serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 306 Three Stones
The summer in Beijing was much cooler this year. In July, there were several heavy rains in a row. At dawn that day, the wind started again. Emperor Jianwu asked Dai Quan to open the palace door and windows. The wind blew through the open window on the opposite side. Passing through it, the curtains hanging by the window and the door of the palace are blown up, and the body is cool.

Emperor Jianwu was sitting in front of the imperial case and flipping through the official documents, his complexion and mood were obviously very good.

At this time Dai Quan came in with his chief assistant Song Chengliang.

Emperor Jianwu gave him a seat and ordered Dai Quan to serve tea.

At this time, Song Chengliang still had a trace of the aura of the chief minister of the dynasty. He was just a shriveled old man in casual clothes.

Dai Quan carried the copper pot to the imperial case and poured tea. He said with a smile: "Except for Shaanxi and Shandong, everyone has reported a bumper harvest this year, even Anhui. The world is at peace, and the people's lives are much better. The money in the treasury The money is also abundant, and the prosperous age that the chief minister has been waiting for is right in front of us."

Song Chengliang smiled. Dai Quan was right, but he was also wrong. The national treasury was full, but it was all money stolen by the military from outside. An official document was sent to Guihua City a few days ago. It will be given to him at the end of August. The capital sent 30 cattle and sheep, and [-] war horses. This is only the first batch.

This year, the lives of the people in the capital will be even more prosperous.

Emperor Jianwu also smiled and said: "The second batch of victims from Shandong has sailed northward, and the first batch of victims has also settled in Shengjing. Everything is going according to plan."

After a pause, "The Yangtze River Navy sank three more merchant ships buying food for the Manchus."

Song Chengliang: "Prince Yizhong?"

Emperor Jianwu shook his head: "They are a group of Western Yi people."

Song Chengliang nodded.

Emperor Jianwu: "There has been some unrest in Nanyang recently. The governor of Guangdong reported that several caravans were blackmailed by the Xiyi navy. I have ordered General Yuehai to deal with the matter."

Song Chengliang sighed: "It's something to be expected. Nanyang is so big. If we make more, the people in the West will naturally make less. It's better to prepare in advance."

Emperor Jianwu smiled faintly: "The warships of the Yangtze River Navy stationed at Dagukou are all standard large-scale ships. They can go south to support the Guangdong Navy at any time. There will be thirty warships going to sea by the end of the year."

Speaking of this, Emperor Jianwu suddenly remembered: "Tell the chief minister something important. The war within the Qing Dynasty is over. The Tatar emperor and the Korean Tatars won the final victory. The Manchu prince and the Liaodong Tatars were exiled. The Manchu prince will lead the remaining troops to cross eastward to the Japanese country."

Song Chengliang was stunned and didn't say anything for a long time.

Emperor Jianwu changed the topic: "Li Chengyang has basically wiped out the Liaodong area. The Pioneer Battalion has entered Jilin. I think it will be over soon."

Song Chengliang smiled and suddenly remembered something. He hesitated and asked, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, how is the third prince's condition?"

Emperor Jianwu shook his head sadly.

Dai Quan spoke: "This old slave talks too much. The emperor should have ordered famous doctors from all over the country to come to the palace to treat the third prince."

Emperor Jianwu sighed silently, but did not answer.

Song Chengliang looked at Dai Quan: "First, several empresses fell ill for no reason, and now the third prince suddenly fell seriously ill. Didn't you, the Chief of Ceremonies, check it out?"

Dai Quan looked at Emperor Jianwu first, and then replied: "I checked, but I didn't find anything."

There was silence in the study room.

At this moment, the sound of rapid footsteps came, and Dai Quan quickly looked towards the door.

After a moment, Shi Guangzhu walked in with an official document, followed by Wang Hetang and Niu Jizong. Niu Jizong held a box wrapped in red cloth in his hands.

Walking to the imperial desk, Shi Guangzhu presented the official document with both hands: "Your Majesty, the six hundred miles from Uliasutai are urgent!"

Emperor Jianwu's eyes lit up, he took the official document forwarded by Dai Quan and read it. Then with a smile on his face, he said to Song Chengliang: "Ning Guogong won another victory and won a place called Kulun. Heilongjiang is getting closer. By the way, he also sent me a gift." Then he turned his attention to Niu Jizong: "What gift did Jia Hu give me?"

Niu Jizong: "I don't know." He put the baggage on the imperial desk and untied it.

A sandalwood box was exposed, with two seals crossed on the lid.

Wang Hetang handed a key to Dai Quan.

