Qingzhi Town relies on waterway transportation and is famous for its bamboo trade. It is close to the main road of Yongchuan River. I guess I also know that the first choice for most people to travel is by ship.
If the tributaries are included, the Yongchuan River, which almost runs from north to south, is the largest river in Crescent Continent. It not only nourishes and irrigates countless fields and livestock along the way, but also plays an extremely important role in transportation between the north and south of this country with few plains and many mountains. status.
The mountain road is difficult to navigate, with twists and turns, and is infested by various wild beasts and bandits, adding to the danger. In the Kingdom of the Moon, where waterway transportation is extremely developed, cruise ships of various sizes have basically replaced the carriages in the world of Rigar. However, the group still chose to travel by land, which was a conclusion reached after careful consideration.
Although the cost of water transportation is lower, and the route is shorter and more direct than the mountain roads that often require detours, the risk of being exposed is higher because the routes pass through relatively prosperous areas.
Don't forget that Galeva and others followed the river to Qingzhi Town and ran into the Qingtian City Lord's troops perfectly, and were detained.
Fortunately, Qingtian was not a rebel, but we may not be so lucky at the next stop. Even if they hold the certificates of surrender of some rebel local nobles, they cannot be sure that those on the list are all of them.
The rebels are not idiots. They have been planning the plan for such a long time. If Henry, the uninvited guests from afar, and Miss Doctor, who is determined to have her own way, had not happened to bump into it, no one would have noticed at all.
And now that they know that the list is lost, they will not do nothing like a wooden person. Interception is naturally one aspect, but seeing the danger of being exposed, it is estimated that their plan will be stepped up. Some nobles not recorded on the list may have been recruited to become members of the rebels during this period.
The only purpose of the list is to hand it over to the senior officials of Xinjing, who can use the various identity certificates above to identify the rebel nobles and take the initiative to attack. If they rely on lists as their own means of identifying dangers, their reliability will be greatly reduced for the various reasons mentioned above.
The incident in Swamp Village was quite big, and although various reasons were used to suppress it, people as sharp as Qingtian still sensed some information from it. Combined with the arrival of Henry and others, the reason why the city lord waited for the arrival of the sage as if he already knew everything was because he made his own set of inferences with the keen insight of a businessman.
Not joining the rebel camp means that Qingtian should also be a target of their defense. The massacre in the Swamp Village was the result of the eldest son of the Kaga family acting without authorization. The people who came up there probably didn't expect it to be so big, and they are now trying their best to suppress the news.
Qingtian probably had noticed some trends a long time ago, so he maintained a certain degree of suspicion. Or maybe the rebel nobles in the north have tried to make contact, but given the conservative and tolerant style of the Moon Country, this was probably not carried out clearly, in order to avoid leaving a trail of gossip.
But in short, what happened in the swamp village and the arrival of Henry and his group of suspicious people confirmed Qingtian's long-standing suspicions.
As we have mentioned many times in the past, businessmen are always the first to smell the existence of crises and business opportunities. Therefore, he would hit it off with the sage who had only met for a few hours and come up with a cooperation plan that was so complete that it seemed to have been prepared for more than half a month. Presumably, he had considered various means countless times before to seek self-protection. Bar.
Qingtian is a smart man, cunning, keen, and knows how to hide himself.
But precisely because of this, he would not act rashly. Even after knowing the true situation of that night in the swamp village through a conversation with the sage, he still continued to live his life as if he was unaware of it.
What is the difference between smart people and really smart people?
——The former always thinks that other people are stupider than themselves, while the latter always assumes that everyone is the same as themselves, or even smarter than themselves.
Arrogant soldiers will be defeated. Qingtian was able to manage Qingzhi Town to such prosperity at an age of more than 30 years. Although it was related to the accumulation of ancestral property, it was mostly due to his personal ability. Those who rely on the accumulation of their ancestors and only know how to sit back and live in vain can probably make a lot of money in this country.
Henry knew that a prosperous place like Qingzhi would not easily become rebellious against Xinjing and choose to contact it. It is true that the experience and knowledge level possessed by our Mr. Sage are enough to impress most people. But the nobles in the North who intended to rebel had lived here much longer than him. How could no one among them have thought of this.
The Qingtian family must have attracted much attention. There are probably many people who are secretly watching them, and there are probably many spies who have been beaten into the house.
It is true that it is smoother for ships to take the water route, but once they are surrounded by people on the river, they are desperate. Moreover, large ships that can carry about a hundred people are huge. Even if they are replaced by small ships to form a fleet, the target is still huge. Those who are eyeing them can send a follow-up report such as a small boat, and lay an ambush in advance in the town area where supplies are being carried out.
Even if some of these problems are encountered, it is still possible to encounter them by taking the land route. Because Crescent Continent has many mountains and sparsely populated wild forests occupying a large area of the country, the risk is ultimately lower than traveling by water.
Although we have mentioned the concept of "hidden in the city" before, it is not very suitable to be applied to the current situation.
The difficulty of blending into the crowd and using the vast sea of people to hide themselves is really too high for a team of foreigners whose composition determines that they cannot keep a low profile.
All in all, all in all. Based on a series of considerations, in Qingtian, on the grounds that "travelling, you need to choose more difficult roads to get exercise", he began to intentionally spread the news that his son was leading a group out among the social circles of the nobles in the north. At the same time as they arrived, the group also embarked on a long road and went deep into the green bamboo forest.
The bamboo forest near Qingzhi Town is very vast. Henry and others thought they saw only half of it, not to mention everything. However, after walking south for a few hours, they saw towering green bamboos. .
