"Old man, you are so old, is it inconvenient to squeeze into a carriage with so many people?" Zhang Kuang said to the man next to him who was similar in age to himself, but looked much older than himself. the old man asked.
The old man glanced at Zhang Kuang in obvious surprise. After all, the person in front of him was wearing brocade clothes. Under normal circumstances, he would not share a carriage with ordinary people like himself. They would all take a taxi.
"My brother's accent doesn't sound like someone from Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River. Is he from the north?"
Zhang Kuang laughed and said: "Brother, I have a sharp eye. I can tell my identity at a glance. I am from Northern Xinjiang. I have been delayed in Yangzhou for a few days because of some trivial matters. I have nothing to do in the inn and plan to see it." Looking at the scenery of Jiangnan, I didn’t expect that as soon as I stepped out, I would be surrounded by all the public..."
"the bus."
"That's right, I still have a clear mind. I'm not good anymore. I can't remember clearly now that I'm old. I'm very curious about the buses all over the street. I've been to Yangzhou several times. When did this bus appear? Planting things, I really haven’t gone out for three years, the world has changed a lot.”
The old man chuckled kindly: "It's not just your brother who was shocked. When this bus first came out, the whole of Yangzhou was shocked. We ordinary people who dig in the dirt can't afford one. How can we think about it one day?" Being able to ride on such an expensive thing as a carriage, I got used to it later on, it’s worth spending a few pennies and saving a lot of effort!”
"Brother, look at this carriage. It's packed with people. Don't you think it's boring? It's hard for me to move my hands and feet. It's bound to be soreness in the back and numbness in the legs after sitting for a long time."
"I can't help it. It wasn't so crowded before. Later, due to long-distance transportation, the number of people coming and going in Yangzhou City was three times greater than before. Just squeeze in a little bit. It's better than carrying old heavy things all over the street. Running is much easier. As I get older, I used to be out of breath after not being able to walk even a few steps, but riding a carriage is different. It only takes half a quarter of an hour from the south to the north, and you can do a lot more things in the remaining time."
"Oh, brother, can anyone sit on this bus?"
"Of course, anyone can sit on the carriage. As long as you don't bring pigs, horses, cattle and sheep with you, anyone can sit on the carriage. It's very convenient to bring some goods and food. The horseman is so thoughtful. We also built a carriage specifically for women, and only those young wives were allowed to ride, saying that it was to prevent men and women from being intimate. Alas, we poor people can still take care of that, but Ma Yuanwai and Hong Yuanwai are really For our sake, we have to know whether it is or not. If you have any larger goods, there are special carriages at the city gate to pull goods. It is more convenient to pay more than anything else. "
"It seems that these horsemen, Hong and other members are all good people."
"That's not true. Anyone in Yangzhou City who doesn't care about their good will say that they are great benefactors. But the biggest benefactors are the Liu family, who came up with the idea of this bus."
"Liu family? That Liu family?"
"I don't know about this old man, but I heard that he is a member of a family from Jinling. You said that a member of the Jinling family went to Yangzhou to make a living in a horse-drawn carriage. I really don't understand what they think."
Liu Mingzhi didn't want to, but there was no horse farm in Jinling, and transporting the horses to Jinling would be a huge expense. It would be better to use local materials, and use the Hong family's timber business to build carriages, which would save a lot of trouble.
Zhang Kuang's eyes flashed and he said softly: "Jiangnan Liu family."
"Brother, thank you, brother, I'm getting off the bus."
"You walk slowly."
After Zhang Kuang got out of the car and looked at the moving carriage, his ears suddenly started to tingle. There was something different about the horses. Having been on the battlefield for a long time, Zhang Kuang immediately felt that these horses pulling the carriage were different. Not to mention that these horses were not those old horses. What can be compared with the horse is that the sound of the horse's hooves is different from that of the cavalry under his own men. As for the difference, there is no time to think about it, and the carriage has already traveled far.
