Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1748 Untitled
Regarding his recent visits to his concubines, but the fact that none of them have conceived, Ye Mingsheng suspects that the quality of his "bullets" (contrasts in his sexual encounters) may have declined!
If he were younger, this might have been a big deal, but now Ye Mingsheng is somewhat indifferent. After all, he is now thirty-five years old, and his physical condition is declining, so it is perfectly normal for the quality of his bullets to decrease.

Moreover, he now has five sons and three daughters, a total of eight children. To be honest, Ye Mingsheng can't even take care of these eight children. For example, Ye Jingcheng, Ye Kexin, and Ye Jingyan, Ye Mingsheng can hardly give them much fatherly love. Sometimes he can't even see them a few times a month.

Of course, the most important reason is that Ye Mingsheng is the emperor. Although only one of his children can inherit the throne, the others are either princes or princesses. Although Ye Mingsheng restrains the royal family's spending, as a father, he is not immune to the common desire for his children to have a good life.

But Ye Mingsheng knew even better that the good life of every member of the royal family was built on the blood and sweat of countless ordinary people!

Ye Mingsheng can't change human nature, but what he can do is have fewer children to reduce the burden as much as possible. Well, eight children are enough now, there's no need to have more!
Although he didn't want Sun Ning'er to have his child, seeing the longing look on her face, Ye Mingsheng couldn't bear to shatter her beautiful fantasy. Besides, the quality of his sperm had likely already declined, so even if he diligently tried to conceive multiple times, it would most likely not result in a pregnancy...

With this thought in mind, Ye Mingsheng also fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Ye Mingsheng woke up and prepared to set off for Taogang as planned.

But his most important purpose was actually to go to Tao Port to see for himself how the navy of the Great Qian Dynasty was developing!

Since deciding to develop the navy, Ye Mingsheng has invested hundreds of thousands of taels of silver over the past few years, from shipbuilding and personnel training to the construction of Tao Port, the naval home port. Therefore, he wants to see how the navy is developing.

Ye Mingsheng also came from a military background. Although he was in the army, not the navy, he believed that there were some common principles in training soldiers.

No matter how well a soldier is trained, it is not as good as going to the battlefield in real combat. A true battle-hardened army cannot be made through training alone. Without the tempering and refinement of actual combat, it is impossible to become a true elite force.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng did not tell anyone about this inspection, but in his heart he wanted to assign combat missions to the navy.

Of course, the premise for assigning tasks is that the Daqian Navy performs well in training. Otherwise, if they can't even understand the training, wouldn't these people just be sending themselves to their deaths on the real battlefield?

In recent years, the Daqian court has recruited the Jinghai Army to protect Daqian's merchant ships in the South Seas.

However, the Jinghai Army still maintains a strong degree of independence and is not like the Daqian army, which obeys Ye Mingsheng's orders.

They wanted to give orders to the emperor, but they obeyed their leader Zhang Dapeng's orders even more!
Although Zhang Dapeng appeared respectful in their correspondence, he repeatedly declined Ye Mingsheng's invitations to come to Yijing, making various excuses—himself being ill, a family member being ill, or some other pretext…
If things have only progressed to this point, then the relationship between the two parties can only be described as having some discord, but it has not yet reached the point of breaking down.

However, Ye Mingsheng's severe punishment of the pirate instructors in order to maintain military discipline brought the conflict between the two sides to its peak. These pirates, who had nominally submitted to the Great Qian Dynasty, reverted to their old ways and resumed their piracy, robbing Great Qian's merchant ships in an attempt to coerce Ye Mingsheng.

Ye Mingsheng was furious about this, but unfortunately, the navy of the Great Qian Dynasty was too weak to be used in combat at the time, so Ye Mingsheng could only let Ji Xian resolve the matter.

Ji Xian had no good solution to this problem. He could only raise some silver from the Jiangnan merchants and then send Ge Xiong, a commander of the Tongdiao Office who had good relations with the pirates, to Southeast Asia to try to appease the pirates' anger with silver.

Under Ge Xiong's silver offensive, the pirates of the Jinghai Army barely stopped their rampages, but after this incident, the two sides were completely at odds.

