The rise of the prince

Chapter 437
Jiangzhou Ferry gradually returned to its former bustle.

There are five or six benches and two small tables under a small stall by the river. The owner is an old man with an eight or nine-year-old child, and they sell oil-splashed noodles from the other side of the mountain.

Li Xingzhou ordered three bowls and sat at a small table with two yamen servants. After a while, the hot noodles came.

These two yamen servants were introduced to him by Wang Ke. Zhou Yong and Zhou Tong brothers said that they can rest assured.

The large blue and gray ceramic bowl served by the store is as big as the small basin used at home, and the portion is quite sufficient.

"Is the old man from Shanxi? This noodle tastes good." Li Xingzhou asked while eating the hot noodle.

The boss smiled brightly: "The guest officer has good eyesight, old man, I was originally from Taiyuan Prefecture. Later, when my daughter married to Jiangzhou, I followed her. I came here to do some small business with my skills."

Li Xingzhou nodded, chatting with the old man while looking at the riverside building on the other side of the river.

According to the two days of interrogation, the situation has become clearer and clearer. The owner of the riverside building not only collects protection money, but also has great powers. He can snatch people from prisons. Come out and say that his words are more useful than the emperor.

Looking across the river from here, there are people coming and going in the building on the other side of the river bank, mixed with good and bad people, but there is nothing particularly noteworthy, but the prisoners all agree that the riverside building by the ferry, from the outside, is just a It's an ordinary teahouse, even a little dilapidated and unremarkable.

If he was allowed to approach carefully and observe the micro-expressions of people passing by, Li Xingzhou might be able to see some clues, but now he dare not get too close, for fear of scaring the snake.

Zhou Tong and Zhou Yong stared closely at the other side of the river while eating. They brought them here to let them recognize someone. After all, Li Xingzhou is new here and he is not familiar with the place where he lived.

While chatting with the noodle stall owner, he talked about his hometown Taiyuan, talked about some folk customs there, and slowly talked about the bandits in that area.

The west of Taihang Mountain is notoriously full of bandits. First, the environment is harsh and it is difficult to survive by farming. Second, it is the west of Taihang Mountain and the east of Luliang Mountain.

There was a bloody battle between the Northern Han Dynasty and the State of Jing. After the fall of the Northern Han Dynasty, the founding emperor of the State of Jing wanted to move the population of this generation to the south, but the people refused. So the army of the State of Jing set fire to the city, trying to force the people to move south. Many backbone Taiyuan people were burned to death in the city and did not leave.

Later, Emperor Taizong of Jingguo had no choice but to give up this plan. Although he gave up, many people began to hate the court and fight against the court from then on, and banditry gradually grew.

"It's not just Jiangzhou, even Taiyuan Prefecture is also affected by Black Mountain bandits, but Taiyuan is different." The old man had no guests for the time being, so he simply sat down and chatted with him.

"What's the difference?"

The old man said: "There is no mountain across Taiyuan. The bandits want to rob things. It is easier to walk than the east, but not many dare to go to the west to rob. Most of them go over the mountains to the east to rob, because there are Yang's army in the west, and the east is far away." No face."

"Is Yang Jiajun so good?" Li Xingzhou asked curiously.

As soon as he mentioned the Yang family army, the old man's eyes lit up: "That's not true! I have been fighting with the Liao country for decades, and the people of the Liao country are crying and calling for their mothers. Who else can do it."

Li Xingzhou nodded. The west of Taihang Mountain and the east of Luliang Mountain are indeed a simple and tough land.

In this land, since ancient times, all the people who have been born in China are teachers who can conquer goodness. It is probably because the harsh natural environment has created people's tenacity, and it is also possible that people's endurance and physique have been trained at higher altitudes. , This is a land that produces a strong army.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the long-term hegemony of the Jin State began. Throughout the dynasties, the Shanxi area has been the front line of the north against foreign enemies. The famous Yang Jiajun and others are all from this generation.

However, what the old man said has limitations. Taiyuan Mansion can have the Yang family army, because it is the front line against the Liao Kingdom. There are tens of thousands of troops stationed in the Sanjiao area, but there will never be such a large-scale army in Jiangzhou on the east side of Taihang Mountain. garrison.

Firstly, it is unnecessary, and the imperial court can’t afford it; secondly, if it takes about three days to go from Jiangzhou to Kaiyuan by land, and even more so by water, it can be reached in one day and one night. With such a distance, the emperor can’t rest assured that Jiangzhou will become a city. Taiyuan.

Li Xingzhou was chatting casually with the old man, and also talked about some interesting things.

For example, the bandits of the first generation in Shanxi are everywhere, but there are three biggest ones, the black leopard, the blind bear, and the jade-faced fox.

The Black Leopards are more reasonable in the hearts of the common people. They can save their lives by honestly giving money and food. If they meet people from Xiongzhai, they will most likely die and be killed.

Among them, the jade-faced fox is the most capable, daring to snatch it west of Taihang Mountain, and the Yang family army is not afraid when it comes.

Li Xingzhou was surprised: "What kind of bandit is this? The Yang family army is not afraid."

The old man nodded: "No, that jade-faced fox is not a human being. The jade-faced fox will eat children under the age of five to keep her young and not grow old. It can do witchcraft and sorcery, so it is not afraid of the Yang family army."

Li Xingzhou laughed after hearing this.

"Guest officer, don't you believe it. The jade-faced fox robs money and food, and like the black leopard, it doesn't kill people very much. But if there is a child in any house, it will be taken away, and then it will not believe it at all. Everyone will see it." No, she ate them all." The old man vowed.

Li Xingzhou was also surprised at once, why grab the child?

Adults can do labor if they snatch it back, but children can’t do labor if they snatch it back, and they have to work hard to raise them?

Just as he was thinking, Zhou Yong suddenly whispered: "My lord, my lord, I know that person!"

Li Xingzhou hurriedly looked in the direction of his finger. He was pointing at a tall and strong man at the entrance of the river building opposite. He was about to enter the building, and everyone hurriedly gave way wherever he went.

This big man is bare-chested in winter, his abdomen protrudes into a small arc, and his waist is as thick as three or four people.

Many people have misunderstandings about strength, thinking that people with abdominal muscles and a well-proportioned figure can fight, but the actual situation is often not.

It mainly depends on the waist. People with too small waists look good, but they are definitely not capable of fighting hard.The ancients praised people for being strong and powerful, also known as a strong-backed and strong-backed.This is because people who do high-intensity strength training have thick waistlines, because people's strength comes from the back. While strengthening the core muscle groups, a large amount of fat is needed to store physical strength, and the endurance is longer and the resistance to blows is stronger.

Therefore, weight fighters, strongmen, sumo wrestlers, etc. generally have very fleshy abdomen. In ancient times, it was called general belly, which is similar to beer belly, but with higher fat and muscle density, so people with only a few abdominal muscles are often unable to fight. of.

Those who can really fight are like the one on the other side of the river. Li Xingzhou can tell at a glance that if this kind of person really fights, ten people may not be able to stop him.

"Who is he?" he asked quietly.

"This man's nickname is Dou Cock, and some people call him Dou Cock. He is a well-known bully in Jiangzhou." Zhou Yong whispered.

Li Xingzhou asked, "Has he ever been in a cell?"

Zhou Yong shook his head: "My lord, no one dares to arrest this kind of person. Some of the subordinates don't say anything, and they don't want to die. If they don't have a little relative, if they get him in, maybe the family will die." to suffer."

Li Xingzhou nodded, he understands this, this is the scary thing about criminals.

(End of this chapter)