Ten days later, the mighty army of bandits returned to Xianyang with hundreds of bandit heads and Ji Bu's corpse, Qinghe Hou entered the palace to meet the emperor and stated the process of suppressing the bandits, Ji Bu's head was enshrined in front of Jiang Chuyue's grave to burn incense and worship, and three days later, he led his family members and hundreds of servants to return to Nanyang to visit relatives under the escort of the forbidden army, and brought back sesame seeds and garlic seeds, as well as three steamed and three brewed wine and more than ten cars of silk satin, gems and jade.

This time when he went back, Chen Xu still took the Eastern Road, and when he passed by Hangu Pass, he specially stayed to watch the narrow valley that was ambushed that day.

The potholed cement pavement that was blown up by boulders and grenades has been repaved, and it is no longer visible what it looked like at that time, and in order to pass through the Hangu Pass, the emperor has already ordered an additional 1,000 soldiers to be sent on both sides of Hangu to strictly check suspicious people, but this matter no longer has much significance in Chen Xu's opinion.

Thinking back to the events of that day, in addition to Chen Xu's happiness and fear, Jiang Chuyue's death was a thorn in his heart, and it would hurt incomparably when he thought about it.

"Is that what my husband was ambushed here that day?" Ying Shiyan looked at the narrow passage and the steep cliffs on both sides, holding Chen Xu's arm with a face full of fear and fear.

"Well, I was too impatient that day, if I showed my identity, I was afraid that my identity would be exposed and someone would sneak attack, but if I didn't show my identity, I finally left a flaw for the bandits to take advantage of, Miss Chu Yue's death was still because of my negligence!" Chen Xu nodded sadly.

"Husband, don't blame yourself too much, the situation was chaotic at that time, and the bandits had premeditated and colluded with the soldiers guarding the pass, only blame Miss Chuyue's thin life!" Shui gently also took Chen Xu's arm and comforted softly.

"Let's go!" Chen Xu cleaned up his mood and led a group of people through Hangu to get out of the customs.

Three days later, they arrived in Luoyang, then turned southeast to Wancheng.

The road leading to Wancheng is also in full swing to lay cement, most of the roads have been repaired, the carriage on it is very stable, two days later arrived in Wancheng, went to visit Fan Yan and Shui Hong, and accepted the banquet of Wancheng officials and businessmen and celebrities and returned to Qinghe Town.

All the way to the mighty banner hunting, along the way the people and squires officials learned that the Qinghe Hou returned to the hometown of the province, everywhere they passed were spontaneously welcomed by the people, carrying the pot to welcome the Qinghe Hou and when the Chao Zuo Xiang returned to his hometown, this situation has been reached after arriving at Qinghe Town, the people of the entire Qinghe Town poured out, together with tens of thousands of men, women and children on the fiefdom have been beating gongs and drums to welcome the Black Tiger Bay.

Niu Dashi, Liu Po and a group of village officials and three elders of Qinghe Town, as the leaders of the greeting, led the uniformly dressed young musket team to stand neatly on the side of the road with firearms to greet them, and tens of thousands of people were also wearing clean and tidy clothes.

Chen Hu took Chen Jiang, Han Tian and Xiaomi to stand in the middle of the road, which had also been paved with concrete pavement, and waited.

"Quick, prepare gongs, drums and firecrackers, I have already seen Hou Ye's carriage and horses!" Several fast horses galloped along the road, and several sturdy teenagers jumped off their horses and roared excitedly.

"Drumming!" Liu Po roared, and suddenly more than a dozen big men wearing short hexagrams with black scarves wrapped around their foreheads vigorously beat several cowhide drums, and gongs and firecrackers also shook the sky immediately, and tens of thousands of people cheered in unison.

"Lizheng, welcome Qinghehou!" As the leader of a young musket team roared excitedly, hundreds of teenagers all stood up with a crackling sound, raised the fire gun in their hands and shouted to greet Qinghehou.

Looking at the neat movements, heroic posture and faces of these young musketeers who had not been seen for two years, Chen Xu was very excited to stand up in the carriage and wave to both sides with a smile.

After two years of arrangement and training, these teenagers have now been reborn and transformed into a style and momentum that is completely different from the soldiers of the Great Qin, whether it is from clothing, weapons or training methods, they all adopt the military training of later generations, although it is not Chen Xu who is personally training, but they are all carried out in strict accordance with Chen Xu's training manual, under the guarantee of adequate nutrition and hard training, the order prohibits strict obedience to the leader's orders is their only belief, as for the front is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire or an abyss of thorns, No one will back down, because those who retreat will be removed and will lose this privileged living treatment.

