Chapter 68 Fundraising

Mu Qi shrank in his chair for a long time, until the last words of the so-called "echoes of history" disappeared from his ears.

The system remains shrouded in mystery, and even though it promises to show the impact of historical changes, very little information has been leaked. This copy, which I don't know where it came from, says a lot of words, but the core is probably just two sentences. The most important sentence is probably the extremely exaggerated description of Da'an's foreign trade capabilities, something like "Industrial Pixiu" - although he doesn't know where this childish title comes from, its connotation is not surprising to Mu Qi; after all, in the original history, Da'an has been revered as the "silver pump", sucking away one-third of the world's silver like a water pump, an endless and tireless manufacturing monster... What really surprised him was the so-called "five hundred thousand horses".

In Shangyu alone, 500,000 pieces of cloth can be woven in a year... Mu Qi fell back and covered his eyes.

...This level of speed and quality must mean a full-scale, high-intensity industrial upgrade and expansion. The cost of an industrial upgrade...

The prince's eyes were dull and lifeless, and he finally sighed:

"I really want to be a pair of pants..."

·

In general, Hai Gangfeng's letter did create huge changes to the schedule of Duke Mu's Mansion. The technical drawings and craftsmen were available, but earning the first pot of gold to build a textile workshop was extremely difficult. Purchasing land, building machines and distributing workers' wages are all incredibly expensive black holes of cash that cannot be satisfied by a little borrowing. The prince said he wanted to "become a trouser", but in fact, even if he became a trouser-less person in the Duke's Mansion, he could not fill any of the big holes mentioned above.

The situation had come to a head, and the prince had no other choice but to grit his teeth and plunder the remaining money in the treasury. He could only try to send messages to a few of his close friends among the children of nobles, asking them to lend him money to make ends meet.

In the years since he traveled through time, although Mu Qi had invested countless amounts of money in research and development, he was not a prodigal son who would live off his wealth; although most of his research and development were dragon-slaying techniques that cost a lot of money, such as rocket launches and explosives preparation, he also improved civilian technologies such as papermaking and printing that could be widely promoted, and he also opened a number of workshops for printing books. A lot of the capital for these workshops came from shares collected from the children of nobles.

Even with the support of the new technology, Mu Qiqi doesn't have the ability to make people around him bow down to him with just a flick of his body. The reason why the principal was borrowed previously was mostly not because the upper class of the capital city had really discovered some brilliant future from the new technology, but purely because they wanted to promote unity and friendship among the nobles for the sake of the Duke Mu's Mansion. But new technology is new technology after all. In the past few years, the printing workshop of the Duke's Mansion has been steadily expanded in Beijing. Relying on its low price, thin paper and clear printing, it has occupied a lot of market share, especially in the field of imperial examination preparation books (you can't imagine what a blessing a thin book is to scholars). It has gradually become a stable cash cow with considerable profits.

Thanks to this successful precedent, raising funds this time was much easier. Within a day after the news was released, all the nobles who were familiar with him sent people to deliver silver and flatter him, and their words showed their sincere willingness to cooperate. After being tricked once by the two nephews of Empress Dowager Zhang of Emperor Xiaozong, Lord Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou became wary of private friendships with nobles and relatives, and the Imperial City Bureau always kept a close eye on them. Although Prince Mu, the Duke of Mu, had risen to a high position and was in charge of important matters, and it seemed that it was our responsibility to revive the glory of the nobles, few of the upper class in the capital dared to come to congratulate him openly, for fear of being mistakenly accused of forming a clique.

It was not until today when the Crown Prince started fundraising that the leaders of the noble families acted quickly, sending more than three times the usual amount of capital. They did not care about the return on investment or profits, and the implication was very clear: this was a gift to congratulate the Crown Prince for his promotion.

...To put it bluntly, this is not even free capitalism; it is purely a disgusting act of feudal aristocrats who do whatever they want, which is truly pathetic. What is even more tragic is that even such capital operations that rely entirely on power and status are actually much better than the current stagnant situation. No matter what intentions the powerful people in Beijing have in their investments, the money they send can at least flow into the expansion and growth of advanced productive forces, rather than being wasted on meaningless luxury consumption and land transactions. It is one of the jokes of hell that rude and barbaric capital represents the future more than law-abiding aristocrats.

Considering this tiny bit of progress, the prince accepted the capital submitted by everyone and ordered people to register them one by one in preparation for distributing profits in the future. He did not expect to use this little profit to change the deep-rooted ideas of the upper class, but he felt that no matter whether it was cheating or the temptation of power, any money he could get from the nobles was good enough. The primitive accumulation of capital is bloody and brutal. Even if a little more investment is made in the early stages, the results will be very different.

