……

Autumn is high and crisp, and there are no clouds.

Under the bright sunshine, the majestic Zongshan Mountain is like a tiger lying prone in the Weibei Plain, looking down on the Central Plains with majestic momentum, and the continuous mountains are like a huge barrier to encircle the entire Weihe Plain in its arms, blocking the Hun Hu and the dog Rong in Hebei, and achieving the safest place in the history of Gyeonggi in Daqin.

And in the south of Xianyang, there is a more majestic and stretching mountain, the long mountain range is like a winding and undulating dragon lying across the earth, the huge body traverses the east and west, dividing the Great Qin into two, thus creating the largest regional watershed in China, later called the Qinling Mountains, now called the South of the South.

Lingbei is the most prosperous and rich Central Plains in China, which is bred by the great river, and Lingnan is the land of Jingchu, which is bred by the great river.

It is almost mid-autumn, and the autumn harvest on both sides of the Wei River is in full swing, and a large area of mature golden millet rice is being harvested.

Countless peasants wearing straw hats and shirtless are sweating to harvest crops under the scorching sun, the cut corn rice is neatly arranged in the fields, the threshing machines are whining under the control of a group of half-grown children, the adults who take off the corn grain are transported home in rattan baskets or sacks and wheelbarrows to dry, and the care of the grain and the driving of birds and birds are all young children under the age of seven or eight.

In this era, there is no distinction between north and south, no distinction between people and children, as long as they can walk, they must participate in labor, and hard work is just to mix a stomach.

In the fiery autumn harvest atmosphere, a luxurious caravan came from the southeast, and hundreds of carriages, escorted by hundreds of guards and slaves, went straight to Xianyang under the strong autumn sun.

In addition to most of the wagons, there were more than a dozen luxurious single-bridle carriages, and the carriages were all full of wealthy and excited Central Plains merchants.

The first old man with gray hair and strong spirits was Fan Yan, the head of the Nanyang Fan family, and there was also a carriage with Fan Yan, and the head of the Nanyang Shui family was sitting on the car, Shui Hong.

Looking at the black city with the tiger standing on the Weihe Plain in the distance, and looking at the Great Qin Dragon Banner that was hunting and rolling in the wind on the city tower under the sun, almost all the merchants couldn't help but stand up and watch with excitement.

Outside the south gate of Xianyang City, there is also a group of people who are watching and waiting.

The first woman in a white dress, and some famous businessmen in Xianyang, Song Yan and Qi Mao were among them, and when they saw the caravan coming in a long way, everyone showed a relieved smile on their faces, and then talked and laughed and went to the Weihe bridgehead to greet them.

Soon the two teams converged, and they greeted each other at the Weihe bridgehead and exchanged names.

These are all famous businessmen from all over the world, or they are business leaders who have been famous for a long time, some know and some don't know each other, but most of them have heard of each other, so the scene is very lively when they meet.

In the midst of the noise, someone suddenly shouted: "Qinghe Hou is here!" ”

Then everyone fell silent for a moment, and then the crowd dispersed and lined up on both sides, only to see a four-bridled luxury carriage coming along the main road through the city gate under the escort of a group of tiger-backed guards, and suddenly came two or three miles.

"Meet the Marquis of Qinghe~"

Whether it is the businessmen, the onlookers, or the guards escorting the carriage, they all respectfully bow to the young man in the carriage, and the workers and slaves in the carriage are even more hula lala kneeling and bowing their heads to worship.

"Fan Gong is exempt, the second uncle is exempt, and everyone is exempt!"

After the carriage stopped, Chen Xu got out of the carriage with a warm smile on his face, and stretched out his hand to help Fan Yan and Shui Hong and the others.

After another greeting, Chen Xu said with a smile: "Fan Gong and other business colleagues came to Xianyang, all the way to the car, or go to the Qinghe Hotel to arrange a rest, and Ben Hou set up a banquet in the hotel in the evening to entertain everyone!" ”

"How dare you let the Marquis of Qinghe break the fee, I should wait for this banquet to invite the marquis!" Many businessmen immediately replied.

"Hehe, you are guests from afar, and when you come to Xianyang, you will naturally be entertained by our colleagues in Xianyang, otherwise where will we put our face, do you say that your colleagues in Xianyang?" Chen Xu turned his head to look at Qi Mao, Song Yan and Xianyang and the other businessmen who came to greet him and said loudly.

"Yes, Master Hou is right, Fan Gong and all of you came to Xianyang for fear that we would not be able to afford to eat, and this banquet tonight will definitely entertain you to eat and drink well!"

"However, how can there be a reason for guests to treat guests, could it be that Fan Gong is afraid that we will be poor, rest assured, I have 100,000 business colleagues in Xianyang, and I can't lose face if I raise money!"

