Chapter 496 Fanatical Merchant

The night was gentle, and the next day Xiao Ming slept lazily until noon before getting up.

This month of running around made him quite tired, and he was separated from Fei Yue'er for a month. The two of them were playful and playful while lying on the bed, and said some self-friendly words.

And for Xiao Ming, the report from Pang Yukun and others is one thing, and Fei Yue'er's personal statement is another.

"The Confucian scholar has really become the rat crossing the street in His Highness's mouth, and everyone is shouting and beating." Fei Yue'er told Xiao Ming about the changes since the last Confucian scholar made trouble, "But my father wrote from Chang'an, saying that the court and the middle are right. This incident has been criticized quite a bit, and officials headed by Cui Hao even scolded His Highness in the courtroom for disobeying Confucian classics and disrespecting Confucianism, and even asked the Emperor to take down the title of His Highness Prince Erzhu."

"Hmph, these little people."

Xiao Ming showed disdain on his face. It was precisely because of the presence of these talents in the DPRK that they only attacked their colleagues, causing the DPRK to become increasingly wasteful.

"What else did the Fiji book say?" Xiao Ming asked. Generally, Fiji would not write to him if there were no major matters.

"Dad also said that the emperor had suddenly passed out a few days ago. After waking up, his body was not as good as before, and he was absent every three or five times in the morning." Speaking of this, Fei Yue'er's expression became solemn.

"If I'm not mistaken, my father is nine out of fifty today." Xiao Ming pondered.

Fei Yue'er nodded, "Dad said the same in the letter."

Xiao Ming's eyes narrowed. Fiji's mention of this matter in the letter must have a deep meaning. Perhaps in his opinion, Xiao Wenxuan really didn't have a few years to live this time.

For Xiao Ming, it was not easy for Xiao Wenxuan to live to this age. After all, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was only sixty-nine years old, and the average lifespan of emperors in contemporary history was only about thirty-nine years old.

"Well, this king understands."

Xiao Ming frowned. Now that Xiao Wenxuan is the support point of the balance of the Great Yu Kingdom, he does not want Xiao Wenxuan to fall so quickly. After all, he does not want to lose a stable development environment.

But if something really happened, he could only come to cover it up. Now Fiji mentions it just to remind him and let him be prepared.

After all, the minister knows that Xiao Wenxuan is ill, but there are not many people who may know Xiao Wenxuan when he passed out, otherwise it will inevitably cause shocks in the government and the public.

After some gossip, Xiao Ming and Fei Yue'er washed and dressed, and had a simple meal before he went to the workshop area.

About the white sugar, Xiao Ming ordered it when he returned to Qingzhou. This time, the sugarcane he had brought back from Ryukyu was also transported to Qingzhou when he came back. artisan.

These craftsmen will be responsible for helping Xiao Ming establish a white sugar workshop in Qingzhou and train a group of sugar craftsmen. He also sent someone to inform Lu Tong about the sulfurous acid used to purify white sugar when he came back.

"His Royal Highness, we have brought the sulphurous acid." Lu Tong in the workshop area was already waiting for Xiao Ming. He was holding a glass bottle in which the sulphurous acid solution was filled.

The production process of sulfurous acid is actually very simple, but calcining sulfur at high temperature to obtain sulfur dioxide and passing it into water to obtain sulfurous acid. This process is not a problem for Lu Tong and others, after all, they have been able to prepare sulfuric acid.

"In the future, your chemical workshop will be responsible for providing sulfurous acid solution to the white sugar workshop. This king hopes to see clean white sugar in the next two days." Xiao Ming said.

The significance of white sugar to him is not only in eating, but more importantly, it will provide Qingzhou with an industrial classification, allowing him to go further to the whole industrial system.

Lu Tong had already learned Xiao Ming's purpose for sulfite. At this time, he nodded. He was also very interested in this white sugar. In his opinion, it was also a wonderful chemical reaction.

At this time, the craftsmen from Ryukyu had already produced the equipment needed for the white sugar workshop with the cooperation of the craftsmen of the equipment department, and Chen Wenlong selected one from the vacant houses in the workshop area and handed it over to these craftsmen.

After inspecting the preparatory work of the white sugar workshop, Xiao Ming has a mind. In his opinion, the official production will take at least seven days.

Just as he was instructing the craftsman, suddenly a loud noise came. Xiao Ming looked at the source of the sound, and saw that Li Kaiyuan was almost pushed towards him by the merchants. The merchants in the front were Cao Zhengyang and Ding Wu. , Dai Zixing and three people.

When he got near, Li Kaiyuan looked helpless, he said: "His Royal Highness, Xiguan is also helpless. Originally, Xiguan wanted to come back to His Highness in two days. After all, His Highness needs time to recuperate after traveling for a long time, but the merchants of the Chamber of Commerce are now one by one. They are like ants on a hot pot, and the lower official can't stop them."

"What's the matter, all of you are so excited." Xiao Ming's eyes swept across the businessman's face.

These businessmen looked excited one by one, with their mouths open and teeth showing, as if they had met a happy event.

Cao Zhengyang now seemed to be the representative of the merchants. He said to Xiao Ming, "Your Highness, it is said that the Qingzhou Navy has recaptured Ryukyu this time, and has reached an agreement with the Dutch. From now on, the sea trade route will belong to Your Highness."

While Cao Zhengyang was speaking, other businessmen waited eagerly for Xiao Ming to confirm the news.

"As expected of the Cao family, your news is very well-informed. That's right, this king has recovered Ryukyu, and he is still stationed in the city of Relan. From then on, the coastal routes are under the control of this king."

As soon as Xiao Ming's voice fell, the merchants fell silent.

Then there was a sudden burst of huge cheers.

"His Royal Highness is very talented, after all, his name has gone down in history."

"This is the great contribution of Li Zai Qianqiu."

"You are wise, Your Highness."

"..."

The merchants couldn't be more excited. They had long coveted sea trade, and now they knew that the right to sea trade was in Xiao Ming's hands. How could they not be excited.

The most exciting of them is Cao Zhengyang. Since the relationship between the King of Chu and the Dutch has collapsed, the Cao family's maritime trade has dropped a thousand feet. Now he finally found an opportunity to revive the Cao family.

"Your Highness, so, from now on, can we sell goods by sea?" Cao Zhengyang said expectantly.

"Of course not." Xiao Ming's words were like pouring cold water on the heads of the merchants, but his next sentence gave the merchants hope, "Only merchants under the unified jurisdiction of the Chamber of Commerce can conduct maritime trade, and any Merchant ships in maritime trade must pay taxes, and anyone who dares to evade taxes in this king's fief will lose the right to trade by sea forever."

"His Royal Highness, paying taxes is a matter of course, and we will definitely not cheat." Ding Wu assured.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, we absolutely dare not."

"..."

Businessmen, you say every word, pat your chest and promise.