Around lunchtime, the four of them could already see the official road, and as they approached, the fields along the road became neat, and the path under their feet became easier.

Walking for so long, seeing the few merchants and travelers on the official road, it still makes people feel refreshed, Qin Qin, who was originally looking curiously, was ordered to retract, and the basket mouth was covered with a cloth, the girl was happy to see it, but she was reluctant at this time, but she couldn't help it.

Along the path to the official road, I also saw the river bridge in front, at the junction of the bridge and the official road, it was much more lively than other places, and you could also see the tea sheds and vendors setting up stalls, and some people went in and out.

This scene made Zhu Da a little excited, in this era he had hardly seen business, the commercial activities in Baibao Village were Xiang Bo's private salt trading, and the second was the occasional merchant, and the market in the township, his father went very little, and he was unwilling to take others there, nothing else, which made Zhu Da feel too boring, and now he finally saw it.

There are a few horses tied to the outside of the tea shed, and some merchants and even cavalrymen are resting and drinking tea inside, and the stalls are full of local products and simple food, and there are idlers sitting or wandering.

Zhu Da and they walked for so long, that is, they drank a few sips of water with a gourd halfway, and when they saw the tea shed, they all wanted to go in and sit down and rest for a while, of course, the main thing was curiosity.

However, Xiang Bo didn't have the slightest intention of stopping, and walked over directly, of course he also noticed the expressions of Zhu Da and Zhou Qingyun's eyes, Xiang Bo didn't turn his head, but just said in a muffled voice: "There are many rights and wrongs in the tea shed, bear with it, and wait until the Zheng family gathers to rest." ”

When passing by the tea shed, he looked inside, and there were also people inside, and their expressions were very unkind, and Zhu Da also noticed that there were almost no old and weak people in the tea shed, either in groups, or young and strong with weapons.

Just walked through the tea shed, Zhu Da turned his head casually, but saw two idlers following him, he thought it happened to be in the same direction, but he never thought that he turned around like this, and the other party subconsciously lowered his head, which suddenly made people notice.

"Master, someone is following us." Zhu Da said in a low voice.

I have to say that after killing someone, Zhu Da became a lot bolder, not only was he not nervous at this time, but he became excited, and many clips of fighting in the tea shed and wine shop flashed in his mind, but unfortunately he didn't see any mysterious characters with big hats, and the drama was a little less, and he was still wondering if Xiang Bo would answer "Don't look back, continue to move forward" or something like that.

Unexpectedly, Xiang Bo stopped directly, turned his head to stare at the two idlers, and pressed his hand directly on the hilt of the knife, without the slightest fear of retreating.

Just looking at each other directly, the two idlers hesitated, bowed with a dry smile, and walked directly to the open space on both sides.

Xiang Bo sneered and shook his head, signaling Zhu Da and them to continue to follow, but Qin Qin, who was in the basket, was very anxious, and shouted in a low voice: "The seam in the basket is too small, I can't see clearly, I want to come out." ”

"Shut up, I'll beat you up if you make any more trouble!" Xiang Bo said unceremoniously, but the girl knew that Xiang Bo was fierce and not easy to provoke, so she immediately said nothing wronged.

"The people in the tea shed are merchants, there are family members and military attaches everywhere, and there are also lone thieves who run a single gang, these people are all fighting men with knives, they don't care about the king's law, when there are people, they are more disciplined, and when they encounter no people, they can kill people and sell goods, let's walk along the official road without worrying too much, but don't fall into their eyes, attract their greed and murderous intentions." Xiang Bo explained as he walked.

Zhu Da and Zhou Qingyun listened very carefully, and they did not delay the teaching when they traveled, but Zhu Da felt that this kind of teaching would make people learn faster and be more impressive.

I have already seen the bridge in front of me, this bridge surprised Zhu Da, it is actually a pontoon bridge, seven or eight boats are connected by ropes, and there are bundled wooden rafts on it, and there are many ups and downs on it, and there is a big car parked on the opposite side, which has unloaded a lot of goods.

Whether it is the boat as a "bridge pier" or the wooden raft as a "bridge" and "bridge deck", it looks very dilapidated and old, I don't know how long it took to use, and I don't know if anyone has repaired it.

"This bridge was originally called Renyi Bridge, 20 years ago there was a flood that washed the bridge down, eleven years ago near the pontoon bridge that a few squires pooled money to repair, and it was also called Renyi Bridge." Xiang Bo explained that they had reached the bridge deck.

Qin Qin, the girl in the basket, came out to see, and was reprimanded by Zhu Da before retracting it, and said with great interest in the basket: "Did I also walk by when I came over, I can't remember." ”

Zhu Da knocked the basket twice, and then the girl quieted down, and Xiang Bo continued with a smile on his face: "This bridge was okay for the first few years, and there were always people who built it, and then the gentry in those towns broke their homes and moved inward, and no one cared about it. ”

"Does the government care?" Zhu Da asked.

"Of course the officials don't care, the work of building bridges and roads is done by the local gentry." Xiang Bo replied.