Every young man, Chen Xu smashed more than a thousand dollars on them every year, not to mention the fire gun, a weapon that even the emperor could not equip for more than a thousand years.

Through the process of killing Huang Shigong in the East China Sea last year, we know that these teenagers have fulfilled Chen Xu's requirements, what they lack is real guns and live ammunition on the battlefield and the enemy's bloody fight, as long as they experience it once, they will quickly transform into real soldiers.

"Dad, mother, aunt!" Soon Chen Xu's team and the people of the fiefdom who welcomed him got together, and after Chen Xu got out of the car, he saluted Chen Hu, Chen Jiang and Han Tian next to him, and also picked up his half-sister Xiaomi, who had not seen him for two years, and asked a few words.

"Daughter-in-law to meet her parents-in-law and aunt!" Shui Qingwen, Ying Shiyan and Meng Wan all stood behind Chen Xu and saluted Chen Hu and the others.

"Mother, Daddy......" Xing'er and Yu Ji squeezed up from behind.

"This is Xi'er, come and hug grandma!" Chen Jiang saw a little girl wearing a snow-white mink dress in her arms at a glance, and immediately left Chen Xu aside and hurriedly went up to hold Chen Xi in her arms, and also took out a jade pendant to hang on Chen Xi's waist.

"Auntie, Brother Xin went to the south with the Marquis of Tongwu and hasn't returned to Xianyang yet, so I didn't come back with me this time!" Chen Xu apologized apologetically to Han Tian.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!" Han Tian wiped tears of disappointment.

"Xin'er followed the general to the south to clear out the rebels, and in the future, he will definitely be awarded a knighthood for meritorious service, don't cry!" Chen Hu comforted Han Tian.

"Brother Hu, I just miss Xin'er, I won't ...... to go to war It won't be dangerous, right? Han Tian's eyes were red and sobbed.

"Hehe, aunt rest assured, I also received a letter from my brother last month, now the rebels have long been quelled, he followed Tongwu Hou to learn the art of war in the military camp of Wuling, I heard that Tongwu Hou is still very important, after a few years of military achievements, he will inevitably be awarded the title of military knight, and when the time comes, he will return to his hometown to visit you!" Chen Xu also hurriedly comforted.

"Brother Xu!"

"Meet the Marquis of Qinghe!"

After Chen Xu's family finished the ceremony, Niu Dashi, You Gui Liu Po, and a group of people with faces in Qinghe Town, such as the three elders of the township, all gathered around to greet them, among which Uncle Liu and Uncle Liu of Xiaohe Village were even more excited, and they were all around with smiling faces.

In the past two years, the area of Qinghe Town has expanded from the original Qinghe Town to Heihu Bay, and several villages that used to live in the mountains have moved to the town, in addition to the grain fields reclaimed on both sides of the Xiaoqing River, the brewery, gunpowder factory, candy factory, carpentry workshop, blacksmith shop, ceramic factory, paper mill, health center, and primary school have also expanded again, and in addition to these, the foot houses and food houses that entertain merchants to stay and eat have also opened several successively, grain stores and cloth shops, salt shops, shoe shops are also neatly opened, every family in the fiefdom has people working in these workshops and commercial buildings, and after getting a good salary, they have built a large number of new houses, and everyone is wearing brand new clothes, shoes and hats, everyone is very good-looking, and they can no longer see the tattered hunger state when Chen Xu just crossed over.

Surrounded by tens of thousands of people beating gongs and drums, Chen Xu and others walked slowly all the way accompanied by Chen Huniu, Dashi, Liu Po and others, and there were patches of brand-new adobe houses on both sides of the road, and a few miles away, you could see the big kiln of the pottery workshop at the foot of the mountain in Qinghe Town, which was still billowing out of the smoke at this time, and the open spaces and workshops on both sides of the road were full of carriages and ox carts that came to transport goods, and countless businessmen who did business with Qinghe Town were mixed in the welcoming procession and happily accompanied Chen Xu to watch the changes in Qinghe Town.

