In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Kao, who was sleeping soundly in the pavilion, was woken up by the noisy sound outside, he thought he had overslept and quickly got up. How do you know that when you come to the door of the pavilion, you find that the sky has just dawned, and the pedestrians on the street in front of the pavilion are already in an endless stream, and there are often many ox carts, donkeys and horses carrying goods with people, which are really cars like water, horses and dragons. Zhou Kao had never seen such a lively scene in Qizhou City, so he couldn't help but walk out into the street and follow the flow of people.

At this time, the crowd on the street walked in one direction until they brought Zhou Kao to the front of the market. Only then did Zhou Kao understand that it was the morning market in Yucheng that had opened, and these people had come to the market to catch the market. I saw that the market was surrounded by a low wall, and there was a gate on the north and south. There were butchers who killed dogs and pigs, woodcutters who carried firewood and wages, cloth shops that sold linen and silk, and hunters who sold leopard skins and deer furs. The customers who bought the goods walked through the market at will, picking and choosing, and stopped to inquire when they saw the goods they liked. After the transaction, some people use shells to pay for the goods, and some people exchange silk, bronze and other things.

There is a large circle in the northwest corner of the market, and the cattle and horses from all over the east, west, north and south all come from the east, west, north and south, and keep their cattle and horses in this circle. There was a crowded place next to the cattle and horse shop, and Zhou Kao didn't know what it was selling, so he was curious, so he also walked over to see the excitement.

Finally squeezing through the crowd, he saw a dozen or so men standing in a row under the low walls of the market, all unkempt and unclothed, standing barefoot in the mud. Some of these people are men and women, some tall and some are short, some of them can't see their faces clearly with their heads down, and some of them look up at the front, but their eyes are blank and lifeless.

Next to this row of people was a short and fat man with a big fat nose on a large disc face, and a big grinning mouth, revealing a mouth full of open teeth. He wore a small hat with a hoop on his head, and his clothes were all made of linen, and he wore cloth shoes on his feet. The short and fat man paced back and forth a few steps, a pair of mung bean eyes kept scanning the crowd of onlookers, and suddenly said loudly: "These slaves have just arrived!" If you guys fancy which, you have to start early, you won't be able to buy it if it's too late! ”

After listening to it, Zhou Kao realized that this was a place in the market where slaves were bought and sold. Then the stocky man dragged a young man of about twenty years of age out of a row of slaves standing by the wall, raised his hand and grabbed him by the hair, forcing him to tilt his face up. The man said to the crowd of onlookers, "Look, how about this? is not very old, and can work, as long as the price is twenty pengbei, it can be said that it is not a loss. ”

One of the onlookers said, "Such a scrawny slave costs twenty penbeis, and I might as well buy a horse, or at least a cart." ”

The short and fat man glanced sideways at the man, and instead of being angry, he smiled and said, "This master, I want to ask, can the horse farm and harvest grain for you?" Can I serve you tea and wine? If you want to have a horse, there are a lot of cattle and horses next to you, so why come here? ”

The man hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Okay, I want this man." Zhou Kao saw that he took off the strings of seashells hanging on his body, and was about to hand them to the short and fat man, when he suddenly heard someone in the crowd say, "Wait! I gave twenty-five friends and bought this slave. ”

The short and fat man suddenly laughed so much that oil was about to come out of his nose, and said: "It's still this uncle's high vision, as the so-called goods seller knows the family, twenty-five friends, so it's decided!" ”

The previous bidder's face suddenly turned crooked, and he didn't want to increase the price again, but looking at the remaining male slaves, they were either too old, too young, or couldn't stand on their feet sickly, and none of them could see it. He stomped his foot helplessly, and had to turn away.

