Riding a horse and following Hua Yue, Zhou Jun looked towards the former.
In the third year of Tianbao, when Zhou Jun first saw Hua Yue, he was only fourteen years old.
Today, Tianbao has been in his twelfth year and Hua Yue is twenty-three years old.
In Zhou Jun's view, Hua Yue is no longer the thin maid in his memories. She not only has the characteristics of the ancient Arab Semites, but also has the blood of the Yuezhi people. As a mixed race, she has a beautiful face and eyes.
Resolute and heroic, women are at their most beautiful age right now, and their whole person is as eye-catching as a blooming flower.
As if feeling the gaze behind her, Huayue turned around, puffed up her chest and asked, "Compared with when Erlang left, Yan Qi has changed a lot?"
Zhou Jun glanced at Hua Yue's bulging chest, nodded and said, "It has changed so much. I almost couldn't recognize it when I first saw it."
Huayue said with a smile: "In the past few years, I have tried my best just to see the surprised expression on Erlang's return."
When Zhou Jun heard this, he smiled and looked towards the city.
Ever since I stepped into the city gate, there was a prosperous scene everywhere. Pedestrians were walking around on the street, and large cars were passing through the streets.
The shops on both sides of the road include traditional Chinese medicine clinics, silk and satin shops, wineries and restaurants opened by Han people, as well as spice shops, wheat flour shops, livestock markets, etc. opened by Hu people.
Buildings of different styles, both Chinese and Western, are scattered throughout the city. Residents of different races and languages live happily in the same world.
Zhou Jun asked Huayue: "How big is Yanqi City now?"
Hua Yue: "Yanqi City covers an area of about 15,000 acres (10 square kilometers), which is about one-eighth the size of Chang'an City and slightly smaller than Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The city is divided into six
The areas are respectively the North Outer City, the South Outer City, the East Outer City, the West Outer City, as well as the North Inner City and the South Inner City. From a bird's-eye view from above, the urban layout is somewhat similar to a slightly smaller "日" character.
Embed and enlarge the center of the word "田"."
Zhou Jun thought about it carefully and probably had an intuitive impression of the layout of Yanqi City.
Huayue added: "The four districts of the outer city, the southeast, northwest and northwest are where the residents of the city live, work and play. As for the inner city, there are many buildings built in the south inner city. In terms of functions, they are similar to the weapons inspection.
Supervisor, Imperial College, etc. And the North Inner City is the spire-like fortress in the city, which is the residence of Yanqi City, where city defense, military affairs, people's livelihood, commerce, laws and other meetings are all held there."
Walking further along the street, Zhou Jun saw a temple facing the street. There was a lot of incense and a cloud of believers. In the main hall, what was enshrined was not the Buddha and the Taoist monks, but a Ying with wings on his back and golden claws stepping on the clouds.
Dragon statue.
Hua Yue Jian Zhou Jun looked at it carefully and said from the side: "The hidden door cracked the mechanism of the Seven Star Dragon Cave, widened the corridor, and reopened the Yinglong Temple. Many people went to the temple and saw the mystery inside.
After hearing about Yinglong's supernatural powers, they gave up their original beliefs and worshiped Yinglong one after another. The Yinglong Temple in Yanqi City was also built after donations from believers."
Zhou Jun: "Approximately how many Yinglong believers are there in the city?"
Huayue thought for a while and replied: "Probably one-fifth of the total population."
Zhou Jun: “What about the religions other people believe in?”
Hua Yue: "The religions in Yanqi City are quite mixed. In addition to Yinglong Sect, there are also Buddhism, Dashi Sect, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Sutra Sect, etc. The branch with the most followers is Buddhism, followed by
Zoroastrianism, and then Yinglong Cult’s turn.”
Zhou Jun thought for a moment and asked: "Who are the Buddhists in the city?"
Hua Yue: "Most of them are natives of Yanqi. For example, Long Yaoli, the envoy of Yanqi, is a Buddhist."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun nodded first, and then asked: "In recent years, there have been rebellions in various towns in Anxi. Has it ever happened in Yanqi Town?"
