Huainan County, located south of the Huai River, is under the jurisdiction of Luzhou. The ancients called the west right, so it was also called Huainan County as the Huaiyou area.

There is a lot of water on the left side of Huai, and there are many mountains on the right side of Huai. From here, the Huai River goes south, joins the Yangtze River, and goes straight to Jinling.

Shen Yun and Fang Cheng came out of Luoyang, took a carriage to Runan, and then went east along the straight road, passed through Ruzhou, arrived at Xuchang, and then turned to Shangzhou Road, took Shangshui to Xiangcheng, and then crossed Jieshou, Taihe and other places, and after arriving at Fuyang County, they could finally look at Huainan from afar.

Rest in Fuyang for two days, and then go on the road, this time there is no state road, only the county road to go. After grinding on the road for three days, it arrived at Fengtai County, fifty miles northwest of Huainan County. The whole journey took six days!

This speed made Shen Yun helpless and relieved. Helplessly, from Ruoyang to Huainan, the straight-line distance is only more than 600 kilometers, and it took six days! If it is placed in modern times, it is only a matter of day and night, and if you go at high speed, it will only be faster! And the relief is that fortunately, it has only been six days, and if it continues for a long time, Shen Yun will go crazy.

In fact, Shen Yun should be more pleased, this still saves a lot of time by taking the straight road and the state road, for example, it only took one day to go from Luoyang to Xuchang, and it was only two days and one night from Xuchang to Fuyang, and the rest of the time was delayed by taking the county road.

From here, it can be seen that the straight road system deserves to be the fastest and most convenient road system in this era! Of course, this has nothing to do with the post station operation system and the quality of the carriage in the Han Empire!

Along the way, Shen Yun has seen and heard a lot, and he has a fuller understanding of the situation of the entire Han Empire.

Generally speaking, within two hundred miles of the imperial capital is the richest area in the entire Han Empire, and other prefectures and counties such as Xuchang and Fuyang are not as prosperous as Luoyang, but they are not too inferior. In areas connected by straight roads, horse-drawn carriages can travel between 120 and 160 miles a day, and it is faster to ride a horse alone. In case of urgency, the messenger will speed up the horse, change horses in the middle without changing people, and it can travel about 300 to 400 miles a day and night, depending on the quality of the horses. And the quality of state roads is largely close to straights. But because the distance is not like a straight road, it is built in a straight line as much as possible. So the speed will slow down by about 50 to 80 miles.

And the county road can not be said, mainly loess, with a small amount of straight road materials, the road passes through the village around the county, sometimes around the farmland, hills, swamps, etc., there is no protective facilities on both sides of the road, although there are people to maintain. However, some sections of the road will still be full of potholes. This is only the county roads in the Central Plains, and the remote mountainous areas, such as Yunnan, Guizhou and other places, are even more unimaginable.

If you want to get rich, build roads first. This is a truth that can not be wrong in any era. Towns with smooth roads are densely populated and commercially developed. The people are much richer. On the contrary, it is relatively closed, and life is not so comfortable.

For example, this Fengtai County, although it is not far from Huainan County, this town is really not complimentary. When Shen Yun arrived here, he had the feeling of looking at old photos in the modern era. Low walls, dirt streets, and houses with cloded earth. Several blue brick buildings are very abrupt in Fengtai County.

"Good boy. Why is this so broken? Teng Yu, don't tell me that the whole of Huainan is so poor! Shen Yun poked his head out of the carriage. The other party transcribed.

Fang Cheng said: "Fengtai County is a poor place in Huaiyou, all because the straight road and the state road lead from Suzhou to Zhongli, and then enter Huainan. The roads are not smooth, and there are fewer business travelers here, so there are more poor people. ”

Shen Yun nodded: "Well, if you want to get rich, build roads first, have fewer children and grow more trees!" ”

"What?" Fang Qiqi said, "Do you have fewer children and more trees? What is the truth? ”

"Uh, that's smooth, hehe, don't you think it rhymes?!" Shen Yun said with a grin.

For such a long time, Fang Cheng has not listened to his strange words, so Xiaoxiao is relieved.

Fengtai County is only fifty miles away from Huainan County, but it was already dusk when they arrived here, and they were afraid that they would have to spend the night outside Huainan City, so they simply stopped in Fengtai.

