Chapter 34: Ants

When Chen Xi's first light fell, Lu Hong was already betting Wen Bu out of Guicheng.
Out of Guicheng, Shiye is boundless.
The entire territory of Xiling is actually a narrow and long corridor, starting from Jiayuguan in the east and Kunlunguan in the west. Within this narrow corridor, from the east to the west are Zhen County, Yuwen County and Fan County. Hou, Changxinhou, Changyihou and Changlinghou, respectively.
Among the three hous, Changyi Hou Yuwen had the widest range and the strongest strength, so the Xilingdu Hufu was also established in Fenggan Fucheng of Yuwen County.
Fengganfu City is the largest city in Xiling, and has the largest population, much more prosperous than Guicheng.
It is nearly two hundred miles from Guicheng to Fenggan, and it takes three days to walk.
When you walk out of Guicheng and look to the north, you can clearly see the outline of the Changling Mountains. As the sun rises, the lush Changling Mountains become clearer, like a giant dragon lying on the ground.
It is not uncommon to prisoners in Xiling. On the way, the travellers saw the officials sending the prisoners and evaded them, so as to avoid confusion.
According to the rules, when the prisoners are escorted from Guicheng, they will leave early in the morning, because there will be a post every 80 miles between the two cities. From the morning to the evening, if there is no delay, you can rush to the post Settled.
Along the way, there are naturally villages and towns. If the travellers are unlucky, they will all settle in the town's inn.
However, there are many rules for escorting prisoners, and one of them is not to stay in an inn.
One reason is that the inn is not willing to have prisoners in the shop, worrying about bad luck. Second, the inn has many eyes, and the prisoner stays in it, and may cause trouble if he is not allowed.
It is for this reason that the officials are on their way, and there are post stations to make a rest.
There are quite a lot of pedestrians traveling on the official roads. From east to west, there is an endless stream. Since the saints have been able to trade with the Wutu people, the Datang merchants who are good at doing business but can bear the hardship have become Xiling. The most beautiful scenery in the corridor.
Although there is an intermediary in Xiling, Datang merchants can put the goods in the intermediary trade bank, but in this way, the profit obtained is at least 50% lower.
There are many merchants who want to trade directly from Kunlun Pass to the Wutu people and the countries in the Western Regions, but the risk is too high along the way, and there may be no return, so some small merchants can only buy goods from the customs and then ship them. He went to Xiling to sell to Xiling merchants, and Xiling merchants changed hands to traders from the west.
After the opening of commerce, although many merchants came to Xiling with goods from the west, neither Datang nor the merchants in the west could directly trade in Xiling. They had to hand over the goods to the local firms in Xiling and the Xiling firms completed the trade.
This was originally to protect the interests of the local merchants in Xiling, but to obtain this right, the tax burden was naturally extremely heavy, and eventually a lot of money fell into the hands of the three gates.
If this rule is violated, Datang merchants and western merchants trade privately. Once discovered, they will not only cancel the trade rights of these merchants in Xiling, but even severely imprison.
If you want to get rid of the exploitation of Xiling middlemen, the most direct way is to take the goods directly out of customs and trade directly with the west. Although the road is dangerous, the profits you get are very rich and abnormal.
But not all businessmen have such guts and strength.
Fortunately, some powerful Datang merchants united to form a large business firm specializing in trading with the west, hired brave and strong men to protect the goods, and went out with the people of the business firm.
In the early years, there were many such businesses. The Xiling Corridor had countless caravans heading west almost every day. The prosperity was abnormal. Behind the prosperity, there were huge dangers.
The land of Xiling is not rich and prosperous. For the people at the bottom, their lives have not been improved. The court’s decree cannot be effectively implemented in Xiling. However, the Xiling gatekeepers only considered the interests of the rich gentry and exploited the people. This will make the lives of people in Xiling worse and worse. Once a natural disaster occurs, no hundreds of people will fall into poverty.
In the bitter cold place, the Xiling people are already brave and unusual. Many people have no choice but to occupy the mountain as the king, and the caravan of the Xiling Corridor has become the biggest fat in their mouths.
Many commercial firms’ caravans were looted, and large commercial firms could sustain it, but small commercial firms often endured once or twice, and no longer had the strength to continue, although the three gates later organized personnel and the Western Regions to protect the government together. Many robbers have been suppressed, but most of the businesses have been completely disbanded.
Moreover, there is competition among business firms, big fish eat small fish, powerful businesses merge small businesses, and now they have the strength to walk out of Kunlun customs, ten fingers can count.
Lu Hong and his entourage met only a few casual merchants, but had not seen the team of big commercial firms.
He rarely talks on the way, but Wen Dao is in a good mood. From time to time, he laughs with the two bureaucrats, saying nothing but anecdotes in the casino.
In the evening, it really rushed to the post.
In fact, the post located between the two cities is very simple, a row of three houses, surrounded by a yard, on both sides of the corner, a kitchen and a firewood house, the cottage and firewood house are in one place.
