Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1663 Untitled
Night, Palace

Under the light of the kerosene lamp, Murong Qingwu was holding a copy of Kaigong Tianwu and reading it carefully. Although Murong Qingwu was very intelligent and familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, she found a physics book like Kaigong Tianwu obscure and difficult to understand for a moment.

Although it was a little difficult to understand, Murong Qingwu was still very curious when she saw the introduction to the special technologies such as the steel pouring method, flower machine, piston bellows, etc. The contents of these books seemed to have opened a door to a new world for the imperial concubine of Daqian.

Just as Murong Qingwu was studying seriously, there was a sound of footsteps beside her. As the footsteps came closer and closer, Murong Qingwu put down the book in her hand with some reluctance, looked up at the person who came and said:
"Any news from home?"

Ying Er took out a letter from her bosom, handed it to Murong Qingwu with both hands and said:
"Madam! Master has a letter from Jiangnan!"

Upon hearing this, Murong Qingwu took the letter and read it carefully.

In the letter, Murong Yuliang expressed concern about the recent living conditions of Murong Qingwu, Ke Xin and Jing Yan.

After showing concern, Murong Yuliang asked his daughter about the situation in the court and inquired about Ye Mingsheng's ideas on reform.

At the end of the letter, Murong Yuliang asked his daughter to keep an eye on a censor from the Inspectorate named Wang Tong, as Zhao Dahai, the second manager of Wanfu Bank, might go to see him soon.

Murong Yuliang hopes that his daughter can use her physical strength to kill Zhao Dahai before he meets Wang Tong.

Murong Qingwu was also stunned when she saw her father's request at the end of the letter.

Although she didn't know why her father wanted to kill Zhao Dahai, but considering that Zhao Dahai was the second manager of Wanfu Bank, and that he was going to meet Wang Tong, the censor of the Inspectorate, Murong Qingwu boldly guessed that Zhao Dahai might have some information that was unfavorable to her father and wanted to report her father...

Murong Qingwu didn't know what this material was, but considering that Wanfu Bank was the largest bank in Jiangnan, with an annual turnover of more than one million taels of silver, and Zhao Dahai was the second manager after the head manager Sun Wenheng, it was safe to guess that this material was most likely silver.

Murong Qingwu couldn't help but frown when she thought of this. In her impression, although her father Murong Yuliang was not an honest official like Hai Rui, his superior family background meant that Murong Yuliang never had to worry about money. In addition, Murong Yuliang himself had his own aspirations in his official career, so Murong Yuliang was relatively restrained when it came to money.

Although she didn't know what was going on, Murong Qingwu knew that her father had entrusted this matter to her, which meant that her father was no longer able to handle it. Otherwise, with her father's personality, he would not have let her get involved in this matter.

It is definitely not a few thousand or a few hundred taels of silver that can make my father kill someone to silence him. Although His Majesty has always advocated L politics, he has always been well aware of the truth that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish.

As for a first-rank official like my father, as long as he does his job well, even if he really takes some money away, as long as it is not too excessive, he will turn a blind eye and pretend not to know...
My father must understand this truth, but he is still obsessed with killing people, which means that the number must be very high!
Thinking of this, Murong Qingwu's expression became very heavy. Seeing the tower like this, Ying'er beside him said with some concern:
"What happened to the queen?"

Facing Ying'er's question, Murong Qingwu hesitated for a moment. Although she knew in her heart that she should not reveal these matters involving privacy to Ying'er, Murong Qingwu was also very depressed at this moment. So after hesitating, Murong Qingwu told her personal maid everything she was thinking.

After hearing her master suspect that Master Murong Yuliang had taken a large sum of money, Ying Er pondered for a moment and said:
"Although my grandfather is not a saint who despises money, he is also not a mean person who is greedy for money!"

"Since Grandpa wants to kill Zhao Dahai, he must have his reasons. Madam, leave this matter to me. I will send someone to keep an eye on Wang Tong. As long as Zhao Dahai dares to contact Wang Tong, I will kill him!"

Seeing Ying'er's confidence and firm belief in Murong Yuliang's moral character, Murong Qingwu nodded slightly.

