The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 458 Keeping an Appointment
"Great! No wonder the emperor has so much trust in you, you are indeed a pillar of the country! I'll leave this matter to you to prepare, and then implement it after the Wanshou Festival!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Zhang Yunyi agreed and said, "The price of this newspaper should not be too high. The cheaper it is, the more people will buy it. And it needs to be published nationwide. Not to mention the cost, just the transportation back and forth is a considerable expense. It just so happens that I have cooperated with the elder in the bookstore business. Why not let the elder's bookstore run it? This can save manpower and kill two birds with one stone, and it can also avoid wasting people's time and money!"

He didn't expect that the prince would also be interested in the idea of ​​gaining merit, which made him laugh and cry.

The Crown Prince is now less than 40 years old and in the prime of his life. He is not like Emperor Zhengqing who can just fool around for a few years.

Extending one's head is a sword, and shrinking one's head is also a sword.

It is better to make the best of a bad situation and expand your own wings first.

By running a newspaper and controlling public opinion, one will have a certain voice. If one can then win over a group of new elites with related interests, one will truly have a certain ability to protect oneself.

As for bringing Gu Dashou along, one reason was to avoid arousing suspicion, and the other was to take advantage of his influence.

I believe that with Gu Dashou's vision, he knows how to please the prince, so he would not care about earning a little less money.

"Good! My dear minister, you are indeed loyal!" The prince pondered, "I can't let you suffer any loss. From now on, you don't have to send me the profits from caustic soda anymore. Just use it to subsidize this newspaper!"

"I would sell everything I have to serve Your Highness, so how could I..."

"Okay!" The prince raised his hand to interrupt.

Zhang Yunyi no longer insisted, and instead struck while the iron was hot, saying: "Your Highness has ascended to the throne, and I have something to present to Your Highness."

"Oh? What?" The prince was interested.

"Iron ship!"

"Hmm?" The prince's eyes seemed to be full of meaning.

Zhang Yunyi quickly explained: "This iron ship is not like a train that needs to lay rails. Once it is built, it can travel on the water without any hindrance..."

Upon hearing this, the prince's eyes were burning. He nodded heavily and said approvingly, "Okay! My dear, go and prepare for this matter first..."

"I will do my best to not let Your Highness down! When I get back, I will urge them to work day and night so that I can congratulate Your Highness on his ascension to the throne!"

Before this, he couldn't tell whether the prince was on guard or really was moved and deliberately avoided the two saints' presence, so to whom the merit would be attributed.

At this point, he was certain of it, so he made a prompt decision and hinted to the prince that all the merits and honors would belong to him after he took the throne.

Of course, it would be best to have control over the military power.

Wang Ziteng is an option, but according to the context of the original novel, the Wang family seems to be facing the risk of collapse, and he cannot put all his eggs in one basket.

As a favored minister with extraordinary skills, he wanted to make friends with generals, control military power, and avoid arousing suspicion. The only way was to find another way... Establishing a navy was a good idea.

On the one hand, he could make friends with some generals by taking advantage of the differences between ironclad ships and wooden ships and providing technical guidance.

Secondly, you can attack or defend, and if the situation is not right, you can also escape with your family.

Of course, it would be best if it doesn’t come to this. After all, who would want to leave their hometown?
He always thought that Daxia was blessed by nature.

The two mother rivers, the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, nourish the local land and water.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the southwest blocks the subtropical high pressure in the south, allowing the Jiangnan region to receive abundant rainfall.

Having studied geography, he knew that due to crustal movement, there were often many islands on the east side of the continental shelf. For this reason, the southeastern coast of Daxia was dotted with islands.

When there is no sea power, these islands are blockading island chains, but once sea power is mastered, these islands will allow Daxia to keep the enemy out and take full advantage of the geographical location, which is actually a powerful weapon for regional denial.

After leaving Xiyuan, he did not rush back to Tiangongyuan, but went back home. He wrote a letter and asked Yu Lu to arrange someone to go to Jiangnan to deliver it to Zhen Shiyin.

Naturally, the letter could not reveal too many secrets. It only said that they wanted to start a newspaper and asked him to expand the scale of recruitment and it would be best if he could find time to come back.

After returning to Tiangongyuan, Fang summoned Gu Wenhui and Zhang Cheng and asked them to start preparations for the Beijing-Tianjin Railway.

This is not something that happened in later generations. There are a series of things involved, from expanding iron smelting output, to route selection and construction along the way, to casting of rails, and so on.

By the time the tasks were assigned, the sky had already darkened and it was long past time for the court to adjourn.

Only then did he remember that he had an appointment with Li Wan in the evening, so he hurriedly got on the carriage and returned to Rongguo Mansion.

"Is the food ready?"

"Everything is ready! Sir, are you ready to eat now?"

"Well! I'm going to my second sister-in-law's place tonight. You don't have to wait for me. Go to bed early!"

……

Because he was delayed in the yamen, Zhang Yunyi came back a little late, but Li Wan had dinner early.

"Suyun! If you go to my brother's place now, you don't have to come back to serve him at night. Prepare something for my brother early tomorrow morning. I will take him to Brother Yi's place."

Su Yun did not doubt it, but was pleasantly surprised and asked, "Grandma, have you finally figured it out?"

When they met last night, Li Wan didn't say much. Suyun thought she was too embarrassed to do so and was still thinking about how to persuade her. But now that she heard that she wanted to take Jia Lan to see Zhang Yunyi, how could she object?
"I will be there right away. Grandma, do you have anything else to tell me?"

"Tell him to go to bed early tonight. You watch him carefully. Don't let him look down tomorrow!"

In Li Wan's view, all these were unnecessary. After all, a son is honored by his mother, and Jia Lan was half Zhang Yunyi's son. In addition, she had done her best tonight.

These instructions were just a cover-up, a formality, and also to get Suyun out of the way.

But since Su Yun asked, she had to answer perfunctorily: "Brother Yi has to hurry to the government office, so he won't be able to say much. It's enough to just go there to make yourself familiar and look more energetic."

"Hey! ~ Then I'll go right away!"

Suyun took the order and left. Li Wan waited for a while before saying to the maid in the courtyard, "I'm going out to digest my food. You don't have to follow me."

After leaving Daoxiang Village, she suddenly heard the sound of drums and music coming from the Daguan Tower, and she couldn't help but show a little joy on her face.

Although the area near Hongxiangpu is remote, it may be crowded with people passing by. The sound of drums and music provides an extra layer of insurance.

She looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she headed north and headed straight for the Hongxiang Garden.

The reason why Zhang Yun逸 chose Hongxiangpu was that, firstly, too many people knew about Qingtang Thatched Cottage, and it would be inconvenient to take Li Wan there. Moreover, this place was located in the northwest corner of the Grand View Garden and was relatively remote.

Secondly, this place is close to Daoxiang Village, so Li Wan doesn't have to show off.

However, Zhang Yun逸 overlooked that since this place was named Hongxiangpu, it was nothing more than a flower garden for growing flowers and plants, and people would usually only visit it in spring and autumn.

Now, it is autumn, and the chrysanthemums are in full bloom. There are several maids and old women guarding the flower garden, staying there to look after the flowers.

Seeing the faint light coming from inside, Li Wan walked back and forth in front of the door twice. Seeing that Zhang Yunyi had not arrived yet, she was worried about being seen, so she dived into the grape trellis opposite the Hongxiang Garden.

……

(End of this chapter)