As the autumn wind sweeps across the fields, golden waves of wheat surge and ripple through the paths, creating a magnificent and breathtaking spectacle that fills the heart with a sense of satisfaction.
Amidst the fragrant aroma of rice paddies, farmers can be seen toiling away, their sweat pouring down their faces. Suddenly, dust rises in the distance, and the farmers busy in the fields look on curiously, their eyes showing little panic, only curiosity.
Although the Da Gan army was launching a campaign against the Beastmen less than 300 miles away, what did it have to do with them? As long as it didn't affect the upcoming autumn harvest, that was all that mattered.
"Whose caravan is this? They're really impressive!"
Farmers dressed in hemp clothing, their feet covered in mud, leaned on their farm tools and surveyed the caravan that had come into view. It was a huge caravan consisting of dozens of horse-drawn carriages. What was even more striking was that the horses pulling the heavy wagons in the caravan reflected a metallic luster in the sunlight.
The Mo family's mechanical horses were only used by the most prestigious and powerful gentlemen in the provincial capital to pull carriages. Yet this caravan was using them to move goods.
"Feng? Which merchant guild is this? I've never heard of such a wealthy merchant in Yangwu Prefecture!"
"I guess they're from out of town!"
Two farmers sitting on the edge of the field chatted casually, looking at the convoy stretching for miles, without much fear in their eyes.
More than a year ago, they had witnessed an army of hundreds of thousands of people pass by. Although they could only watch from afar and only saw a part of it, it greatly broadened their horizons and they would no longer be surprised by such small-scale scenes.
"Master, if this deal goes through, our profit will be at least 30,000 gold coins!"
In one of the convoys, a rather luxuriously decorated car, even filled with the subtle aroma of tea, stood a robust elderly man gazing out the window at the undulating wheat fields and smiling at a young scholar across the way who was sipping tea.
He was a rather robust young man with bright, alert eyes, showing no signs of fatigue. Although he was dressed as a scholar, he still exuded an indescribable air of wealth and nobility, making it clear at a glance that he was a nobleman.
"Uncle Chen, it's too early to talk about these things now. Let's wait until we can close this deal!"
Once again, Feng Zichuan led a team on a long journey to another place to discuss business, remaining calm and composed. Even though the amount of money involved was enormous, unimaginable for ordinary people, he was now numb to it.
Wealthy beyond measure?
Such a description is a derogatory assessment of his current assets. In Longchuan Prefecture, some even jokingly call him "Half-Prefecture Wind"—his assets alone are equivalent to half the assets of the entire prefecture's population.
In just a few years, he accumulated such wealth and achieved such success that even as a merchant, his reputation spread far and wide. Moreover, before becoming a merchant, he was actually a scholar, which makes him even more worthy of discussion.
"Patriarch, with you personally involved, how can there be anything that can't be negotiated?"
The old man sitting in the same car as Feng Zichuan spoke with a smile. One thing he still couldn't understand was how this self-made tycoon who abandoned literature for business had convinced those he was negotiating with to agree to cooperate with him. Some of these were clearly "big shots" who, by all accounts, should not have had any interaction with him.
"Uncle Chen, you overestimate me!"
Feng Zichuan shook his head, his expression calm and his demeanor extraordinary. Over the years, he had traveled to many places, which greatly broadened his knowledge and horizons.
"The patriarch is no ordinary man!"
"It's getting late, let's find a village to rest in and continue our journey at dawn!"
Feng Zichuan didn't reply. Instead, he looked up, his gaze passing through the open car door to the setting sun, and gave an order.
"yes!"
Thinking of resting before the sun has even set is unimaginable in other merchant guilds, but it is extremely common in the Feng Clan Merchant Guild, because the guild's transportation capacity has long relied on mechanical horses that work tirelessly and are durable and wear-resistant.
As smoke rose from the chimneys, the large caravan had entered a large village. The village elders warmly welcomed them, simply because the caravan from out of town was extremely generous and had brought many novel items.
"That's great!"
The sun had already set halfway down. In the afterglow of the setting sun, Feng Zichuan sat in the excellent campsite, watching the children in the village being called home by their parents for dinner. A look of reminiscence and nostalgia appeared in his eyes.
"Master, are you missing the young master?"
The elderly man beside him, observing the situation, asked aloud.
“I haven’t seen him for over a year. That kid won first place back then but complained that his knowledge was insufficient and wanted to travel and study. I agreed to let him go, but I never expected that after he left, apart from sending back a letter from time to time, I couldn’t even see a trace of him.”
Feng Zichuan's face showed a sigh. It was alright when he was busy, but once he had some free time, he couldn't help but think of some warm things.
