Song Dynasty, the first year of Tiansheng.
Bianliang in early spring is suddenly warm and then cold.
Cao An sniffed and stood outside the towering Bianliang City for a long time, unable to calm down.
"Bianliang, I'll come..."
Before he could say anything with emotion, the coachman behind him pushed him and urged him: "What am I? As promised, I will give you the money when you get to Bianliang, no ink marks!"
"Brother, look there..."
Cao An pointed back with a horrified look.
The driver looked back, but found nothing unusual. When he looked back, Cao An had disappeared.
"Damn it! Little thief, don't let me catch you!"
"I've been driving for a lifetime, and I've never seen such a shameless villain!"
"Car thief, you must die a happy death!"
Cao An couldn't hear the strong man's cry for a long time. He ran along the wall for a long time before he found the dog hole in his memory.
Half a month ago, he traveled through time.
As a social person who has lived half his life, one second he was 'discussing' credit with the landlady in a foot-washing town, and the next second he was hit here by a chandelier that fell from the decoration upstairs.
"Fuck, this is murder!"
Even though half a month had passed, he still couldn't let go.
In this life, Cao An is considered to have a prominent family background, but the time of his soul travel is not right...
His grandfather was Cao Lili, the last Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty.
It is said that such a family background is enough for him to be free.
However……
On the second day of March in the Qianxing year, Cao Liang was deposed from his position for offending the Queen Mother Liu E and demoted to Fangzhou as an official, so his family moved away from Bianliang.
On the way to move away, the Cao family was killed by a traitor, and all twenty-eight members of the family died. Only Cao An survived.
So the living people...
You have to do something for the dead, right?
…
Under the setting sun, the music and music gradually became more intense.
Cao An poked his head out of the dog hole and bumped into someone.
"what?!"
A big man was about to squat here for convenience, but he was suddenly startled.
He took two steps back abruptly and looked at Cao An at the entrance of the cave in shock.
"Well, how about big brother..."
Cao An laughed twice and glanced behind him slyly.
The big man finally came to his senses, pointed at Cao An and said, "Ground rat!"
"Ground Mouse" is a derogatory name used by Bianliang people for those who cannot afford to pay the fee to enter the city.
During the Song Dynasty, Bianliang, Tokyo, was the most prosperous capital city in the world, and it was also the paradise that millions of people in the Central Plains dreamed of.
Bianliang is a big place and difficult to live in.
The entrance fee alone is fifteen cents!
It was not used in the past, but after Zhenzong became Zen, even in a wealthy country like the Song Dynasty, the government's finances gradually failed to make ends meet.
So a certain wise man in the court came up with such a way.
A city tax is levied on outsiders traveling to and from Bianliang, commonly known as landing tax!
"Boy, you will be unlucky if you meet a certain Bianliang black arhat!"
The big man grabbed Cao An by the collar and said with a ferocious smile: "I'll hand you over to the city defense camp, and I'll reward you with 500 silver coins!"
Cao An was shocked. He naturally knew what would happen if he entered the city defense camp.
The status of warriors in the Song Dynasty was low, and these Bianliang soldiers were ravaged by civil servants and had little access to large amounts of gray income.
So the civil servants oppressed the military men, the military men exploited the local ruffians, the local ruffians oppressed the common people, and the common people...
Cao An struggled for a while and said hurriedly: "Brother, someone is rich."
"If you have money, will you dig into dog holes?"
The big man sneered, obviously his IQ was online.
"The money is in the city. If you let someone go, the money will come naturally."
"Hey, are you bluffing?"
The big man picked up Cao An's neck collar and lifted him up: "I don't care if you have money or not, as long as I send you to the city defense camp, I will definitely get a reward of 500 pieces of silver!"
"consistent!"
"I'll give it to you!"
The big man stopped and put him down after a little hesitation.
"real?"
"Children do not deceive, and scholars do not lie!"
In these days, scholars are not generally noble. Emperor Taizu said, "We share the world with scholar-bureaucrats." From then on, scholars all over the world reached their peak.
