The red horses clattered on the stone road, and after crossing the river, we arrived at Yuzhou City, where Nanwu's commerce was extremely prosperous.
Shen Li looked at the merchants coming in and out and the guards dozing under the city gate, and rode into the city smoothly.
Yuzhou City is different from other cities. If you are in other cities, the garrison will most likely check your customs clearance documents. Yuzhou City is an important place for commerce and trade, so there is no need to check the documents.
As soon as I entered the city, my eyes lit up. Both sides of the broad street were full of vendors setting up stalls, and exquisitely dressed young ladies and ladies were hanging out in groups.
The prosperity of Yuzhou City is not inferior to that of Kaixi City in Nanwu Jingcheng.
It was almost evening, and there was no place to stay after passing Yuzhou City. The young man just chose to stay overnight in Yuzhou City.
I inquired several inns one after another, and until dark, I still couldn't find any free rooms.
I randomly found a food stall on the roadside and asked the vendor to bring me two bowls of extremely generous portions of river fish steamed buns, and gulped them down.
The hawker took a break from his busy schedule and asked, "Young master, are you coming to Yuzhou to visit relatives and friends?"
"No, no, I'm just passing by."
"Indeed, after passing Yuzhou City, the boundary ahead is the boundary between Da Wu and Northern Sui Dynasty. Let alone finding a place to stay, if you stay for a long time, the officers and soldiers will arrest you, torture and interrogate you. Oh? Are you going to Northern Sui Dynasty? ?”
"Exactly...hiss, your river fish in steamed buns tastes delicious."
"To tell you the truth, sir, this is a craft passed down from our ancestors. My father and I both made a living by making steamed buns with river fish. Now that I am here, I also start this small business."
The hawker looked around, took the time to walk up to the young man and whispered: "Sir, I see that you are handsome and talkative, so I want to tell you something secretly."
The young man who was making steamed buns raised his head: "But it doesn't matter."
"During this period, the relationship between Da Wu and the Northern Sui Dynasty was tense. The border area was full of officers and soldiers, and people coming and going between the two countries were strictly inspected. There were already very few merchants from the Northern Sui Dynasty in Yuzhou City. The prices of things from the Northern Sui Dynasty varied every day. Young Master If you have time, you can stay in Yuzhou City for a while, wait until the storm has passed, bribe the officers and soldiers guarding the border with a few coins, and then you can go to the Northern Sui Dynasty without incident."
"Take the money for two bowls of river fish steamed buns."
"Oh, oh, sir, you gave me too much!"
"Based on what you said, the money isn't much."
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. You are such a good person."
After eating and drinking, Shen Li touched his bulging belly and asked: "Let me ask you one more thing, is there any other inn where I can stay at this time?"
"It's too late. It's hard to say. Yuzhou City is no less generous than Kaixi City. You have to book an inn room the next day, otherwise all the merchants will move in. However, I do have some skills."
"Oh? What's this?" Shen Li became interested.
"There is a Shuanglong Gang in Yuzhou City. They reserve a large number of inn rooms every day. If the young master is not short of money, he will go to the Shuanglong Gang and find an inn from them. Of course, he will have to spend a little more money. The Shuanglong Gang does this reselling. Buy and sell.”
Nowadays, Shen Li is not short of money. Woxia Temple gave him more than 100 taels of money, which is enough to buy a decent house on the spot, let alone rush to the Northern Sui Dynasty.
"Okay, where is the Double Dragon Gang?"
The hawker smiled and said: "Master, you can give me ten cents and I will take you there!"
He counted out ten pennies and handed them to the vendor. He gave Shen Li a thumbs up and praised Shen Li for his generosity. After paying for the meal with several other diners, he simply put away the stall and took it to a nearby shop. After a while, he trotted out and said : "Let's go, Master."
"Sir, I will hold the horse for you." The vendor looked very enthusiastic.
