In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

Zhao Jun has learned theoretical knowledge for many years, but in the early years of the Song Dynasty, he also understood that practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

Therefore, he did not object to Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others' arrangements for him.

Enter officialdom, enter officialdom, who is afraid of whom?

But what he saw and heard today made him feel that things might not be as simple as he imagined.

But it’s hard to say exactly where it’s not simple.

Maybe he should rationalize the situation he is facing now after coming to the Song Dynasty.

Late at night, there are still eighteen days until the provincial examination begins.

Zhao Jun was in his room, lying on the bed.

Holding a laptop in hand, a solar panel next to it that is fully charged during the day is connected to the computer.

He opened a document and recorded what he saw and heard today.

Then he opened another document, put his hands on the keyboard, and began to think about what he should do now.

"According to Lu Yijian and others, if I want to change the Song Dynasty, I should enter the officialdom."

"There's nothing wrong with that. There must be big problems in the officialdom. I don't know the specific situation inside. I can better understand the shortcomings by going in and taking a look."

"The problem is that as soon as they granted me the title of Jinshi, I didn't really want it. This would not be very smooth for me to enter the officialdom in the future, so they asked me to take the imperial examination, hoping to get a first or second grade Jinshi."

"Something's wrong. Why did they give me the same background as a Jinshi? My first reaction was that I didn't want it, and I wanted the number one scholar? Instead of just giving me the same background as a Jinshi? Why don't they let me be the regent? Do they want to enslave me? As a dog?"

"Wait a minute, this idea is wrong. Although I have traveled through time, I still have enough theoretical knowledge to start reforming as a regent. Isn't that just messing up? If you put me in Zhao Zhen's position, it would be really straightforward. I immediately started promoting the revolution, that’s what I call a brain disease.”

"So what they said seems to make sense. Yan Shu told me from the beginning that I should follow their rules first. First, do as the Romans do, and second, understand it first before making plans."

"The only problem is that I have to learn the Four Books and Five Classics like them. It's a complete waste of my time."

"But they are too principled on this issue, so they can only do this first."

"Just like the teachers first joined the Fruit Party to understand the internal situation of the Party, and then went deep into the people to understand the sufferings of the people, so that they could launch a revolution and create a peaceful and prosperous age for future generations."

"So only as I said before, "find problems, raise problems, analyze problems, solve problems, and summarize problems" can we find the shortcomings and then carry out reforms. This is correct."

"It seems that I am indeed going to go all the way, but the problem is that Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi also went this way. Didn't they fail to promote the revolution?"

"There must be something I don't understand. I still have to look at it first and then understand it."

Zhao Jun recorded all these words, his brows still furrowed.

Now he has actually just seen the huge gap between the rich and the poor in the Song Dynasty, and it is only the first day of looking at it. The glimpse of the leopard is just the tip of the iceberg.

It is unrealistic to make him realize a lot right away.

He must continue to understand more deeply and understand the problems of the people, the problems of the officialdom, and the problems of the military before he can carry out changes.

Thinking of this, he closed the document, opened his own information folder, found "Ma Zhe" and "Selected Works", and read them carefully again. As a history student, these are all formal courses and you must pass them all.

But at the moment he still urgently needs to review the past and learn the new, continue to consolidate the theory, and then guide practice from the theory.

In the following days, Zhao Jun went to the outer city every day to see the situation in the outer city. He found a small street and a small restaurant, and often went there to have breakfast. Although the taste was average, it was quieter than before. few people.

Zhao Jun became familiar with the boss after going there often. He was more generous with his actions, and the boss was willing to chat with him and talk to him when no one was around.

But at the beginning, the boss was still cautious.

Zhao Jun asked him who the people who often came to the store to collect money were, but the boss just smiled and said haha ​​and passed away.

Zhao Jun asked him again whether the officials in Kaifeng Mansion were in charge of affairs? Why do they often take money from passing merchants. The boss still didn't answer, but cheerfully said that all the officials are the great masters of Qingtian.

Later, Zhao Jun also understood something. After seven or eight days, about ten days before the provincial examination, the boss saw that there were really no customers today, so he agreed to drink with Zhao Jun.

At this moment, Zhao Jun was sitting at the table at the back of the shop, and Di Qing and the others were sitting at the table at the door, about eight or nine meters away from them. It started to rain in Bianliang that day, the water in the Bianhe River rose, and the streets spread out. There was a layer of water and there were almost no pedestrians.

