During the day, Yan Liqiang practiced hard in the Deer Garden, and his progress was rapid. At night, especially before going to bed, he would not forget to spend a day in the Heavenly Dao Divine Realm. He continued to follow the team of the Sihai Escort Agency under the Sword God Sect, escorting things on the road.
Compared with the last trip when he followed Sun Bingchen to escort Ye Tiancheng to the capital, this trip of the Sihai Escort Agency seemed to Yan Liqiang like traveling with fellow travelers.
The team had been on the road for more than a month, and encountered several robbers. The robbers chose to attack in the wilderness, which was very interesting. They would put a tree trunk or a few large rocks across the road to block the escort team's way.
Usually at this time, the escort team would stop, and the leader in charge of delivering the goods would ask everyone to be on guard, and would have people shout out the escort number of the Sihai Escort Agency and raise the flag of the Sihai Escort Agency. Then he would have people move away the stones or tree trunks blocking the road, and then they would be on their way.
Most of the time, the robbers and heroes who blocked the road would become frightened when they heard the banner of the Sihai Escort Agency and would not dare to cause trouble to the Sihai Escort Agency at all, because almost everyone who traveled the world knew that behind the Sihai Escort Agency was the Sword God Sect, one of the four major sects in the world. Those strong men who dared to attack the Sihai Escort Agency, even if they could succeed for a while, would eventually face the endless pursuit by the masters sent by the Sword God Sect. Now the grass on their graves is three feet high. Unless they are tired of living, no heroes with strongholds and roots in the mountains would dare to attack the Sihai Escort Agency team.
As for a few lone thieves and bullies whose whereabouts are elusive, they may not be afraid of the Sihai Escort Agency and the Sword God Sect. If there is enough temptation, those people even dare to rob the government's official silver and the treasures offered to the emperor. However, the escort of the Sihai Escort Agency is an open escort, and the things in those large carts are all military supplies. For those masters, they are not rare and have no need for them, so naturally they will not cause trouble for the team.
Occasionally, the heroes who set up obstacles to block the road would rush down from the woods on both sides of the road or the hillside, exchange a few words with the escort leader, and show their faces. When encountering those who dared to show their faces, the escort leader would not take action, but would just ask people to take two jars of wine from the car as a gift and say a few polite words. With the face given by the Sihai Escort Agency, those heroes drank the wine brewed by the Sword God Sect, and each of them looked proud and contentedly made way to let the escort agency's team set off.
So the journey was basically safe and sound.
The only things more troublesome than these outlaws, and more like bandits, were the checkpoints set up on important roads in various states and counties of the Han Empire to collect likin and taxes. Those checkpoints were simply countless. In some places, there was one checkpoint in each county, and in some places there were even several checkpoints in a county. Some checkpoints were even set up privately by local clans and wealthy families, making them very difficult to deal with.
Those who set up the checkpoints are all local tyrants, but there are some minor officials watching at most checkpoints. These people are all small characters, and they are just trash in terms of martial arts. But these trash are carrying the tiger skin of the government and representing the official. These people don't care whether you are from the Sihai Escort Agency or not, they just eat the escort agencies and caravans. At this time, the escort leader does not have much to do except to take out the official letter from the Fengyun Army. The official letter from the Fengyun Army has stated that the things on the convoy are all weapons ordered by the Fengyun Army, and they are exempt from various lijin deductions and taxes. He hopes that the local authorities will be lenient and let them pass.
At some checkpoints, after seeing the official letter, they were impressed by the reputation of the Fengyun Army, or the local officials at the checkpoints also had some concerns about the country and the people. After checking the things on the car and finding that they were indeed weapons and military equipment, they let the people pass without making things difficult. At some checkpoints, even if you took out the official letter from the Fengyun Army and knew that the things on the car were the military equipment of the Fengyun Army, it would still be useless. If you don't give them money, they will never let you pass. At this time, the escort agency can only spend money to avoid disaster and quietly slip some silver through. Only after getting the benefits, the officials and yamen runners who block the road will let you pass.
Along the way, Yan Liqiang was truly eye-opening when seeing the difficulties and obstacles that the escort company had to overcome while transporting the goods, as well as the numerous checkpoints, as well as the various types of underworld figures he met along the way, including green forest heroes, low-level clerks, and traveling merchants. Not only did he see all kinds of underworld figures and learn a lot, but he also finally understood the difficulty of doing business and the lives of the lower-class people in this era.
The escort agency traveled through states and counties for more than a month, and finally completed most of the journey. On the evening of September 7, the 17th year of Yuanping, they finally arrived outside the city of Jinling, one of the "Four Capitals" of the imperial capital...