Shen Li handed the reins to him, turned left into the alley, walked for half a quarter of an hour, went to another street, then went into an alley, walked around seven times, and came to the outside of a courtyard.
There seemed to be a grand banquet inside, with drinking and fistfights going on, and even some men yelling in dissatisfaction when they lost.
The hawker knocks on the door, the rhythm is clear, three light and three heavy.
The door suddenly opened.
Someone stuck his head out and saw that it was a hawker. He immediately became happy and glanced at the young man following him. He understood the idea and quickly opened the door wide, allowing the hawker to lead his horse in.
Then, close the door gently and hold the wooden bolt to lock the door.
Shen Li looked back and asked the vendor: "What does this mean?"
The hawker responded as he should: "The business done by the Shuanglong Gang is not honorable. There has been a lot of turmoil recently. In order to prevent the officers and soldiers from encircling and suppressing them. Oh, sir, you can rest assured that I am here! I will lead you to bring everything in a good way, and I will definitely take it away in a good way."
The courtyard was quite large, with six tables set up, all of which were full of people. Shen Li counted roughly sixty people, no wonder it was so noisy.
Someone had noticed the hawker and Shen Li a long time ago. The man nearby stood up drunkenly and asked in a loud voice: "Wu Laosan, have you brought another fat sheep?"
"Brother Zhao, what are you talking about? You are not a fat sheep. The young master is here to buy an inn room."
"Oh, easy to talk about, easy to talk about, come with me."
The vendor turned around and smiled apologetically.
The young man didn't take it seriously.
Brother Zhao took them to an open space and said, "Little guy, are you going to buy an inn room?"
"right."
"How long will you stay?"
"One night is enough."
"Fifty taels of silver."
"How many?"
"Fifty taels of silver!" Brother Zhao repeated absently.
Shen Lixiao asked: "What kind of luxurious inn requires fifty taels a night?"
"It's not luxurious, it's just ordinary. You can live there by yourself for more than ten cents, but here, it's worth fifty taels of silver!" Brother Zhao shook his neck and felt confident.
"Are you thieves?"
"Hey, you are right, we are not only thieves, but you have also entered the den of thieves! Your package is quite heavy, there must be a lot of good things in it, right?"
Shen Li nodded: "It contains a change of clothes and one hundred and forty-seven taels of silver."
"How much?" Brother Zhao and the vendor were all shocked.
"One hundred and forty-seven taels."
"???" Brother Zhao asked unreasonably, "You are carrying one hundred and forty-seven taels of silver on your back and going out alone?"
"right."
"In this case, the rent has increased, and it happens to be one hundred and forty-seven taels."
Shen Li laughed: "I don't have to stay in the inn anymore."
"Ah? If you don't go to the inn, why don't you stay here with our Shuanglong Gang?"
"good."
"Haha... You kid really doesn't know how high the sky is! Wu Laosan, tell him how powerful the Double Dragon Gang is!"
The hawker hid behind the man, took a step forward, and raised his voice: "I want you to know that the Shuanglong Gang is one of the largest gangs in Yuzhou City. There are two gang leaders, one is responsible for managing the gang, and the other is an official in the government. Therefore, Wei People in the city all hid away when they heard about the Shuanglong Gang. They would never dare to offend the bad guys and make themselves uncomfortable. Young Master, I would like to advise you, since you have joined the Shuanglong Gang, it is better to hand over the money to save your life. .”
After saying that, the hawker puffed up his chest proudly, as if he was a member of the Double Dragon Gang and everything he did was justified.
Brother Zhao smiled and said, "That's right. When this kid pays the money later, I'll give you half a tael of silver to take with you for flowers."
"Thank you, Brother Zhao!" the hawker beamed.
If you catch a fat sheep and pay for it for several months, whoever dares to do so is a fool.
So far, the hawker has done eleven jobs and received four taels of silver from the Shuanglong Gang. The evil woman in the family, who is obsessed with money, praises his ability every day.
