Chapter five hundred and twentieth a lot of private matters
In mid-September, Qin Dewei and his party arrived in Tongzhou along the canal. As usual, they abandoned the boat and boarded the train after a night's rest.
Ma Er, who was sent to the front station, came out of the capital again and went to Tongzhou to meet Qin Dewei. On the way, he reported key information:
"Little Madam Li's family has followed the Liaodong Army to the capital, and they are now living in Xikuoyuan."
Qin Dewei sighed, too many people would be troublesome. If Mrs. Li has not arrived in the capital yet, Wang Lianqing can be placed in Xikuoyuan first.
But since Mrs. Li's family has already occupied it, they can only find another place to accommodate Wang Lianqing.
If you don't want to move, the best way now is to buy the house next door to the east to house Wang Lianqing, and then get through it.
Hey, it seems that a time traveler has done this before, and seems to have used a bachelor to "persuade" the other party to sell the house.
Living in the capital is not easy, especially in high-end areas.
Ma Er said with sincere emotion: "I finally understand why the master refused to take Miss Liu Yue in Nanjing."
Under the current situation, if there is one more woman, Mr. Xiao Qin will go crazy. Fortunately, Mrs. Gu didn't come this time, otherwise he would go even crazier.
From this, Ma Er gained a life experience: If you want to accept many women, don't look for someone who is too outstanding, otherwise you won't be able to tolerate any one, and it will be difficult to settle down.
Unfortunately, for most people, this experience may be of little use.
While Qin Dewei was worried, he ordered: "Then go to the city quickly and tell Taoist Master Tao to lend him his place!"
The place next to Xianling Palace is not small, and there are independent courtyard guest rooms. It is close to home, so Qin Dewei plans to let Wang Lianqing stay there temporarily.
This kind of thing is not surprising. In this era, it is too common to stay in palaces and temples.
Now, we can only take one step at a time. After receiving the order, Ma Er returned to the city to make arrangements in advance.
After entering the capital, Qin Dewei was temporarily unable to distract himself. As an envoy, he had to attend to his official duties first.
Therefore, we can only let Wang Da and Ma Er take charge of settling Wang Lianqing and bringing in the backbone of the bank business.
After returning home, Qin Dewei visited his parents and then returned to his room.
While he was talking to Xu Miaoxuan about family matters, he was thinking about various problems that needed to be dealt with.
Suddenly I heard Xu Miaoxuan ask: "Which one is better, Beijing or Nanjing?"
Although Qin Dewei was physically tired after a long journey, his mind was still very clear and he answered perfectly: "The place where you are is the best!"
After looking at the sun, he saw that there was still some time today, Qin Dewei walked out again: "I'll go out again."
Xu Miaoxuan quickly grabbed her husband and asked, "Where else are you going?"
Qin Dewei said: "I'm going to see Taoist Master Tao to ask something!"
Xu Miaoxuan sighed: "You don't ask the common people or ghosts and gods, but you actually went to find Tao Laodao first when you came back.
Or are some people so good that you can't let them go for a moment?"
Qin Dewei swore: "Don't think nonsense, no one is as good as you! I really have something serious to do with Taoist Tao! It's absolutely true, otherwise you go with me?"
Xu Miaoxuan let go of her husband and said, "Okay, okay, I just want to take a shower first, you go and come back early!"
When Qin Dewei arrived at Xianling Palace, he neither went to the guest room nor to the side courtyard. He actually went straight to the back hall to see Tao Laodao.
Tao Zhongwen was very surprised. When Qin Dewei returned to the capital, why did you come to see him first?
No matter from which angle you look at it, Tao Zhongwen cannot be ranked at the top.
Qin Dewei didn't care so much. He had a secret talk with Tao Laodao after asking questions, and then he was completely relieved.
Some things are just afraid of being wiped out by the butterfly effect, so if you don’t ask, you won’t feel at ease.
