Late at night, the entire Laoshan Palace was quiet, probably only the Ming Emperor himself was still in the redwood bed of the West Warm Pavilion of the Yanshan Hall with his eyes open and couldn't sleep. He rested his hands behind his head, his eyes staring at the ceiling, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Ning Xiangyu beside her fell asleep after holding hands, this woman is definitely one of the best in Emperor Zhu's harem in terms of posture and figure - that is the best selected by the draft! How bad can it be? It's just that this woman's character is not too good, a little, not a little, but very serious! You can't rub sand in your eyes, and anyone dares to resist it.

I don't know if it's because Zhu Cihong masturbated her crown princess (she is actually not an official crown princess, but an alternate), she has been contradicting Emperor Zhu for a while, if it weren't for Emperor Zhu's heart being a forty or fifty-year-old uncle, especially willing to tolerate a beautiful chick like her, Ning Xiangyu would have been beaten into the cold palace a long time ago.

But after getting along with Ning Xiangyu for a long time, Zhu Cihong likes her more and more!

It's not that Zhu Cihong is cheap, but Zhu Cihong found that Ning Xiangyu didn't just get along with herself, she was such a more serious character, and if she couldn't get used to it, she would say that even if Zhu Cihong was the emperor, she wouldn't buy it.

This kind of temperament looks annoying, but Zhu Cihong knows that this Ning Xiangyu is still sincere to herself, and she really wants to help herself progress into a Ming Jun. Moreover, her mother's family was lost in the war, and there was no huge Ning family to take care of behind her, so it really belonged to Zhu Cihong alone.

Wu Sanmei and Zheng Chagu both have a big family behind them, and the two of them have their own small abacus, so it is inevitable that they will form a gang and engage in palace fighting in the harem. As Empress Wu and Concubine Zheng get older, their open and secret battles in the palace are also escalating, and the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace have also begun to divide into parties!

And Emperor Chongzhen also gave Emperor Zhu more and more headaches, not because he was a thief, but because he was extravagant, and his 1 million gold and silver a year was not enough to spend, so he asked Queen Wu Sanmei for money from time to time...... And Wu Sanmei has a "righteous and not wealthy" character!

In addition, Zhu Cihong's children are gradually growing up, and someone needs to discipline them strictly.

In this case, Zhu Cihong needs a disgusting "stepmother" to assist Wu Sanmei in the harem.

And Ning Xiangyu seems to be such a "stepmother", her temperament is difficult to get, her qualifications are old, Wu Sanmei and Zheng Chagu have to call her "Sister Ning", and they also have a headache when they see this straight-tempered woman.

So in recent years, Zhu Cihong has become more and more fond of Ning Xiangyu. Not only did she assist the queen in managing the six palaces in the name of "Grand Concubine", but she also put her in charge of the punishment and finances of the palace (excluding the Royal Chamber of Commerce...... This time, Emperor Zhu and Empress Wu are going north together, and Ying Tianfu will rely on Ning's "stepmother" to suppress it.

"Stepmother" had already woken up, and she found that Emperor Zhu was still thinking, so she put a snow-white and pink arm on her and asked in a low voice, "Why hasn't you slept yet?" Tomorrow I have to discuss the Northern Expedition with the courtiers. ”

Zhu Cihong turned his head sideways, smiled at Ning Xiangyu's round and dignified beautiful face, and sighed, "I can't sleep...... It's going to be a war again, you have to think about it, you can't lose money! ”

Ning Xiangyu blinked her eyes and smiled, "...... The concubine has persuaded you for so many years, but you still regard governing the country and the army as a business, and it seems that you can't lose anything in this life! ”

"Of course you can't lose!" Zhu Cihong smiled, "If we lose here and there, can our family have two million expenses a year?" ”

"How is it two million?" Ning Xiangyu smiled and said, "Counting the little Yin woman (referring to Mary. Mancini) does not cost more than one million a year. ”

Hearing Ning Xiangyu call Mancini "Little Yin Woman", Zhu Cihong just grinned and was not angry at all. Because this nickname was called by Zhu Cihong in the harem, he likes to give people nicknames.

