In October, Guzang was in a festive atmosphere, the wide loess avenue was full of bustling people, many Hu people who came to the Central Plains for the first time with a caravan and herdsmen who rarely entered the city once outside the city, all widened their eyes, looking at this qiē for them equivalent to the exotic Han scenery.

Yang Xuangan led a camel, changed into the dress of a Hu Ren merchant, and followed a Lite caravan that set off from Jincheng to the Western Regions, and came all the way here.

The leader of the caravan also happened to live in the Ping'an Inn in Jincheng, and Yang Xuangan quietly stuffed him with a silver ticket of two thousand yuan, and he took Yang Xuangan all the way with his eyes shining.

After arriving in Guzang, Yang Xuangan left the caravan according to the agreement made in the morning, and got along for many days, he mixed well with these people from the Western Regions, and he also learned a few words of Lite in the past few days.

After leaving the caravan, Yang Xuangan inquired all over the street about whether there was a Majia restaurant in the city, but most of the people he met were Hu people who did not understand the language, and he didn't ask for a long time.

Seeing that the sun was in the middle of the day, Yang Xuan felt a little hungry in his belly, so he casually sat in a small restaurant on the side of the road, ready to fight for his teeth first and then look for it.

As soon as he sat down, a man in his twenties dressed in Hanfu reluctantly walked over and asked coldly, "What do you want to eat?" ”

Yang Xuangan has never given people such a cold reception since he was a child, whether he is at home or eating out, he is a little annoyed in his heart, and he is waiting to have a seizure. Suddenly I realized that I was wearing a bearded clothes. Plus a red beard. Presumably it was given to Hu people.

Although the Han and Hu have lived together in Liangzhou for hundreds of years, the sense of superiority that is ingrained in the hearts of the Han people still lingers, and even a young man in a restaurant is full of contempt for this kind of Hu businessman.

So Yang Xuangan smiled slightly and said, "Man, I'm Han, what do you have to eat here?" ”

The Han guy's eyebrows were quite thoughtful, and he was slightly stunned at first. immediately smiled: "Master, the little one has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, so I snubbed you, please don't be surprised." As he spoke, he untied the rag from his shoulder and carefully wiped it on the table.

Yang Xuangan traveled all the way, and in addition to eating jerky, he could only eat the kind of dough that the Rite people like to eat, the kind called Hu Cake, which was baked with salt and mutton fat in the dough, and it felt like it had a flavor at first glance, but it was eaten for almost a month. I want to vomit when I see this thing, but there is no water introduction (the predecessor of noodles) that has gradually become popular in Guanzhong. Thin as a leek leaf, slender and long, just beginning to appear in this era), he growls in his stomach when he thinks about it.

Yang Xuangan came to this Han restaurant to change the taste and taste the Han people's stir-fried dishes, so he said: "If you have any delicious Han stir-fried dishes, just go for it." ”

The Han guy smiled embarrassedly: "Master, the chef in this store is a Hu man, and he can only make some Hu cakes, kebabs and the like, and he can't cook our Han family's dishes. ”

Yang Xuangan flashed a wave of disappointment in his heart, smiled, and said, "Then let's have a bowl of beef noodles." ”

As soon as the rag was on his shoulder, the tone dragged on for a long time, the same as what he heard in a restaurant in the mainland: "A bowl of beef noodles!" ”

Yang Xuangan's heart moved, and he grabbed the guy who turned around and wanted to leave, took out ten big coins from his sleeve, stuffed them into the guy's hand, and said softly: "Little brother, do you ever know where the Ma family restaurant in this Guzang City is?" ”

As soon as the guy saw the money, his eyes straightened, and he quickly took it, wiped it on his waist, and the copper coin was gone, and he didn't know which bag he stuffed the money into, but after hearing Yang Xuan's words, he scratched his head embarrassedly, and put the string of big money back into Yang Xuangan's hand: "Master, the little one really doesn't know, I haven't heard of any restaurant called the Ma family in this city, I can't ask for your money." ”

Yang Xuangan laughed and stuffed the money back: "It's okay, just keep it, just help me inquire when you have time." The fellow bit his lip, accepted the money, ran to the other fellow at the other table in front of him, and went out after a few words.

