"The Xiang army has retreated, we can go home now."
Ying Bao told the story of Zhou Fu defeating the Xiao brothers, and finally said: "Now that Cao Shen is dead, his two captains have defected to the Xiao family and are probably not in the county. I will go to the county in a while and clean up my house."
"Okay, I'll take your mother with me then." After Jiang Sanlang finished speaking, he went to ask his parents and eldest brother to pack up and go back to the village.
Jiang Sanlang's family had simple things, only some daily necessities and food. The rest of his food and valuables were kept with his daughter.
As the villagers returned to the village one after another, everyone became busy.
The wheat stalks in the fields need to be harvested, the land needs to be turned over, and the wheat needs to be threshed and dried.
Then it's time to plant rice seedlings and hoe beans.
At this moment, someone from the county government suddenly came and asked Jiang Sanlang to go to the county town, saying that the new county magistrate wanted to summon him.
The yamen runner also joked: "Jiang Cunzheng, don't be nervous. This is a good thing. You will know when you get there. It is inconvenient for me to explain it clearly."
Jiang Sanlang was confused and had to go to the county town with the yamen runners.
Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang were worried and insisted on going with their third brother. Chen Zhu and a few others also said they wanted to go to the county town to buy some things, so it was a good opportunity for them to go together.
Yingbao was not worried because the book in her mind suddenly had new content. It said that her father would get a position, and it was an official position of a certain rank.
Sure enough, when Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang came back, they told everyone the good news that Jiang Sanlang was appointed as the ninth-rank county lieutenant by the emperor of the new Zhou Dynasty and would stay in the county to guard the city.
Moreover, Jiang Sanlang also chose Chen Zhu as his subordinate, and the county magistrate also agreed. Now Chen Zhu is the head of the county guard.
"Is that so?" Patriarch Chen was overjoyed, rubbing his hands and saying, "Finally, our Chen family has produced someone who eats the public rations, hehe!"
Tang was even happier, clapping his hands and saying, "Oh, it's really God's blessing, our Zhuer has finally made it."
He turned around and handed a bunch of money to his daughter-in-law Shao: "Go to the market and get a pot of wine. We will celebrate tonight."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Shao smiled and took her little girl to the market outside the village to buy wine.
Chief Chen stroked his beard and said to himself, "Sanlang has gone to the county seat to be the county lieutenant. Who will be the village chief of our village?"
Tang rolled her eyes at him and said, "Of course it's Jiang Dalang. The most respected family in our village must be the Jiang family."
Chief Chen nodded and said, "Yes, yes! I will go and discuss with them and let Jiang Dalang take over the affairs of the village."
After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and went to find a few village elders, and walked towards the Jiang family together.
When Jiang Dalang heard the intention of Chief Chen, he was a little embarrassed and said awkwardly: "I, I can't do it."
"Why not?" An old villager glared and said, "Are you trying to hinder your third brother?"
Jiang Dalang: ...
Patriarch Chen stroked his beard and said, "The position of village chief of our village must belong to you. Don't refuse. There are so many families waiting to build their houses outside. We can't delay any longer."
"Yes, Dalang, you must not miss the farming work." Chen Sanyou also said: "We chose you because you are familiar with Sanlang's affairs. If it were someone else, they might not be able to be as thorough as you are."
Uncle Jiang thought about it and nodded: "Okay."
So, Jiang Dalang took over his younger brother Jiang Sanlang's job and served as the village chief of Dongchen Village.
A few months later, the Zhou Dynasty not only put down King Cheng's rebellion, but also recovered all the lost cities. It then conquered three large states, further expanding its territory.
Today, Daqian's territory consists of only four states, all of which are extremely barren and have little arable land.
The soldiers of Daqian could not even get enough food to eat, so how could they continue to work for the imperial court? They fled and came to the territory of the Zhou Dynasty, because many of their hometowns were there.
Those merchants and aristocratic families also fled and took refuge in the Great Zhou.
Among them is the Wen family.
Wen Jingyan brought his family into Jiankang City. Relying on his superb medical skills, he became the imperial physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
In the fourth year of Kaiyuan in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Emperor of the Great Zhou led his troops in person and captured the remaining three states in one fell swoop. He brought the Emperor of Daqian, Murong Xian, back to the capital, named him Marquis of Changshou, and kept him in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace with fine clothes and delicious food.
Xiao Chengjun was also brought back and lived in the Earl's Mansion with his brother Xiao Mo.
Their father suffered a stroke and became a little paralyzed on one side, but fortunately his life was not in danger and he was made an earl by the Emperor of the Great Zhou. He lived under the Emperor's nose and, like his son, was not allowed to leave the capital without necessary matters.
Now Yingbao is sixteen years old, a grown-up girl, and has moved to the county town with her mother.
Jiang Sanlang worked as a lieutenant in the county government. He was very busy and needed someone to take care of his daily life.
So Chunniang took her daughter to live in the two-courtyard house next to the shop.
It just so happened that the girl had grown up and it was not appropriate for her to show up in public often, so Chunniang bought two maids and hired a woman to do odd jobs and a coachman.
The two little girls were not very old, about eleven or twelve years old, and came from poor families.
Yingbao named them Muxiang and Xinghua respectively.
Muxiang is a little more stable, while Xinghua is more lively. They were sold by their parents when they were nine years old, and later sold to Qinchuan County, where they happened to meet Chunniang and her daughter going to the pawnshop to visit a person.
Chunniang saw that the two girls looked so thin, so she bought them all.
"My lady, the postman has delivered a letter." Xinghua lifted her skirt and ran quickly into Yingbao's boudoir, handing the package in her arms to the young master.
Yingbao took the package and unstitched the stitches with a pair of scissors.
Inside the package was a letter, some beautiful silk cloth, and a box of pearl flowers.
This was sent by his younger brother Jiang Jie, who said in the letter that he would be taking part in the imperial examination this year and asked his parents and sister to go to the capital to accompany him.
Yingbao smiled and immediately took the letter to find A Niang.
She hasn't seen her two younger brothers for several years, especially Jiang Jie, who has never returned home since he followed Mr. Wu to Jiankang.
Jiang Jie once sent a letter back saying that the emperor had kept him in the Imperial Academy to study and he was not allowed to return home until he passed the imperial examination.
He also said that Mr. Wu was already working in the capital and could not come back.
Now that the country is unified, the Emperor of the Great Zhou once again opened a special imperial examination to recruit talents. Regardless of their birth, as long as they are talented and ambitious, the emperor will personally examine them. If they have no bad records and good moral character, they will be given corresponding positions.
"Mother, Xiaojie sent me a package and a letter." Yingbao read the letter to Chunniang and asked at the end: "Should we go to the capital?"
Chunniang took the letter and looked at it carefully, but unfortunately she didn't recognize any of it.
He sighed and said, "Let's wait for your father to come back and ask him if he wants to go."
Ever since her husband became a county lieutenant, he has been leaving home early and coming back late every day. Sometimes he goes out of the city for inspection and doesn't come back for a day or two.
Yingbao: "Dad definitely can't go, so we can go together then."
Dad is very busy and often doesn't come home. Besides, he is now a military officer of high rank. It is impossible for him to just give up his post and go to the capital. If he is demoted by his superiors, it will be a disgrace to my brother.