Before dinner, a series of ceremonies such as meeting the mistress, serving tea and giving gifts to the mistress went smoothly. At least on the surface, it is polite and thoughtful, and a group of harmony. Seeing this situation, Wu Shigong was also a little relieved.

But when it was time for dinner, Mama Qiu had a demon moth again. She demanded that according to the rules of large households, only the head of the house and the head of the house could eat at the main table, and all the concubines should stand aside and serve, and wait until the head of the house and the head of the house had finished eating, and then go back to the house to eat. Of course, Mama Qiu didn't do anything wrong, for Wu Shigong's children, she still flexibly opened another table next to the main table, so that they could eat at the same time.

At this time, Wu Shigong was holding back his anger. He knew that the rules that Mama Qiu said were indeed like this, and Wu Shigong was not a person who tried in vain to challenge the ethical rules of the Ming Dynasty, but his heart was still panicked. When Wu Shigong was a teenager, he was too impressed by the discrimination he suffered in the Gongshun Hou Mansion, so Wu Shigong hated this behavior from the bottom of his heart.

But Wu Shigong couldn't say no. There are no rules, there is no circle, and the same is true in the inner house. If Wu Shigong immediately refuted Mama Qiu's arrangement, it would not give his wife Xue Yufei any face at all. Moreover, Wu Shigong's behavior will also send a wrong signal, and his concubines, especially Li Xin, are likely to rely on Wu Shigong's favor to challenge Xue Yufei's position as his wife.

does not mention how much Xue Yufei's background can bring to Wu Shigong's career, nor does he mention the love that Yang Wuhou's family gave to Wu Shigong, not to mention Wu Shigong's guilt for Xue Chenglin's lack of fatherly love since childhood. Just because of Wu Shigong's love for Xue Yufei, he couldn't do anything to shake Xue Yufei's position.

Therefore, Wu Shigong acquiesced to Mama Qiu's arrangement very unhappily. But this meal was awkward, and Wu Shigong's concubines lined up behind Wu Shigong and Xue Yufei for a long time. Dressed in green clothes (that is, the clothes worn by slaves and maids), he watched Wu Shigong and Xue Yufei eat.

Xue Yufei had a small appetite and quickly ran out of food. Zhuyun, Meiyun and Xiuzhu on the side hurriedly picked up the mouthwash tea and hot towels that the little maids had prepared for haode a long time ago, and were about to come forward to serve.

But at this time, Mama Qiu stopped their movements again, and she said to Li Xin Yifu, who was standing at the head of the line: "Aunt Li, it's time for you to serve." ”

Li Xin's eyes suddenly turned red, she looked at Wu Shigong's iron-blue face, and after waiting for a while, she found that Wu Shigong did not react, and immediately her nose was sour. Shedding a string of tears, he took the towel and walked to the table.

Feeling Li Xin's approach, Wu Shigong couldn't hold back any longer. He put the half bowl of rice in his hand on the table, threw the chopsticks on the table, and wanted to brush his sleeves away.

Seeing Wu Shigong's face change. Xue Yufei also panicked, and her eyes were red. Under the table, he grabbed Wu Shigong's trouser leg tightly with his little hand. Don't let Wu Shigong leave.

Wu Shigong looked at Xue Yufei's pitiful face, and then looked at Li Xin's aggrieved face for help. As if his strength had disappeared immediately, he sighed, picked up his rice bowl, stopped eating, and took a big bite of rice into his mouth.

This reception banquet is really embarrassing! After dinner, I came to the study. Wu Shigong deeply reflected on his previous behavior: "It seems that it doesn't matter if you pick more wildflowers outside in the future, you have to pay attention to accepting women again!" ”

Deng Qifan and Xue Yongli had been waiting in the study for a long time, and when they saw Wu Shigong's arrival, they immediately stood up and saluted. Wu Shigong also returned the salute and exchanged a few words, and after driving out all the maids who served, the three of them began to discuss secretly.

After finishing the polite remarks, Wu Shigong went straight to the point and briefly recounted the military reform he envisioned in Dengzhou. Then he asked, "What do Mr. Deng and Uncle Wynn think of this Jihua?" ”

Of course, Xue Yongli has no opinion, and any way to expand the strength of the army is beneficial to Xue Yongli, the second-in-command of the Runing Army.

And Deng Qifan pointed out one point in embarrassment: "My lord, with such an expansion, and with a high salary like Runingjun, the students are afraid that the money will not be enough!" ”

Wu Shigong raised his eyebrows, and asked a little strangely: "Didn't I tell Mr. Deng just now, this time the official brought back nearly 200,000 taels of silver from Denglai, of which there are more than 40,000 taels of silver alone, plus the family's savings, how can it be insufficient?" ”

So Deng Qifan began to introduce to Wu Shigong in detail the current financial situation of the Ru Ning Army. Now Wu Shigong's stall is too big. The first is Tuntian. At that time, Wu Shigong's idea was very beautiful, and he also harvested a certain amount of grain by organizing drought resistance, but after all, people are not as good as heaven, and no one thought that there had been a major drought for three consecutive years.

