"In the battle of Liaodong, the imperial court will definitely lose."
Zuo Mengeng had detailed information about the Battle of Daling River in his mind, and now that he knew what the Wang family had done, he immediately announced the result to the court.
Liu Yiyuan didn't care about the life or death of the court and asked: "What should we do next?"
Zuo Mengeng's attitude was very firm.
"No matter what, we cannot be led to the bottomless pit in Liaodong by the imperial court. So next, the entire focus of our army will be to suppress the bandits in Yimeng Mountain. In addition to leaving the necessary garrison forces in various places, all the troops will move into the mountains for me.
We are entangled with the White Lotus Sect rebels, and if we cannot evacuate, what can the court do?"
Raise a thief to respect himself, now is the time to use it.
Zuo Menggen didn't want to work for the Ming Dynasty, but he also knew that before long, a good show would unfold on the land of Qilu.
And that good show was the key to his long-term planning.
Therefore, the new army is not going anywhere, waiting to reap the fruits.
At Linqing Pier, Xu Guangqi was helped off the boat by Xu Erjue. Zuo Mengeng, Xu Ruolin, Xu Ruoxin, and Qiao stepped forward one after another, and they were all very happy.
This old man, who is over seventy years old, has finally come back from the heavy government affairs.
After not seeing each other for two years, Xu Guangqi has become very old. He can no longer walk without support.
The age spots on his face are dotted all over, giving off a faint air of death.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this old man's days are numbered.
Xu Ruolin and Xu Ruoxin held back their tears and only left their joy to the elderly.
"Yaya came back late. You were not here when my granddaughter got married."
Xu Guangqi laughed and was extremely satisfied to see his children and grandchildren in the house.
"Since ancient times, it is difficult to have both loyalty and filial piety. Yaya owes you. Yaya will definitely be there when Ruoxin gets married."
Xu Ruoxin was so happy that she hugged Xu Guangqi and acted coquettishly.
"I know Yaya loves me the most."
Only then did Zuo Mengeng step forward.
"Grandpa, all the adults are waiting. Let's talk about it when we go home."
There were many people at Chaoguan Wharf. Liu Zongzhou, Hou Xun, Li Banghua and others did not come to greet him, but waited at Zuozhuang.
On the carriage ride back, Xu Guangqi couldn't sit still and kept looking at the scenery on both sides.
"Zhongheng, it's so prosperous here. But I don't know who the local official is. I will definitely recommend him."
Everyone laughed, thinking that even if you recommended him, Qu Shichun would not leave Linqing.
Zuo Mengeng laughed and said: "Linqing is what it is today because of the concerted efforts of all of you. My second brother and my grandson-in-law are all participants."
Xu Erjue said humbly: "You can't be considered me."
When he arrived at Zuozhuang, Xu Guangqi was dazzled when he saw that it was several times more prosperous than Linqing City.
"This...isn't there tens of thousands of people?"
Zuo Mengeng was very proud of this.
"Major factories have moved to Anshan Lake. Otherwise, there would be hundreds of thousands here."
Xu Guangqi couldn't help but look deeply at Zuo Menggen.
As people grow older, he has clearly felt something strange along the way.
There were a lot of strange things about Linqing, and what struck him most was the attitude of the people he met along the way towards Zuo Mengeng.
It stands to reason that even if Zuo Mengeng, a military general, becomes famous all over the world, how many ordinary people will know about him?
However, on the way back to Zuozhuang, all the people he met were respectful to Zuo Menggeng. That kind of heartfelt admiration and support could never be hidden from anyone.
Especially when approaching Zuozhuang, the security was even tighter than inside the palace.
This serious violation of rules made Xu Guangqi quite uneasy.
When he saw Liu Zongzhou, Hou Xun, Li Banghua, Bi Maokang, and Qu Shichu all following behind Zuo Mengeng, Xu Guangqi could not help but imagine the scene of "the civil and military affairs of a monarch and his ministers" in his mind.
At night, while avoiding everyone and taking advantage of Xu Erjue's rest, Xu Guangqi finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"What is Zhongheng trying to do?"
Xu Erjue knew that Xu Guangqi would see it.
"The Ming Dynasty was in decline, and the people of Li were in dire straits. Zhongheng and other like-minded people planned to build a different country."
Xu Guangqi digested the novel rhetoric for a long time.
But the old man had no fear.
A life of ups and downs, setbacks, and ups and downs has made him treat any situation as normal.
Especially in recent years as an official in the central government, he saw clearly the weakness of the Ming Dynasty.
