There are sixteen counties in the Eastern Chu Kingdom. Wu Jie's hometown, Zhaoyang County, is located in the west, while Baitu County, where the capital is located, is located in the far east, close to the East China Sea. The capital of Changning City itself is the leading port on the coast of the East China Sea.
, thanks to the smooth shipping, rare treasures and people from all over the world gather here, and magical anecdotes are spread from time to time.
Wu Jie walked on the road for more than half a month, and it was not until the beginning of May that he arrived at Changning City.
He was dressed simply, covered in travel dust, and he was carrying a medicine box. At a glance, he knew that he was a wandering doctor. This status was quite popular, and he was exempted from the gate tax when he entered the city, which was a good sign.
Although he had seen many cities along the way, and although he had seen many large cities with vast areas and large populations in his previous life, Wu Jie was still deeply moved by its majesty after seeing Changning City.
This city is so vast, it is thirty-three miles from the east gate to the west gate, and twenty-eight miles from the south gate to the north gate; its walls exceed ten feet, which is higher than twenty Wu Jie stacked up.
The gate tower and fortress reached a height of 14 to 50 feet, even exceeding many "small high-rises" that Wu Jie had seen before traveling through.
In this city, there are more than a million people living, of which at least one-tenth are merchants, and twice that number of people make a living by dealing with merchants, such as bodyguards, chariots and horses, laborers, etc.
As the capital of the Eastern Chu State, this city is stationed with 100,000 forbidden troops, and all innocent Dong Chu citizens in the city must receive military training on a regular basis, and if necessary, all citizens can even join the army.
Changning City is a majestic capital and a world-famous port, so the luxury and wealth of Changning City is not to mention. Just when queuing up at the city gate to enter the city, Wu Jie saw many people wearing expensive silk clothes, and also saw a lot of charming people.
Riding a horse. Eastern Chu State lacks pasture, and the cost of raising horses is very high. Even in places such as the post station, carriages and horses, most of the horses are raised. Healthy horses are already rare, but he can see it here.
All those who arrived were at least first-class horses, and there were even a few that were qualified to be called famous horses!
"I remember reading in a book that the people in Bianliang City in the Northern Song Dynasty were very rich. They were so rich that the soldiers guarding the city gates all wore silk shoes..." Wu Jie looked at it carefully when he entered, but he didn't see anything.
Some soldiers were wearing silk shoes, because they were all wearing a complete set of armor, and the quality was even better than the ones that only a few senior officers in the county could afford back then!
A complete set of armor consists of a helmet, half-body armor, arm armor, hand guards, waist guards, leg guards, knee guards, shin guards, and boots. They can provide the wearer with comprehensive protection at the expense of physical strength and money.
Putting physical strength aside, in terms of money, even the lowest level complete set of armor costs over a thousand taels of silver, and the price of a slightly more advanced one is more than double that.
When passing by the Zhaoyang County Prefecture, Wu Jie once visited an armor store. A set of beautiful armors were displayed in the store to attract customers. At that time, he curiously asked the price, but was looked down upon by the clerk.
"Ignoring the materials for this set of armor, the labor alone requires hundreds of skilled craftsmen to work for three months to make it. You are a wandering doctor, and there may not be a craftsman who earns more after traveling all over the country. Why do you ask this?
?”
If he were the protagonist of some Long Aotian series of stories, he would have splashed out a large amount of money to slap him in the face at this time, but Wu Jie knew his family background very well, so he just touched his nose and left.
What a joke! In terms of labor cost alone, this armor is extremely expensive. How can he afford it?
A craftsman who can make armor can earn about forty to fifty taels of silver every year. If hundreds of craftsmen work for three months, that is at least a thousand taels of silver! He only sold a third-grade ginseng tree for 800 taels.
That’s all!
