Yefutidaolu

Chapter 5: Money and Goods at the Foot of the Mountain
Gao Jian looked up and saw the four big words on the plaque of the county town.

The handwriting is...very beautiful.

The force of the falling hair is like pouring wine, the dragon's whiskers curl up and the ghost's eyes cry.

The brushstrokes in the characters are so powerful that they swirl like green clouds as you turn your eyes.

He couldn't understand how the words were written, but he could vaguely sense the charm of the words.

"This handwriting is so awesome...so good." Gao Jian exclaimed subconsciously, then changed his words temporarily.

Better not be so vulgar.

Bai Ping also exclaimed: "What a good calligraphy! The strokes are as fine as a strand of hair, yet they all have the full force of the body. The ink is gathered into lines like boundaries. The sparse parts of the plaque can be used for running, while the dense parts are airtight. The strokes are all flat, and the momentum, rhythm, and cursive feeling of the characters are all present. The momentum is hidden, and the writing is elegant and interesting."

"I need to practice calligraphy when drawing talismans, but I am still not as good as the author of this plaque."

Gao Jian shut up aside.

After seeing it, all he could say was "Awesome!" He definitely could not say these words.

This shows that he is very uncultured.

However, he touched his chest.

There is charm in these words, and his rusty knife has been sharpened twice before, so perhaps... he can understand a thing or two?
According to Bai Ping, there are not many things with Shen Yun, and Bai Ping's Taoist songs are not common. After all, singing Taoist songs puts a great pressure on the mind, and because of different understandings, different people sing Taoist songs differently.

According to Bai Ping himself, when he usually practiced at the mountain gate, he also needed the elder who taught the Dharma to recite the Taoist songs in person. He and his fellow disciples would listen below, and how much they could understand depended on their own comprehension.

The Taoist songs sung by the elder who teaches the Dharma are also something that the disciples can never sing. Even if it is the same technique, there will be differences when two people sing it. It is like the same word, some people write it with the look of a chicken's claw while others write it with the style of a dragon.

The characters are the same, but the people are different. That's the reason.

The charm of the words before my eyes is something that even Bai Ping said he could not write, and it is very rare.

Now that I have encountered one, should I take out my rusty knife and carefully comprehend it?
However, Gao Jian looked around.

There are countless people coming and going around, and it may not be a good idea to pull the knife out of the chest from here.

Wait until you enter the city, take out the knife in a deserted place, and it is best to gain insights in the dark.

Not everyone is a good person like Bai Ping.

So he endured it for the time being and walked into the city with Bai Ping.

You have to pay a head tax when entering the city, and if you bring goods into the city, you have to pay additional commercial tax.

Naturally, Bai Ping paid for it.

They didn't bring any goods, so they only had two copper coins each. Gao Jian didn't know if this was a lot or a little, so he asked, "Master, two copper coins, is this a lot or a little?"

"It's not much, but it's not a small amount either. In the Qiyun Divine Dynasty... an ordinary citizen can probably earn about 3,000 to 5,000 coins a year. If it's counted as grain, it's probably about 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms of brown rice."

"One or two thousand kilograms of brown rice a year..." Gao Jian nodded slightly.

That's about enough to get an idea of the purchasing power of money here.

Surprisingly high.

"By the way, you are penniless now, but when you come to the city, you will always need money. Here, give it to you." Bai Ping took out a string of copper coins from his bag, about a hundred copper coins.

As he handed over the money, he said, "The current emperor of the Divine Dynasty is the Qiyun Shenwu Zhiming Daxiao Emperor, whose name is Xia Yu. You should remember to avoid using this word casually in the future."

Gao Jian nodded, took it without any pretense.

The reward will come later.

He took the coin, weighed it, and then looked carefully at the condition of the coin.

The copper coin is golden in color with a hole in the middle for easy stringing. It has a cloud pattern on it and four large characters "Qiyun Yuanbao" written on it.

Moreover, these four words above also have charm!
Even though these characters were cast directly using coin molds, one can still see the charm of them, but they are so subtle that they are almost unrecognizable.

Think about it, a great calligrapher wrote these four words, and then the engraver imitated them and carved them on the original coin mold. The original coin mold was copied by other craftsmen and made into a replica. The replica may have to be copied tens of thousands of times and passed through the hands of many people.

Then mines in various places took these replica coin molds, poured molten copper into them, cooled the molten copper, and then ground off the water outlet and polished them until they were smooth. Only then did they become the money in their hands.

Then, this coin will be circulated in the market. It has passed through the hands of countless people, and the writing has been worn out to the point of being faint. Some copper coins have even been worn flat.

