Chapter 311 Where should the Ning family go?

The west side of King Su's dormitory has been very lively in the past few months.

Empress Xiao Ning is making arrangements to find concubines for Her Second Highness Prince Baojun. Originally, the background of the concubines was definitely not qualified, and they had to be found among the ladies of aristocratic families.

However, Li Yi still hasn't found the palace yet. He only has 200,000 taels of silver on hand. How can he build a palace?

Since the wave of road construction began to surge across the country more than ten years ago, the number of people traveling for business has at least tripled compared to more than ten years ago. As the political center of the country, the capital city has an endless stream of merchants, which has affected the entire country.

Land prices and house prices in the Gyeonggi area have also doubled several times.

Previously, Songge's old man could only buy half of the palace with 300,000 taels. What is 200,000 taels enough for?

Wang Jue's mansion has always been given as a gift, why do you need to buy it yourself?!

Li Yi wanted to make a fuss with his father, but he didn't dare.

Ever since his mother slapped his father and he was put under house arrest for a while, Li Yi felt inexplicably a little timid every time he saw his father. Now his father has transformed from a prince to an emperor, with such an aura of calmness and self-power.

The pressure made his scalp numb.

He asked his mother for money, but Queen Xiao Ning's own dowry only totaled 80,000 taels. Most of them were objects, farms, shops, etc., and the cash in cash was only about 20,000 taels.

As a princess for more than 20 years, she had worked hard to save hundreds of thousands of taels. Even if she gave all of it to her son, it wouldn't be enough! Besides, she couldn't give it all. After entering the palace and becoming a queen, she needed money.

What's more, Xiao Ning convened a secret meeting with a few confidants in Weiyang Palace all day long to discuss how to make more money in the position of queen. At most, half of the money in her hand should be given to her son.

Li Yi asked his uncle Zhenbei Gong for some orders, but his uncle Ning Gong actually pretended to be sick and disappeared!

Li Yi was so angry that he ran to the queen to cry. The queen immediately invited his brother to the palace, but Zhenbei Gong still pretended to be ill and refused to go!

Li Zhao and Li Yi are both nephews of the Ning family, so there is no reason to give it only to Li Yi but not to Li Zhao.

Li Zhao is the future crown prince candidate!

His daughter Ning Yueyao is still squatting in Li Zhao’s backyard!

It is impossible for Mr. Ning to offend the eldest prince just to please the second prince.

But if both sides are given, how much should they give? Forty to fifty thousand taels is not enough at all, but if it is given to one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand, the two princes combined will have to spend two hundred thousand or four hundred thousand in Zhenbei Palace.

two!

Take out so much money at once and ask the whole family in the government to drink from the northwest wind?

So Mr. Ning simply pretended to be sick and ignored the summons from the queen's sister and the prince's nephew.

Since his brother-in-law became emperor, Ning Hansong, the Duke of Zhenbei, has become more cautious than before when he was the Marquis, and his attitude towards his brother-in-law Li Ji has become more respectful than before.

In addition, he also knew that his daughter was not dealing with the girl from the Song family. Nowadays, he has become extremely sensitive to any trouble in the household department.

As the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Ning Yuan often walked in front of the emperor and had a close relationship with Li Zhao. Ning Yuan knew to some extent what the emperor was thinking, and Li Zhao also reminded him of this matter.

After returning home, Ning Yuan told his father that in the future, military commanders, nobles, civil servants and gentry would all have to pay grain and collect taxes together.

This is the will of the new emperor. If you obey it early, the loss will be small. If you resist resolutely, the emperor will disown all his relatives.

At Ning Yuan's suggestion, the Ning family quietly returned the land they had previously occupied to military households in the northeast. The land tax they had not paid in the past was also paid to the Ministry of Household Affairs for five years to ensure that the Ning family would not be called Song Jianming.

A cunning fox grasped something.

Mr. Ning knows very well what kind of temperament the new emperor Li Jin has. To put it simply, those who follow him will prosper, and those who go against him will perish, no matter who he is.

That man is not only smart and careless, but more importantly, His Majesty's image as a rogue has already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. He doesn't have to work hard to show off like the late Emperor.

Li Jin is a person who has long torn off his own face with his own hands and trampled it on the ground. Such a new emperor has no scruples in doing things.

He is not afraid of fame at all, let alone false fame.

As long as he can achieve his goal, he can do whatever it takes!

But with less land, the family will naturally have to find ways to develop business. Otherwise, how can such a large government maintain its dignity?

In the evening, Ning Hansong summoned his two concubine brothers, his third son Ning Cheng, and his fourth son Ning Yuan for a meeting to discuss how to increase the family's income.

Ning Cheng had lived in the Northeast since he was a child, and he knew how to draw a bow and fight. Apart from earning a moderate salary and occupying some military land like other generals, he could not think of any other way to make money.

Ning Hansong's two concubine brothers are much younger than Mr. Ning. At that time, Mr. Ning loved his wife Mu very much. When he was young, except for a few concubines who drank medicine, he never had any concubines.

Later, when Mr. Ning turned forty, the old lady felt that she was no longer able to have children, so she arranged for her husband to have two concubines according to the usual habits of wealthy families.

Not two years after these two concubines gave birth to their children, Mr. Ning fell ill and passed away. Ning Hansong took over his father's position and became the Marquis of Zhenbei. The entire Hou Mansion became the domain of the old lady.

Two concubines who had lost their support and two immature children lived a life of dependence on others in the Hou Mansion.

The two of them usually slept and ate, and their studies were average. Although their eldest brother hired a master for them to practice martial arts, there was no one to supervise them. They had practiced martial arts for more than ten years, and their martial arts skills were still at the stage of physical fitness.

It was the first time in their lives to participate in a family meeting. They were both confused when their eldest brother asked such a serious question.

