Fengxin City had already transformed into a massive military camp, and simultaneously, a large construction site.

Efficiency had always been the lifestyle embraced by the devils.

Something that might require careful deliberation, slow consideration, and meticulous thought in the eyes of others,

might here,

be decided with a few casual nods and a quick huddle.

At worst,

a small meeting would be held in a pavilion in private,

everyone would express their opinions, and then the blind man, skilled at making decisions and planning for the team, would make a summary, propose a direction, and then hand it over to the master sitting there, who might be listening attentively or lost in thought, to make a final decision.

Finally,

Fan Li would deliver an extremely brief but powerful "closing statement."

Done.

Complete.

Winter should be a season of laziness, for animals and humans alike.

Unfortunately,

Lord Zheng was no longer just sitting on the side of the rulers, but was one himself.

Therefore,

in contrast to the occasional snowy weather, was a bustling construction site.

The expansion and renovation of Fengxin City were of utmost urgency,

because you never know when the enemy will appear, and they won't give you a heads-up to ask if your city walls are finished before they come.

But,

in theory,

with Snow Sea Pass in the north and Zhennan Pass in the south,

with these two strong passes in hand, threats from either the snow plains or the Chu lands should be impossible to penetrate.

Therefore,

the reason for expanding Fengxin City so urgently,

must be to guard against the rebels from Jin!

…

"The girl is sitting on the sedan chair!"

"Heiyo heiyo hei hei hei!"

"I, your brother, am following along!"

"Heiyo heiyo hei hei hei!"

"Little sister, your heart is so cruel!"

"Heiyo hey!"

"Last night's work was for nothing!"

"Heiyo hey, heiyo hey, heiyo heiyo heiyo hey!"

On a platform about waist-high,

Zheng Fan sat there basking in the sun.

Honestly,

Zheng Fan really liked this down-to-earth atmosphere, which gave him a sense of comfort as he was being "cultured."

In recent years,

he had been too busy fighting wars back and forth,

and hadn't had much time to systematically enjoy life.

The devils,

were nowhere to be seen.

With the large-scale construction underway, people were needed everywhere.

Xue San went to take charge of building the "Forging Bureau." Many armors and weapons were left over from the war against Chu, and these were extremely important resources, plus a new round of re-equipping the Snow Army was about to begin.

At the same time, the demand for farm tools after the spring would also be enormous.

The task could be described as extremely heavy, and the time extremely tight.

A'ming was responsible for manufacturing in the workshops, in addition to the earliest perfumes and soaps, and would also develop some new products.

Sometimes,

you have to admire the cleverness of some people,

probably,

in every era,

merchants are the most sensitive group.

As soon as Zheng Fan was enfeoffed as a marquis,

trade caravans actually came.

Not only were there official merchants from the imperial court, directly managed by Little Sixth's Ministry of Revenue, but also merchants from the private sector, from Jin, Yan, and even caravans from Beifeng County and the desert.

Among them, there were even people with blond hair and blue eyes!

Crossing the desert from the West, then crossing the Yan Kingdom, then crossing most of Jin, to reach him...

This spirit of risking everything to make money shocked even Marquis Zheng.

After understanding,

the reason why these caravans were able to come so early and so promptly was actually based on the news of the war against Chu. After receiving the news that Yingdu had been captured and burned, large and small merchants, as long as they had enough capital, immediately mobilized.

The Yan Kingdom's victory in foreign wars in recent years had taught them one thing:

the easiest money to make in this world is... profiteering from national crises.

Every time the Yan army conquered a place, the wealth they plundered was enormous, and this wealth needed to be digested, transferred, and converted into various needed materials.

And in this conversion process, the huge price difference generated was the terrifying profit.

Moreover,

whether it was in Shengle City or Snow Sea Pass, the goods produced in Marquis Zheng's workshops were not worried about sales at all!

As long as you can get the goods,

and then calculate the various costs along the way,

a minimum point for profit has already emerged. After that, how much more you can sell is up to your ability. In short, there is no such thing as unsold goods.

