Chapter 542: Yongzhou (1)

Yongzhou is one of the ancient Kyushu. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoSince the Tang Dynasty, it has been the transportation hub of Chang'an to the northwest, and it is also an important military town. The poet Cen Shen said in "Passing Weizhou in the West, Seeing Weishui Thinking of Qinchuan": "Weishui flows eastward, when will it reach Yongzhou." Add two lines of tears and send them to the old garden. ”

Compared with Chang'an, the city of Yongzhou is much simpler. The city gates on all sides are no more than a few zhang wide and no more than two zhang high, and they can only barely let the carriages and horses pass. The city is more than ten zhang high, and the city wall has long been decayed because of disrepair.

Standing outside Yongzhou City, recalling the city defense of Chang'an City, which is more than 100 zhang high, as well as the majestic momentum, and then looking at the famous city in front of him, Kong Sheng was somewhat stunned.

In fact, don't say that compared with Chang'an City, that is, compared with the thirteen states in the south of the Yangtze River, Yongzhou City is greatly inferior, and there are few pedestrians, and there are almost no merchants and ordinary people passing through on the official road leading to the city gate, and the whole city seems deserted and deserted, without much vitality.

The few soldiers guarding the city gate were disheveled, the military appearance was slack, there was no standing figure, and there was an aura of street ruffians on their bodies, Kong Sheng frowned, and said to Nan Yong beside him: "Nan Yong, this is Yongzhou City?" Is this the capital of Yongzhou? ”

Nan Yong smiled, bowed down on the horse and said: "If you go back to the general, this is Yongzhou City, Yongzhou Mansion City, and Yongzhou Thorn History is stationed here." ”

Kong Sheng was silent, really speechless. It is very disappointing that such an important military transportation town turned out to be a ruined city. It can be seen that even in the Tang Dynasty, the northwest was still a barren land. Yongzhou is only a few hundred miles away from Jingzhao Mansion, but the area of these hundreds of miles is almost the dividing line between hell and heaven.

The narrow city gate opened, and more than a dozen horsemen rushed out of the city gate, starting with a civil official in official robes, and behind him were two military generals full of armor, obviously Chen Qian, the assassin of Yongzhou, brought his subordinates to welcome the princess of Ningguo.

This is the first time that Kong Sheng has decided to live in the city since he left Chang'an City, one is that Yongzhou is a big city, and the other is that Princess Ningguo is delicate, and after many days of long-distance bumps, she also needs to find a stable and comfortable place to adjust for a day. However, if Kong Sheng had known such conditions in Yongzhou City, he might not have ordered to enter Yongzhou City.

Chen Qian was a jinshi in the Tianbao period, and he had been an official in Yongzhou, starting from middle and lower-level officials, until the death of the predecessor of Yongzhou in the Anshi Rebellion, he successfully took over.

"Minister, Yongzhou Assassin Chen Qian, lead his subordinates to meet Her Royal Highness the Princess!" Chen Qian and the others turned over and dismounted, and bowed to the ground.

Princess Ning Guo waved her hand lazily on top of Luan Jia and said gently: "Chen Tingshi, please get up, no courtesy!" The palace and his relatives returned to Yongzhou, passing by Yongzhou, and heard that Yongzhou is a prosperous place, so he deliberately discussed with the general and came to Yongzhou to rest for a day, but it caused trouble to your family. ”

Princess Ning Guo said this very politely, and Chen Qian and the others were a little embarrassed when they heard it. The appearance of Yongzhou City really can't afford to be a prosperous place, and as the assassin of Yongzhou, in the face of Shangguan and the royal princess, he is somewhat embarrassed.

But he also had no choice, Yongzhou's financial resources were weak, the land was vast and sparsely populated, the property was poor, and it had just gone through the war, and Yongzhou's finances had no ability to repair the city walls and improve the city's infrastructure.

If it weren't for the imperial court's appropriation, Yongzhou wouldn't even be able to afford the food and salary of the local city defense army. Poor, just one word, in fact, you can understand a little bit by looking at the faces of these officials.

In Kong Sheng's impression, which of the officials of the state capital in Jiangnan is not oily noodles? And the magnates of Chang'an needless to say, spending all day and wine, singing and dancing, brocade clothes and jade food, fresh clothes and angry horses, living a good life, Chen Qian and others dare not think about it.

"Xiaguan and the others have seen Chang'an Hou and the general!" Chen Qian smiled and saluted Kong Sheng again.

Kong Sheng jumped off the horse with a smile and returned the salute: "Lord Chen, this official heard that Yongzhou is an important town in the northwest, so he specially asked the princess to go around dozens of miles, and wanted to enter the city to rest for a day, I don't know if it is convenient for you?" ”

Chen Qian sighed: "The princess is here, Yongzhou is honored, but Yongzhou is simple, if there is any inconsiderate hospitality, please also invite the general Haihan one or two." ”

Kong Sheng said in his heart, you don't need to say it, I know that you can't take out any good things to entertain Princess Ningguo here, but for the tired Princess Ningguo, as long as there is a quiet room, a soft collapse, and a hot bath, it is enough. These days camping in the wild, Princess Ningguo's bathing is hasty, and for the pampered princess, it is naturally a little unbearable.

Kong Sheng led 500 forbidden troops to escort Princess Ningguo into Yongzhou City, while other forbidden troops and miscellaneous servants set up camp outside the city. Because Yongzhou City can't accommodate a team of tens of thousands of people at all, and there is no place to live in the city, it is better to be safe outside the city.

Chen Qian cleaned up his back office and gave it to Ning Guo and Kong Sheng as temporary residences. Ning Guo was a little humble and excused, and he endured it. She is the princess of the Tang Dynasty, and it is natural for these magistrates to curry favor with her.

