Meng Yue immediately stepped up to follow him.
"..."
The words of rejection kept circling around his mouth again and again, and finally he swallowed them back.
He couldn't bear it.
He didn't want to bully this idiot.
He was also afraid that if he was too cold-faced, he would actually push people away.
There are so many temptations out there...
Taking a deep breath, he hummed, trying his best not to sound strange in his voice.
After entering the house, he walked straight towards his study.
The steps were long and a bit hurried.
Meng Yue's steps were bigger than his, always following him closely.
After entering the study, a rush of hot air hit his face. The seventh prince took a deep breath and paused for two seconds with his back to Meng Yue before preparing to take off his cloak.
But the next moment, a generous embrace approached.
After hesitating for half a second, he stood still and did not move away.
"There's snow on your cloak, I'll take a picture of it for you."
Meng Yue's voice sounded behind him.
He hummed again.
A gentle force fell on his shoulder and his hat, sweeping away the snowflakes on his body, accompanied by the words of the snowplow: "What do you want to use later? I miss the mutton soup at home." ”
"...It's too late to make soup now."
The seventh prince whispered.
"It doesn't matter. I have already sent Shunzi to inform my family. I just said that I have official business and need to discuss with you."
"You are no longer in the Criminal Department, what official business can you do with me?"
Fool.
I don't even know how to find a more reasonable excuse.
"My family won't pry into this. As long as we talk about official business, they believe everything."
Meng Yue stared at the shoulders that were thinner than he expected, with distress in her tone: "You have lost a lot of weight."
You should have gained a little weight during the winter. How come you have lost so much weight while being raised at home all day long?
"I've been a little busy lately, so I haven't eaten much."
The Seventh Prince pursed his lower lip. He took two steps forward and reached out to take off his cloak: "The free private school is quite complicated and requires a lot of energy."
After that, he called the guard waiting outside the door and asked him to go to the kitchen and tell Chef Zhao to stew the mutton soup.
"How far is the free private school going now?"
Meng Yue was very concerned.
He has been communicating with Li Qiao, Xu Ying and Zhuang Wen, and these three people will inform him of all matters in the court.
Of course, the Seventh Prince will too.
But the seventh prince's replies to him were all dry. They only talked about business matters, and they were very brief, with no personal feelings mixed in at all.
Therefore, he didn't know what the seventh prince was busy with every day.
Melancholy.
"I just bought a house in each county and am looking for a suitable wife. There is only one free private school in each county, which can only take care of a small number of people."
"You grew up in the country, you should understand this."
When it came to business, the Seventh Prince suppressed all the emotions in his heart. He sat back at the desk, took out the information about the free private school and handed it to Meng Yue.
Meng Yue took it.
He understood what the seventh prince said.
If there is only one free private school in a county, then this free private school must be located in the county seat.
However, in a county, some students are far away from the county seat, and private schools do not care about food and accommodation. Those students who are far away from the county seat are destined to be unable to study in private schools.
Just like Sanliu Village, if you walk to the county seat, you have to walk for two hours.
If it comes and goes, that's four hours.
It takes four hours just on the road, a total of twelve hours a day, so how can we study well?
What's more, children from poor families, even if they are only seven years old, are still a small labor force.
Many families would definitely be unwilling to ask poor families to dedicate a labor force to study.
People who are close to the county town can go to the county town to do odd jobs on weekdays, selling vegetables or other agricultural products, and have more ways to make money than people in remote places.
Naturally, the family situation will be better than that of people in remote places.
This makes it a bit difficult to handle.
"Actually, the best way is to set up a free private school in every town, but this would cost too much money and I can't afford it."
"Only Li Qiao can afford it."
The Seventh Prince frowned.
He just said that he would come back to improve the system of free private schools, which is not a lie.
But when Meng Yue heard this, her eyes widened in surprise: "According to Yuanhe Province, there are more than 1,200 towns. Although the houses in the towns are cheap, they cost almost one million taels of silver. "
"That's right, apart from Li Qiao, even the eldest brother can't afford this number."
