The daily life of the science master's book-wearing group

Chapter 431 Burning Two Ships

In the twelfth lunar month, the northwest wind howled and shuttled among the tall ship frames on the shore of Bohai Bay.

In summer, there are thousands of boats and sampans in Tianjin Port every day, which are crowded and messy. In winter, they all stay quietly in their own berths, quietly waiting for the warm spring in the cold wind and waves. The season of flowers.

In the past, the number of wharves was limited, and there were often conflicts between ships competing for a favorable position. In order to facilitate the entry and exit of their fleets, some companies with strong financial resources bribed the officials of Tianjin Shipping Department with a lot of money. In the past, there was even a case of renting an entire wharf. , which are only allowed to be used by their own ships.

After the new emperor came to power, he began to expand the port. Except for two piers dedicated to docking warships, the rest of the piers were not allowed to be leased as a whole, and all of them lined up obediently to enter the port.

The black muzzle of the warship is facing the ships entering and leaving the port. Who dares to make trouble, those military masters really dare to do it!

There is no need to fire a cannon, just the long gun that can shoot 250 paces is enough to tear people's liver and gallbladder.

In fact, it is not that there are no giant businessmen who have used their brains, but the new emperor has not been on the throne for three years, and they all say that the new official has three fires, and Tianjin is too close to the capital, and now a concrete road has been built, and it is a day to ride a fast horse. Even if the officials of the Shibo Department want to make money, they dare not go too far.

In one year, Tianjin Port has more than ten more terminals.The small maritime merchants happily sang praises to the emperor, but the four most powerful families were not very happy—to put it simply, the monopoly position of the family was broken, and everyone wanted to share a piece of the pie. Comfortable?
The money that could be earned by going out to sea in the past can only be earned by going out to sea twice.
In the past, they bribed the important officials in the court and advocated the policy of banning the sea to the emperor. Once the sea was banned, they would dominate the sea.The profit of sea trade smuggling is comparable to that of salt and iron.

No matter whether you can't help it or not, this trade must be done by someone, and it depends on whose pocket the money ends up in.

"Old Zhen, you are our leader! Once the new emperor ascends the throne, he will be here for a whole year. After calculation, our brothers' annual silver income has been reduced by nearly half. You have to help me think about this matter." There is a way!"

The four major families in Tianjin Prefecture gathered to discuss the damage to the interests of the family, and the eldest son of Lu took the lead in speaking.

The Patriarch of the Zhen family stroked his beard, was silent for a while, and asked, "Then the only way is to contact that Japanese daimyo, who would dare?"

The head of the Fan family frowned: "It's hard to talk about this now. Even if we pay for it, would they dare to come? The dog emperor's warship is almost finished! There are eight ships! Who dares to come here?"

The old lady of the Wei family chopped a thick mahogany cane against the ground, gritted her teeth and said, "Isn't it just a ghost ship, then let the dog emperor fail to build it!"

On the [-]st day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Youzhong, Ou Shaofeng, who was in charge of the training of the Beiyang Navy Fleet, and Liang Zhengxiang, the naval envoy of Tianjin, returned to the capital on horseback to attend the eldest prince's birthday banquet three days later.

In the middle of the night, Tianjin’s Royal Shipyard suddenly caught fire. First, the storage room for storing tung oil and varnish caught fire. Then, when the northwest wind blew, sparks floated to a naval granary not far away. The more it burns, the more it burns into a raging fire!It can't be destroyed.

Fortunately, the navy's gunpowder depot was far away from the granary, and it was built underground, so nothing happened.If not, I don't know how many people will lose their lives.

The fire burned for two full days before it was extinguished, and burned a granary, nearly three thousand shi of rice, and two ghost craft ships that were about to be built.

When the news was delivered to the capital, Xu Youzhong, Ou Shaofeng and Liang Zhengxiang were so frightened that their legs limp and almost collapsed to the ground together.

Xu Youzhong immediately wanted to hand over a note to plead guilty, but was stopped by Ou Shaofeng, and Liang Zhengxiang and the three had a meeting, and decided to go to His Royal Highness to discuss countermeasures.
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Li Zhao's birthday this year is finally a big one.

There were so many people who came to celebrate His Highness the eldest prince's birthday, Li Zhao specially asked the emperor's father to borrow the garden on Qiandi Middle Road.

The main hall on the middle road is always empty, and even Li Zhao has never set foot in the main hall.

In fact, the emperor didn't mind the eldest son using it, and this mansion was also going to be reserved for Li Zhao to be the prince's mansion in the future.However, Li Zhao refused, insisting that he was only a prince now, and had to live in Qiandi because of "economic difficulties".

Before the emperor came, the birthday gift bestowed on Li Zhao was first sent to Qiandi by Eunuch Tan.

