The next day, the sun rose three poles.

Gu Wen woke up from his sleep, called his maid to wash up, and then asked his "right-hand man" to be called.

He is thin in stature, wearing blue brocade clothes, and has a small mustache. His appearance is sinister, and his behavior always reveals a hint of shrewdness.

His name is Jiang Fugui, and he is a small shopkeeper whom Gu Wen met when he first entered Longqiao Night Market in his early days. He is a philistine and clever, a very standard and rigid businessman, but his ability is sufficient.

Gu Wen sat at the table and ate. The breakfast was only Longqiao's most famous pearl and red date porridge from Zuixianlou and white-faced pastries from Xiangyu Pavilion. They were both rare and good things in this world.

The aroma made Jiang Fugui swallow his saliva when he just walked in. Gu Wen waved and said, "If you haven't eaten breakfast, sit down and eat together."

Jiang Fugui, who was thick-skinned, smiled and sat down, picked up a white-flour steamed bun and said, "Even if you have eaten it, you can't miss this meal with Mr. Wen. Ouch, this white-flour bun is so sweet. It's even more rare to have it in a disaster year."

."

Gu Wen smiled and said: "I don't treat you badly on weekdays. I haven't eaten a few steamed buns, right?"

"Sir, you spend your money generously. There are seniors and juniors among us. There are dozens of people in my family." Jiang Fugui stuffed his mouth full, and food crumbs kept falling on the table as he spoke.

"Besides, there has been chaos in the past two years, so we need to save more money. Maybe one day Bianjing will be completely exhausted, and we will flee to the south."

War and chaos have almost become synonymous with this era.

The barbarians outside Daqian Pass are surrounded by barbarians, and the bandits and rebels inside the pass are endless.

Every time, the imperial court imposed excessive taxes and levies in the name of reorganizing the frontier army. Its exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were so heavy that even many large landowners could not bear them, and many of them ended up turning into bandits.

Landlords can't survive. It sounds outrageous, but it really happened in Daqian, in front of Gu Wen's eyes. This is why he has to firmly stand in the bureaucratic class, even if he is just a low-level guest of the palace.

There are no scholars, peasants, industrialists or merchants in the world. There are only scholars and people. To the extreme, there are only lords in the capital and slaves from other places.

As far as Gu Wen knew, there was a bandit roaming around Qianjing County, sometimes robbing and killing large merchants, sometimes robbing the court supplies, and even entering the city to rob the treasury.

Such banditry has been rampant in the Qianjing area for many years, longer than the reign of the current emperor.

It was not that the imperial court had not thought about suppressing bandits, but many of these bandits fled when encountering officers and soldiers, and some of them were besieged and devoured. This frightened the imperial army and only mentioned the matter of suppressing bandits, but did not actually suppress bandits.

In fact, everyone knows that Daqian is going to be doomed, which is evident from the fact that even a small shopkeeper like Jiang Fugui plans to flee south. Gu Wen bought some real estate in the south two years ago, and escaping south has been his main goal in recent years.

.

But if there is extraordinary power, then everything will be difficult to say.

"You don't just want to go to the south. Besides, if I eat His Highness Ninth Prince's food for a day, I will naturally repay the favor for the rest of my life." Gu Wen shook his head, and Feng Qingyun calmly avoided the obvious disaster.

There are knives everywhere in his position, so maybe one of the servants in the palace is the palace's spy.

Apparent loyalty must be absolute.

After the meal, Gu Wen wiped his mouth with a silk scarf and said, "Fugui, there have been a lot of strange things happening in the city recently. Go and investigate them yourself, and try to keep a low profile and avoid causing trouble."

Gu Wen repeatedly emphasized that since he was certain that there was extraordinary power in this world and that he was undergoing some kind of change, he did not want anyone under his command to touch something dirty and bring it back.

Jiang Fugui was very confused, but as a subordinate he had no right to intervene, just like Gu Wen could not refuse Zhao Feng.

"Young man, let's do it right now."

Noon.

Gu Wen was lying on the rocking chair, and the servants in the mansion were working with their heads down. The sounds of banging on the door and crying from outside made the servants work harder and more meticulously.

Happiness comes from contrast.

You don't have to go out to check, you probably know the reason for the knocking on the door. It's nothing more than selling children and daughters in order to survive. This is not only to make money for adults, but also to keep children alive.

In the early years, Gu Wen had taken them in, but now he had hundreds of people in his house. According to the law, he had no official position and could only have fifty slaves at most. And how many people could Gu Wen protect by himself?

He is just a house slave.

Jiang Fugui entered the mansion from the back door, came to Gu Wen's side and whispered: "Sir, all the strange things that have been reported recently are surrounded by the slaves of the rich family. They can't even inquire about them or see them at all."

"Slave of a wealthy family?"

"Yes, they...they actually carried weapons on the streets of the capital. They won't rebel, right?"

Jiang Fugui's voice was very low, his eyes were filled with confusion, and even he could smell something unusual.

Daqian prohibited the private possession of weapons. During the reign of the late emperor, there was a rebellion in the Bianjing area, and the rebels almost invaded the capital. Therefore, the imperial court issued an order: "Anyone who privately prohibits weapons will only be allowed to live for one and a half years."

These days, concealing weapons privately is very common, but it is rare to see them on the street, especially when a large group of people are carrying weapons on the street.

