Dominate the Country

The faint smoke from the chimneys of each house slipped out and gathered into a light white mist over Lushan. The warm air was filled with a mixture of smoke and the fragrance of breakfast. The voices of women calling their husbands and children rang out from every household.

All living beings make up this so-called "paradise on earth", and the name of Lushan has spread to Europe thousands of miles away. But where is the real paradise on earth? Even the most beautiful places have ugliness, but darkness becomes darkness because of light.

…

Zhang Wenliang woke up from his sleep, kicked off the thin blanket covering him, and he didn't feel cold at all in his middle clothes. Looking up, Zhang Wenliang saw a clean military uniform hanging on the head of the bed, but Zhang Wenliang reflexively shouted to change clothes because he didn't like wearing this set, and he didn't want to wear patched clothes. Although this set of military uniforms does not look old, Zhang Wenliang fell to the ground during physical education class last month, and his knees hit the ground, which made a small hole in his pants. His mother patched it with a layer of cloth of the same color. If you don't look carefully, you can't see the patch, but Zhang Wenliang knows it. But before he uttered this word, he swallowed it back into his stomach.

He is not a child anymore.

He is already a third-year middle school student, and he is fifteen years old. He is sensible. The environment at home is very "bad". Zhang Wenliang, who doesn't want his sister to be a concubine, is unwilling to provide his mother with "cannonballs" to attack his sister. Although he and his sister Zhang Wenjing do not have the same mother, they are half-siblings.

Zhang Wenjing is three years older than him. She can get married at the age of eighteen, and now she is facing the oppression of her mother, or she has always been facing the oppression of her mother. Who made her have no mother?

Zhang Wenliang's father, Zhang Zixiang, was a wealthy family in Lushan County in his early years. At that time, it was still the Qing Dynasty. The Zhang family was a big landlord in Xiatang Town, Lushan, and their lives were much more luxurious than now.

Zhang Zixiang, who was only in his twenties at that time, was different from what he is now. Zhang Wenliang's mother was also different from now. She was Zhang Zixiang's first wife, and his sister Zhang Wenjing's mother was his father's concubine who was carried into the house through the back door. He didn't know what the concubine's name was, and even her sister didn't know.

Zhang Wenjing's mother was very beautiful, but her life was very pitiful. Her parents died early, and she was raised as a child bride at the age of eleven. But later, when she was fifteen, her "husband" died, and she had to return to her grandfather's house. Zhang Wenjing was very capable. In order to support her grandfather, she farmed by herself, and in order to make life better, in addition to farming, she carried an axe up the mountain to collect firewood whenever she had time, and did needlework for people under the lamp at night. She persisted in this way until she was eighteen years old, and then she was discovered by Zhang Zixiang who went to the countryside to collect rent.

Zhang Zixiang fell in love with Zhang Wenjing's mother, and then Zhang Wenjing's mother was irresistibly taken home by Zhang Zixiang. Although her grandfather did not want his woman to be a concubine, they were powerless to resist. The Zhang family was one of the largest landlords in Xiatang Town. How could an old man and a young girl resist?

Four months later, Zhang Wenjing's mother became pregnant. She was pregnant with Zhang Wenliang's sister Zhang Wenjing. At that time, Zhang Zixiang had an older son, but later Zhang Wenliang's brother died.

At that time, the Zhang family had only one child. Zhang Zixiang was very happy about Zhang Wenjing's mother's pregnancy. At that time, he was still hoping that Zhang Wenjing's mother could give him another son.

Zhang Wenjing's great-grandfather was taken by Zhang Zixiang to a farm under the name of the Zhang family and raised in glory. After Zhang Wenjing was born, she became all the hope and sustenance of her mother, although this white and fat girl disappointed Zhang Zixiang. He originally expected a son, but he didn't know that it was a money-losing product. If Chen hadn't started the uprising and the Zhang family hadn't fled, the woman would have continued to live in the Zhang family, right?

But no.

Zhang Wenliang was born three years younger than Zhang Wenjing, but the scene of his mother selling his sister's biological mother was always firmly in his mind, even though Zhang Wenliang was still very young at the time.

The shrill cries, pleading, wailing, the separation of a mother and her new and beloved child, the heart-wrenching cries made Zhang Wenliang still remember them vividly after ten years.

Because the Zhang family was already in a very bad state at that time, they almost ran out of the assets they brought with them when they fled Lushan because of war and human disasters.

At that time, their whole family lived in two houses. Zhang Wenliang was lying on the window, watching his sister's biological mother being dragged out of the house by two burly men through the cracks in the window.

Perhaps it was retribution. Within a month, Zhang Wenliang's brother fell seriously ill and died before he even had time to boil the medicine.

Two years later, the Zhang family was forced to return to Lushan due to their livelihood.

