Lu Ming

As soon as he went out, two young men, a man and a woman, stood up at the secretary's desk at the door: "My lord."

"Yeah." Xia Xianze nodded, "Clean up and get off work."

"Yes."

After dismissing the secretary, the Prime Minister continued to move forward.Soon at the stairs, there was a middle-aged man with a calm face at the duty desk on the second floor: "My lord, are you going home or going out?"

Xia Xianze didn't stop walking when he heard the words, and waved his hands at the same time: "No need to call a car, I'll just go out and take a walk."

"Yes." The middle-aged man waved his hand to the air while obeying.So when the lord went downstairs, he quietly followed behind him two sturdy, vigorous-looking security guards with pistol holsters on their waists.And when the adults went down to the door on the first floor, two more guards opened the door for him.

Xia Xianze, who had long been used to being surrounded by bodyguards, faced the heavy snow outside the door at this moment, took a deep breath, and then walked out.

Due to the flaws in the original design and the lack of building materials, this humble building known as the "Prime Minister's Mansion" is actually the same as the mansion in the old world. It is only suitable for the prime minister to work, not for living.

In this way, after Xia Xianze got off work every day, as long as time allowed, most of the time he would take a walk home - through the years, everyone, including Xia Xianze, had married a native Ming girl and started a family.

In the courtyard of the prime minister's official residence, a thick layer of snow has accumulated, and there is a "creaking" sound when stepping on it.

Xia Xianze, who was walking in the courtyard, felt the snowflakes blowing on his face, and felt inexplicably relieved: "I haven't seen snow for several years now."

Over the past few years, most of the people have stayed in the warm south, so they really haven't seen snow for a long time.

After walking around the courtyard twice with his head lowered, Xia Xianze walked out of the Iron Art Gate stepping on the thick snow, exhaling white breath.

The sentry at the door, wearing a military overcoat with snow on his shoulders, immediately stood up with a gun and saluted when he saw the lord going out.

Xia Xianze nodded and stood at the gate thinking for a while.At the entrance is the dim and silent long street, with flying snowflakes, and it is impossible to see anything 20 meters away.

At the moment, on his right, are a series of small courtyards of government departments.Going further, you will come to a community where the crossing people live, and Xia Xianze's home is also there.

Opposite him, across an asphalt road, is also a row of government departments, and they are key departments such as finance and internal affairs.

And on his left hand is a "dead end road".Lying at the end of the road is the palace commonly known as the "big supermarket".

A short section of the road brings together all the key departments of the crossing regime.This area, after get off work in the evening, will be blocked by surveillance, and ordinary people cannot approach it at all.So at the moment, the long street is empty, only the small buildings on both sides are still lit with dots of light, which means that some workaholics are still working hard all night.

Xia Xianze seems to have something on his mind today.After standing in front of the official residence and looking left and right, he did not turn right to go home as usual, but turned left and walked towards the palace.

The palace is very close, two to 300 meters away.A few minutes later, Xia Xianze walked through the same wrought iron gate and stepped into the palace with a snowflake in his body.

Although the owner of this building is often elusive, at least tonight, the palace is not lonely.

Before reaching the second floor, the Prime Minister heard the roar from the high-fidelity speaker.The girl's high-pitched voice and familiar melody made the Prime Minister trance for a while - what was played on the stereo was an ancient dance song "Wow" from the old world.

When the prime minister went up to the second floor, what he saw was a lively scene.

Under the bright lights, a large group of time travelers seem to be having a party.They held wine glasses in their hands, which exuded the aroma of champagne, Moutai and Wuliangye.

No doubt the gang had been drinking for quite some time.They gathered under the wrought-iron LED lights in the middle of the hall, all with red faces and open collars, twisting their buttocks and roaring in a circle.

Surrounded by the drunks was Li Dazui, the boss of Haojingao who was performing a hot dance, and the spokesperson of the entertainment industry.This gentleman has obviously been drinking too much, with his bare upper body showing white flesh, he is gaiting, putting his little finger across his mouth to COSPLAY Li Zhenxian, rubbing his pectoralis major from time to time, the scene is unsightly.