They had been counting one by one until the evening, and were about to close the door to check the list, when a man in black holding the Duke's Mansion token quietly entered the corner gate. This person was led all the way into the study. After seeing the prince in person, he took off the hat covering his face and bowed respectfully. It turned out to be Yan Donglou's close follower and closest confidant.

The attendant knelt a few steps, took out a silver note of eight hundred taels from his bosom, and presented it to him with both hands.

"I heard that the prince is raising shares. This is a small gift from my master. Please accept it." The attendant bowed and said, "The master also said that these banknotes were sent secretly. Please don't tell this to our master. Otherwise, the master will be angry and it will be difficult to deal with it later."

The prince took the banknote blankly, his mind still confused:

...No, how can this be made to sound like a private transaction?

·

When the attendant who delivered the banknotes returned to Yan's Mansion, it was already completely dark. There was no sound in the elder's mansion except for the bright candlelight in the study, where an old man and a young man sat opposite each other, both of them looking quite serious.

After listening to the report from his personal attendant, Lord Yan, who was sitting still, waved his hand and all the servants who were serving him left. Only two shadowy figures were left in front of the candlelight.

Elder Yan said slowly: "I know you must not understand my approach."

Yan Donglou said: "I am stupid and I still need the Prime Minister's instructions."

It is a good attitude to refer to one's job title when working. Yan's position...Yan Ge Lao was very satisfied:

"I am not unaware of your advice to me before. If I think about it carefully, you do have some truth in what you said. Under the current circumstances, there is no need to be so fussy with the Prince of Mu. I am afraid that there will be a lot of discussion below if I am so stubborn."

Yan Donglou bowed his head: "My son doesn't dare."

Just replying "I dare not" instead of "no" has already shown Yan Donglou's attitude. Just as Lord Yan said, the Yan party and he, Yan Donglou, had a tacit understanding and were actually not willing to get involved in the meaningless fight between the Lord and the Prince of Mu. In the eyes of his subordinates, the Prince's drastic measures only fell on those unlucky guys in the royal family and had not hurt the interests of the Yan party so far; the Prince's favor was as stable as a rock and difficult to shake. Why would such a powerful mountain-opening monster with high attack and strong defense and no actual damage be in conflict for no reason? Is it just for the sake of Lord Yan's face?

To put it bluntly, Lord Yan's reputation has long been ruined beyond repair because of his efforts in writing poems and taking elixirs to please True Lord Fei Xuan. How come this old official, who has a skin as thick as the bend of a city wall and whose life creed is that he is invincible without shame, is still so mentally fragile when he gets old?

To be a giant baby you need to be qualified. Lord Yan is not an old immortal man at the level of True Lord Feixuan or Emperor Wanshou, so even members of the Yan Party would not spoil him.

Originally, it was thought that Lord Yan was so overwhelmed by his success as the Prime Minister that he no longer cared about taking care of his subordinates. But now it seems that the elder is still as sharp as ever and has a keen grasp of the situation as always.

Yan Fenyi, who was still in good shape, snorted:

"You are all trying to persuade me. How could I not understand? The boy surnamed Mu was able to ascend to this level. Three points are due to his own ability, seven points are due to his family background, and ninety points are due to the favor of the emperor. The emperor let him master the secrets so that he could remotely control the court and carry out his will, so that he could lock Prince Yu back after he recovered from his illness. As long as his will does not change, it will be useless for me, the prime minister, to impeach him. In the final analysis, I am just an umbrella that checks and balances the clean stream and protects the emperor from wind and rain!"

It is indeed a vision honed by decades of ups and downs, more sophisticated and accurate than ever before. He has been in power for the past few dozen days. Although he has had some setbacks in the confrontation with the prince, he has managed to firmly hold the position of Prime Minister. This is due to his accurate grasp of the emperor's pain points, his never-forgetting of his majesty's kindness, and his sophisticated and meticulous means of checks and balances - and precisely because of this, the entanglement between him and the prince has become even more confusing.

The young cabinet minister was also confused: "Since the Prime Minister knows this truth, why does he want to..."

"Because I still want to continue to be the Prime Minister!" Yan Ge Lao shouted coldly, with a sense of authority without anger: "When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked! The current situation is that your Majesty is seriously ill and unable to govern, and you have to disrupt the balance that all parties have barely managed. The biggest variable in the balance is your Majesty's health. I tell you clearly that Li Shizhen has been ordered to enter the palace for treatment, and he has made a clear diagnosis that your Majesty's illness is not serious and he will definitely recover in time. After your Majesty recovers, can this situation still be maintained?"

