Wu Sijing traveled day and night and finally arrived at Beitang the next morning. Seeing that we were getting closer to the church, we dismounted and walked slowly to the door.
He first put the horse into the shed and fed it, and then asked the believers about the guest's residence. Knowing that the merchants all lived in Ninghe County, he hurriedly sent someone to discuss it.
Within an hour, the four merchants had already sat down in the living room. The bearded man asked impatiently: "Bishop, have you gone to the capital and settled the matter?"
Wu Sijing slowly stroked his beard: "We've basically reached an agreement, but there's just one crucial step left. I need your help."
"May I ask what this is?"
"Master Ye told me that the imperial court has decided to let you go ashore to set up a factory, but the location must be in the Beitang area. Therefore, I have been asked to come back and test it out to see what your wishes are."
After hearing this, everyone was silent. Only the bearded man said, "Why did the government choose Beitang?"
"Because I have a close relationship with the Ministry of War, the imperial court still needs me to deal with you and help them strive for profits. Of course, this is the other country's view, and I have no control over it."
After speaking, he took a sip of tea, looked at everyone's expressions, and then added: "But you don't have to worry, after all, we are all wandering in a foreign land, and it is not easy. We should take care of each other, and there is no reason to please foreigners. "
The bearded man was still uneasy, but those few people strongly agreed: "If this is the case, what else can we say? It would be better to persuade the court as soon as possible and set up the factory."
Wu Sijing was secretly happy in his heart, nodded and said: "Since you are so determined, great things will be easy to do. I will write a document and have you sign it. When the court sends someone to ask, I will hand over this document Go up, it just saves the energy of negotiation. How about it?"
Everyone was convinced, so Wu Sixing put pen and paper on the table and ordered him to sign. Everyone signed quickly, except for the bearded man who hesitated with a quill, but in the end he couldn't go against everyone's will and reluctantly wrote his name.
After Ye Yongjia's memorial was approved by the Zhongshu Province, it was presented to the emperor by Liu Zhennian soon after. Needless to say, an imperial edict was issued, announcing that the four merchants would be given seal certificates and allowed to set up factories in the country. Although many officials were dissatisfied, seeing that Tai Su and others had no objections before, they knew they were powerless to dissuade and stop them, so they could only follow Song Hu Shengming and wait for a turn of events.
A few days later, the envoy came to Beitang with his decree. Wu Sijing received him warmly. He knelt down and thanked the emperor for his kindness. After respectfully accepting the certificate, he presented the agreed documents and asked him to return them to the emperor. . The envoy refused at first, so he had to give him more than a dozen taels of silver, and then he got his wish.
Niu Yuan was overjoyed after seeing the documents that discussed the location. His worries were reduced by eight points. He quickly sealed the seal and sent the secretary office to hand it over to the Ministry of War for processing.
"Your Majesty," Cai Xianqing pushed the door open, holding an unopened document in his hand and placing it in front of Ye Yongjia, "The secretary sent by the Zhongshu Province said that this is a document for those people to discuss the location on their own. The Prime Minister is very satisfied and asks you to send it to Ninghe County, and the people below will check the handwriting, and then we can start building the factory."
Ye Yongjia suddenly became nervous and stared at him: "Where...did they choose?"
Cai Xianqing remained silent and just pointed to the unopened cover of the document.
"No..." Ye Yongjia's heart began to pound. He hurriedly took it, tore it open anxiously, and scanned it quickly with his eyes. How could he not notice two striking words in it -' Beitang'!
"Wu Sijing...Wu Sijing..." Ye Yongjia patted his forehead lightly and muttered the name regretfully.
"Is it really Beitang?" Cai Xianqing held his chair with a stern expression.
"Beitang," Ye Yongjia was afraid that he could not see clearly, hovering a finger around the two words, "Wu Sijing must have falsely told them something when he went back a few days ago, hoping to use this matter to carry out his treacherous plot! If this The four firearms factories are all located in Beitang, so we don’t know what kind of disaster it will cause! What does he want to do..."
"Servant Cai, I really admire you!" He couldn't turn his head around for a moment, so he turned around and dragged Cai Xianqing, "I regret not listening to my bitter advice..."
Cai Xianqing sighed: "The deal is done. It's too late to say anything today. You have the right idea. You should think about what he is going to do and how to prepare for it. That is the most important thing now."
"I'm just wondering, what can I guess..." Ye Yongjia pinched his eyebrows and closed his eyes irritably.
"Then let's not stay in Beijing," Cai Xianqing said calmly. "Anyway, the Prime Minister has already approved it. There is no doubt that these factories will be built in Beitang. Why don't you and I take this document and hand it over to Ninghe County in person? It's correct, you can go there to test Wu Si Jing's mind."
"Wu Sijing is very cunning. If we don't know his plan and go there rashly, I'm afraid we will be tricked even more by him." Ye Yongjia was not confident.
However, Cai Xianqing smiled disdainfully: "This man is just a man of ears. He has traveled far and wide. How can he be more familiar with the situation than we and others in the officialdom? When I saw him a few days ago, he was also an impetuous person with a complex expression of joy and anger. There aren’t many tricks. You can’t trust yourself, and you can’t trust my ability to judge people?”
Ye Yongjia thought for a while, then slapped the table and said: "Okay! The two of us will go to Ninghe!"
After a heavy rain that day, the weather in Ninghe County has improved a lot. It is sunny and sunny everywhere, with a gentle breeze and the sun shining brighter. When the county magistrate of Ninghe heard what was going on in the court these days, he expected that he would have to take care of more and more things in the future, so he cherished these leisurely days in front of him.
It was noon, and he was sitting in the courtyard of the county government office enjoying the cool air. He was wearing half of his clothes, swinging the cattail leaf fan, and gathering with a few friends to drink and play cards.
"Come on, keep gambling!" the county magistrate shouted to everyone and laughed.
"The county parents said we should bet, so...then let's bet!" With trembling hands, the man fumbled for the few copper coins he had and pressed them on the stone table.
"That's all you have left?" A customer next to him put aside the copper coins in disgust, "Go ahead! No one cares about you!"
The county magistrate was excited and was about to pay when he suddenly saw the Yamen servant coming in and reporting: "Sir, someone from the court is here."
"What the hell!" The county magistrate's face immediately darkened, "Did you see me playing with a few adults? Damn it, how many more days do I have to live a good life? I can't stop..."
"Master Ye, Minister of War, is here!"
When the county magistrate heard this, he was immediately frightened to death. He stopped all the curse words and almost jumped up. He waved away several guests and hurriedly went to the house to beg for official uniforms without even wearing his hat securely. Staggering out to greet him.
