Deyan set off from the capital in early September, he traveled thousands of miles to Liaodong to take up his post, hard work was inevitable, there might be risks on the road, it was impossible to go to the post alone, Yang Yong sent him five East Palace guards, and accompanied Xu Deyan all the way to Liaodong.

When Xu Deyan set off, the leaves of Daxing City had just begun to wither and yellow, all the way to the north, the weather was getting colder and colder, and when Xu Deyan and others arrived in Liaodong in November, the first snow in Liaodong had been sprinkled and sprinkled, and the road was covered in silver, and the huge ice cubes hung on the branches, crystal clear.

Several guards are northerners, this situation is common, but Xu Deyan has seen such a beautiful scenery for the first time, regardless of the cold, the curtain of the carriage was opened, and the beautiful scenery on both sides was greedily, fortunately, after Mrs. Xuanhua heard that Xu Deyan was going to the border pass, she was afraid that the border pass would be too difficult, not only gave Xu Deyan a large sum of money, but also gave several of the best fur clothes in the palace, so that Xu Deyan would not freeze and fall ill on the road.

In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yingzhou is the most remote city in the Central Plains in Liaodong, Xu Deyan wants to go to the Dongyi School Captain's Mansion, the city where the Dongyi School Captain's Mansion is located is called Dongyi City, there are still more than 200 miles away from Yingzhou, located in the center of the Khitan people, here was the foundation of the Qi traitor Gao Baoning, the elephant for three years, the first year of Dading, and the first year of the emperor, the prince of this dynasty Yang Yong personally led the troops to attack the camp of Gao Baoning, which will be wiped out for several years on the side of the disaster, and personally appointed Luo Yi as the captain of Dongyi, It has maintained the peace of the Great Sui Bian for more than ten years.

When he arrived in Yingzhou, Xu Deyan thanked Yingzhou for retaining Shi Wei. After only one day's rest, he continued to move forward despite his fatigue, and as soon as he left Yingzhou, he saw the boundless grassland, and there were fewer and fewer pedestrians, except for the occasional merchant who hired a cart to walk around.

Because of the snow and the slippery road, although Xu Deyan and his party had changed good horses in Yingzhou, the journey of more than 200 miles still took more than three days. It wasn't until the fourth day that a tall black shadow appeared on the grassland in the distance, and this black shadow stood up on the gentle grassland, like a high mountain, which made people look up.

Although Xu Deyan is well-informed, when he came to the front, he couldn't help but be shocked when he looked at this Dongyi City, which was built less than ten years ago, he saw the prosperity of Jiankang and the majesty of Daxing City, but this Dongyi City. The feeling for Xu Deyan is two words: huge.

The foundation of Dongyi City is itself a circular peak, and there are only about five or six zhang in front of this peak. The main peak behind is as high as more than 100 zhang, such a mountain can only be regarded as a small mountain bag in the mainland, but it is particularly convex in such an endless grassland, and Dongyi City, is set up on the mountain peak in front, the city wall is as high as three zhang, plus the city tower. From the foot of the mountain to the highest point is almost more than ten zhang, people stand below, looking at the military land holding spears on top only feel vague, and the sergeant on the top floor looks down, as if to the Lilliputian country.

Because the castle was built on the foundation of a hill, it had to be climbed up by steps, from the foot of the hill to the flat ground in front of the city gate, there were more than fifty steps, and there were ramps for carriages and cavalry beside it. From the foot of the mountain, both the horses pulling the cart and the horses under the five guards. They were all sweating profusely. Whew, whew, puff. It is conceivable that if the enemy dared to attack the city, this slope alone would consume most of their energy, and they would have to be slaughtered by others when they reached the city.

The gate of Dongyi City is open, there is a team of soldiers on both sides with spears and guarding, from the crowd that can not help but flow through the door, the prosperity of Dongyi City is probably no less than a medium-sized county town in the Central Plains, these people in and out are mostly herdsmen dressed up, Han people are very few, people who enter the city are more or less holding a few animal skins in their hands, obviously they want to change some goods in the city for their own use, and the fur on the hands of the people who go out of the city is gone, in exchange for the urgently needed salt, tea, cloth and the like.

A small number of people will use horse-drawn carriages or ox-carts to pull the furs to be exchanged in the city, however, except for the two wheels, their carts are made of simple wooden planks nailed together, although there are guards on both sides, but they are not all covered like Xu Deyan's carriage, as long as the curtain is lowered, the carriage and the outside are two worlds, seeing Xu Deyan's carriage, many people show curious looks.

probably saw that the five guards around Xu Deyan all looked fierce and were not easy to mess with, or they were a little ashamed to look at this exquisite carriage, and no one really came close to talk.

The sergeants guarding the city on both sides ignored most of the people, as if they were just decorations, but when they encountered a truck carrying goods entering the city, two sergeants would come over to check it up and down, and estimate a tax amount according to the value of the goods it carried, and pay money to get in.

