Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 363 The Prince of Nan'an County

Jia Rui saw that the young man kept a cold face, so he was not ready to ask the other party's name, so he quickly brought the topic to the main topic.

"Since your prince asked you to come and lead the way, let's set off now."

After Jia Rui finished speaking, he didn't care about the young general and directly ordered Wangcai to prepare it immediately.

After that, the young general was the only one left standing there in the hall, while Jia Rui and the others had already gone about their business.

That morning, Jia Rui left Tianjin City with his troops under the leadership of this young general and went straight to the naval construction site along the coast of Tianjin.

On the way to the navy, Jia Rui was very dissatisfied with the construction of local roads.

You must know that all the money spent on the Navy's construction passed through Jia Rui's hands, including the cost of building roads. But looking at this road now, there is no trace of any construction at all.

However, Jia Rui didn't say anything, but secretly kept him in mind, waiting to return to Beijing and file a complaint to the Prince of Nan'an County in front of the Supreme Emperor.

In fact, Jia Rui also didn't understand the psychological activities of Prince Nan'an.

Before leaving the capital, Prince Nan'an had a good relationship with him. When they met, they both greeted each other with smiles and took care of each other if something happened.

Why did Prince Nan'an and himself seem to have become strangers in the past two years?

Just when Jia Rui was confused, they had arrived at the navy station.

After arriving here, Jia Rui saw that this was not like a military camp at all, but a large vegetable market.

The people inside didn't know whether they were soldiers or craftsmen. Anyway, Jia Rui couldn't tell them apart. He only saw these people running around in the military camp. No one greeted Jia Rui when he came.

Jia Rui frowned, what's going on with Prince Nan'an?

You are an imperial envoy after all, and you are here on behalf of the imperial court. Even if you are just showing off, you should put the military camp in order.

"Why is this so messy?" Jia Rui couldn't help but ask the young general who was following him.

"My prince has been supervising the construction of warships in the shipyard, and the recruited navy has rented civilian ships for training on the beach. These people are the family members of the shipwrights, as well as civilians who came to beg for food nearby." The young general's tone and face are still the same. of indifference.

Jia Rui said nothing more, but silently followed the young man forward, passing through the messy vegetable market and entering the shipyard.

After entering here, Jia Rui saw a trace of order.

Then Jia Rui saw a dozen large ships being built on the shore.

Jia Rui was a landlubber and had no knowledge of ancient shipbuilding in modern times, so he didn't know the quality of these warships.

But seeing its huge scale, Jia Rui's mood improved.

Jia Rui can be regarded as a pseudo-military enthusiast in modern times. He saw on the Internet a summary of naval battles made by Yu Dayou, a famous anti-Japanese general in the mid-Ming Dynasty. Jia Rui believed it deeply.

"Naval warfare is nothing more than using a big ship to defeat a small ship, using a big blunderbuss to defeat a small blunderbuss; using many ships to defeat few ships, and using many blunderbuss to defeat a few blunderbuss."

Therefore, Jia Rui was very happy to see a dozen huge warships.

Just as Jia Rui was looking at the warship that was about to be built with great interest, a group of people hurriedly walked over to this side.

When Jia Rui heard the sound, he turned around and saw that the leader was none other than the King of Nan'an County.

However, Jia Rui was also a little surprised when he saw the appearance of Prince Nan'an.

I haven't seen this prince for more than a year. Is he already so haggard?

I saw that the prince, who used to be energetic and healthy, was now as thin as a stick. Only his two eyes were still very energetic, and they shone from time to time.

Although Jia Rui was surprised, he still walked forward quickly and came to the side of Prince Nan'an.

"My lord, why have you become like this after not seeing me for more than a year?"

The Prince of Nan'an County smiled heartily, "It's nothing. Although I have lost weight now, my body is still in great shape. It's not like when I was in Beijing, it was either painful or uncomfortable."

Then Prince Nan'an took Jia Rui's hand, shook it hard, and said, "Thanks to my brother for your financial support, otherwise our navy would not have been able to build up so fast."

Then Prince Nan'an took Jia Rui to a simple room.

Jia Rui came into the room and saw maps and designs of various warships hung here. He also saw a bed in the corner with some quilts piled randomly on it.

It seems that Prince Nan'an has been resting here.

At this time, the young general following Jia Rui looked at Prince Nan'an with reverence.

Jia Ruijian didn't understand why he was like this. The Prince of Nan'an County had been working diligently for more than a year and had won the heart of this young general. No wonder he ignored his show of kindness!

After the two sides sat down, Jia Rui cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think you know the purpose of the Emperor asking me to come to Tianjin this time. Tell me the truth, why the construction speed of the Navy is so slow."

