Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo said goodbye and left, only Fan Ning and Zhao Ji were left in the imperial study, Zhao Ji walked a few steps with his hands in his hand and said: "Just now Fan Xianggong said that it will take two or three years for steel to be used in the army on a large scale, will this affect our current battle with the Liao army?" ”

Fan Ning bowed slightly and said: "Your Majesty, it will take at least eight to ten years for stainless steel to completely replace ordinary pig iron in the army, and the output of refined iron is still large enough. ”

Zhao Ji said: "Just now, the rich minister also said that the development of the southern continent requires a large amount of upfront investment, and the imperial court cannot come up with such a large amount of financial resources at present. ”

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "The unexpected meaning of the rich minister is to suggest that Weichen persuade the queen mother to let the queen mother take money from the inner treasury to invest in the southern continent, they have no opinion, if the financial resources are insufficient, Weichen can go to persuade the queen mother." ”

Zhao Ji pondered for a moment and said: "Now that the population of the Southern Continent has reached 200,000, can we mine iron ore in advance, start smelting, and then slowly increase the output as the population increases?" ”

"It's okay to mine ore in advance, but to start smelting, I'm afraid you still need the skills of craftsmen."

Fanning paused and said: "If the Southern Continent wants to become the permanent source of wealth of the Great Song Dynasty, not to be occupied by outsiders, there needs at least five million people, divided into two provinces, and ten prefectures to be established, which will be completed in thirty years. ”

Zhao Ji was young after all, and his heart was boiling with enthusiasm because of Fan Ning's encouragement, and he nodded slowly, "This is also my wish!" ”

.........

Coming out of the imperial study, Fan Ning had just walked out of the Ziwei Palace, and a eunuch waiting here stepped forward and saluted: "Fan Xianggong, the Queen Mother is summoned!" ”

Fan Ning originally planned to ask to see the Queen Mother, but not now, he needed to go back and think about it, but the Queen Mother Cao wanted to see him.

Fan Ning had no choice but to follow the eunuch to Ci'an Palace.

In a moment, Fan Ning was taken into the side hall, and Empress Dowager Cao sat behind a bamboo curtain and had been waiting for him for a long time.

Fan Ning stepped forward and knelt down to pay respects, "Weichen Fan Ning greets the Queen Mother!" ”

"Xiao Fan Xianggong is exempt from courtesy!"

"Empress Dowager Xie!"

Fan Ning got up and stood aside, and Empress Dowager Cao smiled faintly: "Fan Xianggong, we haven't seen each other for a long time, but Princess Zhu often comes to the palace to accompany the mourning family." ”

"It's Weichen's negligence, Weichen should often come to greet the elders."

Empress Dowager Cao smiled and asked, "What is Xiao Fan Xianggong busy with during this time?" ”

"Back to the Empress Dowager, Weichen is busy preparing for the Liao Kingdom, and at the same time planning the affairs of the Southern Continent."

"The mourning family has been reading the newspaper, about the situation in Liao, there are various statements in the newspaper, the mourning family is a little confused, what does Xiao Fan Xianggong think?"

"Queen Mother, the relationship between Song and Liao now can be understood as the calm before the storm, and both sides are accumulating strength and waiting for the final decisive moment to come."

"The calm before the storm, isn't this metaphor a little scary, so serious?"

Fan Ning smiled slightly: "The Queen Mother won't really believe the article in the newspaper, right?" The Liao State was scared and gave in, but it didn't dare to beg us for mercy for the sake of face? ”

"A lot of newspaper articles think so."

Fanning shook his head, "That's because the people who wrote the article don't know about the Liao State, and they don't know the Khitans, they are wolves, they will be forbearing, they will hide on the sidelines, attack us at any time, maybe they will be forced to leave their homes because of failure, but they will never give in." ”

"So what do we do?"

"Queen Mother, only by actively preparing for war and developing better and more powerful weapons, I believe that within two years, Song and Liao will fight to the death."

After a moment of silence, Empress Dowager Cao said slowly: "You should be right, you have made the mourning family feel deeply gratified, at least there are still sober people in the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Fan Ning hesitated, Empress Dowager Cao immediately felt it, and said with a slight smile: "If you have anything to say, just say it." ”

"Queen Mother, about the expenses of the Inner Treasury."

Empress Dowager Cao laughed, "Does Fan Xianggong need the money from the inner treasury to prepare for war?" ”

"Empress Dowager Qiyu, there is the support of Zuo Zangku to prepare for war, and there is no need for the support of the inner treasury for the time being, but the development of the southern continent requires a lot of advance investment, and the imperial court's finances are tight."

