Dominate the Country

It is already late autumn, and the temperature has dropped a lot. When Chen Ming got up early to exercise today, he found that the flowers and plants in the imperial garden were covered with a thick layer of frost. The climate in Nanjing is a bit chilly.

But today the climate in the palace is very lively. Because the queen's brother, the emperor's brother-in-law, Li Kun, who had survived hardships in Yogyakarta, finally arrived in Nanjing.

After being rescued, this uncle did not return to the country immediately, but had one arm and one leg broken again. He stayed in Bantul for half a month before returning to Surabaya on a transport ship.

Then he saw Hamenggu Buwono II come to the coffins of Li Kun's followers and bodyguards who were smashed to death and apologized. Only then did he rest for a while until his bones healed and then took a ship back to Nanjing.

Li Kun's right arm was still in a bandage. He entered the palace in a sedan chair and changed to a wheelchair to meet the emperor and empress.

Don't mention how sincere Li Xiaomei's cry was at that moment.

"Stop crying, can I still owe my brother-in-law?" Chen Ming wiped Li Xiaomei's tears with a handkerchief. It was agreed that she would not cry when she saw this man today. But Li Xiaomei still couldn't help it.

She cried sincerely, but she didn't see that her brother was a little bit exhausted. For Li Kun, the gap of so many years could not be regarded as a passing cloud after all. Li Xiaomei's identity is not ordinary, and Chen Ming's identity is also different. This family relationship is as heavy as a mountain.

Li Kun, who was carefully moved to the chair by the eunuch, was about to refuse. What Chen Ming said was very big.

"We are all family members, so we don't come to pretend." To be precise, Chen Ming now likes to play false things less and less. Because his power has made him no longer need to play any conspiracy. He likes to tell the truth.

"It's not easy for you to survive in Yogyakarta prison. I can't believe it. It shows that you have a lot of strength in your bones." Chen Ming thinks that every successful person in the world has this kind of ruthlessness towards himself.

"And you have been able to make a fortune step by step in the past few years, expanding the old Taishan's small capital to the current scale of millions of capital, which in itself proves that you have a flexible mind."

"If you really have healthy legs and feet, I will definitely pull you into the officialdom."

"Being an official is different from doing business. Being a fish in the water in the officialdom does not necessarily mean that you can stir up waves in the business world, and being a leader in the business world does not necessarily mean that you can be successful in the officialdom. But this at least proves that you have the qualifications to step into the officialdom and reach the top."

"To be honest, the queen's family is not strong, and I have deliberately suppressed them in the past few years. After all, no one in the Li family can support it in the officialdom, which is not good."

Many eunuchs and palace maids in the hall have gone down, leaving only a few people, and a few imperial guards, looking at their noses and mouths, standing like wooden men, not daring to breathe once.

What is the emperor trying to say? Can they disappear?

"In a few years, Ding'er will be grown up. This child has a good character and wisdom, so you, as his uncle, must be able to establish yourself."

Chen Ming really felt sorry for Li Kun. This kind of person is smart and ruthless. With Chen Ming's support, he only needs to be tempered in the officialdom for a few years. Chen Ming does not believe that he cannot cultivate a talent.

After these years of separation, Li Kun has achieved much more than when he was in Lushan.

It's a pity that his legs and feet are really not good. After recovering from his injuries, although he will not be in a wheelchair every day, he will definitely be the Iron-Crutch Li.

Li Xiaomei stopped crying. Her son has grown up so much. This is the first time that Chen Ming officially thinks that Chen Ding is good. It is true that the eldest son and the eldest son of the emperor are very noble, but it is also Alexander.

The expressions on Li Kun's face were all frozen. A burden heavier than a mountain fell on his shoulders without warning. At this moment, he had difficulty breathing.

"But the officialdom is ineffective, and the business world can continue to stir up trouble."

"When I am old, the influence of wealthy businessmen in this world may not be less than that of high-ranking officials. If you can have thousands or tens of thousands of people eating with you, and radiate thousands or tens of thousands of families, and they are all gathered together; if you hold a large account in the stock market, stamp your feet and the stock market will shake. Wouldn't the cabinet ministers call you Mr. Li when they see you?" Although Chen Ming was not sure how far China's business class would develop when he died. He was completely cheering Li Kun up. With Li Kun's return, many of the queen's distant relatives and in-laws no longer need to be suppressed. The backbone of the genuine brand has been found, so there will be no trouble at that time.