This made Ye Mingsheng realize that these pirates were unreliable and that Daqian needed to cultivate its own maritime power!
However, since training a navy takes time, Ye Mingsheng maintained sufficient patience with the pirates of the Jinghai Navy during this period.

Whether the Great Qian Navy possesses sufficient combat power will be a crucial factor in Ye Mingsheng's decision regarding his next move...
Of course, even if the Great Qian Navy were to develop a certain level of combat capability, Ye Mingsheng would not rashly attack the pirates of the Jing Navy.

Although those pirates were despicable, lawless, and utterly despicable, the fact that they could survive for one or two decades in the complex and ever-changing environment of Southeast Asia demonstrates that they were not to be underestimated and that they were quite capable.

Especially after being recruited by the Daqian Empire, the Jinghai Army received firearms support from Daqian, which greatly strengthened its strength. Now, the Jinghai Army can be said to be the most important armed force in the South Seas, with hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of pirates.

As the saying goes, one must eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. The formation and growth of the Daqian Navy's combat power also requires a process; it cannot be achieved in one step.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng's idea was very clear: in the next three to five years, he would continue to maintain the current superficial relationship with the Qing Navy, so as not to let the relationship between the two sides completely collapse. During this period, the Qing Navy should continue to grow and undergo the tempering of actual combat, and become stronger in actual combat.

Meanwhile, the General Coordination Office spent the last three to five years sowing discord within the Clean Navy, trying to win over and divide the various factions within the Clean Navy, eroding Zhang Dapeng's foundation of rule within the Clean Navy, and alienating these powerful figures within the Clean Navy from Zhang Dapeng.

Ultimately, the plan was to instigate internal conflicts within the Pure Navy, splitting it apart and creating a suitable opportunity for the Great Qian Navy to eliminate it...
This is the goal for the next three to five years of the Great Qian Dynasty, and now for a short-term goal, Ye Mingsheng has also found a candidate!
Since learning about the Wanfu Piaohao case, Ye Mingsheng has paid close attention to it. During his inspection, the Emperor of Daqian secretly ordered the General Investigation Department to thoroughly investigate the case and get to the bottom of it.

Under Ye Mingsheng's orders, Sun Wenheng, the general manager of Wanfu Bank, who fled to Southeast Asia with his son and other family members, became the top target of the Joint Investigation Department.

According to the investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Sun Wenheng had been harboring malicious intentions for a long time!

Before he became the general manager of Wanfu Bank, he was not exactly clean when he was running his own business. He colluded with the indigenous pirates of Southeast Asia, and some of his business competitors were killed by pirates at his behest!
After becoming the general manager of Wanfu Bank, he used his position to build an army of several thousand men on Lei Island in Southeast Asia.

After the Wanfu Piaohao affair was exposed, he simply led his whole family to Lei Island in Southeast Asia to join the army he had secretly trained.

A few days ago, Ye Mingsheng received a secret report from the Joint Operations Office. After learning about this information, he had an idea. Since he couldn't defeat the Jinghai Army in a short time, he would start by targeting Sun Wenheng and send the Daqian Navy to Lei Island to capture Sun Wenheng and his family.

The Wanfu Bank incident is far too egregious. Although the imperial court is currently keeping it secret from the public, the truth will eventually come out. Some well-informed individuals in the public may already know about it. Therefore, to uphold the court's reputation and demonstrate its authority, Ye Mingsheng absolutely cannot allow Sun Wenheng to escape justice so brazenly…
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Gao Congwen, the deputy provincial governor of the Ji-Yu-Yu-Jing Provincial Administration Office, walked briskly to a guardhouse on the second floor of the office with an official document in his hand. The clerk sitting outside immediately stood up to greet him upon his arrival.

Gao Congwen, however, asked directly:
Is Lord Zhao in his room?

Without hesitation, the clerk replied:

"Lord Zhao has gone out!"

Hearing the clerk's words, Gao Congwen, who was about to knock on the door, stopped and looked at the clerk, asking:
"Where did the master go?"

"I'm not sure about this either."

