After all, it was already afternoon when I arrived, and after a walk, it was getting late, so Liu Feng and his party went back directly to rest. There was not much left of the more than 1,000 gold he brought, and the space in a few storage bags was too small to hold anything more. According to the original plan, I will stay for another day tomorrow to see the pattern of Aoshan City and go back the day after tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Liu Feng took Bai Jian out, and as for the others, except for a few who were sent to deal with the goods they brought, they all stayed in the inn.

The pattern of Aoshan City is obvious, and Dongcheng is the market trading area with the largest flow of people; Nancheng is a military area, and the military camps of Aoshan City are here; Xicheng is a residential area, where most of the residents of Aoshan City live; As for Beicheng, it is a wealthy area, where the city lord's mansion is located, as well as most of the officials of Aoshan City, high-ranking military officials, and some wealthy merchants.

Needless to say, Dongcheng has seen it yesterday, as the most prosperous business district; The military district is in Nancheng, and when I passed by yesterday, I took a cursory look, there are two large military camps, each of which can accommodate tens of thousands of people, of course, there are not so many soldiers in Aoshan City now, most of the military camps are empty, and there are very few residents in Nancheng, and most of them are some battalions that serve the army. The residential areas of Xicheng have the most housing construction, but it is obvious that the population flow is not proportional to the density of the buildings, and it seems empty; The same is true for the North Side, where a large number of luxury buildings are left vacant.

Aoshan City is not big, after all, it is just a "township", and one day is enough time to go around.

"Is the village chief wondering why the huge Aoshan City is so depressed?" Bai Jian asked. By this time, they had already arrived in the North City. Outsiders are allowed to enter the northern city, but they also have to pay a fee, and it is very expensive, if there is no residence or acquaintance to sponsor it, it is not allowed to stay overnight, and the owners of those inns will not take in those outsiders who do not have a guarantee.

This was to prevent the destruction of the enemy, but it was understandable if you only thought that the castle lord and a large number of important people from Aoshan Castle had gathered here. Moreover, the patrol of the northern city is very strict, and a curfew is implemented at night, and if someone wanders the street at night, he will be killed directly by the city guards.

"Yes, that's what I'm struggling with, and a city shouldn't be like this." Liu Feng said.

"Actually, to put it bluntly, there is no secret." Bai Jian smiled.

"You know?" Liu Feng was surprised again. It seems that this Bai Jian has been outside for 20 years and knows Aoshan City very well.

"Aoshan City reached its peak of strength during the previous city lord's period, with a population of nearly 500,000 and an army of nearly 100,000 at one time, in order to be upgraded to an intermediate city. The pattern of this Aoshan City was left from that time. Bai Jian said with emotion, "The mayor of the town also knows, he failed, after several years of war, the strength of Aoshan City has been greatly reduced, coupled with the succession of the city lord is talented, arbitrary and arrogant, it has become what it is today." Now there are less than 200,000 people in Aoshan City, there are 30,000 or 40,000 troops, and how many residents can there be. The prosperity of Dongcheng is only promoted by a few towns and foreign merchants. Although Aoshan City has declined, after all, it was once glorious, and there are still a lot of good things. ”

"This Aoshan City is really a good place, this time it was not in vain." Liu Feng said with a smile.

Bai Jian's head agreed.

The location of the City Lord's Mansion is obvious, it is in the center of Beicheng District, and the high walls of the City Lord's Mansion are higher than the walls of Aoshan City, and it is heavily guarded, like a small castle.

"This city lord's mansion is not ordinary." Liu Feng said with emotion.

"It's a pity that it's just a city lord's mansion, if the army enters the city, are you afraid that he won't give in." Bai Jian said with a smile.

Liu Feng thought about it, so he didn't pay attention to it anymore and continued to move forward. But after a while, it stopped again.

He saw a beggar.

It is said that seeing a beggar is not a big deal, it is normal in troubled times, but you must know that this is the northern city, and outsiders are not allowed to stay overnight, and even if you come in, you have to pay a fee, how can there be a beggar.

He lay outside the gate of a more elegant-looking mansion, this mansion is not too big, but it is not far from the city lord's mansion, it can be regarded as a good place, but at a glance, it is known that no one has lived in it for a long time, although there are not many people who come and go, but they all turn a blind eye to it.

There must be a demon when something goes wrong, Liu Feng feels that he should inquire.

"This brother is polite, the younger brother has just arrived, and I want to invite the brother to have a drink in the restaurant in front of him, and ask about some things, I don't know if it's okay." After a while, Liu Feng stopped a fat man with a big belly, who looked like a profiteer.

How could you refuse the beauty of pie falling from the sky, the fat man happily agreed. After a feast, Liu Feng successfully achieved his goal.

The mansion was originally owned by a surname He, and when the last city lord was in power, this family was very powerful, helping the city lord to deal with all the political affairs of the territory, and he was like the number two person in Aoshan City.

However, after the new city lord took office, he did not like this man, and somehow arrested and killed the whole family, confiscated the house, and for a time the servants and stewards dispersed, leaving only an old housekeeper who refused to leave, and stayed outside the house. The lord of the city did not restrict him from entering and leaving the northern city, but did not allow anyone to hire him to do things. As a result, the once illustrious butler had to beg for a living.

"I've heard of this He family before." After the fat man left, Bai Jian said suddenly.

"Oh, yes, let's hear it." Liu Feng was very interested.

"The previous head of the He family is a good friend of the previous city lord, so he has always been the right-hand man of the city lord, handling government affairs on his behalf, and governing Aoshan City in an orderly manner. And it is quite famous and respected. It can be said that the reason why Aoshan City was able to have the strength to be close to a middle-level city many years ago is due to this person. It's a pity that as soon as the new city owner took office, it didn't take long for his family to be uprooted. Bai Jian said.