At that time, both Jasmine and Du Ruo were very angry. Jasmine thought that she should use her decisive spirit to strangle the man who looked down on others. Du Ruo suggested that Wu Jie come over at night, steal the armor, and throw it into the world of the Book of Heaven - Wu Jie guessed that she might be
I was jealous looking at that beautiful set of armor. After all, compared to the armor on the martial arts training ground, the appearance was really much different.
Wu Jie did not adopt their opinions in the end. He felt that there was no need to kill or steal just for some leisure, not to mention that the armor was not of much use to him - ever since he ignited the Pure Yang True Fire, he had been forging it with it repeatedly.
After training the body, the defense of the physical body is probably stronger than this armor. Not only will wearing it not be effective, but it will also affect the flexibility of movement.
Having said that, he was still deeply shocked when he saw that the gate guards of Changning City were all wearing full armor.
"Is it necessary to spend so much money to equip the guards in such an exaggerated way? Why not collect less taxes and let the people live a better life..."
After thinking about it all the way, Wu Jie walked into Changning City.
After entering Changning City, he didn't see anything that particularly surprised him. Perhaps to Du Ruo, those shops filled with a dazzling array of goods were rare, and those four or five-story houses were spectacular, and those were enough to make ten people
The road for several people walking side by side is very wide. But in Wu Jie's opinion, that's all.
He traveled through time from the prosperous 21st century. Before time travel, he was considered a middle-class person. He could afford to travel all over the country to seek medical treatment, and even go abroad to seek medical treatment. The prosperity of Changning City is far more prosperous than those in modern times.
The big city is nothing.
"So it's just like this..." Wu Jie, who at first walked and looked around like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, soon lost interest in watching the excitement. According to what he heard on the road, he went to the residential area in the west of the city to look for an inn.
The layout of Changning City is as follows: the imperial palace is in the north, and outside the palace are the barracks of the Forbidden Army and various government offices of the imperial court. Common people live in the west of the city, and officials and wealthy families live in the east of the city, near the port.
There are four rivers in this city, some are purely natural and some are artificial. They not only bring sufficient water sources to the residents of the city, but also serve as transportation hubs. Especially the Wei River that runs through the city, there are many rivers flowing every day.
Many ships came and went, transporting goods from the port to markets located throughout the city.
Compared with car transportation, water transportation is undoubtedly cheaper and more efficient. Unless it is some high-priced or water-sensitive goods, merchants in Changning City would rather use water transportation to save costs.
The "Taiping Inn" where Wu Jie stayed was located on the bank of the Wei River. Looking from the window of the guest room, one could always see cargo ships passing by not far away, which was quite an interesting scenery.
Taiping Inn is a famous large merchant in Changning City. There are many semicolons, and Wu Jie lives in one of them. His guest room is very small, estimated to be no more than eight square meters. The things inside are also very simple.
There is a single bed, a table against the wall, a cabinet nailed to the wall, and not even a chair or stool. If you want to sit down and rest, you can only sit on the bed.
The rent for such a small hut is as high as one penny a day, and food is not included. It is really expensive!
Wu Jie sat down on the bed and rummaged through the medicine box, only to find about a dozen taels of silver.
He is really not a person who is good at managing money. Although he has earned a lot along the way, the more he earns, the more he spends. The key is that he is not very good at saving money. As long as he has plenty of money, his compassion will overflow. Every time he earns
After I got the money, I couldn't help but go to free clinics for the poor. Of course, free clinics don't charge money, and they often charge a lot of money for medicine. So now, I only have a little bit of the hundred taels of silver left with me when I go out.
"This can't go on like this!" He weighed the few small pieces of silver, put them into his purse and put them away, then thought about how to make money.
Not to mention that Xunxian has to spend money, if he doesn't find a way to make money, he will soon be sleeping on the street!
"I saw on the road just now that there are sweet-scented osmanthus cakes for sale here!" Du Ruo said excitedly, "Go and try it!"
Through this period of continuous absorption of yin energy, Du Ruo has successfully condensed her soul and practiced to the point where she can touch real objects. For her, this means that she can eat-perhaps this is her most important thing.
