Two days passed, accompanied by the eunuch.
Lai Gouer arrived in the capital smoothly.
He seemed unusually silent along the way, just looking at the world around him with his eyes.
The landscape has changed, but not completely.
Halfway from the capital to Jiangling Port, he saw many people busy on the ground. There were people transporting rails and wooden strips, which seemed to be laid to Jiangling Port.
Entering the capital city, there were many bungalows that occupied an unusually large area in what he remembered as the wasteland.
Occasionally, you can see huge chimneys erected on some houses, which are constantly emitting black smoke.
He secretly guessed that it must be related to the train mentioned in the letter, but unfortunately, he did not see the legendary train until he arrived in Beijing.
This change is even more obvious when entering the capital.
Some places were crowded with people, and there seemed to be more people eating in restaurants.
The spirits of many people were completely different from when he left, and passers-by were discussing topics of unknown meaning.
What kind of bank deposits are there, and what kind of financial products are released today.
Housing prices will always rise, and buying real estate in Taoyuan County is better than buying stocks.
In a certain factory, a worker was screwed into a machine due to improper operation, causing damage to the machine. The owner brought a coffin to the worker's home for compensation, and the government office and Xini each had a big board.
The fairy got the flower and the willow, and the price plummeted... In short, I don't understand a bit!
The accompanying eunuch seemed to be very interested and wanted to show off to him.
However, Lai Gouer politely declined.
It's rare to return to Beijing this time. He still has a lot of time to see his elder brother, and then the two of them can talk slowly.
The changes in Da Jing over the years seemed to be beyond his imagination... something that could not be understood in just a few words.
When they appeared outside the palace, they faced the palace guards.
The accompanying eunuch looked at him and said: "Master Lai, according to the rules, you have to wait here for a while. Wait for the servant to enter the palace first and report, and someone will lead you in later."
Lai Gouer smiled and said, "Thank you so much, father-in-law. It's been a long journey, thank you for your hard work, father-in-law."
After that, he took out the money and stuffed it into the eunuch's hands.
The eunuch quickly dodged and laughed dryly: "No, no, no, no, we don't charge money!"
Just kidding, this person is related to Marquis Jianye and is a person who is also valued by the palace. If Eunuch Guo finds out about this, he will be chopped into pieces?
"We're leaving now, please wait a moment!"
...
An hour later.
All the ministers gathered in Fengtian Hall.
Feka was very important to the imperial court and was the first gateway for the great scenery to penetrate into the west.
Moreover, the evacuation of cargo funds cards has continued to earn Dajing a huge amount of gold and silver.
Although Lai Gouer was a military official, the value created by the reports he sent to the court far exceeded his status.
Although he has been away from Beijing for a long time and is far away from the great scenery, no one has a better understanding of Western affairs than him.
Everyone recognized Lai Gouer's ability.
Now that he suddenly returns to Beijing, it is definitely a big event.
For this reason, Emperor Jing directly decided to summon all the ministers into the Fengtian Palace.
The main hall was quiet. It was not until Lai Gouer walked into the hall with his head held high that the eyes of the officials changed.
Eyes began to focus on Lai Gouer.
Fang Zhengyi also looked at him, and it happened that Lai Gouer also raised his head to search for him.
The two met their eyes and smiled, and then Lai Gouer immediately returned to his serious expression.
Although I was happy to see Fang Zhengyi and had a lot to say, the occasion was obviously inappropriate.
When he stood directly in front of him, he said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "I'm going to bow to your majesty!"
Emperor Jing smiled: "Thank you for your hard work, the Qing family. No need to be too polite! The Qing family has made great achievements overseas for many years. To have such ability at such a young age is a great blessing. I will surely reward you!"
"You must be returning home in person this time. You must have something important to report."
Lai Gouer took a deep breath and said, "I do have something important to do. Since the last time I replied to the court, the relationship between Feka and the Holy City has changed a lot."
