Pingcang County is named after the most famous mountain near this county, Cangshan.

Although it is not a thousand cliffs and thousands of green walls, it is also a strange tree and a lush tree, like a Denglin.

On the official road leading to Pingcang County, a carriage is moving smoothly and quickly, and it looks like the driver is old-fashioned.

The car Zhou Rui was half-lying, chattering endlessly, while Zhou Bai lifted the window curtain to take a look at the surrounding scenery and terrain, and his thoughts were flying.

The continuous Cangshan Mountain will be half surrounded by the entire Pingcang County, and if you want to cross the Cangshan Mountain, except for a few hunters and gatherers, only the Kukou Pass opened up by the government at a great cost can be passed.

Zhou Bai once went to see the Kukou Pass, when it was really a husband when the pass was not opened, the pass was set up with a city, and there were military villages on both sides, and the defense was strict.

The reason why it is so precautionary is because Pingcang County is the farthest "familiar" county in the north, and further north, it is a "new" county that has only recently been established by Jiazi, and the enemy attacks on the grassland are endless.

In fact, Pingcang County was established less than a hundred years ago, it was opened up at the peak of Daxu's national strength, but there is Cangshan Mountain as a barrier, and the development is not inferior to the general inland county.

At the beginning, the Cangshan bandits colluded with the hostile forces of the grassland and the northern border, and became a self-contained, and the Ming Dynasty resisted the rule of the imperial court, which hindered the great policy of opening up the border states.

Due to the excessive consumption of military and material resources, the imperial court issued an edict to attract mainland refugees and small families to move to the border with various preferential policies.

It was in this context that the major families came to Pingcang County, and they gathered heroic homeless people to fight with the Cangshan bandits to fight for the land for the clansmen to inhabit.

In the end, the families who contributed the most became county lords and stationed in the county seat, while many small families such as the Zhou family were scattered in the countryside and became the lowest villagers.

The Zhou family is quite lucky, and with their meritorious contributions, they have earned thousands of acres of fertile land for the next generation, and there is also a fame of the same person.

It is this fame of the same person that allowed the second generation of ancestors to lead the family to establish a foothold in Pingcang County, and even turned into an ancestral spirit after death, truly stabilizing the foundation.

Although the same lifting people are specially selected by the imperial court and are the end of the lifting class, there is no shortage of privileges that should be held, and it is not surprising to support a township framework.

In the following decades, Zhou Jiaxiu did not have a fault, and produced a real person, a third-generation ancestor in the sense of family contribution, who pushed the Zhou family to a real old villager.

It's a pity that there is no successor to the post-ordination position, and many of the benefits earned by the third-generation ancestors have not been kept, and the county Haojiage has always been out of reach.

Of course, fortunately, it is located in Pingcang County, and even if many small families cannot rush to the county hao, they can maintain the character of the township family and not fall into the nameless small clan that does not fall into the stream.

There is an unwritten rule in this world's humane court, and the Daxu Dynasty still continues, that is, the imperial court should try to open the border as much as possible, and the evaluation of the previous dynasty by later generations will occupy a very heavy weight in the amount of its territory.

It is said that the average humane dynasty is only 300 years, but there are many humane dynasties in this world that exceed 300 years, and Daxu has been founded for 325 years, which is proof.

In this, the expansion of territory and the reduction of social contradictions are not the key factors affecting the longevity of the dynasty.

In order to open up the territory, Daxu gave a lot of rewards to the pioneers, and the co-lifting of the second generation of ancestors of the Zhou family is only a small aspect, and the real preferential treatment decree is the whole.

For example, in the imperial examination, the fame of talent needs to go through the county examination (children's examination), the county examination, and the hospital examination, but in the newly opened place, you can obtain the fame of Xiucai after the county examination.

In addition, the cultural context of the border areas is weak, and with the blessing of the policy, even if it is still difficult to pass the examination, it is still difficult, but it is much less difficult than the inland states and counties.

Many villagers are like the Zhou family, and they have always maintained a number of talents to maintain their family character and inherit it from generation to generation.

The time limit for the newly established land is less than 100 years, and Pingcang County has been established for 95 years, which means that if the Zhou family cannot produce a person, they will only have two chances to enjoy the preferential treatment decree at most.

The number of places in the county examination is several times that of the college examination, and the difficulty of obtaining fame in the college examination can be imagined.

But in a sense, this kind of involution of the clans in Pingcang County has accumulated a certain amount of strength for the arrival of the catastrophe, and it is the same as the pace of some big families, and Zhou Bai felt a little strange in his heart.

"Zhou Bai, didn't you hear me speak? I also let you ride in my father's carriage, and be kind enough to treat it as a donkey's liver and lungs. At this time, Zhou Rui's somewhat angry voice came.

Zhou Bai smiled at Zhou Rui and said: "Listen, listen, Zhou Datian's niece is Zhou Heyun's roommate, so Zhou Heyun and even Sanfang will definitely target me?" ”

Zhou Rui's chubby face was a little anxious, and he said, "Yes, I'm not afraid, anyway, my father arranged for me to go out to do business." You shouldn't give up the quota, you don't know how much support the clan has for this county test, do you really want to be assigned to the manor? ”

The county seat is getting closer and closer, Zhou Bai stretched out his head to look at the terrain and environment, and then comforted Zhou Rui and said: "Haha, you yourself said that the imperial examination is not just about luck, why can't you get to me?" ”

"You...... Alas, when I said all the way in vain! Let's see if we can get a child, and then we can divide a better manor. ”

……

The Daxu Dynasty had a vast territory, starting from the ocean in the east, reaching the dead desert in the west, reaching 100,000 mountains in the south, and reaching the boundless grassland in the north, covering an area of hundreds of millions of miles.

There are 48 states, hundreds of county seats, and thousands of county towns and market towns.

And even if it is compared with the entire Daxu, Pingcang, who is a border city in the north, is also a top-notch existence.

The county town is full of the ruggedness of the "newly opened" place, the city walls are towering, and the arrow towers, enemy platforms, and corner platforms are all lined up, but it is rare to see matching armored sergeants.

Sheltered by Cangshan Mountain, Pingcang County has been peaceful for decades, not only can be called a large county in terms of area, but even the population living in the cluster has gradually caught up with the middle and lower level of the interior.

There are more than 100,000 people in the county, and the population scattered in the townships and villages is at least two or three times, plus the hidden slaves, the strength of the major families is really not weak.

At the gate of the city, which was not bustling, the carriage engraved with the mark of the Zhou family was not checked by the guards, and the old man who drove the carriage skillfully threw down a few copper coins and galloped towards the city.

Near the county office, Zhou Rui pointed to the distant horse lane: "This old style is not simple, my father's usual old groom, it's not that I want the county test, and he won't send me at all." ”

"Well, if you put it in the clan, you should be a ten-person enemy, and it is not a problem to clean up a few thieves." Zhou Bai replied lightly.

This is the family heritage, even if it is just a lineage, it can raise such a good hand, except that their seven-room power is thin.

Zhou Rui was taken aback, and said with some doubts: "You can also see this?" Then I will be called by my subordinates. ”

"Let's go, nothing is more important than the county test, just go find an inn to stay in, no disrespect."

Although there is still time to sign up tomorrow, there are already many scholars queuing up in front of the county office, all from ten miles and eight townships.

However, the Zhou family didn't have to queue up, just a notification, and immediately two messengers came to guide the way.