The army led by Xie Cang entered the city smoothly, and was warmly received by the local governor.
About a hundred miles away from this county town, on an official road, Su Qi'an's caravan followed other caravans towards the subordinate county town.
If you want to understand big cities like Zhongzhou, prefectures, and counties, you can only see the surface. Only by going deep into the grassroots and traveling with the most ordinary local people can you see the actual situation.
About ten miles further, there is a remote county called Zhenshan County. It is about a hundred miles away from the central county seat, making it the farthest county.
Although it is remote, it is more real. You can see many ordinary people dressed along the way.
Su Qian sat in the car, looking at the passers-by through the car curtain, and nodded slightly. Although these people were poor, they were not skinny.
When he saw the caravan accompanying him, he only had a little envy in his eyes. He had no other thoughts, such as robbery and robbery. You must know that Su Qi'an once stayed in the two states of Jiao and Yue.
Even if there are caravans walking on the official road, they are often robbed.
From this point of view, the public security in Zhongzhou is pretty good. The people are not rich, but they are relatively stable.
Su Qi'an looked away, put away the letter from Xie Cang, and said to the person sitting next to the driver outside the curtain.
"Old Ji, come in, I have something I want to ask you about."
Next to the coachman, an old man in his sixties, slightly fat but with a rosy face, turned around and walked slowly into the car when he heard Su Qi'an shouting.
This old man was not Su Qi'an's subordinate, and he was not very familiar with Su Qi'an. However, half an hour ago, Su Qi'an encountered another caravan who happened to be traveling on the same road as Su Qi'an, so the two met.
This man was from Zhongzhou and was a merchant. It was the first time that Su Qi'an had seen him personally escort the caravan at such an old age.
Originally walking with Lu, Su Qian's temperament would not interact with other people, but this old man really loved making friends.
He has a cheerful personality and is generous with his actions. Even though he is around sixty, his conversation and knowledge are still extraordinary. These are all due to his experience in traveling around Zhongzhou in the early years.
The old man has an out-of-the-box personality and does not use his status as an elder to overwhelm others. He can basically get along with everyone along the way. He doesn't know his name when asked, but he only likes others to call him Lao Ji.
Thanks to such a temperament, no matter how cold Su Qian is, he will still be infected by his enthusiasm.
With the exchange, gradually, the two of them interacted more and more, and even Su Qi'an had to admit that in terms of local people, local customs, no one could match this old Ji.
This time I asked Lao Ji to come in to get to know Zhongzhou better.
Lao Ji sat opposite Su Qi'an and started talking without Su Qi'an opening his mouth.
Starting from introducing the situation in Zhenshan County ahead, to the subsequent counties, other counties, and Zhongzhou City, that guy, if Su Qi'an didn't stop him, would probably continue talking.
This Lao Ji, it is no exaggeration to say, is a know-it-all about Zhongzhou, from the state pastor, county governor, and county magistrate, to the local customs and customs of Zhongzhou, which is called detailed.
Without decades of travel experience, it is absolutely impossible to know so much. Apart from anything else, Su Qi'an admires this kind of knowledge.
Through the close friendship with Lao Ji, Su Qi'an knew that Lao Ji had a dream, which was to travel throughout Zhongzhou and then record all the mountains, rivers, customs and customs in Zhongzhou, and finally compile it into a book.
This is Lao Ji's biggest dream. Su Qi'an also teased him during the conversation with him, asking him why he didn't dream bigger, go out of Zhongzhou, travel all over Daliang, and record all the mountains, rivers, customs and customs in Daliang. Make a book.
But Lao Ji only gave him one sentence: Zhongzhou was the place where he was born and raised. If he could record his hometown and pass it on to future generations, there would be no regrets.
It was this sentence that made Su Qi'an think highly of Lao Ji. In Great Liang, almost everyone acted for their own interests, but this businessman Lao Ji had such a big heart.
It is hard to imagine that these words came from the mouth of a businessman. The businessmen Su Qian had met were all
Young Master, it is the nature of businessmen to pursue profit, but Lao Ji does not have the profit-seeking temperament of a businessman. Such a person is worthy of Su Qi'an's friendship.
As the caravan moved slowly and gradually disappeared at the end of the official road, even Su Qi'an didn't know that it was about a quarter of an hour before they left the official road.
In the dense forest behind, there were more than a dozen figures faintly visible. These people kept their eyes on Su Qi'an's carriage and had no intention of moving away even if the convoy moved far away.
After about a moment, these people looked at each other, nodded slightly, and then quickly disappeared.
Zhenshan County is not big, it is a very ordinary county, and it is also very poor, but the security in the city is good.
As long as you pay a certain fee to enter the city, you will basically not encounter any difficulties and your journey will be smooth.
The fee to enter the city is not expensive, fifty cents for a pedestrian and one tael for a convoy. For a merchant convoy, a tael of silver is nothing. It is a small amount of money to buy peace.