Regardless of whether my father Murong Yuliang was greedy for money or did something else that gave Zhao Dahai a handle, as his daughter I had to help my father relieve his troubles.

Thinking of this, Murong Qingwu also instructed Ying Er:
"You can't do this. Ying'er, your goal is too big. Now is a time of trouble, so Ying'er, you should try to keep a low profile and don't get involved in this matter!"

"If I don't go, who will do the work there?"

"Now that Ah Da has returned from Qilu, let him do this. He has been resting for a long time, and it's time for him to relax..."

"My Lady! I will follow your instructions!"

After discussing some trivial matters, Ying'er, the maid, also withdrew, leaving Murong Qingwu alone writing a reply under the light of the kerosene lamp.

Murong Qingwu briefly reported to her father what was happening in the Daqian court, such as the court's financial difficulties and the increasingly severe conflicts between the Coordination Office and the Qingliu.

However, compared with these contents, Murong Qingwu still focused her introduction on Ye Mingsheng's attitude towards reform.

In Murong Qingwu's opinion, Ye Mingsheng's attitude towards reforms recently is rather conflicted. On the one hand, Ye Mingzheng hopes that the reforms can be promoted and implemented quickly, accurately and ruthlessly, but at the same time, Ye Mingsheng hopes that such promotion and implementation will be peaceful and gentle, and try not to shed blood!

This "want all" approach brought the reform to a standstill, and the Qingliu people became more and more demanding at this critical juncture, trying every means to deceive Ye Mingsheng and hinder the development of the reform, hoping that Ye Wensheng would give up these strange and tricky tricks and return to the right path of the saints' words.

Because these people were relatively good in their personal moral character, Ye Mingsheng was relatively tolerant of them at the beginning. Some memorials, even those criticizing Ye Mingsheng,
Ye Mingsheng would not argue with them, but even the best people would run out of patience one day, let alone a tyrant like Ye Mingsheng.

This was a sensitive action by the Qingliu people in front of the palace gate, which completely angered Ye Mingsheng and made Ye Mingsheng use an iron fist against these Qingliu people!
Murong Qingwu suggested that father could submit a memorial to Ye Mingsheng introducing the recent reforms in Jiangnan, so that Ye Mingsheng could understand the current situation in Jiangnan. This would help father take control of the center. Here, Murong Qingwu also emphasized that Cui Shao's health did not seem to be as good as before, and he occasionally took leave to recuperate in the past two or three months...

Therefore, Murong Qingwu believed that even if Cui Shao could hold on, it would only last for two to three years at most. It was even possible that Cui Shao would retire this year!
As long as father Murong Yuliang does a good job as the governor of Jianghuai, then when Cui Shao retires, father, you will be the best candidate to move into the central government. The only competitor may be Gu Sansi, but although Gu Sansi is now the Minister of Personnel, His Majesty no longer trusts him as much as before.

Gu Sansi has served in the central government for a long time and has rich experience in the central government. However, Ye Mingsheng has always focused on low-level experience, and Gu Sansi has never been a local leader such as a county magistrate, prefect, or governor. This is also Gu Sansi's biggest weakness.

This is also Murong Yuliang's biggest advantage. Murong Yuliang has served as the Governor of Liaoyang, the Governor of Jiyu, the Governor of Huainan, and the Governor of Jianghuai. He has rich experience in local affairs, has worked in both the south and the north, and is very familiar with local conditions.

Judging from Ye Mingsheng’s past thoughts, as long as two people compete, Murong Yuliang has a great chance!
Therefore, Murong Qingwu hopes that her father can keep himself clean, pay attention to his influence, and try not to do certain things if possible!

Having written this, Murong Qingwu still wanted to write it more clearly, but then she changed her mind and thought that Murong Yuliang was her father after all, so Murong Qingwu had to give up this idea...

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Two days later, the palace
After finishing his morning inspection of the firearms factory, Ye Mingsheng returned to the palace. As soon as he entered the palace, he walked towards the imperial study. As he walked, Ye Mingsheng asked Zhang Yufeng:

“Are there any fresh shrimp today?”

