(Busy, cold, and stomach pain, these three mountains have been tormenting me for days. It's really hard, sigh.)

...

...

In the deep spring of the tenth year of Qingli, Fan Xian first came to Shijia Village, this secluded mountain village he called Yuchang. This mountain village seemed remote and peaceful, deep in the mountains, but the lights in the night were so dazzling, they even overshadowed the stars in the sky, which was touching.

Shijia Village certainly has more than ten families. On the road leading from the main road to the mountain col, there are far more than ten farm households by the fields and springs. Those farmers were not real farmers either, but patrollers used to block the inside and outside of the mountains and keep the secrets of the mountains.

Fan Xian was able to cross these defenses and enter Shijia Village with ease because these defenses, these extremely meticulous arrangements for security, were all made by him. The defensive arrangements, which combined the wisdom of countless officials' drawings from the Second and Sixth Bureaus of the Supervising Department, were indeed very powerful. Of course, when Fan Xian was making the plan, the officials of the Supervising Department only knew some fragments, and never thought that these drawings would actually become reality in the northeast of the continent, on the periphery of a small mountain village.

Walking along the mountain path, just past a pond, he saw the dense, well-arranged buildings revealing their true colors under the starlight. Fan Xian's heart stirred slightly, and he stopped here, sighing secretly, thinking that even if outsiders occasionally strayed into this place, looking at the outer buildings, they would probably only think it was a huge manor built in the mountains by a wealthy family.

As soon as he stopped, his figure was revealed under the starlight, and then more than a dozen crossbow bolts emerged from the darkness, aiming at him.

Fan Xian lowered his head, hiding his face in the darkness, and pulled the hood behind him over his head, before taking out a small token from his waist and showing it to the crossbow bolts filled with murderous intent.

A man who looked like a hired worker walked out of the darkness, cautiously approached Fan Xian, took the small token and looked at it carefully for a long time, before waving his hand and making the crossbow bolts in the darkness disappear.

The hired worker led the way, taking Fan Xian around the bluestone roads between the manors, to a secluded place, confirming that there was no one else watching around, and then knelt down on both knees, excitedly saying: "Greetings, Lord Tisi."

Fan Xian looked at him with a smile. This was one of the first members of the Qinian Team, and also a good hand that Wang Qinian had helped him recruit back then. It had been more than two years since they had last met, and this secret agent obviously did not expect that Lord Fan would suddenly appear in Shijia Village, and he was overwhelmed with excitement.

"You've worked hard these past few years." Fan Xian looked at the hired worker and said, "Don't let the news of my arrival spread for the time being, take me to see the old shopkeepers first."

"Yes." The hired worker bowed respectfully, and suddenly said, "The old lord also came a few days ago."

Fan Xian was startled and asked, "When was that?"

"Eight days ago."

"Take me to see him quickly."

...

...

Two dim figures walked through the buildings of Shijia Village accompanied by starlight. Fan Xian couldn't help but glance at these buildings, which were different in height from ordinary houses, looking at the specially designed doors, windows, and ventilation equipment, and thought to himself, "I wonder if they are empty or full of things."

Although everything in this village was built bit by bit with the money he provided, it was a matter of great importance, so for the past two years, Fan Xian had severed ties with everything here, and even his most loyal subordinates in Jiangnan did not know that he had hidden such a village in a corner of the continent.

This was also the first time Fan Xian had come here in person, so in addition to feeling moved and nostalgic, he couldn't help but feel a little curious, wondering what those people, those silver coins, and those drawings had turned this village into after more than two years.

The two walked to a small courtyard deep in the village. The room was still lit with dim light, making Fan Xian's shadow very slender, hitting below the stone steps. Fan Xian whispered a few words to the secret agent of the Qinian Team, and the secret agent smiled and retreated, without arranging anyone to guard this place. If someone could really penetrate deep into Shijia Village and threaten Lord Fan, then sending anyone else would be superfluous.

Fan Xian straightened his clothes outside the room, walked in, knelt down on both knees in front of the middle-aged man with a righteous and serious face behind the desk, and sincerely said, "Child greets Father."

Fan Jian, the retired Minister of Revenue, was not in Danzhou City to be filial to his old mother, traveling the sea with Liu Shi, but appeared in this small mountain village on the border of Dongyi City and Northern Qi. This was truly an unexpected scene.

