it.

Zhou Ping on the side looked at the two brothers who were hesitating, and couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart. When he just crossed over to this place two years ago, he had a strange description and a language barrier, so he had to pretend to be a fugitive slave who had escaped from the north and made a living as a farmer in this Xuejiazhuang. Originally, he was going to get familiar with the surrounding environment and leave this place with the ability to make a living on his own, but as time passed, he found that this Xue family was a rather strange place.

The Xue family is a local situation household, the term situation household comes from the late Tang Dynasty, originally refers to the local powerful rich family, and in the Song Dynasty, the situation household includes the official household, the official household, and the upper household of the grassroots political power leader in the township, corresponding to other flat households, referring to the rich households with certain privileges in the countryside. Although there is no official in this Xue family, the head of the family, Xue Zhangren, is the third elder of the local area, and there are more than 20 good lands in the family, and it can be regarded as a first-class family in Anyang.

However, it is different from other wealthy households who share their land with landless or landless farmers and collect rent. Although the Xue Zhangren also gave the land to the peasant households for cultivation, most of the tenants were relatives in the clan or familiar with the old ones, perhaps because of this reason, the Xue Zhangren asked the tenants for much less rent, generally that is, thirty percent of the yield per mu, if there were no cattle tenants more than one percent, if it was in the famine year, it would reduce part of the rent grain. What is even more strange is that if a tenant is dragged by the government to do labor during the busy farming season, he will ask the neighboring tenants to come and help, so as not to miss the season, lose the harvest, and do not want any payment. What's even more strange is that this Xue Zhangren gathers his own tenants and villagers after autumn every year to teach martial arts, and his sons are also good at riding and archery, and their martial arts are strong, and Zhou Ping's archery skills are learned from this family. After Zhou Ping learned that he was the emperor of the Emperor Daojun who was the son of heaven who was a great merit, formed a maritime alliance with Jin to attack Liao, but finally shattered his family and country, and he also fell in the city of the Five Kingdoms and sat in the well to watch the sky, he made up his mind that no matter what, he first learned the kung fu of pulling the bow and stabbing the spear in this Xue family, anyway, there are still a few years before Jingkang, and it is too late to see that the situation is not right, and it is too late to run to the south, and it is always right to have a good martial arts in this troubled era that is about to begin.

"Ah Ping, if you have something to say, what are you doing with a sigh?" A voice woke Zhou Ping up from his memories, and when he looked up, he saw that the sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, Xue Jiashilang Xue Liangyu, was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Ah Ping, do you want to take the thief this time or not?"

Zhou Ping was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly smiled: "The father-in-law is not here, the two Lang Jun are in charge, the villain is just a field guest, he bows his head and obeys orders, and he dares to say more!" ”

Xue Liangchen, the second child in his early thirties on the side, said with a smile: "It's okay, if you have any ideas, just say it, don't worry!" ”

Zhou Ping thought for a moment and asked with a smile: "The 'Dayjin Hall' that Fang Cai Erlang said in his mouth is the 'Dayjin Hall' of the Han family in Anyang?" ”

Xue Liangchen slapped his palms and smiled: "Yes, in addition to the Han Wei family, is there a second family in Xiangzhou that dares to use the name 'Dayjintang'?" ”

"If that's the case, then the villain thinks that the government shouldn't break the promise this time!"

"Ah Ping, why are you so sure?" Xue Liangyu asked a little unconvinced.

"Xiaolang, if I remember correctly, this 'Dayjin Hall' is in Anyang City, although there has been no war in the Great Song Dynasty for more than 100 years, there are many places where the Anyang city wall has been damaged. But with the prestige of the Han family, Ping said that Li Mo said that someone set fire to the Dayjin Hall, and even the thieves did not dare to stay in front of the Han family for a while. Today, it was suddenly burned, and the annoyance of the Han family can be imagined, with the Han family's power in Bianjing, if you go up with a random fold, our county will have to go around without eating. So at this juncture, the county must be anxious, and he will never be stingy with those copper coins! ”

"Exactly!" Xue Liangchen high-fived and smiled: "What kind of family is the Han family, it was burned by thieves, I am afraid that the county zun is already an ant on the hot pot at this time, don't say it is a hundred guan, even if it is two hundred guan or three hundred guan, you have to take it out!" Speaking of this, he patted Zhou Ping's shoulder affectionately: "This time, you will also go with me and the others, and see it, if you take the thief, you will be divided a few more times, and you can marry a daughter-in-law and start a family!" ”

"Thank you, Jiro!" Zhou Ping hurriedly sang a fat promise. The two brothers of the Xue family hurriedly prepared dry food for the horses, and half an hour later, the two of them took seven or eight servants, carrying guns and bows and riding horses all the way to the county seat.

The county lieutenant Zhu Zhi led the archers out of the west gate of Anyang City, assigned six or seven of his henchmen to the archers of each village to be the leader, and then went all the way to Gaoping Village. By the time of the unitary hour (about five o'clock in the afternoon), it was only two or three miles away from Gaoping Village. Zhu Zhi ordered all the archers to sit down and rest, drink and eat, and at the same time sent two handy men to the village to investigate the traces of the thieves. As soon as they heard that they could rest, they coaxed to find a shady place to lie down, took out rice balls and munched on them, and a few of them who were anxious to urinate also ran to the canal to urinate, which annoyed their companions who were drinking water and horses downstream, and immediately scuffled, and the onlookers laughed when they saw this.

"Big brother, do you think you can take down the bandits this time?" A man from Liu Sheng's fellowship asked with a cower.

Liu Sheng sneered: "Ball, it's good to be able to save your surname, this Zhu County Lieutenant is not worthy of carrying shoes for the Xue family, you will be smart later, if the situation is not right, run away, it is important to keep the guy who eats!" ”

In Gaoping Village, next to the barnyard, a freshly lowered ploughing ox was lying next to the well, two robbers were skillfully peeling it and dividing it into pieces, and several cauldrons next to it were already boiling on the fire. The dwarf was doing an antics under the tree with a bitter face, and dozens of robbers sat around in twos and threes, laughing from time to time.

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