Yang Xuangan knew that the guy really went out to find someone to inquire, and secretly sighed in his heart that this guy was really loyal and honest, and he must help people when he received people's money. Suddenly, the bowl of noodles was served, and there was thick cumin floating in the noodle soup, but there was no light soy sauce, Yang Xuangan smiled bitterly, the noodles made by the Hu chef could only be eaten like this.

Yang Xuangan was eating this strange-tasting beef noodle slice, and at the same time, he quickly flashed in his mind the Guzang City that he talked about in the history books and these days in the caravan trip, according to what Xue Ju said in his house last time, the relationship in this Guzang City is complicated, the Han people and the Hu people have wealthy families in this city, and no force can control Guzang City alone, the last time Xue Ju negotiated with the wealthy families of Guzang City, it is said that at the same time, the Li family, which is the representative of the Han people, and the An family, which is represented by the Hu people, signed a non-aggression agreement. Wang Shichong is a descendant of the Hu people, and I don't know what the relationship is with the so-called Yueshi people with the surname Zhaowu Jiu here.

Yang Xuangan was eating the dry beef noodles, while thinking about the history and current shape of this Guzang City, he was thinking that if he couldn't find the Ma family restaurant and couldn't connect with that Wang Shichong, he would go back to Daxing first or continue to contact the wealthy families in the city in the name of the Tang State Mansion here, and his heart was a little chaotic for a while, and the shouting and selling of the Hu people on the street outside made him always unable to concentrate his thoughts.

Yang Xuangan finished eating the last piece of beef in the noodle bowl, he hadn't eaten a serious hot meal for many days, and he was dreaming of what good things he could eat for the first meal after entering Guzang, but he didn't expect to eat a meal of beef noodles with cumin soup made by Hu Ren, which was so salty that he almost vomited out yesterday's dinner several times.

After Yang Xuangan ate all the beef, he couldn't muster his appetite for the remaining few noodles and the yellow cumin soup, so he pushed the sea bowl, wiped his mouth, patted a few copper coins on the table, and was about to get up and leave.

Yang Xuangan just stood up, but saw a person flying in from outside the store, almost colliding with himself. Take a closer look. It's the guy who just came out of the store. I saw that he was sweating profusely, but his face was full of excitement: "Master, I found out where the Ma family restaurant is!" ”

Yang Xuangan first almost bumped into someone's arms, afraid that someone would stab, he was already on full alert, and almost punched out, and when he saw that it was the restaurant guy, he breathed a sigh of relief. Holding him up, he said lightly: "Don't panic, sit down and talk slowly." So he sat down with the fellow back at his table.

The guy wiped the sweat from his face, poured a glass of water from the kettle on the table and drank it first, and then said with a sigh of relief: "Uncle, you don't know, this Majia restaurant was renamed seven or eight years ago, it was originally in Qiangfang in Huren District, and it was opened here by a Jincheng man surnamed Ma. ”

Later, I heard that the old shopkeeper died, and the two brothers of their family split up, and the second in the family in Guzang City. It was renamed Fengjia Restaurant. ”

Yang Xuan smiled dumbly when he heard this, and said in his heart that this Hu person is really interesting. Add two points in front of the horse, even if it is the second child of the Ma family, it is appropriate, but the third person known as Ma Lao in Jincheng seems to be a little younger than the second child of this Gu Zang, why did he take over the restaurant of his own family, there should be some stories in this.

The guy said this in one breath, and he was a little gasped, and hurriedly poured another cup of tea and drank it, and said while drinking: "I'm afraid that you will leave first after eating the noodles, so I ran all the way and asked the owners of more than a dozen shops, until I arrived at an old chestnut shopkeeper in Huren District, who has been doing business in this city for more than 20 years, and only then did he remember such a past, and it should not be wrong." ”

Yang Xuangan was a little moved in his heart, and took out a string of copper coins from his arms to give to this guy, and when the guy saw it, he hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Master, this can't be done, I have received your money before, and I can't ask for it again." If you insist on giving it to me, I'll be annoyed. ”

Yang Xuangan laughed, patted the guy on the shoulder, thanked him, took back the silver, and walked out of the restaurant with his head held high.