After briefly reviewing what happened at home, the next day, Qin Dewei went to the Hanlin Academy to report that he had returned from a business trip.
In the Hall of the No. 1 Scholar, two men of the same age, Zhao Zhenji and Xu Gu, were working hard.
After all, it was Qin Dewei who was ordered to revise the "Emperor's Precepts", so a large amount of relevant information was piled up in the Zhuangyuan Hall.
The two of them were tricked by Qin Dewei into working as coolies, so they had no choice but to work here.
After Qin Dewei walked in, he asked casually: "How are you doing in the past few months?"
Xu Gu replied: "The Bao Xun of Emperor Gao is expected to be in fifteen volumes, and eight volumes have been revised, with about one hundred thousand words."
Qin Dewei nodded, "Very good! Give me the draft and I will review and write it down when I get home."
We haven’t seen each other for a long time, so naturally we wanted to chat. After Qin Dewei sat down, he asked again: "How has the situation in the DPRK and China been in the past few months?"
Zhao Zhenji and Xu Gu were both surprised. They didn't expect Qin Dewei to ask this.
In their minds, Qin Dewei knew so many big shots. If they wanted to know about the recent situation in the imperial court, why bother asking these two newcomers who were still studying in the Hanlin Academy.
But for Qin Dewei, the interests of those big bosses are too involved, and what they say is often not objective enough.
As for Zhao and Xu, a newcomer who is immersed in studying in the Hanlin Academy, he has not been completely polluted, and his words are more objective and credible.
It was Xu Gu who replied: "The situation in the DPRK has been stable recently and there is nothing special."
This is not because Xu Gu was slow or insensitive. Indeed, the period from the 15th year of Jiajing to the 17th year of Jiajing was a rare period of stability in the Jiajing Dynasty.
Qin Dewei asked again: "Are there any disputes between big shots?"
In a stable situation, this kind of thing will inevitably happen, and it doesn't hurt to have more information.
Xu Gu continued to answer: "Xia Ge Lao and Gu Ge Lao had several arguments in the past two months, but they have subsided."
The result is self-evident, Master Xia is definitely stronger and Gu Dingchen is weaker.
But Zhao Zhenji remembered something and said something else: "I heard that Duke Wang Junchuan and Marquis Wu Ding had a dispute recently, and they seem to have something to do with you."
Duke Wang Junchuan was of course the prime minister of the royal court and the admiral of the imperial camp. Marquis Wu Ding was Guo Xun, the first military minister and the chief military officer of the imperial camp.
Why did Wang Tingxiang get into a fight with Guo Xun? Qin Dewei said doubtfully: "What does it have to do with me? I haven't been in the capital these few months!"
Zhao Zhenji added: "In order to supervise the manufacture of firearms, since the trial production of your new artillery was successful, the imperial court ordered large quantities of them to be manufactured. The first batch is expected to be 3,000 pieces.
This job was naturally undertaken by the Ordnance Bureau, and it was originally supposed to be jointly supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Mr. Wang, but Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding, united with the Ministry of War to usurp the responsibility of supervising the manufacture of new firearms."
After Qin Dewei heard this, he felt that this Guo Xun was really a pain in the ass and was simply looking for trouble.
After you, a martial artist, won the favor of the emperor, why did you provoke the civil servants if you didn't enjoy your wealth and honor?
Just because you are popular, you compete with civil servants for food. If you don't die in a few years, who will die?
Qin Dewei thought about it and clarified: "I only develop firearms and have not participated in mass manufacturing.
So the dispute between Senior Wang and Guo Xun actually has little to do with me. You have to make it clear that Senior Wang is Senior Wang and I am me, so don’t confuse them with each other."
Qin Dewei said this not because he had any objection to Wang Tingxiang, but because he consciously established himself as an "independent mountaintop" in front of his "little brothers".
He, Qin Dewei, is not an accessory of the big guys!
