Chapter 542: Common People’s Gratitude
Si Niang said with a smile: "Third brother dotes on Hulan, and all , and every household had a house to live in. Hulan also renovated all the old houses. The common people are grateful for the kindness of our Zhao family and are all happy."
The group came to the Lotus Pond Beggar Chicken and sat down. Wu Jing immediately went over and called out affectionately, "Aunt, Aunt, my aunt is back."
The little girl happily introduced to them the houses that were being built on the slope. They were going to use them to open an inn, cook bamboo forest firewood chicken, and do many other food and entertainment activities that the children would like.
Chen Liu also ran over to join in the fun and told them that the rapeseed had just started to bloom and people from the city had come to visit Huaxi Village. The beggar chicken business had increased by half, and in a few days this place would definitely be packed every day.
Duan Xiaolin saw that the huge Hetang Beggar's Chicken restaurant was full of tourists eating and playing. He didn't expect that this remote village outside the city could actually attract customers to come and eat and spend money.
Wu Jing said: They also had hesitations. My father knew about it when he was planning it with Hulan's mother, and he was sure that this place would become lively.
Duan Xiaolin asked sourly: Third brother is really willing to spend money to repair the whole village. How much money will it cost? In the future, we will expand the work to the whole country. How much money will it cost?
Si Niang said with a smile: It was not the money paid by Third Brother, but the money earned by Hu Lan and Wu Jing and others on the streets.
Wu Jing held Si Niang's arms and leaned on her shoulders and said: The credit also goes to Si Granny. It was Si Granny who earned the money for us.
But we'll make it back soon.
My sister-in-law bought a ticket when she came in. So far, we have collected quite a bit of money from the tickets. After deducting the expenses for cleaning and the carriage, there is a surplus, right, Fourth Grandma?
Si Niang nodded and said with a smile: We need to buy another carriage, as we are afraid it may not be enough.
Duan Xiaolin felt dizzy and returned to the post station after having dinner in Huaxi.
Zhao Sihan is an expert at making a living. Seeing that Wu Jing and other younger generations can make such a big business, he kept praising them all the way and was still very excited when he entered the room of the inn.
Duan Xiaolin asked her listlessly: What should we do if the work is not done?
Zhao Sihan told him: Sister Feiyan must be busy dealing with the mess in the Grassland Empire right now, and she has absolutely no mood to talk about our little matter. It is better to go back and persuade Dad to open a fast delivery postal route.
Brother San said that it can be shared.
Xiao Linzi stopped talking and closed his eyes to take a nap.
He had a bad journey and was scolded a lot by his father-in-law. The only time he spoke to his third brother Zhao Yulin was he somewhat harmonious.
However, he was impatient at the time and offended his third brother again.
He tossed and turned all night, feeling that it was not a good idea for him to come to Chengdu to look for work, and decided to go back.
Early the next morning, Duan Xiaolin asked his followers to deliver a letter to Xie Lingyun, and then he went straight out of the South Gate to start his journey home.
At this time, Ding Gong, Cao Youwen and Meng Gong had just arrived at Xinshi Town.
Chen Chen happily introduced to the three adults that the Hongmeng Valley's trial train had started running. Old Man Ding immediately became interested and wanted to go and take a ride in person.
Zhao Yulin said a little embarrassedly: That train burns coal, and there is a chimney above the head that is emitting thick smoke. The carriage is open, and after walking for a while, it will be covered with dust. How can this be done?
The old man kept saying it was okay, okay, and was going to sit down.
Zhao Yulin had no choice but to accompany them. Chen Xian was extremely nervous when he saw the arrival of the two former kings. He told the master to have the front of the locomotive push the carriage forward and not to go so fast.
The master understood immediately that this was the best way to prevent the leaders from being exposed to coal smoke.
Everyone got on the train, and after a long whistle, the train started rumbling.
The three old men all leaned back and exclaimed in surprise at the speed.
Chen Xian apologized and explained that it must be because the operator was nervous and released it too quickly, thus disturbing the adults.
Cao Youwen laughed and said: It’s great, it’s really great.
When Lao Cao picked up the word "爽" from Zhao Yulin, he was so happy that he burst into tears. It was the first time for Ding Gong and Meng Gong to take a train. Their hair was fluttering on both sides of their temples and they held the handrails tightly with both hands for fear that they would be blown out of the carriage by the wind.
Chen Chen and Hu Lan stood up and let the wind blow, with their long hair flying and their arms open to embrace the blue sky. This feeling of relaxation is so refreshing.
The train quickly slowed down, turned around and quickly ran back to the station.
Mr. Ding was still marveling at the speed of the train. Chen Xian reported that it could be even faster. If a railway was really built, it would not be a problem for it to travel two hundred miles in half an hour.
The old man immediately opened his mouth in surprise.
Meng Gong exclaimed, "It's great!" He said happily, "Running 400 miles in one hour? How far do we have to run in one day? Haha. Let's build a railway to Linzhou. How many troops can we transport to the front in one day? How much military supplies can we transport to the front?"
Why are you afraid of the Mongolian army?
Everyone was laughing non-stop.
After returning, Zhao Yulin accompanied the gentlemen for a drink and then discussed matters. Lord Ding talked about the Northern Grassland Empire's demand to redeem the hostages captured by the previous dynasty, and asked Brother Yulin to make a plan.
He smiled and said: I think you all have agreed to use silver to exchange for the official's freedom?
