The terrain of Liuyuan County is very good. To the south is a river, which flows right past the side without blocking the road ahead. There are mountains to the east and north, and the county is right between the two mountains.
To the west is a plain, which happens to be facing the official road. Once you pass Liuyuan County, you will enter a mountainous area, all of which are mountain roads.
It is also because of this that the commerce of this county is very developed, because pedestrians on the official road must replenish supplies here as long as they continue to travel, whether they continue to the east or west.
Those going east have to go into the mountains and have to walk on the mountain road for at least four or five days to get to the next town. You have to bring enough supplies, otherwise you won't be able to reach the next town at all.
Those who came from the east had been walking for four or five days, and finally reached the county town. They had to rest here and buy some things before continuing to the west.
Because there is still a whole day's journey to the west to reach the next town, this county is much more prosperous than other counties.
The layout inside is also different. Unlike the previous city, where the streets were cross-shaped, there were three streets side by side, all with shops.
The cost of entering the city is no different from other places. It is five cents per person. If there is no goods on the carriage, there is no need to pay extra.
They paid the entrance fee and went straight to an inn. They had no choice but to find an inn to stay in as it was getting dark now.
As for going shopping and buying supplies, we'll wait until tomorrow morning. I don't plan to stay here any longer anyway. I can leave as soon as I've bought enough tomorrow.
Before entering the city, Qingyan used her spiritual sense to explore it. There were three inns in the city, two on the main street in the middle and one on the north street.
Even though it was already dark, it was actually only after eight o'clock. Many shops inside were still open, but lanterns were hung in front of the doors for lighting.
It is worth mentioning that the further they walked to the southeast, the earlier it would get dark. Unlike in Qinzhou before, it would not get completely dark until after nine o'clock or almost ten o'clock.
The daybreak was also a little earlier. It started to get bright at around seven o'clock in the morning. When they went further southeast, it would get dark earlier and earlier.
To be honest, after staying in the northwest for a long time, it was hard to adapt to the sudden move to the southeast. There was also jet lag.
Just like now, I have to wait until ninety o'clock to have breakfast in the morning. I'm not hungry at all if I'm early. The same goes for it at night. I don't want to have dinner before ninety o'clock. If I want to go back to my previous schedule, it takes a while to get used to it. Time will do.
Liuyuan County lives up to its name. Willow trees are planted on the streets of the county, and there is also a large willow forest on the mountain to the north.
They went to the larger inn on the middle street first, but after asking, they found that there were no guest rooms, only a large hotel room and a low-class room, or the kind of independent house in the back, which was a bit too expensive. Yes, it's not worth spending so much money just for one night.
Although Qingyan was not short of money, considering the situation of the Fang family and his son, she definitely felt it was inappropriate, so she didn't consider it and had to go to the inn on another street.
Although the inn is smaller, it is well built, but it is located a little further away. It is not like the street in the middle that leads directly to the city gates on both sides. It is surrounded by shops. It is also brightly lit at night and there are many people coming and going. Naturally, there will be more people staying.
When they walked to the street to the north, they felt that it suddenly became quiet. This street was full of carpenters' and blacksmiths' shops, and there were also grocery stores selling vegetables and rice. These shops were usually not open at night, so there were some It was pitch dark, except for the lantern hanging in front of the inn.
Although the city is divided into three streets vertically, there are branch roads in the middle, but those branch roads are like slightly wider alleys, which are just for convenience. They just passed through the middle without having to go around.
The main street in the middle is full of teahouses, restaurants, restaurants, and clothing shops.
The street they came to was full of relatively civilian shops, such as blacksmith shops, carpenter shops, groceries and grain shops, and shops for buying oil and salt, all on this street.
The other street on the right is somewhat similar to this one. There are also some food shops and vegetable shops, but there is an additional livestock market. There are also some poultry such as chickens, ducks, geese, and fish, and some woven products, such as bamboo baskets and baskets. Things like straw mats and bamboo curtains.
According to the market outlook, the middle one is a commercial pedestrian street, the street they are currently on is a convenient commercial street in the living area, and the south street is the farmer's market.