According to Fang Cheng, this city is quite large, with a circumference of 20 miles, which is enough to accommodate 100,000 people. But until now, the registered population of Fengtai County is only more than 40,000 people, and most of the houses are empty. This also left many parts of the city empty. There are many reasons for this situation, and the most direct reason is the inconvenience of roads. Unless you want to go to Luoyang from Huainan, you generally don't go here. In addition, when the Holy Ancestor went south, Fengtai County belonged to Cao Cao's territory, and there was fierce resistance to the Holy Ancestor's army here, so that the city was slaughtered after the city was broken, and many people were slaughtered at that time.

The carriage walked along the dilapidated streets, and the pedestrians on the road were sparsely populated, and the few people who passed by would look sideways for a few times, and then show envious eyes.

Shen Yun's carriage was rented from the Yan clan car dealer in Luoyang. Now, in addition to the official post station of the empire, only Yan's car dealers can operate a nationwide car and horse dealership. In every county in the country, Yan's car dealership has branches. Of course, the Yan family is not the only one who does the carriage and horse dealership, but the Yan family is the most famous, and the quality of the carriage is also the most solid. According to the different identities of customers, there are also various grades of carriages to choose from.

Shen Yun and Fang Cheng are both children of the nobility, although they do not appear in their original identities, but they do not intend to suffer themselves, they rent the high-grade Yunyan carriage of the Yan family's car dealership, the width of the car is two meters four or five, the height of the car is two meters six, and the length of the car is two meters seven, double driving, the inside is covered with wool carpets, as well as partitions and inner cabinets, which can hold a lot of food and wine. The roof of the car is made of agarwood, and the carriage is also spray-painted with the logo of Yan's car dealership. Even the coachman is a veteran of Yan's car dealership, wearing Yan's unique clothing. Although it is not the most expensive Lingyun carriage, it is not rented by ordinary people. Therefore, these people from Fengtai County will show that envious expression when they take a look.

Fengtai County Post Station is not difficult to find, it is one of the few buildings in the city that is built of blue bricks, and not far from the city gate, a small number of Panlong flags hang at the door, the flagpole is a little worn, but the flag is still clean, obviously the management of the post station does not dare to offend the Panlong Flag, and often take it down to clean.

The coachman was old-fashioned, stopped at the gate of the post station steadily, and then took the footbill issued by Yan's car dealer and the road guide certificate transcribed by Shen Yunfang, and entered the post station to stay. They could have found an inn to stay, but in order to keep a low profile, they still chose to rest at the inn, which was inconspicuous and in line with their status at this time.

"Shen Cheng? Fang Yun? The stationmaster looked at the two of them.

I have to say that the dark guard was really lazy enough when arranging their identities, so he just changed the names of the two of them, and Shen Yun changed it to Shen Cheng. Zi Yuanyu; Fang Transcription was changed to Fang Yun. The word Teng Jean. The identity is a student who travels all over the country in Luoyang. Lu Yin can go to the 36 counties of Laozhou, if you go to Xinzhou, you must change it at the previous station.

However, the dark guard didn't want to hide their identities, just to keep them away from the turmoil in the imperial capital.

The postmaster was an old man in his fifties, with a cyan round hat on his head, showing not too long sideburns. He glanced at Shen Yun and the two of them a few times, then made a registration, and then threw them a sign: "Upstairs." Room B. No. 3. To eat and drink first registration, there are two dishes and one soup, three dishes and one soup, four dishes and one soup is the highest regulation, respectively, five copper coins, ten copper coins and twenty copper coins. I'll have someone send it to you later. ”

"Thank you, Captain! Please help me arrange the coachman, we all need three dishes and one soup. These are ten copper coins, please order them. Fang Cheng said in an official dialect with a Huainan accent.

The post chief raised his head and showed a smile: "The kid is from Huainan?" ”

Fang Cheng respectfully clenched his fists and said, "Back to the elder." The kid is a native of Huainan County, and he has been studying in Luoyang for four years, so he has traveled this time, so he will go home first. ”

The post chief also clenched his fists and smiled: "Well, since you are a fellow villager, the old man will call you a boy." Try not to go out at night, boy, there are some things here at night that you can't worry about. Got it? ”

Fang Cheng showed a hint of strangeness. However, he still saluted respectfully and said, "Yes." Follow the teachings of the elders! ”

There was no one to lead the way, so Shen Yun and Fang Cheng went upstairs. Find the room open. The room was fairly clean. This kind of post station, Shen Yun has also lived a lot along the way, and the process is probably clear. Of course, the price of food varies from place to place, but it is generally not too outrageous. Coachmen don't stay with guests, they have special rooms provided by the inn, and the room rates are cheaper.