That's why the boss was willing to drink with Zhao Jun.

The two drank for a while. After they were tipsy, Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Boss, who are those people?"

Although the boss was a little drunk, he was still not stupid, so he asked in a low voice: "Sir, you have been coming to my shop for a few days. The shop promises you to take care of me. I can see that your guest is not an ordinary person, but There are some things you’d better not ask about.”

"It's okay. In fact, I can guess it."

Zhao Jun smiled.

Just by looking, you can see clearly that these people should be the rogues of the Song Dynasty, referred to as the underworld, who collect protection fees from everywhere.

As for what those clerks and servants were doing, I can only say that I know what they are doing.

The boss said, "That's what the guest guessed."

"But I still want to know the inside story. Does Kaifeng Prefecture not care at all?"

Zhao Jun asked.

"Haha."

The boss sneered and didn't reply.

Zhao Jun understood.

He nodded, and then asked who those people were.

The boss hesitated for a moment, and finally told him.

The security in the inner city of Bianliang is good because it is right next to the emperor's feet and the palace, so the security there must be good.

The ruffians outside the city dare not set their sights on the heads of the dignitaries, after all, most of the industries in the inner city have these people behind them.

But the outer city is different.

Most of the people living in the outer city are ordinary people, so a lot of crimes have also bred.

There are many gangs here, and crimes are rampant. The officials of the yamen either participate in them or collude with them, forming many forces of all sizes.

Since there is no curfew in the Song Dynasty, they appear more frequently at night.

So sometimes in the middle of the night, the ordinary people living in the outer city could even often hear the sounds of gangs fighting and killing each other and snatching territory.

This is why when Zhao Jun came during the day, he saw that the order was barely passable, but he didn't know that at night, it was really chaotic.

Zhao Jun finally got a lot of useful information from the boss, and this time was not in vain. After chatting for a while, he got up and left.

He was going to take a look outside the city.

I heard that there were many official fields and royal farms outside the city, so he went to see the specific situation.

When he came out of the shop, he saw that the street was empty.

There were dilapidated wooden houses and low rammed earth brick walls all around. Even the stalls on the street had been taken away, and many shops were about to close.

He looked down at the ground and saw that the water was very deep, over his ankles.

Zhao Jun sighed and prepared to go back.

He held up the oil-paper umbrella he brought out in the morning and walked into the rain. Di Qing and others followed him like a shadow, and there seemed to be figures floating in the alleys on the street corners.

The sky was gray and it was dark even though it was noon. Turning a corner, I could see four or five people in the distance.

It was a normal thing, Zhao Jun just glanced at it and didn't care, but after taking a glance, he suddenly felt something was wrong, so he stopped and looked over.

He saw those people wearing straw raincoats and walking in a hurry. One of them was holding a child in his arms. The child seemed to be asleep and motionless.

Seeing someone at the street corner, those people were obviously stunned for a moment, then stopped where they were, hesitated slightly, and walked to the alley on the right.

"Chase!"

Zhao Jun immediately realized that there was something wrong, so he ran immediately.

Di Qing and the others followed behind him.

The crowd quickly arrived at the alley and saw that those people were still walking slowly, looking back from time to time.

When they suddenly saw Zhao Jun and the others chasing them, they knew that someone was meddling in their business, so they hurriedly stepped up and wanted to get out of the alley as soon as possible and leave from the next street.

However, since they were holding people, their speed was naturally not as fast as Di Qing and his men, and Zhao Jun was young and strong, so he simply threw away his umbrella and chased them madly, approaching them in a few steps.

"Who are you?"

The men had obviously been running for a while and were running out of strength. Seeing that the other party was approaching quickly, they immediately stopped and looked back vigilantly.

Except for the man holding the child, the others put their hands into their arms, and silver light could be vaguely seen.

"Are you stealing the child?"

Zhao Jun frowned.

"This is my child. My son is sick and needs to see a doctor. It has nothing to do with you."

The man holding the child scolded, "I hope you don't mind your own business."

"You took the child to see a doctor, but covered his mouth? Do you want to suffocate him?"

Zhao Jun turned his head and said to Di Qing, "Can you beat them?"

Di Qing grinned, "It's a small matter."

"Kill!"

Seeing that it couldn't end well, the man shouted.

Several people immediately drew out the sharp knives in their arms and ran over.