But just after Qin Dewei finished speaking, he heard someone outside the door suddenly greeting him loudly: "Is Qin Banqiao there? I heard that you are back from Nanjing?"
Who is so rude and shouts so loudly in the Imperial Academy?
Immediately, I saw a second-level boss walking to the door of the house. Who else could he be if he wasn't Wang Tingxiang?
Qin Dewei was startled. After all, you, Wang Tingxiang, are also one of the "Ten Members" of the current imperial court (three great scholars and seven ministers from outside the court). What are you going to do by showing up without regard for dignity?
Zhao Zhenji and Xu Gu had strange expressions on their faces. Thinking of Qin Dewei's deliberate clarification just now, and looking at Wang Tingxiang who lowered his body, they felt they had learned a vivid lesson. Could this be politics?
Qin Dewei hurriedly stood up to greet him: "How come the old man is here? I am disappointed to welcome him from afar!"
Wang Tingxiang did not come in, but stood outside the door, looked around, and said with emotion:
"I passed by the Hanlin Academy and remembered the time when I was elected as a scholar and studied in Hanlin thirty-four years ago, so I couldn't help but come in and take a look.
The top scorer in that subject was Kang Duishan, and it was here that I discussed poetry and essays with him, and together we were ranked among the Seven Talented Scholars."
Generally speaking, other government officials may be embarrassed to enter the Hanlin Academy. After all, this place is at the top of the discrimination chain among literati. But Wang Tingxiang was once a commoner, so he had no such scruples.
Qin Dewei smiled "haha" and said: "I thought the old man came to see me after I haven't seen him for several months. It seems that I am too sentimental."
Wang Tingxiang entered the room, "It's not wrong to say that I came to see you. I heard that you were back, so I stopped by the Number One Scholar Hall to sit down!"
Zhao Zhenji and Xu Gu looked at each other and were about to take the initiative to avoid it, but Wang Tingxiang stopped him and said: "I haven't had a chat with the young talent for a long time, and we just happened to get close together today."
Later, Wang Tingxiang chatted with Qin Dewei and asked about one thing: "You once said that you would build a heavy cannon that is a hundred times more powerful. Do you take it seriously at this time?"
Qin Dewei answered truthfully: "Such a heavy artillery is completely different from the Folang machine gun, from the construction method to the way of use.
There is currently no prototype that can be copied, and its development is more material- and time-consuming and cannot be easily accomplished.
Moreover, the emperor ordered me to compile a book, which will take up too much energy. So I will wait until this year and next year to think of ways to trial-produce a thousand-jin heavy cannon, but it is hard to say when it will be completed."
Wang Tingxiang drank a cup of tea while chatting, and then left.
This made Qin Dewei baffled. He thought Wang Tingxiang would talk about Guo Xun at the meeting, but he didn't mention a word about it.
Did you really just come here to take a look? Or did you deliberately let others take a look?
As long as Wang Tingxiang doesn't mention it, Qin Dewei will not think about it for the time being.
It's not that Qin Dewei is cold, he still has many people to visit and many things of his own to consider, so his energy is really limited.
Although there are no major affairs in the court, he has a lot of private affairs!
After a few words of explanation to the two editor coolies, Qin Dewei also left the No. 1 Scholar Hall and went to visit Teacher Zhang.
Qin Dewei saluted and said: "I haven't seen you for a few months, and your teacher's style is getting better and better! I see that your teacher's face is glowing, and there must be something happy coming!"
Zhang Xueshi asked: "How did Zhou Shangshu offend you? Let you leave no room for it? The old people in the court have many complaints against you. You are all from Nanzhili after all."
Qin Dewei replied helplessly: "You may not believe it, but it is actually a misunderstanding. The origin of the matter begins with a beauty on the Qinhuai River."
Bachelor Zhang waved his hand and said, "If you know I don't believe it, don't make it up. I don't want to hear it either."
