Now tens of thousands of troops loyal to the royal family have assembled at the border of Jizhou, but the attack has not yet officially started. Therefore, except for the strict control of entering and exiting the city, everything in Jizhou City is operating normally.
"what is it call?!"
"what for?!"
"What's on the carriage?! Open it!"
"..."
At the south city gate, groups of soldiers were patrolling, and several city guards were strictly checking the identities of everyone entering the city.
However, when several more carriages drove up to the city gate from a short distance away, the soldiers immediately changed their faces.
"Mr. Xu, you are back."
"Um."
The young man riding on the tall horse nodded and said coldly: "Get out of the way."
"Yes Yes."
The soldiers did not dare to say anything. While shouting "let's go", they secretly glanced at the black carriage following the man on horseback.
The curtains were so tight that you couldn't see what was going on inside the car.
But since Mr. Xu personally escorted him back, he must be some big shot.
"Da da da~ da da da~"
The sound of horse hooves gradually sounded, and the carriage drove into the city gate and soon disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Boss, who did Mr. Xu bring back?"
A soldier came up to the little leader who had just spoken and asked in a low voice: "Why don't we check it out? What if it's a trick of the imperial court..."
"Shut up! You don't want your life?!"
"I......"
"Remember! From now on, whenever we see Mr. Xu, we will let him go!"
"yes......"
...
A quarter of an hour later, Ruyi Inn.
"Brother Wei, Master Qin, my mother is hosting a banquet at my house tonight, and I beg you two to honor it."
In the luxuriously decorated guest room, the young man who had just been riding a horse was drinking tea with Wei Changtian and Qin Zhengqiu.
He is the eldest son of the Xu family and the biological son of Wei Yanyu, Xu Chengwen.
According to legend, Mr. Xu was a man of both civil and military skills and extraordinary intelligence. Now Wei Changtian found out that this was indeed the case when he met the real person.
In all aspects, he is only a little worse than himself.
"Mrs. Wei, you're welcome."
With a smile and a polite word, Wei Changtian nodded and said, "We will definitely go to the appointment on time tonight."
"That's good... You two have come a long way and are tired of traveling and traveling, so I won't bother you any more."
Xu Chengwen stood up, cupped his hands, and took out a token from his arms.
"This inn belongs to the Xu family. I have invited all the other guests to other places. You two can stay here without worries."
"If you want to wander around Jizhou City, you can bring this token with you, and the patrolling soldiers will not do more checks."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Xu."
Wei Changtian also stood up and reached out to take the token: "Then we won't delay your work. We'll see you later."
"Okay, see you later."
Finally, he bowed respectfully to Qin Zhengqiu, and Xu Chengwen turned around and walked out of the room.
Wei Changtian waited until the sound of getting smaller and smaller footsteps disappeared completely, then turned to ask Qin Zhengqiu.
"Grandpa, what do you think of Xu Chengwen?"
"He speaks and handles everything well, and his cultivation is also not weak..."
Qin Zhengqiu first gave a very high evaluation, and then shook his head.
"But it's not as good as your grandson."
"..."
Good guy, you are so complimentary that I feel embarrassed!
"cough."
With a slightly embarrassed cough, Wei Changtian did not continue the topic, but called Zhang San in.
"Take someone to check everything inside and outside the inn, including the innkeeper and the waiters. Pay more attention."
"Also, go check out the alleyways around here and study the shortest route out of the city."
"Yes, I'll go right away..."
Zhang San nodded: "Master, do you have any other instructions?"
"Um...where is Yujia now?"
"Miss You is in her room."
"Okay, let her wait for me in the main hall..."
Wei Changtian and Qin Zhengqiu looked at each other.
"Just say I want to go out for a walk with her."
...
Jizhou is located in the west of the Central Plains of Daning, bordering Tanzhou to the east, Yuanzhou to the west, and the territory of Dafeng further to the west.
Unlike Shuzhou, which has a warm and humid climate, Jizhou is dry and rainless all year round, with barren land. Logically speaking, it should be considered a desolate land.
But in fact, Jizhou is one of the richest state capitals in Daning.
The reason for such "abnormal" achievements is entirely dependent on Jizhou's prosperous and complete commerce.
"Hebei merchants" all over the country transported specialties from various places to other states through horse-drawn carriages, carts, and even poles to earn the price difference, completing primitive capital accumulation.
After getting money, the Hebei merchants did not rest on their laurels. They continued to expand their business and at the same time branched out into more profitable industries.
Banks, bodyguards, salt and iron, military supplies... even once completely controlled the trade route with Dafeng, and both parties made a lot of money.
Of course, if you want to do these businesses, it is useless to have money alone; you must also have official protection.
Then this brings us to another factor why Hebei merchants are successful - grouping.
They know very well that the strength of one person is never as powerful as a group of people, so whenever they go out, fellow villagers help each other whenever they can and work together as one.
So when the Xu and Wei families joined forces and entered the court, the living environment of the Hebei merchants improved qualitatively.
And this is also the reason why most people in Jizhou are willing to stand on the same front with them when the Xu family is rebelling.
"I didn't expect that Jizhou City would still be so lively, as if I didn't know that the imperial army was already watching Peizhou..."
Walking on the busy street, You Jia sighed in a low voice: "And the goods are a bit too complete. Such a small market can have specialties from all over the world."
"Um."
Wei Changtian looked around and nodded: "It is said that people in Jizhou are good at doing business, and now it seems so. By the way, have you been to Jizhou before?"
"came......"
Youjia responded, but her expression was a little unnatural.
Wei Changtian didn't notice anything unusual about her and asked casually: "Are you here because of the Dragon Guard's mission?"
"Well, I came here a few years ago..."
You Jia suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence, and after a long while, she softly begged under Wei Changtian's strange eyes.
"Sir, let's not talk about this anymore, okay?"
"......good."
Wei Changtian instantly realized that Youjia didn't want to recall the past, and his tone paused.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"..."
You Jia said nothing, lowered her head and wanted to grab Wei Changtian's hand.
However, the shame of holding hands in the street in this era was almost the same as kissing wet in the street in the previous life, so she finally retracted her hand and just moved her body towards Wei Changtian.
In the bustling crowd, the raised corners of their clothes were slightly entangled, and the contrast between black and white was actually a bit pleasing to the eye.
Not to mention Wei Changtian's handsome figure, Yushu Linfeng, after all, You Jia was also the figure who once caused a group of men in the Xuanjing Division to "fight against each other".
Although both of them were wearing veils that obscured their faces, their outstanding temperament alone was enough to make passers-by dumbfounded.
Being stared at by so many people was a bit uncomfortable, so Wei Changtian quickened his pace, trying to walk through the bustling city quickly.
But just at this moment, a slightly obscene voice suddenly sounded from the roadside.