When leaving the inn and heading to Wenchi County, Pei Changhao was thinking.

More than a dozen bags of food were tied up, covered with floral cloth towels, and there was no way to tell what it was outside.

Su Chungui set out in advance and went to the front for investigation. According to Pei Changhao's request, Su Chungui's investigation distance was no more than ten miles. If an abnormal situation was found, he would come back immediately to report that everyone would not rest along the road before arriving in Wenchi County.

A small number of pedestrians could be seen on the official road. These people looked like a hunch and rushed on the road. No one paid attention to Pei Changhao and his party. As for the sweat-blooded BMW that Pei Changhao rode, most people could not recognize it.

After two killings, Su Chunhua and Su Chungui became tense. Luo Wenhua was a person who had seen the world. He was in a much better mood and seemed relaxed. As for Pei Changhao, he was thinking all the way and couldn't see anything unusual at all.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the walls of Wenchi County appeared in front of them.

Pei Changhao did not plan to enter the city to rest. After all, he rode a sweat-blooded BMW. If someone was recognized in the city, he might get into trouble and would be difficult to deal with it. Luo Wenhua thought of this and took the initiative to rest outside the city. Everyone found an inn not far outside the city, preparing to rest here for most of the day, adjust their health, and continue on the way the next day.

The shopkeeper and the staff in the inn were very enthusiastic, helping to lead the horses and ask about food and accommodation arrangements.

The accommodation here is a bit higher, and it costs one tael of silver to go to a room a night.

Pei Changhao's mood was obviously relaxed a little.

After the hot meal was served, Pei Changhao rarely ordered a pot of wine.

The color of the wine is a bit turbid, and it is mainly sweet when you drink it when you drink it. It is similar to rice wine more than a thousand years later. The brewing technology of this era is far less than the degree of wine more than a thousand years later. This also made Pei Changhao understand that the so-called legend of the ancients drinking thousands of cups was due to the fact that the wine was too low.

Luo Wenhua went to discuss with the shopkeeper, and he needed to deal with more than a dozen bags of grain, which could not be carried along the way.

The price of grain transactions around Wenchi County scared Pei Changhao.

One stone of white rice requires two taels of silver, one stone of white flour requires one tael of eight coins, and one stone of barley flour requires one tael of five coins.

The shopkeeper said that the price of grain has fallen a little in the past month. At its highest, one stone of white rice was close to four taels of silver.

After a brief shock, Pei Changhao was soon relieved. Zhu Wen, the prince of Wuxing, and Qin Zongquan, the governor of Caizhou, ended for only four months. This fierce battle that lasted for nearly half a year was very large. The battle was dispatched by both sides. If Zhu Wen had not been helped by Zhu Xuan, the governor of Yanzhou, and Zhu Jin, the governor of Yunzhou, he might not have been able to defeat Qin Zongquan.

In such a large-scale war, the consumption of food and grass must be huge. During the battle, whether it is Zhu Wen, who has the advantage or Qin Zongquan, who is defending Caizhou, they will try every means to raise food and grass to ensure the supply of food and grass to the army. Even in the autumn harvest season, there is a bumper harvest in the local area, it is unlikely that there will be much surplus food.

Scarcity is precious, and food is insufficient, so the price will naturally rise.

Interestingly, Zhu Wen completely defeated Qin Zongquan, the governor of Caizhou, and turned him into a bandit, and forced him to flee to Zhengzhou, Henan. After not threatening him at all, he stared at Yanzhou and Yunzhou again. In August, before Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin came to his senses, Zhu Wen sent troops to attack Yanzhou and Yunzhou, resulting in the defeat of Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin and losing tens of thousands of troops.

Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin vomited blood in anger. If they hadn't sent troops to help Zhu Wen without hesitation, Zhu Wen would not have been able to defeat Qin Zongquan in a short time and would not be able to control Henan and Guannei Road.

The struggle for power is so cruel. Even if Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin were so angry that even if they completely turned against Zhu Wen, they would not be able to recover the declining situation.

The two large-scale battles and large-scale food consumption will inevitably increase the price of food in the Guannei Road and Longyou Road.

After understanding all this, Pei Changhao almost had the idea of ​​stopping Luo Culture from trading and processing grain.

Su Chunhua entered the room, and Pei Changhao was carefully looking at the map on the table.

"Brother Chang Hao, I didn't expect that the grain price in Wenchi County is so high. If I had known it, I would have brought some grain from the village to trade..."

Pei Changhao looked at Su Chunhua and spoke with a smile.

"Brother Chunhua, let's not talk about this in the future. Heluo Village can produce much grain, including Huaiyuan County, and the amount of grain produced is not large, and the people don't have enough food to eat. Where can there be any grain for trading? Besides, Heluo Village and even Huaiyuan County are located in a remote area, near the desert, and outside the pass. They are rarely affected by wars, and the price of grain will not increase for a while, which is a very normal situation."

