Chengbei Freight Market.

It is densely packed with cows, horses, and mule carts, pottery, hemp, salt, and grain, countless ragged, black, and thin people are helping to carry goods, countless merchants are shouting and shouting loudly in various accents, and the whole market is filled with a strong smell of cattle, horses, livestock, and all kinds of mixed smells.

As soon as he entered the market, Chen Xu was almost rushed to a fight by the lively and noisy scene in front of him, and said in surprise: "So lively? ”

"Xiao Langjun seems to be the first time to come to this north market!" A very fat middle-aged man next to him answered with a smile, and then without waiting for Chen Xu to nod, he pointed to the busy people and pawns and said, "Here is a gathering of merchants and goods from the east, west, north and south of the entire Great Qin, the daily grain trade is no less than 30,000 stones, salt is not less than 10,000 buckets, linen cloth is not less than 10,000 horses, and the pottery copper and iron can not be counted, this is still the situation in the winter season now, if it is placed in the summer and autumn season, the daily grain transaction here alone is not less than 100,000 stones, and the salt cloth pottery and hemp are like the sea water surging and surging away. It's a mountain of piles all day......"

The fat man talked endlessly for a few minutes, and Chen Xu also listened carefully and shook his liver for a few minutes, he only knew that Wancheng was a big city in the Central Plains, on the same level as Luoyang, Daliang and Handan, but he definitely didn't expect that in ancient times, there would be so many merchants and goods gathered here, which was completely different from what he imagined.

"Didn't you say that Qin Law emphasized agriculture and suppressed business? Why are business transactions still so developed? Chen Xu couldn't help muttering softly, but he didn't expect the fat man's ears to be quite pointed, and he actually heard Chen Xu's words clearly, so his face was slightly lonely and sighed and said: "Xiao Langjun is right, now the Great Qin Law is indeed full of discrimination against merchants, if there are no merchants like us, how can these goods from the south to the north pass through the world, don't look at this lively and busy here, and finally it can really fall into the hands of merchants!" ”

"Even so, it's better than a farmer who is busy all year long and can't eat enough!" Chen Xu couldn't help but say.

"Hehe, that's right, but the merchant needs to bear more onerous conscription and taxes, once the war is together, the transportation of grain, grass and ordnance is also an extremely heavy burden, if the war drags on for a longer time or there is a slight difference, the family is ruined, and the family is destroyed, but fortunately, if there is only Daqin today, there is no longer any need for the repeated wars, and it has indeed been much more stable in recent years!" The fat man said with a smile.

"It seems that you also think that the unification of the world is still more beneficial!" Chen Xu asked.

"That's natural, the world is unified and there are no borders, and the road to transport goods is smooth, and there are no complicated side card inspections and various obstacles, if you wait until the whole country is connected to the road to repair, it will be more convenient for business in the future!" The fat man nodded with feeling, and sighed again, "It's a pity that this kind of good days will come to an end soon, I heard news from Xianyang, within a year or two, His Majesty the First Emperor will start to conquer the land of Lingnan Baiyue, I'm afraid that our merchants will suffer again!" ”

"Brother Fan is cautious!" A middle-aged man in a fur coat next to the fat man hurriedly reminded.

The fat man's face changed slightly, and he glanced at Chen Xu and Wang Wu and the others behind him very cautiously before he stopped talking.

"Mr. Fan, don't worry, we are also businessmen who sell goods, not talkative people!" Chen Xu smiled and comforted him and asked, "Dare to ask what kind of business Mr. Fan is doing?" ”

"Mr. really dare not take the title, I Fan Xian, is doing the leather business, now the cold winter is coming, a certain from Liaodong, Liaoxi and Beiping counties to purchase some leather goods to the Central Plains for sale."

Fan Xian? A few black lines appeared on Chen Xu's forehead, fortunately it was not called a disease, this name is comparable to Fan Kun, and even surpasses it, it seems that this surname Fan is indeed not easy to change his name.

After a short period of surprise, Chen Xu smiled and said, "Mr. Fan's business is very good!" ”

"It's not bad, it's much better than selling food, but because it's a long way to come and go, the road is not peaceful, and there are bandits from time to time, so I don't dare to guarantee that I can make money every time!" The fat man replied.

"I heard that the places in eastern Liaodong are also rich in medicinal materials such as ginseng and deer antlers, I don't know if Mr. Fan has any business!"

"Medicinal materials have never been operated, and they are not easy to sell, is Xiao Langjun doing medicinal materials trading?" The fat man asked curiously.

"Hehe, I have a pharmaceutical shop, and all the medicinal materials in the east, west, north and south are needed, if Mr. Fan goes to Liaodong next time, he can collect some by the way and bring them to the Qinghe store in the city, and then someone will naturally accept them!"

"Good!" The fat man was overjoyed and said, "This leather business can only be done in autumn and winter, if it is a medicinal material, I can also go for a trip in the spring, I hope that Xiao Langjun will not let me down when the time comes!" ”

"Absolutely not, as long as the quality of the medicinal materials is good, the price and quantity are all easy to say!" Chen Xu said with a smile.

"Then it's a word, Fan will definitely come to Wancheng again next spring!"

