As the capital of southern Yunnan Province, Kunming is obviously different from other capitals of Dayue Province, that is, the historical accumulation is far different.

The capitals of other provinces, whether in the Central Plains, Xuzhou, Shouchun, Suzhou and Hangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, and even Youzhou in the northern border, have had considerable weight in the past thousands of years of history, and are all famous old capitals that have been preserved for many years.

However, Kunzhou was a new city that was selected and developed by the court after Dayue annexed Dali and obtained the entire southwest. Before Dayue Dynasty, neither Dali nor the earlier Nanzhao nor the countries such as Nanzhao really paid attention to this small city that was more inclined to the east, and at most it was a prefecture here.

However, after a century of development, Kunming has long become the leading city in the southwest. This is similar to its peers' provincial capital. Because the establishment of the provincial capital status has led to the rapid rise of this unknown small city and become the cultural, economic and political center of southern Yunnan and even the entire southwest.

Although the court was able to do this, it was due to the continuous help and promotion of the court. During these hundred years, the Central Plains had transported various materials to the southwest and helped build such a majestic city. But more importantly, the Xiao family, which was guarding here, worked hard for several generations.

You should know that the southwest is far away from the Central Plains after all, and the imperial court is always out of reach even if it wants to manage it. Therefore, the Xiao family of Dingxi, who has been guarding this for generations, has become a hub for communicating with the Central Plains court and the local barbarians.

At the beginning, the Dingxi Hou's clan relied on force, which was the Dingxi Army they built. However, as time went by, through intermarriage, trade and other means, the Xiao clan had close relations with many local barbarians, especially the major families with absolute voice among the barbarians, which made them completely root here and made Kunzhou a super city far beyond the original Shanshan Prefecture, the population settled here was more than 300,000, and even if it was placed in the Central Plains, it was not a small one.

But you must know that this place is a vast and sparsely populated southwest, with less than 100,000 residents in Xunyang, the main city of Long Family. Compared with Kunming, it is really too small.

Moreover, not only has a large population, but the city is also wide and tall enough. When Li Ling followed the team to the city more than ten miles away, he saw such a big city standing in front of him, he was also amazed: "Kunzhou is really the first city in the southwest!"

"Of course!" Xiao Chengzhi smiled and continued to say. The relationship between the three people, who are similar in age, has become much closer, especially when he and Li Ling are friends who can talk about everything.

At this time, Xiao Chengzhi said with honor: "To be honest, this Kunzhou city was slowly expanded after 40 years after the three generations of my Xiao family's ancestors. Whether it is city defense or transportation, it is much better than other cities. I think even those famous cities in the Central Plains will not be much stronger than here."

Li Ling smiled and said that the other party was a bit big. Not to mention the capital Luoyang, this Kunzhou City is much worse than the Central Plains city like Xuzhou. The city may be large enough, but in terms of its solemnity, the latter is far more than it is. However, this cannot blame the other party. After all, he has never been to the Central Plains, so naturally he doesn't know what the famous cities are.

And he didn't point it out, just smiled and observed the city in front of him, looked at the flags waving on the city, and nodded frequently: "This city is so majestic, I'm afraid there are not even dozens or millions of troops who can't break the city easily."

"That's of course, let alone now, even when our Xiao family first established a city here, more than ten barbarians joined forces to attack, but they were still defended by us and repelled? It was from that battle that our Xiao family took root here, so that the barbarians of all ethnic groups in southern Yunnan dare not underestimate them." Xiao Chengzhi naturally knew his family's past history.

Li Ling nodded again and then turned his head to look at Sun Bi who didn't say anything, but saw this person looking ahead with a smile, as if he was a little teasing. I don't know why he had such a reaction. Do you think Xiao Chengzhi's bragging too much?

While speaking, the team continued to move forward and finally arrived at the open wide gate of the city.

Such a large city has lived in such a large population, so there are naturally a large number of people entering and leaving the city gate every day. At this moment, many people with backpacks lined up to slowly enter the city. Therefore, the movement was slow because the city gate guards needed to verify the provenance of each person's hand and confirm that it was correct before they could be released.

However, Li Ling was slightly pleased that there was no way to withdraw the city gate tax in Kunming. As long as there were no bulk goods entering and leaving the city, they could check the office and successfully enter the city after confirming that there was no problem. With this point, it can be seen that the Xiao family's controlled place is much more reliable than the Long family.

Of course, privileges still exist. When their team went up in a mighty manner, the soldiers guarding the city gates had already taken action and drove the people who had been waiting to enter the city to both sides, and let them enter the city first. When they saw the leaders, the soldiers even hurried forward to salute and greet: "I have seen the little marquis, General Jiang, you are back."

