On long marches, the uniform steps of the soldiers can be heard from a long distance, not to mention that there are officers on duty on the tower. The distance was still far away, and an old general in silver armor walked out of the city gate against the flow of people under the escort of a hundred soldiers.

"But the eleventh prince has arrived, and the old minister has missed the welcome, so I hope to forgive me. Shen Fei watched them walk out of the city, he already knew that there was no malice, and after listening to the old general's words, he strengthened the idea in his heart. This person must be Tuoba Lie's own uncle Tuoba Jun, as a well-informed person in the royal family, he must have known that Tuoba Lie would come here early on.

"The nephew took the liberty to visit, and he didn't report to Uncle Wang in time, and it was obviously the nephew who should be guilty. "Completely different from when he met Wang Lin, Tuoba Lie, who was the prince, had already dismounted when the old general was out of the city, walked forward quickly, dragged Uncle Wang's hands, and prevented him from kneeling in front of him.

When the uncle and nephew met, they looked at each other, and their eyes were full of warmth, it seemed that the friendship between them was not trivial, which surprised Shen Fei.

"The eleventh prince is here, and he has worked hard all the way, please follow the old man into the city to wash the dust. ”

"In front of Uncle Wang, he can't afford to be called the prince, Uncle Huang is really tormenting his little nephew. ”

"Bear it, bear it! As the prince of the empire, how could the little nephew not be able to afford it. ”

"Uncle Wang, don't bother your nephew, in front of others, your nephew is the eleventh prince who is high, but in front of you, your nephew will always be a nephew, a recruit who joined the army with you back then. ”

"Hahaha, what do you do with it in the past!"

"The kindness of the past, the little nephew will never forget. ”

"Speaking of which, it's hypocrisy, nephew, let's go into the city with the old man. ”

"Don't worry, first introduce two people to Uncle Wang. ”

"Two people?"

"This is Shen Fei, the envoy of the Daoist Sect, and the one next to him is ......."

The little nephew laughed, what is there to make a fuss about the people of the Taoist sect, don't delay any longer, go to the city with the old decay. ”

"Uncle Wang...... It's not!"

"Let's go. ”

After saying that, Tuoba Jun, the lord of Shangqiu City, couldn't help but lead his nephew Tuoba Lie to stride towards the city, leaving behind the embarrassed Shen Fei and the disdainful Chu Xie.

"Just a mortal, dare to look down on the immortals in Shuzhong, they really eat the gall of the bear's heart and leopard. Chu Xie looked at the backs of the two of them leaving, and said indignantly.

Shen Fei pondered for a while, and then replied: "His performance today proves that the teachings of Shushan have not yet been widely spread to the world, and the brilliance of Shushan has not yet shone in all directions. ”

"Are you looking for an excuse to comfort yourself? ”

"What can I do, rush up and kill him? ”

"It's really a nest to stick to the solidity of the mundane. Chu Xie rode his horse and walked forward on his own.

......

General Youjun opened the way, and it was not difficult to enter Shangqiu, and with the opening of the main city gate, Shen Fei and his party entered the city smoothly. Although Shangqiu City covers a wide area, the size of the army guarding here is the same as that of the cloth army in Nantong, and it is also an imperial army of 10,000 people. The thousand-strong army of the empire led by Tuoba Lie was stationed in the barracks under the guidance of the general's adjutant general, and Shen Fei, Chu Xie, Nalan Ruoxue, Chief Yue and the two prisoners who were escorted went to the general's mansion together.

Everything is the same as when Nantong City was in place, but there is only one point that pales in comparison, and there are thousands of differences - that is, the treatment!

As a relative of the emperor, the old general was full of disdain for the people of Taoism, led Tuoba Lie forward into the house, and handed over Shen Fei and his party to the care of the deputy general, and the residence arranged by the deputy general was actually a side room close to the residence of the subordinate.

Being so disrespected, Chu Xie was unhappy in his heart, and Shen Fei was also very angry, he really wanted to smash the entire mansion with one punch to see what the old thing said, but in the end, he pressed it and did not do such an impulsive act. Led a few people into the house, and the deputy introduced them to the little steward who was in charge of the house, and went straight out of the house. And the little steward didn't want to take a look at a few more people, so he asked a few words very casually, and then left under the pretext, leaving Shen Fei and the three of them staring at each other. Touching the teapot, there is not even a cup of hot water, open the lid of the pot, the tea inside does not know what year and month it was soaked, soft and loose, it looks like it is about to melt.