When a dynasty is about to collapse, the place where you can feel the end the most is not the bottom, but the place closest to the center of power.
It will take some time for the rot at the bottom to be reflected back, but the rot at the top cannot be hidden from those who are interested.
"I am old and my time is running out. Whatever I say or do is in vain. I just hope that you young people will act cautiously and don't end up in a catastrophic situation."
After understanding Zuo Mengeng's intention, and seeing that the Xu family was so close to Zuo Mengeng, Xu Guangqi knew that the entire family had carried him on Zuo Mengeng's chariot.
At this time, he, a dying old man, cannot have any impact on the family. Instead, it would be better to pretend to be deaf and mute and enjoy his old age.
The next day, Xu Guangqi visited Deng Yuhan and Luo Yagu, discussing doctrine and knowledge with his old friends, as if he knew nothing.
Zuo Mengeng understood the old man's hard work and was deeply moved. The only thing he could do was to instruct the people below to take good care of the old man.
With the arrival of Xu Guangqi, Wang Xiangjin and Chen Zilong also rushed back from Dongchang Mansion. Li Qingshan from Anshan Lake also came to announce the good news with a full harvest.
"Senzu, you see, this is the summer harvest of our fishing company. The fish and shrimp alone weigh more than 30,000 kilograms. And these vegetables are also good things."
Of course, it was impossible for Li Qingshan to bring more than 30,000 kilograms of fish and all the vegetables. He only selected a few items. First, he showed them to Zuo Mengeng, and secondly, on behalf of the people around Anshan Lake, he thanked Zuo Mengeng.
of.
Li Qingshan specially selected the fattest grass carp, weighing more than thirty kilograms.
The fry dropped by the fishing company will not be harvested until next year. This grass carp was caught.
However, the vegetables are grown by the fishing company itself.
There are two kinds that Li Qingshan brought over, mugwort and wild rice. As for the lotus root and water chestnut, they are not yet in their mature season.
Looking at the fresh aquatic products, Zuo Mengeng was extremely happy and asked with concern: "How are the sales going?"
Li Qingshan's mouth never closed.
"This is also the first time I know that things in the water are so popular. Thirty thousand kilograms of fish and shrimps were bought by businessmen from Linqing, Dongchang and Jinan just after they landed."
Zuo Mengeng was even more surprised.
“People from Jinan come here to buy fish?”
Chen Zhi explained this matter.
"Now Anshan Lake is connected to the Daqing River, and you can take a boat all the way to Jinan. Buckets and basins are prepared on the boat. When the fish are transported to Jinan, they will be alive and easy to sell."
Zuo Mengeng picked up the mugwort and wild rice again and carefully checked the quality.
"Are these vegetables easy to sell?"
Li Qingshan was even happier.
"It's easy to sell. They are harvested from the water now, and the quality and quantity are guaranteed. Someone from Dongchang Prefecture has placed an order and booked the next batch of harvest in advance."
After the report, Zuo Mengeng finally had an intuitive understanding of the fishing company.
This summer, the fishing company made a total of more than 8,000 taels of silver from fish and aquatic vegetables. After deducting costs, there was a net profit of more than 1,700 taels.
What?
not much?
How could there not be many?
There are now more than 4,000 people working in fishing companies around Anshan Lake. Each person's monthly income is about 800 yuan, and the fishing company also provides lunch.
With this income alone, how many people and families can be lifted out of poverty and have enough to eat?
Xu Guangqi was nearby, listening to everyone discussing fisheries and harvests, and couldn't help but feel itchy.
His achievements in this life were either the spread of Western learning to the East or the astronomy and calendar. And what he was most proficient in was, of course, farming.
As a result, after serving as an official in the court for decades, he was never allowed to get involved in farming, which he was best at. Seeing that famine continued all over the world, the people had to revolt after they were in dire straits.
As a result, Zuo Mengeng saw a group of people who cared so much about farming.
"Zhongheng, you are doing a good job in farming. This is a great thing that benefits all people. I am old, but I can still do my best."
Hearing that Xu Guangqi was about to take action, Zuo Mengeng was even more happy.
However, he also knew that Xu Guangqi was not good at business and could not run around like Wang Xiangjin and Chen Zilong.
Suddenly, he came up with an idea and said to everyone: "Everyone, food is the most important thing for the people. The world's major events are unstable without farming. It is foreseeable that from now on, no matter how many years, farming will be the top priority.
.And how to pass on and carry forward our good agricultural experience and technology to benefit all people all over the world is a major event that cannot be ignored. Today, we have so many agricultural scientists here, how about establishing an Academy of Agricultural Sciences?"