The corner of He Sanlang's mouth twitched and he turned his head away. He really didn't want to talk to a good-for-nothing like Xiao Hongyu.

Chu Lian rested in this small town on the northern border for two days before Tang Yan and the others caught up.

Although they had been robbed by the barbarians, He Changdi had arrived in time and Chu Lian's belongings were not lost.

When Tang Yan heard about Chu Lian's encounter with Tu Hun's elite soldiers, he was a bit stunned. After a few words of comfort, he decided not to separate from Chu Lian.

Although the injuries of the people in Chu Lian's team varied, just in case, after resting in the small town for four days, the team still regrouped and set off. After all, the team still had winter supplies for the Northern Border Army. Even if it was just for show, they had to fulfill the Empress Dowager's decree.

The closer they got to Liangzhou City, the more desolate it became. When they reached the outskirts, Chu Lian looked at the devastated city in disbelief.

How could this be called a city? Even a county town in the hinterlands of the Great Wu Dynasty was probably several times more prosperous than Liangzhou City.

When the wind blew, the mud on the earthen city walls rustled and fell. Broken walls and rubble could be seen everywhere in the city. There were barely any citizens of the Great Wu Dynasty on the streets. Occasionally, one or two would be hurrying along, emaciated and emaciated.

There were basically no brick houses in the city. All of them had mud walls and straw roofs. It was evening time for cooking, but she didn't see any smoke in the courtyards.

There were probably more citizens in Liangzhou City than there were border soldiers stationed here.

Chu Lian finally understood why the nobles of Shengjing called Liangzhou City a barren land.

This was like the prairie of the future. Although the mountains were high and the land was wide, the weather was harsh and unsuitable for farming. The winter days were long. Towards the hinterlands of the Great Wu Dynasty, the farmland at the border of Liangzhou could still be harvested once a year. But further north, the soil was not suitable for crops.

In winter, the ground would be covered in a thick layer of snow. When spring came, the snow would melt and turn into swamps …

Chu Lian raised her head to look at the mud walls. At this time, there were two soldiers standing on the walls, their bodies wrapped up. She couldn't see what they were wearing, only that they were shivering on the walls.

Chu Lian sighed. Could such a fragile wall really withstand the fierce Tu Hun soldiers?

Tang Yan was riding beside her. He saw Chu Lian lift the curtain of the carriage and look at the city wall, so he rode over.

"Are you looking at the yellow city walls?"

Chu Lian turned to glance at him and nodded.

The corners of Tang Yan's mouth twitched slightly, his voice tinged with helplessness. "Liangzhou City is located to the north of my Great Wu Dynasty. Village Lord should have noticed on your way here that resources are scarce here. Every year, the Imperial Court allocates a large sum of money to repair Liangzhou City's walls, but unfortunately, the results are minimal."

Chu Lian was shocked. "A large sum of money?

How could the city wall be built to such a state? "

Accidentally, Chu Lian said what was on her mind.

Tang Yan didn't care. He only said, "Let's not talk about the loss of the Ministry of Revenue's funds. There are other more important reasons. Once you enter the city, you will know without me mentioning it."

Chu Lian didn't expect him to keep her in suspense. Was Tang Yan trying to test her?

Chu Lian didn't care too much. She nodded and had Steward Qin order the carriages to enter the city. They had the Empress Dowager's decree, so it was easy for them to enter Liangzhou City.

The streets of Liangzhou City were littered with trash. When a gust of wind blew, a disgusting odor wafted through the air. It was obvious that no one had come to clean them up in a long time.

Chu Lian slightly lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside. She frowned. Fortunately, it was winter. If it were summer, it would be easy for diseases to spread in such an environment.

Tang Yan had already sent people into the city to arrange accommodations. Now, they could go there directly.

When they arrived, Chu Lian saw the simple and crude words' He Residence 'hanging above the courtyard gate. Only then did she realize that this was the residence of the governor of Liangzhou City.

If this residence of five or six mu was placed in any other city of the Great Wu Dynasty, it would at most be the residence of a wealthy country squire. However, in Liangzhou City, it was already the best residence.

Although the residence was also made of earth, at least the outer layer was cooked earth. The roof was not covered with grass, but with tiles.

After walking for so long, only the alley where He Residence was located had a slightly better environment.

Chu Lian was carried out of the carriage by Wenlan. She still couldn't use any strength in her legs and needed to rest for another four or five days. As soon as they got out of the carriage, Chu Lian saw a young child wrapped in fur clothes squatting at the foot of a dilapidated wall nearby. In front of him was a small pile of fur that looked like sheepskin.

At this moment, he was huddled in a corner, using his large eyes to sneak a glance in their direction. It seemed like he was assessing their purchasing power.

Chu Lian pursed her lips and also looked at him.

The young child didn't seem to care anymore. He hugged the sheepskin and ran over. When he got close, Chu Lian could clearly see his dirty face.

Before the child could reach Chu Lian, he was caught by the valiant family guards and pressed to the ground.

Mo Chenggui's face darkened. "Third Madam, the north isn't Shengjing City. If we run into Tu Hun's spies like last time, Third Young Master will blame me again."

