The Golden Age Chapter 34: Life is like an ant
lnmao.org, the fastest update of the latest chapters of Sun Moon Fenghua!
When the first ray of dawn fell, Lu Hong had already taken Wen Budao out of the turtle city.
Out of the turtle city, the wild is vast.
The whole area of Xiling is actually a long and narrow corridor, starting from Jiayuguan in the east and Kunlunguan in the west. In this long and narrow corridor, from east to west are Zhen County, Yuwen County, and Fan County in turn. The three hereditary princes are Changxin Hou, Changyi Hou and Changling Hou.
Among the three times, the Changyi Hou Yuwen clan has the widest control and the strongest strength, so Xiling Duhu Mansion was established in Fengganfu City in Yuwen County.
Fenggan Mansion City is the largest city in Xiling, with the most populous population, which is much more prosperous than Turtle City.
It is nearly two hundred miles from Guicheng to Fenggan Mansion. It takes three days to reach it on foot.
Out of the turtle city, looking to the north, you can clearly see the outline of the Changling Mountains. The sun rises and the lush Changling Mountains become clearer, like a giant dragon lying prone on the vast land.
It is not uncommon for prisoners to be escorted in Xiling. Travelers who saw officials escorting prisoners on the way also avoided them from a distance to avoid bad luck.
According to the rule, when escorting prisoners from Turtle City, they will leave early in the morning, because between the two cities, there will be a post every eighty miles. From morning to evening, if you don’t delay, you can Rush to settle down at the inn.
Along the way, there are also villages and towns. If travelers are unlucky, they will also go to the town’s inn.
However, there are many rules for escorting prisoners, one of which is not to stay in the inn.
Firstly, because the inn itself is unwilling to have prisoners enter the hotel, fearing that it will bring bad luck. Secondly, there are many people in the inn, and the prisoners will be in trouble if they move in.
Because of this, officials and chauffeurs are on the way, and there are inns for rest.
There are a lot of pedestrians on the official roads, going east and west, in an endless stream. Since the saint’s decree to trade with the Wutuo people, the merchants of the Tang Dynasty who are good at doing business but can endure the hardships It has become the most beautiful scenery in Xiling Corridor.
Although there is a middleman in Xiling, Datang merchants can put the goods in the transit trading bank, but in this way, the profit obtained is at least 50% lower.
There are many merchants who want to go directly out of Kunlun Pass to trade with the Wutuo people or even more distant countries in the Western Regions, but the risk is too high along the way, and it is very likely that there will be no return, so some small merchants can only buy goods from within the pass , And then transported to Xiling to sell to merchants in Xiling, and then transferred to merchants from the west by Xiling merchants.
After the opening of commerce, although many merchants from the west came to Xiling with goods, neither Datang nor merchants from the west could directly trade in Xiling. The goods must be handed over to the local Xiling commercial firm, and Xiling Commercial Bank completed the transaction. trading.
This was originally meant to protect the interests of local merchants in Xiling. However, to obtain this right, the taxes that they have to bear are naturally extremely heavy, and eventually a large amount of money falls into the hands of the three main gates.
If this rule is violated, Datang merchants and merchants in the west will trade privately. Once discovered, not only will these merchants' trading rights in Xiling be cancelled, and serious cases will even be imprisoned.
If you want to get rid of the exploitation of Xiling middlemen, the most direct way is to take the goods directly out of the customs and trade directly with the west. Although the journey is dangerous, the profits obtained are huge and abnormal.
But not all merchants have such courage and strength.
Fortunately, some powerful Datang merchants united to form a large commercial firm that specializes in trading with the west, hired brave men to protect the goods, and follow the merchants to go out.
In the early years, there were many such businesses. There were countless caravans heading west in the Xiling Corridor almost every day. The prosperity was abnormal, but behind the prosperity, there was a huge danger.
The land of Xiling is not rich and prosperous. For the people at the bottom, the prosperity of commerce did not improve their lives. The imperial decree could not be effectively implemented in Xiling, and Xiling’s clans only considered the interests of the wealthy and gentry. Exploiting the people, this makes the lives of the people in Xiling go from bad to worse. Once a natural disaster occurs, no hundreds of people will fall into poverty.
There are fierce husbands in the bitter cold land. The people of Xiling are already very brave. Many people have no choice but to occupy the mountain as the king, and the caravan in the Xiling corridor has become the biggest fat in their mouths.
Many commercial firms’ caravans were looted and large firms were able to sustain them. However, small firms often suffered once or twice, and then no longer have the strength to continue. Although the three gate lords later organized manpower to protect the Western Regions The government suppressed many pirates together, but most of the trading houses have been completely disbanded, and there are not many trading houses that have survived until now.
Moreover, there is competition among firms. Big fish eat small fish. Powerful firms merge with small firms. Now those firms that have the strength to get out of Kunlun Pass can count on ten fingers.
On the way Lu Hong and his entourage met some casual businessmen, he hadn't seen the team of major business firms.
He seldom talked on the way, but he was in a very good mood. He often joked with the two government officials, saying nothing more than some funny things happened in the casino.
In the evening, I arrived at the inn.
In fact, the post between the two cities is very simple, with three houses in a row, surrounded by a yard, on both corners, a kitchen and a wood house, and the cottage and wood house are all in one place.
