Strange Records of Xijing

On the morning of the third day, a group of five people left the post station. The seemingly ordinary carriage had not been checked, but Huang Shi, who was driving the carriage, took out a token.

Most of the people queuing at the back are merchants. In order to prevent merchants from secretly selling silkworm grains and various farming tools to the countries in the Western Regions, the Zhou Dynasty has always been extremely strict with these merchants.Now an ordinary carriage suddenly appeared and passed the customs without being checked, which inevitably aroused private discussions from the people behind.However, these businessmen have traveled far and wide and have a lot of knowledge. Of course, they know that the person who passed the customs without interrogation must have a lot of background, so they only dare to discuss it in private.

Of course, in addition to those merchants of the dynasty, there are also many Hu merchants in the team. Perhaps it is in line with the old saying that people have to bow their heads under the eaves. These Hu merchants are honest and do not speak, just curiously Looking at the carriage going away.One of the Hu merchants happened to be in the back, and now they didn't dare to say a word, and acted in full accordance with the requirements of the soldiers guarding the gate.

The turmoil is only temporary. Everyone here is desperately seeking wealth. Instead of discussing the mysterious figure on the carriage, it is better to think about how to go to the Western Regions as soon as possible after leaving the customs, and the high price of the goods they brought. Sell ​​it, and then buy some rare and popular items from the Zhou Dynasty at a low price and resell them—you know, the weather in the northwest is changeable, and the temperature varies greatly between day and night, especially the wind, which is really unpredictable.

The queue waiting for customs clearance became quiet again, and the soldiers at the gate with cold faces carefully checked every carriage waiting for customs clearance, opened all kinds of luggage, and checked them one by one. Items that people wear next to their bodies, some even take off their shoes for inspection by soldiers—

Even though the Zhou Dynasty is now a dynasty of all nations, the capital of Xijing is home to 10,000+ Hu people and Dongying people all year round. It seems to be a big country with good scenery, but it is in danger everywhere and prying eyes from all sides.Even if the Zhou Dynasty itself did not reveal its loopholes for others to take advantage of, those greedy countries would try their best to encroach on this great river and mountain little by little.Because of this, the Zhou Dynasty never dared to be careless in frontier defense affairs.The peace and contentment of the people in Xijing and the states are all based on the strict execution of orders by these border guards day after day.

After clearing the customs, the carriages each have their own destinations, and they may take care of each other for a certain distance, but after traveling west or north for more than ten miles, they will separate.

The same goes for the two caravans.

Old Zhangtou is used to traveling in the Great Moon Kingdom, but unfortunately he has had bad luck in the past two years. Every year, six or seven times out of ten on the trade route, he is either robbed or encounters a rare huge sandstorm. apply.But he can't help it, since he went to the northwest with the shopkeeper when he was young, he has been used to the sand and the moon here, so he is not used to finding a beautiful landscape and living a good life with his savings over the years.For this reason, his son disliked him, and even took his mother to leave Lao Zhangtou, a bad old man who was still exchanging his life for money, but Lao Zhangtou still went his own way, thinking about where to go next time he went to business, what should he do? Bring something to sell, and buy something back.

It was also a coincidence that he met a few new faces early this morning, looking at the appearance of those young people, each of them was very handsome, and their identities were unusual, and there were several servants around him, busy back.It's a pity that they are novices at first glance, they have never been to the northwest to do business, and they still expect to give gold to the soldiers at the provincial pass, so that they can pass the pass earlier.

This group of people has extraordinary skills, but they are inexperienced, so Lao Zhang started to make friends.He leaned forward and told these young people not to think of bribing the soldiers, and he took the initiative to tell them how to arrange the goods so that the soldiers would not turn over the goods in the boxes during inspection.

The old servants around these young people were very wary of him, but these young people were different.Seeing that Zhangtou was so enthusiastic, they took the initiative to reveal their identities when they came and went. It turned out that they were all big brothers from Xijing, one was the eldest son of the Minister of the Household Department, the other was the second son of the Minister of Honglu Temple, and the other was a family member. The youngest son of an old general.

The reason why a group of sons who grew up in the wealthy township disguise themselves as a group of young businessmen to run business in the Northwest is actually very simple.The youngest son of the old general has a cousin who suffers from eye disease since he was a child and cannot see the light. When he heard the maid mentioning various scenery in the Western Regions while reading to him, he thought of traveling in the Western Regions.But his parents were worried about his eyes and being bullied since he was born, not to mention traveling to the Western Regions, they even refused to let him go out to study in government schools!

