The world is big and has different customs.
The backward nomads in Beiliang lived in pursuit of water and grass. The more economically developed Southern Dynasties had already integrated grass into their daily lives and only lived in pursuit of water.
On the bank of a surging river, a majestic city stood silently.
It is one of the most majestic cities in the world;
It is one of the broadest cities under the sky;
It is the most prosperous city in the world, bar none.
These majestic, broad, and prosperous things are silently revealing the most fundamental logic of how the world operates. Everything is built around one thing, and that thing is called: power.
This is the pinnacle of power in the world, and this is the destination that countless people with lofty ideals, careerists and dreamers are rushing towards.
Countless dreams have bloomed here in the morning sun, and countless ambitions have been buried under the sunset.
Here we witnessed the last queen committing her life to a piece of white silk, and here we also witnessed the founding monarch singing loudly in the palace.
This place has been dyed with sincerity and green blood, and it has also been smeared with colorful hearts.
All the treasures and outstanding people of Daxia are gathered here.
This is the capital of the Great Xia Dynasty, and this is Zhongjing!
It can be complex or simple.
It is like the most powerful courtesan in the world. It can give you whatever experience you want.
As the sun sets in the west, the light of the entire city gradually turns golden, becoming more and more in line with the tone of this city in the hearts of the world.
The bustling crowd is still slowly moving towards the city.
Although many people look tired, the dreams in their hearts are still shining in their eyes, waiting to dig and dig in the soil of Zhongjing City to plant seeds of different sizes and bloom flowers of different sizes.
But no matter what their future dreams are, the biggest hurdle they have to pass now is that little city gate soldier.
They stood honestly in the team, humble and reserved.
"Get out of the way!"
"Get out of the way!"
There was a sudden commotion at the front of the team, and then the crowd was in chaos and hurriedly separated to both sides.
Several horses rushed out of the doorway carrying a few people in rich clothes, ignoring the crowd in front of them, and rode out of the city.
A city gate soldier was too slow to dodge and received a whip on his shoulder.
The crisp sound of the whip, the laughter of the rider on the horse, and the distant sound of the horse's hooves were the first lesson Zhongjing City taught them.
Welcome to Zhongjing!
"Yang San, you did a good job. If you hadn't thought of it, I almost forgot that today is the day Brother Xian arrived in Zhongjing City. If I missed the greeting, my father would definitely scold me again."
Among the several riders, the leader, a handsome man wearing a crown of jade, smiled and praised a young guard beside him.
The guard laughed along with him, "Young master has many things to do every day, so naturally our subordinates must learn to share your worries with him."
"Haha, you are very good!" The young master casually took off a valuable bracelet and threw it over, "I reward you!"
In the envious eyes of the others, the guard quickly reached out and grabbed it, smiling broadly, "Thank you, sir!"
"Let's go!"
The man in rich clothes skillfully slapped the horse's buttocks, causing the horse to run wildly in pain and run towards a post station in the south of the city.
The inn is not far from the city, and it takes less than a stick of incense to get there.
At the door of the inn, Yi Cheng heard the movement and hurriedly came out. He took a look at the face of the handsome young man. His expression changed and he immediately ran quickly, "Master Shi, what kind of wind brought you here."
The handsome man glanced at him casually, walked straight in without stopping, "Are the people from Guangling Prefecture here?"
Yi Cheng said respectfully: "Looking back to the young master, I just arrived and I am resting inside!"
"Take me there. Also, see how many people they have in this group. Free up all the upper rooms for me and leave them to them."
Yi Cheng looked troubled.
The handsome man turned his head, "Huh?"
"yes."
Seeing the guards surrounding Yi Cheng and Mr. Huafu as they walked away, other students in the station asked curiously: "Who is this? So domineering?"
A postman in the post station whispered: "This young master, please keep your voice down and don't say the wrong thing. This is the legitimate son of Shi Shangshu, the Minister of Rites of the dynasty. At this time, no one wants to offend him!"
The students on the side also immediately shut up. As the postman said, the Minister of Etiquette in charge of Chunwei may be the last person they want to offend at this moment.
On the other side of the inn, on the official road several miles away from the inn, a cavalry team was slowly reining in their horses and stopped at a pavilion beside the road. They each dismounted and took a rest.
