As mentioned before, Xing Xiuyan was unable to do anything at all, so he turned around and invited her in for questioning.

Besides, as Xing Xiuyan's concubine, it was not etiquette to rashly invite her to meet Princess Nan'an.

Therefore, it was not until after seeing off Princess Nan'an and the princess in the afternoon that Lin Daiyu invited Xing Xiuyan to the Xiaoxiang Pavilion as requested by everyone - Jiao Shun was a foreigner after all, and Lin Daiyu usually only came when he was not at home.

After listening to Sister Lin repeating Princess Nan'an's proposal, Xing Xiuyan naturally had no reason to object.

She didn't care much about this, but she knew that Lin Daiyu had been bored in Rongguo Mansion for these years - especially after falling out with Jia Baoyu, she actually wanted to break out of this shackles, even if it was temporary.

only……

"Although it is a good thing, you must also keep in mind the difference in status. If you have a dispute with the Nan'an Princess, you must be patient and patient. You are just an outsider. In the future, you will just excuse yourself from going to appointments."

"Sister, just don't worry."

Lin Daiyu saw that she was worried about her, so she leaned against her shoulder and said softly: "No matter what, there are still Third Sister and Sister Bao to smooth things over - they absolutely can't bear to see anyone offend the Prince of Nan'an."

"It is better to rely on yourself than to rely on others."

Xing Xiuyan stroked the top of her head and made a pun, then sighed: "Well, you are not one to listen to others' advice, just wait and see."

Lin Daiyu naturally knew what she meant, but that was not her intention, so she did not continue what she said. Instead, she started a new topic and talked about her impressions of Princess Nan'an.

The two sisters chatted for half an hour before saying goodbye.

When Xing Xiuyan returned home, she originally planned to report this matter to Jiao Shun, but she went to the north room and saw that her uncle was chewing his pen and thinking hard in front of his desk. He knew that he must be writing a memorial to the emperor again.

Therefore, he didn't dare to disturb him and just quietly left.

What she expected was true, Jiao Shun was really writing a memorial - to be more precise, he was writing a reply to Emperor Longyuan.

When he received the news yesterday, he reported everything he had seen and heard at Zhenguo Palace and the fact that Princess Nan'an was coming to Rongguo Palace to the emperor, and the emperor turned around and replied with a eloquent imperial approval.

From the imperial approval, it can be seen that the emperor is quite satisfied with the recent situation. He feels that his approach of restarting Zhao Prison is indeed a masterstroke. It not only effectively frightens the civil servants, but also makes the nobles start to actively move closer.

When he was satisfied with his ambition, the emperor could not help but have the idea of ​​​​doing things quickly. He always felt that waiting step by step for the completion of the engineering school, and then waiting for the batches of work-study students to fill the grassroots level was too slow and not efficient enough.

According to Emperor Longyuan's wishes, it would be best to take advantage of the favorable situation and use the remaining brave men to pursue the poor bandits!

The plan was great, but it got stuck before we even took the first step.

If you want to work quickly, you must have money, but now Xia State's finances are very tight - if not, the Ministry of Revenue would not have the confidence to deny funding for engineering studies.

When Emperor Longyuan ascended the throne, the country's finances were actually pretty good. After deducting all expenses every year, some emergency reserves could be saved.

But in recent years, they first provided aid to Qianxiang and the expedition to Shendu, which consumed most of the savings in the national treasury, and then allocated huge sums of money to rebuild the North and South Navy. They filled it like a bottomless pit for several years, and the national finances were naturally stretched.

.

Therefore, although Emperor Longyuan was full of thoughts of doing things quickly, he suffered from having no rice to cook.

They even had the idea of ​​tearing down the east-west wall to repair the west wall, intending to use part of the donations from nobles as an advance investment to quickly launch the Beijing-Western Railway, which is still in the preliminary survey stage.

Naturally, this is what Jiao Shun doesn't want to see.

Although trains and railways are obvious political achievements, in the final analysis, engineering is his foundation. If engineering is delayed in order to build the railway, then he would rather not build the railway!

But it wasn't him who had the final say.

He couldn't stop him even if he insisted on it. Emperor Longyuan was just a docile donkey, and Jiao Shun was his closest confidant. Unless there was a sudden brain injury, it would be impossible for Mr. Jiao to make any explicit remonstrances.

Then we have to find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, or at least draw a big pie for the emperor.

After thinking about it, Jiao Shun felt that he should start with things around him, such as... selling arms!

Both Emperor Longyuan and the Ordnance Department are very concerned about installing new muskets as soon as possible. It is expected that after the actual testing and improvements at the Dragon Guard are completed, it will be time to work overtime and start full production.

It is expected that by the end of next year at the latest, a large number of Longyuan Type-1 guns will be installed in the Beijing camp, and tens of thousands of old-fashioned breech-loading guns will naturally be eliminated by then.

According to the old practice during the Taizu era, these old guns would be completely dismantled, some of them would be remade into raw materials for new guns, and the rest would be completely discarded and destroyed.

But the reason why Taizu did this was because most of the firearms of the former Qing Dynasty were not very useful. In addition, he was ambitious and wanted to conquer the barbarians. Naturally, it was impossible to arm his future enemies with obsolete weapons.

But it's different now.

Although the breech-loading gun that was finalized during the Taizu period is not comparable to modern repeating rifles such as the Longyuan Type 1, if compared horizontally, it can be regarded as a cutting-edge weapon that leads the world.

