The post house, also known as the post store, is subordinate to the Department of Driving under the Ministry of War, and is the main component of the imperial post system.

Whether the Son of Heaven issued an edict or the imperial court issued an official document, it was transmitted back and forth by post messengers from all over the country riding fast horses, forming a huge information transmission system.

At the same time, the post house is also an official building in the form of an inn for public officials (public officials) to rest, stay, and eat on the way.

According to the scale of the post store, it can be roughly divided into three levels: "pavilion", "station", and "pavilion".

The post house is the smallest post house, there may only be two or three mud brick houses, and there are not too many defense forces stationed here, generally only a few veterans will take care of it, and the horses in the stable will not exceed five.

In contrast, the post station has a certain defensive force.

Basically, the post station will be located next to the official road (post road) between the county and the county, it is like a big mansion, there will be about a dozen rooms in the house, and there is an arrow tower (watchtower), and the soldiers stationed here are about two (20 people) to a tun (50 people), and generally the soldiers who have also retired from the army have a certain ability to defend.

As for the post house, it is more classy, it generally refers to the post station built in the city, whether it is the scale or the grade of the building, as well as the guard force, it is better than the post station.

Generally speaking, the functions and meaning of existence of post pavilions, post stations, and post houses are the same, but the scale is different.

And Zhao Hongrun and his entourage followed the official road, and what they arrived at before dark that day was a post station.

Because of the imperial court's order, private construction facilities are not allowed near the official road, so on this section of the official road, there is only this lonely post station, and the surrounding view is quite good.

"Ritsu-"

Holding the reins of the horse, Zhao Hongrun and his party stopped in front of the door of this post station.

In front of the post station, there were two soldiers from the post station, an old man and a young man, who were on duty, and after seeing Zhao Hongrun and his party, the old soldier came over with a spear.

Whether it is a post house or a post station, these post offices located in the wilderness are generally not open to the common people, except in special circumstances, such as some hungry and desperate civilians, the soldiers in the post station look at him pitifully, and sometimes they will help.

But usually, the inn is not open to non-public officials, after all, the inn is not an inn after all.

However, in the face of Zhao Hongrun's party, the old man did not rush to say that Zhao Hongrun and the others would find another place to spend the night, the reason was the mount controlled by Zhao Hongrun and his party.

You must know that there are a total of fifteen horses in Zhao Hongrun's group, and these horses are not ordinary horses (inferior horses) used to pack goods and pull carts, but from this point, the old man can see that Zhao Hongrun's identity is unusual.

After all, in the market of the Wei State, only the horses used to pack goods and pull carts will be circulated, and those so-called high-headed horses will be used as military horses, if they do not have a certain identity, they will definitely not be able to get them.

And in the eyes of the old man, Zhao Hongrun and his party, each of the fifteen horses was actually a good horse with a horseback of seven or eight feet.

I have to say that this old soldier still has eyesight, after all, Zhao Hongrun's horses are all produced in Sanchuan, and they are all better than the military horses of the Junshui Army.

"What are you doing?" The old man asked respectfully.

Hearing this, Shen Yu stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Tonight, requisition this place for a night." ”

"Requisition?"

The old pawn was stunned, and before he could react, he saw Shen Yu take out a token from his arms and hang it in front of him.

I saw that on the token made of ebony, the three seal characters of "Su Wangfu" were clearly carved.

"Su ...... King? The old man was so shocked that he almost stared out his eyes, you must know that although this post station is located near Yu County, it is also in Yingshui County after all, and in Yingshui County, Su Wang Hongrun is famous.

The vast majority of Wei people living in Yingshui County knew that King Su Hongrun was the prince who led his army to defeat the invading army of Chu two years ago and counterattacked all the way to Chu.

"Please, please."

The old pawn hurriedly welcomed Zhao Hongrun and his party into the post station, and shouted to another young soldier: "Second boy, what are you still doing in a daze?" Help bring the adults' mounts to the back stable. ”

"Remember to feed some water and forage." Shen Yu took out a small piece of silver from his arms and put it in the old man's hand.