"What a change!" Ying Shiyan, Meng Wan and Shui Qingrou all followed Chen Xu closely, feeling the enthusiasm of the villagers and the great changes in Qinghe Town, especially the water soft, when she first came to Qinghe Town to see Chen Xu, there were only about 300 households in Qinghe Town at that time, and the streets were narrow and full of mud, and the houses were all tattered, but after a few years, the entire Qinghe Town had almost become unrecognizable.

After inspecting Qinghe Town, Chen Xu returned to Xiaohe Village without staying long.

The changes in Xiaohe Village are not too big two years ago, but the changes in the clothing of each villager's home and body are very huge, the food that can not be eaten, the new clothes that cannot be worn are enough, and a tea garden is enough to make the villagers of Xiaohe Village live more prosperous than the ordinary rich families in Xianyang City, at least thousands of dollars of income every year, almost every household has purchased horses, and even several families have built horse-drawn carriages, which can easily and quickly travel to and from Qinghe Town and even Wancheng in Pheasant County, and as long as the villagers go out and say that they are from Xiaohe Village, Even the local officials have to treat each other respectfully, and this honor is enough to make Uncle Ma and others smile from ear to ear every day.

The changes in Qinghe Town and Xiaohe Village are obvious to all and enviable, but with the development of Qinghe Town, the continuous expansion of various workshops, coupled with the implementation of the new business law, now there are a large number of commercial houses and workshops inside and outside the city of Pheasant County, paper mills, candy factories, ironworks, cement factories have opened several, almost all of them are investments in Qinghe Town, and thus attracted a large number of civilian employment. It looks much more powerful.

Chen Xu played mahjong and chatted in the village every day, and even followed a group of babies from Xiaohe Village to the mountains to pick up chestnuts and pick persimmons and other wild fruits that had not yet fallen, and sometimes took a group of guards and a few teenagers carrying muskets to chase rabbits and wild boars all over the mountains, and came back every day full of dead grass and fallen leaves, as if they were similar to ordinary mountain boys, and there was no momentum of Hou Ye and Zuo Xiang at all.

It was cold, rainy and snowy, and the family gathered in the living room, Chen Xu and Niu Dashi, Chen Hu, and Uncle Ma played mahjong, Shui Rouhe and Ying Shiyan Mengwan sat on the hot kang and chatted with Chen Jiang and Han Tian in knitting sweaters, while Xing'er Yu Ji and a few maids took Xiaomi and Chen Xi to run around the house and play games.

"It's still fun at home!" Chen Xu sighed while playing mahjong with a lollipop in his mouth.

"It's all Xiangye, and they only care about having fun!" Chen Hu glanced at his son.

"Hehe, when Xiangye has to get up early every day before dawn to go on a business trip, he can't sleep lazily!" Chen Xu laughed a few times.

"I heard that you were assassinated by bandits in Hangu Pass last year, what was the situation at that time?" Chen Hu asked with a glare.

The atmosphere in the room quieted down suddenly, Chen Jiang's hand shook and looked at Chen Xu with a nervous expression, and the water was gentle and Ying Shiyan Mengwan both stopped their movements in unison.

"Don't listen to outsiders' nonsense, just a few idle ruffians in the pass, at that time, I brought dozens of guards and musket grenades, and I beat those bandits in a moment!" Chen Xu smiled lightly and sorted out the mahjong in front of him.

Hearing Chen Xu say this, the atmosphere in the room relaxed again.

"I think it's the same, but I heard that the county lieutenant Fang Kuan said it was quite serious, saying that there were hundreds of bandits who participated in the attack, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, and the emperor also issued an edict to hunt down the bandits......

"Fang Kuan is just hearsay, I have read the edicts and official documents of the imperial court, the emperor is indeed very angry, plus the rebellion of the Xiang clan in the southeast, naturally there are all kinds of discussions among the people, but they are all exaggerated, before coming back this time, the bandit leader Ji Bu has been killed by the forbidden army in Funiu Mountain, plus the country continues to crack down on rangers and ruffians, it will only become more and more stable in the future, father must not worry!" Chen Xu explained with a smile.

"Well, you just need to be careful, and you will bring more guards when you go out in the future, now you are all left-hand ministers, and don't have the same personality as before!"

Chen Hu knew that Chen Xu went to Langya alone after accompanying the emperor halfway through the parade last year, and he also brought a letter back to ask for a hundred musket team boys and a lot of ammunition and artillery, although he didn't know what Chen Xu was going to do, but he still reminded a few words seriously, and Chen Xu naturally agreed.