Yang Xuangan followed the surging flow of people on the street and slowly flowed into the Huren area, and the number of people suddenly became much less. Even the air has become fresher, and the Han district is welcoming the New Year, and this Hu district does not have this custom, but just does business as usual.

Yang Xuangan walked along the way along the way as the guy said, and when he came across the shop, he went in and talked to the shopkeepers who spoke Chinese, and walked for more than half an hour, and finally found the legendary Feng family restaurant.

Standing in front of the Feng family's restaurant, Yang Xuangan could recognize it even if he didn't look at the signboard, because the façade here and the decoration style of the store, even the tables, chairs and benches were almost identical. At a glance, there is a medium-sized village on the platform inside, shirtless, with a thin black beard wearing a skin scarf, who looks almost the same as Ma Laosan in the Jincheng Majia Restaurant, which must be the legendary Ma Laoer.

Yang Xuangan looked around, there were few pedestrians on this street, probably all went to the Han area to see the liveliness, half of the shops were empty, it was noon, many Hu shopkeepers were lying on the platform dozing off, compared with the bustle of the Han area, it seemed that it was not in the same world.

Yang Xuangan walked into the restaurant, he was the only guest in the not big restaurant, and the second man asked without looking back, "What do the guests want to eat?" ”

Yang Xuangan smiled slightly: "I'm looking for Boss Wang." ”

Ma Lao Er was shocked when he heard this, turned his head to look at Yang Xuangan, and suddenly smiled: "It turns out that the person who Master Wang is waiting for is you, if you come one day late, Master Wang is afraid that he will have to leave here and return to Daxing." ”

Yang Xuan felt a secret luck in his heart, and said: "No way, the first time I walked this Silk Road, naturally I can't compare to him walking on this road all the year round, starting from Jincheng with a Hu caravan, it is impossible to go too fast." ”

Ma Lao Er said "hmm", walked out of the store and looked around, and said in a low voice: "Please follow me." ”

Yang Xuangan followed Ma Lao Er into the shopkeeper's table, a blue curtain was hung on a door behind, and the cloth was lifted and penetrated into the backyard, only to see that there were wine jars in the east and west, and there was a small house in front of it, with the door half covered, which should be Ma Laoer's residence, and a house on the right was very low, with dozens of empty jars piled up at the door, which looked like a wine cellar.

Yang Xuangan followed Ma Lao Er into the hut on the right, and as soon as he entered the door, he smelled a pungent smell of wine, Ma Lao Er pointed to a step leading to the underground in the house and said, "Please wait in the cellar, I will go and inform Master Wang immediately." With that, he turned and walked out, and closed the door with him.

Yang Xuangan nodded. Pick up a candlestick on the table. Lit. Walking down, this cellar is unusually shady, very suitable for storing all kinds of wine, by the light of the fire, you can see that the surrounding area is densely filled with wine jars, there are more than two hundred.

Yang Xuangan waited in this cellar for about half an hour, only to hear the "creak" of the door outside, followed by a rush of footsteps. Wang Shichong's rough and low voice sounded above: "Brother Yang, why is he here alone this time?" What about the Red Whisk Girl? Then he appeared at the mouth of the cellar with a smile on his face.

Yang Xuan replied coldly: "She said that she wanted to vomit when she saw you, so she didn't come." ”

Wang Shichong walked down slowly, and also took a candlestick in his hand, this time Yang Xuangan saw it clearly, he changed back into Hanfu, combed a bun on his head, and combed all his hair neatly. Even the curly hair characteristic of the Hu people is gone. If it weren't for the high nose and deep eyes, especially the pair of turquoise eyes, it really wouldn't change. This outfit really looks like a well-educated Han Confucian scholar.