After Xia Xianze went upstairs, seeing this scene, he shook his head helplessly and quietly walked around the group of drunks.

Since it is a supermarket layout, there is naturally a room behind the hall.The next moment, as expected, the Prime Minister saw tonight's target in a room at the back—His Majesty the Emperor Cao Chuan, who was smoking a cigar and talking about the mountains with a few cross-travelers.

Obviously, His Majesty the Emperor is a bit special today.

Before that, the emperor spent most of his time disappearing, and rarely communicated with the people who traveled through time.Usually, if there was something to explain, he would just say a few words to Xia Xianze in a hurry.The scene of "having fun with the people" like today has only happened two or three times since crossing.

So Xia Xianze was a little surprised.In fact, he received a call in the afternoon, knowing that Cao Chuan was back.Unexpectedly, the emperor unexpectedly held a party in the palace unexpectedly.

Looking down at the Cohiba cigar box on the coffee table, Xia Xianze frowned unnaturally.He knew that all the enjoyment of these drunks today, including those Moutai champagne and Wuliangye Cuban cigars, must be old world luxury goods brought by His Majesty the emperor personally - these things must occupy the quota!

Xia Xianze, who usually distributed quotas to various departments until his hair turned gray, was a little upset at this moment.

At the same time, Emperor Cao, who saw Xia Xianze entering the door, did not realize that the other party was in a bad mood, but laughed and said, "Ha, the Prime Minister is here! Hurry up, pour champagne for President Xia, and cut the cigar!"

Chapter 616 Don't Guess The Emperor's Thoughts

Faced with the cigars and champagne being handed over in a hurry, Xia Xianze, who was old in an accident, naturally would not save the emperor's face.So he quickly put on a smile on his face, took the cigarettes and wine and sat on the sofa beside the emperor to drink with you.

It's different from the simple guys in the lobby who are enjoying themselves in time.Most of the people sitting in this suite belonged to relatively high-status internal characters, who were unwilling to mess around, and were more or less reserved characters.

In addition, everyone came to the palace to participate in the party today, not just for drinking and talking.

In addition to getting close to Mr. Cao who rarely shows up, another reason is to see the latest information brought by Mr. Cao.The large multimedia LCD screen hanging on the wall is broadcasting news from another world - from the five consecutive whips of lightning to the implementation of the Civil Code, from the Sleeping King ascending to the throne to the Siberian tiger entering the village, all these information are given by the travelers. desire.

Through the years.While drastically transforming the new world, the traversers inevitably integrated into the new world step by step.Although individuals are assimilated at different speeds, as time goes by, no matter whether people's mentality is active or resisting, this slow and determined process cannot be reversed.

In this way, the old world information hard drives collected by Emperor Cao from time to time have become valuable spiritual food.These information can make these time-travelers entrust a wanderer's thoughts in their hearts. Even if they are far away in time and space, they still have the function of anchoring the old world as a family letter.Whenever they see this information, people who travel through time will be greatly relieved.

Xia Xianze was no exception.After sitting down with a cigar in his mouth, he quickly joined the salon of "Watching the Old World Strongly and Tucao".People drank champagne, sometimes laughed at Master Baoguo's insane beauty, and sometimes sighed with emotion for the masks for all the people.

While drinking and complaining, the lively scene lasted until after 12 o'clock in the middle of the night.What is different from the past is that during the whole process, Emperor Cao, who was wearing a plaid shirt and trousers, kept laughing and talking about many interesting things in the old world, truly achieving "having fun with the people".

At the end, he raised his hand to look at his watch and found that it was already past midnight, so Emperor Cao stood up with a sense of indifference: "It can't be done, I've been drinking for a few days in a row, I have to go to bed, you guys continue."

Immediately, a sycophant with a wide-eyed expression said: "Your body is important, Mr. Cao should rest early!"

