Chapter 6284: Shanhai County

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the Great Tang, the most notable place in the North Sea.

This was the famous “Shanhai County” of the Great Tang.

As the name suggests, it had both mountains and sea.

The county city lay within the mountains, while the sea was beyond them.

As a result, most of the coastline was deserted.

There were only a few small docks scattered around.

These docks were built by nearby fishing villages.

However, one of these docks had recently become bustling due to the turmoil in the Southern Seven Nations.

It even attracted many nobles from within the county city.

This was because the merchant ships sailing from the Southern Seven Nations carried large quantities of gold, silver, and jewels. However, transporting these treasures was always troublesome, and arriving in a foreign land like the Great Tang could invite even more trouble.

Thus, as soon as the merchant ships docked, they would sell off the treasures that were inconvenient to carry at low prices to the nobles of the Great Tang, who would ensure their safety and escort the people from the ships to the county city.

This was essentially a form of under-the-table transaction.

The place for these transactions, a place for bargains, was right beside the dock.

Countless treasures were moved from the merchant ships, and most were sold cheaply. Aside from the readily usable gold and silver, the rest were sold to the county city nobles, with even the ships themselves being sold.

Some merchants even sold their maidservants to these nobles.

After all, with the silver notes from the Great Tang, they could still buy some local maidservants.

Typically, these transactions were conducted by the frivolous young nobles.

To the south of the dock was a military town, and after transactions, soldiers would personally escort these self-proclaimed envoys from the fallen Southern Nations.

Such a seamless operation was common, but this kind of incredibly profitable trade was rare.

As soon as a merchant ship docked, a group of people would immediately approach to discuss business.

At this moment, beside the dock, a group of workers was busy, unloading various boxes from a merchant ship.

The boxes naturally contained treasures that were inconvenient to carry.

Such as paintings, antiques, artifacts, tea leaves, and silk.

In fact, the Great Tang dynasty didn’t lack these things; it was all about getting a bargain.

They bought these items only to resell them quickly.

“Young lady, please make way!”

Amidst the bustling crowd stood a young woman dressed in rough clothing.

She didn’t mind the smell of sweat from the laborers, standing on the dock’s deck, her eyes gazing out at the calm sea, as if waiting for someone.

When others spoke to her, she didn’t reply but silently stepped aside.

Her presence was quite abrupt in the crowd.

Yet no one found it strange because she had been at this dock for three years, almost every day standing on the deck, her eyes always fixed on the sea.

Therefore, everyone nearby recognized her.

As people passed by, they would joke:

“Ah Zi, are you still waiting for that young man of yours? I advise you to stop waiting. He’s probably found another girl in Tai’an City. You should just go home!”

“Come on, what do you know? This is what we call unrequited love!”

The group of porters teased her one after another.

The young woman named Ah Zi didn’t mind at all and didn’t even bother to argue.

But deep down, she was convinced that he would definitely come back.

And he would marry her!

So she didn’t care what others said.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited for three years.

To others, she seemed foolish.

But no one knew how kind he was to her back then.

So she was willing to wait!

Even if it meant waiting until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled!

Buzz!

At that moment, a loud horn sounded from the sea.

It was from a merchant ship about to dock.

The sound signaled that it was approaching the pier.

After the horn, the pier naturally had to respond.

A worker on the lookout tower shouted down, “We have a big one coming in, it’s a treasure ship from the Southern Seven Kingdoms, at least seventy zhang long. My heavens, there must be someone important on board!”

This shout immediately attracted the attention of the dignitaries and aristocrats from the city of Shanhai County.

They craned their necks to look toward the sea and saw the enormous treasure ship.

Each of them was excitedly rubbing their hands, ready to negotiate a big deal once the ship docked.

This was all money to them!

Before long, the ship docked, but the deck of the treasure ship was too high, so they had to lower a ladder.

The crowd below eagerly awaited.

But what came down was a ragged old man, who looked worse than a beggar on the street.

The boatman was also taken aback when he came down. He was from the Southern Seven Kingdoms and had never been to the Tang Dynasty. He thought the Tang people were very hospitable, which made him feel a bit embarrassed. He looked up and shouted to the ship, “Helmsman, come down, these people mean no harm!”

“I can see that!”

A person on the deck looked down, it was One Ear, who was following Jian Wushuang.

He glanced at the people on the pier and then turned back to Jian Wushuang with a fawning smile, “Master, why don’t we disembark here? These people seem quite hospitable and mean no harm!”

“Let’s go down and take a look!”

Jian Wushuang gestured for One Ear to lead the way down first.

Then he looked at Xiang Yang and Jiang Shang behind him.

The three of them had been in seclusion.

Now they had all reached the level of Great Completion in the Innate Realm.

Especially Jiang Shang, who was just a hair’s breadth away from forming his Golden Core.

This was all due to his careful guidance.

In his previous life, she was his master Hui Qing, but this time it was Jian Wushuang’s turn to teach her.

If Jiang Shang regained his memories and became Jiang Shang, who knows what he would think.

After One Ear went down, he conversed with some locals and then returned to the deck to report:

“Master, I’ve found out that this is Shanhai County of the Tang Dynasty, and it’s quite far from Tai’an City!”

Jian Wushuang said calmly, “Then let’s rest here for a few days before moving on.”

Before coming here, he had already familiarized himself with the map of the Tang Dynasty.

Shanhai County was quite far from Tai’an City, at least ten thousand miles away.

Traveling by land would take more than a month and the journey would be exhausting, affecting their cultivation.

Traveling by sea was much more convenient; they only needed to switch to a smaller merchant ship and sail along the canal inland.

So Jian Wushuang decided to stay locally for a few days to gather information about the Tang Dynasty.

He knew very little about this powerful dynasty.

All he knew was that there were thirty-six counties in the north and south.

It was culturally prosperous.

Neighboring mundane kingdoms highly revered the Tang Dynasty.

He knew nothing more, especially regarding matters concerning cultivators.

Once everyone disembarked, the merchants who had come to do business left disappointed after realizing there were no treasures on the ship.

Some particularly wanton young nobles, however, were interested in buying the treasure ship.

Such a massive treasure ship was rare even in the Tang Dynasty.

Although Shanhai County was by the sea, it was remote, and no one had the capability to build such a large treasure ship. Now, seeing this slightly damaged treasure ship, they all wanted to buy it from Jian Wushuang.

Jian Wushuang was indeed considering selling it but did not rush to do so. He had One Ear send the people away and then headed toward the small town by the pier.

There were crew members on board to keep watch, so there was nothing to worry about.

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