Xia Jiang took out a few dry noodle cakes from the carriage and gave one to Xia Qingshan and Xia Dashu, "I'm afraid that I won't have time to run out after the autumn harvest this time, are we going to open up the wasteland this year?" ”

Xia Qingshan took the cake, listened to his words, and said: "Lingnan has a small population and a lot of wasteland now, if we don't take advantage of the current time to buy more wasteland, when the population of Lingnan increases, we will not be able to grab the wasteland close to Fucheng even if we want to open up the wasteland." ”

Xia Jiang bit the cake and paused, "Dad, how do you know that Lingnan will have a population growth in the short term?" ”

Xia Qingshan glanced at him and chewed the dry bread slowly, without helping him open his mouth.

Xia Dashu saw the agitation of his eldest nephew, and kindly helped him solve his doubts, "We didn't run twice to Jingzhou, plus we fled through Jingzhou, it can be said that we have been to Jingzhou three times in total, and each time you go to Jingzhou, do you find any changes in Jingzhou?" ”

Xia Jiang looked at Xia Dashu, tried to recall, and shook his head: "Every time I go over, I find that the streets, the people, and the shops have not changed, and the only change is probably the weather, is there anything wrong with this?" ”

Xia Dashu listened to his words and couldn't help laughing, "No change is the biggest problem, you think, even the remote Lingnan is getting better, but Jingzhou, which occupies the land of fish and rice, has not changed, once something happens again, will the people in the next state capital run to Lingnan?" ”

If the Central Plains region continues to be in turmoil, who will go to the local people to farm with peace of mind? At that time, the population may be wiped out, and it will be truly uninhabited.

Lingnan is separated from the Central Plains by a natural barrier, that is, the Nanling Mountain Range, where they are now located.

For people in the Central Plains and other places, Lingnan is remote and desolate, and the people are still barbaric and uneducated.

But they don't know that a peaceful corner of Lingnan is suitable for this kind of troubled times to recuperate.

Of course, recuperation and recuperation also require hard work and hard work in order to live an ideal life, so their Xia family has to take advantage of the autumn harvest in the first year to open up more wasteland.

Xia Jiang opened his mouth, and when he was about to say something, a bell rang again on the mountain road.

Everyone looked up at the mountain road that had just come down, and a mule and horse convoy appeared on the winding mountain road, dozens of mule and horse carts, no smaller than their Xia family's convoy.

And the bell they just heard was the sound of a bell hanging from the neck of the mule and horse.

These bells are usually only hung around the necks of the first and last mules and horses.

Go to the front to prompt the mules and horses behind to follow, and walk at the back to prompt not to fall behind.

When the team approached, the leader who was at the forefront naturally noticed the Xia family caravan.

The leader of the team noticed the flag planted on the carriage by the Xia family caravan, with a big Xia character on it, so he stepped forward with a smile and said: "We are the Chen family caravan of Changsha County, and it is fate to meet your Xia family's caravan here today, may I ask if you are from Lingnan or from Jingzhou?" ”

Xia Qingshan took a step forward and replied with his fists clenched: "Xia Qingshan, the leader of the Xia family, we have just come down from the mountain here and are about to return to Lingnan." ”

The other party's team leader returned a salute, "Chen Yongtian, the leader of the Chen family, look up for a long time!" ”

Xia Qingshan said with a smile: "Brother Chen is polite, we have rested enough, and we are about to leave, just so that this open space can be vacated for you to rest." ”

Chen Yongtian looked back at his caravan, people were sleepy and needed to rest, but he noticed that the guards of the Xia family's caravan were all strong and full of spirit, and they were safe and secure to follow such a caravan on the road.

Thinking of this, he immediately said: "It's not early, and there is a safety hazard to stay in the mountain after all, so let's follow the back of your caravan down the mountain together." ”

Xia Qingshan understands the other party's concerns very well, and he must be very cautious in everything he does when he goes out, otherwise, once there is an accident, it will be the destruction of the caravan.

"Okay, then let's go down the mountain together, let's go in front, the road down the mountain is not easy to walk, we will try to walk a little more steadily, don't worry about you following behind, let's walk slowly on the way down the mountain."

For Xia Qingshan's careful care, Chen Yongtian was grateful, "Then I will work hard for you to explore the road in front, I will invite my brother to have a drink when I get to Lingnan Mansion City." ”

Xia Qingshan raised his hand and refused, "Everyone should take care of each other when they go out, it's not hard to talk about, just treat each other." ”

There are hundreds of people in a team, and he doesn't want to let the Chen family caravan he met for the first time treat him, it's too expensive!

It's not easy for anyone to make some money when they're away from home.

The two caravans set off together, and it was already two days before they had completely walked out of the Nanling Mountains.

