Chapter 128: Entering the city to take a closer look
Guangzhou Mansion looks familiar to Xiang Nan, not that he has been there before, but that it is what a city should look like.
There were people coming and going, riding horses, cars and walking, including men and women, old and young. There were various restaurants and teahouses on the road, where people with different accents were chatting and laughing lively.
What makes people feel that a war is going on in troubled times is the large number of gates and the soldiers and horses passing by from time to time.
"Master, there is someone selling horses here!" Chen Er said in surprise as he ran back from the side of the road.
In the open space behind the roadside restaurants and tea sheds, some have set up sheds to sell various odds and ends, while others have enclosed areas to house cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks. But cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks are nothing, and horses are scarce at this time.
It is valuable, and horses are needed for war. Soldiers and horses from all over the country move in, and the first thing they do is seize and control the racecourse. Official racecourses and merchants' racecourses are no exception.
Where are the merchants who dare to walk with large numbers of horses on the road now?
Xiang Nan followed what Chen Er pointed and saw a fenced-in open space with horses of various sizes tied inside. The quality was not very good, but the key point in this matter was not quality, but quantity.
.
"He said he was a horse dealer from Shandong." Chen Er quickly asked about his origin.
Xiang Nan understood that many places along the road from Shandong to Huainan were in the hands of Mrs. Wu, so there was no difficulty in opening a trade route to protect these merchants, but it was just that at this time...
.
A piece of candied haws was suddenly handed to him. Chen Er smiled and gnawed on one: "There are people selling this. I haven't eaten it in a long time."
Tanghulu is not a rare thing. You can see it in all the streets, alleys, towns and villages in winter. Xiang Nan reached out to take it, but this was the first time he saw it in winter.
He looked up in front of him and saw a salesman carrying candied haws on his back hawking. This kind of small business does not require much investment and earns little. It is a dispensable livelihood. Someone will do it when livelihood is least needed.
This, at this time...
The children's laughter came, and Xiang Nan's eyes fell behind the salesman. A group of four or five-year-old children were jumping around with him. Some were holding candied haws in their hands, and most of them could only look at it with drooling eyes.
Those who got the candied haws were laughing, those who hadn't were looking forward to it, and some were crying because they couldn't eat it.
Because eating, laughing or crying is also a kind of happiness. Xiang Nan urged his horse to walk to the group of children and raised the candied haws in his hand. The red and shining candied haws in his hand attracted the children's attention, and their eyes fell on Xiang Nan.
Nan's face and body.
This young man of seventeen or eighteen years old is good-looking and well-dressed. He is a rich man.
Under the influence of Mrs. Wu, the wealthy people who came in and out of Guangzhou Prefecture were all charitable.
The children's eyes are shining. Will this good-looking brother give them candy?
Xiang Nan raised the candied haws high so that everyone could see enough. He fluttered his sleeves, stretched out his hand, and bit down two in one bite. He chewed them with a squeaking sound, and his thin lips were bright with sugar.
The children cried louder.
Chen Er covered his face and kicked Xiang Nan's horse. The horse was frightened and led Xiang Nan forward and quickly left the place.
The city gate is closer. Apart from the tall city gate, the most conspicuous thing are two tall vats with ladders next to them and fires below. There are also bamboo tubes cooking on the side. From time to time, someone walks over and picks up the bamboo tubes to pick up the porridge from the side of the vat.
The porridge here is scooped out from time to time, but there is a wooden plug that opens and flows out like spring water.
This is the real porridge vat, Mrs. Wu’s porridge vat.
There were more people gathered around the porridge vat, including homeless people and beggars, some dressed in rich clothes, some using the porridge vat as something to fill their stomachs, and some as drinking tea.
Xiang Nan rode his horse and walked carefully to the city gate.
Although there were guards at the city gate, they did not strictly check the people coming in and out. They only looked at the carts full of goods, the burdens they were carrying, the empty-handed people looking around, and the bulging weapons in the waists of the horses.
.... Just looking around, seemingly seeing everything but not seeming to see anything.
Chen Er walked over holding the weapon in his waist and couldn't help but look back: "Are you really not going to check? Just come in casually?"
Nowadays, most city gates are not open, and those that can be opened are subject to time limits. People who come in and out are searched, and no one carrying weapons can pass through.
He didn't believe that the guards couldn't see the weapons he had hidden under his clothes.
Xiang Nan didn't look back or be surprised: "Of course you can enter casually, have you forgotten? Daxia's cities are always accessible casually."
Chen Er was originally a city guard. Hearing this sentence, he was stunned for a moment and thought about it before he remembered it and smiled bitterly. That was before, but now... He looked ahead and entered the city, and the prosperity hit him even more.
Chen Er felt that this Guangzhou Prefecture was different from other places. His eyes fell on an old beggar woman on the street.
The old beggar woman was described as miserable and dull, but she didn't feel desperate. Even if she didn't have a home or relatives, she could go to the city gate to drink porridge from a bamboo tube at any time when she was hungry. Although it wasn't a delicacy, it could keep her alive.
There are shacks specially built for homeless people and beggars outside, which are simple and can keep out the wind and snow.
Chen Er has not found his mother yet. Yanxian County dispersed the people and everyone fled in all directions. Yanxian County now belongs to the rebels. The war has an overall situation. It is impossible for him to lead his troops to Yanxian County just to find his mother.
That would cause many mothers to lose their sons, and then more sons to lose their parents.
He hoped that his mother was still alive. If she was in a place like Guangzhou Prefecture, she would definitely survive until he found her.
He was thinking blankly, and he didn't know how long it took before he realized that he was walking around the city. Xiang Nan was curiously looking at a blacksmith shop. Someone was talking to the blacksmith. The two of them were holding the iron and seemed to be studying the quality.
"....This fight won't work."
"....Then wait a little longer. I heard that Mrs. Wu wants to make a set of fine armor. I guess there will be merchants who will sell good materials."
"....I will also spend money to buy some good materials then."
Things like iron can be transported and bought and sold. The business in Gwangju Prefecture is really huge. How attractive is this? Is it a cornucopia?
Chen Er poked him: "Master, what are you doing?"
Xiang Nan hummed and looked away. The blacksmith shop over there stopped talking about this, and started hammering in full swing.
Chen Er was unhappy: "Why are you wandering around? You didn't go home and secretly came here by yourself. Why didn't you go see Mrs. Wu?"
Xiang Nan said: "I have also met Mrs. Wu."
Chen Er stared, not understanding.
Xiang Nan stretched out his hand and pointed around: "On this road, in this city, Mrs. Wu is everywhere, and everyone is talking about Mrs. Wu."
That woman, although I haven't met her yet, is already in front of my eyes.
She compassionately provides for all people, she is luxurious and loves rare treasures, she is virtuous and virtuous, she supports her mother-in-law behind closed doors, and she is brave and dares to personally lead the army in battle.
Chen Er still doesn't understand, so what if everyone is talking about her?
"I want to confirm who I should see." Xiang Nan smiled slightly: "Everyone is talking about Mrs. Wu, not her husband Wu Ya'er, so all this was achieved by Mrs. Wu. She