Jinting Han people

Chapter 148 Young Man from Pingyang (4k)

When winter comes, the cold wind blowing from the Yellow River pierces the skin like a knife.

This is because the river no longer flows. The once roaring waves have now turned into a huge glacier. At a glance, the ice is as hard and thick as stone, gleaming with a seemingly indestructible light. People have also spread some straw on the former ferry crossing and compacted it with stones to create a smooth path for people on both sides of the glacier to pass.

But precisely because of this, the wind was filled with the scent of icy shards. While the roar of the river had vanished, the wind on the ice was even more violent. Furthermore, a heavy snow had fallen a few days earlier, blanketing the sky and earth with white velvet. Walking through it felt as if even one's soul was being carried away by it, leaving one shivering all over.

But even so, there are still many people walking on the ice to cross the river. They walk slowly on the ice at the ferry, just like ants crawling.

Among them were four young men who wore bearskin coats, dog-skin hoods, longbows on their backs, two ring-handled swords on the left side of their waists, and quivers on the right, looking quite martial.

Such attire was not uncommon in the martial-minded Guanzhong region, but these young men stood out. The reasons were simple: first, they wore badges around their waists, signifying county officials; and second, their leader was a burly figure, carrying on his back a pale, middle-aged man with a sash around his waist.

They walked on the glacier for a quarter of an hour against the strong wind and finally found their way to the river. Then they saw a simple wooden shed by the river. Several county officials were sitting inside, warming themselves by the fire and chatting with the people who had crossed the river.

A famous county official quickly noticed these young people, as well as their waist badges and seals. After exchanging a few words with his companions, he immediately stepped forward to greet them, saying, "I am Feng Guang, the Xiayang guard. May I ask who you are..."

The young man carrying the middle-aged man replied, "I am Li Ju, the messenger of Pingyang County. The people traveling with me are all my subordinates. The one on my back is my county lord, Zhang Yu, the magistrate of Pingyang."

"Oh! So you're a friend from Pingyang. What brings you to Xiayang?"

"Our county lord was originally going to Chang'an to report on his work, but the weather has been extremely cold lately, and he's been traveling so fast that he's caught a cold. It's inconvenient for him to return right now. Is there any medical care in Xiayang? We'll rest here for a few days, and once the county lord's condition improves, we'll set off again."

"I see! We have an oxcart here. You can let County Lord Zhang lie down in it while we go to the county government office to rest. Our county magistrate went to the Western Expeditionary Army a few days ago to invite a famous doctor who specializes in treating the poor. When you get to the county government office, you can go directly to the county magistrate with the seal and ask the doctor to take a look."

Feng Guang's kindness helped Li Ju solve a big problem. He thanked him repeatedly and gave him his dagger as a thank you gift. Feng Guang could not refuse and finally accepted it. At the same time, he showed them the way to the county town.

After Li Ju got the oxcart, he quickly carried the unconscious Zhang Yu inside and was pleasantly surprised to find a cold quilt inside. After covering the county lady with it, they breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious that this unexpected cold had brought many uncertainties to their journey.

Following the route indicated by Feng Guang, Li Ju drove the ox cart, and the remaining three followed beside him. Only then did they have time to look around and chat.

"It's really sad to see the county lady look so haggard."

"Yes, I advised the county lord the day before yesterday that there was no need to rush on the journey. What if he stayed in Fenyin for a few days? But he refused to listen and ended up hurting himself."

"Ah, that's understandable. The new envoy is so unjust that he actually went so far as to ask for a bribe directly from the county lord. Who could tolerate that? If he had reported to King Liang earlier, he would have had fewer worries."

"But this isn't uncommon. It's said that after the Queen came to power, all the county governors in the country changed, and many of them were just like this..."

Li Ju couldn't help but feel a little displeased when he heard this. He snorted softly and warned his companions, "This kind of talk is fine if it's said in private, but now we're on the street, don't you know how to be mindful of the impact?"

His words instantly silenced his three companions. However, in this situation, if they remained silent, they would clearly be feeling a bit bored. So, after a while, they changed the subject and began to point fingers at Xiayang County.

"This county is so run-down! I've been walking for so long and haven't seen many houses. It's far worse than our Pingyang."

"You're not talking nonsense. Pingyang is the seat of Pingyang Commandery. There are tens of thousands of households in the county, making it one of the largest counties in the world. Among all the cities in Guanzhong, only Chang'an can compare with us."

