The hands of time are ticking and ticking, the calendar is also turning page by page, the autumn harvest has become a memory, and the silent Liang Village has ushered in a new noise.

Perhaps it is because of the pressure brought by Yang Zheng's personal prestige to the county leaders, or perhaps because of the benefits brought by the nature reserves that have entered the right track of application, all in all, the first benefits brought to Liang Village by the rare animals and plants in Xiaoqingshan and Xiaojing Lake have begun to be revealed.

The asphalt road from Qingyun Wharf to Liangcun began to be constructed, and the entire Qingyun suddenly became a noisy construction site.

As soon as the calendar turned to December, Qingyun Wharf began to become lively, and construction machinery arrived in Qingyun by ferry. At the same time, a large number of heavy trucks loaded with construction materials also appeared on the side of Qingyun Old Street, making this quiet town much more lively.

The townspeople looked at the roaring machines, and almost everyone had a little sadness on their faces. I am glad that the gravel road from the pier will be turned into an asphalt road, and it will be more convenient for everyone to travel in the future. With asphalt roads, all kinds of special products and agricultural products in the mountains can be sold smoothly, improving the lives of mountain people.

Residents are worried that the passage of trucks will damage the bluestone-paved Qingyun Old Street, and it will no longer be as beautiful as it once was.

In what year Qingyun Old Street began to be paved, even the old people in the town can't tell clearly, in short, the age is very old. According to the records of Qingshan County, Qingyun Old Street was already at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and it was one of the transportation hubs for the Mongol regime to infiltrate and control the southwest region and the Indochina Peninsula.

A large number of goods such as salt, porcelain, silk and other goods arrived in Qingyun through the Xiaotongjiang River, collected and distributed in the old streets, passed through the caravans, stepped on the ancient tea horse road, and entered the Indochina Peninsula. At the same time, the native products of the southwest border and the Indochina Peninsula, mountain treasures, minerals, handicrafts, gold, jadeite, etc., are also being exported in a steady stream.

Because of the caravan, Qingyun Old Street has experienced hundreds of years of prosperity, and various cultural customs and religious beliefs have been integrated together to become the unique charm of the old street.

Walking through the old streets, those bluestone slabs polished by horses' hooves seem to tell the prosperity and glory of Qingyun in the past, which is embarrassing. On the streets of Lao Cai, there are many buildings of various architectural styles, which represent the architectural styles of various dynasties and nationalities, and although they have gone through hundreds of years of wind and rain, they are still charming.

The wooden carved windows with the atmosphere of the Mongolian steppe were built during the Yuan Dynasty, and although they are more than 600 years old, the patterns of cattle, sheep and tents are still vivid. For the residents of the town, these old houses do not have much heavy historical significance, just a place where people play and grow up from childhood.

Some of the newer old mansions obviously have the flavor of the Ming Dynasty, the magnanimity of the great country can be seen at a glance, and the magnificent gatehouse makes people can only look up with a mentality of looking up. There are no chemical dyes, but the colors on the old house are still clear, as if they were newly built. For the residents of Lao Cai, from the time they were born until they grew old, the old house has always been in this state.

At the end of the old street, surrounded by greenery, a stone mosque sits in it, where religion and nature are combined just right, not at all obtrusive. This mosque was built by wealthy halal merchants from Indochina when the Ancient Tea Horse Road was at its most prosperous, and it still stands proudly despite hundreds of years of wind and rain. The curved dome, white exterior walls, and golden roof reveal a strange charm in the shade of green trees.

Now there are no more wealthy halal merchants, but the residents of Lao Cai have accepted the mosque with a generous heart, and many residents will go to worship when it is convenient.

In addition to mosques, there are also Christian churches built in the late Qing Dynasty, and the sharp crosses and the circular arc of the mosque echo each other, presenting a harmonious taste.

Of course, as a landlord, various traditional Chinese temples are also thriving incense, and there are countless men and women. Guandi Temple, Land Temple, and a small Taoist temple, they carry traditional Chinese culture and beliefs.

The reason why there are such a number of religious places in the old street is very related to the prosperity of the Ancient Tea Horse Road. The frequent exchange of materials also brought about cultural exchanges, and as the vanguard of culture, religion naturally followed. Over time, the residents of Lao Cai became accustomed to the reproduction and development of various religions in Lao Cai, and religion gradually integrated into the lives of Lao Cai residents.

There are some families in Lao Cai who even have two or three different religious beliefs, but everyone still gets along well.

Nowadays, the Ancient Tea Horse Road is gradually withering, but the living habits that have been inherited for hundreds of years have been deeply imprinted into every move of the residents of Lao Cai.

On weekends, some residents go to the mosque for prayers; Some of the residents went to church to pray; Some good men and women go to the Guandi Temple and the Land Temple to burn incense. The convergence of various life forms gives the old street a very inclusive atmosphere.

Even in that most fanatical era, the ancient buildings and various religious places on the old street have not been affected too much and are still well preserved. In recent years, with the continuous deepening of various publicity, the residents of Lao Cai have understood that Lao Cai is actually a precious wealth left to them by their ancestors.

The road from Qingyun to Liangcun will be built, and the residents are both expecting and worried.

Fortunately, the leaders of the town and county are not all straw bales, knowing to protect this unique old street, and activated the emergency plan at the same time as the road was built.

Because of the fear that the trucks would crush the bluestone slabs of Lao Cai and that the road construction machinery would damage the buildings of Lao Cai, the leading group of the road construction headquarters decided to temporarily build a simple road leading to Liang Village. When the road is completed, this simple road will also be upgraded to a formal road, so that a large number of machinery will be kept away from Lao Cai, and the original appearance of Lao Cai will be maintained as much as possible.

As soon as they heard the news, the boulder in the hearts of Lao Cai residents finally fell, and for Lao Cai residents, it was their happiest thing to achieve a balance between development and protection.

After all, the decline of the Ancient Tea Horse Road has plunged the old street into hardship, and residents with no source of income can only guard the old house and struggle to survive. Nowadays, the construction of highways can make Qingyun develop faster and give Lao Cai a chance to regain its glory.

On the other hand, the residents of Lao Cai have grown up under the gaze of old houses and ancient streets, and not to mention their feelings for Lao Cai, the slightest act of destroying Lao Cai will be regarded as a big rebellion.

When the rumbling sound of machinery began to resound in the sky above the green clouds, the earth trembled slightly, and the residents of Lao Cai also looked at the steel monsters emitting black smoke with anticipation, hoping that they could bring new and better changes to Lao Cai.

The construction of the road also indicates that the development of Qingyun and Liangcun has opened a new chapter!

(To be continued)