As the motorcade moved forward, looking at the queue in front, it was estimated that it would be Su Qi'an's turn in just half a stick of incense.
Su Qi'an, who was sitting in the car, was resting with his eyes slightly closed, while Lao Ji next to him couldn't bear it anymore and fell asleep soundly on the side.
Everything seemed very peaceful. According to the plan, Su Qi'an did not plan to stay in Zhenshan County for too long.
Zhenshan County is a remote county. I have basically seen everything along the way. With Lao Ji's narration in advance, I probably have some understanding.
The magistrate of Zhenshan County is a decent person, although he cannot be said to be incorruptible, but the public security in the county is not bad, and there will be no cases of prostitutes committing crimes.
Just as Su Qi'an was thinking about it, after entering Zhenshan County, he told Lao Ji that he planned to say goodbye.
Suddenly, the sound of a teacup being smashed suddenly sounded in his ears, accompanied by an angry curse.
"Old man, do you want to burn me to death? This tea stall owner thinks you don't want it anymore."
"What did the military master say? This matter was caused by the old man's carelessness and negligence. I hope the military master can spare his life. I have offended the military master. I will not charge for tea this time. The old man apologizes to everyone."
Su Qi'an opened her slightly closed eyes, turned her head, and looked around. There was a tea stall next to the city gate.
At this time, three or four soldiers were cursing. The leader, a scar-faced soldier, grabbed the stall owner by his collar and cursed loudly.
"Bah, old man, I think you have a pretty good idea. You offended me and you still want to collect tea money. If you want to die, I can help you."
The old man who was being pulled by his collar was so frightened by these words that he struggled and apologized quickly.
"Yes, yes, the military master taught me the right lesson, but it was the old man who was wrong. I hope the military master can forgive me and let the old man off."
"Humph, since you said so, I am not a messy person. If you want to do this, then let's see if you are sincere?"
"Sincerity? Please make it clear, Master Jun. The old man doesn't quite understand."
The cold face of the scar-faced soldier who took the lead suddenly showed a playful look, and his eyes indicated.
The few Han soldiers behind him understood instantly. The next moment, they walked directly towards the corner of the tea stall. Without saying a word, they grabbed a thin woman from the corner.
She was said to be a woman, or more accurately a girl. Judging from her age, she was only about fourteen or five years old.
The moment the girl was caught, the old man's face was obviously panicked, and he shouted quickly.
"Master, Master, no, please old man, this matter has nothing to do with my granddaughter. She is still a child. Masters, please let her go."
"Whatever compensation you military masters want, the old man can agree to it."
"Bah, compensation? Old man, don't be so shameless. How much is your tea stall worth? Let your granddaughter play with us gentlemen for a few days to cool off the anger. This matter will be over. Otherwise, Don't blame me for falling out."
"Don't, gentlemen, I beg you, old man. There are a lot of gentlemen. This matter has nothing to do with my granddaughter." The old man kept begging for mercy.
The scar-faced soldier looked displeased and seemed impatient. He slapped the old man twice and knocked the old man to the ground.
「
Smelly old man, don’t be so ignorant, get out of here. "As he said that, he went up and kicked him twice.
The old man who fell to the ground curled up, showing an expression of pain.
"Grandpa! You bad guys, let me go." The girl who was caught yelled, and then bit one of the big men's arms hard.
The big man screamed in pain and threw the girl to the ground.
"Hey, you have such a fierce temper? Little girl, I like it. Don't worry, I will train you well and let you know what being spicy means."
The scar-faced soldier showed excitement on his face. He went up and grabbed the girl's hair. He looked up and down with dirty eyes. The next moment, he was about to drag her away.
At this time, the people watching around him couldn't stand it any longer, and they all shouted angrily.
"You are so courageous to rob civilian girls in broad daylight. What kind of soldiers are you? You are not afraid of being severely punished by the law!"
Su Qi'an was surprised by the voices of the people watching. Being able to speak so bluntly is rare in other states of Daliang. It can be said that it is difficult to see.
I remember that the last time I saw this scene was in Nanzhou, one of the three southern states. The righteousness of these people was somewhat similar to the atmosphere of Nanzhou.
This scene made Su Qi'an somewhat gratified. From a certain perspective, Zhongzhou's jurisdiction was good.
Although many people shouted angrily, these ruffian-like soldiers didn't care at all.
They looked around at everyone present, showing a condescending look, and said loudly.
"Hmph, I'm from Beishan Camp, what? You still want to arrest people from Beishan Camp?"
"I'm standing right here, come on, come and catch me."
As soon as these words came out, the people who had just spoken out angrily were obviously frightened, their eyes flashed, and in the end, no one dared to speak out.
Even if some of them were dissatisfied and wanted to say something, they were stopped by their friends beside them. They all shook their heads to signal not to cause trouble.
