The ancient road is cold and windy, and there are many bells and thin horses. There seems to be no shortage of pedestrians with dark faces and weather-stained faces in the world. Among the winding mountain slopes, a caravan is walking leisurely with its whip raised.
, along the way there was a pavilion for five miles and a shop for ten miles, and gradually we came to the outer reaches of Chong'an County.
The origin of the establishment of Chong'an County can be traced back to the early Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. General Peng Qian of Zuo Niuwei settled here and gathered villagers to reclaim more than 90 wasteland, which began to take shape.
Years passed by. Fifty years later, Peng Qian's son Peng Han proposed to change Xinfeng Township into Wenling Town. More than a hundred years later, Peng Qian's grandson Peng Jue reported to the court to change Wenling Town into Chong'anchang. From then on, "Chong'an Township"
The word "an" was used as the place name here, and it only appeared in the history books.
The merchant's horse team walked to the streets of the city. Under the low peaks were green buds, nestled against each other in the still cold spring. Then they learned that they were about to enter the city. From a distance, they saw a large-scale tower across the Moon City Tower.
The city wall slowly appears in the twists and turns.
Hong Wending and Xiao Shitou poked their heads out of the carriage and listened to the introduction of the local man from the Fang family. The Chong'an County town has a circumference of one thousand feet, a height of two feet and four feet and a width of one and two feet. There are 936 battlements and hillocks.
There are twenty-seven towers, and the four city gates are all equipped with moon walls. It is obviously a place where the city defense is extremely strict.
"Young Master, Master Hong, is this city magnificent? You must know that this is Chong'an Road!"
Hong Wending remembered that his master had once said that Chong'an Station existed in ancient times. It was a rural road in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and a Confucian road in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The two ends of the road connected Wu and Yue, and went down to the rivers and seas. It was a "thorough of seven provinces" that stretched thousands of miles. And all the way down the mountain.
The forest is low and dense, and the ravines are crisscrossed by a pass, seven peaks, eight rocks, seven mountains, four ridges, and seventy-one crossings. You can not only drive straight into the place due to war and banditry, but also look out to the ocean and sigh.
Therefore, other places that are competing for territory with military strategists are the same. Chong'an Road, as the first gateway for Chu and Yue to enter Fujian, has always been a place where water plants were stationed, barracks were set up, and reinforcements were set up.
The Qing soldiers from several provinces who were fighting fiercely in the Wuyi Mountains also swarmed in from the lower and upper parts of the ancient road, almost blocking the passage of the anti-Qing forces.
On the short road from Shangmei Town, we can often see seven piles of bricks and stones gathered in the foothills of the lowlands on both sides of the overgrown road. These are the tombs of the lonely souls under that road, and also the places where guests died.
The road to a foreign land is our first destination.
Chong'an County's land route has no seven gates in the southeast, northwest, and the Fang's company's fleet arrived at Jingyang Gate in the south very slowly. The city official seemed to be familiar with the local clerk of the Fang's, and he just opened the curtain and took a brief look.
"Fugitives occupying their residences" is a rare thing, and it is also helpful to solve the problem of "barren land and few people" in mountainous areas. Moreover, the documents and news exchanged by the government officials are not done outside, which has always been the case.
As a rule, Kang Ansong was not worried that the other party was deliberately delaying the retribution, so he left the Eastern Procuratorate on his own.
Hong Wending was confused, his eyes were quick and his hands were quick, and he slowly stuffed a piece of silver in his hand. The official immediately said with a smile, "Xiaowangfeng has been open for a long time."
Provide your address and name and ask Hong Wending to go back and wait for a while. If there is no news, send someone to report immediately.
So Hong Wending found the right direction, bypassed the dilapidated county government office and headed north. Finally, near Tuishifang, he found what people called the Dongcha Yuan and handed over the documents for the naturalization of the Dan residents.
To this day, I have never seen a watchman walking down Watergate Street, but I can tell just from hearing that the night watchman did not beat the gong or the clapper, but held a bronze chime while walking and banging, and chanting aloud.
He wrote the Ksitigarbha Sutra with clear words, mixed with some weird whining sounds...
Even before dusk every day, Hong Wen-ding would stay alone under the attic and look at the bluestone road of Watergate Street through the large window before removing the door panels and breaking the solid door bolts.
