Cen Shen and Daorou stood outside the hut and waited, and after a short time, Qiu'e walked over from the pond with her burden, and when she saw the two people in the yard, she was first taken aback, and then lowered her head and walked to the water tank in the yard with a flat burden.

Daorou turned back to the hut and shouted, "Ah Lang." ”

Li Siye put down the book, walked out of the door, and was surprised to see Qiu'e: "What? Didn't he take you with him? ”

Qiu'e smiled bitterly and nodded.

"It's okay, since I'm here, he'll be back in a few days." He turned back to Cen Shen and said, "The books in the house are about to get damp and moldy, so let's move them out and dry them first." ”

The two carried the scrolls out of the yard, arranging them one after another on the wooden planks, one on top of the other, exposing them to the sun. Cen Shen accidentally opened the pages of a book, and suddenly found that the handwriting in the book had a sense of déjà vu.

It is not so much that Cen Shen is a liberal arts man who is sensual, but that he is a science man who is good at thinking and seeking truth. He held the page and stared vigorously at the handwriting on it, as if he had called up a search engine in his mind.

Oh, he remembered, remembered that Tianbao was on the first night of the third year, and the thrilling intrigue between all parties was finally dissipated into silence. As a son of Qiu Yu, he had the privilege of observing the true works of the creator of the Great Case, although these things were now destroyed in the fire, but the handwriting of the other party remained in his mind.

Li Siye looked at his expression, and immediately slapped his head, guessing that it might be a bad dish, Cen Shen, this kid must have seen Xu Bin's true works, otherwise how could he have the demeanor of seeing things and thinking about people.

He squatted in front of him, stretched out his hand and pressed the page, his voice was low and soft, sounding like a warning from a scheming villain to a person of conscience: "Cen Shen, sometimes what you see is not what you think, some people are just living in a shell, or the shell is not their own body, but his existence is very useful to me, and it is also useful to this world. Anyway, you know what I mean. ”

Cen Shen is not a stubborn straight man who admits death, otherwise the trajectory of the development of things will become a story of a virtuous scholar who is not afraid of the powerful and powerful, dares to expose the truth, and brings to justice the culprit who planned a shocking case and was shielded by the envoy of the feudal town.

His palms holding the spine of the book were sweaty, and he hurriedly said words that made the other party relax his vigilance: "Doctor, Dai Liulang is Dai Liulang, no one else can replace him, I believe what you say." ”

Li Siye helped him up from the ground and said with a smile: "You are a literati who often uses pen and ink, and naturally you have a deeper study of paper, why don't you go to the paper workshop and appreciate the paper?" ”

Qiu'e sat in the distance with empty eyes, ignoring the books and papers all over the floor, although she had shallow knowledge, but after seeing the world with her own eyes, she was no longer strict about the truth and falsehood of certain things. There is no essential difference between Dai Wang, who is happy and revengeful, and Dai Wang, who is dancing and writing, if she is more true than this, isn't life hopeless?

Li Siye briefly studied Dai Wang's writings, and for the points that he did not agree with, he picked up his pen and wrote them on other pieces of paper, sandwiching them in the pages of the book, as valuable advice on the management of commercial transportation.

……

Fifteen days later, Dai Wang returned to Shule City from the Green Ridge Guard, followed by a caravan and a dozen retinues, all of whom had different complexions, and their dry faces were numb from the wind, snow, and frost.

He was dressed in a black robe, and his face was covered with a mask carved from Nanmu, which looked stiff and eerie. The poet Cen Shen saw him at the gate of the paper mill, smiled stiffly as if he had been assimilated, and turned his gaze elsewhere.

Dai Wang ordered the men to wait in the paper mill, and led the horses alone towards the hut. He paused outside the fence wall, and saw Qiu'e sitting in the doorway sewing clothes, and saw the beautiful maid Daorou sitting on the other side of the door.

He sighed for no reason, and then he tied the reins of his horse to the hedge post, and went over and pushed open the door and entered the house.

Li Siye sat behind the desk, about to pick up the pen and write, when he looked up and saw Dai Wang walking in, so he had to put the pen and ink on the inkstone and rub his hands.