The stocky man and the buyer made the formalities, and the buyer put a leather ring around the slave's neck, led him by a hemp rope, and left the north gate of the market. At this time, I saw the short and fat man dragging out a female slave girl, and shouted, "This little concubine can't do any heavy work, so she only needs to pay ten friends." If you buy it back, you can serve people, and you won't eat in vain! He laughed twice, and then said: "Her greatest advantage is that she is very obedient, and promises to do whatever she wants, and will never dare to disobey." ”

At that time, slaves were called "ministers" for men and "concubines" for women; It's just that this female slave has a mediocre appearance, so no one in the crowd bids. The short and fat man waited for a while, and suddenly stretched out his hand and tore the front of the single dress that the slave girl was wearing, but the slave girl did not even dare to stretch out her hand to cover it, and stood there blankly for others to watch.

Zhou Kao was so frightened that he hurriedly turned his face away, but when he heard the uproar of everyone around him, they were all inexplicably excited. At this time, someone kept shouting: "Fifteen punbei! "Seventeen friends!" The outcry came and went. Zhou Kao was depressed and left immediately.

He went out of the market and was about to return to the inn, when he saw a large house beside the road, and a cloth banner hung at the door, on which was written the word "wine". When Zhou Kao passed by, he couldn't help but glance inside, but saw the bears standing in the house.

Zhou Kao didn't expect to meet the mane bear here, and shouted in surprise: "Master Huoshi! The mane bear was also unexpected, hurriedly turned around, and said, "Eldest prince, why are you here?" ”

Zhou Kao stepped forward and saluted and said, "I just went to the market for a turn, and I was about to go back to the museum." Master Huo, is this a liquor store? ”

The bears smiled "hehe" and said, "Yes, I'm here to sell a dime of wine, and I'm going to take it with me to eat on the road." ”

There was no liquor store in Qizhou City, so Zhou Kao looked around the small shop carefully, and saw that there were clay jars, jars, etc. everywhere in the house, all of which were containers for wine, and there were words written in cinnabar on them, marking the category of wine. After a while, a fellow held a water bladder, respectfully handed it to the bear, and said, "Guest, your wine is ready." ”

Mane Bear took the water bladder, and after a flick of it, he took out a small shellfish and gave it to the guy at the wine shop. The fellow thanked and thanked and turned away. The bears removed the cork from the water bladder, brought the water bladder to his mouth, tasted it, and said, "Good wine!" He glanced at Zhou Kao and said, "Eldest prince, do you want to try it too?" ”

Zhou Kao thought for a while and said, "No need, my father will also offer wine syrup when he sacrifices to his ancestors, and I have already tasted the taste of this wine." ”

When the bear heard this, he shook his head and said, "Well, the sacrificial wine is 'Qi wine,' and it is so thin that it is not wine at all." The wine sold in this Yu City, you must taste it to know the difference. ”

Zhou Kao was helpless, so he had to take the water bladder. Before he could eat the wine, he smelled a rich aroma of wine, which made him feel refreshed. After he took a small sip, his lips and tongue suddenly felt sweet, but it was not as sticky as the honey he had drunk before, but there was a refreshing feeling. He tasted it in his mouth for a while, and then said, "Sure enough, it is a good wine, much more mellow than that wine." ”

Mane Bear laughed, "Then you can taste a little more." ”

Zhou Kao waved his hand, handed the water bladder back to the bear, and said, "Don't dare to taste it again, if you eat too much wine, it will not be good if your father finds out." ”

The bears smiled "haha", and then they took the exam with Zhou out of the wine shop and walked towards the pavilion. At this time, the bears asked, "Prince, you have been to the market to see it, but what have you seen?" ”

Zhou Kao said: "The market in this Yucheng is so big, much bigger than the market in our Qizhou City. ”

Mane Xiong said: "We have only one market in Qizhou City, and it is still outside the city. However, there are two markets in this Yu City, the one we were in the west of the city just now, and there is another one next to the east gate, which is also of average size. ”

"There are two such big bazaars? Master Huoshi, why do so many Jia people come to Yucheng to do business? ”

The bears pondered for a moment and replied: "There are two main reasons for this, one is that there is a large population in Yucheng, it is said that there are 10,000 households in total, according to the calculation of five families per household, there are also 50,000 people, plus more than a dozen surrounding towns and villages, everyone has to go to the market to get what they need; The second is that many of these Jia people in the market come to Yucheng to buy salt, but they do not come empty-handed when they come, and most of them will bring local specialties to sell here. After selling the goods, he returned to his hometown with salt. ”

Zhou Kao couldn't help but nod his head, and after a while, he said again: "I also saw people selling slaves in the market. I wonder where these slaves came from? ”

"It's hard to say, some people become slaves out of their own volition, but there are also people who voluntarily sell themselves into slavery."

