Autumn is getting stronger and stronger, and the leaves of the trees in Yanbei are gradually turning red and yellow. A gust of wind swept by, and the leaves fell on the ground. Wei Zeng has been walking alone in Yanbei for a month, from the southern part of the Yanbei Plain all the way to the northern part of the Yanbei Plain. Wei Zeng was young and physically weak. It only takes fifteen days for an adult to walk this journey, but Wei Zeng walked nearly twice as long. Wei Zeng remembered his mother's last words and did not steal it. It is very unstable to make a living by beating small beasts, and it is gradually making ends meet, although the land of Yanbei is not rich or poor, and the public security is not bad. There are not too many stupid thieves to subsidize Wei Zeng's family.

As the weather turned colder, Wei Zeng had to buy an old coat, and sleeping in the wild gradually became unbearable. But Wei Zeng also survived. The worst thing is a few days ago, when I was sleeping in the wilderness, I was woken up by heavy rain, and my whole body became a soup chicken, and the dry food was soaked and I couldn't eat it. Wei Zeng relied on wild vegetables for a few days, and his face was almost a dish. Now looking at the towering high city in front of him, Wei Zeng knew that he had arrived at the last stop of Yushan, Shifeng City, the first city in Yanbei.

Wei Zeng washed his messy hair before entering the city, and changed into the only old clothes that could be called new. Wei Zeng was still hungry in his stomach, and his body seemed to float up in the cold wind, but his eyes were full of excitement.

Shifeng City is located in the north of the Yanbei Plain, and Yushan Mountain lies a hundred miles away from Shifeng City from east to west. Shifeng City is an important trading city, and it reaches the north of Guanbei, which produces timber and ginseng, through Yushan Mountain in the north. Kanbei is a vast and sparsely populated area of uncultivated land, with mountains and primeval forests occupying nearly half of the country's land. Every year of famine, many displaced people poured into Guanbei to supplement the population of various forces in Guanbei.

The northwest leads directly to Mobei along the avenue, Mobei is a prairie, where is the world of nomads, since the founding of the dynasty has incorporated Mobei into the national territory. With a peaceful environment, the cattle and sheep skins of Mobei were continuously transported to Shifeng City.

To the west of Shifeng City is Anyun, which is known as the country of abundance, and there are a large number of coal and iron deposits in the north of Anyun, and the smelting and casting industry in the northern region is extremely developed by virtue of its resource advantages. The southern part is a long and narrow plain from east to west, and the main stream and tributaries of the Guanluo River are densely packed in it, and the grain yield is extremely high.

Although the Yanbei Plain is also dominated by agriculture, the terrain is too low, drought and flood are frequent, and two-thirds of the land is low-yield saline-alkali land. Stone Wind City has a large population, so it depends on the purchase of food from An Yun to make a living. Developed trade brought with it an endless stream of caravans and a large number of thieves.

Since ancient times, mountains, dense forests and steppe deserts have been a natural breeding ground for thieves. In addition, in recent years, the government has become increasingly corrupt, resulting in countless displaced people, and the trend of thieves has become even more unstoppable. People of insight have seen that there is only one empty shelf left in the imperial court today, and once there is a natural and man-made disaster, the national edifice will surely collapse.

The number one obstacle in front of Wei Zeng now was not the countless bandits in the Yu Mountain. Wei Zeng has been attracted by all kinds of novelties since he entered the city, but he can only shake his head and smile bitterly when he looks at the shy bag. Now, even if Wei Zeng eats steamed buns and pickles every day, he can only withstand it for ten days.

Wei Zeng went to the inn where the merchants gathered, and inquired about the caravan to Yushan and a series of news about Yushan. There were not only merchants but also a large number of samurai armed with weapons. After careful questioning, I learned that nine out of ten of these samurai were people who returned to Wu. It turned out that bandits were rampant in Yushan, and there was great danger for merchants to travel through Yushan, and there were often news that travelers were killed and dumped, but the trade route from Shifeng City to Guiwu City was extremely profitable, so the merchants spent a lot of money to hire samurai to defend the caravan.

Guiwucheng is a paradise for warriors, with many martial arts halls, many sects, and masters. As a result, many of the warriors who returned to Wu traveled between Shifeng City and Guiwu City, not only to make money, but also to sharpen their martial arts in actual combat. Of course, it costs a lot of money to hire a warrior from Guiwu, and ordinary people can't afford it, even a small caravan. Therefore, it is not uncommon for several small caravans to pool their money to hire a group of samurai and absorb some solo travelers before hitting the road. A solo traveler would have to pay less to join a caravan, but it was also relatively small, and Wei Zeng certainly couldn't afford it. Working for the caravan, Wei Zeng had to work for the caravan for nearly half a year on the salary given by the caravan, which was enough for the caravan to go back and forth between Shifeng and Guiwu for six round-trips.

It's not that Wei Zeng didn't think about crossing Yu Mountain alone, but thinking about the 200 miles of mountain road in Yu Mountain, it would take at least four or five days to walk, and there were also people who didn't travel fast for more than ten days. I have even heard that cultists haunt from time to time and arrest passers-by. Cultists, that's going to run with all your might when you see it. Wei Zeng is not afraid of death, but he doesn't want to die senselessly, he hasn't avenged his mother yet, and he can't die at the hands of thieves and cultists.

