During the years of Li Tang and Wu Anniversary, Yangzhou was the intersection of the Maritime Silk Road and the Land Silk Road, and the transportation was extremely developed.

After Cui Geng and others got on the boat, they went down the river from the Mulan River Wharf to the sea, first along the coast to the north, and then from the East China Sea into the Yangtze River, and then went west to the outside of Yangzhou.

Overall, the journey was relatively comfortable without the fatigue of the pommel horse.

There was nothing to do on the boat, and everyone chatted about Yangzhou City.

Chen Sanhe swayed lightly in the dust, spitting stars flying wildly, and said: "Yangzhou City is terrible, have you heard of Yang Yiyi Er?" That is to say, in addition to the east and west of Beijing (Chang'an and Luoyang), the most prosperous places are two, the first is Yangzhou, the second is Yizhou. That place, it's like grabbing a handful of dirt, and there's gold dust in it......"

"Don't brag about us, okay?" Feng Changqing rolled his eyes, sprayed Chen Sanhe with a foaming face, and said, "Old god stick, do you think we haven't read or what?" Yangzhou is rich, it is true that there are many merchants and workshops in this city, not that there is gold in the soil, and there is no gold mine in that place. ”

Chen Sanhe smashed his mouth and said, "Hey! That's what I mean! Although there is no gold, there is a coinage furnace in Yangzhou. Of the ninety-nine coinage furnaces in our Great Zhou, Yangzhou accounts for ten, which is more gold than a gold mine! In addition, there are porcelain workshops, silk workshops, lacquerware workshops, salt merchants, tea merchants, medicine merchants, jewelers...... It is said that it is so rich that it is wronged, and it has to be said that it is rich and gold. ”

After Chen Sanhe finished posing, Song Genhai on the side was not willing to be lonely, and began to show off the news that he had just inquired about, and said: "I also heard people say that Yangzhou is not as good as East and West Erjing, and it is all the old yellow calendar." Nowadays, when it comes to wealth and prosperity, Yangzhou is the first in the world. Not to mention being an official, even a random official in the yamen has more income than a county magistrate in Lingnan Province! ”

Yao Du also joined in the fun: "Not only is it rich, but there are also beautiful women there." This Yangzhou Qing~ Building is very famous...... Hey, hey, hey. ”

Anyway, I didn't bring my family, and several big men tacitly laughed obscenely.

It is Cui Geng himself, who is also full of fascination for Yangzhou. Even the "absurd dream" is full of various legends of Yangzhou.

What Xu Ning's "The world is divided into three points and the night is two, and the two points of the scoundrel are Yangzhou", what Du Mu's "Yangzhou dream of ten years, winning the name of Qing~Lou Bo Xing"; What Yin Yun's "waist wrapped around 100,000 guan, riding a crane down Yangzhou"......

It's really a casual thought, and it's very exciting.

However, he still did not forget to tell his subordinates, saying: "Everyone is vigilant, and the headquarters of Lijingmen to supervise Jiangnan is also located in Yangzhou." If you are greedy for money and lust, and you are caught by your pigtails, this official will not be able to save you. ”

"I'll see."

"Don't worry, we will not be ashamed!"

"We've been with adults for so long, we can't tell the difference?"

A group of subordinates responded one after another.

At this time, Song Genhai came to Cui Geng's side and said with a hippie smile: "My lord, this is about to arrive in Yangzhou, aren't we ...... Take a walk down for a while? ”

"Take a walk? What do you mean? ”

"That is to say, if we get off the boat directly outside Yangzhou City, we will definitely be stared at by Lijingmen, how uncomfortable it is. It's better to play before you officially take up your duties. ”

I heard it, it turned out that I wanted to take advantage of the wave before taking office~

Cui Geng's face sank slightly, and he reprimanded: "Play with an egg? This official came to Yangzhou in such a hurry to take office, in order to disrupt the deployment of Lijingmen. Isn't this play equivalent to working in vain? ”

However, in terms of stealing and playing slippery and grinding foreign workers, Song Genhai is still a little talented and quick-witted.

He rolled his eyes and said shyly: "It's not in vain, this is called a private visit to Weifu." We are not familiar with each other, and after you officially take office, I am afraid that what you see and hear will be arranged by someone with a heart. Only by taking advantage of the moment, no one knows that you have entered Yangzhou City, can you see something real, and this opportunity must not be missed. ”

"That's right...... It makes some sense. Cui Geng was persuaded by Song Genhai.

