Heavenly Dao Formula

Two days later, Xia Fan could vaguely see the continuous gray walls of Jinxia City.

Different from the temporary "city wall" in Qingshan Town, it was a solid wall that was really used for defense and was strong enough to resist the invasion of foreign enemies. It was more than ten meters high by visual inspection, and densely jagged bunkers, or horse faces, were arranged on the top. Near the corner of the city wall, he even found several city defense equipment similar to trebuchets.

In terms of area alone, most of the ancient cities can never be compared with modern cities, but after all the buildings are surrounded by huge stone walls, the visual impact of the ancient capital is even better.

Moreover, he actually captured a sense of "modernity" that violated harmony in the distant view of the city.

Xia Fan soon realized where this feeling came from—compared with the endless woods and fields along the way, the vicinity of Jinxia City was bare. Not only that, but there was still black smoke filling the back of the city, making the color of the sky a bit gray. Coupled with the tawny earth and the stone city walls, it has a bit of a foggy atmosphere.

If it wasn't for the horse-drawn carriages running on the official road, he almost thought that Jinxia City had already entered the pre-industrial era.

"Brother Wei, what's with the black smoke?" Xia Fan raised his voice and shouted.

Wei Wushuang, who was running ahead, opened the curtains, poked his head back and said, "That's burning salt!"

"Burning salt?" he asked in surprise.

"Hehe, is this your first visit to Jinxia, ​​sir?" The coachman said with a smile, "This is one of the symbols of Shenzhou. In the local population, there are not many people named Jinxia in this city. Everyone calls it "Salt City", or "Smoke City". After all, with the East China Sea on its back and a great river passing by, it was the most suitable line of work. It is said that the smoke has lasted for more than a hundred years since it rose. "

Over a hundred years...meaning it started from Yongguo time?

"Xia Fan, what's the relationship between smoke and salt?" Li asked in a low voice in the carriage.

"He should be talking about using seawater to make salt." After hearing what the coachman said, Xia Fan already had a guess in his mind, "There is a lot of salt in the sea, if you can boil the excess water dry, it is not difficult to extract the salt from it. The smoke should be caused by burning a lot of firewood."

"Young master is very knowledgeable." The driver nodded and said, "This industry is also the reason why Yancheng can become the capital of Shenzhou. It is rumored that all of Daqi uses salt, and Yancheng will account for 30%. Otherwise, this place is poor and white, how can it overwhelm the other three cities and six towns. "

"Is the price the white land outside the city?" Li muttered.

"Then there is no way, people have to live. Once the salt burns, it is impossible to stop."

Indeed, Xia Fan nodded secretly. The salt industry was government-run in ancient times, and it was a state-controlled material. Now that it has become a salt-producing area, how many days and how much it produces is no longer up to the local people. Those who are in charge of this industry can naturally earn a lot of money, but if they fail to meet the requirements of the above, it will only be a matter of a blink of an eye to ransack the family and wipe out the family.

The last few miles were quickly completed. After checking the customs, the carriage slowly passed through the Wengcheng and drove into the city along the main road.

At this time, the gray feeling is more obvious, and even the air is filled with a faint smell of firewood.

Xia Fan noticed that, perhaps in order to reduce the annoying falling dust, most of the passers-by on the street wore bamboo hats, and the better ones were shawls and soft hats. It is common practice to cover their hair. Hiding in the city has a little more confidence.

There was just one thing that didn't meet his expectations: obviously, it was sitting on the river and next to the sea, and the commerce and trade should be very prosperous, but the streets didn't show the vitality they should have. It's not that there are no shops, there are also street hawkers, but it always makes him feel that something is missing.

Xia Fan asked the coachman his doubts.

The latter's answer was somewhat helpless, "Because there are often evil spirits at the seaside..."

Even under the eyes of the Privy Council?

A strange feeling appeared in Xia Fan's heart, but seeing that the other party didn't seem to want to elaborate, he didn't continue to ask.

Two quarters of an hour later, the carriage stopped in front of a towering wall.

"My lord, your destination has arrived."

"You guys wait here." Xia Fan winked at Li in the carriage, then picked up his luggage and got out of the car.

Wei Wushuang also came over there, "Although I have been to Jinxia City several times, this is the first time I have entered the Privy Council Mansion. To be honest... I am a little nervous."

"You and I are already alchemists, what's there to be nervous about, shouldn't this be our own territory?" Xia Fan smiled.

"Brother Xia, that's what I admire the most about you." Wei Wushuang said with emotion, "No matter where you are, you seem to be confident."

"You don't need to shoot flattery, let's go in."

Xia Fan led Wei Wushuang to the main entrance from the side, handed over the documents and put them in the courtyard, and was told that the report was in the "Zhiwei Palace" on the west side.

"This Privy Council...is too big." Wei Wubin exclaimed as he walked.

Xia Fan also felt the same way. There were not only one or two buildings inside the wall, but a dozen or so buildings. They were arranged around the stone plaza in the middle, and looked orderly. The main building facing the gate was close to four The color scheme of the red brick and golden roof is full of solemnity.

