I'm in the Red Mansion

Next, land re-surveying work was carried out very quickly across the country.

Officials from all regions regularly reported progress to the court.

New studies are also springing up all over China like mushrooms after a rain.

The tuition fee for a new school is extremely low, and only one or two taels of silver are needed every year.

And as long as you study for three to five years and pass the exam, you can get a well-paid job.

Therefore, children of common people are still very willing to learn new things.

In fact, Jia Cong also considered making the new learning free of charge, so that the new learning could be quickly popularized across the country.

However, the current national finances are simply unable to support such huge expenditures.

Now the treasury is still very empty.

And this was still very difficult even after they had imprisoned eleven high-ranking officials of the imperial court, for a total sum exceeding fifteen thousand taels of silver.

Without the proceeds from the confiscation of property, the court would have been in even greater trouble.

However, in two or three years, the situation will improve.

Nowadays, several new agricultural crops are being promoted nationwide.

It may take more than ten years or even decades for this technology to become popular across the country.

However, even if it is only in the early stages and is popularized in small quantities, it can greatly increase grain production.

By next year, when the land is remeasured and the gentry pay taxes together, the tax revenue will be much higher.

At least it is enough to make the court self-sufficient, and in the future, this number will increase.

And for China, agricultural taxes may account for the majority in the early stages, but in the later stages, when China's business truly grows.

The proportion of commercial taxes must be far greater than that of agricultural taxes.

It is even possible to directly cancel the agricultural tax in the future.

Of course, Jia Cong himself knew that the key to the implementation of the new policy was not this year, but next year.

Land surveying began across the country this year.

The real results will be revealed next year when taxes are collected.

At that time, the key point will be whether the agricultural tax can be collected in full.

Even the fact that the amount of land measured by local officials is correct has to be questioned.

In the initial stage of promoting the new policy, there is no way it can be successfully implemented without the shedding of blood and the loss of lives.

Therefore, Jia Cong had already begun to make various preparations at this time.

A month later, master and apprentice Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest moved their entire research institute to the capital.

Back in the capital, Jia Cong had already found a place for the research institute.

Soon, Jia Cong received the master and apprentice Tang Ruowang and Nan Huairen.

After some polite greetings, Tang Ruowang could not help but say: "Your Majesty, according to your wise and great instructions, we have already developed electrical energy."

"Electricity is a magical energy that can do almost everything."

"I believe this must be the greatest invention since the birth of mankind!"

"At present, our research institute is researching the light bulb that the emperor mentioned, but this requires funding."

Jia Cong was also very happy to hear the news.

The invention of the steam engine marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

The invention of electricity means that mankind will move from the steam age to the electrical age.

Of course, at present, China has not even entered the steam age.

It's really a triple jump.

However, the development of electricity will be slower than that of steam.

The invention of electricity today will only speed up the elimination of steam engines.

However, when Jia Cong heard that their research required funding, he began to have a headache again.

The truth is, the national treasury is really out of money now, and even a good cook cannot cook without rice.

Jia Cong couldn't help but ask: "How much funding do you need?"

Tang Ruowang could not help but say: "At least 10 million yuan in funding is needed."

After saying this, Tang Ruowang looked at Jia Cong's face and immediately changed his words, saying, "Of course, we don't need that much in the early stage. Three or two million taels of silver is enough to start the business."

So you are asking for a sky-high price and then you pay me back on the spot!

This span is too big. It would be fine if it went directly from 10 million taels of silver to 30 or 20 million taels of silver.

However, the national treasury now cannot even take out three or two million taels of silver.

After thinking for a moment, Jia Cong couldn't help but say: "I will give you 200,000 taels of silver first. You can start your research first, and the follow-up funds will be allocated to you soon."

Tang Ruowang was about to say that two hundred thousand taels of silver was not enough, but after thinking it over, he did not say anything.

In fact, Johann Adam Schall von Bell knew something about the situation of the imperial treasury, and he also knew the emperor's support for the research institute.

If the treasury really had no money, the emperor would definitely not be reluctant to give silver.

Jia Cong asked Tang Ruowang some more questions about electricity and found that Tang Ruowang's progress was quite fast, so Jia Cong felt relieved.