Only one person stays at the station, except for the occasional staff who escorted the prisoners, it is really useless in normal times.
In the event of an emergency, a fast horse, running non-stop day and night, is enough to rush from Guicheng to Fengganfucheng in one day, without the use of an inn at all.
Lu Hong arranged Wen Budao behind a house on the left, and asked the postman to prepare some meals at will. In fact, there is no good food supply in the post, but it can take care of it.
I ordered a few bowls of noodles, each with a bowl of mutton soup, and a basket of dried buns. After eating the noodles, they would eat buns with mutton soup, enough to fill the stomach.
Lu Hong brought wine, poured a big bowl for both of the two yamen, and called the staff who was on duty to come over to have a drink together. The staff seldom had someone to accompany him to drink, so naturally he couldn't ask for it.
After dinner, a government official got up and said to the other person: "I will stay in the middle of the night. You can go to bed first. I will call you in the middle of the night."
To **** a prisoner, it is natural to send the prisoner to Fenggan Mansion safely and securely. If he escapes halfway, it is not a small crime.
Therefore, it is naturally essential to stay in a modest house in rotation at night.
Looking at the appearance of the two government officials both drunk, Lu Hong waved his hand and smiled: "No matter, you are tired after a day of walking, and you can't drink enough. I will watch the middle of the night. You will rest first, and then come to change in the middle of the night. Me." I got up and took the leftover dry buns, and asked the postman to bring a bowl of mutton soup to Wen Budao.
Seeing that Lu Hong was so righteous, the government officials had nothing to say. The spirits were over, and when they went to bed, they fell asleep.
Lu Hong took the dried bun and came to Wenbudao's house. He saw that Wen Budao was sitting on the simple wooden bed with his shackles and closed his eyes and rested. He smiled slightly. He put the dried bun on the table and said with a smile: "Boss Wen, the conditions here are simple, don't blame you, there is nothing delicious, you will only have some."
Wen Budao opened his eyes and saw that Lu Hong had already sat down at the table, he also said with a smile: "There are on the road
Take care of it. "
At this time, the postman came over with a bowl of lamb soup, Lu Hong reached out and took it, and said to the postman: "You should rest early, here is me."
The postman arched his hands and stepped back.
Lu Hong just got up and brought the lamb soup to Wen Budao, and brought the soup bowl close to Wen Budao's mouth.
Starting from Guicheng early in the morning, I also ate a little bit of dry food at noon. It’s not polite to be gentle. After drinking two big mouthfuls, Lu Hong took the dried bun and dipped it in the lamb soup. Mouth.
"Catch the head, this thing is uncomfortable to wear." Wen Budao raised his hand, looked at the shackles and said: "Why don't you help me untie it, I will do it myself, don't bother you to feed."
Lu Hong put the soup bowl back on the table, shook his head and smiled: "The duty is, you must send you to Fenggan Mansion completely, and you can't make a mistake on the way, otherwise the errand will be small, I'm afraid I myself I'm going to be in prison too."
"Head catching thought I could run?" Wen Budao smiled: "I have such a big industry in Turtle City, and I will get it back sooner or later. If I ran away at this time, I would be a fugitive. I want to return to Turtle. The city can be more difficult."
Lu Hong nodded slightly: "Boss Wen is definitely a rich man in Turtle City. Your daily income, I am a small catch, and I will not earn it for a lifetime."
"Everyone has their own difficulties." Wen Budao sighed: "I earn a lot, and the risk is also great. Look, I am not a prisoner of the ranks now? In fact, I envy head catching. Take the salary, raise the family and raise children, and He Meimei, hey...!"
"Boss Wen envy me, and I envy Boss Wen." Lu Hong smiled and said, "You can get tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, and you can have whatever you want. Unlike me, there is a mother on the top and two on the bottom. The children are already in their forties, and they can only count on the monthly salary to survive. The family wants to eat something good, but they have to hesitate again and again. As for the new clothes, Boss Wen may not know. My wife I haven't added any clothes for three years."
Wen Budao immediately said: "If I can catch my head, when my business is over, after returning to Turtle City, I will pack all the clothes of your family throughout the year."
"Like a local rich man giving alms to a beggar?" Lu Hong laughed: "Perhaps in the eyes of the rich, people like us are no different from beggars."
Wen Budao frowned slightly, and said: "Head catching knows that Wen does not mean that."
Lu Hong sighed and said, "I can at least eat yamen food in my life. What will happen to my children when they grow up? Xiling is nominally the territory of Datang, but Xiling people cannot take the exam. , This cuts off the way to enter the official career, Xiling is the Xiling of those powerful families, the people will never make their heads." Shaking his head, smiled bitterly: "The child grows up, if you are lucky, maybe it depends on me. His old face allows him to enter the yamen as a errand. If he is out of luck, he can only serve as slaves to the big family. If one day the Wutuo people come back and are recruited to the front line to fight, they may die there, Boss Wen , Why do you say that the lives of people like us are so humble?"
----------------------------------------------- ---------
ps: Thanks to every good friend who voted for the monthly pass, and thank you cony_mix, Ruohua Xiaoyuluo 3000, book friends 54916216, book friends 56688635, book friends 58442249 and other good friends for their support.
Desert works and related information about Fanwai will be added in the public account [Jinyi Desert]. You can pay attention to it. In addition, please add this book to your bookshelf for easy reading!