Hua Yue: "At the beginning of last year, there was an incident. On the grounds of self-reliance, thousands of mobs demanded that the Yanqi garrison entrusted by the Tang Emperor should be dismissed and someone else should be elected. Long Yaoli's guards went to suppress it and found that
These mobs not only had weapons, but also hid armor and powerful crossbows. They also marched in a well-organized formation and took advantage of the location. Therefore, after several confrontations, they could not get any advantage. Long Yaoli had no choice but to ask me for help.
."
Zhou Jun: "The mob demanded the removal of Long Yaoli, but it was you who finally took action to stop the unrest?"
Huayue: "Yes, I first found the Hidden Gate, mobilized two hundred experts, and then invited Dashi reinforcements from Dashi leader Jabir..."
Zhou Jun interrupted Huayue: "Jabir? Is that the scribe of the Great Mosque of Fabis, that famous alchemist?"
Huayue nodded.
Zhou Jun breathed a long sigh of relief. Jaber was proficient in chemistry and was known in history as the "Father of Modern Chemistry".
At first I was worried that he would leave Yanqi and return to Dashi, but unexpectedly he ended up staying.
Hua Yue rolled her eyes at Zhou Jun: "I was talking about Yanqi's rebellion just now, do you want to listen to me anymore?"
Zhou Jun came back to his senses and said to Huayue: "Keep talking, keep talking."
Hua Yue: "Jabir not only lent me the Dashi Order, but also equipped the soldiers with a batch of newly invented improved Greek fires. As the commander, I led Yinmen, the Dashi soldiers and the Yanqi Mansion Guards,
There was a fight with the mob in the city."
"To my surprise, these mobs were well-trained and did not look like civilians at all when fighting. Moreover, they were not afraid of death and even dared to risk their lives and launch a suicidal charge."
"In the end, I had no choice but to use Jabir's improved Greek fire to minimize the damage."
Zhou Jun: "In the end, you won?"
Huayue: "We won, but the price was very heavy."
Zhou Jun: "Tragic?"
Huayue: "I originally thought that Jabir's improved version of Greek Fire was only more powerful, so I greatly underestimated its destructive ability. When it was actually used, the fire caused by those weapons almost burned down half a house.
city."
Zhou Jun: "How could this happen?"
Huayue: "Afterwards, I asked Jabir, and he said that on the basis of the original Greek fire, naphtha, charcoal powder, rosin, alkali, saccharin and other ingredients were added, which made the fire intense and spread faster.
And it’s hard to extinguish.”
Zhou Jun: "Is this kind of weapon still being manufactured?"
Hua Yue: "The last time we fought against the rebellion, almost all of Jaber's inventory was used up. Now, although they are also being produced in the weapons workshop in the south inner city, the synthesis is relatively difficult and the output is very low."
While the two were talking, they came to the gate of the inner city.
Compared with the outer city, the inner city's defense is more stringent.
After passing several sentries and checking documents several times, Zhou Jun finally entered the South Inner City with Hua Yue leading the way.
The first thing that caught Zhou Jun's eyes was the numerous weapons shops that were smoking and brightly lit.
Hua Yue said as he walked: "Yanqi City collected all the skilled craftsmen nearby and moved them here to be responsible for the manufacture of weapons. Now, the weapons and armor produced here every month are enough to arm the army.
A heavy infantry hundred."
Zhou Jun followed Hua Yue through the weapons workshop and walked deeper into the inner city.
Passing through an arch, Huayue pointed to the Dashi architectural style courtyard in front and said: "That is the Wisdom Courtyard in Yanqi City, also commonly known as the Scholars Courtyard. It mainly conducts academic research and the invention of new tools, and Jabir is there."
Zhou Jun adjusted his clothes and said to Hua Yue: "Let's go, take me to see the Dashi leader, I want to ask him for advice on something."