For the next month or so, Chen Xu stayed in Xiaohe Village, occasionally going to Qinghe Town and Pheasant County, and also went to the original mountain bandits' lair to watch the training of the young musket team, and then asked the town's blacksmith shop to create a batch of items such as flying claw hooks and zipline locks, and started some special training such as assassination and raids like training special forces.

After the cold winter passed, the weather gradually warmed up, and soon it was January of the new year, after Chen Xu arranged the affairs of Qinghe Town, he returned to Xianyang with his family and servants under the escort of the forbidden army.

As the left minister of Daqin, although Chen Xu has always worked for three days to fish and two days to dry the nets, but during this time in Xiaohe Village, there will still be court documents and newspapers sent over every few days, and even the emperor also sent a special messenger to condole and remind him to return to Xianyang as soon as possible, after all, there are too many things in the court, and without Zuo Xiang in charge of Zhongshu Province, many things are not so easy.

And the day after Chen Xu returned to Xianyang, an edict came to him to discuss politics tomorrow, so early the next morning, Chen Xu had to get up early with sleepy eyes and eat a few steamed buns and a bowl of soy milk and then climb to the court.

For Chen Xu's return, the Manchu Dynasty civil and military ministers were naturally surprised, surrounded by all kinds of warm greetings, Chen Xu rubbed his eyes and sat on his exclusive big chair with figure-eight steps, and Li Si's seat in the back had been withdrawn, and a seat was vacant at the moment.

When the bell rang at the beginning of the hour, the first emperor came out of the back of the palace almost exactly accompanied by the palace people and the chamberlain, and sat down after the courtesy, and the emperor also specially asked Chen Xu a few words and then announced that he would start to deal with government affairs.

After the start of the political discussion, the main officials of the three provinces and six ministries still report the government affairs of their respective governments, and report and deal with the transfer of officials, county affairs, and princes' movements one by one.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Tongwu sent a letter from Wuling, saying that after three years of encroachment, the Lingnan lands have conquered a large area, and now is the best time to send troops to recover Lingnan, please make a decision!"

"Well, I have already read the book, the young master offered the strategy of encroachment, and the past three years have indeed made good progress, and more than 20 counties in Lingnan have been conquered, and the Yue people have continued to retreat, but now they have begun to fall into a stalemate, and the progress of continuing to implement the policy of encroachment will be very slow......" Qin Shi Huang said here and turned his head to look at Chen Xu, "The young master has not read the book of Tongwu Hou because he returned to Nanyang to visit relatives, and Su Fu ordered that the book of Tongwu Hou be sent to the young master to watch!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Su Yue took the book in the emperor's hand and walked down the nine steps and sent it to Chen Xu.

Chen Xu unfolded it and read it quickly, then stood up and arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the strategy of the Marquis of Tongwu is naturally proper, and the land of Lingnan has indeed reached the time when it can be recovered in one go, and the minister has no objection!" ”

"That's good, the land of Lingnan is not easy to delay for a long time, now that the Marquis of Tongwu is sitting in the southeast, I can rest assured that I will hand over this matter to him to deal with, but the terrain of Lingnan is complex and the area is extensive, and the network of mountains and rivers is dense, and it is very inconvenient to transport grain, grass and ordnance back and forth, these Tongwu Marquis have already mentioned, so I still need to send two generals to fight together, Feng Xiang!"

"The minister is here!" Feng stood up.

"Last time, the court asked the six ministries to coordinate the four counties of Ji, Jiujiang, Changsha, and Qianzhong, what were the arrangements for gathering the people and raising grain and grass?"

"Back to Your Majesty, the four southeastern counties have all sent back a book, the four counties have recruited 100,000 people and a large number of chariots and horses, and Nanyang County has also prepared 300,000 feather arrows and crossbow arrows, raising enough food and ......grass for half a year for an army of 500,000," Feng Qujian replied as he looked at the wat board in his hand.

"Good!" Qin Shi Huang stood up and swept his eyes over a group of generals, "Which two generals are willing to assist the Marquis of Tongwu in conquering Lingnan?" ”

After a group of generals looked at each other, they almost stood up for a while, "The ministers are willing to share your majesty's worries!" ”

"Haha, good, good, sure enough, he is worthy of being my Great Qin's fierce general!" Qin Shi Huang stroked his palms happily and laughed.