In the spring of the eighth year of the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing.

Since the three-kingdom peace conference in the fourth year of the republic and the suspension of the competition, the streets of Nanjing have really become more prosperous year by year. It is just after the New Year, and the soldiers, Chinese and civilians of Nanjing are all wearing the new clothes they have just made during the New Year, and they are surging in the streets. Many countrymen and people still wear swords, the symbol of their status, and they walk swaggeringly, looking full of martial virtues.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the middle school hall and primary school hall in Nanjing City have opened. In the past two years, middle schools and primary schools have sprung up in Nanjing. Every afternoon after school, the streets are full of schoolchildren wearing wide Confucian clothes and carrying one-shoulder school bags, bouncing and chasing each other, making cheerful laughter, forming a vibrant landscape.

The area of Changganli, south of the Qinhuai River in the outer city of Nanjing, has been a prosperous place since ancient times, and it was also during the decades of the Qing Dynasty's rule that it weakened sharply, and when Yue Le launched the siege of Nanjing, it was directly razed into white land!

It is such a piece of land that was once bulldozed in the war, and now it has also prospered again, becoming a new handicraft industry, such as weaving workshops, dyeing workshops, gold and silver workshops, fan workshops, breweries, leather goods workshops, carpentry workshops, carriage workshops, etc., have all moved out of the crowded and cramped inner city of Nanjing, and have come to open and expand on the open land along the Changganli along the Qinhuai River.

As soon as there are more industries, the population begins to gather, and when there are more people, of course they have to have housing. The south of Ganchangli was originally farmland, but now many of them have been paved with stone roads, and houses have been built on both sides of the road, and every evening, the narrow streets and alleys in that area are all bustling with words. Along the streets, all kinds of small vendors are crowded, and the sound of selling is endless, and the aroma of various cooked foods floats in the air.

In the north of the outer city of Nanjing, between the outer Jinchuan Gate and the Shangyuan Gate, it was originally a place with little popularity, but now it is also lively. The Jinling Shipyard, which was jointly funded by the military industrial supervision of the Daming General's Office, Guangdong Company and Nanyang Company, is under construction.

Leibniz, the all-rounder of the city, was in charge of the design and planning of this shipyard, which covers a large area of several thousand acres, and plans to build 8 dry docks for 1,500-ton battleships, 2 dry docks for 2,000-ton battleships, and 10 outfitting docks. If all are completed and put into service, in an ideal state, the construction of 2 1st or 2nd class battleships and 8 3rd or 4th class battleships can be completed every year!

And this shipyard is only one of the four major shipyards in Daming under construction (expansion), as well as Baoshan Shipyard, Xiamen Shipyard, and Guangzhou Shipyard, which are also working overtime to build.

Although these shipyards have not yet been built, in the few dry docks that have been completed, young shipbuilders have begun to lay keels and prepare for the construction of fourth-class warships, which were first built by the Xiamen shipyard under the Nanyang Company at a high price with the help of English craftsmen. After the Xiamen shipyard was built, it sent masters and craftsmen to help the three major factories of Baoshan, Guangzhou, and Jinling build fourth-class ships with drawings copied from English craftsmen.

It's a bit of a game of chess across the country!

What? Don't want to help? Afraid that the apprentices of the church will starve to death the master?

That's against General Li! Because the plan to open the four major shipyards was drawn up by the Yamen, the director of the military industry who was also concurrently held by General Li himself. General Li is too familiar with making plans.

He drew up not only plans for the construction of the four major shipyards, but also plans for the extraction and import of timber for them, as well as plans for the production of iron parts and artillery for ships.

Among them, in addition to Foshan Iron Industry, which are supporting marine iron tools and artillery, are the three iron industry bases of Liuhe Yeshan Iron Industry, Taipingfu Nanshan Iron Industry and Pukou Iron Industry under construction.

The construction plan for these three iron bases, located near the city of Nanjing, was of course also the work of Li Yat-sen.

According to the plan, iron ore mines and iron-smelting factories will be built in Yeshan and Nanshan, and Pukou will be a center for the forging and casting industry to process various iron and bronze objects.