Next, the corresponding arrangements were made.

Because Feng Changqing and Zhou Xing, one is as tall as an iron tower, and the other is as tall as a ghost, and their appearance is too dazzling, they are afraid that they will be noticed by Lijingmen as soon as they enter the city, so they let them stay on the ship and prepare to meet with the officials who received Cui Geng's appointment.

Cui Geng himself, Song Genhai, Yao Du and Chen Sanhe disembarked in advance and rushed to Yangzhou by land.

But when the three of them got on the fast horses and were less than ten miles away from the dock, they were dumbfounded.

Looking at the front of him, Song Genhai couldn't help but exclaim: "We can't be on the wrong path, right?" This...... This is in Yangzhou? ”

Chen Sanhe also frowned, and said in disbelief: "It shouldn't be...... Isn't Yangzhou quite rich? Why is it that even our Qingyuan is not as good as here? ”

It turned out that everywhere the three of them could see, the rice fields were dry, the crops were yellow, and the people were skinny and skinny.

There is even a team called Hanako, a group of three or five people, a group of more than a dozen, helping the old and the young, walking past them. How does this Nima look like a famine-stricken area!

The most prosperous state capital in the world is this virtue?

Then the other state capitals of the Great Zhou Dynasty must not become a hell?

But even if Yangzhou suffers a natural disaster, it can't be so miserable! Because the transportation here is extremely developed, there is no food, can't you just buy it?

Not to mention the proximity, even if the grain is transported from Quanzhou, it will be transported in less than two months.

Cui Geng was puzzled, so Chen Sanhe found a beggar and inquired only to find out that there were not only natural disasters but also man-made disasters here.

This year, the entire Huainan Province has been hit by drought, especially in the vicinity of Yangzhou.

That's right, the ancient water conservancy project was really not good, and there was a rare drought in Huainan Road, which is crisscrossed by rivers!

Originally, Yangzhou was rich, even if the imperial court did not provide relief, it could be carried by the people's own strength.

However, what is good about dying is that a month ago, Wu Zetian made a holy decree on a whim: the world is forbidden to slaughter.

What does that mean? In other words, I have believed in the Buddha and understood that it is not good to kill. Therefore, from today onwards, the people of the world are not allowed to slaughter livestock and hunt fish and shrimp.

Suddenly, all the butchers in Da Zhou were unemployed.

The rest of the world is fine, but it's a big deal that the butcher changes his career, and the people eat a few fewer meals of meat.

But the vicinity of Yangzhou is different, there are many rivers and lakes here, and the people's eating habits are half of the grain, half of the fish and shrimp.

Now that the emperor's decree has come, everyone can only eat food.

But the problem is that there is a big drought this year, and food is already expensive, and there is a sudden half-way shortage, so what's the deal?

For a while, the price of grain near Yangzhou was turning upward.

……

Cui Geng was tired and crooked for a while after listening to it, damn, it's easy to memorize! Why is Lao Tzu so decrepit? Why did I catch up with such a thing when my new official took office?

And, judging by the current situation, there is no solution at all!

Yangzhou has both money and developed transportation, and the reason why grain prices are so outrageous is because the grain gap is too large in a short period of time.

This is far from being something that can be solved by shaking or being clever on your own.

It seems that the only solution is to open the ban and allow the people to eat fish and shrimp. But, is this possible?

Write to Wu Zetian and let her take back her fate?

A generation of empresses, Wu Zetian is of course impossible to slap herself in the face, the holy decree that her old man replied, Cui Geng can help her think about it: the world is forbidden to slaughter, my Buddha is happy, naturally there is a rain to fall, why bother to go to the end?

Or did he disregard his personal safety, openly disobey His Majesty's will, and forcibly issued an official document to allow the people to eat fish and shrimp?

Let's not talk about whether he Cui Erlang has the courage to do so, I'm afraid that as soon as the official document is written, the people from Lijingmen will come to lock him.

What can I do?

Cui Geng was depressed in his heart, and next, he was in no mood to check any more Yangzhou customs.

traveled all the way with Song Genhai, Chen Sanhe and others, and arrived outside Yangzhou early the next morning.

When he arrived, he was in a better mood.