The second eldest son stammered and asked: "Brother, big brother, what happened at home? Why is there a shortage of money??"

Ning Hansong saw his brother's miserable state, sighed, and looked at Ning Yuan. He shouldn't have called his two younger brothers who were "eating and waiting to die" to consult on such a thing!

Ning Yuan actually had an idea for a long time. Seeing that his two uncles and elder brother had no idea, he said, "Dad, we have to learn from the Song family when it comes to making money."

Ning Hansong's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, yes, you should learn this from that thief Song Jianming!

"Does Ayuan know the secret method of making money for the Song family?"

Ning Yuan said: "This is not a secret. Dad, why don't we learn from the Song family to run a factory? Wool and lanolin are good things, why do we have to buy them from that girl from Jin Song San? Why don't we just raise sheep in the Northeast and start a factory?

Wool Factory.”

"This is a good idea!" Third Young Master Ning Cheng clapped his hands.

However, Lord Ning frowned and said, "I heard that that thing was made by...that person from the Song family. Do you know what to do?"

Ning Yuan smiled and said: "Dad, you are thinking too complicated! Those two things are actually not that difficult. The craftsmen are all from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You can find out by going to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and asking. As for the technology of knitting wool, you can just go around Baoding Prefecture.

I can find workers who have worked in Song San’s factory and give them a few extra taels of silver, but I’m afraid they won’t know?”

Mr. Ning felt that what Ning Yuan said was very reasonable. Didn’t the Xu family build a wool factory in the northwest? Why couldn’t the Ning family? Raise sheep directly in the northeast, weave in the northeast, and save a lot of transportation costs!

"That's a good idea! Let's do it like this!" But after saying that, he hesitated again, thought about it for a moment, and then changed his words: "About this matter, Ayuan, go to the palace tomorrow and ask His Majesty what he wants."

Ning Yuan nodded, he thought so too. His Majesty must be informed about this matter and can only start with his permission.

The emperor has been reading the memorial on office studies sent by Li Zhao these days.

Li Zhao said that if simplified Chinese characters are popularized, farmers, workers, and businessmen all over the world must be able to read, and then the status of literati will not be so special.

Their status is no longer so special. The imperial court wants officials and gentry to pay taxes and grains as one, so that the land reform will be implemented more smoothly in the future.

In addition, I want to improve the status of craftsmen in the future. If craftsmen cannot read or write, how can they be respected by literati?

You will still be looked down upon.

The "national education system" conceived by Song Qingyue was divided into three levels, junior schools, intermediate schools, and colleges, and finally a technical school was added.

The junior level is a three-year program. Not only is it free of tuition, but it also provides a meal. The courses taught include literacy, arithmetic, and health.

Although Song Qingyue also proposed anti-superstitious atheistic materialist education, Li Zhao felt that this still needs to be discussed.

Junior schools must not only be built in county towns, but also in rural areas and villages. Of course, this matter will not be accomplished overnight. Thousands of teachers must be trained first, and then we can talk about building schools in rural areas. But

At least the court must have such a plan and put this matter in a priority position.

As for intermediate schools, they need to take entrance examinations and are initially only located in various counties, while universities can be located in large prefectures and provide grants and scholarships to poor students.

In the future, students from public schools in various places will gradually break the power of aristocratic families and allow all strata of society to circulate.

The last sentence written by Li Zhao in the book: In the future, thousands of talents like the Princess of Jin will emerge from these schools funded by the imperial court and even by His Majesty to serve Your Majesty and the imperial court. Call me Huaxia

China is ushering in a great change that has not been seen in a thousand years. It has truly brought the world to its center, and has the world surrender to me. I, His Majesty, the Emperor of China, are worshiped as the eternal sage.

One sentence made the emperor feel a little excited, and his face flushed with excitement. Eunuch Wang looked on and laughed, joking the emperor: "Look at me, your Majesty was never so excited when he ascended the throne."

The emperor pointed at Li Zhao's book and laughed loudly, saying: "Boss, this book is about a century-old plan! Holy King? Humph, that kid wants to be a Holy King himself, hahahaha!"

Eunuch Wang quickly complimented him: "It is God's will that your majesty gets Qilin'er."

The emperor nodded and read the book from beginning to end again, enjoying the future in his mind, and his whole body seemed to have endless energy.

He was in high spirits when Father-in-law He came from outside to report that it was Ning Yuan, commander of the Jinyi Guards, who wanted to see him.

"Then the boy is here? Call him in." The emperor said with a smile.

Ning Yuan entered the main hall of the Royal Study and raised his eyes to see His Majesty in a very good mood. He immediately felt relieved and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, my nephew is here today because he has family matters to ask for."

"Family affairs? Could it be that my uncle has encountered something difficult?"

Ning Yuan chuckled: "Look at what you said, uncle, it is indeed a bit difficult."

The emperor clicked his tongue: "If you have something to say, just say it. If you hesitate, you will make people anxious."

Ning Yuan nodded and talked about the family's financial difficulties, and finally said aggrievedly: "You don't know, a few days ago, His Highness the Second Highness wanted to build a palace, and he came to ask for money from my father. Didn't this go to the Second Highness?

Can't we give it to His Highness? The government's accounts are tight recently, how can we come up with so much! My father is so worried that he has been pretending to be sick at home recently and dare not leave the house!"

The emperor burst into laughter immediately. He liked to hear the truth without making any detours.

The jade beads in his hand were spinning again and again, and the emperor asked with a half-smile: "Then Ayuan has thought of any way to make money and needs my permission?"

"No, no! I can't hide anything from you, uncle!" Next, Ning Yuan briefly explained that he wanted to build a wool factory in the northwest. He needed to borrow craftsmen from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and asked His Highness for advice.
To be continued...