In March of the twelfth year of Jiajing's reign in the Ming Dynasty, Sichuan's official envoy Si Long'an prefecture was in Shiquan County.
In Zhaozhuang, one hundred and twenty miles away in the east of the county, the sun was setting in the west. Zhao Ran was holding a hoe in both hands, looking at the fields under the ridges, with sweat on his forehead.
If it were a normal time travel, then Zhao Ran might hold his hands and laugh, congratulating himself on winning the big prize. Being able to play the game of golden fingers to get ahead, or even change dynasties, is what every time traveler dreams about.
desire.
But unfortunately, Zhao Ran could only wrap his coarse linen clothes around his waist, step on tattered straw sandals, and work hard in the fields bare-chested. The Ming Dynasty was based on agriculture, and as a farmer, you must abide by your duties.
It is Zhao Ran's fate to work hard at the bottom of society and contribute to the foundation of the country. But how can Zhao Ran, as a time traveler, accept such a fate willingly?
The body that Zhao Ran traveled through belonged to Zhao Sanlang. What surprised Zhao Ran was that the two of them actually had the same name and surname. This made him wonder for a while, was having the same name and surname also one of the necessary conditions for time travel?
Before last year, Zhao Sanlang's life was still very prosperous. His parents lived frugally and provided for Sanlang to study in a private school in a neighboring village. Sanlang lived up to his parents' kindness and studied extremely well. But he had great hope of passing the Tongsheng Examination.
Sanlang was time-traveled by Zhao Ran.
The time-traveled Zhao Sanlang, or the time-traveled Zhao Ran, deteriorated in his studies. The reason is simple. Zhao Sanlang not only left Zhao Ran a body, but also gave away all the memories in his mind.
The dynasty was still called the Ming Dynasty, but it was not the Ming Dynasty as Zhao Ran knew it, because there were Xia and Tubo to the west.
The reign name is still Jiajing, but the emperor is not Zhu Houcong.
The government still governs the people, but it no longer has absolute authority.
Even Shiquan County, Chengxuan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, where it is located, is not sure whether it is the number one sericulture county in the west between the Qinling Mountains and Bashan Mountains.
Because there is a Taoist door in this world!
Zhao Ran probably knew that the Taoist sect was the foundation and pillar of the dynasty and the driving force behind the government's governance of the world. The reason why I say "probably" is because with Zhao Sanlang's qualifications, Zhao Ran was unable to understand the deeper "shady story".
Zhao Ran vaguely knew that there seemed to be true immortals in the Taoist sect. The soaring clouds and flying swords in the previous life novels were not just legends. However, Zhao Ran had not seen it with his own eyes, but people said so - from this perspective, these things
It is still a legend, but it is more reliable than its previous life.
However, Zhao Ran did see with his own eyes the way the county magistrate, the county officials, and the gentry and celebrities groveled in front of the Taoist priests. That scene left a very deep impression on him.
So Zhao Ran no longer wanted to go to school.
It is of course the first choice to visit famous teachers and seek immortality. For a time traveler, this desire is so strong that no explanation is needed, but the chance of cultivating immortality is too slim for him.
Turning to the next best thing, even if you can't learn the immortal way, if you want to gain a foothold in this world, joining a Taoist sect is obviously more promising than joining the government. For Zhao Ranlai, who worked in the government department for more than ten years in his previous life and is already a full-time division-level cadre
Said, this choice is logical and requires no thinking.
At the end of last year, both Zhao Sanlang's parents passed away due to illness, and the responsibility of filial piety inevitably fell on Zhao Ran, who had occupied Sanlang's body and memory. Because of Ding You, Zhao Ran could no longer study in a private school, so he could only live an honest life.
Shi Shi went home to observe his filial piety. His husband told him not to neglect his studies, but Zhao Ran obviously didn't take it to heart.
