When Yi Feng woke up, he found that his arm was slightly numb, Xiao Sumei curled up on his chest like a kitten, her black hair spread out and covered most of her fair and delicate face, her head rested on her arm, and a pair of jade hands hugged her tightly and refused to let go. A smooth and slender beautiful leg is not honestly on his waist, and his crisp breasts are gently undulating with only a small coat, and there is a cat-like whirring sound between his mouth and nose. Shaking his head, Yi Feng's mind cleared up, remembering that this was Guixiang Courtyard, and the woman in his arms was his six-room concubine, and last night he entered this Xiao Meiniang for the first time and arranged it to this beautiful lady beside him.

Before last night, Yi Feng and Xiao Sumei had a few short meetings, and they didn't even say anything, and they had the impression that she was a dignified and beautiful woman, with the feeling of being a beautiful girl, but there was a little less arrogance of everyone's daughter, a little more gentle temperament, a little quiet, reserved, and even a sense of indifference with the world, which made it hard to believe that this was the temperament exuded by a girl. But after staying last night, after one night, Yi Feng had a deeper understanding of her. Last night was the first time for the two, and she was obviously the first time, but what was surprising was that she was very active on the bed, and even seemed a little unrestrained and enthusiastic. The rare initiative, the familiarity with various postures, and the tacit cooperation with Yi Feng even made Yi Feng a little in a trance, if he hadn't gotten detailed information about Xiao Sumei from the Bureau of Statistics, he would even think that this woman was a Fengyue woman found by Concubine Xiao Li Daitao. But what he knows, Xiao Sumei before this year. It's just an ordinary woman, who used to be the county lord and later became an ordinary woman. Every day, he stayed at home, weaving and embroidering at home to subsidize the family, and took care of his grandmother and younger brother.

This is an amazing woman, half sea and half fire. During the day, she is gentle and serene. But at night, it is as passionate as a fire, which can melt people. The darkness of the night receded. At night, the female leopard became a little wild cat nestled in his arms. At this time, Xiao Sumei's small appearance in her arms was very pitiful, and Yi Feng suddenly liked this woman a little. Before coming here last night. He just came with the idea of completing the task in vain, but now, he had to admit that this Jiangnan woman really moved him. Attracted him.

The morning drum on the Huaihuang Bell and Drum Tower is still beating. But in Huaihuang, the drum of time in the city has become more of a sign.

In the market of Fangxiang, the drum sound is quiet until the fourth drum, and there are those who open the market as soon as possible when the fifth drum is opened, and the opening is resumed.

The strict prohibition of opening the city with the sound of drums every day, closing the door at dusk, and closing the door at night is different from the strict prohibition of curfew. Everywhere outside the Seychelles is filled with commercial activity. There are no alleys that are surrounded by high walls, and those frontage walls have long been replaced by shops full of signboards in Huaihuang. Shops large and small. It is also divided into various markets according to different categories, concentrated in a piece of area according to the category, and there are some special large markets, as well as some high-end commercial pedestrian streets. In addition to the inner city of Huaihuang, the outer city of Huaihuang and several other big markets have no business hours restrictions, they are open until the third or even fourth watch every night, and some of the morning market business is from the fourth watch, and the fifth watch has been opened.

In recent days, the Wuzhou army has triumphed, Yi Shuai has a son, and Huaihuang is even more lively, and the New Year is approaching, and many businesses have begun to strengthen publicity and increase business hours in advance. In particular, knowing that the newly triumphant army had recently made a fortune, it was even more enthusiastic, and many shops were open all night. Even on the two main roads of the most prosperous cross street, a large night market has been temporarily set up, and many stalls have been opened, and the merchants who have obtained the stalls have begun to bring their own products to the exhibition on the one hand, and on the other hand, they have begun to invite craftsmen and craftsmen to tie lanterns, and they have begun to tie lanterns to prepare for the most lively lantern market after the New Year.

Not long after the hustle and bustle of the night had subsided, the noise of the morning began again.

When Yi Feng was still caressing the smooth jade back of the beauty in his arms at the head of the bed, the morning light had just begun to flash on the city's face, and the sound of iron signs was already heard in the streets and alleys.