"But what's going on? There are a lot of people walking with their families on the road here."

As they said, on the way to Xiayang County, you could occasionally see pedestrians pulling oxen or carts, some with children in their arms. Judging by their clothing, most of them were ordinary farmers, braving the cold wind as they walked along the road. Many wore even less than they did, yet even though they were shivering, they were still heading towards Xiayang County.

This wasn't a winter scene, nor was it a market scene. At this time of year, farmers would either warm themselves by the fire at home or wander the streets and alleys of their neighborhoods, rather than wandering about. Even the nomadic Hu people, roaming the vast expanse of the Great Wall, would have found a sheltered spot and set up camp until next spring.

Just as they were puzzled, Li Ju, the driver, spoke again. He scolded them, "Can't you pay a little more attention to your work at the county government? We are a guesthouse. Didn't we just receive the county magistrate from Xiayang last month?"

"Is this happening?"

Everyone was a little confused. They were the messengers of Pingyang County, and their daily responsibilities were to greet and see off guests. So, this time, they were also responsible for escorting the county magistrate to Chang'an to report on his work. But when the words "Xiayang County Magistrate" were mentioned, they had no impression.

This was normal. For them, there were too many unknown counties and they didn't need to remember them all. But Li Ju still remembered them, which was a rare thing.

Li Ju slowly explained, "Horse bandits have been rampant in Xiayang for the past decade or so, and many people have been displaced and have fled to Hedong, Pingyang, Fufeng, and other places to become refugee tenant farmers. The current Xiayang magistrate has wiped out most of the bandits, so he has sent county magistrates to various counties to urge these refugees to return home."

"Last month, the county issued a notice stating that upon returning home, all Xiayang residents who could produce their land deeds would have their land returned according to the deeds. Those without land would also be given land and seeds, with men receiving five mu, women four mu, and children three mu. Those who received land would receive an additional 10% annual rent, returning to normal taxes after four years. Those willing to help the county raise horses could have their rent waived for one year in advance."

Li Ju was so familiar with the contents of the notice that his colleagues looked at each other in confusion. They laughed and said, "Shihui, you remember this too! You're really too serious!"

Li Ju glanced at the refugees around him and replied, "Everyday people talk about making great achievements, but with humble backgrounds like ours, how can we achieve anything without hard work? And great things in the world often begin to emerge from the details. As the saying goes, a single falling leaf signals the coming of autumn. If you don't understand this, you'll always be a petty official at the mercy of others."

He was young, perhaps only sixteen, but spoke with a mature air. His colleagues were amused by this, praising him repeatedly, "Yes, yes, it seems Pingyang is about to produce another Duke of Lu." But Li Ju's face darkened at this, as his colleagues were comparing him to Jia Chong and Jia Mi. While Pingyang's current prosperity was largely due to the influence of the Pingyang Jia family, this didn't stop the people of Pingyang from privately criticizing Jia Chong, Jia Nanfeng, and the others.

Although Li Ju longed for achievement, he also valued virtue. So upon hearing this, he angrily declared to his colleagues, "I would rather achieve nothing in my life than be such a disloyal and unfilial person! If anyone says this to me, I will fight him to the death!"

Having said this, he did not join in the conversation with his companions along the way, but concentrated on driving.

About a quarter of an hour later, they saw the city of Xiayang. Like Xue Xing at the beginning, they were all shocked by the dilapidated city walls and the chaotic market.

But what they didn't know was that more than two months ago, there was no market in Xiayang at all, and the market now was barely set up.

Essentially, they had found a sheltered, high slope east of Xiayang City, and built a few barely cold-weather huts to house the returning refugees. Li Ju looked over and saw only a few dozen huts, bustling with hundreds of people. County officials were also present to maintain order, some verifying the refugees' land deeds and household registrations, while others organized the distribution of free wheat porridge.

Meanwhile, some vendors had set up simple straw stalls opposite the huts, selling eggs, linen, dog hides, bacon, charcoal, etc. Not far from these stalls, against the city wall, some people were clearing rubble and marking out foundations, apparently intending to build some houses.

Li Ju quickly noticed something was amiss, as he couldn't find any county guards. Without them, the people would likely become chaotic, yet a fair degree of order was maintained. Why was that?

He was a clever man and quickly figured out the answer: when people have hope in life, they won't destroy it. Although these people were poor and shabby, they still had hope in life, and that was enough.