Hearing the clerk's answer, Gao Congwen frowned, but seeing the clerk's sincere face, he couldn't get angry and could only instruct:

"If Lord Zhao returns, send someone to inform me immediately!"

"Yes!"

After handing over his duties to the clerk, Gao Congwen returned to his cell. As the Deputy Governor of Hebei and Henan, his daily work was very busy, and he couldn't afford to waste his time here.

Back in his cell, Gao Congwen began his work. As the deputy provincial governor in charge of industry in Hebei and Henan, he had many responsibilities. His first task was to participate in the formulation of the development strategy for industry in Hebei and Henan, clarifying the development goals, directions, and key industries and projects.

Secondly, we sought to understand the needs of several key factories in Hebei and Henan provinces, as well as a number of small and medium-sized factories and even small workshops, to help them resolve reasonable issues related to funding, land, and personnel.

Third, he also needs to promote technological innovation and optimize the business environment.

Although traditional scholars always felt that these strange and ingenious skills were not worthy of high society, His Majesty had repeatedly emphasized in public that science and technology were the primary productive forces. Therefore, in order to climb the ranks and become a high-ranking official, Gao Songwen had to devote a considerable amount of energy to promoting technological innovation in Hebei and Henan. To this end, he specifically applied to the Provincial Governor Zhao Wanxian for a special fund of five thousand taels of silver to reward these innovative craftsmen.

In addition to rewarding craftsmen, Gao Congwen also paid close attention to optimizing the business environment. On the one hand, he cracked down on the traditional practice of yamen runners in Hebei and Henan accepting bribes and asking for tea money. On the other hand, he simplified the approval procedures for building factories in Hebei and Henan, ensuring that owners who wanted to open factories in Hebei and Henan did not need to beg and plead in the government offices.

Gao Congwen worked until dusk, and seeing that it was completely dark outside, he prepared to pack up and go home. Just then, the clerk from that morning came over to report to Gao Congwen:
"Lord Gao, the Provincial Governor has returned!"

Upon hearing that Zhao Wanxian had returned, Gao Congwen asked with some confusion:
"When did Lord Zhao return?"

"I just got back!"

Gao Congwen was speechless upon hearing this. This dignified Provincial Governor of Hebei and Henan provinces, instead of being in his office during the day, was out gallivanting somewhere, only returning late at night. He clearly didn't take his job seriously at all…

Although somewhat angry, Zhao Wanxian was, after all, the provincial governor, and Zhao Wanxian was merely his deputy, so there was nothing he could say. He could only pick up the official documents again and head towards Zhao Wanxian's cell.

After Gao Congwen was announced and entered the cell, he saw Zhao Wanxian fiddling with some kind of model.

Upon seeing this, Gao Congwen also said directly:
"My lord, news has come from Qilu. His Majesty inspected the disaster-stricken people, Licheng Public School, and the industrial park in Qilu. I heard that His Majesty praised Ma Runchuan's charity conference and asked Ma Renchuan to summarize the successful experience of the charity conference and hold similar charity conferences in various regions to raise funds for public schools in various places."

Zhao Wanxian nodded slightly upon hearing this, but said nothing and continued to fiddle with the model in his hands.

Seeing this, Gao Congwen couldn't help but speak up:

"My lord, His Majesty is about to arrive in Ji and Yu. Don't you think we should start making preparations as soon as possible?"

Hearing Gao Congwen say this, Zhao Wanxian finally looked up at him and said:

What do you want to prepare?

Faced with Zhao Wanxian's question, Gao Congwen was momentarily speechless, but still managed to say:
"Ma Runchuan from Qilu made meticulous preparations upon hearing that His Majesty was coming to inspect. If we don't prepare, won't we be outdone by him?"

Upon hearing Gao Congwen's words, Zhao Wanxian calmly countered with a question:

Do you know why His Majesty has come to inspect this place?

Upon hearing this, Gao Congwen replied without hesitation:
"This year, Youyan, Qilu, Jiyu were first affected by drought, and then by floods. The people are suffering greatly, and houses and homes in various places have been severely damaged. Therefore, out of the boundless grace of His Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, in order to understand the people's plight and feel their hardships, has specially arranged an inspection..."

(What are your thoughts?)
(End of this chapter)