In the laughter of a group of Xianyang businessmen laughing and joking, Fan Yan and others also thanked them one by one, "Since Xianyang colleagues are so enthusiastic, then we will be respectful and obedient, thank you, he went to the Central Plains in the future, and he will definitely invite you to eat and drink well!" ”

"Haha, this is the right reason, the weather is hot, Fan Gong, please enter the city!" Chen Xu greeted loudly with a smile, ready to enter the city with a group of businessmen who had come from afar.

"Hey, Hou Ye is not in a hurry, although we have come from afar, we are not tired, I want to wait to see the road built by Hou Ye with the method of turning mud into stone......"

"And the Weihe Bridge."

"And the watermill!"

"I can't wait to see the Academy of Sciences and the factory......

"And the bus ......"

A group of people clamored and shouted that they didn't want to enter the city, but wanted to visit these things that had been publicized countless times by the newspapers, Chen Xu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Okay, Ben Hou will take you to visit together!" ”

"Okay, let's go, get in the car!" A group of businessmen from Nanyang and Zhongyuan suddenly couldn't help but be excited, and they all turned around and climbed into their carriages.

"Master Hou, these trucks in the back are some small gifts from our business colleagues who came this time to give Master Hou, not a tribute, where do you think it is appropriate to send them?" Fan Yan pointed to the dozens of carriages behind him and said with tightly wrapped wagons.

Looking at this long string of trucks with sixty or seventy iron axles and wheels, each truck is full and tightly covered, even if it is dozens of carts of grain, it is enough to nearly a thousand stones, and Fan Yan and others are all wealthy families, all of them are masters with hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of family property, it is impossible to send food, even a cart of salt is worth thousands of dollars, that is to say, the value of each car is at least more than three or five thousand yuan, so many cars are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, how can it be considered a small gift.

"Fan Gong, isn't this gift too heavy!" Chen Xu said with a wry smile.

"It's not heavy, it's not heavy, we are all participants in the three chapters of the law, if it weren't for Hou Ye, I would have been able to have today, and we would all follow Hou Ye to make a fortune in the future, a small gift is just to express a little gratitude to me, and please don't excuse yourself!"

"The gift is slight and not a respect, please don't shirk it!" Shui Hong and several businessmen led by him all surrendered together.

"This ...... Well, Ben Hou is disrespectful, come here, lead the way to send these trucks to Qinghe Villa! Chen Xu had no choice but to call over a guard and ask him to lead the way to send these trucks to the other courtyard outside the city, otherwise so many gifts would be swaggering through the market, and I am afraid that it would arouse the envy and jealousy of countless people.

After the guards led dozens of trucks to turn around and leave, Chen Xu and Fan Shuihong and others got into the car, and Fan Caiying, Qi Mao, Song Yan and a group of Xianyang businessmen who greeted them also got into the car, and the two groups of people were in one place, adding up to nearly seventy cars and going down the Wei River, first to see the cement road near the south gate.

The road is only two or three miles away from here, a group of people arrived in an instant, when they saw a blue-gray flat and straight cement road on the ground, there were fast carriages and wheelbarrows running back and forth, Fan Li and a group of businessmen from afar couldn't wait to jump out of the car and carefully watch the cement road that was widely publicized by the newspapers and was also publicized by the business travelers from the south to the north.

Not satisfied, many people are lying on the road carefully touching with their hands and digging with their fingernails.

"It's a miracle, I can't imagine that this solid pavement is made of sand and mud?"

"Yes, if this is not immortal art, then what else is immortal art in the world?"

"If you can burn a large amount of cement developed by Hou Ye, it will be very easy to build roads and bridges in the future, and it will be faster to transport goods, from Nanyang to Xianyang, I am afraid that you will be able to reach ...... in three or five days."

"Yes, the current road is rugged and muddy, the roadbed has collapsed in many places, and it takes nearly twenty days to transport goods to ......

A group of businessmen from Nanyang and the Central Plains, who had never seen the world, walked along this two-mile-long cement road to look back and forth carefully.

The Xianyang businessmen who were traveling with him began to give Fan Yan and others a detailed introduction to the construction process of the road, and half an hour later, a group of people couldn't wait to see the Weihe Bridge under construction.

So many businessmen, such a big battle, noisy and noisy talking and laughing, the already busy east of the city was suddenly lively, seeing the head of the car of Qinghe Hou, almost everyone along the road stopped and bowed, and many businessmen heard that it was the business leaders of the Central Plains who came to Xianyang, and immediately gave up their goods, drove horses and cars to follow behind to join in the fun, hoping to be familiar with these giant businessmen, and when the time comes, they can get some business cooperation and support, so they can only travel one or two miles, The following vehicles have already exceeded 100, among which there are countless Xianyang people who are joining in the fun, adding up to thousands of people, and the forbidden troops who patrol are nervous, and the sound of bamboo flutes rises and falls one after another.

"It's so spectacular!"

Bypassing a forest near the river, the eyes suddenly opened up, and a few miles across the Weihe Bridge, you can already see the dense scaffolding and concrete formwork built on the Weihe River, and Fan Yan and others sitting in the carriage almost stood up from the carriage and spoke in admiration.