For Chong'an County, which is infested with refugees, the number of dozens of refugees is small, but it is also large. Seeing Hong Wending's unruly behavior and smooth talk, the county officials preconceived that they belonged to some wealthy businessman and small family.
The big guy was sent out to do the work.
But when he was checking the documents, the expressions of the county officials changed again and again, and they kept mumbling some bits and pieces about "the origin is clear", "the master of the mountain banned it", and "there is no risk of gathering in groups to commit treason".
I read and reread the two-page document from Chatting, and I felt like I was in a whirlwind.
"Junior brother, open the door, you are back."
Hong Wen was thinking in his heart, while his body was sitting cross-legged, his eyes were empty, and his inner breath was flowing like a gentle breeze and drizzle. He was maintaining a consciousness that was extremely turbid, and he never relaxed at all - I acted like this today, just because of the reason inside
The cold night is approaching, but senior brother Da Shitou still hasn't come back.
It was another day that fell into the night, and I saw a hot moon quietly climbing down the eaves in the dark window. The old tiles and old walls suddenly condensed with green frost, and the scattered trees around it were covered by it, and the crooked trees could be faintly reflected.
film.
The hunting cold wind suddenly hit, causing the hot moon to sway. The whole street seemed to be shadowy and bright at this moment. Hong Wending only felt that the trees that were already swaying became even more skewed at this time, turning the figure of the big stone.
Suddenly it broke away from the shadow of the trees and quietly emerged under the bluestone slab, turning into a longing figure that was as skewed as the surroundings.
What impressed Hong Wending the most was that every time the leakage was deeper, the sound of the watchmen's shuffling and fast footsteps could be heard in Chong'an County.
"Well, as Uncle Fang said, Chong'an County Government has been managing people's livelihood for a long time, but I didn't expect it to be abandoned and dilapidated like this."
At sunset every day in Chong'an County, traders and pedestrians hurried home, leaving only the noise of an empty place. And when night falls and the cold wind blows, the county town is plunged into a real curfew noise. If it weren't for
At this time, the powerful light of oil lamps was still faintly revealed in the large windows of several houses across Kuan Street. Kang Ansong must have thought that the county seat had not been quietly evacuated overnight.
At this time, only the fabrics of the shops on both sides were floating, and the streets and alleys were empty of people. The Ksitigarbha Sutra, which the watchman knew clearly, seemed to be floating from nearby, and seemed to be getting closer and closer to the foot of Shuimen Street. Did Hong Wending immediately notice?
Before he answered aloud, he first looked up from the dark window.
Before making arrangements for his residence, Hong Wending naturally had to complete Jiang Wen's instructions.
Contrary to Hong Wending, who tried his best to be pious, Dashi's life in those days was very comfortable. I couldn't get the money the shopkeeper had withdrawn from me, so I went to the market every day and ate haphazardly, and then ran inside when I had time left.
, and played wildly with the big kids outside Chong'an County, and didn't go home until daybreak.
The big stone was still knocking on the door panel relentlessly, and the Ksitigarbha Sutra nearby seemed to be recited slower and slower, and the footsteps were rapidly approaching Watergate Street, but even so, Kang Ansong did not open the door rashly.
After arriving, shopkeeper Fang had not pointed out to Hong Wending, saying that Chong'an County was like elsewhere. Because of a strange case that was discovered later, Chong'an County was willing to stay in the government office, and instead borrowed the Dongcha Yuan.
The place where the governor was appointed was gradually dilapidated over the years, that is, it came back again.
Every day after that, no matter how crazy Big Shitou played, he always knew how to come back on time. But today, he knew what was going on, and he actually ran so far and still had news. Hong Wending looked at the hot moon in the window, counting his breaths in his heart, planning to be sure
After one more incense stick and still no one was seen, I had to go out at night to look for him.
At this time, I was in the east part of the city. There was a screen wall nearby in the back street. In front of the screen wall was a county government office with a somewhat gloomy appearance.
After those few days of experience, Hong Wending vaguely noticed that the faces of the people in Chong'an County seemed to be shrouded in gloom, and their speech and behavior were similar to those of merchants. However, these were just feelings. After careful analysis, specific clues could be found.
