Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu spent about fifty peace dollars to buy a horse, some compacted and bundled fodder, a windproof cloak, some food, medicine, a change of clothes, and water, and then left Xiping Mansion.

For Qi Xuansu, Yongzhou did not leave him many good memories. Yishan City, West Gobi, East Oasis, Cuowenbu, Kunlun Pass, Xingxiu Sea, Yanze, Zhaling Lake, and Jiuwa Gang were always Along with the appearance of various cults and monsters, there are also all kinds of dangers.

Next, he will leave Yongzhou and go to Tianshui Mansion in Liangzhou.

Qi Xuansu galloped on the broad official road, a puff of smoke and dust rolled up behind him.

If you look down from above, you will see a huge plain, endless as far as the eye can see, but no human habitation. There is not much green, just the color of the yellow sand and Gobi. There is a small black spot moving with smoke and dust, which is opposite to the vast land. The ratio is so small that it can be ignored.

It seems that the dim sky and the vast earth have become one, and they can no longer distinguish each other.

The northwest is not as prosperous as the south of the Yangtze River, but the desert is vast and the sky is high and the clouds are vast, but it gives people a lot of heroic feelings. There is too much water and too densely populated Jiangnan, so it is impossible to enjoy horse racing like this.

After running around like this for a day, Qi Xuansu did not choose to enter the city, but found a leeward place to spend the night in the wild. Although the spring is cold, and it is located in the northwest, the chill is even more severe at night. However, Qi Xuansu has strong blood and strong body, plus his true energy to protect him from the cold. Even if he is not immune to the cold and heat, he is not afraid of the cold night.

However, Qi Xuansu lit up a fire and sat cross-legged in front of the fire, silently practicing his Qi.

As he becomes more proficient in Qi training, Qi Xuansu no longer needs to sit in meditation and look inside. He can move around the universe by himself as long as he sits with his five hearts facing the sky. There is no problem in talking to others during this period. It's just like riding a horse. Beginners must be careful and don't dare to be distracted at all. Once you become proficient in equestrian skills, riding a horse has become instinctive. You can also use your mind while riding a horse, such as archery, chopping, roping, etc. .

After reaching the stage of returning to true nature, the three major Dantians in the body are opened up to form the Great Zhoutian. The true energy in the body flows by itself, and there is no need to deliberately practice Qi. It is like someone who can eat and sleep on a horse.

As for heaven and man, this view mainly comes from the path of earth immortals, understanding the principles of heaven and earth, seeking the way of unity of heaven and man, and forming a circle with heaven and earth. That is another view.

At this moment, I suddenly saw a group of people coming from the west road in a hurry.

Qi Xuansu was fascinated by it at the first glance. But I saw this group of people wearing sheepskin coats of the same style, carrying poles, and the white flowers in the poles turned out to be salt.

There are four types of salt, namely: sea salt, lake salt, well salt, and mineral salt. Sea salt is mainly concentrated in coastal areas and other places. In the interior, lake salt and mineral salt are mainly used. There are lake salt salt fields around Cuowenbu, and in Yongzhou There are also several large salt mines. Everyone can't live without salt, but salt and iron are the exclusive business of the imperial court and are extremely profitable, so private salt dealers continue to ban them. This group of people moved fiercely and had strong bodies. They seemed to be a group of salt lords. The poles each carried on their shoulders were heavy, weighing at least 200 kilograms.

Although each of them was carrying a heavy weight of about 200 kilograms, they were walking very quickly. It can be seen that they are all people with advanced cultivation. Even if they are not born, they are also the best among the acquired.

This is the gang.

A gang is also an association, but the word "secret" is missing. At least it is in compliance with the rules in the Taoist community. As for the court's crackdown on illegal salt dealers, it is another matter.

Gathered for profit, these gangs sell illegal salt and have no shortage of peace money, so they are very powerful and have some good players. In normal times, Qi Xuansu would have gone to find out what happened. At this time, thinking about the errand assigned by Qiniang, he could not delay any more due to meddling in other people's business, so he immediately relaxed and hurried on his way. In the evening, we came to a small town near the border of Yongzhou and found a small inn to stay.

Qi Xuansu did not eat the food in the hotel, but took out his own dry food to eat. Suddenly he heard a noise in the hotel and a group of people came to stay. Listening to those people talking, they were full of energy, which was obviously due to their cultivation. Qi Xuansu looked out the door and saw the group of salt owls he met on the way.

Qi Xuansu didn't care, instead of sleeping, he continued to practice Qi.

