Simultaneous travel: City, infinite evolution

Chapter 232 Gao Yao Follows
"Tell me quickly, where is this place?" Gao Yao grabbed Chen Hong's arm tightly, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Qin Dynasty, Xianyang," Chen Hong said succinctly.

What is the Qin Dynasty? And what is Xianyang?

Gao Yao's eyes were filled with nothing but clear-eyed stupidity.

"What exactly is this place? Tell me," Gao Yao asked, looking at Lü Su.

"The Qin state," Lü Su answered cautiously, wondering if her friend Chen Hong was out of his mind.

"Qin? What kind of wretched place is Qin? Why are you all saying different things?"

Why is it that in this wretched place, they can't understand a single word I say?

I couldn't understand a single word they said.

Where exactly is the Qin state?

"What a wretched place this is, what a wretched place!"

Chen Hong couldn't hold back any longer, "Gao Yao, your knowledge level is really too superficial."

I suspect you slipped through the net of nine-year compulsory education.

"You should come back with me first, and I'll explain it to you slowly."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Gao Yao grabbed Chen Hong's hand and said excitedly, "Chen Hong, it's a good thing you're here, otherwise I would have no one to talk to, no one at all."

"Oh, by the way, do you know where Ogawa is?"

Why isn't he with you?

"How would I know?" Chen Hong shrugged. "Isn't he with you?"

"That's right, that's right too." Gao Yao suddenly realized, "It must have been that white light that separated us."

"Chen Hong, we need to go find Xiao Chuan right away."

I stumbled and bumped around in this wretched place. They couldn't understand a word I said and treated me like an idiot or a madman. I was almost beaten to death.

Later I got smarter and stopped saying a word; I kept quiet.

I learned from the children, and slowly, I learned the language here.

After many ups and downs, I finally became a chef thanks to my skills.

Three years have passed, and I'm still working as a chef here, unable to find my way home.

"What kind of godforsaken place is this? There isn't even a bus; we can't get back at all!"

"Wait, you said it's been three years? And you were in Xianyang the moment you appeared?" Chen Hong noticed the key point.

"It should be three years, I've been keeping track of the days."

As for Xianyang, how would I know?

"I've gone around in circles, and it feels like I've really traveled a long way."

Chen Hong was speechless. Gao Yao was illiterate and knew nothing. In this unfamiliar era, he was basically blind.

However, the date should be correct.

In other words, Chen Hong actually arrived two years later than Gao.

Gao Yao has already spent three years, while I've only spent one.

"Could it be that I caused the butterfly effect?"

Chen Hong was puzzled, but he didn't care about such a small detail.

"Never mind, none of that matters anymore."

"Gao Yao, you should resign now and work for me from now on."

"Follow me, and I guarantee you'll live a comfortable life."

"Oh right, I don't want to stay in this awful place for even a second longer."

Gao wanted to slip the chef's crotch off and immediately follow Chen Hong.

"Ugh……"

"Chef, chef, you can't leave!"

"What will happen to our shop if you leave?"

"Hey, get out of here."

Gao Yao shoved the waiter aside, saying, "Just have the boss find another one."

Lu Gong cupped his hands in congratulations: "Hahaha, reuniting with an old friend is a great joy in life. Congratulations, congratulations."

"Happy together, rejoice together."

Gao Yao still followed Chen Hong and the others.

The waiter was left speechless with despair.

Lü Zhi and Lü Su secretly looked at Chen Hong, seemingly curious about his past.

Why would a gentle and refined young man like Chen Hong have a slovenly cook friend like Gao Yao?

Chen Hong and his group strolled around shopping.

When they arrived in Xianyang, the capital city, Chen Hong and his group realized what true generosity and extravagant spending meant.

Xianyang City is responsible for bulk commodity trading.

For example, the famous widow Ba Qing, a powerful figure from Sichuan, inherited her family's cinnabar mining business and provided mercury and cinnabar to the Qin army. She was commended by Qin Shi Huang for building the "Huaiqing Terrace".

The Baqing family has been operating cinnabar mines for generations and has mastered purification technology. Their cinnabar has a purity of up to 98% and is used to refine mercury, cinnabar pigment, and royal elixirs.

She innovated mining tools, optimized mine layout, and pioneered the "cinnabar voucher" credit certificate and the post station logistics system, expanding the cinnabar trade network to the whole country and almost monopolizing the cinnabar business.

Cinnabar is a luxury item with extremely high profit margins.

The approximately 100 tons of mercury in the underground palace of the First Emperor's Mausoleum were mainly provided by Ba Qing. This mercury was used to simulate rivers, lakes, and seas, and its distribution closely matches the territory of the Qin Dynasty.

She also donated funds to the Great Wall project and participated in the construction of the Lishan Mausoleum, becoming a "national supplier" for the core project of the Qin Empire.

She uses her wealth to protect herself and has built a private armed network to protect her businesses.

Their status was comparable to that of a "feudal lord," and they were even allowed by Qin Shi Huang to maintain a private army (about 2000 people), far exceeding that of ordinary nobles.

She helped the needy and built infrastructure in Bavaria County, winning the hearts of the local people.

Unfortunately, Ba Qing was already over ninety years old at this time.

Otherwise, Chen Hong would still like to meet this legendary woman.

