The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 327 The army goes west

The talisman buyer is a craftsman with some skills. As a low-level person who relies on technology and craftsmanship to make a living, his family living conditions are pretty good.

There is a small house with a single courtyard and three rooms, with earthen walls and tiled roofs. There are five or seven people in the family. They have enough clothes to keep out the cold and enough food to fill their stomachs.

This is the current living situation of the vast majority of people in Bianliang City. As long as they can endure hardship, are willing to work hard, and have some skills, even ordinary lower-level people can basically live a good life in Bianliang City of the Song Dynasty in this era. taste.

Of course, this is due to the unique status of Bianliang City.

As far as Bianliang City is concerned, it is a unique city in the world. Its scale, population density, economic structure, and social vitality are all unique in this plane and on this land. The existence of one copy.

The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty plundered the taxes, products, food, and talents of the entire Song Dynasty, and then concentrated them in Bianliang, thus allowing Bianliang City to achieve prosperity that was almost impossible to achieve with the normal productivity of this era.

Bring the benefit of the world to one city!

This means that Bianliang City is essentially a consumption-oriented political and cultural city.

It was this abnormal situation of great abundance of resources that gave rise to the prosperity of technology, culture, handicrafts and commerce in Bianliang City, which in turn led the entire Song Dynasty and even the world.

The cultural giants in Bianliang City are the most concentrated; the technical level of the craftsmen in Bianliang City is the highest and the largest; the businessmen in Bianliang City are the most knowledgeable, and almost all of them are certain The white gloves of a powerful man.

Of course, a similar situation would play out in every capital city during the Han Dynasty era in the Central Plains, until the entire head worship system collapsed completely, and then reincarnation began again.

The ultimate purpose of existence of 90% of the people in Bianliang City is to serve the bureaucracy of the Song Dynasty, which only accounts for 12% of the city's total population.

Whether it is the lowest level of laborers, craftsmen, vendors, servants, or businessmen, shopkeepers, handicraft bosses, etc., every drop of sweat they shed exists for this ultimate goal.

Of course, the so-called service is naturally rewarded. Countless resources and wealth were allocated to officials and the army by the Song Dynasty court in the form of various salaries and benefits, and then transferred to the people at the bottom in the form of salary.

It was in this way that the Song Dynasty gathered the material resources of the world to maintain the balance and operation of Bianliang City, a classical megacity with a population of one million.

In the past, the rulers (ruling class) of the Song Dynasty also had a relatively clear understanding of this, so they were also quite cautious in managing the city.

However, in the next twenty years, a certain great calligrapher with a defective brain and his "loyal ministers" would completely destroy this balanced operation.

For example, a certain "Wang Taiwei" creatively "discovered" the endless labor force contained in the Forbidden Army.

Isn't it ridiculous that these fellows are hiding in the military camp and basking in the sun every day while receiving official military pay for nothing? Go and work for me!

Then all walks of life in Bianliang City, freight, construction, catering...

In any industry that can make money in Bianliang City, the labor teams from the Imperial Army of the Song Dynasty will have a hand, even the delicious Ye Xiangxing is no exception.

Wang Qing, one of the future four great bandits, was defeated in the competition of Ye Xiangxing and had to leave Huaixi.

As for what Taiwei Wang did, he saved a lot of money for the great calligrapher, and then he used the money and food to repair the garden and build "Gen Yue".

Naturally, it was impossible for the great calligrapher to manage the garden himself, but he entrusted this work to his loyal ministers.

Of course, we cannot expect those most loyal ministers to be very honest. They embezzled almost all the project funds, and then cleverly created names such as "Hua Shi Gang" and "Kuo Tian Wu".

In the end, Hua Shigang triggered the Fangla Uprising, the largest among the four bandits, while Kuo Tianwu was the source of the Liangshan Uprising by Song Jiang and others.

There is an interesting statistic. From the founding of the Song Dynasty to the Daguan period of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, for more than 140 years, the population of Bianliang City has been on an upward trend.

During the Zhenghe period of Huizong (1111-1118), the population growth of Bianliang City stagnated. In the following eras such as Chonghe and Xuanhe, the population of Bianliang City showed a downward trend.

This is undoubtedly an extremely abnormal phenomenon for the capital city of an empire.

It is a pity that today's Zhao Guan family does not realize this.

The craftsman bought the so-called magic talisman and ran back home like a thief. He murmured a few words to some family members, and then he distributed the paper talismans. Everyone held a talisman, and then came to a mouth. In front of the cellar.

However, there was a sound of cutting wood in the cellar. The craftsman said a few words to his wife and mother before getting down from the cellar.