Although it has not yet arrived in the city, there are many workshops here, and it is not much more prosperous than the general Tongdu Dayi. The people are very wealthy, and they can endure the current high food prices, and their faces are ruddy and not discouraged.

Go further, a moat lies in front of you, up to thirty or forty zhang wide, the clear water is watery, the willows are still clinging, the water lilies are dripping green, the water and grass are green, it is very gratifying.

Cui Geng remembered that there was a poem in the absurd dream - "The weeping poplars continue to pick up the remnants, and the wild goose teeth Hongqiao is like a picture." It is also a pot of gold, so it should be called Slender West Lake. ”

Although this moat has not yet been rectified, it already has the three-point style of "Slender West Lake" in later generations.

At this time, the gates of the city had just been opened, and the people were rushing into the city.

All the people were tested by the guards, on the one hand, for contraband, and on the other hand, to monitor for suspicious persons.

If the guard is suspicious, he can ask the pedestrian to show a "notarization" – something like an ID card, a passport, or something like that.

For example, Cui Geng, if he was really checked by the soldiers, he had to take out his gold-inlaid jade-inlaid body. In this case, his plan for a private interview will be considered a complete failure.

If it is Song Genhai and Yao Du, they have to take out the "passing place" that has been prepared for a long time - in the Ming and Qing dynasties, this thing is also called Lu Yin.

Cui Geng and the others got off the horse, and there was a firewood cart in front of them.

The person driving the car looked less than twenty years old, with a white face, tender skin, and bright eyes, except for a little feminine, he was a standard beautiful man.

Cui Geng couldn't help but take a few more looks, very strange how could such a character be a woodcutter. Let's say that he is dressed in disguise, and if you look closely, you can find that there are really a lot of calluses in the palms of this person's hands.

Could it be that people have good genes, and wind and sun have no effect on the skin?

The man also noticed that Cui Geng was looking at him, clenched his fists slightly, and said, "This little brother, but you have something to do with me?" ”

"Uh...... It's okay, it's okay! Cui Geng also felt that it was a little rude for him to stare at others like this, so he replied casually: "I just think your car of dry firewood is very good, how much do you have to sell it?" ”

The man replied casually: "Ten dollars." ”

"What?" Cui Geng couldn't help but exclaim, this price is too outrageous.

The young man quickly corrected: "It's wrong, it's ten cents...... Ah, no, it's a hundred dollars! ”

"A hundred dollars, that's about the same...... Eh, it's here! ”

By this time they had reached the gate of the city, and the soldiers guarding the gate began to examine the young man.

"Is there anything forbidden in this cart?" One of the guards yawned and asked as usual.

"No, the little ones don't dare."

"Alright, let's go."

Then it was Cui Geng's turn and the others, their luggage was very simple and did not need to be checked, and the guards did not ask for a "public inspection".

However, at this very time-

Take aim at~~

Barking~~

Four or five scrawny cats and dogs burst out of the hole in the city gate and threw themselves at the chariot, barking and scratching like madness.

"There's contraband!" The guard suddenly realized after a little hesitation, and shouted excitedly, and his voice changed.

Don't look at the city gate, there are only four guards checking pedestrians, but in the Wuhou shop in the corner not far away, according to the laws of the imperial court, there are a hundred guards stationed to protect the city gate.

Hearing his shout, forty or fifty guards immediately rushed out of the Wuhou shop, each with a sword and surrounded the young man.

At this moment, their eyes were green, swallowing hard, and they shouted: "Contraband, where is the contraband?" That's great! This time, a bird faded out of its mouth, but it was time to wait. ”

"It should be in this firewood cart."

Suddenly, all the soldiers unloaded the dry firewood on the firewood cart, revealing a few fresh fish inside.

"Haha!" The leading officer let out a burst of laughter, pointed at the young man, and said, "Boy, what's the matter with this fresh fish?" Do you know that Your Majesty has just issued a ban on slaughter in the world, and you are blatantly disobeying the holy will and the laws of the Great Zhou! ”

"Uh......" The young man's face turned gloomy, and he suddenly said urgently: "The slaughter ban means the order to prohibit the slaughter. But I didn't kill, I really didn't kill! By the way, this fish was bitten to death by a dog, and I picked it up! Where is this killing? I didn't violate the laws of the Great Zhou, and I didn't disobey the holy will! ”

Not?

Cui Geng looked at this young man and secretly praised, this kid is a little anxious!