After having said this, Zhang Yanfang had nothing to report to Yunxi. As for Yang Ren, because it was getting late today, he looked at each other and Zhang Yanfang stood up at the same time and said: "Your Majesty, it is getting late today.
I will take my leave now and report to His Majesty tomorrow."
Yunxi was also a little tired at this time and said, "It's indeed getting late. My dear friends, please step aside." Yang Ren and Zhang Yanfang immediately bowed and left.
Yunxi stood up and stretched his muscles, and said to Wang Xi: "Take me to a place to rest."
Wang Xi bowed his head and agreed, and took Yunxi to the largest courtyard behind the Yamen of Shibosi. Just now, the officials from Shibosi had told him about the place where the emperor rested, and he also took advantage of Yunxi and Zhang Yanfang to discuss matters.
I had gone to see it, so I took Yunxi to the yard with ease.
At this time, in the courtyard, Xiyi and Li Shaer were sitting in the main hall, chatting while waiting for Yunxi to come over. Xiyi and her sister Xiyao, because Li Shaer's status was not high, they usually behaved in a way that was not in line with the palace.
She follows the rules, but she is also very 'peaceful', so she has a good relationship with her. During the interview, she speaks in a gentle manner and will not use anything to beat her. Xiyi is not mean-spirited, so they can still chat.
.
"Why do I feel that there is nothing special about Guangdong except that it is hotter than the capital area?" Xiyi said.
"Sister Xue, both Guangdong and the capital are part of the Ming Dynasty, and the local people are all Han people. Although the area south of Wuling was previously plagued by miasma, the Han people have taken root here over the years, and have long since merged with other people.
The place is the same.”
"But if my sister could walk around Guangzhou, she should be able to see the difference between the people here and the capital."
"Cantonese people are extremely delicious and know how to eat. The dishes are different from other places and are unique. Famous dishes include white chicken, mandarin duck crab, lobster with lettuce, Chaoshan rice rolls, etc., all of which are very delicious."
"The various dim sums in Guangdong are also very good. There are many varieties, colorful, exquisite shapes and novel tastes, which are unique."
"Cantonese people also love drinking tea very much. The first thing they do when they get up every morning is either make a pot of tea at home or go to a teahouse they often visit for a cup of tea. Anyway, you must drink tea. Among them, those from Chaoshan area
The preparation of Kung Fu tea is not more complicated than the one in the palace, but it is unique. My sister must try it when she comes to Guangzhou."
"And..." Li Shaer introduced many features about Guangdong.
"Oh, I heard you say that, Guangdong is very unique. Especially since most of the food you just mentioned are Cantonese people's food, it shows that the food here is indeed unique. What you said makes my sister a little hungry.
." Xiyi smiled.
"My sister also said she was hungry. Speaking of which, it's almost dark now, why hasn't the emperor come back yet?" Li Sha'er also said.
"Xiao Dezi, go to the front yard and ask Wang Xi. Is His Majesty discussing matters with the ministers? When can he come over?" Xiyi heard Li Sha'er's words and ordered a young eunuch beside her.
The eunuch known as Xiao Dezi agreed and turned around to go out to find Wang Xi; but at this moment, a man's laughter came from outside the door and said: "There is no need to send people to find him, I have already come."
"Your Majesty." Xiyi and Li Shaer hurriedly stood up, bowed to Yunxi and said, "I have met your Majesty."
Yunxi waved most of the servants to leave, leaving only the three of them and the personal palace maid and eunuch. He ordered Wang Xi to pass on the food, and then smiled and said: "What were you two talking about here just now?"
"Your Majesty, I was talking to Sister Li about the characteristics of Guangdong. Sister Li knows Guangdong very well and told me a lot about the uniqueness of this place. Especially the food in Guangdong, I was so hungry." Xiyi smiled.
Yunxi sat down on his seat, took a sip of tea, and smiled when he heard this: "Cantonese food is indeed unique, but you shouldn't be so surprised. There is a cook in the palace who can make Cantonese dim sum. On weekdays, I I’ve also eaten a lot of his snacks, and you’ve also eaten them, so you shouldn’t be surprised by this.”
"Hey, there is an imperial chef in the palace who can make Cantonese dim sum?" Xiyi widened her eyes and said, "I never knew about it."
"You, you, you don't pay much attention to it on weekdays." Yunxi said with a smile: "But it's nothing. Now we are in Guangdong, in the small place of Baosi, Bao'an City. The sea is not open for a long time, and the food is not too good. There are many; when you get to Guangzhou City, you can eat whatever you want."