Emperor Jianwu: "Open it."

Dai Quan: "Yes." Tear off the seal, unlock, and then lift the lid.

Song Chengliang also came over and saw three stones in the box, one black and two yellow.Dai Quan frowned: "Stone?"

Emperor Jianwu said angrily: "This is ore."

Wang Hetang said with a smile: "The black ones are coal mines, and the yellow ones are copper mines. I didn't expect that there are copper mines in Uliasutai. Since Ning Guogong can present copper ore as a gift to His Majesty, it means that there are copper mines there. Quite a lot. As long as it is mined, it will definitely alleviate the money shortage of the imperial court."

Emperor Jianwu smiled and nodded. The Zhou Dynasty was short of copper, and copper was the main material for making money. The treasury collected silver, but the people used copper coins.

Wang Hetang continued: "This time we made a lot of money. What's wrong? Chief Assistant?"

At this time, Song Chengliang was holding a piece of ore and looking at it carefully. After a long time, he put down the piece of ore and said to Emperor Jianwu with a happy face: "This piece is not copper ore, it is gold ore, it is gold!"

Emperor Jianwu was surprised: "Gold ore?"

Song Chengliang: "It's impossible for Ning Guogong to send two pieces of copper ore."

This sentence reminded everyone that Jia Hu could not send two pieces of the same ore from all the way.

Emperor Jianwu picked up the piece of gold ore and looked at it carefully, then handed it to Dai Quan: "Go to the Ministry of Industry and ask."

Dai Quan: "Yes." He ran out like a gust of wind.

For a while, the study room fell into silence again.

The imperial court was not only short of copper, but also gold and silver.

Time was hard, and everyone had already drank two bowls of tea. Wang Hetang couldn't help it, stood up, walked to the door and looked into the distance.

Emperor Jianwu suddenly remembered: "It's a bad thing!"

Everyone was shocked and looked at Emperor Jianwu.

Emperor Jianwu's face was a bit ugly: "This official document was sent from Kulun, so these ores must have been discovered in Kulun too. The Xilin Gol League side."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.

At this moment, Dai Quan rushed in like a gust of wind, holding up the gold ore in his hand, panting: "Gold, gold ore"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces suddenly became very ugly, and they all looked at the emperor.

Emperor Jianwu also stood up, and quickly paced back and forth. If it was just a coal mine and a copper mine, he would admit it with a gritted teeth. Now there is another gold mine, which made him hesitate. Face is important, but The price was so high that even the emperor felt distressed.

Niu Jizong spoke: "Your Majesty, Ning Guogong once said that the underground mineral resources of Uliasu Tai are very rich. In such a large grassland, even if there are no other gold mines, as long as another copper mine is discovered, even if it is just an iron mine, it will be It has a great influence on the court."

Shi Guangzhu immediately continued: "In the last military report, Jia Hu mentioned that the Xilin Gol League's envoy asked for Culun by name. If it is true as Jia Hu said, then the Xilin Gol League deliberately deceived the court!"

Emperor Jianwu stopped and his eyes flashed with a faint light: "If this is really the case, then it is even more destructive!"

Niu Jizong went on to say: "According to the previous plan, Jia Hu will lead the Yongwei Battalion into Heilongjiang to eliminate the Raksha bandit army. In this way, the defense of Uliasutai will be empty. You can send fine cavalry from Datong and Xuanfu to go there. garrison."

After hearing his words, Emperor Jianwu's eyes lit up.

Wang Hetang: "The Xilin Gol League has signed an alliance with the Rakshasa people, and the court must be on guard against it. I thought I could give Ning Guogong a secret order to allow him to do things easily."

Song Chengliang smiled lightly. In the face of face and interests, everyone chose the latter. At the same time, they were slightly surprised. I don't know when, the cabinet was filled with a belligerent style, and they pursued force to solve everything. Make a fortune from war.

A few days ago, the cabinet took the initiative to discuss the matter of "recovering" North Korea with the Ministry of War.

Finally, Emperor Jianwu made up his mind: "Okay! Draw up two orders: First, transfer [-] elite cavalry from Datong and Xuanfu to go north, with Zhongqin Bo Zhao Yi as the commander. In addition, tell Zhao Yi that everything must obey Jia Hu's orders. . Second, prepare a secret edict for Jia Hu according to Wangge Lao’s wishes.”

Dai Quan: "Follow the order."

Before he finished speaking, the deputy general manager of Qianqing Palace ran in with sweat on his face. He almost tripped on the threshold and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, the third prince has vomited blood."

Emperor Jianwu turned around suddenly and walked out in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)