"Yiming, do you have a favorite girl?" Zhao Erxun suddenly asked about this, and Xiao Yiming was so frightened that he was almost burned by the boiling tea.

Carefully handing the small porcelain cup full of fragrant tea to Zhao Erxun, Xiao Yiming thought about it and replied in a low voice: "Yes." ”

"Oh!? Which girl is so blessed? Zhao Erxun's interest increased.

"My sister is the one who brought me home from the street, cured my illness, and supported me." Xiao Yiming told people what was on her mind for the first time, and her face instantly turned red.

Zhao Erxun looked at Xiao Yiming for a while, and saw that Xiao Yiming's heart was like a drum and uneasy, before he drank the tea, put the teacup down gently, and nodded in praise: "Okay!" All right! Poor and lowly can't be moved, really a good man who is pure, benevolent, and kind, and grateful, good! ”

Xiao Yiming suddenly put her mind at ease and said in a low voice:

"Uncle Shi, my sister's surname is Yi, her ancestral home is Suzhou, her ancestors were exiled, and her words from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are quite neat. She is actually very beautiful, can write and calculate, blowing, playing and singing are all fine, embroidery skills are a must, although the cheek was burned by boiling water and left a scar, but I don't feel at all detrimental to her beauty She is very kind, in the past two years in the street to pick up seven or eight children back to adopt, the big one has gone to elementary school, the small one is also very obedient, if I go home early at night, a few little guys also run to beat my back. ”

Zhao Erxun looked at Xiao Yiming, who looked thoughtful, and was pleased: "When are you going to do a happy event?" ”

"It's early, the little nephew is only twenty years old, wait a few more years." Xiao Yiming shook his head and said.

Zhao Erxun frowned: "This is not good, how old is your sister older than you?" ”

"Three-and-a-half-year-old, doesn't look as old as I am." Xiao Yiming replied softly.

Zhao Erxun couldn't help but say: "Bastard boy, you don't call you old, you call it mature!" However, it's not good to delay this woman when she is in her twenties, you have to handle this matter yourself, don't hurt the hearts of other girls. ”

Xiao Yiming nodded heavily: "I remember, uncle." ”

Back at his home, it was the dead of night, Xiao Yiming sat on the balcony with a cup of tea, quietly looking at the night sky, but what he was thinking about was the large purchase of the arsenal.

Seeing that the huge turmoil affecting the whole country is coming, it is somewhat inappropriate to spend such a large amount of money on purchases at this time, and perhaps a set of advanced military production equipment will be bought, and the whole world will have changed its appearance.

But if you don't buy it, you will undoubtedly miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, two million is not a small amount, and the entire Huaxi Group will have a profit of about 2.8 million this year, so these two million are too important for Sichuan's industry and for themselves.

In that case, the only way to do this is to buy it!

If it really changes, it may be better, I dare not say that swallowing it all while the chaos, even if it swallows a part, it will be of great help to myself and Huaxi Group, and it may become the most critical step on the road of my life!

Guilty? Normal people will have it, and it is completely possible to repay the parents and villagers who handed over this huge wealth through their efforts thereafter, and if they give up, there is no need to talk about anything.

Xiao Yiming, who had made up her mind, was in a much more relaxed mood, but in a blink of an eye, she thought of an important thing, and the day before yesterday, she overheard Yuan Jinkai reveal such news:

The plague broke out on the northeast border, and both Russia and Russia wanted to take the opportunity to blackmail the Qing political axe and strive for the greater interests of the three eastern provinces, and the governor of the three eastern provinces, Xiliang, was tired and sick, and had fallen into bed for more than a month, and it was likely that he would no longer be able to see things.

If this is the case, I am afraid that my master will have to go north after the New Year, and if he leaves, what should he do? You can't stay in the governor's yamen, can you? Who doesn't come to office with a new governor with a group of henchmen of his own? The Armament Department, which is so rich and fat, is definitely no longer its own.

You can't continue to do the tinkering chores, can you? It is definitely not possible to follow Zhao Erxun to the north, his family business and relatives and friends are in Chengdu, and he can't be ruthless if he wants to go, not to mention giving up a mature base and starting over again in a strange place, which is by no means a smart person's choice.

So, what should you do? Xiao Yiming fell into a dilemma for a while

Just after the Spring Festival in Xinhai year, the Yanjing Imperial Court's commendation order and the latest palace newspaper arrived immediately, and in the case of the general stagnation and regression of the total tax revenue of all provinces in the country, only Sichuan and Zhejiang were the same as last year.