After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he also relocated 120,000 wealthy households from the six former states to Xianyang, and their commercial activities boosted the circulation of luxury goods.

This showed Empress Lü and her entourage what a true tycoon was like; spending thousands of dollars was child's play for them.

A total of 120,000 wealthy households.

Moving them from the local areas to Xianyang was a brilliant move.

Even the Western Han Dynasty frequently used this tactic.

Relocating these wealthy and powerful families here would not only sever their ties with the local area, but also gradually eliminate their control and influence over the region.

They can also leverage their financial resources to revitalize the capital's economy and extract more tax revenue.

Living under the constant watchful eye of the imperial court, they couldn't cause any trouble and posed little threat. These 120,000 households included a large number of nobles from the six former states and their dependents.

Unfortunately, the Qin Dynasty made a major mistake in its overall direction, leading to its collapse.

Otherwise, the nobles of the six states would never have had the opportunity to rebel.

People like Xiang Yu were remnants of local nobles who seized opportunities and rose to power amidst the changing tides of history.

After touring the entire city of Xianyang, Chen Hong and the others returned home.

As soon as they entered the room, Gao Yao couldn't wait to ask, "Chen Hong, tell me honestly, what kind of lousy place is this?"

How can we get back?

"This is the Qin Dynasty, more than two thousand years ago," Chen Hong said succinctly.

"What?" Gao Yao's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"More than two thousand... years ago?"

Gao Yao held up two fingers, he was practically going crazy.

"Am I crazy, or is the world crazy?"

"Then the world must have gone mad, right?"

Listening to Chen Hong's calm words, Gao Yao thought that perhaps he had gone mad.

"Then...why would we go back?"

"It's simple, just go back alive," Chen Hong replied matter-of-factly.

"Go back alive?" Gao Yao was dumbfounded. "Isn't that obvious? Do you think we can go back if we die?"

"I mean, if you live, you'll eventually go back."

"If I live for two thousand years, won't I just go back?"

Gao Yao had a "Are you kidding me?" look on his face.

"Chen Hong, I'm not joking with you."

"Gao Yao, I'm not joking with you."

"Are you serious?"

"I am serious."

Gao Yao broke down, "Two thousand years! I won't even live to be a hundred years old, do you know that?"

"know."

"I can't stand being in this awful place for even a second longer, you know that?"

"know."

"You know that, yet you still tell me it's from two thousand years ago? Huh?"

"You can try other methods. I'd be happy if you could come up with one."

Gao Yao remained silent.

"Oh, of course, you can also look for the treasure box that brought us here."

"Oh right, right, the treasure box, the treasure box!" Gao Yao's eyes lit up again.

"Find the treasure box, open it, and just like it brought us here, take us back, right?"

Gao Yao's eyes were full of hope.

Chen Hong calmly took a sip of wine. "As far as I know, that treasure box is disposable."

Right now, it probably doesn't have that kind of divine power; it's just an ordinary box.

"What? Disposable? A regular box?" Gao Yao was practically going crazy.

"impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

"There must be a mistake."

"You've never even seen that box, how do you know it's disposable? How do you know it's just an ordinary box?"

Chen Hong shook his head and sighed, "Since you're not giving up, you can go look for it."

"Yes, yes, I'll go find it, I'll go find it right now."

Gao Yao turned around and was about to step out of the room.

"Hey, do you know where that box is? Go find it."

Chen Hong called out to him helplessly, "The world is so big, are you trying to find a needle in a haystack?"

Gao Yao paused, momentarily bewildered.

"This won't work, and that won't work either!"

"Does this mean I can never go back in this lifetime?"

"Ugh!"

"Gao Lan, little sister, I miss you."

"Ugh!"

Gao Yao collapsed to the ground, bursting into tears.

Chen Hong also sat on the ground, silently drinking his wine, quietly waiting for him to finish crying and vent all the pain, grievances, loneliness, and confusion he had accumulated over the past three years.

"Ah."

After Gao Yao finished crying, Chen Hong handed him a glass of wine.

The two began to drink, gazing quietly at the bright moon in the sky, which resembled a yellow disc.

"The moon of today is not the moon of old."

"The moon that shines today once shone on people of the past."

"The ancients and the moderns are like flowing water."

"We all gaze at the bright moon in the same way."

"People have sorrows and joys, and the moon is cloudy and clear. This matter is hard to come by in ancient times."

May we all live long and share the beauty of the moon, even though we are thousands of miles apart.

Although Gao Yao couldn't understand, he still wept bitterly and drank cup after cup.

After Gao Yao got drunk and fell asleep.

Chen Hong took out the ore he had sold at the market and began to forge an axe.

【Mountain-Splitting Axe: A large axe forged from thick black iron and meteorite iron from outer space, weighing 3,333 jin (approximately 1,550 kg), extremely heavy, and cannot be wielded by ordinary strength.

The Taoist talismans written above are characterized by being "solid," "sharp," "armor-piercing," "heavy," and "durable." They can cleave through all things, including mountains, rocks, trees, and fierce beasts, and cannot be stopped.

It can help Chen Hong transform the energy within his body into axe-like energy, allowing him to cut through obstacles and cleave through anything with a single stroke.

(End of this chapter)