The youngest son of the old general loved this cousin very much. Hearing that his uncle and aunt scolded his cousin for the first time and ordered him not to leave the house, he felt sympathy.Not only that, he also found two good friends who were also yearning for the Western Regions, each brought a few servants, and found an uncle to go to court, and when his aunt went to the temple to offer incense, he even stole his cousin and drove a carriage along the way Westbound.The families of these young masters are all powerful figures. In order to avoid people's eyes and ears, they had no choice but to quickly purchase a batch of goods and disguise themselves as businessmen going to the Western Regions to do business.

Counting the days, the family members of these young masters must have known about this a long time ago, and they sent people to chase after them. That's why they thought of bribing the soldiers so that they would not be chased by the people sent by the family——out of the provincial pass, Even though there is a large piece of territory still belonging to the Zhou Dynasty, because it was only conquered during the reign of Emperor Jing, and there is no fertile land, naturally no one is willing to live there, and the military camps are not stationed at all. The sea, the dragon is born in the sky.

Lao Zhangtou is a scumbag, although he still has some doubts about their identities, it can be seen that these people's demeanor can't hide their elegance and coquettishness. Although their clothes are simple, the jade they wear is absolutely extraordinary—even if it's not The sons of those high-ranking officials are also a height that Lao Zhangtou is far from reaching.

Old Zhangtou thinks that he can understand the Western Regions with his eyes closed, and he is no longer familiar with it. Moreover, his whole family's possessions are added together, and I am afraid that it is enough for the jade pendants of these young masters, so naturally he does not worry about these young masters. He is a villain who will kill people and rob money.He has long heard that Xijing is full of gold, even if a beggar from other places enters, as long as he is willing to work and can make a fortune, it may be difficult to develop, but it is just around the corner to live comfortably.In the past, he only regretted that he was just a small businessman with no contacts in Xijing, so he couldn't keep up with this wealth and honor, but now God finally sent this opportunity to his door!

If he favors these young masters, is he still afraid that Xijing has no connections?As long as these people move their lips, his old man will turn around!

Therefore, Lao Zhangtou and the group of young masters passed Shengyong Pass successively, and then walked westward for more than ten li, the carriages of both sides stopped for a short rest.

The eldest among the young masters jumped out of the carriage and asked with a smile, "Old Zhang, how far is it from Qiemo?"

The old man grinned and replied with a smile: "It's a long way, go west for five miles, and then go north for thirteen miles, you will come across a river, follow that river all the way upstream, and you will be there. It's over."

This son still wanted to talk, but suddenly another one jumped out of the carriage, and the old man took a closer look, it turned out to be the eldest son of the servant of the household department.

The moment he jumped down, he seemed to be a little flustered, but the panic just passed by. Before the old Zhangtou had time to look carefully, the eldest son of the servant of the household department returned to his appearance as Mr. Pian Pianjia.

The first one, that is, the oldest son, took a look at him and asked, "I'll just ask the way, you go up and stay."

But this person shook his head, and said with a playful smile: "Brother, second brother is with younger brother, I'm so bored, come and listen to what old Zhang has to say."

Oh, old Zhangtou remembered, these young masters are very close, they seem to be sworn brothers.

The previous young master was a little helpless: "Okay, then you stay here and don't run around. The Western Regions are so big, we don't know each other well, so if we get lost, we won't find you!"

"Of course."

Old Zhangtou looked at these people with envy and sadness at the same time.He rolled his eyes, counted the time spent with this group of people, and said with a smile: "The road has been explained clearly, and you still have a map and compass in your hands, so you will not get lost. I have to go there as soon as possible." Great Moon Kingdom, so as not to be taken advantage of by the peers. Everyone, if there is a destiny, we will meet again some other day."

"Are you leaving now?" The oldest one frowned, "I thought I could walk a little longer with Old Zhangtou."

"I'm leaving," Lao Zhang shook his head, sighed deliberately and sincerely, "There is always a banquet in the world, Lao Zhang, I want to do business, isn't there such a large group of people to support What! You guys don’t dislike me, I’m already very satisfied. It’s a pity that our destination is different this time, if there is a destiny, I will definitely invite everyone to drink some other day.”

Brother Young Master seemed to be touched, and he cupped his hands and said: "Of course, if old Zhangtou comes to Xijing in the future, he can come to see us, and we will definitely treat him with a feast."

