Chapter 40 The Great Zhou Dynasty (1/2)

It’s the time of year to collect rent and pay taxes to the county government.

But starting from this year, Ergouzi no longer has to pay taxes.

He only has 5 acres of land, and Shekou Mountain is listed as a barren mountain in the county government's registration, and he can get tax exemption because of his reputation as a scholar.

There is no need to hand over a grain of grain, but not a single stone is missing in the land rent that should be collected.

"My boss, this is 100 shi of rice. It has been prepared for a long time. It's just that Shekou Mountain is too high and we can't deliver it."

In front of Ergouzi, there was a pile of golden rice, piled up like a hill.

Finally realized the happiness of being a local landlord.

According to a normal person's appetite, three or four kilograms of rice a year would be enough for a meal of white rice.

If you eat some meat, a dozen dan per year will be enough.

Anyway, these 100 stones can last for many years.

However, if you replace it with Peiyuan Guben Pills, you can only get a dozen pills according to the current food prices.

"Master, do you want me to find a way to help you hoist these grains to the top of the mountain?"

Ahu thought Ergouzi was worried about how to transport the grain, so he asked thoughtfully.

"No."

"It's too troublesome to move it up and down. I'll store it here with you for now. I'll just hire some craftsmen to build a big warehouse at the foot of the mountain."

Ergouzi thought that it would be too troublesome to carry bags of food up the mountain, and he couldn't just put the food in the gourd in front of people.

Now that I have food and land, I might as well build a big house at the foot of the mountain, which can be used for temporary residence and storage of items.

"Ahu, it's slack time for farming now. Please help me hire a craftsman to build a house. The labor will come from these 100 shi of rice."

"Okay, no problem."

Ahu agreed wholeheartedly, which was the trust his boss placed in him.

Then, Ahu's wife brought over a basket of eggs, and the four-year-old son brought over a hen to give to Ergouzi.

Ergouzi only accepted the basket of eggs.

"You can keep this chicken to lay eggs, and you can also subsidize your family's income. Don't worry, the 50 acres of land will be rented to you next year. The land rent will still be only 50%, and there will be no rent increase."

After getting the boss's promise, Ahu and his family breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Youliang has raised the land rent to 60%, and the tenants in the village can only swallow their anger.

I heard that some tenants are already planning on renting the 50 acres of land from Ergouzi.

Ergouzi left Ahu's house carrying a basket of eggs, and happened to meet little Ezi playing in the village.

"Brother Gouzi."

"Xiao'ezi."

Xiao'ezi is six years younger than Ergouzi, and is now 10 years old. He has grown a lot taller in the past two years.

Er Gouzi lives in the mountains and often meets him only once every few months. The two feel more cordial every time they meet.

"Xiao'ezi, let's find a place to bake eggs and eat them."

Er Gouzi looked at the eggs in the bamboo basket and suddenly thought of an idea.

"OK!"

Now that it was autumn and winter, the two gathered some hay branches and lit a fire under a field stem.

Get some wet mud, put a thick layer of mud on the surface of the egg, then put it next to the fire and simmer over low heat.

"It's done. It should be done. Take it out quickly."

"Bang……"

Ergouzi's hands and feet were a little slow, and an egg exploded in the fire, with the yolk flying everywhere.

The two of them hurriedly picked up the egg yolk from the ground and stuffed it into their mouths.

Ergouzi knocked out some cracks in the remaining egg shells and roasted them slowly over low heat so that they would not explode.

"It smells so good!"

Little Ezi ate three roasted eggs in a row.

"Brother Gouzi, you are so good at baking eggs. Have you often baked them before?"

Xiao'ezi was a little curious. In the past, only two brothers in their family could occasionally eat eggs.

"There were no eggs before, there were bird eggs in the mountains."

When Er Gouzi was chopping firewood in the mountains, he would occasionally pick up bird eggs, which he would roast and eat.

"I'm telling you, there have been times when I've roasted bird eggs and peeled them off, and there's a little bird that's formed and has feathers on it."

"Ah? Do you dare to eat like this?"

Xiao'ezi felt a little bit unable to speak after thinking about it.

"What's wrong with this? It's all meat. I won't even have half of my hair left."

When Er Gouzi said this, he even deliberately stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, as if he had endless aftertaste.

He remembered that most of the birds had no feathers, but in order to scare Xiao Ezi, he deliberately made them more disgusting.

"Do you know why the pigs you raised in the past never grew strong?"

"Why?"

"Because I stole all the delicious food."

Er Gouzi's expression was even a little proud.

"Hahaha……"

"I remembered that my mother had a quarrel with the piglet seller, saying that she was selling sick piglets that were not strong enough to my family."

"Hahaha……"

The two of them sat in front of the fire, laughing and chatting, roasting and eating, and played like this for a long time.

Before leaving, Er Gouzi gave Xiao Ezi a large bag of dried red dates. The red dates were sweet and perfect for children to eat as snacks.