An oil lamp was lit in the cellar, and an old man with a strange smile on his face was using his claws and teeth to carve some mysterious lines on a bed-like piece of wood.

Its claws are almost better than the best carving knife or chisel, and its teeth are easier to cut wood than the most durable saw and axe. Sawdust flew on the thick wooden board, and soon a palace was filled with weird and changeable styles. It appeared on it instantly.

But the craftsman did not dare to look at the engraving, and only whispered: "Dad, the child has asked for some talismans. Dad, please swallow one with water, and then eat some!"

The old man's eyes flashed with a fierce look of impatience, but quickly disappeared, and he only frowned and said: "I'm asking for a magic talisman! It's useless to eat it! The old man just wants to complete the engraving before he completely loses his mind, so as not to be raped." I'm going to punish you. Just go and don't come to the cellar again unless you have nothing to do! Otherwise, if the old man goes crazy, I'm afraid he will tear you apart!"

The craftsman's heart trembled when he heard it. Yesterday, his father was not so crazy. He only asked him to ask for some magic talismans to drink to suppress his evil thoughts. Today, he refused to take the talismans.

What should I do? !

The craftsman held up the paper talisman and said sincerely: "Dad, this is a really good talisman. It is said that it was painted by the Taoists of Yuxiao Temple. It is very effective. If you eat it, it will be of some use."

The old man looked at the talisman paper, but showed some disgust, and said angrily: "Sister-in-law! Where did you get the talisman paper from? It smells bad! Huh? It smells bad? Jie Jie! Finally let us I’ve got you by the tail! Stupid demon-suppressor!”

The old man immediately changed his face and said with a smile: "My son is really a lucky charm! After finding such a good talisman, the old man felt much clearer after just smelling it. If you have a way, you should Please ask for more, whether the old man can survive this time depends on the creation of this talisman."

The craftsman was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately took a bowl of water, melted the talisman in it, and placed it in front of the old man.

The old man had a constipated expression on his face, but he gritted his teeth, picked up the bowl, and swallowed the talisman water in one gulp.

When he was holding the bowl, the five fingers on his exposed palm had already turned into razor-like claws, which looked very scary.

But the craftsmen didn't take it seriously. There were nearly 30,000 craftsmen's households in Bianliang City, and there were many craftsmen with similar limb mutations. Especially the more skilled the craftsman, the greater the chance of such mutations in the hands and feet.

When the craftsman saw his father taking the talisman water, he smiled happily, then said goodbye to the old man and left the cellar.

When the old man waited for his son to go out, his expression suddenly changed. He lay on the ground and vomited violently, only to spit out the talisman water he had swallowed.

It glared at the cellar exit with a sinister look on its face, and muttered in a low voice: "Straight bitch! Once our family enters this world, we will definitely let the family's skulls soak in the cesspool and stink for ten thousand years!"

At this time, Ergou and Chen Guang were standing outside the craftsman's house, silently looking at the courtyard.

Ergou used his spiritual vision to check the inside, but whispered: "There is some strange spiritual energy in it. As the senior brother expected, there is something evil happening here. Senior brother, is your talisman paper of any use?" ?”

Chen Guang smiled and said: "My talisman paper was originally drawn by Gu Taoist who was looking for it on the street. It is of little use. After I bought it from Sa family, I marinated it with salt essence for three days and three nights. I believe it will be useful to some people." It should taste very good to evil spirits!" Indeed, salt essence is not very lethal to evil spirits, but evil spirits hate the smell of salt essence. Of course, it is not a smell that can be smelled by human noses, but a smell that can be smelled by human noses. A perception based on the psychic level.

This kind of breath is to evil spirits and villains just like the stench emitted by a big cesspit that has been brewing for ten years is to humans. Although it is not fatal, it is enough to cause a heavy psychological shadow blow.

This is why salt essence is so effective in protecting demon-suppressing people.

Even if you are a sweet and delicious little white flower, if your body is covered with strong-smelling excrement, no matter how cruel and lustful the villain is, you will subconsciously stay away.

No one knows why salt essence has this characteristic, not even the inventor Ergou.

With characteristics like this that no one knows the cause of, no matter how powerful the evil villain is, there is no way to crack it in a targeted manner.

It is precisely because the protective effect of salt essence is so powerful that even though Ergou has repeatedly expanded its production capacity, the output of salt essence has always been in short supply.

As long as there is a smart demon-suppressor who doesn't store three to five kilograms of salt essence for himself as a back-up, then he has a flaw in his brain.

The key is that this thing is an almost indispensable consumable.

