Changsha, a great city, had a difficult life and suffered many wars in history.
The most recent time was at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. The entire city of Changsha was almost destroyed. It was not until the 14th year of the Yuan Dynasty that the city was built with adobe bricks.
After entering the Ming Dynasty, in the fifth year of Hongwu, Qiu Guang, the commander of the Changsha garrison, demolished the earthen city and built the city wall with stone foundations and bricks. This gave rise to the Changsha city that I have seen until today.
Ye Wumian looked around and saw that the city wall was about two feet high. Unless a good hand with internal strength could climb up, it was impossible to climb up. The gate was so high and the wall was strong. Outside the city wall, a moat surrounded the city. Unless he could walk as fast as flying, it would be difficult to jump easily. Yes, the land is wide and the pond is deep!
Along the dirt road outside the city, a row of evergreen cypress trees are planted, dotting the sunset.
Pedestrians come and go, in and out, and the city gate is like a big mouth, chewing up the time that the world regards as treasure.
People can't help but recite Wang Wei's poem: "The distant trees lead travelers, and the solitary city is illuminated by the setting sun."
Ye Wumian and Luo Xiangzhu looked at each other and smiled. Luo Xiangzhu said: "We finally arrived in Changsha!"
Along the way from Anhua, the journey of more than 400 miles was difficult and the hardships, finally, at this moment, turned into tears when looking at the city of Changsha.
After feeling sentimental for a while, he passed through the interrogation of the soldiers and entered the city through the "Xiangchun Gate".
Zhu Hou took the initiative to invite the two of them to the palace as guests, and said with joy: "My palace is very big. There are ten tenths of Changsha City, and my palace occupies at least seven percent. There are more than 800 rooms. It's up to you to choose which one to live in!"
Seeing the proud look on the young man's words, Ye Wuxian knew that what he said was true and remained silent.
He thought to himself: "The tea farmers in the caravans I met by chance on the Tea Horse Road were running around for a living. I am afraid that they have to grow old to have a piece of land to settle down. However, a house with one family name can occupy more than half of a city. .
Sure enough, the "Tao Te Ching" is right, "The way of man is not the same, the loss is not enough, but the reward is more than enough." How can the gap last for so long? "
Luo Xiangzhu politely declined: "No. Thank you for your kindness!" Without explaining why, he turned to Ye Wumian and said, "Cousin, shall we continue walking?"
Previously, Ye Wumian called her her cousin, so she temporarily stopped calling her "Amian" and changed her name to "cousin".
Ye Wumian nodded, led the horse and walked towards the city.
Zhu Houmao wanted to invite him again, but Xin Zhixing on the side said: "Senior brother! Even if Young Master Ye and Miss Luo go to your house to play, can you accompany them tonight? The matter that Master has given us is still in our hands. No business left!"
Zhu Houmao just woke up from a big dream, and said in despair: "Oh! It's so reckless, so reckless! I forgot about this. I am so tied up with worldly affairs, when will I have time to see the green mountains?"
Ye Wumian said without looking back: "When your heart is free, there will be green mountains everywhere."
Zhu Hou said: "It's easy to say! Let me tell you, I will go to Yuelu Mountain to recover my life now. Yuelu Mountain is also a green mountain. I can take a look at it as many times as I want. Are you angry?!"
Ye Wumian shook his head and led Luo Xiangzhu into the depths of the market.
When autumn comes, it gets dark early and quickly, the lanterns are turned on, and the smoke and smoke gradually emerge from the world.
Since Chenghua, the curfew in the city has become more and more relaxed, and the nightlife in the city has become as rich as that of the previous Song Dynasty.
Ye Wumian and Luo Xiangzhu walked along the way. There were street jugglers selling plasters, people breathing fire for reward, people setting up stalls selling cakes and snacks, people selling their bodies to bury their fathers... there were all kinds of things, which made them attractive enough.
Although Luo Xiangzhu came from a merchant family, before his father passed away, he had been living in seclusion among the high walls. There were no roads to guide him when traveling, so he had never been to a big city like Changsha.
When I saw this bustling scene for the first time, I couldn’t take my eyes off it, admired it, and couldn’t move my eyes away.
Ye Wumian is a native of Luoyang. Luoyang is prosperous and far away from Changsha, so he is not surprised by these things.
He smiled and said: "Miss, I remember you said before that after coming to Changsha, you will first go to taste the local snacks and then go to grandma's house. I don't know if you still have this plan now, or have you changed your mind?"
Luo Xiangzhu chuckled and said: "My nephew is lighting a lantern - Uncle Zhao (old)! Look, it's already dark now, so it's not convenient to go to grandma's house. It's better to go to an inn first and pay homage to the Five Internal Organs Temple tomorrow. Let’s discuss it in the morning!”
She always had a sense of escape from her grandmother, and she vaguely hoped to see her as late as possible. She did not hesitate to use the weather as an excuse to postpone the meeting.
Ye Wumian smiled and said: "That's fine, I will listen to you in everything. This time I came down from Black Elk Peak and prepared a few coins in my luggage. I am no longer as nervous as before. You can enjoy all kinds of delicacies. Ichiban.”
The two didn't hesitate, they chose a magnificent inn, booked a spacious and comfortable guest room, and asked the host to serve the same signature dishes.
The host looked at the two of them and felt that their clothes were shabby and did not look like wealthy people. Only the two swords on Ye Wumian's waist showed a bit of value, so he did not send them away.
Blowing his beard and glaring, he said: "You two, our store does not accept credit. If you don't have money to eat, you can pawn your sword and come back."
This kind of dog looks down on people, and I have seen it many times in sleepless nights. He took out a piece of silver from his arms, weighing about two taels, put it on the table with a "pop", and said with a smile: "Master, why do you say Shaoqian? Go straight to the food and don’t delay!”
At this time, the Ming Dynasty had not yet experienced the "Longqing switch" during the Longqing dynasty after Jiajing. Silver had not yet flowed in in large quantities from the West, and its purchasing power was quite high.
With two taels of silver, in addition to eating all the signature dishes in this restaurant, you can still have a few nights' accommodation left over.
The host's eyes were shining, he quickly put away the two taels of silver, and said with a smile: "You two, the young one has eyes and doesn't recognize Zhao Gongming. He offended the two Gods of Wealth, you really deserve to be beaten, you deserve to be beaten!"
After lightly slapping himself, he changed his face dramatically and ordered the waiter arrogantly to serve food to Ye and Luo.
The warmth and coldness of the world and the bitterness of life are vividly reflected in the face of this host.
Ye and Luo had experienced the world, but they just looked at each other and smiled without saying a word. When the food was served, he started to eat without caring about his appearance.
Even though I had a sleepless night at the Black Elk Gang last night and ordered a big banquet for three days, eating three days of flowing water mats, one plate after another of beef and mutton from the mountains, cut and boiled, boiled and cut, but the rough taste of the mountains is naturally better than Not allowed to eat delicacies in restaurants in the city, just smelling the food will make your index fingers move.
Any hesitation is a disappointment to the food.
The speed at which the two of them ate gradually exceeded the speed at which the dishes were served in the kitchen.
At that time, there was no such thing as "prepared dishes" in later generations. All the dishes in the restaurant were just there, but almost none of them were prepared in advance. The chefs cooked them on the spot according to the needs of the guests. superior.
Ye and Luo ate quickly, which made the cook feel even more stressed.
Fortunately, while the two of them were waiting for the food, they didn't rush them and just chatted all over the place. It seemed that the separation was imminent, and both of them had a posture of saying that they wanted to say everything they would say for many days to come in today.