At this moment, Zhou Liang quietly walked into the room.

As a senior eunuch, Zhou Liang grew very fast, and Jia Cong became more and more adept at using him.

Jia Cong glanced at Zhou Liang and asked, "Zhou Liang, is there anything wrong?"

Zhou Liang bowed and smiled, "Your Majesty, it's nothing serious. It's just that the Zhenzhen Kingdom has sent an envoy to visit China. Now they are making a request to the Ministry of Rites. They want to see Your Majesty."

"I am preparing to report this to His Majesty later!"

True country?
This name sounds so familiar.

Jia Cong thought about it and realized that this name actually appeared in the book Dream of Red Mansions.

When Xue Baoqin first arrived at the Jia Mansion, she talked about the interesting things that happened to her while she was traveling with her father for business.

One of them is that there are many foreigners along the West Sea.

Among them was a princess from the Zhenzhen Kingdom who not only knew Chinese characters, but could also write poetry, and even wrote better than the average Daxia people.

When Jia Cong first saw this passage, he didn't care.

Unexpectedly, the envoy from the Zhenzhen Kingdom appeared at this time.

Originally, Jia Cong called Johann Adam Schall von Bell to send some young people to study in the West through him.

However, now that the envoys from the Zhenzhen Kingdom have arrived, there is no need for Tang Ruowang as a middleman.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong let Tang Ruowang leave.

Then he said to Zhou Liang: "Zhou Liang, go tell the Ministry of Rites that I will receive the envoys from the Zhenzhen Kingdom at the morning court tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After the court session, Jia Cong went to Xue Baoqin's place.

Although Xue Baoqin already has a son, she is still as lively as ever.

Jia Cong also liked her liveliness very much.

She and Qingwen actually have two different styles.

Qingwen is like a hot pepper, while Xue Baoqin is youthful, lively and lovely. Jia Cong smiled and said to Xue Baoqin: "Qin'er, do you still remember that when you were at the edge of the West Sea, you met a princess from the Zhenzhen Kingdom and asked her to write a poem?"

Hearing this, Xue Baoqin couldn't help but laugh and said, "Of course I remember it. Today, I still remember this poem. Even the original manuscript is in the box, and I can still find it now."

"Why did the emperor mention her?"

Jia Cong said, "It is a coincidence today that a delegation of envoys from the Zhenzhen Kingdom has come to visit China."

"Tomorrow, I will receive the envoys. If you want, you can also ask them about the princess."

Xue Baoqin laughed and said, "At the beginning, I was just curious and asked her to write a poem. How could there be any friendship between us?"

"It would be a great thing if we could find out about the princess's recent situation."

After hearing this, Jia Cong nodded.

In fact, Jia Cong didn't pay any special attention to the Princess Zhenzhen.

Mainly because it was such a coincidence, I mentioned it to Xue Baoqin.

The two talked for a while and soon stopped talking.

Let’s talk about the morning court session of the next day. Civil and military officials attended the court and quickly discussed state affairs.

Then Jia Cong ordered to summon the envoys from the Zhenzhen Kingdom. Soon, the members of the envoys who had been waiting outside for a long time came in one after another.

The leader was actually a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.

This woman was extremely tall, and was as tall as any of the officials in the hall.

This height is extremely rare among Chinese women.

It is good for a woman to be tall, but if she is too tall, she will lose her beauty.

But when put on this woman, it gives people a just right feeling.

Her skin was as white as snow, and her green eyes made her look even more charming.

The woman stepped forward and saluted, saying, "I am Princess Lilia of the Zhenzhen Kingdom, and I am here to meet His Majesty, the most noble Emperor in China."

"I have also read your Majesty's poems, and I also know that before you ascended the throne, you led troops to fight and were invincible, and were named Marquis of Guanjun."

"Your Majesty is a man of great talent and military strategy. I admire you very much."

The leader of the envoys from Zhenzhen Kingdom who came to China this time was actually the princess of Zhenzhen Kingdom?

However, this princess is indeed an expert on China.

She speaks Chinese very fluently and you can hardly hear her accent anymore.

