After delivering the decree, what Fang Jie had to face was endless dinners. The generals in the left vanguard and the officials of Pingshang Dao took turns to go to battle. Today they will be in Zuixian Tower and tomorrow they will be in Yonghe Tower. Yue Fangjie almost ate it once.
The customs in the southwest are similar to those in the south of the Yangtze River, but the flavors of the dishes are quite different. Jianghuai cuisine pays attention to a lightness, and pursues a state where the dishes are like scenery. Southwestern cuisine is very flavorful. In terms of taste, it tends to be sweet and savory. It has the meaning of Sichuan cuisine from a previous life, so Fang Jie didn't feel awkward at all, but liked it very much. In the previous life, any small roadside restaurant could stir-fry a few Sichuan dishes, regardless of whether it was authentic or not, anyway, the name could not be wrong after all.
Having been socializing for half a month, Fang Xie was afraid that his fat would pop out, so he added half an hour to his practice time every morning.
Later, unable to bear the offensive of Jiuchiroulin, Fang Jie rejected all today's invitations on the grounds of physical discomfort, and planned to visit Yongzhou City with Shen Qingshan and Mu Xiaoyao. Speaking of which, it has been more than ten days since I arrived in Yongzhou, and I really haven't had a good look at this big city in the southwest.
Compared with Chang'an's orderly rules, the buildings in Yongzhou City are a bit scattered. In Chang'an City, the workshops are built as neatly as if a knife cuts tofu, but here everything seems to be very random. Relatively speaking, Fang Jie prefers this kind of messy city.
Chang'an City is so big, but if you walk on the street without looking at the shop signs on both sides of the road, you will feel as if you are always walking on the same street. There are mountains and rivers in Yongzhou City, and the officials seem to still retain the legacy of the Shang Dynasty. They don't like to live in trouble, so they all live in the house at the foot of Yihe Mountain in Yongzhou City. In Chang'an City, officials were proud to live near the Taiji Palace, but in the original Shang Dynasty, officials were proud to live far away from the imperial palace.
It seems that the latter is a bit indifferent to fame and wealth, but it is actually more luxurious and corrupt. Yihe Mountain is not big, so it should be regarded as a branch of Cangman Mountain according to reason. Yihe Mountain is actually two hills, which are connected by a low slope that is not considered a mountain ridge. The distance between these two low mountains is more than ten miles, and one is surrounded by the imperial city in the east of Yongzhou City. The other is in the south of the city and was occupied by officials.
Officials in the Shang Dynasty were so corrupt that no one cared about government affairs. A group of officials got together to recite poems and compose Fu for fun. That is, when going to court, it was often the emperor of Shang who sat on the dragon chair and made a match, and the officials below would be rewarded heavily for whoever made a neat couplet first.
In a dynasty that has lasted for hundreds of years, the importance of culture over military affairs has reached a shocking level. Back when Nan Chen still existed, the Shang people still had blood in their bones. The several attacks of Chen State's army were defeated by the Shang army. At the most glorious time, the Shang army counterattacked and invaded Chen State's territory for 1,700 miles, which was only 200 miles away from Laoyang City, the western capital of Chen State.
It was also after that war that the civil servants felt that they could not revive the status of the military generals so that they could overwhelm them in the court, so they jointly concocted criminal evidence and framed more than a dozen generals for trying to join forces to rebel. The emperor of Shang was furious Kill the generals who came back with military exploits. The civil servants applauded each other and praised the emperor as an emperor through the ages. Since then, the literary style of the Shang Dynasty has become better, and the low status of generals has plummeted.
This is why, when the Sui army attacked the Shang country, it was so powerful. So much so that when the left avant-garde general Luo Yao arrived outside the city of Yongzhou with 20,000 exhausted troops, the hundreds of thousands of merchant troops guarding Yongzhou opened the door and surrendered without even fighting.
There were more than 100,000 defenders, and only 20,000 soldiers were on the attacking side, and the victorious side was actually the latter... This has the most bloody relationship with the fact that the merchant army has no soldiers. The royal family of the Shang Dynasty did not trust military generals and only trusted civil servants, so the people in charge of military power turned out to be a group of university scholars who were the best at reciting poems and prose.
It is not terrible for literati to lead troops, what is terrible is for literati who can only write poetry to lead troops.
Because of this kind of corruption, the status of literati is high, so they will enjoy the official residences at the foot of another mountain in Yihe Mountain the most. After Luo Yao guarded the southwest, he employed some old officials from the Shang Kingdom, and none of their original possessions were confiscated. Later, some of the newly appointed civil servants tentatively moved to those vacant houses in Yihe Mountain, and Luo Yao didn't ask, and within a few years, the official houses were full of people again.
People in the left avant-garde have always looked down on civil servants and just sneered at this kind of behavior.
The three of Fang Jie walked along the street and looked all the way, and the memories of the days when they took refuge in Nanyan couldn't help popping up in their minds. The local conditions and customs of Nanyan are almost the same as those in Yongzhou area, so it is inevitable that there is a sense of familiarity in my heart.
"People here seem to have a lazy temperament."
Mu Xiaoyao pointed to the people fishing by the small river, and then pointed to the people who gathered under the big tree to play chess.
Fang Jie nodded: "Shang Mie has only been around for more than 20 years, and people's living habits have not changed much. Luo Yao deliberately ignores those civil servants, creating an illusion that he respects literati. In fact, this kind of captive The method is the easiest way to wear down people's fighting spirit. At the beginning, the Shang Dynasty fell from a powerful country in this way. Luo Yao just maintained this trend and let the literati only care about relaxation and enjoyment. Therefore, in the past twenty years, he was the first to admit that he was a Sui person. Instead, it is those literati who have been promoting their integrity."