Qin Dewei also explained: "Teacher, you people from other provinces may not understand, but this has nothing to do with Nanzhili. There is no Nanzhixiang Party, and each prefecture plays its own role."
After coming out of Hanlin Academy, Qin Dewei went to the Ministry of Household Affairs and asked the great Situ Wang Yiqi to do something for him.
"You said you want to open a bank in the capital?" Wang Dasitu asked a little confused: "You can open a bank if you want. Do you need to tell the Ministry of Accounts?"
Qin Dewei explained: "Nanjing only needs to take advantage of the government's influence and do business with other people to make money.
But it’s useless to take advantage of the situation in the capital. You have to do business directly with the government, so you need the Ministry of Revenue to take care of you.”
Fearing that Wang Dasitu would not understand, Qin Dewei gave an example and said: "Take it as an example of craftsmen. When Taizong started to build the capital, the system was established that craftsmen from all over the country would take turns to serve in the capital.
However, due to the long distance, some craftsmen were unwilling to go back to their original places after serving in the capital, and some craftsmen were unwilling to go to the capital in their original places.
After the situation gradually evolved, the craftsmen who stayed in the capital were responsible for all the imperial servants and relied on the imperial court to support them, but they lost their freedom.
And those craftsmen of their native place no longer have to travel all the way to the capital to serve. They only need to pay a commission fee every year, but they gain freedom.
So the current situation is that although the craftsmen in the capital and the craftsmen in Jiangnan are both craftsmen, they have become two different people.
In Jiangnan, banks could lend money to craftsmen to help them open shops and workshops, but this was not possible in the capital.
This is the difference between the two places, so if you want to open a bank in the capital, you cannot copy the model in Jinling."
One side is the birthplace of capitalism in textbooks, and the other side is the stronghold of feudal forces. It is useless to explain this truth, so I will not tell Uncle Wang.
Wang Yiqi roughly understood the meaning and added: "Actually, there are some banks here in the capital, but their operations are very simple, not even like Jinling Yuanfenghao.
It’s not impossible to try cooperation, but if you open an opening in the Ministry of Household Affairs, others will definitely follow suit, and it will still be difficult for you to do so.”
There is a subtext that Wang Dasitu did not say clearly: You, Qin Dewei, can be domineering in Jinling, first use physics to eliminate competitors, and then use new models to establish extremely high industry barriers, but it will definitely not work in the capital.
Qin Dewei said completely nonchalantly: "Of course what I think about is exclusive business, and others can't learn it even if they want to!
For example, the money collected by the tax customs office, branch office, and publicity department of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Jiangnan can be sent directly to Nanjing Yuanfenghao Bank.
Then the Ministry of Accounts can withdraw all the money from the bank in Beijing, and there is no need to escort the silver coins all the way to Beijing. How much manpower and material resources can be saved?"
In the 15th year of Jiajing's reign, such remote exchange was unheard of. Wang Yiqi couldn't help but question: "Can this be done?"
Qin Dewei said categorically: "It can definitely be done! But the number doesn't need to be too big at the beginning, just take your time."
There is no reason why a time traveler like him cannot do what Shanxi Bank can do two hundred years later, and the bank is designed with reference to many modern banking elements.
Wang Yiqi asked again: "You also know that the household expenditure is collected in Jiangnan and paid out in the capital.
If you want to do this kind of business, you can only get in but not get out in Nanjing, and if you can only get in but not get in in the capital, how can you balance it?"
Qin Dewei laughed and said: "There are many officials from Jiangnan. If you make money as an official, don't you have to send it to your hometown?
In this way, it is the cashier of the capital. When Jiangnan pays, doesn't it balance with the Ministry of Household Affairs? The business of the capital is, to put it bluntly, the government and officials."
Wang Yiqi: ""
No wonder Qin Dewei said that opening a bank in the capital cannot follow the Jinling model. This man's thoughts are really difficult for ordinary people to fathom.