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
Zhang Kuang shook his head slightly: "It's nothing, maybe I'm confused."
"Master, the Liu family is really good. They are willing to build these luxurious carriages for ordinary people to use. They are many times better than those blood-drinking gentry."
"Okay? It's too popular, which may not be a good thing!" Zhang Kuang said softly.
Zhang Sanyi didn't hear clearly for a while and asked doubtfully: "Master?"
"We saw the bus. Let's go check out the taxis. There are so many interesting things in Yangzhou."
After sitting in a taxi for a while, Zhang Kuang called out to the driver. Without the chaotic chatter and laughter in the carriage, he felt more and more that there was something wrong with the sound of the horseshoes outside the carriage. Compared with the dull sound of the horseshoes of the cavalry horses under his command, the horseshoes of the horses pulling the carriage in Yangzhou The sound was too clear and crisp, like the sound of a percussion instrument, which was a bit pleasant to the ear.
The driver grabbed the reins of the horse: "Dear guest, have you arrived? Thank you very much for taking the Yangzhou taxi. Welcome to visit next time. I wish you a happy life."
Zhang Kuang jumped out of the carriage without saying a word, and started to circle around the horses pulling the carriage. Although the coachman was confused, he did not stop him. He looked around for a few times and found that the horses were all good horses, but they were still a bit inferior to those of the Northern Xinjiang cavalry. There are differences, so why do you have different feelings?
Zhang Kuang pointed at the coachman: "Drive the carriage and move around."
The coachman whipped his horse whip twice, and the carriage moved a few meters.
"stop."
Zhang Kuang squatted down and lifted the horse's hoof. The horse tried to break free but was restrained by Zhang Kuang, unable to move at all: "Coachman, what is inlaid on this horse's hoof?"
The coachman came from the Ma family carriage, so he naturally knew what a horseshoe was, but Ma Biao had Liu Mingzhi's order to keep quiet about the horseshoes, and no one was allowed to publicize it.
"Guest, I have nothing else to do and I have to go soliciting customers. Can you please give in?"
"No, tell me what is inlaid on the horse's hoof and I will let you go."
"Dear guest, I don't even understand, so don't make things difficult for me. I'm just a coachman. I don't know anything."
He stood up arrogantly and stared at the coachman with sharp eyes: "Give you another chance, what is inlaid on the horse's hoof?"
Who is Zhang Kuang? A veteran who has been stationed in northern Xinjiang for decades, fought countless battles, and fought through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, this kind of momentum is unbearable even for his generals, let alone a horse-breeding chariot and horseman, who is stared at by those tiger eyes. , the coachman only felt cold all over his body, as if he had been stared at by a tiger that had been hungry for three days. He lost all strength and suddenly collapsed beside the carriage.
"What's on top of the horse's hoof?" An emotionless word came out of Zhang Kuang's mouth.
The coachman's eyes went blank: "Horseshoes."
"What is a horseshoe? Why is it inlaid on the horse's hoof?"
"Horseshoes are shoes for the horse's hoof. They prevent the horse's hoof from being worn while running and protect the horse's hoof from damage."
Zhang Kuang got excited all over, and hurriedly looked at the other horseshoes. Sure enough, there were horseshoes staring at each of them. No wonder the horses on the bus could walk as fast as they pulled such a large carriage, not caring at all about the impact of the horseshoes on the stone slabs of the street. The damage turned out to be caused by this thing. If it were the horse of the Northern Xinjiang Cavalry...
"How long do horseshoes last? How much does a pair cost?"
"Generally, it can be used for about a year, and you can make one with thirty copper coins."
A horseshoe costs thirty cents, and a war horse can be replaced for more than a hundred taels of silver. This is simply a valuable weapon of the country.
"Where to build it?"
"Yangzhou Wangjia Iron Shop."
"San'er, lead the way to Wang's Iron Shop."
After Zhang Kuang left, the coachman collapsed to the ground covered in sweat. This feeling of choosing someone to eat was really unpleasant.