After the beginning of spring this year, it showed the appearance of a great drought throughout the year, so although the Runing Army bought land at a low price, many of the victims even took their fields to join the Runing Army free of charge, so that the tuntian fields in the Runing Army were now expanded by 17 to 80,000 mu. The number of new victims has increased by 40,000 to 50,000.

However, the food to help these new victims, as well as the manpower and material resources put into the wasteland that needed to be reclaimed for drought resistance, even made the Runing army lose a little. If it weren't for the fact that the Runing Army had spent a lot of money to buy grain from Huguang through Tang Liu's Cao Gang, the Runing Army's own food supply might have encountered problems.

The cost of the army is still huge. the construction of a series of forts and stockades; development, manufacture and equipment of new ordnance; the purchase of horses; After the new soldiers became veterans, the increase in military salaries made Chongzhen's military spending skyrocket by nearly forty percent in five years. If it weren't for He Fei and their self-financing in Nanyang, the military expenditure of the Runing Army would have been even higher.

Revenues from salt goods have also fallen by nearly half as a result of the exodus of refugees. However, with the cheap salt goods that Wu Shigong brought from the new salt factory in Denglai, this decline in income will improve.

Although the iron ore and iron workshops have been put into operation, these two workshops have already taken up a lot of investment and silver from the Runing Army. In modern terms: it is to spend a lot of money, build expensive fixed assets, and occupy a lot of working capital.

Of course, as long as the iron ore and iron mills are mass-produced, they will become two hens that lay golden eggs. But all of this takes time.

The only bright spot is the Four Seas Trading House. Due to the strength of the grain stamps, the grain stamps issued by the Four Seas Commercial Bank have established a high reputation among the people. As a result, many people began to be willing to store food stamps to buy goods in the barns opened by the Four Seas Commercial Bank. This also greatly increased the income of Sihai Commercial Bank, and also opened a lot of semicolons. However, compared with the expenditure of the Runing Army, the income of the Four Seas Commercial Bank cannot fill so many gaps.

So the crux of the matter is that in fact, the Runing Army only needs to support it for two years, and if it reaches two years later, the Runing Army can completely achieve self-sufficiency. But in order to be self-sufficient in the future, the current Runing Army will have to invest a lot of silver. Coupled with the expansion of the Runing Army proposed by Wu Shigong this time, this silver is really not enough!

Deng Qifan also told Wu Shigong a question. There is another reason why the money was spent so ruthlessly this time. Because in the past, Wu Shigong would bring back a large amount of property every time he went out, so the top and bottom of the Runing army had a blind trust in Wu Shigong.

They thought that their lord would definitely be able to make a lot of war money this time, so the Runing army would spend a bit lavishly. And because of secrecy, the actual financial situation of the Runing Army is only known to a few high-level cores like Deng Qifan. When Deng Qifan and the others saw that Ru Ningjun's expenses were not quite right, and they wanted to step on the brakes, the silver stored had already been wasted a lot.

And now, if Wu Shigong wants to tighten the monetary system immediately, it is likely to cause doubt and panic, and the most terrible thing is to cause a series of chain reactions, which will cause the Runing army to collapse completely. Therefore, Deng Qifan implored Wu Shigong to be cautious.

After hearing all this, Wu Shigong shook his head helplessly. He didn't expect the huge gains he had made on several expeditions, but he let his army develop a bad habit of spending lavishly.

However, in any case, the expansion of the Runing Army this time cannot be changed, nor can the enhancement of the strength of the Runing Army. But how do you overcome the immediate financial difficulties? It still needs to be considered in the long run. Anyway, with the cash silver that Wu Shigong brought back from Dengzhou, there should be no shortage of cash in the Runing army in a short period of time.

So Wu Shigong asked another question that he was concerned about: "What about the new iron ore that He Fei and they robbed?" ”

Deng Qifan immediately introduced the matter of the new iron mine again. However, it is similar to what Deng Qifan said in the long letter he wrote to Wu Shigong at that time. However, when he arrived in Zuihou, Deng Qifan told Wu Shigong: "After that Ye Mine Supervisor learned the news that the adult was coming back, he came to the camp every day to wait for the adult to return. If it weren't for the fact that the camp couldn't let outsiders in, he might have slept outside the adult's house. But now he lives in the city of Runing Mansion, and he has to send people several times a day. ”

Wu Shigong smiled and said, "It is absolutely impossible to return this iron ore to him. But you can give him some benefits. The energy of the fathers-in-law in the palace is not ordinary, and this time the official almost suffered a big loss. If it weren't for Hou Ye's help, this fate would be really unimaginable! Not much more. The official had just returned, so he rested for a few days, and sent someone to send my post to the Ye mine supervisor, and told him that the official would visit him in person in a few days. ”

After hesitating for a while, Deng Qifan still said to Wu Shigong: "My lord, the student is still thinking of some ways to reduce expenses, I hope the adult will decide!" ”

Deng Qifan's words immediately made Xue Yongli's eyes widen. (To be continued......)