The incident that made Zhao Ran give up his studies completely was a grand ritual. The patriarch did not survive the age of seventy and passed away at the turn of the year. The fourth uncle who succeeded the patriarch invited several Taoist priests from Qinghe Temple to do a full
Zhao Ran, who went to his fourth uncle's house to help, listened to the instructions in the accounting room because he was literate and could count. He heard and saw more than ten baskets of fruits and vegetables, dozens of buckets of rice, seven live chickens and three sheep being brought to Qinghe Temple.
, Zhao Ran couldn't sleep well for several nights in a row.
Zhao Ran knew that the patriarch's family was very wealthy, but he didn't know how wealthy it was until he saw it with his own eyes. You know, Zhao Ran had not eaten a piece of meat for more than half a year after traveling through time!
I heard that the patriarch was a Taoist layman who was a pyrotechnic, and his huge fortune was saved in the Taoist temple. After leaving the mountain gate, he was elected as the patriarch of the clan as soon as he returned to Zhaozhuang, and he took over within two years.
Of course, Zhao Sanlang doesn’t know what the layman Huo Gong does based on his memory, but Zhao Ran is a time-travelling person, and he understands without thinking that this status is probably a handyman in the Taoist sect. Even a handyman can do it.
Being able to get along so well shows how powerful the Taoist sect is.
When the Shiguan Jiajing Tongbao was loaded into the car and pulled out of Zhaozhuang, Zhao Ran finally gave up the idea of studying. He focused on thinking about how to squeeze into the Taoist gate.
It is a pity that the family is very poor and has no money. If Zhao Ran were to live twenty miles away from home, he would definitely be hungry. If it were not for the help of his neighbor Uncle Zhao, Zhao Ran would not be able to survive this winter. Even the three acres of thin farmland passed down from his ancestors would not be able to survive.
It's not a good job. In the foreseeable next half year, Zhao Ran will have to rely on Uncle Zhao to survive.
From another perspective, even if Zhao Ran still wanted to study hard and start a career, his family's situation would definitely not allow it.
Therefore, Zhao Ran's footsteps cannot be separated from Zhao Zhuang, and it is just a wishful thinking to seek a way to join the Taoist sect. Even getting some information is difficult. The villagers in the village are all poor people who have never seen the world, and Zhao Sanlang is not as knowledgeable as the dead ghost.
Zhao Ran also considered borrowing some money from the new clan leader in the name of his career so that he could "visit famous mountains". However, although the fourth uncle had the title of "uncle", he obviously did not have the status of a "relative"
Self-consciously. The fourth uncle agreed to lend Zhao Ran ten guan of copper coins or twelve taels of silver, but he had to use Zhao Ran's ancestral three acres of land as pledge. To put it bluntly, the fourth uncle did not think that Zhao Ran could afford to repay the money.
Zhao Ran himself felt that he could not afford to repay it, so this loan was actually equivalent to selling the land.
Even if Zhao Ran is a time traveler, he must carefully consider the matter of selling off his wealth. The money that his fourth uncle agreed to lend can sustain Zhao Ran's livelihood for a period of time. If he just sits at home and has nothing to do, it can last for more than a year. If he goes out,
If he travels, he will have to consume it in half a year at most. This means that if Zhao Ran trades his life for half a year and cannot find an opportunity within half a year, Zhao Ran will most likely starve to death and become a miserable failure of time travel.
So Zhao Ran has been thinking about the pros and cons for more than a month, and he still hasn't made up his mind.
But since Zhao Ran revealed his idea of borrowing money to his fourth uncle, the situation gradually got out of his control. The water in the canal for watering the fields was often cut off by his fourth uncle, so Zhao Ran had to work hard to fetch water from the stream for irrigation;
The cattle and lambs of the fourth uncle's family often "lost" into Zhao Ran's fields and ate seedlings leisurely. Uncle Zhao's family, who helped him, were also threatened, and occasionally received the same treatment as Zhao Ran.
