"Hmph, this is the emperor's handiwork again! I wondered, aren't these newspaper guys afraid that the court will punish them? Could it be that if the imperial court does not kill scholars and doctors, even a small citizen in the market can't help it? At this time, on the third floor of a small building on Strait Street in Guangzhou City, several people were sitting on soft leather sofas and talking. This small building is Wen Hao's Xuanfu Division's yamen, and it is Zhao Yong, the new Xuanfu judge, who speaks. Don't look at him as a narrow-minded person, but he obeys Wen Hao's words, and this time he went south to serve as the Nanyang Xuanfu envoy, and Wen Hao took him with him again and became an important subordinate official.

"What about killing? Kill the owner of the newspaper hall, and the paper mill, the foundry, and the ink factory will all have to go out of business. Most of these factories and workshops are located in Guangzhou and Quanzhou, and they can accommodate thousands of displaced people, and if so many people lose their livelihood all of a sudden, Guangzhou and Quanzhou will be in big trouble. It was us who killed the people, and the people who killed were the Song people, so what did it have to do with Jinhe Kingdom? I can't make it happen that I and other brothers are the ones who bear the black pot in the end, so it's not okay! Compared with Zhao Yong, who has no learning and no skills, Xu Yan, who has been a general judge in Guangzhou for more than two years, has a lot of brains, and his practical work experience makes him very clear about what situation he will face if he rashly shoots at an industry as a whole, and even takes into account the later things.

"Then you can't let them go on like this, you have to find a way to stop it. There are already officials in the court who are saying that the adults and we are raising tigers, and once the situation cannot be controlled, the adults will be very passive in the court. Just as he was about to show loyalty to his master, he was suppressed by Xu Yan's words, Zhao Yong was very unhappy, but he couldn't say more constructive opinions, so he could only take out the official who had never been very good at dealing with it.

"Zigui, don't be impatient. Your judgment just now is very accurate, there must be the handiwork of Emperor Hong behind this newspaper trend, and it seems that he wants to use this defeat of the new army to attack the reputation of the imperial court, which is obvious. So what's next for him? The emperor has always liked to lay out in advance, often one step is followed by a second, third or even fourth step, and you will put aside the newspaper matter to think about what his second step is. Wen Hao served as the deputy minister of the DPRK for two years, and he became more mature and calm, and with a long hair, he was very stylish.

"I haven't figured this out yet, it is said that the Zheng Qing faction should be his biggest help in the DPRK, if he makes a fuss about the new army, then it should be the main battle faction that suffers in the end, but what is the benefit of doing this to Jin Heguo? If the main battle faction is brought down, won't they be able to find someone to echo in the DPRK? After listening to Wen Hao's analysis, the short man Zhao Yao on the side spoke, and he was the only one wearing an official uniform among the few people present, because he came all the way from Quanzhou.

"Could it be that there is a contradiction between Kim Ha Kook and Zheng Xiang? Wrong wrong...... Their foreign minister had just gone to Lin'an, and the first person to visit was Zheng Xiang. Zhao Yong was still the first to answer and the most unreliable answer, this time he didn't wait for others to refute, he first gave his answer no.

"Master......" There were a few soft knocks on the door.

"Come in!" Interrupted by his train of thought, Wen Hao was a little irritable and snorted.

"Master, Chairman Sun of the Strait Company next door asks to see you." An old servant opened half of the door, and as soon as he was halfway inside, he almost reached out to cover his nose, but he held back and held his breath to finish talking about what he wanted to report.

"Oh! He's coming? Please go to the living room for tea first, and I'll go over. Wen Hao was a little surprised, although the Strait Company was next to the Xuanfu Division, but except for the first few days when he first came, the chairman of the other party followed a few seamen to congratulate him, and he usually did not communicate, and this sudden visit must be something.

"Can you two smoke less, this house is almost overwhelmed!" Originally, he didn't feel unwell when he stayed in the house, but when he walked to the door and was blown by the fresh air outside, Wen Hao suddenly felt that his breathing was much easier. The martial brothers, on the other hand, were still holding a roll of herbs and smoking, unaware of the smell in the room.

This thing, called the Great China Cigar Smoke, is said to be a calming herb, and it was first smoked by Emperor Hong, who held it in his hand wherever he went, spitting smoke, and gave it as a gift to some important ministers of the court, even Emperor Rijong.

In the first few years, I didn't realize it, and even if someone smoked, it was at home, and others couldn't see it. But I don't know when the number of people who smoke this herb has suddenly increased, not only in Lin'an, but also in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and even Mingzhou. Not only maritime merchants, but also many wealthy literati and officials began to develop this habit.

If you have a guest in the house, it is a high courtesy to serve a bottle of wine from the Great Food Country that has been served in cold water and in a clear glass bottle. If you can take out a small wooden box full of cigars, it is a very high courtesy, and you can't ask for it unless you have a close friend. Once the cigars in the wooden box are turned into individual packages wrapped in delicate leather cases, it must be a good friend, and there must be an unspeakable secret between the two people.

