Chapter 1269: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (One Hundred and Fifty-Nine) Bridge

As night fell, the city of Yingchuan County was brightly lit. Tan Feng stood on the city wall, gazing at the lights that stretched from his feet to the distance, like stars, from this side to that side.

"Do you see it? That's Yingshui City." Raising his hand, Tan Feng pointed to the distance. In that direction, there was a bright light standing high in the night sky, much higher than the lights in other places.

"It's hard to imagine that this is the front line of the confrontation between the two armies." Mr. Zhao shook his head and said, "If a newcomer comes here, he will think this is a city."

Tan Feng laughed and said, "In the past, there was a huge wilderness in the middle, which was perfect for the battle between the two armies. But now, this place that should have been a battlefield has become a market. The long dark place is the Yingshui River. This side of the river is us, and the other side of the river is them."

Mr. Zhao turned his head and looked at Tan Feng's angular profile, and said thoughtfully: "If a bridge is built on the river, it will be almost indistinguishable."

Tan Feng laughed, "Don't you... It is said that a Han merchant really came to me and asked me to build a bridge over this river, and he would pay for it privately. Do you want to know why he did this? "

"Need I say that?" Mr. Zhao also laughed, "This man must have a Han background. Building a bridge is definitely to make it easier for them to attack in the future when a war breaks out!"

"Wrong!" Tan Feng shook his head and said, "If the two sides really want to fight, is there a big difference between having a bridge and not having a bridge? Mr. Zhao, you are not a military man, so you don't know much about war, right?"

"Oh. What does this merchant want to do? Building a bridge costs a lot of money! Does he want to be a great philanthropist?" Mr. Zhao said in surprise.

"He doesn't want to be a philanthropist!" Tan Feng sneered, "He wants to make money. He came to tell me that he has already negotiated with the Han side. As long as I agree, he can immediately build a bridge over the Yingshui River. A reinforced concrete bridge costs 500,000 taels of silver."

Hearing this number. Mr. Zhao was obviously shocked, "So expensive?"

"Yes, mainly because steel is too expensive."

"How does he make money if it's so expensive? What does he use to make money? Collect tolls? This mountain is opened by me, and this tree is planted by me. If you want to pass through the mountain, leave money for tolls?" Mr. Zhao said jokingly.

Tan Feng smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao is right. He wants to set up checkpoints on the bridge and collect money from both ends. Mr. Zhao, do you know how many people travel between the two sides every day? How many carriages are ferried over by boat every day? This person brought a statistical data,

which really surprised me. Speaking of these businessmen, they really do everything they can to make money. This person took his river plan and stayed by the Yingshui River for a whole month. Just to count the number of people, vehicles, and goods stranded on both sides. According to this person's statistics, if he is allowed to build this bridge, it will only take two years. , he can get his money back. Then, it is pure profit. He promised to give me 20% profit every year as long as I allow it. I believe he may have promised the Han army the same number. "

"Five hundred thousand taels, two years to get back the investment. If it is the latest reinforced concrete bridge construction technology of the Han Dynasty, a bridge can at least last for decades. In this way, it is a profitable business. The only risk is that the two countries go to war, and he may lose money. However, as long as this model exists for a few years, he will make a profit. It is said that the Han people are good at doing business, which is really amazing." Mr. Zhao said.

"I was indeed tempted at the time. There is no bridge, for the war between the two countries, there is not much difference, but 20% profit is a huge number for me, but after thinking about it, I still gave up." Tan Feng shook his head.

"Why give up? In this way, isn't it a win-win situation?" Mr. Zhao said puzzledly.

"Mr. Zhao, think about it again, this should not be difficult for you, right?" Tan Feng smiled.

Mr. Zhao was silent for a moment, "I understand, for political reasons, without this bridge, you can still withstand the pressure from Xianyang, but with this bridge, I am afraid that the doubts from Xianyang will crush you."

"Yes! Sometimes, the right thing may not be done." Tan Feng shook his head with some regret. "If there is a dividend of tens of thousands of taels of silver, I can train another army."

Mr. Zhao was silent for a moment, and suddenly said: "General Tan, can you introduce this businessman to me?"

"Why not?" Mr. Zhao smiled and said: "Since there is such a high profit, this is a good business, why not do it? There are mountains and rivers in our Great Chu, and there are business opportunities everywhere for this businessman!"

Tan Feng laughed dumbly, shook his head, and said after a while: "Mr. Zhao is not drunk in the bar, you value the technology of this businessman to build a bridge across the Yingshui River!"

"I want the technology, which is not something that money can buy, but making money is also important. If you can have both fish and bear's paw, wouldn't it be wonderful?"