Cao Chuan laughed, and patted Xia Xianze on the shoulder beside him: "Go on, come on, Lao Xia, I'll tell you something."

Xia Xianze had expected it a long time ago. After all, every time Cao Chuan "returned", he had to meet him.Hearing this, he put down his glass and got up, and the two passed through a group of noisy drinkers and entered the inner room of the suite.

At the moment when the gatekeeper of the suite was closing, Emperor Cao suddenly pulled it away again, and then three bottles of wine flew out of the air: "I didn't notice that there was still some left, so drink it all, and you are not allowed to leave until you finish drinking!"

"Grasshold, Macallan 40 years!"

The alcoholic who reached out to catch the bottle immediately shouted: "I only drank 7 years of...Cao Zongyao, Shunyu Soup!"

The next moment, with a bang, the door of the suite was closed.All the noise from the outside was isolated from the heavy metal fire doors.

In terms of importance, the suite with a solid door wall located in the deepest part of the second floor surpassed all government departments.Because Cao Chuan "moved" here from Tainan after the palace was built, and the anchor point for traveling through time and space was also moved here.

After entering the room, Cao Chuan waved his hands familiarly: "Make some tea for us to sober up, while I wash my face."

So far, Xia Xianze is the only person who is qualified to enter this suite.Familiar with the layout of the house, he heard this and poured tea, while Cao Chuan washed his face, changed into a set of soft pajamas, and sat face to face with Lao Xia on the sofa in the living room.

Mr. Cao, who was relaxed all over, threw his body sideways on the sofa, and then opened his mouth to smile: "I haven't been here for a while, how about Lao Xia, I heard that the snowstorm here is very serious recently?"

Xia Xianze was also leaning on the sofa, showing his true state of mind rarely, with a smug face: "Small, who are we, we are already prepared, and we are just waiting for this opportunity to infiltrate the grassroots of Daming."

Whenever the two of them were alone, Xia Xianze's mind would become very relaxed, because he and Cao Chuan had a special bond that far surpassed that of other traversers.

First of all, in terms of qualifications, Xia Xianze is well-deserved "No.1 in time travel".When Cao Chuan tremblingly brought Beggar Xia to the new world, that attempt was a life-shaking change for both of them.

Not to mention the seemingly ridiculous "backcourt retaliation" at the beginning, now it seems that it really laid the foundation of the constitutional government of the empire, and it is an event that is enough to be remembered in the annals of history.

That performance was the same as today, the two of them were alone, it was Cao Chuan's first time, and probably the last time he had a heart-to-heart with someone.Afterwards, the time-traveling activities became a process, and Cao Chuan would never sit with other people to talk about the true ideal in his heart.

This is Xia Xianze's unique experience.

Later, Mr. Cao became the emperor, and Beggar Xia became the chief assistant.

The change of identities not only did not dilute the relationship between the two, but actually made the connection closer due to practical reasons: Cao Chuan, who came and went in a hurry, had no time to communicate with other time travelers. The only person he could trust and communicate with was Xia Xianze .

Xia Xianze did not live up to this trust.As soon as he took advantage of the momentum, he worked hard to create a pattern, firmly grasped the direction, and led the Transverse Kingdom, a freak regime that had no reference in history, to the present state. It can be said that he has made great achievements.

This is an unbreakable pair.

And because of this, Xia Xianze didn't hide it today.After chatting casually about the snow disaster, he still frowned and expressed his displeasure directly: "Mr. Cao, you may not be clear, the current quota is very, very tight. It is very difficult for me to treat guests like today .Besides, those drunkards can make as much wine as they want. The wine we produce is also good. I suggest not to hold such parties in the future!”

Although the distribution of imported materials has always been made after the cabinet coordinates various departments to issue a list, this distribution rule does not include the emperor himself.After all, the ring is on someone's finger, and they are willing to bring some private goods for themselves, so no one can say no.

