Chapter 251 Extra (II) Sui Sui
In the year when Grandpa Ling celebrated his 80th birthday, many major events happened in the Great Xia Kingdom.
In industry, the Ministry of War, under the leadership of the Queen, built a steam engine, but it has not yet been used on large machinery. Instead, it is used to drive textile machines and pumps.
The former greatly improved the weaving speed, from one person weaving one piece of cloth in seven days to one person weaving seven pieces of cloth in one day, which not only alleviated the shortage of domestic workers, but also increased cloth exports exponentially.
Although the imperial court has been working on a major project in recent years, which is to develop water conservancy throughout the country to solve the problems of heavy rains in the south, frequent floods in rivers, and drought in the north.
This is the South-to-North Water Diversion Project of this era, but our project cannot be that large, so we can only improve it by artificially repairing the river channel.
The emergence of water pumps has alleviated the water use problem in areas far from water sources, whether it is for daily use of people in the northwest or for agricultural use.
Jinsui was well aware that a lot of military funds had been spent on steam engines in recent years, which had made many people dissatisfied.
So after the results came out, she immediately gave out a textile machine that would promote industry and commerce and make money, and a water pump that would promote agriculture and benefit the people.
Let everyone in the world see the results, and then the Ministry of War Industry will start to build steamships and steam locomotives that cost more military money.
These are all major projects and cannot be completed within three to five years, but everyone is very confident.
Even people who don't understand technology understand that the emergence of the steam engine, just like the appearance of gunpowder on the battlefield, will completely change the chapter of history.
In recent years, Gu Changxiao has not taken it lightly and has been committed to land reform and tax reform. In addition, public hospitals have been opened in all states, and the government will compensate people who go to hospitals to give birth and register their household registration.
There is no more phenomenon of baby girls being abandoned. The population has doubled. According to the population census this year, the total population of the country has reached 200 million, and it is estimated that it will reach 500 million in ten years.
You should know that the population during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty was only more than 80 million, while the population of this dynasty has reached 200 million, the highest in history. Nothing can better reflect political achievements than population growth.
Those who had previously called Gu Changxiao a tyrant now all changed their words and called His Majesty a wise ruler throughout history. All officials once again proposed that he go to Mount Tai to be enshrined in the Imperial Ceremony.
Gu Changxiao refused again, because he felt that he had not done well enough. Jinsui wanted to plant rubber in the southern back garden, but now he has only got half of it, and some territory is still not included in the territory of Daxia.
If he can't even give his wife a garden, what kind of emperor is he? Although grain production has doubled in recent years, it still cannot reach the level of universal farmer tax.
The situation in the northern border was not peaceful either. Although Battelle moved the capital to a more northern place, his troops had already crossed the extremely cold northern border and reached the European continent.
How could this be possible? Our Great Xia troops have not even arrived in Europe yet, and Battelle got there first!
Therefore, when officials mentioned the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, it sounded like a mockery to Gu Changxiao! What great achievements do I have to report to the gods? I still have a lot to do! However, there was also a lot of good news. Black Tiger sent troops from Nanyang County and successfully captured Baekje, destroyed Silla and Goguryeo. Like Nanyang County, these three small countries completely disappeared from the history books and became three states of Daxia.
The Ling family also had a big happy event this year. Jin'an took part in the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination. In the same year, he proposed to marry Wei Yingniang, who was a female official.
Everyone was very satisfied with this marriage, especially Grandpa Ling, who had both a son and a daughter every year, and now had a grandson's wife. Even if he closed his eyes tomorrow, he would be able to see his son and daughter-in-law in peace in the afterlife.
It just so happens that this year is his 80th birthday. Since the royal family moved the capital, Gu Changxiao, who was a tyrant at the time, did not need to maintain any filial piety and never brought any elderly royal relatives into the capital.
Now Grandpa Ling has become the oldest among the royal relatives. He has a very high prestige among the people, especially in some areas of the Central Plains. Grandpa Ling's reputation is even greater than that of the emperor.
Therefore, Gu Changxiao held a very grand birthday banquet for him. Since Grandpa Ling didn't want to hold it in the palace, he held it in the Taoist temple, and there were enough people to attend his birthday banquet.
The great gift that Jinsui gives to Grandpa is that all the long-lived people in the world celebrate together. Anyone who is 60 years old or above can go to the local women's official institution, hospital, college, post office, or bank to receive a lucky bag today.
Yes, in recent years, Jinsui has also increased its workload, setting up post offices at the township level and above, and setting up state-owned banks at the county level and above.
Grandpa Li Ling likes this very much. He always says that blessings will be reflected on children only when blessings are bestowed on the world. He accumulates blessings for Jinsui and Jinan, and Jinsui accumulates blessings for Shuoer and Tiantian.