Zhu Da was stunned, shouldn't this kind of infrastructure be managed by the imperial court and the government, how could the gentry, that is, the landlords, be allowed to do it, before he could think about it, Xiang Bo talked about the idler just now: "Those are all unemployed gangsters, who come to this official road to pick up cheap, and only when they see that the foreigners are old and weak and can be bullied, they will use means, as long as they show their courage with weapons, they will not dare to move." ”

Walking on the pontoon bridge to be careful, the wooden paved "bridge deck" is always undulating, and there are no handrails on both sides, although the river is not deep, but now the weather is cold, it is not good to fall down and get wet and cold, but also to avoid the oncoming people and horses, it is very troublesome to walk.

Seeing that they were about to reach the other side, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Don't think that the official road is dangerous, it's not a big deal to be careful here, after all, it is an official horse avenue where people come and go, and it is also under the control of Wang Fa, those gang of horseback riders and street idlers are just taking advantage of a loophole, and if you want to go to that poor and deserted place, you can't find an idler, in that kind of place, there is really no one to care about the dead person, and you can't find it." ”

This is like a joke, but when I think about it, I feel a deep chill, Zhu Da thought of the outside of Baibao Village, after he killed the thief, if he buried it deeply, he would kill it, and no one would know at all, Zhu Da even thought of a novel he had read in the past 20 years, saying that many people felt that the idyllic countryside was peaceful and peaceful, but they didn't expect that this kind of peace and tranquility was also a cover for crime, because they were separated from each other, so it was difficult for people to notice the crime......

From the pontoon bridge on the official road, everyone is a little more relaxed, this side of the bank is no longer allowed to go on the bridge, let the unloading cart pass first, many people are waiting by the river, some people complain, but that is, complain, most of the people are very quiet, it seems that they have become accustomed to this situation.

Zhu Da and the others rested in the crowd for a while, drinking water and eating dry food, and the merchants and passers-by on the side saw that although they were old and weak, they were all carrying weapons, and they all subconsciously avoided a few steps.

The next thing is to walk on the official road, to be precise, walking on the edge of the official road, there are often horses galloping past, not avoiding the pedestrians on the road at all, those oxen-drawn carts are not fast, but often blocking the road, it is not as convenient as walking on the side of the road.

"This road is so wide, it must have taken a lot of work to build it!" Zhou Qingyun sighed.

After sighing and looking at Zhu Da silent, Zhou Qingyun said with a smile: "I guess it's the first time I saw such a wide road, and I was so scared that I couldn't speak." ”

This joke made Xiang Bo laugh, and Qin Qin in the basket also laughed, now that the official road is noisy and noisy, he is not afraid of being noticed.

After crossing the river, the official road was obviously much more lively than the other side of the river, because it was less than a mile to cross the river, and several roads converged on this road, although this noise and excitement was completely different from what Zhu Da remembered, but there was a subtle sense of familiarity, and this feeling made him continue to be silent.

Of course, Zhu Da was not frightened by the "wideness" of this official road, the reason why he was silent was because this official road was too narrow, and such roads could not even compare with the country roads of the year, only the dirt roads in those very underdeveloped places were like this, and those dirt roads often had basic maintenance, and the "official road" under his feet was not.

The gourd and dry food filled with water were handed into the basket, Qin Qin ate silently, and Xiang Bo gossiped about Zhu Da and the two of them.

"From the south of Yingzhou to Datong right guard and Wei Yuanwei to go, take the official road to pass through Huairen County, but the nearest road is through Zhengjiaji, Wei Yuanwei, Yulinwei there is a Tartar, Wei Yuanwei there is then Shaanxi, often some light goods back and forth, businessmen dare not go to Huairen County, generally through Zhengjiaji, here to play the sharp shop, rest trade, for a long time, Zhengjiaji will follow the bustling and prosperous...... Now people in Zhengjiaji often say that Huairen County was built more than 100 years ago, and if it were now, the county would definitely be in Zhengjiaji. ”

Xiang Bo gushed endlessly, Zhou Qingyun listened with fascination, and Zhu Da listened and thought, this Zheng Jiaji is a bit of a land and water wharf, and it is the illegal and gray area business that has brought him prosperity.

If it is placed elsewhere, there may not be such prosperity, but Datong is a border town in the military region, and many businesses either involve the army, or involve the Mongolian tribes in the steppe, and are related to the army's food and smuggling and border trade, so it can naturally sprout, I don't know what it will look like.

Zhu Da also thought of something else, although it was now afternoon, but it was still early before dark, starting from Baibao Village to this Zhengjiaji, walking was at best half a day, but the life in Baibao Village was lifeless, and no one benefited from the prosperity of the neighborhood, and no one thought about what to do. This era is closed like this.

Thinking of this, Zhu Da even wanted to thank the thief who kidnapped Qin Qin, because he could only come out himself, so that he could know that there was such a place outside Baibao Village, Zhu Da was always used to judging and cognizing the laws of that era, and he could see that there were many unsuitable ones now.

"Zheng Jiaji is in front!" Someone next to him shouted.