From Suzhou to Chang'an, the most comfortable is to take a boat along the canal all the way to the north, after arriving in Luoyang, and then take a carriage from Luoyang to Chang'an, the problem is that the boat time is relatively long, the autumn and winter seasons are still dry period, the waterway will not be very smooth, if you encounter the trough transport has to give way, if you are unlucky, you may not be able to reach Chang'an in two months.

Lu Ting chose to take a carriage from Suzhou to Yangzhou, and then went north, passing through Sizhou, Bianzhou, Luoyang, and then from Luoyang to Chang'an.

The further north you go, the colder and colder it gets, when you first set off, you can see the green trees outside the window, the wildflowers are vibrant, the birds are singing, the further north you go, the more monotonous, slowly the road is no longer the shadow of the wildflowers, and there is no bird's graceful singing, and the color also changes from green to white, which is the color of snow.

Walking north from Suzhou, Lu Ting found a pattern, except for the big city and the suburbs along the way, most of the rest of the places looked dilapidated and depressed, and the people and merchants who came and went on the official road had no look in their eyes, their faces were full of vicissitudes, there were not many people in bright clothes, most of them were wearing half-new and old clothes, and most of the caravans and wealthy families were equipped with guards with weapons with them, and they were guarded with a guarded face.

It's been seven years since Wude, the Tang Dynasty is still uneven, the world has not yet returned to Li Tang, this year has not passed, small battles are not counted, there are as many as seven battles recorded in history alone:

February-May: Tang Pingshu rebelled;

In June, Tang Pinglong and Fuerzhou rebelled;

From June to July, Tang and Jiang Shanhe fought the Battle of Tuyuhun;

In July, Tang Ping and Yang Wengan rebelled;

The Battle of Shuozhou in July Yuan Junzhang;

the Battle of Longsaka on August 5;

In September, Tangping Jiangzilu rebelled;

Not only did Wude fight for more than seven years, Li Yuan said that during the seven years of the emperor, every year he had to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to exterminate all kinds of invasions and rebellions, and the movement of Wude for seven years was still relatively small, like the first year of Wude There were as many as 19 wars that could be recorded in history, from the New Year to the end of the year, the sequelae of the war was the economic collapse and soaring prices, and the common people were like frightened birds.

Seven days before starting from Suzhou, Lu Ting still has great interest to enjoy the scenery along the way, to the eighth day there is no interest, the ancient roads are not good, due to the war, many official roads are in disrepair, the carriage does not have such a high-tech as shock absorbers, sit in it a high and a low, and it will be dizzy after a while, the whole person has no energy, it is good if he does not vomit, where is the spirit to see the scenery.

Lu Ting felt that his luck was not bad, and he rushed to Chang'an along the Grand Canal, got up early to catch up with the dark, and finally arrived at the Qingshi Station on the seventh day of December without any danger, which was less than fifty miles away from Chang'an City.

The Grand Canal is the economic link between the north and the south, spanning the most prosperous economic zones at that time, namely Guanzhong, the Central Plains, Hebei, and the Huaihe region, Li Yuan has heavy guards around it, and other places are a little chaotic, these areas are relatively stable, Lu Ting and Fuzhi master and servant drove the luxury carriage for more than a month without encountering an accident.

"Childe, look, Qingshiyi, the sun is about to go down, do you want to spend the night here." Fuzhi stopped the carriage, sighed with his mouth, and said expectantly.

There is light snow in the sky, fluttering, there is a lot of snow on the side of the official road and the treetops, and the sky is almost dark, this kind of weather is rushing, sitting in the carriage, Lu Ting, who is sitting in the car with a fuzzy stove, does not feel anything, and Fuzhi, who is out of the car, feels that his hands are not like his own, and the cold wind blowing in his face is as sharp as a knife.

Lu Ting handed the furnace in his hand to Fu Zhi: "Ambiguous hand, I'll try my luck and see if there is any room." ”

The post station is the imperial court, mainly to entertain the post envoys and government personnel, if there is a free room, you can also give the past business travel convenience, of course, ordinary people live in the post station there is no preferential treatment, accommodation and meals have to pay for their own money.

Now that it's winter, the snow is flying, the air is foggy, few people go out in this cold weather, how good it is to guard the hot kang head at home, such a cold weather, the bluestone post is full of people, and there are some guards wearing black clothes and carrying horizontal knives around to patrol back and forth, not to mention that the post station has a big man, Lu Ting is willing to spend money and has no confidence to get a house.

