The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

Chapter 93

Qingtang City has been prosperous since ancient times.

After the founding of the Xixia Kingdom, heavy taxes were imposed on the business travelers traveling in the Hexi Corridor. The soldiers even acted as bandits, murdered and extorted goods. In order to avoid the plunder and exploitation of Xixia, the tribute envoys and merchants obtained a stable and peaceful trading environment and earned more gold and silver. For money, he began to divert to Qiang Middle Road and go to Qingtang City.

At that time, Gusiluo of Qingtang City set up many post stations on the road to receive the passing tribute teams and merchants, and also restrained the tribes to treat the passing merchants kindly, providing them with board and lodging, and the merchants only had to pay the corresponding fees or Goods will do.

Not only that, in order to protect the safety of the tribute missions and caravans carrying a large amount of goods, Qingtang City also specially sent troops to escort them. For foreign businessmen who stayed in Qingtang to do business, they were allowed to exchange and replace goods at will, and a piece of land was specially allocated , specifically for foreign businessmen to build houses and warehouses, which has attracted a large number of foreign businessmen to settle down and do business.

At that time, merchants gathered in Qingtang City, full of exotic customs, not only Han people, Tubo people, but also people from Central Asia, West Asia and Europe with high noses and deep eyes.

There are also many merchants from the countries of the Western Regions, including merchants from Uighur, Khotan, Gaochang, Kucha, Raoqiang and other countries, as well as Tianzhu and Nibrarian merchants from South Asia and the Xindu River Basin, and even Dashi, Great Qin merchants in Persia and Europe.

The businessmen and tribute envoys traveling between the Western Regions and the interior via the Qiang Middle Road are willing to stop here to rest, relieve fatigue, replenish supplies, and then move on. Many businessmen even stay here for a year or several years before leaving, and some simply leave. Build houses in the city, settle down and do business.

After many years of continuous wars, Qingtang City was once depressed, but now it has stabilized for a few years, and the commercial roads have been opened again, and Qingtang City has signs of prosperity again.

Zhao Tong led the crowd forward, there is a gate between the west city and the east city, they can pass through, there are soldiers guarding in front of the gate, Yang Zhishi and Shijin are wearing official uniforms, the soldiers greeted one after another.

Yang Zhi sighed in his heart, it seems that being an official is not difficult, as long as he follows the right people.

Arriving in the East City, it was a bustling and bustling scene. Zhao Tang looked around, and found that many of the houses and castles were not made in the Song Dynasty. They all had pointed domes and some were painted with various colors.

Many of these houses were built by the merchants back then, which shows the bustle and prosperity of Qingtang at that time.

Walking on the most central market avenue, there are not only shops on both sides, but also a variety of goods on the stalls outside. It can be seen that merchants of all colors are selling in various accents in quite exotic shops. There are a variety of products, and the crowd is very lively.

Zhao Tang led everyone to look around, because Yang Zhi and Shi Jin were both wearing official uniforms, and every stall was greeted by people, even the patrolling city soldiers also stopped.

Zhao Tun looked at these goods. The large ones had their own horses, cattle, timber, grain and so on.

Small items include musk, cinnabar, bezoar, river pearl, mountain coral, raw gold, mercury, wood fragrance, Sanya brown, flower core cloth, douluo brocade, fluff, antelope horn, bamboo horn, red and green leather and other local specialties. .

There are even knives and guns, iron armor forged by craftsmen, and some other weapons.

Zhe Hanmei said with a playful smile: "My lord, did you expect armor to be sold? If you were in Tokyo, let alone buying and selling, I'm afraid you would be charged for hiding one."

Zhao Tong shook his head with a smile: "Xiao Qingmei, don't deceive me to leave Kaifeng less, I don't know anything. I know that the border laws are loose, and there are many preferential treatment for foreign merchants."

A group of people walked and watched, suddenly there was a noise in front of them, Zhe Hanmei heard it and said: "It seems that the Tubo people are arguing."

Zhezhi Chang heard the words and shook his head: "My lord, these businessmen can be found everywhere in the east, west, north and south. They often quarrel and even use knives. It is not uncommon for people to die sometimes."

Zhao Tong nodded. He knew a little bit about this. Da Song had always given preferential treatment to Northwest Abbess or acquaintances from countries in the Western Regions. He was relatively lenient in terms of laws. Generally speaking, he would ignore their ordinary quarrels and fights. If someone dies, just turn a blind eye.

And these acquaintances often let it go after quarreling and fighting. Few of them pursue them persistently, and some even call their opponents heroes when they lose.

"Go and have a look." Zhao Tong said, since you are here, you have to see everything, you should take a long-term view, and be aware of all kinds of things in the world.

When they walked over, they saw that it was a large shop with mottled wooden pillars on both sides and smooth steps, exuding the vicissitudes of life and ancient atmosphere, presumably there must be some years and stories.

There were several people standing in front of the shop, the leader was a strong middle-aged man, wearing a traditional Tubo robe, standing with his hips akimbo, laughing loudly at a young man in front of him.

The young man was wearing a similar robe, but upon closer inspection, it was more luxurious than the burly middle-aged man, but the robe was stained in many places, even two places were torn, and the boots on his feet were also damaged , Two toes came out, covered with mud.

The young man's skin is black and bright, although he looks thin, but his eyes are piercing, he is angrily arguing with the strong middle-aged man.

The burly middle-aged man looked disdainful, opened his mouth after a smile and seemed to curse a few words, then lifted the side of his robe, and walked into the shop.

When the young man heard the other party's words, his face became ashen. He wanted to rush forward. Seeing this, several other people in front of the shop pulled out their sabers from their waists, waved them at the young man, and cursed.

Both parties spoke Tubo language, Yang Zhishijin couldn't understand it, Zhao Tang frowned expressionlessly, Zhe Hanmei whispered: "My lord, do you want me to help you? But I remember..."

"Cough, cough..." Zhao Tang coughed lightly twice, and said: "This king only said that he had never read the Ma Jing when he was young, but he didn't say that he didn't learn the language of foreign countries. It's just that he forgot some of it after years passed. , this is the first time I hear the quarrel between the Fans, it's a bit big."

Zhe Hanmei's eyelashes fluttered, and said: "How about the little girl's translation for the prince?"

Zhao Tang looked at her, nodded and said, "Xiao Qingmei, can you understand everything?"

Zhe Hanmei smiled and said: "There are a few people in the northwest who don't understand the Fan language and Xia language, even the Fan Xia Uighurs can also speak my Song language, otherwise let alone doing business, even after the battle, it would be difficult to negotiate. "

Looking at the confrontation between the young man and the people in the shop, Zhao Tong thought, "I heard their accents seem to be different."

Zhe Hanmei said: "That's right, that shop is an acquaintance, but this person is a stranger."

Zhao Tong said, "It's rare to see a foreigner in Xining Prefecture?"

Zhe Hanmei said: "It's not that there are none, but those who come to Zhoucheng are extremely rare. This person should go to a store to sell something, and then the owner of the store said that the item was fake and took it away. This person wants to go back. If you can't get anything, you will make a noise."

Zhao Tun squinted his eyes and said, "I can vaguely tell what king this man is talking about?"

Zhe Hanmei glanced at him, the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily, and said, "I don't understand the meaning of the word that says he is a descendant of a certain king, and I probably want to pronounce it that way."

Zhao Tong nodded, saw a group of patrolling soldiers coming, and said to Yang Zhi: "Let them come over and surround the shop, no one is allowed to leave."

(End of this chapter)