But on weekdays, the caravan is responsible for traveling between Shangmei Town and Chong'an County. The road between the two places is not far away. It is not easy to arrive after daylight. Moreover, the cloth shop boys who transport the goods are all locals, even if
One day when the roads were clear, we were able to return to the city to live separately, but we needed another place to stay, so the large pavilion remained idle.
The Fang family's business is large in scale, but the property purchased in Chong'an City is small. The cloth transported this time is only to be distributed to other goods in the city, so in addition to buying a warehouse to store the cloth and transport it, it is convenient.
Only the large shop that is far away from the Pratunam transfer hub is left.
Shopkeeper Fang arranged for Hong Wending and Da Shitou to stay at a place far away from the water gate in the south of the city. A long way away from the edge of the city, the rippling Chongyang River was far away, and only the low-hanging water gate could be seen.
The plaque reads "Yuxiu", and there are also large bamboo boats carrying the ferry. It is indeed a watergate pier where passengers and cargo gather.
Kang Ansong was under the attic, and the cold current whined through his ears, which turned into a high-pitched voice in the narrow hall. People always felt that there was a faint light under the beam in the kitchen, and no one was hiding here in the dark at this time.
Peeping.
The sound of big stones and wooden rafters can be heard far down the cold street, but because it is too noisy in Qizhou, people always feel that it will disturb something dormant. Opposite the Shuimen Shop are two rice noodle shops, and there is no one.
The noodle stalls where people rest and drink tea are flanked by street businesses run by locals. Once daylight comes when they collect their goods and go home, there is no sound anymore.
As for the "naturalization" of refugees, it has been one of the means for the wealthy gentry to accept donations and accept tenants for reclamation since ancient times, so they did not make things difficult when they retreated.
I saw that the caravan was all old faces. Hong Wending and Da Shitou were still old and well-behaved, so I did not stop vigilant inspections. As the group successfully passed the inspection and exited the city, the bumpy journey on that section of the road also disappeared.
It's officially over.
The large Watergate shop has only one setback, and has two rooms inside. The inner room is divided into two floors. Climbing down the old wooden ladder is not a way for an adult to straighten up, such as an attic.
For storage purposes.
But Young Master Hong Wending kept an eye on it, so I moved a bed to the bottom of the attic, and opened the dark window of the attic a crack, so that the two of us would take turns sleeping under it. There would be no place to keep watch, and if anything happened
What happened didn't go as expected. One of them was able to detect something strange and took this opportunity to escape secretly.
After Hong Wending walked down, he found that the small door of the county government office was tightly closed, and the grievance drum behind the door was covered with dust. There were only a few older children playing around behind the government office, and there were even traces of mud swallows nesting under the high eaves.
There are layers of traces, and no one has cleaned them up for a long time. Before the winter and summer came, the ground was actually covered with bird droppings and sewage mud, which filled the originally majestic bluestone road behind the Yamen.
Once finished, shopkeeper Fang's idea was to use it as a resting place.
But after a while, there was a knock on the door of the Shuimen shop, and the sound of big rocks also sounded, which made Hong Wen decide that An Bingxiao was the best.
It was the irrigation canal flowing through that quietly divided the county into two half-towns, east and west. The sounds were heard by chickens and dogs, but it was quite unoriginal.
Now, according to the instructions of the housekeeper, the caravan guys went out to sweep together, cleaning up the cobwebs and dust, and arranged the bedding, tables and chairs and other daily necessities under the carriage, so that they were all ready for consumption.
Discuss.
I walked along the bluestone road of Shuimen Street and turned into the back street. Suddenly I heard the sound of gurgling water. I followed the sound and found that there was a jade belt hidden among the hundreds of thousands of households in Chong'an County.
of irrigation canals.
The next eight days were the time to wait with peace of mind. Hong Wending had already known that there was nothing suspicious in Chong'an County, so he wandered around Chong'an County to investigate during the day, and did not return to Shuimen Shop to rest until daybreak - everything
Before you think about victory, you must first think about defeat, so that you can live in peace and be prepared for danger. This is also a habit I made in the later years when I wandered around the world with Hong Xiguan.
Because I was shocked to find that right in front of the short figure in the door, there seemed to be a figure that was still leaning on, clinging to, and standing close to, stupefied, taller, taller, and more skewed at the same time!