Daqin Dynasty, Yuzhou Mansion, Pinglang County, Pinglang City.

It's only early summer, but it's starting to get muggy.

Especially after a rainy day just yesterday, it seems that the sky is covered with water vapor, and the inhalation is stuffy.

However, on the government-run wharf outside Pinglang City, there are still people coming and going, and there is a lot of traffic.

Moreover, because of the heavy rain yesterday, a lot of things were delayed, and the loading and unloading of the ship from the ship were more and more frequent than usual.

The whole dock was shouting and drinking, and it was noisy as if there were countless flies flying in the ears.

A simple carriage, coming down from the big ship that had just been moored, creaked as if it was about to fall apart, and walked slowly down the street, out of step with the hustle and bustle around it.

"Sir, this car is really powerful, I said that it was going to disperse when it came out of Beijiang, and it was stunned until now."

A tall young man, with a long sword at his waist and a stick in his hand, rode a large horse of mottled colors, and came from behind, parallel to the carriage, and joked with the people in the carriage.

His name is Ning He, a native of Beining Prefecture, who was recruited into the border army at the age of fifteen, and served in the army in Zhenbeiguan for five years.

Now, I committed something, was punished and demoted several levels, kicked out of the Zhenbei Army, transferred to Ying'an County, Yonghe Prefecture, and became a county lieutenant, and was on my way to work.

And the man in the carriage is called Mu Bai, well...... is a little worse than him, he studied hard for more than ten years, and went to the border to serve as a county magistrate for more than ten years, and now he is being dismissed and returning to his hometown, and he is also on the way.

The two had some intersections before, met on the way, sympathized with each other, and the destinations were not far apart, so they walked together.

"Shujing, you have lost four taels of silver to me, do you want to continue?" In the carriage with the doors and windows of the carriage open, Mu Bai, who was dressed in a green shirt and robe, replied with a smile, with a lot of ridicule in his eyes.

Even if he is nearly forty years old, he is still handsome, his demeanor is calm, and he has no official position and is depressed in the township, which is quite free and uninhibited.

"It's okay, it's okay to lose four taels again, when Mr. Carriage falls apart, this old horse will definitely not be able to carry it, and Mr. will not be able to bump into it, and then I will have horse meat to eat, and I can be greedy for Mr. Some medicine money, isn't it good." Ning He smiled and joked nonchalantly.

"It's not in shape." Mu Bai blew his beard, although it was not the first time he heard this, he still couldn't help but glance sideways.

He is poor and has only this old horse left, can he have some sympathy, it's really incurable.

"Sir, Master Ke, there is a food shed over there, do you want to go eat something."

While speaking, Ning He saw that there were many food sheds near the docks, large and small, and the aroma wafted over, and he suddenly became hungry.

"Go ahead, I'm going to visit a classmate in the city, and there's a place to mix rice." Mu Bai shook his head and replied.

He and the groom Lao Ke have eaten and drunk a lot along the way, and now there are new sheep to pick, so it's better to change them, don't catch one for baldness.

"Well, then I'll go, I'll wait for you at the West City Gate early tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

After a simple farewell, Ning He ran to a food shed that sold stewed mutton, and Mu Bai still rode slowly in a carriage to Pinglang City.

said that he was a companion, but Mu Bai knew that Ning He was to escort him and his party, and he was not only dismissed, but also offended people and was killed halfway, which is not impossible.

And Ning He actually admired this former county magistrate in his heart.

Although Daqin has a vast area, 19,000 miles away from each north and south, it is divided into 32 prefectures, with 824 counties under its jurisdiction and more than 7,000 counties.

However, the population is also quite large, with more than 50,000 people, and there are as few as 30,000 or 20,000 or as many as 100,000 in a county.

The border counties of Beijiang Prefecture are only because of the frequent wars between the Daqin Dynasty and the Northern Dalu Dynasty, and things like plundering each other's borders are also common, and they are very dangerous, not a place where there are few people and are poor.

If you really want to loot, let alone more than ten years, it will take three or two years to get eighteen thousand taels of silver.

