Wang Ding walked out of the upper study room, and Cao Jinxi stepped in...

He bent down to Liu Ji in the room and smiled, "Master, I guess Lord Wang is here to impeach a prince who quarreled with him again."

Liu Ji laughed. Cao Jinxi was well-behaved and knew that he was happy today because of the opening of the Imperial Bank of China, so he started joking with him.

Cao Jinxi said again: "Sage, He Shaoji's calligraphy and paintings are not very famous in this dynasty. Isn't it too much to enumerate the inscription "Bank of the Imperial Empire"?

Liu Ji put down the quill in his hand, stood up from the desk and said to Cao Jinxi: "Chen Han was the top scholar in the Jiaqing period of the Great Emperor. He should not be wrong with the people he recommended." Even so, the real reason for Liu Ji was that he had seen the authentic works of He Shaoji in a museum in another world.

When Cao Jinxi said this, he turned around and went to the door to look around for a few times.

Liu Jimin felt that Cao Jinxi was going to say something, but he still stood there with a relaxed expression.

When Cao Jinxi walked over again, he indeed whispered to Liu Ji: "Master, I heard Xiao Guizi serving the Empress Dowager last night say that the Empress Dowager was very dissatisfied with the Emperor recently and said that the Emperor only had his own surgery, and if this continued, there would be no good reward."

Liu Ji looked ahead calmly, without any expression on his face, but just smiled and waved Cao Jinxi to retreat. When Cao Jinxi was about to withdraw, Liu Ji suddenly asked, "Who are there in Eunuch Cao's family?"

Cao Jinxi hurriedly crawled on the ground and said, "When I go back to the emperor, my servant's parents have passed away. I also have a younger brother Cao Jincai at home, who is working in farming in his hometown in Hebei."

Liu Ji smiled faintly and asked, "Do you want to go back and see them?"

Cao Jinxi said in a trembling voice: "I, I just can't live without the emperor."

Liu Ji raised his hand and said, "You go down first. Let's talk about this for now. The palace is still inseparable from the country these days. You must be careful. If you have the right opportunity later, I will especially allow you to go back."

***************************************

Guangzhou was a bustling city in the early 19th century. Like other Chinese cities, Guangzhou was surrounded by a tall and solid city wall. On the narrow streets of the city, men with braids were walking. They wore clothes of different textures due to their different identities, but the styles were not very different. They had the same long gowns, or a jacket outside, and some people wore small hats on their heads. People like to wear fans and umbrellas. The streets were mostly wooden buildings, and there were many stalls on the street, ranging from daily necessities to calligraphy and paintings. These shops on the street only need to take off the wooden boards inlaid in the chutes and reveal their own stores. There were also more particular shops. As soon as they entered the door, they were like a garden. Such stores were relatively big businesses.

Speaking of businessmen, the biggest businessman in Guangzhou at that time must be the businessmen of Guangzhou Thirteen. If we were to select the wealth list in this era, there would be no doubt that Wu Bingjian of Jardine was among the top ten in the world.

It is approaching the end of the year. Wu Bingjian, who is over 50 years old, is busy. He must visit the officials stationed in Guangzhou one by one, and the silver is sent out in his hands like flowing water. This year, the imperial court issued an imperial edict to cancel the public business. In the future, the merchants of the thirteen companies have no political and policy advantages and can only face foreign merchants as equal businessmen. Wu Bingjian has an indifferent attitude towards this matter. With the Xinyi he accumulated in foreign merchants, foreign merchants will naturally seek business for him. He is just worried that the foreign merchants who send opium are not more rampant? They can find some unscrupulous merchants at will to sell opium for foreigners to earn money against their conscience.

Governor Li Hongbin of Huguang politely accepted Wu Bingjian's gift. The New Year is almost over in the winter. The lights and colorful flags are flying in Guangzhou City. Every household is preparing for the New Year. Li Hongbin's Governor's Mansion is no exception. Big red lanterns are hung everywhere in the Governor's Mansion, and everything inside and outside the mansion is cleaned up. Wu Bingjian's visit has added a bit of laughter to the mansion.

After the two of them took apart, Wu Bingjian expressed his worries.

As the governor of Huguang, Li Hongbin has considered more recently. How to cancel the miscellaneous fees charged by foreigners in Guangzhou Customs over the years. These old rules have been explicitly ordered by the emperor to cancel them. The problem now is that although the tariffs have increased, the officials of the customs office have no benefits. These officials come to Li Hongbin every few days to tell their troubles. These things have prevented Li Hongbin, who is approaching the New Year, from calming down for a moment.

When Wu Bingjian talked about this, Li Hongbin twisted his beard and said, "What Bingjian said is not without reason. It's just that the emperor has issued an imperial edict to trade all over the world, go out and bring in, learn from foreigners' guns, cannons and large ships, and everything has been relaxed. Now even the sea ban is open. Brother Bingjian must be careful of the thieves at the sea in the future."

Wu Bingjian had known before that the sea ban would be opened, but he did not expect that the emperor would indeed open it. Wu Bingjian couldn't help but feel mixed joys and sorrows. He was happy that there would be no restrictions on going to sea to do business in the future, and he was worried that this opium seemed to be difficult to block.

Li Hongbin saw Wu Bingjian's patriotic heart and worried about national affairs, and was very impressed. Seeing that the Spring Festival was coming, he wanted to say something relaxing to ease the atmosphere. So he said, "Bingjian has gone to see foreign students passing by here a few days ago? It is said that from now on, it will be dispatched every year, and there are five groups passing by here around this year."

Wu Bingjian put down the tea bowl in his hand and stroked his knees and said, "What the Governor said shocked Guangzhou. I think my country dared to learn Western weapons. The courage and courage of the emperor today is beyond the people who we often come into contact with foreigners. When the villain thinks about it, he feels very moved."

Li Hongbin is also a person who has dealt with foreigners. The foreign ships moored outside the port of Guangzhou were all equipped with black naval guns. A few years ago, when he was not in harmony with foreigners, Li Hongbin saw foreigners' naval guns hit the shore. If the sound was like thunder, when the shells landed, he could only see a cannon pit that was one person deep. When Wu Bingjian talked about this, Li Hongbin became silent. The foreigner's artillery fire was many times stronger than the cannon on the coast of Guangzhou. If he had it, he would have it.

Conflict, what to use to defend against foreign naval cannons? Thinking of this, Li Hongbin remembered that Emperor Wansui had returned from buying some foreign cannons recently, and heard that there were still a batch of machines. His eyes lit up and said to Wu Bingjian: "Bingjian, a batch of cannons and machines soon came back. Didn't you say that you want to meet Emperor Wansui today? I'll write a letter of recommendation here. You can go ashore from sea to Tianjin with this batch of goods, and then go to the capital by land. You will definitely meet Emperor Wansui."

Wu Bingjian was planning to write a letter to the current emperor to express the problem of opium. Wu Bingjian planned this way, one could express his loyalty to the emperor, and the other was afraid of being implicated by opium dealers. So when Wu Bingjian heard Li Hongbin say this, he immediately agreed.

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Chapter completed!