Yang Xuangan saw Wang Shichong dressed as a scholar for the first time, and said with a smile: "What, what new tricks do you want to play this time?" Could it be that the prince helped you get a Liangzhou thorn Shidang? ”

Wang Shichong said hatefully: "Don't mention it, the prince has kicked me away in the past few years, and for four years, I have still stood still as the soldier of the military department, and I have mentioned to him several times that I want to be released as a state assassin, which is not satisfied, I helped him fight for the position of the East Palace before and after the saddle, and he has not yet become the emperor, so he treated me like this!" Hum! ”

Yang Xuangan smiled "hehe": "If he becomes the emperor, I'm afraid that your head may not be able to be saved." ”

Wang Shichong shook his head: "That's not it, just like your brother Yang's head can be saved." If the crown prince ascends to the throne, he must want to make a big difference, and you and I will still be useful when the time comes. ”

Yang Xuan said: "I'll talk about it later, why don't you discuss with me at the Ma Family Restaurant in Jincheng, you have to come here?" ”

Wang Shichong said: "Jincheng is Xue Ju's sphere of influence, I don't want him to know about the two of us, but this guy is very interested in this aspect, as soon as I said your identity that day, he was alert, and he had to ask me what the relationship between me and you was, so I don't want to talk to you about this matter in Jincheng, in case he hears it, it may affect the cooperation between our three parties." ”

Yang Xuangan sneered: "I think you are afraid that your relationship with the people in this Guzang City will be exposed, so Xue Ju will turn against you from now on." ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "Yang Xuangan, I really like your increasingly strong analysis and judgment ability now, the son of Yue Guogong is really worthy of his reputation, much stronger than Xue Ju's brutal and brainless brave man." You're right, I have a connection with the wealthy families in this Guzang City, even better than with Na Xue Ju. ”

Yang Xuangan nodded: "I could have guessed that your Wang family would have long guessed, no, it should be a branch family, since it is a Silk Road merchant who has been a merchant for many years, it must be extraordinary in this Guzang City." It's just that I'm a little strange, since you can single-handedly support people like Xue Ju to dominate the hundreds of miles of the Silk Road, why don't you arrange for a better relationship with Guzang businessmen to control the entire Silk Road from Guzang to Daxing? ”

Wang Shichong sighed: "Brother Yang, you don't know anything." I support Xue Ju for two reasons, one is that this person is brave and martial, and he can rely on the kung fu of a hard bridge and a hard horse to make a world, as long as I give him some money and some ideas, I can quickly dominate one side. ”

Yang Xuangan sneered: "Including those cruel killing methods, smashing people into meat paste to scare people? Bury people in the soil and hammer people? Gouging out your eyes and cutting your nose before killing? Wang Shichong, I really didn't see that your heart was so ruthless before, and you couldn't kill people too much, where did you learn these methods of torture and killing? ”

Wang Shichong shook his head: "You really wronged me, I just taught Xue Ju to kill those who were against him and bribed those who wavered, but I didn't teach him these specific methods." Like the one who smashed people into meat and gave them to others, he came up with the story of Gaozu Liu Bang and Peng Yue in the "Historical Records" and passed the meat to the princes as a warning, as for his wife's killing methods, he also learned from Lu Pheasant, but I didn't teach it. ”

"Don't hide it from Brother Yang, even the first time I heard these techniques, I was shocked, I knew this person was ruthless enough, but I didn't expect it to be so ruthless! But don't say it, this Longyou area has always been a pack of tigers and wolves, and his tricks are really effective, if you change Brother Yang, I'm afraid you won't do better than him here. ”

Yang Xuangan was speechless for a long time after hearing this: "This person is so cruel, he does not practice benevolence and righteousness, I am afraid that even if the world is in chaos in the future, it will not be possible to win the hearts of the people. ”

Wang Shichong laughed: "Brother Yang has the same opinion as me, but in the troubled times, this Xue Ju will still poison one side before being destroyed, do you think we have made an agreement with him that he will not pass the pass, will he abide by it?" This kind of verbal covenant is useless, only strength works. If Guanzhong's troops are not strong or unable to deal with him Xue Ju, this person will definitely think of attacking Daxing, and it will be Guanzhong's father and elder who will suffer at that time. (To be continued......)