Among them, Yeshan Iron Mine is an old mine, and someone opened a mine there in the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, at that time, it was a copper mine, and then iron ore was discovered, and then it has been mined one after another. Li Yat-sen invested some money from the budget of the military industry director Yamen to the miners who opened mines in Yeshan, and also issued them the prospecting rights of the entire Yeshan to expand production. Then Li Yat-sen gave them a reward of 10,000 taels of silver, which was awarded to the first mine owner to discover a large iron ore in Nanshan, Taiping Province.

Nanshan in this Taiping Mansion is the largest mine in the hands of Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Company in the future, Li Zhongshan only knows a rough idea, and does not know where to go to mine, so he put a reward of 10,000 taels, not only to the owners of Yeshan mines, but also the owners of Hubei Daye Mine, Jiangxi Phoenix Mountain Mine, and Xuzhou Liguo Mine also got the reward - as long as they can find the mine located underground in Nanshan, this silver is theirs. And they can also get the right to mine the mines they find!

The Pukou Iron Industry was invited by Li Zhongshan from Foshan, Guangdong Province with the money of the Military Industry Supervision - the Military Industry Supervision provided subsidies for the construction of the factory, and at the same time issued orders, so that those iron industry owners in Foshan would come to Pukou County in Tianfu to open a branch.

After four years of hard work, the pig iron output of Yeshan has tripled compared with a few years ago, and Pukou Iron Industry is now beginning to take shape, and the reward for Nanshan prospecting, now there are people who have won it, but the iron ore in Nanshan is buried a little deep, buried in the ground 70 zhang below, it seems that it is a bit difficult to dig it!

Although the Nanshan iron mine could not be developed for a while, Yeshan and Pukou were still prosperous, and the north of the outer city of Nanjing also had great hope of becoming a new prosperous place driven by the Jinling Shipyard.

In the Ming Dynasty, like Nanjing, there are many cities that have received a round of great development in the past four years, such as Baoshan County in Songjiang Prefecture, Guangzhou Fucheng in Guangdong Province, Xiamen Island in Fujian (where the Zheng family's new nest is located), and Yangzhou City, an important town in Jiangbei.

However, when the peace entered the fifth year, the calm and peaceful atmosphere was fading, and the smell of gunpowder in the city of Nanjing was becoming stronger and stronger.

Walking through the streets of Nanjing, the Tang Horse Flying Horse, which is under the jurisdiction of the Left and Right Military Divisions of the General's Mansion, is becoming more and more numerous, and the sound of hooves and the ringing of the bell on the horse's hooves is ringing in people's ears from time to time, and sometimes people do not live in peace in the middle of the night.

On the afternoon of the second day of the second month of the second month of the eighth year of the Republic of China, when it was almost time for dinner, in the twilight, several healthy horses swept through the streets of Nanjing, and rushed all the way to the Great General's Mansion in the center of the inner city of Nanjing.

"General, an urgent military report from the Yamen of the General Army of Bintan Island transferred by the Yamen of the Admiral of Guangdong!"

Hearing Zhou Peigong's report, the bodies of the two opponents in the King of England on the shore of Mochou Lake trembled. Li Zhongshan was playing Go with his father-in-law Wu Guogui, he didn't say a word, just put down the chess pieces in his hand, and then reached out to take the copy of the urgent military newspaper brought by Zhou Peigong himself.

The military newspaper was jointly sent by Jia Guozhu, the co-organizer of the Nanyang Minister, and He You, the chief soldier of Bintan Island, and there were two main contents in it: First, it reported on the "battle results" obtained by the Sino-French joint fleet in the Maluku Islands and the Banda Islands in December last year.

Second, it was reported that Jia Guozhu had already led a mission, aboard a "mission and merchant fleet" composed of 15 armed Galen ships, and followed the French fleet composed of four fourth-class ships to the west out of the Strait of Malacca and headed for distant Europe.

And with Jia Guozhu, there were 3,000 "Japanese French Army and Little Eight Banner Soldiers" and a large number of silk, porcelain, tea, sugar, and spices that the "Japanese French Army" snatched for Louis, the Sun King!

This really made Louis XIV jump into the English Channel and couldn't wash it clean!

