A group of three, strolling on the streets and alleys of Lin'an, is already the time when the lights are on.
In the dynasties before the Sui and Tang dynasties, the capital city was designed to separate commercial blocks from residential areas, just like the two east and west workshops in the Tang Dynasty. There was even the Tang Dynasty. It also stipulated that all cities, squares, and city gates must be at sunset. It is closed from time to time, night bans are generally implemented in the city, and there are even restrictions on burning candles. Although there are night markets in a few prosperous commercial districts, they are only places where dignitaries and dignitaries indulge in sensuality.
However, since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, under the auspices of the founding father Zhao Kuangyin, the design of the Tokyo Imperial City has broken this kind of market separation from the very beginning.
Just outside the gate of the inner courtyard of the imperial city, there are rows of song houses and restaurants, mixed with officials' premises. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the pattern of "twelve square rails, and the streets and corners passing by; the square is straight and the cosmos are flat" that has been regarded as the norm by the capitals of various dynasties and generations since the Western Han Dynasty has disappeared. What started is to set up workshops along the street and build houses on the market. The spacious bluestone avenue leads directly to all corners of the city, and all blocks are no longer closed and forbidden. From outside the gate of the imperial city, tall lanterns on both sides of the road guide people to the bustling night scenes everywhere until dawn. Even in the middle of the night, there will be no problem of dark roads.
This is the first night market in history that belongs to the citizens. You can’t hear the censors of the city officials, you can’t see the generals in angry vests, and you can’t find the prime minister who is dragging Zhu Yizi. The shops on both sides of the road are in order to attract customers. Some of the signboards are strange in shape, some are like wood carvings, some are like landscape paintings, and even the accents of drinking and selling things are very particular. For example, the "Diancha Granny" in front of Zhongwa Street, which sells foreign objects of fragrant tea. The voices of Lin'an are scattered and resounding through the clouds, often attracting countless people to watch, forming a unique scenery in Lin'an.
The men and women in Lin'an, dressed in beautiful clothes, roam freely among the most prosperous night scenes in the history of mankind.
Wearing a human skin mask, Zhao Kuangyin, dressed as an ordinary white-clothed middle-aged scribe, accompanied by Bao Daren and Zhan Zhao, Xin walked among the crowds.
The human skin mask on his face was presented by Zhan Zhao. It is said that it came from the hands of Lu Miaozi, a master of craftsmanship in the late Sui Dynasty. It is worn on the face and fits seamlessly without any discomfort.
He looked at the scenery of the bustling night market in Lin'an City, and couldn't help feeling full of emotion in his heart.
He has a deeper understanding of everything in front of him than anyone else.
After all, all the construction of Lin'an City was imitated from Bianliang Tokyo, while the capital of Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty was designed by his own hands.
As early as when he had just ascended the throne and founded the country, he hoped that under his own rule, such a scene would appear.
He was born in the market and started from a rash, and he no longer wants to see the kingdom under his own rule. Like the previous dynasties, only a few rich and powerful people can enjoy the fun of singing, dancing and drinking, and the majority of the people, who account for the largest number of people, can only be kept forever. Among the lonely huts.
This is no longer the world of the great lords of the family, only the happiness of all beings in the world can achieve the happiness of the king.
It's just that he never expected that one day he could witness this kind of civic life with his own eyes, and truly present it to him.
However, this is not the Tokyo Bianliang that I built by myself. The great city I created is still in the hands of the Hu people.
There was a soft "boom", and another gorgeous firework exploded in the night sky.
Zhao Kuangyin raised his head, he couldn't help feeling like a dream.
A large group of trick girls, wearing red and yellow gold-colored brocade dresses, wearing flower crowns, riding high-headed horses, galloped across the streets of Lin'an City, and from time to time leaped on horses, interspersed between the belly and the back of the horse. In time, make all kinds of thrilling moves.
Some of them even threw four or five daggers, and one of them was playing with a few balls of fire, but they were all around the horse, like a fairy imperial weapon, unable to hover, flowing light and color, and the end was wonderful.
