The road Su Ren and the others took was the shortest and most difficult. The west of the Taihang Mountains can be regarded as the northwest. The windy sand in the northwest has existed since ancient times. It was not formed by cutting down too many trees and causing soil erosion in later generations. The Loess Plateau was formed from the ancient times.
Where the west is blown by the wind, where can it be better to go east? But fortunately there is the Yellow River here. The Yellow River almost passes through the middle of the Loess Plateau, dividing it into two halves, with Hedong on one side and Beidi on the other.
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The place where Su Ren and the others are walking now is Hedong. If they go further north, they will reach Taiyuan. Taiyuan is a large county with eighteen counties under its jurisdiction. To the north is Yanmen and to the south is Hedong. It is regarded as the gateway to the northern part of the Han Dynasty. Over the years, because of Yanmen Pass,
After resisting the Huns' cavalry, the Taiyuan people were not ravaged, and their lives were relatively good.
Jinyang is the seat of Taiyuan's administrative office. From a distance, the city wall looks more towering than Chang'an. It is necessary to build a strong city here because the Huns are very smart and flexible and will never station large armies on the border of the Han Dynasty.
Attack. With a border that is thousands of miles long, you can always find loopholes in defense. Before Li Guang and Cheng Bushi came to Yanmen, this was the place they often visited.
Nowadays, Jinyang is much more prosperous because of the protection of Yanmen. From far away, you can see people coming and going, coming in and out. Su Ren also found that people coming out always bring their families with them.
There are always big and small bags coming in.
If Liu Che's seclusion policy has worked, Su Ren can tell you clearly that it did work at the court level, but how can smuggling among the people or privately be banned? Both the Huns and the Han people need it.
When exchanging goods, the Han people's grain, salt, ironware, and even silk and porcelain were the Xiongnu's favorites. The Han people liked the Xiongnu's horses, animal skins, and falcons.
On the way here, Su Ren met a lot of merchants carrying goods, some were blatant and some were covert, but from the actions of those people, it was clear that they were definitely merchants.
Standing at the gate of Jinyang City, Su Ren suddenly didn't want to go in. According to the laws or rules of the Han Dynasty, taxes were required for entering and exiting the city. The tax that their group had to pay on all the people, horses, and goods combined was not a small sum.
Moreover, the tax in Jinyang is higher than that in Chang'an City, at least ten yuan per person, which is the price of two stones of grain, enough to feed a family of five for a long time.
Ying Guangji poked Su Ren's finger: "Let's go! Didn't you say you should go to the city to rest? If I stay in the camp again, I will go crazy. You can't even smell the stench on my body!"
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Don't you feel it?" Ying Guangji put his head on Su Ren and sniffed hard: "Hey! Why don't you smell bad?"
"I take a shower every day. Who is like you? You haven't taken a shower since you left Chang'an, right?"
"You wash every day? When?"
"Nonsense, before going to bed of course!"
"You, you, you..." Ying Guangji pointed at Su Ren and gritted his teeth: "You actually boiled water to take a bath without telling me. I thought..."
"What's so weird about taking a bath! Oh...!" Su Ren said with an expression of sudden realization: "By the way, those people on the plateau rarely take baths. You must be imitating them. Keep going, you will soon become a plateau person!
"
No longer paying attention to Su Ren, Ying Guangji rode towards the city, completely ignoring whether Su Ren would follow.
Han Qing shook his head and smiled bitterly, looking at Ying Guangji's back: "This Young Master Ying is really interesting."
Su Ren said coldly: "Not only is he interesting, this man has great ambitions. If he had been born a hundred years earlier, Qin might not have been destroyed! Don't be deceived by his appearance. It's better not to tell him many things."
Han Qing nodded solemnly.
Ying Guangji had already entered, so Su Ren naturally had no reason to stand outside the city. Isn't it just the tax for entering the city? It was still affordable. When he entered Jinyang City, Su Ren regretted it. This is clearly a military city. Soldiers in military uniforms can be seen everywhere in the city. Some are walking through the city ostentatiously, some are drunken and playful, and some are even running rampant, with no regard for the common people.
But these soldiers were very discerning and knew who could be bullied and who could not be bullied. They were hateful to the people, but surprisingly good to the merchants. Although they were a little offensive in their words, none of them took action. If you think about it, you can understand. There is no military pay, so how can these frontier troops survive? Naturally, they collude with the merchants and use their huge power to seek some profits. This is why smuggling is banned repeatedly.
Su Ren's cavalry was huge, and there were thirty guards. Not to mention that no one would dare to mess with such a scale. Even bandits in the mountains and forests had to weigh it. Wherever they passed, everyone was looking at Su Ren's cavalry. .I could vaguely hear someone talking, but I didn’t know that they were relatives of that high official. Su Ren just laughed and didn’t bother to pay attention to it.
There is also Cuixiang Tower in Jinyang, which is much simpler than the one in Chang'an. Knowing that this is a place for merchants to stay, there are many guest rooms and livestock sheds in the backyard of Cuixiang Tower. Su Ren did not identify himself, and the clerk from Cuixiang Tower came. Such a large group of cavalry came forward with a smile and said: "Thank you, sir! Please come in!"
Huo Jin raised his head and saw the words Cuixianglou and smiled: "Where is your shopkeeper? Let him come out!"
