Unlike the gentle and amiable Governor who behaved at yesterday's wedding banquet, Hong Chengchou, who received Sha Dingzhou today, did not smile or smile, and after seeing him, he asked straight to the point: "You know Gaoping, where the Annan Mo clan is located." ”

Sha Dingzhou was a little flustered in his heart, but he still pretended to be calm and replied: "Back to the Governor, the villain Gao Ping knows it, but he hasn't been there." ”

Hong Chengchou raised his eyelids and glanced at him, but he didn't have any other reaction, so he continued: "There is an envoy from this official's side who wants to go to Gaoping and needs a guide to lead the way. Your brother recommended you, can you do this errand? ”

Sha Dingzhou's somewhat nervous heart was relieved again, and he immediately replied: "The villain can do it well, and I ask the governor to show it." ”

Hong Chengchou nodded, and said to the little official who was waiting on the side, "Take him to meet Lord Liu..."

In just a few words, Sha Dingzhou was taken out of the signing room again, and he was still a little confused. After he left, Huang Zaohan, who was sitting on a chair on one side and observing him, couldn't help but retract his gaze and said suspiciously: "Brother Hengjiu, is this person really reliable?" I saw that his gaze wandered, and he didn't seem to be a good person. ”

Facing the second son of the first assistant, Hong Chengchou was much kinder, he smiled and said: "There are some things that need to be done by these people, even if something goes wrong, it is easy to clean up." After all, Yunnan is a frontier land, and the population here is complex, and there is no ruthless heart, so there is nothing to do.

He has an elder brother who inherits the family business, if he doesn't do things for the court, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get ahead, even if it is for his own future, he will do his best to complete the task.

Besides, Gao Ping Mo is not a good person, while relying on the grace of the imperial court to survive in Annam, on the other hand, he bowed down to the Hou Li Dynasty, trying to find a relationship between the two families, what a vicious dog that he can't raise.

Mo Jingkuan, the current commander of Annam, is weak and incompetent, guarding the four prefectures of Gaoping but unable to appease his subjects, resulting in his generals repeatedly offending the people of Guangxi. The four states of Gaoping isolated the Ming Dynasty from the Later Li Dynasty, which can be regarded as a buffer between the two countries, which is the value of Mo's existence.

But if the four states of Gaoping become a nest harboring the plague of our country's border people, the Mo clan will not be enough to be a barrier for our country. In that case, it is better to put it to use. If you ask me to open a mine for those merchants who open mines, how many people can there be? Wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone if the bandits in Gao Ping went to the south to arrest the Vietnamese for you, which would not only resolve the problem of harassment of our border people, but also reduce the strength of the Later Li Dynasty?

Let's continue the topic just now, did the businessmen who went to Myanmar bring back any useful news? ”

Huang Zaohan shook his head, leaving that uneasy feeling behind. As the son of an official eunuch, he never thought of arresting foreign people to enslave him, but since Hong Chengchou had made up his mind, he was silent. The gentleman is far away from cooking, but it does not mean that the gentleman does not eat meat, after all, there is nothing wrong with silver.

“… According to the information provided by these merchants, Xia Guan thought that the civil strife in Burma was almost over, and Thalung had secured the position of king of Burma. Moreover, the public opinion of moving the capital north to Ava in the capital of Myanmar has also created a lot of publicity, and it is estimated that the relocation of the capital to Ava has become a foregone conclusion.

After decades of war, Myanmar's population has been in great decline. Although Upper Burma is the most densely populated area in the country, it is also full of abandoned land. I am afraid that after he moves the capital, it is unlikely that he will provoke a war with foreign countries, especially against our Ming Dynasty, but he will focus his main energy on the domestic side, eliminating the independent forces of Shan State and suppressing those brothers and nephews..."

Hong Chengchou thought for a long time before he said: "Myanmar has conquered most of the northern and southern parts of Shan State, and now only some of the southern and eastern forces are left to resist. China's neighboring Nandian, Ganya, Longchuan, Zhanda, Shafang, Mangshi, Mengmao seven Tusi, also deeply affected.

If Burma were to completely conquer the Shan region, I am afraid that these seven Tusi would not necessarily fall to Burma. We need to reconcile with Burma so that we have time to put the Yunnan Tusi in order, but not so weakly that Burma can conquer the entire Shan State without any scruples.

I will send people to Myanmar to discuss trade and friendly affairs. But I hope that you will ask the merchants to get in touch with the independent forces in Shan State and provide them with weapons and some supplies so that they can continue their fight against Burma.

In addition, let the merchants communicate with the seven Tusi and survey the geography and climate of the place so that we could build a road from Kunming to the local area. It's a pity that I don't know what minerals can be developed in the local area, so as to make up for some of the cost of building roads..."

