The corner of He Sanlang's mouth twitched, and then he turned his head, he really didn't want to talk to such an idiot like Xiao Hongyu.
Chu Lian stayed in this small town on the edge of the northern border for two days, and Tang Yan and others caught up.
Although he was robbed by barbarians before, He Changdi brought people here in time, and nothing that Chu Lian brought was lost.
As soon as Tang Yan came, he heard that Chu Lian met Tuhun's elite soldiers, and he was a little stunned. After a few words of reassurance, he decided not to part with Chu Lian on this journey.
Although the injuries of the people in Chu Lian's team were different, just in case, after resting in the small town for four days, the team regrouped and set off. After all, there were winter supplies in the team for the northern frontier army. To make a show, it is necessary to round up the old queen's order.
The more you go to Liangzhou City, the more desolate it becomes. When we got outside Liangzhou City, Chu Lian couldn't believe it when he looked at the devastated Liangzhou City.
How can this be called a city? A county in the hinterland of the Great Wu Dynasty is probably several times richer than this Liangzhou city. The earth-built city wall, when the wind blows, soil slag falls down, and the city is full of broken walls and ruins. There are not many people from the Great Wu Dynasty on the street, and occasionally one or two are still in a hurry. Skinny and disheveled.
There are basically no brick houses in the city, all of which are earthen walls and thatched roofs. This is the time for cooking in the evening, but I don't see any cooking smoke in the courtyards of several houses.
I'm afraid that there are not as many people in Liangzhou city as there are frontier troops stationed here.
Chu Lian finally knew why the nobles in Shengjing City called Sailiangzhou City a barren land.
This is like the prairie of later generations. Although the mountains are high and the land is wide, the climate is harsh and not suitable for farming. The winter is long. If you go to the hinterland of the Dawu Dynasty, the farmland at the junction of Liangzhou can still be ripe once a year, and you can go further north. The soil quality is not suitable for crop survival at all.
The ground will be covered with thick snow in winter, and when spring comes, the thick snow will melt and turn into a swamp...
Chu Lian looked up at the city wall made of loess. At this time, there were two soldiers standing on the wall, their bodies wrapped into a ball. It was impossible to see what they were wearing, but they were standing on the wall trembling.
Chu Lian sighed slightly, can such a fragile city wall really withstand the fierce Tuhun soldiers
Tang Yan rode beside him on horseback, saw Chu Lian lift the felt curtain of the carriage, looked at the city wall, and rode over.
"Mr. Xiang is looking at this loess city wall?"
Chu Lian turned around and glanced at him, then nodded.
Tang Yan twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, and his voice was full of helplessness, "Liangzhou City is located in the northern part of our Great Wu Dynasty, and the Lord of the Township has seen it all the way. There is a shortage of supplies here, and the imperial court allocates a large sum of money every year to repair the city wall of Liangzhou City. , unfortunately to little avail.”
Chu Lian was surprised, "A large sum of money? Can the city wall be built in such a vulnerable state?"
Accidentally, Chu Lian spoke out what was in his heart.
Tang Yan didn't care about it, but said: "Let's not talk about the wastage of the funds allocated by the household department to the local area. There are other more important reasons. When the township lord enters the city, you don't need me to mention it, you will know."
Chu Lian didn't expect that he would make a fool of himself on purpose. Did Tang Yan want to test her
Chu Lian didn't pay too much attention, nodded, and asked steward Qin to order the convoy to enter the city. They had the queen mother's order, so it would be convenient to enter Liangzhou city.
The streets in Liangzhou city were littered with rubbish, and when a gust of wind blew up, a strange smell wafted away, making people sick. This was obviously because no one had come to clean up the relationship for a long time.
Chu Lian lifted the curtain of the car slightly, looked outside, and frowned. Fortunately, it was winter. If it was hot summer, such an environment would be prone to epidemics.
Tang Yan had sent people into the city to arrange a place to stay earlier, so it's better to just go there now.
When he arrived at the place, Chu Lian saw the simple word "Hefu" hanging on the gate of the courtyard, and was told that this was the residence of Liangzhou City Zhizhou.
If this mansion with an area of only five or six mu was placed in other towns during the Great Wu Dynasty, it would at best be regarded as a farmyard where a wealthy gentry lived, but in Liangzhou City, it was already regarded as the best place to live.
Although the house of the mansion is also built of civil construction, at least the outer layer is covered with mellow soil, and the roof is covered with tiles instead of thatch.
After walking this way, the environment of the alley where Hefu is located is slightly better.
Chu Lian was carried out of the carriage by Wen Lan. Her legs were not strong yet, and she needed to be raised for another four or five days. As soon as she got off the carriage, Chu Lian saw a man wrapped in fur under the broken wall not far away. The half-grown child in the clothes squatted there, and there was a small pile of fur in front of him, which looked like sheepskin.
At this moment, he was shrinking in the corner, secretly looking in their direction with big eyes, as if evaluating the purchasing power of their pedestrians.
Chu Lian pursed her lips and looked at him.
The half-grown child seemed to be unable to take care of it anymore, and ran over with the bundle of sheepskins in his arms. When he got close, Chu Lian could clearly see the dirty face.
Before the child was in front of Chu Lian, he was caught by the strong general and held down on the ground.