Grandpa Ling was so happy that day that he drank a lot of wine. Although Jinsui replaced his wine with low-alcohol red wine, Grandpa still got drunk.
The strange thing is that this time when Grandpa got drunk, he didn't let Jin'an take care of him. Instead, he held Jinsui's hand tightly and kept muttering, "Don't go, Suisui. Grandpa has something to tell you."
Jin Sui's heart was moved, and she personally sent Grandpa back to his room, but Grandpa did not go back to his room. Instead, he took her to the graves of Ling's father and mother.
The servant who followed him stood far away, he wanted to talk to Jinsui alone.
When presenting the tribute, Jin Sui noticed something wrong, because the tribute was obviously for three people.
There were only two people in the grave. Jin Sui was shocked at first. Could it be that Grandpa had some terminal illness? No, she had checked Grandpa's pulse a few days ago and the old man was in good health.
Then she heard her grandfather say emotionally: "Sui Sui, you have worked hard these years."
Jin Sui laughed and said, "Grandpa is really drunk. Your granddaughter is the queen and enjoys wealth and glory. How can it be hard?"
Grandpa wiped his eyes and poured more wine in front of the grave: "There are some things that I have wanted to ask you for a long time, but I was afraid..."
He stopped, and Jin Sui was startled: "Grandpa, what are you afraid of? Is there anything that we can't talk about between grandparents and grandchildren? You can ask as much as you want!"
"Haha, Grandpa is afraid that some fates cannot be broken without a touch. If you touch it, it will be broken."
“Sui Sui, you have done a great job, whether as a granddaughter, an elder sister, a wife, a mother, a teacher, or a queen, you have done a great job.
His Majesty often says that you are a blessing to Daxia and a blessing to him. I agree with this statement. You are also a blessing to me and Jin'an."
Jinsui's heart gradually became nervous, and she instinctively felt what her grandfather was going to say.
These are words that Grandpa had kept deep in his heart for a very long time, so long that she saved Grandpa from falling into the hands of bandits in a dilapidated temple. From that time on, he had been keeping the secret in his heart.
"You are really good! So good that sometimes I even think you are a god sent down to earth to save the world."
Jin Sui chuckled and said, "Grandpa, you're flattering me. I'm not that great. I also came here step by step."
Suddenly, Grandpa turned his head to look at her, his eyes were red, and two lines of hot tears rolled down his cheeks which were red from drunkenness. His cheeks were full of wrinkles, and the tears squeezed into the ravines of the wrinkles, making his face wet with tears.
"You have done very well. Having a granddaughter like you is a blessing that Grandpa has accumulated over several lifetimes.
But Sui Sui, can you tell Grandpa, where is my sickly, timid and crybaby Sui Sui? "
Jinsui only felt a numbness spreading throughout his body. Sure enough, his grandfather had noticed it a long time ago.
Perhaps out of fear, or for survival, or for Jin'an, he kept this doubt in his heart for many years.
Yes, if the grandfather who raised him since childhood did not realize that he was dead, and his identity was exchanged for a soul, then Ling Jinsui's life would be too pitiful.
Fortunately, there is still someone who remembers you.
Jinsui didn't want to hide it. The old man was already eighty years old. She had taken over someone else's granddaughter's body. If she still deceived him, it would be too much.
Jin Sui held a handkerchief to wipe Grandpa's tears and whispered, "She died of illness due to torture from the Jiang family, but before she died, she was worried about you, her mother, and her younger brother. She couldn't rest in peace, so she called me here."
Grandpa couldn't stop crying. He asked while crying, "What happened next? Did she rest in peace?"
Jin Sui also burst into tears: "When Ling's mother passed away, she followed her mother."
"She should have been reincarnated as a human being now, and has become an ordinary little girl. She is living happily somewhere in Daxia."
These words gave Grandpa Ling great comfort, because in the Great Xia Kingdom today, there are no children living a life of hunger and cold.
Grandpa Ling and Jinsui sat in front of the grave and talked for a long time: "This is really retribution! When the Central Plains was hit by the flood, I inquired about it. The Jiang family all suffered and died in the flood."
Soon other people came over and the two of them hurriedly wiped away their tears.
Tiantian came and helped A Tai stand up. Looking at the little face that looked very much like Jinsui when he was a child, Grandpa Ling’s knot in his heart was completely untied.
He said that he was still capable and he would work hard to make life better for all the children in the world, because one of them was a little girl, and that was his Suisui.
A gentle breeze blew, gently ruffling Jinsui's hair and clothes, and she seemed to feel the breath of the original owner again.
Be gentle.
(End of this chapter)
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