While sleeping in the middle of the night, Qi Xuansu suddenly woke up from his trance when he heard a noise.

Qi Xuansu looked out from the crack of the window and saw the group of salt owls carrying their burdens out.

Qi Xuansu saw this group of people sneaking around, and his curiosity was finally aroused. He quietly left the room and followed behind.

In the dark night, I could vaguely see a group of people carrying burdens and walking quickly in the wilderness. Qi Xuansu followed behind them silently. The gang of gangsters seemed to have something important to do and they were eager to rush forward without looking back. , so I didn’t notice it.

Along the way, people continued to gather from other directions, also carrying poles filled with white salt. In the end, there were about a hundred people, walking in one direction.

After walking like this for more than an hour, they came to a dry river, which was close to the border between Yongzhou and Liangzhou. The group finally stopped.

A group of people were also waiting here, driving the carriage, and someone said: "We're finally here."

One of the salt lords also said, "Twenty thousand kilograms of fine mineral salt, are you ready with your peace money?"

Both parties didn't use the slang in the world. They were obviously familiar with each other and no longer looked for trouble.

"It has been prepared for a long time. The official ticket of the Taiping Bank is immediately redeemable for two hundred yuan of Taiping money." The person over there responded, "Qingluan Guards have been tightening their investigations recently. Large transactions are too easy to be exposed, so they can only do it secretly." Do a small business and work hard to transport salt.”

Someone on Yan Xiao's side took the official ticket and complained: "We, brothers from No. 100, only have two hundred Taiping coins in total. After dividing the profits, each of us only has two Taiping coins."

The person over there said: "That's good. You can earn two taiping coins a day, which is 60 taiping coins a month. A fifth-grade Taoist priest from the Taoist sect only earns 50 taiping coins a month. You earn more than a fifth-grade Taoist priest from the Taoist sect." So many, do you still want to compete with those mages?"

"This is hard-earned money. Those Taoist priests made it while drinking tea. Can it be compared?" Yan Xiao protested.

The man said happily: "Of course there is no comparison, but who wants to make someone else's life better? Brother, just accept your fate."

In the early years of this dynasty, before the introduction of new coins, each pound of salt in Huzhou, Wuzhou and Jinling Prefecture sold for three and four cents of silver. A pound of salt sells for one cent and five cents of silver. Silver is sold in Jinling area for one cent and two cents.

One tael is equal to ten cents, one cent is equal to ten cents, and one cent is equal to ten cents.

Converted into today's Taiping coins, one silver coin is equivalent to one small round, one small round is equivalent to one hundred wishful coins, and one cent of silver is equivalent to ten wishful coins.

One cent and two cents is twelve ruyi coins, and four cents is 40 ruyi coins.

For ordinary people, it is indeed very expensive.

Calculated in this way, two hundred Taiping money buys 20,000 kilograms of mineral salt, that is, one yuan Taiping money buys one hundred kilograms of mineral salt. No wonder private salt is so popular, it is indeed cheap.

However, Qi Xuansu was greatly disappointed.

This group of people was mysterious and mysterious. He thought it was some big deal, but it turned out to be a private salt transaction.

But this is the most real world, with swords and swords and bloodshed, but most of the time it is just to make ends meet, with the word "profit" taking precedence, and even grievances and grudges are relatively secondary matters.

Just as Qi Xuansu was about to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, and more than ten fast horses galloped towards him. Someone shouted loudly amidst the sound of hoofbeats: "The yellow sky has been established, and the world is blessed."

The two groups were immediately silent. After a while, someone trembled: "It's the people from the 'Tianting' who have arrived..."

Qi Xuansu was hiding in the dark and heard clearly, and couldn't help but find it funny.

The original sentence of "The sky is dead, the yellow sky will stand, the world will be auspicious" is the slogan when the Taiping Dao Uprising swept the world, which was two thousand years ago. It happened a while ago. At that time, the Zhengtong Yitai was still called the Tianshi Sect. It had just defeated the ancient witch sect, entrenched itself in Shuzhou for a generation, and proclaimed itself the king.

Nowadays, the Tianshi Sect has become obsolete and has been established as a righteous sect. The Taiping Dao no longer shouts "Heaven is dead, Huang Tian shall be established". What it talks about is rules, principles and laws.

Unexpectedly, "Tian Ting" picked up the discarded slogans of Taiping Dao and made them their own with slight changes. They are truly a group of delusional people.

After a while, the people from the "Tianting" arrived.