"Since he is so talented, how can he end up like this?" Liu Feng was puzzled.

"Talent may not be appreciated! Perhaps it is precisely because he is so capable that he has stolen the limelight of the new city lord and threatened the status of the new city lord. After the new city lord took office, he always needed to kill chickens and monkeys to subdue his subordinates, and unfortunately, the He family was treated as the chicken. So after his death, there was no more capable ruler in Aoshan City, and it gradually declined. Bai Jian sighed a little, and glanced at Liu Feng meaningfully, "I don't know what the excuse was back then, but I heard that there is another heir of the He family who escaped." Perhaps the city lord's abnormal behavior is to use this steward as bait to catch that big fish. ”

"I'm afraid that the fish he caught is too big, and he will pull himself into the water." Liu Feng said, walking towards the beggar butler.

"Old man, I've heard something about you, since the city lord is so embarrassed for you, why do you have to stay here?" Liu Feng came to the old butler and persuaded him.

The old housekeeper opened his eyes, glanced at Liu Feng and the others, and said with a slight mockery: "Don't come to this set, you dog thieves, even if I die, you won't get what you want." After saying that, he closed his eyes again and did not speak again.

Liu Feng glanced at Bai Jian, and inadvertently got another piece of news - the City Lord's Mansion coveted something or something else from the He family, and he didn't get it all along, but he didn't want to give up, so he left the old housekeeper who knew the clues.

"Why should the old man refuse to be thousands of miles away, we are not from the City Lord's Mansion, just passers-by from afar. If there is something that the elderly need help with, we can help. Liu Feng did not give up and continued to persuade.

But no matter what Liu Feng said, the old housekeeper no longer opened his eyes and made no sound, as if he was asleep. Liu Feng had no choice but to put down a tael of silver and leave.

After Liu Feng turned to leave, the old housekeeper opened his eyes and opened the back of Liu Feng's departure, thoughtfully. After a while, he closed his eyes again and became the beggar day after day.

Almost at the same time, the City Lord's Mansion received detailed information about the meeting between Liu Feng and the old housekeeper, but soon, news came out from the City Lord's Mansion: there was no need to care. Yes, the City Lord's Mansion has sent people to contact the old butler in different capacities many times, and it was somewhat effective at first, but then the old butler became more and more shrewd, and he couldn't get any news. After that, even if someone who is really curious comes into contact, it has no effect.

In the eyes of the City Lord's Mansion, Liu Feng is the kind of curious person, one contact is nothing, if he goes again, he is afraid that he will attract the attention of the City Lord's Mansion.

Of course, Liu Feng didn't know this, and he was ready to go back. But before he goes back, he still has to go shopping.

He's going to try and buy a few horses.

The news has been heard from Xiao Yun before, there is a trading market for cattle and horses and other livestock in Dongcheng District, and it is also engaged in the trading of good horses, and the good horses here are naturally war horses, not to mention on the surface.

found the person in charge of selling the horses, and told him that he was recommended by Xiao Yun in the first fang, and after matching the code, Liu Feng and the others were brought in, and then saw a middle-aged bookkeeper with a beard dressed up.

"You two want to buy a horse?" The account room looked at Liu Feng and the others.

"Yes, I don't know?" Liu Feng arched his hand.

"As long as you can afford it, of course."

"Is there a repercussion?" This is something to ask about.

"Absolutely not, even if you use it to fight the city guards in the future."

"Sir, we're just kidding, it's just a matter of personal preference, buy some good horses and hurry up." Liu Feng didn't believe the words of the account room, "I don't know what the price is?" ”

"A piece of hardware, if you buy more, can give you a better one." The scribe laughed and said, "Even if they are medium horses, there are advantages and disadvantages."

"So expensive?" Liu Feng frowned, only now did he know that he was a poor ghost, and he couldn't afford many things.

"You get what you pay for, you must know that this is from the city guards." The middle-aged scribe whispered.

"No matter how good it is, it's just a good horse, it's still the worst kind." Liu Feng muttered to himself, but he also knew that the better ones would definitely not be sold, but who made it a seller's market now.

"Okay, I want twenty horses, and tomorrow morning in the south of the city to cut." Liu Feng finally decided to buy a few horses. By now, he really has no money.

"Out of town?" The middle-aged scribe was a little hesitant. There are no horses left in the horse ranch in Aoshan City, and the goods are all from the military camp in the city.

"What, there's a problem?"

"No, but it will cost an extra ten taels of shipping."

"Okay, here's the deposit, and the rest will be settled in person tomorrow." Liu Feng took out ten taels of gold.

"It's a deal."

……

All the specialties have been sold, because there are no good things, but a few taels of gold have been obtained, which is not enough for the freight of buying a horse. The situation in Aoshan City has been almost seen, and the things that should be bought have been bought, so Liu Feng went back to the inn to prepare for his return.

After a night of nothing, early the next morning, Liu Feng and his party set off.

At the south city gate, the captain of the guard happened to be the one when he entered the city, which also made it convenient for Liu Feng to go out of the city. It just so happened that the team leader was more impressed by this generous God of Wealth, and spent more than a dozen taels of silver and went out of the city.

When I went out of the city gate and arrived at the agreed place, I saw that yesterday's bookkeeper was already waiting with a few people, and there were twenty horses behind them.

"The goods have arrived, let's pay."

The account room was very direct, Liu Feng did not procrastinate, let people inspect the goods and pay, twenty horses, they had a few more horses for one person and one horse, the money and goods were cleared, and the horses left.