Although there is still a long distance from the border, but Gukou Town already has a bit of a border town feeling, standing at the entrance of the town can see the road out of the town, this place not only has nothing to do with prosperity, it can even be said that it is still a little desolate, in the evening, the town has very few pedestrians, only the passing inn business is very prosperous.

The little second of the inn wore a small hat and a white rag, and was only in his 20s, when he saw Fang Ling and his party coming in, he hurriedly stepped forward with a smile and asked, "A few guest officers, where are you going?"

Fang Ling stepped down from the car and said in surprise: "Xiao Er, this inn doesn't just ask about playing tips or staying in the hotel, why are you asking where we went?"

The young junior smiled and said, "It seems that Gongzi is your first time in Gukou Town." ”

Fang Ling nodded and asked, "Could it be that this question is still a bit unlearned?"

The young junior pointed to the avenue out of the town and said: "Out of the town, this road is a mountain road, leading straight to the boundary of Shicheng, on this mountain road, there are many bandits, so the merchants along the way will find an inn to live in the town, and when there are more people, they will go on the road together, in case they encounter bandits, they will take care of each other." So you have to ask which county you want to go to, so you can have a partner. ”

Fang Ling then understood, glanced inside, just now he just saw a lot of carriages outside the inn, he thought that the business should be good, now he looked inside, and found that there were really many people eating on the first floor, there were twenty or thirty, and it seemed that they were divided into several batches.

He asked, "Then any of these people went to Stone City?"

As soon as these words fell, a fat merchant who had just gotten off the carriage on the opposite side laughed and said, "Childe, you really like to laugh, Shicheng is a den of bandits, and if you have a life to go in and not come back." ”

Xiao Er also nodded straight and said: "Boss Wang is right, I remember that two months ago, the imperial court also sent officials to bring a few retinues into Shicheng, and I heard that before entering the city, he was beheaded by bandits and hung his head on the gate of Shicheng." ”

Fang Ling asked, "Then these people don't go to Shicheng, they should go to the surrounding three counties." ”

Boss Wang laughed again, and said heartily: "Childe, I think you should put down your things first and book a guest room, if you want to know the situation near this stone city, come down to me, let's talk while eating." ”

Fang Ling didn't think about it for a while, so he walked to the back and helped his mother get out of the car, because Dong Canghai and the others were wearing civilian clothes, so it looked like a family member or something, but it would not make people suspect that it was a palace guard.

And in order to prevent a sensation, Su Shi and Xiao Xue both wore cloaks and veils, and they couldn't see their true faces, let alone that dusty temperament.

When he came from the county government next to him, Fang Ling had already sold some jewelry by the way, exchanged it for a few large boxes of silver taels, and put them on the newly bought carriage, so the carriage of the group became three.

After everything was arranged, Xiao Er sent the meal to the second floor, a few guards guarded outside, and Fang Ling and Dong Canghai came downstairs and found Boss Wang.

When I asked, I found out that this boss Wang's name was Wang Tieshi, and he was a "medicine" merchant, because he had been going back and forth between the two places for a long time, so he knew a lot about things near Shicheng.

Although Chen Mou had looked through the list of officials at the checkpoints along the way before setting off, and had also searched for information about several counties in Shicheng in the database of the six departments, it was not detailed enough.

And from Wang Tieshi's mouth, Fang Ling and the others learned the true situation of the land of Stone City for the first time.

If you want to get to the fiefdom of Shicheng, Gukou Town is not a must-go place, but it is the largest and fastest road. Soon after departing from Gukou Town, you will pass through a large mountain called "Miri" Foggy Mountain.

This mountain stretches vertically and horizontally, and there are many hills, which surrounds the stone city in an arc shape, which becomes the barrier of the stone city and the three counties, but it also traps it in it.

In the past, the four counties led to the outside world, in addition to this Gukou Avenue, there were some small mountain roads, but since the bandits on the "misty" foggy mountain became more and more serious, these mountain roads have been left unattended.

Therefore, Gukou Avenue has become the only way to go to the four counties, in order to prevent the bandits from going down the mountain to rob, so the merchants can only go in groups, and they also have to hire some people who practice martial arts as guards.

But even so, there is still the possibility of encountering bandits, and these bandits are all like wolves and tigers, and the number is also very large.

The only day that can ensure a safe start is in foggy weather, once the fog is out, the mountain road is difficult, and the bandits will nest in their nest and do not move.

After the "misty" foggy mountain, there are three county seats outside Shicheng County, namely Feng County, Xihe County and Maling County.

Among the three counties, Feng County is the poorest, and the other two counties are much richer, and behind the three counties, there is an endless mountain called the Shilong Mountains, and Shicheng County is located in the mountains.

