C816 February Jiangnan (1/2)
Jiangnan February more fragrant grass, spring in the drizzle!
It was still a snowy winter in the Northern Kingdom, but in February it was drizzling in Jiangnan. Going upstream along the Yangtze River, the four hundred kang boat s that were commonly seen on the Great Qing were moving forward. They were no different from the other boats on the river.
But as long as you have the right to enter the interior of this ship, you will be able to marvel at its extravagance.
The Jiangnan God of Fortune, Hu Xueyan, sat on a rosewood chair. He only dared to touch half of his butt, and his waist was also half bent. Although it was spring cold outside his window, his forehead was already covered in sweat.
It was not because the temperature in the cabin was too high, but because the person sitting opposite to him was the Eastern Ocean God Xiao Letian and the Great Qing's master, Ai Xinjueluozaichun.
The little Emperor came out to study and would not express any opinions. He just quietly listened from the side, his eyes looking out the window at the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan, while his ears and heart were focused on the talks between the two God of Fortune.
Xiao Letian and Hu Xueyan's conversation was focused on economics, from the issuance of bonds to the establishment of the East Asia Telegraph Company, there were even military expenditures for Zuo Zongtang, the entire Jiangnan economy was as flat in their mouths as if it was a common conversation.
”Brother Hu, how is the preparation for Zuo Jigao's military expenditure going?”
”It's really difficult!” ”The land of Ganshan has been destroyed, and the people are living in desolation. In addition, the water in the city has been in disarray all these years, so there is no other way to gather wealth here besides sending people from Shanxi and Luoyang …”
”Unfortunately, a few days ago, the imperial government also ordered for the transfer of the funds from Henan and Shanxi to the capital, causing the local merchants to be alarmed!”
Xiao Letian nodded his head: ”I know about this, the imperial government is planning to use paper money to exchange for a place to deposit money, in the future Zuo Jigao will not have any more silver, he will have no choice but to use paper money to pay the soldiers!”
Hu Xueyan patted his head: ”Isn't this nonsense? ”If the imperial government continued to print more bonds, the value of the bonds will continue to decrease. By then, not only will the hearts of the people be in turmoil, even the hearts of the military will be unstable …”
Xiao Letian laughed and said, ”There is nothing we can do about this, the imperial government is losing so much money that they have to go crazy. It was so easy to learn a set of techniques to imprint money, so why not use it properly … Fortunately, Jiangnan's economy is not in a mess for a while, so many of the resources should be directly purchased from us. Don't let Zuo Jigao purchase them locally with his bonds, he will destroy the northern economies … ”
”Ai …” ”It's a pity that the freight costs are too high along the way. If only there was a railway like the one used by the Westerners in the Great Qing Dynasty …”
At this time, Zai Chun suddenly spoke up, ”There will be, there will be anything that we in the Great Qing Empire should have. As long as I personally govern, I will follow the Great Qing Empire's territory from the south to the north, and build a cross rail line from the east to the west. Only then will we be able to gather all the goods in the north and south, and the army will be able to move quickly and conveniently …”
”Your majesty is enlightened!” Hu Xueyan kowtowed half a time just to make it convenient for him to kowtow, when he saw the emperor say that he would fly away immediately, he immediately kneeled on the ground, being as obedient as he could be.
”However, if His Majesty wants to build a railway, he must pacify the Salt Clan and the Trough Gang under the heavens. These people rely on the Grand Canal to survive, once their jobs end, they will rebel!”
Zai Chun nodded his head, ”My beloved one is here. We know that if we were to build railways in the future, we will give priority to those who are born from the canals. We will not let them live without food or clothing …”