Republic 1797 April 8.

Jinling.

Once for the Great Zhou Dynasty to Qi Province to supervise the army, and then because Qi Province established itself as the emperor had to give up the Jiangbei official position to return to the hometown to be idle, after the unification of the empire was requisitioned, now in the household department as a high-ranking official Zhang Mingyi Zhang went home from work, put on a relaxed and casual wide silk robe, in the back garden of the Zhangfu Courtyard in Jinling set up a reclining chair, lying on it to read the newspaper.

The servant erected a wide silk parasol above Lord Zhang - this is a gift from the emperor, and in the eyes of others, it looks a bit like the "cool umbrella" of the previous week, which was originally only used to show status on formal occasions, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said very freely:

"This thing is a daily necessities, don't look too heavy, if it's broken, ask me for a new one, remember to pay the cost of work."

So Zhang Mingyi really regarded this thing as a daily item.

Under the cool umbrella, on the right hand side of Master Zhang, there is a small table, and there are two delicate Fuso slave girls kneeling on the table, and at any time according to the master's subtle body movements, hot and cold drinks and candied preserved fruits, some very characteristic dried nuts and other snacks - such as Saqima from the Jurchens, popcorn that has recently become popular in Jiangnan (of course, there is no corn at this time) and other snacks are handed to Zhang Mingyi's mouth.

This popcorn needs to be explained in special - this is not the Polou used by the girls of Wuzhong for divination in the past, but it is popped out of a steel sealed container produced by a military factory.

Although the product is just a snack, being able to produce this kind of appliance means that the empire's technological level and processing accuracy are not far from the boiler.

The era of the true industrial revolution is coming.

Of course, Zhang Mingyi himself didn't know the meaning of this thing, he only knew that Xu Shiyang attached great importance to this thing, and he felt that it tasted good when he tasted it, so he was ready to invest and hire a retired master from a military factory, planning to build a factory specializing in the production of that kind of container.

This matter is just one of the countless investments of the Zhang family, and it is not the issue that Lord Zhang Mingyi is most concerned about today.

What he paid most attention to today was the long report in the newspaper in his hand: the king of Chu was preparing to go to Nanyang to establish a state.

Zhang Mingyi's two younger brothers, Zhang Mingli and Zhang Mingming, who were in charge of the property in the Zhang family, sat next to their brother honestly, bowing their heads and quietly waiting for their brother's orders.

In fact, in normal times, as a wealthy family, these two people would not be so honest anyway, and they can also taste all kinds of things that Zhang Mingyi can enjoy.

Even if there is no royal umbrella outside, anyone who sees it must be respectful.

But they also knew very well that the Zhang family was able to maintain all this, not because of anything else, but simply because Zhang Mingyi was a high-ranking official in the empire and had a deep traditional friendship with the clan.

No matter how rich and majestic he is outside, he doesn't dare to show it in front of Zhang Mingyi!

"You two, don't be so nervous."

Zhang Mingyi put down the newspaper, rubbed his eyes, and said to his two younger brothers:

"Brother is not such a strict person, as long as you don't do evil outside, and the punishment department will lock you up, and you will not be harsh for other things."

"How can I be?" Zhang Mingli hurriedly smiled: "We are just pretending to talk to the merchants and gentry, and we have never been arrogant to the common people." ”

"It's best if you think that."

Zhang Mingyi nodded lightly and agreed:

"The criminal laws of the empire are not harsh when it is said to be harsh, and the crimes that the imperial court will definitely sentence to death in the past may be lenient in the empire, and even some crimes are no longer crimes in the empire."

"But to say that the law is not strict, hehe, that is not necessarily. The Imperial Clan may be demoted to a commoner, and if you break the law, it is difficult to guarantee that you will not be exiled by the Criminal Department. ”

In previous dynasties, exile for thousands of miles was almost the same, but who made the empire so big, and it was really possible to exile thousands of miles.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Zhang Mingyi called his two younger brothers here today, not simply to remind them to pay attention to their behavior, not to be found by the criminal department to cause trouble for their own family, but to have something else.

"You have been doing business with those gentry and getting close to them, have you ever heard them talk about the affairs of Chu recently?"

"Of course I did." Zhang Zhizhi replied: "They have been complaining, disgusted that Xu Shisong came to ask them for money and food. ”

"Who allowed you to call them by their first names?" Zhang Mingyi interrupted him dissatisfiedly: "In the Great Zhou he was the privy envoy, in Huaxia he was the king of Chu, don't you understand any politeness?" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Mingli and Zhang Mingming glanced at each other, and they both saw a trace of consternation in each other's eyes.

His brother is familiar with His Royal Highness the current Crown Prince, and the relationship has always been good, since he said so, it means that Xu Shisong still enjoys the treatment that a prince deserves in the empire!

If in other dynasties, he was a king like him who was bent on supporting the previous dynasty, I am afraid that he would have been given wine or white silk a long time ago, right?

Sure enough, the empire is indeed different from previous dynasties.

"Yes, that's right." Zhang Mingli continued to whisper: "Although they were reluctant to contribute money at first, after the emperor and the crown prince gave some support, their views on His Royal Highness the King of Chu also changed. ”

"They are willing to pay, but now that the King of Chu is not short of money, he wants them to go to Nanyang with him, and they are not happy anymore......."

Hearing this, Zhang Mingyi commented contemptuously: "I don't know what to do." ”

"Well, you can't blame them for that, can you?" Zhang Zhizhi whispered: "They are all gentry, many families have had big officials in the previous week, and some have even had prime ministers, and they are not poor people, who wants to go to Nanyang to deal with Shengfan...... ”

"They're all your idea?"

"yes, that's mostly the idea, and that's human nature."

"Next time you go to drink flower wine, remind them a little."

Zhang Mingyi said nonchalantly:

"The empire is about to attack them, tell them that going to Nanyang to colonize now is the best and last chance, if you can't grasp it, don't blame the official for not remembering the old feelings of being a minister in the same palace at that time."

"What? The empire is going to attack the gentry? Zhang Mingli and Zhang Mingming screamed at the same time, and their loud voices startled the Fusang slaves around Zhang Mingyi.

The latter waved his hand and said with some dissatisfaction: "What are you surprised about?" Is it unusual to attack the gentry? The empire is not the Great Zhou, it is not the king and the scholars to rule the world together, since there is no need for scholars, what is the gentry family to do? ”

"But many of them have plaques of enlightened gentry......"

"That plaque is not a gold medal for avoiding death." Zhang Mingyi sneered: "The empire won't kill them, it's just that the things they do that don't conform to the "Dahua Law" will break out in the near future, and the empire will give them some punishment - maybe it's distribution?" ”

"I'm not afraid to tell you as a brother - governing the country is like governing the family, and the national policy of the empire governing the country is contrary to the means of the gentry governing the family! So it is impossible for the empire to allow those families not to change their minds in the new dynasty! ”

"Look at it, the shock caused by this incident is probably bigger than the war!"