Su Chunhua's face was a little red, and she looked at Pei Changhao and felt embarrassed.

"Brother Chang Hao, I said the wrong thing again."

"It's nothing. It's great to learn from one's mistakes. It's great to be able to think of these things. Along the way, you and Chungui are very alert, always paying attention to the situation around you, doing a good job. We will encounter many twists and turns next. As long as we work together, we will definitely be able to overcome them completely."

Pei Changhao's words made Su Chunhua's face show a comfortable smile.

Su Chunhua had just left, and Luo Wenhua entered the room.

Luo Wenhua's expression was quite serious. He looked at Pei Changhao and spoke a little hesitated.

"Brother Pei, I see you have been pondering all the time along the way. Is it because the old woman's death that makes you unable to let go."

Pei Changhao nodded, not denying it.

"One thing, from the shopkeeper and the old woman, I thought of my own situation and this world. I didn't expect that there was such chaos outside. In the past, I had enough food and clothing and no way to pick up the road, and it was completely gone. Killing people became natural. It is really impermanent in the world. We need to be extra careful next."

Luo Wenhua stared at Pei Changhao and sighed softly.

"Brother Pei, this is nothing. If you are in the army, you will see more chaos. I think it is good for Brother Pei to be more careful in the future, but you must not have other emotions because of these things..."

Pei Changhao nodded solemnly.

"Brother Luo reminds me that I will pay attention. Please rest assured. I will never feel afraid of difficulties because of these things. Water comes and soil covers the earth, and soldiers come to stop them. No matter what happens, there is always a way to deal with it. Brother Luo's knowledge is much better than mine. I will still remind me more in the future."

Luo Wenhua waved his hands repeatedly.

"Brother Pei must not say this, it makes me ashamed. If Brother Pei hadn't discovered the black store early, something really happened. But one thing is that I still want to remind Brother Pei that the situation around the city is much better. The matters like Huaiyuan County Market can only be regarded as an example. Most people dare not do anything in the city. Okay, if Brother Pei has nothing to do, I will go to rest."

Pei Changhao also waved his hand.

"Brother Luo, don't worry. I think it's still early. Why don't we go to the city to take a look. If possible, buy some items that we can use. Brother Chunhua and Chungui stay in the inn."

Luo Wen nodded. Su Chunhua and Su Chungui were too nervous and needed to relax slightly in the inn. If the two continued to enter the city in a tight posture, they would probably really cause trouble.

...

There is a sergeant's handle at the south gate. Every person entering the city charges a penny, but he does not have to charge money when he goes out of the city gate. Some people entering the city are not convinced and ask why they need to collect money. The sergeant explains that this is the order of the Jiedushi, so others no longer complain and pay the money honestly.

People who ask questions usually rely on their status and status, so when the soldiers explain, they will never lose their temper. If ordinary people ask questions, the soldiers will have already lost their temper and fists and feet.

Luo Wenhua took out two cents and put them into the plate.

There are not many copper coins in the plate, only a few dozen pieces of them are sparse.

Pei Changhao's face was as usual. The Jiedushi at the end of the Tang Dynasty had become a vassal. The army was supported by the Jiedushi and had no relationship with the emperor and the court. Local taxes were collected by the Jiedushi and would not be paid to the court. It was also the direct decision of the Jiedushi. Therefore, the Jiedushi's words were more useful than the emperor's imperial edict. If the Jiedushi offends the Jiedushi, their lives would not be guaranteed. If the emperor was offended, they would not be able to suffer disaster as long as they ran fast and were protected by the local Jiedushi.

This is the actual situation at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and everyone on earth knows it.

The Jiedushi in the late Tang Dynasty was all greedy, and it was no wonder that they were. If they wanted to have enough strength, they needed enough troops to occupy enough territory and support the army. The court would not allocate military pay. The Jiedushi needed to find a way for themselves. The large territory collected more taxes and the small local area collected less taxes. However, all Jiedushi would try their best to expand the number of troops. This led to some Jiedushi reaching out to the people uncontrollably, and some of them allowed their soldiers to plunder the people in order to solve the problem of insufficient money and food.

There are many ways to drink poison to quench thirst.

Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, said that water can carry a boat and can also overturn it. This is used to warn civil and military officials not to increase the burden on the people, so as to avoid officials from forcing the people to rebel. Unfortunately, the wise and wise Emperor Taizong of Tang could not have thought that by the end of the Tang Dynasty, his unworthy descendants had long forgotten this, or were powerless.

When entering the corridor, noisy sounds came from the city gate, and Pei Changhao and Luo Wenhua turned around at the same time.

Three people dressed in coarse cloth clothes were pushed to the ground by the soldiers at the city gate. Several soldiers went forward to punch and kick. The three people on the ground rolled and wailed, shouting words of help. The people watching the fun around them were away from each other, fearing being implicated.

Luo Wenhua reached out and pulled Pei Changhao's sleeve.
Chapter completed!