But how could they be the opponents of Di Qing and his men?

The traffickers had sharp knives in their hands, which were short knives, while Di Qing and his men had long knives. They were not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also had stronger weapons than their opponents. In a moment, their hands and feet were cut and their weapons fell to the ground.

Seeing that his brothers could not hold on, the man holding the child quickly threw the child in the direction of Zhao Jun and his men, and ran directly to the alley.

But a few people suddenly appeared at the alley and blocked him.

The man hurriedly tried to climb the wall, but before he climbed up, he was pulled down by Di Qing and fell heavily to the ground.

"Good man, I admit defeat. We are from Wuyou Cave. Give us some face."

The man fell and was stunned, but he still gritted his teeth and replied. He knew that he had met a tough guy today. Only the government officials could go out with long knives. He could only report his name and hope that the other party would let him go.

After all, Wuyou Cave has to pay tribute to most officials in Kaifeng every year. Even if some officials want to do something new, they need to find them for a kid of 11 or 12 years old. They can always give them some face.

"What is Wuyou Cave? Do you think you deserve my respect?"

Zhao Jun sneered.

The man was stunned for a moment, then said, "Are you from another place?"

"So what?"

Zhao Jun said.

"Haha, seeing that you are equipped with long swords, you are probably bandits from other places who are accompanying the army into the city."

It was not until this time that the man noticed the tattoo on Di Qing's face, and immediately changed his attitude, saying coldly: "I advise you to let us go and don't cause trouble for yourself."

"What trouble can it cause?"

Zhao Jun frowned, and he remembered that the local gangs in Bianliang were in collusion with the government, but most of them were low-level officials, and the upper level should not be.

Send them directly to the Kaifeng government office and find the Kaifeng prefect, and they should be brought to justice.

"Haha."

The man sneered and was about to speak.

At this time, only a "beep beep" whistle sounded.

Then came "Stop", "How dare you commit murder under the feet of the world", "You all stand still!"

Then the Imperial City Division that had blocked people at the alley before had long disappeared, and several yamen runners in official uniforms ran over and quickly approached.

Seeing the scene of Di Qing and others holding long swords in front of them, those people were very alert and put their hands on their waists.

The man immediately shouted, "Duan Gong, come and see, someone is committing a crime."

"Are you guys committing a crime?"

The leading yamen runner was probably in his thirties, with a square face and a beard, and looked righteous.

Zhao Jun said, "It was this man who was stealing the child. We caught him. He also said he was from Wuyou Cave."

He had not studied the history of the Song Dynasty and did not know Wuyou Cave, but he heard that it was not a good place. It might be a local gang.

"So it was the thieves from Wuyou Cave. I have wanted to catch them for a long time. Thank you, brave men!"

The yamen runner bowed and waved, "Take them away!"

"Duan Gong, Duan Gong!"

The man shouted, as if he did not want to be taken away.

Zhao Jun saw this and thought that the yamen runner was not bad, so he said to Di Qing and others, "Give them the person, we will take the child away, and send him home when he wakes up."

"Yes."

Di Qing nodded.

Zhao Jun and others let the other party take the person away.

The rain was still falling, and the alley was in a mess, with only a little blood stain left.

The officers took the injured away, and Zhao Jun and his men left with the child, waiting until the child woke up and helping him find his way home.

When leaving, Zhao Jun always remembered the crying mistress of the house, and the man who had just returned from work and knelt on the ground to express gratitude to him.

At that time, Zhao Jun had a lot of insights.

He felt that he should need more power and energy to save more people.

Is it right to just take the imperial examination?

He was thinking.

A few days passed like this, and three days later.

Zhao Jun accepted Lu Yijian's teaching today, and he didn't want to recite any scriptures tonight. He wanted to go to the night market and see what the nightlife of the people of the Song Dynasty was like.

Coming out of Liangmen, the night market was very prosperous and lively, but there were obviously more idle men, and the yamen runners hardly saw their figures.

When passing through an alley, I don't know when there were more people at the entrance of the alley.

There must be at least 20 or 30 of them, slowly blocking the entrance of the alley.

Zhao Jun turned his head and saw a scene that made his hair stand on end.

The trafficker who was captured a few days ago was walking towards them jokingly, cursing: "A few stinky thieves from other places dare to be rampant in Bianliang. Today, I will let you know the consequences of offending our Wuyou Cave."