Ganzhou Chronicles

The first time Cheng Yin came to Ganzhou was because he was bored at home. The Mei family was a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River and had enough money to last three lifetimes. Her mother took care of the family business for her, and her brother blocked all the people who came to propose marriage for her. She lacked nothing but the places she had never walked before. At the age of fifteen, I climbed over the wall and went to Ganzhou with a caravan, and came back to draw a map for three months; at the age of sixteen, I went out alone, without deciding the direction, and walked wherever I went, and walked for a year; at the age of seventeen, I passed by Liangzhou and found that the prices in the horse market in the north were extremely chaotic. I sat down and wrote a stack of regulations, clearly listing the rules of Hu merchants' price increases, the price differences at each station, and the fluctuations in spring and autumn. After writing, I threw it on the counter of the station without leaving my name. She had no intention of doing anything for anyone. She just wanted to see if she could figure something out. Once she had figured it out and was interested, she left. This stack of regulations was transferred to Lu Yin, the governor of Liangzhou. After reading it, he made up the actual number, stamped it with the seal of the Ministry of War, and then sent people to pass the message along the way: If the person who wrote the charter is still in the north, come to Ganzhou. It took Cheng Yin three months to get to Ganzhou - she turned west on the road to see the horse breeds, and rested for a while in Shu. It was already autumn when she arrived in Ganzhou. When she walked into the tea shed, Lu Yin had already arrived. He sat by the window with a plate of peanuts and two bowls of tea in front of him. When Cheng Yin sat down opposite him, he raised his eyes and glanced at her. His eyes were light and expressionless, as if he looked away after confirming who the person was. "I changed Article 12 of the charter. The actual number in Dongshi doesn't match what you wrote, so I made up for it." He pulled the stack of papers from his sleeve and pushed it over. Cheng Yin opened it, and each page was filled with comments. She checked the mistakes and filled in the truth one by one in what she wrote. Lu Yin's words were written one stroke at a time, with equal spacing, like a ruler. She turned to the last page and saw the words at the end: "Hu Shang in the East Market raises prices in spring and autumn in line with the West Market. Article 12, 'limited to 30%,' is feasible. The seal has been used." Cheng Yin closed the charter: "How long did it take you to make up for this?" "More than half a month." "I've been writing for about ten days, and I kept writing. But you took it seriously." Lu Yin picked up the tea bowl and took a sip: "What you wrote can be used. I just made up for it." He put down the bowl, "The horse price in the north will be the same from now on. I have already said hello to the Ministry of War. Do you have anything else to add?" Cheng Yin thought for a while: "Not yet." "That's it." Lu Yin stood up and was about to leave. When he passed by her, he stopped for a step, took out another thing from his sleeve and put it on the table - a copper seal with a piece of paper underneath. "This is for you. Once you get it, you can make payments at various inns in the north without having to pay out of pocket. On the paper are instructions for each inn, which you will need on your way." Cheng Yin lowered his head and looked at the copper seal, which had the words "Northern Territory Ma Zheng" engraved on it. "You give me this?" "You wrote the charter, and the seal is yours to use. Use it if you like it, and leave it if you don't." After Lu Yin finished speaking, he left. The sound of horse hooves sounded outside the tea shed, and the sound of the guards' armor made a faint sound for a while, and then disappeared. Cheng Yin picked up the copper seal and weighed it. It didn't sink. She flipped through the piece of paper. It was the contact list of each post station written by Lu Yin himself. The name, address, and amount of fodder that could be allocated to each post were all listed. She looked at it for a long time, and suddenly felt that this man had paved the road very carefully - he had paved the road, carved the signs, and arranged the people at each station for you. Then he said, "It's up to you whether you need it or not." Then he left. She put the stamp paper into her bag. Someone laughed on the railing on the second floor nearby. Cheng Yin tilted his head and saw a young man wearing a crow-green brocade robe leaning against him in the sunlight. He was tall and thin, with rich features and a sloppy posture that looked like someone had been ripped off. He was looking down at her, with a slight smile on his lips: "Are you Cheng Yin? The one who wrote the charter?" "I am. Are you?" "Jiang Zhe." He came down from the second floor and walked to her table. Instead of sitting down, he leaned over