Even with such an area of bamboo forest, it still needs special care to keep up with the consumption rate of Qingzhi bamboo craftsmen. To some extent, it also reflects how prosperous the bamboo trade here is - so we think The Luoan girl, as always, made the mistake of not observing enough and jumping to conclusions.
What Mira didn't know was that Qingzhi's so-called bamboo consumption didn't just mean cutting down as much bamboo as there was. Special care is needed because bamboo also has quality differences. The best bambooware is made of materials that can withstand changes in temperature and humidity and are not prone to cracking. This kind of bamboo is the best of the best.
Because bamboo grows naturally, there will always be hidden damage due to wind, rain, various wild animals grinding their claws and teeth, and insect infestations. Even if it is not the highest quality bambooware, it still requires some selection to make something durable.
So even though the bamboo forest looks dense and vigorous, in fact most of it is just left to grow and decline naturally. Only those bamboo farmers who have experienced it with their own eyes and hands and are convinced that it is good material worth cultivating will be carefully looked after. After waiting for it to grow, it is cut and sent for processing.
The whole morning was spent marching in silence. The team of about a hundred people was faintly divided into two parts. The atmosphere was a bit awkward, which was expected.
The ones walking in the front, wearing bright armor, riding horses and leading 10 pack oxen, were naturally the samurai under the Qingtian family. Henry and the others walked in the middle with the little unicorn, followed closely by the special ones. The Yi tribe led by Mulun.
The discord between the foreigners and the Japanese was so obvious that even if they had to live under someone else's roof due to the situation, the air was still a bit sharp and dull.
This is the result of a combination of factors. Even without Beijing’s previous suppression of ethnic minorities, the discord between mainstream and marginalized groups is still common in all countries and regions.
Kazuto, and a noble among Kazuto, the young master Yajiro and the samurai under his command are the upper class of society in this country, accounting for 1% to 3% of the entire Moon Country population. The Yi tribe, who live in seclusion in the northern wilderness and are basically self-sufficient except for communicating with a few fishermen in Kazuto border villages, are not subject to their control at all and exist in a lawless land.
Even if the recent conflict of direct persecution is discarded, the differences in identity, status, wealth, culture and other aspects still determine that it is impossible for the two sides to get along harmoniously.
'I will follow my father's orders and go to Xinjing with you. This is a personal experience for me, but it does not mean that I must live in harmony with you.'
Although he didn't say it out loud, the young master Yajiro's eyes and attitude still revealed this message. As the young master, he had this intention, and the warriors under his command would naturally keep a distance from those behind him.
After only one morning of travel, the team seemed to be showing signs of internal strife and division.
The Japanese samurai had no contact with the barbarians. Most of the samurai on horseback traveled faster, and even the ashigaru who walked were young and strong and not afraid of hardship. There are old, weak, women and children among the Yi people, and some of them fall behind from time to time when walking. Temulun, who is in charge of leading the team, and his son Hulan have to look back from time to time. But Yajiro in front was only focused on moving forward and had no intention of waiting for them.
In the eyes of the Yi people, this behavior naturally became a deliberate attempt to make things difficult. What further intensified the conflict was that when they finally stopped at noon, some young Yi people wanted to walk over and get some food from the pack oxen. , the ashigaru who were protecting the pack cows immediately showed their spears.
Most of the trip, including Henry and others, were lightly packed, and most of the luggage, including rations, were placed in boxes carried by pack oxen. Therefore, Kazuto Ashigaru's behavior directly intensified the conflict. The two sides used each other's There was a loud noise in the language that neither of them fully understood.
The young lower-level warriors loudly accused the approaching Yi people of being thieves and coming to steal their things.
The Yi people thought it was natural for them to come over to get some food, and the other party was deliberately trying to embarrass them.
The Yi people, who are born in the mountains and have a free nature, do not have much concept of private property. Just like Lulu first led Henry and his group to the longhouse in the camp, many of their things are shared by the tribesmen. But the samurai don't think so. According to the concept that has been instilled in the ashigaru since childhood, even if the things here do have their share, they have to wait until their young master agrees and the samurai leader arranges the distribution. They can reach out and take it freely. It's exactly what a thief thinks.
Different concepts caused by different cultural backgrounds, coupled with class gaps and various discriminations and prejudices, what started as small-scale disputes quickly evolved into all kinds of quarrels, and the actions between the two sides became increasingly fierce.
If Narumi, who had heard the commotion earlier and was arranging for the team to rest, had not quickly rushed to stop it, there would have been a violent conflict on the spot.
Knowing the current situation and knowing that a conflict would do more harm than good if he was under someone else's protection, Temulun quickly ran over and stopped the young people who acted without authorization. As the leader of a tribe, he has had more contact with the He tribe and he also understands that some of the concepts of the Yi people are not feasible in the mainstream society of the Moon Country. After stopping these young people with their own prestige, Temulun and Narumi decided to allocate part of the rations to the barbarians to bear on their own in order to avoid further disputes. After this conclusion was put forward, Narumi returned to the front of the team and asked Yajiro for instructions. Fortunately, the young master did not lose his temper at this time, and nodded and agreed, which temporarily solved the problem.
"The future is very difficult." Miss Doctor held her forehead and sighed, while Mira looked left and right at the barbarians walking over carrying food and the warriors on the other side who started to light a fire for cooking, and finally turned her attention to Xian. By.
"us."
"Whose meal is it for?"
. m.