The large Wudang army was not suitable for escort. After entering the territory of Zhongzhou, they had already returned to the military camp. Only Jiang Yuhu and more than ten elites followed him every day.
Such thoughtfulness made Xia Jingyun extremely grateful.
However, Bai Yunbian, who couldn't control his open mouth, suffered a lot. Sometimes he was squatting on a bare carriage, sometimes he was forced to ride a horse by Jiang Yuhu, sometimes he was taught martial arts moves, and sometimes he was forced to serve as a scout to explore the road.
He sat helplessly leaning against the pillar of the pavilion, finally understanding his father's painstaking efforts.
Xia Jingyun was speechless and said with a smile: "Why don't you say a few words less about you? You know that Mr. Yuhu is someone you can't win, beat, or offend, so you have to be mean-mouthed."
Bai Yunbian said harshly: "What's the use of destroying me, it won't reduce your arrogance!"
"throat"
Outside the pavilion, Jiang Yuhu heard a faint cough, Bai Yun's body trembled, and his arrogance suddenly diminished.
Xia Jingyun shook his head and smiled bitterly. To a certain extent, these two people were a match made in heaven. One was better at pretending than the other.
Su Yuanshang looked far into the distance, pointed forward, and said with a smile: "Gao Yang, Chunfeng Station is not far ahead."
Xia Jingyun listened to Su Yuanshang's tone and looked along, "Is there anything to say here?"
"This inn is the last inn before entering Beijing. After this inn, more than ten miles away is the gate of Zhongjing City. Therefore, as long as people are not in a hurry, they usually choose to rest here for the night and wash their hands. Let’s take a short rest after the wind and dust, and then I’ll have enough time to go to Beijing to do business the next day.”
Su Yuan Shang was familiar with his family treasures, "According to the imperial system, students who come to Beijing to take exams can stay here for free, so most students will choose to rest here for one night, and some even live here permanently in order to gain a reputation. Let’s go to Beijing again.”
Xia Jingyun nodded clearly and said with a smile: "Chunfengyi, this name is really appropriate."
"The reason why I mentioned this inn specifically is because there are two inns, and they are called two names at the same time."
Xia Jingyun's expression changed, and even Bai Yunbian looked at Su Yuanshang curiously.
"The legend of this inn is here."
Su Yuanshang showed some memories, "This post station is divided into left and right sides. The one on the way into the city is called Chunfeng Post. Everyone who goes to Zhongjing City carries their ambitions and dreams with them, like flowers blooming in spring. , everything grows and thrives. And on the side of the city, in that inn, most of the people who live there are frustrated people who have left Beijing. They have accomplished nothing, been demoted and relegated, and retired to their hometowns. Gao Yang still remembers the words in your Yueyang Tower, right?"
Xia Jingyun said softly: "When you go to your country and miss your hometown, you are worried about slander and fear of ridicule, and your eyes are full of desolation. You are extremely sad."
Su Yuanshang nodded, "So, that inn is called Qiufeng Post."
"The two inns are facing each other across an official road, and the atmosphere inside is very different. In the official circles of Zhongjing City, people often laugh at themselves by saying that they want to live in Qiufeng Inn. It means failure and being demoted."
Xia Jingyun sighed sincerely: "Entering Beijing and leaving Beijing can give people completely different moods. How many people's dreams, ambitions and desires have this Zhongjing City witnessed?"
Su Yuanshang nodded and let out a long sigh, "The word "power" can choke the lives of many strong men, and break the backs of many heroes!"
Naturally, people like Bai Yunbian, who had a smooth life for the first half of their lives, couldn't really understand the emotion expressed by people who had experienced it, but Xia Jingyun felt somewhat sympathetic when he heard it.
He looked at the faintly exposed roof not far away, and he felt a little more cautious about the future.
He whispered: "So, is this why Mr. Su suggested that I don't need to contact my sister first and go to the inn to stay overnight?"