Zhao Ran was very angry, but deeply helpless. Not to mention the authority of the patriarch in the patriarchal society, Zhao Ran and Uncle Zhao could not afford to offend just a few strong children and servants of the fourth uncle's family, let alone
The three-person family in Zhaozhuang are all tenants of the fourth uncle. When Zhao Ran got angry every time, every time he picked up the only broken kitchen knife in the house, he would think about it for a long time and then put it down with a sigh. Sixteen years of school education in the previous life
Twelve years of experience as a civil servant have given Zhao Ran a natural habit of carefully considering the consequences before doing anything. Unless absolutely necessary, he will never make an overreaction of drawing a sword and causing blood to flow everywhere.
It just implicated Uncle Zhao, which made Zhao Ran feel very guilty.
After finishing a day's work, Zhao Ran returned to his humble earthen house and put up wooden windows. The afterglow of the setting sun penetrated into the room, bringing some light to the dark room. Zhao Ran filled a bowl with this light.
I cooked the porridge yesterday. I found two sweet potatoes in the ashes. After thinking about it, I put another one back.
By the time he finished eating, the room was already dark. Zhao Ran lay down on the bed, and the broken wooden boards creaked several times. He put his hands behind his head and looked at the night sky quietly through the wooden window.
A crescent moon hung on the branches of the old apricot tree in the courtyard at some point, and the stars in the sky made the dark mountains in the distance look more profound. Occasionally, unknown mountain birds made crisp calls, accompanied by sporadic frogs.
, what a pastoral scene.
If it weren't for the bursts of hunger that came from his belly, Zhao Ran might have had some acid at this time and silently recited a few pastoral verses from Master Tao. But this hunger really made people feel powerless, and Zhao Ran had no thoughts at all.
Think about art. All he thinks about is one question: Should he borrow this money or not?
If you borrow it, can you find a chance to enter a Taoist sect? There are Taoist temples all over the world, but it is extremely difficult to become a Taoist priest. If the Taoist sect insists on not accepting you - this possibility is 90%, or it should be said that it is 90%
Nine, what should I do? How can I sneak into the Taoist sect? Even though I am a time traveler, the "ancient people" of this world are not fools. Why can't I find a way to do it myself when most people can't take this path?
In the past? Will you use the knowledge before traveling? Will you be considered an evil spirit and be suppressed by the Taoist sect?
If he didn't borrow it, how could he survive the pressure of the clan leader? The key is how to make up for the expenses? Zhao Ran had never seen pie in the sky, and he didn't believe that such a good thing would happen. Life experience told him,
Only by taking action can you see opportunities - even if this action is like a headless fly.
Zhao Ran is not a native, and his desire for land is not as strong as that of farmers who have been farming for generations. Frankly speaking, he would never be willing to be a farmer who truly works on the land. He is also thinking about whether to simply sell it.
Land property, just make a living by selling goods, looking for opportunities in the process of doing business, this is also a way out. But in this way, his identity becomes a merchant, this world is also despicable merchants, Zhao Ran wants to join the Taoist sect
Not only because of his status as a layman of fire engineering, but also because of his background as a merchant, will his background as a merchant hinder his development within the Taoist sect? Zhao Ran thinks it is most likely.
After thinking about it, he couldn't help but smile to himself. He didn't even touch the threshold of the door, and he was just imagining the future development. Isn't it a bit unrealistic?
In any case, Zhao Ran finally decided to sell the land directly to his fourth uncle. In this case, the asking price could be higher. As for the issue of livelihood, he no longer wanted to think about it. Even if he starved to death, he could not sit still and be trapped in Zhao.
village!
Behind this decision, it must be said that there is a certain amount of luck involved - Zhao Ran feels that since he is a time traveler, he should enjoy a certain degree of protagonist aura. If he really starves to death on the middle path, then...
Zhao Ran couldn't help but ask: Author, do you plan to end this book with just one chapter?