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Chapter 361 Good Relationships with Foreign Countries

Upon hearing the words "new craftsman," Xu Yuan no longer cared about Gao Wanli's background or purpose.

She is my enemy!
The stepmother was an experienced craftswoman, and she hated new craftswomen the most.

A mere sixth-rate person, trying to defy a stepmother? What a pipe dream.

What Master Yan wanted to say was not these things, but rather to tell Xu Yuan: "Gao Wanli is a very stubborn new craftsman."

They firmly believed that all the mechanical arts passed down from their ancestors were outdated, and that foreign methods should be used to solve all problems.

She often says to people: Is it so hard to admit that you are not good enough?
If we're not good enough, we have to accept it; if others are better, we should learn from them!

Xu Yuan was quite puzzled: "We won all the battles we fought against the Snow Demons and the Red-haired Barbarians, right? Why is the stuff left by our ancestors no longer effective?"

Old Master Yan took a sip of wine, sighed helplessly, and said, "It's not just Gao Wanli; there are quite a few people in both the Northern and Southern Capitals who have never trusted the imperial court."

For example, during several major wars with foreign powers, they always felt that the imperial court's war reports were falsified.

We must have lost, but the frontline commanders are lying about their victories.

The imperial court did not expose the truth, but instead announced the great victory to the world.

Some people insist that although we won, it was all at the cost of human lives, saying that for every Snow Demon we killed, three soldiers died.

They say that if we sink one small sailing ship of the Dutch in the South Seas, we'll sink three large ships of 500 li!

Xu Yuan was even more confused: "Where did they get this data? Did they personally participate in the battle? Did they count them one by one on the battlefield?"

Old Yan shook his head: "Who knows?"

I don't believe the imperial court can understand.

Even Lord Xu had to admit that the Ming Dynasty had reached this point and was rotten to the core.

You may not trust the imperial court, but why do you so highly praise foreign lands?
The key point is that the foreign states lost both their battles and those of the Ming Dynasty.

Are you really going to try and turn the tables on this foreign land with just words?!

Old Yan looked at the others again. The banquet was already in its second half, and Shi Bading and the others were already drunk, pulling at each other and trying to get the other drunk.

In this state, the drunkards all feel: "My opponent is already done for. If I can hold on for a few more drinks, he will collapse."

No one noticed him and Xu Yuan, so Old Yan felt relieved. He pulled Xu Yuan aside, and the two of them leaned their heads together and whispered, "Gao Wanli's family advocates vigorously purchasing new cannons, new ships, and so on from foreign countries."

They are one of the biggest businesses in Zhengzhou that specialize in this kind of business!

Gao Wanli came all the way to Jiaozhi, determined to seize the position of city magistrate from you, also so that it would be easier for them to buy goods from the foreign barbarians and transport them back to Zhengzhou from here.

Xu Yuan understood: "There must be quite a few people in the imperial court who support them, right?"

Old Yan laughed: "You've really matured, kid. You saw through the trickery right away."

Xu Yuan sneered: "It all comes down to profit."

"Exactly." Old Yan nodded: "Originally, the imperial court's procurement was handled by the major craftsmen in Zhengzhou. The profits have long been divided up."

Some people get caught up in the situation and become envious and anxious.

If the imperial court were to open up procurement channels with foreign countries, they could exploit the situation and make a fortune.

Therefore, many of the people who support the Gao family may not actually think that goods from foreign countries are better, but they can benefit from buying them from foreign countries.

Xu Yuan's breathing became heavier with anger. Old Yan patted his shoulder and said, "Yuan, do a good job. In the future, when you enter Beidu with the Commander, you will be able to show your skills and weed out these parasites one by one and crush them!"

……

Old Yan returned to Luocheng the next day.

Both Elder Yan and Ma Tianshou are very confident in Xu Yuan now.

Previously, Xu Yuan was just an inspector, yet he was able to squeeze out He Youxing and Xie Qingman.

Now that he's in charge of law, why would he be afraid of a mere deputy?
Xu Yuan and his men escorted Elder Yan all the way to the city gate.

Upon his return, Xu Yuan officially took over the Champa Bureau. The largest duty room, which originally belonged to He Youxing, was now naturally for Xu Yuan's use.

Xu Yuan sat down in the main seat and tapped the table with his finger: "Gather everyone together and let's have a meeting."

Soon, Shi Bading, Wan Yun, Fu Jingyu, Mao Dabing, Jia Yi, Di Youzhi and others arrived.

Then Xu Yuan instructed Lang Xiaoba: "Go and invite Lord Gao here."

When Gao Wanli led her men in, she found the entire duty room already packed with people.

He reserved a seat for himself on Xu Yuan's left.

She is different from Xie Qingman back then.

Xie Qingman had a weak foundation and relied entirely on the support of her "close female friends" in Beidu.

He only brought Wan Yun with him when he took office.

When Gao Wanli came, her family provided her with two teams of people. One of the leaders was a seventh-rate divine cultivator, and the other was even more remarkable, being a sixth-rate alchemist!

Gao Wanli is here to be the "fierce dragon".

Now, inside the duty room, Lord Xu displayed an air of "strong and well-equipped troops," which made Gao Wanli sneer.

Xu Yuan looked at Gao Wanli with his "fate-gazing" gaze.

I only met Xu Yuan briefly yesterday and didn't have time to see him.

This initial glance revealed some problems...

Xu Yuan remained calm and pointed to the seat next to him: "Come, sit down."

Ever since Gao Wanli was somewhat impolite to Xu Yuan during their first meeting, Xu Yuan has become quite arrogant towards her.

Gao Wanli was very dissatisfied when she saw that he wouldn't even call her "Lord Gao" properly. She snorted and sat down.

She came in with her subordinates, a sixth-rate alchemist and a seventh-rate divine cultivator, but now there was only one chair left, so the two could only stand behind her.

Gao Wanli's mind raced, and she decided she should take the initiative and demonstrate her strength.

She was a sixth-rate craftswoman, but in this era, craftswomen were highly regarded, so Gao Wanli always felt that she had a "superior status".

As she competed with Xu Yuan for the position of law master in Champa, she naturally conducted a thorough investigation of her opponent, Xu Yuan, and learned that he was only a sixth-rate alchemist who also practiced a "business law" of unknown quality.

However, he didn't study business law for very long, so he probably didn't go beyond the seventh rank.

So now, in the Champa government, there are three sixth-rate officials, and our side has two of them.

In terms of raw power, I am far superior to Xu Yuan, so why should I tolerate him?
Gao Wanli then took the initiative to say, "Lord Xu, please bring a chair for Mr. Lu and Mr. Jiang."

The duty room was already very crowded.

There's no room to add more chairs.

Before Xu Yuan could refuse, Gao Wanli said, "Mr. Lu is a sixth-rate alchemist, shouldn't he be qualified to sit down?"

Shi Bading and the others were indeed very surprised.

When Gao Wanli took office, she actually brought a sixth-rate subordinate with her!

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Gao Wanli felt smug; this was exactly the effect she wanted.

Gao Wanli continued, "If there isn't enough room for chairs, those who aren't entitled to sit should offer one."

Unexpectedly, Xu Yuan coldly asked, "May I ask what positions Mr. Lu and Mr. Jiang hold in the Exorcism Department?"

Gao Wanli said, "They have no official positions. I am preparing to appoint them as patrol inspectors."

Xu Yuan said without any mercy, "Since they are not from my Exorcism Division, and today is a meeting of my Exorcism Division's Champa Office, please ask them to leave first."

(End of this chapter)