Volume 4: Following the Dragon and Slaying the Dragon Chapter 20: Pingyuan Prefecture
After leaving Siming County, Wang Liang had an idea in his mind. He recalled the route mentioned by the City God and did not rush to the mountain gate of the Huxing Sect. Instead, he turned and headed east.
That was the location of Pingyuan Prefecture, the capital of Marquis Dongfeng.
Pingyuan Prefecture is composed of a big city, three county towns and more than 20 villages. It occupies the most fertile land in Dongfeng Town and also occupies the main transportation routes of the entire Dongfeng Town.
The capital of Pingyuan Prefecture is the administrative center of the entire Dongfeng Town. More than half of the city is the Dongfeng Marquis Mansion, and the rest is various functional buildings, such as barracks, granaries, worship centers, ancestral temples, etc. The 20-meter-high city wall ensures that even if Pingyuan Prefecture is surrounded, it can withstand the attack of three to five thousand people.
The other three county towns surrounded Pingyuan Prefecture in the shape of a Chinese character "品". The functions of these three county towns were quite clear. They were Wen County, where the officials of Dongfeng Town lived and worked; Wu County, where the army of Dongfeng Town lived; and Shang County, which was used for external exchanges and transactions.
Because of the characteristics of these three counties, only Shangxian is usually open to the outside world.
Wang Liang rode on a bronze warhorse and arrived here from Siming County in just one hour.
When Wang Liang saw Shang County from afar, he knew that there was a master in the family of Marquis Dongfeng.
The location of Shang County in front of us is very good. The county town is built on the side of a river. The ships coming and going on the river are full of goods. Near Shang County is a straight road. Those roads are all paved with bluestone slabs. The road is wide enough for three carriages to travel side by side.
However, the people in Shang County managed it very strictly. Only two carriages were allowed to go back and forth, one abreast, and there was some extra space for ordinary people to walk.
Wang Liang was riding on the bronze warhorse on this road, feeling quite brisk.
However, when he arrived at the gate of Shang County, Wang Liang encountered some troubles.
Shang County is a commercial city, and taxes are collected when entering and leaving the county.
Wang Liang brought nothing with him except a bronze warhorse, but he was mistaken for a horse dealer and charged a tax for the horse.
Although it was less than three taels of silver, Wang Liang still felt quite unhappy.
Moreover, Wang Liang believed that if he brought the war horse with him when he came out, he would have to collect taxes again.
I don't know whose idea this was. No wonder the fortune of the Dongfeng Hou family has weakened a lot. This is clearly an attempt to dig up the roots of the Dongfeng Hou family.
However, Wang Liang did not say much. After entering Shang County, Wang Liang looked around.
Shang County is a commercial county town. The streets are lined with shops, and behind the shops are places where people live.
Wang Liang took a quick glance and figured out the layout of the place. The county was divided into four areas: east, west, south and north.
The East District is the area they came from. It is an area with the strongest commercial atmosphere and is also close to the city gate. All shops are open and all kinds of goods are sold in the shops.
The West District is close to the river, where there are docks and warehouses. Things unloaded from the ship can be quickly transported to the warehouse, and things in the warehouse can also be quickly loaded onto ships and shipped away.
The South District is the main cargo area, and some major transactions are conducted here. At the same time, several markets in the county are arranged here. Important products such as horse markets, weapons, and food can only be sold here.
The North District is his administrative area. Although Shang County has no county magistrate, Marquis Dongfeng still sent a manager to manage it. There is also a patrol force of 200 people and three priests here.
Wang Liang noticed that there was no such thing as a City God in Shang County. Instead, there was some evil energy floating around in the northern area, which seemed to be some trick used by the Dongfeng Marquis' Mansion .
Wang Liang thought about it for a while, then walked around the northern area from a distance.
He noticed some details. In the northern district of Shang County, in addition to the manager of the Dongfeng Hou family, there were also managers or personnel from other forces . They should have been sent to stay here permanently in order to control important supplies when necessary.
The Dongfeng Marquis' Mansion seemed to ignore the existence of these forces, did not manage or arrange their residences, and did not monitor them, as if they were all ordinary people.
Wang Liang was still somewhat confused about this matter.
According to his thinking, if he were the manager of Shang County, he would definitely arrange the personnel sent by other forces to designated places and send some people to monitor them.
At least they won't be allowed to act freely like they are doing now.
But that was Marquis Dongfeng's business, and Wang Liang had no reason to care too much. After taking a look around, he came to the temple in the northern area.
Before coming here, Wang Liang had heard that in today's society, there is still the concept of worshippers and retainers. Each noble family has its own retainers and worshippers. At the same time, corresponding worship places and retainers' places are built on the land of the noble families.
Of course, there are differences between worshippers and retainers, but the specific differences are not too big. At most, they are differences in authority and status, and Wang Liang did not try to distinguish them.
He went straight to the door of the temple, took out a name card and handed it to the gatekeeper.
Wang Liang's name tag was made on his way here.
Fortunately, this kind of thing has not changed much after thousands of years. Wang Liang originally had his own exclusive name tag that could represent his identity and so on.
It didn't take too long to redo it now.
As long as he has the materials, Wang Liang can make one.
After handing the name tag to the doorman, Wang Liang said calmly: "I want to see your worshiper."
After he finished speaking, Wang Liang added: "Anyone will do."
"What do you want to see our family's offering?" The doorman looked Wang Liang up and down. He could see that Wang Liang was not an ordinary person, but as it was his duty, he still asked one more question.
"I heard that Dongfeng Hou Gongsheng is the most powerful cultivator in Dongfeng Town. I have some matters that I would like to ask the cultivator to handle, so I came here."
What Wang Liang said was reasonable. It was not that the Dongfeng Marquis's servants had never done such things to help others. On the contrary, because they usually earned a lot of extra money doing these things, they were all happy to do it.
After hearing Wang Liang's explanation, Menzi looked at Wang Liang.
"You wait."
After saying that, he went in to invite someone.
Wang Liang didn't say much, just stood at the door waiting.
At this time, Wang Liang noticed that someone nearby was looking at him curiously.
Wang Liang also understood that even if Marquis Dongfeng didn't care about the intelligence here, other forces would certainly not care. The appearance of a stranger like Wang Liang would naturally attract some people's attention.
Fortunately, the shrine did not make Wang Liang wait for long. After three or five minutes, a fat Taoist priest came out with a loud laugh and took Wang Liang into the shrine.