At that time, Lushan was like a paradise compared to the chaotic world outside. The turbulent war and chaos did not touch this place at all. Even the Zhang family's ancestral home was intact and guarded by a very unexpected person, the great-grandfather of his sister Zhang Wenjing. Zhang Wenliang could no longer remember the appearance of the old man. He only knew that after learning the news about Zhang Wenjing's mother, the old man jumped to the Dangze River next to the town that night with a trembling cane.

He didn't seem to think about the young Zhang Wenjing. Perhaps in the old man's heart, Zhang Wenjing was not worth his nostalgia at all.

So Zhang Wenjing's status in the Zhang family can be imagined.

Zhang Wenliang's mother even blamed Zhang Wenjing's mother for her eldest son's death, and then treated Zhang Wenjing very harshly. However, the Zhang family's peaceful days in Lushan did not last long. Some of the things Zhang Zixiang had done before and some of the "debts" owed by the Zhang family had come to be repaid. The Zhang family was liquidated by the township officials of Xiatang Town.

Poor Zhang Zixiang at that time was still obsessed with his own land and houses in the town and the county.

And that liquidation caused the Zhang family to lose most of their property under Chen Han's law.

However, although Zhang Zixiang had never taken the imperial examination, he had spent a few days of study in his early years. Although he lost most of his property, he still insisted on sending Zhang Wenliang to elementary school. This was to keep up with the trend and also a manifestation of supporting Chen Han.

And it was also a coincidence that because Zhang Wenliang was in school, some things about his family spread in the school, and then his sister Zhang Wenjing's life experience was pitied by the principal. The latter reported the matter to the Bureau of Culture and Education, and then Zhang Wenjing also went to the Xiatang Town School and became one of the first formal female students in China at that time.

Zhang Wenjing was very smart and her academic performance in school was better than Zhang Wenliang, but after graduating from elementary school, she did not go to middle school, but was admitted to a kindergarten normal school without paying tuition and became a kindergarten normal school student.

This incident made the Zhang family, which had been in decline for a long time, once again appear on the cusp of Xiatang Town. Although many people in Xiatang Town have been admitted to middle schools, high schools, and higher schools in recent years, a small kindergarten teacher is not worth making a fuss about, but this matter becomes very eye-catching when it comes to a daughter, and Zhang Wenjing is beautiful.

A fifteen-year-old girl is no longer a bud, and an eighteen-year-old girl is even more beautiful. So Zhang Wenjing was valued when she was about to graduate. Just like Zhang Zixiang valued her mother, the power of the impoverished Zhang family at this time was just like the miserable grandfather and granddaughter facing the Zhang family, and they had no power to resist.

Or the Zhang family at this time was not willing to resist at all.

Because whether it was Zhang Zixiang or Zhang Wenliang's mother, Zhang, they all hoped to use a money-losing product to exchange for a backer, to exchange for a brighter future for their son. But Zhang Wenliang was ashamed of it, and Zhang Wenjing was even more unwilling.

Then Zhang cut off Zhang Wenjing's living expenses, and she tried to use this method to threaten Zhang Wenjing to surrender.

But Zhang Wenliang knew that his sister would not surrender. She would leave school immediately in two months at most to make a living. The work of a kindergarten teacher seems to be playful, but the salary is not lower than that of a teacher in the school. Zhang Wenjing has a good temper, enthusiasm, and good popularity. Zhang Wenliang believes that just those enthusiastic classmates can help her raise money for meals, so that she can persist until two months later.

Zhang Wenliang put on his clothes neatly. Although this military uniform has been washed and faded, it is very neat.

Zhang Wenliang walked out of his room, which was just an old two-story building. The stairs and floors were made of wood. Zhang Wenliang, a big man, even creaked when he stepped on them.

The room downstairs was brightly lit, and the morning sun shone through the door and window onto the old furniture in the living room.

The eight-immortal table in the middle had already lost its paint.

The Zhang family's current residence is an old wooden house with black walls. The small house is divided into two floors. In addition to a living room, there is also a bedroom and a kitchen on the ground floor.

There is also a dustpan at the door, which is placed on a stool. A bunch of palm-sized white stripes are drying inside.

Lushan is next to Zhaoping Lake. Although it is located in the Central Plains and is still thousands of miles away from the sea, there is no seafood here, but there is always river food.

There are fish and shrimps in Zhaoping Lake that can be caught by anyone, as long as they avoid the fishing moratorium in spring.

But the fishing moratorium is only in Zhaoping Lake, and there is no such thing as a fishing moratorium in the surrounding rivers. There are many tributaries of Zhaoping Lake around Xiatang Town, and the river fresh here has never been cut off all year round.