Of course it's not just him, there are countless people in Yuzhou City who are trying to rip off foreigners. The government turned a blind eye and even harvested the wool themselves when encountering the big fat sheep.
Therefore, I am not afraid of suing the government. I am one of my own people both inside and outside.
The first time Shen Li encountered a robbery, he was so plausible.
"What if I don't hand over the money?"
"Don't pay?" Brother Zhao looked back at the hawker. The two looked at each other and laughed. "It doesn't matter. If you don't take the initiative to pay, I will take it myself. At worst, I will throw you into the river outside the city."
"You dare to threaten me?"
Shen Li took a step forward.
Brother Zhao suddenly laughed ferociously: "Not only do I threaten you, I also want to kill you!!"
The hawker shook his head and sighed: "Sir, please listen to my advice and never seek death! Money is an external possession, it doesn't matter. If you lose your life, you will only regret it in the next life!"
Shen Li rolled up his sleeves.
In a flash, he reached out and grabbed Brother Zhao's arm and threw him to the banquet.
With a pop, the table collapsed and bottles and jars clinked and shattered on the floor.
The members of the Shuangyong Gang, who were eating meat and drinking wine, stared at him dumbfounded.
"What day is today?"
"The almanac says it is advisable to be a guest."
"Kill him!"
Rushed forward.
They beat as many as they came and destroyed all the banquets by the way.
This group of losers, relying on their large numbers of people to bully ordinary people with no background, were able to achieve success. When fighting against Shen Li, they were like a mantis trying to block the enemy's attack.
By the time all the Shuanglong Gang members in the courtyard were lying on the ground, crying in pain.
The young man waved to the hawker who was standing there, but when he saw no response, he sighed.
"My mother..." The vendor knelt on his knees, with snot and tears streaming down his face, and begged for mercy, "Master, please have mercy on me! Master, please have mercy on me! I have offended you because of my blindness! Please show mercy and show your respect! I have a superior, a superior, a subordinate, and a minor." , the mother is eighty years old, and the baby has not yet been weaned..."
"Shut up!"
"Yes, yes, yes, shut up!!"
"come over!"
The vendor knelt on his knees and dragged him over.
Shen Li found a chair and sat down, "Look who is the gang leader among those lying down."
The hawker received the order and looked around non-stop.
"Stand up and look for it! Can you see it while kneeling?"
"Yes Yes Yes."
Finally, he found a leader of the Shuanglong Gang among the people crying in pain, and helped him to the young man.
"Where's the other person?"
The gang leader replied tremblingly: "He...he is on duty at the government office."
"I'm hungry again. Seeing that you guys are eating well, I'll serve you a table of good wine and food."
"Master, wait a minute, I...I, I, I'm going to ask someone to cook."
He has always been a bully, but to his surprise, Wu Laosan brought in a demon king and defeated everyone with three attacks and five divided by two. When word spread, no one would laugh at the incompetence of the Double Dragon Gang because they didn't believe it and thought they were joking.
"return!"
The leader of the Shuanglong Gang's legs were so weak that the hawker supported him again and said, "Master, please give me your orders."
"I'm a master at using poison. Don't even think about poisoning your food. No matter how colorless and odorless it is, I'll know it just by smelling it."
"Young Master, you misunderstood. The Shuanglong Gang used to rely on human strength to bully the smaller ones. They never used poison. The gang didn't even have a bottle of sweat medicine!! If you don't believe me, you can watch the cook cooking outside the kitchen."
"No need, go and cook."
"Yes, yes, sir, please wait a moment."
Shen Li looked at the hawker and wanted to leave with the leader of the Shuanglong Gang: "Wu Laosan!"
The vendor got excited, turned around quickly, and knelt down on his knees.
"Did I let you go?"
The vendor was so frightened that he was sweating profusely, and slapped himself in the face with one slap after another: "I was wrong! I was wrong! Master, spare your life!!"