Empress Dowager Cao pondered and asked, "Is it really that important to develop the Southern Continent?" ”

Fan Ning sighed, "The Queen Mother also saw the changes in the Great Song Dynasty with her own eyes, a large amount of overseas wealth reversed the financial crisis that the imperial court had lasted for many years, and the overseas grain changed the living conditions of the people at the bottom, if you really can't survive, at least you can immigrate overseas to be a landlord, and no one wants to rebel, the Southern Continent is a rich and vast land, if it is developed, it can continue to provide wealth to the Great Song Dynasty for hundreds of years, so as to ensure the long-term peace and stability of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Empress Dowager Cao was not immediately convinced, she thought for a while and said, "If it is to get hundreds of years of returns, then investment should also be a long-term process, isn't it?" ”

"The Queen Mother has a point, but the high-quality iron ore in the Southern Continent can make the sharpest steel weapons, and now it is a top priority, I hope that the Queen Mother believes in Weichen and fully supports the development of the Southern Continent."

Empress Dowager Cao pondered for a long time, "That's it! You write a complete investment immigration plan, and if the plan is feasible, the mourning family will consider it. ”

.........

As soon as Fan Ning returned to the mansion, the housekeeper stepped forward and said, "Master, Old Lady Zhu San sent someone over in the afternoon, please have time to come over." ”

"Did he say anything?"

"It looks like someone from the North Island."

Fanning nodded, "I see!" ”

The butler bowed and left, and Fanning came to his study, took a roll of jute paper, groaned, and began to write.

He has been vigorously promoting the development of the southern continent over the years, compared with Luzon and Baozhou, the progress of the southern continent is still too slow, and the distance may be one of the reasons, but Fanning believes that the lack of attention to the Zhizheng Tang is the main reason, the southern continent can not be as immediate as Kunzhou and Luzon, and soon transport a steady stream of silver and gold, which requires long-term investment and a long wait, how can the Zhizheng Tang, which has always been stingy in financial resources, be willing to make such a large investment.

It was easy to convince the Son of Heaven today, and under the oppression of the Son of Heaven, the Zhizheng Tang was also forced to agree to increase and speed up the development of the Southern Continent, but the financial resources required for investment were still a big problem, and the Zhizheng Tang could not take it out, so persuading the Empress Dowager to use the large amount of wealth accumulated in the Inner Treasury to invest in the development of the Southern Continent was the top priority in the development of the Southern Continent.

Fan Ning actually knew how to convince the Empress Dowager Cao, who strongly opposed the change, so the development of the Southern Continent could weaken the basis for the change; Empress Dowager Cao was concerned about the long-term stability of the Great Song Dynasty, so the wealth of the Southern Continent could support the stability of the Song Dynasty; Empress Dowager Cao cares about the people at the bottom, so the development of the Southern Continent can give the people at the bottom a way to live, etc., these are all official matters, and for personal feelings, Fan Ning can also touch the softness in Empress Dowager Cao's heart.

For example, it is difficult for the Empress Dowager Cao to care about the development of the Cao family, so the development of the South Continent is very important to the support of the South Island, at least the South Island can get strong support from the South Island in the event of a crisis.

In public and private, Fanning believed that his report could impress Empress Dowager Cao.

Then there is the preparation of investment plans, the early investment in the southern continent, mainly focused on resettlement, labor recruitment, and long-term supply of daily necessities, Fanning has calculated that a Japanese laborer needs 30 yuan a year, 100,000 laborers a year is 3 million yuan, if it is mining, a large mine has 100,000 miners is the minimum.

There are also immigrants, each family has to pay a one-time settlement fee of 20 yuan, if the first phase is 100,000 households, it is 2 million yuan, after arriving in the southern continent, it will be resettled, and it will be responsible for eating, drinking, and Lazar, which is another large amount of expenses, so Fanning considered immigrating 100,000 households in the first year and recruiting 100,000 Japanese miners, which would require at least 8 million to 10 million yuan.

At that moment, the door opened, and Juppé walked in with a cup of tea.

"Husband is writing a recital?" Juppi asked with a smile as he placed the teacup on the table.

Fan Ning put down the pen, picked up the teacup and said with a wry smile: "The Queen Mother gave me an exam paper, and asked her to take out money from the inner treasury to support the development of the Southern Continent, which is not easy!" ”

"No, it won't! The Queen Mother personally told me that she was very supportive of the development of the Southern Continent, and she also said that the development progress of the Southern Continent was too slow. ”

Fanning was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "When did you say that to you?" ”

Juppe thought for a moment, "More than a month ago! At that time, the husband was still fighting in Youzhou. ”

"Are you sure she's not talking about the South Island, but the South Continent?"

"Husband-" Zhu Peila said in a long voice, "Of course it's the Southern Continent, I won't even be able to distinguish between the Southern Continent and the South Island!" ”

"That's strange, since she supports the development of the Southern Continent, why is her attitude so vague this afternoon?"

"Actually, it's not a contradiction!"

Zhu Pei glanced at the report on the table, and said with a shallow smile: "Since the Queen Mother gave you the test paper, it has already indicated her attitude." ”

Fan Ning scratched her head and smiled: "That's right, if she hadn't had any interest in the Southern Continent, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to sit here and do the test papers." ”

Fanning got up and said, "I have to go to the third grandfather, it seems that someone from the North Island is here." ”