While Ida was thinking about life in Beijing, Chongzhen was busy discussing with the Ministry of Rites and the Prime Minister Yamen how to receive the envoys from the small states of Nanyang who followed the fleet to Beijing to pay tribute.

The surrender of the Queen of Pattani and the fire in Pattani City finally made the merchants of the Celestial Sect and the local princely states who supported Pattani's independence feel fearful. In order to prevent the Ming from helping the King of Siam to move south and unify the entire peninsula, the sultans of these princely states, especially those of Johor and Pahang, immediately sent their cronies to submit to the Ming fleet, which had occupied Pattani.

With the help of the Ming fleet, the Queen of Pattani renounced her claim to independence and recognized the suzerainty of the King of Siam. However, after seeing the force of the Ming fleet, the King of Siam was also a little uneasy, and sent his cronies to Beijing, hoping to re-establish the suzerain-vassal relationship between the Ming and Siam, and prevent the Ming fleet from having any other thoughts about Siam.

As for the Nanyang princely states such as Boni, after the Ming fleet appeared in the Nanyang and used force, they sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute according to tradition, expressing their submission to the Ming Dynasty and expecting the protection of the Ming army.

The above requirements of the princely states are also common, and the Ministry of Rites only needs to check the past files, and they can reply in accordance with the previous regulations. Now the dispute between the Ministry of Rites and the Prime Minister Yamen is still about the ownership of the Cambodian throne.

The previous king of Cambodia, Gi Zheta II, in order to abolish the suzerainty relationship with the Kingdom of Siam, chose to move his capital to Udong and ally with the Nguyen clan in southern Vietnam, and married a princess of the Nguyen clan. But the Vietnamese Nguyen did not help Cambodia much, but became another enemy who coveted the land and people of Cambodia.

After the death of Gizheta II in 1628, there were many infighting and coups in Cambodia for the throne, among which Siam and Nguyen also contributed a lot. Gizheta II's son, Bonidu, and Prince Udie eventually reached an agreement to ascend the throne, and Prince Udie was given the power of regent.

However, Prince Udie was not satisfied with sharing power with Ponidu, so he killed him last year for having an affair with his wife, and tried to make Bonidu's brother Boninu king. Prince Udie's actions naturally caused dissatisfaction among the rest of the royal family, but Prince Udie's power was too great, and everyone could only acquiesce.

However, as the Ming sent troops to capture Cham and Hoi An, forcing the Nguyen clan to spit out the Saigon region, the foreign aid of the prince of Udiey was cut off, and the pro-Siamese domestic power suddenly soared. So someone came with the ship, hoping that the Ming would canonize the son of Gizheta II as king, and the princes of Bonunu and Udie also sent envoys.

In response to the pleas of these Cambodian forces, Wen Tiren of the Ministry of Rites believed that it was orthodox to support the canonization of the son of Jizheta II. However, Feng Quan believed that the power of the son of Jizheta II was too weak, and he was close to Siam, and canonizing him may not be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. Po Nnu and Prince Udie have enough supporters in the country, but they can't get the support of the Ruan clan now, and if Da Ming supports them, I'm afraid they can get a bigger reward.

Listening to the two sides arguing for a long time, Zhu Youzhen finally stopped the two sides and said: "Whether it is the son of Ji Zheta II, or the prince of Boninu and Udie, they are now showing a deferential attitude towards the Ming Dynasty, just because they have a request for the Ming Dynasty.

Once we have made our choice and supported one of their sides, once they have eliminated their opponents, will we still be as honest and obedient to our country as we are today?

Although Cambodia is small, it has the Tonle Sap Lake and the middle and lower reaches of the Mekong River, and is surrounded by high mountains. As a result, the region is famous for its rice and precious wood, and it is said that the country's rice yield is second only to Siam, and this is only when they abandoned most of the land and did not adopt the country's advanced production methods.