It is rare for a poor person like this to be left with unpatched clothes, and to get food everywhere, and it is not easy for him to starve to death on the way home.

It's just that the two New Year's friends won't put these on their lips, and they joke with each other all the way, but they are at ease.

"Three pots of mutton, hurry up!"

Tie the horse, enter the food shed and sit down, Ning He came directly.

"Okay! Wait! The owner of the food shed, while busy working, also replied loudly.

It's not that they're biao, it's that the voice is so low that they can't hear it.

The rich merchants and nobles will not come to these food sheds on the wharf, nor will the porters who really work hard.

The former is disgusted, and the latter is reluctant.

The most people who came were those who worked for the ship merchants and merchants, as well as the gang ruffians on the docks, all of whom had a little spare money but could not afford to go to a really luxurious place.

Come here to make some meat and drink some wine, talk to each other, talk about where you have gone, and what new things you have encountered.

In the middle of the day, there are special fists and wines, and there are a batch of chaos.

The simple thing doesn't look bad, the big deep basin with the head, the hot chunk of mutton, the milky white broth, and the soup with the meat is full of boarding, and you have an appetite when you look at it.

And they are all ready-made things, and the store is also fast, and after a while, a large tray was brought up with three pots of mutton, and there were more than a dozen flax cakes, and a small half table was placed.

"Brother, what kind of wine do you have here, is there anything strong and spicy?" The hot food was swinging in front of him, Ning He felt even hotter, and couldn't help tearing open his clothes, half-covering his chest, and suddenly wanted to drink two sips.

They went straight down from the northernmost Beijiang Mansion all the way to the south, passed through Beining, Gyeongju, Zhongzhou, Wuguan and Sifu, entered the Wuzhou Mansion to change water to the west, and walked most of Wuzhou Mansion, 10,000 miles and thousands of miles.

At first, it was okay, but the people of Wuzhou have a light taste, and they like to drink wine and be mellow and mellow, and he is really not used to it.

Now that I have changed to Yuzhou Mansion, I see how many people are drinking, and the wine worms are directly hooked.

"This lord, you have to go to the back wine shop to sell wine, but it's all low-priced wine, and it's strong enough, I'm afraid you won't be used to it." The shopkeeper politely replied.

It's true that the food shed doesn't sell alcohol, but it's only a few steps away to help buy a wine.

But the person in front of him, tall and sturdy, ape-armed bear body, eagle and wolf-eyed, although he is only dressed in the army, but the clothes are not good, a military robe is not a cheap object, this accent is a foreign person, don't know the situation, when the wine comes, I feel that I am fooling people, and I am causing trouble.

"Okay." Ning He smashed his mouth, but he didn't embarrass anyone, he searched for it, saw the place where he bought wine, and went to get two jars by himself.

When I came back, I didn't wait to eat meat, so I came to a bowl first, and the hot and choked wine was immediately comfortable, and I picked up the meat and started to make it.

The meal was in full swing, sweating profusely, and it took less than two quarters of an hour to eat and drink cleanly.

took out a two-dollar piece of broken silver, asked the store to find a copper coin, settled the account, and led the horse to Pinglang City.

"Hey~ Mr. hasn't entered the city yet."

Ning He, who walked for a while to eliminate food and rode his horse quickly, arrived at the city gate and found Mu Bai's carriage, and climbed up again.

Seeing his full wine and red face, and listening to his stomach growling, Mu Bai's face turned dark, and he knew that he would have picked up a sheep first, this old horse and old car really made people have a stomachache.

"Lao Ke, go faster, annoy him." Mu Bai, who endured his hunger and didn't want to see someone for the time being, lest he feel more stomach pain, closed the curtain of the car and said to the old servant who was driving the car.

"Yes, sir." Lao Ke's slow swallowing was no worse than the old horse he drove, and after responding for a long time, he didn't wave the whip.

It is better to say that he is driving the car, but it is better to show the horse the way, as long as the horse does not deviate, he will not move.

Fortunately, the city gate was in front of them, and the guards checked the road guide and entered the city, but it didn't take much time.