Your Majesty, please beg for mercy. The prince's rebellion was successful.

Pancheng!

It is only two hundred miles away from Yancheng.

But when I stepped into Pancheng, it was like walking into another world.

The city exudes an ancient atmosphere, and the temperature in the air seems to be much higher than other places.

Looking around, the entire city seemed foggy, full of darkness and depression.

The people in the city seemed to be walking zombies when they walked. There was not much bloodshot eyes on their faces, and there was even very little change in their expressions.

They performed some repetitive behaviors numbly and mechanically. Even when they saw strangers such as Zhou Zheng, they just raised their heads and opened their eyes slightly, and then ignored them.

This situation made Zhou Zheng frown slightly.

"Prince, just get used to it."

Noticing the change in Zhou Zheng's expression, Gu Jiang quickly stepped forward to explain.

The entire Pancheng is more like an ironworks than a city.

It is located deep in the mountains and has no contact with the outside world all year round.

The only channel for communication with the outside world here is to do business.

In the past, Pancheng was quite busy. From time to time, powerful gentry from all over Xiang County would come here to buy iron stone and iron ore. Even the government would come here to purchase goods.

And their appearance will also make the lifeless Pancheng a little more popular.

With the aristocratic family secretly suppressing Xiangjun, the iron ore in Pancheng also began to be sold to the outside world in limited quantities.

Therefore, most of the people you see in Pancheng now are iron-smelting people in Pancheng.

The so-called iron-smelting people are people who make a living by making iron in Pancheng.

Some of them are landless farmers, some are vagrants, and some are said to be prisoners who have been sentenced to death row for committing crimes.

These iron-smelting people live in Pancheng all year round and do work day after day.

Over time, the world also forgot their identities, and even they themselves began to gradually forget their own names.

If Pancheng had not strictly controlled the quantity of iron ore during this period, it would have been almost impossible to see iron smelters in Pancheng.

"I really don't know why these iron-smelting people are willing to stay in Pancheng."

"If it were us, we would have run away long ago."

Lei Tong glanced at these iron-smelting men, and then sighed.

"escape!?"

"Unless you get permission, once you escape, you will be dead."

Gu Jiang shook his head. He obviously knew more information about the Iron Smelter.

"Pan City is surrounded by high walls, and apart from the five city gates, there is no other exit."

"The city wall is full of elite soldiers. If the iron-smelting people want to escape, they are undoubtedly talking in their dreams."

"Moreover, before they became iron-smelting people, they had already signed a contract of sale with the Yin family, and they will stay in Pancheng for the rest of their lives."

"Otherwise, even if you escape to the ends of the earth, you will be captured by the Yin family."

"At that time, life was really worse than death."

With a bitter smile, the lives of most iron-smelting people are quite miserable.

Some iron-smelting workers did not believe in evil and tried their best to escape but were caught and endured inhumane torture.

It is said that some were hung in the hot sun until their bodies lost any moisture and became mummies.

It is said that some had their limbs cut off, their eyes gouged out, their ears and noses cut off, leaving only a body and turned into human pigs, which was extremely miserable.

It is said that some people had their eyes covered and the pulse of their wrists cut open, so that they could hear the endless despair of the blood flowing from their bodies, and their hearts collapsed.

The list goes on!

There are even rumors that the methods and methods used to torture iron-smelting people here are even worse than those in the imperial court.

Some jailers were even brought here to learn how to torture people.

Under such circumstances, who dares to escape? !

It is much better to stay and become a living dead without a mind and soul than to die a miserable death.

"Don't we care about the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty?!"

Shi Sui clenched his fists. Even if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he could hear the tragic life of these iron-smelting men from Gu Jiang's mouth.

"It's useless."

Gong Tan's pretty eyebrows are frivolous.

In this world, not every place is full of light, darkness is the most shrouded place.

The iron-smelting people were originally the lowest level of the Zhou Dynasty. Who would care about their life and death?

The fact that they stayed here to smelt iron was perhaps the greatest value in the eyes of the imperial court.

"How many iron-smelting people are there in Pancheng!?"

After a long time, Zhou Zheng asked slowly.

"Back to the Crown Prince, there are about ten thousand people."

As the governor of Xiang County, before Zhou Zheng came, the iron ore needs of the entire Xiang County government were handled by Gu Jiang, so he knew so much about the iron smelting people in Pancheng.

In addition to Pancheng, the other two iron mines also have a combined population of almost 10,000.

Zhou Zheng was deep in thought without saying too many words.

"stop!"

Suddenly, a sharp shout came.

Then, dozens of elite soldiers wearing uniforms and armor were seen surrounding Zhou Zheng and others.

"Who is coming?!"

"Do you have a greeting card?!"

One of the leading soldiers looked at Zhou Zheng and the others, his face darkened, and he asked loudly.

"Oops!"

"Forgot about this."

Gu Jiang suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead lightly with his palm.

Pancheng has a strict management system. Anyone who wants to enter Pancheng needs to prepare a greeting card in advance.

Otherwise, they will be expelled by Pancheng's patrol team.

When Zhou Zheng heard this explanation, he smiled coldly.

The dignified governor of Xiang County actually held a greeting card in his hand when he came within his jurisdiction.

The arrogance of Pancheng is evident.

"My officer is Gu Jiang, please report him quickly!"

Gu Jiang's face felt vaguely burning at this moment, and then his eyes narrowed into slits, and he turned around and scolded the dozens of patrol soldiers in a deep voice.

After all, Zhou Zheng didn't plan to reveal his identity for the time being, but he, Gu Jiang, didn't have to be secretive.

"Sheriff?!"

"I don't care if you are a county guard or something!"

"There are rules for climbing the city. If there are no visitors, you are not allowed to move forward!"

Hearing the word "Gu Jiang", the leading soldier was obviously hesitant, but still had no intention of letting go.

On the contrary, there was a hint of provocation in his eyes as he spoke.

Obviously, he did not take the head of the county seriously at all.

"Bastard!"

At this time, Gu Jiang's expression turned extremely ugly.

He was the dignified head of a county. He was previously suppressed by the five major families in Xiang County. Even some slightly powerful squires and landlords dared not give him face. It was not easy until Zhou Zheng took care of them all.

He didn't expect that these soldiers in Pancheng would dare to be so reckless with him!

Seeing that Gu Jiang was a little angry, the smiles on the faces of these soldiers became even bigger.

How come they don't know Gu Jiang's name? !

In the past, even if there was no greeting card, they would immediately notify their superiors.

But things are different now.

They were not careless when they put Gu Jiang and others into Pancheng.

But on purpose!

The purpose was to humiliate Gu Jiang in public!