The Anqing Prefecture was located in the southwest of the Jing Kingdom. It was once the capital of the Jing Kingdom and was extremely prosperous. It was the second largest capital city in the Jing Kingdom after Jing Du.
At this moment, on the official road leading to the southwest gate of the Anqing Prefecture, a few sturdy horses with shiny fur galloped over. A woman dressed in white pulled on the reins and the horses let out a long neigh in pain. They raised their hooves high in the air and stopped some distance away from the city gate.
"Neigh!"
A few sounds rang out in succession. A few sturdy men skillfully dismounted from their horses. The horses' hooves trampled the ground in a chaotic manner, stirring up a cloud of dust.
"Son-in-law, we've arrived at the prefecture!" The burly man with the surname Fang grabbed Li Yi's arm and jumped down from his horse.
Li Yi raised his head and looked at the city walls that were dozens of feet high. He couldn't see the end of the city walls on either side. He couldn't help but feel his legs turn to jelly and his vision become dizzy.
"Blergh!"
He held onto a willow tree by the moat and vomited for a while. Only then did the feeling of extreme discomfort subside a little.
Of course, he didn't feel a sense of admiration just because he saw the city walls that were more than ten meters high. Instead, he used this behavior to express the shock in his heart.
For a person who had never ridden a horse before, the fact that he was still able to stand after being forced to ride on a horse for more than ten kilometers on a bumpy mountain road was already proof that Li Yi's body was very strong.
His first trip to the prefecture city wasn't as perfect as Li Yi had imagined. Before he even entered the city gates, his entire body already felt like it was going to collapse.
"Son-in-law, your body is too weak. You need to train properly!" The burly man with the surname Fang couldn't help but say when he saw Li Yi's uncomfortable appearance.
He had only ridden a horse for a short while and he was already vomiting like this. This new son-in-law was good in every aspect, but his body was too weak. He didn't seem like a man at all …
Li Yi glared fiercely at the burly man and couldn't be bothered to speak to him. He turned his head and looked at the bustling city with a relatively formal gaze for the first time.
There was an endless stream of pedestrians going in and out of the city gates. Goods and carriages were mixed among them. It looked crowded but orderly. Looking inside the city gates, there were even more people. The streets on both sides were filled with all kinds of stalls. One could even hear the hawkers' shouts from outside the city gates. Li Yi followed Liu Ruyi and the others into the city gates. He finally felt the prosperity of the city.
The streets under his feet were all paved with square bluestones. The buildings on both sides of the street had rolled up eaves with carved balustrades and painted phoenixes. It was full of ancient vibe. Passers-by dressed in ancient costumes passed by him, which made Li Yi realize once again what kind of world he was in now.
The horse that the burly man with the surname Fang was leading was certainly not the property of the Willow Leaf Village. The Jing Kingdom had always been short of horses. To a large extent, they had to rely on importing horses from other countries to meet their normal needs. The price of a horse in the market was about 70 to 80 taels of silver. At this time, one tael of silver was about equivalent to 1,000 copper coins. Li Yi roughly estimated the price of goods in this era. One copper coin was probably equivalent to 50 cents in the future. In this way, a horse should be converted into RMB, which should be a lot of money anyway.
If every family in the Willow Leaf Village had a horse, they wouldn't have to eat rice and vegetables. The average standard of living would definitely be above moderately well-off, and they would take big strides into the middle class.
This was just like an old saying that a person who rode a handsome horse was not necessarily a prince. It could also be — a horse breeder!
Yes, raising horses was the sideline of some people in the Willow Leaf Village, including the burly man with the surname Fang.
Most of these people's fathers were mountain bandits, so they had the pure blood of mountain bandits. Mountain bandits who didn't know how to raise horses were not good mountain bandits. Fortunately, they all inherited the excellent genes of their fathers. Although they all looked rough, their equestrian skills were superior to ordinary people. They could use this skill to earn some extra money and supplement their family income.
However, since ancient times, most of the coolies could only get enough food and clothing. The exploitation in the feudal society was even more serious. The wages they received could only ensure that their families wouldn't starve to death.
Every month, the burly man would take these horses down the mountain for inspection and collect their wages for the previous month.
On the way here, Li Yi had asked him about it. The monthly wage for raising a horse was a hundred copper coins, which was pitifully low. It was only enough to buy a few catties of rice. Furthermore, there were only four months of time to raise a horse every year. With a few hundred copper coins, they would have to support them for an entire year.
After making an appointment to meet at the place where they would go back, the burly man with the surname Fang and the others took the horses and left. In the blink of an eye, Li Yi and Ruyi also disappeared, leaving him alone.
This made Li Yi confused. Weren't they afraid that he would take the opportunity to run away?
Thinking of the crazy old man who wanted to catch him, he couldn't go back to his previous home. Weighing the money bag, Li Yi suddenly felt that staying in the Willow Leaf Village was not bad …
He spent four copper coins to buy two steamed buns on the street and took a bite. The skin was thin and there was a lot of filling. After eating the two steamed buns, the hunger in his stomach suddenly disappeared.
Li Yi couldn't help sighing in his heart. In the past, when he bought steamed buns outside, he couldn't even see the filling after taking a bite. Those guys who only had money in their eyes wanted to sell steamed buns as steamed buns. In comparison, the people in ancient times were more honest …
He had already spent four of the 128 copper coins. Originally, Li Yi wanted to rely on this money to live a good life, but the reality was cruel. After walking around the street, Li Yi found that it seemed that he could only … eat steamed buns.
Whether in modern or ancient times, he was poor, which made Li Yi inexplicably sad in his heart.
Especially after seeing the prosperity of Anqing Prefecture, Li Yi had made up his mind to immediately think of ways to make money when he went back.
Modern people had their pride, not to mention that he had a cheating device that could be said to be against nature. If he still lived a life of eating rice and vegetables all day, it would be too embarrassing for a time-traveler.
While walking around, he bought some vegetable seeds from a roadside stall. He happened to see hawthorn selling in a nearby stall, so he also bought a few kilograms.
He hadn't used the white sugar that he had embezzled last time, and it had been a long time since he had tasted the taste of candied hawthorn.
Even in the entire Jing Kingdom, Anqing Prefecture could be considered as one of the most prosperous cities. There were brothels, brothels, and rows upon rows of brothels. It was a pity that Li Yi could only wander in front of these places.
After walking around the street, he was a little tired, so he found a corner to rest.
This was a street corner with slightly less people. Not far from Li Yi, there was a table and a chair. On the table, there was a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. There were also some paper tubes on the side. A young scholar was sitting there, holding a thread-bound book in his hands and reading it attentively.
These days, when scholars were short of money, it was a very common thing to set up a table and sell paintings and calligraphy on the street. Just as Li Yi was thinking about whether or not he should do the same in the future when he was short of money, a man wearing coarse clothes suddenly ran over from afar. He ran up to the scholar, said a few words while panting, and then left.
After the man left, the scholar's expression immediately became a little anxious and nervous. He suddenly raised his head and saw Li Yi standing under a nearby tree. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly walked over.
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