Chen Xizhi and a group of Hu Shang arrived in Shengzhou and sent Du Zhongxiao to the commander's mansion.

When both sides met, Du Zhongxiao said, "It is the best time of the year between April and May. The envoys and merchants will stay in Shengzhou for a few days, wait for the railway construction to Juyan before returning to Yizhou. Otherwise, it will be difficult to travel on the road."

Chen Xizhi was ordered to return to Yizhou to deal with the Fucai who stayed there for Chen Ximing. It was not urgent. After hearing Du Zhongxiao's words, he hurriedly thanked him.

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's too late today. You are here to go back to the inn. I will welcome you in the mansion tomorrow."

After seeing off Chen Xizhi and his party, Du Zhongxiao said to Fu Bi: "Looking at Chen Xizhi's appearance, I am not in a hurry to return to Yizhou. What do you think of the deputy envoy?"

Fu Bi said: "Chen Ximing stayed in the capital and did not return, so he must have dedicated Yizhou to the court and asked Chen Xizhi to go back to handle chores. If he wants to return to Yizhou, Zhao Zi should send troops to accompany him. Otherwise, Chen Ximing's family's things will go as usual. What should I do if I stay in Yizhou? If the railway is not built by Juyan, Zhao Zi will risk taking the army to Yizhou. I think Chen Xizhi understands this principle. He is willing to wait, that is the best."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "It's true. From Juyan to Yizhou, there are a total of 1,5600 miles. It is very difficult for Zhao Zi's headquarters to transport grain and grass to support the westward advance. After all, we have to wait! When the railway arrives at Juyan, Zhao Zi's army advances westward, and some of the transportation supplies and protect the workers who build roads are much more reasonable."

Fu Bi said: "Let Zhang Sheng and Zhao Zi urge the people who urged the road to build faster. The railway can be built to Juyan in June and July. Zhao Zi and his army can go to Yizhou before September, and there is still one or two months to transport the baggage. Otherwise, if the railway to Juyan, Zhao Zi can only bring two or three thousand troops to Yizhou. If Gaochang attacks Yizhou in winter, it will not be easy."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "Deputy envoy, although Gaochang has not sent envoys yet and does not know his intentions, it is unlikely to attack Yizhou. Yizhou has been separated from Gaochang's autonomy for a long time, and there is no way Gaochang has done anything. It is impossible to send troops when the court enters the west."

Fu Bi said: "Entering Yizhou is a major plan for the court, and there should be no accidents. Gaochang's possible abnormal movements must be included."

Du Zhongxiao nodded without saying anything. After the past few months, Gaochang has known the situation a little more. Since he was defeated by Hei Khan last year, Gaochang's situation is quite unoptimistic. After losing Kucha, Gaochang's control of the country is not much, and his manpower and material resources are insufficient. Facing Hei Khan's attack, Gaochang's defense has been difficult. At this time, he sent troops to Yizhou and offended the Song Dynasty. Judging from common sense, it is unlikely that it will be possible.

Of course, the distance is too far and the rescue is not enough, so Du Zhongxiao dares not take risks. Once he encounters setbacks in the west, if Zhao Zi’s troops have an accident, it will be very troublesome in the future. The best way is to take steady steps, not take risks, and do it step by step.

Wang Pu carefully stuffed the money into his underwear pocket, stood up, and whispered: "Today we all went to my shop to drink, everyone has a share!"

Cen Xiaoer on the side said: "Mr. I must have made a fortune today and was so generous!"

Wang Pu said: "How old are you, what do you know! I have always been generous to the people in the village, and have you ever deducted it?"

Cen Xiaoer said: "If so, just say what the price was sold today."

Wang Pu waved his hand repeatedly: "What did you say about these things! I just need to figure out the wages of each of you, so how can I ask others for their family's fortunes! Go and call someone and go to my store. Today there is fish, meat and good wine!"

Cen Xiaoer laughed and ran to call someone, and followed Wang Pu to his store to eat.

The sheep from Wang Pu's family are well raised. The wool can be sold for two seasons a year, once in spring and once in autumn. Today, I called a few people from the village to help him transport the wool to the factory and sell them all. The income is quite large, but Wang Pu calculated that raising sheep is much less than opening a store by himself. You still have to calculate carefully when doing business, otherwise if you are not careful, you will lose a lot of income.

Several people from the countryside followed Wang Pu happily, entered Shengzhou City, and arrived at his store.

There were many customers in the store. Wang Pu and everyone arrived at a pavilion next to him, called the servant to come over, and ordered a table of dishes. The dishes were prepared early, but the price was sold well today, so Wang Pu quietly ordered two more plates of meat to come.

Soon after, the food and drinks came up, and Wang Pu said: "This is the first time you come to my shop to have a meal. How about it?"

Cen Xiaoer said: "In the Junwai store, whether it is food or wine, it is naturally good! If I were asked to come every day, it would be even better!"

Wang Pudao: "What are you talking about? I open a store, will you still drive customers out? As long as you pay, you can come every day!"

Everyone laughed at each other.

