After the immortal disappeared

Wu Qing choked: "Auntie, how dare I?"

"For so many years, Hong Lang didn't say it, but I know that he misses the days when he commanded thousands of troops. Finally, he wants to swim in the sea again." A Jin exhaled, "I have dragged him down for long enough. Not again and again. If you refuse to give it, I will look for you every day."

Wu Qing hesitated for a long time, and finally said helplessly: "Okay, okay, I'll get it done, don't let it slip."

￥￥￥￥￥

When the grain escort team arrived at Xinhuang, the setting sun had dropped to the top of the mountain and was about to sink in the blink of an eye.

The time is just right.

Xinhuang is just a small town with a thousand people. Hundreds of grain trucks drove in and filled up all the open space in the west of the town. The company servants led the guards, which were more numerous than the townspeople.

The convoy has been traveling all day, and the people and horses are tired. When they stop, they need to eat, drink and rest. The whole town is very busy.

The reception capacity of a small place is limited, so the news of the arrival of the grain transport team must be sent more than ten hours in advance so that the townspeople can prepare in advance. In this way, the manger can be filled with clean water, the grass fed to the cattle and horses can be removed and sifted in advance, and the personnel can also have hot food to eat.

When you're tired and hungry, there's nothing more comforting than a hot meal. Although what the servants received was nothing more than coarse grain steamed bread, at least it was steamed piping hot and could be dipped in some bean paste.

The soldiers could get more stewed beans, and some even got pickled cabbage to eat together in their steamed buns.

He Chunhua and his son, dressed in civilian clothes, dismounted and handed over their mounts to the soldiers to serve. He Lingchuan only wore ordinary clothes and armor.

Although Xinhuang has received food transport teams many times, its capacity is limited after all. He Chunhua inspected the soldiers' meals, and it was common for them to be overwhelmed and unable to provide food.

The only thing that pleased him was that the military doctors carried out the orders well. Food and water for humans and animals had been tested for poisons and there were no abnormalities.

In fact, with the strength of the army at hand, the resistance to ordinary poisons is greatly increased, and the only ones who are prone to misfortune are the laborers and livestock. He Chunhua was careful, fearing that the enemy would secretly suppress the evil, and took the trouble to ask for a poison test. Otherwise, the enemy would put some croton powder in the drinking water, and humans and animals would not be able to escape along the way?

After walking around the camp twice, He Lingchuan pressed his belly and called out: "Dad, it's our turn to eat." We are like iron rice and steel, and if we don't eat, we will get hungry.

On the contrary, Yao Yuan ate the cornstarch without any burden, and Yan Lang also had his share of rations, so no one could lose to him. On the way to He Lingchuan, I learned that it can also eat apples and cereals!

He Chunhua pointed at the wotou and said, "Two of them?"

"You've been eating this stuff all the way, haven't you had enough?" He Lingchuan rolled his eyes, "Dad, don't you want to understand the sentiments of the people? If you can understand the situation while staying in the army, then you have to go to the town and eat while you are there. Just watch.”

He Chunhua smiled helplessly: "Okay."

At this moment, the county magistrate came to invite the chiefs of the grain escort team. He said that he had made a reservation at a restaurant in the town and wanted to greet the chiefs.

Xinhuang is under Baiyun County, and the county government is not here. However, the arrival of the grain transport team was a top priority, so the county magistrate rushed over anyway.

He Chunhua traveled north in a simple car because he wanted to inspect the public situation without making any announcement to the outside world. Therefore, the nominal highest officer of the grain escort team was Mo Zhe Jingxuan, who was his original staff and now works in Xiazhou Biejia.

The county magistrate invited Mo Zhe Jingxuan to go happily. There is nothing delicious in this small place, but the meat and vegetables should be sufficient for entertaining distinguished guests. He can eat and drink in the restaurant, but He Chunhua has to solve his own dinner problem.

The father and son quietly left the camp without the two monsters, followed by Mao Tao, Shan Youjun and Jiao Tai.

The town is very small, with no more than 200 houses, sheds, and shops in total. The main street is only a few hundred meters long, and you can walk around in just a few steps. It's also very dusty, and the houses are all gray and plain.

There was only one restaurant in the town, and it was used by the county magistrate to entertain Mo Zhe Jingxuan, so the father and son didn't want to go there.

A few people walked around and found that there were not many shops and not many pedestrians, but there were people queuing up as soon as they arrived at the well. He Lingchuan saw his father's serious face and asked him, "What's wrong?"

"It's so dark that not many households have lights." You have to spend money to buy lamp oil and candles. How can the poor afford it? However, people in Dunyu at least turn off their lights after dinner time. The people here probably eat early and go to bed after dark.

"People are so poor here."

He Chunhua sighed, with a worried look on his face: "The further north you go, the worse it will be."

After this trip, he realized that Dunyu's wealth was dozens of times that of other places! The further north you go, the poorer the people are, the fewer households there are, the more desolate the fields are, the more chaotic the officials are, and the poorer the people's livelihood.

He had seen poor people selling their children and daughters in the market, praising their children for eating less and doing more, and begging them to buy them back. The family was all skinny, and the children had expressionless faces when they were sold.

He even heard from the people that the army was "killing good people and taking credit for their merits". All kinds of chaos and corruption are simply shocking.

