Just when the Donglin Party was in full swing to plan a counterattack, Zhu Daolin, together with Xu Hongji and other seniors, sent the old man Yan and the old man Ying, who were in a happy mood after putting aside their worries, into the carriage, and watched a few carriages go out of the north gate of Zhan Yuan, and a group of martial artists will continue to return to the wine table to raise a glass and drink.

Xu Hongji, whose face was flushed, put down his wine glass and let out a long breath, put his hand on Zhu Daolin's shoulder and said with emotion:

"If you hadn't told me the truth, we never dreamed that the island of Taiwan hanging on the sea has so many treasures, not to mention anything else, just the precious timber all over the mountains, not millions of taels of silver can be calculated, for my Ming Dynasty at the same time to expand the territory, but also properly resettle tens of thousands of displaced victims, and gradually include the rich Taiwan into my Ming territory, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an unprecedented great achievement, the benefit is in the present generation, the merit is in the future!"

"Our family has to report this matter to the saint as soon as possible, even if it is not for the sake of the Tao, we must make the saint happy and happy." After Wu Jingxian finished speaking, he happily picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth.

Zhu Daolin hurriedly asked, "Can you not tell the emperor for the time being?" I am worried that those fools in the DPRK and China will accuse me of working hard and wasting money, and if someone takes the opportunity to play a conspiracy and transfer me and nearly 10,000 soldiers who have not yet completed their training to the front line in Liaodong, or bewitch the emperor and order me to lead a warship to carry thousands of new troops north to recover the Phi Dao that was captured by the Qing army, what should I do? ”

Wu Jingxian stopped chewing peanuts, and it was really possible to think about it.

Zhao Zhilong, the Xincheng Bo on the opposite side, grinned: "Haha! Dao Lin, let me ask you, if the emperor really sends you to lead the naval division and 10,000 new troops to the front line in Liaodong to kill the enemy, will you go? ”

Zhu Daolin saw that everyone was looking at him with deep meaning, and thought about turning to Zhang Gongwei, Marquis of Longping, on the other side:

"Uncle Zhang, 5,000 soldiers in the 10,000 new army are your old soldiers, and they have completed their equipment at present, and they will be able to complete the training in three months. At that time, the gunpowder factory in Gushan Tiecheng can also be officially put into operation, if the emperor orders you to lead your troops north to Liaodong, will you go old? ”

Zhang Gongwei smiled bitterly: "As the right governor of the Five Armies, and the commander of the Jiangnan Land Division, it is my duty to kill the enemy and serve the country. There has never been a person who disobeys orders, loyalty to the royal family to protect the family and defend the country is the family motto set by the ancestors of my Zhang family, do you say I can not go? ”

"Got it! If there really is a day, the 5,000 men and horses of the little nephew will be given to you to take away. After Zhu Daolin finished speaking, he picked up the wine glass again.

Everyone looked at each other, but they didn't expect Zhu Daolin to come with such a hand, it seemed that he didn't want to go to the north to fight.

The look on Xu Hongji's face became solemn: "Daolin, to be honest, you are a rare general, a resourceful and stable person. Judging from your compassion for the people of the Ming Dynasty, you do not lack the determination and courage to kill the enemy and serve the country, but I still don't understand, why are you unwilling to fight for the country? ”

Zhu Daolin sighed, leaned on the back of the chair and looked helpless: "I know that your predecessors will have this question sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be today, since my predecessors asked, I can only answer truthfully: It's not that I don't want to fight for the country." Rather, I was worried that while I was fighting bravely on the front line, someone would massacre my relatives in the back. Snatch my property! So, you seniors can understand, right? ”

"In fact, I spent a lot of effort and money to open up the island of Taiwan, striving to gain sea control and obtain greater wealth, and the ultimate goal was to expel foreign humiliation and protect my family and defend the country. Only then can I lead my soldiers into battle to kill the enemy without distraction. ”

"The reason why huge sums of money have been invested again and again in the construction of gunpowder factories, smelters, foundries, shipbuilding workshops, textile workshops and shoemaking workshops, etc., are not the ultimate goals all for the prosperity of the country and the strength of the people? Isn't it all about giving silver to the emperor to make guns and cannons? ”

The crowd fell silent.