Zhou Kaoqi said: "There are still people who voluntarily sell themselves into slavery? ”

"Some of those who voluntarily sell themselves into slavery because they have committed a great sin and do not want to be punished, so they can only atone for their crimes; Some of them sell their wives and children in order to survive because their families are poor; There are even people who have sold themselves. ”

Zhou Kao was silent for a moment, and then asked, "What are those who have become slaves involuntarily?" ”

Mane Bear sighed and said, "When the two countries are at war, the winning side will naturally plunder, but the defeated side, whether men, women, or children, will be taken captive and become slaves. My ancestors, at the time of the Xia Hou clan, were also a prince. Later, Shang Tang destroyed Xia, and the ancestors fled to the far south because they refused to be slaves of the country. ”

Zhou Kao said in his heart: It turns out that Master Huo's family also has a glorious and prominent past, no wonder his martial arts are so powerful. Zhou Kao said: "Master Huo, then why did you come to Qizhou City?" ”

"Humph!" Mane Bear said angrily, "It's not for the sake of the elders of my clan. They say all day and night that they must keep in mind the hatred of the country and the family, and swear not to share the sky with the merchants; But after hundreds of years of empty talk, no one has dared to put it into action. Those who really want to go north to conquer the merchants and regain their homeland are instead said to be reckless and reckless, regardless of the overall situation! I would like to ask, is it possible that if Cheng Risuke sits there and talks about it, the merchant side will perish on its own? ”

Zhou Kao saw that the bear looked angry, as if he remembered a lot of unpleasant past events, so he didn't dare to intervene. After a while, he tentatively asked, "What happened?" ”

The bear suddenly turned his anger into joy, and said with a laugh: "Later, I overheard someone say that there was a prince of a small western country who once led thousands of people deep into the territory of Shang, fought a great battle with the king of Shang, and forced the king of Shang to sue for peace!" I thought, this guy is such a great guy, he's brave and resourceful, and he's done what I've wanted to do for years but haven't done! ”

Zhou Kao had heard Xin Jia mention this matter, and immediately understood that the person he was talking about was his father. When he saw that the bear's words were very respectful of his father, he realized that in the minds of foreigners, his father was such a great hero, and he couldn't help but feel a burst of secret joy in his heart.

I heard the bear continue: "So I thought that instead of sitting in the southern barbarian land with his people year after year, nothing could be accomplished. It's better for me to go and follow this person myself, and maybe I can do a little bit for the anti-business cause. At that time, my son was still in infancy, but I still took my wife and children and set off from the banks of the great rivers in the south, trekking all the way through mountains and rivers, and finally arrived at Zhouyuan. Fortunately, Lord Zhou Chang did not give up and ordered me to follow around, and it has been more than ten years. ”

Zhou Kao listened and remained silent. He thought: Master Huo, with his young son who is less than a year old, has traveled thousands of miles without tireless efforts, and of course his intentions are very sincere. But his intention was to bring down the king of Shang, isn't this a rebellious move? I wonder if my father knows what he thinks.

When Zhou Kao was thinking about it, he raised his eyes and saw that he had already walked in front of the pavilion. The two came to Zhou Chang's room, but saw Xin Jia and Wan Ji also inside, and Zhou Chang, Tai Ji and Zhou Fa were all sitting in front of a desk, and Zhou Kao was busy greeting everyone one by one.

