"This is the result of Luo Mingjing's return trip?"

Xiao Jing flipped through the files sent by Shao Ning, nodded and said, "It's not bad, but how can I say it...... It's still a little worse than I thought. ”

For Luo Mingjing's trip, Shao Ning invested a lot of money: after the war, the treasury that finally saved up some money again took out a lot of money for the expenses of the mission, and Shao Ning even wanted to build his own fleet to show the national prestige of Da Rui - of course, this idea was stillborn under the collective opposition of the ministers.

In the end, it was the imperial court that chartered a few European merchant ships to make the trip.

In addition to the normal expenses, a part of the funds is specially allocated to Luo Mingjing and the envoys to recruit all kinds of talents - if there are no amazing benefits, how can those talented people believe that the rumors of Da Rui "everywhere is gold" are true? How could they willingly leave their homeland and go on an unknown adventure in the far east?

For this big gamble, money is only one part of it, and Da Rui has also invested a lot in personnel.

The entire mission that accompanied Luo Mingjing to Europe had a total of 92 people, including chief and deputy envoys, interpreters, attachés, clerks, guards, and miscellaneous servants, and most of them were Shao Ning's confidants since he took office, which shows the importance he attaches to this matter.

However, by the time the mission finally returned to Darui after nearly two years, a third of them were gone.

Some people died because they were not accustomed to the water and soil or could not withstand the hardships on the way, some people died in accidents, and some people died heroically in various battles large and small, and even the bones could not be found......

Admittedly, the trip was also fruitful—thanks to the efforts of all, the mission brought with it many instruments, seeds, and curiosities that had never been seen in Da Rui, and also brought back dozens of Europeans, who were said to be well-known scholars or craftsmen in the region, and they covered various fields such as arithmetic, weapons, chemistry, physics, shipbuilding, astronomy, etc.

In order to please Shao Ning, Zhengzhi even arbitrarily bought a state-of-the-art sea boat, and hired a local crew to drive the ship back to Darui.

However, such a loss was still a bit heavy for Da Rui, who sent a delegation to Europe for the first time.

Of course, Xiao Jing himself thinks that some losses are acceptable.

Coming from later generations, he was well aware of the risks of going to sea in this era, so he even greeted Shao Ning privately before the mission set off - as long as a few people could complete the scheduled mission and come back alive, this voyage would be considered a success.

And "heavy losses" or something, mainly those ministers above the court.

They held on to the casualties and expenses of this trip, and used this as an excuse to throw out big hats such as "work without success" and "work for the people and money", and then "loyally learned" to advise, hoping that Shao Ning, the monarch, would do more "business" and less whims.

What's more, some people wrote fierce rhetoric, mercilessly criticizing Shao Ning for "not cultivating himself and not practicing benevolent government", and asked him to learn more from the ancient sages.

Later, this piece somehow spread outside the palace, and was praised by the Qingliu literati, and its author became famous for a while, becoming the so-called minister.

However, Xiao Jing knew what these people were comfortable with.

Some of them are the spokesmen of the Maison Gate Valve in the coastal area. The interest groups, who had made a fortune through sea trade and smuggling, fearing that the emperor would discover the great wealth of the sea and take their cake, instructed their respective people in the court to form a joint force in an attempt to nip the danger in the bud.

Others snickered as they admonished - these forces really wanted to see an emperor who could do nothing and be at the mercy of others! They criticize the so-called "tricks and tricks", but in their hearts they hope that the young emperor will be inspired to rebel and become addicted to these things—only then can they have enough room to operate and make the king of God become ornaments.

The last and most hateful type is the person who sells his name directly, just like the one mentioned above who wrote the chapter and scolded Shao Ning. They may not have much opinion on the mission going to sea itself, but in order to gain fame, they began to make all kinds of noise, and showed their loyalty and uprightness by making insults to the public, and attracted the attention of some forces through disgusting practices and succeeded in ascending to power.

Xiao Jing shook his head, not hiding the disdain in his eyes at all.

A group of grasshoppers, do you really think you can shake the general trend of history?

Then we'll see!

Putting down the file, Xiao Jing rubbed his eyes vigorously and prepared to eat. At this moment, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside, and the next moment Shao Ning pushed open the door and walked into his office.

"If everyone is outside, let's not do those false courtesies." This guy didn't regard himself as an outsider at all, and as soon as he came in, he fiddled with the flowers planted by Xiao Jing and said, "Regarding the people brought back by the mission, we still have to discuss." ”

Xiao Jing smiled bitterly and stopped saluting and walked slowly behind Shao Ning.

This emperor can't sit still, and he usually has to go out of the palace when he has nothing to do, so he often runs to the newspaper office. For this matter, Xiao Jing was impeached a lot.

"Yesterday, that guy from Luo Mingjing came to see me and asked for a reward, and I casually dealt with a few words." Shao Ning looked at Xiao Jing and said, "What do you think of the people he brought back?" ”

"Judging from the materials, it's not bad, I'll go to the school for the exam in the next two days."

Xiao Jing thought for a while and said with a smile: "It's the local craftsmen in Darui who are very competitive. The skilled craftsmen we found before have come up with a lot of strange things according to our ideas, and we can go and see them together when we have time. I think that if these people are used in the right place, they are not necessarily worse than those Westerners, and they are even likely to do better. ”

Shao Ning said proudly: "Speaking of talents, who has I lost to Da Rui?" In the past, everyone looked down on these craftsmen, but as a result, their status was very low, and the money they earned could only barely make ends meet, where did they have the heart to think about anything else? Even if someone comes up with something good, isn't it still quickly appropriated by the rich and powerful?

Now, I have gathered the best craftsmen in the world, and together with their families, I have eaten and drunk well, and I have been paid a lot of money every month, and if there is a good invention, there is another reward, and I can even get an official position and leave a name in history......

These people are all from a hard background and know who is good for them, I am so imperial and powerful and I value them with the attack of the courtiers, can they still be effective? ”

As he spoke, Shao Ning pursed his lips in the direction of the capital and sneered: "What else do people say 'work without success'...... When everything comes to fruition, Lao Tzu wants them to see how stupid they really are! ”