In the only inn in the small town, Deshan met a group of Pangu tribe herdsmen. Fortunately, those people were not very familiar with Deshan. He Qizhou quickly took Xiaoxue into the small room. Outside the room, Deshan and those people were full.
I talked for more than an hour, all about the winter market.
He Qizhou heard clearly that this year the drought has become more severe and there is insufficient pasture. The herdsmen have mostly slaughtered the cattle and sheep that cannot be fed, so the prices of sheepskins and dried meat have dropped sharply. In addition, because the road to Southern Qi is more difficult and dangerous, the Salt Gang has reduced its output.
Tongwan City has already stocked up a lot of salt in batches of goods, and the price of salt is less than half of previous years. Many families in the Pangu tribe are willing to take it home instead of selling the salt.
For example, the family that Tokuyama met today has only sold half of it, and is preparing to sell the other half in the spring. Those people also advised Tokuyama that if he can survive it, he should not even sell the skin and meat, but go back early, and they are willing to borrow the money.
Some rice, flour, oil, and tea leaves were given to Dejia.
In previous years, Deshan would definitely borrow it, but this time he had to send He Qizhou and Xiaoxue away, so he refused to accept the other party's kindness and insisted on going to Tongwan City. Those people had no choice. Although they sympathized with the De family's experience, they
Even if the other party has backbone, they can't do anything about it.
After dinner in the room, Tuoba Ling'er knocked on the door twice more. Once, he brought a bundle of sheepskins. He said that there was no charcoal stove in the inn and it was extremely cold, so he asked He Qizhou and the others to use more sheepskins to sleep on;
The second time I brought a pot of milk tea.
After two visits, Xiaoxue's face began to turn cold, making He Qizhou feel that the room was actually a bit colder than outside. It was not until the middle of the night that he held Xiaoxue, who was about to freeze, in his arms and slept for more than an hour.
Because they had to reach Tongwan City within one day, the six of them left the inn before dawn. After walking for more than ten miles, a row of majestic mountains loomed in front of everyone. The white snow on the top of the mountain looked more like a line.
A thin line demarcates the boundary between heaven and earth.
Deshan said: "That's Helan Mountain. We can walk to the foot of the mountain in another ten miles. The detour from the south of the mountain is also more than twenty miles. From the mountain to Tongwan City, we still have to walk nearly forty miles. In order not to sleep in the city
Besides, we must get there before You hour today."
He Qizhou calculated that he walked for about seven hours yesterday and estimated that he would walk for eight hours today. However, he came out of the Gobi Desert. These were not problems at all for him. The strange thing was that the daughter of a tribal leader
, Ling'er seemed to be used to this. Not only did she not complain about being cold or tired, she kept talking to He Qizhou along the way, and a circle of white frost formed on the thin hair on her lips.
In order to avoid last night's situation from happening again, He Qizhou decisively decided to hold Xu Muxue in front of him, and the two of them rode a horse together. He told Xu Muxue that he wanted her to come and see the magnificent Helan Mountain, and told Deshan that he wanted her to come and see the magnificent Helan Mountain.
You want to reduce the burden on the cattle pulling the cart. After all, the main reason is that the cattle move slowly.
With Xu Muxue by his side, Ling'er actually talked a lot less. Occasionally, he met familiar people along the way, but everyone had to rush to their destination, so they basically just exchanged pleasantries and then continued on their way.
When they arrived at the foothills of Helan Mountain, more and more cavalry were patrolling back and forth. He Qizhou knew that this was to prevent the defeated Qi soldiers and horses from escaping back. Two teams stopped them and checked their credentials. Deshan was glad that the other party was not here to check the goods.
, otherwise you will be squeezed dry before you reach Tongwan City.
The six people finally arrived outside Tongwan City an hour early. He Qizhou looked from a distance and saw that Tongwan City on the plain was quite majestic. The city wall was extremely tall. The wall on one side was about six miles wide, and there were tall towers on the wall.
After getting closer, I found that the city wall was not made of wall bricks or bricks and rammed earth like those in Qi. The city walls here were all built of rammed earth. The wall was more than ten feet high and actually more than ten feet thick! Behind the city gate
There is also Wengcheng, which is indeed extremely difficult to capture.
After two inspections and paying two bags of salt and five taels of silver, the group entered the city. He Qizhou found that most of the houses were made of adobe, with few brick and wooden houses. He Qizhou thought to himself that this fire attack would be of no use.
.After walking a few hundred steps along the main road in the city, a brick wall six or seven feet high blocked the way, and there was another city gate.
"Are we going to check again? It seems that there is less salt in the barrel again." He Qizhou asked.
"We are about to enter the inner city. There is also the Helian family's old palace inside. The guards here are the famous Iron and Stone Guards. They don't charge money and only check whether pedestrians have weapons." Tokuyama said.
"Is it okay to carry a dagger with you?" He Qizhou was a little worried about the dagger.
"Yes, 'Shengzhou' people like us who are looked down upon by others can carry knives, bows and arrows for self-defense, but those with 'Shuzhou' household registration can only be carried by officials, not civilians, so we don't need to be nervous."
"Why can I take 'Shengzhou' with me?" He Qizhou was a little confused.
