After Zhou Bai put away all the dragon scales and the baby dragon horns, he saw that there was nothing strange around him and no one else saw what was going on here, so he felt relieved and walked towards the place with noisy people in the distance.
Now he is no longer at the Tianning Port in the north of the Yangtze River. Instead, he was brought by the Dragon King of Ningjiang to the south of the Tianjiang River. There is also a huge ferry here, which naturally forms a lively market.
Walking into the market, Zhou Bai first found a noodle stall and leisurely finished a bowl of Yangchun noodles with egg, and then asked about the location of the inn.
From here to Shenjing, where Zhongzhou is located, if you follow a straight line, you still need to pass through four major states.
It's not that there are no rivers connected to the Tianjiang River on the way. If you take the waterway, it will of course be a day or two faster, but he can't leave Wei Jing behind.
What's more, this is also the first time in his two lives that he has set foot south of the Tianjiang River. He can just take the land route to experience the customs, customs, topography and landforms of the south.
Soon, Zhou Bai went deep into the market and found the Dadukou Station, an official inn that also served as an inn.
After explaining the purpose of his visit and showing his identity document, Zhou Bai was immediately warmly received by Yi Cheng.
Yi Cheng is in charge of the ceremonial guards, carriages and horses, and greetings and farewells in the post station. According to Daxu regulations, it is not considered worthy.
However, because this post station is located in the ferry market where people come and go, there is more business during busy times, so it was greatly renovated.
There are several consecutive houses and more than 300 guest rooms owned by the inn. There are 80 inns and hundreds of grooms, cooks, handymen and other service personnel.
Therefore, the power of the Dadukou Postmaster is not small. He receives a salary according to the rank of a clerk and is placed in the county government office. He is also the head of the Six Houses.
Being in a place like Dukou Market, there was an incredible amount of wealth circulating every day, so they later sought permission from their superiors and started working part-time.
I will definitely do official and family affairs, and also do private business when I have time. Most of the water pumped out will be handed over, and a small part will be retained to maintain the development of the station.
If it were placed at the beginning of the founding of Daxu, of course it would be impossible, but now it has been 326 years since Daxu, and there are almost all kinds of problems that should be found in the late feudal dynasty.
The taxes collected by the imperial court were getting less and less every year, and allowing the post station to be used by civilians was just a microcosm of the tight financial situation.
But these were not the issues that Zhou Bai was thinking about right now. He soon saw his creeping horse, bouncing around and full of energy as usual.
The manger was filled with refined grains, minced meat, and eggs. It seemed that this inn had experience in raising dragon horses.
Zhou Bai comforted the excited Jing Jing, and while untying the rope for him, he asked: "How many days have I been here? How much money can you calculate?"
When the silver was mentioned, Yi Cheng's eyes shone brightly, and he cupped his hands and said: "This was left here by a caravan two days ago, otherwise forget about the silver. Are you going to Jieyuan, or go to Shenjing for the imperial examination, the court will exempt it. "
Two days ago, it wasn't bad. Ningjiang Dragon King flew him here, but Wei Jing took a boat, which took at least ten days.
It’s not like Zhou Bai didn’t notice the look of pain flashing across Yi Cheng’s face, he knew how destructive Jing Jing was.
So he took out twenty taels of silver and threw it to Yi Cheng, and said with a smile: "The imperial court's reduction is only for ordinary traveling scholars. How much money can they spend on accommodation and food? You can't reduce it for me, a dragon horse."
"Exchange the extra money for me to dry food and water on the road, and bring me some beans for the horses."
"Haole, don't worry. The cakes baked by our master chef are all said to be delicious by all the officials passing by." Yi Cheng took the money and beamed. This time he met a generous customer. Not only did he not lose money, but he also made a profit.
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At this time, he did not feel proud of being a "official" in the imperial court. Instead, he put money first and acted like a businessman.
Soon, Zhou Bai finished tidying up, hung the baggage on Jingjing, and went out.
"There is still one person in that caravan staying at the inn as a helper. Why don't you ask him to come over? You can ask for news about the caravan, and maybe you can catch up with him." After sending them all the way to the inn, the Yi Cheng seemed to have thought of something.
Zhou Bai had actually discovered the mark left by Xuan Yiwei a long time ago, but he still shook his head: "Nothing, I prefer to travel alone."
"You walk well. If you follow the straight road, you will pass through the four states and reach the Shenjing of Zhongzhou. I wish you a title on the gold medal list and may even the little man be happy."
…
It was already February 16th when we set off, and the Spring Festival started on March 20th, which meant we would arrive in a month, so Zhou Bai didn't dare to slack off at all.
Apart from letting Jie Jing rest to replenish his strength, eat and sleep along the way, he basically spent the entire journey on horseback, traveling day and night.
And in order to make Qi Jing full of strength, Zhou Bai stuffed several spiritual fruits from Long Palace to it and ate them all.
Jing Jing was already smart, but now he is even more intelligent and can understand everything he says.
Stop when you encounter an inn or when you are hungry, and scream to wake Zhou Bai for food and water. If you encounter someone with a dangerous aura on the way, you will be more alert and careful.
Finally, with the help of Jie Jing, Zhou Bai arrived in Zhongzhou on March 10th, and even entered Shenjing on March 15th.
Even if the route is straight, it takes an average of seven days to cross one state, which is unimaginable.
It can be said that this should be the limit of speed except for extraordinary means.
Of course, riding a dragon horse is something that does not belong to ordinary people, but it can be controlled by ordinary people, so it is barely included in it.
Somewhere in the mountains outside Shenjing City, Zhou Bai found a deep pool for Wei Jing to cool down and take a bath.
At this time, it was covered in white gas. This was caused by running at full speed, boiling the blood, and not having time to dissipate heat.
The hair that was originally brocade and charcoal was also dulled by the dust, leaving no trace of grace except for the figure.
Ignoring the people who crept into the deep pool to play and catch fish, Zhou Bai stared at the top of the mountain to watch the city of Shenjing.
Not seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe that a city could be so big. Even if he could only peek at a corner of the hill, he could still feel the boundless aura.
The channel for protecting the city is like a rainbow running through a large river, winding around it, making it impossible to pass unless it is a pontoon bridge.
What's even more outrageous is that the outer city wall is as high as 100 feet, 320 miles from east to west and 650 miles from north to south. There is an oar on the first floor of the city a hundred steps above.
From a distance, you can vaguely see the continuous palaces in the city, and you can also see the sea of people.
How majestic this is!
According to records, the permanent population of Shenjing City is tens of millions, and the garbage generated every day can fill the mountains at the foot of Zhou Bai.
The twelve levels of Jincheng are filled with clouds and energy.
If thousands of households are not different, thousands of doors are similar.
The chariots and horses are like flying dragons, and the road is endless.
Half a day later, Zhou Bai led Shenjun's Jingjing through the city gate inspection and officially entered the outer city of Shenjing.
It stands to reason that he should go straight into the inner city, because that is where the core of Shenjing is, and even the Rites Yamen heading to Dianmao is also inside.
However, Zhou Bai was not in a hurry to find an inn, nor was he in a hurry to sign up at Dianmao. Instead, he first deposited Wei Jing at the paid horse farm set up by Taipu Temple, and wandered around the streets and alleys of the outer city.
If you really want to understand a city, you still have to visit these places with the most fireworks.
After all, the long alleys of the market are like fireworks when gathered together, and the human world when spread out...