Yesterday we had boiled white strips, and the main dish for this morning was still boiled white strips, followed by tofu with scallions and dry-fried eggplant, plus a plate of fried fish.

This is oil-intensive, and it is sprinkled with chili powder. The fried white strips are so crispy that you can chew and swallow them even with the bones.

There are also fist-sized white flour buns in the basket, and then there is a bowl of porridge with a handful of rice in the pot for each person.

The Zhang family's food is slightly above the average level in Lushan, and this level of breakfast is definitely rich for many people in this era.

The family of three sat around a table to eat, and the Zhang family had long since abandoned the old rules. From a landlord to a small family, the rules were also changed.

Of course, Zhang Wenliang is Zhang's sweetheart. In addition to these meals, he also has a boiled egg for breakfast.

Every day, Zhang would boil an egg for her son, or a salt duck egg.

The eggs laid by the chickens and ducks raised in the Zhang family yard were never sold by Zhang, and all were left for her precious son.

"Mom, there are review materials in the school. The teacher said that students with family conditions can buy them with money. They are all collections of knowledge points for the high school entrance examination in recent years. I... I want to buy Chinese and natural sciences..."

Zhang was drinking porridge in big mouthfuls, mumbling vaguely: "How much does it cost?"

"Two yuan for two subjects, one yuan for one subject. Dad, give me money."

Zhang Wenliang looked at his father who was drinking porridge and reading a newspaper across from him.

"No!" Zhang Zixiang, who was drinking porridge and reading a newspaper, answered in a muffled voice without even raising his head. Zhang Wenliang's study was too bad for him. Zhang Zixiang had an intuition in his heart that no matter how much money he invested in Zhang Wenliang, it would all go down the drain.

Zhang Wenliang didn't take his father's words seriously, because he knew he still had his mother, and he knew that if he approached the topic from the perspective of study, he would definitely win his mother's support.

"No, no, what? Can two dollars buy you something?"

"Don't hold your breath here, it's important for your son to go to school."

"Your daughter doesn't ask you for money, and she can even earn a scholarship. But if you can't count on her, she won't have the three of us in her heart..."

Zhang Wenliang lowered his head and drank the porridge, and his mother started nagging again. Zhang, who was irritable in her heart, didn't know that this was another reiteration of nagging. Although it made her mood a little better, it also made her son more impatient.

No energetic young man wants to hear that his mother plans to exchange his sister's fate for his own future. No ambitious person would be willing to listen to such words over and over again.

Zhang Wenliang got not only two yuan, but three yuan. They were going to the theater to watch a play in the second half of the month, so it was inevitable that there would be expenses.

Apart from this matter, this extra one yuan was also Zhang Wenliang's pocket money for the month.

But Zhang didn't know that her baby son took a big detour on the way to school and came to the gate of Lushan No. 1 Preschool Teachers College. Then not long after, Zhang Wenjing appeared at the school gate.

Zhang Wenjing really had no feelings for her parents, but for Zhang Wenliang, her younger brother, she didn't like him, but she couldn't say she hated him.

At least on the big problem at hand, Zhang Wenliang supported her.

"Sister, this is five yuan. Our father asked me to give it to you..." The naive Zhang Wenliang didn't know how to repair the gap between his mother and Zhang Wenjing, but he felt that he could use his father as a signboard and try to fill the gap between the two sides.

Zhang Wenjing felt a warm feeling in her heart as she watched her brother leave. She had vowed to leave this hateful family forever and never enter this sinful gate again, but a ray of sunshine shone into her frozen heart today.

The sunshine was very weak, but it was like a ray of hope, like a white light in the dark night, which made Zhang Wenjing remember her family forever.

In the carriage leaving Lushan, Zhang Wenjing leaned against the window and looked out. If possible, she would also like to leave her hometown with the farewell of her relatives. Unfortunately, her parents were her enemies. In order to get rid of them completely, Zhang Wenjing chose to enter the palace. Her resume, her native place, and her education all made it very smooth for her to enter the gate of the palace.

Zhang Wenjing also had a book in her hand, and she had just flipped through it briefly.

Children's room, kindergarten, playground, the children in the palace are so happy. The emperor really loves his children!

From the simple introduction of this manual, Zhang Wenjing could not see the difference between the princess and the prince. There must be fathers in the world who love their children as much as the emperor, but why haven't I met one?

The emperor is too far away, but what about my neighbors? Uncle Zhao's family is not as good as Zhang's, but the Zhao family has always been harmonious and happy. I don't know how many times I envy them. Why haven't I lived like this?

The girl in the carriage was lost in thought, and unconsciously, the carriage left the girl's hometown far behind, farther and farther.

...

And Newton certainly didn't know what kind of scene there was in Lushan, which he thought was a "paradise on earth".