"Haha, Jing Laoqi, I didn't expect that you were watching here today. Why did you make any mistakes? Was you punished to guard the gate here?" When he turned around and saw the general behind a soldier, Xiao Chengzhi suddenly greeted him quite familiarly, with a little bit of crampedness in his smile.

The military general named Jing Laoqi wanted to avoid it, but his armor was too distinct. At this moment, he could only smile bitterly and salute: "See the little marquis. I made some mistakes a few days ago, so the marquis punished me to guard the gate here for half a month."

"Haha, I was caught gambling with someone at night, right?" Seeing the other party showing awkward expression, Xiao Chengzhi smiled again, "I said it long ago. You have to change your hobby quickly, otherwise you will suffer a loss. By the way, there have been no changes in the city these days, right?"

After a few jokes, he talked about the main things. Li Ling had already seen it. Although Jing Laoqi is guarding the city gate now, he is actually a very trustworthy existence in the eyes of Dingxi Hou's Sect.

"Of course, everything is peaceful in the city, but other prefectures and counties in our Kunming Province have been in chaos one after another, and the Marquis is having a headache about this."

"Oh? Then I have to go back quickly and I won't disturb you from continuing to guard the gate." After throwing this sentence, Xiao Chengzhi shook the reins and led the team to speed up. Only then did the army of hundreds of people quickly pass through the city gate so that the people waiting inside and outside could continue to enter and exit.

After officially entering Queensland City and following the wide streets for a long time, Li Ling realized something subtle again.

Speaking of which, the city of Queensland is really lively. There are many shops on the long street, and business is endless, and people can’t even see it at a glance. However, this lively scene is slightly different from the scene he imagined, because there is one thing missing - lanterns.

You should know that today is the 15th day of the first lunar month. These are some of the most lively festivals in tradition, not under the New Year's Eve and Mid-Autumn Festival. If it is placed in the Central Plains, no matter how small the city is, many lanterns and lanterns will be arranged a few days earlier on the main streets. The people will even change into new and beautiful clothes early in the morning to go out to enjoy the lanterns.

But in the city of Queensland, I almost didn’t see a few lanterns along the way. Even some lanterns were erected in front of some shops. They were the simplest, lonely, and there was no atmosphere that should have on a festival.

Originally, Li Ling only thought that this was not at the bustling main street, so he did not make any better preparations. But until he entered the main urban area, he could see some government offices, and the crowds became increasingly dense, and there were still not many lanterns, which made him unable to control himself: "Brother Xiao, are the people and government officials in Kunming just on the Yuan Dynasty?" The relationship between the two went further and the title became much more casual.

Xiao Chengzhi smiled and looked around, then replied: "I lived in the early years, and it was like a lively thing now. However, since our relationship with the barbarians in various villages became more and more harmonious, we have become local customs and have not paid much attention to the Shangyuan Festival."

Li Ling was a little confused. Is there any other saying about following the local customs? He can actually lose all his customs and habits?

"Brother Li, you don't know, because the local people here also have their own festivals, that is, the Spring Festival worship on the 28th day of the first lunar month. Both of them are celebrated in a large manner and are very close to each other. It is really difficult to celebrate together, so we delayed the Spring Festival."

After his explanation, Li Ling realized that this was the real way to follow the customs of the countryside. This was reasonable. After all, the Xiao family now needs the support and cooperation of all the barbarians here. It is also considered respect for them to celebrate their festivals like this.

"By the way, after you say that, a few days will be the day to worship the God of Spring. I wonder which family will come to invite their father to watch the ceremony again this time, but it would be better if there were other companies that had a dispute over it."

"Oh? Do these barbarians of all races still have this habit?"

"That is, according to local terms, the more noble the person invited to watch the ceremony when the God of Spring is, the more effective the God of Spring will bless the harvest in the coming year. For the sake of their own benefits, all races will have to spend a lot of effort on this. And my father is the most important person in southern Yunnan, so they will naturally compete for it."

While chatting, the two of them moved forward. Soon, a magnificent mansion appeared in front of them. From a distance, Li Ling saw the four golden characters "Dingxi Marquis Mansion" shining on the black-bottomed plaque, and it was obvious that he had officially arrived at his destination.

When we arrived here, Xiao Chengzhi's expression became solemn: "Here. Brother Li, please come to the outside marquis first. After we come in and report to our father, we will invite you to come in and see you."

"It should be." Li Ling smiled and agreed quickly.
Chapter completed!