Chapter 263: The Wind and the Waves Are Calm?

Chapter 263: The Wind and the Waves Are Calm?

As a business road, there will naturally be no lack of liveliness, and in addition to the recent great development of navigation, large and small caravans, workers, farmers, hawkers, etc., there is an endless stream of people coming and going to the seaside and Yangzhou City, so these 20 miles of official roads are always full of people, no matter day and night, they are brightly lit, and the daily flow of people is not less than hundreds of thousands of people. It is precisely because there is this direct trade route to the sea, and Yangzhou City can collect millions of taels of silver in taxes every year, so it is also known as the "golden trade route".

On this day, the official road is still so lively, the road walks neatly and brightly dressed, the road is lined with stalls and foot traders, bargaining and selling is incessant, and there are patrolling soldiers on the side of the road from time to time, their eyes look around, their duty is to catch thieves, hooligans, wanted murderers, and maintain order on the "golden trade route".

Since it is autumn and autumn is crisp, people are hurrying to make money before the arrival of the cold winter, so the flow of people on the official road is a little more dense.

In the crowd marching in the direction of Yangzhou City, there is a group of special people. It was a group of caravans dressed with accents and slightly strange appearances and manners, their clothes similar to those of Middle-earth, but with an exotic twist. In front of him were two guards, carried by four palanquins, a white palanquin, and four guards walked on either side, and behind them was a carriage, covered with a layer of red cloth, and there was a stack of things inside, as if it were some kind of goods.

On the face of it, this is a small group of overseas caravanserais. Due to the gradual development of the Great Song Dynasty sea trade, there were more and more merchants from overseas who came to the Great Song Dynasty to do business, especially in coastal places like Yangzhou, so the locals did not have too much curiosity about them, at most they just took a look and secretly guessed what the goods they were transporting.

Among this group of people, the first two were dressed in samurai uniforms, their hair was combed, their feet were on clogs, and there were two katanas, one long and one short, with two katanas stuck in their waists, these two men were short and slender, their eyes flashed with cold light, and they looked around with cold light, and the pedestrians who were about to touch them were stiff and had a stern expression;

The four guards around the palanquin, they were thin and pale, as if they had rarely seen the day, and they seemed to have lost too much blood; they were dressed in white hunting clothes with a clear Haizhou style, wearing a high special black paper hat, holding a long folding fan in one hand, and hiding deep in the wide sleeves, unable to see the shape of their hands and not knowing what they were holding. They walked with calm faces, muttering prayers that others could not hear, only a pair of black eyes reflected the surrounding scene, as if they were in full view, but occasionally there was a frenzied glow in their pupils.

If these guards were normal, then the remaining four palanquins and the carriage were strange.

The four sedan chair men are dressed simply, with bronze skin, strong figures, but their faces are dull, their eyes are dull, they never look forward, they just bury their heads in the sedan chair, and their steps are steady, and the distance between each step is exactly the same as if measured with a ruler. This kind of skill, even if it is placed in the Central Plains martial arts, it is a third-rate good hand, but now it has fallen to the point of carrying a sedan chair for people, which is really puzzling. If it weren't for the faint breathing of their voices, it would have been no different from a puppet. And there was not a single sound in the sedan chair they carried, and I don't know if there was anyone.

As for the carriage, it was even stranger. There was no driver to drive the horse, but he was still able to obediently pull the cart and follow the man in front of him. This horse is thin and weak, but his eyes are very smart, and there is a sense of looking down, which is not much different from a person, and he snorts from time to time, and looks forward to it, which is quite majestic.

The horse has a layer of blue-blue fur, and the dense fur naturally clings to each other, forming layers of scale-like leather armor that spreads all over the body, including the head; a pair of small, round ears stand on both sides of the head, and there are two narrow slits under each ear, one shrinking and one shrinking, as if breathing; the four hooves are wider than ordinary horses, with a wavy cuticle around them, and I don't know what the effect is.

It is clear that this horse is a rare beast.

Although there were not many people in this small caravan, except for the four coachmen, everyone's momentum was extraordinary, and it was not an ordinary caravan at first glance, so most people walked around them except for the caravan of the same large families. And this overseas business pair is not absolutely arrogant, and when it encounters a team that is also not an ordinary family, it will politely give in.

"Hmph, a group of profit-seeking merchants, and it's also an overseas barbarian, what's so spirited!" said a scholar who was pushed back a few steps back by the samurai because he was too close, and almost fell, looking at the caravan in the distance.

"Brother Han Nian's words are wrong. As early as 20 years ago, Jinsheng promulgated the "Decree on the Simultaneous Promotion of Scholars, Farmers, Industrialists, and Merchants", stipulating that all scholars, farmers, hired workers, and merchants enjoyed the same status, which made commerce flourish and greatly increased tax revenue. Therefore, although businessmen pursue profits, they also contribute to the country and should not be underestimated. Especially those rich maritime businessmen who are rich and powerful, and in order to cope with sea risks, they often hire strange people, which are not something that can be offended by lonely poor students like you and me. Another more sedate young scholar beside him, who was holding him to prevent him from falling, let go of his hand and said to him.

"Brother Kant, I also know this truth, but I just don't get convinced. A group of small overseas businessmen are still so arrogant in the middle of me, do you regard me as if the prestige of the country is nothing?"

"Brother Han Nian organized the compilation fifteen years ago, and you must not have read the "Universal Atlas" published in the world ten years ago. No wonder they don't recognize where those people come from. The scholar named Kant said helplessly to the complaining book.

"Hehe, Brother Kant, how do you see that? I usually only love poetry and songs, and I am not interested in those anecdotes. The scholar Han Nian said embarrassedly, and then said with interest: "What is the origin of those people? Brother Kant will solve my doubts." ”

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