Cold reception, complete cold reception, Shen Fei never dreamed that such a situation would happen to him. He can't show the slightest inappropriateness, if he panics first at this moment, then with Chu Xie's temper, the entire General's Mansion will definitely suffer.

"Brother Shen Fei, that old man is too bad, he arranged us in such a place where birds don't, and there is not even hot water, let alone the servants who are waiting, in my opinion, let's go out and live." ”

"How can I go out to live, I'm afraid that His Royal Highness the prince will be in danger. ”

"That broken prince only cares about his own pleasure, ignores us, and still cares about what he does. ”

"Your Highness can't wipe your face, it's better to wait......"

"Wait, what are you waiting for, are you willing to look at other people's eyes, but I don't want to Chu Xie!" The conversation between the two aroused the dissatisfaction in Chu Xie's heart, in his opinion, it was a great disrespect for a mere mortal to dare to treat himself so coldly, and he slammed the table and stood up. The force of this beat was so great that the whole table "banged", shattered into pieces, and scattered all over the ground.

"Humph!" he kicked out the door.

"Brother Shen Fei......" Ruoxue looked at Shen Fei helplessly, her pitiful eyes seemed to express, Brother Shen Fei, what Brother Chu Xie said is actually right, why should we look at other people's eyes so lowly.

Chu Xie went out alone, stood at the door for a long time, and never saw any movement on Shen Fei's side, and said in his heart: This spineless guy, don't care what you say, we are also immortals, and the arrogance of immortals must be maintained, but you can't do spineless things. I never saw Shen Fei make any moves, so I could only leave directly, but I didn't expect Shen Fei's voice to come at this time: "Wait!"

"What to do!" Chu Xie was secretly happy in his heart, but he still looked indignant on the surface.

"Are you rich!" said Shen Fei as he sat in the room.

"Uncle Ben walks the rivers and lakes, and the shop is too late, where to use gold and silver and other vulgar things. ”

"Without money, it's easy to make ends meet, but it's far from enjoyable. Let's go, I'll take you two to have fun!"

"Brother Shen Fei, you are the best. ”

"Hmph, it's not confusing. ”

On the other side, Tuoba Lie followed Uncle Wang Tuoba Jun into the General's Mansion, looked behind him frequently, and saw that Shen Fei and Chu Xie were all gone, and only Chief Manager Yue was left to follow him, so he was a little panicked in his heart, so he asked, "Dare to ask Uncle Huang, what about the two friends of the little nephew?"

"Oh, they, they have someone to entertain, don't worry about the virtuous nephew, come, go to the uncle's study, let's catch up with the old days." ”

"Uncle Wang, those two are the guests of the little nephew, but don't treat them coldly. ”

"Just a doorman, what kind of identity can I speak of, similar to their level, Uncle Wang grabs a lot of them here, if you like it, I will give you a few. ”

"Uncle Wang!" Tuoba Lie was a little angry, because he clearly felt that Uncle Wang had completely misunderstood what he meant.

The latter didn't notice it, and continued to laugh: "Hahaha, good nephew, you can eat, drink and have fun with confidence, those people will entertain you for your uncle, don't worry." ”

Staring into Tuoba Jun's eyes, Tuoba Lie knew that the other party did not take his words to heart, but he couldn't refute the other party's face, so he turned around and whispered to Chief Manager Yue: "Go, go to Shen Fei, no matter how to appease him." ”

Chief Manager Yue hesitated and said, "Your Highness, you can't have no one by your side." ”

"What danger can there be in this general's mansion! Go quickly, do as the king instructs!"

"Alright then, the minister obeys. Manager Yue retreated, the imperial uncle Tuoba Jun squinted at him, did not speak too much, continued to lead Tuoba Lie to the deep hall alley, for his distant nephew, he was very enthusiastic and enthusiastic, but for the people around his nephew, it seems that he deliberately neglected, is it born in the innate superiority of the royal family, or there is another hidden secret, it is really puzzling!

......

The empire explicitly stipulated that all roads between the north and the south, whether built officially or privately, must be taken from Shangqiu, without exception. Because of the existence of this rule, coupled with the special geographical location of Shangqiu, the huge city has become a pair of handcuffs, and the economic lifeline of the empire is firmly in the hands of His Majesty the Yellow Emperor.

