Chapter 31 Northland

Youzhou is one of the important military towns in the Tang Dynasty.

In the past, Emperor Taizong launched a large army to attack Goryeo, which used Youzhou as the base camp in the rear. During the rebellion of Goryeo, Emperor Gaozong once advanced troops to occupy Silla and Baekje. Later, under the military pressure of the northwest, he withdrew his troops to Goryeo, but the policy of using Youzhou as the fundamental control of the Huhu in the northeast has not changed.

There are various ethnic groups living here such as Xi, Khitan, and Goryeo, but at this time the Huhuanization was not serious, and Han culture still occupied a dominant position. The Tang army had heavy troops deployed in Youzhou area, and the Youzhou Governor Li Shouli was also a member of the Li Tang royal family.

That day, Xue Chongxun came down from the official boat heading south to Guangjiqu in the middle of the night, and brought five or six people with him to Youzhou by land.

They rode their horses and were definitely faster than sailing. When they entered the boundary of Youzhou, Yu Liben and his party probably had not arrived yet and were still on the canal.

Xue Chongxun and his group pretended to be vendors who were selling furs. The identity of Lu Yin was not a problem, so they had already asked someone to prepare it.

The North China Plain at this time was very different from later generations. Horses can be seen everywhere, and the situation of Hu horses drinking water makes people feel like they are boundary.

Xue Chongxun was watching the scenery along the way, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The capital of the Central Plains Empire hundreds of years later was here. How could he see Hu people everywhere like now?

The Anshi Rebellion occurred in this area, and it was an outbreak when Huhua in Northeast China was uncontrollable.

The Hu Hua in Youzhou was indeed not such a simple process. The ice was frozen for three feet in a day. The root of disaster was planted when the melee at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Since then, the Tang court has enemies all over the world, and it is not easy to solve the problem here.

If it weren't for the court struggle, Xue Chongxun really wanted to spend more time to inspect this time...

But if the internal strife fails, his life will be gone, and the Anshi Rebellion will be filled with clouds, and Xue Chongxun is too lazy to care about it.

They followed the grain transport route for a few days, and Youzhou was getting closer and closer.

One morning, they had only been walking for more than half an hour. When they looked up, they saw a majestic city standing in front of the mountains and rivers. The sun rose in the east and looked from the west. The momentum of the ancient city became even more vigorous and vigorous.

Look, Youzhou City!Xue Chongxun pointed ahead with some excitement and recalled the follower and said.

After rushing for so many days, the goal was right in front of him. Fang Yuzhong and others were very excited. They were in this vast environment, and several people couldn't help but shouted a few times.

Youzhou is a commercial center and a place where goods are distributed. There are also more people on the roads near Youzhou, and ox carts and donkey carts are endless.Xue Chongxun and others happened to mix in and march forward silently.

At this moment, suddenly, a group of cavalry rushed out of the city, with armored soldiers fiercely, and the pedestrians hurriedly gave way to the side of the road from afar.

Xue Chongxun doesn't want to reveal his identity for the time being, and he also asks the followers to move the horses and get them to the side of the road with everyone.

At this time, an old man next to him said: Looking at this scene, it seems that the envoy is going out to hunt.

Another pedestrian couldn't help but curse: It's the autumn harvest season, and he really knows how to pick hunting.

Xue Chongxun and his followers looked at each other. Even a servant like Fang Yuzhong who had little knowledge, probably knew that the government under the Agricultural Empire should pay attention to the first thing to do is to persuade farmers. Li Shouli was better. He took the lead in hunting during the busy farming season and did everything he could.

At this time, a fast horse chased out from the city gate. The man shouted loudly: Where do you want to go?

Xue Chongxun looked away when he heard the sound and saw that the man on the horse was a bearded man wearing a gray dress, and he didn't know what his identity was.

But at this time the arrogant cavalry actually slowed down, which shows that the bearded man was also a relatively important person.

When the bearded man caught up with the horse team, he happened to be not far from Xue Chongxun's side.

A middle-aged man wearing purple silk in the middle of the armored and horse team said: I have nothing to do and want to go out to hunt and exercise my muscles.I feel relieved that the official affairs are under the supervision of the ministers and others.

The bearded man was furious and pointed at the middle-aged man in purple robe and scolded: Is this time for hunting?If we do this, we will do the best to achieve the best and the lowest. How should we manage the land of Youzhou?

The man in purple robe looked ugly and had no reason, so he couldn't answer. He was almost angry and said to his left and right angrily: No matter what he is, let's go.