If it was just a small-scale affair in Shengle City, then in Snow Sea Pass, this industry once grew to a great extent. At that time, the war against Chu had not yet succeeded, there was no promotion of massive resources from Yan and Jin under the will of the imperial court, and at that time, it was not possible to arbitrarily exploit the wildlings of the snow plains due to insufficient troops. But at that time, it was relying on this industry, relying on the back-and-forth running of these merchants, that the people of Snow Sea Pass had a comfortable year, and their standard of living rose sharply in the second year.

In order to win people's hearts, low taxes were used, and for the same reason, welfare was improved. Schools and medical clinics all had operating costs.

The pie is here, and if you don't think about opening up sources of income from the outside, you simply can't make it work.

Throughout last year,

Marquis Zheng first snatched a princess in Chu, and then the vigorous war against Chu broke out immediately, causing the workshops to shut down and all resources to be piled up on military supplies.

Therefore, the goods were suddenly cut off.

This made countless merchants feel heartbroken and complained countless times in their hearts that this "Earl Zheng" was really not doing his job properly!

Not doing a good business,

why is he only interested in fighting wars!

So, after seeing the glimmer of hope that the balance of war was tilting, they immediately acted.

What they brought was full of various supplies, transporting grain and other things. In short, whatever they could collect, they collected.

The Marquis's residence had dedicated people to receive them,

and after receiving them, they wouldn't give you gold and silver, but a bill of lading.

After the goods are produced, you can pick them up.

The people of Yan and Jin are indeed having a hard time now, this winter, including next year, will be extremely difficult.

It is also difficult for the imperial court to scrape up anything more. Taxes have already been increased to several years later.

But merchants still have their own channels to get things, which is a very normal thing. If even merchants can't get anything, then it's really... the end of the world.

Besides,

there are also merchants from Qian here.

Yes,

the people of Qian shouted for a Northern Expedition for most of the year, but it ended in failure.

But the merchants of Qian erupted with more powerful subjective initiative than their imperial court and their army.

These merchants did not take the South Gate Pass, but went through several small countries, borrowed a road, and then transferred through the Liang Kingdom, passed Qishan Mountain, and were picked up by the Fan family, and then the Fan family transported them by water to Marquis Zheng's place.

This way, they could avoid official obstacles, and secondly, they could maximize... tax evasion.

Marquis Zheng didn't believe that Little Sixth didn't know about this, after all, the Fan family was Little Sixth's people, not his, but Little Sixth's Ministry of Revenue didn't say anything about it, completely pretending not to see it.

This was also reasonable, on the one hand, if the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion ate more, it would ask the imperial court for less, which in itself reduced the burden on the imperial court.

Secondly,

at this critical juncture,

going to be serious about this and show one's impartiality, Ji Lao Liu wasn't that stupid.

In fact, JIn Dong was originally very rich. Its current devastation was entirely due to war, coupled with the short-sightedness of the barbarians and Chu people in killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

In essence, Jin Dong connects to the Snow Plains in the north and Chu in the south, and integrates the resources of the Three Jins. It would be truly strange if commerce wasn't developed.

According to Si Niang's statistics,

Yan merchants are the poorest.

There's no way around it,

Little Sixth is in power, and in order to support his father in fighting the war, he can be said to be exploiting them in every possible way.

You should know that if a president of the Yan Merchants Association were to be elected in the past two years, Little Sixth could almost be said to be the undisputed candidate.

But the dragon-slaying hero became a dragon.

After he put on the official skin, he became even more adept at squeezing the marrow from these former colleagues.

In Little Sixth's words, I haven't done business before, so I know, in this world, insatiable dignitaries and powerful ministers will rebel, and the starving masses will rebel, but I've never seen merchants rebel.

There are fewer Jin merchants, but they are obviously more substantial than Yan merchants.

This is also reasonable. Although Jin has been at war for years, and has been assigned to send people, contribute, and provide grain in the war against Chu, it is still a layer away. The Yan Dynasty's governance of Jin is still somewhat superficial. Therefore, some merchants' family wealth is still there, and the family wealth of the dignitaries behind them is still there.

