Chapter 4: Chishan Town

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  Li Jiong had finished his breakfast and was carrying two bolts of silk and two bolts of cloth on his back as he headed into town.

  The town is called Chishan Town, but this town is not the township of later generations, but a military town. Chishan Military Town is not far from Wangli Village, just next to Fahua Temple at the foot of Chishan Mountain. Since the Tang Dynasty, the Fubing system had long been corrupted, and the court often used recruited soldiers. The central government had the Divine Strategy Army, while local areas had various town troops, with larger towns called military divisions with a governor, smaller ones also having military cities, military towns, and guards, each with their own military generals and soldiers stationed in various places.

  Dengzhou, a coastal area in Shandong Province, and the seaside of Wanglijiao Village is even more famous for its Chi Shan Pu. Chi Shan Pu is an excellent natural harbor, facing Japan and Silla across the sea, with a water route that takes only three days. The ports of Guangzhou and Dengzhou are two major maritime routes, with Guangzhou Port connecting to Southeast Asia and Western Regions, while Dengzhou Port connects to Liaodong, Bohai, Silla, Japan, and these two maritime routes are known as the Maritime Silk Road.

  Dengzhou Port's main port is in Penglai, but Wenden's Chishan Bay is the closest route to Silla and Japan, and has been prosperous since ancient times. The Ziqing Pinglu Jun Military Command, which governs the five states of Deng, Qing, Lai, Zi, and Qi, established a town called Chishan at the foot of Chishan Mountain behind Chishan Bay, directly under the jurisdiction of the Pinglu Army.

  The Red Mountain Garrison is stationed with 3,000 troops, and the soldiers' families are also following the army. The town of Red Mountain is densely populated and very lively. The entire Red Mountain Garrison is roughly square in shape, with each side approximately 1,100 meters long. To adapt to the terrain of the mountainous coastline, the outline is not regular. The city wall is made of brick, with one gate on each side and a watchtower at each corner. There are seven towers in total, including the gate tower and the corner tower. On one side, there is a water gate at the entrance to the river. The main street between the east and west gates inside the city is the dry road, and a drum tower is built across the street to the west. The streets inside the south and north gates are also dry roads, but they do not intersect. The secondary streets are basically parallel to the main roads.

  Due to the large number of soldiers and their families in Chishan Town, it gradually became the center of the southwestern part of Wenden County. Although the Tang Dynasty stipulated that only county cities with more than 3,000 households could be established as markets, these policies have become increasingly relaxed over the years. Chishan Military Town has a large population and is adjacent to Fahua Temple, the largest temple in Wenden County, making it extremely prosperous. The town's commander also holds the official position of "Town Governor", with great power, even higher than that of the county magistrate. He doesn't care about the officials from the county government at all. He built a market within the military town, and most of the local villagers come to Chishan Town to buy and sell goods.

  The main responsibility of the Red Mountain Town was to guard the safety of the Red Mountain Bay, preventing pirate attacks and plundering. In addition, it also had the responsibility of collecting customs duties on goods from ships docked in the harbor. However, during the late Tang Dynasty, this group of soldiers became arrogant and tyrannical, stationed here, almost becoming a local emperor, even the county government had to give them face. The southwestern part of Wenden was almost under the direct jurisdiction of the Red Mountain Military Town, not only did ordinary people go to Red Mountain to buy and sell things, but also when there were disputes or lawsuits, they would find the Red Mountain Town to handle it, rather than going to the Wenden County government.

  Li Jiong went out of the door, and Han Shi was still leaning against the door, gazing at his back until he disappeared in the distance before returning to the courtyard.

  At this time, the sun had just revealed half of its face, and the white frost on the ground had not yet disappeared. Treading on the frozen village road, it made a crunching sound.

  It was already late autumn, and the winter wheat sown in August had sprouted. Most of the men in the village had gone to work on the land. The villagers of Liwang Village used to grow rice, millet, and corn, but in recent years, due to either drought or locust plagues, they could only plant drought-resistant winter wheat and soybeans. Sowing wheat in August, after harvesting in May next year, it was just right to plant a season of soybeans, millet, or corn again.

  Li Jiong wore a round-necked long gown, although it was interlined, but at this time there was no cotton filling, and the family couldn't afford to buy a sheepskin coat. The cold morning wind blew, and his whole body felt cool and refreshing.

  The white gas that had been sighing all the way finally reached the foot of the northern slope of Chishan Mountain after about an hour, and Li Jiong arrived at Chishan Town.

  It was still early in the morning, and the eastern gate of the city had not yet opened. Over a hundred people had gathered in front of the gate. Some were leading donkeys or mules, while others were driving carts. Many more were carrying things on their shoulders or in their hands, mostly coming to town to buy and sell goods. There were those selling charcoal, firewood, fish, meat, sheep, and pigs, among other things. However, the majority of the people were pale and thin, with sallow complexions and frail bodies. Although their clothes were still relatively intact, they were all patched up with layer upon layer of repairs.

  Looking at these people stomping their feet to keep warm in the cold wind, Li Jing also let out a long sigh. At present, although the people's lives are bitter, they can still manage to survive. But when Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao rebel next year, everyone will have no way to live. Although in his impression, the bandits of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao did not kill all the way to Dengzhou, but also killed once into the counties under the jurisdiction of Ziqing Pinglu.

  Originally, natural disasters were frequent, and with these bandits around, thieves and robbers in various places would be as numerous as the hairs on an ox.