"No problem. This businessman is still in Yingchuan. He has not given up. He comes to bother me every few days. I am a little annoyed with him. If you can take him away, it will be a great help to me." Tan Feng said with a smile. "But whether you can take him away is not up to me. He is a Han Chinese. Mr. Zhao, I have to say that you can't use force. This person is also a famous businessman in Han, and Han people are the most protective of their shortcomings. If such a person disappears here, it will cause trouble. Do you know who is stationed on the opposite side now?"

"Of course, this matter requires mutual consent, but since Han people can sell anything as long as they can make money, I think I can still convince him. By the way, who did you just say was stationed on the opposite side? I really don't know."

"The Yingshui on the opposite side used to be The central army camp of Xu Yuan, the commander of the Han Northern Field Army, was stationed in the city. Tens of thousands of Han people squeezed into the small Yingshui City, but now, there are only more than 10,000 soldiers on the opposite side. The highest military leader is just a division commander, but this person is very famous, his name is Ye Feng. "

"Ye Feng? Gao Yuan's brother-in-law?" Mr. Zhao was slightly stunned, "How old is he to lead an army of tens of thousands of people?"

"There are many young generals in the Han army. Of course, this Ye Feng can come up, and this relationship is also indispensable. Speaking of which, this person is also related to you Chu people!" Tan Feng laughed.

"Related?" Mr. Zhao asked in confusion: "Ye Feng is from the Ye family of Langya, how is he related to my Great Chu? As far as I know, the Ye family of Langya has never had any record of intermarriage with the Chu people!"

"This generation has it." Tan Feng said: "Ye Feng's wife's surname is Qiao, her name is Qiao Rongniang, and she is from your Chu. This is no secret. The story of the young general's love for the beauty and his journey to save the beauty has been compiled into a storybook and sung in the Han Kingdom!"

Mr. Zhao saw that Tan Feng did not seem to be joking, and he couldn't help feeling embarrassed. He laughed dryly a few times: "Is this really the case? Is it a thing? That's really worth listening to, but I think only such a dandy can do such a thing, right? If someone else dared to do this, he would be chopped to death by Gao Yuan. It's also strange that Gao Yuan allowed them to spread such a thing that greatly lost the dignity of the Wang family? "

Tan Feng smiled and shook his head. For this woman, the Han Kingdom mobilized their National Security Bureau's elite action team. Gao Yuan really treasured this brother-in-law. Of course, the version circulated outside was of course that Ye Feng was a hero saving a beauty and rushing thousands of miles, which satisfied the heroic plot of ordinary people. As for dignity, Tan Feng didn't think Gao Yuan would care much. The newspaper also reported that he was chasing the Minister of Revenue for salary. The guy who wrote this story is now famous in the Han Kingdom, and Gao Yuan didn't do anything to him. Thinking about it, I suddenly felt heavy again. Although both sides' territories were brightly lit, there was still a very obvious difference. On the other side, there were dense moving lights. They were lanterns for pedestrians to walk. There was no city in the Han State that implemented a curfew policy. Even in a border city like Yingshui, it seemed that the opponent's defense was very lax, but if you think about it, isn't this a manifestation of confidence?

The gap between the two countries' national strength is getting bigger and bigger. Even if Qin State really catches up now, it's probably too late. Fan Xiang is making changes in the court, and there are many obstacles. Now there is a mess in Shu County. I'm afraid the situation is even more difficult. Tan Feng has already written a letter, suggesting that Fan Sui must do his best to put down the rebellion in Shu County, because Tan Feng saw the shadow of the Han people's intervention from the inside, and Zhou Liang's thousands of soldiers were buried in the canyon, which was too strange. He knew Zhou Liang. With this person's talent, he would never enter a desperate place like Bantan Ya so inexplicably.

Mr. Zhao noticed Tan Feng's sudden lack of interest, and bowed his hands and said, "General Tan, I have bothered you for a whole day today. I am really a little tired. I want to go back and have a good rest. So I'll leave now."

Tan Feng came back to his senses, "Are you used to living in the posthouse?"

"People who travel around for a long time can get used to living anywhere, not to mention that your posthouse is much better than other places. I should have left tomorrow, but now I have disturbed you for a few days." Mr. Zhao smiled.

"No problem!" Tan Feng waved his hands.

How could Mr. Zhao sleep after returning to the posthouse? In the days in Yingchuan, he did confirm the judgment of the Prime Minister on Tan Feng. This person is indeed talented, but not easy to control. If you say he is loyal to Qin, his attitude towards his proposal is ambiguous. If you say he is not loyal, what he did in Yingchuan is indeed doing his best for Qin. He is a very complicated person. If Chu wants to recruit this person, I'm afraid it will be more cautious.

After finishing this letter, I picked up my pen and wrote another letter, but this time it was about the bridge. (To be continued)