Chapter 2 Stone City Land

Although it is still a long distance from the border, Gukou Town already has a bit of a border town. You can see the avenue out of the town by standing at the entrance of the town. This place not only has nothing to do with prosperity, but it can even be said to be a bit desolate. In the evening, there are few pedestrians in the town, and only the business of passing inns is very prosperous.

The inn's little guy wore a small hat and a white rag, and was only 20 years old. When he saw Fang Ling and his group come in, he quickly stepped forward with a smile and asked, "Several guests, where are you going?"

Fang Ling walked out of the car and said, "Woman, isn't this inn just asking about tasting or staying in a hotel? Why do you ask where we are?"

The young waiter smiled and said, "It seems that this is your first time in Gukou Town, young master."

Fang Ling nodded and asked, "Is it possible that this question is still a bit knowledgeable?"

The young waiter pointed to the roads that left the town and said, "The road outside the town is a mountain road that leads directly to the boundary of Shicheng. There are many thieves and bandits on this mountain road, so merchants along the way will find inns to stay in the town. When there are too many people, they will set off together. If they encounter thieves and bandits, they will take care of each other. So they have to ask which county they go to, so they can get together."

Fang Ling then realized that he looked inside and looked inside. He just saw a lot of carriages outside the inn and thought that the business should be good. Now when he looked inside, he found that there were really many people eating on the first floor, with 20 or 30, and it seemed that they were divided into several batches.

He asked, "So any of these people go to Stone City?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a fat businessman who had just gotten off the carriage opposite, laughed and said, "Young Master, you really love to joke. Shicheng is a bandit's nest. You have the will to go in and come back without any chance."

The waiter also nodded straight and said, "Boss Wang is right. I remember that two months ago, the imperial court sent officials to bring a few entourages into Shicheng. I heard that the bandits had their heads beheaded before they even entered the city and hung their heads on the gate of Shicheng."

Fang Ling asked, "Since these people don't go to Shicheng, they should have gone to the three surrounding counties."

Boss Wang laughed again and said cheerfully: "Young Master, I think you should put down your things first and book a room. If you want to know the situation near this stone city, come down to me and let's have a chat."

Fang Ling was not in a hurry to think about it, so he walked behind and helped his mother get out of the car. Since Dong Canghai and others were wearing casual clothes, they looked like servants, and it would not make people suspect that they were palace guards.

Moreover, in order to prevent the sensation, Su and Xiao Xue were wearing cloaks and veils, unable to see their true appearance, nor could they see their extraordinary temperament.

When he came from the county government next to him, Fang Ling had already sold some jewelry and exchanged several large boxes of silver to put it on the newly purchased carriage, so the carriages of the group turned into three.

After everything was arranged, the waiter delivered the meal to the second floor, and several guards were guarding outside. Fang Ling and Dong Canghai and others came downstairs and found Boss Wang.

After asking, I found out that Boss Wang was named Wang Tieshi, a medicinal material merchant. Because he had been in the two places for a long time, he knew very well about things near Shicheng.

Although Chen Mou had read the list of officials along the way before leaving, and had searched for information about Shicheng counties in the database of the six ministries, it was not detailed enough.

From Wang Tieshi's mouth, Fang Ling and others learned about the real situation of the Stone City for the first time.

If you want to go to the Shicheng fiefdom, Gukou Town is not a must-pass place, but it is the largest and fastest road. Shortly after you start from Gukou Town, you will pass through a large mountain called Misty Mountain.

This mountain is stretched and crisscrossed with many hills, surrounding the stone city in an arc shape, which becomes a barrier between the stone city and the three counties, but it also traps it in it.

In the past, the four counties led to the outside world, in addition to the Gukou Avenue, there were some small mountain roads. However, since the bandits on the Mist Mountain became more and more serious, no one had left these mountain roads.

Therefore, Gukou Avenue became a must-pass way to the four counties. In order to prevent bandits from going down the mountain to rob, businessmen could only walk in groups and hired some martial arts practitioners as guards.

However, even so, there is still a possibility of encountering bandits. Moreover, these bandits are like wolves and tigers, and there are a lot of people. Once they encounter them, they will only be plundered. Fortunately, the bandits on this foggy mountain all robbed money but not death, which is considered a bit of a bandit.

The only day that can ensure a safe departure is heavy fog. Once heavy fog comes out, it is difficult to walk on the mountain road, and the bandits will stay in their nests and stop moving.

After passing Misty Mountain, there are three county towns outside Shicheng County, namely Feng County, Xihe County and Maling County.

Among these three counties, Feng County is the poorest, while the other two counties are much richer. Behind the three counties is an endless mountain called the Shilong Mountains, and Shicheng County is located in the mountains.

