Just as Fu Xiaoguan was feeling uneasy, the days passed quietly.
The willow trees in Wofeng City eventually shed their leaves, but the yellow horn trees remained green and lush. The autumn chrysanthemums, which should have been coming to an end in Jinling, were still in full bloom on the Wofeng Plain.
On October 22, the tenth year of the Xuanli calendar, Fu Xiaoguan finally received news from Jinling.
Both mother and child are safe, and Dong Shulan also gave birth to a little girl. This is simply great news.
Fu Xiaoguan immediately wrote a letter home. He was worried that Dong Shulan would be sad because she had given birth to a daughter. In this letter, he comforted her and emphasized that he preferred his daughter.
Then he named the two children, his daughter Fu Duoduo and his son Fu Ziliang - he was quite satisfied with his daughter's name, and as for his son's name...it was just like that.
In the end, he naturally said that he would definitely go home for the Chinese New Year this year, and would leave around the end of November.
After Cui Yueming sent the letter via carrier pigeon, Fu Xiaoguan felt much more relaxed.
The uneasiness that had been weighing on his heart for days finally dissipated, and he regained his full strength, so much so that Yun Xiyan dared to boldly sell the "Fu Xiaoguan Poetry and Prose Collection" he had tinkered with.
Yun Xiyan has been happy these days too.
Counting on my fingers, this collection of essays has sold a full 5,000 copies so far!
He could earn three taels of silver for each book, which meant a net profit of fifteen thousand taels. So in his heart, this Ding'an Earl was his God of Wealth!
He invested all the 15,000 taels of silver in the stock market. That's right, after hearing that Ding'an Bo bought one million shares of Qingzhou Shipping, he immediately followed suit and bought 15,000 shares of Qingzhou Shipping.
He was waiting to get rich, but he didn't know that Fu Xiaoguan never thought that the one million taels of silver could be returned.
"The Southeast Grand Canal is a massively expensive project in Cheongju. According to my estimates, it will take at least ten years for this project to be open to navigation!"
Sitting in the secretariat office, Fu Xiaoguan, Ning Yuchun, Yun Xiyan and Zhuo Donglai spoke earnestly.
In the previous life, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered the construction of the Grand Canal, which required the entire nation's efforts, mobilized millions of workers, and took a full seven years!
Of course, the entire Grand Canal is quite complicated. It has been under construction throughout the dynasties and took more than a thousand years. This cannot be compared.
However, according to the direction of the river, the distance from Lanling to the Yangtze River is definitely more than 800 miles, and Qingzhou cannot recruit a million migrant workers, so Fu Xiaoguan's estimate of ten years is very conservative. If things go wrong, it may be a long-term project of fifteen to twenty years.
All the income of the Wofengdao government will be poured into this bottomless pit.
But he still supported this project, one reason being that if this southeastern waterway could really be opened, it would surely become the main artery of the southeastern economy of the Yu Dynasty!
And it is connected to the Yangtze River, which means that the Wofeng Road and the Thirteen Roads of the Yu Dynasty are closely connected together.
The raw materials transported from other roads to Wofeng Road will be faster. Similarly, the goods produced in Wofeng Road can also be sold quickly to other roads.
As for the second point... before the Grand Canal is completed, the financial revenue of Wofeng Road will not be able to be turned over to the central government, and may even need support from the central government. The development speed of the entire Yu Dynasty will slow down, which is beneficial to the Wu Dynasty.
So after reading the plan, Fu Xiaoguan thought about it carefully for three days and approved this huge investment.
"Ten years...?" Yun Xiyan took a breath and Fu Xiaoguan nodded. "At least ten years!"
Yun Xiyan suddenly felt a little panicked. He had to go to Sitong Bank to check on the 15,000 shares he had bought at any time. If the price went up, it would be better to sell them as soon as possible.
"I'm looking for you two today to discuss next year's plans for Wofeng Road."
Fu Xiaoguan held in his hand a stack of data compiled by the secretariat regarding Wofengdao's current industries and various investments entering Wofengdao.
"Cheongju is suitable for mulberry cultivation and silkworm breeding. Cheongju has the most textile factories, so next year Cheongju must focus on solving the problem of mulberry silkworms and meet the needs of local factories as much as possible."
"Qizhou is mountainous. Dong Xiangfang reported that the Gongsun family, one of the five great families of the Yu Dynasty, discovered an iron ore vein in Luojia Mountain in Qizhou. The provincial government granted the Gongsun family a mining permit, and now the Gongsun family is building an iron smelting and forging workshop in Luojia County..."
"Qizhou must continue to explore for mineral veins. In addition..."
Fu Xiaoguan looked at Yun Xiyan and said, "I remember you once said that the hemp trees in Qizhou are good. Please remember this and let the people in Qizhou plant hemp trees, but the hemp cloth must be sold to Qingzhou."
Yun Xiyan was startled, "Why?"
"Cheongju will become a light industrial zone... You can understand this as mainly light textiles, such as linen, silk, ready-made clothes, shoes and hats, and so on."
"What about Qizhou?"
"Since Qizhou is rich in mountains and minerals, it should be developed into a heavy industrial area, specifically smelting and forging."
Ning Yuchun frowned slightly. He didn't quite understand why Fu Xiaoguan made such a distinction. He just blindly thought that since Fu Xiaoguan did this, he must have his reasons.
"Why do you want to arrange next year's affairs now?" Ning Yuchun was very worried, worried that this gentleman might run back to Wu Dynasty.
Fu Xiaoguan grinned, "The barbarians killed two thousand of my Divine Sword soldiers. I must personally avenge this vengeance!"
Ning Yuchun and Yun Xiyan were both shocked. You are a Taoist priest!
And the Minister of Commerce!
You are not the general!
Ning Yuchun was stunned for a long moment before he said, "Your Majesty will not let you take any risks!"
"You mean I'm AWOL?"
"That's what I meant... Are you unhappy with your duties as Daotai?"
Fu Xiaoguan shook his head and suppressed his smile. "The barbarians have always been the greatest hidden danger to the Yu Dynasty. If this hidden danger is not resolved, there will never be peace in the north. What you don't know is... the Yi Kingdom invaded the barbarians' Blue Banner territory, and the war is over. The Yi Kingdom only occupied half of the Blue Banner territory..."
Fu Xiaoguan paused, then continued, "This means that the barbarians have probably reached some kind of agreement with the Yi Kingdom. And since the barbarians have spent so much effort to train a 400,000-strong Heavenly Blade Army, why doesn't he go and drive the Yi people away?"
Ning Yuchun and the other man's expressions suddenly changed. "The barbarians are heading south again?"
"Yes..." Fu Xiaoguan nodded. "The barbarians' southward march is in the interests of the Yi Kingdom. That's why the Yi Kingdom's army didn't continue the fight in order to give the barbarians this opportunity."
"The barbarians dare not delay any longer, because the northern border troops will only be equipped with more and more flintlock rifles and red-coated cannons. If they delay any longer, they will never have the opportunity to invade the south. Therefore, I conclude that the barbarians will inevitably move south next spring."
"This is the business of the Northern Frontier Army!"
"Yeah, I'm just taking the Excalibur Army out for some training."
Is it really just for practice?
Ning Yuchun, Yun Xiyanzhuo and his party were unable to guess what Fu Xiaoguan was thinking.
Is he really going to avenge the two thousand soldiers of the Divine Sword Army?
He didn't have to go to the battlefield at all. After all, the Divine Sword Army was well-trained and had its own generals. He only needed to go and give an order to solve the problem.
But why did Fu Xiaoguan go to the battlefield in person?
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