Finally, it fell into Gao Jian's hands.

Even so, the charm still remains, which is enough to show how amazing the original of these four words is!
Come to think of it, this is the "money" of the entire country, and the words on it must have been written by an extraordinary person!
"It's just a copper coin. There's no need to look at it for so long, right?" Bai Ping looked at Gao Jian in confusion, not understanding why he was staring at the copper coin over and over again.

"Master Taoist, there is a charm here. Have you discovered it?" Gao Jianze raised his head and said.

"Spirit? If we talk about the original version of these four words, then it certainly has charm. But this is just a coin that has been copied many times and is already full of errors and omissions. Where is the charm?" Bai Ping curled his lips.

The difference between the four characters on the coin and the original four characters is basically the difference between a real dragon in the clouds and a loach in the soil. The loach can barely have the shape of a dragon, right?

If Gao Jian were to describe it, it would be the difference between a real aircraft carrier and a fifty-dollar aircraft carrier model.

However, Bai Ping immediately stared at Gao Jian again and asked, "Really?"

"It's true." Gao Jian nodded.

"Hiss!" Bai Ping gasped, then pulled Gao Jian's sleeve with his only remaining hand: "Hurry up, let's go to the inn."

He was very clear about Gao Jian's understanding, and it was normal for him to see the charm that he couldn't see! And if he really saw it... then the benefits would be huge.

The two of them didn't delay any longer and trotted all the way to the inn.

When he arrived at the inn, Bai Ping immediately asked for a room, paid quickly, entered the room, and locked the door.

Then, without saying a word, he took out all the money in his pocket, about four or five thousand copper coins, divided into four large strings and ten small strings, which together weighed about ten kilograms.

"Every one of them?" Bai Ping asked.

Obviously, he also knew that the error in minting coins was too large, and it was obvious that each coin was different.

Gao Jian picked up the money, "Some have, some don't, and a lot of them are different."

Different words naturally have different charms. Bai Ping sighed when he heard this: "Is that so... then it's useless, it's just a waste of joy."

Gao Jian was puzzled: "What do you mean by that?"

Bai Ping explained: "With so many charms, some of them are bound to be distorted by craftsmen, money models, and even people who use money. If you try to comprehend them, you will inevitably fall into many mazes and cannot extricate yourself. Among the thousands of charms, which one is real? Which one is fake? The more amazing your understanding is, the easier it is to fall into it."

"I should have thought of that. Since the Divine Dynasty dared to release the money, they must have known that few people could see anything from it. People with insufficient comprehension would not be able to see the charm of this place, while people with too deep comprehension would immerse themselves in it and might even get lost in it. Alas, the Divine Dynasty's methods, we can't defend against them. We don't have so many tricks in our mountain gate."

However, Gao Jian suddenly said, "I don't think so."

"Hmm? Don't mess around. I've been practicing for so long and I know how dangerous Shen Yun is. Not all Shen Yun is kind. Many vicious predecessors deliberately left behind dangerous Shen Yun for later generations to comprehend and practice, and then they became their food."

"Also, many divine charms are just random traces of powerful people, or even left behind in battles. They are not systematic and are not meant for people to comprehend and learn systematically. If you try to learn them rashly, you will hurt yourself at the least, and you may even die. Not all divine charms are like Taoist songs." Bai Ping reminded hurriedly.

He knew that Gao Jian had extraordinary understanding, but he didn't understand many things, so it was unnecessary to take risks.

Gao Jian heard Bai Ping's advice, looked at the money on the table, and the thousands of different charms...

Well, what the other party said makes sense, so let’s not bother with this anymore.

Listen to others and eat enough.

"What the Taoist said makes sense. Since it's dangerous, it's better not to look at the money."

Bai Ping breathed a sigh of relief: "Alright, alright, let's go downstairs to eat. After two days of eating dry food, you must be tired of chewing, brother. Let's eat something delicious and order two servings of meat."

Gao Jian also stood up.

Bai Ping has a good point too. He fasts himself but never controls what others eat.

The two went downstairs. It was noon and many people were eating.

Gao Jian was already surprised before they even started eating. It was dinner time and the place was full of people with almost no empty seats. The waiters were extremely busy. Four or five of them were responsible for serving hundreds of dishes to more than twenty tables of guests, but they were not at all panicked.

They moved back and forth like a stream, walking briskly, each of them carrying four or five smooth, hot plates of food on their hands and shoulders. They walked back and forth among the crowd without getting any of the food on themselves, and would never spill any soup or water.