The business of this inn was really sluggish. It was so sluggish that they parked the carriage at the door and got out of the carriage and pushed the door into the inn lobby. No one came out to greet them.
It was only after Fang Dayou shouted that the clerk taking a nap at the counter noticed them.
After rubbing his eyes and regaining consciousness, he hurriedly came out with a smile, "Oh, I'm so rude, you guys should hurry up and invite me in. You guys want to stay in a hotel, how many rooms do you want?" "
Fang Zhengyi asked directly: "Is there a room in the store?"
The waiter nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, there are three upper rooms. Each upper room costs five coins a day. I wonder how many rooms you want and how many days you want to stay?"
Fang Dayou: "Come to the two upper rooms. If you want to stay next to each other, please stay overnight before continuing. After we have two carriages, do you still have room for animals in the backyard?"
The clerk nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, we have a house at the back specially designed for housing animals. It is very warm inside and has good fodder. I guarantee that your horses will be taken care of properly."
Just a moment, I'll ask someone to drive the carriage to the back and place it there. "
After saying that, he ran to a nearby room and shouted into it, "Da Linzi! Come out quickly! A guest has arrived!"
"I'm coming!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a dark and thin young man ran out from behind, putting a leather hat on his head as he walked out.
When he saw them, he greeted them with a bared smile and said, "Guests are very polite. My name is Dalinzi. If you need anything, just ask me."
Qingyan looked at this dark young man, whose white teeth were a bit dazzling. If it weren't for the fact that he looked Chinese, she would have thought he was from Africa.
The previous clerk said to him directly: "There are two carriages parked outside by some guest officials. Please help them get to the back. Remember to place the horses."
Dalinzi responded crisply: "Okay! I'll go right away. Would you like to go to the backyard with me to have a look, or should you just take down your luggage?"
The reason why they asked this was because they didn't have any luggage in their hands. They had to go back to get it when he drove the carriage to the backyard, so they might as well get it now.
Qingyan was holding the child in her arms and with the cat at her feet. It was definitely not easy to get her luggage, so she just asked Fang Dayou to take down the baggage on the outside.
As for the luggage of the Fang family and his son, Fang Zhengyi went to pick it up. It was also a pretty big baggage, with all the valuable things in it.
After taking off the luggage, he told the horses not to take off the sheepskins, and asked the guy named Dalinzi to lead the two carriages behind them.
There is no need for him to run twice, he just needs to hold the horse of the Fang family and his son, and the big bear will follow directly.
Seeing this scene, Dalinzi felt strange in his heart. This horse was so well trained, and it looked like it could not be raised by ordinary people.
The three of them followed the waiter upstairs to take a look at the room. It was neat and tidy inside, and the environment was very clean. If the location wasn't as good as the two on the main street, the business wouldn't have been so bleak.
Yes, it is bleak. Qingyan just glanced at it with her spiritual consciousness. Although the waiter just said that there are only three upper rooms left, in fact they are basically empty. There are only two or three people living here and there. The ordinary rooms below are occupied. There were a lot of them, and there were really only two or three rooms left. Datongpu was simply empty.
For an inn, this business is not really good, and the price is not expensive. A room is only five yuan a day. In Fucheng, this is the price of a medium-sized room. It costs one or two silver to buy a room.
You must know that there is a difference between an upper room and a middle-level room. The middle-level room uses a screen to divide the inside and outside rooms. If someone is entertaining guests in it, they will not be able to see the bed at a glance.
This upper room is a formal two-compartment, one-bedroom-one-living room, with tables, chairs and benches outside for dining and entertaining guests, beds inside, and a bathing area separated by a screen on the side.
Not only is there a supply of hot water at all times, but there is also a special brazier and candles for lighting.
They settled their luggage in the room first. Qingyan fed the baby some milk and put him to sleep for Yuanbao to watch. She and the Fang family went downstairs to have dinner.
It's not that you can't use it in your own room. It's not that it's troublesome for the waiter to clean it up again after dinner.
