Xiaodonghu City, a city on the water

To reach the city, you have to pass through a swamp where the river overflows, and the water of the East Lake is inseparable from each other, and the mud is like a nightmare, and if you are not careful, the horse's hooves will sink into the mud

Some of the main roads were paved with planks, like Ivangorod, but they were not well maintained, and they looked dilapidated, and a cow died in the mud, which must have been unable to get out of the mud, and died of exhaustion, and a group of peasants tied the horns of the cow with ropes and the exposed front hooves, ready to pull it out

At the tavern, Giovanni put away his ornate cloak and put on a gray cloak of thick cloth, and then he changed all the beautiful and sturdy armor on his body, put it in his bag, and gave it to Joey, who now looked like a good businessman, not a samurai

We rode our horses to the top of a high slope, and the small East Lake City lay quietly in front of our eyes

Looking at it from here, I was a little surprised, Little East Lake City actually looked somewhat similar to the port of Fendra, the plan was reasonable, the layout was compact, the stone streets clearly separated the different areas of the town, and the wide port allowed large ships to moor, all of which made Little East Lake City look prosperous and prosperous, there were many people shoveling snow, clearing a passage on the stone road, the bells rang melodiously, a church had been half built, but now it was stopped, from the part that had been built, This is not an oriental church, as it does not have a rounded dome, but rather some towers that resemble the tip of a spear

"Victor, don't talk later," Giovanni said to me as he tugged at his cloak

I wondered why he said that, and then I saw someone watching us on my side, and soon after, there was a sound of footsteps bringing a group of men wearing helmets and carrying spears

These men were not regular soldiers, and I could tell that they looked warm in brightly colored thick cloth clothes, but the armor was pitiful, only half of them wore helmets, one or two wore shiny cuirasses, and most of them wore only a few belts tied around their bodies, and their clothes were tied tightly so that they looked more powerful

These people deliberately showed their spears to block the retreat around them, and one or two people also took off the crossbow that was on their shoulders, and I couldn't help but pull the reins and make the iron foot take two steps back

The leader of the men, a man in the most well-armoured man, with a big beard and a tumor on his face, stepped out

"Who are you?" The man said he didn't hold a spear, but only a short knife at his waist

The man tried his best to look stronger, but his flabby chin and bulging belly made everyone know that this was not a soldier at all

"Merchant, my friend," Giovanni said with a smile as he pulled down his cloak

"Dismount," the man ordered, and with a tilt of his head, two men approached Giovanni with spears

Giovanni raised his hand, "Of course, of course" and then he jumped off the horse and I jumped after him, and my reins were taken away by a soldier

"What kind of businessman are you? A businessman who sells intelligence? The man was full of suspicion, "There is nothing to see on this mountain, most of the people who come up here are on the gallows, I think you will be next"

Giovanni showed a frightened expression, "My lord, there must be some misunderstanding, I don't know what it is, I'm a wheat merchant, I heard that the wheat market here is very good, so I came to take a look"

"That's right," the man still had a grim smile on his face, "the last guy said the same thing about Pete, look at what's in this person's bag"

I'm glad Giovanni had unloaded his weapons and equipment in the tavern, otherwise these people would have had more reason to suspect us

The two soldiers took Giovanni's backpack and rummaged through it, digging out two thick coats, half a round of cheese and a bag of mare's milk The leader-like man took the mare's milk, uncorked it, sniffed it himself, and handed it to me, "You taste it"

I looked at Giovanni, who looked trembling, but his eyes flickered, and told me: just drink

I took a sip in front of the leader, and the choking smell hit my head, I wrinkled my nose and spit out

The leader chewed his tongue, laughed, and then took a sip of his own grunt, "What junk wine, there must be something wrong, I'm going to take it back to my doctor to see when I'm poisoned, he can know what I'm drinking, so he can prescribe me an antidote" and he tied the bag to his belt

Giovanni squeezed out a smile very hard, "As you wish, my lord, but I swear, this is good wine, I bought it for three bags of wheat to find a Kuguite"

"I see," the man patted himself on the stomach

Pete found a small purse, tossed it to the boss, and the leader tossed the money in his hand, then untied the rope that bound it, and he stirred it with his fingers, and the few silver coins in it collided with each other

"What to say," said the leader, "I suspect that it is a counterfeit and will disturb our market, and I feel it necessary to take this suspicious thing to the silversmith for examination, and if it is genuine, you can always retrieve it, and if it is fake, I will punish you."