The waiter still had a smile on his face: "My lord, please forgive me, but the shopkeeper is busy in the backyard. Everyone, please go in first. I'll serve some tea to you, and then I'll go ask the shopkeeper, okay?"
Hawking wanted to be a fox standing in front of a tiger, but unfortunately the guy's answer was just right. He neither offended Hawking nor called someone immediately, leaving Hawking nowhere to vent his anger.
The shopkeeper, Lao Li, naturally knew Su Ren. Su Ren, a border town like Jinyang, would not let an outsider take care of him casually. Regardless of the surprise of the waiter and everyone, Lao Li knelt down in front of Su Ren with a bang and said with tears in his eyes: "Sir! Really. It’s sir! It’s really an eye-opener for the old man to be able to see sir in his lifetime!”
Lao Li was very excited. Who in Jinyang knew Lao Li? He was not only the shopkeeper of Cuixianglou, the largest wine shop in Jinyang, but also a capable person who could talk to all parties in Jinyang. No matter how difficult the matter was, as long as Lao Li said it If you say anything, then keep your heart in your stomach. Even the Taiyuan prefect greeted Lao Li with a smile and sometimes offered him a glass of wine. Such a person actually treated a young man in his twenties Who was the young man who performed this great gift? Everyone couldn't help but start guessing.
Hawking quickly pulled Old Li up: "Uncle Li, look at me, everyone is looking at you!"
Old Li turned around and looked around: "What's wrong with me? Shouldn't I give you a big gift? The old man is not you. You have been with him all day long. The old man hasn't seen him in five years!"
"Brother doesn't want to be public!" Hawking whispered in Lao Li's ear.
When Lao Li heard this, he immediately reacted: "Yes, yes, the old man is confused! Come on, sir, please go to the backyard, there are so many people talking here!"
Old Li was still very humble, always bending down, and he was ten thousand times more respectful than to the prefect. Everyone watched Old Li take Su Ren and others to the backyard, and turned around with another round of speculation. A well-informed Chang'an merchant would naturally be able to
With one word, the secret was revealed. Only then did the others suddenly realize, and their eyes were full of envy.
There is only one person sitting at a table near the innermost corner. This person has come in and sat here since Cuixiang Building opened in the morning. He wants to serve a few side dishes and drinks sips. He enjoys it and has been working here for three to five days.
.Sometimes I sit for a whole day, from morning to night.
This person has a good drinking capacity. Apart from two plates of food, the rest of the table is filled with two taels of small wine bottles. This is the rule of Cuixianglou. Serving wine to guests also depends on the person. If there are more people, the bigger the jar, the more people.
Just use a hip flask as little as possible. If a person only needs a small hip flask of 2 ounces, it is enough for most people to have 2 ounces or 2 pot heads. Too many will be a waste of time.
This man was wearing black clothes, with an unshaven face, the hair on his head stuck together, and a wine burp. In addition to the smell of wine, he also smelled bad. Such people are very common in Jinyang. You don’t need to guess to know that he is coming down the mountain.
He was looking for a fat sheep. Since the two had nothing to do with each other, Lao Li didn't let the waiter disturb the man and just let him sit there.
The man didn't even look at the bustle inside the store, and just drank. When Su Ren went to the backyard, the man drank the last glass of wine, and a few copper coins came out of his arms, and he threw them on the table.
, stood up unsteadily and walked out. He drank a lot, and almost fell down as soon as he got up. If the waiter hadn't caught him with his sharp eyes, he would have bumped into someone else.
After sending the man out of the house, watching the man staggering into the crowd, the clerk shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I don't know which hilltop company he is from, but he sent a drunkard down to do something!"
When Lao Li learned that Su Ren was coming, he tidied up a small courtyard early. This gentleman was a bit of a germophobe, so everything was new. Even the tables and chairs had a woody smell. The yard was very clean.
It's clean, but unfortunately Taiyuan is colder than Chang'an. There is neither greenery nor flowers, making it look a bit desolate.
"Sir, wait a moment, I'm going to make tea for you! The old man specially got some new tea from Shu years ago, but no one drank it!"
"Lao Li, don't worry, let's talk and let them do these things!"
Shi Bao was the cleverest and quickly pulled Old Li to sit down. Scholar Huo Jin also called Uncle Li: "Uncle Li, just talk to Mr. Li, and I will make tea for you!"
Lao Li didn't want to leave at all, so he agreed with a smile.
"Old Li, has anyone looked for me in the past few days?" Su Ren got straight to the point.
Lao Li quickly said: "Yesterday, a man came to see you, sir. I originally planned to keep him here, but the man seemed to have something to do and left again. There is no one else but him."
Su Ren breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems he arrived first! In this way, I will stay in Jinyang for a few days, and if that person comes again, I will bring him over."
"Here, the old man took note of it!"
Speaking of the situation in Jinyang, Su Ren could see that Lao Li had done a lot of work and was very familiar with the situation in Jinyang and even Yanmen. Su Ren had been talking to Lao Li all afternoon. This is Cuixiang
The building was their own territory, so the guards naturally relaxed their vigilance. No one noticed a person hiding in the locust tree in the corner, and they would burp from time to time. (To be continued)
