With the two guides sent by Teng Gongli, even Park Tianhao felt that it was much more convenient, where there was a water source, where to find a place to stay, how to avoid the storm, all arranged properly, Jiang Anyi made up his mind to recruit the two to his command, and having these two people as guides during the western expedition could reduce a lot of trouble. There are not a few terrible records about the Gobi, when the Western Regions allied forces invaded the east, they had to pick sandstorms and tornadoes to set off in the season, and there were many incidents of losing troops and losing troops before the storm army attacked Zheng State.

The group walked for four days, and the crowd gradually became denser, and there were caravans on the gravel road. Guide Cummings smiled and said to Jiang Anyi: "Master An, ten miles ahead is the Taoju City of Weiche Country." ”

Jiang Anyi, alias Ange, is a merchant who sells silk, and Park Tianhao and others are housekeepers and guards. Teng Gongli prepared the goods of four camels for Jiang Anyi, containing Zheng Guo's silk and porcelain, and he didn't need to ask if it was robbed by wasps, so he gave Jiang Anyi a favor. The two guides were both strong men in their thirties, who often traveled to the Western Regions to sell looted goods for wasp thieves, and such small caravans were very common in the Western Regions.

In the vast Gobi march for a few days rarely see people, Taoju City suddenly appeared in front of the eyes, let people have a sense of intimacy, with the caravan not in a hurry to advance, Jiang Anyi looked at this rammed earth city, Taoju City wall is not irregular, there are square piers at the corners of the city wall, like a giant stronghold, full of momentum, there are grass on the gray and yellow city wall swaying with the wind, revealing the taste of vicissitudes.

There was a tax collector at the city gate, who paid two taels of silver to enter the city, and Jiang Anyi and others entered Taoju City. In the city gate cave, Jiang Anyi patted the rammed earth on the wall and found that the soil was very strong, no worse than the stone city wall.

When you enter the city, you can see that there are also shops and houses on both sides of the street, and the square structure is different from Zheng Guo's houses, most of them are made of white stone and loess, which looks very simple. Cummings explained with a smile: "Taoju City is close to the Gobi and often encounters sandstorms, and this kind of house is not afraid of wind and sand. ”

People and animals on the street are constantly coming and going, many pedestrians carry weapons, half of the people riding horses back and forth, there are railings outside the store, specially for people to tie horses, from the clothing to see that people from all over the world have, walking on the street, Jiang Anyi met two groups of merchants dressed in Zheng Guo. The further you go inside, the building gradually becomes larger, with flowers and beasts carved in front of the door, some painted with colors, and there are tents in the open space.

It was just after noon, and a few people had nowhere to wash on the Gobi these days, and they were all covered in dust. Jiang Anyi said: "Find a place to rest, take a bath and have a good meal, and relieve fatigue." ”

Another guide, Sotu, led the group out of the street, and turned into an alley, which was much quieter. The shopkeeper heard the sound of horses outside and greeted him with a smile, and saw Suo Tu come forward and hugged him, made a veneer salute, and greeted warmly: "My brother, the old man is looking forward to your arrival all the time, I specially left a jar of good wine from Anyin for you, these friends please go inside!" Getai, don't hurry up and lead the horses and camels to the stables, and feed them with good fines, Sula, send the goods of these masters to the upper room, Sotu is my best brother, if he is not satisfied in the slightest, be careful of your skins. ”

Suo Tu turned sideways and let Jiang Anyi out, and said to Yofu: "Old Yofu, you vampire, I came with my master this time, don't waste time on me, serving my master well is indispensable for your benefits." ”

Yofu's eyes lit up, he bowed to Jiang Anyi, and said: "Distinguished guests from afar, Old Yofu welcomes your arrival, you can see that you are the rich lord of Zheng Guo, and Old Yofu will do everything to meet your needs." Honorable guest, in fact, the old Yofu is also a Zheng person, and the poor mother of the old Yofu is a Zheng person, may the Lord bless her to live happily in heaven. ”

The eyes of the Weicheren are light blue, and the face is more rigid, especially the nose is prominent, Jiang Anyi found that the eyes of the old man are black, and the face is soft, but the hair is light yellow, unlike the pure Zheng Ren. Suo Tu smiled: "Old Yofu is a mixed-race child, his mother is a Zheng girl who was captured by the Weiche people, and there are many mixed-race children like Yofu in the Western Regions. ”

Jove led the way in front and walked through the front courtyard to a square courtyard with a grape trellis in one corner, and a well for the grape trellis. Joffh pointed to the courtyard and said, "There are eight rooms here, three upper rooms, five side rooms, how many rooms do guests want?" ”

Jiang Anyi waved his hand proudly and said, "We have covered the entire courtyard." Jofu smiled and said, "Honorable lord, may the Lord bless you safely, and I will take you to the upper room to have a look, and keep you satisfied." ”

Pushing open the door of the upper room, there are actually two rooms, one bright and one dark, the outside of the hospitality room, and the inside is the residence, and a colorful curtain separates the inside and the outside. The walls are decorated with tapestries, the floors are covered with woven tapestries, and exotic tables, chairs, candlesticks, and copper utensils are shining. Jiang Anyi nodded with satisfaction and said, "Shopkeeper, you go and prepare some food, and wait for us to wash up and go to the lobby to eat." ”

Half an hour later, Jiang Anyi and the others came to the lobby in front, at this time noon had passed, and there was no one else in the lobby. When Yofu saw Jiang Anyi coming, he hurriedly ordered the guys to bring up the wine and food, and Suo Tu introduced with a smile: "Master An, the roasted whole sheep, red sausage, and pepper chicken here are all good, and the hump meat is a must." ”

Yofu smiled and added beside him: "Sotu is my brother, he is honest, sir, you have tasted it and eaten it once, and you want to eat it next time." You drink and eat slowly, some dishes take time, I let the kitchen carefully concoct, you will be satisfied. ”

Sotu didn't tell a lie, the food in this house was really good, especially after a long journey to the Gobi, these exquisite meals tasted very sweet, and Jofu diligently poured wine next to him, estimating that at least ten taels of silver had arrived in this transaction.

