System, help me be an empress

Chapter 176 Two in One
During this period of time, Xu Youxi traveled all over Guangdong Province to do on-the-spot investigations, and she didn't notice the decrease in backpack items at all. It was a few days after she learned the news of Xu Xiaoxiao's assassination.

"Assassinated? Have you found out where the assassin came from?"

Xu Youxi sat on the bamboo chair and began to think about whether he had touched someone's interests.

"It's the remnants of the White Lotus Sect."

When Xu Youxi heard the word 'White Lotus Sect', he couldn't sit still, and stood up directly from the armchair: "How do you say it?"

"According to the yamen's identification, more than half of these dead assassins are on the court's arrest warrants, and all of them did not carry any items that could prove their identity except explosives. It is not difficult to see that the assassination has been planned for a long time."

Fortunately, the Bailian sect members whose appearance can be drawn on the wanted warrant are basically under the hands of Jiang Yu who died in Jingzhou.

After confirming that it wasn't helping Hao, Xu Youxi breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that Xu Youxi was silent for a long time, Xu Ling paused for a while, and continued to add: "How these assassins sneaked into Shangjing City, and how they ambush near the Zhongming Temple, remains to be investigated. There are two possibilities now, either the assassins There are people in the court who are supporting them, or there are still undiscovered White Lotus Sect dens in Shangjing."

Xu Youxi picked up the teacup: "Did you help Hao and the others?"

"……should not."

Xu Ling always found it extremely inconceivable that His Majesty joined the White Lotus Sect on his own initiative, and even became their young leader.So much so that for a long time, it was believed that His Majesty was deceived by the hypocritical mask of the Black Heart White Lotus Sect.

After getting along for a long time, Xu Ling's thinking also changed greatly. Now he deeply doubts whether the White Lotus Cultists are too naive to be fooled by His Majesty's wily plans.

Ah.

These idiots actually believed that a prince from an orthodox emperor had a kindred spirit?
This is so heartfelt.

……

Xu Youxi calculated the time. Today is November [-]th. When she first arrived in Guangzhou, the weather was still sweltering, and the temperature has obviously turned cooler these days.

It's the season of snow in Shangjing again.

"It's been almost two months since I came to Guangdong this time. This year's time flies so fast. I haven't prepared much for the new year."

The scene of Xu Youxi being dragged up to sacrifice in the middle of the night of last year's New Year's Eve is still vivid in my memory, but this year Xu Xiaoxiao performed the summer festival for her, so the New Year's time should be much better.

"Your Majesty, are you planning to return to Beijing?" Xu Ling asked.

"It's okay in Guangzhou. Go back to Beijing for a year, and come back after the year."

Xu Youxi thought about it.

"Your subordinate will prepare now."

After Xu Ling left, Xu Youxi also walked out of the house and sat on the stone chair in the yard, looking up at the clean and bright blue sky.

Xu Ling left, and the next moment Jin Yiwei rushed over to report: "Your Majesty, those British merchants have sailed back with their goods."

"How is it possible? Have you negotiated? Can you be sure that the ship is from Great Britain and not from other countries?"

Leaving aside the issue of the distance between Great Britain and Dagan, just preparing the goods is very time-consuming.

It's less than two months... unless they have the ability to fly back and forth!
"It was General He who sent someone to spread the news."

Xu Youxi was sure that something was wrong: "Go and have a look."

Xu Youxi strode into the stables, pulled out a pure black horse with big nostrils, and after stroking the back of the black horse comfortingly, he turned on the horse skillfully: "Drive."

The black horse quickly galloped up the road.

After about a stick of incense, Xu Youxi had already arrived at the shore on horseback, and the people and boats were waiting in advance.

Xu Youxi boarded the boat and drove to the vicinity of General He's military ship. With his help, he boarded the military ship with difficulty: "General He, what's the situation?"

"Your Majesty, the ship from Great Britain came this time. Only two or three crew members came here last time, and the goods they brought were only cotton. Their captain, Lenato, said that they would come with goods such as cattle and sheep in a while."

"What do you mean, where did they get their cotton? It's impossible to go back and forth from Great Britain in such a short period of time." Xu Youxi was almost dazed by He Jiangyi's words, "Forget it, arrange for me to meet the people of Great Britain."

"Yes."

Le Xiaoqu also happened to be on board the ship. He was invited by General He to teach the crew the British language. Since His Majesty decided to trade with British merchants for a long time, dealing with them would be inevitable in the future.

Learn a language in case you need it.