This blatant plunder made the surrounding soldiers laugh quietly

Giovanni was stunned for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking, suddenly, he took two steps and walked in front of the leader, before the leader of the patrol could react, Giovanni had already grabbed his hand, and the soldiers on both sides suddenly became nervous, they aimed their spears at Giovanni, and a few gestures to me, and the people around him shouted one after another, Pete shouted, "Get out of the way"

Giovanni was unmoved, he tied the string of the money bag tightly, and then closed the leader's fingers, allowing the leader to hold the money bag in his hand

"My lord, you must be joking, this is your money, how can it be counterfeit? Please put it away, I believe it is a real coin, and you can't poke a gap with a pair of scissors," Giovanni said, and took a step back respectfully

The surrounding soldiers shook their heads curiously, looking at Giovanni and the leader

"It's a quick reaction, like a spy, and I'm not going to be happy if you do that, you can't give me what belongs to me again" The soldiers around him sneered again, and then the leader continued, "I know it's real money, but I don't know if you're a real wheat merchant"

"I have a certificate from the Grain Guild of Ivangelodes, and I ask me to show it to you," said Giovanni

A hint of nervousness flashed across the leader's face, and I could tell that he was illiterate

When I was in the barracks, a lot of soldiers used to show this kind of expression, I am familiar with a lot of expressions, although they are well disguised, but after seeing more, I can tell at once I heard that the clever thief catcher can suddenly appear in the crowd, I didn't believe it at the time, but now I understand, after dealing with specialized people more, it's really easy to see that I can now see whether a person knows words, I don't know how to see it, But as long as he said a few words in front of me, and his eyes flickered, I was basically sure

I looked at him quietly

The leader coughed, "Take it out"

Giovanni took out a small scroll from his overcoat that had been turned up on the floor, and tore it open with red silk thread tied to the leader, and then looked at it upside down, discerning the order of the documents from the structure of the drawings, and then looked at it for a moment

"Well, the procedures are relatively complete, and the signature is very decent"

The surrounding soldiers showed expressions of adoration

Then the leader frowned, "Is it written who your guarantor is?" I remember a businessman who couldn't do business without a guarantor."

"Uh," Giovanni didn't think that this leader still had some common sense, so he thought for a moment, "My lord, my guarantor is Shepchenko, the agent of the Ivangelord Grain Guild, and he can vouch for my credibility."

"No, it's useless," said the leader, "the wheat guild in Little East Lake City is not under the control of the Grain Guild of Ivangelodes, and in the wheat sector, the Ivangelodes should even come to Little East Lake City to obtain a certificate of employment, and the effectiveness of your witness is not enough, wheat is a big business, not an oat business of dozens of dinars, nor a hundred bags of rye bread, wheat is something that people have to eat every day, and there is no net worth of thousands of dinars, I don't want to hand over business to people like you, if you speculators mess up the market and make the price of bread go up every day or something, I'd rather let you go back now."

What is this leader trying to do with all these words? He is not a market inspector, and he doesn't have to worry about whether a businessman is a liar or not, whether he is qualified or not, the old man said: "Every word a person says must be said for himself, even if he does not think directly about himself, it is a roundabout"

This person wants more money

Giovanni also understood

Giovanni showed a bitter expression, "My lord, I have a lot of wheat hoarded in Dadonghu City, but you know, they spent all their money in the war, and they can't collect so much wheat at all, if you can help me and let me bring in the wheat, I will be grateful to you, I have a lot of coins there, the color is a little weird, I want to wait for my wheat to sell, let you help me check if it is true"

Some of the soldiers were still confused, but the leader's eyes lit up

Giovanni then said, "I thought, can you help me?" Can you introduce me to a referee? ”

The leader squinted his eyes incomprehensibly for a moment, then smiled, "Of course, you don't want to escape my sight until I test your counterfeit coins."

That night, we boarded the last ferry boat to cross the swamp and two hours later docked at Little East Lake City and changed boats

The wharf of Xiaodonghu City extends to the city, and the whole Xiaodonghu City is repaired on the water, and some of the flowers and branches of the girls have been dispatched at this time, they have opened the wooden windows, exposed their chests, and looked at us defiantly, and a few of them also dropped the cloth balls and small pastries, and the leader who sat behind the boat smiled and greeted these women, these women still covered their eyes, all of them were very slim, wearing dark clothes, they looked fair-skinned, so cold, these women wore so little, It's just jaw-dropping

After the bustle of the place, we were taken to a large warehouse, where torches were lit, and a few guards of the night watch came to take a look, and the leader greeted them familiarly, and then led Giovanni and me to the warehouse, I was a little worried about the safety of Iron Feet, I was afraid that these people would swallow Iron Feet, but fortunately, Iron Feet was not a horse, and it was not so cute, I regretted that I brought Iron Feet, and I would have known that I would have exchanged them with Joey's convoy

I looked towards the dock and saw that there are many such warehouses built on the water, all of which are built with stones, and there will be no danger of fire

"Go" a soldier listened impatiently to the flattery of the patrol leader and finally let go

We were taken to a room full of flour, which was eerily cold, and there was no stove Giovanni rubbed his hands together and looked at the shabby setting, waiting for the patrol leader to bring the 'witness' out

After a while, a tired and angry voice was heard, "Uncle Tuke, if you want to wake me up again at such a late hour, I will have to kick you out"

"Boy, your mother was raised by me as a big brother, and even your father was found by me for your mother, if it weren't for me"

"Alright," the man's voice was full of impatience, "who is it this time?" ”

A chubby young man came with a candle, his clothes well-dressed, shiny, and not in the least resembling the Tuk

"A merchant, a businessman of integrity," Tuke licked his lips and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "he has thousands of bags of wheat and wants to talk to you".

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