In order to prevent the people from connecting with foreign countries, the Han Dynasty has implemented a sea ban since the Taizu Dynasty, and only opened the three ports of Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and the south of Mingzhou to trade. Among them, Mingzhou is the northernmost location, and it is under the jurisdiction of the richest district in the south of the Yangtze River, so although the scale of Mingzhou port is not as large as Guangzhou and Quanzhou, it is not at all below in terms of prosperity and richness.

And because Mingzhou was originally a fishing village, because the port was gradually built up, there was no city wall around the state capital, but a cofferdam was set up outside the port to block the sea from the inland, and visitors from the sea had to pass through the checkpoint set up on the cofferdam to enter Mingzhou, let alone go deep into the territory of the Han Dynasty without permission. At the same time, the people of the Han Dynasty cannot go to sea at will to make a living.

However, the silk, tea, porcelain, etc., produced by the Han Dynasty, are all treasures that are sought after by wealthy merchants and aristocrats overseas, and after overseas merchants purchase goods from the Han Dynasty, as long as they go through thousands of difficulties and dangers, cross the five oceans and seven seas, and arrive at the motherland safely, it will be ten times or twenty times the windfall profits only after changing hands.

Therefore, despite the heavy restrictions and the extremely high tariffs of the Han Dynasty, overseas merchants are still flocking to Mingzhou, not only the Japanese, Korean, Siam, and even Persian, Arab, and Europa merchants in Mingzhou City, but also the merchant ships from various countries outside the port are also congested, like sardines just caught by fishermen from the sea, blocking the entire Mingzhou Port without leakage.

It was the middle of September, and the dog days were coming to an end, and although the climate was still a little hot, it was also a refreshing autumn air.

But he saw a crowd of people from outside the city coming from the west, and the first one was about twenty-three or fourteen years old, and although he was not tall, he had clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes. His clothes do not look very gorgeous, but they are also very clean and neat, especially the blue horse under the crotch is heroic, it is obviously a noble horse breed, so that the insider can know at a glance that the owner of this horse is either rich or noble.

The man was followed by two horses, but on them were two women. These two women are the same age as this person, and their faces are unusually beautiful, as if they have descended from the earth; The other person is not very old, only fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a strong suit, and he is also heroic. The two women were followed by a girl riding a donkey, dressed as a girl. There is also a scholar who looks like a master, and he also rides a healthy donkey, accompanying him on the left and right.

Afterwards, there were eight strong men, those who rode horses, those who drove cars, followed the master step by step, and came to Mingzhou City along the wide official road.

This line of people is immense, and if it were elsewhere, it must be extremely dazzling; However, Mingzhou is a prosperous place, and such people don't know how many teams they have to go through in a day. Therefore, when the pedestrians on both sides of the official road saw it, they just glanced at it twice, and then lowered their heads and went to their own work.

After walking for a while, the leading young man put his hand on the pergola, and saw a rainbow bridge flying on both sides of the bridge in the distance, and the crowd on the bridge was endless, so he slowed down his horse slightly, and when the woman behind him approached, he raised his horsewhip and pointed forward: "Presumably the high bridge in front of him is" Yongfeng Bridge ", through this bridge, across the Yongjiang River, it will be in Mingzhou." ”

The woman nodded, without a weak look on her face: "That's good." I see that this place is very prosperous, presumably there are a lot of hotels and inns, I will choose a cleaner inn to live in, and then go to do things. ”

The person who spoke was not an ordinary woman, her surname was Wen Xiaozi Lingjiao, she was the holy daughter of the famous Tianzun Sect on the rivers and lakes, and her brother was the head of the Tianzun Church, and she could stir up chaos in the world with just a few words.

And the young man who spoke to her was named Qiu Yizhi, and his identity was by no means unusual, he was the son of the moth that the emperor had recognized since he was a child, and he made immortal contributions in the battle of rebellion, but he was willing to come to Jiangnan to be a petty official in order to avoid trouble. However, his person was like a stone thrown in the backwater, and as soon as he took office, he stirred up the Jiangnan officialdom, so that the officialdom of Jiangnan Province was in turmoil, and half of the officials were dismissed for a while.

Qiu Yizhi's trip was his own initiative, in the name of touring the mountains and rivers, but in fact, he came to Mingzhou to investigate the case of the pseudo-Tianzun Sect without permission.

Therefore, he pretended to be a wealthy merchant and handed over the affairs of Shanyin County to his subordinates, and he took Wen Lingjiao and several other entourages to cross the Yongfeng Bridge on the Yongjiang River and really came to the jurisdiction of Mingzhou Mansion.

Mingzhou is indeed extremely prosperous, but this prosperous scene is not the same as the capital Luoyang, the capital of Jiangnan, Jinling, and Guangyang, the capital of Youyan-

Luoyang, the capital city, is at the foot of the Son of Heaven, and the merchant area is separated from other areas, which seems to be in order;

Jinling is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, similar to Luoyang, although it is not as strict and rigid as the Beijing Division, the shops and wine shops are also spread out around a Qinhuai River;

Only Guangyang is similar to Mingzhou, both of which prospered due to the trade of goods between the north and the south, but in the process of building the city of Guangyang, Zhong Likuang, the current prime minister who was then the staff of the King of Youyan, was careful and carefully planned.

- However, Mingzhou was not managed by such a person as Zhong Likuang, and the successive officials were mediocre, allowing merchants to build houses at will, so that except for an official road running through the east and west, which was slightly straight and wide, the rest of the Mingzhou Mansion was full of alleys and messy houses.