Minister Fan looked at his son in front of him, a flash of surprise swept through his heart, and immediately became complicated. He smiled gently and helped him up. The father and son had not seen each other for more than two years, and Fan Xian deserved this kneeling salute, but the former Minister knew that his son was not a person who liked to kneel, and from this kneeling, he also vaguely sensed something.

However, Fan Jian did not ask, and Fan Xian did not say that from his sister's mouth and from the stories of the past, he had already guessed what a painful price the Fan Mansion had paid for his survival.

"Father, why did you come here in person?" Fan Xian helped his father to sit on the chair, looking at the faint white hair on his father's head, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Calculating the years, his father should also be retired in his hometown, but because of his own affairs, the old man was still tired in the past two years, especially his father's personal visit to Shijia Village, which made him feel a trace of surprise.

Fan Jian smiled slightly and said, "Although I am in Danzhou, I can remotely control the construction here, but after three years of accumulation, drop by drop, the preparation work for Shijia Village has been done almost. If you really have the courage to rebuild an inner treasury here, I will not be relieved if I don't come to sit here in person."

A second inner treasury? So this remote Shijia Village actually carries such a big ambition of Fan Xian!

Ever since the rebellion in Kyoto, Fan Xian had secretly rescued several old shopkeepers of the Qing Yu Tang from the capital. In addition, he had been in charge of the inner treasury for a long time, and had copied the technical secrets of the inner treasury in Minbei a few years ago. Coupled with his current financial resources and power, and the innate things in his soul from crossing over, if God really gave him ten years, maybe he could really turn this remote small mountain village into a second inner treasury.

What is the inner treasury? It is the foundation that supports the thirty years of military strength of the Qing Kingdom, and it is an inexhaustible source for the Qing Emperor to supplement the national treasury and people's livelihood. It is no exaggeration to say that the inner treasury is one of the two major sources of strength of the Qing Kingdom, and the other is naturally His Majesty the Emperor himself.

But Fan Xian actually wanted to rebuild an inner treasury outside the Qing Kingdom!

Without a doubt, this was the most important decision Fan Xian had made in his life. If this decision really became a fact many years later, the whole world would change because of it, and the Qing Kingdom would no longer have the natural capital to laugh at the world.

What exactly did Fan Xian want to do?

...

...

The general trend of the world is complicated today, and this matter is a major event that shakes the foundation of the Qing Kingdom, so in the past two years, Fan Jian and Fan Xian, father and son, have been extremely secretive, and the progress has been extremely slow, only seeking not to attract the attention of the world, and not expecting speed.

If a second inner treasury really appeared outside the borders of the Qing Kingdom in the future, it is unimaginable what a strong blow and damage this would bring to the national strength of the Qing Kingdom. Therefore, Fan Xian concealed this matter from everyone in the world, and only dared to carefully consult with his father in secret.

"If you leave Danzhou for a long time, I'm afraid it will cause discussion." Fan Xian was not in a hurry to discuss the issue of the second inner treasury with his father, but said with a slight worry.

Although Fan Jian had already retired, judging from the Emperor's means of borrowing a sword to kill people and slaughtering more than a hundred tiger guards, His Majesty did not trust this close partner who had grown up with him since childhood. There must be many palace-sent spies in Danzhou City. If Fan Jian was not willing to retire in Danzhou, the news of his departure from Danzhou should be sent back to Kyoto immediately.

"Your Supervising Department combed through Danzhou, and my people combed through it again." Fan Jian looked at his son and smiled gently, "His Majesty does seem invincible, but he is not a god after all. His energy is limited, and it is impossible to grasp every subtle change in the world, especially since you are secretly hiding it from him. As for my departure from Danzhou, I was originally going to wander around Dongyi City."

The former Minister's smile seemed a little interesting: "Before I entered the Ministry of Revenue, I was originally a famous playboy in Kyoto. Now that I have returned to my hometown, it is natural to go to Dongyi City, these prosperous places, to paint beautiful women. His Majesty cannot be furious for this reason."

"It's still not appropriate."

"I just come over occasionally to take a look and keep an eye on the progress."

Fan Xian looked at his father, and in addition to worry, he also had a sense of guilt. He originally did not want his father and Chen Pingping to be involved in this extremely dangerous matter, but about the matter of Shijia Village, at the beginning, he had no clue at all. How could he rebuild an inner treasury from nothing? He was not his mother, Ye Qingmei, although he had ready-made old shopkeepers of the Ye family who had experienced the construction of the Minbei inner treasury, and he also had a large pile of records of various technological processes of the inner treasury, and he was even extremely clear about the setting of the entire three workshops of the Minbei inner treasury, but he still felt confused and retreated when he wanted to build a new inner treasury.

