The two of them walked in the streets of Luyang City, somewhat silent.
"I saw that her herbal basket was full of low-grade first- and second-level herbs. Each herb was only worth one or two taels of silver and was not worth much. I'm afraid her life was a bit difficult. I left a herb in the shop for her. The bag of gold leaves should be enough to cover the household expenses."
Gu Xinyue said softly.
With her invisibility skills, it only took a moment for Cao Shanshan to leave a bag of gold leaves in the medicine shop, without Cao Shanshan noticing.
Ye Fan shook his head slightly and sighed: "I grew up in Luyang Mansion since I was a child. Although Luyang Mansion is not a rich and powerful mansion, the land is fertile and abundant for thousands of miles, and it will not make the people poor and they will not be able to make ends meet. It's a problem. The population of Luyang City is obviously much smaller than before. But the city is peaceful and peaceful, and there are not a lot of new graves. It doesn't look like it has suffered a catastrophe, but there are just a large number of strong men missing. Then the only possibility is that the court A large number of laborers were transferred away. There are only a large number of lonely elderly people, women and children left in Luyang Prefecture. A serious lack of labor force will lead to poverty among the people! Moreover, many military and labor services do not receive salary, so you have to prepare rations, clothes, and weapons at home. , which makes the people in the city even worse, send everything they can eat and use to the front line. Giving her some gold and silver won't solve the long-term problem!"
Since he stepped into Luyang City, he has discovered many problems.
Luyang City looks dilapidated. The walls are covered with vines and moss. It seems that few people have been sent to repair and clean them. There are many young men missing in the city, and even the city guards are elderly old city guards. Most of the people walking on the streets are wearing linen and coarse clothes, and they are far less wealthy than they were in more than ten or twenty years.
Uncle An Cai used to be a squire and landlord, with many properties in the countryside, but now he only wears coarse clothes and eats simple meals and steamed buns. Even Ye Hao, who is practicing martial arts, cannot have enough to eat.
Moreover, the four-year-old kid Cao Shanshan was carrying just now said that his father went to serve in the military and he hadn't eaten eggs for a long time. It was almost comparable to the poverty he lived when his parents died when he was a teenager.
Even a pharmacist apprentice has such a hard time, and the life of ordinary people in Luyang Mansion is probably even worse.
What happened in Luyang Mansion?
Ever since he led the Canglan army to wipe out the big threat of the Green Wolf tribe in the Lieri Mountains, there have been few places in Canglan country where large numbers of soldiers can be mobilized, and the pressure of military service and labor has been reduced a lot.
Could it be that the Green Wolf tribe in the Lieyin Mountains has resurrected in just a decade or two, and the Canglan Kingdom has recruited soldiers and laborers to continue its eradication?
This is extremely unlikely.
Or is there something unexpected happening in the direction of the East Coast River? Donglai County of Canglan Kingdom faces the sea and is occasionally attacked by pirates and sea beasts.
"Would you like to visit the Ancient City Lord and Dean Mu?"
Gu Xinyue knew that Ye Fan didn't know many people in Luyang City, and these two were elders with whom Ye Fan had some friendship.
"Take one look and leave."
Mark nodded slightly, not wanting to disturb their lives.
When I arrived at the Luyang City Lord's Mansion, I discovered that the City Lord's Mansion had now changed hands and had been replaced by a new city lord by the imperial court.
The ancient city lord was seriously injured when he was guarding the Luyang Mansion. After he was elected, he was recuperating at home. He has not fully recovered yet, but he is now able to wield swords and sticks and practice martial arts in the compound.
In Luyang Mansion, Dean Mu has also retired and is enjoying his old age at home, studying runes.
But I haven't seen Mu Bing. She is in the realm of Marquis Wu, so I'm afraid she won't stay in the small town of Luyang Mansion.
"Where shall we go next?"
Gu Xinyue said.
Ye Fan pondered and said, "First go to the Lieyang Mountains to see if there are any new beasts. Then go to Donglai County to see. Only the county can transfer a large number of military service and labor from Luyang Mansion."
…
Although it was unlikely that the Green Wolf Tribe in the Lieyang Mountains would resurrect, for the sake of caution, he had better take a look and it wouldn't take much time.
The golden bird flies extremely fast.
After half a day.
Ye Fan and Gu Xinyue flew over the Lieri Mountains.
At a glance, the entire precipitous mountain range is still a piece of bare scorched earth, with black rocks barren of grass. The gray and dead atmosphere in the mountains makes any living being feel extremely depressed.
Occasionally, in some places, the streams and water plants are green.
But there is almost no wild animal activity, and birds are not willing to pass or stay in this mountain range.
In addition to being burned by fire, the entire Lieyun Mountain Range was poisoned with various poisons and suffered the most severe damage. Fish and beasts could not survive here at all. Even the insects and ants were wiped out.
Gu Xinyue's heart was shaken.
She knew that this was the place where Ye Fan led his troops to annihilate the Qinglang tribe during the time of Marquis Wu. But without seeing it with my own eyes, I would never have imagined that this scorching battlefield was so tragic, with almost no grass left.
The cruelty of this battle even surpassed several battles in the Ancient Land of the Ancestral Gods.
Ye Fan felt a little relieved when he saw this scene.
Within one to two hundred years, it is impossible for any new orc tribe to be born in the Lieyun Mountains. Although his methods were cruel, he left Canglan Country with two hundred years of peace and tranquility.
"Let's go to Donglai County!"
…
Donglai County.
The closer they got to the county town, the more people they found on the official road.
Take a bird's-eye view from the air.
On the roads on the ground, we can see densely packed masses of millions of civilians, pushing small carts or carrying handloads. The rolling convoys form a huge torrent, carrying large amounts of food, wood, arrows, swords, guns, equipment, etc. Sand and gravel are transported on the official road towards Donglai City.