What’s even more amazing is that they can hold three bowls of soup level with one hand. The soup is as hot as boiling water, but it does not move or shake, and is as stable as if it is on the table. Or they can use a tray to put more than thirty bowls of rice, two by two, to make a pagoda shape and quickly serve it on the table.

To carry so many things around the room requires not only skill but also amazing arm strength.

Bai Ping was used to it, but Gao Jian was extremely surprised and amazed.

In addition to the waiter, you can also see some coolies outside and idlers who come to the inn to deliver food.

The coolies were carrying bags that were bigger than several people, weighing at least three or four hundred pounds. In addition, in order to move the hot dishes up and down in time, the idlers jumped around in the crowd, and some even jumped onto the roof, attracting waves of shouting and cursing.

It seems that here, even the common people have some unique skills.

Now that I think about it, those farmers before seemed to have some skills in farming.

Just now, Gao Jian was so focused on the charm on the copper plate that he hurried to the inn in a hurry. He ignored all these things on the way. But when he saw them at this moment, he was just surprised.

Seeing Gao Jian's expression, Bai Ping once again confirmed his previous thoughts.

Great idea, it seems like you really don't have much insight.

But Bai Ping didn't want to investigate his background. It was enough for him to know that Gao Jian was a good person. As for his experiences, he would know if he talked more about them.

So, Bai Ping said to Gao Jian, "The world is different now than it was before. It's not just the people in the mountains who can practice. Kung Fu has gradually become popular. There are also a few training methods circulating in the market. If you can join the army, government office, or join a gang or sect, you will have a greater chance of practicing."

"Ordinary people also have martial arts? What about my swordsmanship?" Gao Jian raised his eyebrows and assessed his own strength.

Bai Ping said, "It can't be considered a martial art. It's just a few moves put together here and there. It's not a system. It's just to strengthen the body and add a few more skills. It can't be compared with your swordsmanship. Your swordsmanship is a serious martial art. It's different."

Gao Jian nodded. It seemed that even here, practicing cultivation had nothing to do with ordinary people.

Even if you just want to become an apprentice of a gang, you still need some family background. It's really difficult if you don't have any property at home. I have paid for it myself. Bai Ping obviously has an extraordinary background.

"But it's much better than in ancient times." Bai Ping seemed a little happy.

He continued, "A long, long time ago, the method of cultivation was hard to find, and it was even harder to tell the real from the fake. Many people sought it in the mountains and overseas. However, after a while, there were always people who figured it out on their own or got the true teachings, and finally succeeded in cultivation. Later, they passed the skills on to their disciples, to their family members, and the disciples passed it on to their disciples, and the family members passed it on to their family members, and so on."

"As a result, the technique gradually became popular."

"Later, some 'immortal masters' and 'national masters' came down from the mountains to deal with the imperial court of a certain country. They even passed on some true methods and established their own sects as 'national religions'. They were worshipped by the whole country and integrated into the secular world."

"Many years ago, there was a huge gap between people on the mountain and people below the mountain, but now, the difference between the people on the mountain and below the mountain is almost indistinguishable."

"There is a saying, 'It is hidden in the mountains and protected by the government.'"

"That is to say, the powerful people in this world are either respected in government offices or hiding in villages and mountains, so we must be careful of people in these two places."

"For example, these detectives outside, each of them has some kung fu skills. Each punch and kick has a force of several hundred kilograms, and they run like the wind. It's just that they haven't opened their acupoints yet. You can beat dozens of villagers, but you can only deal with two or three detectives at most."

"But the main reason is that you lack the method of cultivation. The sword method is just a fighting method, but it can't help you improve your foundation. However, I only have one cultivation method, which is from my master, so I can't give it to you. But if you enter my mountain gate, there will be no problem."

Bai Ping introduced the situation and pointed to a group of police officers outside wearing black uniforms as an example.

Gao Jian also looked in the direction the other party pointed.

There was indeed a group of strong men with swords in their arms marching in a line outside. Wherever they passed, the idle men and pedestrians all avoided them.

It seems that the yamen runners here are a bit scary on weekdays, and everyone hides from them.

And... they turned from the street and entered the inn.

The waiters went up to greet them in a hurry, but were pushed away. Many diners and drinkers were also seen trying to avoid them.

Gao Jian watched the other party getting closer and closer, and blinked: "Master, the group of people you pointed to... seem to be coming towards us."

"Huh?" Bai Ping finally realized what was happening and shut up.

That group of strong men in black clothes were really coming towards him.

"Master." The detectives walked up to Bai Ping and said, "The county magistrate wants to see you."

(End of this chapter)