And he uses idioms very skillfully.

I just don’t know if this person is the Princess Zhenzhen who once wrote a poem to Xue Baoqin?
Thinking of this, Jia Cong could not help but say: "Last night I dreamt of a red building, tonight I sang about a water country. Clouds from the islands rise from the sea, and mists reach the jungle. The moon has no past or present, and love has its own shallowness or depth. Spring is here in the south of the Han River, so how can I not care about it?"

At this time, when the Chinese civil and military officials in the Golden Palace heard the emperor reciting poetry, they couldn't help but show a look of confusion on their faces.

For a moment, they found it difficult to understand the emperor's thoughts.

Is the Emperor planning to conquer these barbarians with poetry?

But this poem is really quite ordinary!
Just when everyone was puzzled, the Princess of Zhenzhen Kingdom asked in surprise and joy: "Your Majesty, the Honorable Emperor of China, how did you know this poem?"

"This poem is a poem I wrote when I was young and came to the West Sea of ​​China. I didn't expect that Your Majesty also knew this poem."

Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and said, "What a coincidence! This poem of yours was written by one of my concubines at their request."

"She often mentioned the princess to me. I never expected that this time your country sent an envoy group to visit China, and it was the princess who led the group."

Princess Lilia couldn't help but laugh after hearing this and said, "This is exactly what your country says, people who are destined to meet will meet even if they are thousands of miles apart."

"There is nothing better than this kind of fate. I think this is not only the fate between us, but also the fate between our two countries."

When all the officials heard what Princess Lilia said, they couldn't help but frown.

I just feel that this barbarian woman, although she is familiar with China, has no sense of propriety, morality, and shame.

It can be seen that barbarians are indeed unteachable.

At this time, Princess Zhenzhen submitted her letter of credence.

Soon, the letter from the country was handed to Jia Cong.

When opening the letter, Jia Cong suddenly remembered that Princess Lilia could speak Chinese.

However, Chinese will never be used in official letters.

But I don’t understand the language of Zhenzhen Country.

If you open the letter later and find that you can't understand it.

Even all the officials in China cannot understand the language of Zhenzhen Country, which would be a shame.

Of course, it doesn’t matter even if you don’t understand it. Just say that we can discuss it later.

Then just find someone who understands the language of Zhenzhen Country to translate it.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong also opened the letter from the country.

Just as he was pretending to read the letter, he was surprised to find that he could actually understand it.

Because this letter was actually written in English.

Well, English belongs to the West Germanic branch of the Germanic language family of the Indo-European language family.

The popularity of English actually came after Britain colonized the world.

When British colonization was not so popular, English was just a minor language.

But what a coincidence is that the language used in this country is English.

However, the pronunciation and meaning of English will change over time.

But it's generally understandable.

It turned out that in the letter of credence, the King of Zhenzhen Kingdom wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Huaxia Kingdom, to allow for mutual trade, and to further strengthen exchanges.

At this time, Princess Lilia said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Honorable Emperor of China, if you can't understand the letter from the emperor, I can translate it for you."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "No need, I can still understand your letters."

After saying this, Jia Cong even recited the imperial letter.

The members of the Zhenzhen Kingdom's envoy group couldn't help but reveal surprise on their faces.

Although Zhenzhen Kingdom and China have business dealings, the two sides have never formally established diplomatic relations.

Therefore, the members of the Zhenzhen Kingdom's envoy group speculated that there must be people in Huaxia who can speak the Zhenzhen Kingdom's language.

However, among the civil and military officials in the imperial court, not everyone can speak their true national language.

Since China has never established diplomatic relations with their country, would Chinese officials have nothing better to do than learn their country's language?

The submission of the credentials this time is also a show of force from their Zhenzhen Kingdom to China.

Princess Lilia was sure that even if she said she would translate it.

The Emperor of China, for the sake of face, would not let me help with translation.

But after a few days, they suddenly couldn't find anyone who could speak the Zhenzhen language.

Then China will lose a lot of face.

Then they can take the initiative.

But what they never expected was that the Chinese emperor could not only speak their language, but also read and recognize it. This was really beyond their expectations. (End of this chapter)