Cao An's phrase "scholar" is still very meaningful.
"Can scholars dig into dog holes?"
The big man hesitated a little, and his attitude obviously softened a lot.
"I was born as a hero, and died as a ghost. I still miss Xiang Yu and refuse to cross the Yangtze River!"
"how?"
Cao An looked up at him with no hint of blushing.
"What a poem!"
Even though the man is uneducated, he still hears the heroic spirit in this poem.
"I just offended a certain Arhat. How dare you ask me your brother's name?"
"Cao An!"
Arhat clasping his fists is a very standard etiquette in the world.
Cao An also learned to return the salute: "Then you...won't arrest someone?"
"We still have to catch him."
Arhat shook his head without hesitation, and then said with a smile: "However, with your literary talents, you must be a scholar."
Will scholars be short of money?
There were many poor families in the Song Dynasty, but no matter how poor they were, they would certainly not be short of this amount of money.
However, Cao An did not expect that such a stunning "Summer Quatrain" would not conquer the big man.
Sure enough, wild boars can't taste fine chaff!
"Let's go, I will take you to get the money."
…
Bianliang City is divided into three cities: inner, outer and palace.
There are mostly idle and poor people in the outer cities, 80% of whom are from outside the city, and their living conditions are relatively backward.
But it's different when you enter the inner city, especially Quyuan Street, which is close to the root of the imperial city. It is full of princes, dignitaries and ministers of the court.
Arhat became more and more frightened as he walked further, and couldn't help but ask, "Where did you... come from?"
"Scared?"
Cao An turned around and grinned.
"I'm so scared! I... I'm a Black Arhat from Bianliang!"
The boy was thin and had dark yellow skin, which seemed to be caused by long-term malnutrition. But the indifference between his brows made Arhat subconsciously feel timid.
Cao An ignored him and went straight to one of the big houses. After seeing no one around, he squatted behind the horse-mounting stone in front of the door and started digging.
After a while, he stood up, patted the dirt on his body, and grinned.
"When I went out to play before, I was always afraid of being scolded by my father, so I secretly hid some emergency money. Unexpectedly, it actually came in handy."
Cao An weighed the silver cake in his hand and said to Arhat: "Let's go to Kaifeng Mansion."
These days, gold and silver cannot be used directly as currency and must be exchanged for copper coins at the local government office.
Based on the current prices in Bianliang, one tael of silver can be exchanged for about three taels.
However, those powerful officials who are not short of money often like to use gold and silver to show their approval, thinking that it will give them face to spend twice as much.
Cao An has done this before...
"Are you the Cao family?"
Arhat did not move, frowned and glanced at the house in front of him, and said in shock: "Didn't the Cao family get demoted last year? How did you come back? No wonder you want to get into it..."
However, Cao An ignored him and urged: "Are you going yet? Kaifeng Mansion will go to the Yamen later."
"You are a fugitive!"
Arhat subconsciously took a step back and distanced himself from Cao An like he was avoiding a savage beast.
"If I were a fugitive, would I still throw myself into a trap?"
Cao An glanced at the sunset on the horizon and sighed: "The Cao family was only demoted, not exiled. Which law in the Song Dynasty stipulates that family members of demoted officials are not allowed to enter Bianliang?"
"Then why did you drill..."
"No money."
"Will the Cao family have no money?"
Arhat's face, as black as coal, was filled with suspicion.
"Do you want the money or not?"
Cao An was a little impatient.
At the emperor's feet, he was not worried that Arhat would kill people and steal goods, but the opponent's force value was obviously higher than his own. If not, Cao An would have been defeated.
"Qian from the Cao family has a hot hand."
Arhat suddenly became serious.
He bowed respectfully to Cao An and said in a solemn voice: "Mr. Cao is devoted to the people and has done a lot of good things to benefit the people in his twenty years as an official! When your family moved away from Bianliang last year, I also went to see you off." It’s passable!”