In Yingdu, there were so many dignitaries who were not liquidated because the Situ family surrendered, right?

Chu trade caravans have not dared to come yet, temporarily only letting Jing Renli and Si Niang roughly talk about the next business. Presumably, after the spring, seeing warhorses being traded to Chu, Jin merchants will not be able to sit still.

The heads of the tribes in the Snow Plains are the most generous, because they are not here to trade fairly, but more like to pay protection fees.

After the Chu people were taken care of, the heads of the tribes in the Snow Plains were clear that the Yan people, no, this Marquis of Pingxi, in a short period of time, no one else and no other forces can stop him from being the boss of Jin Dong.

Qian merchants are rolling in money.

Once again refreshing Marquis Zheng's new understanding of Qian's wealth.

After all, four years ago when attacking Qian, he only reached Shangjing, and had not been to the real Jiangnan region of Qian.

Doing business, earning silver, these merchants and the dignitaries behind them, don't care about national righteousness.

But even so, if you want to get the development of Jin Dong back on track, it will take at least a year. This winter, until the autumn harvest next year, the soldiers can eat dry food, and the common people can only eat mashed potatoes every day.

It's time for dinner.

The smell of mashed potatoes wafts over.

Potatoes are very easy to cook. After peeling, you can boil them half to death and peel them to eat; you can boil them to death and eat porridge; you can make them suffer worse than death and roast them to eat.

As for potato chips and the like, don't even think about it. If you have so much oil to make, do you still need to use this as a staple food?

Marquis Zheng woke up from his nap.

Today he is wearing a white brocade robe with a white fox fur collar around his neck, and black-soled, white-edged blue-and-white boots.

A jade pendant is tied around his waist, and a group of personal guards support him, and someone helps hold an umbrella.

The laborers and soldiers who had just finished their work and were preparing to eat immediately gathered around excitedly, vying to see the "people-friendly" Marquis Zheng.

Honestly, Marquis Zheng's dress is not people-friendly.

But the people of this era are already accustomed to this division of classes. The most important thing is that Marquis Zheng is too lazy to do that kind of too low-level people-friendly show.

Walk around casually, look around casually,

ask a few older people,

and ask a few younger-looking ones.

Because there was no rehearsal in advance, many questions were asked.

Clothing, food, and housing are the three fundamentals.

Eating is not the most important thing at this time. Although mashed potatoes are not enough for you to eat as much as you want, they are really not enough to starve you to death. Laborers who come to participate in the work can also get some dry food in their meals as a reward.

The biggest problem is housing and clothing.

Fortunately, after the brothers Situ Yi and Situ Jiong ruined Fengxin City, it has long been an empty city and has been a large military camp for two years. But the problem is that the expansion of the city has not been completed. Those living inside must be relevant personnel in the army plus office personnel. Moreover, there are also standard households gradually migrating from Snow Sea Pass.

Oh, and the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint asked for an ordinary house this time.

Then Marquis Zheng generously let the Sword Saint choose first.

You choose, then I choose.

The Sword Saint took a deep breath and turned to leave. He knew that when his wife and children from Snow Sea Pass moved over and settled in the new home, as soon as he went out, he would definitely be neighbors with Marquis Pingxi.

But there are really too many refugees recruited this time.

Therefore, many people now live in dugouts outside the city, that is, digging a hole like a rat, and then finding something to cover it from the outside. The cold protection effect is very poor.

And many people came when it was hot, and when it gets cold, they also lack cold-proof clothing.

This has led to another problem. Many of the young and strong are fine, but many of the old, weak, women and children have caught a cold and are facing a shortage of medicine.

"Don't worry, everyone, the Marquis's mansion will find a way for you. Please give this Marquis a few more days. This Marquis needs to dispatch and also needs to purchase.

Thank you for not abandoning me and being willing to take root here with this Marquis. Then this Marquis has a responsibility to settle everyone down and make life better."

After the usual visits,

Zheng Fan sent a quick-witted personal guard to report these matters to the relevant yamen.

As for which yamen to report to specifically,

Marquis Zheng really didn't know.