Xu Hongji thought about it for a long time, and solemnly told Zhu Daolin and everyone: "I must put everything that has happened recently, together with what Daolin said just now. Truthfully reported to the emperor, no matter how you look at it, it is more advantageous for Daolin to stay in Jiangnan and fight northward, and his contribution to the country and the emperor is greater. ”

"I feel the same way! I will also write a chapter when I go back, and the sooner I let the saint know, the better, who knows what tricks the Jiangnan family and the Donglin Party all over the government and the opposition will come up with. ”

Wu Jingxian was the first to echo Xu Hongji's opinion.

Marquis Longping and Uncle Xin Cheng also said that they would immediately write a report to the emperor after returning home, and Zhu Daolin continued to drink sullenly, seemingly disdainful of any distinction.

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Shangyuan Wharf Department Store is a 50-meter-long, 15-meter-wide conjoined arcade-style building, with two floors of blue bricks and gray tiles, backed by the main traffic road of Hushan Manor, facing the 300-meter-long and wide civil wharf, and the side is the wide passage in and out of the wharf, and you have to pass through here to enter and exit.

This sturdy and tall building was originally built for the official house of the port area, but after the completion of Shangyuan Port, most of the raw materials and products required by several major workshops entered and exited through the wharf, and a large number of ships transported pig iron, miscellaneous copper, tin ingots, lead and zinc, wood, leather goods and other raw materials urgently needed by major workshops every day, as well as firewood, rice, oil and salt needed by tens of thousands of craftsmen and more than 30,000 family members, and the prosperity period of Shangyuan Port came ahead of schedule.

Due to the heavy rain in the beginning of spring, the special warehouse for the wharf next to the shipbuilding workshop has not yet been built, and the ground floor of this beautiful arcade has become a temporary turnover warehouse.

After the completion of the special warehouse area of the wharf, Feng Shengtai, the head of commerce, felt that it was a waste to use this large building as an office building, and after obtaining Zhu Daolin's consent, Feng Shengtai and the head of Shangyuan Port, Yu Handao, Zhao Xunting and others jointly formulated a renovation plan, and the official office of the port management was moved to the newly completed store outside the gate of the reservoir area.

Feng Shengtai spent half a month to rebuild this 50-meter-long two-storey arcade into a spacious and magnificent department store, and signed a long-term supply and marketing contract with the Jinling department store giant "United Big Shop" and the Yan family, a large grain merchant, to select 100 kinds of long-term operation from thousands of daily commodities and grain, oil and food, and add a special area for foreign trade commodity sales in Tianshu Pavilion to sell to businessmen, craftsmen and family members of Hushan Manor.

However, on the first day of opening, the department store sold not daily necessities, grain, oil and food, but the equity warrants of "Tiangong Trading Co., Ltd."

The exquisitely printed 500,000 equity certificates use two-color overprinting technology, with anti-counterfeiting logos that are difficult to imitate and pinyin plus Arabic numerals, the front is the name of "Tiangong Trading Co., Ltd." and the three-masted galleon pattern, and the north side is printed with the company's profile and shareholders' equity terms, each worth 1 tael of silver.

As a result, it was snapped up by merchants and craftsmen of major workshops in less than five days after it was released, and the reputation of Shangyuan Wharf Department Store was also an instant hit.

The wharf department store operated a high-grade shop, good quality and low price, coupled with the exquisite goods of Tianshu Pavilion as a signboard, it soon became famous, becoming the first choice of shopping places for relatively wealthy merchants and the families of craftsmen of Hushan Manor, and the upstairs naturally became the office of "Tiangong Commercial and Trade Co., Ltd."

The office rooms, business negotiation rooms, and account offices, which were originally scattered, can finally be centralized and work together. (To be continued......)