Li Zhao held the gift list and looked at it. The front was quite normal, and behind it was a little golden lock, a pair of little Ruyi, and a small wooden horse made of golden nanmu... It was obviously for Li Kun!
Holding the reward list, Li Zhao shook his head and lamented that he had fallen out of favor. Sure enough, after having a grandson, he began to dislike his son. This is a common problem of the old Li family!
Mu Lei leaned over eagerly, patted him on the back and comforted him, "Your Highness, His Majesty, is also loved by His Majesty Your Majesty!"

Li Zhao glanced at Mu Lei, seeing his smug face, and sneered, "You're so happy because you're engaged?"

Mu Lei laughed and said, "It's okay, it's okay!."

When Li Zhao thought of the two old ladies in the Rongguo Mansion, he was not happy for his sister-in-law at all. He even regretted helping Mu Lei back then. Thinking that his wife would have to worry about his sister-in-law's affairs in the future, he couldn't be happier. .

"A little advice from this king as an elder brother."

"Your Highness, please tell me." Mu Lei was still excited about the engagement, thinking that His Highness was going to teach him some secret techniques in the house, and he hadn't married yet, so he had started to think about it recently.

Seeing him like that, Li Zhao couldn't help but want to give him a slap, to wake him up from his dream first.

"After you and your fourth sister get married, the old lady and your mother must think of a way. Otherwise, your wife will suffer, and you will have no good fruit to eat."

When this matter was brought up, Mu Lei's face immediately turned ugly.

Li Zhao continued: "Since the fourth sister has been bullied, Yue'er will definitely not let it go. At that time, the two sides will make trouble too ugly, and the good things will turn into bad things. You have to explain the pros and cons to the old man. Besides, at your sister's place, take some time to visit her, comfort her, let her bow her head and admit her mistake to the emperor, and know how to behave properly in everything in the future."

Mu Lei nodded solemnly, and Li Zhao patted him on the shoulder.

It happened that Qin Jifu came to report that His Majesty had arrived.

Li Zhao hurriedly led the crowd out to meet him.

The emperor came with the "Da Nei Song and Dance Troupe".

Li Zhao was helpless, he really didn't want to listen to music and watch dances, especially the dancers from the Western Regions that his father favored recently, all of them showed their legs and twisted their waists, they looked very enchanting and exciting.

The guests stretched their necks one by one, intending to feast their eyes.

But Li Zhao only felt that his father was making trouble for him.

A few days ago, he just had a quarrel with Song Qingyue. In fact, he was criticized and educated by the lady unilaterally. He managed to coax him well. He really didn't want to cause trouble.

No, Eunuch Qin brought a very delicate and beautiful pink cream cake with a smile, saying that the princess made it by herself, and let Li Zhao taste it.

There is also a big red love heart made of boiled strawberry jam painted on the cream cake!Li Zhaoxian was pleasantly surprised for a moment, thinking that the little woman had calmed down, but when he cut it open, he found a small note hidden underneath, which read: "Li Dalang, come back and feed your son!" emoji.

Li Zhao couldn't help laughing with a snort, holding the cake in his hand and feeling helpless, isn't it just that every time he feeds his son, he finds an excuse to sneak out to hide, and as for his birthday, he only makes such a small cake Are you fooling yourself?
But soon he comforted himself: at least it was made by the lady herself!The heart is in it, this little woman has an awkward temper.

Then, while no one was watching, he quickly tucked the note into his sleeve.

By the garden on the middle road, the Arab musicians began to play music, and in the middle of the garden, the dancer's waist twisted like a water snake.

The emperor was very interested in watching it. Just when he raised his wine glass and planned to have a good drink with his son, Eunuch Yang, the governor of the East Factory, suddenly walked in. After saying something in the emperor's ear, the emperor turned cold and hurried back royal palace.

Li Zhao didn't understand, so he thought he would ask Ning Yuan later, but Eunuch Ji was the first to send back the news: something happened to Tianjin's shipyard!

Eyelids twitched, and Li Zhao was about to leave a room full of guests to follow the emperor into the palace, but was stopped by Ji Quanfu.

"Your Highness, just now His Majesty didn't get angry here, and he didn't tell the matter. He just wanted to discuss countermeasures after your birthday banquet is over. You must not refute His Majesty's kindness."

Li Zhao sighed helplessly. Indeed, the boat had been burned anyway, and it was not too late.

"Send Xu Youzhong, Ou Shaofeng, and Liang Zhengxiang to the study of Guangxi Hall!"

After Li Zhao frowned and gave instructions, he turned his face and immediately let the guests in the garden continue to eat and drink with a smile. He also ordered the maids and the servants on the East Road to serve the adults well, then turned around and walked quickly to the East Road.

It's hard to say such important things in places with many people.

After a while, Xu Youzhong, Ou Shaofeng, and Liang Zhengxiang came here with apprehensive faces.

