"Hey, did you treat them like that just now, was that a little too much?"
After a while, Xiao Han looked at the two figures on the pier from a distance, turned his elbow to Liu Hongji and asked softly.
"Too much?" Hearing this, Liu Hongji rolled his eyes: "Brother! It seems that you told me to stay away from them at first, right? Why, now you have changed your mind? Could it be that you are also obsessed? Heart aperture?"
"Bah! Do you think I am you? You can't lift your legs when you see a woman?" Xiao Han's face turned red for a rare moment, but he quickly recovered and defended himself forcefully: "I mean, we are now After all, we are on someone else's territory, so we can't offend local snakes like them too much, right?"
"What, after offending them, they still dare to find someone to mess with us?" Liu Hongji obviously disdainful of Xiao Han's excuses, facing the autumn wind blowing from the bow of the boat, he spat fiercely under the boat. : "Besides, aren't we going back to Chang'an soon?"
"Haha, yes, soon, soon!" This time, Xiao Han didn't talk nonsense and just grinned, but looking at his smile, it felt a little insincere.
"Hey, why are you smiling so reluctantly? What do you mean?"
Sure enough, Liu Hongji quickly noticed something was wrong with Xiao Han, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked.
"No, really not!" Xiao Han's eyes rolled around, and then he suddenly pointed in the distance: "Look! There is a red-haired beauty!
"Where? Where? Where?"
This trick worked. Liu Hongji, who just wanted to question Xiao Han, immediately stretched his neck and looked into the distance. But soon, he turned back and stared at Xiao Han fiercely: "What are you looking at! Then his mother It’s a man!”
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Guangzhou
Different from the barren poverty that many people imagine, due to the natural geographical advantages given by God and the relatively fertile land, a city-state has been formed as early as the Zhou Dynasty. The famous Chu Ting was established here at that time. .
Later, when Qin Shihuang unified Lingnan, he established Nanhai County, and the county system was also established here. This also made the land of Guangzhou completely different from other Lingnan areas.
In other Lingnan areas, including Shi'an City and Guizhou City, the imperial government offices were basically empty.
Without the right to speak and the right to control, it is difficult to pay even the most basic taxes, let alone create other wealth for the court. It is really difficult for such an official government to attract the attention of the court, let alone dispatch capable officials. Therefore, most of the officials who came to Lingnan were exiled officials who had made mistakes from various places.
However, the situation in Guangzhou, which is also in Lingnan, is completely different from those state capitals!
Because of its geographical superiority, Guangzhou Prefecture has been the son of the central government since ancient times.
From the appointment of officials, to taxation, military garrison, and economy, all are under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court!
This alone is much higher than the sons raised by the maids in Guizhou Mansion.
Because the court has direct jurisdiction over Guangzhou, the needs here can always be approved as soon as possible. You don’t have to be like old man Cui, who just wants to build a canal, and someone will stab him with a stick. Ten years later, this is it, or Because he knew Xiao Yu, otherwise no one would bother to read the memorial once it was presented.
Moreover, in order to protect this place, the imperial court has stationed garrison here all year round. Under the care of the garrison, bandits and robbers in the vicinity have almost disappeared. Even those natives who are disobedient must squat down when entering the city. Otherwise, the big feet of those soldiers would be enough to teach them what the rules are!
In addition, the officials sent here are generally selected from the best! Moreover, after they work here for a few years and achieve political achievements, they will be transferred back to the Chang'an court, so that they will not stay here with other Lingnan prefectures for the rest of their lives and never get ahead!
Therefore, with the efforts of those officials who desperately wanted to achieve results and be favored by the court bosses, the city here was built to be extremely prosperous, and it was not much different from important towns like Suzhou and Hangzhou.
In addition, Guangzhou also has a unique advantage, that is, compared with the conservative Suzhou and Hangzhou, it is also the first port for foreign countries. Therefore, in addition to the Tang people who gather here from all over the world, there are also countless people from afar. Envoy from foreign countries.
According to records, as early as around 300 AD, Arabs and Indians had visited Guangzhou, and in the past few years, some Buddhist believers built the first large-scale mosque on the edge of the Pearl River. Holy Temple! Even more than a thousand years later, this temple is still standing there.
"This is Guangzhou Mansion? Why is there no city wall here?"
After declining Feng Ang's invitation to stay at his home, Xiao Han and his party only asked him for Awen to act as their guide, and then rushed to Guangzhou Mansion happily.
However, when they just walked out of the pier, Awen pointed to the scattered buildings and said that Guangzhou Mansion had arrived. Even Xiao Han was a little dumbfounded at this time.
He had long been accustomed to entering the city first by the city gate, but he never expected that Guangzhou Prefecture had no city walls or city gates!
"City wall? This really doesn't exist. There may have been one before, but it was later demolished."
Facing the doubts of Xiao Han and others, Awen smiled bitterly and explained to them: "Because there are no thieves here at all, so there is no need for a city wall!"
"What about the Japanese and pirates?" Xiao Han didn't believe Awen's words. When he was in Jiangdu, he was almost taken advantage of by those pirates! There is no reason why those extremely vicious people would let this big piece of meat in Guangzhou go without chewing, right?
"Pirates?" Awen scratched his head and said with a shy smile: "That's true, but it's okay for them to rob and rob cargo ships in the open sea. If they actually come ashore, they are here to give credit! You didn't see it just now, The military camp of Guangzhou Prefecture is right over the pier. These people’s eyes are red as they look forward to their achievements all day long! If there are cases of pirates and other crimes, they probably won’t be able to rob them."
"The pirates don't know how to take detours, so they have to charge straight in with their heads covered? Can't they attack here from another place?" Liu Hongji still didn't believe it, so he came up and asked again.
"A roundabout way? Where to take a roundabout way?" Awen heard Liu Hongji's question, as if he heard something funny, and almost didn't laugh out loud: "Guangzhou Prefecture is surrounded by mountains to the north and west, and the sea to the east. , although there are no mountains in the south, it is a large area of forests, rivers and lakes. There are many tigers and leopards in the forest, and there are many dragons in the river. Even if those pirates are crazy, they will not dare to leave there! Otherwise, wait until they get there. In Guangzhou Prefecture, half of the people have to go!”
