"Thank you Lord Hou for your forgiveness!"

Seeing that Chen Xu was not angry, Cao Shen instantly relieved himself, washed his hands and wiped his face under the service of the maid, and then sat down between Xiao He and Liu Bang, picked up the chopsticks and scooped up a few pieces of ginger in the hot pot, and suddenly looked up at Xiao He with a puzzled face.

"Haha, Brother Cao came back late, I won't eat this hot pot yet, come, how can I show you how to eat this hot and fragrant delicious ......"

Xiao He laughed proudly and picked up a piece of lamb that had been shaved into thin rolls, put it in the tumbling soup and swung it a few times, watching the meat slices curl slightly and change color, he stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it.

"I see, I've heard of this hot pot ginseng, but I've never eaten it......" Cao Shen learned to pick up a piece of dog meat and put it in the soup pot a few times and then put it in his mouth, refused to shake his body, and then couldn't wait to quickly pick up a piece of meat again and put it into the hot pot, nodding excitedly while sighing, "It's delicious, it's really delicious, it's really a first-class delicacy in the world, and this way of eating is also fresh and refreshing!" ”

"That's, this is the bottom of the pot made by Master Hou, I have eaten it countless times in Xianyang, Brother Cao is back, drink a cup to catch the wind and wash the dust!" Xiao He raised his glass.

"Come, let's have a drink!" Liu Bang, Cao Shen, and Chen Xu all raised their wine glasses, and everyone drank them all, and then began to burn the meat and drink wine.

"Since you are back, you will settle down in the mansion first, and when I have the opportunity, I will recommend you to go to the mansion on a business trip!" Chen Xu said while eating.

"It's boring to go to the palace, if Brother Cao is willing, it is better to come to my newspaper office, the newspaper office is now short of manpower, and the salary is generous, you can get the bonus alone!" Chen Ping said.

"That's right, compared to the government office, the newspaper is indeed a fat poor, even ordinary reporters have an income of thousands of dollars, and the salary is comparable to that of the minister, I don't know how many people are envious!" Xiao He nodded with affection.

"That's different, although the newspaper is well paid, but the promotion space is small, as long as there is no mistake in the government for a few years, you can be promoted in the future, and you can reach the level of six and five grades in ten years and eight years, and it is not a problem to be in charge of a yamen, even if it is a county order, it is still good, so you don't fool others to go to the newspaper hall!" Chen Xu smiled and pointed at Chen Ping with chopsticks.

"Hehe, how can this be regarded as a fool, everyone has their own ambitions, and the government is really boring!" Chen Pingchen smiled and shook his head.

Although Chen Ping is not a regular court official, but he has a lord in his body, and the status and influence of Xianyang Metropolis Daily are increasing day by day, now even the prince and the prince have to say that Secretary Chen is good, and the hundred disciples of the folk are more respectful to Chen Ping, and they have to salute respectfully when they see it, this is Chen Ping's status in the Xianyang court and the people, and the newspaper is not as strict as the 9-to-5 work of the court government, which is very comfortable.

"Hou Ye, I have been in the East China Sea for a few months, and I am not used to returning to the Central Plains, I miss the blue sea very much, in fact, the fishermen by the sea seem to be poor, but in fact, the property is extremely rich, by the way, Hou Ye and you wait a minute, this time I also brought some gifts to Hou Ye and you......"

Cao Shen put down his chopsticks and stood up and went out, and soon came in with two servants carrying a large box, put it on the ground and opened it, and suddenly several colorful and beautiful corals appeared in front of a group of people.

Looking at the stunned appearance of a group of people, Cao Shen said very proudly: "This coral tree is we dug near the island one hundred and ten miles away from Langya, and the fishermen can't sail that far on weekdays, except for these few coral trees, there are also some clams and beautiful sea shells, which are not easy for fishermen to get, but with a big boat, they can easily get ......."

"It's a good baby!" Chen Ping, Xiao He, and Liu Bang all dropped their chopsticks and wine glasses to see the coral and the clams and seashells, Chen Xu was also a little excited, he was so big and it was the first time he had seen such a big real coral.

The group watched for a long time before returning to their seats and sitting down to continue eating meat and drinking.

"Master Hou, Shen is now fond of sailing, and the vast sea is refreshing as far as the eye can see, so I hope Master Hou will let Shen continue to go to the East China Sea ......"

"You don't want to be on a bad job in Xianyang Mansion?" Chen Xu interrupted Cao Shen's words.

"That ......" Cao Shen hesitated slightly, "Hou Ye, in the past, Shen was just a small official in Pei County, and Hou Ye favored him to follow him to Xianyang, but as Brother Chen said, the government is on the same level, and Shen feels not very interested, and he also asks Hou Ye to allow Shen to go to the East China Sea again, and he will definitely help Hou Ye get more coral seafood back every year, these things can be sold in the Qinghe store, and it must be a lucrative deal!" ”

"You're trying to help Gayne?" Chen Xu frowned slightly and looked at Cao Shen.

