Yancheng has ten walls from the inside to the outside, so it is called the Ten-layered City by the locals. Since the entire city spans the South Ridge from north to south, the central inner city relies on the height of the terrain to separate the entire city.
It is divided into two areas, north and south, so it is divided into South City and North City.
Zhang Xiaozu and the others are currently in the North Shicheng area.
The carriage stopped in front of a medical clinic called Quande Medical Clinic. As soon as it stopped, a group of poor people in rags rushed over, kneeling on the ground and shouting one after another, begging and begging.
I hope I can beg for some money or a bite of food.
Most of the people begging here are poor people who are sick or have relatives or friends who have no money to seek medical advice or medicine.
"It's gone, it's gone."
"It's time to leave!"
"If you bump into an honored guest, don't blame us for being rude!"
At the entrance of the hospital, two men dressed as waiters saw that the carriage was surrounded by beggars, so they quickly picked up the sticks standing beside them and stepped forward to drive them away.
"Do you want to consult a doctor first, or just get medicine?" the waiter asked as he led Zhang Xiaozu and others to the medical center. His attitude was average, because Zhang Xiaozu and others were dressed in ordinary clothes, and they looked like they had no money.
of.
"Get the medicine. Call your doctor or shopkeeper to come over and talk." Zhou Jianlai responded.
"Ha." The waiter raised his eyelids and said in a sharp voice: "Our old gentleman and the owner of the restaurant are busy saving lives and healing the wounded, so they don't have time to come over and chat with you. Isn't it just to get medicine? Just tell me."
Zhou Jianlai glanced at him coldly, but did not argue with him, and said: "Two pairs of Luo Tongluo, two pairs of Immortal Bone Powder, two pairs of Rejuvenation Pills, plus two solid Pills of Strengthening the Origin."
"This, this" the waiter half-opened his mouth with an extremely embarrassed expression, because he had never heard of any of the four medicines Zhou Jian mentioned. In fact, he was just a handyman, not even an apprentice. He only knew some treatments for colds and colds.
It's just a common medicine for bruises.
"Sir, we don't have the medicine you grabbed here." An old voice spoke from the side.
"Ah, Mr. Du, you're just in time. These people want to grab some strange medicine." The clerk, grasping for life-saving straws, hurriedly saluted respectfully to the old man who spoke to him, and then with a blushing face, he retreated behind the old man to wait.
"Excuse me, old gentleman, where can I get these medicines?" Zhang Xiaozu asked anxiously.
The old man frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and said: "Now that everything is exhausted, medicinal materials are in extremely short supply, and the medicines this young master wants to grab are all in-demand medicines for cultivation. Among them, the solid Peiyuan Pill is the most popular, and many medical clinics have it in stock.
They’ve been sold out a long time ago. If you want to grab all these medicines, I’m afraid you have to go to the big medical clinic in North Wucheng.”
"Ah? North Wucheng?!" Coachman Zhao Daqiang was startled and said, "It's not easy to enter North Wucheng now."
"Why is it not easy?" Zhang Xiaozu asked.
"You have to pay a tax to enter the city." Zhao Daqiang responded, "You have to pay a poll tax of 100 taels to enter the North Nine City, you have to pay a poll tax of 200 taels to enter the North 8th City from the North 9th City, and you need to pay 200 taels to enter the North 7th City from the North 8th City.
The head tax is 500 taels. To enter the Northern Seventh City, you need to pay a thousand taels of head tax to enter the Northern Sixth City. If you enter the Northern Sixth City, you have to pay a head tax of 2,000 taels to the Northern Fifth City. It is said that the northern four cities and above have been closed. Rich people
I can’t get in either.”
"Do it!" Lu Kaixue bared his teeth and jumped, sarcastically saying: "Your officials in Yancheng are really good at doing business, why don't you build one or two hundred city walls?"
"Who says it isn't?" Zhao Daqiang shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"Let's go." Zhou Jianlai cupped his hands towards the old man, greeted Zhang Xiaopou and others, turned around and walked out, and at the same time told Zhao Daqiang: "Send us to Beijiucheng."
The carriage drove along the bluestone road towards the gate of North Nine Cities.