"Understood, understood. …… A few please. ”

The old pawn invited Zhao Hongrun and his party into the post station, guided them to a big room, and he turned back to Zhao Hongrun and the others and said, "A few people are here to rest for a while, I will go and ask our post chief here." ”

The so-called post chief, that is, the person in charge of the post station, is the person who presides over the affairs of the post station.

"Let's go." Zhao Hongrun nodded, and then looked at the decoration of the room with his hands behind his back.

In the past, in addition to going out to fight, Zhao Hongrun almost never left Daliang, and naturally there is no need to mention the post station in the deserted suburbs, but the post house in Daliang, when Xiong Tuo, the king of Chu Xuancheng, arrived in Daliang, Zhao Hongrun went to two or three times.

It is undeniable that compared with the post house in Daliang, the post house here is quite dilapidated, broken bricks and tiles can be seen casually in the house, and the wooden facilities are quite simple, such as this room, there is only a table and a few chairs, and looking at the condition of these tables and chairs, I don't know how many years have been placed here.

In addition, the walls of this room are empty, not as good as the inn of the big beams, and the walls are hung with landscapes and calligraphy everywhere.

But think about it, the post houses of Daliang are generally for receiving big people, either officials, princes and princes who have entered Beijing, or envoys from other countries, how can they be comparable to local post stations?

A moment later, the old man went and returned, followed by a middle-aged man who was about forty years old, only to see that this middle-aged man was not wearing an official uniform, but wearing a soapy blue brocade suit, wearing a cloth crown and a belt around his waist, dressed as a squire.

Although this person's clothes look a little old, for some reason, when this person wears it, he looks quite energetic and upright, giving people a handsome and steady feeling.

"What is the glory of the contemptible, he is the head of the post here, and how many of them are the distinguished guests holding the token of 'Su Wangfu'? …… Can you show the token to the contemptible eye? ”

This person speaks at a slow pace, but his words are clear, and looking at his conversation, Zhao Hongrun feels that this is a scholar.

Listening to this person's words, Shen Yu took out the token from his arms again and handed it to He Zhirong.

I saw He Zhirong, the post chief, take the token with both hands, look at it carefully, and seriously make Zhao Hongrun feel a little puzzled.

So, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but ask: "This post chief, do you suspect that this token is fake?" ”

Hearing this, He Zhirong hurriedly waved his hand, and after returning the token respectfully to Shen Yu, he said with a smile: "The contemptible person misunderstood, the contemptible people are just curious about what the token of the Su Wangfu is, whether it is true or false, and the contemptible people have little knowledge and can't see it." …… But come to think of it, no one will dare to pretend to be His Royal Highness King Su. ”

After that, he looked Zhao Hongrun up and down a few times, and asked with some uncertainty: "Forgive the contemptible, but is it His Royal Highness King Su Hongrun?" ”

Zhao Hongrun felt that anyway, their whereabouts were under the knowledge of the gang of thieves who tried to assassinate him, and he didn't have to care if his identity was exposed, so he nodded frankly and admitted: "It's this king." ”

Hearing this, He Zhirong's face was straight, and he walked quickly in front of Zhao Hongrun, and respectfully bowed his hand and said: "He Zhirong, contemptible Yu County, meet His Royal Highness King Su." ”

"Chief He Yi is exempt." Zhao Hongrun gave a false blow, and then looked He Zhirong up and down.

In his opinion, He Zhirong, who looks like a teacher, doesn't look like he was born in the army, but this person serves as the head of the post here, so there is no doubt that this person must be a nobleman from Yu County.

"Lao Li, you ask the kitchen to prepare some good dishes, and in addition, let people clean a few more houses." He Zhirong slowly instructed the old man.

"Understood, understood."

The old pawn nodded again and again and left.