And does Louis Ken jump?

This black pot is worth at least 100 million livres! (The exchange rate of the Livre was low before, and the Livre to silver in the early period of Louis XIV was about 5:1)

Louis XIV: was he the one who could give 100 million livres to William III?

Therefore, Li Yat-sen's plan to "move the trouble to France" really made a bloody investment, to the point that Louis XIV saw through the plan and had to get the plan.

If Louis XIV had taken all the spices, sold silk, porcelain, tea, sugar, and blessings, and sent the 3,000 "Japanese French soldiers and small Eight Banner soldiers" to the rakshasas. So how else can he explain it? How do you shake the pot? said that he was not the black boss, and said that he was pitted by Li Yat-sen, who would believe it?

made people pit, so he made a hundred million Livre for nothing? Is this human talk?

Even if Wilhelm III did not declare war immediately, relations between France and the Netherlands would have to break down.

As long as the law and the Netherlands are broken, it will depend on Jia Guozhu's ability!

And once the Netherlands decides to launch an anti-French alliance again, then the Netherlands, Spain, and even England will have to fight against France, after all, this "law" is not good, it is fatal! "Ming" is not good, at most lose a little colony.

Who can't tell which is more important?

Seeing Li Zhongshan's happy expression, Wu Guogui, who was sitting opposite him, was a little puzzled: "Uncle, what's the good thing?" Can you tell me about it? ”

He has been sitting in Xuzhou for several years, presiding over the affairs of the Mongolian East India Company, this business can not be said to be unsmooth, it can only be said that it has gone through ups and downs, and there is no hope of profit!

The difficulty of reopening the overland Silk Road is really not ordinary!

The investment that needs to be made upfront can only be described as amazing. Don't say anything about building roads, most of the roads in these years pay attention to a "more people walking", and when there are more people walking, it becomes a road!

But along the way, there is always a post city that can allow merchants to settle down and at the same time have a certain defensive ability, right? The cost of this alone is staggering!

In addition, the cost of organizing a trade in the Western Regions by the Mongolian Indian Trading Company is also outrageous. Even if the tax cards along the way can be exempted from taxes, merchants, guards, coachmen, and camel passengers all have to spend money, and the efficiency of transporting goods by horse-drawn carts and camels is too low, so there are not many goods that can be transported at one time, and then all kinds of costs are spread in, then there is basically no profit.

If you insist on saying that the Western Regions trade route has any value, it is probably to facilitate the migration of the Qing Dynasty and the Great Zhou Dynasty to the west, and of course it is also conducive to the spread of Han culture to the west.

And Li Zhongshan now heard Wu Guogui's question, so he just smiled faintly and said: "Old Taishan, the day when we will go north to the Central Plains and start mixing with the sea is not far off!" ”

"Really?" Wu Guogui's expression was a little complicated.

Li Zhongshan nodded: "However, this war is not so easy to end, because it will be an unprecedented war!" ”

"How is it unprecedented?" Wu Guogui said, "It's just that three points are unified." ”

Li Zhongshan shook his head: "More than that. Three points into one, in the final analysis, is a matter of three families. And this battle, I'm afraid it will involve the whole world! ”

"The whole world?" Wu Guogui's brows were furrowed, as if he was preoccupied.

Li Zhongshan looked at him and asked, "Old Taishan, are you unwilling to meet Wu Zhou's sword soldiers?" ”

"No, no, no" Wu Guogui hurriedly shook his head, "I am the Prince of Daming, and I am your father-in-law, of course I helped you fight, and Shi Jue is the same!" ”

Li Zhongshan said with a smile: "Old Taishan, there is a battlefield where you can not meet Wu Zhou's sword soldiers. Absolutely not! Why don't you go there with Shijue for a few years? ”

"And such a battlefield?" Wu Guogui asked, "It won't be Liaodong, right?" ”

"No, it's not Liaodong," Li Zhongshan said, "it's the New World!" Old Taishan, are you willing to go through this experience? ”

"Yes!" Wu Guogui nodded, and then asked again, "But it's about the Mongolian East India Trading Company."