"That's it, thank you very much." Old Zhangtou was also unambiguous, and after bidding farewell to everyone, he climbed into his caravan's carriage and headed southwest all the way.

As soon as Lao Zhangtou and his party left, the younger son next to the carriage suddenly asked, "Master Gao, are we going to find General Zhang like this?"

"Naturally," said the older one, Gao Zekai, who wiped his face, only to feel the sand all over his face, "The crown prince's illness can't be delayed, we must act as soon as possible."

"But the person who manipulated the illusion to attack us has not yet..."

"It's best if you can find it. If you can't find it, there's nothing you can do." Gao Zekai thought about Zhao Shimin's words unceremoniously, and got into the carriage first.

Zhao Shimin had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow into the carriage.

And the ones sitting in the carriage were naturally Pei Jingxing and Su Yan.

Originally, they were under the emperor's secret order, so they didn't need to be interrogated by ordinary soldiers, but they were suddenly caught off guard the day before yesterday, which showed that their actions were no longer known to anyone, and the other party was an enemy and not a friend, and it was definitely not a good one. .

No matter if it was the emperor who made the decree, the national teacher who personally executed the knife, or the five of them, it was impossible for this matter to be leaked.Gao Zekai took the initiative to discuss with Pei Jingxing. After much deliberation, both of them felt that it was very likely that they were discovered by the enemy on the road, and the biggest flaw was that they could come to Shengyongguan from Xijing without a guide.In order to reach the northwest as soon as possible that day, the emperor specially gave them a token, and with this token, they could travel freely in the Zhou Dynasty.Now that I think about it, this has become the biggest failure.

In order to confuse the enemy, Pei Jingxing also secretly found Zhang Feiran's old department in Shengyongguan, selected four soldiers who were similar in stature to the four of them, disguised themselves, and asked Huang Shi to drive out of the pass in a carriage first, so as to transfer enemy's attention.Afterwards, they selected some people from the barracks, pretended to be their servants, and purchased some goods—of course, in order to pretend to be enough, they specially asked the post station to buy some non-local goods—a group of people mixed together In the ordinary caravan, they will go out after being inspected honestly.

It took Pei Jingxing a lot of time to find people, prepare goods, and not be discovered by others. Gao Zekai took advantage of this time to wander around Shengyongguan with Zhao Shimin, in name of looking for them to ambush them on the mountain road. In fact, it was to attract the attention of the enemies so that they would not discover Pei Jingxing's secret actions.

It is also because of this that they stayed in Shengyongguan for one more day, and did not leave until the third day.

In the carriage, Zhao Shimin thought about the triumphant look of the old Zhangtou before parting, and couldn't help laughing: "This old guy thought he had attached himself to a nobleman. When he arrived in the capital, he found that the minister of household affairs had no son. Qing only has one son and two daughters, so I don't know what kind of face she will have."

Gao Zekai shook his head and said, "The son of Minister of the Household Department is fake, and the son of Honglu Temple Minister is also fake, but don't we still have a young son of a general?"

After speaking, Gao Zekai looked at Pei Jingxing again: "General Pei has only one son, the eldest son is also you, and the youngest son is also you, so it's not a lie."

Pei Jingxing didn't bother to talk to them, and still kept his eyes closed, but Su Yan said in a low voice: "Since that old man has helped us, we can't let him suffer."

Zhao Shimin breathed out: "Cut, that's because he was lucky, without him, there would be others."

Pei Jingxing said suddenly: "I put twelve taels of gold in his carriage, it's right as a thank you gift."

"Ten taels of gold!" It's not that Zhao Shimin has never seen the world, he usually received more than 2000 taels of gold, but seeing Pei Jingxing give ten taels of gold to a poor old man, he was so surprised that he forgot his manners.

Even Su Yan was very surprised and couldn't help asking: "Where did you get so much money?"

Pei Jingxing raised the corner of his mouth and spit out four words: "Borrowing flowers to offer Buddha."

Gao Zekai's expression changed, and he hurried to check his luggage—as expected, the luggage was missing ten taels of gold!

"you!"

Pei Jingxing didn't change his face: "Since he helped us get rid of the enemy, he is helping the prince. This is His Majesty's asking for money. Why are you so distressed?"

Gao Zekai's complexion changed a few times, but he finally calmed down, nodded and said, "That's right, fortunately there is Pei Jie here, otherwise we would have lost our courtesy."

The author has something to say: Waiting for a long time