The crowds walking on the street all scattered to the sides of the road before the horse team arrived. After the horse team passed, they gathered behind to clap their hands and applauded. There were also many frivolous young men who screamed and trot all the way to follow. After the horse team, rushing to pass the treasures and fruit wine in the hands to the hands of the girls, the more and more people gather, it seems to be another scenery outside the horse team.
Bao Daren, who was walking next to Zhao Kuangyin and had a frowning face, couldn't help but shine, and said in Zhao Kuangyin's ear: "Song Ye, this is the most famous'March Peach Blossom' trick team in the whole world. During the tour, I heard that they have a lot of supporters even on the Golden State side. This time I didn’t hear that when they came to Lin’an city, they actually ran into us. It’s a blessing."
Zhao Kuangyin was still immersed in the kind of strange emotion just now, and he nodded stupidly.
The horse team arrived in a blink of an eye. Bao Daren and Zhan Zhao stared straight at this rare trick performance. They clapped and stepped back to the side, but they didn't notice that Zhao Kuangyin hadn't recovered yet, and stood in his own right. local.
A horse that is leading the way, with several flying swords circling and flying around the horse, it rushed over like an electric shock.
The knight on the horse didn't watch out for someone to dodge, and ran straight into Zhao Kuangyin, who was standing in the middle of the road.
The onlookers all around let out an exclamation, and Zhan Zhao whistled into the air.
The knight on the horse was also complacent. He pulled the horse's rein abruptly, and the horse hissed, and the man stood up. The front hoof was no more than two inches away from Zhao Kuangyin's clothes.
The horse was not a psychic horse. After suffering a pain, the knight could not help but let out a soft cry, and fell from the horse.
The five daggers hovering around him lost control for a while, scattered and flew towards the crowd of onlookers, exclaiming and yelling, and the situation was chaotic for a while.
The horse teams that followed were well-trained. They pressed their horses in an emergency, and put away the various utensils hovering around them, but it was too late to save them, and they could not help but cover their faces.
Wan Lai was quiet.
They did not hear the unexpected screams, but unexpectedly heard the applause and applause.
They opened their eyes in surprise and found that a young man in Tsing Yi was holding the frightened horse steadily and standing on the road.
And the scribe in white who was standing in the middle of the road blankly, holding the five dazzling daggers in one hand, but holding their little sister in his arms in the other.
It turned out that Zhan Zhao leaped to the middle of the road and grabbed the shocked horse between the electric light and flint, but Zhao Kuangyin jumped up, actually shooting the five handfuls with cold light in that inaccurate time and shooting them everywhere. Collected his short swords one by one, and still had time to return to the place to catch the trick girl who was thrown into the air by a startled horse.
Those onlookers who had originally exclaimed and avoided, saw this scene in front of them, but involuntarily gathered together again and clapped their hands.
For such thrilling and pleasing juggling, the people of Lin'an City have never lack of enthusiasm for cheering and praise.
Zhao Kuangyin freely nodded to the people applauding from all directions, and then lowered his head, for the first time to see the appearance of the person in his arms.
Although she was only fourteen or five years old at most, she was already beautiful enough to suffocate.
With crescent-like eyebrows dizzy, a pair of twinkling star-like eyes and a slightly erect nose, she seems to have not recovered from the sudden change of her talent, bit her vermilion lips lightly with her crystal clear teeth, and her eyes widened. Looking at Zhao Kuangyin, there was a strange blush on the cheeks.
However, the most unforgettable thing is that she still has a transparent temperament under the sentiment.
At this moment, he wrapped his hand around the woman's willow waist and hugged her in his arms, so he could best understand that the woman's skin was so breakable and full of amazing elasticity.
A faint fragrance lingers at the tip of his nose, and with Zhao Kuangyin's cultivation experience, he can't help but feel a little stunned for a while.
The woman in her arms looked at Zhao Kuangyin's appearance, but she "pushed" and laughed, and said, "Stupid goose, please put me down soon."