The reason why a county was established in this mountain was because there was a steep canyon outside the Shilong Mountains. Outside the canyon was the border between Chu and Cai. Although Shicheng was a county, it was actually a fortress.

When the county was established, a road was specially opened to facilitate access to the surrounding three counties.

Unfortunately, there are many bandits in the surrounding mountains. In addition, a mountain collapse occurred later. Hundreds of tons of huge rocks rolled down from the mountain. After burying the avenue, you must pass the mountain path to enter and exit Shicheng County.

As a result, the county town was occupied by bandits and became a veritable bandit nest.

Although the county magistrate had sent troops to fight before, it was difficult to walk on the mountain road and was very unfamiliar with the terrain, so he had never succeeded. Later, he adopted the idea of ​​sending officials to recruit people, but the officials who left had gone but never returned.

Over time, Shicheng County became a real area of ​​no-cost, and only the bandits in the mountains dared to go there.

The situation in Shicheng was completely beyond everyone's imagination. Although I had heard that there was a bandit nest before coming, I thought it was just an exaggerated metaphor. However, after Wang Tieshi said this, this is a well-known fact. Although Fang Ling and others were all very strong, it would be almost impossible to wipe out the bandits in one go.

Therefore, Fang Ling gave up the idea of ​​going to Shicheng first and went to Fengxian first.

The reason is also very simple. Although Fengxian is the poorest among the four counties, the county magistrate Cao Jingyuan is a respected official.

Instead of going to a rich place first and giving people a pleasure, it is better to go to this barren land and make good achievements. In this way, the people can be convinced. Only by winning the hearts of the people can the fiefdom be safe and stable.

Since the wedding day and the time of obtaining this fief, Fang Ling has secretly swore that no matter how sinister or barren this place is, he must establish his own power in this place and one day return to the imperial city!

Early in the morning of the next day, more than 30 people from six teams of business and traveling were on the road together. The road seemed to be vast, as if the heaven was also intending to be beautiful, and it scattered heavy fog.

The mountain road is opened around the mountain, and the road is quite wide, but there are a few dangerous places. If you move forward quickly, you can easily fall off the cliff.

Fortunately, all the experienced business travelers travelers are welcome, and they will remind you when they encounter dangerous places. In addition, there is no interference from bandits, so it is very safe along the way.

In the afternoon, the mountain road was divided into three, one of which led to Fengxian.

Although Fang Ling and others didn't know how poor Fengxian was, they saw that Wang Tieshi and other business travelers were walking there and knew that they must be poorer than they thought.

After saying goodbye to the business trip, Fang Ling and his group embarked on the road to Fengxian. After passing two poor small villages along the way, they saw Fengxian County from afar in the afternoon.

The county is surrounded by mountains on three sides. These large and small hills are the junction of Misty Mountain and Shilong Mountain Range. Misty Mountains are dense and deep forests, and the Shilong Mountain Range is large and dangerous, making it a wonderful place for bandits to hide.

In addition to the green mountains with numerous forests, there are many bare mountains outside the city, full of white and blue stones, which makes the place even more barren.

A large number of farmland are opened outside the county town, but these soils are not very fertile, but mixed with a large amount of sand particles. After Meng Zhiyuan's explanation, he found out that this soil is sandy soil, and it is sandy soil with heavy sand properties, which is not easy to retain water and fertilizer.

In the rainless season, it is easy to become drought. If there is too much rain, the nutrients are easily washed away, and the mud surface will become sour after the rain. In fact, it is not suitable for growing vegetables. Therefore, the fruits and vegetables grown in the farmland here are not good.

As I got closer, I saw the tall bluestone city wall. It seemed that due to the disrepair, many parts had been weathered and broken, and looked dilapidated.

However, at the gate of the city, there were two energetic soldiers guarding the city. Both of them were young men in their early 20s. Although their military uniforms were a bit worn, they were in a straight military posture, holding iron spears, and guarding both sides of the city gate like a benchmark.

Seeing three carriages coming, one of them immediately stood up, reached out and stopped everyone, then asked with a serious look on his face, "What are you doing when you enter the city?"

Although the young man in front of him seemed a little immature, his serious attitude was quite concise. Fang Ling couldn't help but ask, "Are you afraid that we are bandits when you ask us like this?"

The young soldier smiled and said, "The bandits would not enter the city so blatantly, but the county has always had a law that stipulates that the carriages and horses entering and leaving must be verified."

Chen Mou, who was in the same car, whispered: "Although the county town is small, the rules are not reduced. Lord Cao is quite dedicated."

Fang Ling smiled slightly and said, "We are here to visit Lord Cao."
Chapter completed!