"When Father Solje caused big trouble in the Holy City, the Holy City did not hold him accountable for the sake of face, but he still harbored a grudge."
"After Father Sorje returned to Fika, he decided to set up his own business and break away from the church. However, he still maintained contact with the Holy City on the surface. The next few months were relatively stable, but there was a period of time before the minister returned home. , the Holy City seems to be a little unable to hold back, rumors about Father Sorje's apostasy spread, and someone planned an assassination, but they were all stopped."
"The other thing is that our Dajing's overseas trade has been bypassing the Holy City before, but now the Holy City can no longer tolerate it. We are cracking down on Dajing's overseas business everywhere, and we also sent a cardinal to negotiate with me. They Dajing is allowed to be openly traded in various countries, but the church is extremely greedy and demands 50% of the selling price."
"The Holy City's attitude is rampant, saying that if we are later found to continue to trade privately with other countries without the permission of the church, it will be regarded as a provocation to the church and we are prepared to use force to drive them away."
As soon as this statement came out, the officials were in an uproar!
How fucking unreasonable! How dare you ask for 50% of the selling price? Dare you take the initiative to provoke?
As long as you want to be reasonable and ask for 50%, everyone will agree. If you do business well, no one wants to go to war.
Although the finished products of Dajing's goods are not high, the cost of transportation personnel cannot be ignored.
If you ask for 50% of the selling price, are you looking for death?
"Barbarians are so arrogant! Don't they know the strength of our country?"
"This is simply a big thief!"
"I heard that the church is also carrying out banditry under the guise of being upright. Doesn't it even cover up?"
"Your Majesty, I think it's better to give them a warning first and then we can talk!"
There was chaos in the main hall, and Emperor Jing did not stop it.
Fang Zheng remained silent and observed everyone's reactions.
The reaction of the civilian officials was not bad, and they advocated demonstrating national strength and continuing the negotiations.
However, the military attachés were obviously excited, and those who were usually aloof had vicious expressions on their faces.
Da Jing is in great shape now, but the army is the most confident.
Not to mention the newly replaced cannons and muskets, a lot of new iron ore was discovered in Dajing due to the mining boom brought by the railway.
Coupled with the new mining auxiliary equipment, the price of steel has been slightly lower than the previous market price.
Coupled with the mass production of armor by steam engines, the military's strength can definitely increase further!
However, due to limited budgets and many of them being invested in the development and production of warships, mass production has not yet been implemented.
At the moment, no one around Dajing dares to fight. If an overseas war breaks out and the budget doubles, then these military generals will support them with both feet...
Military merit is no longer as easy to earn as it used to be.
The group of strong young men under his command are better fed than before and have strong bodies, but they have no chance to fight.
If this continues in the future, we may have to disarm.
Moreover, when we were young, we were all killed in a hail of bullets. Seeing that there was no hope of promotion, we stayed at home and traded stocks, and even lost a lot. Is this appropriate?
The quarrel in the court became more and more intense, so much so that some people began to curse loudly.
Lai Gouer was extremely embarrassed. He originally wanted to remind the court to prepare early, but now it seems that he is getting more and more biased. Everyone wants to fight directly.
If you don't do business anymore, start robbing?
Fang Zhengyi also made a face.
These people are too impatient and are thinking about fighting now.
Making money from war is no faster than from business, and now there is not much difference between doing business overseas and robbing money.
Moreover, fighting will undoubtedly occupy massive resources and affect industrial development.
As long as the industrial system is completely established, how can we play in the future?
After listening for a long time, Fang Zheng felt more and more desperate. Why didn't he realize before that these people were more bandits than him?
The civil servants also started to quarrel, and things gradually got out of hand.
The discussion has generally come to a conclusion.
Now, the main war faction believes that they should push forward from country to country, attack directly to the Holy City, and then capture the Pope.
The moderates believed that the Holy City should be attacked directly and the Pope should be captured alive.
"Okay, stop arguing now and listen to what he has to say." Emperor Jing's voice interrupted the commotion in the palace.
...
