Northern Dynasties

Yecheng is located on the vast Hebei Plain. The Zhang River passes through the city, and other water flows around the territory. Together, they form a complete and prosperous water transportation system, allowing people and materials from all sides of the river to flow in smoothly. Come in and together form the cornerstone of Yecheng's prosperity.

The founding of Yecheng has a long history, and its real development as a regional center began during the Three Kingdoms period of the Later Han Dynasty. The Santai of Yecheng built during the Cao Cao period still stands in the northeast corner of the city, and the ancient city of Cao Wei is today's Yebei City.

At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Xiaowu fled westward. In order to strengthen his control over the court, Gao Huan moved the capital from Luoyang to Yecheng. Along with the move were more than 400,000 people from Luoyang. Then the Eastern Wei Dynasty rebuilt a new city south of the original Ye City, which was Yenan City.

The two cities together formed a brand-new Ye City, which was later completely inherited by the Northern Qi Dynasty and became the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty today.

As a model of city planning in the Middle Ages, Yecheng may be slightly inferior to Chang'an and Luoyang in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but in the current time and space, it is second to none in terms of city size and prosperity, and its tolerance for personnel is also It is far from comparable to Jinyang, which has a strong military color.

The roads around the city are bustling with cars and horses, and both people and horses are sweating profusely in the hot summer. There was a long queue in front of the city gate, and the people and goods queuing up to enter the city could hardly be seen to the end.

After the team separated, Li Licheng and his party joined the queue outside Yecheng earlier because they completed the procedures faster. However, they were still moving slowly forward step by step. On the other side, Li Tang and his party had already gone straight to the city gate through a special passage.

The prosperity of Yecheng, or the prosperity of any place, will not be open to everyone fairly, so that everyone can enjoy the changes that this prosperity brings to life. Depending on people's status, the prosperity and convenience they can enjoy are also different.

In Yecheng, apart from the dignitaries who were naturally superior to others, the people who were more likely to receive preferential treatment were the Xianbei people. Especially the Xianbei military generals, the privileges they enjoyed were reflected in all aspects, and entering the city first was only an insignificant one.

The inspection of goods entering the city is relatively slow. During the busy business season, you may even have to queue outside the city for several days. Fortunately, it was the turn of summer and autumn in July, so even if I slept outdoors after dark, there would be no cold wind. Except for the long wait, which was a bit torturous, everything else was fine.

Of course, it would be better if the Kinei Forbidden Army could be strictly managed. While Li Licheng and his party were queuing up, several groups of Forbidden Army soldiers had already wandered past, asking for property from business travelers like them.

In line with the principle that doing more is worse than doing less, when encountering such blackmail by rogues, Li Licheng also ordered them to give them some property to throw away. A similar situation also existed in Chang'an of the Western Wei Dynasty. Li Licheng knew that nothing good would happen if he continued to entangle with these soldiers. Unless his background was strong enough to make them afraid, he would suffer endless entanglement and revenge.

In addition, Li Licheng's visit to Yecheng was quite eye-opening. When he was a child, he ran west with his relatives, and his impression of Luoyang had long been blurred. Moreover, Luoyang had experienced several turmoils at that time, and had long since lost the prosperity it had during the heyday of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The city of Ye in front of him could be said to be the center of his life. See the most majestic big city.

Chang'an in Guanzhong and Tongzhou City where Bafu is located are far less majestic and prosperous than Ye City. The cities under Shannan Dao may have outstanding vitality, but in terms of scale and prosperity, they are far inferior to Yecheng, the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

Because there were so many amazing things, the waiting became less difficult. Finally, in the afternoon of the next day, they were finally able to enter the city.

The Bohai Feng family arranged for them to go to a temple to sell goods, and Buddhist beliefs are also very popular in Yecheng. When the official in charge of inspecting the goods at the city gate saw Li Licheng taking out the temple documents, he did not They continued to strictly check whether the goods were prohibited, and not only allowed them to pass quickly, but even made a solemn Buddhist salute to Li Licheng.

After experiencing this treatment, Li Licheng couldn't help but sigh. Apart from being a little unlucky under their rule at Daxingtai, these ascetic monks seemed to be very marketable in other places.

Naturally, he didn't know that Samanas not only had a market in Hebei, but also had the overbearing desire to unify the religious world. Just around Yecheng, there are thousands of large and small temples. The number of monks and monks controlled by the temples, as well as lay donors, etc., adds up to a very terrifying number.

After entering the city, merchants like them are not allowed to enter the market and wander around at will. There are special roads that can go directly to the area where the shops are located. After settling in those shops, they can sell the goods they brought. .

