Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 342 War
In the following days, Li Qiang behaved normally when attending court, but once he returned to the Daming Palace, his whereabouts became strange.

In other words, Lin Daiyu was in charge of the inner palace and did not let this matter spread.

No matter how talkative a eunuch or palace maid is, they will remember to keep their mouth shut if they know that the consequence of letting something slip is losing their head.

In the palace, those with big mouths would probably have died long ago, and it would have been impossible for them to grow up.

Li Qiang continued to practice the "Shenzutong", and the time it took to perform the "Shenzutong" was constantly shortened.

More than two years have passed in the blink of an eye, and Daqian has undergone tremendous changes today.

The biggest change is that the official roads between cities have been turned into cement roads, making travel between cities more convenient.

In the farmland, the steam engine with a huge roar pulled the plowing tool and plowed out a land more than ten feet wide at a time.

"The emperor is so good to us. He lets this iron ox help us do the most strenuous work!" said the old farmer with a long beard standing beside the ridge of the field, watching the steam car plowing the field.

"Who said it wasn't true? The people in the next village have to pay 60% of the rent, and look at us, we only have to pay 30%!" Another short-bearded old farmer said with a smug smile, revealing his yellow teeth.

"Among the rent they paid, there is a part that was revealed. Our fields belong to His Majesty. I heard that last year a petty official wanted to collect more rent, and that petty official and the senior official behind him were arrested!" The old farmer with a long beard had heard something, so he explained.

In fact, the rent paid to the owner of the land is usually 30% to 50%, which depends on whether the owner has a bad heart.

The extra part is the rent added by local officials or the people in charge.

Li Qiang purchased a large amount of land, and together with the government's official fields, they were exchanged as much as possible to form large areas of fields to facilitate agricultural mechanization.

Today, the army of Daqian is firmly in his hands.

As long as the farmers in Daqian lived a prosperous life, he didn't have to worry about any problems in Daqian.

Therefore, when the manufacturing industry was developing rapidly in recent years, a large number of steam vehicles were put into agricultural use, greatly increasing the productivity of farmers.

As more and more farmers benefited from Li Qiang's kindness, his reputation among them became better and better.

The farmers call Li Qiang "His Majesty", which is the most simple compliment they can give.

The farmers who rented the emperor's land spread their experiences, making other farmers extremely envious. They were all waiting for Li Qiang to buy the land they rented.

In two years, Lin Ruhai had used up 100 million taels of silver and completed the first batch of land acquisition.

"Father, you are going to court!" A little man ran into the bedroom, shouting loudly.

The little guy was only three or four years old, and there was a little girl staggering behind him.

Behind the two little guys, four or five palace maids dared not make a sound and could only follow them in small steps, for fear that the two little ancestors would fall.

Especially the little girl at the back, who had just learned to walk.

The one in front is Li Heng, and the one in the back is Lin Daiyu’s second child, named Li Qian.

Li Qiang was resting in her own bedroom today. Lin Daiyu did not move back to Kunning Palace and has been living in the bedroom of Daming Palace.

Li Qiang was not actually asleep, he was practicing Maitreya Zen.

Over the years, he has cultivated the Maitreya Zen to an extremely high level. He no longer has to worry about being disturbed and can finish his practice at any time.

"Sister Lin, don't get up!" Li Qiang said with a smile, pressing Lin Daiyu who was woken up beside her.

Then he got out of bed, and the 'Ruyi Immortal Robe' on his body automatically changed from a nightgown to a dragon robe.

He picked up Li Heng with one hand, and picked up Li Qian with his other hand.

"Heng'er, why did you ask father to come to court?" Li Qiang was a little curious. Although Li Heng was very smart, he would not think of this at such a young age.

"It was Grandfather Lin who said that an emperor cannot be greedy for enjoyment and must be diligent in state affairs!" Li Heng, a little guy, said such old-fashioned words that Li Qiang couldn't help laughing.

After laughing, Li Qiang couldn't help but secretly blame Lin Ruhai. Just because he was late for court a few days ago, he used Li Heng to teach him a lesson!
"Princess Sissi, why are you here too?" Li Qiang looked at Li Qian again.

Li Qian's speech was not very clear, and she babbled back to Li Qiang, which made Li Qiang laugh again.

"Give me the children, you really have to go to court!" Lin Daiyu had finished dressing up with the help of Xueyan, and said to Li Qiang who was playing with the two children.

Li Qiang handed the child to Lin Daiyu. He didn't want to be late again.