"actually… "
Fang Jie said as he walked: "The most threatening to the country in all dynasties is not the warriors, but the literati. Because the literati are provocative and influential."
"In a village, there are three hundred people. There is a martial artist and an old gentleman in the village. People will respect that old gentleman more. A martial artist needs to kill more than three people to make the three hundred people fear him and listen to him. And not willingly. And the old gentleman only needs one word, and the villagers can be convinced and obeyed."
Shen Qingfan said: "You mean, Luo Yao's two hands are very beautiful? Don't kill literati so that they can be pampered. These influential literati live well, so they will also promote a beautiful Live, and the common people will feel happy. Then Luo Yao will create troubles and kill a group of people from time to time, so that people will keep their fear of him... a good way."
"It's really a good method."
Fang Jie said calmly as he walked: "Because this method is so beautiful, I don't believe that Luo Yao is loyal no matter what. This is no longer a general's mind, but... an emperor's mind."
…
…
When they were about to reach the foot of Yihe Mountain in the south of the city, the three of Fang Jie ate something by the side of the road. After they were full, they began to go shopping more leisurely, and walked into the shops on the side of the road from time to time. After half an hour, Mu Xiaoyao and Shen Qingshan had a lot of things in their hands. Rouge gouache, jewelry jade.
Naturally, Luo Yao couldn't hide the fact of their shopping. It probably won't be long before Luo Yao knows everything about what they bought and ate.
Jubaozhai is a shop specializing in antiques and treasures, which is said to have a history of two hundred years. The city of Yongzhou was destroyed and the country changed hands, but the shop did not collapse. After the southwest stabilized, the business of Jubaozhai was getting better and better. Things that were originally difficult to circulate have become better because of the integration of the north and the south.
Fang Jie and the three of them walked into Jubaozhai, and wandered around the room casually.
The boss of Jubaozhai is a man in his fifties, with a goatee, and his eyes should not be very good. He always squints when looking at people. When Fang Jie and the others entered, the clever little guy immediately shouted that the honored guest has arrived. Immediately, the boss came out from behind the counter, greeted politely, and ordered the boy to serve tea.
Tea is not something that everyone can serve casually. In the field of antiques, you need to have a good eye for things, and even more so for people. Although the boss's eyes are not very good, but he has never looked at things before seeing people.
"Master, what do you want to see?"
He brought the tea himself, and led Fang Xie and the others to the place next to them to receive guests.
The sandalwood table and chairs, and the tripod bronze incense burner on the table are also antiques worth a lot of silver. Tea is also good tea, but it is not the scented tea that northerners are used to drinking. People in the north drink tea with a strong taste, while people in the south of the Yangtze River like to taste the light tea fragrance.
Fang Jie picked up the teacup and smelled it, praised the good tea and said with a smile: "I don't have anything specific to buy, so I just wandered around here, and if there is something that catches my eye, I will take it."
"Then do you have any special preferences?"
The boss asked with a smile on his face.
"I'm from the north, but because I'm going to Yongzhou, there's something I haven't had time to find a workshop in the north to make."
"doing things?"
The shopkeeper shook his head: "I'm really sorry, our products are genuine."
Fang Jie smiled and waved his hand: "No, I'm not asking you to cheat, but to make a rare item, something that no one has ever made before. I received a few high-quality crystals a while ago, can you find a craftsman with good craftsmanship?" , polish these few pieces of crystals, I can write down the craftsmanship, and you just do it, and the price is also negotiable."
"What are you going to do?"
the boss asked curiously.
Fang Jie made a gesture: "Glasses, you should know clairvoyance. The generals in the army usually buy them from Eastern Chu merchants. The effect of what I want to do is similar to that of clairvoyance, but Be more precise."
Fang Jie explained it in detail, the boss frowned and pondered for a while and said, "It's not hard to find a craftsman, but what you asked for is indeed a little more detailed. Make sure it's transparent as if nothing is blocking your eyes. It will be done in a while."
"Not urgent."
Fang Jie smiled: "I want to stay in Yongzhou for at least a month. If I can do it, I will send someone to bring the crystal back."
"Crystals are rare."
The boss had to re-examine Fang Jie a few times: "As far as I know, only the Fire Nation in the south of the Mongolian Yuan is produced. It is said that Cangman Mountain also has it, but it is extremely rare. These things were basically found in our Sui Dynasty..."
He got up and saluted respectfully: "What's your name, sir?"
Fang Jie was taken aback, thinking that this person was thoughtful.
"I'm traveling from Chang'an."
Hearing these words, the boss's expression changed, and he was about to salute but was stopped by Fang Jie: "Don't salute, I don't want to be too troublesome... Besides, I have other things to tell you."
While saying this, Fang Jie dipped his finger in the tea and wrote the word Wu on the table.
No one in Yongzhou City knew, and no one could have imagined that Jubaozhai was bought by Hutong Tianxia many years ago, and now the people in Jubaozhai are Wu Yidao's subordinates. The local people thought that the proprietor of Jubaozhai was too old and had gone back to the old house in the country to rest and leave the business to the shopkeeper. In fact, as early as five or six years ago, the proprietor of Jubaozhai was changed to Sanjinhou.
Seeing this Boss Wu Zi's expression changed slightly: "What are your orders?"
"It's nothing."
Fang Jie smiled: "Do the things that I told you to do as soon as possible. The reason why I am looking for you is because I know that there is no business that can't be done without Hutong Tianxia. What's more, my every move in Yongzhou is being monitored by others." Keep an eye on, my people can't enter and leave Yongzhou at will, there are some news that you need to take out."
"But according to your lord's order, the proprietor sent someone to explain it a long time ago. When your lord arrives in Yongzhou, Jubaozhai will obey his orders."