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． x Some of them don't live in the capital and spend some time on the road. Now that everyone had arrived, he held a ceremony to confer the medal at his official residence.

The award-winning officers and soldiers are represented by the soldiers who returned to China on the Nanhai, and the medals left in the Taiwan garrison will be sent by boat along with the Quanxuan documents.

The Medal for the Battle of Dadonggou and the Medal for the Capture of Keelung Fortress are universal medals that can be obtained by anyone who participated in the battle. Soldiers who have been wounded in battle also receive an additional medal for battle wounded.

Soldiers who excelled in battle were recommended by the Army and Navy and awarded the Order of the Southern Cross of the 1st and 2nd Class, respectively. The difference between the two service medals is the markings on the constellations, the army for the sword and the navy for the anchor. The medals are all made of copper, and the Industrial Department has worked overtime continuously to produce these bronze medals in time.

Above the Order of the Service is the highest honor currently in Jincheng, the Order of the Senate. This time there were no soldiers alive, and Shou Xuan recommended 10 soldiers who died in Dadonggou to the Senate. The Senate Medal is made of gold, which is already worth a lot of money in itself, but more importantly, the holder of the medal will have some privileges, such as children going to school, free rides on merchant ships, more tax-free fields, etc.

Not everyone who has fallen in battle receives the highest medal, and there is an additional pension. 300 pesos for each soldier killed, and families can choose cash or land of equal value. If the land was chosen, the government promised to ration it to serfs. Most people chose land, and the price of land given by the government was cheap.

On the same day, the Capital Daily devoted an entire page to the ceremony. There are only four editions in total, and now there are only a few hundred copies in circulation, which can only cover the areas near the capital.

At noon the next day, an artillery company of the Army lined up in the central square. The Army-Navy Joint Military Band played the mourning music of the funeral, and all those who attended the funeral, except for the soldiers, wore black clothes.

It was still raining and no one was holding an umbrella. A joint army and navy guard of honor guarded the coffins of the fallen officers and soldiers, and all the urns were loaded on two gun wagons. Each artillery carriage was towed by six tall Katiawa horses, and in front of the artillery carriage were 24 cuirassiers led by Walter himself. A platoon from each of the Army and Marine Corps flanked the convoy.

The raindrops did not affect the march of the convoy, and the whole ceremony was not complicated. The coffin escort left the city with a cannon salute, and in the misty rain and fog, drove towards the military cemetery that had been selected.

Titch walked over to Orderly, "Do you want to change your clothes and go to the Senate again?" ”

"No, that's all."

In the afternoon, the Senate held an inquiry meeting on the order, and many people in the capital had opinions about the casualties of the Great Donggou battle. The Tatars were not the enemies of Jincheng, and after returning home, Shou Xian had already heard a lot of criticism of him. The attitudes of these patriarchs will affect public opinion in the capital.

It is not impossible to explain strategy and engagement in detail to the capital's masses, but it can be thankless.

Shou orderly walked into the Senate venue.

There are now more than 80 senators in the Senate of Kinjo, and most of them are from the American Expeditionary Fleet.

Different ethnic groups have different methods of selecting senators, and the 50 places in the expeditionary fleet come from elections; In addition to the patriarchs of major families, the Chinese also elected several people with prestige and character according to tradition, a bit like the nine-product Zhongzheng system of the Wei and Jin dynasties. The heads of several tribes such as the Mon, Yue, and Medan are simply hereditary.

In the long run, such a way of selecting patriarchs may have problems in the future, but now, according to the habits and customs of the various tribes, let them decide for themselves, and avoid rifts in the country. The Senate should be a body that unites the whole nation, and all the clans should have their own voices in the Senate.

Not all the senators were present, some were absent due to illness and some were serving in the field, and the plenary meeting could be convened when two-thirds of the senators were reached.

Throughout the questioning meeting, Shou Xuan could clearly feel that the criticism was much quieter than when he first returned to China. The senators remained skeptical about fighting the Tatars, but the offensive words that contained emotions were missing. At the General Assembly, Shou ordered to admit his mistake and apologize, but still stressed that the change in the situation in China will have a major impact on the South Seas, and that it is still necessary to engage with various forces on the East Asian continent.

Shou Xuan narrowed his eyes and walked out of the venue. People's feelings are a tool in the hands of politicians, and a skirmish cannot shake his position, and he has made concessions, which should please some people.