Of course, even if there is a shortage of salt essence, Ergou cannot deprive his master, his wife, and others of their needs.

In these days, salt essence can be used as ordinary table salt, and there are hundreds of thousands of households in the entire Bianliang City, including the Pang Family House and a few others.

Ergou also showed a smile and said: "That's good! This time of evil spirits, will you be the one to do it, senior brother or me?"

Chen Guang said with a smile: "It's better to come to Sajia! Once you take action, I'm afraid you will leave some traces, which will easily attract the attention of evil spirits."

Ergou laughed and said, "Senior Brother, the noise you made by your actions will be huge!"

Chen Guang smiled, but he concentrated on himself and faced the house in front of him.

In Ergou's spiritual vision, he saw countless thick fogs covering the craftsman's house, and then a colorful phoenix descended from the sky, directly pushing away some thick fogs, and then with just one grab, he grabbed out a man covered with clothes. Lan Yu's multi-eyed crow monster.

The monster screamed, but howled miserably: "No! Our family is just a small role, how could we attract the attention of the Demon-Suppressing Phoenix! No! Such an ending should not happen! Our family's fate should not be like this... "

Before the evil demon could say more, the colorful phoenix tore the evil demon into pieces and swallowed it in one gulp.

This is the innate ability of Chen Guang's Phoenix Mind. He can swallow those fallen souls with his Mind, and use the Phoenix Divine Flame to purify them in a return-to-origin style.

When the evil thoughts in the soul are completely purified, the soul origin swallowed by the Phoenix Thought will automatically escape and go to the soul's final destination.

It is undeniable that this is a very powerful natural ability.

The only drawback is that it cannot redeem fallen souls on a large scale.

Chen Guang can only devour and purify one fallen soul at a time. The duration of each purification, depending on the degree of corruption of the target soul, can be as little as one day or as long as dozens of days. For example, the fallen soul that Chen Guang just swallowed has transformed into a real evil demon. , it will take at least a month to complete its purification.

Normally, it is not cost-effective to purify and redeem such a transformer. Not to mention the time consumed, the key point is that this completely transformed soul itself carries some original sin that cannot be eliminated.

Chen Guang - would rather save those innocent people infected by the evil spirit.

However, in order to protect Ergou's whereabouts from being leaked, Chen Guang had no choice but to accept the evil spirit's soul.

Otherwise, even if it is killed directly, the evil soul will be reborn in the evil god's realm in the subspace, and then leak some secrets.

After dealing with the evil spirits, Chen Guang and Ergou quietly left the place without disturbing the family of craftsmen who bought the talisman. Only the old man in the cellar rolled his eyes, showing a dazed expression.

Not long after, when the craftsman entered the cellar again, he found that his father had been stunned.

The craftsman was a little panicked, but he only looked at some woodblock carvings that his father had already completed. After all, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with joy.

Then the craftsman's mother and wife heard the craftsman's loud crying.

A few days later, rumors spread on the street that the father of this family of craftsmen had to survive in order to complete the engraving mission sent by the temple.

However, Ergou and Chen Guang completed the task of dispelling evil spirits, so they went to pick up a pick from the retired old town devil's shop and continued walking along the street.

Ergou asked: "Brother, how common is this situation in Bianliang City?"

Chen Guang sighed and said: "Originally there were not many, but now he began to favor those evil ways and sent craftsmen to him. When the construction of temples and Taoist temples began, some of the craftsmen who participated in the construction began to have problems, especially those with top skills. Craftsmen are most susceptible to evil spirits."

Ergou sighed in a pretentious manner and said: "Alas! When the country is about to perish, there must be monsters!"

Chen Guang looked at Ergou with a strange look, frowned and said: "Junior brother, you are talking nonsense! Our Song Dynasty is at its peak. Although the current official family has some shortcomings, all the ministers and ministers are all capable people, and the country is rich and the army is strong. , almost destroyed Xixia, the Liao people were afraid and did not dare to spy, how could they dare to say that the country was about to perish?!"

Ergou only smiled and said nothing.

What could he say? Could he tell his senior brother that the Song Dynasty would end up in war in just twenty years due to the desperate manipulation of today's officials, and then be destroyed by the barbarians from the north in a single battle?

Stop dreaming!

In the prosperous times, it is said that it flourishes but then declines. To say it is good is to be unfounded, and to say it is bad is to say that it is crazy.

In the following days, Ergou did not continue shopping with Chen Guang. Instead, he made some secret plans with Old Man Chen, Mrs. Pang and others, and then returned to the military camp.

Because the rebels recruiting for peace were about to break camp and march westward.

(End of this chapter)