Chastity Layman

  Chapter 1292 Talented Jade Meteor Tongguan Night

Tongguan is the gateway to Chang'an. Although the imperial court has moved its capital to Luoyang and the world has been at peace for a long time, Tongguan's military dangers are no longer prominent, but it is an important pass between the two capitals after all, so the imperial court always has a town of soldiers and horses here. Scheduled patrols.

  Sun Erniang seemed to know the patrol arrangements here well. After resting in the forbidden ditch for an hour, she sneaked eastward in the dark night.

  The silver moonlight shines on both sides of the silent Yellow River.

  After receiving Weishui and Luoshui in front of Tongguan, the Yellow River was blocked by the Qinling Mountains, turned at ninety degrees to the east, cut deep all the way, and flowed eastward.

  A Tongguan not only connects Chang'an and Luoyang, but also across the river to the north is Hedong and Fenglingdulian. Because of this unique geographical location, Tongguan has not only become a battleground for military strategists, but also an important industrial and commercial town in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Sun Erniang looked at this familiar place. She knew that Tongguan had a population of 100,000. Tongguan originally belonged to Huazhou and belonged to Huayin County. .

   Tongguan County is just west of Tongguan.

  But on both sides of the county town surrounded by the city wall, in addition to the Tongguan with four gates, there are also warehouses, inns, restaurants, shops, workshops, and workshops. Although there is no city wall, they are still gathered into towns.

   Tongguan has such a large population, the most important thing is the prosperity of logistics and transportation.

  Although the logistics in Tongguan was not as prosperous as in Shanzhou, it is still very prosperous as it connects the three places.

To the east of Tongguan, Sanmenxia in Shanzhou has a dangerous shoal of 120 miles. The water transportation of the Yellow River is difficult, which severely restricts the water transportation of the Yellow River, so that a large amount of materials can only bypass this dangerous shoal by land, which also makes Tongguan an important place. logistics center.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, all dynasties have repaired the mainstay of Shanzhou that restricts water transportation, from digging stones to building plank roads on both sides of the bank, and manpower pulling fibers. In the Sui Dynasty, it was stipulated that the water transportation between Luoyang and Shanzhou should be changed to land transportation. In the middle is the rugged and narrow Xiaoshan valley, the land transportation is extremely difficult, and the water transportation cannot keep up.

  Later, we had to build the plank road instead of the water channel.

  But these two old methods are not effective.

  In Zhenguan, when Qin Lang was a transshipment envoy, he was ordered to solve the problem of grain entering Chang'an. The key difficulty was the section of Shanzhou. Later, Qin Lang proposed a plan, which was to still change to land transportation.

  In the valley of Xiaoshan Mountain, a special track was opened up, using four split tracks, transported by Marado four-wheeled cargo carriages, and 18 station delivery yards were established along the way, and the relay transport was carried out by transfer method.

   Directly from Luoyang to Tongguan, warehouses are set up in turn, and a transportation track of 500 miles is established, supplemented by Yellow River water transportation.

Although it is still transshipment by land, because the transfer method is adopted for the five hundred miles, that is, segmental transportation, storage and transshipment along the way, and the efficiency of the track is much stronger than that of ordinary oxcart transportation in the past. On the track, four-wheeled carriages are used. Multi-sections can be connected in series, saving capacity and improving efficiency.

  The only troublesome thing about this plan is that there is a high demand for the pulling power of cattle and horses. It would definitely not work during the Wude Dynasty. At that time, there was a shortage of cattle and horses, and cattle and horses had to be the main force of farming. But for the Zhenguan Dynasty, cattle and horses are no longer a problem.

  So this plan was implemented, from the first track to the later four tracks, connecting Luoyang to Tongguan, and then the goods can directly enter the Yongtongqu Canal and reach Chang'an.

   Its transportation volume and efficiency are dozens of times higher than in the past, but this has also brought Tongguan to become an important logistics distribution center, and it has even gradually surpassed Shanzhou.

   Above and below the plateau, there are thousands of lights.

  There are warehouses, car dealers, etc. everywhere.

  Because of the rapid development, the county town of Tongguan couldn't accommodate it. Pieces of houses were built outside the city, with shops and shops all over the place.

  In the thick night, Sun Erniang sneaked around like a ghost.

   It's four o'clock.

   There were terrified shouts from an inn.

   "Waterfall!"

   But the fire was too fast, and the flames quickly engulfed the entire inn.

  There is a special watchtower in the county seat, and the people on duty are very dedicated. When they find a house on fire outside the city, they immediately send out an alarm.

  The submerged fire brigade immediately dispatched submerged fire fighters with various fire-fighting tools to the scene to fight the fire.

  The action was swift, but they still failed to put out the fire in the inn in time.

   Fortunately, they quickly controlled the fire and prevented it from spreading.

The captain of Qianhuo investigated the scene immediately, and finally came to the conclusion that among the guests staying in the inn yesterday, there was a group of oil merchants who stayed in the inn with thousands of catties of oil. The fire, so that the fire quickly burned half of it.

  The fire ignited so quickly that some guests in the inn were unable to escape.

   But fortunately, only one yard was burned,

"The five oil merchants who lived in another yard were fine, and the innkeeper and clerks were not injured. Only a group of people from Luoyang, the yard where three of them lived were burnt down, and the rescue failed. All three master and servant died. "

  The body had been burned beyond recognition, but after some investigation, the identity was roughly confirmed.

  The innkeeper's face was full of smoke and fire, and he fell to the ground with the fellows who were also in a mess, as if mourning.