He estimated that the entire Privy Council was a circle larger than the track and field, and probably covered an area of ​​more than 20 acres.

With such strong financial resources, it's no wonder they can maintain an examination room like Qingshan Town for a long time.

...

The reporting process went very smoothly. After inspecting the appointment and dismissal orders, the officials in charge of the reception helped the two register in the roster with a friendly attitude, and distributed a set of alchemist uniforms and an eighth-rank bronze medal. In this way, Xia Fan and Wei Wushuang can be regarded as official alchemists of the Privy Council.

"The incumbent is really fast this time, and he arrived before the end of August." The receptionist said with a smile, "With the four people who came before, Zhiwei Palace can also hold the first class."

"What does the first lesson mean?"

"Do alchemists also need to take classes?"

The two asked almost simultaneously.

"Allow me to answer one by one," the receptionist waved his hand, "There is more than one exam room for the scholar's exam, you should know this? The exam results in each place are different, and the incumbent will naturally be different sooner or later. The Privy Council is in charge of a state, and each examination has to accept twenty or thirty new alchemists. It is normal for the time to drag on for several months. However, the evil spirits will never be appeased by this, so it will be too late to start the class after everyone has arrived a bit."

"In order to allow everyone to perform their duties as soon as possible, every time there are six people in Zhiwei Hall, there will be a class. Even if newcomers arrive later, the teaching time can be staggered, and the two will not be mistaken. The same group of alchemists who took office will also be involved in subsequent actions. Form a team of your own, and if there are no other accidents, you will all work together for the Privy Council... no, for my Daqi before further promotion."

After answering Xia Fan's question, he looked at Wei Wushuang, "Of course alchemists need to take lessons—do you think that you are proficient in all spells and know the true meaning of the way of heaven?"

"Uh, of course not, I was rash."

"Hehe...it's okay," the receptionist said with a smile, "In fact, alchemists not only need to learn spells, but also know everything about evil spirits, such as their characteristics and the best way to deal with them. You will understand this in action. After repeated practice, those who perform well can go further. As for the performance that is not so good, you should also be able to guess what the consequences will be..."

Wei Wushuang shrank his neck.

It sounds pretty decent, Xia Fan thought. At least the Privy Council seems to be summarizing the evil information, and emphasizing the combination of practice and cognition, which alone is much higher than the flow of master's experience. Being able to correctly treat things beyond common sense, rather than attribute them to myths and legends, at least the Privy Council has touched the threshold of science in this regard.

Yes, science as a methodology is not so lofty and mysterious. If there are gods in the world, then science will not make people worship, but only make people study. Regardless of whether the cognition is correct or not, it does not matter whether the answer can be found in the end. What is important is that people never forget to seek the truth.

"By the way," the receptionist added, "The Privy Council has a piece of land in the east of the city, and the houses there can be rented to alchemists at a low price. Of course, you can also solve the housing problem yourself, and the mansion will not interfere in any way. As long as it doesn't interfere with official business."

"Evil incidents cannot happen every day, so alchemists are relatively free most of the time, but the two are newcomers, and the front will be a little busy, and it will be much easier next year."

"Tomorrow the first class will start at 4:00 pm, and the place is here. Don't be late, both of you. The lecturer is Mr. Liupin Wenzhang. If you make him unhappy, you will definitely suffer."

"Thank you sir for reminding me."

"Hey, sir, I'm just looking at the door." The other party laughed.

After handcuffing and saying goodbye, Wei Wushuang let out a sigh of relief as the two walked out of Zhiwei Palace.

"Huh... As expected of an official of the Privy Council, he is so enthusiastic and kind. You don't know that I used to do business and deal with the Yamen, and even a small official could make things difficult for a long time."

Xia Fan noticed, however, that the man was not wearing alchemist uniforms, which meant that even though they were both "national civil servants", he and himself were obviously not in the same system, which might be why the other party's attitude was extraordinarily friendly.

Could it be that in this era there are also establishments and temporary workers?

It's just that Xia Fan didn't say the conjecture, "You are also an eighth-rank official now, how can anyone dare to make things difficult at will."

"Ah... If you don't tell me, I almost forgot!" Wei Wushuang said excitedly, "What should an official look like, walking with his legs aside? No need to kneel when entering the yamen? There are more than ten girls in the house? Eating in restaurants The store doesn't charge money?"

The more he said it, the more outrageous it became, Xia Fan rolled his eyes at him, "You ask me, who should I ask?"

"Why don't we put on new clothes later and go around the city?"

"No time, I have to go by myself."

"Brother Xia!"

"It's useless to call it anything, don't talk about it!"

Looking at the fellow countryman who was eager to try, Xia Fan shook his head helplessly.

However, this does not mean that his mood is not fluctuating-in fact, Xia Fan is full of expectations for the future.

For "wanting to learn more about the world", he has now completed the first step and officially entered the threshold.