After three rounds of wine, Wang Pu said: "Since we moved out of the mountains before the New Year and arrived near Shengzhou, life is much better than before. We have grasslands, cattle and sheep, and land planting. There were no food shortages last winter. I have been the leader for more than ten years, and it was the first year. Now the factory is opened in the city, and we can collect wool, which is stronger than before. Now it seems that selling wool is much more profitable than selling sheep. I am preparing to wait until the autumn, sell more cattle and horses and prepare some sheep."

Wang Duotian on the side said: "If you have land at home, you can do this naturally. We are all small families, with so many land and no extra manpower. How can we afford to raise so many sheep? In my opinion, we should just farm more carefully, and there is always a shortage of food."

Wang Pudao: "That may not be the case. There is a railway here in Shengzhou. If so much grain is transported from the Central Plains every year, the price of grain cannot rise. On the contrary, the wool business is very good. If you raise too much, it will be very profitable!"

Some agreed and some opposed it. It was very lively for a while. They were originally a tribe, moved out of the mountains and combined into a new village, and now they have worked alone. After they are divided into one family, they have their own plans and different views. For example, in Wang Pu's family, he was originally the leader of the tribe. When he arrived at the village, he had more land and had more people in his family, so he naturally wanted to raise more sheep. For example, Wang Duotian's family, he and his wife were only able to grow two small children, and they could not grow the land, so they still had the energy to raise sheep.

Cen Xiaoer said: "I heard from my father that the price of wool collected by the factory is good, but it always takes too much to collect, which is extremely inconvenient. It is better to farm with peace of mind and go to the city to do odd jobs in your spare time, and make a lot of money. Now Shengzhou is full of money everywhere. If you have money in your hands, you will be like a top-notch person everywhere and someone will serve you. If you don't have money, then you will be lucky to be lost to others."

Everyone nodded together and said yes. Since Shengzhou issued paper money, after a short period of turmoil, prices have stabilized and there has been no change in a year. As time goes by, everyone has become accustomed to new affairs and their living habits have gradually changed. Now the people attach great importance to money. No matter what they do, ask first how much money they can get, everyone has become accustomed to it.

After a while, two plates of meat were served. Wang Pu said: "This is the special beef made in the store. It is the most delicious. Try it. Speaking of which, you don't believe it. It turns out that the various ways in the mainland are forbidden to slaughter oxen, and there is no beef. However, we, Hequ Road, have many grazing cattle and sheep, and there is no such ban. Many customers from the mainland came to Shengzhou to eat this beef."

Cen Xiaoer said: "I often work at the train station in my daily life. I heard that the customers have told me this rule. At the station, beef sold best. Many customers arrive, so they buy a pound and eat it happily."

Others rarely leave the village. After hearing this, they couldn't help but feel strange and asked them how to slaughter oxen in the mainland, which was very lively for a while.

Wang Pu said: "Everyone said that the border areas are hard, but in fact, everyone's life is good this year. If this continues, there will be few years, so why don't the village worry about a few staff members? I heard from the people in the yamen that from this autumn, the government intends to build schools in the local area. There are provincial schools in the prefectures, and local areas will open several schools to teach some literacy and calculation skills."

Cen Xiaoer said: "Staff, do you want money for such a school?"

Wang Pudao: "I heard that you can just give a small amount of money. Don't let the school lose money. Anyway, the teacher's salary is paid by the government."

Cen Xiaoer said: "This is a good thing. Unfortunately, I am old, otherwise I could have studied in school for two years. I can read and calculate books, and it is easy to find things to do in the city, and the money is still high."

Wang Pudao: "It's just a matter of teaching for two or three years. If you want to go to school, which one will stop you from letting you go?"

When Cen Xiaoer heard this, he laughed: "I am old and I will learn to read like a child, so what kind of style will it be! Unfortunately, I am old and cannot catch up with this good thing. If I have a child in the future, I must teach him to read, which is much more convenient."

In the past, children in the village could walk and run, so they helped their families with their work. They didn’t have time to spare a year. At that time, when they opened schools, they didn’t even pay tuition fees, and even if they were free, most of them would not send their children. Now they moved to the city, and their work was not as busy as before, and all the conditions were better, so they thought about sending their children to school. It is a good thing for the government to run schools.

When this matter was mentioned, everyone talked about it and asked where the school was, what to do, and various things. How could Wang Pu know so much? He just heard from the yamen and knew nothing about the specific matters.

Everyone's interest remains unabated, so they discuss what place to run a school, what kind of teachers to hire, and what teaching materials to use.

Cen Xiaoer said: "How can you guess the thoughts of the government? I believe that students who teach in this kind of school must not be required to get the Jinshi exam. Those who take the Jinshi exam should go to the state to study. Generally speaking, literacy and book calculations, I have seen small booklets in the mall, which are very simple and are most suitable for teaching."

Wang Pudao: "You are illiterate, how do you know that you are suitable for teaching?"

Cen Xiaoer blushed and said, "I can't read it to me if I can't read it to others? That kind of booklet has a simple meaning, it's just to recognize some common words. If you really learn it, you can't read anything, so I know that the students you teach are not going to get the Jinshi exam."
Chapter completed!