The atmosphere in the carriage was a bit dull. I thought I would be able to rescue Niu Dawa right away, but in the end my joy was in vain, and I encountered even greater difficulties. The amount of money required to enter the North Five Cities alone was overwhelming.
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Zhou Jian came to look at Zhang Xiaozu, broke the silence and asked, "Have you thought of any solution?"
"No." Zhang Xiaozu had a sad look on his face, lowered his head and replied in a muffled voice. He put his fingers into his hair and held his head, feeling confused and helpless in his heart.
He has lived in Liujia Village since he was a child, wandering around the farmland and mountains. The largest place he has been to is the county town, and only a handful of times. He has never seen the big world, so as soon as he entered a city as big as Yancheng, he was so overwhelmed.
Time feels at a loss.
Suddenly, he raised his head, met Zhou Jianlai's eyes resolutely, and said: "I want to make money to save the eldest son, at all costs. Is there any way for Brother Zhou to make money?"
Zhou Jianlai did not answer him in a hurry, but looked at Lu Kaixue and Old Man Wu and said, "I'm afraid you three can't enter the city with us."
"Yeah." Lu Kaixue nodded sadly. In fact, he was mentally prepared, but when Zhou Jian said it, he still couldn't help but feel a little pinched in his heart, feeling like he was abandoned.
Old man Wu also nodded. For him, being able to enter the city was already an unexpected surprise, and he didn't dare to ask for more.
"I'll leave you two hundred taels of silver, and you can find a way to solve your life problems." Zhou Jianlai said.
"Ah, why is this so embarrassing?" Lu Kaixue couldn't help but be overjoyed. He never expected that Zhou Jianlai would leave money for them.
Zhou Jianlai waved his hand to signal him not to say more, and said: "Two hundred taels of silver, if you save some money, it should be enough for the three of you to live for half a month. Half a month is enough for me and the pawn to solve the problem and settle down here. Then we will
Come out and take you in. Since I, Zhou Jianlai, am your boss, I will do my best to keep you safe."
"Thank you, sir!" Lu Kaixue said gratefully with tears in his eyes.
Old man Wu thanked him with a lump in his throat. If the space in the carriage hadn't been so narrow, he would have taken Xi'er to kowtow to Zhou Jianlai and Zhang Xiaozu.
Lu Kaixue took out the banknotes, picked out one with a face value of two hundred and taels and kept it for himself. He handed the rest to Zhou Jianlai, who motioned to Zhang Xiaopou to put it away.
After Zhang Xiaozu put away the money, Zhou Jianlai looked at him and said: "If you want to earn so much money in a short time, you can only use extraordinary means. You have to be mentally prepared. There is a question that needs you to answer truthfully."
Zhang Xiaozu nodded and said, "Brother Zhou, just ask, I will tell you the truth."
"What is your level of cultivation?" Zhou Jianlai asked.
Zhang Xiaozu blushed and felt that his cultivation level was too low to express, but he still answered truthfully: "I just penetrated the force gate."
"" Zhou Jianlai's eyelids jumped. Although he had been vaguely aware of Zhang Xiaozu's cultivation level, he was still shocked when Zhang Xiaozu said it himself.
First of all, Zhang Xiaozu's Zhanmen was congenitally blocked. At the entrance of Shuanglong Valley, he, the Qin sisters, Duan Baifei and Xu Murong despised him so much that they thought he would never be able to penetrate the Zhanmen in his life, but Zhang Xiaozu slapped them hard in the face.
, he penetrated the force gate in just one month.
Secondly, Zhang Xiaozu, who is only at the Limen realm, is so powerful that he can withstand a full-strength punch from a cultivator at the Sea realm. What kind of terrifying combat power is this?
Zhou Jianlai was extremely curious about what kind of adventure Zhang Xiaozu had in the dark forest, which allowed him to reach the sky in one step? But this was an extremely private question, and he finally suppressed his curiosity and did not ask.
Thinking that Zhang Xiaozu had reached the sky by chance in the Black Forest, but he lost his right arm in the Black Forest, Zhou Jianlai couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly. This is really irritating.