Lin Ruhai's position in the cabinet has become increasingly stable in the past two years. He has developed the aura of a first-rank official and will speak out against the mistakes made by Emperor Li Qiang.

Lin Ruhai is like a teacher and a father to Li Qiang, so Li Qiang always listens to Lin Ruhai's advice.

Li Qiang came to the Golden Palace and sat on the dragon throne amid the shouts of "Long live the emperor!" from the court officials.

First, he dealt with daily government affairs. Ministers reported on their affairs one by one. After listening, Li Qiang discussed with his ministers. Matters that could be handled were handled on the spot, and those that could not be handled were handled by the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report!" Lin Ruhai was the first to stand up and bow after finishing daily government affairs.

"Lin Zhongtang, please speak!" Li Qiang waved her hand.

"Japan has seized 10,000 pieces of cloth from Daqian and detained three officials from Daqian's Commerce Department. Your Majesty, please make the decision!" Lin Ruhai reported the matter.

In fact, Li Qiang was the first to know about this matter. Something happened in Japan, and the spies there sent the information back to Daqian.

Half a year has passed, but this speed is good in this era.

"The small country of Japan actually dared to detain Daqian's goods. What do you think, my ministers?" Li Qiang asked in a cold voice.

"I think we should send an envoy to explain the interests involved!" said a minister.

"What if Japan doesn't listen? Japan has detained Daqian's officials and goods for half a year. Has the Ministry of Rites received the letter from the Japanese envoys?" Li Qiang asked in a deep voice.

"The Japanese envoy has not delivered any letter!" The Minister of Rites stepped forward and replied.

"Is there any other solution?" Li Qiang looked at the ministers and asked.

In fact, all the ministers who were smart understood that Li Qiang wanted to use force.

However, few civil officials were willing to mobilize the army. After Li Qiang became emperor, the civil officials were always worried that Li Qiang would be ambitious and want to use force.

In the past few years, Li Qiang has been committed to improving domestic productivity, which has put the civil officials at ease.

But at this moment Li Qiang had the idea of ​​sending troops again, how could he let the civil officials agree easily?

"Your Majesty, please summon the Japanese envoys, reprimand them, order them to send back the message, and release the detained Daqian officials!" said Grand Secretary Tian.

"Forget it. This batch of cloth originally belonged to Datong Money House. We just borrowed three officials from the Ministry of Rites who were proficient in Japanese. Since all the ministers want to negotiate with Japan, let Datong Money House handle it on its own!" Li Qiang said lightly.

He was too lazy to ask the civil officials for their consent at the court meeting. Anyway, he could make the final decision on sending out the army. Tian Daxueshi's face changed slightly. Everyone knew that the Datong Bank mentioned by Li Qiang belonged to Li Qiang, which meant that Li Qiang would solve this matter personally.

Li Qiang's reputation has grown in the past two years, especially with the replacement of the Beijing camp's uniforms. Even though Li Qiang does not take care of government affairs, his influence on Daqian has reached an astonishing level.

"I wonder how Datong Money House will deal with this matter?" asked Academician Tian.

"The cloth business of Datong Money House is not limited to Japan. Every country nearby has cloth from Datong Money House. Since Japan has jumped out, if we don't hurt it, other countries will follow suit!" Li Qiang replied in a deep voice.

The civil servants in the court shook their heads helplessly. They wanted to persuade him, but Li Qiang insisted that Datong Bank should handle it, and they really had no way to intervene.

The military officers hated the civil officials because this meant they lost the opportunity to gain military merit.

After the court session, Li Qiang went to the Daming Palace with Lin Ruhai.

Back in the main hall of Daming Palace, Li Qiang asked Lin Ruhai to sit down and Jin Dong served him tea.

"Your Majesty, how many troops do you plan to mobilize?" Lin Ruhai did not persuade Li Qiang not to use force, but asked directly.

"Five hundred artillery troops will be the vanguard, and fifty thousand troops will be the central army, led by Wu Zicang!" Li Qiang said slowly.

"Are you planning to destroy the country?" Lin Ruhai asked after taking a breath.

Lin Ruhai knew how terrifying the current artillery army was, and the 50,000 troops behind were probably going to take over the territory.

"I talked about this with the Emperor Retired back then. I have my eyes on several silver mountains in Japan. The silver output there is extremely high!" Li Qiang did not answer directly, but talked about another thing.

Lin Ruhai nodded and understood why Li Qiang wanted to attack Japan.

There are indeed several silver mountains with extremely high output, which are indeed worthy of Daqian's attention.