Li Zhongshan said with a smile: "I know that there is a person who can eat well in the Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, and Zhou Dynasty who can take over Lao Taishan, you work hard, go and do this well, and then go to the New World to take office." ”

"That's very good," Wu Guogui paused again, "but who is that person?" ”

"It's my old enemy. Shang Shuying! ”

February 15, 20th year of Kangxi, naturalized city.

The famous capital built by Altan Khan was apparently benefited from the Kangxi expedition to the west and the establishment of the Mongol East India Trading Company. In the past three or four years, it has also prospered, and it has become one of the two major routes of communication between the Central Plains and the Western Regions.

Furs from Mongolia and Siberia, livestock, tea bricks, ironware, and salt from the Central Plains all meet here. With the opening of trade routes between the Qing Dynasty and India and the Ottoman Empire, "Made in India" and "special products" brought by the Ottoman Empire from Ukraine and the steppes of South Russia also appeared in small quantities in the city of Guihua.

A large number of Jin merchants, with the support of Empress Yang and her four most trusted auxiliary ministers (two of whom were from Shanxi), flocked to Naturalization from the area south of the Great Wall, controlling all kinds of business and giving this city a strong "Jin flavor".

The whole city is noisy and noisy, people of all countries and ethnic groups are staggered back and forth, and teams of camels and cars and horses are constantly passing through the city.

However, in the past few days, the city of Guihua has rarely become heavily guarded, and the elite Qing soldiers wearing blue jackets, carrying flintlock pistols and waist knives are patrolling back and forth in the bustling city.

Considering that the war in the West seems to have come to a standstill, and the fragile peace between the Ming, Qing, and Zhou has entered its fifth year, the Ming in the south seems to have sorted out the interior well. The smell of gunpowder in the whole city also began to thicken.

At the north gate of the city, at this time, hundreds of heavily armed "blue vests" have been controlled by Tuan Tuantuan, and there are dozens of extraordinary "blue vests" surrounded by a plainly dressed, but very graceful figure, looking quite a bit of grandeur of beauty, waiting for someone to arrive.

This beauty is not an ordinary person, but Yang Xiaomi, the current queen of the Qing Dynasty!

She came out of the fortress to naturalize this time in order to welcome the triumphant return of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Aixin Jueluo. Wu. Xuanye's.

She and Kangxi have been separated for three years and almost four years, as for Fuquan...... More often than not, I don't see it.

And now, seeing that the husband and wife are about to meet, there is no trace of a smile on that enchanting face. Some are just cold and dignified!

Such an expression made the four Han auxiliary ministers Chen Tingjing, Yu Chenglong, Xiong Cixu, and Wang Xi who followed her a little worried.

What's wrong with this queen mother? The emperor is coming soon, why is she sullen?

Should you have been in power for a long time, and you are a little reluctant to return the power to Emperor Kangxi?

Or maybe she still has the Prince Regent Yu in her heart?

It's a bit tricky!

Now that Kangxi has returned victoriously and is booming, Empress Yang wants to seize power from him, I am afraid it is wishful thinking.

Several auxiliary ministers looked at each other, and then Xiong Cixu, who was most trusted by Empress Yang, leaned over to her and said in a low voice: "Niangniang, the emperor is coming...... This time, the emperor is victorious and has returned triumphantly, and you should look a little happy. ”

Empress Yang looked back at her henchman, sighed softly, and lowered her voice: "Master Xiong, you don't know yet, right?" The emperor didn't come back this time because of the triumphant ......"

"Not because of triumph? What's the reason for that? Xiong Cilu looked at Empress Yang while speaking, and said in his heart: Could it be that the emperor returned from the Western Regions because he missed the queen?

"He wants to rebel again...... Empress Yang said in a low voice.

"Who? Who wants to rebel again? Xiong Cixu didn't understand.

"Who else? Of course, it's our emperor. Empress Yang sighed again and said in an inaudible voice, "The emperor wants to rebel against the Ming Dynasty again." ”

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly heard the horse's hooves, and then she saw a few flying horses in blue coats coming, and shouted while running: "The emperor has returned triumphantly!" The emperor is about to arrive......"

(End of chapter)