"This won't work, that won't work either. We won't go into the city and let them come to the grassland to trade!" Deshan said with some arrogance. Sure enough, after showing the household registration made of leather, the man in black armor
The soldiers let them go without checking, and almost everyone with paper household registrations was searched.
Entering the inner city, the number of people on the road gradually increased. Looking to the north side of the main road, a large number of tall houses appeared behind the low houses, which were similar in shape to the palaces in Luoyang City.
Tokuyama said: "This large area in the north of the city is the palace imitated from the Central Plains by our ancestors of the Great Xia Kingdom. It should now be the emperor's palace. There is also a place set aside for the governor's office and the general's office." After saying this, he led the group to turn south.
Entering a brightly lit avenue with numerous shops and restaurants on both sides of the avenue, even on a cold winter night, there was still a lot of traffic, and the cold wind was filled with all kinds of shouts. He Qizhou and Xiaoxue finally had some hope of returning to the world.
Feel it.
"It's still during the winter market these days. Almost all merchants, big and small, gather on this street. There are probably even more people in the past few days. In previous years, when the business was booming, there was often not even a single guest room." Tokuyama introduced.
, while leading everyone to find an inn with an old facade, the waiter warmly greeted everyone inside. The inn's facade is not big, but the inside is quite big. In a large yard, there is a long row of stables and cowsheds on the left, and a long row of stables and cowsheds on the right.
It is a locked warehouse, and the guest rooms are in the second inner courtyard.
The old shopkeeper came from the inner courtyard and greeted Tokuyama: "Brother, why are you here so late? I thought the market was not going well this year, so you wouldn't come."
"Some things have been delayed." Tokuyama said: "Is the old shopkeeper's business going well? Do you know what the market price is these two days?"
"Oh, it's getting worse every year! The leather goods here are becoming less and less valuable, but the silks and cloths from the south are ridiculously expensive. Many shepherds like you just stay for a day or two and then go back because the prices are not good.
"It's cold outside, let's go in and talk." The old shopkeeper said. "What about the price of flour and butter?" Silk is used by the nobles, and cloth is not urgently needed. What Deshan really wants to bring back is flour, oil, sugar...
...these necessary foods for winter.
"The price increase is outrageous! Brother, don't blame me for charging you more for food. All the inns on this street are increasing their prices. As for food, I won't make you an extra penny.
"
"I know." Deshan responded in a muffled voice, and ordered everyone to hand over their carriages and horses to the waiter, and then followed the old shopkeeper into the inn for the second time. The price of a bowl of noodles in the inn is worth half a catty of mutton.
Deshan didn't dare to show off, so he just ordered a bowl of glossy noodles for each person, along with the dried meat and milk wine they brought, which was enough to keep them warm. Then he told He Qizhou and Xu Muxue about tomorrow's arrangements: "This street
At the end is the trading market. The Salt Gang has set up several booths inside. I will go find them in the morning. When you arrive, just wait at the stalls and don't wander around."
"Is it big inside?" Xu Muxue was actually quite interested in the Zhou Dynasty market.
"It's very big, but it's mainly a bit chaotic. There are some gang members there all year round, so we'd better be careful," Tokuyama said.
"Don't listen to Fourth Uncle's nonsense, it's really fun inside, I'll show you around." Tuoba Ling'er yelled.
"What do you know?" Deshan liked this nephew the most. Although he was a little angry, his tone was very gentle: "In the past, our shepherds from the Pangu tribe gathered together to set up stalls, and we had knives on our bodies, so others naturally did not dare to mess with us. Now,
We have almost left, how can they still be afraid of us? Besides, sending Brother He and the others back is the most important thing, so don’t cause any trouble for me!"
"I know." Ling'er pouted and said, "Can we just walk to the nearest place?"
"Anyway, you must be careful when I'm not around, and Brother He, you mustn't show even a hint of your skills!"
"I understand." He Qizhou responded.
"I will go to the Salt Gang at noon. After the matter is settled, they will arrange for you to go back. Anyway, be careful along the way. If you become a high official in the future, you must make your soldiers more merciful." Deshan added: "
Look at what I said, how bad your soldiers will be."
"Don't worry, Uncle Deshan, I listen to you and I won't kill anyone indiscriminately!" He Qizhou said firmly.
The Nanshi in Tongwan City is indeed the largest market that He Qizhou has ever seen. It is almost two miles square, with dozens of streets running through it. Most of the streets are wooden shacks, and there are also some adobe bungalows. There is one market in the southeast, northwest and northwest.
's door.
Deshan said that if you pay a tael of silver at the door, you can set up a stall for a day. The herdsmen of the Pangu tribe set up a stall near the northeast corner all year round. Although it is remote, some regular customers will come to the door.
He Qizhou discovered that in addition to the one tael of silver, Deshan also gave the guard two small bags of salt, about ten kilograms. It seems that selling salt is really a secret that everyone knows.
A wooden shed was about two feet square. Camels and oxen were parked under the shed. The oxcarts were put together and placed at the entrance of the shed. The sheepskins and dried meat were neatly stacked on the oxcarts. It immediately became a simple shop, just a long wooden
There is only one merchant named Deshan under the shed. Across the five-foot-wide street, there are many more shops on the opposite side. There are stalls selling rice, flour, silk, cloth, porcelain and woodware, as well as herbal medicine and jade.