You are worthy of being a great leader of my Holy King’s dynasty.

"Where are Phoenix Road and Longqiao?"

Gu Wen asked.

Fenghuang Road has a Chi Road, which is a track specially used for driving, to improve the efficiency of cargo transportation. It connects major markets, and even the food and clothing of the palace are entered through this road.

And recently I heard that a tree grew there, could it also surround the road?

Dragon Bridge is an important hub connecting the east and west urban areas, and it is impossible to encircle it.

"The tree on Fenghuang Road was surrounded by the Forbidden Army. Now all freight transporters have to take the narrow path, or even go half way around Bianjing City to enter through other gates. I went to see the Dragon Bridge, but I was stupid and couldn't see anything magical about it.

"

It seems that Zhao Feng is not the only one.

This is normal. He can find immortals as a prince, so it is impossible that other aristocratic families and the palace cannot find immortals. But why did they appear just recently?

A word came to Gu Wen's mind, spiritual energy revived.

"No need to ask any more."

Instead of bumping into each other, it is better to take a look at the immortal that Zhao Feng talks about.

------------------

Three days later.

Gu Wen received another order that the palace would welcome the immortals on Grain Rain Day. In order to conform to the style of the Tian family, six rites must be prepared.

That is to welcome, offer, tea, food, shelter and send off.

As the biggest steward in the palace, he was also in charge of the Longqiao Night Market. Except for the first ceremony of welcoming and seeing off guests, the rest fell on him. Gu Wen called his subordinate Jiang Fugui, gave a few instructions, and set off again.

I visited every restaurant in Longqiao Night Market, and based on the distance of my relationship and the thickness of the red envelope, I gave the "tender" to Yuehua Restaurant.

Hundreds of taels of silver fell into Gu Wen's pocket. Procurement bidding has always been a fat loss. Gu Wen knew that it was a show of loyalty in the past few days, otherwise Zhao Feng would not have done this job for him.

Carrots and sticks, there must be carrots.

Gu Wen was being entertained by the shopkeeper of Yuehualou. He had just finished talking about business, and the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves. Suddenly, the shopkeeper of Yuehualou asked in a low voice:

"Marquis Wen, I heard that His Highness the Ninth Prince hosted a banquet this time to entertain the immortals."

The word "immortal" was spoken in a very low voice, but Gu Wen, who was sitting next to him, heard it clearly and his movement of picking up vegetables was stagnant.

"Who told you?"

"In the past few days, people from His Highness Ninth Prince's Palace have been bragging in all the major restaurants and brothels, saying that His Highness Ninth Prince will receive immortals, and even said that His Highness Ninth Prince has a destiny."

Take the opportunity to build momentum.

Gu Wen suddenly realized that he thought it was the drunken people in the house who were doing bad things, but after hearing the last sentence, he knew that it was Zhao Feng himself who had given instructions.

Now that the crown prince's position is vacant, anyone can become the crown prince. And Zhao Feng is the most ambitious among them, so how could he let this opportunity go?

"His Royal Highness Ninth is naturally destined by destiny. Whether he is an immortal or not is not a matter for me as a merchant."

Gu Wen laughed and said, The more you say, the more likely you will be wrong. The less you say, the less likely you will be wrong. He did not receive the task of spreading the news, but he could smell an increasingly restless undercurrent.

Merchants have a higher status than ordinary people, but they have never been the core of society. When they know something, it means that many things have begun to be put on the table, and the masters have begun to use them.

Gu Wen was slightly drunk, and walked around the largest theater troupe in the capital. On both sides of the road in Yashi, there were densely packed people kneeling, with straw in their backs and prices on the ground in front of them.

Sold into slavery.

Years of famine have enriched the Ya Market, which specializes in human trafficking, and brought this slave market, which should have been hiding in the shadows, to the forefront.

Daqian explicitly prohibited the keeping of private slaves. Legally, servants were similar to the employment system of the Song Dynasty. To be precise, they were long-term workers. The law also stipulated that slaves were not allowed to be punished or killed privately. The most serious case could be punished with three thousand exiles.

inside.

But now the maids in the palace are all bought with money, and many overdue women have not yet been released. Some of them escape and are executed every year.

As the saying goes, if those above do not treat people as human beings, those below will naturally not treat people as human beings.

Several eunuchs in palace uniforms pulled a group of men and women past. Gu Wen's carriage stopped aside to give way, watching all this with cold eyes.

A person who castrates a piece of meat can show off his power, but a person who works hard on the land can only be sold into slavery.

"Master, do you want a maid?"

A woman came over holding her daughter. The woman was fourteen years old, with an ordinary appearance, a scar on her face, and an ordinary figure. She was commonly known as Maid Ming.

Gu Wen shook his head, he already had enough servants at home.

The old woman said anxiously: "With only one tael of silver, my little girl can be well fed and eat wheat ears."

The market price of an ordinary maid is around eight taels of silver, a good-looking one costs fifteen taels, and a very handsome one can sell for hundreds of taels.

Borrowing a passage from the Northern Song Dynasty in the previous life, in the middle and lower households in Kyoto, no male was born, but every daughter was cherished like holding a pearl on the wall. As soon as she grew up, she was taught arts and crafts according to her appearance and temperament, and was used by the scholar-bureaucrats to gather and entertain them.
To be continued...