"You have to hide these red dates and eat them. Don't let anyone know about it, not even your parents and your two brothers. Don't let them eat it."

"Yeah, okay."

Xiao'ezi nodded obediently, seemed to remember something again, and gave instructions.

"By the way, Brother Gouzi, remember to hide all your money when you go out. Don't leave it on the mountain. What if a thief steals it away?"

"Don't worry, no one can climb up to my Shekou Mountain."

The two talked for a while before going back to their respective homes.

In Ergouzi's heart, he only has one relative and one friend.

Others who are relatives and brothers are all fake.

…………

On this day, Er Gouzi walked into the county town carrying a large sack.

There was a long line of farmers at the gate of the city, carrying things on their shoulders and pushing wheelbarrows. They all came to the county government to pay taxes.

But paying taxes has nothing to do with Ergouzi for the time being.

The first thing I did when I arrived at the county seat was of course to go to Huichun Hall and sell some Dali Pills to Sima Yi, who asked to exchange them for Peiyuan Guben Pills.

Sometimes he was a little curious, where did Sima Yi sell so many Dali Pills?

And where did he buy so many Peiyuan Guben Pills?

But Sima Yi never said anything, and he never asked.

Just like Sima Yi never asked where his Dali Pill came from.

After completing the transaction, Ergouzi took out another bag from the sack and wrapped it several times in dried lotus leaves.

"Thanks for your help during the last exam. We country people didn't have much to offer."

"I can only give you some souvenirs."

When Sima Yi took it in his hand, he felt it was a hard, stone-like piece. It was definitely not ginseng.

"It's the cured goose I pickled. It tastes pretty good. I'll give it to you to try."

Er Gouzi seemed to have guessed Sima Yi's doubts and explained.

"With a little effort, Brother Zhang is so polite!"

Sima Yi put away the wax goose, thinking that this brother is really a real person. He had already given ginseng as a gift last time, and this time he would also give a goose.

"By the way, you are going to report to the Zhengwu Hall this time. I happen to have something to do, so I can take you there by the way."

"Thank you very much."

Sima Yi carried the wax goose behind him and led Er Gouzi all the way into the Zhengwu Hall.

Ergouzi has heard the name of Zhengwu Hall since he was a child and has longed for it. Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance. It was only today that he walked through the door for the first time.

Zhengwu Hall covers an area of ​​several acres and has dozens of buildings surrounding the central school grounds.

At this moment, a group of apprentices are sweating profusely in the school grounds.

Many of them look familiar. They should be the young masters who took the exam together. They failed and can only continue studying here.

"The Master Zuo of the Zhengwu Hall is a mid-level master of Qi training. He has won the martial arts examination. He is an aide to the county magistrate and rarely sees anyone."

The two of them were talking while walking. When Sima Yi talked about Hall Master Zuo, a slight disgust flashed across his face.

"You must know that in the entire Anchang County, there are no more than ten people with martial arts achievements.

Every martial artist has a high status and can hold important positions in the military. Even if he is idle at home, he can still receive a salary and be exempted from all taxes. "

"However, the world is currently at peace. There are only a few dozen soldiers in the entire Anchang County army. Every position is already crowded with related households. There are more officials than soldiers."

Ergouzi heard this and thought that he was lucky that he did not go to the army.

There are only a few dozen soldiers in the army, and there are many mountains in it. A newcomer like him can only be called around by others, and it is better to be happy farming in the mountains.

While the two were talking, they had already reached the door of a house.

At first glance, this room is taller and more refined than other houses, so it must be a more important place.

Ergouzi was still hesitant to rush in, but Sima Yi raised his feet and walked in casually.

"Fourth brother! Fourth brother!"

Following Sima Yi's shouting, a big man with a square face and full beard walked out, somewhat similar to the county captain.

"Hey! Xiao Shisi, come if you come, and you even brought me some food and drinks!"

The square-faced man was laughing and joking, and was about to reach out to pick up the wax goose on Sima Yi's back, but Sima Yi slapped it away with one hand.

It seems that the two of them are very familiar with each other and often joke around.

"Brother Zhang gave this to me."

Only then did the square-faced man notice Ergouzi behind Sima Yi. He stopped laughing and looked much more serious.

"Is this the new martial arts scholar Zhang Ergou this year?"

"That's right!"

When Er Gouzi saw the other party bowing his hands in a salute, he quickly followed suit and did the same.

"Fourth brother, Brother Zhang is a friend of mine and was recommended by his uncle to teach here. Please take care of him for me."

"friend?"

Hearing this, Sima Hong looked at Er Gouzi curiously, as if he felt very strange.

"A person like you actually has friends?"

Sima Yi ignored it and continued to introduce:

"Brother Zhang, this is the fourth brother of our clan. His name is Sima Hong. He is the deputy hall master here. If you have any problems in the future, you can contact him."

Sima Yi introduced the two to each other and left.

Deputy Hall Master Sima led Er Gouzi to complete the process of joining the Zhengwu Hall, and also used his power to allocate him a small house with a single door.

