Chapter Eleven Entering Jizhou City

  Li Meng has been to Jiaozhou City many times in modern times, whether for work or private purposes, after all, it is a suburban county one hour's drive from Qingdao.

  In this era, the original place where the prosperous city of Qingdao was located only had a solitary floating mountain thousand households, but Jiaozhou was a famous first rich place in Laizhou, far and near. Jiaozhou is the intersection of land routes from Qingzhou Prefecture, Laizhou Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture, with many people coming and going.

  The impressions above are the impressions of Li Meng in his memory. The previous Li Meng had never been out for a long time, so for the current Li Meng, he is visiting Jiaozhou City for the first time.

  Not far from the city gate, he saw the Jiaozhou city wall and the city gate. Li Meng estimated that it was at least 7 meters high, which is about two zhang in this era's measurement. This might be a common sight for others, as there are even more magnificent buildings in larger cities.

  But for Li Meng from modern times, this was really too magnificent, especially under the sunlight, this city wall seemed even more unclimbable, it turned out that coming here during the day was correct, if he came at night, this high wall would be impossible to climb.

  Li Meng entered the city through the west gate, and the road at the entrance was no less flat and wide than the official road he had taken before. At the entrance, a few soldiers were standing lazily, which was laughable, as Li Meng was still a military household of Ling Shan Wei, but it had been over a month since he arrived in Ming Dynasty, and this was the first time he saw soldiers.

  Those soldiers were more leaning against the city wall, sunbathing, wearing clothes that looked like modern poor people's tattered cotton-padded jackets. This was actually the standard battle uniform of the Ming army - Mandarin duck war jacket. They usually held a long spear, but this long spear was either leaning against the wall or placed horizontally on the ground.

  The weather was scorching hot, and the Ming soldiers guarding the city gate couldn't even be bothered to take off their armor, instead just undoing their buttons, opening up their chests, wearing only fat pants and grass shoes underneath. One hand held a woolen hat to fan themselves, this appearance of military bearing and demeanor didn't even need to be mentioned, compared to the salt workers Li Meng met yesterday, they were also somewhat inferior.

  Li Meng was in the army during modern times, and the military discipline and posture requirements were extremely strict. Li Meng's comrades had once been on a bus outside when they unbuttoned two buttons on their shirts, but were caught by the inspectors. When they returned to the company, they were severely criticized by the company commander. Looking at the soldiers standing guard at the gate, Li Meng also understood why the Ming Dynasty was so easily destroyed.

  As he walked closer to the city gate, Li Meng also curiously examined the city walls around the gate. Unlike what he had seen in movies and TV shows, from outside the city, you could hardly see any wooden buildings on top of the gate. It made sense, as wooden structures were prone to burning and collapse.

  If there were siege engines, bows and arrows with fire on them would be effective when shot up. Li Meng was still curiously sizing it up when he heard a soldier shouting from the city gate:

  "Hey poor guy, what are you staring at? Come over here!!"

  Looking at Li Meng's tall and majestic figure, the soldier swallowed back the dirty words in his mouth. Li Meng was taken aback for a moment before walking over with a smile all over his face. The soldier who had been shouting leaned against the city wall without standing up, opening his mouth lazily to say:

  "What did you come into town for?"

  "My father is ill, going into town to buy medicine."

  Li Meng accompanied by a smile and said with a bow, the soldier was very satisfied with Li Meng's humble attitude and said again:

  "Where's the money for buying medicine?"

  The voice dragged on, asking, Li Meng was taken aback, but still nodded and bowed his head to search in his bosom, pulled out a small pouch, inside the metal clinking, all copper coins. The soldier still lazily stretched out his hand, took out ten copper coins, placed them in his palm, weighed them, and opened his mouth to say:

  "Alright, this is the entrance fee, once you're in, you don't have to pay again. When the time comes, just say that Old Wang has already taken your money."

  Seeing Li Meng wanting to say something, the soldier's eyes widened and he shouted:

  "What are you staring at? Want to pay more? Get lost and go into town."

  Li Mengyi lowered his head and hurriedly ran to the city gate. After leaving the city gate far behind, he touched the hard object at his waist, which should have gone unnoticed by anyone.

  It's not a good time now, although Li Meng hasn't traveled far, he has heard that the nearby Dengzhou Prefecture is plagued by war and famine, and the number of provinces affected by famine is increasing day by day. However, when Li Meng walked through the city gate and stood in the middle of Jiaozhou City, he still felt a sense of prosperity, and his heart was filled with an inexplicable emotion.

  In the past, although Li Meng's reversal of time for hundreds of years made him feel awkward with this word "from before", but in modern times, Li Meng was from a era that advocated returning to nature and rural life. Emphasizing the distance from the hustle and bustle of the city, Li Meng came to the Ming Dynasty for more than a month, truly experiencing the authentic rural life.

  Every evening, except for the sound of waves crashing against the shore and some natural sounds, it is quiet, with a deep darkness at night. Sometimes, when facing each other, someone walks by, and only when they get closer can you distinguish them by their voice. Most necessities are in short supply because there are no shops; if something can be made yourself, you make it yourself, and if not, even buying is unknown where to go.

  After selling out the salt, the companions were in high spirits and proceeded to make purchases, which were nothing but meat, cloth, oil, and some seasonings.

  The extreme scarcity of material and spiritual life, as well as the feeling of desolation like being in a desert, made Li Meng scoff at the modern advocacy of rural life. All those who shouted about it should come to Xuejia Village for a few days and see if they still loved the countryside.

  Jiaozhou City may have only one prosperous street, with shops on both sides of the road. People coming and going wear clothes made not only of cotton and hemp but also silk and satin. Moreover, part of this road is paved with bluestone slabs. The complexion of these ordinary people in Jiaozhou City is slightly better than those outside the city.

  A shout of impatience came from behind, and Li Meng hastily dodged to one side. A horse-drawn carriage rattled past, its wheels creaking. If this were modern times, it would probably be a small sedan, thought Li Meng to himself.

  Among the pedestrians on the street, there were also people wearing green robes, white jackets and black scarves. Based on his memory, Li Meng knew that these should be the scholars of the Great Ming Dynasty, who were considered to be high-ranking cultural figures in this era. To say the least, Li Meng's current image was not commendable.

  He was wearing a tattered short jacket and trousers, tied with a cloth belt, and wore cloth shoes that exposed his toes. He had a small bundle slung over his shoulder. Although Li Meng persisted in washing his face every day, he didn't have the tools to trim his whiskers, nor did he dare to shave like others with a knife, which had grown very long.

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  Thank you everyone, new book uploaded, recommended, there's another update this afternoon, thank you