“Young master, you are now fourteen out of ten years old. According to the laws of my Great Gan, you have reached the age of marriage and can become a husband. Someone like you, who has traveled the world before reaching adulthood, will surely achieve great things in the future.”
"Uncle Chen, please don't speak well of my son. He's extremely lazy and doesn't seem to have any ambition. He just wants to be a carefree rich man!"
"Young master, you are truly talented. If you were to live in seclusion, it would be a great loss to the entire Daqian!"
That's an exaggeration.
"I have also read your articles, young master!"
“Don’t take what the child says seriously, Uncle Chen.”
During their leisurely conversation, the aroma of food wafted through the air. After their meal, the caravan members rested early, showing no intention of traveling through the night.
In Jinglin Prefecture, the Feng Clan Chamber of Commerce is definitely the employer that ordinary people most want to serve. The working hours are the shortest, the wages are the most generous, and even when they go out, they will not have to travel day and night without rest.
Night deepened, the bright moon hung high, and its cool light spilled down from the sky. In the stillness, a dark cloud obscured the moon and blocked its light, plunging the world into darkness. And in the darkness, the earth began to tremble slightly.
Feng Zichuan was suddenly awakened from his sleep. When he opened his eyes, he saw Uncle Chen, dressed in disheveled clothes, stumbling into the carriage where he was resting.
"Master, it's terrible! The barbarian beastmen have broken in!"
A crimson flame suddenly pierced into the carriage from the outside, accompanied by thick dust and smoke. Feng Zichuan could then clearly see the extremely terrified, aged face in front of him.
"What's going on? This place is hundreds of miles from the border, and didn't my Great Frontier Army inflict a crushing defeat on the barbarian beastmen a year ago? How come we're here?"
As for Feng Zichuan, who was well-informed and experienced, he couldn't help but feel a little frightened when he suddenly heard the news of the poem. However, he was still able to remain calm and not panic.
"I don't know, Patriarch. Now is not the time to talk about this. That group of barbarian beastmen is burning the rice fields. We should run for our lives!"
The old man anxiously stepped forward and pulled at the head of the household, who was still only wearing his undergarments.
"good."
Faced with this sudden and drastic change, Feng Zichuan found it difficult to adapt. Even though he had seen many people, he had only interacted with humans, not with a group of man-eating monsters.
In the midst of the chaos, Feng Zichuan looked out the car window. Although it was still night, the rising firelight illuminated one terrifying, enormous figure after another, as if he were in a nightmare.
It was a race he had never seen before. The monsters had awe-inspiringly strong physiques, the shortest of them being over seven feet tall. They wore rough animal hide armor, had thick necks, shoulders and backs as thick and broad as rocks, and on their bare arms, bulging muscles rose high, their skin as bronze as bronze.
What is particularly frightening are their faces; almost all the monsters have thick, long fangs, with the lower teeth being twice as long as the upper teeth, interlocking and biting each other like gleaming scimitars.
Their eyes reflected a shimmering green light in the night, their nostrils twitched slightly, and their ferocious faces were nothing like those of humans; they looked more like a group of enormous, upright-walking wild beasts.
They were now holding torches and burning the wheat fields with impunity. Farmers in the village, awakened by the fire, were wailing in despair, and their cries attracted the attention of a group of monsters.
"Quickly, tell them to find a place to hide!"
After just one glance, Feng Zichuan abandoned the idea of escaping in his mechanical horse. These mechanical creations, which could be bought and sold by merchants, were no match for warhorses in terms of speed. Their only redeeming quality was their stability and endurance.
But in the face of these enormous monsters, you probably wouldn't get very far before being caught and torn apart.
"You hide first, I'll go and warn them!"
Uncle Chen stood up and took a step forward.
Feng Zichuan's hair suddenly stood on end, and he roared, "Uncle Chen!"
He watched as a monster with arms thicker than a man's waist took a bone spear from its waist and hurled it. The moment the spear left its hand, Feng Zichuan predicted the landing point of the crude weapon.
It was a very strange situation. He could see everything, even the trail of air left by the bone spear as it passed through the air, but he couldn't change anything. He could only watch helplessly as the bone spear pierced through Chen Bo's chest, bringing with it a spray of crimson blood.
Feng Zichuan felt as if his blood had frozen. The bone spear had pierced through Chen Bo's chest, leaving a huge hole, and was stuck diagonally in the ground, taking his life almost instantly.
Ugh~
A deep horn sounded suddenly, and the barbarian beastmen who were rampaging through the fields and even preparing to storm into the village to slaughter them immediately cried out in alarm. They gathered together and began to flee.
yawenba.
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