Since Li Tang and his party had already entered the city yesterday, they had already found a hotel to stay in in advance. The restaurants in these markets not only provide food and accommodation services, but also purchase and consign. Like brokers, they can help them find and contact buyers. The services are very comprehensive.

Even merchants who come to Yedu for the first time can successfully complete the transaction and obtain considerable returns if they can find a reliable store to help.

After Li Licheng learned this, he couldn't help but sigh that the social development of the Northern Qi Dynasty had indeed far surpassed that of the Western Wei Dynasty. Even under the rule of the Tai government, there was a lot of room for catching up. However, they came to Yecheng just to get in touch with more current people and spread some information. Of course, they did not need the various agency services of these stores. After wandering around the market and observing, I selected a store with a relatively high traffic flow and rented it, and then officially started my career of setting up stalls and selling goods.

However, on their first day of business, they encountered a lot of trouble.

On this day, a group of heavily armed soldiers suddenly entered the market and searched various shops along the street. From time to time, servants in the stores were taken out. Although those people shouted that they were wronged, the soldiers ignored them and just took them out. Tie them up with knots and continue searching the streets.

"what's going on?"

Li Licheng watched these armored soldiers approaching, so he inquired about Zuo Jin's shop.

"This is the imperial army arresting escaped slaves!"

Because Li Licheng was polite and forthright, the nearby traders had a pretty good impression of him. After hearing his question, they explained, and then came up to him and whispered: "They say they are capturing escaped slaves, but they are actually raping them." Nuding. This summer the imperial court is going to build the Great Wall on the border to prevent foreign invaders from attacking. I heard that millions of people will be needed to serve as slaves. Are there more people in Xiazhou County than in Yedu?

But the people of Yedu, Ding Na, all had their own masters, and they could avoid being imprisoned by joining a powerful family. These slaves have been protected, but His Majesty the Emperor's edicts must be followed, so we can only arrest these baseless foreigners..."

After hearing this, Li Licheng couldn't help but sweat broke out on his forehead. He thought he had sneaked into the enemy's interior and could hide in the city, but he didn't expect that the dangers in the Northern Qi Dynasty were coming one after another. It was almost endless. Could it be that these Do the people of Northern Qi live such an exciting life every day?

Seeing the armored soldiers searching along the street getting closer and closer, Li Licheng didn't care about watching the excitement anymore and hurried back to the shop to discuss countermeasures with Li Tang. They don't know what the so-called basic standards are, but if they finally infiltrate Yedu, but are sent to the northern border to build the Great Wall for a few years, they will really want to cry without tears!

They haven't come up with a plan here yet, but unexpectedly, a dozen of the armored soldiers who were still far away came straight to their shop, shouting loudly as they walked: "Why are there so many Han people here?" Son? The shopkeeper comes out quickly, who makes a living here!"

Li Tang walked out bravely, took out the goods that had been paid for at a high price and handed them over to him, and said repeatedly: "General, calm down, general, calm down. My lord is the governor of Chenggao Gong. Because he serves as the town in Heyang, his account There are more Han children..."

When the armored soldiers heard that the owner of the shop was a Xianbei general, their expressions softened. After verifying the procedures, they added another sentence: "You can earn a living after being appreciated by the owner. Don't steal." If you cheat and ruin your master’s reputation, you will be severely punished!”

Finally, the foundation provided by Princess Dongping's family was quite reliable. After shouting and threatening, the group of armored soldiers stopped conducting a rigorous search and bypassed the store to continue searching the city.

After this harassment, things finally developed smoothly. After being exploited by various personnel, the goods they brought were finally put on the shelves of Yecheng shops for the people of Yecheng to choose and buy.

Putting aside the products used to hide others, the most important thing about this trip is naturally the thousands of volumes of books, which are all representative classics and history books that have been carefully selected in Xiangyang. While other goods were inevitably exploited along the way, these books were preserved to the greatest extent possible.

But books are still a relatively small category after all, and there are many other bookstores in Yecheng's stores. Customers with such needs rarely wander around the market to search for goods.

Therefore, in the ten days since the store opened, some of the most in-demand goods were almost sold out. However, these books were still in a state of being ignored. Li Licheng and others were anxious and scratched their heads, but they did not dare to sell them in the street too ostentatiously. You can hope that fish will take the bait soon.

On this day, a young customer bought some insect repellent and mosquito repellent powder in the store. He casually looked around the hall and was soon attracted by the scroll on a desk inside.

While the slave was paying for the goods, the young man walked to the desk. He lowered his head for a moment and saw the words in the scroll. His expression suddenly changed: ""San Rites Yi Sect", your grocery store actually has "San Rites". Yoshitsune"! Where is the shop owner? Are there any remaining scrolls in the shop?"