He gave his eldest son Zhu Cihao the nickname of "local tyrant", calling Zheng Chagu tea tree mushroom, Wu Sanmei silly Bai Tian, Guan Ning Xiangyu called stepmother, Fei Zhen'e called Little Fox, Xu Erlin called female master, Jin Dongzhu called Little Pig (her grandfather was a wild boar skin), Mancini was called a royal ** by Zhu Cihong, and the most inexplicable thing was Ajige's nickname - Princess Jianning......

Zhu Cihong smiled and said, "After the Northern Expedition is prosperous, the cost of the harem will be doubled. Because I am going to build a former enemy palace in Tianjin. In the next few years, I will run at both ends of Tianjin and Yingtian, and the harem will be divided into two...... Xiangyu, your burden will be heavier when the time comes! ”

Ning Xiangyu frowned, sat up, and her face sank a little, "Long live Lord, we now have three homes: Wuhan East Lake Palace, Nanjing Forbidden City, and Jiangbei Laoshan Palace, and the Forbidden City in Beijing is still ...... The maintenance fee for these palaces alone will cost more than 500,000 a year, is it necessary to build another Tianjin Palace? If you want to sit in the north, can't you go to Beijing? Our family has money, so we can't spend it like this! ”

In the harem, it was Ning Xiangyu who dared to show Zhu Cihong's face, but Zhu Cihong was not angry, but explained to her with a smile: "The Forbidden City in Beijing and Nanjing is about to be gradually abandoned...... But the Tianjin Palace had to be built. Because we must have a home in the north, and this home cannot be placed in Beijing, but only in Tianjin. ”

"Why? Is Beijing bad? ”

"Of course not!" Zhu Cihong said, "Beijing is actually the general rear and last bastion of Yanshan's defense!" If the Beijing fortress is not lost, the Yanshan defense line will not be completely broken...... However, as the capital of a country, it is really not suitable, and the geographical location is far less than Tianjin. ”

"What's so good about Tianjin?"

Zhu Cihong said: "Tianjin is the water and land hub of the north! To the west, there is a canal leading to Beijing, to the south there is a canal leading to Shandong, to the east is the Bohai Bay, Liaodong, Liaoxi, Shandong are close to the left, and it is not far to North Korea. Moreover, it is very convenient to use the monsoon to travel with the south of the Yangtze River...... As long as Tianjin is in hand, Liaoyang, Anbei, Beiping, Daning, Hebei, Shandong and other places are all under control.

So our home in the north doesn't have to be in Beijing, but Tianjin must have a home! ”

Emperor Zhu's statement is actually not quite right, which is better, Beijing or Tianjin, the key depends on whether this country is a simple land power country or an empire with both land and sea hegemony.

Because Tianjin is located in Haikou, the transportation is very convenient, and it can also exert influence on Liaodong, Liaoxi, and North Korea by sea.

As long as the country has a strong navy, Tianjin's terrain is a natural danger!

Even if Beijing falls, Tianjin can hold on for a long time – at least in the 17th and 18th centuries!

Therefore, Emperor Zhu, who chose Nanjing and took the route of sea and land hegemony, had to move the center of the north from Beijing to Tianjin, which is located in Haikou, and also to build Tianjin into the economic center of the north, and then firmly grasp it.

Zhu Cihong said: "The topography of Tianjin is so favorable, and now there is Shen Tingyang's hard work, as long as the land outside the customs is restored, it will inevitably be Shanghai in the north in the future." I pondered that I had to take advantage of the opportunity of this Northern Expedition to intervene and buy more land in the name of setting up Tianjin Palace, develop and operate, and it would be a financial road for our family in the future! ”

It turned out that Zhu Cihong didn't sleep at night, thinking about how to use the Northern Expedition to move the center of the north from Beijing to Tianjin, and then (buy) a large piece of land in Tianjin, and slowly develop it, and after the development was completed, he would only rent it and not sell it...... I don't dare to think that the expenses of Pingliao for three years will always be earned!

Of course, Pingliao spent public money, and the money Zhu Cihong earned in Tianjin was his private property......

Listening to Emperor Zhu's business experience, Ning Xiangyu was really a little crying and laughing, is this going to the Northern Expedition, or is he going north to speculate on land? How is it that everything in his hands is a business? Even the little Yin woman is helping him to promote milk tea and imported woolen wool and wine to Europe...... And it's very motivated!