Wenlan, who was standing next to Chu Lian, heard Mo Chenggui's stinging words. She was so angry that she wanted to stand in front of Chu Lian. Chu Lian hurriedly pulled her back and gave Wenlan a look.

Only then did Wenlan suppress the anger in her chest and retreat to the side.

Chu Lian smiled faintly at Mo Chenggui. "Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Mo. I will be careful."

Mo Chenggui didn't expect Chu Lian to reply like this. For a moment, he was completely speechless.

The child was pressed to the ground and couldn't move. However, he didn't panic. He took the opportunity to shout, "Noble, please spare my life. I just want you to buy the sheepskin in my hands. My mother and sister are starving to death. We don't have any food at home, so we can only count on these sheepskins in my hands!"

Tang Yan ordered the guards beside him to check. As expected, they didn't find anything on the young child's body. He lightly nodded at Chu Lian.

Mo Chenggui couldn't bear to see Chu Lian meddling in other people's business. He snorted and took the lead to enter the 'He Manor'.

Chu Lian pointed at the sheepskin on the ground. "Bring that over and let me see."

Steward Qin personally bent down to pick up the sheepskin. He carefully examined it again before handing it over to Chu Lian with both hands.

Chu Lian casually flipped through it. There was nothing special about the sheepskin. It was just the normal sheepskin that the nomads and barbarians raised in the north used. The sheepskin's surface was a bit stiff and the color was slightly black. It was obvious that it was used frequently by the family. If they weren't really poor, they probably wouldn't sell this kind of sheepskin.

Her gaze fell on the child. His clothes were ragged, and his body was wrapped in some kind of animal skin. His two elbows were exposed, and his hands, which were lying on the ground, were red from the cold.

Chu Lian saw that the child was truly pitiful. She didn't want to know if what he said was true or false. She spoke to Wenlan, who was beside her. Wenlan nodded slightly and took out her embroidered pouch. She took out a small silver ingot from the pouch and walked over to the young child who was still being held down by the family guards. She said, "Little brat, our master has bought your sheepskin. This is the money to buy your sheepskin. However, next time, don't be so impulsive as to rob a noble person. Our master is kind and didn't do anything to you, but not everyone is like our master.

Take care of yourself! "This ingot of silver was worth at least five or six qian. It was enough to buy three or four times the sheepskin in the child's hands. Wenlan placed the silver in front of the child and ordered the family guards to release him. She turned around and prepared to help Chu Lian into the 'He Manor'.

However, as soon as she turned around, the young child who had been released hugged her leg. "Elder sister, this little one doesn't want the silver. I beg of you, exchange the silver for food and give it to this little one!"

Wenlan jumped in fright and almost kicked the child away.

She helplessly turned around and had the guards pull the child away. Her brows furrowed in displeasure. "You little brat, you don't know what's good for you!

Could it be that you think our master has given you too little?

Let me tell you, this amount of silver is more than enough to buy three or four times the sheepskin! "

"No, no, this little one doesn't think it's too little. This little one only asks elder sister to give me a few cauldrons." After he finished speaking, he furiously kowtowed towards Wenlan.

Wenlan was stunned. She didn't dare to believe that someone would rather have a few cauldrons worth a few qian than a few pieces of silver that were worth a few hundred qian. Was this child stupid?

Chu Lian frowned slightly as she looked at the situation in front of her. Tang Yan looked at Chu Lian with a meaningful smile.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Chu Lian's mind.

She said to Wenlan, "Wenlan, give him some food."

Although Wenlan found it strange, she still did as she was told.

The child took the three cold, hard steamed buns from Wenlan and couldn't hide the joy on his face. He hurriedly put them in his pocket, looked left and right, then kowtowed towards Chu Lian's direction. Afterwards, he quickly ran away and disappeared around the corner of the alleyway.

Chu Lian watched the child's figure disappear before she ordered everyone to enter the estate to settle down.

Her foot was injured, so she walked very slowly with Wenqing and Wenlan supporting her. Tang Yan caught up to her in a few steps.

He smiled and asked, "Does Xiangjun know the reason?"

Chu Lian smiled wryly. How could she not know?

The small matter that had just happened couldn't be more obvious.

She sighed slightly and said, "What Liangzhou City lacks isn't money, but material goods."

Tang Yan nodded. "Xiangjun is truly intelligent."

In Liangzhou City, many places still maintained the most primitive state of bartering. Here, the common currency wasn't gold or silver, or even copper coins. Most of the time, it was livestock such as cows and sheep, but it could also be cloth and salt.

In the eyes of the people of Liangzhou City, silver that could buy a hundred catties of white rice in Shengjing City wasn't even as practical as a hard cauldron.

It was no wonder that even though the Ministry of Revenue allocated funds every year and the walls of Liangzhou City were repaired every year, the city was still in such a dilapidated state.

When the Ministry of Revenue allocated money, not to mention the exploitation from the top to the bottom, the purchasing power of the money would be as low as it could be when it reached the vicinity of Liangzhou City. Even if the money was exchanged for goods to be transported to Liangzhou City, there would be very little of it left. Adding on the wear and tear, it would be strange if the city walls could be repaired.

Here, money didn't have any effect at all.