Leaving the Senate, he returned to the official residence in order. Tiqi had already prepared his horses, and the two of them rode out of the walls of the capital to chase the funeral convoy. On the balcony on the second floor of the Senate, Marmont raised his glass to the back of the guard, a smile on his lips.

……

A week later, the two proposals were approved by the Senate and the bank's shareholders' meeting, respectively, with Marmont becoming prime minister and Shou order becoming chairman of the Nanyang Bank.

The executive power was completely surrendered, and the military power of the Cabinet and Ministry of Defense was strengthened, and it was no longer a rubber stamp. The Code of Order established the Army General Staff and the Navy Command Department in the Army and Navy respectively, and appointed a number of young staff officers. At present, the scale of these two military command organs is still small, and they can only engage in some junior staff work.

You have to take your time in sorting out the bank, and the money doesn't come in a day.

Shou Xu first inspected the iron factory under the Department of Industry, and Jincheng currently imports pig iron from Siam and other places, and wrought iron from the Ming Dynasty. Iron imports are significant, exceeding 1,500 tonnes last year, and this is after the capture of the Battle of Sucadana. Simplified calculation, each catty of pig iron is worth 1 cent of silver, excluding freight is 30,000 taels of silver. Wrought iron is more valuable, and steel is even more valuable.

Jincheng is equivalent to starting from the stage where the per capita steel is almost zero, and there will be a huge demand for steel for many years. As the population grows, the rate of demand will grow faster and faster. Moreover, not only Jincheng, but also Southeast Asian countries have very low per capita steel holdings, and they are also objects that can be sold. Considering that China's war will drag on for many years, the supply of iron there will be lower year by year, or even in the end, there will be none, and the profits from steel investment will be even greater.

Sweat flowed down the knotted muscles of the blacksmiths, glistening in the light of the wrought iron furnace. Amid the sound of ping-pong, Shou Xu said to the people of the Research Institute and the Industrial Division, "Gentlemen, we have discovered a large iron ore mine on the second largest island in China. There is the best iron ore to make the best steel, the iron ore can be mined in the open pit, and it is very close to the coastline, and there is a section in the middle that can be transported by inland rivers, and there is a rare harbor at the mouth of the river. This iron mine is simply a gift from God. ”

Concelus asked, "Your Excellency, my colleagues have asked me to consult with you on how we can develop this iron mine. ”

"Our Chinese collaborators only agreed that we would intervene in the name of a private company," Shou Orderly shrugged, "so I had to give this opportunity to my dear friends." ”

"Your Excellency, how much do we need to invest?"

"The first phase of the development is still short of 90,000 pesos of share capital, and I intend to invest 10,000 pesos personally. Gentlemen, 100 pesos for 1 share, the threshold for investment is 10 shares. ”

This investment threshold is quite high, although Jincheng now has a securities market and can trade bonds and stocks at the same time. But Shou Xian didn't want to make Sanya Iron Ore Company a listed company, which would be subject to too many restrictions, and he wanted to control the number of shareholders to less than 50.

Someone gasped.

Shou Xuan glanced at him, "You all know the profits of the steel industry. Now there are some officers in the army and navy who are interested in this investment, and we have a very limited number of shareholders. ”

The army is a big user of iron, especially the navy. There is investment from the officer, and there is no need to worry about the sale of iron.

Conxelos asked, "Can we make up 10 shares with a few people?" ”

"There is no problem with cooperative investment, but the company will only recognize one shareholder representative. Of course, the 10,000 pesos promised by Shou Zhi was not paid by him alone, and several friends worked together to make up the money, and out of trust, they let Shou Zhi act as a representative.

Concelos: "We'll look at how to solve this problem. ”

Shou Orderly walked out of the ironworks, mounted his warhorse, and nodded to the scholars and engineers, "Mr. Dean." ”

"Your Excellency."

Some of them have just arrived from Macau. The Portuguese in Macau are now blocked by the Dutch in the South China Sea, and can only work for Manila and the Chinese to run some offshore transportation, sell arms to survive, and life is not very easy.

As a Jesuit member, Vasekoncelos hired quite a few people for a small fee. In fact, the Portuguese and Dutch had already ceased war in Europe, but in Asia, the East India Company continued to wage war with the Portuguese in Ceylon without making a contract.