The sound of horses' hooves sounded outside the house again, and Yofu hurriedly put down the wine jar and said with a smile: "The honorable lord has brought good luck to old Yofu, and another guest has come." Yun Niang, greet the guests for me, and I'll go outside to greet you. ”

A short woman came timidly and struggled to hold the jar and pour wine for the crowd. Jiang Anyi frowned and asked, "Are you Zhengren?" ”

The woman was startled, subconsciously shrank back, and only after seeing Jiang Anyi's black eyes and black hair clearly did she whisper: "The slave is a native of Hecheng County, Huazhou, and was taken captive by the army with her parents twenty-four years ago to the country of Weiche, and was bought by Master Yofu to be a wine lady. ”

Jiang Anyi noticed that Yun Niang's thin hands had traces of whipping, and she trembled slightly when she spoke, like a frightened quail, obviously not less beaten on weekdays. Pu Tianhao said softly: "Yun Niang, a while ago, Zheng Guohuazhou was taken captive to the countries of the Western Regions, why weren't you replaced?" ”

Yun Niang had tears in her eyes, and she wanted to stop talking.

"Master Tu, haven't I already paid this year's tax, why do I still have to pay it. Your old Kai En, if you hand it over again, my store will have to close. Joff's voice came to mourn.

"It's not that the lord overcharges taxes, the lord of the country has spoken, and this year's tax will be doubled, so you still have to pay taxes on two gold coins." As he spoke, a fat man appeared at the entrance of the lobby with a proud toe, and Jofu followed him with a sad face, and several men in leather armor, long hair shawls, and scimitars at their waists walked behind with cross-eyebrows.

"It's the tax collector of Taoju City," Cummings said softly to Jiang An. Seeing that Jiang Anyi didn't understand what the tax collector meant, he explained: "Rong Mi, Wei Che and other countries have waged wars against Zheng State one after another over the years, and the treasury has run out of money and grain, so they have to borrow a lot of money from merchants, and sell the country's taxing rights to merchants. ”

The state tax is actually sold to the merchants, so the tax collectors will definitely have to exploit it heavily, and the people will be miserable. Jiang Anyi secretly rejoiced that if all the countries in the Western Regions adopted the method of tax packages, it would not take ten years for the countries in the Western Regions to have a poor livelihood and social turmoil, and there would be no need to fight their countries and defeat themselves.

Tu Erer saw Jiang Anyi and others eating in the lobby, and said to Yofu: "Damn, you still say you don't have money, what are these people doing, tsk, they eat better than Master Ben, have you ever paid taxes?" ”

Sotu stood up and said with a smile: "I returned to the tax officer, I handed it over when I entered the city gate." ”

"Handed it over? Master Ben has just received a notice from the lord of the kingdom that the tax will be doubled this year, so you will have to pay the tax again. Tu Er'er smiled maliciously. The strong men behind him took a step forward and glared at Jiang Anyi and the others menacingly, with great intention of taking people without taking money.

Yofu hurriedly said: "Master Tu, if you are tolerant for a few more days, I will definitely make up the difference in taxes before the end of the year, I really don't have any money now." These guests are new to the city, so you might as well wait until they leave the city before collecting taxes. ”

Tu Er'er glared and shouted, "Does the master still need you to teach how to do it?" This group of people is Zheng Ren, shouldn't they be Zheng Guo's spies, arrest them all and take them to the old man's mansion, and the old man will interrogate them personally. Wherever the goods they brought, they will be sent to the old man's mansion. ”

It seems that Tu Erer has done such a thing, and the man behind him stepped forward to arrest people with a cruel smile, but unfortunately this time Tu Er'er lost his eyes and provoked a bad star, Jiang Anyi was annoyed by Yun Niang's matter, and saw a strong man grabbing him by the collar, and he was furious.

With a shrunk shoulder, the man's hand grabbed the empty space, and before he could react, Jiang Anyi's shoulder hit outward, and Yuan Xuan's true qi went straight down the shoulder into the man's slap. Only hearing the sound of "popping", the man screamed and stepped back, his arm was as soft as a noodle, and his entire arm was shattered by Yuan Xuan's true qi.

Several other men who came forward to arrest people rolled and crawled, and fell to the ground, Tu Erer jumped back in fright, and said in a chestnut voice: "You are so bold, you dare to beat the tax collector, I will go to the city lord to sue you, and let the city gate send troops to arrest you in prison." ”

Jiang Anyi waved his hand, Rao Ansi stepped forward and grabbed Tu Er's arm, reached out and twisted it, and grabbed him. Tu'er begged for mercy loudly, and Yofu was so frightened that he hurriedly said: "Master, release the tax collector quickly, otherwise the soldiers and horses of the City Gate Mansion will arrive, and our lives will not be guaranteed." ”