Cao Shen's body trembled slightly, and his face was slightly nervous and said: "Hou Ye Mingjian, Cao Shen doesn't completely want to help Gai Nie, just like Hou Ye said, the vast sea wants to find a person is as slim as looking for a needle in a haystack, in fact, Shen is more interested in the location of Yingzhou, there are ancient legends that there are three sacred mountains and fairy islands overseas, Shen is not too convinced, but the folk rumors are certainly not groundless, I am afraid that there will indeed be a big island outside the East China Sea, and there may be people living on it, Shen is very curious!" ”

Chen Xu nodded: "There is no fairy island in the sacred mountain, and the immortals are even more nonsense, but there are indeed a few big islands overseas, and they are thousands of miles away from my Central Plains, but it is not easy to find the vast sea, you have to think about it, since you like it, Benhou can naturally support it, but going to sea is not so calm as you imagined, now the sea is calm in autumn and winter, but when it comes to spring and summer, the sea will alternate and the waves will roll, when we arrived in Langya, you saw it with your own eyes!" ”

"Hou Ye rest assured, Shen naturally knows the danger of the sea, but after going back and forth on the sea for several months, I feel that the sea is Shen's favorite place!" Cao Shen nodded excitedly.

"Then it's up to you, but after you do this thing, maybe you can also have a marquis in the future, not just as a way to make a fortune and make a living, and this coral will be less in the future, although these things are born to grow, but it takes tens of thousands of years to grow, and it is not beneficial to the country and the people except for the decoration and show-off......"

"Master Hou, this voyage can also have the opportunity to worship the marquis?" The other Cao Shen and Xiao He didn't listen to it, but they heard the words of Feng Hou and Xiang Xiang clearly.

"Hehe, you and a few others have seen the map of China drawn by Ben Hou last time, but the world is vast, my Huaxia only occupies a small part of the East China Sea, Your Majesty wants to use troops against the Yue clan is also to open up the passage to the western countries, and in fact, it is easier from the sea, but it costs a lot of money to build a sea ship, and it is easy to lose course on the sea without a chart, you eat quickly, after eating, follow me to the study to take a look!"

"Eat fast, eat fast!"

As soon as they heard Chen Xu say this, a group of people couldn't help it, and they scalded some dog meat and mutton in a big gulp, and after pouring two glasses of wine, they quickly wiped their hands and stood up, and couldn't wait to go to the study.

Chen Xu had no choice, so he could only eat a few bites in a hurry, and then took a few people to the study.

On the wall behind the study hangs a huge map of the world.

Not many people have seen this map, only the emperor and Jiang Hu Li Xin and others have seen it, so Chen Xu didn't explain too much, but picked up a bamboo stick and pointed at the map.

"Everyone, please see, right now my Great Qin is here, the southeast is the sea, the west is the plateau, and the north is the grassland desert where Hun Hu is located, Your Majesty used troops against the Yue Clan, just to open up this narrow passage to the West in the Western Regions, and the first country encountered after the opening of the Western Regions is called the Peacock Empire, which is far away from Xianyang and has thousands of miles, although the land is convenient for the army to pass, but in fact, because of the complex terrain, it is not easy to travel back and forth, and it is even more difficult to transport goods, so even if the Western Regions channel is opened up in the future to reach the West thousands of miles away, However, this brings huge uncertainties, and the supply difficulties are likely to cause great casualties among the Great Qin soldiers, which is different if it is from the sea...... If you take a large ship along the coast all the way south to the South China Sea, where it is hot and rainy all year round, and many islands in the sea are scattered together, there will be a long and narrow strait after bypassing the vast area occupied by the South Vietnamese, and after passing through this strait, you will enter a huge bay, if you land in the northwest of the bay, you can still reach the Peacock Empire, and if you continue to sail west around this bay, you will come to a large country closer to the west, called Anxi, where the climate is dry and desert everywhere, But it is rich in jewels and gold, and there are Carthaginian Empire and Macedonian Kingdom to the west through the Sabbath Empire, and this Macedonian Kingdom is the most powerful, their king once led a large army to attack tens of thousands of miles to the east more than a hundred years ago and conquered countless city-states After hitting the Peacock Empire, it is very close to the Western Regions, and at that time, my Great Qin was not particularly powerful in the Central Plains......"

Chen Xu said that he was familiar with the road, he had said these words many times, although there were many that he didn't know if he said correctly, but for Chen Ping, Xiao He, Liu Bang, and Cao Shen, it was completely like listening to a book from heaven, with their mouths wide open and their faces sluggish.

"Okay, don't be in a daze, these are all drawn by Ben Hou according to the records in the Book of Heaven, some may be slightly different, but most of them should be fine, just Cao Shen said that he likes sailing, and the reason why Ben Hou is also willing to support this is this, the world is so big, my Daqin is just a corner, it is very difficult to reach the West from the land, especially the supply is a very big problem, but if it is by boat, it will be much more convenient, as long as there are correct charts and skilled sailors, If you can easily reach the west by avoiding the wind and waves, it may take several years to arrange a large army to conquer the Western Regions all the way to the Peacock Kingdom, but if you take a boat, it will only take half a year at most to complete this task, because there is no need to worry about the harassment of the enemy at sea except for the wind and waves, as long as you find a reasonable supply position......"

Chen Xu gently tapped Chen Pingxiao and others on the heads with a bamboo stick, and the four of them slowly came back to their senses.