The Order is very respectful of the faith, whether Catholic or Protestant. But he trusted money more, and in the face of it, the wavering elements of the Jesuit Society were not so fanatical about proselytizing. The fanatical ones all went to the mainland, where there were countless lambs.

One of the wavering activists asked Concelos, "Your Excellency, are we really going to invest in this iron ore company?" We don't know much about the situation with iron ore. ”

Concelos sighed, "You haven't been here for a long time, and you don't know that this is not a choice question for us at all. That person never missed. ”

Someone next to him nodded approvingly.

"But we don't have that much money."

Concelos gritted his teeth, "Whether it's borrowing or robbing, we'll all have to scrape together the money." It will take more than half a year for Sanya Iron Ore Company to be officially established, and we still have time. ”

What Concelos didn't know was that although Sanya's iron ore was of good quality and easy to mine, the company's operating costs in the early stage would not be low due to the impact of malaria. The company will definitely make a profit, and it may be able to make excess profits from monopolies in the future, but that will be many years later.

Keeping order has been non-stop recently, and the work of attracting investment is not so easy to do. He also has a range of shareholders to choose from, and if anyone can invest, it would be better to simply go public.

After returning to the residence, lie down in the bath and soak in the bath to relieve the fatigue of the day.

Lynch sent in a briefing, the lower priority kind, not a major military or political matter. This briefing has been backlogged for a long time, and it is only now that Orderly has time to read it.

Pages and pages are turned, mostly about court precedents, bank loans, mineral extraction and deforestation. When you see the fourth page, you put down your glass.

Tasman eventually accepted the cadets sent by Kaneshiro, a total of four.

He called Lynch in, "This Enzo, who is it?" ”

Lynch recalled, "I'm sorry, my lord, but I need to check the situation. Because Tasman could only accept Chinese, all four of them were hand-picked by Lord Stirling. ”

Shou Orderly closed the briefing, "Check it out now, I'll see it right away." ”

"Yes, sir."

Walk out of the bathroom in an orderly manner and change your clothes.

Lynch quickly took Enzo's information and flipped through it in an orderly manner. Enzo was well educated, grew up in Batavia, and immigrated after the founding of the Golden City. He was fluent in Chinese, Dutch and Latin, and studied some mathematics in the church's schools. That's all well and good, but that's not why Sterling recommended him to be the leader of the Tasman Expedition's Golden City group. The Chinese are a people who love to read, and in Nanyang, people like Enzo are not uncommon.

In particular, Enzo's grandfather, Empo or Yppong. Kaneshiro is not sure if Enpu is the first Chinese in history to visit Europe, but he is the first Chinese to leave a record of his visit.

Enpu's ancestral home is southern Fujian, and his family immigrated to Petuni very early. In 1600, Empu visited the provinces of Holland and Zeeland as a major ally of the Meadeburgh Company. At that time, the Dutch had just arrived in Asia, and the United East India Company had not even been formed. Enpu worked with the Dutch in Banten, and he quickly learned Dutch.

Emp converted to Protestantism in the Netherlands, and the Dutch regarded him as their most important advisor, and Empu sent his own warships to fight alongside the Dutch and supply them during the attack on Malacca. The Dutch treated Empu as their own.

Empu was very young when he visited the Netherlands, only in his 20s, and his vision and action were excellent. Enpu made two plans for the Dutch to make peace and war, and the war in which Cohen opened the door to China was the first to come from Enpu. If it weren't for his premature death on Ambon Island, it is likely that there would be nothing to do with Zheng Zhilong in the future.

After Enzo's death, something went wrong with their family. The Malay nobles of Pattani laid a black hand on the orphans and widows he left behind, and the Dutch kept Enzo's wife and children. But the Dutch couldn't stop the Englishmen who were digging corners, and when Enzo was very young, a man named Hirst. Jackson's Englishman married his mother and took with him the entire inheritance of Empu.

Raised under Dutch tutelage and educated in Batavia, Enzo served on the East India Company's merchant ships and traveled to many parts of the world. After the expiration of his contract with the East India Company, Enzo did not choose to renew it, and he emigrated to the Golden City. The Malay nobles who once persecuted his family no longer exist, and Jincheng is the place where his family started in Nanyang, where his grandfather and father are buried.

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