Zhou Chang raised his head, saw Zhou Kao and said, "Where did you run early in the morning?" Don't say a word to me. ”

Xin Jia also turned around and said to Zhou Kao and Mane Bear: "You came just in time, we were looking for you just now, aren't you coming back?" ”

Zhou Kao didn't dare to say much, and sat down next to Zhou Chang with Mane Bear. Zhou Kao caught a glimpse of the two jade plates that Wan Xi brought back from Emperor Shun's mausoleum. He thought: My uncle must be studying the inside story of this jade version with my father, and I finally came back in time to miss it.

But he didn't dare to ask more, so he just sat quietly on the side. At this time, Xin Jia said: "Kao'er, the jade plate you took out from Emperor Shun's mausoleum, your father and I have already seen it carefully. ”

Then he pointed to the jade tablet with many symbols and said, "We all think that it seems to be a very ancient script, but unfortunately it is unrecognizable, so we don't know what is written on it." ”

At this time, Taiji said: "Since this thing was obtained from the tomb of Emperor Shun, it must be that these words were written by the ancients in the time of Yao Shun, and they are naturally different from the writings of merchants." I know that my father can recognize the characters of the Xia Dynasty, and he may be able to understand them. ”

Xin Jia sighed and said: "In vain, I claim to be the descendant of Dayu, but I don't even recognize the words used by the Xia people, I am really ashamed." If I go to consult my father this time, I will inevitably be taught a lesson by him. ”

Tai Ji smiled: "I still remember that my father asked you to learn the Xia people's script, but you said that it was useless to learn it, and you always shirked and refused to learn." If you are taught by your father, you can't complain. ”

Zhou Kao, Wan Xi and others couldn't help but laugh secretly in their hearts after hearing this, but they didn't dare to show their faces on their faces. Zhou Kao said: "Uncle, what is painted on the other jade plate?" ”

Xin Jia took the jade plate with countless lines and graphics in his hand, and said: "This piece seems to be a geographical map, but the place names marked on it are also written in ancient characters, so I still can't understand it." ”

"Geographical maps?" It's the first time I've heard of this word in the weekly exam, so naturally I don't know why.

Xin Jia said: "What is drawn on this geographical map is the location of famous mountains and rivers and urban passes. With this map, you won't get lost even when you go to a place you've never been before. ”

Zhou Chang also said: "If we enter the enemy country to fight, our side is not familiar with the terrain, and we will inevitably lose the geographical advantage. If we have this diagram, then we can guess where the enemy will block and where to set up an ambush, and we will know how to arrange our troops and how to win by surprise. ”

Xin Jia said: "As far as I know, for example, there is only a geographical map in the palace of the king of Shang today, which can be said to be a very rare thing. I didn't expect that there was one in the tomb of Emperor Shun, which was really a priceless treasure. ”

Wan Xi said: "I also said that these two jade plates are useless things, but I didn't expect them to be treasures. Then what you can't look for is probably these two things. ”

Zhou Kao said: "The child has been thinking about something, so how did the masked man know the clue to the treasure?" If he knew where the treasure was, why didn't he come to collect it himself, but wanted to fake someone else's hands? Wouldn't that be much more troublesome? ”

Zhou Chang thought for a while and said, "The origin of this masked man is indeed very strange. According to my suppress, this man must be a man of great status, and he did not want to do it himself, such as digging graves, so he entrusted him with it. ”

Xin Jia said: "Yes, for example, me or Lord Zhou Chang, even if we know that there are such treasures in Emperor Shun's mausoleum, we must respect our identity and refuse to do this discrediting thing." From this point of view, this masked man may be a prince of one side, or an important minister under the king of Shang, thinking that he must have traveled widely and has eyeliner, so it is not surprising that he can find clues to the treasure. ”

Taiji and the others nodded frequently, expressing deep agreement. But he heard Wan Ji say: "Ah! The two pieces of colored jade that opened the treasure mechanism, one of which was handed down by our ancestors of the Xin clan. Could it be that our Xin tribe also has anything to do with this treasure? ”