In the past, the reason why a county was set up in this mountain was because outside the Shilong Mountain Range, there was a steep canyon, and outside the canyon was the border between Chu and Cai, and although Shicheng was a county, it was actually a fortress.

At that time, when the county was established, a road was specially opened to facilitate access to the surrounding three counties.

It's a pity that there are many bandits in the surrounding mountains, and later a landslide occurred, hundreds of tons of boulders rolled down from the mountain, and after burying the avenue, if you want to enter and exit Shicheng County, you must pass through the mountain path.

As a result, the county was occupied by bandits and became a veritable den of bandits.

Although the county guard had also sent troops to fight before, but the mountain road was difficult to travel, and the terrain was extremely unfamiliar, so it had not been successful.

Over time, this Shicheng County has become a real three-way area, and only bandits in the mountains dare to go there.

The situation in Shicheng is completely beyond everyone's imagination, although I have heard that it is a bandit's den before I came, but I thought it was just an exaggerated metaphor, but listening to Wang Tieshi say this, this is a well-known fact, although Fang Ling and others are all strong, but if they want to exterminate the bandits at once, it is almost impossible.

Therefore, Fang Ling dismissed his plan to go to Shicheng first, and went to Fengxian first.

The reason is also very simple, although Feng County is the poorest of the four counties, the county commander Cao Jingyuan is a clean official praised by everyone.

Instead of going to the rich land first and giving people the suspicion of pleasure, it is better to go to this barren land and make good achievements, so that the people can be convinced, and only by winning the hearts of the people can this fiefdom be safe and stable.

Since the day of the wedding, when he got this fiefdom, Fang Ling has secretly sworn that no matter how sinister and barren this place is, he must establish his own power in this place, and one day, return to the imperial city!

Early in the morning of the second day, more than 30 people from six groups of caravans went on the road together, and the road seemed to be mighty and "dang", as if the heavenly lord also intended to be beautiful, and sprinkled a heavy fog in the sky.

The mountain road is opened up around the mountain, and the road is quite wide, but there are a few dangerous places, and it is easy to fall off the cliff if you go fast.

Fortunately, the companions are all experienced business travelers, and they will be reminded when they encounter dangerous places, and there is no interference from bandits, so it is very safe to walk this way.

By the afternoon, the mountain road was divided into three, one of which led to Feng County.

Although Fang Ling and the others didn't know how barren Feng County was, they knew that Wang Tieshi and the other merchants did not have a team to go there, so they knew that they must be even poorer than they imagined.

After bidding farewell to the merchants, Fang Ling and his party embarked on the road to Fengxian, passing through two poor small villages along the way, and in the afternoon, they saw the county seat of Fengxian from a distance.

The county is surrounded by mountains on three sides, these large and small mountains are the junction of the "misty" foggy mountains and the Shilong mountain range, the "misty" foggy mountains are dense and deep, the Shilong mountains are big and dangerous, and it is a wonderful place for thieves to hide.

In addition to the green mountains with many forests, there are many bare mountains outside the city, which are full of white and blue stones, which makes this place even more barren.

There is a large amount of farmland outside the county, but these soils are not very fertile land, but mixed with a large number of sand grains.

In the rainless season, it is easy to become dry, and if there is more rain, the nutrients are easy to be washed away, and it is easy to become sour after the rain, and the mud surface becomes hard, which is actually not suitable for growing vegetables, so the fruits and vegetables grown in the farmland here are not good.

When I got closer, I saw the tall bluestone city wall, which seemed to be in disrepair, and many parts of it had been weathered and broken, and it looked dilapidated.

However, at the gate of the city, there were two very energetic soldiers defending the city, both of whom were young men in their early 20s, wearing military uniforms that were a little shabby, but they were in a straight military posture, holding iron guns, guarding both sides of the city gate like a benchmark.

Seeing three carriages coming, one of them immediately stood up, stretched out his hand to stop everyone, and then asked with a serious face, "What are you doing in the city?"

Although the young man in front of him looked a little immature, his serious attitude was clear-eyed, and Fang Ling couldn't help but smile and asked, "You asked us like this, are you afraid that we are thieves?"

The young soldier smiled and said, "Bandits don't enter the city so blatantly, but there has always been a law in this county, which stipulates that the entry and exit of carriages and horses must be verified. ”

Chen Mou, who was in the same car, whispered: "Although the county seat is small, the rules are not reduced, and this Lord Cao is quite conscientious." ”

Fang Ling smiled slightly: "We are here to visit Lord Cao. ”

The young soldier was stunned for a moment, and then looked at a few carriages, although they were not luxurious, but the people sitting in them were all full of momentum, the horses were also fat and strong, and the big men sitting on them were also sharp-eyed, so they knew that they must be distinguished guests from the big city, although the person who spoke was a young man younger than himself, but he could not tell which family was the son of a big official.