There is only one resident in the post, except for the occasional official who escorted the prisoner, it is really not much use here.
In the event of an emergency, a fast horse and a non-stop day and night journey are enough to rush from Guicheng to Fenggan City in one day, and there is no need to use a post.
Lu Hong arranged Wen Budao behind a house on the left, allowing the postman to prepare some meals. In fact, there would not be any good food supply in the post, but he could manage it.
After a few bowls of noodles, each person had a bowl of goat soup, and then a basket of dried steamed buns.
Lu Hong brought the wine, poured a large bowl for both of the bureaucrats, and shouted that the postman on duty was coming over to have a drink together. It was rare for the postman to accompany him to drink together, which was naturally undesirable.
After dinner, a bureaucrat stood up and said to another person: "I stayed in the middle of the night, you go to bed first, and I come to call you in the middle of the night."
The of the prisoners naturally requires the prisoners to be transported safely and securely to Fenggan. If they escape, they will be blamed.
Therefore, it is naturally essential to rotate and stay in an indifferent house at night.
Lu Hong saw that the two government officials were drunk, and waved his hands and smiled: "Well, you are tired after a day of walking, and the amount of wine is not enough. I went to stay in the middle of the night. You rest first and come back in the middle of the night to change me." He got up and took the remaining steamed buns, and asked the postman to bring a bowl of goat soup to Wen Budao.
Ya Ya saw that Lu Hong was so loyal, so naturally he had nothing to say, and he went to bed when he went to bed.
Lu Hong came to Wen Budao with the steamed buns. He saw Wen Budao sitting on the humble wooden bed with shackles and closed his eyes to refresh himself. He smiled slightly. He used to put the steamed buns on the table and smiled: "Boss Wen , The conditions here are simple, you must not be strange, there is nothing delicious, you will also have some."
Wen Budao opened his eyes and saw that Lu Hong had sat down at the table, and said with a smile: "There is a laborer on the road to take care of him."
At this time, the postmaster brought a bowl of goat soup, Lu Hong reached out and took it, said to the postmaster: "You also have a rest early, there is me here."
The postman arched his hand and retreated.
Lu Hong then got up and walked to Wen Budao carrying the Yang Tang, and brought the soup bowl close to Wen Budao's mouth.
Departing from Guicheng early in the morning, I ate a little dry food at noon, but I was polite to drink it. I took two big sips. Lu Hong took the dried steamed buns and dipped them in the goat soup, and fed Wenbuo a few bites of steamed buns.
"Head catcher, this thing is uncomfortable to wear." Wen Budao raised his hand and looked at the shackles: "If you don't help me untie, I will do it myself, don't bother you to feed."
Lu Hong put the soup bowl back on the table and shook his head and said with a smile: "The duty is to send you to Fenggan Mansion completely. There should be no trouble on the way, otherwise the errand will be lost and I am afraid I will be punished myself. Closed in jail."
"Head-hunter thought I could run?" Wen Budao said with a smile: "I have such a big industry in Guicheng. Sooner or later I will get it back. If I run away at this time, I'm a fugitive, and I want to return to Guicheng. It's even harder."
Lu Hong nodded slightly: "Boss Wen is definitely in the city of Guicheng. He is definitely a rich man. Your day's gain, I am a small catcher, and I can't earn it in my life."
"Everyone has their own difficulties." Wen Dou sighed: "Much earned, and the risk is also great, you see, I am not a prisoner of the order now? In fact, I envy catching the head, holding salaries. , Raising a family and raising children, and Hemeimei, hey...!"
"Boss Wen envies me, and I envy Boss Wen." Lu Hong smiled and said: "Tens of tens of thousands of dollars a year can get what you want. Unlike me, there is an old mother, two children under, all Already in my forties, I can only count on that salary every month. The family wants to eat better, and hesitates again and again. As for the new clothes, boss Wen may not know that my mother-in-law has been three years No clothes have been added."
Wen Budao immediately said: "If you catch the head and wait for my business to end, after returning to Guicheng, your family will have all the clothes all year round."
"Like the local rich man giving beggars?" Lu Hong laughed: "Perhaps in the eyes of the rich, people like us are no different from beggars."
Wen Budao frowned slightly and said, "The head catches that Wen does not mean that."
Lu Hong sighed and said, "I can eat at least Yamen food in my life. What will happen to my children when they grow up? Xiling is nominally the territory of Datang, but Xiling people cannot take the exam. Broken the way to enter the official career, Xiling is the Xiling of those monarchs, and the people will never have a day to start." He shook his head and smiled bitterly: "If the child grows up, with good luck, maybe with my old face Let him enter the government office and be bad luck, so he can only serve those big households as slaves. If the Wutu people come back and be recruited to fight on the front line, they may die there. Boss Wen, you said Why are the lives of people like us so mean?"
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