After hearing this, the bearded man rode his horse to the front of the horse team, jumped off the horse, and lay across the middle of the road without saying a word.

It was obvious that the bearded man was a literati with status. Seeing him lying there with his back and forks, he was really embarrassed.

He lay there and looked at the sky and said loudly: Now that the crops are all over the ground, the envoy tramples on the seedlings to harm the people, it is better to let the horse trample me to death first, and then let the envoy do what he does.

When the people heard this, they were quite moved and cheered loudly to help the momentum.Seeing this, the man in purple robe turned red and said with shame: I won’t go today, let’s go back.

After a while, the horse team turned around and left, and the pedestrians then pulled the truck on the road and continued to move forward.Xue Chongxun couldn't help but ask the pedestrian who was watching the fun together: Who was the bearded man just now?

The man replied: Pan Haoli, you don’t know this?Oh, yes, I heard from your accent, I came from another place.

Xue Chongxun clasped his fists and said: Let's come here to get some strange goods, but I don't know the famous scholars in Youzhou, and I laughed at you.

The pedestrian smiled and said: Pan Alang is irritable, just don’t hit him.

Thank you for your reminder.Xue Chongxun said goodbye and drove his entourage to the city gate.The sergeant guarding the gate checked his luggage and questioned him a few times before they could enter the city gate.

The situation in the city will be very different from that in Chang'an and Luoyang. There are few luxurious large-scale courtyards, and most of the surrounding low hard hip-mounted houses are not very good. The Han people wearing linen clothes are not bad, and some Hu people with furs are dirty and not very beautiful.

However, after Xue Chongxun and others walked along the street for a while, he realized that everything could not be looked at the surface. There are all kinds of white rice shops, butchers, oil shops, five-ripe shops, fruit shops, charcoal shops, pig iron shops, grinding shops, and silk shops here. People's lives are in order and there are no chaotic scenes. It can be seen that Youzhou is well managed.

Li Envoy most of the men under him have a few capable people.Xue Chongxun couldn't help but say.

Fang Yuzhong and Sanniang were both dull and didn't answer. Xue Chongxun suddenly felt that he was talking to himself, feeling a little bored, so he stopped talking nonsense.

After walking for a while, I asked Sanniang again: Where is the best place for us to live?You have been through the world before, and you must know where to live in other places.

Sanniang thought for a while and said: Let’s live in the inn at Shikou. There are people from all over the world in the market, and it won’t attract attention if we live in such a place.

Xue Chongxun then adopted Sanniang's suggestion, asked someone for directions at the city entrance, and took someone over.

Towns like Youzhou that are of military fortress are arranged similarly to Chang'an, and they all adopt city planning.

Residents live in the yard and are divided into management; the transactions and circulation places are two cities.

Sure enough, as soon as we arrived at the market, the population became even more dense, with various shops arranged in a row, as well as many street stalls, playful and snacks, which were extremely lively.

They walked to a wooden building and looked up. It said Xishi Inn.

At this time, a boy with a towel on his shoulder greeted enthusiastically at the door: You are better off living here than to make a fortune in Youzhou and let us enjoy our wealth.

Xue Chongxun smiled and said: "Woman is a good-mouthed person, that's it."

The group handed over the carriage and horses and walked into the inn. Sanniang whispered from the side: This kind of place is mixed with fish and dragons. Don’t show off your wealth. I’ll negotiate the price later.

After hearing this, Xue Chongxun nodded without saying much.

The waiter took them to the counter and said: How many rooms are there upstairs? What are the best ones? How many rooms do you want?

Sanniang immediately took it and said: No need for the best one, the one upstairs is clean, clean and cheap.If you want a big shop, we can go out and seek wealth, so we can make do with it.

Although Sanniang was wearing a hat, her figure was obviously a woman. The waiter hurriedly advised: Why not two rooms? It would be better if the wife and a few Alangs squeezed together.

OK, two rooms.I just asked other colleagues outside the door for the price of Youzhou, don’t bully customers.Sanniang said lightly.

Xue Chongxun remained silent aside, and he thought to himself: If I follow my method, I might as well just wrap it up.

After bargaining, I went upstairs and chose another one. Sanniang chose two big rooms to beside her and finally settled down.

After Xue Chongxun closed the door, he couldn't help but sigh: Eunuch Yu is still comfortable. After handing over the official documents, the government has arranged everything.Look at the place we live... Sanniang, it’s really not a comfortable life to live in the world, right?