Mo Chenggui's face darkened, "Third Mistress, this northern border is not in Shengjing City, if you meet Tuhun spies Third Young Master like last time, you will blame me, Old Mo."
Wen Lan, who was standing beside Chu Lian, heard Mo Chenggui's stinging words, and was about to stand in front of Chu Lian angrily. Chu Lian quickly pulled her back and winked at Wen Lan.
Only then did Wen Lan suppress the anger in his chest and retreat to the side.
Chu Lian smiled faintly at Mo Chenggui, "Thank you Uncle Mo for reminding me, I will be careful."
Mo Chenggui didn't expect Chu Lian to reply like this, and he was completely speechless for a moment.
The child was pressed to the ground, struggling and not moving, but he didn't panic too much. He seized the opportunity and shouted: "Your lord, spare your life. The little one just wants you to buy the sheepskin on the little one's hand. The little mother and I My sister is going to starve to death, and there is no food at home, so I am counting on these sheepskins in my hands!"
Tang Yan ordered the guards around him to check, and sure enough, nothing was found on the half-grown child, so he nodded slightly to Chu Lian.
Mo Chenggui couldn't see Chu Lian's meddling appearance, snorted from his nostrils and took the lead into the "Hefu".
Chu Lian pointed to a roll of sheepskin on the ground, "Bring me that and have a look."
Steward Qin bent down to pick up the sheepskin himself, checked it carefully, and then handed it to Chu Lian with both hands.
Chu Lian casually flipped through the sheepskin twice. There was nothing special about the sheepskin. It was the sheepskin of ordinary sheep raised by herdsmen and barbarians in the north. Even the surface of the sheepskin was a little rough and dark in color. At first glance, it was the one he often used at home, probably not. He was really poor and destitute, and he would not sell such sheepskins for his own use.
His eyes fell on the child. He was dressed in rags, and he was wrapped in an unknown kind of animal skin. Both arms were exposed from the elbow joints to the outside, and his hands lying on the ground were red from the cold.
Chu Lian saw that the child was really pitiful, and didn't think about whether what he said was true or not, so she said to Wen Lan beside her, Wen Lan nodded slightly, took her purse, took out a small silver ingot from the purse, and went to Beside the half-grown child who was still pressed on the ground by the family, he said: "Boy, our master bought your sheepskin. This is the silver for buying your sheepskin. But next time, don't be so impulsive to rob the nobleman. Our master is kind-hearted." What to do with you, but not everyone is like our master, so let's do it ourselves!"
This ingot of silver is worth at least five or six renminbi, and it would be enough to buy three or four times the amount of sheepskin in the child's hands. Wen Lan put the silver in front of the child, told the family to let him go, and turned around to help Chu Lian into the "He Mansion". .
But as soon as she turned around, the half-grown child who was let go hugged her leg, "Sister, the little one doesn't want money, please, please exchange the silver for food for the little one!"
Wen Lan was taken aback, and almost kicked the child away.
She turned around helplessly and let the guards pull the child away, with a bit of displeasure between her brows, "Why are you so ignorant! Do you still think that our master gave you too much? Tell you, these money bought you three or four sheepskins!" Times are more than enough!"
"No, no, the little one doesn't dislike being young, the little one just asks my sister to give me a few pot helmets." After finishing speaking, he kowtowed desperately to Wenlan.
Wen Lan was stunned and couldn't believe it. Someone would rather have a few pot helmets worth a few pennies than pieces of silver worth hundreds of pennies. Isn't this kid stupid
Chu Lian frowned slightly and looked at the situation in front of him, Tang Yan glanced at Chu Lian with a half-smile and a deep meaning.
Suddenly, a light flashed in Chu Lian's mind.
She said to Wen Lan: "Wen Lan, bring him some food."
Although Wen Lan was strange, he did as he did.
The half-grown child took the three cold steamed buns that Wenlan handed him, with an unconcealable joy on his face, he hurriedly put them into his arms, looked left and right, then kowtowed in Chu Lian's direction, and then quickly He ran away and disappeared around the corner of the alley.
Seeing the child's disappearance, Chu Lian ordered everyone to settle in the mansion.
She had an injury on her foot, and was supported by Wenqing Wenlan and walked very slowly, Tang Yan caught up with her in two or three steps.
He smiled and asked, "Does Mr. Xiang know the reason?"
Chu Lian smiled wryly, could she not know? The little thing that happened just now couldn't be more obvious.
She sighed slightly, and said, "What Liangzhou City lacks is not money but real goods."
Tang Yan nodded, "Xiang Jun is really smart."
In Liangzhou City, many places still maintain the most primitive state of bartering. Here, the common currency is not gold and silver, or even copper coins. Most of the time, it is livestock such as cattle and sheep, or cloth and salt.
In the eyes of the people in Liangzhou City, the ingot that can buy hundreds of catties of rice in Shengjing City is not as real as a hard pot helmet.
No wonder the Ministry of Households allocates funds every year, and the walls of Liangzhou City are repaired every year, but it is still in such a dilapidated state today.
The money from the household department is allocated, not counting the exploitation from top to bottom. When the money really reaches Liangzhou, the purchasing power is already so low that it can’t be lowered. If it is exchanged for materials and shipped to Liangzhou, it is already very little. Now, plus the wear and tear, if the city wall can be repaired, there will be ghosts.
Money doesn't play a role here at all.