At the same time, He Zhirong invited Zhao Hongrun to sit down on the chair next to the table, and said apologetically: "This post station is shabby, and I ask His Royal Highness King Su to forgive me." ”

Zhao Hongrun smiled slightly and said, "It's okay...... Chief Ho, please take a seat. ”

"This ......" He Zhirong hesitated for a while, and said politely: "There is a difference between respect and inferiority, how can a contemptible person be virtuous, how dare he sit in front of His Royal Highness King Su?" ”

Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun asked him to take a seat again, and He Zhirong politely excused himself again, and after repeating this three times, the latter sat down, but he didn't sit all of them, just sat on the outer edge of the seat.

Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun nodded secretly in his heart: Although this person is a nobleman, he is obviously a nobleman who is clean and self-conscious.

It is true that even if they are also nobles, they are different from each other, and some nobles will make Zhao Hongrun feel disgusted and disgusted, but in front of him, Zhao Hongrun is not disgusted, on the contrary, he feels that He Zhirong is like a teacher.

"How long has it been since Chief He took over this station?" Zhao Hongrun asked.

"It's been six years."

"What did Chief He do in the past, did he teach?" Zhao Hongrun asked curiously.

He Zhirong was stunned, and then his face showed a little embarrassment and shame, and said: "The contemptible person is not highly qualified, and he has been reading books for more than 20 years, but he has repeatedly failed the high school imperial examination, which has humiliated the old father, so he can only return to his hometown with a cheeky face and teach the juniors in the clan to read and hyphenation. …… A few years ago, my father passed away, and I recommended a contemptible person to take over this post house, so that I could finally have something to eat. ”

Zhao Hongrun was silent when he heard this.

Although his impression of the domestic aristocracy is not very good, it is undeniable that there are people who follow the rules among the nobles, such as the nobles like He Zhirong in front of him, although they are nobles, but in fact they do not have much wealth in the family, and they hold seemingly small but very important positions in the local counties of Wei.

The so-called "aristocracy is the cornerstone of the country" refers to such people, not those nobles who have a lot of money but still rely on profits.

Because he had a good impression of He Zhirong, Zhao Hongrun chatted with him.

This chat inevitably talked about the reason why Zhao Hongrun appeared here.

And when he learned that the reason why His Royal Highness King Su was staying at the post station in front of him was actually because he had been assassinated, He Zhirong was shocked and angry, and couldn't help but scold: "Where is the thief, so bold, he dares to assassinate His Royal Highness King Su?" ”

In this regard, Zhao Hongrun said with a wry smile: "Speaking of which, this king also wonders, this king thinks that he will not offend anyone to such a point......

Hearing this, He Zhirong stroked his beard and thought, "Has King Su ever considered that the gang of thieves who assassinated you may not be because of personal enmity?" ”

"Not because of a personal vendetta?" Zhao Hongrun was stunned, and then his eyebrows furrowed.

He Zhirong's words woke him up with a word.

For if the assassination had not been motivated by personal vendetta, then the thieves who had assassinated him would have been even more problematic.

In other words, it was an assassination of important people in Wei's country.

It's not that Zhao Hongrun is boasting, in fact, the imperial court has to admit that His Royal Highness King Su, who has always had a bad temper and is not easy to get along with, has made the Wei State gradually become more and more powerful, and this change is obvious to all.

If there is anyone who does not want Wei to become strong, then they will inevitably try to assassinate him Zhao Hongrun.

And when he thought of "people who don't want to make Wei strong", Zhao Hongrun immediately thought of the group of murderers who attacked Xiong Fen, the envoy of Chu State, in Yongqiu.

It seems that the methods of these two groups of people are quite similar, they are both so ruthless and decisive.

"I see, it's not that I've offended anyone, it's that someone wants me to die......

Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun narrowed his eyes.

He felt that it was necessary to contact the so-called "hidden thieves" so that he could find out the mastermind behind the hiring of these hidden thieves.

Of course, before that, he had to escape this assassination along the way, and since the purpose of the gang of thieves trying to assassinate him had risen to the level of "weakening the Wei State", it was obvious that the assassination operation would not be terminated because of several failures.

In other words, there's a good chance that the thieves will attack the inn again.

"Hmph."

Zhao Hongrun snorted lightly and had an idea in his heart. (To be continued.) )