Sichuan officialdom was boiling, and officials at all levels were smiling -- this was a remarkable achievement, which meant that many people were about to receive commendations from the imperial court, and a large number of officials were about to be promoted.

Few people know that the total amount of tax collected by Sichuan Province last year was actually 51 million, and this figure was the result of the plucking of the goose by local governments at all levels, and the reason why the figure announced was the same as the previous year's 42 million was entirely the result of Governor Zhao Erxun's instructions -- the surplus of 9 million was quietly transferred to the next year's "accounts due for the past year."

Officials at all levels in Sichuan were not happy for a few days, and the official document jointly issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Military Affairs of the Imperial Court arrived again:

1. Sichuan Province needs to share a total of 3.5 million yuan in relief funds from Gansu, Shaanxi and Hunan provinces that have been affected by the disaster; 2. On the basis of maintaining the routine payment of taxes to the imperial court, an additional 500,000 yuan will be paid for the expansion of the new army in Shaanxi.

In the main hall of the Governor's Palace, dozens of civil and military officials who had been promoted to the next level were still excited, and Zhao Erxun looked at the jubilant civil and military officials, and motioned to Yuan Jinkai to read out the will of the imperial court.

Yuan Jinkai read it out loud, and there was silence in the hall.

When Yuan Jinkai put away the official document, there was an uproar in the hall, and the angry Yucheng prefect Lord Niu even shouted out angry words of "Don't want the black yarn hat and can't agree", and everyone in the hall echoed in unison.

Everyone is an old fritter who has been immersed in the silver officialdom for decades, who doesn't know that the so-called "sharing the disaster relief funds of the three provinces" and "increasing the shortage of the Shaanxi army" are all nonsense, this is simply an excuse for the imperial court to set up a clever name to exploit the locality, and almost every year is so renovating and demanding excessively, no wonder more and more people are disappointed in the insatiable imperial court.

Zhao Erxun waited for everyone to make enough trouble, before he slowly stood up, shook his head and sighed softly, and slowly glanced at every familiar face.

When the officials in the hall saw that the Governor's eyes were flushed and his expression was wrong, they all closed their mouths and looked at him, holding their breath and waiting nervously.

After a long time, Zhao Erxun said softly:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the two decrees of the imperial court just read out are not willing to be carried out by the Governor, and the reason why they are read to you is purely a common practice, even if the Governor rejects it as it is, he should let you know about it, so that you can be mentally prepared."

The officials are confused, what does the Governor mean? We have all made up our minds to reject it as it is, what else do we need to prepare? Is it really......

Zhao Erxun continued with nostalgia: "I'm afraid that the old man can't continue to work with you, along with this imperial decree, there is also the old man's order, due to the aggravation of the illness of Lord Xiliang, the governor of the three eastern provinces, and the occurrence of natural disasters in the three eastern provinces, the imperial court believes that the old man has served as the governor of the three eastern provinces, so he once again requisitioned the old man to the northeast, and arrived in office within forty days. ”

"My lord, can you go!"

"Stay, my lordship, let's write a joint letter together, and beg the court to consider it again......"

"Adults can't go, and finally have a few years of prosperity, if you ......."

Zhao Erxun was very moved, he could see that everyone was sincere in retaining him, and he could see that everyone had real feelings for him as a governor, and it was because of this that he was even more sad: "Everyone...... Please be quiet and listen to what the old man has to say. ”

The officials finally quieted down, and Zhao Erxun thanked everyone with deep feelings, and then pointed to a large stack of application reports on the table:

"These application documents, are sent by you before and after the year, the old man can understand your difficulties, after all, last year we Sichuan wind and rain were prosperous and prosperous, how to make up for the arrears of previous years when there are more taxes, it should be! Therefore, the governor intends to satisfy everyone as much as possible, and the yamen of each prefecture has allocated a sum of money according to the routine rank, and the renovation project of the western section of the Yuhe River in Chengdu Prefecture and the replacement of eighteen artillery pieces by the Sichuan New Army have also been approved at the same time. Ladies and gentlemen, the old man can only do this, please bear with me for the shortcomings, okay, let's disperse. ”

"Adult ......"

"I can't go, my lord......"

In the midst of the call, Zhao Erxun still returned to the backyard with a hard heart, and dozens of civil and military officials in the hall were still standing in place, and many people, including Zhu Qinglan, shed tears of reluctance.

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