and looked at the plate of peanuts on the table, pinched one and rolled it between his fingers. "I heard that you helped Lu Yin sort out the horse prices in the north. As soon as your charter came out, my cargo route to the west was blocked for two months - Hu Shangquan went around my route and turned my private road into an official road." Cheng Yin heard it. She had heard the name Jiang Zhe several times after coming to the northern border. It was said that the smugglers in the Western Region were involved in all kinds of goods, including tea, silk, ironware, and smuggled salt. The routes they took were all discovered by themselves and were not listed in the official books. It is said that the people under his command spread from the Hexi Corridor to the foot of Tianshan Mountain, and the Hu merchants along the line had to pass their goods through him regardless of whether they wanted to or not. "You are taking a private road, and it is because you are not careful when others step on it and turn it into an official road." Cheng Yin said. Jiang Zhe smiled. When he laughed, the ends of his eyes curled up, and his dead-face finally loosened up a bit, but the underlying layer of laughter didn't melt away. "Miss Cheng Er is right, I didn't pay attention." He sat down, stretched out a long leg from under the table, and looked at her across half the table, "So I'm going to take another route. But you have to show me how to draw the new road." He took out a roll of parchment from his sleeve and put it on the table. "A new line was explored in the west. You have good eyesight, help me see if this section can be walked." Cheng Yin unfolded the parchment. The painting is extremely detailed, even the saltiness of the well water in the oasis is marked. She looked at it for a moment and then looked up at him: "The road is walkable. But there is a section of sandy land in the middle of your line that the camels can't pass, so you have to change horses. It won't be much faster if you change horses, but it will save about twelve days compared to the original road." Jiang Zhe's eyes changed for a moment. The thin shell cracked a crack, revealing a bit of real light underneath. "Twelve days?" He leaned back in his chair, "You know you can save twelve days just by looking at it?" "I walked through the northern section of that road and didn't turn south. I can roughly guess the section you drew." Cheng Yin rolled up the parchment and pushed it back. "If you can walk on the road, just change horses. I don't understand anything else. You can ask someone who understands." Jiang Zhe didn't take the parchment. He leaned on the back of the chair and looked at her for a long time. The sunlight shone in from the window, cutting his dazzlingly beautiful face into two halves: light and dark. "Cheng Yin, besides writing articles of association, what else do you do?" "Not necessarily. Wherever you go, just try whatever you find interesting." "Then do you want to touch my side?" He pushed the parchment back, "You finish drawing this line for me, and I'll give you 30% of it. You can leave as you like after drawing, and I won't stop you." Cheng Yin thought for a while, then reached out and put the parchment into his sleeve: "We'll talk about it after we finish the painting. I'll take care of it after I finish the painting, and I won't necessarily help you with the goods." "It's up to you." Jiang Zhe stood up and patted the non-existent dust on the hem of his clothes. "After you finish the painting, have it taken to Yuelai Inn and tell me my name." He walked to the stairs and looked back at her, his expression relaxed, but something in his eyes suddenly sharpened, "Cheng Yin, you are not afraid of me." "Why should I be afraid of you?" Jiang Zhe smiled and didn't answer. Turning around and going downstairs, the sound of boots sounded leisurely for a while and disappeared into the noise of the street. Cheng Yin sat down and drank the remaining half of the bowl of tea. He stood up and walked to the counter. The shopkeeper looked at her, took out a small bundle from underneath and handed it over: "Someone left this for you. It was said to be from Liangzhou." Cheng Yin opened. Inside were two boxes of tea cakes, wrapped in oil paper, with a piece of paper beside them, which listed the directory of each post station. It was exactly the same as the one Lu Yin had just put under the copper seal - only this one was more complete, and even marked the fodder reserves of several small post stations west of Ganzhou. There is a line at the end of the paper: "If you need to change horses when passing through various places, just report to the Northern Horse Administration Seal." Cheng Yin folded the paper and put it into the bag together with the tea cake. She pushed open the door of the tea shed and walked out. The sun in Ganzhou was blazing, and the wind blew sand and dust in her face. She squinted her eyes and looked in the west direction, then touched the roll of parchment and the copper seal in her sleeve, and then got on her horse. She had no idea which way to go. Intention:1