The most urgent thing.
But Wu Jie just shook his head. Osmanthus cakes are expensive snacks to begin with, and things in Changning City are extremely expensive. If they don't keep their mouths shut, they will have to drink the northwest wind in two days.
"Then let's do two worthless businesses." Jasmine suggested, "I think there are many rich families in this city. If you just pick two families and make a fortune, it will be enough for you to eat and drink for a long time."
She said it matter-of-factly and didn't take the crime of rape to heart at all.
"There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in Changning City. It's better for us to be honest." Wu Jie rejected Jasmine's suggestion.
"Then go to a nearby city to make a fortune and then come back." Jasmine really followed her example and immediately changed her plan, "As long as you go further, you don't have to worry about meeting a master."
Wu Jie couldn't help but sigh deeply.
It’s really a long way to go to correct Jasmine’s moral outlook!
He was too lazy to discuss with Jasmine whether or not he should rob and how to rob. As soon as his eyes rolled, he thought of more important topics.
"Jasmine, you said that many immortal sects recruit disciples in big cities such as the capital. Now that we are here, why not go and find immortals?"
"But...how to make money in that case?" Jasmine still kept thinking about the robbery plan, "I think we should make a profit first. Only when we have money in hand can we feel at ease!"
"Don't worry about making money. I can still survive for a few days with the remaining money on hand. Let's go find immortals first!" Wu Jie ended the discussion without any controversy.
After a good night's rest, at breakfast the next day, he asked the innkeeper if there were any traces of immortals in the city.
"You're right to ask that!" After accepting him a large sum of ten cents, the waiter said with a smile, "We know the news in Changning City best!"
"Our Changning City, as the capital of the Great Chu State, is known for its crouching tiger, hidden dragon, whether it is a master of martial arts or an expert in the immortal sect."
"For example, Mr. Zhang Yuzhang, the Tiger Wing Marquis in the east of the city, is a martial arts master who has been famous for hundreds of years and is powerful in the southeast. People in the world are called 'Tianjiange'. He is very powerful in martial arts. At the age of twenty-five, he defeated all the invincible opponents in Changning. Three
When he was thirteen years old, he went out to sea in a small boat. In the storm, he broke through the limits that many masters could not break through in their lifetime, and stepped into the realm of innate martial arts... Now more than a hundred years have passed, and no one knows what he has reached.
What a state!"
"I don't think you, my guest, are a martial arts practitioner, so you have to consider the issue of Taoism. Changchun Zhenren, the master of the Changchun Temple in Wanshou Mountain outside the city, is a well-known Taoist. He is older than Hu Yihou.
But he has black hair, and his appearance is no different from that of a young man. Every year, many people go to Changchun to seek immortality and enlightenment, and many of them are successful in their studies. For example, in the Huangya Temple in this city, the master of the temple is Sun Huangya, Taoist Master Sun.
A disciple of Master Changchun, he is almost sixty years old this year and looks like he is thirty or forty years old."
"In addition to these two white people, the leader of the Flying Shark Gang, Xiang Yuntianxiang, who likes to do water business, is also a peerless expert. He once killed a dragon that was causing trouble at sea with one sword. The dragon was more than thirty feet tall.
The captain dispatched a large ship to drag it back and present it to His Majesty. Gang Leader Xiang also gained the reputation of 'Swallowing the Shark'."
"If you like to study miscellaneous studies, Lord Ning Fengning of Huntian Prison is very knowledgeable and knows everything about astronomy and geography. He is also good at divination and calculations and the study of mechanical formations. He can calculate the good and bad luck of the world, and he can create flying trees.
Yuan, he also set up a maze of Bagua... The most rare thing is that he himself is an accomplished master in cultivation, and it is said that he once studied under the disciple of Changchun Master."
"In addition to these few, there may be other masters in our city, but that is beyond the knowledge of a young man like me. In short, if you want to ask for immortality, I think you should try to worship these few as your master.
