If he passed the scholarly examination, Old Master Lu would naturally return the farm property he was renting amicably and form a good relationship with him.
If he could not get an honorary title from the examination, his family name would probably be changed to Lu in the future!
Wu Zheng felt that he had no choice. He sighed in his heart and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Then, he left the Lu Mansion with his attendant.
…
On the other end, because Fang Zhen, the “Mountain Crossing Grand Duke”, was traveling with them, Zhou Jing’s entourage increased by one.
Because they had bumped into Fang Zhen, everyone had a good meal and was delayed for some time. After lunch, everyone rushed over, but they still could not reach An Lin Prefecture before sunset. They could only find an inn outside the city and stay overnight before entering the city at dawn.
Many passersby who had missed the time to enter the city also settled down in the inn. There were too many people, so everyone ate hurriedly and returned to their rooms to rest.
The next morning, when the city gate opened. Li Chun came out to make some arrangements. He took the permit and some silver before leading everyone into the city.
On the way, Li Chun had already explained to Zhou Jing that it was better to go to the county city or village. If he wanted to enter a prefecture city, he needed an “identity check” and a “travel certificate”. It was usually called a “road inspection document”.
In the early days of the Great Xia Dynasty, the investigation was relatively strict, but after more than a hundred years of corruption, it was already extremely lax.
As the saying went, there was a countermeasure. Fake road inspection documents were already a common black market business. The forgers’ skills were so good that they could almost pass off as real. Even if their skills were inferior, there were many people who entered the city every day in the various prefectural cities. If the soldiers guarding the door did not pay attention, they would still have a chance to muddle through.
But in this world, there were corrupt officials everywhere. If one knew how to present money, they did not even need to forge it. Some local officials could not even be bothered to check. After giving enough money, they would write according to their needs and privately sell the road inspection documents.
In addition, the job of guarding the city gate was also a lucrative job. Not everyone could be qualified to do it.
A small official could also make money in this manner. As long as one gave enough benefits, the guards would turn a blind eye when checking. If one was greedy, even if the party had a qualified document but did not bother giving benefits, the other party could still find trouble with them.
In a day, the guards could earn a lot of extra money.
Of course, they could not take all the money. They had to show some respect to the higher-ranking officers stationed for the city defense, and give them a portion of the bribes taken.
The soldiers guarding the door not only earned money for themselves, but also for their superiors. Those who did not have such foresight were not qualified to be sent by their superiors to do this job.
Towards such a rule, ordinary merchants naturally hated it to the core. They did not dare to voice their anger, but it made things easier for the people of Green Forest and the martial world.
After entering the city, everyone found an inn to stay in.
Because Zhou Jing’s figure was valiant, he was a little eye-catching, but he had changed into rough linen clothes. Although he still looked very big, at least he was not that scary anymore.
Li Chun brought the Lu siblings to find a middleman to discuss some military weapons transactions, thus for the time being, it was not convenient for Zhou Jing to follow them.
He did not idle around either. He practiced the basic tempering method in his room for a while. Later on, when he received Fang Zhen’s invitation, the two of them went to the street to stroll around, while Zhang San and the other four guards waited at the inn.
The two of them left the inn and walked down the street, looking around.
Although it was impossible for An Lin Prefecture to be comparable to the main world, it was already considered prosperous by the standards of ancient cities in the feudal era. The atmosphere of the city was rich, and Zhou Jing found it refreshing.
“Brother, is this your first time in An Lin Prefecture?” Seeing his expression, Fang Zhen asked with a smile.
“It’s indeed the first time.”
Zhou Jing replied casually. Actually, he knew about this place, but there was no need to say it out loud.
Although the map information given by the main world was hundreds of years old, the basic layout of some bigger cities would not be easily changed.
When he designated the deployment area for his astral travel, Zhou Jing had seen the general layout of the surrounding cities, including that of the An Lin Prefecture. Although he did not know the more detailed layout, he at least knew which direction the city gate was placed in.
“This An Lin Prefecture is the capital of Jingzhou. Businesses are flourishing and heroes come and go. It’s one of the most prosperous cities in the Lu River area. It’s said that the seafood here is the most delicious, why don’t we go and taste it?”
Fang Zhen invited him warmly.
Zhou Jing looked at the sky and shook his head. “It’s still early. Let’s talk about this at lunch. We can call the other brothers along.”
“Alright.” Fang Zhen nodded.
After walking for a while, they came across a commotion nearby.
The two of them walked towards the sound and found a small river. On the river was a stone bridge. At this moment, there were two groups of people facing off on the bridge, and many people were watching the commotion.
“The Hemp Clothed Gang and the Tiger Head Gang are going against each other. This is going to be a good show.”
“Heh, it’s just dogs fighting each other. It’s best if both sides suffer.”
“I’m guessing ten people will fall into the water today. I’ll bet three copper coins.”
“I’ll follow.”
The civilians watching the show whispered to each other and discussed, seemingly unafraid of them.
Hearing the conversation of the crowd, Zhou Jing carefully sized up the two groups of people on the bridge.
There were more than ten people on both sides of the bridge. They were bare-handed and were shouting at each other, cursing and “greeting” each other’s relatives.
Fang Zhen asked the people beside him about what was going on. After finding out the situation, he chuckled,
“So it’s two gangs of ruffians on the street. They fight on the bridge every few days and throw each other into the river. The people here are used to it.”
“Don’t the officials care?” Zhou Jing asked casually.
“These hoodlums are loafing around. Even if they’re caught and imprisoned for a few days, they’ll be released. There’s nothing much to squeeze out of them. As long as no lives are lost or the people are harmed, the officials can’t be bothered. They can even get some entertainment along the way.”