Although Ning Guo is a friendly princess, the identity of the princess is so precious in the place, not to mention that there is Kong Sheng, the powerful upstart of Chang'an, the commander of the forbidden army and the commander of the Shenlong Guard, and the red man next to the emperor, what a glory? !

Chen Qian felt that he couldn't afford to be guilty, so he naturally sent it from afar, even if he spent all his savings in the history of Yongzhou, he had to entertain these great gods.

When entering Yongzhou City, it happened to be noon, and Yongzhou Thorn Shi and his two subordinate officials and subordinates would hold a banquet to entertain the princess and Kong Sheng and his party at the Yamen of Thorn History, but the diet was extremely vulgar, the same meat and two or three kinds of fruit and snacks, which looked a little shabby.

Chen Qian was embarrassed, Princess Ningguo was fine, she had no intention of drinking the banquet, and she had long wanted to quit the banquet and go to the residence to bathe and rest. Kong Sheng glanced at these things on the table, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, to get these, it should be Chen Qian who spent a lot of thought, and the standard of living of the assassin is still like this, ordinary people can imagine it.

The banquet with the same procedure ended hastily, and after Kong Sheng thanked Chen Qian, he escorted Princess Ningguo back to her residence to rest. Kong Sheng also took a hot bath, feeling refreshed, and when he was bored, he took Wu Xianwu out of the back door of the mansion, walked on the streets of Yongzhou City at will, and wandered away.

Before I knew it, I walked to the market in the west of the city. This is probably the most crowded place in Yongzhou City, in the narrow streets and alleys paved with brilliant sunshine, men and women dressed in dirt and ragged clothes are crowded walking, on both sides of the road are shops selling food, small vendors who use pots to cook mutton are lined up, or all kinds of game roasted in the stove, the smell of burnt paste mixed with sweat and dust, emitting a choking stench, it is simply unpleasant.

Kong Sheng frowned, he was about to return, but suddenly heard the sound of people in front of him, the narrow streets and alleys were already narrow enough, and they became extremely chaotic at the moment, Kong Sheng squeezed over, stood behind the human wall and looked forward. Wu Xian Wu Xie had to follow. In fact, the two of them complained a little, and said in their hearts, General, General, why did you run to such a filthy ninth-rate place?

In the open field in front, there is a stall. On a dirty wooden board, there was a ragged woman, judging from her facial features and hair color, she was probably a bearded girl from the Western Regions, not a native of Yongzhou, and she was not very old.

Although her skin and flesh are not so white, she feels plump, her eye sockets are deep, her cheekbones are prominent, and her eyes look gray, with a bit of exoticism that is rarely seen in ordinary times.

In front of this plank, there was a hideous, vicious-looking man with his upper body, holding his hands in front of his chest, looking at the crowd: "Two months ago, a merchant owed me two yuan, so he gave this woman to me to pay off the debt. Big guy, look at it, this woman's thin skin and tender meat can be bought back as a maid to warm the bed...... Okay, what price do you think you can get? As long as it's about the same, I'll sell it, anyway, I still have an old lady at home to support, and I can't afford to raise this little lady who can't get in and out! ”

Kong Sheng's face changed, and he actually bought and sold people on the street! He glanced back at Wu Xian Wu Xie , Wu Xian knew what his master meant, and quickly lowered his voice and said: "General, according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, private slaves can be bought and sold freely, and it is not illegal. Especially in the northwest, this kind of Hu slaves, such as Kunlun slaves, are sold everywhere. ”

Everyone was making gossip about the bids, but most of them were heckling. In fact, these are all local poor people, and it is difficult for them to get enough food and clothing in their own lives, how can they have the money to buy this kind of bearded girl who is not useful and even less popular? Blaspheming Hu Nu, that is the matter of the dignitaries and nobles in the capital, and it has nothing to do with the people of Yongzhou.

So this man has been selling here for a few days, but he hasn't sold it.

The woman suddenly looked at Kong Sheng, who stood out from the crowd with bloodshot eyes, although Kong Sheng was wearing a casual dress, he was richly dressed, and it was difficult to stand out from the crowd of rude people and attract attention.

The woman moaned indistinctly, then shouted a few words.

Kong Sheng didn't understand, so he turned his head to look at the Wuxian brothers.

Wu Xianwu was born in the Western Regions and can understand all languages. He glanced at the woman in surprise, and lowered his voice in Kong Sheng's ear: "General, a certain family didn't expect that this woman turned out to be a Huifu person, and she was begging the general to save her life!" ”

If she continues to toss like this, if she still can't sell it, I'm afraid that the man's patience will be exhausted, and in order to save rations, he may kill her. So when the woman saw Kong Sheng, the last glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes, and she tried to make a final struggle.

Hui woman? Kong Sheng's heart flashed, and he suddenly nodded slowly, and said in a deep voice to the strong man: "How much do you sell it for?" ”

When the strong man saw that someone finally wanted to buy it, and the buyer in front of him was well-dressed and dressed as a son, he knew that there was a play, so he came over with a smile, and the smell in his mouth was smoky: "Childe, this woman has spent a lot of food and money on her raising, plus the two pieces of money owed to me by the Hui merchants, I don't want much, you give three times and take it away!" ”

The strong man is actually a temptation to slaughter a fat sheep.

The crowd around them suddenly coaxed, accusing the strong man of asking for a price, such a bearded girl, who has always been worthless in money, dared to open her mouth to ask for three times? It's insane!

Only a fool would ask for it! What can this kind of woman do when she buys it back? You can't plant the field, you can't do rough work, you can only warm the bed, but the poor don't raise idlers, it's enough to warm the bed with a stout mother-in-law, make such a delicate woman go back, waste food! (To be continued.) )