Jinling City Wharf.

"Brother Dongmen, I haven't seen my demeanor for a few years!"

Yin Shangpu of Jinling Mansion saw the arrival of the East Gate and arched his hand.

Dongmen jumped on the dock and said with a smile: "Brother Shang, don't come unharmed, and I bother you to come to greet you in person, I really feel honored." ”

"Brother Dongmen, what are you talking about, who in Daqi doesn't know the name of your Dongmen family, if I don't come and let my colleagues know, I don't know how to count so."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and then Shang Pu said: "Brother Dongfeng, I have worked hard all the way, I have arranged a banquet in the mansion, you and I have a good drink today." ”

"In this case, thank you Brother Shang!"

"Brother Dongmen, please!"

"Brother Shang, please!"

The east gate instructed the boatman a few words, and then took the arranged carriage and slowly drove towards Jinling City, which was not far away.

As the capital of Jiangzhou, Jinling City has a superior geographical environment, although agriculture is not as developed as Yangzhou next door, but the commercial trade is prosperous, especially the Qinhuai River named by Yang Hao outside the city is one of the famous scenery of Jinling.

When they arrived at the mansion, after the two of them sat down, Shang Pu raised his glass and said, "Brother Dongmen has worked hard all the way, so I will give you a cup." ”

A glass of wine is drunk in one gulp.

"Brother Dongmen came this time, the people of Jinling City are blessed, I don't know what kind of bridge Brother Dongmen wants to build this time, is it a bridge across the Yangtze River?"

Shang Pu said excitedly.

"Brother Shang laughed, how can such a bridge be built by leisure, it is not a secret, this time I came here to lay a bridge for the railway to Jinling on the order of the imperial court."

Hearing this, Shang Pu hurriedly said: "So soon, I only received an order from the imperial court a few years ago, and I thought that it would take at least a year to prepare for the construction to begin, but I didn't expect it to start now." ”

Dongmen said: "I didn't expect it to be so fast, but since the court has issued an order, we can only do our best." ”

"That's true, but! Brother Dongmen, why do you think the imperial court is in such a hurry? ”

Dongmen took a sip of wine and said, "It may have something to do with the steam engine a year ago!" ”

"Steam engines? What is it? ”

Shang Pu was a little puzzled.

"I don't know what it is, but the Ministry of Industry is in charge of this matter, and Kong Shilang is said to have been named a county man by the king."

"County man?"

Shang Pu was taken aback.

Dongmen nodded and said, "You and I are far away from the court, and I don't know what happened, maybe after a while, the palace report will mention this matter." ”

Speaking of this, Dongmen changed his words and said: "But Brother Shang's Mansion Yin is about to expire in one year, and now the people of Jinling City are rich, and I want to come with such political achievements, after the expiration of the period, I should be able to enter the court." ”

The shop took a sip of wine and said: "The court is far from being as calm as it seems, and if you really go to Chang'an, it will be difficult to have such a comfortable day again." ”

Dongmen said with a smile: "Although the court is not peaceful, but you can also display your ambitions, Brother Shang is different from a technical officer like me, your future is in the court." ”

"Alas! How difficult it is to manage the people's livelihood, the slightest carelessness will be impeached by the Imperial Historical Observatory, think about what the world was like at the beginning, so that the people can have clothes to cover their bodies is a great achievement, and now there are countless things to do, and it is better to work hard than to be as carefree as Brother Dongmen, and it is also a beautiful thing to do learning when you have nothing to do. ”

When Dongmen heard this, he smiled but did not speak.

"Now that the imperial court has opened up its territory to the outside world, looking at this situation, the king is not satisfied with today's territory, he just conquered Jiangnan a year ago, and I am afraid that he will soon use troops in the southwest."

"Hmmm! I don't know how much territory the king has to lay before he is satisfied! ”

"Maybe it's my territory as far as the eye can see!"

Shang Pu smiled and said: "If that's the case, I'm afraid there will be many more problems, Hexi and Yuedi, there were some rebellions last year, if the expansion is too fast, it will be the people who will suffer in the end!" ”

"It's better to leave these matters to the ministers of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China to take care of, come! Let's not talk about politics today, just have a few drinks. ”

Changan.

"King, the west is uninhabited, and you really have to spend so much money to conquer this barren land?"

"Although the land of the Western Regions is sparsely populated, there are things I need here, and my Daqi is located in the middle of the world, which is the central country, and yet! The Far East is not a matter of concern to confirm its civilization.

The world is so big, I must be prepared for danger in times of peace, there are countless unknown places in the world, there are unknown civilizations, I must not be complacent, do not understand the situation of other civilizations, in case of an enemy coming, we can also prepare, even if we do not do the conquest, we can also communicate with each other, it is also a matter of benefiting the people.

”

Yang Hao insisted on sending troops into the Western Regions because he wanted to occupy important military positions as soon as possible, no matter how far Western civilization developed, it was always a good thing to take precautions.

Regardless of whether it is war or peace in the future, at least the flames of war will not be burned to the Qi country itself.

Occupying the important entrances and exits of the Tianshan Mountains, it can be attacked and defended, not to mention that now the steam engine has been initially successful, as long as the train is successfully tested, the mobilization ability of the army of Qi will get a qualitative leap.

At the court meeting, Yang Hao debated with the ministers, and in the end the ministers were persuaded by Yang Hao.

It's just that the book of the household department is an incomparably headache.

This year's taxes have finally increased, but the number of things spent has also increased, and this kind of spending money like water makes him very worried that one day the treasury will run out of mice.

It has been more than ten years since he first obtained information about Western civilization, and there has been no news coming, how can Yang Hao feel at ease.

For Qi Guo, the only person who can pose a threat in this world may only be the suspected person who has crossed over.

If it weren't for the pressure brought to me by this mysterious civilization, how could I develop cautiously.

What is the Shu country, what is the northern barbarians, with the current national strength of the Qi country, as long as you are ruthless, you can sweep away all the surrounding forces in a few years.

But as a result of this, it will cause countless rebellions, and consume the already small vitality of the Qi country in vain.

In the final analysis, the foundation of Qi is too thin, and the family foundation of just over 20 years cannot withstand too much tossing.

The Qi country needs time and a relatively peaceful environment to be able to complete rapid accumulation in a short period of time.

The only way Yang Hao could think of was to carry out the initial industrial revolution.

Only by becoming a semi-industrial society can we accumulate national strength at a very rapid pace.

Fighting against opponents of the same level as oneself is fighting with comprehensive national strength, and whoever has a stronger ability to project troops and whose weapons are more advanced will have the last laugh.

For the traverser, Yang Hao didn't dare to have any contempt at all, in his heart, if the Qi State did not develop to the modern level, he would not have the slightest sense of security at all.

Fighting a modern war in the Xia and Shang era, Yang Hao felt a little terrible when he thought about it.