In the mountains and fields outside Donglai City, there are even more military barracks stationed in a row, numbering no less than a million, and the edges are almost invisible. Most of them are the flags of the soldiers of Canglan counties.
"It's indeed Haiphong!"
Ye Fan's face suddenly became heavy.
It was possible to form such a large scale because of the gathering of armies from all over the Canglan Kingdom.
There must be something wrong with Dongnae County's coastal defense!
Otherwise, such a large number of troops and laborers would not be mobilized from all over the Canglan Kingdom and assembled in Donglai County.
Among this large army, I was surprised to see the flags of the Canglan Kingdom's monarch's escort army, as well as the flags of the 100,000 Ningbian troops who once guarded the Lieri Mountains.
Apparently, even the king Ling Feizhuo appeared in Donglai County on his own expedition. I'm afraid Princess Ling Jiaojiao will come too.
"Go to the city and find Dean Cao Hao."
Ye Fan pondered for a moment.
He didn't know what was going on in Canglan Kingdom now, so he couldn't go to the monarch to ask. The only person he had any friendship with was Cao Hao, the dean of Donglai County Courtyard. If you want to know what is going on, you have to ask Cao Hao.
In the sky, Ye Fan scanned the county.
There are crowds of people almost everywhere in the county town. Many soldiers and wounded.
Soon he discovered that in the county martial arts academy, he found an old man with rosacea lecturing a group of martial arts masters.
"Go to the county court!"
"blow!"
The golden bird's wings swept across and flew into Donglai County City in an instant, landing in the open space of the county courtyard.
It flew so fast that it fell straight down from the clouds, as fast as lightning, and disappeared in a flash of golden light, so that no one in the city saw it at all, thinking that the sun was too bright.
In the county courtyard.
A little old man with a rosy nose, his hands behind his back, an extremely proud expression, and his neck held high, was giving lectures to a group of hundreds of young martial arts masters who were admitted to the county academy this year in front of many teachers from the county academy.
"Since I became the dean of the county martial arts academy, I have taught the most outstanding student, Ye Fan, the general marshal of the Canglan Kingdom. After making great contributions to the Canglan Kingdom in eradicating the Green Wolf tribe, he wandered away to travel. I went to Dongzhou. One is Guhanjian, who broke through the realm of King Wu in one fell swoop and was accepted as a disciple by Wenxin Sect, one of the seven major sects of Shenwu. Of course, it is too difficult to learn from them, and I don't force you to make them your target. However, the rest of the Wuhou period is also full of talented people, such as Princess Ling Jiaojiao, Mu Bing, Qin Yuer, Cao Youwen, Jiang Youxi, Ao Lie, Li Hao, and countless others who broke through to Wuhou at a young age. You must at least Follow the example of these seniors and become the pillars of Canglan Country."
Cao Hao boasted about his achievements and encouraged the teachers and hundreds of Wuzun students to disperse.
This group of students all grew up during the period when he was the dean, so they were not trying to flatter himself.
He turned around and was about to leave when he saw two men and women wearing hats and raincoats standing silently under the eaves not far away, looking at him with smiles.
"leaf..."
Cao Hao and Ye Fan were very familiar with each other. He could see it was Ye Fan at a glance and couldn't help but be surprised, with a look of surprise on his face.
But when he saw that Ye Fan was wearing a bamboo hat, covering his figure, only his eyes were exposed, as if he didn't want to reveal his true face, for fear of hiding something else, he quickly stopped what he said and said instead: "When did you come back? "
"Disciple, have you met the dean? How is the dean these years? I just came back today and am planning to take a look around Donglai County, so I will pay a visit to the dean first!"
Ye Fan bowed his hands and smiled lightly.
"Haha, that's great! It's rare for you to come back. Let's go and have a few drinks together. We won't come back until we're drunk! This girl is coming to Donglai County for the first time, right? Let's go drink together!"
Cao Hao laughed heartily, looked at Gu Xinyue next to Ye Fan, and invited him warmly.
Ye Fan nodded, and Gu Xinyue followed Cao Hao to Cao Mansion for a drink.
Cao Mansion.
In a quiet little pavilion.
"Looking at your cultivation aura, it seems that you have reached the realm of Martial King. It is gratifying. In total, our Donglai County has given birth to two Martial Kings in just over ten years. When you come back this time, you are in the Canglan Kingdom. Long term stay?"
Cao Hao took out the finest wine that he had collected for decades and said excitedly with a happy expression.
"Well, I have been King Wu for a few years. However, this time I came back to Luyang Mansion to pay homage to my parents. I came to Donglai County to visit the dean on the way. I can't stay longer, I'm afraid I will leave in a few days. Among them I can't explain the reason, so please forgive me, Dean!"
Ye Fan smiled bitterly and shook his head.
He couldn't even stay in the Zixuan Dynasty, and he didn't dare to stay too long in the Canglan Kingdom, lest it cause disaster to the Canglan Kingdom.
If Cao Hao knew that he had provoked the Purple Phoenix Sect, a giant force in Shenwu Dongzhou, and that Mandongzhou was chasing him, he would probably not be able to sit still. Even the power of the entire Canglan Kingdom is not as powerful as one finger of the Purple Phoenix Sect.
"I know that King Wu is not without his troubles. The higher your cultivation level, the greater the troubles and enemies you will get into. You don't want to show your true face in Donglai County. It must be your reason. I won't ask more questions. Drinking wine can relieve a thousand worries and save you a lot of troubles!"
Cao Hao picked up a jar of third-level Wuhou wine and drank a few swigs. He wiped the wine from his mouth with his sleeves and sighed.