Xia Qingshan found that Chen Yongtian was wiping the sweat on his face, and he looked obviously relieved, so he walked over and asked with a smile: "I see that Brother Chen seems to be very nervous when he walks all the way?" ”

Chen Yongtian listened to his words and said with a wry smile: "It's not easy to beg for a life outside these days, I'm not afraid of Brother Xia's jokes, I've been running a business for more than ten years, and I've been worried every time I go out in the past few years, my heartstrings are tight, and I can't reach my destination safely, I don't dare to relax for a moment, I'm afraid of being robbed halfway, and my efforts for several years will be in vain!" ”

When Xia Qingshan heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "Brother Chen is too worried, I didn't dare to talk about it before Lingnan, but now Lingnan can be said to be out of trouble." ”

When Chen Yongtian heard this, there was doubt in his eyes, "What did Brother Xia say this?" ”

Xia Qingshan had a proud look on his face, and said: "Lingnan is now the fief of King Qian, you should know about this, right?" ”

Chen Yongtian nodded, "The world knows about this matter if you care about it." ”

Xia Qingshan pointed to the farmland on the side of the road, the rice in the field had turned yellow, "Since King Qian and the princess came to Lingnan, re-measured the land, checked the hidden households, and re-registered the acres of land, the people at the bottom of Lingnan basically have fields to cultivate, and their enthusiasm for farming is incomparable to that of the people in other places."

In addition, King Qian's Mansion vigorously rectified the place and eliminated bandits, it can be said that now the Liukou in Lingnan has basically dropped, and the rest have all flowed to the surrounding state capitals. Therefore, in the Lingnan realm, you don't have to worry about being robbed by rogues in the future. ”

Chen Yongtian couldn't believe it, and asked confirmatively, "Is this true?" ”

"Haha, how could I lie to you about this kind of thing, of course it's true."

Chen Yongtian breathed a sigh of relief, whether this matter is true or not, wait until you get to Fucheng to inquire.

Next, along the way, as Xia Qingshan said, the road was safe and sound, and there was no danger to the boundary of Fucheng.

Xia Jiang was very excited when he saw the familiar scene, he trotted to Xia Qingshan's side and shouted excitedly: "Dad, we are almost in Fucheng, and we are finally home!" ”

Xia Qingshan was also excited in his heart, this time he went out to run a business and returned safely, "Hehe, it's been two months since I left home!" ”

Chen Yongtian rode a horse and trotted to the front of the Xia family's team, and bowed to Xia Qingshan: "Congratulations, I got home all the way." ”

Xia Qingshan hugged his fists and saluted back, "Tongxi, Brother Chen has also arrived in Fucheng smoothly." ”

"Haha, Brother Xia is right, rejoice and rejoice!"

Talking and laughing along the way, the caravan turned a bend along the post road, and the walls of the city could be seen from afar.

"Huh!" Chen Yongtian, who was riding on a horse, could see farther than Xia Qingshan, who was sitting in the carriage.

He pointed to the front and asked, "Brother Xia, you see that there seem to be a lot of people gathered in front, what's going on?" ”

Chen Yongtian didn't suspect that there were bandits in front of him or anything, after all, it was not much away from Fucheng, and it was impossible for there to be bandits running around so close to Fucheng.

Xia Qingshan stood on the carriage and looked into the distance, saw the shaking heads in front of him, shook his head and said, "I don't know, maybe there is some dispute." ”

As the convoy moved forward, the sight became clearer, and it seemed that there were many people gathered on the side of the road.

"It can't be two villages fighting together, right?"

Chen Yongtian's expression was a little solemn, "It's possible, I think we still send two people to explore the way, if it's really two villages fighting, then we must avoid it, so as not to be accidentally injured by them." ”

In fact, the accidental injury is small, and it will be troublesome to take advantage of the chaos and robbery to snatch their goods.

Xia Qingshan agreed with his proposal very much, and immediately asked Xia Jiang to ride his horse to find out what was going on?

Chen Yongtian was not far behind, and hurriedly sent his little servant out and asked him to follow Xia Jiang to check.

While waiting for the news, Chen Yongtian chatted with Xia Qingshan again, "What kind of dispute is this, I see that there are a lot of people gathered, if it is said that the two villages are fighting to grab water, but the rice in the field is about to be harvested during this time period, and there is no need to release water at all." ”

Xia Qingshan didn't want to bother guessing, so he said, "I'll know later, Brother Chen, be patient." ”

Chen Yongtian nodded, staring ahead, his brows furrowed unconsciously.

It didn't take long for Xia Jiang to come back with Chen Yongtian's servant.