Before he approached the post station, Lu Ting felt a few pairs of eyes fall on him, and those patrolling guards naturally put their hands on the hilt of their knives.

"This little Langjun, I don't know what you have to do at the Qingshi Station?" The post guard guarding the post gate stopped in front of Lu Ting, looked Lu Ting up and down, and asked politely.

People rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles, if it is an ordinary business travel, the post man blew away without saying a word, and saw Lu Ting getting down from an elegant carriage, brightly dressed and personable, and he didn't know what the origin was, so he asked politely.

"It's getting dark, I haven't found a place to rest, I want to stay in Qingshiyi for one night, I wonder if Brother Tai can make it convenient?" Lu Ting said politely.

The weather is not cold when you just go out, use the carriage as an RV, and you can find a place to spend the night, but now it is cold and snowy, and it is still dark, it must be comfortable to sleep in a hot pit and eat a hot meal.

"Does Xiao Langjun have an official status or official documents?"

"No, is it okay?" Lu Ting looked left and right, and handed over a silver bean silently: "It's convenient." ”

As soon as he made a move, it was a silver bean, which was generous, and this trick has always been very useful, but this time it hit a soft nail, and the post man saw the silver bean's eyes lit up, and his throat moved, and finally shook his head: "It's not a small inaccommodating, a few nobles came today, and they wrapped up the post station, and told them not to enter outsiders, son, please." ”

Money is a good thing, but the identity of the people living in it is too noble, even the post man has to be careful to serve, although the post guard is greedy for the silver bean, he does not dare to agree to Lu Ting.

Qingshi Station is only a few dozen miles away from Chang'an, and there are so many dignitaries and nobles who have entered Chang'an, and I haven't seen a few people who say that they want to charter a whole post station.

Lu Ting looked at the tall guards with serious expressions, hesitated, and said in a low voice: "Let's not go in, Brother Tai will find a way to help take care of the horses, it's best to get some food, and the horse feed and food will be settled together tomorrow." ”

As he spoke, Lu Ting stuffed the silver beans into the hand of the post man.

The postman got the silver, pinched it casually, quietly stuffed it into the sleeve pocket, and said with a smile: "As long as people don't go in, this thing is easy to do, the small one will lead the horse into the stable, feed the best fine materials, and eat is a little troublesome, the noble man has a little more entourage, and the cook is too busy, and I am afraid that I can't take care of Xiao Langjun for a while." ”

Originally, there were two cooks in the post station, and one cook took leave, and only one cook and two handymen were left, and now they had to make food for thirty or forty people, and no matter where they were busy, they couldn't make money even if they had money.

"It's okay, just get some ingredients, by the way, spend the night in that woods, it's okay."

It's a lot safer to camp at the post station, and I don't know what kind of nobles live in the post station, so many capable guards, they really don't stand by and watch.

"No, but there are nobles living in the inn, Xiao Langjun don't make noise, disturb the rest of those nobles, and don't dare to guarantee the ticket if something happens."

It is very common to find a place to stay, and it is common to spend a night in the wilderness, and in the grove not far from the post station, there are often people who are reluctant to pay for the house to camp for the night, and the post man has long been surprised.

Lu Ting thanked him, discussed a few words with the post guard, and asked Fu Zhi to drive the carriage to the grove about seven or eight zhang away from the post station, and the post man who received the benefits sent two slaughtered chickens, and then pulled the big white horse to the horse shed to feed and rest.

"Childe, it's still snowing, it's cold, it's not good if you get infected with the wind and cold, go back to the carriage and rest first, and then send the small one to Childe." I was so lucky that when I saw those two chickens, my eyes lit up.

When you go out, you can prepare pots and chopsticks, salt, and spices, and there is a bundle of dry firewood tied to the bottom of the car.

Lu Ting looked at the two slaughtered fat chickens, waved his hand and said, "Forget it, my son will do it himself, you can help me do it, and get something good today to open your eyes." ”

Fuzhi is a good person, loyal and careful, but he is not a good cook, and his cooking skills can only be said to be barely improvised, these two fat chickens fell into his hands, that is, they were chopped into a few pieces casually, thrown into the jar, added some salt and water, and the chicken soup came out after boiling for a while.

If you want to eat good food, you have to do it yourself.