After Zhou Xian bid farewell to Lu Xiangsheng, he went home.

The wedding of Zhou Tai and Miss Zhao was held in the capital. For this, Zhou Xian's father Zhou Tianhong specially bought a new house. The house is not big, but it is much spacious than before, and it is still in the north city.

By the time Zhou Xian returned home, it was already very late, and most of the family had already gone to bed. Only Zhou Tianhong was waiting for him in the main hall, while Jinse was waiting beside him.

Zhou Xian looked puzzled and stepped forward and said, "Father, it's so late, why haven't you rested yet?"

Zhou Tianhong waved his hand and said, "When people get old, they become weaker in sleep." After that, he turned to Jinse and said, "Jinse, go and heat up the lotus seed porridge you cooked tonight, and then bring it to him."

Jinse bowed and walked out. When she walked to Zhou Xian, Zhou Xian smiled at her and said, "Be warmer, I'm really hungry after running for so long."

Zhou Tianhong waved his hand to let Zhou Xian sit down, and then asked Emperor Chongzhen about the summoning of him. When he heard that Zhou Xian was already the prefect of Laizhou, he had a strange expression on his face, and he was happy and a little worried. "Your Majesty can be said to be very kind to you, but you must be careful and not be arrogant because of favor. As the saying goes, being with the king is like being with a tiger. Your Majesty is unstable. In just two months this year, he has killed nearly ten imperial officials, headed by the governor of the three sides, Zheng Chongjian, and the governor of Henan Li Xianfeng. Although Your Majesty is very trusting about you at present, once you cannot achieve anything in Laizhou, it is really hard to tell what you will face next. "

Zhou Xian nodded and said, "I understand."

Jinse brought two bowls of lotus seed soup, one bowl for Zhou Xian, and the other bowl for Zhou Tianhong.

Zhou Xian took it and said lightly to Jinse: "Jinse, it's late enough, you go down and rest first. Just leave everything here to me."

Jinse looked at Zhou Tianhong, and when she saw the latter wave her hand, she bowed and retreated.

Zhou Xian looked at Jinse's back. She hadn't seen her for nearly a year, but she became slimmer.

Zhou Tianhong scooped a bite with a spoon and asked casually: "Xian'er, when are you going to go to Laizhou to take up your post?"

Zhou Xian drank the lotus seed soup and said, "It should be necessary to stay in Denglai for a few days. Your Majesty asked me to go with Shen Tingyang. By the way, father, who is this Shen Tingyang?"

Zhou Tianhong looked surprised and said, "Are you talking about the new doctor of the Ministry of Revenue Shen Tingyang?"

Zhou Xian shook his head and said, "I don't know if it's him. Your Majesty only told me this name. He seemed to be going to Laiyang to find Xu Renlong, the governor of Denglai. His Majesty did not explain in detail what the matter was."

Zhou Tianhong was silent for a moment and said, "That's him. Shen Tingyang was the only official in the Ming Dynasty who was familiar with maritime affairs. In the 12th year of Chongzhen, he was still a member of the Secretariat. He submitted a "Please Advocate a Small Trial of Sea Transportation" to Your Majesty, suggesting that the sea transport was restored by Zhu Qing, a Yuan Dynasty man, and presented the five volumes of the "Sea Transportation Book" and the "Sea Transportation Map" to Your Majesty. At that time, this memorial caused an uproar in the court and countless people opposed it. But Your Majesty supported him and asked him to try to build a sea ship. I think he, a Beijing official, went to Laizhou, should be related to sea transport."

Zhou Xian's face changed slightly, and his heart was filled with joy. Unexpectedly, there were such a sea transport official in the Ming Dynasty for many years. He asked curiously: "Father, is your Majesty asking him to go to Laiyang, are you planning to create a navy?"

Zhou Tianhong smiled and said, "You are too simple to think about things. Chen Tingyang, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, is okay to build some sea ships. How can he have such skills in creating a navy?"

"Then why did he go to Laiyang?"

Zhou Tianhong thought for a while and said, "If I had expected it was good, he should have started the maritime canal transport. On that day, after he successfully built the sea ship, he had tried to run it. He and the officials took two sea ships, carrying hundreds of stones of rice, set off from Huai'an, and arrived in Tianjin on a sunny day. In addition to the five days of waiting for the wind, the road only took ten days. Your Majesty was overjoyed and appointed him as the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue. There was a harbor of the imperial court in Dengzhou. I think he should have wanted to set up a transit station there. Through there, transfer food and grass from north to south."

Zhou Xian pondered for a moment and said, "If sea transport is really opened, we will not know how much money or labor will be saved along the way. Our army fought with the Manchus, and food and grass were the first priority. If the sea transport was driven further and directly sent the food and grass to the Liaodong front line, then the battle against the Manchus will increase a lot of chances of victory."

Zhou Tianhong shook his head and said, "You think too simple. The court despised the abnormal shipping. He only sent two sea boats to the trial flight that day, which shows that. If the sea canal transportation is really opened, Chen Tingyang, as the only official who knows about maritime affairs, will no longer be a few ships, but all ships on the Yangtze River and the canal. How many people are involved in this? And how many people are blocked from the livelihood of many people. Moreover, Chen Tingyang is a ship nerd. To put it nicely, he is focusing on one thing. To put it badly, he is just thinking hard. Thinking of him as a person to balance various interests is equivalent to daydream. I think this matter may end up in the end."

Zhou Xian argued: "Father, I don't think so. Chen Tingyang, with His Majesty's support, could not have abandoned him just because everyone opposes him."

Zhou Tianhong smiled bitterly and said, "You still don't fully understand Your Majesty's character. You have never tried to do anything like sea bans, artillery, increased wages and trained troops, abolished party struggles, etc., and which one has not ended up in the end? Moreover, every time you fail, there are always some people who do things in a solid manner become scapegoats. The final result is that no one dares to mention it anymore, and no one dares to do things in a solid manner. Your Majesty has vision, but less responsibility. It can be said that the Ming Dynasty has become what it is now, and Your Majesty is to blame."

Zhou Xian pondered for a moment, and suddenly felt that what Zhou Tianhong said seemed to be true. Emperor Chongzhen was too hearted and wanted to do too many things. Often, he did something else before he finished one thing. In addition, his personality eventually led to nothing being done, and he also fell to the point of being alone. It has to be said that it was a kind of tragedy.

After drinking the lotus seed soup in the bowl, Zhou Tianhong stood up and beat a hache. He said to Zhou Xian: "I'm tired, I'll go and rest first, and you can rest early."

Zhou Xian nodded and helped Zhou Tianhong back to the house. He sat upright for a while, thinking about the whole thing in his heart. Finally, he sighed silently, hoping that the situation would not eventually turn out like that!

He stood up, poured out the remaining lotus seed soup in the bowl, washed the bowl and put it back in the kitchen.
Chapter completed!