The escort team does not enter the imperial capital. Jinling City is just one of the stops. After arriving in Jinling, the escort team will bypass the "Four Capitals" and take another route, continuing north along the Ling River. After about a month of walking, they will reach their destination...
…
“Everyone, hurry up and make another effort to reach Jinling City before dark. We have been traveling day and night for more than half a month and are a little tired. When we arrive in Jinling City, I will let everyone rest for a day…” Leader Feng spoke loudly as he rode on his rhinoceros horse, looking at the outline of the city wall of Jinling City in the distance.
Upon hearing that they could rest in Jinling City, everyone in the escort team cheered. Their morale was boosted, and even the coachmen waved their whips louder.
Yan Liqiang was sitting in one of the escort vehicles, leaning against the door of the carriage, with one foot swaying outside the carriage as it moved. He squinted his eyes and looked at the city of Jinling in the distance. After escorting with the escort agency for more than a month, Yan Liqiang's face was inevitably a little dusty and his skin was tanned. After leaving the Sword God Sect for a few days, Yan Liqiang changed out of the Sword God Sect's disciple's clothes and wore the same simple and plain black clothes as other escorts. He also tied a triangular sweat towel around his neck to wipe sweat when it was hot and to cover his mouth and nose when the wind and sand were strong. He was dressed like a low-level gangster.
The prosperity of Jinling City can be seen from the road here. More than 20 miles away from Jinling City, the official road is already bustling with traffic, and there is an endless stream of pedestrians and merchants coming to play. From afar, Jinling City looks like a tiger and a dragon, and has a unique atmosphere.
Looking at Jinling City, Yan Liqiang had a strange feeling in his heart. He didn't arrive there first, but in this divine realm of heaven, he had been wandering around and actually approached the power center of the empire again. Jinling City was the southern gateway of the capital of the Han Empire. It was said that more than a thousand years ago, the capital of the Han Empire was in Jinling. In reality, Liang Yijie should have been traveling in Jinling City with his beauty these days.
Seeing the driver who was a little lazy and listless just now suddenly became as if he had taken calcium after Feng Biaotou gave the order. His waist and legs were no longer sore, and he was more energetic in shouting. Yan Liqiang couldn't help but feel curious. He remembered that he didn't see them so happy when they had a day off last time.
"Brother Niu, why are everyone so happy after hearing the letter from the escort leader..." Yan Liqiang asked the driver next to him.
The driver's surname is Niu, and his name is Niu San. He is in his forties, with a dark and rough face. He is an ordinary coachman under the Sihai Escort Agency, and is responsible for driving the carriage. Yan Liqiang has been riding with this carriage for more than a month, and naturally, he has become familiar with this coachman. Along the way, Yan Liqiang not only has to take care of the animals pulling the carriage, but sometimes when Niu San wants to rest, Yan Liqiang sits in Niu San's seat, pulls the reins, and becomes the coachman. Along the way, Yan Liqiang has not had many opportunities to practice on the road, but his driving skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and have already caught up with Niu San.
"Ahem... Li Qiang, you are still young. When you are older, you will understand. This Jinling City is a good place. Many people in this team are single. They are looking forward to taking a day off when they pass through Jinling. How can Feng Baotou not see it..."
Niu San's words were not clear, but Yan Liqiang could vaguely sense the meaning behind his words, especially the smile on Niu San's face, which was a man's smile, and he understood it at a glance.
Yan Liqiang stopped talking.
"Miss, look, the young man in the escort car is so handsome, it's rare to see one..." A voice came from his ear. Feeling someone was staring at him, Yan Liqiang turned his head and found that in a carriage running parallel to the convoy on the road, two young and beautiful girls were looking at him with shining eyes through the window of the carriage.
Compared to the women from ordinary families, the two women in the carriage seemed to be bolder and their eyes were more direct.
Yan Liqiang smiled at the two women without saying a word. He turned his head and pulled up the sweat towel tied around his neck to cover most of his face. For Yan Liqiang, this was the third function of the sweat towel, just like the sunglasses of the stars in his previous life.
The convoy, full of energy, finally arrived at Jinling before dark. However, the convoy did not enter the city because the accommodation fee in the city was more expensive. The entire convoy went directly to a place called Baishizhuang outside Jinling City and found a large but cheap storage yard to settle down.
The so-called yard is a little different from an inn. This yard has the function of an inn and can be used for accommodation, but it is larger and more spacious than an inn. There is also a warehouse specially for people to store things. Those who live in the yard are the caravans, escort agencies, and traveling merchants carrying goods.
(End of this chapter)