The firewood is usually sold to three places: the ancestral hall in the village is sold to the people of the same village, the grange under the mountain is sold to the landlord, and the county seat is sold to the people in the city. Although it is five miles away from the mountain village to the county seat, because the firewood is easy to sell here, it is quick to get rid of, and the price is relatively high, so Wang Zhen often goes. Now travel lightly, and it will be here in half a day.

However, a hundred years later, the county seat has changed a lot, and Wang Zhen can't believe that this is the county seat. The county seat has expanded by two or three times, and the streets and houses are neat and tidy. The king entered through the south gate, and the street was lined with vendors selling all kinds of goods. Pedestrians on the street are like crucian carp, red men and green women come and go, and it is very lively. This is not what Wang Zhen remembered at all, and Wang Zhen is a mountain boy who has never seen the world, so everything feels fresh, and his eyes can't see it at all.

Suddenly, I heard a gong sound, from slow to urgent, which was the signal of the summoning. People walked in the direction of the sound of the gong. Wang Zhen has a young mentality and likes to watch the excitement, so he follows people to see what is happening on the other side of the gong. To the left of the center of the county, there is a school field, which has been surrounded by people.

Wang Zhen squeezed into the crowd, only to see a group of soldiers lined up on the school grounds, guarding three brightly dressed but dejected people. A lieutenant-like man was holding an official document and reading it aloud. Wang Zhen didn't know what to do, and asked the people around him for the reason.

It turned out that in the early days after the Eastern Jin Dynasty crossed the river, in order to appease the northerners who also crossed the river, a preferential policy was adopted for the northbound refugees, and a large number of overseas Chinese counties were set up to resettle them, and these people were called overseas Chinese. The household registration of overseas Chinese is called white nationality, which is not considered official household registration, and they do not have to bear state taxes and forced labor. At the same time, the landed landlords of the hereditary clan took advantage of their privileges to shelter a large number of displaced people to cultivate fertile land, because these displaced people were not counted as the official population, and the landed landlords of the hereditary clan were not required to pay taxes to the state and contribute to the conscripts according to the number of people. Therefore, the more displaced people the landlords sheltered and the more fertile land they cultivated, the richer they became, but the state could not even collect a bucket of rice. In order to change this situation, the Eastern Jin Dynasty court overcharged taxes and restricted the privileges of the clan, so it appointed Sima Huanwen, who was in charge of the military power of the eight states, to preside over the "land break" policy, and let the overseas Chinese enter the local household registration through the household registration, so that the overseas Chinese and the displaced people all became ordinary residents and undertook taxes and forced labor.

The three on the school field were local landlords, who deliberately concealed their household registration because they did not cooperate with the army's work, and were escorted over for public punishment as an example. After the school lieutenant finished reading the official document, the execution was announced, and the three brightly dressed landlords were pushed on the bench and hit the big board in turn. The people have a lot of resentment against the landlords, and they applaud when they see the landlords being beaten by the big board.

Wang Zhen was watching out of curiosity, and was not interested in the affairs of the court, so he withdrew and walked around the crowd to the north gate. Wang Zhen suddenly saw a person behind the crowd reaching into someone else's arms with chopsticks to grab the money bag, the speed was so fast, and the skill of the technique was amazing. Wang Zhen's head turned a few thoughts, and the man had already put the chopsticks into the arms of the third person.

Wang Zhen was hot-headed and shouted: "Big brother in front, be careful of thieves." ”

The person in front of him reflexively lowered his head, saw a pair of chopsticks stretched into his arms, and hurriedly grabbed the wrist of the person holding the chopsticks, shouting: "Okay! You thief stole something to your grandfather's head, let him give you some power. ”

The thief drew his hand twice, and when he saw that he couldn't break free, he kicked the other party in the stomach, and ran away. The man was caught off guard by the pain in his stomach, let go of his hand and squatted on the ground, squatted for a while, and when the pain was relieved, he immediately pulled out his leg and chased after him. Who knew that he collided with the person crossing the road in front of him, and the person who was hit got up from the ground and cursed, holding the other party's hand and not allowed to go, and wanted to reason with the other party. This trouble attracted many onlookers, and the thief had already disappeared.

When the king saw that the thief had been driven away, he was about to continue his journey, but was stopped. Wang Zhen looked at people carefully: he had sharp-beaked monkey gills, a goatee, he was in his forties, his face was wrinkled and deep, and he was wearing a luxurious satin dress, but he didn't wear his temperament at all, and he felt a little funny, like a monkey wearing human clothes.

The person who came came clasped his hands into fists and smiled with a smile on his face, and said enthusiastically to Wang Zhen: "The surname of the contemptible person is Feng, and the same is true of the cheap name." Dare to ask the virtuous brother with his surname? ”

Wang Zhen bowed his hand and replied: "This eldest brother is polite, I am a poor boy, how can I have a big name." There is one nickname, called Wang Qian. ”

Feng Yiru smiled brighter and said, "Brother Wang Zhenxian said that he was laughing. The scene just now is in my brother's eyes. The virtuous brother and the young hero, when he saw the injustice, he roared, and scared the little thief into hugging his head. ”

Wang asked: "Where! Where! I was just told to be cautious when going out. That was my unintentional mistake just now, and I shouldn't have done anything about it. ”

Feng Yiru immediately waved his hand and said, "What kind of words is this, brother Xian!" The virtuous brother is chivalrous and soft-hearted, and it is by nature. As a brother, he is also a person who can't tolerate sand in his eyes, and he will want to kill the little thief when he sees it. I respect the virtuous brother as a person, the virtuous brother, otherwise, you see that it is noon, it is better to make the east for the brother, and go to the restaurant to entertain the virtuous brother with thin wine and mussels. I wonder if the virtuous brother can give me this face? ”

Feng Yiru was very gracious, but Wang Zhen shirked it, but Feng Yiru held his hand and strode towards the restaurant.

When he arrived at the restaurant, Feng Yiru chose a private room on the second floor. After ordering the wine and food, Xiao Er left. Feng Yiru and Wang Zhen started a family routine, and asked Wang Zhen about his family background, where he was going, what he was doing, etc., and Wang Zhen answered them one by one.

After a while, the food and drinks were ready. Feng Yiru picked up the wine jug and poured two glasses of wine, pushed one to Wang Qian, picked up one and said, "Come on!" Brother Xian, you and I have a fate today, and I will give you a cup for my brother. ”

Wang Zhen said with a difficult face: "Brother Feng, I have never drunk alcohol when I am so old. I don't know how to drink, or do I replace it with tea? ”

Feng Yiru feigned anger and said: "Brother, tea is tea, wine is wine, how can it be confused?" As a brother, he respects the virtuous brother and is only hospitable. A piece of affection for my brother is in this wine. I hope that the virtuous brother will not chill the heart of a brother. After speaking, Feng Yiru raised his glass and drank the wine, and then turned the cup upside down.

Wang Zhen had no choice but to say: "Since Brother Feng is so arrogant, Wang Zhen can only sacrifice his life to accompany the gentleman." After speaking, Wang Zhen frowned and drank the wine in the cup, and put the cup horizontally, facing Feng Yiru.

After putting down the cup, Wang Zhen shook his head vigorously, shook his body a few times, sat on the stool, and then fell on the table, motionless. At this time, Feng Yiru smiled evilly, walked to the window and made a gesture down, and then two people strode up the stairs. One of them was a thief who used chopsticks to hold someone's money bag, and the other was a person who was knocked down across the road.