And Minister Fan spent the whole night talking with him on the eve of leaving Kyoto, resolving many of his doubts.

When Minister Fan discovered that his son was preparing to rescue the old shopkeepers of the Kyoto Qing Yu Tang under the pretext of the Princess Chang's rebellion, he knew what Fan Xian was thinking in his heart, so he frankly said to his son:

"Rebuilding an inner treasury is more difficult than you imagine. This is originally a major and ominous event that will shake the foundation of the Qing Kingdom and change the entire world." That night, Minister Fan earnestly said to him, "I am originally a Qing Kingdom citizen, and of course I don't want you to do this, but if you can convince me, you can leave the beginning to me."

At that time, Fan Xian was not thinking of completely breaking with the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom, nor was he thinking of becoming a sinner of the Qing Kingdom, putting the Qing Kingdom, where he was born and raised, in a possible great danger, but he still subconsciously began to dig into the foundation of the Qing Kingdom.

It only took him two sentences to convince Fan Jian.

"This is not an inner treasury, this is something that my mother left for this world. If my mother was still alive, she would definitely not want His Majesty the Emperor to use her legacy to satisfy his personal ambitions."

"But your mother also hoped that the world would be unified."

"I don't understand those very mysterious things, but I understand women." In that silent night, Fan Xian said very seriously to his father, "I only know that if my mother was alive, she would definitely not want the wealth she left behind to be forever held in the hands of the man who murdered her."

Minister Fan was silent for a long time that night, and then nodded.

...

...

This nod has been more than two years. This pair of fathers and sons, who have the most silver coins flowing through their hands on the continent, began to secretly do this thing that was destined to shock the world. Perhaps the thing they were doing was too incredible in itself, so no force had found a trace of news.

Of course, this was also the result of Fan Xian's extreme caution. In the past two years, in addition to the secret flow of silver coins, he did not use any of the power at hand to help the growth of Shijia Village. This small village was like a child who had been herded sheep, growing slowly among the green grass on the mountain. As for whether he would continue to herd sheep after he grew up, or be herded, that would eventually be a matter of many years later.

Fan Jian did not ask him, if there were really two inner treasuries in this world many years later, what Fan Xian would use Shijia Village to do. Fan Xian also did not ask his father, as a citizen of the Qing Kingdom, why he would make such a choice simply because of the grievances between his mother and the old emperor.

The old shopkeepers of Qing Yu Tang who fled from Kyoto came to Shijia Village, the industrial secrets that Fan Xian stole from the inner treasury came to Shijia Village, the most secret strength in the hands of Minister Fan also came to Shijia Village, and the silver coins that Fan Xian scraped from all over the world also came to Shijia Village, to this depression deep in the mountains.

Secrets, money, and force fermented in this unknown small place, fermenting for two years. Even if the Fan family did it as carefully as possible, Shijia Village had already made preparations for expansion, completed the construction of all the basic facilities, and made preparations to become the second inner treasury.

That's why Minister Fan asked the black-clothed swordsman to bring a message to Fan Xian, that a large sum of money was needed.

This point in time was actually much earlier than Fan Xian had initially estimated. Because from the beginning of the decision-making, he never thought that he could be compared with his mother Ye Qingmei - Ye Qingmei did not spend much time building the inner treasury, because the entire Qing Kingdom royal family was supporting her, Wu Zhu was protecting her, and her ability was much greater than Fan Xian.

Minister Fan obviously saw Fan Xian's doubts and said with a gentle smile, "Those old guys in Qing Yu Tang were all old men who participated in the construction of the inner treasury back then. This second job will always be easier."

Fan Xian smiled and shook his head, responding, "But it's still faster than I imagined."

"When the inner treasury was built back then..." Minister Fan seemed to have thought of the hot scenes on the barren land in Minbei many years ago, and laughed, "Your mother was actually impatient and unwilling to deal with these details. Old Wu was someone who wouldn't open his mouth once a year, so these details and mundane affairs were all done by me."

So he was the chief supervisor of the construction of the inner treasury back then, no wonder Shijia Village developed so rapidly. Fan Xian looked at his father and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. He thought to himself that the Emperor was so afraid of his father that he was willing to lose more than a hundred tiger guards in order to scrape clean his father's strength in Kyoto. There was indeed a reason for it.