Xia Jiang said excitedly: "Dad, the road is being built in front, and most of the people on the side of the road are watching strangely. ”

Xia Qingshan was relieved when he heard this, and when his heart relaxed, he said disgustedly: "It's just a road, what are you excited about?" ”

"That's right." Chen Yongtian also asked: "It's just a road repair, what is strange that so many people are looking around?" ”

Seeing that they didn't care, Xia Jiang shouted excitedly: "Oh, you may not know who paid for the construction of this road, it is Princess Qian!" ”

Saying that, he winked at Xia Qingshan, in front of outsiders, they didn't want to reveal their identity as Xia Jingniang's family, firstly, to put an end to trouble, lest someone come to their door to ask for help. Second, he was also afraid that the enemies of the Qian Wangfu would not be able to deal with the Qianwang Mansion, so he used their Xia family to blackmail the Qian Wangfu.

Chen Yongtian felt incredible, and said in surprise: "Just because Princess Qian paid for the road construction, these people came to see the strange, this road repair is not the same repair, what is there to see?" ”

Xia Jiang listened to his words, and was immediately overjoyed, "You only know one thing, you don't know the other, this is a detail." ”

Xia Qingshan thought of the cement used to build the house, and when he heard that it was used for infrastructure construction, his eyes flashed, and he didn't say anything.

Chen Yongtian was interested and smiled slightly: "I want to hear about it." ”

"The princess's path is as smooth as a mirror, do you believe it?" Xia Jiang raised an eyebrow at him.

Chen Yongtian expressed doubts, "Is there such a road in the world? ”

In this era, even post roads could not be as smooth as mirrors, unless they were paved with stone paved without gaps.

Xia Jiang smiled very smugly, "Of course there is, the princess will build it, if you don't believe it, let's go over and take a look." ”

As he spoke, he said, "However, now that the road is being built, it is a one-way street, and our speed may be very slow, so you must be mentally prepared." ”

Waiting for the caravan's carriage to slowly pass through the maintenance section, Chen Yongtian saw the craftsmen filling the road with a kind of gray mud, and then the people behind him smoothed the mud. Not afraid of the carriage sinking into the mud?

However, his thought was soon slapped in the face, and as their carriage drove towards the pavement that had been repaired and hardened, everyone felt the smooth and almost no bumps in the carriage on it.

Chen Yongtian took out a piece of silver from his sleeve pocket, about three or four points, and threw it to a craftsman who was pouring water on the road, "May I ask where this road is going to be built?" ”

The watering craftsman unexpectedly got a sum of silver, his smiling eyebrows and eyes narrowed into a line, he looked at the long caravan, and said: "According to the original plan, we are going to build the road to Qujiang, because there is a branch factory of our princess in Qujiang, but at present, the manpower is limited, and it will be repaired to the next town for the time being, and it will continue to be built after the autumn harvest." ”

Not only Chen Yongtian, but the people next to him gasped when they heard his words, Fucheng is not close to Qujiang, how much silver does it cost to repair to Qujiang?

In fact, when it really repaired to Qujiang, Xia Jing didn't have so much silver for the time being, but fortunately, the cement was produced by her own factory, and the labor was still very cheap in this era, so she could temporarily repair the road to the next town, and when Annan successfully quelled the rebellion, she would catch more prisoners and come back, so that the prisoners would come back to repair the road, so as to save expenses.

Chen Yongtian didn't know some of the situation in Lingnan, so he asked again: "I see that you use this gray mud to pave the road, what kind of material is this gray mud, why haven't I seen it before?" ”

"Haha." The watering craftsman laughed when he heard this, and he found that the rich old man did not have the knowledge he had.

However, because he received the money, he also knew how to control his emotions a little, and after laughing, he explained: "This gray mud is called cement, which is a special adhesive for construction, and it is very useful. ”

"Where is this cement sold?" When Chen Yongtian heard this, his eyes lit up, and he seemed to see a road paved with gold ingots.

The watering craftsman looked at the dime of silver and reminded: "There is a cement factory on the outskirts of Fucheng, and there are also shops in the city that specialize in selling cement. ”

Chen Yongtian understood a general idea and wanted to know the details more clearly, and he also knew that he could only talk about it after entering the city, so he did not delay any longer, and thanked the craftsmen and let the team speed up.

Fortunately, this section of the road is already paved with cement hardened pavement, flat and straight, and the carriage is fast and stable on it, which is really comfortable.

Xia Jiang looked at the paved road and felt a toothache, Auntie, how much silver does it cost to repair this road?

Really walking on it, Xia Jiang felt like he was walking on the silver surface. If you don't think that the government will build the road, how can you build it with money from a person, and he will think it will cost money?

Thanks to ChaoQiong, light clouds, xiaozuyeye, book friend 20230319339, Ding Ding, White Pigeon Whirlwind, A! purple leaves, 45.Look up, you used to be simple, book friend 20210605203749283, Min Min, Luo Jiu'an, Wind Chime, Yue Jianxi, Regret 845, Supreme Goddess-ac, Sea and Cliff, Lu Hao (Chaoyang Elementary School), Longing for the Future-AD, Happy Swallow-ed, Wang Xiaoyan-bc, ZX, Heart is like stopping water, reader 1596063352795201536, night star 3399, love, insulator recommended support ~

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