Su Yuanshang nodded, "Both of you are from the same state, so it's no problem for one of you to become a Jinshi. But if you take a longer view and want to go further in the officialdom in the future, your reputation will also be reduced." It is very important, especially the friendship of the same age, which is inherently close. There are many students in Chunfengyi, which is suitable for becoming famous. Although the Empress Dowager De is glorious, the situation in the court is delicate. She should be less hostile to others, make more friends, and be more famous. You can also rely on more.”
Jiang Yuhu, who was leaning outside the pavilion and listening, yawned, "With me here, is that necessary?"
Bai Yun listened to these words, and his naturally careless tone, and secretly learned another trick, but it happened that these words were not said by him, but by Jiang Yuhu. He couldn't help but said scornfully: "You have the reputation of a martial artist." God, what a blessing it can be in the world of literati!"
Jiang Yuhu turned his head, and Bai Yunbian was panicked, and he even trembled when he spoke, "What do you want to do? A gentleman talks but doesn't do anything. I tell you, don't bully young people into poverty!"
Jiang Yuhu rolled his eyes at him, but let him go this time, just looking at Xia Jingyun, "If you enter Beijing from Chunfengyi, nothing will happen again. No one dares to take that risk. Even if there are really crazy people, your two guards can't. You can live with it. As for this guy surnamed Bai, it will be peaceful after he dies."
"So, this young master is gone. If you have something to do, go look for me in the bamboo forest!"
Xia Jingyun didn't expect Jiang Yuhu to leave so easily, so he quickly got up and went to see him off.
"Be free and easy, there's no need to give it away."
Jiang Yuhu shouted, and a dozen Wudang soldiers immediately got up and mounted their horses, forming a neat formation almost instantly and leaving along the official road.
Su Yuanshang looked at Jiang Yuhu's back and said with emotion: "I have heard a lot about Master Yuhu's name, but now that I see him, his reputation is truly well-deserved!"
Bai Yunbian pursed his lips silently, Xia Jingyun said with a smile: "Mr. Su, Mr. Bai, let's go and have a look at the Spring Breeze Inn!"
At this moment, there was a lot of excitement in the spring breeze.
Because of Mr. Shi's words, some of the students who had arrived first to live in the upper room, together with the state professor who led the team, were "invited" to make room for people from Guanglingzhou.
Mr. Shi may have a very simple idea. When his cousin comes, he must support the situation for his cousin and raise his reputation. Since he has the ability, why not do it with just a casual sentence?
But for these poor students who were kicked out for no apparent reason, it was a mixture of grief, anger and humiliation.
"I'm living well, why do you rush me as soon as you say so?"
"That's right, I won't let you give me anything you want!"
"Your Majesty has just spread the good government in our Sishui Prefecture and publicized the emperor's favor. We and other students from Sishui Prefecture are devoted to the imperial court and have traveled thousands of miles to come here. This is what you did? Do you want to go against your majesty and the imperial court?"
As soon as this big hat was slapped on, Yi Cheng panicked instantly.
"Everyone, please calm down! You should also understand that I am a sesame and mung bean official! I have no say in this matter!"
He looked at a few people and whispered: "One of the people in Guangling Prefecture's team is the nephew of Lord Shi, the Minister of Rites. Just now, Lord Shi's son also came in person. This is his order! In extraordinary times, I must have You don’t want to offend the Minister of Etiquette, right? It’s just for one night, there are other rooms, you can make do with it, why risk your own future!”
Upon hearing this, the students from Sishui Prefecture who were originally agitated stopped talking.
Even the most idealistic, reckless, and innocent young people know what the Minister of Rites, who presides over all spring affairs, means to them at this moment.
Just like Yi Cheng said, it's just one night, just make do, there's no need to argue.
But after all, if there is injustice in one's heart, one will complain. One student said angrily: "Can the Minister of Rites use his power to bully others and oppress good people?"
As soon as he finished speaking, several young men came from one end of the room, led by Mr. Shi, who was wearing a crown of jade. Hearing this, his face showed sarcasm, "It's a pity, it's really okay, don't you accept it?"
On the other side, outside the inn, a burst of horse hooves stopped.
A young man wearing a green shirt, extremely handsome and elegant, walked in and said with a smile: "Yicheng, do you still have a room?"
I didn’t like the plot of Chapter 2, so I deleted it and rewrote it. So it will be later.
(End of chapter)