Shangqiu City is full of flowers, although it is a heavily guarded area, but it still has no less prosperity than Jinling City. Luxurious restaurants with magnificent decorations and glittering Kabuki-ins can be found everywhere. Because it is a place under the control of the army, the enforcement of the laws of the empire is naturally far greater than that of other regions, so the Kabukiin in Shangqiu City is only for performing arts, not for selling itself, and the casino can only be opened underground, not like the royal casino in Jinling City, which is blatantly open.

Due to the large number of people entering the city every day, there may be a long wait in line for formalities, and many wealthy merchants choose to stay in the city for a night, on the one hand, to replenish the supplies to continue on the road, and on the other hand, to relax and enjoy.

As a result, three industries were developed, one was Kabuki-in, the other was inn restaurants, and the other was underground casinos. Most of the inns and restaurants were run by the local gentry, while the Kabuki-in and underground casinos were all in the hands of the imperial general Tuoba Jun, and others who wanted to make the same business would be exterminated by the military.

It is no secret that Tuoba Jun covers the sky in Shangqiu, and he has not done anything to the end, at least the business of the restaurant was set aside by him and let some powerful gentry do it.

The city is cozy, there are few street vendors, and if you want to buy something, you have to enter the storefronts on both sides of the road, and the things in the storefronts are much more expensive than the ones peddled by the small traders and vendors.

"Shangqiu City is the city with the smallest gap between the rich and the poor I have ever seen, and there are hardly a few ragged people along the way, and it seems that Tuoba Jun has managed this place well. Walking on the road, Shen Fei said without a match, and was very surprised by the wealth of the residents of Shangqiu.

Chu Xie responded: "I have been to Shangqiu City a few times, it is a city directly subordinate to the highest power of the empire, and it is the most reliable guarantee for the treasury to be filled, and it is impossible to live in the city for a long time without a deep background, let alone open inns and shops." As the lord of the city, Tuoba Jun only maintained a tolerant attitude towards the gentry in the city, so it was not that the gap between the rich and the poor was small, but that the poor could not enter at all. ”

"It's strange, I saw a lot of people in tattered clothes queuing up in front of the city gate before, why did they all disappear as soon as they entered the city?" The naïve Nalan Ruoxue asked what Shen Fei wanted to ask.

"Compared with the entrance fee, the residence fee after entering the city is even higher and scary, and the common people who try to try their luck in a different place cannot afford to pay such a high fee.

Shangqiu City promulgated a very strict rule, anyone who could not pay the residency fee when he left the city would be directly demoted to a slave rank and sold himself to pay off his debts. ”

"What's the difference between this and Ming robbery!" Nalan Ruoxue said unevenly.

"Well, I don't know how many famous merchants were penniless overnight because they lingered in the underground casinos in Shangqiu City, and were demoted to the slave level, and had to ask their families for help and send gold and silver to restore their status. ”

"In this way, the Yellow Emperor is the biggest hooligan today. ”

"It cannot be said that without the restraint of punishment, the collection of tolls would be ineffective, and you must know that the country of the people today has the lowest taxes since the founding of the country. If you think about it carefully, we have not paid any fees at all along the way, but only charged some fixed amounts of tolls in Shangqiu, which is not excessive. Shen Fei instead considered it from another aspect, and his ideas were novel.

Chu Xie said disdainfully: "It's basically aiding and abusive, it's really angry, you always speak for those in power." ”

If the travelers no longer pay tolls, then who will do the maintenance of official and commercial roads, and who will maintain law and order along the way, the concept of the state is actually very broad, and what he brings to the people is a common code of conduct. ”

"It's just nonsense! Do the really powerful care about the so-called legal bondage!"

"That's another story. ”

"Okay, okay, Brother Chu Xie, when did you also care about national affairs!Brother Shen Fei, didn't we come out to enjoy, what to do with those who don't have it!" Nalan Ruoxue watched the conversation between the two of them The smell of gunpowder became stronger and stronger, and each played a hundred big boards, and came out to play a round.

Shen Fei didn't think there was anything wrong, he hadn't had a particularly in-depth communication with Chu Xie before, and today it was probably the city lord's behavior that angered him, Chu Xie said a lot more than before, only to find that he knew a lot about the human kingdom and couldn't get used to it.