Japan has detained Daqian's officials and goods, so it would be most appropriate to take action at this opportunity.

This time the troops were dispatched without the approval of the court and the cabinet, and even the Ministry of War was not notified. All the food and fodder were provided by Datong Money House.

Today, the Yangzhou textile workshop has been built, with a thousand steam looms running day and night, producing a steady stream of cloth.

Before the Yangzhou Textile Workshop was built, Li Qiang had already started planting cotton in many fields in Jiangnan, providing sufficient raw materials for the Yangzhou Textile Workshop.

The planting of cotton is staggered with that of wheat, which increases farmers' income, which is a win-win situation.

Li Qiang did not allow the produced cloth to be put into the Daqian market, mainly because she was worried that it would destroy the Daqian cloth market.

However, once more textile workshops go into production, it is only a matter of time before the cloth they produce is put on the Daqian market.

This time, Japan seized Daqian's cloth because it realized that if it continued to sell Daqian's cloth in this way, their domestic cloth and related industries would suffer a great impact.

Planting cotton, spinning cotton yarn, and then processing it into cotton cloth, each of these processes creates job opportunities for a large number of people.

However, the entry of cheap cloth from Daqian immediately destroyed Japan's cloth-related industries. The price of Japanese cloth was too high, and the quality was not as good as that of machine-woven cloth.

After seeing Lin Ruhai off, Li Qiang asked Jin Dong to notify Wu Zicang to come over.

Wu Zicang arrived soon. He strode into the hall, knelt down and paid great respect to Li Qiang.

"Stand up and sit down!" Li Qiang said, pointing to a stool on the side.

After expressing his gratitude, Wu Zicang sat on the stool, his body straight with a solemn expression on his face.

He exudes an extremely powerful aura, the aura of a seventh-level warrior.

He is one of the few warriors who receives special care from Li Qiang, who uses 'Ghost Shield' and 'Holy Armor Technique' to forcibly increase his warrior level.

"We asked you to come here this time so that we can attack Japan!" Li Qiang said.

Wu Zicang's face was filled with joy; he had been looking forward to the battle for a long time.

Ever since his own strength reached the level of a seventh-rank general, he had been thinking about obtaining a high title through military exploits.

No matter how much Li Qiang values ​​him, it is impossible for him to be awarded a high title without any military achievements.

"I will definitely defeat Japan and bring back their letter of surrender to Your Majesty!" Wu Zicang stood up excitedly and promised.

"Sit down!" Li Qiang waved his hand and said.

Wu Zicang suppressed his excitement and sat back on the stool. He looked at Li Qiang and waited for Li Qiang's instructions.

"Your mission is not to fight, but to lead 50,000 soldiers to guard the slaves and dig the silver mountain!" Li Qiang continued.

"Your Majesty, who will go to conquer Japan?" Wu Zicang asked anxiously.

He considered himself as Li Qiang's top military officer, so how could he let outsiders take charge of the war?

"Let the artillery army attack Japan. I don't need Japan to surrender. I just need slaves to mine. I heard that there is a lot of sulfur over there, so the extra slaves can go to mine sulfur!" Li Qiang replied.

This time, Wu Zicang understood Li Qiang's intention. He was planning to destroy his country and exterminate his race.

He didn't know why Li Qiang treated Japan in this way, but since Li Qiang gave such an order, he would carry it out.

Li Qiang's hatred for Japan comes from his previous life. Although Daqian will no longer be enslaved by foreign countries because of his existence in this life, he still cannot tolerate the existence of Japan.

"This operation is the first time that new weapons are used in naval battles. I don't want the Daqian Navy to suffer any losses!" Li Qiang instructed again.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. If I fail, I will bring my head to you!" Wu Zicang promised loudly.

After Wu Zicang left, Li Qiang issued several more handwritten orders.

Several handwritten edicts were certificates for the mobilization of food and ammunition. The food was not taken from the government but from Li Qiang's grain stock.

The land purchased by Li Qiang produces a lot of output every year, a large part of which is stored to deal with possible wars or disasters.

The weapons were all produced in workshops invested by Datong Bank and also did not need to go through the government.

Such a war of annihilation was carried out quietly.

The mobilization of so many materials is not noticeable in the huge flow of goods of Datong Money House.

The troops that were drawn were from the coast near Japan.

Apart from some speculations among the officials in the court who had heard what Li Qiang said, no other news leaked out.

As time went by, the officials heard no news of food or military deployment, so they gradually let the matter go.

(End of this chapter)