When the spring flowers fall into the autumn water, when the summer melts the winter mud, the four seasons are reincarnated, day and night alternate. How many red dust and old things are submerged in the depths of time, prosperous and lively, but they are just withering in a blink of an eye like an epiphany blooming. The world is in the twilight, and Chang'an is still the same.

In three or four years, you can forget many things, resolve many grievances, and make great changes in the world. These changes took place in all aspects of the Han Empire. Some are like a spring breeze and drizzle, moisturizing things silently, while some changes are turbulent, stormy and thunderous.

Since the victory of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu a few years ago, the threat of the northern border was temporarily lifted, and the entire Jiangbei region until the area controlled by the Han army outside the Saiwai began to develop and prosper rapidly.

Among them, the merchants of the Han Dynasty played the greatest role, especially the families of merchants in the land of Yanzhao in the north, in just a few years, they took advantage of the situation and produced a large number of rich and powerful people.

Fortune is about luck, and there is nothing wrong with this sentence. Who would have thought that his generation would catch up with such a good time! Nie Yi, who is already the leader of all the merchants in Jiangbei, whenever he thinks of this, he will secretly be grateful in his heart, so that he can be born at the right time, meet nobles, and create such a great cause that surpasses the ancestors and ancestors, and after a hundred years, he can enjoy the supply of Mobai incense from his children and grandchildren with peace of mind.

How much wealth the Nie family has now, I'm afraid I can't calculate it for a while. Anyway, their family's property crossed the sea to the east as far as the four counties of Goryeo, and even farther to the Dongying Islands. The south is spread all over the Central Plains until the southeast of Vietnam. In the north, they went deep into the grasslands to Mobei, and a large part of the material supply of many Xiongnu tribes came from the Central Plains trade route, which was dominated by the Nie family.

After the end of the Han-Hun War a few years ago, the Han Dynasty achieved an absolute victory, opened up the territory and expanded the territory, from the Hetao grassland to the south of this large area has long been firmly in the hands of the Han army, in less than a year to establish the three heroic cities, on the front line of nearly two or three hundred miles apart, a total of 50,000 or 60,000 elite Han troops were stationed in it, firmly holding the route of the Huns to the south. And from here to the east to Liaodong County, this vast territory was connected, becoming the newest territory of the Han Dynasty. Although the Huns were not reconciled, they always thought of invading south again to recapture the land of the Hetao, but it turned out that it was impossible.

At the beginning, the 150,000 laborers levied by the imperial court to build the city here did not return to the Central Plains after the completion of the three male cities of Shuofang, Zhenyuan, and Wuyuan, but settled down on the spot. The imperial court compiled a new identity for them, that is, border people.

The treatment of the border people who live here is different from that of the mainland. A large amount of land and grasslands were distributed to them by the new rulers of the three cities, which was the emperor's personal will, and if they were assigned to the names of individuals, they had become their private property, and no one was allowed to invade and plunder, which was specially protected by the laws of the Han Dynasty. As for the rest of the farming tools, cattle, horses, sheep, etc., they were also uniformly rationed by the imperial court and provided free of charge.

It is not that there are no court officials who have worried that these people who have migrated here from the interior are not good people in the first place, and if they were given freedom, would they cause trouble and cause bloodshed to resist the mass exodus? However, this concern turned out to be unfounded.

Human beings are inherently strange creatures, from being deprived of nothing and hard labor to suddenly having special treatment and their own land and property, their psychology often undergoes strange changes. This kind of lost recovery can become extremely precious, and there is no special reason why it will not be easily given up. What's more, there are many people who already see great opportunities for future development from here.

A few years ago, if it was said that the Huns were to be defeated and occupy their steppes, I am afraid that no one would believe it. However, this is not the case now, at least the people in places from Yandi to Sancheng have established a lot of confidence in this. The heroic soldiers of the Han army have been galloping on this grassland, and the cavalry team that has gradually grown and grown has given everyone the steadfastness and trust from the bottom of their hearts. Perhaps, in the near future, this place will really be promising! Thinking of what Changle Hou Yuanzhao once said, some people who migrated here who were originally the identity of the giants of the rivers and lakes sprouted urgent hopes.

Under such favorable prospects, businessmen from the Central Plains gathered here in large numbers to find a way to make a fortune. Businessmen seek profit and have a keen sense of smell. As a result, the Nie family, the largest wealthy family in the North, has become the object of friendship among people in these aspects.

Nie Yi, who was named the "Marquis of Loyalty" by the emperor, is of course very important now. The Nie family looked north and south in Yandi, and if it was fully operated, it could control almost one-fifth of the wealth in the world. Such a huge force is breathtaking to those who are familiar with the inside story.