Putting down the luggage, Shen Yun frowned and said, "Teng Yu, you have a custom here in Huainan that you can't go out at night?" ”

Fang Cheng poured a glass of water and frowned, "That's not true." But you also know that in this kind of remote place, there is little activity in the evening, and if it is not necessary, you will stay at home. It's just that the post chief reminded me that it's not a Halloween recently, so why don't you let people go out? ”

Shen Yun thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Teng Yu, don't you think that post chief is a little strange?" ”

"Strange? Where is it strange? Fang asked.

Shen Yundao: "There are not a few post stations where we stay along the way, although the post station leaders are all served by some retired veterans, but this old pawn ...... His sideburns are too short. ”

was reminded by Shen Yun like this, Fang Qian also suddenly woke up: "Ah, yes! How could he be a little post chief?! ”

Imperial men, who have reached the age of eighteen and have no school status, official status, or special reasons (such as the observance of filial piety in the death of a loved one), are required to serve in the military. Military service ranges from two to four years, depending on the location of the service. It is impossible for ordinary people to enter the first-class army as soon as they serve in the military, and they generally serve in the second-class or even third-class regiments in the states. If you perform well in the army, it will be possible to transfer to the regular military status, which is a regular soldier, also known as a regular soldier, and at this time it can be regarded as officially entering the ranks of the regular soldiers of the empire and having the qualification for military promotion. Of course, the treatment of the first-class regiment is several grades higher than that of the second-class and third-class regiments, and many young people serving in the second-class and third-class regiments have the highest goal of entering the first-class regiment.

Once in the army, the Confucian moral code of "parents who have received their hair and skin must not be easily damaged" no longer applies, and all those who join the army must shave their hair. As a result, many discharged soldiers have short hair for a few years after being discharged, and the stubble on their sideburns will be very obvious. And the post commander just now, although he wears a round hat, the hair on his sideburns is obvious, and he is obviously not long out of the army.

But the problem is that a soldier who has retired from the army at his age, even if he has seniority, is at least a lieutenant, and after he is discharged, the Privy Council will make special arrangements, or enter his hometown school as an instructor, or enter the C-class regiment to be responsible for training recruits, and there is no reason to come to this poor county town to be a post chief. The empire has rarely fought since Emperor Liedi of the Han Dynasty, and the promotion of military ranks has been slow, and even now there are only nineteen generals in the entire Han Dynasty, and many army commanders are filled by colonels, so you can imagine the extent of the shortage of officers. How could the Privy Council ignore such a lieutenant?

"There's a problem, there's a problem with this place!" Shen Yun got up and walked around the room, muttering again.

"What's wrong with you again?!" Fang Qiqi said.

Shen Yun pointed to the neat beds in the room and said, "We have lived in a lot of post stations, have you ever seen such a post station with so few people?!" ”

Fang Cheng thought about it carefully, too. The post station is generally served by the old man as the post chief or post officer. The empire has been peaceful for 100 years. There are too many veterans, and there are so many post stations coming out of Luoyang, even if it is a county post station such as Shangshui, there are at least five or six idle post guards, and here, I saw the post chief alone before and after, which is also too weird.

"Why don't we inform the local yamen?!" I thought about it for a while. Shen Yun made a suggestion.

"Tell them what? There is only one postmaster in this station? Or is this long hair too short? Fang Cheng said disdainfully, "The most important thing is that this post chief doesn't seem to have any ill will towards us, just now he told us not to go out at night......"

Shen Yun turned around a few times and sat down on the bed dejectedly: "Damn, if you don't go out, you won't go out." As if I was happy to go out. ”

Fang Cheng smiled: "I didn't say you, can you bear it?" The post chief didn't mention it, but you couldn't hold back when he mentioned it. ”

Shen Yun suddenly approached Fang Cheng with a grin: "Teng Yujun must be the same as below, right?" Why don't we go to Fengtai at night? ”

"If you don't come, I'm not interested! I'll be home tomorrow, and I'd like to go back to see my mother sooner......"