Poverty leads to chaos.

There is no doubt that he still has a long way to go if he wants to govern Xiazhou well.

"Dad, you can worry about the country and the people after you have eaten." He Lingchuan pointed forward, "How is this place?"

There was light from a restaurant ahead, and the smell of rice wafted out.

There were three horses tied up outside.

Only then did He Chunhua feel his stomach growl: "Go in."

After opening the wind-proof curtain and going in, everyone saw that the restaurant was simple and shabby, with old tables and chairs. Fortunately, the place was quite large and could accommodate seven or eight square tables. There was also a table of guests currently eating.

After the five people sat down, Maotao shouted: "Store, get some food!"

The shop owner said with a bitter look on his face: "Only sour rice noodles and mixed-noodle steamed buns."

He Lingchuan had already seen the people at the front and back tables sucking and slurping powder, and he swallowed his saliva: "Come, come. If you have ingredients, add more!"

Almost all of them are ready-made, and in about half a stick of incense time, five large bowls were placed in front of everyone.

This bowl of sour noodles is composed of three things: coarse noodles, pickled cabbage, and roasted peanuts.

Mung beans are grown locally, so this is bean flour. The cabbage that has been pickled for half the winter is already sour enough, and it is just right for mixing with powder. There is no need for something as rare as vinegar.

As for the peanuts, simply roast them over the fire, don't think about the luxury of frying them. The whole bowl of sour rice noodles didn't have any fishy smell, not even oily flowers.

Everyone was starving, so they felt quite refreshed by using their chopsticks.

Maotao looked at the other tables and imitated the others, asking for a few heads of garlic. Everyone took a bite of rice noodles and a bite of garlic. It was sour, spicy and punchy.

Good luck!

There is also Jiupianer soup, which is noodles boiled in white water, with two pickled cabbage, a few beans, and a plate of bean paste to dip into the mixed noodle steamed buns.

Because there was no meaty taste, He Lingchuan felt empty in his stomach after eating a large bowl of sour noodles, so he ordered two more bowls of Jiupian'er soup and four large steamed buns.

Although the price is cheap, it is not affordable for locals.

He Chunhua asked the store owner while eating: "Do you usually have business?"

The store owner waved his hand: "You can't make any money, you can't make any money!"

Mao Tao interjected: "This is the only road between the north and the south. I think there are some caravans going back and forth, which is better than those villages in the mainland." That means being poor and having nothing but dirt.

The store owner looked disgusted: "The tax and rent are so high, and the money is earned by others and the government!"

He Chunhua asked: "How much tax and rent do I need to pay?" Taxes and rent cannot be avoided when opening a store.

"I make ten coppers, so I have to hand over eight. What money do you think I can make?" The shopkeeper laughed at himself while stirring the soup, "That's just a living without having to sell my daughter."

The customer eating noodles next to him suddenly answered: "Don't listen to his complaints, others can't open this store. Today a large team of people came over, and all the water trucks in the town were used there, so we have no water to use. You see There is a queue at every well. As for him, there is a well behind him, but no one else comes to fight for it."

Since selling fans can at least make some money for yourself, why don’t others sell them?

He Lingchuan wanted to laugh, but couldn't.

There were three guests at that table, all dressed as merchants. He Chunhua asked them: "What business do you guys do?"

"Clothes, lamp oil, etc., and some local products to sell on the way back."

All are must-sell items. "How's business?"

The three people sighed: "No, no, it's not 40% as good as previous years. I won't come next year."

They looked at He Chunhua and others and asked, "Are you also officers and soldiers?"

He Chunhua denied it: "We are going north and follow the officers and soldiers for safety."

"What's to the north?"

He Chunhua said smoothly: "I want to collect some candies."

The store owner heard this and interjected: "It's all in vain if you go, you won't get anything good."

"How to say?"

"About thirty or forty years ago, Xinhuang Town was rich in brown sugar, and it was famous throughout Xiazhou. Sugar beets were grown around the town as far as the eye could see. The old man in the town said that there was no need to worry about selling the brown sugar in those days. Once it was made, People from all over the country are rushing to get it, and I can sell it all the way to Dunyu."

He Chunhua snorted: "We didn't see any beet fields along the way."

"That's long gone. Now most of Xiazhou uses sugar and brown sugar from the Northern Demon Country. It is said that this is one of the conditions agreed between Dayuan and the Northern Demon Country. We must buy hundreds of thousands of kilograms from there every year. Sugar, hey!"

He Lingchuan said: "I have eaten it before. It tastes good and lasts a long time."

Young Master He has never tasted brown sugar at all. Whether in Shihuan or Dunyu, the snacks he has eaten are all made of brown sugar; in Heishui City, he eats local sugar.

"Yes, brown sugar is not expensive. After that, the brown sugar in Xinhuang Town could not be sold. Gradually, no one made sugar. Everyone switched to growing grain, but the land did not produce much. Good food.”

The merchant on the side answered: "You don't know how powerful the Northern Demon Country is. They produce tens of millions of kilograms of sugar every year!"

The store owner was angry: "It's so hateful!"

At this moment, Shan Youjun slapped He Lingchuan hard and said in a moderate voice: "Hey, I'm full. I'm going to find a place to poop. Will you go?"

He was never so disrespectful. He Lingchuan blinked and said, "Let's go."