Because this thing is very expensive, two boxes of thirty sticks are sold for one gold coin, and the synthesis of the Great Song Dynasty copper coin is almost 500 coins and a cigarette. At this time, the cost of a residential house near the outskirts of Guangzhou was about 15 per house. In other words, if you smoke this thing, even if you smoke it one a day, it will burn down a house in a month. And the kind of cigar smoke wrapped in leather cases is more expensive, you can only buy five cigarettes for one gold coin, and it is not always available.

It is said that the raw material of this herbal roll was picked by the royal family of Jinhe Province from overseas Xianshan, and then unmarried girls under the age of 15 were rubbed on the thighs, so the yield was not high. Many people believe this statement, because Emperor Hong's life experience has always been a legend, and most people in the maritime merchants believe that he is from the fairyland. Don't say it, these cigarettes are really rolled out by girls, but they are not girls from Jinhe Country, because Jinhe Country prohibits the employment of minors to work, but black girls from far away in Cape Town, not to mention fifteen or ten years old.

Of course, it wasn't rubbed out on the thighs, this is a statement that Cixi deliberately put out after listening to Hong Tao's story. If he really dared to let a black girl put a cigar on her lap and rub it, and then smoke it for the emperor, Hong Tao dared to roll him into pieces and roll it up and smoke.

But the people of the Great Song Dynasty just like this set of rhetoric, their tastes are much heavier than Hong Tao, and they like to find two women with big shoulders and round waists to wear crotch cloths to make moves, and smoking the cigarettes that girls rub out of their thighs is a very romantic thing in their opinion. The word romance is not only not a derogatory term in the Great Song Dynasty, but also a 100% positive word, which is similar to the later generations praising a person for being fashionable, fashionable, and tasteful.

"Our brothers are poor, even if we have money, we can't buy such good and high-quality goods in that shabby place in Mingzhou. See, there are a few small dark red fruits printed on this tobacco, which is called coffee-flavored, which is said to be Emperor Hong's favorite flavor, and it is generally not taken out, it is called a special offering, and it is all for their emperor to smoke. Brother Dexin is so blessed, he has just come to Guangzhou for less than two months, and he has got so many royal specials, when will he not smoke at this time? "The martial arts brothers are engaged in technology, and their personalities are free and easy, even if Wen Hao is an important minister in the court, they are still not humble or arrogant as before, they should be joking. After listening to Wen Hao's words, he not only did not retreat, but also became more energetic.

"Hearsay, how do you two know what the emperor is smoking? It's not a profiteer who sells goods to make up to deceive people, just to make a few more money! "Zhao Yao is the secretary of the city's shipping department, and he knows a little bit about the tricks of businessmen, and he is very disdainful.

"These are all gifts from maritime merchants, if you think it's good, bring them with you when you go back to Mingzhou, take them back and smoke them slowly! I'll go ahead first. Wen Hao also smoked this cigar, but he didn't like the choking smell, and he didn't feel that this thing had any calming effect, but made his mouth and nose very uncomfortable.

Wen Hao went out of the house to the front living room, and the martial brothers were busy, swept his study, and sat together with a bunch of wooden boxes to share the spoils, and even took Xu Yan and Zhao Yao to join the ranks. These two are also people who are a bit addicted to smoking, just now they were hindering their face, and now when they see that the martial arts brothers have started, they are also itching at the moment, even if they can't grab too many stolen goods, it's good to take two cigarettes first.

“…… Ladies and gentlemen, open the window a little, there is almost no one in sight...... Do you know what the Strait Company is here? Wen Hao didn't have a short time, he came back for more than half an hour, and when he entered the house, he saw that the martial arts brothers had finished smoking, but Zhao Yao and Xu Yan were swallowing clouds and spitting fog again, so they could only shake their heads and push all the window sashes in the room together with Zhao Yong.

"Wouldn't it be to mix the newspaper with it? This matter has nothing to do with them, they can't just interfere in the affairs of the imperial court! Zhao Yong is fast-talking, and immediately thought of a possibility, and his face turned green. The current maritime forces are much larger than those in the previous two years, and if they attack again, Wen Hao, the Nanyang Xuanfu Envoy, will bear the brunt of the responsibility, and he, the Nanyang Xuanfu judge, will not be able to escape.

"Chairman Sun is here this time on behalf of the Maritime Participation Conference, and the Maritime Participation Conference will collect a sum of money to donate to the imperial court to buy more muskets and train more new troops, which is about 10,000 gold coins, uh...... It should be ......" Wen Hao didn't wait for others to guess again, and said the answer, but he was a little resistant to using the unit of measurement of the Golden River Empire, but for a while, he couldn't figure out what the value of the Great Song currency was.

(To be continued.) )