Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 105

Chapter 105 Things Started in Gushan Town (1)
Along the way, after leaving the Great Harmony, Lu Zhen finally experienced the current Great Ming dynasty. However, he had to put a big quotation mark on it.

Historically, the descriptions of prosperous times were similar. They were nothing more than emperors, ministers, virtuous people, politically clear people, and people living and working in peace and contentment. However, there were fewer more detailed words, such as what kind of life the common people were living, especially the people who were far away from the Imperial Capital City, how they were living.

Even if the rule of chastity and primordial chastity were to be spread for a while, it would only mention how much Chang’an Dou Rice was sold for. As for how much money the people could buy every day, it didn’t mention a single word. This was the glorious era depicted by those high and mighty scholars. Actually, they did not understand, or did not want to know, exactly how the most ordinary people in the world were living, and what they wanted.

In fact, the situation in the prosperous era of the Great Ming after the rule of Ren Xuanzhi was not very optimistic. Walking on the official road, all Lu Zhen could see was desolation and desolation. Although it was not as if white bones were exposed in a chaotic world and there were no chickens roaring for thousands of kilometers, there were very few pedestrians that they could meet. Even if there were pedestrians, they were still in groups, unlike the pedestrians who appeared on the road alone in some later movies and TV dramas.

What did this mean? Firstly, the population was still small, especially in the northern region. As a result, wild beasts appeared, making ordinary people not dare to walk alone in the wilderness. Not everyone has wu song, li kui kill tigers, ordinary people often meet the fate of beasts can only become food in the beast mouth.

The second was the scarcity of villages and other settlements. Along the way, one could often only see a small village within a few dozen kilometers. Moreover, there were only a few dozen people in these villages. They were truly pitiful and deserted. No wonder Datong City was so important. Otherwise, once it was destroyed, the Meng people would be able to charge straight into it, and they wouldn’t even have the power to stop them.

This was the real situation of this Great Ming, or the real situation in the northwest and other frontier areas. It was far from as beautiful as described in the book. Actually, not only Da Ming, but even the so-called peak of the Central Plains, Kang Qian Sheng Shi, was also ordinary. It was only based on the fact that sweet potatoes and corn could be planted on a large scale and the people could finally fill their stomachs. It had nothing to do with the Pockmarked Emperor and the Ten Incomplete Old Man.

After witnessing all of this, Lu Zhen unconsciously began to wonder what kind of scene Beijing would be like. He didn’t know if everything there was the same as he thought, or if he was disappointed again.

The only advantage of having few pedestrians on the road was that Lu Zhen could use it to practice riding more.

Now that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, it was really unbearable to always hold back in the carriage, so Lu Zhen asked for a horse and began to ride it not long after he got on the road. Although he had also learned some riding techniques in the grasslands for a period of time, it was only self-study. At most, he could not fall off his horse and could not really make his horse obedient. Now, with the guidance of some cavalry in the army, the situation was much better.

A few days later, Lu Zhen was actually able to control his horse to move freely. Even if he suddenly accelerated and turned around, he was still able to stay on his horse steadily without the slightest feeling of being in a hurry. He believed that if he were to encounter that night’s change at this time, it would not be so easy for those Meng people who attacked him at night to catch up to him.

After rushing for several days, they arrived near Guangchang County, where Shanxi and Beizhili intersected. Perhaps the reason for this was because of the large number of people in their group and the fact that they were guarded by cavalry. Neither the wild beasts nor the bandits of the Strong Liang Bandit had appeared on the road, so the journey was quite calm.

Seeing that they were about to enter the Northern Zhili, the security there was much better than that in a frontier fortress like Shanxi, and everyone unconsciously relaxed. When Wu Kui mentioned that a barracks in front of them was guarded by their old comrades in Datong, Lu Zhen simply became a good person and told them to meet their friends over there, while he was escorted forward by Li Xian and a dozen other soldiers. After arriving at the Northern Zhili territory, the two sides would meet again.

“This … I’m afraid it’s a bit inappropriate, right?” Wu Kui said without any hesitation, “Although the journey has been safe and this place is far away from the grasslands, there might be some bandits in the mountains …”

‘”How could there be such a coincidence? There are few pedestrians in this place, so where did the interest of bandits come from? It’s only a day or two away from Beizhili, so how could there be an accident? Brothers in the army are the most considerate. You haven’t seen each other for a long time, so it’s better to go take a look.” Lu Zhen shook his head.