When Xu Youxi passed by the deck, he happened to rub shoulders with Xu Shengshi, but the two of them tacitly did not say hello, but looked away at each other.

"You brought back so much goods in such a short period of time?" Xu Youxi was surprised when he saw the cotton equivalent to fifteen ships. "What do you want to trade with this cotton?"

The British businessman was very polite: "How much do you think the cotton is worth? We trust your judgment."

……

The two parties quickly reached an agreement on the cotton transaction. Xu Youxi's price for cotton was neither high nor low, but the British businessman was very satisfied, and even agreed on the next time for cotton delivery.

Xu Youxi tried clichés, but the British businessman admitted very frankly that the cotton was not grown in their own country, but from an extremely backward country.They brought various advanced technologies and resources to that country, and what the locals give back to them is these special cotton products, which is a matter of mutual benefit.

This kind of statement may be very reasonable to the ears of ordinary Dagan people, because this is the way Dagan gets along with neighboring countries.

But for Xu Youxi, the word 'colony' instantly came to her mind.Although Britain did not develop into the industrial age during this period, for some countries with backward civilization, their muskets and cannons are simply "god" existences.

Xu Youxi ordered the cargo ship of Great Britain to stop at the port to unload, and at the same time ordered the people on the shore to collect the trading goods as soon as possible.

Winter is here, and the cotton shipped by the merchant ships of Great Britain at this time can be said to be very suitable for the occasion.Xu Youxi asked people from the Guangdong Textile Factory to come over to receive the cotton, and use the shortest possible time to process the cotton into cold-proof products such as cotton quilts and cotton jackets, and ship them to various places in Dagan in batches.

Because the amount of cotton brought in was too much, Xu Youxi ordered someone to drive a steam car to send some cotton to each textile factory. Among them, the textile factories in Shudi had the most textile factories, and they also sent the most cotton there.

After the cotton is processed into quilts and clothes, it will be sold at an extremely low price, because each factory does not pay for the raw materials, so they will only earn as much as the cotton is sold.

This is actually a win-win business.

Xu Youxi exchanged the surplus resources with Great Britain for the cotton that the people demanded greatly. The workers in the textile mills made money, and the people also had low-priced warm clothes for the winter.

While waiting for the goods, the British businessman lived in the local area for several days. He didn't even need an envoy to lead the way. He went out by himself to taste all kinds of delicacies and visited the bustling market.

Without waiting for Xu Youxi to give them a detailed introduction, these foreigners fumbled to discover the existence of the 'Odd Goods Shop', and they were very interested in all the products in it.

The merchants of Great Britain were so envious of the odd goods shop that they almost shouted out the slogan they wanted to buy, but they only had some silver dollars on them, and the odd goods shop did not accept such coins they had never seen before, so they suggested that they go first. Ask the nearby bank if it can be exchanged for Dagan notes.

As a result, the bosses of the banks in Guangzhou are all good people, and they can be exchanged, but at most they will be exchanged for banknotes according to their weight.

The British businessman did the math, and felt that he had obviously made a profit, so he immediately agreed.Several people put together all the gold, silver and jewelry on their bodies, exchanged all of them into banknotes, and bought some groceries from odd goods shops with these banknotes.

When Jin Yiwei, who was sent by Xu Youxi to accompany several British businessmen, came back to report, he told her about this incident as a joke, but it reminded Xu Youxi that foreign currency exchange had to be added to the business in the bank's subsequent development.

A few days later, the British businessman left happily holding the "treasures" he bought from the strange goods shop in his hands, and the precious silk and porcelain from the Dagan trade on board.

"The next time we come here for a transaction, can we exchange some goods for your banknotes?" The British businessman thought of the items in the odd goods store and asked hesitantly, "We only sell a large box of cotton for two yuan. Money, one and a half yuan is fine..."

These merchants don't know that the prices of the goods in Qihuo Shop are basically reduced to ensure that all people can afford them, which does not mean that the purchasing power of Dagan paper money is very strong.

Xu Youxi couldn't laugh or cry: "You are welcome to come again. If you really need to exchange banknotes, you can wait for the next negotiation. Moreover, our bank also has shortcomings. In the future, we will increase the project of exchanging your local currency for Dagan banknotes."

"Thank you! Dagan is really a rich and great country!" The British businessman praised desperately, "I really hope I can live here for a long time!"

The wind on the beach gradually picked up, making everyone feel freezing. The British businessman saw that it was getting late, and thanked him a lot and left in a boat.

