Fan Yongdou said so many reasons, but it made Fan Wencheng's somewhat flustered heart calm down again. He stood in place, looked at Fan Yongdou who was sitting opposite him with sharp eyes, and said to him in a cold tone: "I believe that you invited me here not to tell me that you have no way to solve this matter."

If you were to say that, I'd be disappointed. I am sure that the Great Khan will also be disappointed. I think you should know what will happen to you if you let the Great Khan down. ”

After knowing Fan Wencheng for nearly three years, Fan Yongdou felt for the first time that this somewhat nerdy literati actually had a convincing sense of oppression.

He twisted his body quite uneasily, and then said with a sneer: "Fan Wenshu misunderstood, I didn't mean that." I invite you here mainly to tell you that although this matter is not unsolvable, the solution to the problem will be very risky. I can't call the shots for the Great Khan, so I can only ask you to come over and discuss it. ”

Fan Wencheng, who had regained the initiative in the conversation, withdrew his gaze from the other party, sat back in his place, and then said: "Shopkeeper Fan, I think our conversation should be more frank, don't go around again." I'd like to hear how you're going to solve this problem. ”

Fan Yongdou was silent for a while before he said, "Fan Wenshu, I need to tell you in advance that the solution I think of will probably reduce the Great Khan's future income in the ginseng business." But I can assure you that I don't mean to profit from it. ”

Fan Wencheng only thought for a while, and then said with a calm face: "If what you say is the truth, then I will report to the Great Khan truthfully, with the Great Khan's generous mind, I don't think I will blame you, please say it now." ”

Fan Yongdou nodded subconsciously, and then said: "The first way is to hand over the ginseng in our hands to the big merchants of Jinshang, and with their branches in various places, these ginseng should be able to be sold quietly."

However, these big merchants will not be afraid of the authority of the Great Khan, and they will definitely take the opportunity to lower the price, and may even use some of the goods as collateral for the price. ”

Fan Yongdou paid attention to Fan Wencheng's eyes as he spoke, wanting to understand his reaction to his suggestion, Fan Wencheng's face barely changed, and he said indifferently: "This is a method, but if this is the case, why should we deliver to Zhangjiakou, that is, there are branches of these businesses in Shenyang." You move on to your next idea. ”

"The second way is that I will personally go to Beijing Shakouchang tomorrow to see what is going on in the ginseng trade now. If I could, I would like to find a way through the Department of Health and Prevention.

If we can get this ginseng anti-counterfeiting mark, we can sell it in Beijing, or simply ship it to the markets in Suzhou and Hankou to sell it.

However, I need a model text to prove to me that this ginseng anti-counterfeiting mark is not something I made to fool a sweater. And the ginseng shipped this time, I'm afraid the income will be greatly reduced. ”

Fan Wencheng frowned and thought for a long time before patting the small table in front of him and said, "Okay, I also want to go to the vicinity of Gyeonggi, so I'll just accompany you to the capital."

As for Ma Hujun, I want to ask you one thing, you find a reliable person and take him around the Xuanfu, there should be no problem with this, right? ”

Fan Yongdou, who had no choice, could only reply stubbornly: "This is also as it should be, before leaving, the Great Khan also entrusted me to inquire about the defending generals near the Great Wall Pass and the fortress." I will give an account to Yongfu, take the horse guards around the neighborhood, and complete the explanation of the Great Khan..."

On the afternoon of the next day, Fan Wencheng waved goodbye to Ma Guozhu, followed the camel team urgently recruited by Fan Yongdou, and continued to the south with a batch of ginseng, leather goods and other items brought back from Liaodong, and went to the capital.

It is about 400 miles from Zhangjiakou to Beijing, but there are 200 miles of difficult mountain roads in between. In addition, the weather was gray and it seemed that it would soon snow, so Fan Yongdou gave up the slow cart and only arranged a camel team of nearly 50 camels from 7 companies to rush to the capital.

Zhangjiakou through Xuanhua to Huailai, this road terrain is relatively gentle, so you can walk along the spacious valley opened up by the Yanghe River.

However, after passing the Huailai Jiming Station, the caravan had to say goodbye to the Yongding River, which joined the Sanggan River, and turned southeast. Walk between the steep peaks of Yanshan Mountain and the edge of a steep ravine.

The Yanshan Mountains rise up sharply here, and the layers of mountains are basically covered by forests, and you can hear the sound of tigers howling and wolves howling while walking.

After a full day and a half of walking in this gloomy mountain, the camel caravan finally saw the majestic Great Wall on Badaling. All of a sudden, everyone had the feeling of escaping from the forest cage.

As he left the forest trail and was about to enter the Great Wall, Fan Wencheng inadvertently noticed that a group of yellow-colored, red-faced, long-tailed macaques were jumping through the jungle across the valley. It made him feel that this was a good sign, and he felt a lot more comfortable.

After crossing the Great Wall, they rested for the night in a nearby village before exiting Yanshan from Juyongguan.

From the mountains of Yanshan to the Hebei Plain, looking at the harvested fields in front of them and the villages that appear in the distance, everyone feels as if they have returned to the world.

Out of Yanshan, on the way to Beijing, it was really smooth. Fan Wencheng was a little surprised to find that starting from the exit at the foot of Yanshan, the road to Beijing had obviously just been repaired.