It is said that there are three kinds of rice in Cambodia: rice, upland rice and floating rice, which can be harvested twice or three times a year, and Cambodia is much closer to our country than Siam. If this place can become the grain producing area of our Ming Dynasty, it will be extremely beneficial to alleviate the current food shortage in our country.

Therefore, I decided that in order to prevent the Cambodian people from falling into a civil war, the son of Gizheta II, Poninu, and Prince Udiei should sit down and negotiate, so that they each have control of a place, but they cannot attack each other, and anyone who dares to provoke a civil war without authorization will be suppressed by the Ming Dynasty.

The Ministry of Rites and Prime Minister Yamen discussed the establishment of an economic development planning agency in Cambodia, one is to divide the control areas of the three parties and be responsible for coordinating the contradictions between the three parties; the second is to study Cambodia's agricultural planning and build water conservancy facilities; 3. Arrange and manage internal immigration..."

Qi Zuguang dismounted in front of Chongwen Gate, and then slowly entered the inner city with the flow of people. Since the removal of the tax customs here, the flow of people from outside the convoy has accelerated. However, the rail carriages that enter and exit through the Chongwen Gate occupy most of the passage, making the flow of people in and out of this gate extremely slender.

After coming ashore from Tianjin, Qi Zuguang finally couldn't bear the pain of longing in his heart, and asked for leave to leave the team in Beijing. But when he ran to the girl's hometown, he learned that the girl had married half a year ago, and now she was going south with her husband.

Qi Zuguang was stunned and went back to Woniugang, but the previously thriving cottage was now dilapidated. The surrounding villages told him that after the local governor took office, he began to vigorously eliminate bandits and road bandits, and the cottage on Woniugang was broken by the official army and regimental training a year ago because he refused to surrender to the government, and the old and weak young people in the cottage were said to have been sent to overseas islands.

The girl she missed got married, and the ringing horses that raised her were also arrested by the official army, Qi Zuguang felt that he was alone for a while, and there was no one to remember in the world. Just when he was quite in the mood for breaking out, the villagers who felt suspicious of Qi Zuguang called the local group practice, which had the intention of bringing him to justice.

Qi Zuguang had no choice but to take out his identity waist card and official uniform, which shocked this group of rural group exercises. Sensing the ill intentions of some people in these group exercises to see him alone, Qi Zuguang immediately got on his horse and ran towards the capital.

After entering the inner city, Qi Zuguang asked passers-by to come to the inner teaching field alley near the Taiji Factory, although the Sihai Camp nominally belongs to the Taiwan Colonization Company under the Sihai Trading Company, but the people and horses of the Sihai Camp still belong to the establishment of the Imperial Horse Supervisor.

Therefore, the large area of land under the circle of the Taiji Factory of the Imperial Horse Supervisor became the garrison barracks of the Sihai Battalion in the capital, and the inner teaching field originally located in Xiyuan was also relocated here. According to the law, the Sihai Battalion stationed in the inner city still has the responsibility to defend the imperial city in an emergency.

However, the Sihai Battalion stationed in the inner teaching field lacked many of the rules of the Imperial Army, such as the officers and soldiers of the Sihai Battalion who were not on duty at this time went out of the camp one after another. These officers and soldiers of the Sihai Battalion, who had just returned from overseas, had bulging pockets in their pockets, and when they came to the capital at this moment, they naturally couldn't help but want to indulge themselves.

So when Qi Zuguang walked outside this alley, he met many colleagues and subordinates who greeted him, which made him finally feel like home. Just when he was a little more energetic, one suddenly pulled the reins of his horse and said, "Qi Guerrilla, you are finally back, just don't say anything, go with us to rub the little marquis's banquet." ”

Qi Zuguang looked up, it turned out to be the guerrilla Wu Huakui and two other colleagues, he couldn't help but say with some curiosity: "That little marquis? Forget it, I'm tired of running these days, so I'd better go back to the camp early and find a room to rest. ”