Yan Donglou shuddered slightly, and immediately understood what his father was hinting at: the emperor would immediately seize back power after his health recovered, and would most likely order Prince Yu to study at home and not go out, in an effort to destroy the power of the crown prince that had grown during his reign. If Prince Yu retreats to the vassal state, the power of the Qingliu will inevitably decline. At that time, the Yan Party, which is forcibly supported in order to maintain the balance, will become extremely glaring!

Be prepared for any incidents and control any crooked tendencies. Once the clean stream weakens, attacks on Yan's party will follow, and the reasons are ready - Elder Yan is almost seventy years old, right? It is rare for a person to live to be seventy. How can it not be considered a great favor from heaven if the emperor allows the old minister to take a vacation and go home to hug his grandchildren?

However, Yan Fenyi was still strong and would rather live longer than accept this grace. Master Feixuan doesn't like a prime minister who has the most power, so Lord Yan has to find himself an opponent of equal strength to maintain the balance of the cabinet for a long time, and even make it easier for him to continue to make progress. Looking at all the civil and military officials in the court, the only one who can take on this important task is the Prince of Mu - he has thick blood, high defense, and is young. Even if he is promoted according to seniority, he can at least have a stable job in the cabinet for decades. Isn't such an unbreakable opponent exactly the ideal balance for Lord Yan?

Political struggles also require bundled sales, especially in the never-ending cricket fighting competitions of Master Feixuan. How did Lord Yan, who had wasted more than ten years, suddenly rise to prominence and gain the favor of the imperial power? In addition to his own ability to flatter and lick the emperor's laurels and his willingness to be the emperor's white glove, it was also because Prime Minister Xia Yan's power was growing, and the True Lord needed a tool man with rich qualifications to fight in the arena; and a few years ago, the Yan Party was becoming increasingly prosperous, and Xu Shaohu, who was just fifty years old, was promoted to the cabinet on the spot, picking up a pie in the sky for nothing.

Therefore, the speed of a person's progress does not depend on his own efforts, but often depends on the level of his political opponents. The Yan Party relied on tying up the Xia Party to get to power, and the Qingliu relied on tying up the Yan Party to get to power. The cycle of pulling down and tying up is like a super-sized crazy fan club.

The prince of Duke Mu has a promising future and is difficult to provoke? What we want is that you have a bright future! The higher the Crown Prince climbs, the greater the value of Lord Yan as a balancing tool, and the more he will be able to hold on to the Prime Minister's chair that he has worked so hard to get, and continue to serve the Emperor for a long time.

This is the prime minister's long-term vision of achieving harmony and balance, and this is the careful planning of the veteran bureaucrats who have been prepared for any eventuality. How can a group of mediocre people who only care about immediate interests understand the painstaking efforts of the elder minister!

"The emperor has taught us that solitary yin cannot grow, and solitary yang cannot prosper. This is true for cultivating the Tao and being an official." Elder Yan said calmly, "Everything is harmonious and everyone is fine. Is there such a good thing in the world? We still have to fight after all! Since we have to fight after all, why not pick a suitable opponent?"

Lord Yan has been in power for so many years and has a clear understanding of the political situation. Even if the Qingliu temporarily declined, the emperor would definitely support other newcomers to compete with him. There is nothing wrong with fighting in a competition, but what we should be afraid of is that the newcomer does not know what is good for him and has no martial ethics. After suddenly getting in, he gets too excited and fights with this old senior so fiercely that the world is dark and the sun and moon are dim, tearing the court in two and completely splitting it, and finally ending up with both sides suffering losses.

Small fights are enjoyable, but big fights are harmful to the body. If the fight goes to the point where even the great principles are obliterated, it would be best for Lord Yan to retire.

In this regard, the prince is also a very suitable candidate. Up to now, the kid surnamed Mu had only lost face for his senior a few times when he got mad on the spot, but enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens is the norm in officialdom. As long as both parties have a tacit understanding and can control the intensity of the struggle, then this relationship can still continue.

These words are profound and subtle, and are indeed the unique mental method that has been practiced in the center for decades. Even with Yan Donglou's shrewdness and cunning, he couldn't help but admire it, but he still felt puzzled:

"If that's the case, why did the Prime Minister ask me to secretly deliver the capital..."

"Does the court struggle have to be a life-and-death struggle?" Elder Yan said calmly, "What's the big deal about giving away a little capital? I have been fighting with Xu Shaohu for seven or eight years, and we often meet to watch the moon on the fifteenth day of every month."