Unlike the dirt roads he saw in Xuanfu and Liaodong, the roads here were all paved with gravel, wide enough to accommodate four large trucks in parallel. What's even more rare is that some trees are planted on both sides of the road to separate the road from the fields on the side.

Fan Wencheng felt that the trees were supposed to be for protection, and the road was not encroached upon by the landowners. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "In order to facilitate the coming and going to pay tribute to the ancestors, is it too expensive to build such a road?" ”

A camel driver passing by him happened to hear what he said, and couldn't help but say: "This minister is wrong, if you enter the city of Beijing, you will know what a real good road is."

Is this not the road yet complete? It is said that in the future, this road will be built as well as in the capital, and in that case, you can save half a day from Yanshan to the capital. ”

From the mouth of this chatty camel driver, Fan Wencheng heard a lot of new things that have appeared in Beijing today.

In addition to the cement road made of a whole piece of bluestone, the bell and drum tower, which caused a sensation in the capital, and the large library of the capital, which was talked about by the princes and grandfathers.

And what this camel driver talked about the most was the new railway in the capital, this new thing that was laid on the ground with two rails, especially made this camel driver yearn for it.

In particular, the coachman who sits on a railroad carriage and drives the carriage looks particularly imposing in a specially made uniform. What the camel driver hopes most is to save enough money for his tuition and then apply for a training course for railroad carriage drivers.

Listening to the camel driver talk about these new things in bits and pieces, Fan Wencheng also learned that many workshops were built in the capital this year, and the river was still being renovated near Gyeonggi to build water conservancy.

He was amazed and said: "The imperial court is building such a large number of buildings, is it too laborious and costly, and the people near Gyeonggi have no complaints about such heavy labor?" ”

The camel driver paused before replying, "There will definitely be complaints or something, but most people are still willing." I heard that this time the imperial court did not levy conscription for free, but gave money, and the imperial court said that it was a work for relief..."

Fan Wencheng asked rather strangely: "Since you have money to take, why do you still complain?" ”

The camel man thought about it carefully before saying: "Although the court has given money, but the old men in charge below have three grams and two deductions, and there is nothing left, at most they can mix a round belly..."

It wasn't until the caravan saw the high gate tower of Xizhimen that Fan Wencheng ended his conversation with the young camel driver, and as a reward for the information revealed in his words, Fan Wencheng rewarded him with a penny.

After entering the Xizhi Gate, Fan Yongdou, who had finished dealing with the city gate officials, walked up to him and said, "Fan Xianggong's interest today is good, that subordinate didn't bump into you in his words." ”

Fan Wencheng retracted his gaze looking at the road under his feet, glanced at him and said, "How come, it's just to listen to some rumors in the countryside, what is not rushing."

When I was in Liaodong, I heard that Jingshi had come up with a new thing called cement, which could turn mud into stone. I originally thought that this was just an exaggeration by those people, but I didn't expect to see the real thing today, but it was really hard as a stone. ”

Fan Wencheng also stomped on the ground with his foot, and his demeanor seemed to attract the attention of passers-by, who pointed at the two of them, and treated them as country buns.

Fan Yongdou didn't want to say anything, and hurriedly pulled Fan Wencheng to follow the caravan. Xizhi Gate is the gate that the waterwheel that Yuquan Mountain must pass through to send water to the palace, so it is called "Water Gate". According to the old system of the streets of the capital, the main street is 24 steps wide, and the small street is 12 steps wide.

Therefore, the old Xizhimen Street is already a very wide and very magnificent image in the eyes of outsiders. However, in the past, except for Zhengyangmen Street, that is, the imperial road where the emperor traveled, the streets of the capital were made of stone, and the others were loess mat roads.

Once this kind of loess road is used for a long time, it becomes potholes and makes it difficult for people to walk. If it rains, the sludge is all over the ground, and the smell is stinking, such as the trench that swims without a bottom, such as the ditch that accumulates filth, and occasionally overturns, that is, three scents and three baths, and the smell of Mo is stinky.

The disadvantages of such roads are a common problem in cities all over the world at this time, especially in the north. The rain in the south has so much rain that some of the main roads have to be paved with stone roads for travel, which of course are only available in the more affluent southern towns.

Fan Wencheng didn't think there was anything wrong with the Loess Avenue in Shenyang, but after leaving Yanshan and entering the North China Plain, he found that the gravel roads in the wild were much cleaner and more convenient than the Loess Avenue in Shenyang.

And after entering Xizhimen, he felt that Beijingers were too extravagant. In addition to changing the original dirt road to a cement pavement, the width of the road on Xizhimen Street is also significantly more than 24 steps wide. According to his mental estimates, it was at least thirty-four or five steps wide.

The concrete road is high in the middle and low on both sides, and there are sewer channels at the edge of the road for drainage. There is also a palm-high curb at the edge of the road, separating the street from the sidewalks.

These sidewalks are not concrete, but they are bricked and laid on top. In this way, pedestrians don't have to get their feet dirty even on rainy days.

On the side of the sidewalk near the street, a tree is planted every five steps, and in some cases rectangular flower beds are erected. Although it was winter, Fan Wencheng could imagine how comfortable this street would be in the summer.

If the streets of the capital are built in this style, how much more taxes will the people of the Ming Kingdom have to bear, Fan Wencheng said to himself when he walked on this street.