Seeing that he was so persistent and that Wu Kui really wanted to gather with his brothers who had fought alongside him back then, he agreed. However, just in case, he still left ten brothers and ten crossbow planes for everyone. This thing was extremely powerful. An arrow from an ordinary wild beast could pierce through it. Even a ferocious beast like a tiger bear wouldn’t be able to withstand much damage.

Thus, the two sides separated on the road, heading south and east, and arranged to meet again at the True Definition Manor’s Underground Realm.

After watching them leave, Lu Zhen’s convoy continued forward. Everything seemed to be fine …

@ @ @ @

After another day, they arrived at the border of the two provinces, near the Five Returns Mountain. Although the mountain was not very high, the terrain was rather complicated. Coupled with the difficult road in the mountains, it would probably take a lot of effort to cross, so the few of them took a break in a small town called Gushan Town in front of the mountains, and at the same time bought some food for a rainy day.

Although Lu Zhen had been an official of the Imperial Court for several months, some of his temper hadn’t changed much because of this. Along the way, he hadn’t had much contact with the people outside, so he became interested. He simply brought some money and started to wander around this palm-sized town.

Moreover, he also pulled Chu Yunrong and Cuimei, the master and servant pair. The two women were originally bored from staying in the carriage, so they followed Lu Zhen’s invitation with half a push. As for Li Xian, Lin Lie, and the others, they were left to rest in the only inn in the town. He didn’t want to make the formation too big and frighten the people in these small places.

However, the harvest of this trip wasn’t that big. As a transmigrator, Lu Zhen’s eyesight was much higher than that of the people from hundreds of years ago. He was not interested in the things that were sold in the town at all. As for the two women, they were originally from good backgrounds. These ordinary country products were at most curious, so they only bought the most ordinary food and planned to return to the inn.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves came from the small street corner of the town. In the blink of an eye, five horses galloped straight over like flying horses.

The movement of the five cavalry was really not small, causing the surrounding people to flee to the side in succession. Even so, the stalls set up along the street were still kicked to the ground by the horses. Facing the calamity he had caused, the knight immediately ignored it. The first young man laughed heartily. He seemed to be quite proud of his destructive power.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen frowned. Looking at the people around them who had been so ruined, all of them were worried, but none of them dared to curse, let alone resist. Seeing this, Lu Zhen understood that these people must be the tyrants of the countryside.

Although Lu Zhen was rather angry about this, he did not have the intention to stand up and speak up for the people. Because he knew that it was useless. Although he was an official, he could not control the people here. Even if they really relied on their official status to stop this person’s actions, after they left, they would still do what they should do. There would be no improvement.

However, Cuimei, who was standing beside him, was a straightforward person. Seeing this, she felt extremely unfair. When those people came up to her, she couldn’t help but say, “These people are really … like bandits. Why doesn’t the government care about them?”

Originally, the three of them had followed a group of civilians to the side, but the five cavalry didn’t pay any attention to the three of them. However, when Cuimei spoke up, he was somehow heard by the young man with a flirtatious look on his face. His expression became gloomy, and then he pulled back the reins with one hand and waved his horse whip with the other, wanting to teach this disrespectful fellow a big lesson.

Seeing that he suddenly stopped, Lu Zhen’s heart was also on guard. He immediately took a step forward and stood in front of the two women. Although he was a master by status, he had been accustomed to the good tradition of men protecting women for many years.

Just as the horse whip was about to hit the man with a whistle, the young man suddenly let out a soft sigh, and the whip suddenly trembled and was retracted by him very nimbly.

At the same time, the four knights behind him also stopped their horses. These few people were still quite tactful when they stopped and immediately surrounded Lu Zhen and the others. It seemed that as long as the young man gave the order, they would go forward and make a move.

Although Lu Zhen was spared the pain of this whip, he did not feel the slightest bit relieved in his heart. It was because he saw the young man in front of him staring behind him with a pair of eyes. His eyes already had a hint of lust in them.

“This brother is an outsider. I, Guo Que, am the Young Manor Master of Guojiazhuang outside Gushan Town. May I know if you have the honor to invite the three of you to visit our manor for a few days?” The young man’s pair of eyes only twirled around the bodies of Chu Yunrong and Cuimei, and his mouth was somewhat elegant.

Lu Zhen immediately shook his head, “Thank you for your kindness, Young Master. We are just passing through this place. We will leave early tomorrow morning, so I won’t disturb you.” One more thing is better than one less thing when you’re out. As he spoke, he wanted to leave.

But Guo Que said, “Wait a minute! Why, isn’t this brother even willing to give this little bit of thin noodle to this little brother? Or are you looking down on us?” Following his words, the four knights moved closer again, and malicious expressions flashed in their eyes.