The head monks from the monastery, holding iron signs in one hand and beating with utensils in the other, shouted Buddhist words such as "Pudu sentient beings save the suffering and save the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas" along the street and door, and at the same time, with the voice they have practiced in reciting the Buddha on weekdays, loudly and accurately reporting the time of this time to the courtyard of Fangxiang. At first, the dawn of the famine relied entirely on the sound of the drum bells on the drum tower in the city. Later, the master of Wutai Mountain came with the Sangha, and these monks were new to the scene, but they quickly found a way to intervene in the wilderness. In the beginning, the monks got up early to chant Buddha sutras, the original intention was to teach people to save sleep, not to lose time in reciting Buddha when they got up, and it was also a missionary sermon. But gradually, when the monks walked the streets and chanted, they began to tell the time. Because many people believe that the walkers have the true color of awakening obsession, and these monks abide by the time every day accurately, gradually, the original intention of the monks is not too many people remember, but their function of reporting is accepted and remembered, and even now, Huaihuang gets up every morning, and the walkers have become special reporters. And the labor of these leaders is not unrewarded, and every day or month, and at the time of the year, the people will give them fasting food and money. In this way, the announcement of the heads has become a seemingly conventional job. They even spread from Huaihuang City to the surrounding towns and villages. At the same time, they will also report the weather forecast of the day to the military, civilians and businessmen in the city, and even report the weather forecast of the day, and even predict rain, snow, fog and frost.

The Sangha of Wutai Mountain, not long after arriving in Huaihuang, has also been quickly infected by the commercial atmosphere here and quickly integrated into it.

Since Yi Feng took control of Huaihuang, this Liancheng outside the fortress has also been rapidly changing. Quickly from the original nest of the northern green forest power, turned into a military and commercial center on the outer frontier, Huaihuang Liancheng and the surrounding dozens of towns and forts and the Great Wall of Daning, Erlong, Huai'an and other towns together to build a large commercial market on the northern frontier, Huaihuang City is dominated by its central position in this circle. It has become the most prosperous city and big market outside the Saiwai.

Every morning it is only the fourth watch, and outside the west gate of Huaihuang City, there are countless caravans. Leading cattle, horses, camels, driving convoys, and waiting for the salt warehouse to open under the city gate. And these salt dealers are just those individual customers in the prosperous salt industry in Huaihuang today, and the real big salt merchants are directly taking the grain to the designated town fort in Huaihuang to pay the grain, and then take the receipt to Huaihuang to open the salt and then go back to Yancheng to transport salt directly to the south. Those big salt merchants transported at least 1,000 stone of salt at a time, and even organized the transportation of more than 10,000 stone of salt at a time. He who came to the salt warehouse in Huaihuang City to get salt. Almost all of them are scattered and wholesaled, ranging from a dozen or twenty stones to a few hundred stones. They don't have to trade grain for salt, but the price of salt is much more expensive than exchanging grain for salt.

Salt sellers wait outside the city early in the morning for the salt warehouse to open to sell salt, and many convoys come from outside the city every morning, carrying truckloads full of coal. Sent to Huaihuang, an increasingly prosperous city outside the Saiwai.

Huaihuang City and its surroundings have a large number of garrisons and military families. There are also many workshops, warehouses, shops, etc., and the floating population is even larger. This is a city with a population of more than 300,000, even if it is placed in the Central Plains, it is quite amazing. With such a large population, the various materials they need to consume every day are also huge. In addition to grain, cloth, etc., Huaihuang also consumes a large amount of coal every day. Huaihuang is outside the plug, and there is a lack of wood and charcoal, especially in winter. Heating, cooking, and the fuel needed by the city's workshops depend on coal. Every morning. The first to enter the city were the caravans of horses that transported coal into the city from various coal farms in the charcoal silos outside the city. The convoys that brought coal into the city were all transported by four-wheeled wagons, on horse-drawn tracks that had been laid from the charcoal fields to the city. Through these tracks, four horses can pull six four-wheeled carriages, and these four-wheeled carriages manufactured by Huaihuang, the axles of the original traditional two-wheeled carriages on the wooden and iron sliding bearings improved to ball rolling steel bearings, plus the steel on the wheels and the installation of shock absorbers and carriage tracks, so that each four-horse carriage carrying coal can carry two tons of weight, equivalent to about 24 stone at that time, four horses pull six carriages of coal at a time, a trip is nearly 150 stones.