Huang Zaohan, who was sitting on the side, suddenly moved in his heart, and couldn't help but take off a green wrench from his hand and handed it to Hong Chengchou and said: "Speaking of local specialties, I have a merchant from the local area, it is said that this green stone is mined from Menggong and Myitkyina, and it is a very favorite ornament of the Burmese people. ”

"It turned out to be jasper." Hong Chengchou played with the wrench and said, but he quickly thought of something, so he looked up at Huang Zaohan and said, "Okay, this is indeed a good thing." You ask those merchants to collect more of these jasper and bring them to Kunming, and I will find craftsmen to carve them carefully, and then I will present them to Your Majesty as a gift for this year's Thousand Autumn Festival. ”

Huang Zaohan was not only a little dumbfounded: "The gift of the Thousand Autumn Festival? But this kind of green stone is not very valuable, it seems to be everywhere in Burma, even ordinary people can use it for decoration, how can this be regarded as a congratulatory gift to Your Majesty..."

Hong Chengchou looked at the wrench in his hand and said noncommittally: "You don't understand, Your Majesty will know my mind..."

When Qian Qianyi saw Chaoyangmen Station from the train window, it was already the end of April, and it had been more than a year since he left the capital on this business trip, which couldn't help but make him sigh.

"Hey, isn't it Mr. Xu who is wearing civilian clothes on the platform?" The officials who went out of Beijing with Qian Qianyi couldn't help but cry out.

Qian Qianyi hurriedly looked towards the platform and found that not only Xu Tianqi was there, but also the plain-clothed young man standing beside Xu Tianqi was not Chongzhen himself. He hurriedly instructed the entourage sitting behind him to get a wet towel, let the old man wipe his face and tidy up his appearance.

Just when Qian Qianyi and the others were making a mess in the first-class carriage, Yang Ai, who was sitting in the second-class carriage, should be called Liu Yin now, she was observing the foreign old man diagonally opposite with a curious face, constantly comparing something, as if she had hysteria.

The person Liu Yin is curious about is none other than Galileo and his party who went north. The length of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the mud content of the Yellow River, and the locks of the Shandong section of the canal all aroused the scholar's curiosity and exploration. When he saw the new mode of transportation, he studied the problem of friction.

Galileo's demeanor naturally attracted the attention of the bored Yanagi on the way. Since playing for Qian Qianyi on the painting boat that day, Ruan Yuanhai paid to buy her from the homecoming courtyard and made her a female musician in the Ruan family opera troupe. Ruan Dacheng can resist this pressure for the homecoming hospital, and the homecoming will naturally not refuse.

However, Ruan Dacheng did not fall in love with Yang Ai, but hoped to use her to get in touch with Qian Qianyi. For Ruan Dacheng's gift, Qian Qianyi is indispensable. At this moment, he is keen on power, and he is very self-disciplined about women.

But Yang Ai's talent for music and rhythm made him very moved. Now the capital does not have to be in the past, and communication has become a science. Officials and gentry often went to clubs run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for daily entertainment such as coffee and tea, hand talk, and card games, as well as to communicate news. Young men use the sports field as a place of communication, and young women use reading books or embroidery as objects of communication.

Of course, there is also a kind of communication, that is, the flower viewing party, charity donation meeting and concert presided over by the concubines of the harem, which attracts the wives and daughters of various noble officials in the capital to attend, which is also a kind of gathering to enhance the personal relationship with the royal family. Some gossip is often the first to spread in the process of such communication.

Qian Qianyi felt that this way of communication might be intentional by the emperor. Through such gossip, the emperor can easily understand what officials really think about a certain policy, but he does not have to directly face the criticism of officials.

Whether this method is good or bad, Qian Qianyi finds it difficult to make a conclusion. However, there is one thing he knows very well, if he wants to live a stable life in the position of the head of the cabinet, the most important thing is to find out the emperor's thoughts.

He is different from Huang Liji, Huang Liji has the ability to make decisions, and when the emperor first ascended the throne, he actively supported the emperor's reform policy, so Chongzhen has always respected Huang Liji.

And when he wanted to serve as the first assistant of the cabinet, he also needed Chongzhen to clear the way for him, which shows that the emperor has firmly grasped his power base. He, the head of the cabinet, needs the emperor to defend it.

In such a situation, if you can't figure out the emperor's true intentions, I'm afraid that sooner or later, he will be rejected by the emperor. Therefore, he needed a lady to attend the meeting place of the ladies and ladies and inquire about the emperor for him. His wife was frail and sickly, but she couldn't take on such a task, which was the real reason why Qian Qianyi accepted Ruan Dacheng's gift.

After tidying up his appearance, Qian Qianyi was the first to get off the train, and when he was thinking about how to salute the emperor for a while, he found that the emperor did not come to him, but walked to the second carriage.

Zhu Youzhen stepped forward into the crowd of people who wanted to salute him, and held the right hand of an old man with a gray beard and a rectangular face.

"You are Mr. Galileo?" Zhu Youzhen looked at him expectantly and asked.

The sudden forced handshake also frightened Galileo a little, and he didn't know what the young man wanted to do.

Fortunately, Xu Gao, who was beside him, quickly revealed Chongzhen's identity for him, and Galileo immediately withdrew his hand in surprise, respectfully performed an Italian salute to Chongzhen, and replied: "It's an honor to meet you, great monarch of the East..."