"Your Majesty means what he says." Xiyi said.
"I must keep my word." Yunxi said.
While the two were talking, suddenly a eunuch guarding the door shouted: "Your Majesty, the messenger from Guangxi has sent a memorial. Can your Majesty read it now?"
Before Yunxi could give instructions, Xiyi and Li Shaer had already stopped talking. Huang Lu walked to the door, opened the door a crack and took the memorial. He walked back and handed it to Yunxi and said, "Your Majesty, it came from outside the door."
Yunxi opened the memorial, looked at it, and said with a smile: "Li Jinglong is quite capable. The 250,000 Han Yi army that has arrived in Guangxi has been managed by him in an orderly manner. It's just..., but it's okay."
"Yunnan's 150,000 troops have also arrived at Lin'an Prefecture and can attack Annan at any time."
"In this case, Zhang Wen and Zhu Chanyi and others have also arrived in Nanning Prefecture, Guangxi. I have ordered that we first attack the cities on the land border between Annan and Ming Dynasty to test them, and also transfer all the soldiers of the Annan people to the north. ."
As Yunxi spoke, he picked up a pencil and wrote something on a piece of paper. Then he handed it to Wang Xi and said, "You can go back and use a brush to copy these words onto the memorial. Let me read it and stamp it and send it back."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Xi accepted the memorial and agreed. But he was thinking: "Your Majesty always seems to think that Li Jinglong is not a general. What is going on? He has never fought in a war before? Your Majesty has also done this several times." Frankly speaking, he is not very good at fighting, but just from his daily performance, you can tell that Li Jinglong is not good at fighting? How strange.'
"Your Majesty, are you going to officially go to war with the Annan people?" Xiyi suddenly asked.
"Well, I have ordered the Lu division that has come to the border to fight the Annan people. Let's test it out first," Yun He said.
"Is my concubine's brother also going to fight?" Xiyi asked. Not only her, but Li Shaer also looked at Yunxi nervously.
"Actually, your two brothers have been at war with each other a long time ago!" Yunxi said in surprise: "The navy fought with Annan's navy earlier than the mainland navy. It fought against Annan's navy as early as September."
"Ah! Your Majesty, why haven't you heard your Majesty talk about such a thing before?" Xiyi said excitedly.
"Before, there was no definite news about them being at sea. I was afraid that you would be worried so I didn't say anything. Now that Xiran and Li Jiqian have returned, we can naturally tell them."
"Not only did they come back, they also made some achievements each. Li Jiqian, as the commander of the Beihai Guards and concurrently as Qianhu, made great contributions to the complete annihilation of the Annan Navy. With his merits, he can be promoted to the commander. But this is just this battle. As an appetizer, I am not in a position to promote him alone."
"Xiran has also made a lot of contributions. If he makes some contributions when he is employed in the navy again in a few days, he can also be promoted to commander."
Li Shaer patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Although the navy of the Annan people was small, it was not bad. It kept up with the latest trends in the world - that is, the style of ships of the Ming Dynasty. It was certain that they would lose to the navy of the Ming Dynasty. , but it can cause some damage to the Ming Dynasty Navy. If her brother is too unlucky and gets killed, he may be killed. Now she can relax.
Xiyi did the same and patted her chest. Moreover, she pestered Yunxi to ask how her brother was doing, and Yunxi answered them one by one. It wasn't until the kitchen of Shibosi Yamen brought the dinner prepared for tonight that Xiyi He stopped asking and sat down to eat.
After dinner, Yunxi wrote another letter to Min'er. These days, he wrote a letter almost every day, asking people who picked vegetables in small boats to deliver them to the local post house, and accompany them with the memorial to the capital. to the palace.
He wrote about the scenery of the Pearl River Estuary and the situation of Bao'an City Ship Division. He also wrote some words on a piece of paper for each of Miaojin, Xiyao and Baoqin, and then sealed them well and sent them to the local post house by Huang Lu.
The next day, Yunxi changed into the clothes of a middle school official, followed the practice of the Shanghai Shipping Department, and walked around the Baoan Shipping Department. The Shipping Department was indeed prosperous, which was very gratifying. However, Yunxi always felt that the owners of some shops he passed looked at them fiercely. He later asked Zhang Yanfang and found out that these shop owners were all believers in the Tianfang Sect.
Yunxi suddenly wanted to expel them all from the Shipping Department. But in this way, the business would be half lost, and merchants from Siam and other places would be very happy to act as second-rate traders and earn away the original Ming customs duties, so he could only suppress his thoughts.
