The journey to Chungquanyi is about eight or nine hundred miles. The mountain roads are rugged and the oxen pulling the carts also need time to rest, so they can only travel about seventy or eighty miles a day.
The road that vehicles drive on is actually built on high ground next to a river in the mountains. The stream next to Zhao's house in the deserted village is one of the tributaries of this river.
Along the way, the "cartman" who drove the car was not always Zhao Qing. Ape Gong was also involved for quite some time.
In fact, with its wingspan of more than two meters and its strength of over a thousand kilograms, it is easy to control an ox. It is also quite easy to pull a cart instead of the ox.
Of course, as a friend and guest of Zhao Qing's family, we definitely cannot treat it as an ordinary animal. The male ape helps drive the car because apes are very active and just want to have fun when they are bored.
Rui Xi was also shocked that the great white ape brought back by her daughter had intelligence and could communicate with people and drive vehicles. She also suspected that it was a monster that had become a spirit.
However, when she saw the ape man camping at night and going out to find some fruits to bring back to share, she let down her guard.
In her opinion, Zhao Qing is much more knowledgeable than herself and should not be deceived by villains. After seeing more of the Monkey King's behavior, Rui Xi gradually became accustomed to its existence and regarded the Monkey King as a special "person".
The ox cart drove like this for twelve full days along the mountain road on the high ground beside the river valley.
The width of the river on the roadside was about twenty or thirty meters at first. As the journey got farther and farther, more and more tributaries merged into the river. The width of the river exceeded a hundred meters, and the water was mighty.
Along the way, Zhao Qing saw shirtless farmers working in the rice fields, spectacular waterfalls formed when rivers dropped, roe deer drinking water by the river, and crocodiles foraging for food.
And further away, towering mountains thousands of meters high, or even tens of thousands of meters high, are faintly visible in the clouds and mist. When the sun rises and sets, it casts a huge, endless shadow.
According to common sense, there should be many spiritual beasts and monsters in the Kuaiji mountains that stretch for tens of thousands of miles, but Zhao Qing and the others did not encounter them.
This is also normal. If "monsters" often appear on the road, the traffic on both sides will not be affected.
The so-called spirits and beasts are born with strength superior to ordinary warriors. Even after practicing on their own, many have the ability to fight against human cultivators in the Six Qi Realm.
However, since Dayu conquered the Nine Provinces, many great demons comparable to those in the upper six realms have been destroyed and executed. The weaker fairies have gone into hiding, and very few dare to invade human territory. Nowadays, both Yi and Xia respect the human race.
White apes like Monkey King that are intelligent and keep company with humans are generally not regarded as monsters.
For three generations, spirit horses, spirit eagles and other spirit beasts with the blood of the demon clan have participated in the wars between the Chinese kingdoms and gradually integrated into human society.
…
On the thirteenth day, the river on the roadside began to gradually become gentle. After a hundred or ten miles, it would become a tributary and merge into Ruoye Creek.
The surrounding mountains began to gradually become low and sparse, and stretches of plains appeared on the edge of the river valley, where many housing settlements could be seen.
The mountain road for driving is no longer a lonely one, but there are also other roads that intersect with it. In the farmland area not far away, there are crisscrossing streets and chickens and dogs roaming among the field stalks.
When the sun was at its peak, Zhao Qing stopped the cart near a road intersection.
She took out a piece of dried meat from the carriage, soaked it in an earthen pot filled with water for a while, and then used her internal energy to heat it as the staple food for today's noon.
After practicing for more than ten days, she has already finished practicing the Eight Extraordinary Meridians of Shenzhao Gong. About tonight, she will be able to break through the barrier of Rendu Interconnection again.
Cultivating the internal power of Shen Zhao Gong with a yang attribute, coupled with Zhao Qing's understanding of Xuantian's fingers to turn water into ice, heating food is only the most basic operation, which is boiling cold water, and it only takes a little more time.
Therefore, the effectiveness of internal energy and Qi refining methods is still very strong. In addition to being used for force, it also greatly facilitates daily life.
In addition, although common people in this era eat two meals a day, Zhao Qing, who is used to the life in his previous life, still prefers three meals a day. If possible, she still likes to eat something at noon.
While Zhao Qing was sitting at the front of the car, chewing meat, the sound of a large number of vehicles suddenly came from the distance. Judging from the sound, these vehicles were quite heavy and obviously carried a lot of cargo, but they were traveling very fast.
She turned her head and looked around, and saw dozens of large carts passing rapidly on the driveway in the distance. The horses pulling the carts were galloping like the wind, bringing up countless flying dust.
As a world whose area is much larger than the previous ancient world, the total number of horses in the main world is obviously relatively small, but in fact it is very many. Despite this, a team that can afford so many horses to pull a cart is most likely rich or noble, and has a good background.
With his eyes focused, Zhao Qing recognized the words carved on the outside of the car from a distance, "Duanmu Clan, Domestic Business in the World."
The Duanmu clan who was a merchant was Zigong. Is it the Duanmu who was gifted by Duanmu? Probably nine out of ten. Zhao Qing made a judgment in his heart.
Zigong was a merchant and one of the main disciples of Confucius. He served as prime minister of Lu and Wei. He also did business in various countries and earned a lot of wealth. Uncle Wu, one of the three emperors of the Lu Kingdom, commented on him that "Zigong is more virtuous than Zhongni".
Although it is said that Zigong's business is mainly in the Lu State, Zhao Qing would not be surprised if he also had trade in the Yue State. After all, Zigong is one of the possible authors of "Yue Jueshu", which contains a lot of information about Yue State. The local economy is quite well documented.
The reason why she was able to recognize the origin of the Duanmu family was not just based on the historical common sense she knew in her previous life.
In fact, when he was in the world of Liancheng Jue, Zhao Qing, while reading Buddhist and Taoist classics, also consulted a lot of historical materials about the Spring and Autumn Period.
Although the history of the two worlds may not necessarily match, after all, they are very different in terms of military force; the historical data may not be true and may have been altered by literati of the past dynasties, but they can also be used as a reference.
Watching the vehicles of Duanmu's caravan gradually go away, Zhao Qing put away the tableware he had just used and started driving the oxcart again.
The ape man jumped off the roof of the car and rode on the back of the ox. He chewed a bunch of beans in his mouth, which he might have just picked from the field nearby.
The distance to Chungquanyi is already very close. If you look in the direction of the river valley from a distance, you can see the vague outline of the city. You can probably reach it in the evening.
According to Zhao Qing's understanding, Chungquanyi is a city with a population of more than 200,000. It is not a large city in the Yue Kingdom. However, because it is near Ruoye River and has convenient transportation, it is somewhat prosperous and has a lot of commerce.
Just like just now, Duanmu's caravan was heading towards Chung Spring.