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At night, there was silence all around, and I couldn't see my fingers. Inky blackness enveloped this impoverished small county.

The lights have long been extinguished in the third room of the post station. That's when it happened. The door opens softly. The two figures sprang out one after the other, and then tiptoed downstairs.

Downstairs, the lobby is lit only by a dim butter lamp on the counter. The postmaster behind the counter was gone.

The curious Shen Yun and Fang Zhi, who said he was not curious, glanced at each other, and then quickly ran to the backyard. The backyard was pitch black, only the wind lamp above the stables had a faint light, and the surroundings were still silent.

"It's strange, I heard the door open just now, but there are no fewer horses in the stable, it seems that the postmaster should have gone out on foot." Shen Yun said in a low voice.

Fang Cheng nodded, looked at the stable carefully, and after making sure that the number of horses checked in the evening was correct, he said, "That means that the place where he went is not far away, let's go out." ”

"Well, let's go! Check Fengtai at night to see what's weird in this county! There was a hint of excitement in Shen Yun's voice.

The two of them left the station, but saw that the whole street was empty, and it was silent. It's so quiet, there's not even a dog barking, it's like a dead city.

Shen Yun frowned, didn't say much, and Fang Cheng and Fang Cheng took a lantern from the backyard of the post station, and walked briskly along the street. When I crossed the street, there was finally a faint noise, in the direction of the center of the city. The two of them walked excitedly and quickly towards the center of the city. The louder he walked, the louder he became, and by the time he reached a large mansion, the sound was already very clear.

"Huai Right Tiger! Huai Right Tiger!! Huai Right Tiger !! ”

This is the sound that can only be shouted by at least a thousand people, and the shouting is neat and the atmosphere is frenetic. Shen Yun suddenly remembered the uniform slogans he had when he participated in the anti-Japanese demonstration.

"What is this Huaiyou Tiger?" Shen Yun looked at Fang Cheng, and the other party's eyes were also full of confusion.

With a wide mansion and a long wall, Shen Yun and Fang Cheng looked around and didn't see where the main gate was. The wall was not high, Shen Yun and Fang Cheng jumped up the ladder, but when they sat on the wall and looked inside, they almost fell down in shock.

This place that looks like a mansion is actually a huge square inside! In other words, apart from this long wall, there is not a single building inside. Oh, not exactly, at least there is a wooden platform in the middle of the square, around which at least thousands of people are shouting wildly! And light a brazier around the high platform, and the thing on the high platform will be illuminated!

Tiger! A real tiger! A snow-white, sturdy tiger!

Although Shen Yun had never seen a snow-white white tiger, he was not too surprised, what really surprised him was that there was actually a man in a black robe sitting on the back of this tiger!

The man's appearance was too far away, and Shen Yun couldn't see it clearly, but the fanatical atmosphere of the people around him was obviously sent to this man.

This square was enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people to gather, and there were only a few thousand, so Shen Yun and Fang Cheng had fallen down from the wall and no one had noticed. Just as they were approaching the crowd, there was a sudden burst of shouts from the crowd.

"The white tiger came to the world, when the world is the master, God bless the great man!"

"The white tiger came to the world, when the world is the master, God bless the great man!"

……

Shen Yun and Fang Cheng were stunned for a moment, stood on their toes and looked at the high platform, only to see a naked woman being carried by several people and put on the high platform, the man sitting on the back of the tiger jumped down, muttered a few words to the woman, and finally waved his hand, the white tiger suddenly let out a tiger roar that shook the mountains and forests, and then pounced on the woman, biting off the woman's head in one bite! Blood suddenly sprayed all over the platform, shining a blinding red in the firelight......

"The white tiger came to the world, when the world is the master, God bless the great man!"

The crowd erupted in even more frenzied screams.

This...... This is a cult!

Shen Yun and Fang Cheng looked at each other, and they finally understood what they had encountered in Fengtai County at night. (To be continued.) )

PS: First of all, I apologize for being late for today's update! There are a lot of things to do today, and after dealing with work, I was dragged by my brother to drink, so I came back late. I would also like to say that...... Uh, forgot! Damn, I forgot what I was trying to say a second ago......