Mrs. Nie is old, but she is long-lived, and she no longer cares about mundane things, but only enjoys Qingfu. As the backbone of the family, Nie Yi is also in his fifties, and he is only in charge of major affairs in the clan, and some external business affairs are handed over to his sons to manage. The stall is too big, there must be someone to grasp the general direction, no matter how to do and what to do is not a problem, the only thing to pay attention to is that it must be in accordance with the rules formulated at the beginning, that is what the little marquis said, "business is the country's affairs, and the country must be the most important"!

Xiao Hou Ye, starting from Nie Yi, the Nie family and all the businessmen have the honorific title of Yuanzhao, of course, there are more cordial elements in it. But now it's obviously inappropriate to call it that. It's just that everyone is used to it, and they can't change their words for a while.

Nie Yi has already strictly ordered everyone for this, and the unified title of Yuan Zhao in the future will be "Yuan Hou". That person is no longer the boy he was at the beginning, he is now a figure with the titles of Marquis of Changle and Anguo, famous all over the world, although he has just turned twenty-one years old.

"It's beyond imagination! Where did Yuanhou learn about such methods? Alas! Many years ago, there was a doubt in my father's heart, what he did was not like me and other mortals in the world, maybe it was really the stars in the sky. ”

Nie Yi, who made this sigh, was in the luxuriously decorated hall in the mansion at the moment, and the object of his speech was his eldest son Nie Sheng. What he cherished in his hand was a book that had been sent from thousands of miles away in a brocade box.

This is a real book. It is not made of bamboo slips or cotton silk, but something called "paper". Paper, which carries the hope of human wisdom and the precipitation of heavy history, was officially born two months ago in Changle Yuan, a place where countless people from all over the world have poured their attention. And not long after, today, the first books in the true sense of the word appeared in front of the world.

Even if Nie Yi is a businessman, he knows very well what the appearance of paper and books means to the country and the people of the world. Therefore, he has long been paying attention to the movements on Changle Plateau, and has sent the most capable housekeeper in the house to guard the house of his daughter and son-in-law.

It turned out that the son-in-law of the Nie family was none other than Cui Hong. Nie Yi has only one daughter under his knees, the eldest sister of Nie's brothers. It is also due to the fate of his previous life, Cui Hong has been sent by Yuan Zhao in recent years, and often comes to the north, but every time he lives in the Nie family. The Nie family has a lot of connections with him, thinking that it was Nie Yi who saved his life on the trade road, and later he rescued Nie Yi in the Hun camp, which can be said to be a deep friendship. went back and forth like this, but he didn't expect the eldest lady of the Nie family to have a secret affection for him, and later Nie Yi saw the clues, he was naturally full of joy, and Yuan Zhao said about it, after the promotion of the two people, they finally got married last year, a hero and a beauty, but it was a good match.

Miss Nie's name is Yinniang, gentle and virtuous but does not lose the chivalrous spirit of the Nie family, after marrying Cui Hong, she followed the wishes of her father and husband and came down thousands of miles south to live on Changle Plateau. However, for more than a year, he has gotten along very well with Mrs. Su, Lingzhi and others, and his feelings are no different from that of a family.

Yinniang knew her father's intentions best, and after getting the message from the housekeeper he sent, she didn't dare to slack off, and always told Cui Hong not to forget to ask Hou Ye for a copy to send back to his father after the first batch of books were printed. So, just one day later, the book was delivered to Nie Yi's hands.

Hearing his father's sigh, Nie Sheng, who was standing in front of him, nodded again and again, in his mind, Yuan Zhao had long been a god-like existence, not to mention just paper and books, even if he could do things like flying on land, he didn't feel strange.

"Father, in the letter from my eldest sister, I specially reminded you that Chang'an College on Changle Plateau is about to officially open. Don't forget it! ”

Although he knew that his father would definitely not forget this important matter, Nie Sheng still admonished. Now most of the thousands of things in the family have been pressed on his shoulders, and when the time comes, he is afraid that he will really forget and delay his father's trip, which will be a big mistake.

"Hahaha! How can you forget such an important matter! The Father's belongings have been packed. I'm going to leave in the next few days, and I'm going to go early! Yuanhou has made countless efforts for this major event in recent years, and now it has finally been completed. How can you not celebrate such a moment! But you, don't forget to prepare tens of thousands of taels of gold, prepare chariots and horses, and take them with you for your father. Although Yuanhou is not short of these, he should be invested in that academy, after all, your third brother is going to study there, and when there are outstanding people in the Nie family who want to go, I can also talk to Yuanhou! Hehe! ”

Nie Sheng, who is quite a father, doesn't need to be ordered, in fact, he has already prepared all this. The portable congratulatory ceremony he brought to his father Nie Yi was 100,000 taels of gold.

"It's a pity, I have already taken on the burden of the Nie family, and I don't have that opportunity to study anymore......."

Nie Sheng remembered how magnificent the Chang'an Academy was that he had heard countless people say, and his eyes showed a deep yearning.