  After waiting for a while, the town finally sounded the drum, and the East Urn City Gate creaked open. As the drawbridge was lowered, the people began to line up to enter the city.

  "Entrance fee is two coins!" A city guard with a horizontal sword slung over his shoulder, with his hands clasped together in front of him and his eyes half-closed, said to Li Jing.

  Li Jing also understood this, he had just seen that everyone who entered the city, whether they were driving a cart or empty-handed, was charged two coins. At current prices of 200 coins per dou of rice, the entrance fee of two coins was not expensive. Li Jing took out the string of money he was carrying and put two Kaiyuan Tongbao into the bamboo basket in front of the soldier.

  After entering the city gate, it does not go straight, but turns left along the city wall for about 100-200 steps before arriving at the east gate of Chishan Town. This approach is naturally to enhance the defensive strength of the military town. Even if the city gate is breached during wartime, the enemy cannot immediately rush to the front of the inner city gate, but must turn around the city wall for a good distance, giving the defending army time to organize defense and counterattack.

  Entering the city gate again, this time there was no toll, but the number of soldiers guarding it had increased. Every person entering the city, although not searched, was scrutinized from head to toe. If they were a stranger, they would be pulled aside and questioned for a few sentences. However, Chishan Town had been peaceful for a long time, with heavy troops stationed there, but no bandits or pirates dared to come and cause trouble, so everything became just a formality.

  Entering the city, along the east gate is the main street between the east and west gates. The western city is a specialized market. However, most of the shops in this city are wholesale markets that deal with large quantities and valuable goods. Generally, ordinary people from nearby villages who come to the city to buy or sell things mostly set up stalls along this main street. Selling things on this street doesn't require high rent, just paying a small stall fee is enough. The stalls are also not fixed, whoever comes early gets the spot first.

  Li Jiong first went to the cloth store in West City and sold two bolts of cloth, exchanging them for 1,500 coins. Then he went to the rice store and used 1,500 coins and one bolt of silk to exchange for 130 jin of high-quality millet. This 130 jin is equivalent to over 170 jin in later times, exceeding one dan (a unit of measurement). Li Jiong packed the millet into two large bags, thinking he wouldn't know how to carry them back, but unexpectedly, when he tried lifting them, he found it wasn't too strenuous and was surprised by his own physical strength.

  Han originally gave him a piece of cloth and some money to buy paper, ink, books and so on, but Li Cong did not do so. The whole family could not even afford to eat, let alone buy books and stationery, it was already the late Tang Dynasty, how could he still take the imperial examination?

  Carrying a stone and some food, Li Jing didn't stay any longer and directly followed the original path back. Halfway through, he heard a shout from the side of the street: "Xiucai brother, Xiucai brother, you've also come to the town!"

  At first he didn't notice and didn't think it was him being called. But the man shouted a few times, seeing that he hadn't responded, and ran directly in front of him to block his path. He looked up only to find out it was an acquaintance.

  His name was Xiaoshi Tuo, the second son of Wang Tiejiang, a blacksmith in the town, and he was about the same age as him. Last time Li Jiong and his brother Li Yu helped Xiaoshi Tuo's older brother Dashitou pick seaweed by the sea, that's when the trouble started.

  The villagers called Li Jing "Xiucai" because he used to study and had some reputation for his talent. The villagers thought that Xiucai was the most difficult to take in the imperial examination, so they thought Xiucai was the most capable. However, they didn't know that the Xiucai exam had been abolished for many years. Now it's mainly about Jinshi and Mingjing exams, among which Jinshi is the most valuable.

  "Little stone, I went into town to exchange some millet and was just about to head back to the village." Li Jing said.

  "Xiucai brother, can you help me bring some things back to the village for my mother?" Xiaoshi said to Li Jing with a hint of awkwardness. Firstly, because Li Jing had obtained the title of Xianggong, he was considered a true scholar in the village. Secondly, last time Li Jing's brothers got into trouble, it was also because of the Wang family's affairs.

  "Alright, what do you want me to bring back for you?" Wang Tiejiang works as a blacksmith in the city and rarely returns home once every ten days or half a month. Nowadays, Xiaoshi is also working with his father in the city as a blacksmith.

  "Brother, wait for me for a while, I'll go get it." Xiaoshi ran away quickly and came back panting after a moment. He was carrying a small bag with about 20-30 kilograms of millet inside. Additionally, he had two large strings of fish tied up with willow branches, each string having six or seven fish, weighing around ten kilograms in total.

  "Xiucai brother, this bag of highland barley is the grain from our home, and these two strings of fish are for our family and your family each to have one string. I caught them in the city moat, you take it back to eat." Little Stone said awkwardly.

  Looking at his careful appearance, Li Jing's heart was complicated. Although last time they had an accident, it could only be blamed on those salt workers and the unfair fate. But obviously, the Xiao Shi Tou family took this matter as their fault, remembering it in their hearts, always feeling that they owed the Li family. Ten or so catties of fish might not be a big deal, but it was a very sincere intention. He didn't say anything else, just smiled at Xiao Shi Tou and picked up the carrying pole.

  Still on the same road back, passing through the East Gate and arriving at the Donghuang City Gate. Everything went smoothly when entering the city, but trouble was encountered when leaving the city.

  "Halt! These two strings of fish are quite fat. I'll buy them for a string of coins." A somewhat overbearing voice rang out from behind.

  Li Jing turned his head and happened to meet the man's gaze.

  "It's you!" The man exclaimed in surprise.

  Li Jing also saw the person clearly and said coldly: "Not for sale!"

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