Everyone hesitated for a moment, then nodded and drank tea.
Zhao Yulin also agreed to exchange them with silver , and asked them to go back and give Feiyan advice, saying that we agree to exchange them, and not a single relative should be lost. But the price is not what they want, we only give 1.5 million strings of money, and 1.5 million strings of silver coins. When the grassland empire sees that it is silver coins, it will definitely agree.
Everyone was surprised that Zhao Yulin actually agreed to exchange it with silver coins. The Grassland Empire would definitely agree, as they liked the shiny silver coins.
He continued: For us, silver coins and paper money are both circulating currencies, the same.
The Grassland Empire still has to spend the silver coins it gets, and our merchants can exchange them for goods of equal value. There is no loss for us New Song people. Instead, we save 500,000 strings of money and gain the initiative. It seems that we are also giving the Grassland Empire a bargain.
As for who to send on the mission?
He proposed to send Zhang Guoan, the garrison commander of Chengdu. Zhang Guoan was his former captain of the guard. He was loyal and reliable, flexible and disciplined. If Guoan went to Jiuyuan, all the generals at the border would be convinced. With our Lord Cao and General Meng in charge of Chengdu, it would be absolutely safe.
With just a few words, Zhao Yulin resolved all the knots in their hearts, and everyone looked relieved.
Lao Cao asked him cheerfully: Brother, are you not going back to Chengdu?
How long will you stay here?
You all want me to go back.
Mr. Ding immediately said, "Yes, yes, yes, when will you be back, little brother?"
He hesitated for a moment and said: There are still some things on the train that need to be discussed. I will go back after a few days when the rape flowers in Chengdu bloom.
After receiving Zhao Yulin's approval, the three of them did not waste any time and returned to Chengdu the next day.
After seeing off Mr. Ding and the others, Wu Yuqi noticed that Zhao Yulin no longer looked as relaxed as before and asked him what was wrong.
Looks like he's worried about something.
He said: Some people in Chengdu must be getting restless.
Zhao Yulin went to the study to organize his thoughts and wrote furiously. He soon completed a signed article titled "Stability overrides everything, those who make trouble will be killed without mercy". After revising it several times, he asked Wu Yuqi to give it to Master Lu to publish in Cuiping Morning Post.
The next day, the article signed by the Third Young Master was published in Cuiping Morning News. With the help of Shunfeng Company, the spread of the article was extremely fast, and newspapers in various places quickly reprinted the article on the front page.
Those who often read newspapers flicked the newspapers and told everyone to look, "The Third Young Master has published a masterpiece again. He has not written any articles in the past two years. Today is an eye-opener."
Some people said: Don’t be too obedient, the third young master wants to kill someone again.
The person sitting next to him drinking tea sneered at him and said: "You know nothing, Third Young Master, this is called deterrence, deterring those scoundrels. Don't you know that a few days ago, some students took to the streets to petition and cause trouble?"
Since the founding of the New Song Dynasty, such things have rarely happened. There must be someone behind the scenes. Think about it, why did those students run to the streets for no reason and wave flags to rescue the government and return the government?
If that were the case, it would be a mess.
If the imperial court really wanted to kill those leaders , they deserved it. Who told these young people to run around? It was a waste of the money the imperial court spent on them.
At the Zhao Mansion, King Zhao Feiyan had already seen the article written by Zhao Yulin. The little woman's frown finally relaxed, and she sat casually in the corridor watching the flowers falling and flying in the courtyard.
Yangjin walked over, sat next to her and asked: Now that Brother Yulin has spoken, our girls are confident and not afraid, right?
Zhao Feiyan hummed and rocked on her shoulder.
Yangjin said: There is no smoke without fire. To deal with these people, we must make an example of them and kill the ringleaders immediately. It will be much easier to deal with the rest of the fools.
This is to stop the disaster from further expanding with the least bloodshed and avoid more bloodshed.
In the past few days, unidentified people appeared in the city distributing leaflets, calling for the rescue of the emperor and the return of power to the court. Soon, students from the four prefecture schools joined together and marched on the streets to Jinguan City to petition and demonstrate, which made Feiyan very anxious.
Fortunately, Yangjin made the decision to ask Huayue to go to the Student Center to publicize the New Song Dynasty's legal system and tell the students that the New Song Dynasty would not abandon any of its fellow countrymen. The students' mission was to study and learn culture, and they were not allowed to go to the streets to assemble and cause trouble without the permission of the government.
Immediately, Zhao Feiyan ordered the garrison to go out and persuade the crowd gathered in the street to return and disperse. After a secret investigation, the Shunfeng Division and the Xuncha Division arrested several masterminds behind the scenes, and the city surrendered in an instant.
Feiyan asked Yangjin what to do if someone from the Research Office of the Censorate was the mastermind behind the scenes?
Yangjin said: "Send them to Kangning Prefecture to do hard labor, and tire these evildoers to death. This time we acted quickly and did not give them the opportunity to make trouble, but the motives of these people to mess up our New Song Dynasty were clearly written on their faces. If we do not punish them severely, how can we convince the public and deter those who harbor evil intentions?
The two were still talking when the maid reported to Lord Ding that Lord Ding had arrived.
The two women immediately stood up to greet them.
As soon as the old man sat down, he praised Feiyan, saying that she acted quickly and managed Chengdu well. The old man happily relayed Zhao Yulin's strategy to the two women, and Feiyan was delighted.
