Pawn Crossing the River

, cross the river pawn

The terrain of Liangzhou is long and narrow, with a large north-south span and a small east-west span. If you go through Liangzhou from north to south, the journey is really not short. You have to pass through several prefectures and more than a dozen counties, a distance of more than a thousand miles. But crossing the waist of Liangzhou from west to east is about the distance of one mansion, and this mansion is Tianshui Mansion.

Not long after Qi Xuansu entered Liangzhou, he arrived at Tianshui Mansion and headed straight for the city.

The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and many places are deserted. Most of the population is concentrated near a few large cities.

It's no wonder that Liangzhou was not able to regain Xizhou back then. Liangzhou was the border. It changed hands several times and was fought for many years. It was true that corpses lay everywhere and blood flowed everywhere. That's all, there are locust plagues and droughts, resulting in famine. As the saying goes, there must be a great plague after a great disaster. Bodies are everywhere and no one is dealing with them. The final plague is inevitable.

There is a saying in the Holy See's "Apocalypse" about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. At the end of the world, a lamb will break the seven seals of the book and summon knights riding four horses: white, red, black and gray. , bringing plague, war, famine and death to mankind who are undergoing the final judgment. At that time, everything in the heaven and earth will be out of balance, the sun and the moon will change color, and then the world will be destroyed.

At that time, Liangzhou had gathered together the so-called Four Horsemen, so it was no exaggeration to say that there were ten houses and nine empty houses. As a result, two-legged sheep and vegetable markets appeared. The young Xuansheng once visited Liangzhou at that time. Although Xuan Sheng, who had just reached the crown, had not been in the flower garden for a long time, and had experienced many winds, rain, fighting and disputes, he was still shocked by the purgatory-like scene on earth and was greatly shocked. Only then did he resolve to save the world, which led to his future success. Daxuan replaced Dawei and Zhongxing Daomen.

After so many years of recuperation, Liangzhou has finally regained some of its vitality, but compared to other states, its population is still sparse.

For Qi Xuansu, the second issue is that there are more people than there are people. The key is that because of Qin Wubing, Qi Xuansu now has the identity of a man in black who can use tiger skin as a banner. With the support of officials, big towns are The safest place, Tianshui Mansion not only has Qingluan Guard's Qianhu Station, but also because it is close to the border, there are also elite men in black stationed there, so that no one else dares to cause trouble here.

Qi Xuansu can take a rest in Fucheng. If he wants to enjoy it, he can go to Taiping Inn. If he wants to save money, he can go to the contact point of Qingpinghui.

However, entering Tianshui Prefecture does not mean arriving at Fucheng. There is still a long way to go, probably through several counties.

Qi Xuansu wanted to go straight to the capital of Tianshui Mansion without stopping, but he encountered a late spring cold. Although the apricot blossoms and drizzle were already blooming in Jiangnan and other places at this time, and everything was blooming and full of vitality, the northwest was still cold and freezing, as if it had not yet emerged from the afterglow of winter. A late spring cold not only caused the temperature to drop sharply, but also It's also snowing.

It's really flying snow that kills people.

Qi Xuansu was lucky. He had bought a wind-resistant cloak in advance. His blood and energy had increased, and he was strong and not afraid at all. However, the horse he bought was a little unbearable. He had frostbite and staggered on his feet.

When Qi Xuansu and the others went to the Western Regions, they rode all the way.

The horses provided by the sect are all carefully selected and carefully bred exotic horses. They not only have excellent endurance, can run long distances, but are also cold and drought-resistant, which is not comparable to ordinary horses.

Since ancient times, good horses are worth thousands of gold. Qi Xuansu now rides this horse for less than fifty peace dollars. It is exactly what you pay for. The transportation is acceptable, but it would be unreasonable to ask for too much.

Qi Xuansu had to find a place to escape the wind and snow, but the territory of Liangzhou was desolate. Not to mention inns, there were not many inns.

After all, now that there is a "Xunfu Array", the 600-mile express and the 800-mile express have been cancelled, and the functions of the post station have been cut in half, leaving only the function of receiving officials, but Liangzhou is mostly occupied by military personnel. However, there were no officials of all sizes, such as the Salt Patrol Censor, the Municipal Shipping Department, the Weaving Bureau, the Hedao Yamen, and the Water Transport Yamen. There were not many officials coming and going, so most of the inns were abolished.

Qi Xuansu could only brave the wind and snow, walking and searching.

After walking for about twenty miles, Qi Xuansu finally found a village called Xiangjiabao. Different from the villages in Jiangnan and Jiangbei, this place was more like a fortress, surrounded by walls, high and thick, with well-proportioned turrets and arrow towers. There are also hanging doors. If you encounter banditry or war, you can form a stronghold to protect yourself, which can be regarded as a relic of the wars of the past many years.

Now that the world is at peace, the hanging gate of the fort is lowered and one can come and go freely.