After closing the door, the smile on Li Zhao's face disappeared, and he stared at Ou Shaofeng coldly and asked, "Let's talk about how the thieves were allowed to sneak into the shipyard? When the factory was first built, my father repeatedly ordered us to pay attention to fire prevention." It’s not something that can be done by setting such a large factory on fire!”

In fact, this matter has nothing to do with Xu Youzhong and Liang Zhengxiang. Xu Youzhong is in charge of Tianjin Wei, which belongs to the army system and has nothing to do with the navy.And Liang Zhengxiang was in charge of the Shipping Department, so the relationship was even smaller.

It's just that one of them needs to manage the pier, and the other is responsible for local patrolling. If there is no responsibility at all, it is not at all.After all, the loss was heavy, and the emperor was not allowed to punish the three of them together when he got angry.

Ou Shaofeng, the general manager of the Beiyang Navy, drooped his head and did not dare to look up at Li Zhao.

When Li Zhao saw him like that, he knew it in his heart - he was used to eating empty pay in the past. Now that there is a Royal Bank, after the Ministry of Accounts allocates funds, the pay will be directly transferred into the personal accounts of the soldiers, and the generals will not be able to eat. Pay, so I had no choice but to focus on the money for shipbuilding.

However, the emperor Yemen knew how much it cost to build a ship. The materials were directly provided by the Ministry of Industry and were not purchased by him. Afterwards, the emperor would come to personally inspect the ship, and the oil and water that could be fished out of the ship was still limited.

So we had to pick a little east and a little west, and in the end there were too few people patrolling at night, and the preparations for setting fire were not in place.

"How much are you greedy in total?" Li Zhao asked with a frown.

Ou Shaofeng knelt down with a plop, and cried with great regret: "3000 taels. Your Highness, it's really only 3000 taels!"

Xu Youzhong followed up with the conversation, and Li Zhao was dizzy with anger.

"3000 taels! Just for 3000 taels, two boats will be lost!"

"Your Highness, I made a mistake! I know my mistake! Please help me, Your Highness!" Ou Shaofeng knelt in front of Li Zhao and kowtowed.

"Tell me about you, isn't your father treating you well? The Ou family didn't make enough money from the sea trade? You dare to hand out the navy's money!"

Ou Shaofeng feels aggrieved, yes, the scale of maritime trade has indeed expanded a lot compared to before, and the Ou family's merchant fleet has also expanded a bit, but now there are more businessmen engaged in maritime trade, and the competition is greater. After all the calculations, the family did not make much more money than before.

Doesn't this... move the mind that shouldn't be moved.

Li Zhao pointed at him and trembled with anger: "Be prepared, this king can only protect your life."

"Yes, please give your Highness some advice." Ou Shaofeng cried and kowtowed again.

Li Zhao said again: "Either you give up the position of the commander of the Beiyang Navy, or ask your father to prepare money and pay the ship money to the treasury. Maybe you can keep your position as the commander."

Ou Shaofeng was immediately relieved, if he could save his life and keep his position by paying money, he would really go to the Mazu Temple to burn three pillars of high incense.

Li Zhao seemed to see what he was thinking, and slapped the table hard, making all three people in the room tremble.He stared at Ou Shaofeng fiercely: "If you think it's nothing to be greedy for 3000 taels, and think that you are just unlucky this time, if you think so, you will lose your head sooner or later!"

Ou Shaofeng lay prone on the ground, not knowing what was going on in his mind.

Li Zhao stared at the back of his head, his eyes also turned cold.

He turned his head to look at Xu Youzhong and Liang Zhengxiang.

"A Zhong, Mr. Liang, the culprit of this incident, do you two have any clues?"

Xu Youzhong shook his head, but Liang Zhengxiang said, "Your Highness, I have some ideas."

"Master Liang, please speak."

"Does Your Highness know the four major families in Tianjin?"

"I heard something, what's the matter?"

Liang Zhengxiang smiled slightly, and talked about the fact that those people used to smuggle in the past, but now they can only honestly pay taxes to the Shipbuilding Department, "I estimate that the profits these people can make now are not as good as the original three Two-thirds."

Li Zhao thought for a while and asked, "Master Liang, you mean that these people have the motive to collude with pirates to do this?"

Liang Zhengxiang nodded and said: "With the ghost ship built by His Highness, those Japanese pirates would not dare to come here to make trouble. If the Japanese don't come to make trouble, how can the court find an excuse to bring up the forbidden sea again?"

Now Xu Youzhong finally understood: "Master Liang means, let's wait and see who will bring up the Forbidden Sea again, and then we will be able to catch these people by following the clues?"

"exactly."

Li Zhao had the bottom line in his mind, so he settled down and took Ou Shaofeng into the palace to plead guilty as soon as the banquet was over.

(End of this chapter)