Zhao Kuangyin was stunned by the new title, and then he came back to his senses. He put the woman down on the ground with a wry smile, returned the short sword in her left hand to her, and said with a smile: "The girl is frightened."
The women from the horse team at the back also gathered around, watching Zhao Kuangyin and the woman with interest, not knowing what they were talking about, they all laughed.
The woman turned her head and glanced at them with a bit of anguish, took the horse rein from Zhan Zhao's hand, turned on the horse, but did not forget to smile at Zhao Kuangyin: "Stupid goose, don't stand in the middle of the road thinking about things. It's dangerous!"
Zhao Kuangyin didn't know what to say for a while, but nodded with a smile.
The woman smiled again, waving her wrists, and the five daggers jumping freely, before circling the horse, she screamed, guided the horse, and walked forward.
The entire horse team moved again.
The woman had already galloped a certain distance, but she turned her head back, her eyes flowed, and she smiled lightly and shouted to Zhao Kuangyin, who was watching them away with her eyes: "Dummy goose, my name is Yu Xuefei. "
The whole street is quiet.
Some frivolous young men looked at each other, and suddenly they echoed the girl's accent, and said loudly: "Stupid goose, my name is Yu Xuefei."
All around suddenly burst into laughter.
Zhao Kuangyin smiled bitterly and nodded, watching the horse team slacken away and disappear into the corner of the street.
There seemed to be the woman's silver bell-like laughter in her ears.
Bao Daren leaned forward and looked at Zhao Kuangyin with a look of admiration: "Unexpectedly...Uh...Unexpectedly, Master Song's skill in picking up girls is so good, it seems that it is not under me."
Zhan Zhao touched his face, and said with regret: "I knew that the human skin mask was so effective against women, I would have worn it a long time ago."
Zhao Kuangyin laughed and rewarded them all alone, but the warm feeling of playing and laughing with a group of city brothers when he hadn't made his fortune before was in his heart.
With a soft sound of "Bang", another firework, as if to witness the story that just happened, burst into the streets of Lin'an.
Zhan Zhao pointed to a short distance ahead and said, "Master Song, after turning this corner, it is Piaoxiangfang."
……
Zhao Kuangyin turned around the street and suddenly felt his eyes light up.
The lanterns on the high pillars on both sides of this road are different from those on other streets.
Considering the lighting range, the road pillars are four or five feet high from the ground. The light from the lanterns projected on the road surface is already extremely weak, just enough to see the road conditions clearly.
The lights on this street, for some reason, burned so fiercely that they revealed a white light, illuminating the entire road like daylight. And the whole street is still glowing with a faint fragrance.
Zhan Zhao saw Zhao Kuangyin's doubts and said with a smile: "Master Song, the whole street here is the industry of Piaoxiangfang, so even the lamp oil used on the street is different."
He pointed to the lampposts in all directions, and said: "The lights that are said to be from the Western Regions of'Golden Oil' are lighted, not only the light is more than ten times brighter than ordinary lights, but the smell can make mosquitoes avoid. So even in the middle of summer, the whole world suffers from gnats, but on the streets of Piaoxiangfang, the gnats are completely extinct."
Zhao Kuangyin raised his eyes and couldn't help but sighed lightly: "It's such a big handwriting. Just this amount of money is not something a luxury business mall in the ordinary sense can afford."
Zhan Zhao chuckled lightly: "Otherwise, the business of Piaoxiangfang would not grow bigger and bigger, and it would just overwhelm Pan Yuan and Fenglelou to survive."
But Bao Daren on the side was frightened when he heard it, and said bitterly: "It's over, come to such a high-end nightclub, it seems that my old bag really can't even keep the coffin now."
Zhao Kuangyin was surprised: "What is a nightclub?"
A weird look flashed in Bao Daren's eyes, and he responded: "This is the name of our hometown. Anyway, it is a place like Piaoxiangfang that makes poor people like me go bankrupt."
Zhao Kuangyin didn't treat himself too much, and laughed dumbfounded: "Before you dare to sway your army, be careful that I behead your dog's head."