A group of people rode horses and stood at the gate of the market and chatted for a few minutes, Chen Xu and the fat man broke up after telling each other's names, and then broke up after reaching a simple agreement on the purchase of medicinal materials, and then went to see the goods that Zhao Qing arranged for someone to help him collect this time.

This time, there were more than 10 carts, two of which turned out to be wool, weighing no less than 400 catties, and the bulging bags were piled up two or three meters high.

The remaining cars are all on Chen Xu's list last time, three cars of coal, one car of pig iron, two cars of iron ore, one car of copper ore, one car of graphite, and the remaining cars are all kinds of ores and minerals that Chen Xu thinks can be used, and the amount is at least hundreds of catties.

Because the goods on the car were all bundled well, Chen Xu just lifted the covered hemp straw bag and checked it before stopping, but according to what he saw, Zhao Qing still spent a lot of effort this time, at least he didn't get those messy things, especially coal, and it was estimated that there were more than a ton of three carts, and they were all very good quality lump coal, which made Chen Xu very happy, with these three carts of coal, pig iron and iron ore, he must make an iron pot to stir-fry, and even make a hot pot, and wait until the cold winter wax moon, The family eats hot pot around the stove, boiling a large pot of bone broth, and then various shabu-shabu, such as fish and meat.

"Hiss~" Chen Xu couldn't help but start drooling in his mouth.

Early the next morning, Chen Xu went to the foot house to take a look, Hu Kuan had already summoned a few craftsmen who were holding the drawings to point out and instruct, Chen Xu told a few words and then went to the tea workshop, there was still no news of the two, full of disappointment and at the same time the worry about the water added a lot, thinking about it, he simply let the woman in the tea shop take a trip to the water house.

The Shui family is still relatively famous in Wancheng, and it is considered to be a wealthy ranks, so it is also a big family, occupying dozens of acres of land in the south of the city and building a large number of houses, and the yard is full of cars and horses, a busy scene.

Looking at the ox carts and carriages full of goods coming in and out, Chen Xu was quite emotional, although he didn't know what kind of business the Shui family was running, but it seemed that the income was definitely good at the moment.

The head of the Shui family is called Shui Hong, about fifty years old, and the female helper of the tea shop introduced her as the second uncle of Shui Qingrou.

Although Shui Hong is a businessman, he looks like a scribe, wearing a fine linen robe with exquisite workmanship, wearing a Confucian crown, walking with fluttering sleeves, and speaking with an extraordinary bearing.

After receiving the report from the servant, although Shui Hong was surprised, he still warmly met Chen Xu in person.

After the guest and host sat down for tea, Chen Xu explained his intention, Shui Hong stroked his beard and shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Chen Lidian, Rou'er only said that she would go to Chudi, and I didn't ask carefully, and now I am very worried that she has not come back, but Rou'er has followed Lu Shangong to learn Taoism and swordsmanship since she was a child, and last time I also arranged two strong guards with strong martial arts to follow her, I don't think there will be any difference, and our Shui family's caravan to Chudi is almost every ten years, and I have been inquiring, once I get his news, I can arrange someone to notify Chen Lidian." , I don't know if Chen Lidian and Rou'er are ......"

"I'm the disciple of the Immortal Family!" Chen Xu said with a flat face.

"Huh?!" Shui Hong was suddenly shocked and knocked over the teacup, and after being stunned for a long time, he walked in front of Chen Xu and bowed deeply to the end, "Shui Hong has eyes and doesn't know the immortal family, please forgive!" ”

"It doesn't matter, although I am a disciple of the immortal family, but I am just an ordinary mortal, the water girl and I are in love, I am naturally concerned about her safety, my identity is also asked to keep the family master secret, don't spread it, otherwise your water family may be in trouble!"

"I know, I know!" Shui Hong nodded again and again, and the demeanor of the Confucian scholar who was personable at the beginning was almost gone.

Shui Hong only knew that Shui Qingrou had always had contacts and contacts with Qinghe Town, and he also guessed that the relationship between Liezi's disciples and the disciples of the Xian family that was now circulating everywhere might be related to Shui Qingrou, because after taking back the secret recipe for stir-frying tea from Shui Qingrou, he successively brought back the recipes for toothbrushes, toothpaste, and herbal tea, etc., and the Shui family is now also using the roasted tea technology taught by the disciples of the Xian family to open tea workshops in many cities across the country, and tea has also brought huge benefits to the Shui family, but because of identity reasons, Shui Hong has never dared to inquire carefully about the inside story.

The status of Shang Jia is too low, once this kind of thing is remembered by some princes and princes, it is estimated that hundreds of people in the Shui family will be left without bones in an instant, not to mention that the words of the gods are very loud now, I heard that the first emperor is also looking for immortals all over the world for the elixir of immortality, if the emperor is concerned, a hundred Shui families will also be crushed into powder.

Therefore, today's Shui family is like hanging above the abyss, and if you are not careful, you will be completely crushed, and the reason why you can persist until now and can operate safely is that the biggest talisman is the identity of the immortal disciple in the Funiu Mountain who is rumored to be sheltered, before the identity of the immortal disciple is completely clear, no one dares to be careless, once the Shui family is moved, it may be destroyed in an instant.

And today, this unattractive young man turned out to be a disciple of the Immortal Family who had never seen the end of the dragon, and he came to visit the Shui family in person, which made Shui Hong both frightened and excited.