Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 337 5.19 Girl Qin, I’ve wronged you.
Volume [-]

5.19 Girl Qin, I feel wronged to you.
"Come on, come on, the food on the boat is more casual. I can't catch up with my sister-in-law. It's just a little something in the water. Don't dislike it, Ziyang." As he said, there were a total of six dishes on the table, either fish or shrimp. The main dish was "Bawang Turtle Chicken", which was indeed a bit "shabby" at Xue's house.

"Second uncle is serious. I don't eat so richly on weekdays." Zhou Yang said with a smile, then picked up the wine jar and filled their bowls. "What's more, although this jar of Huiquan wine can't catch up, The tributes brought to Beijing are rare treasures on the market. Even if I want to drink them, I don't know where to get them."

"If Ziyang likes it, there are a lot of them on the ship. Just ask someone to take them." With Xue Xun's current financial resources, it is true that "anything that can be solved with money is not a problem." "Speaking of which, although the island is now There are occasional problems, but I have plenty of guns and artillery; the biggest trouble comes from the land. The Zhen family's appetite is getting bigger and bigger now, and they "

"Hehe, I've met Brother Zhou - Daddy!" Just as the two of them were talking, Xue Baoqin came in with a smile, holding a tray in his hand, "I heard from the kitchen that today's banquet is a bit simple, so let people come We have prepared some snacks on the shore, Brother Zhou, just don’t dislike it.”

"Who doesn't have the foresight to despise Jinling City's bad guy?" Zhou Yang smiled and stood up, took the tray, and put it on the table, "I haven't seen my sister for some days, and now she has become a big girl!"

"Girl Qin!" Xue Xun's face has turned cold. It is not a good reputation for a female family member to come in on such an occasion. "Who asked you to come in?"

"Second uncle doesn't have to be like this!" Zhou Yang hurriedly persuaded, but Yu Guang found that Xue Baoqin just lowered his head and didn't take Xue Xun's scolding seriously at all. It doesn’t hurt to listen, the affairs of the Zhen family will require me to pay a visit anyway, and when the time comes, let Sister Qin come along so that we can talk to Madam Feng Sheng.”

"That's fine!"

"Brother Zhou is not an outsider!" Xue Baoqin retorted, smiling and moving a chair between the two of them, not forgetting to help pour the wine and dishes, but her position was obviously close to Zhou Yang, which made Xue Xun's eyes jump. , "Daddy, what did you say just now, what happened to the Zhen family?"

"Hmph!" Xue Xun gave his daughter a hard look, seeing her smiling face, he really didn't want to say more, "The Zhen family has come to the door many times these days, and they happened to come back just in time for me. It’s also Zhen Yingjia’s eldest son, Zhen Jue, who is very sincere, but I don’t have the guts to agree to their request.”

"What's the request?" Zhou Yang asked curiously.

"One is to increase the supply of salt products. This is easy to say, but the Zhen family wants to double it, which makes me dare not agree to it no matter what." Xue Xun said helplessly, "Now the salt products in the entire Jiangnan are nearly half The son was born here, which has aroused the suspicion of many people. It is just because we have sharp firearms and because we only supply salt merchants and never go to the lower counties to sell goods. It is considered as sending money to them. Stabilized the situation.

But if I double the salt products of the Zhen family, it will be equivalent to supplying more than half of the Jiangnan salt market. Even if the salt merchants don't say anything, the imperial salt field will not let me go; another one, It's not like I haven't sent someone to investigate the Zhen family, and I don't see why they need such a large amount of goods. "

"Doubling the volume of goods?" Zhou Yang frowned, not knowing what the Zhen family's purpose was. "What does the second uncle mean, is this good? What is the other condition?"

"Iron goods!" Instead of making a finished product like this, we directly asked for iron ingots, and also specified that we need refined iron, such a requirement."

"Second uncle suspects that the Zhen family wants it for someone else?" Zhou Yang immediately realized the problem.

"That's right." Knowing the specific situation, who in the world would dare to provide iron goods to them based on these two items?
If it were just like this, I would be a little nervous, but a few days ago, Zhen Lang, the second son of the Zhen family, also came to the door and asked me to provide firearms without saying anything. Isn't this a joke?Nowadays, except for very special circumstances, the firearms in my hands have never been off my own ship. How can I have the courage to give them to him? "

"Zhen family, are you tired of living?" Zhou Yang was indeed a little dumbfounded. He really didn't expect that someone could really seek death to this extent.

"Isn't it?" Xue Xun picked up the wine bowl gloomily, and took a long sip, "They don't want to live, I haven't lived enough; besides, the Xue family and the Zhen family don't have much friendship. Their contact is also through Jia's house; the number of contacts has increased in the past two years, and it is also business, where did it get to this point?"

"This -" Zhou Yang had no additional intelligence support and really didn't know how to explain it, "Second uncle, since there is no way to figure it out, you might as well hide for a while. If the Zhen family can't find anyone, there is nothing they can do; Don't be afraid of what tricks they will play. No matter what this company does, you will always be responsible for the supply, reduce the quantity of goods or even stop the supply. I believe they will be honest soon.