Instead of destroying and recasting it, it is better to use it to arm vassal states such as Qianxiang and Chenla.

Facing the increasingly greedy Western barbarians, these countries have an urgent need to strengthen their armies. If they can buy the Xia muskets that defeated the Western barbarians in actual combat at a relatively low price, what else can they be dissatisfied about?

If you can't come up with so much silver, you can still barter.

The more wood, grain, and spices the better, part of it will be digested internally, and part of it can be resold directly to the Westerners.

And then there is...

Several powerful countries in Europe have begun to imitate the breech-loading guns after seeing the actual combat effects. The speed of installation will probably be slightly faster than Xia's new muskets, but it will not be much faster.

.

At this time, second-rate countries that have interest disputes with it will also be eager to obtain weapons sufficient to compete with it.

Selling some of them at a high price can not only subsidize the Xia Kingdom's finances, but also balance the strength among the European countries. Why not?

perhaps……

You can also learn from each other's strong points and exchange for some industrial technologies that Xia does not have from these countries.

After writing this, Jiao Shun hesitated for a moment, and finally checked out the following sentence. Emperor Longyuan was a standard Great Xia nationalist, and he always regarded himself as a monarch who was superior to the emperor.

He was deeply ashamed of the ironclad ship's defeat of the Xia Navy, so he ordered the Ordnance Department to catch up with the Wuxi people at all costs and make up for Da Xia's last shortcoming.

Driven by this mentality, how could he admit that Xia State still lags behind the second-rate countries in Europe in terms of industrial technology?

Although it is a pity, it is better not to get into trouble with him.

After reviewing this memorial about painting big cakes from beginning to end, and then re-copying it on a special bright yellow paper, Jiao Shun summoned the little eunuch who was almost always stationed at the back door of Rong Mansion, and asked him to immediately send him to the palace and hand it over to the palace.

Qiu Shian presented it to the emperor - Qiu Shian started his career from this, so naturally he would not give this job to others easily.

After he was done, he stretched his muscles greatly and then went to the south room to tease his daughter for fun.

Xing Xiuyan hurriedly explained the proposal of Princess Nan'an, and then said: "In fact, there has been public opinion in the poetry club, so I followed the trend and agreed. If I think it is inappropriate, I will find reasons to refuse to go."

.”

"why are you not going?"

Jiao Shun put his head and pecked his daughter's face, then wiped away the water mark for her, and said: "I know you are always inconvenienced in that mansion. When you go outside, everyone is a guest, so there is no taboo -

- If it’s a place to relieve your boredom, you can just go there; if you don’t like it, it’s not too late to refuse at that time.”

…………

at the same time.

In the backyard of Prince Nan'an's Mansion, the concubine had just finished changing her clothes and washing up. Before she could rest for a while, Prince Nan'an came looking for her in a hurry.

After seeing the gift, he complained glumly: "I didn't say anything to him. I just talked about some gossip that was rumored outside. Why should my mother come here just for this?"

"You never said anything to him."

The concubine took the almond tea handed over by the maid, took a sip to moisten her throat, and then signaled the maid next to her to use a disposable handkerchief to wipe away the white turbidity on her lips, and then continued: "Ke Rongguo Mansion is

His old benefactor, if he allowed others to criticize Jia Zheng and his wife in person, wouldn't he become an ungrateful person?"

Yesterday, because he was afraid of being punished by his mother, he did not dare to approach the concubine after following his cousin Niu Jizong home. At this time, after listening to the concubine's explanation, he finally realized it in hindsight, and then said angrily: "It's all that Jia's fault.

Yucun, it must be said that he has resentment towards Jia Zheng, so I picked up Jia Zheng’s gossip!"

"Jiayu Village?"

The concubine raised her eyebrows and asked: "But the newly appointed Jia Fuyin of Shuntian Prefecture? I heard that he is also connected with the Rongning Second Prefecture, but how could he reveal these secrets to you?"

"Didn't the emperor's cousin put the lawsuit on him a while ago? So that guy came to show his kindness and gave me some advice, asking me to do what he wanted and donate money to the engineering school..."

Having said this, King Nan'an couldn't help but beg again: "Mother, I let out the words in front of so many people. If I can't get any money by the end of the day, wouldn't it become a joke?!"

The concubine was thinking about Jia Yucun's intentions. After hearing this, she asked knowingly: "Did you really come up with this money?"

"That's natural!"

When King Nan'an saw that his mother seemed to be relaxed, he hurriedly smiled and said: "Mom, this is also to support the emperor's brother's new policy. It is a serious matter after all..."

"It's not difficult for you to get money."

Before King Nan'an finished speaking, the concubine said: "You can go to the inner palace early tomorrow morning to borrow it - you must go with a big fanfare. The more people know about it, the better."

"this……"

King Nan'an was immediately discouraged and said angrily: "If I want to borrow money, I still have to ask you...Besides, the inner government can't make ends meet now, so who is willing to lend me money?"

"Just say it's the Emperor's wish."

The concubine said: "I will also go to the palace tomorrow and I will definitely let you lend this money smoothly."

"That, that..."

King Nan'an still felt unhappy. He obviously had money, so why should he go to the inner palace to borrow money?

If people know about it, won't they look down on themselves?

"alright."
To be continued...