But there is also a big premise, that is, Li Kun can stand up.

How easy is it for China's society to undergo a fundamental transformation in a short period of time?

Li Kun's future title will be an earl, but if he wants to suppress a large number of bureaucrats with an earl who is engaged in business, even if he has the support of the queen behind him, it is not possible to achieve success. Li Kun still needs his own struggle, at least he needs to first integrate the industrial and commercial belongings within the Li family.

Of course, today is the view of relatives and friends, and Chen Ming's words are just to reassure Li Kun, and today is still the most important thing to talk about relatives.

At noon, Chen Ding, who was specially arranged by Chen Ming to bring back to the palace from the Institute of Engineering, and Li Kun's son and daughter, these two children immediately became part of Chengjun Public School after the Li family entered Nanjing. Li Kun also has a little daughter, who is just two years old, and is held in the arms of little Li.

At noon, Chen Ming held a family banquet. Except for the queen's children, the concubines and children of other surnames were not allowed to attend.

Chen Ding obviously felt very good about his uncle. Li Kun's children were much more comfortable than when they first met Chen Ming. This person who was two or three years older than Chen Ding was now in the same grade as Chen Ding. When he was in Qiongzhou before, he also enrolled in school. But the time was obviously dragged.

The child's academic performance was not bad, but he was much worse in sports and literature. Especially in horse racing and polo, compared with Chen Ding and other people who practiced horse riding, the difference was not a little bit.

Who in the whole palace didn't know about the bustle in the Qianqing Palace?

Liu Wanyun gently patted her two-year-old son, leisurely peeled and ate the fresh longan bought by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and didn't envy the bustle of the Qianqing Palace at the moment.

She didn't want to join in the bustle of the Qianqing Palace? What's good about it, what's there to fight for?

The emperor is not yet thirty years old, in good health, in the prime of life, it is too early to plot against the chair under his buttocks. And the baby son she had waited for many years and finally gave birth to is only two years old, ten years later than Chen Ding. What is there to fight for now?

Raise the child first, otherwise, it will be meaningless to fight for anything.

"My Lady, the eldest princess sent someone to send a message back, saying that she will eat chocolate cream cake when she returns to the palace tomorrow."

Sungkyunkwan Public School now has not only boys, but also girls. It is divided into boys' school and girls' school. The number of the latter was far less than that of the former at the beginning. It was in recent years that the number of royal princesses and princesses who had reached the age of entering the school continued, which led to the relaxation of restrictions by the nobles and ministers. However, in the folks' mouths, there is still a lot of disapproval about the establishment of girls' schools.

The idea of ​​male superiority and female inferiority in China has been something that cannot be changed for a long time.

Liu Wanyun has always been the first person under the queen, the first prince's concubine, and the first imperial concubine. The eldest princess who gave birth was also favored by the emperor. It was effortless to pass a message back to the palace when Chen Ming sent someone to pick her up from school.

Liu Wanyun frowned, "Chocolate cream again!"

In recent years, there have been many new things in China, such as coffee, cocoa, chocolate, and Western desserts represented by cakes and egg tarts, which are not only popular in the palace, but also gradually popular among the people.

Some things taste really good, not only children love to eat them, but Liu Wanyun herself also likes to eat them.

It's just that adults have self-control, but children can't wait to eat them every day. However, there is no Western dessert in Chengjun Public School.

...

Just when the palace was very lively, Liu Zhixie, who was already the number one figure in the military industry system, looked at his good friend Zhou Tiancai with a sad face. The two of them met because they were mobilizing the ships needed for the relocation of the capital of Chen and Han. In the following years, their friendship continued to deepen. Moreover, because both of them had smooth official careers, neither of them wanted to lose a helper. With a tacit understanding between each other, their friendship was already inseparable.

After Liu Zhixie showed his strong coordination and planning ability, he was recruited by the military industry system. Now he is the chief steward of the military industry system. From the third-rank official position, as long as he moves up one step, he will enter the top leadership of the military industry system.