However, as the saying goes, 'you need to be strong to make iron', only with sufficient strength can you ensure enough voice; I mean, the second uncle should get the warship out earlier, not only to protect the industry on the island, but the second uncle should not want to I'm just stuck on an island, right?There is not much distance to the north, but it is the Ryukyu Kingdom. Doesn't the second uncle want to be able to pay tribute to the capital like them one day and face the Holy Spirit in the Golden Palace? "This is also the "future" that Zhou Yang has arranged for the second wife of the Xue family. With their current strength, if they are stuck on Miyako Island, they will collapse sooner or later, because after all, there is not much development potential there, and now pirates, Regardless of the "Great Navigation" of the West, because I didn't understand the specific situation, I didn't dare to play too big.

Once they confirm the Xue family's true strength, can they really stop the attack of thousands of pirates with just over 2000 musketeers on the island?Not to mention those red-haired people who cannibalize people without spitting out their bones. If they knew that the Xue family's property on the island was not owned by the Great Zhou Dynasty, but was created by a merchant, how could they ignore the fat in front of them? eat?
Moreover, doing so is also good for Zhou Yang himself. Once the Xue family establishes a country overseas, they will naturally not have much interest in the Zhou Dynasty; not only that, they also need a reliable ally and a foothold, which is a good match for both parties. "Win-win", mutual benefit; on the contrary, if the Xue family is allowed to "degenerate" like this, if they are finished one day, Zhou Yang will lose a reliable logistics base.

"I'll... think about it again!" Sure enough, even Xue Xun's city mansion was bloodied by Zhou Yang's instigation, and his face flushed. If he can really stand on his own, whoever has a sick mind wants to be something The merchant said, "After all, this warship is not a matter of one or two days. It needs to be done slowly."

"Second uncle, just remember it." Zhou Yang smiled slightly and didn't say much. Once the seeds of this kind of thing are planted, it will only sprout sooner or later. "After all, the sooner you start, the sooner you can succeed; I am now It's just a fourth grade, if one day, when the second uncle goes to the Golden Palace, His Majesty will be comforted even if he sees him."

This time, Xue Xun didn't speak anymore, but the hand holding the wine bowl was obviously clenched so tightly that the joints were a little white. After a while, he suddenly raised his hand and drank the wine in the bowl.

That night, the Xue family took a boat trip with their second room.

"Girl Qin, have you really decided?" Xue Xun looked at the daughter in front of him with some distress, his expression completely devoid of the anger of the day, "If you really follow him, I'm afraid there will be many obstacles in your status; Mei My family is not a wealthy family. If you are willing, I can do it too."

"Dad!" Xue Baoqin interrupted him simply, "What happened in the capital is not a secret. I heard that the young master of the Mei family has already started discussing marriage. How can he still remember the kindness he had before? No matter what, my daughter will probably die. You can't escape the reputation of being an abandoned wife. Instead of not knowing what the future will bring, it's better to find someone who knows everything.

What's more, Brother Zhou deserves this for his daughter; Dad, don't forget that Sister Bao went to Beijing last month to serve as a princess attendant. She is also a royal female official; Brother Zhou grew up overseas and may not know the rules, but his daughter does. This princess attendant service is only available to unmarried princesses. Before the princess gets married, unless there is special grace, the marriage will be hindered. "

"That's right!"

"It's not just that." Xue Baoqin shook her head gently, "Dad, since the princess's attendant is a royal female officer, she is also subject to the draft as a rule. However, Sister Bao can directly follow the empress's orders and achieve such status in one step. However, Xue I haven’t heard of anything here that can sustain such grace.”

"You mean, the reason for this grace is not the Xue family, but" Xue Xun has always known that this daughter is born with precocious intelligence and cannot be treated as a child, but he is still surprised by her sensitivity. Think?"

"Dad, if the reason for such a great favor is not from one's own family, it is difficult to say whether it is a good thing or not." Xue Baoqin said softly, "What if this is not a compliment, but a compensation?"

"What?" Xue Xun looked in disbelief.

"Dad, please don't forget that Brother Zhou received a lot of grace from Princess Yongchang. He is where he is today thanks to His Highness's help." Xue Baoqin had a complicated expression, "Princess Yongjing has always been close to His Highness Yongchang, and she is also on good terms with the Queen. This is not a secret in the capital. Now Sister Bao’s status as a chamberlain is that of Princess Yongjing. Who knows if it’s because of "

"What Princess Yongchang means." Xue Xun's expression was more solemn than ever before, "If it is as you said, this is compensation from His Highness Yongchang, the only explanation is..."

"I'm afraid it's hard to tell where Sister Bao's marriage ended." Xue Baoqin sighed softly, "Dad, the relationship between the family and Brother Zhou cannot be interrupted, and my daughter is willing."

"Girl Qin, I've wronged you." Xue Xun said distressedly.

"How does daddy know whether this is a grievance?" Xue Baoqin smiled sweetly.

(End of this chapter)