Those present were silent for a while. Xin Jia recalled for a long time, and said to Wan Ji: "Back then, your grandfather ordered me to be the punctual of Xinchengyi, and handed me a lot of items, including this colored jade. But he didn't point out anything special about the jade, and I put it in the room as just an ornament. Later, on your tenth birthday, I gave it to you in the hope of keeping you safe, but I didn't know that it was used to open the treasure. ”

Tai Ji said: "It seems that this kind of mystery can only be solved until Chao Ge asks his father." I wonder how my sister-in-law's body is recovering? When are we leaving? ”

Before Xin Jia could answer, he suddenly heard someone outside the door: "Ladies and gentlemen, the prince of Yuhou is asking to see you outside." When Xin Jia looked back, he recognized the person who had made the announcement as a servant in the pavilion.

Xin Jia glanced at Zhou Chang and said, "The prince of Marquis Yu is visiting at this time, I don't know what happened?" ”

Zhou Chang shook his head and said, "No matter what happens, let's go out and meet him first." The two were about to get up to greet them, but they heard Wan Xi say: "Father, this Yu Gongzi is not a good person, don't go to see him." ”

Although Xin Jia heard Wan Ji say that Yu Yan was not allowed to shoot his subordinates, but first, the subordinates he believed that he was not allowed were not good people, and this experience can be said to be self-inflicted; Second, after all, he is in Yucheng, and Yu Yan, as the prince of the world, visited in person, so he can't avoid it. At the moment, he ignored Wan Xi's clumsy opinion, and went out with Zhou Chang, and Zhou Kao and Mane Bear also followed closely behind Zhou Chang.

Zhou Kao came to the door of the pavilion, and immediately saw dozens of people wearing black clothes outside the door, who should be the secretary of Yu Guo from the costume. There is another person standing among them, it is Yu Yan, the prince of Yu Hou who has already met Zhou Kao.

Although Yu Yan had never met Xin Jia and Zhou Changsu, when he saw Zhou Kao following behind the two middle-aged men, he immediately guessed that these two were the main ones he had come to visit. At that moment, Yu Yan took two steps forward, took a deep look, and said: "In Yu Yan, the prince of Xiayu Hou, I will meet Lord Zhou Hou and Lord Yi Shou." ”

Xin Jia and others returned the salute, because Zhou Kao and Yu Yan knew each other, so Zhou Kao was introduced to Yu Yan one by one. Yu Yan said: "The two adults came to Yu Country, which is really a blessing for the disdain. When my father, Lord Yuhou, learned of this, he said that it was rude to not be able to meet the wilderness in the suburbs, and to let you stay in the reverse journey. ”

Xin Jia said: "Lord Yu Hou is too polite, I and the others encountered an accident on the way, and entered the city before informing Lord Yu Hou, that is our rudeness." ”

Yu Yan saluted again and said, "My father heard that the family members of the two adults are also in the city, so he specially ordered the younger generation to come here to invite the two adults and their families to gather together in the Yuhou Mansion. My father is looking forward to it in the Hou Mansion at the moment, and I hope that the two adults will not be lucky. ”

When Xin Jia heard this, he thought in his heart: Although we and Marquis Yu are officials in the same dynasty and know each other, our friendship is not deep. Yu is a big country, and it is a bit unexpected that Yu Hou came to invite him so respectfully. It's just that he sent the prince to invite him personally, wouldn't he refute Marquis Yu's face if he didn't refuse? It would not be wise to offend the king of a great country for no reason.

Xin Jia looked at Zhou Chang, and Zhou Chang nodded at him slightly, obviously in general. At that moment, Xin Jia politely said a few words and said: "Lord Yuhou is so gracious, but we are disrespectful. Please allow me to wait for a moment to prepare, and then come to the Marquis Yu's mansion to disturb me. ”

Yu Yan was overjoyed and said: "Then the younger generation will return to his father immediately, and he will wait for you at home." After saying that, he said goodbye to Xin Jia and the others, and led the group of Yu State ministers to retreat, and Xin Jia, Zhou Chang and others also returned to the pavilion.