On the third day, he walked around and looked at the surrounding health posts. He also took a boat to Victoria Bay in later Hong Kong to have a look. Yunxi also ordered the Nanhai Navy Admiral on the spot: "Set up a post here and open up a This became a harbor for navy ships.”
On the fourth day, Yunxi set off, leaving Bosi, Bao'an City, and headed for Guangzhou City.
…
…
"Your Majesty, Yang Ren, the Chief Minister of Guangdong, has met your Majesty. Long live your Majesty!" Yang Ren saluted Yunxi again at the gate closest to the dock in Guangzhou City.
"Yang Qing, what are you doing? Didn't you meet me once in Bao'an City?" Yunxi asked.
"Your Majesty, that was in Baosi, Bao'an City. This is the city of Guangzhou and the administrative seat of Guangdong Province. It is different from Bao'an. As the head of the civil service in Guangdong, it would be inappropriate for me to pay homage to Your Majesty without being the foreman. So I want to pay homage to you again. However, I This time, the officials I ordered you to take to Bao'an last time have not come to pay homage today. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Yang Ren said.
"That's all. As the chief envoy of Guangdong, it's really not good for you not to come out. You have done a good job in preventing those who have paid me a visit before. I will not reprimand you." Yunxi said.
"I thank your Majesty for your grace." After Yang Ren finished speaking, he stood up from the ground and stepped aside.
Guangzhou City is different from Bao'an. There are many important civil and military officials in the city. From the gradually declining Right Chief Envoy, to the Inspector General, to the deputy envoys and ministers in charge of various admirals, they are all officials of fourth rank or above. What happened to Yunxi? I also have to say a few words.
In this way, everyone was busy at the city gate for a long time, and a group of talents gathered around the emperor and headed to where he was staying.
As a big city in the southeast, Guangzhou is naturally different from Bao'an, where the newly built city port company is located. It has a place specially designed to receive distinguished guests. At this time, that place was used as Yunxi's palace. However, the location of this 'temporary palace' was rather remote. North, Yunxi got on the carriage and headed to the palace in the north of the city.
When they arrived at the palace, Yunxi saw that it was still early, so he left Yang Ren and the envoys behind, commanding the envoys to ask about the situation in Guangdong.
"Your Majesty, in the whole province of Guangdong, in the 26th year of Hongwu's reign, there were 675,599 households, with a population of 3,779,32, or almost nine people per two households."
"Although there are no careful statistics on the current population of Guangdong Province, there are approximately 700,000 households and a population of nearly 3.3 million."
"Guangzhou has been an important town in the south since ancient times and is governed by Guangdong Province. Although it has a small population now, it has become a very prosperous place after His Majesty opened the sea and established the Baoan Shipping Department." Yang Ren said.
"My shipping department is located in Bao'an, how come it has a relationship with Guangzhou?" Yunxi asked with some confusion.
"Your Majesty, although the Shipping Department is in Bao'an, Guangzhou is the intersection of the East and West rivers and has convenient transportation. The nearby place is the most important grain-producing area in Guangdong. Guangzhou's population accounts for almost half of Guangdong Province, so Guangdong Many merchants bought goods from the Shipping Department and passed through Guangzhou, making this place very prosperous again." Yang Rendao.
He then talked about many good changes in the city of Guangzhou. Not only him, but also the envoys. After hearing this, Yunxi smiled, but didn't say anything more and let them go.
After they all went down, Yunxi and Wang Xi said, "I can see from his face that there are not only good things in Guangzhou City, but there must be some problems, and the problems are not serious."
"It's just that today is my first day in Guangzhou City, so I won't ask more about these things for now. But I will definitely ask Yang Ren tomorrow."
Wang Xi lowered his head and pondered. Although he seemed to be listening to Yunxi's words, he had no reaction and could not speak. He had this expression every time Yunxi talked about such political affairs with him.
Yunxi also knew that he was like this, but he would still talk to him. Apart from Xiyao, he really couldn't find anyone else to talk to, so he could only talk to Wang Xi.
The next day, Yunxi summoned them again and asked directly: "Guangzhou can't only have good things, there may be some problems. I didn't see your face looking happy yesterday. To be honest. Tell me, even if you make some mistakes, as long as the purpose is good and you manage Guangdong well, I won't blame you."
After listening to Yunxi's words, the three of them looked at each other, and finally Yang Ren said: "I can't hide anything from Your Majesty. Indeed, as His Majesty said, Guangzhou has some of the same diseases as Siem Reap."