Prince Nan'an sighed, and then said: "When I first came to Tianjin, I thought it would be very easy this time. But after I came, I realized that we were building a navy from a blank sheet of paper. It was extremely difficult. Beyond imagination." As he spoke, King Nan'an began to introduce the construction process of the navy to Jia Rui.

Among them, the most difficult thing was at the beginning, because the court did not have a large ship suitable for the ocean environment.

The Prince of Nan'an finally had to mobilize some maritime transport merchant ships from the south, and wanted to build warships from these merchant ships.

But when the merchant ship arrived and Prince Nan'an tried it, he realized that his idea was too naive.

The main role of these seagoing ships is maritime trade, so regardless of their load-bearing structure and balance at sea, they are not enough to bear the role of warships.

With no other option, Prince Nan'an used the court's money to offer heavy bounties and purchased several warships from the barbarians and pirates in Nanyang.

Although a lot of money was spent in the end, when the battleships were obtained, Prince Nan'an discovered that these battleships were from decades ago.

However, based on these small warships that had been around for decades, Prince Nan'an slowly summoned shipwrights to draw drawings, and finally slowly improved them to expand the tonnage of the hull.

Then dozens of huge warships were built bit by bit.

Just these dozens of warships have spent almost all the silver given to Prince Nan'an by the Supreme Emperor.

Jia Rui looked at the haggard look of King Nan'an and didn't know what to say.

Originally, Jia Rui thought that the reason why the construction speed of the navy was slow was because the Prince of Nan'an had embezzled a lot of money from inside, but looking at the current situation, the Prince of Nan'an and his family had done their best.

"Old Prince, to tell you the truth, the Emperor is in a hurry in the capital, so you have to speed up."

Prince Nan'an spread his hands helplessly and said: "I would like to speed up the process, but there are really few shipwrights who can build warships. In addition, various materials for building giant warships have to be selected and mobilized from various places, which is not an easy task. "

Hearing the other party's difficulties, Jia Rui said helplessly: "I know your difficulties, but the emperor is urging you too urgently. See if you can speed up the progress."

Prince Nan'an shook his head and said, "It's the fastest speed now."

Jia Rui stood up and walked a few steps in the room, and then said: "There is a saying: Under a heavy reward, there must be a brave man. Let's spend a lot of money to buy timber from Nanyang, and at the same time issue a reward to recruit boatmen from Nanyang and its vassal countries."

The Prince of Nan'an County nodded after listening to Jia Rui's words. If he could really spend several times the price, even if the Nanyang barbarians were wary of the court, many of them would be greedy and secretly secretly face the huge amount of money. smuggling materials to the court.

"But Mr. Jia, this will cost the court several times the amount of money. Can the Supreme Emperor agree?"

Jia Rui waved his hand generously, "Don't worry about the money. As long as the navy's construction speed increases, the Emperor will pay you any amount of money."

Jia Ruike knew the role of this navy better than anyone else. It was not used to expand territory, but to provide a place for the Emperor's precious grandson.

The Prince of Nan'an County became generous when he heard Jia Rui's promise: "As long as the money is in place, by the end of this year, the navy will have a hundred large warships."

"Okay, this is what I'm waiting for."

Jia Rui sat down again and then said: "I will go back to Beijing tomorrow to report to the Supreme Emperor and give you money. You also start to prepare. But we have to say that if the size of the navy's large warships does not reach one hundred before the end of the year, , I’m afraid I can’t protect you either.”

Prince Nan'an said confidently: "Master Jia, don't worry, as long as the money is in place, I can buy you a hundred warships even if I can't build them."

"Then we've settled."

"That's a deal."

Next, the two high-fived each other.

After roughly deciding on the outcome, Prince Nan'an invited Jia Rui to the shipyard to see the battleship construction process, and then took Jia Rui to the seaside to see the navy's training.

After walking around for a while, Jia Rui was sure that Prince Nan'an had not been lazy in the past two years and was really working diligently to build a navy for the court.

But Jia Rui still doesn't understand. The original Prince of Nan'an County was not so dedicated to the country and the people. What's wrong? A different person?

Although there have always been doubts in his heart, Jia Rui still admired Prince Nan'an very much on the surface, and even patted his chest and promised him that he would give him many kind words when he meets the Supreme Emperor.

After the visit, Jia Rui had lunch in the middle of the afternoon, and finally hurried back to Tianjin before it got dark.

After coming back, Jia Rui locked himself in the study and kept thinking about today's events.

What I saw today was too unbelievable. What kind of medicine did Prince Nan'an take? Becoming weird.

Jia Rui can still believe that you used to be honest and honest in serving the country and the people, but now you continue to behave in the same way in the construction of the navy.

But in the past, the Prince of Nan'an County was an old man who only knew how to specialize, a confused official who only knew how to enjoy glory and wealth, and took corruption and bribes.

Now he suddenly looks like an upright official, and has lost dozens of kilograms. Who would believe it?

(End of this chapter)