The Seventh Prince's eyebrows knitted even tighter.
"...Brother Li's expenses are not small. He has to invest a lot of money in his orphanage."
Meng Yue also started to frown.
Li Qiao's orphanage is located outside the city, but the fields outside Shengjing are so expensive. Even the worst low-grade fields, an orphanage covering an area of 100 acres requires a lot of money.
The orphanage has been completed. In addition to a dozen babies under the age of three, there are more than 300 other children in the orphanage.
The little beggars in Shengjing and outside the city all ran to the orphanage.
This is just the beginning of the orphanage. As time goes by, there will definitely be more people.
Coupled with the investment from the school and the medical center, and Li Qiao also donated money to the shantang every month and paid wages to his own clerks and long-term workers, he felt a lot of pressure on Li Qiao just thinking about it.
"Li Qiao said he was going to come up with a new trick for the bicycle."
The seventh prince saw that Meng Yue was worried about Li Qiao, so he told Li Qiao's plan.
Two days ago, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu came over to give him a New Year gift. During the chat, the topic turned to bicycles. Li Qiao said that the current bicycles are too bulky and will make him tired after riding for a long time.
He is thinking of ways to correct this shortcoming.
In the past few months, Li Qiao has been trying to apply animal glue such as isinglass and tortoise shell glue on bicycle wheels to make the bicycle lighter.
But the effect is not very good.
Thinking of the Eucommia trees growing in Beihu Province, Li Qiao asked Li Yuning to study Eucommia gum to see if it could make bicycles lighter.
If it is feasible, then Li Qiao will sell the previous style again, so that Li Qiao can make a lot of money.
Meng Yueshang didn't know Li Qiao's plan. After hearing the seventh prince's explanation, he was stunned.
Can I resell the previous style?
This operation...
Are you going to get scolded?
"Others won't obediently pay for it, right?" He was even more worried than before.
Seeing this, the Seventh Prince raised his eyebrows and asked directly: "If he really makes the bicycle much lighter, do you think that in my capacity, I should just buy a new bicycle, or run over and scold him?"
"..."
Meng Yue blinked.
Well, he just considered this matter from the perspective of ordinary people, but someone like the Seventh Prince must have directly paid for it without blinking an eye.
"Nowadays, some wealthy families also own bicycles. These families are definitely reluctant to buy a new one. If they are willing, they can pay Li Qiao to add a layer of Eucommia gum to their wheels."
"Don't worry, Li Qiao never embarrasses the people at the bottom."
The seventh prince said again.
"That's it..."
Meng Yue suddenly understood, and then nodded immediately: "It's true that I have overthought things. Brother Li has always been thorough in his work."
The seventh prince looked at his appearance and said: "After you return to Beijing this time, go to Li Mansion more often. It is inconvenient for me to interfere in the water transportation. But Li Qiao has no such worries. His father trusts him very much. He The information is better than that of our princes."
"I don't mean to tarnish your pure friendship, but there is no harm in getting closer to him."
"I understand. During this inspection, I, a low-level official with no background, was warmly received by the local officials. This is largely due to Brother Li's favor."
"And in the past six months, thanks to Brother Li and his wife taking care of my family, I have been able to run my errands without worries. Tomorrow I will go to the palace to minister to the Holy Father, and then I will visit Li's family the day after."
Meng Yue understood what the seventh prince meant.
What he said was not false at all. Only the officials in the capital knew about his good relationship with the Seventh Prince.
But he and Li Qiao were close friends from the same hometown and same generation, and local officials everywhere knew this.
Therefore, during this inspection tour, he was more likely to benefit from Li Qiao's favor.
However, after finally meeting him, he didn't want to spend time on official duties.
He put down the information in his hands, put his hands on the desk, and stared greedily at the seventh prince's face: "Every day when I am away from home, I miss you very much."
Seventh Prince: "..."