Walking out of the inn where the merchants and warriors gathered, Wei Zeng was a little desperate, looking at the deep autumn sky, not knowing where he was headed. Taking a deep breath, Wei Zeng said to himself: "In short, you have to cross Yu Mountain, you have to make money by crossing Yu Mountain, and now you have to make money." Wei Zeng thought about walking as he could, and finally came to the junction of the two houses, which was located behind the two houses but had a small corner, just enough for one person to live, so Wei Zeng used it as a temporary residence. It was still early, and Wei Zeng arrived at a place, where many people squatted there and wrote what they could do on the ground with a pen, and waited for the workers to come.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow, let's learn about the current situation in Stone Wind City today." Wei Zeng muttered to himself.

Wei Zeng has been looking around for news and understanding the situation, and in the evening, he was tired and sat next to a restaurant to rest. A richly dressed man came out of the restaurant, glanced at Wei Zeng, took out a few pennies from his arms and threw them at Wei Zeng's feet. Wei Zeng looked up at the visitor in surprise, and opened his mouth to explain a few words. But the man didn't wait for Wei Zeng to open his mouth and said, "Why is it too little, forget it, just give you a little more, don't stare at me." The man threw down a few more pieces and walked away.

Wei Zeng picked up a few pennies and laughed at himself: At least today's dinner is solved. Looking at his current appearance, his clothes are shabby, and he is holding a wooden stick, he really looks like a beggar. Suddenly sorrow came from my heart, I and my mother depended on each other for 12 years, although they often suffered from hunger and cold, but every food and drink was also the income of labor. Since wandering, it can also be called self-reliant. Do you have to rely on the charity of others to survive now? My mother wanted me to respect myself and love myself, and I wanted me not to be a thief. Is begging for food to live like self-esteem and self-love? From grief to anger, he threw away a few pennies in his hand.

Originally, when several beggars on the street saw that Wei Zeng had won the money, they glanced at each other a few times, and they were about to teach Wei Zeng a lesson. Halfway through, Wei Zeng suddenly threw away the money, and the beggars rushed directly to the money, and several people who had joined forces actually fought for a few pennies. A beggar got a few pennies, looked at the figure of Wei Zeng in the distance and said: "I actually met a madman, throw the money everywhere, it would be nice to have a few more such madmen in the world, grandpa will not worry about eating and drinking from now on." ”

Wei Zeng returned to his place of residence and found a wooden board to seal the entrance, and was about to fall asleep, but he lost sleep again, so he silently recited the story his mother had told him.

The first rays of morning light woke Wei Zeng up from his dream. "I wish I would always be in a dream and never wake up again." Wei Zeng was stunned and said: "Although the dream is the same bitter, at least there is a mother there." ”

Wei Zeng tidied up his clothes and went to the "talent market" to find a job. was about to travel, when suddenly a figure ran out from the corner and crashed into Wei Zeng's body. The two fell to the ground one after another, and a money bag fell to Wei Zeng's side. Wei Zeng picked up his wallet and rubbed his aching chest, ready to teach the daredevils a lesson. can see the other party's face clearly, and the words of the lesson will be held in the stomach.

I saw a little girl about ten years old, struggling to stand up, her clothes were a little old, and she still had a few pieces of pudding, but she was very clean, her face was delicate, her eyes were shining, she seemed to be holding back tears because of the pain, and she seemed to apologize for offending others.

"I'm sorry." The girl hurriedly apologized, looked at the money bag in Wei Zeng's hand and said cautiously, "The money bag is mine." ”

"Why are you so careless, why are you in such a hurry?" Seeing that the girl looked like she was afraid that Wei Zeng would not return the money bag to her, Wei Zeng suddenly became childlike and jokingly said: "This money bag can't be stolen by you." ”

"It wasn't stolen, it was used by me to buy medicine, and I was in a hurry to get out of the city to get dew. Please give it back to me. "I looked at the girl as if she was about to cry. Wei Zeng regretted making this little joke and handed her the money bag. Look at a small iron kettle hanging from her waist.

"You have to be careful, you can't be so reckless in the future. Do you pick dew for medicine? You don't look sick. ”

"It's not me, it's my mother, I'm going to buy medicine for my mother, and the doctor said that my mother will get better quickly." The girl took the money bag and said softly.

Wei Zeng couldn't help but feel a little hurt in his heart, this may be called sympathy. Look at the girl looking timid and afraid to leave. Wei Zeng told her that she could leave.

When the girl was about to disappear, Wei Zeng suddenly called out to her: "Wait a minute, what is your name." ”

The girl hesitated a little and said, "My name is Li Weizhen, and I live around here." With that, the girl left.

Wei Zeng stood for a moment, then turned around and walked out of the alley, trying his luck with the "talent market".

Shifeng City has developed commerce and trade, and there are many merchants in the past, which has also brought a lot of employment opportunities. Of course, most of it is the hard work of carrying and porters. Because Wei Zeng was literate and clever, he was selected by a group of businessmen to do study work. This work is more complicated and requires constant comparison of the account books, but fortunately, Wei Zeng is diligent and persevering, and he forcibly straightens out the accounts like a book from heaven and calculates them clearly. If he worked for the merchant for more than ten days, the merchant was going south, and the merchant saw that Wei Zeng was diligent enough and responsible enough, and wanted to hire him for a long time. But when he learned that he was determined to go to Guiwu, he didn't give up, but gave him some more money as a reward.

When Wei Zeng harvested the first pot of gold and planned to make persistent efforts to scrape together enough money to cross Yushan as soon as possible, an accident occurred that broke his plan and made him set off early.