There were a lot of precious brocades, a few coats, and several bags of gold and silver in his carriage, all of which were rewarded by the prince and Mrs. Xuanhua, Xu Deyan had no relatives in the capital except his wife, and his wife and Xuanhua

Together, naturally there is no need to use these things, some valuable things, brought, the sergeant opened the carriage and looked stunned, probably never seen such a visitor, fixed his mind for a moment, and immediately said: "A few brocades, three furs, and a tax of one hundred wen." ”

In addition to the silver coins, the items in Xu Deyan's car are definitely worth more than hundreds of yuan, and he only pays a tax of 100 Wen, which is less than 1% of the total value of the goods, which is far lower than the city gate tax of 20 taxes and 1 of the Great Sui. ”

The sergeant smiled slightly: "The captain has an order, this is the northernmost place of my dynasty, the business travel from the Central Plains is far away, and the tax has been drawn at least several times on the road, if the tax is high, the business travel is unwilling to come, the government will not only not be able to collect the tax, but it will also lead to a material collapse, it is better to collect a little less, so that the business travel can make money, and the merchants, the government, and the people will all benefit."

”

Xu Deyan nodded slightly when he heard this, he was in the capital, he had got some information about Luo Yi, the captain of Dongyi, this person was born in the East Palace, strong in martial arts, since he was appointed as the captain of Dongyi, there were Khitan people, and then there were Xi people, Muwei people, etc.

Xu Deyan originally thought that a general like Luo Yi would be brave and brave, and he was afraid that he would not be very proficient in people's livelihood, but just from the words of the sergeant just now, it can be seen that Luo Yi may also have gained in internal affairs.

After paying the tax, the sergeant signaled that Xu Deyan could enter the city, the coachman shouted, and the carriage restarted, but there was a sudden noise at the bottom of the mountain, Xu Deyan couldn't help but turn his head and look back, and couldn't help but be stunned, at the lowest step down the city, several herdsmen were kowtowing in the direction of the city gate, muttering to themselves.

"What are they doing here?" A question surged in Xu Deyan's heart, and when he wanted to look again, the carriage had already entered a shadow under the city gate, and was blocked from looking at the several herdsmen who were kneeling down the steps just now.

After entering the city, it was even more lively along the way, but Xu Deyan was not interested, and he always had to think about the few people who knelt down just now, did these people have grievances, or were they begging for something? It's just that in their indistinct spoken language, Xu Deyan heard it more like a piece of piety, and this feeling was more like the words he heard in the temple.

Reverent? Facing a city of piety, Xu Deyan shook his head, anyway, he will stay in this city for three years in the future, and it is not too late to understand this matter when he settles down.

The Captain's Mansion of the Captain of Dongyi was easy to find, Xu Deyan just asked a guard to ask passers-by, and let the coachman drive the carriage to the middle of the city, and arrived at a tall mansion, the carriage stopped, Xu Deyan got down from the carriage and looked up at the house, a large plaque above the house clearly read, "Captain Dongyi." "Six big words.

Under the plaque, there are four big men, motionless, like four statues, there are five steps from the road to the threshold, on the steps, two lifelike stone lions staring at passers-by with big eyes, as if they can choose people to eat at any time, giving the whole Dongyi Mansion a sense of majesty.

Xu Deyan respectfully took out his official letter, climbed the steps, and gave it to a sergeant standing like a log: "The lower official came from the capital on the order of the East Palace to see the captain." ”

Fengche Duwei is from the fifth grade, and the difference between the three grades of the captain of Dongyi is too big, not to mention that Xu Deyan wants to serve under other people's accounts, so naturally he can't lose his etiquette.

The sergeant's hand moved, took the official book, just glanced at it a few times, and immediately returned it to Xu Deyan: "The captain is out of the city, not in the mansion, you can go back first." ”

"This ...... I don't know when the captain will come back, can the lower official enter the house and wait? ”

"This is not possible, maybe in the evening, maybe a few days, maybe half a month, the captain will come back, the adult is not there, and there will be no guests in the house." The sergeant replied with a blank face.

Xu Deyan was stunned, Luo Yi was not in the city, and was about to ask again, when a guard shouted: "Presumptuous, we have come all the way from the capital, and Luo Yi should rush back to see us even if there is something big." ”

These guards sent Xu Deyan all the way here, needless to say, they couldn't wait to return to the capital as soon as possible, when they heard that Luo Yi was not there, and they didn't even have a time to come back, they couldn't help but feel fire in their hearts, plus they were from the East Palace, and they didn't have much awe for the ordinary third-grade officials.

"Bold, the general's name, how can you drink it indiscriminately." As soon as the guard's words fell, Mu Li's sergeant moved just now, and before the guard could react, a long sword was already on the neck of the guard who had just asked, and the guard was cold, and he didn't dare to move at all.

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