Xu Yue and his party bypassed the part of the road that was being repaired, and the ox cart drove back to the main road. The road here was all hardened cement road.
This road is straight, wide enough to accommodate two carriages running side by side, more than a thousand meters long, and leads directly to the gate of Yi County.
The sun was already in the west, and it got dark early in spring. Xu Yue and his party thought for a while and decided to go to the city to meet with fellow Taoists from Yixian County to understand the situation before making further plans.
Because it is the only way for merchants from the south to enter and leave the Xu family's territory, Yi County, which used to have only about 2,000 people, has now become lively.
In addition, people like Gongsun Zan are also imitating the Xu family army and carrying out infrastructure construction, and there are people in and outside the city.
However, this kind of excitement is different from the excitement on the Xujiajun territory.
The people of Youzhou are full of energy and are proactive in their work. No matter how hard or tired they are, their faces are still full of smiles.
The people here in Keyi County are completely different. They are not happy at all because the city has become lively. Instead, they sigh and look bitter.
The economic prosperity of the county seems to be unable to bring dividends to the people at the bottom here. They are still in ragged clothes and skinny bones. They are walking barefoot on the road with dogs hugging their bodies, dragging heavy wheelbarrows filled with sand and gravel.
Businessmen in the past said that at the end of last year, Beidi issued an imperial edict, and Jizhou and Bingzhou began to collect corvees, build bridges and roads, and dig mountains and quarry stones.
He promised to build a better home for the people.
However, this slogan sounded so ridiculous to the ears of the people who were forcibly conscripted!
You want the horse to run, but you don’t give it grass to eat.
Xu Da said that he didn't dare to do this when he was still a powerful and wealthy second-generation dude!
Gongsun Zan and Beidi's gang will be finished sooner or later!
"When I saw this cement road just now, I was shocked. I thought, can those two people in Bingzhou Palace have this level of enlightenment?"
"Now it seems that I really thought too much." Xu Da hugged his two precious grandchildren and muttered, full of ridicule.
Xu Dongbei and Xu Pingyuan didn't care what their grandfather was mumbling. The two little guys stretched out their palms and asked the adults to fulfill the rewards they had just promised.
Xu Da had no choice but to give the brother and sister a candy each, and said in return: "Shh~, let's keep it secret, don't tell grandma later, you know?"
The twins' eyes were bright and filled with candies. They didn't hear their grandfather's words clearly at all. They only nodded subconsciously and couldn't wait to peel off the oil paper on the candies and put the small sugar granules into their mouths.
The two brothers and sisters were so beautiful that they looked at each other and laughed until their eyes were gone.
Xu Yue and Xu Dalang looked at the satisfied little faces of the twins from the oxcart behind, with particularly gentle eyes.
The bullock cart drove into Yixian County. There is no rule that livestock is not allowed to walk in the inner city, and the streets are naturally not as clean as those in Youzhou County.
Entering Yixian County gave Xu Yue's family the illusion of traveling through space and returning to Youzhou County.
The main cement street, which can accommodate two horse-drawn carriages, is lined with shops, and you can see an inn every few dozen meters.
There are a lot of merchants staying in Yixian County, most of them carrying goods, and their carriages and horses are parked on the street, causing traffic congestion.
The troupe's ox-cart slowly followed the caravan in front of it. It took half an hour to find a large restaurant with empty rooms. They reserved half of a small courtyard and a row of large bunks, where men and women slept separately.
The conditions of the restaurant are not particularly good, but it is clean. They charge according to the bed. Datong only charges ten yuan for a bedroll, and provides free hot water.
By the time Xu Yue and his party settled down, it was already dark, and the streets that were bustling just now quickly became quiet because it was approaching curfew time.
Wen Qing ordered a table of food in the restaurant lobby, and everyone had dinner together in the lobby.
When traveling, one cannot save on food and accommodation. Xu Yue also gave a large budget. Everyone had soup and meat for dinner, and they ate quite well.
However, there are not many people who are willing to eat like them. Most of the other caravans in the restaurant eat multi-grain pancakes, and the meat is basically their own bacon or cured meat.
Therefore, the restaurant owner paid extra attention to the troupe.
Xu Yue wanted to feed Xu Dongbei's two little guys, but she ate a little slowly. Wen Qing and others had already eaten enough and went to pack their luggage.
On the large table made up of two tables, only Xu Da and Xu Dalang were left waiting for Xu Yue.
The restaurant owner came over, sat down on the empty seat, and asked Xu Yue with a smile:
"Is this an apprentice or your child?"
Xu Yue raised her head and glanced at the restaurant owner. She was a woman in her thirties, wearing a bright red narrow-sleeved mid-length coat and a pair of indigo trousers, very simple.
This style has only become popular in recent years. Female students in Xu Jiajun love to wear buttoned tops and trousers.
Merchants who had been to Youzhou felt that such clothes were more beautiful than farmers' short skirts and cheaper than skirts. They were very suitable for women from farmers, merchants, and craftsmen. They tried to bring a few sets, but they became very popular.
.
The women were clever and ingenious, and they made some small changes to the original student uniform that were more suitable for them, and finally evolved into a costume like the female shopkeeper of a restaurant.
The medium-length top covers the shameful parts, and the lower body is long pants, which looks good and is convenient for work.
The female shopkeeper's red mid-length coat has a waist-cinching treatment, which highlights the female shopkeeper's slender waist and makes her look graceful and graceful.
Xu Yue smiled at her and explained according to the words she had made up at the beginning: "These two are my apprentices and my nephews. Life was not very easy last year. My brother-in-law went out to find a job and has not been able to come back until now. In this world, most of the time
Died outside..."
The female shopkeeper is a very compassionate person. When she heard Xu Yue's words, she glanced lovingly at Xu Dongbei and Xu Pingyuan, who were only focusing on cooking rice, "Poor baby, luckily your aunt is here."
Xu Da picked up the water glass and took a sip, holding back his laughter.
The female shopkeeper glanced at him suspiciously. The man had a neat beard, but unfortunately his face was blocked by the beard. All he could see was his eyes squinting, looking as lazy as a cat.
The female shopkeeper smiled and asked: "Deputy leader, how long will the troupe stay in the county? If the stay is long, I can give you a smaller room fee."
Xu Da put down the water glass and looked at her lightly, "There is no free lunch in the world. You, the shopkeeper, are a smart person at first sight. How could you reduce our room fee for no reason?"
The female shopkeeper smiled cheerfully, "To tell you the truth, I really have an idea to discuss with you, the class leader. There were too many people just now and it was difficult to talk. Now that the guests have gone to rest and the hall is quiet, we can just talk.
.”
Xu Yue and Xu Dalang looked at each other, wiped the mouths of the full twins, each held one in their arms, and looked at the female shopkeeper with their father, waiting for her to continue.