Dai Liulang said thoughtlessly: "I spent all your money." ”

He sneered lightly, "Money is for spending, this is a necessary process of investment...... he suddenly came back to his senses, and asked dumbfoundedly: "Such a big box of gold, you just made it all away?" ”

Dai Wang snorted a laugh behind the mask: "It's not just a box of gold, I drained all the money and silk silk in the account book of the city guarding the city of Green Ridge, and I took out the savings of the paper mill for three years of foreign trade, and the whole cost was 750,000 yuan.

This figure does not sound scary, but it is actually an astronomical amount, the annual rent and tax adjustment of the whole country during the Tianbao period was 10 million guan, and in the early days of the establishment of the conscription system in the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the total annual expenditure of all border army rewards and salaries was also 16.7 million yuan.

Dai Wang ignored Li Siye's abrupt emotional digestion, took out a book from his arms and put it in front of him, and said loudly: "This is all the expenses for the construction of the post station from Qunu City to Sinduo City, as well as all the post stations on the Red Buddha Hall Road on the Green Ridge Line, and after spending all the money, I found that if I want to fully operate, the money is not enough." ”

Li Siye tugged at his head and asked wistfully: "How much money is missing?" ”

"There are still 60,000 yuan left, so I plan to come back and sell all the paper stored in the paper mill, and then sell the paper mill and my improved paper technology, and make up the last money. Don't worry, I only sell these things to the Han people, and I will never sell them to the Hu people. ”

"That can't be sold either." Li Siye leaned on the desk and said: "You really want to go bankrupt, right, the pepper trade road has been in preparation for nearly two years, and not a penny has been recovered, and the old book is almost finished." In case this thing doesn't work out, this paper shop is the hole card, it's an opportunity to turn the book, don't leave yourself a way back. “

Dai Wang touched his mask and asked sneeringly, "What should I do then?" If you don't spend these 60,000 yuan, the previous 75 yuan is equal to a white spending. The more I learned about India this time, the more I realized that it is a great and long-lasting asset. There are countless pepper trees, red sandalwood, dipterocarp trees, and various kinds of fennel in this land, and the rice grown can be grown twice a year, making it an excellent production area for military rations. ”

"So what, you still expect the future, and I will take it? As the grain producing area of the Anxi Army? ”

"Why not, to the south of the Ganges, there are more than 100 states, large and small, but there is nothing to do with each other and no one fights for hegemony, and the Buddha countries are in decline, and the Brahmins are in the ascendant, treating the people as enemies and ants, and trampling on them wantonly. As long as 10,000 men go south along the Great and Small Bolu and destroy one country, the other countries will stand by and exterminate their kings, and the people will clap their hands and shout ......"

Li Siye suddenly remembered the story of more than 2,000 people in the British Commonwealth maintaining the rule of India, and the desire in his heart rose, so he pressed his patience and waved his hand to Dai Wang and said: "Don't go too far, I already have a source for this money, and I will raise it for you as soon as possible." ”

The only thing he can use now is the box of gold in the old mansion in Xinchangfang, Chang'an, and the Mi Ji shop in Michagan in the West Market, but the time wasted back and forth is outrageous.

Li Siye asked inquiringly: "What is the shortage of these 60,000 guan?" I have a sum of money in Chang'an, and if it is shipped here, it will cost a lot of manpower. ”

"Now the most scarce is the livestock on the Green Ridge, according to the climate of the Green Ridge, only yaks and other animals can adapt to the local environment, captive yaks are easy to find, but the real tame can pull the cart of the yak is scarce. We are at odds with Tibet, and it is difficult to buy yaks, but the price of yaks that can pull carts in Anxi is extremely high, and I am ready to buy yaks for 5,000 yuan. In addition, on the Gobi desert of the Khotanese line, more than 1,000 camels and dwarf horses need to be requisitioned, and two warehouses must be built on the way. A trading house, a warehouse and a transfer station should be built near Yangguan. ”

Li Siye thought about it, there is no need to spend this money, at least not now, and when the economy is rich in the future, it is not too late to upgrade the hardware.