Xu Youxi didn't bring much clothes when she came out of Shangjing. At this time, she was still wearing a warm cotton jacket from the textile factory, but it didn't affect her feeling cold: "Winter is here, are the clothes and bedding for the soldiers on the ship enough?"

"Enough."

Xu Youxi looked at the pale soldiers who were blown by the cold wind and frowned: "You soldiers don't wear much, Xu Ling, you go to contact the director of the textile factory. The first batch of cotton will be made into a cotton suit for all sea soldiers. Coat, must keep warm."

"Yes."

"Also, write to the hospital of traditional Chinese medicine and ask them to prepare more medicines that are good for chilblain and send them over. The armies from all over the country will send some chilblain ointment, and the soldiers who need it can take it by themselves." After Xu Youxi ordered, he turned to Looking at He Jiangyi, "General He, you don't have to be polite. The matter of the soldiers on board is the court's business. If you have any needs, just ask. The court will try its best to solve it for you. First of all, you must not be short of food and clothing."

"Yes."

He Jiangyi felt sore and swollen when he heard these words. He has been in the army for so many years, how can an emperor be able to do this, caring about every soldier's food and clothing.

After Xu Youxi left the military ship and returned to the shore, He Jiangyi informed all the soldiers that the imperial court was going to distribute cotton coats to everyone, and also arranged for the imperial doctor in Beijing to dispense chilblain ointment.

This is already the first time that the team has received condolences from the imperial court several times this year. The soldiers almost feel ashamed, and at the same time, they have strengthened their determination to protect Daqian to the death!
#
On the [-]th day of the winter month in the second year of Tianyou, I went to the capital.

Yu Xuejing received a secret letter from Xu Youxi, saying that he had already set off to return to Beijing, but this time the return journey will not be too urgent, there are still some things to do along the way, and he will arrive within half a month.

In order to ensure the safety of His Majesty, Yu Xue Jing burned the secret letter after reading it. At this time, Qin Zhuangshu, the leader of the Imperial Guard who had just returned to Shangjing from the Lianghu area, came in to report the situation of the assassins.

"Commander Yu, why did you order not to continue to investigate Fu Hao and his party? According to the confession of the captured White Lotus Sect rebel, the name of one of the White Lotus Sect's instructors is Fu Hao. The surname Fu was not very common, but now Why don't you check it, you have to give me a reason."

Yu Xuejing was mainly in charge of the investigation of Xu Xiaoxiao's assassination case this time, but he had to keep an eye on his double Xu Xiaoxiao, so he simply assigned the investigation task to Qin Zhuangshu, who was capable.

"There's no need to check Fu Hao, and you won't find anything."

Yu Xuejing explained, after all, His Majesty has already wiped out the evidence that these people belong to the White Lotus Sect, and it would be a waste of time to continue to investigate.

Under the guidance of Xu Youxi, the Fu Hao group has now established a "charity organization" in Shanghai, which usually raises donations among the people, and uses the money raised from the donations to take in homeless people and help homeless old people and children. Category.

Every time a donation is raised, the monks in the temple are asked to count it in public; every penny spent is recorded in detail, which is completely open and transparent.

This also made the good reputation of Fu Hao and others spread widely in the capital, and it was precisely because of this that Qin Zhuangshu followed him so quickly.

"Why can't it be found out? The subordinates think that there must be a lot of unsolved stories about Fu Hao."

"Qin Zhuangshu, sometimes knowing too much is not a good thing. The focus now is to investigate the reason behind His Majesty's assassination. Don't be distracted by other people or things."

Because of Yu Xue Jing's perfunctory attitude, Qin Zhuangshu couldn't help becoming suspicious of him. Why did Lord Yu stop him from investigating?
And this time when His Majesty went to Zhongming Temple, he didn't spread the news in advance. How did these men in black know about this and lay an ambush in advance?

A terrible thought flashed in Qin Zhuangshu's mind, could it be that Yu Xue Jing already had the idea of ​​betraying His Majesty?If he was secretly colluding with the White Lotus Sect, then the matter could be explained.

When this thought came together, it was out of control. Qin Zhuangshu thought of it in an instant. During this period, Yu Xue Jing suddenly dropped the business at hand and began to follow His Majesty every step of the way. Could it be that he was planning to hold His Majesty hostage? !
The more Qin Zhuangshu thought about it, the angrier he became. His Majesty gave Yu Xuejing such a great power. How much trust does this have to do? Some people don't cherish it?
No, the more Yu Xuejing doesn't let him investigate, the more he has to investigate secretly. He has to see how much backer Fu Hao is hiding behind!

(End of this chapter)