Zhou Tiancai entered the Ministry of Finance. His official position is much weaker than Liu Zhixie. He was just promoted to the fourth rank two months ago. But Liu Zhixie did not dare to underestimate Zhou Tiancai from the fourth rank. He was the second in command of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, but he was a typical person with a low position and great power!

Among friends, Zhou Tiancai has always been more direct, and he was indeed very direct today.

The military industry system continues to consume a large amount of copper materials. If it is swallowed up, it is estimated that the entire copper production of China will be filled in to be strong enough. China's current copper production is limited, and military copper has squeezed out the share of the private sector to a large extent. In recent years, the price of copper has become more and more expensive.

But copper is not something you can buy just because you have money.

The development of copper mines in China has always been a top priority, and now Luzon is about to fall into the hands of China, which has been mentioned more than once in secret materials as having a large amount of copper deposits.

This time, the military industry system and the Mineral Bureau have joined forces to carry out a large-scale survey of Luzon's geology in the near future. Once the location of the copper mine is determined, the population will invest huge amounts of money to fully develop Luzon's copper resources.

The military industry system and the Mineral Bureau can still afford the initial investment in this project, but the subsequent large-scale development will have to come to the Ministry of Finance to cry poor.

The development and utilization of copper resources is a very troublesome and expensive thing, so the military industry system hopes to grasp the specific situation, and the friendship between Liu Zhixie and Zhou Tiancai is no secret. Chen Jia hoped that Liu Zhixie could find out the bottom line of the Ministry of Finance and see how much balance would be left after next year's budget, so that he would have some idea in his mind...

However, after listening to Liu Zhixie's purpose, Zhou Tian directly showed him the accounts of the Ministry of Finance. Liu Zhixie, who was somewhat excited but a little nervous, looked bitter after reading the accounts.

The accounts of the Ministry of Finance have reached the point of eating up the food of the next year in the current year, and the difference between the annual revenue and the fiscal expenditure is very large. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that the Ministry of Finance would not have any money left to develop the copper mine in Luzon next year.

"Is that so..." Liu Zhixie smiled bitterly, and became depressed. "It seems that we still have to sell the mine..." The country has no money, but the private sector has a lot of money. If the location of the copper mine is determined, as long as the reserves and copper content are above the standard, there will be people waving money to buy it. Liu Zhixie stood up from his chair and planned to leave Zhou Tiancai's office.

He didn't even feel like having lunch together at noon.

But just as he was about to leave, Zhou Tiancai smiled, "Don't worry, Lao Liu. It's time for lunch, can I let you go? We brothers have to have a drink."

"Besides, our Ministry of Finance does not have extra funds, but there are other places..."

"Other places?" Liu Zhixie seemed a little puzzled when he heard Zhou Tiancai say this. The Ministry of Finance was the Ministry of Revenue in the past, the money bag of the world, and the richest department in the court system. If even the Ministry of Finance can't come up with this money, then it's really hard for him to imagine who else can come up with such a large sum of money.

"Please." Zhou Tiancai smiled helplessly, "Old Liu, you really haven't heard of the four words loan mortgage, right?"

"Of course I know."

"But what does this have to do with the current matter?" Liu Zhixie looked puzzled.

"Why is it not related? Aren't you short of money? Aren't you going to explore for minerals? As long as you and the Mineral Bureau can work together to get the development licenses of those minerals from the cabinet, you can take these licenses to the central bank to get a loan."

"The Ministry of Finance has no money and has been poor for a long time. But the central bank has money. They print money. As long as the court does not lose the hearts of the people, paper bills can be used as money."

"If you really want to develop copper mines, I can help you connect. The head of the Statistics Department of the Central Bank is my classmate when I was trained at the Central Political College. Take some time to sit together and get together. If you have any questions or doubts, you can ask him in person."

The circle is expanded little by little, and the network of relationships is woven little by little. For people at Chen Jia's level, many problems may just require someone to pass on a message, but for officials below, they need to build relationships and get close to them.

Because this is the only way they can do a perfect "homework" and let the boss above see it at a glance, feel happy, and then recognize your work ability. At least he won't be angry, right?