"Yes! They were all brought here before daybreak, by fast horses!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction and arranged:
"Then make two flavors, braised or boiled, and add two small vegetarian dishes!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Yufeng was also an old man in the Attendant's Department. He knew that Ye Mingsheng did not like luxury and waste, so he gladly took the order and arranged lunch for Ye Mingsheng.

After arranging lunch, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but recall what he had just seen during his inspection of the firearms factory.

Before Ye Mingsheng unified the world, the firearms factory had always been the top priority of the Fengwu Army's logistics department. In order to build more and better firearms, Ye Mingsheng invested a lot of resources in the firearms factory, and the firearms factory also made great progress during this time.

However, since Ye Mingsheng unified the world, although there have been battles around Daqian, they have all been small-scale conflicts or local wars at most.

In order to achieve peace and stability, Ye Mingsheng also transferred a large amount of resources from the military and firearms factories to the civilian sector.

This led to a situation where the development of the firearms factory came to a standstill. The lack of technical backbones affected the original production and slowed down the original production speed.
Ye Mingsheng had not paid attention to this issue at first, but after the defeat at Turte Prairie this time, Xun Ke threw away all the baggage including firearms in order to preserve the main force.

Xun Ke did a great job in this matter. In the end, he launched a surprise attack and defeated the enemy's vanguard of pursuers, successfully protecting the main force of the Third Army. However, the large lack of firearms caused the combat effectiveness of the Third Army, which was accustomed to relying on firearms in combat, to plummet.

After Ye Mingsheng learned about this matter from Xun Ke's memorial, he immediately ordered people to send the firearms stored in the warehouse to the Third Army. At the same time, the war situation was unclear. In order to prepare for the worst case scenario, Ye Mingsheng also asked the First Manufacturing Bureau to make plans to re-manufacture firearms on a large scale!

An hour and a half ago, Ye Mingsheng conducted a surprise inspection of the factory. As for the factory's preparation work, Ye Mingsheng could only say it was average, neither good nor bad.

The only thing that left a deep impression on Ye Mingsheng was that these workers looked very unfamiliar and their movements were not very skillful.

Ye Mingsheng was also very surprised to see this situation. This firearms factory, which was under the First Manufacturing Bureau, was not his first visit. He had been here two or three times. In Ye Mingsheng's impression, the workers in this factory were all skilled workers who moved quickly and efficiently.

Now that they have been replaced by these unfamiliar workers, Ye Mingsheng also asked Zhang Pengju about this situation...

Zhang Pengju told Ye Mingsheng that the factory workers were paid on a piece-rate basis, and because Tianxia Yitong had fewer military orders, the workers in the firearms factory had reduced incomes.

Now many factories outside are developing in full swing, and skilled workers are in great demand. If a skilled worker works hard in Yijing, it is not a problem to earn seven or eight taels of silver, or even nine or ten taels of silver a year.

Because of the decrease in orders, the wages of workers in the firearms factory decreased, so the skilled workers in the firearms factory were poached with high salaries.

For this reason, Zhang Pengju also asked Ye Mingsheng to give their factory more orders. Otherwise, if they only rely on the current orders, their factory may have to lay off employees in order to ensure profitability in a short time.

Ye Mingsheng did not agree to Zhang Pengju's request immediately, but said that he would make a decision after investigation.

Now the landlords have no surplus food, and the imperial court is willing to spend every ounce of silver in half, so Ye Mingsheng has to be more frugal.

If Xun Ke was completely defeated and the Luobi people could not be saved, then whether Ye Mingsheng was willing or not, for the safety of the north, Ye Mingsheng would have to invest a lot of resources in the production of firearms.

But if the situation on the grassland can maintain a balance, Ye Mingsheng would be more willing to invest resources in education. Of his 100 libraries, only more than 30 have been built so far, and there are more than 60 libraries waiting to be built in the future. This is a considerable investment!
There is also money for controlling the Deshui River. Fortunately this year, the Deshui River did not erupt. This also scared Ye Mingsheng a lot. He had dreams about it for many nights. The Deshui River erupted and swallowed up villages and towns, leaving countless people homeless.

The court now has too many places to spend money, so when security is not threatened, Ye Mingsheng would rather spend the money on improving people's living standards...