Ergouzi's current identity is a nominal teacher at Zhengwu Hall. He currently has no teaching duties and his annual salary is only one kilometer.

If he brings some disciples in the future, his income can be increased. If his disciples are admitted as martial arts scholars, there will be a lot of extra income.

Ergouzi has no interest in teaching students. If he has the energy, he might as well plant a few acres of land.

What he values ​​most is that Zhengwutang has a lot of martial arts materials, which he can check for free as a teacher.

Moreover, you can also communicate and learn with other warriors, so that you won't be stuck behind closed doors or get stuck in a corner.

"This is your waistband. With this waistband, you can borrow books and receive your salary. If you have any questions in the future, you can come to me."

After Deputy Hall Master Sima left, Er Gouzi looked around the house he was assigned.

There were bedrooms, a living room, a practice room, and a kitchen, so he could live here for a long time.

However, Er Gouzi still missed the crops in Shekou Mountain and only planned to stay here occasionally.

Anyway, he was just a nominal instructor now, only receiving a salary without having to work. Although it was not much, he was very satisfied.

That day, he went to the library of Zhengwu Hall.

There was an instructor stationed here for a long time. After Er Gouzi showed his badge, he entered the library smoothly.

The library was not big, only two or three feet square, with about a few hundred books.

This was the most books Er Gouzi had ever seen in his life.

Since ancient times, books have been very precious, paper is expensive, ink is expensive, and manual copying costs are also expensive.

Most of the books on the bookshelf are thread-bound paper books, and a few are made of animal skins.

He took out a book at random, and the cover said "Geographical Atlas of the Great Zhou Dynasty", which turned out to be a geography book.

After flipping through it, Er Gouzi was already attracted by the content.

Before he became Li Banxian's apprentice, he only had eyes for Sanchazi Town and had never been to the county town.

After becoming Li Banxian's apprentice, he knew that Anchang County was just a small and insignificant county in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but he still didn't know much about it.

Now through this book, he knew that the Great Zhou Dynasty had 9 continents, 36 prefectures, 186 counties, and thousands of counties under its jurisdiction.

To the east of the Great Zhou Dynasty was an endless ocean, and it was unknown how wide it was. There were countless monsters in the sea.

To the west was a Taoshan country, and most of the people in the country were evil ghosts and zombies.

To the north was a giant country, whose people were ten feet tall, rough and violent, aggressive, fearless of life and death, and liked to eat human brains raw.

To the south was the Wan Yao country, a demon country composed of various monsters.

Five thousand years ago, the Great Zhou Shengzu pacified the world, flattened the four directions, and protected the people of the world from the invasion of monsters, and enjoyed thousands of years of peace.

Anchang County is located in Sanyang County, Qingzhou, in the southwest corner of the dynasty, and its borders are adjacent to the Wan Yao Kingdom and Taoshan Kingdom.

Er Gouzi closed the book, and the monsters were very close to him. Fortunately, there had been peace for thousands of years.

Then he picked up a few books and browsed them casually. Most of them were martial arts.

Such as "Thirty-six Forms of Fu Hu Quan", "Thirteen Sticks of Subduing Dragon", "Five Knives of Kaishan", "Five Whips", "Thirteen Knives of Chasing Souls and Taking Life"...

However, he could see it after a casual browse. Compared with the martial arts taught by Li Banxian, the martial arts here are much easier to understand and the requirements are not so high.

With his current physical condition, he should be able to practice these martial arts quickly without difficulty.

In addition to martial arts, there are also various experiences and encyclopedic craftsmanship knowledge, such as farming, water conservancy, military strategies, smelting and ironmaking, etc.

These are skills that are not easily passed on in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Most of them are passed on by word of mouth and only passed on to close people.

Er Gouzi didn't expect that these precious contents had been compiled into books long ago, and he could learn them without paying any price.

Especially in terms of military strategy, this is also a required subject if he wants to take the military examination in the future.

A military scholar can only be a thug, and it is enough to know a few words.

The military examination is different. Whether in the army or in the local counties, they are important figures. In addition to martial arts, they still have to have some knowledge and can't be too stupid.

Er Gouzi stood in front of the bookshelf and read it fascinatedly. Unconsciously, he had finished reading a book of agricultural classics. Only then did he know that there are so many details in farming.

Putting down the book in his hand, he casually took out another one, and the cover read "Da Zhou Xian Dao Essays".

Er Gouzi was immediately attracted by the title of the book.

I have heard that there are immortals in the world since I was a child, but among the people I have come into contact with since I grew up, only my master is the closest to immortals, but he is also a half-immortal.

There are also county magistrates, county lieutenants, and historians. They are said to be very powerful immortals.

And the yellow talisman paper of Daoxuan Sect should also be made by immortal cultivators.

The immortal knowledge he received was all fragmentary, pieced together, and he never really understood it systematically.

He opened the book and read it with great fascination. It was not until he finished reading the book that he realized that it was already dark outside.