Seeing that Qi Zuguang wanted to continue moving forward, Wu Huakui grabbed the reins of the horse and said: "Don't, seeing that you are coming back like this, there is nothing to eat in the camp, let's go and have a table together, and we will pick up the wind and wash the dust for you." This little marquis is not an outsider, it is the little marquis of the Wuqing Hou family. If we hadn't helped him, he wouldn't have been able to make that small fortune. He invited us to dinner today, and said that there is another way to make a fortune, let's have a brother, can we leave you alone, go together. ”

"That's it, go together, go together..." The two colleagues who followed Wu Huakui also came up and grabbed him, and forcibly moved Qi Zuguang in a direction. After watching Qi Zuguang turn around, Wu Huakui called a personal soldier behind him and asked him to send Qi Zuguang's horse back to the camp.

"Heaven and Earth Club?" After Qi Zuguang raised his head and read out a few words on the plaque, he asked his colleagues around him in confusion: "What is this club?" ”

Wu Huakui looked at this gatehouse and replied to the question: "In the past, this was the most famous courtyard in the Eight Hutongs. Now, I don't really know what's going on inside. ”

Just when the four of them were in a daze outside the door, a member of the Wuqing Marquis Mansion who was guarding the gatehouse hurriedly ran towards them, "Four adults, my lord has been waiting inside for a long time, please let the four adults go in with the villain." ”

Just when the family took the four of them into the courtyard, in the Luzhu Building, the main building of the second span of the courtyard, Li Guorui and two old friends were sitting in the private room on the second floor drinking tea, watching the singing and dancing on the platform downstairs. Those who can associate with Li Guorui are naturally also the children of the Xun Qi family, but Li Guorui's reputation in the capital in the past was too bad, and these two people are just children who want to get some benefits from him, and they are not outstanding people.

But Li Guorui, who returned from overseas this time, made his generous gesture that made these two noble sons almost drop their jaws. Song Yurong, the fourth son of the Marquis of Xining, said to Li Guorui with some self-assertive identity: "It's just a few military men, why does the little marquis want to invite them here so solemnly?" If we let others see it, wouldn't it be a loss of our identity? ”

Li Guorui glanced at him and was about to speak, but he saw that the singing and dancing on the platform below suddenly stopped, and the singers and dancers retreated from the platform. Then a steward took a middle-aged man onto the platform, and the steward waved at the four sides and said: "Today's auction will officially begin, if you like any project, you can raise a sign to beckon, and the building has its own steward to come to discuss." If you feel like it's noisy, you can close the window and drink with your friends..."

After the steward had said a lot of information, he was urged by the seated guests to start the main event of the day. I saw the middle-aged man walk to the middle of the platform and said in such a loud voice: "The East China Sea Whaling Company, which was jointly funded by the Ma family, Wanjia and Ding families in Shandong, is preparing to purchase three more 180-220 ton whaling ships this year.

According to last year's market valuation, the value of each standard whale caught, that is, about 10-12 tons, is about 1,000-1,200 yuan. A whaling ship is worth about 2,500 yuan, the annual operating cost is 7,200 yuan, and the maintenance cost is about 800 yuan, with a total investment of 10,500 yuan.

In other words, as long as 11 standard whales are caught, the entire cost will be recovered. The annual whaling season is about 8-10 months, and last year, the boat with the lowest number of whals at Tianjin Wharf caught 15 in a year, and the most in 25 a year, with an average of about 17-19 whaling. Therefore, as long as it is a whaling ship that returns safely, there is no loss.

Now, each ship is priced at 12,000 yuan a year, divided into 100 shares, 120 yuan per share, and 50 shares are sold for each ship.

Only then did Li Guorui open his mouth and said to Song Yurong: "In this Green Pearl Building, only real money can have the final say. I took the two of you out this time, but I just wanted to take you with me, and you always said that I wouldn't take you to get rich. The people I invited were not ordinary soldiers, they were the leaders of the Four Seas Battalion. Without the help of these military leaders, even those cats and dogs around you also want to make a fortune overseas, so the birthday boy hangs himself - he is impatient..."