Zhan Zhao made a look of righteousness and seriousness: "That's right, old Bao, we have to trust Lord Song, I just happen to have no money on hand, otherwise I don't know how much I want to give it all, so I'll stay. Eat red with Song Ye."
Bao Daren raised his eyes and glared, but before he spoke, Zhao Kuangyin said leisurely: "That's easy too. Even if you spend half of your expenses tonight."
Zhan Zhao gaped: "But his subordinates have no money."
Zhao Kuangyin smiled at Bao Daren: "From now on, his monthly salary will be automatically transferred to your name until it is paid off."
Bao Daren grinned, his actions suddenly became swift, and he chased Zhao Kuangyin straight into the gambling stall.
Zhan Zhao smiled bitterly: "Damn, just to talk more."
……
Although the gambling stalls of Piaoxiangfang are crowded and lively, they are not as crowded as ordinary gambling stalls.
In the hall, which is five or six times larger than normal gambling stalls, gambling tables of various styles are arranged in a staggered manner, and many of them are dressed in tulle, but there is only a green silk bellyband waiting for women to interact. , Guiding all kinds of guests to where they want to go, so despite the large number of people, they are still in order, and there is no sign of chaos at all.
There are dozens of giant fans hanging high above the hall, each of which is pulled by a strong man. There is a cool breeze, there is no smoke in the hall, and there is no sultry feeling in the early summer.
On the large stage in front of the hall, there are many Lin'an famous brews such as Yulianmaul, Sitangchun, Zhonghetang, and Pearl Spring, as well as hot and cold snacks such as Suqiongye, Xiaoyaner, and Fake Reunion Zaozi. , Let the gamblers use it.
A woman who was welcoming guests at the door saw Zhan Zhao coming in, and hurriedly greeted him with a smile on her face, and said with a smile: "Zhan's guard, only one night away, are you here to make a fortune again?"
Zhan Zhao smiled bitterly: "Xiao Cui, don't make fun of me. I even take this outfit now. This time I will accompany Master Song to calm down and relax. You should call him."
Only then did Xiao Cui notice the humble middle-aged scribe next to Zhan Zhao, and hurriedly greeted him: "This Song Ye has always been face to face. Look at this suit, but he came from Zhenzhou, right?"
Zhao Kuangyin nodded and smiled. Although this little Cui is not as beautiful as the young girl seen in the street market, she is also considered to be superior in appearance. Before going out of the palace, in order to hide her identity, she specially found this garment made by Gongsi of Zhenzhou , But she can also see through at a glance, and cultivate her eyesight, which is remarkable.
But this is just an ordinary member of Piaoxiangfang who welcomes guests and treats women, and this Piaoxiangfang is really superior in style.
Bao Daren came with a bunch of chips, Zhao Kuangyin didn't even see the letter and stuffed three cards to Xiao Cui, provoking Zhan Zhao, Bao Daren and Xiao Cui both whispered.
Bao Daren’s face is getting more and more bitter. This kind of bargaining chip is one hundred taels of silver. There is the Song generation, and the official salary is generous, but the monthly salary of the first-grade official is only three hundred taels. He himself also uses other Zhao Kuangyin saved these four thousand taels because of his path, but Zhao Kuangyin's free gift was just their salary for several months, and he couldn't help but feel the pain of Zhan Zhao.
Xiao Cui was so overjoyed that she almost thought she was dreaming, and became enthusiastic. With Zhao Kuangyin and the three of them, she went straight to the lounge inside.
Zhan Zhao is a frequent visitor here, and Xiao Cui knows what he is here for, and directly leads them to bypass the crowded crowd in the hall and come to a small hall.
Zhao Kuangyin and his group of three stepped into the hall door. There were already more than a dozen people inside. They were sitting around the same gambling table, watching the old man sitting in the position of the dealer intently, using his jade plate to point to. 'S left hand gently shook the dice cup.
Zhan Zhao looked at the dealer and said in Zhao Kuangyin's ear: "This is Jin Jiuzhi, the number one gambler in the town hall of Piaoxiangfang."