Taming beasts starts with understanding bird language

Three days later, at dusk.

Gu Chan led the caravan to the tall East Gate of Jiangnan City.

Jiangnan City is worthy of being the central city of the Jiangnan area. The city wall alone is much higher than that of Zhongyuan City, and the entire city is twice as large as Zhongyuan City.

As for how magnificent the entire city is, there is no need to say more.

Just to say that it is almost dark now, and the line of people queuing outside the East City Gate to enter the city is as long as a mile, which shows how desirable this place is.

The Yao Duoduo caravan was at the end of the line, and everyone was shocked when they saw the long queue in front of them.

Gu Chan sat in the lead carriage and couldn't help but sigh, "It really is worthy of being called Jiangnan City! It's not much inferior to Kyoto. No wonder all the businessmen want to come here to try their luck. This place is indeed not simple."

"Boss, at this rate we're going, I'm afraid we'll have to wait until night to enter the city." Ma Zheng said as he sat next to him.

Gu Chan nodded without comment.

At this time, Di Lin rode his horse to the carriage and said to Gu Chan, "Boss, why don't you take Ma Zheng and Yuan Jie to the city to find a good inn first, and we will line up slowly. That way, when we enter the city at night, we can go directly to the inn you booked."

"That's good, so we don't have to go to the inn for trouble at night." Gu Chan nodded.

After saying that, she immediately got off the carriage, rode on the same horse with Ma Zheng, and headed towards the city gate ahead with Yuan Jie.

Di Lin stayed where he was and led the caravan to continue queuing.

After an incense stick of time, Gu Chan and the other two arrived outside the huge East City Gate.

Because the East City Gate was too tall, the three people standing at the foot of the city wall looked as small as three ants.

Gu Chan couldn't help but be surprised, and then she went to the queue on the right.

There are two passages leading into the city from the East Gate. The wider passage on the left is for caravans, while the smaller passage on the right is for civilians.

Therefore, the right channel inspection is relatively faster.

Gu Chan and the other two led the horses and just followed the crowd in line for a short while before it was their turn to be examined.

The officer in charge of the inspection saw that the three people were not dressed like people from Jiangnan, so he asked, "Where are you from?"

"Brother officer, we are from Zhongyuan City. Our caravan is queuing up behind. The three of us want to go into the city first and find an inn to stay in. When the caravan enters the city at night, we can go directly to the inn." Gu Chan said.

"What business does your caravan run?" asked the officer.

"I run a medicinal materials business." Gu Chan said honestly.

After hearing this, the officer immediately picked up the book in his hand and started flipping through it.

After looking at it for a while, he said, "The caravans engaged in the medicinal materials business need to pay a city entry tax of 100 taels, plus a head tax of 20 taels per person."

"Oh my god, the tax is so high?" Gu Chan said in surprise.

She never expected that the tax in Jiangnan City was so high. She found it unbelievable that she had to pay a city tax just to enter the city.

The officer said impatiently, "If you think it's too high, don't go in. Go aside and let the people behind you take over."

"No, no, no, I'll hand it over, brother officer. There are twelve people in our caravan, including the three of us. The name of the caravan is Yao Duoduo." Gu Chan said quickly, waving his hand.

The officer glared at her unhappily, and then began to calculate the tax.

The caravan's tax for entering the city is one hundred taels, plus the head tax for the twelve people is two hundred and forty taels, for a total of three hundred and forty taels.

After calculating the tax, the officer took out a pass, wrote the words "Tax paid" on it, and handed it to Gu Chan, saying, "Three hundred and forty taels, pay it!"

"Brother officer, you have worked hard. Here is four hundred taels of silver. No need to give me the change. If you have more, I will treat you to tea." Gu Chan said with a smile.

Then she immediately stuffed four hundred taels of silver into the officer's hand.

The official took the banknote and immediately smiled. He patted Gu Chan on the shoulder and said, "Well! You are very considerate, little brother! Not bad, not bad. It's rare that you have such a kind heart. I can't take your benefits for nothing. Before you go in, I'll give you a reminder."

"Thank you, brother officer. I am really grateful!" Gu Chan hurriedly clasped his fists to express his gratitude.

The officer bent down and whispered in her ear, "Remember, after entering the city, it's best to find a gambling house instead of an inn, otherwise you won't be able to find your goods if they are lost."

"Okay, got it. Thank you very much." Gu Chan clasped his fists to express his gratitude.

The officer said nothing more and pushed the three people into the city. Then he continued to collect taxes from the people who followed behind.

After Gu Chan and the other two led their horses into the city and walked along the busy main road, they all looked confused. They really couldn't understand what the reminder given to them by the officer guarding the city gate just now meant.

Ma Zheng said doubtfully, "Boss, this Jiangnan City is so prosperous, the management should be very strict! How could it be possible that the goods are lost and can't be found when staying in an inn? He wouldn't deliberately trick us into staying in a gambling house, right?"

"No, he's just an official guarding the city. There's no benefit in cheating us. Besides, he didn't directly mention any names or tell us which gambling house we should stay in. There shouldn't be any situation where he's trying to cheat us." Yuan Jie shook her head.

Gu Chan nodded without commenting, "Yuan Jie is right. If he has cooperation with the gambling houses in the city and can get kickbacks by sending a customer there, then he should have directly named which gambling house we should stay in. But he didn't say it, which proves that he just saw that I was on the right track and gave me a kind reminder."

"So what should we do now? Should we stay in the inn or the gambling house?" Ma Zheng asked.

"Listen to the advice, eat a full meal, and find a gambling house to stay in." Gu Chan made a decisive decision.

In this situation when you have just arrived, it is better to listen to the opinions of locals, so as to avoid being at a disadvantage and having nowhere to complain.

With this thought in mind, the three of them did not hesitate any longer and started walking around the city on horseback.

Half an hour later, the three of them arrived at the city center, outside a gambling house called "Wanyuanfang".

This gambling house has a total of five floors. Except for the first and second floors which are for gambling and entertainment, the three floors above are like an inn, with special rooms available.

Gu Chan went in and asked around. After finding the environment here quite good, she immediately paid to book five rooms.

After doing all this, she came out and said to Ma Zheng, "Ma Zheng, there is a stable behind the gambling house, which is specially used to feed horses and store goods. You lead the horse over there first to feed it and take up a spot."

"Yes, boss." Ma Zheng responded respectfully and quickly led the horse to the back.

Gu Chan looked at Yuan Jie and said, "Hurry up and ride your horse to the city gate and wait. It's already dark now. Di Lin will definitely be leading the caravan into the city soon."

"Well! Then shopkeeper, you better be careful." Yuan Jie said.

"It's okay. It's such a big place, the security won't be that bad." Gu Chan said nonchalantly.

Yuan Jie nodded quietly, then turned over, jumped onto the horse's back, and quickly rode back to the city gate.

Gu Chan went into the gambling house and started wandering around.