Qi Xuansu rode into the fort. Because of the heavy snow, every house was closed. Qi Xuansu walked along the road in the fort and came to a big house. There was a lantern hanging in the wind and snow, and a piece hanging high in the middle. There is a plaque with gold characters on a black background and the two characters "Xiang Zhai" written on it.

Still a gentleman.

The reason why Qi Xuansu could tell that it was a gentry family had nothing to do with whether the family was wealthy or not, but the word "Zhai" on the plaque.

There have been strict regulations on the names of residences since ancient times. No matter how different dynasties change, they have always been the same. Generally speaking, the rulers and princes are called mansions, the remaining officials are called residences, and the common people are called homes. Palaces and halls are reserved exclusively for the royal family, and those who use them without permission are regarded as trespassing.

In this dynasty, the residences of first- and second-rank officials and princes were called mansions, the houses of other officials were called zhai, and the houses of common people were called homes, so there were prime minister's mansion, minister's mansion, bachelor's mansion, and general's mansion. There are also royal palaces, duke palaces, and marquis palaces, and there is nothing that can be called a palace further down. In addition, the local governor-general's mansion and governor's mansion are actually government offices. In other words, the governor-general, governor and other frontier officials temporarily live in government offices and use the government offices as their home. This "mansion" is actually the government office.

As for the Taoist sect, people from this palace or that house naturally do not abide by the rules, but there is no way. The Taoist sect is so powerful that no one can do anything about it. Power may not be the truth, but it can establish rules. Moreover, since ancient times, Taoist Buddhist temples have been called palaces and halls. Strictly speaking, these palaces and halls are not used by Taoist priests and monks, but are dedicated to Taoist ancestors and Buddhas. Taoist priests and monks serve as temporary servants. Living here, the royal family cannot go against the sky full of gods and Buddhas, which is considered a special case.

If this family can hang a plaque with the name "Xiang Zhai", it means that someone in the family is an official, or there have been officials in the ancestors, but they were not able to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister and cannot be called the government.

This can be regarded as experience in the world. At least when Qi Xuansu first came out of the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, he would never identify a gentry family from the word "house", and would only regard it as an ordinary rich man.

Qi Xuansu dismounted his horse and came forward, knocking on the door.

After a while, a concierge opened the door from the inside and saw Qi Xuansu with a snowy cloak. He was surprised and asked: "Your Majesty is..."

Qi Xuansu took out his waistband and imitated the tone of the man in black: "A certain family is a soldier of General Loulan. When passing through here, we suddenly encountered heavy snow and the road was difficult to travel. I wanted to use your land to escape the heavy snow temporarily. I hope I can go there." convenient."

When the concierge saw the genuine black waist tag, he did not dare to neglect it and said: "Please wait a moment, Lord Jun, I will go and report to the master first. In addition, I am short-sighted. Could you please bring the waist tag to me, Lord Jun?" The master has seen it?”

"Thank you." Qi Xuansu handed over his badge and took a few steps back.

The concierge took the badge, bowed, and turned to leave.

After a while, the concierge came back, bringing with him a follower. He first respectfully returned the badge to Qi Xuansu, and then said: "My master invites the military master to come into the house for a talk. Please follow me."

At the same time, the attendant stepped forward to take the reins and take care of the horse for Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu followed the concierge and walked into the house.

The house with two entrances is large in scale and planted with vegetation. Although it has withered and withered due to the cold weather, it can be seen that the gentry's family is still somewhat elegant.

However, not long after Qi Xuansu entered the gate, he felt his heart skip a beat and his back felt like being pricked by a needle. Something seemed wrong.

He frowned slightly, stared closely at the concierge walking in front, and used the "Yin-Yang Eye", a personal magical power that he had not used for a long time. This small-scale method came from the alchemist's inheritance, and was inferior to the alchemist's medium-level method "Transparent Dharma Eye". . The "Transparent Dharma Eye" can directly immobilize ghosts, while the "Yin Yang Eye" can only detect ghosts and ghosts, but for Qi Xuansu, it is enough.

The scene in front of Qi Xuansu changed accordingly, but it was a bit beyond his expectation. The three lights on the concierge were bright and there was nothing abnormal.

According to Taoism, there are three yang lanterns on the human body, one on the head and the other two on the shoulders. They are the yang fire on the human body. When walking at night, if someone calls your name, Never look in both directions. If it is blown out, it will attract ghosts.

The concierge has plenty of yang energy, so he shouldn't be playing tricks on a deserted house. And even ghosts, unless they are powerful ghosts with good moral character, can't get even half a step closer to Qi Xuansu. Warrior blood is no joke. For ghosts, it is like a furnace, unbearably hot.

Qi Xuansu was a little confused. Could it be his own misunderstanding?

However, he is a person who has been walking in the world for a long time, so he still secretly keeps a close eye on it.