The reason why Xia Xianze specifically pointed out this problem is that there is no way to do it. The scale of today's party is really too big.As far as he saw, the volume of those wine bottle humidors alone was at least several boxes.For Prime Minister Xia, who is used to distributing imported materials in cubic centimeters, this is an unforgivable waste!

In addition, such large-scale "unauthorized" "unplanned" imports also feel a bit of a violation of the authority of the prime minister-although the emperor is not within the rules, but before that, everyone tacitly abided by the bottom line, Cao Chuan has never done such a arrogant thing.

Therefore, the current Xia Xianze needs an explanation.

In terms of personality, Cao Chuan belongs to the kind of bold and generous person.Usually, whenever there is anything, most of them are clear in a few words, and they are rarely procrastinated.

But today, when Xia Xianze needed an answer, he was unusually silent: "Oh um..."

After a while, seeing that the prime minister was still staring at him with reluctance, Cao Chuan finally yelled with embarrassment: "Well, it seems a bit too much... Well, I will take out less next time."

"Next time?!" Xia Xianze opened his mouth wide: "And next time?"

"Uh... no next time... no, we still have to."

Seeing that the usually straightforward Emperor Cao became incoherent rarely, and Xia Xianze who knew the opposite person very well, his brows frowned even tighter at this moment.He suddenly realized that maybe something more important than the quota had happened.

"Mr. Cao, did something happen that I don't know about? Could it be that the ring has been upgraded?"

"No, no, no upgrade." Cao Chuan probably finally realized that he couldn't escape, so he reached out and wiped his face to calm down, and then said slowly: "Don't make random guesses. It's this, what about me, I have some spare time recently, so I plan to shift the focus of my life to this side."

As the saying goes, the fewer words, the bigger things.Xia Xianze blinked his eyes, and after tasting the key words for a long time, he asked cautiously: "Can you always explain what this 'center of life' specifically refers to?"

"Hahaha." Cao Chuan seemed to have adjusted at this time.After raising his head and laughing awkwardly, he rubbed his hands to organize his words: "Just come around when you have nothing to do, show your face, and chat with everyone. Anyway, I can be regarded as the emperor. I hide in the 'deep palace' all day long and don't show up. That won't be Wanli? Right, you are a fool!"

Xia Xianze took a deep breath.He probably understood the hidden meaning behind Cao Chuan's words, but the most important thing now is to figure out the reason behind this incident.

What Xia Xianze is most worried about is always only one thing: Cao Chuan has problems in the old world.For the entire crossing force, Cao Chuan can't have an accident.Whether it is the import of imported materials or the constitutional structure that has finally stabilized, Cao Chuan, a key figure, is not allowed to have problems in the old world.

The next moment, Xia Xianze asked with a serious face: "Mr. Cao, tell me the truth, is something wrong in the old world? If something happens, don't hide it from me. You understand the stakes!"

"Oh, really not, why don't you believe me?"

Cao Chuan smiled wryly, and pointed out his middle finger: "I swear in the name of the ring, everything is fine over there, the business is running normally, and no organization or individual is eyeing me."

"Why do you suddenly want... this shift of focus?"

"Cough... I just want to really be the emperor for a few days, to find out how I feel."

Xia Xianze's face changed drastically when he heard the words, and he stood up suddenly: "You want to take charge of the country... and take charge of the government?!"

Chapter 617 Don't Guess The Emperor's Thoughts

Cao Chuan was shocked to see Xia Xianze standing up.He reacted quickly and was both emotional and funny: It's really a man who can't be powerless for a day!

So Mr. Cao got up quickly, stretched out his arms and pressed Mr. Xia's shoulders: "Old Xia, you are too sensitive! Are you exaggerating? Sit down, sit down first and then talk."

In such a short time, Xia Xianze's stress time has passed.He also realized now that it was indeed impossible for Cao Chuan to make that kind of "demented" pro-government behavior, and he was a little overreacted.

So he sat down and said awkwardly: "The main reason is that I don't understand, since you've been living peacefully 'over there', why did you come back suddenly...'shift your focus?'"