"And the location of Shijia Village is good. You haven't been here before, so you haven't had a chance to tell you." Minister Fan was still smiling, but the red threads in his eyes revealed fatigue. After all, he was getting old. Whether in Danzhou or here, the former Minister of Revenue was responsible for such important matters, and his mind was exhausted to the extreme.

Fan Jian spread out a large map on the table, laying it flat. Fan Xian approached and, with the help of the dim light, looked at the marks and symbols on the map. Because of the labeling, he easily found the small Shijia Village in the east-central part of the continent map.

His eyes gradually brightened. The geographical location of Shijia Village was indeed as his father said, very magical. If the road to the southeast could be opened up in the future, it would be very easy to reach the coast of the East China Sea and touch Dongyi City, but if Shijia Village remained quiet, outsiders would not know what was happening inside.

"If we are going to start immediately, a large number of materials will inevitably enter. We can no longer move like ants like we did in the previous two years. It will definitely attract the attention of many people, so even if your silver arrives in the account, don't think about whether to start or not." Fan Jian saw the faint excitement in Fan Xian's heart and reminded him with a smile.

Fan Xian's smile immediately became bitter. If Shijia Village was really going to be turned into the inner treasury of Minbei, recruiting workers was one thing, the entry of a large number of materials was another, and simple blast furnaces and those refined steel settings could not be concealed from a fool's eyes, and I'm afraid everyone would guess what was being done here.

And in terms of the importance of the inner treasury to the Qing Kingdom, as long as the imperial court discovered the slightest abnormality, His Majesty the Emperor would not hesitate to send troops north to attack, at all costs, to forcibly attack Dongyi City and destroy the embryonic form of the new inner treasury in Shijia Village.

"Of course, even if His Majesty sends troops to attack, the location of Shijia Village is special, easy to ask for help, and not so easy to attack." Fan Jian's thinking at this time did not seem like a Qing Kingdom minister, but more like a rebellious traitor. He said indifferently, "Shijia Village was originally Ye Family Village. Most of your mother's subordinates came from this village. In order to keep the secrets here, Ye Family Village removed a 'mouth' character, and only then did it become the current Shijia Village."

"And this village was originally the first location your mother chose when building the inner treasury."

"It's just that for some other reason, she reset the location of the inner treasury inside the Qing Kingdom, very close to Quanzhou in Minbei."

"We chose Shijia Village again because we believe in your mother's vision." Fan Jian looked at Fan Xian calmly and said, "This location, apart from your mother and Old Wu back then, only I knew. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the key is that this is a place where the three forces in the world cannot fully invest."

Fan Xian was silent for a long time and then said, "I would rather be careful and slow, and not let His Majesty detect any clues."

"Your mother is no longer here. With just the two of us, father and son, although we have so many innate advantages in our hands, it is impossible to build an inner treasury out of thin air in Shijia Village without years of effort and the power of a country." Fan Jian closed his eyes slightly and said, "You originally intended to move the inner treasury out of the Qing Kingdom, just to use this as a cover to threaten His Majesty. Caution at the beginning is necessary."

Fan Xian was not surprised at all that his father easily broke through his thoughts, and said softly, "Even if it's a cover, it must be done more realistically, and who knows what will happen many years later? His Majesty is not a god after all, and he also has a day of death."

"So when you agreed to invest a large amount of money into Shijia Village, I began to suspect." Fan Jian opened his eyes and sighed heavily, "Do you think His Majesty will really attack Chen Pingping?"

Fan Xian was silent for a moment and then said, "I don't know."

Fan Jian's eyes forced him coldly: "What if His Majesty really moves?"

Fan Xian was silent and did not answer this question, just thinking about Shijia Village, which his cloth shoes were stepping on.

This village is still very quiet now, but it will definitely be incomparably brilliant and dazzling in the future. No matter how the internal affairs of the Qing Kingdom court develop, no matter if there will be a great war in the world, Fan Xian always holds an attitude in his heart.

The inner treasury is not an inner treasury. It came from a distant world and should benefit the people of the present world, and cannot become a logistical department for someone's thousands of troops and horses.

Presumably Ye Qingmei also thought so.

Someone killed herself, and her things still have to help him conquer the world. Ye Qingmei would definitely be very sad if she knew this.

Fan Xian cherished his mother, whom he had never met, very much, and the more he cherished her, the less he wanted her to be sad.

...

...

If it doesn't work, just destroy it.