Speaking of this, even though Yan Fenyi has been through a lot, his heart couldn't help but move slightly. To be honest, he and Xu Shaohu had been scheming against each other overtly and covertly for so many years, but leaving aside business, they had quite similar aesthetics and hobbies; even if they couldn't be said to be soulmates, at least they had some mutual appreciation. Nowadays, Prince Yu's regent Gao Suqing's reputation is growing, the old people in the clean stream are aging and new people are taking over, and Xu Shaohu's power is also declining. Living alone in the cabinet, Lord Yan can't help but feel a little sad when he recalls the past.

Time passes by, flowers fall, and spring is gone. Yan Fenyi tried his best to climb to his current position, but the cabinet has long since changed and everything is over. Thousands of sails are racing against each other beside the sinking ship, and it is no longer what it used to be. Thinking of the love-hate relationship in the past, even a heart as hard as Yan Fenyi was slightly touched.

Of course, this inappropriate touch only lasted for a moment, and Yan Fenyi immediately regained his composure and taught his son earnestly:

"You must remember all of my words."

The young minister nodded respectfully, feeling greatly impressed. The reason why he repeatedly advised his father not to be an enemy of the Prince of Duke Mu was, on the one hand, that he really did not want to face such a strong opponent; on the other hand, he still had some feelings for the prince - oh no, he still had some money to spend - until now, his cooperation with the prince in maritime trade was still going smoothly and unimpeded, and he even relied on the Feixuan Zhenjun to intimidate the barbarians, and his income was showing a trend of further growth. With such a bright financial future ahead of us, how can we brazenly turn against our close partners just because of an unfounded face issue? !

You can't fight too hard! How can you make money if you work so hard?

Because of this, the young cabinet minister had been complaining in his heart after many days of ineffective persuasion. He always felt that his father was too stubborn and had delayed his own business of making money for the sake of that illusory face. But only now, the young cabinet minister had to be convinced and truly realized his father's ability - opposing the prince was his job, and being close to the prince was his life; would fighting the prince openly prevent everyone from working together in private?

It has nothing to do with me!

Lord Yan struggles with the Crown Prince in the cabinet, while Lord Xiao cooperates with the Crown Prince in maritime trade. Work is work, life is life, and everyone has a bright future.

As soon as he figured this out, the young minister suddenly became enlightened and convinced - after all, his knowledge was still a little shallow, how could he compare with a master of Minister Yan's level! I still need to learn such a far-sighted vision.

He said respectfully: "Son understands what father means, and will definitely greet several close ministers."

"It's good that you understand this." Yan Ge Lao said indifferently: "I know, since I became the Prime Minister, many of my subordinates have been chattering, saying that I am old and confused, not doing what I should do, but making things difficult for a junior every day - what do they know? I have been in the cabinet for ten years! In the past ten years, I have governed so many people and offended so many people. How dare I not keep an eye on the affairs of the court? A tiger can take a nap after eating a person, but do I, your father, dare to take this nap?!"

The young minister stood up with a start, and stood with his hands clasped, deeply shocked. At this moment, even though he had thousands of words in his mind, only one sentence came out of his mouth:

"Great idea, Prime Minister!"

·

After the beating and the shock, the estrangement between the Yan family father and son for several days was also swept away. They were about to open up to each other and talk about some crucial secrets of the court. But then there was a creaking sound outside the study, and the attendant who had just left pushed the door open and walked in again.

It was extremely rude to interrupt the Prime Minister's private conversation at will. But this person was, after all, a trusted aide of the family in the mansion. Elder Yan frowned but did not get angry:

"What's up?"

"It's official business that was just delivered by the cabinet duty room." The personal attendant bowed in fear and said, "They said they want the cabinet to make a decision tomorrow..."

"What urgent business is this?" Yan Ge Lao was very displeased: "I am on duty at Wenyuan Pavilion today, how come I don't know what urgent business is!"

The attendant whispered, "The cabinet duty room didn't dare to disturb the old man. It's just... it's just that these documents are stamped with the seal of the 'Zongfan Reform Group', it seems that the prince of Muguo had sent them..."

Mr. Yan: …………

Lord Yan, who had just been talking about "overthrowing Muhammad is work, being pro-Muslim is life" with a lofty vision, suddenly looked quite scary.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the young minister quickly stood up and loudly rebuked the reckless follower:

"No matter how urgent the document is, how can you just send it in with such a scornful look? Get out of here right now!"

The attendant agreed and hurried out. But before closing the door, he suddenly remembered something and risked another reminder:

"Let the Lord know. The Prince of Mu also said that he has arranged all the follow-up procedures and is just waiting for news from the Lord. If - if the official document is delayed for too long, it may violate the regulations of the court..."

Before he could finish his words, Elder Yan, who was already in his early seventies, suddenly jumped up, grabbed the inkstone beside him with the agility of a young man, and smashed it over:

"Break your mother's head!"

·

It is true that appropriate anger is always good for your health.