At this moment, Cao Chuan finally realized that his behavior was not as "moisturizing things and silently" as he imagined, but brought great pressure and confusion to Xia Xianze.It is conceivable that if the words are not clear, it will inevitably bring more confusion to the entire time travel group who knows about this in the future.

It seems that there is no way to understate this matter lightly, and we must make it clear to each other in order to obtain the understanding and support of the other party.

After figuring this out, Cao Chuan immediately stopped hesitating.He planned to have a heart-to-heart talk with Lao Xia just like when he first met.

It's just that when he opened his mouth, he didn't know where to start, so he could only sigh lightly: "Oh, it's just that life is too stable...how can I tell you?"

……

The dilemma Cao Chuan encountered in the old world can be summed up in a common phrase: development has reached a bottleneck.

At the very beginning, Cao Chuan got the ring, and then naturally started a trade between the two realms.In the Ming plane, he was Emperor Cao, and in the old world, he became President Cao.

This decision is undoubtedly correct.Later, Cao Chuan not only provided a rudimentary empire in the New World, but also gained more and more wealth in the Old World, and lived the life of a rich man.

Later, as time went by, he finally passed the adaptation period, and returned to his normal state of mind from the unstable state of being a rich man. A rich life has become a daily routine for Mr. Cao.

At this time, Mr. Cao finally had time to sit down and think quietly, reviewing the past and looking forward to the future.

Unexpectedly, with this prospect, Mr. Cao has a new understanding: I seem to have reached a bottleneck in the old world?

Yes, that's right, after some serious investigation and evaluation, someone finds himself with a real glass ceiling in the old world.

Unlike the Daming Plane which was in its original state, President Cao lived in a mature industrial society that had developed for hundreds of years.Here, humans are working on a series of cutting-edge technologies to control nature, such as nanoscience, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and controllable nuclear fusion.

Here, unmanned electric cars are running on the streets, satellites and space stations are flying overhead, dense telecommunication signals are scattered in the air, and even a city loser holds a smartphone in his hand.

In such a world with a mature system, a complete financial system, and ubiquitous cameras, Cao Chuan found that as a successful upstart, he was almost at the end.

Today his estate is divided into two parts.Some of them are several "transnational intermediary" companies that secretly bought shares for the convenience of "immigration".These companies played a considerable role in the early stage of Mr. Cao's immigration career.

However, if you walk too much at night, you will always encounter ghosts.In the process of constantly "throwing" people into the new world, there were still several accidents and mistakes.In the most recent case, immigrant family members even became suspicious, resulting in transnational legal disputes.

After activating the emergency plan and paying high compensation, Mr. Cao directly gave up the White Glove Company and suspended immigration activities to avoid the wind and wait and see the situation.The consequence of this was that from the end of 1631 the Old World received no more immigrants.

In addition to a series of industrial layouts related to "immigration", Mr. Cao also has several wood processing enterprises under his name.The enterprises in this area are not large in scale, but they cover a wide range, covering the entire wood processing industry chain from raw material processing to furniture cross-border export. It is also a helpless choice after practice to go deep into the wood processing industry.

In the early days, the ignorant traversers had no scruples and used all kinds of extinct items in the old world for profit, such as top-quality jadeite, one-headed abalone, huanghuali and so on.

Later, with the increase in the number of transactions, Cao Chuan suddenly found that he was being targeted: the circle of luxury goods is so big, suddenly there is a steady stream of high-end goods, it is difficult not to be targeted.

When he sent away the "strategic partner" who came without warning in a cold sweat, he knew that the luxury business could not be done.

Compared with the benefits brought by luxury goods, the follow-up problems caused by this are what a person with a ghost in his heart fears most: a mature society cannot allow him to continue like this, because he cannot explain the origin of luxury goods.

This world is densely covered with electronic eyes, satellites floating above the head, and the interbank system is extremely efficient and developed.If it continues like this, when the benefits reach a certain level, even if Mr. Cao escapes and lives abroad, he will still be pursued by those who want to.