A pedestrian of Qiuyi walked in this labyrinthine alley for a long time, and then found a secluded corner, and saw a house that was slightly depressed, and a plaque in front of the door wrote "Yongxing Store" with three big characters - it was an inn.

So Qiu Yizhi discussed with Wen Lingjiao and Lin Shuhan, who was sitting in the car, then turned over and dismounted, pushed the door and walked into this "Yongxing store".

But I saw that the store was very deserted, which was very different from the lively scene in Mingzhou City, and it was also clean, but no shopkeeper came out to greet him.

Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi shouted at the top of his voice: "Is there anyone?" The guests of the hotel came. ”

After a while, a man in his thirties and forties ran out from the depths of the store, with a flattering smile on his face, and greeted: "It turned out that the distinguished guest came, and the villain was late to greet him, and he asked the guest officer to apologize." ”

Qiu Yizhi said with a smile: "Look at you, which inn outside is not full of guests, but your store is so light, I don't know if you are a black shop!" ”

Halfway through his words, he was suddenly frightened by the word "black shop" in his mouth, and hurriedly ran to Lin Shuhan's side and asked softly, "Mr. Lin, do you think this store is okay?" ”

Lin Shuhan unfolded the folding fan, shook it, and said, "I have already asked Ji Ming to investigate up and down, although I didn't see anything unusual here, but I always felt uneasy. My lord, the most important thing in our trip is the word confidential, not only to guard against the white road, but also to guard against the underworld, absolutely careless. ”

Although Uncle Lin didn't say it clearly, the meaning was already very clear, and Qiu Yizhi hurriedly nodded: "Sir's words are clear." Let's find a lively old shop to live in. ”

After saying that, he stretched out his hand and waved his hand and instructed Congdao: "This shop is too dilapidated and too small to accommodate so many of us, so let's find another place." With that, he withdrew from the "Yongxing store".

This made the shopkeeper anxious, and he even explained and flattered a car of words, but he didn't impress Qiu Yizhi, so he simply scolded: "I'm bah! Do you have a few stinky bucks? I think my shop is small! Huamao Building is big and good, it is still a hotel owned by Zhou Cijing, you want to live, can you afford to live? Can you live in? ”

These words reminded Qiu Yizhi, and he turned around and said with a smile: "I don't dare to say that there are other restaurants, since it is the shop of Zhou Daguan, then I may not have no choice." After that, as soon as he loosened the reins, he went to look for the "Huamao Building".

This restaurant called "Huamao Building" is indeed a very famous restaurant in Mingzhou City, Qiu Yi inquired and searched for it, and arrived at the door of the restaurant without wasting any effort.

When I looked up, I saw that this restaurant has a total of six or seven floors in height, and it also stands out among the surrounding buildings. The red paint, lanterns, and window paper on the outside of the building are all brand new, which is not only magnificent but also very neat, which makes people feel good at first sight.

So Qiu Yizhi dismounted again, and just as he was about to enter the door, a running hall junior came forward, bowed down and asked, "This distinguished guest, you came to our store for dinner?" Or is it accommodation? ”

Qiu Yizhi replied: "Eat first, then stay." ”

The little two said: "Then may I ask this distinguished guest, have you ever made an appointment?" ”

Qiu Yizhi shook his head and asked, "How can your business be like this?" Can't I stay without making a reservation in advance? ”

The little second said: "The guest officer has misunderstood." The small one said that you need to make an appointment for dinner, as for the accommodation - look at your face is a little raw, presumably not a regular customer, I don't know the rules of our Huamao Building - the merchants who stay in our building are all long bags, and there is no temporary accommodation. Although his words were three points arrogant, his words were not at all polite.

Qiu Yizhi was a little surprised when he heard it: "I said, what you said is a little too big, right?" I see that your little lintel is still new, where did you come from so many long-term and regular customers? ”

The shopkeeper said with a mouth full of pride: "You don't know this." Our shop is a business in the name of Zhou Cijing. Who is Zhou Cijing's official? The vice president of the dignified Guangyang Chamber of Commerce, don't underestimate the word 'vice', the president is the third prince before the current saint! ”

Qiu Yizhi listened to the shopkeeper's eyebrows fluttering, but his heart was full of emotion: This Zhou Cijing was originally an ordinary wealthy businessman in Guangyang City, because he bet on the right treasure, he accidentally contributed to the emperor's accession to the throne, and now he has been promoted from the six-rank Xiaolang of the Ministry of Industry to the five-grade servant of the Ministry of Household - although it is still a false title, this scorching is unique in the Han business world.

So Qiu Yizhi followed the words of the shopkeeper and said: "Before the next day, I still had a relationship with the Zhou officials, I thought that his business was mostly in the north, but I didn't want to come here in Mingzhou in just one year." ”

The shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this, and looked Qiu Yizhi up and down several times, but he only saw that Qiu Yizhi's clothes were not gorgeous, and he thought he was just bragging, so he sneered: "There are many people who know Zhou Daguan, and there are many people who know Zhou Daguan, I'm afraid I don't know you!" ”

Qiu Yizhi was used to seeing these snobs, but he didn't move, and turned over in the carriage behind him for a long time, and then walked back to the shopkeeper and handed over a dark wooden sign.

The shopkeeper didn't know the origin of this thing, so he took it and took a look, only to see that it was only written with white paint and three words upright, but he was illiterate, and he looked at it countless times, but he didn't know what these three words meant.

At this moment, a loud voice came from the store: "Xiao Duozi, you don't entertain guests well, what are you making noise here?" Did I pay you for it? If you are lazy like this, be careful that I kick you out, and see which hotel is willing to use you as a lazy man! ”