Now the bulk materials to be transported into Huaihuang City, such as grain, coal, etc., are basically first unloaded in the warehouse outside the city, and then transported through the two rails from Huaihuang City to outside the city. Every morning, horse-drawn wagons loaded with all kinds of goods drove to the city, unloaded and then returned through another track out of the city, and there was an endless stream of people, and every day was busy from early morning to mid-noon.

Like a blood transfusion, the grain, cloth, coal, cattle and sheep from the south were imported into Huai Famine one by one.

Xiao Sumei's long eyelashes twitched a few times, and her big eyes opened, just in time to meet the smile that Yi Feng looked at her.

"You're awake."

Her eyes flashed with panic, and her face even flushed with two clusters, but she only nodded and let go of her hand.

"If you like it, you can sleep again, your body is very fragrant, and it is very soft, and it is really comfortable to hold." Yi Feng said with a smile.

"Hmm." After listening to Yi Feng's words, she really hugged Yi Feng again, and then squeezed him on his chest, making herself tighter and more entangled. After a while, there was a slight snoring sound like the kitten. Yi Feng couldn't help but smile, a little unexpected. After a while, seeing that she was sleeping peacefully, Yi Feng slowly withdrew his hand, got up, and then covered her with a quilt, and did not call the maid outside, he got dressed, combed his hair, put on a crown, and turned his head and went out of the room.

"Sumei is still sleeping, don't disturb for now, wait for her to wake up by herself." Yi Feng shouted to a few maids who came up, "Wait and tell her, I have left beforehand, and I have time to see her." ”

When I got to the courtyard outside, the tall osmanthus tree actually bloomed a little bit of yellow flowers, exuding a charming cinnamon fragrance. A teenager was sitting under a tree holding a book to read, and when he heard the footsteps, he hurriedly turned around and saw that it was Yi Feng who came out, with a complicated look on his face.

Yi Feng glanced at this young man a few times, he was very tall, even a little gentle, and his face was a little pale, which was a little similar to Xiao Sumei. He knew that this should be Xiao Sumei's younger brother Xiao Milling who came with him, and he was not unfamiliar with the name Xiao Milling. When the Bureau of Statistics investigated Xiao Sumei's information, it also sent Xiao Miao's information together, and when he first saw this name, Yi Feng was still slightly surprised. After all, Xiao Mo was a party in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, and once occupied the old land of the Jianghan and Later Liang dynasties, with an army of four or five hundred thousand. But such a figure was not very famous in the history of the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. for he rises quickly, but is also destroyed quickly. Hundreds of thousands of troops were finally wiped out by Li Jing in a battle, and finally beheaded Chang'an. just achieved Li Jing's fame, and he is just a supporting role. If it was a few months earlier, Yi Feng would definitely be surprised and even excited to see him, but now Yi Feng is not so excited about these historical figures.

At this time, Xiao Mo was three years younger than himself, and he was only a weak-crowned teenager, and there was even a little fear in his eyes when he looked at him.

"You are Su Mei's younger brother Xiao Miao, right, I'm Yi Feng, you can also call me brother-in-law."

The young man hesitated for a while, but finally didn't make a sound, neither calling Yi Feng nor his brother-in-law.

"Do you still have the habit of living in Huaihuang, do you have any ideas for yourself in the future?" Yi Feng asked.

Xiao Mo used to sell books, and he had read a lot of books, but when it came to his future plans at this time, he was at a loss. Yi Feng looked at him like this and smiled, "I see that you like to read books very much, and you have sold books before, so it's better to go to the printing shop for half a year to intern, take a look around, and when you are familiar, I will transfer you to the business newspaper office, maybe you can be a reporter or even an editor then." "A child, Yi Feng didn't arrange any stewardship or official position for him just because he had just become his brother-in-law.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Mo was very happy to hear this arrangement, and nodded excitedly, "Thank you, brother-in-law." ”

"Okay, I'll go to see a few guests in a while, if you want anything in the future, you can let your sister tell me, or you can come directly to Baihutai to find me." After speaking, Yi Feng left Xiao Mo a business card of his own, and then left. He does have several guests to meet today, and two of them are no less famous in history than Xiao Miao, a hero in troubled times. (To be continued......)