However, I also thought that I came to Yancheng because of losing my right arm, and by chance, I got the guidance of an expert and realized the will of the sword. It can be said that it was a blessing in disguise, and the depression in my heart was instantly wiped away.
I can't help feeling that things in the world are unpredictable and good and bad are unpredictable.
Zhou Jianlai reached out and patted Zhang Xiaopou on the shoulder and said: "Seize the time to rest and adjust your condition to the best. There is a fierce battle waiting for you."
"Okay." Zhang Xiaozu nodded, then closed his eyes to rest, and didn't ask any more questions, because Zhou Jian was right, if you want to make a lot of money in a short period of time, you must use extraordinary means.
What kind of extraordinary measures? Nothing more than robbing homes and other shameful activities.
As long as he can save Niu Dawa, he is willing to do anything.
Half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the gate of North Nine City. Several people greeted each other at the gate and waved goodbye.
Zhang Xiaozu and the others paid three hundred taels of silver, and after undergoing detailed interrogation and examination, they changed to a higher-looking identity token and walked through the long corridor into the city.
There were carriages waiting for work on the road inside the city gate. Zhou Jianlai spent ten taels of silver to hire one and ordered the carriage driver to go straight to the gate of the North Eighth City as quickly as possible. He was anxious because it was almost time to close the city gate.
Clicked.
The driver took the money, smiled happily, and drove straight to the gate of North Eighth City.
In another half an hour, before the city gate closed, the carriage stopped in front of the city gate of North Eighth City.
It was the same as the previous procedure. I paid money, accepted cross-examination and review, changed to a more advanced identity token, and entered Beibacheng.
Zhou Jianlai hired a carriage again. Because the remaining money was not enough to pay the fee to enter Beiqi City, he ordered the carriage driver to go to the largest medical clinic. He planned to grab a few general tonics to replenish Niu Dawa's body first, and then start making money.
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"Don't worry, he is recovering well and there is no fear for his life. It's just because his body is too weak and his Qi pulse is blocked, so he doesn't wake up for a long time." Zhou Jianlai knew that Zhang Xiaozhu was worried about Niu Dawa, so he offered words of comfort to reassure Zhang Xiaozhu.
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"Yeah." Zhang Xiaozu forced a smile on his face.
"Let's go to the hospital first to grab two pairs of medicines to replenish his body and give him some medicine, and then find a place to settle him down. Then the two of us will go out for a big job. With enough money, we'll go straight to the city gate as soon as it opens tomorrow morning.
Run to the five northern cities, grab some medicine and give him some medicine, and he will wake up soon." Zhou Jianlai briefly explained the next plan.
"Everything is up to Brother Zhou's arrangement," Zhang Xiaopou said.
The main palace of Yancheng City is located in the northeastern district of the central city. There is a bamboo forest courtyard on the west side of the palace. The bamboos in the courtyard have long been destroyed by drought and have turned yellow.
At ten o'clock at night, the lights were still on in the small building in the Zhulin Villa. The light came from the open window of the study room.
There was a beautiful woman with exquisite features sitting at the desk. She picked up the slips of paper that the maid had neatly arranged and looked at them one by one. She read quickly, scanning most of the slips at a glance, and then threw them into the trash bin beside her.
paper in the wastebasket.
These notes record the big and small things that happened in Yancheng today. They were collected by her subordinate intelligence departments. No matter how big or small, as long as they feel interesting or strange, they can be recorded and submitted. She will spend an hour every night.
Check out these notes to capture some useful information.
She was holding a note in her hand and was about to throw it away, but she took it back halfway and frowned slightly as she looked at the events recorded on the note.
"Miss, what's wrong?" the maid on the side asked curiously.
"Order to find this man, just in case what he said is true." The woman handed the note to the maid and ordered.
The maid took the note and took a look at it. She couldn't help but burst into laughter and said with a smile: "This person is probably talking nonsense. If he knew where the water was, how could he win it through betting?"
"What if what he said is true? As long as there is any information related to water, we must take it seriously." The woman said in a serious tone.
"Yes. I will order someone to do it now. I promise to bring him to the lady tomorrow." The maid took the order.