The system of Snow Sea Pass was formulated by the blind man and Si Niang, and Marquis Zheng himself is not very clear about which yamen are relevant.

After all,

for the superiors who truly override the relevant yamen, it really doesn't matter which yamen are relevant, anyway, it's just a matter of one sentence.

After basking in the sun,

and visiting the people,

Marquis Zheng, who felt that he had done something today and felt relatively fulfilled, returned to his temporary residence.

Not long after returning,

he came out again.

Instead, he went to another office yamen where Si Niang was.

"Greetings, Marquis."

"Greetings, Marquis."

Marquis Zheng waved his hand, signaling them to continue doing their own thing.

When he walked to the door of the signing room, he saw Yue Xin, who is the blind man's wife, walking out holding a large stack of documents.

"Greetings, Marquis."

"Mm."

Marquis Zheng walked into the signing room,

Yue Xin walked back and closed the door.

Si Niang was rapidly using an abacus with her left hand, and sometimes she kept writing and reviewing with a pen.

When Zheng Fan came in,

Si Niang looked up, smiled, and continued to work with her head down.

She really was busy.

Zheng Fan took the kettle from the small stove next to him and poured her a glass of water.

After putting down the teacup,

Si Niang also immediately stopped, took the cup, and stopped working.

Zheng Fan walked behind Si Niang and reached out to massage her shoulders.

"Tired?"

"It's okay. When I was at Cuiliu Fort, it was a small stall. In Shengle City, the stall got bigger. After that, it was Snow Sea Pass and then here. Master, this servant really feels like I'm constantly playing a simulation management game."

"The maps are bigger and bigger, and the difficulty is higher and higher?"

"The maps are bigger, but the difficulty is actually okay, because the external environment is getting better and better, and there are more resources available."

"Don't be too tired."

"These things can't be delayed, Master."

"The blind man will bring them over in a few days. When that time comes, let the blind man take care of it."

"If the blind man comes, Tiantian will also come."

And the prince,

is still in Fengxin City.

"Let's not ask the prince first," Zheng Fan said. "Anyway, if he wants to see them, he can."

Last time he secretly went to see his son, he suppressed even Shatuo Queshi.

However, although the Prince of Jingnan is seriously injured and cannot move, it is still very simple for him to secretly meet someone in Fengxin City.

Moreover, Zheng Fan will also arrange it.

"Let San'er send one of his men to wait, arrange it all day long. That Dai Li, I remember his mind works pretty fast."

"Mm, that is indeed a way."

"And you, I said, take a break first. After this battle is over, it's been so long. I'm really afraid that as soon as this place is adjusted and arranged and gets on the right track, we'll have to go to war again."

"Where else will there be a war? Can we still fight?"

"Heaven knows, those lunatics. In short, I don't want to continue being a workaholic."

"Master, you want to?"

"Yes, you have to pity me too. I've been awake in this world for several years, and I haven't really eaten meat yet."

"But Master, you haven't eaten less meat."

"It's not satisfying. It's not appropriate to always eat cold dishes as a main meal, is it?"

"Won't Liqing and Ruqing be here in two days?"

"I said, they're behind you. Liqing is okay, when we're alone in private, she's cute, but Ruqing..."

"What's wrong with Ruqing?"

Marquis Zheng didn't answer.

"Master, is it like this?"

Si Niang raised her head,

leaned close to Zheng Fan's ear, her teeth gently biting Zheng Fan's earlobe,

her breath lightly spraying on his ear,

and said softly in a charming voice:

"Daddy~~"

"Hey..."

If Liu Ruqing is born with charm, then Si Niang is free with her amorous feelings, but without any sense of dust. On the contrary, you will be very willing to indulge in her manipulation.

Zheng Fan reached out and hugged Si Niang,

and said:

"Hand over the things, let's have a child, this time, even if the sky falls and thunders, don't even think about interrupting me!"

——

Thank you to classmate Pangpang Chongrushan, classmate Binah, and classmate Xiaomiao Liugezhua for becoming the new leaders of The Descent of Magic!

There is another chapter tonight, at two o'clock, everyone can get up and read it tomorrow morning.