And you can also take this time to ask the shop assistants about the shops here and which one is more suitable to buy from.
Also, prepare hot water so that you can wash up and rest after eating. Of course, the hot water is definitely not for bathing. It is just for washing your face and feet. You might as well forget about taking a bath today.
I still eat noodles, but I can’t help it. This is the fastest, and the soup and water are the warmest to eat.
When entering Yunzhou, most of the noodles are noodles, and there are also sesame biscuits, but compared to the sesame biscuits in Qinzhou before, Qingyan doesn't like eating the sesame biscuits here so much.
The sesame cakes here are the kind that are baked hard and not soft at all. They are fine for grinding your teeth, but they are too unpalatable to eat as a staple food.
She still likes to eat the dough-like biscuits, which she can accept. This kind of biscuits tastes like biscuits and is not oily. It makes her teeth feel tired after eating it.
While they were waiting for food, they asked the waiter which store in the city was the best for shopping. It was the best time to ask the waiter about this kind of thing. They had many contacts and were familiar with the county, so the other party would give it to them as soon as they heard about it. Pointed out the most suitable shops.
They will have to walk on the mountain road for four or five days, and they don't know what unexpected situations they will encounter in the meantime, so they must prepare more food.
Especially for meat, don't even think about hunting in this kind of weather. If you are lucky, you may encounter one or two wild animals that are too hungry to come out to look for food. If you are not lucky, you may not encounter any along the way.
We also need to prepare more grains, eggs, vegetables, etc. Fortunately, the weather is cold, so we are not afraid of spoilage.
Fang Zhengyi also inquired about the situation of the blacksmith shop. After seeing the charcoal stove in Qingyan's car, he was a little tempted and wanted to get one to put in the car.
They were quite freezing along the way. Later, Qingyan gave Mrs. Tang to them. When they were resting, she hugged her under the quilt in the carriage to keep them warm. Otherwise, they would have been really freezing along the way. .
Even if the inside of the carriage is sealed with sheepskin, there is no heat source and it is just not ventilated, which is very uncomfortable, especially since the temperature has dropped a bit in the past few days.
Even though they were heading southeast now, they were still in the northwest, and the temperature was slightly warmer than further north.
Moreover, it is getting closer to the twelfth lunar month every day. In addition, this year's weather seems to be extremely cold, which is much colder than in previous years. The snow on the road has never melted.
Perhaps because of this, they met not many fellow travelers along the way. Unless there was something urgent, no one would rush in such weather.
So he planned to get a charcoal stove and put it in the car. The charcoal stove was easy to find and could be found in ordinary grocery stores. He mainly wanted to get a chimney.
Because Qingyan told them that it is easy to suffocate when burning charcoal in a closed space. It would be much better to build a chimney to discharge the poisonous gas. Moreover, the chimney itself can also dissipate heat, which can make the temperature inside the carriage higher.
So he asked his friend about the blacksmith shop to see if he could find someone to make such an iron pipe chimney.
It didn't take long for Qingyan to customize this at that time. It was done in one day. If they could do it, it wouldn't be a big deal if they were delayed for a day. By then, they would be more comfortable on the road, and the journey would be faster and more efficient. .
And once it's done, it doesn't mean that it can't be used in the future. After they finish their work, they have to go back to Qinzhou. It will only be colder when they go back, so it can be used just in time.
Another option is to find a carpenter's shop and find someone to make a sled like the bottom of Qingyan's car.
They had long since discovered that her carriage was much lighter than theirs. If it weren't for following them, they could easily pass it.
The most important thing is that the wheels of the carriage will not get stuck in the snow, so they have wanted to do it for a long time. However, they did not enter the Yongfeng County town before, and the carpenter shops in the subsequent towns were either not open or had no materials.
After finally arriving at a county town, of course they needed to modify the carriage, especially since they were about to go on a mountain road. They felt that the sled should be more useful.
They had also studied that thing before, and it was not difficult to make. All they had to do was make the shape and fix it under the carriage. With Qingyan's carriage as a sample, it should be easy to imitate.
(End of chapter)