   Those oil dealers were immediately controlled. At this time, they complained of injustice and innocence.

  The people nearby who helped put out the fire looked at the three charred bodies that were carried out, and they all sighed there.

  Companions of the burnt dead, more than a dozen men from Luoyang stood there with pale faces, terrified.

   It's like the sky is falling.

  Among the crowd of onlookers.

  Sun Erniang mixed with the crowd with a fire fighting bucket in her hand.

  The captain of the submerged fire began to ask the companion of the guest who was unfortunately burned to death, and asked the identity of the burned person.

   "No one is allowed to move the corpse. Immediately block the scene and call for the county magistrate of Tongguan immediately, and send someone to Tongguan. Please come over from Tongguan town."

  The man from Luoyang gritted his teeth and made a hoarse voice.

  The submerged fire captain was about to scold him, but the man took out a fish talisman.

   "I am Sun Dezhao, Lieutenant of Baiqi School, hurry up!"

Seeing the fish talisman, Captain Qianhuo gasped. Although the Baiqi Division had been abolished by Emperor Taizong, the Baiqi Division had existed for more than 20 years, and its reputation was not inferior to that of the Zhen Fu Division. In theory, Baiqisi is even closer to the emperor than Zhenfusi, and he is the emperor's close follower.

  Although the Baiqi Division has withdrawn, the Baiqi Battalion is still there, and it is still the emperor's servant.

  Captain Submerged Fire reckoned that something happened to him, it was a big deal.

Although he didn't understand why the three girls who were burned to death were escorted by Baiqi, they didn't even live in the official post house, but lived in such an inn, and there was no Report your true identity.

   But these are all ignored, a lieutenant of Baiqi, a sixth-rank military officer, is already higher than their county magistrate in Tongguan, not to mention, this is the emperor's close follower.

  Captain Qianhuo wanted to say something nice to this man, but the other party glared at him and shouted, "Get lost!"

  The lieutenant with a gloomy face ordered his subordinates and the diving team to drive away the surrounding people, and the three corpses were also surrounded.

  Sun Erniang carried the bucket and followed the others back.

  Amidst the noisy discussion, it gradually fell into darkness and disappeared slowly.

   Three days later.

  Qin Lang arrived in Tongguan.

  Tongguan town general and county magistrate all came to pay respects to Qin Lang.

  Here, he also met the hundred cavalry captain.

   "General Xu is coming."

  Huazhou Inspector Hao Chujun was a Jinshi of Zhenguan and a student of Qin Lang. His father, Hao Xianggui, was once the governor of Chuzhou, and he was granted the title of Duke of Zengshan County. Of course, the most important background of He Chujun's family is his grandfather Xu Shao. Xu Shao was an old classmate of the great ancestor Li Yuan. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Xu Shao was the general guard of Yiling. Later, he returned to the Tang Dynasty with Qian'an, Wuling and Liyang.

  At that time, He Chujun's father joined the Tang Dynasty with his father-in-law Xu Shao, and was granted the title of Duke.

  The Xu family’s ancestral home was Gaoyang, but Xu Shao’s grandfather and father both served as the governor of Chuzhou, so they immigrated to Chuzhou and became a local tycoon. Li Yuan’s father, Li Shi, was once the governor of Anzhou, so Xu Shao and Li Yuan’s childhood classmates had a very friendly relationship.

   Relying on this relationship, the Xu family has a good position in the Tang Dynasty.

Especially when Li Jing just returned to the Tang Dynasty, he was ordered to go south to crusade against Xiao Xian, but the result was unfavorable. Li Yuan asked Xu Shao to kill Li Jing. Xu Shao specifically interceded for Li Jing, so Li Yuan did not kill Li Jing. Therefore, the Xu family received more care from Li Jing.

  The relationship between Qin Lang and the Xu family is not bad. For example, Master Xu Yu was just recommended by Qin Lang as a member of Zhongshushe. This master Xu Yu is also a student of Qin Lang, and at the same time is Xu Shao's youngest son and He Chujun's cousin.

   Xu Yushi not only became the prime minister in history, but he also married his granddaughter to Li Bai, the first poet of the Tang Dynasty.

  He Chujun is several years older than Qin Lang, the master, but his title is only a vain Duke of the county. Although the official position is the governor, it was also recommended by Qin Lang.

  He had just arrived in office, and he came across such a case.

   "The three people burned to death in the inn, one of them was the talented Wu family of the holy ancestor, and his father was the late Ying Guogong warrior Xun."

  He Chujun knew that the Qin family was related to the Wu family, and the sister of the deceased Wu family was Qin Lang's brother-in-law.

  Qin Lang sat there expressionless, "Why is the martial artist here? Why is he escorted by the captain of Baiqi, and why doesn't he stay at the inn?"

  Qin Lang asked three questions in a row.

  Of course He Chujun couldn’t tell. This man had achieved the position of prime minister like his cousin in history, but at this time he had just arrived in Huazhou to take office, his eyes were darkened, and he didn’t know anything, so such a thing happened.

   "Master, I once heard a rumor that the Wu family is the same as today..."

  Qin Lang interrupted him.

"Don't talk nonsense about unfounded things. You should understand how serious the consequences will be if it spreads out. Your position as governor of Huazhou is hard-won. I, grandson, Xu, Cui and others have also won the favor of the great people. The governor of Huazhou is no ordinary governor."

  He Chujun nodded embarrassingly.

   "The students just feel that there seems to be a conspiracy in it!"

  (end of this chapter)