With this in mind, Li Ju once again looked at the people at the market, and indeed, he saw a spark of brilliance in their eyes. He couldn't help but savor this spark of brilliance, and with it, a hope emerged. However, unlike these people, he longed to be the one to bring about this spark of brilliance.

At this moment, Li Ju remembered that the current Xia Yangchang was said to be the son of the Anle Duke, and had once been a Zhuoran Second Rank official in Luoyang. This made him curious, wondering what kind of person could be worthy of the title. After all, Pingyang had not yet produced a single Zhuoran Second Rank official.

However, his curiosity was soon dashed. Upon arriving at the Xiayang County Office, he was very disappointed to learn that the County Magistrate, Liu Xian, was away on business, accompanied by the County Lieutenant, Zhang Gu, and that the County Office was currently in the charge of the County Magistrate, Xi An.

Xi'an was delighted to see Li Ju, as he still remembered the young host who had hosted him in Pingyang. Upon hearing that Zhang Yu had fallen ill and needed to recuperate in Xiayang, he immediately arranged for two rooms in the county government office: one for Zhang Yu to recuperate and one for four Pingyang county officials to share.

He then went to see Doctor Wang. Doctor Wang stayed for only a short while. After taking Zhang Yu's pulse, he said he had a common cold and that he would be cured with some Huangma powder and two or three days of rest.

Upon hearing this, the three colleagues breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that Xi'an had already sent someone to prepare the medicine, they all went to their rooms to rest. But Li Ju was still a little worried, so he stayed by Zhang Yu's side, rubbing his hands together and stoking the fire while he pulled out a scroll from his bosom and read by the firelight.

About half an hour later, the medicine was ready and brought over by a medicine boy. After Li Ju tested the temperature, he woke the county lord and fed him the whole thing, mouthful by mouthful. After feeding him the medicine, Li Ju waited for a while, and when he saw that the county lord was fine, he closed the door and left.

After returning the medicine jar, Li Ju did not go back to his room to rest immediately, because he saw an abandoned shooting range in the backyard of the county government office. This made him itchy, so he took out his bow and arrows and planned to practice shooting here.

This winter was truly cold. Standing at the shooting range, Li Ju's fingers and toes were practically frozen. He didn't dare fire rashly, instead practicing his draw. When his fingers stopped trembling in the wind, he finally settled two hundred paces in front of the target. He used the wooden ring on his thumb to tighten the bowstring and gently nocked the arrow.

Li Ju had practiced this posture thousands of times. After just one look, he raised his bow and released it. With a dull sound, the arrow hit the bull's eye.

"Good shooting skills!"

Before Li Ju could rejoice, he heard someone cheering behind him. He turned and saw that it was Xi An, the county magistrate. Xi An had just finished his official duties and was walking around the courtyard to relax. He happened to see Li Ju practicing archery and couldn't help but applaud his skills.

He walked over slowly and said to Li Ju with a smile, "It's rare for you to have such good archery skills at your age."

"Excuse me, County Magistrate." Li Ju put down his bow and arrows, smiling, noticing someone watching. "These are just some minor skills. As long as I have nothing else to do, I will shoot a hundred arrows every day."

"One hundred arrows? That's really impressive. I heard that an excellent archer can shoot fifty arrows in a row, which is considered an impressive feat."

Li Ju remained calm and composed in the face of his superior's praise. He replied, "If a soldier, receiving only a salary, could shoot fifty arrows, it would certainly be a great achievement."

The implication is that he is unwilling to consider himself a pawn.

"Oh?" Xi'an asked, "What is the one who shoots a hundred arrows?"

Li Ju replied, "The key is not how many arrows you shoot, but to never be satisfied. I have read history books and examined true great generals, and I have found that they spent their entire lives constantly shooting arrows."

"I will do the same in the future, shooting far more than a hundred arrows."

After saying this, Li Ju didn't look at Xi'an, but concentrated on shooting at the target until the twenty arrows he carried with him were used up. Then he picked up the arrows and shot again. He shot five times back and forth until steam rose from around his forehead.

Xi An looked at this selflessly absorbed young man, then at the target he always shot, and couldn't help but think: What a talented young man! He's just like Pi Ji. Perhaps he can solve Pi Ji's problem.

So he asked, "I wonder if Shihui dares to do something meritorious?"

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(End of this chapter)