Zhu Zhiren's frankness made Feng Ziying stunned, which did not conform to his own perception of this person.

can endure for so many years, and can still be at ease in such an unfavorable situation, it shouldn't be such an upright and frank person, and it is difficult for such a character to persist in such an environment.

Seeing that Feng Ziying was a little surprised, Zhu Zhiren smiled, "Do you feel that the old decay is a little different from your understanding?" ”

Feng Ziying nodded.

"Ziying, the day before yesterday, you came, we are a business official, but today, since you are here as a nephew, then if the old man still gossips with you, then Dong Xian and Zishu will definitely write a letter to blame the old man in the future."

Zhu Zhiren took a sip of the teacup, this is not a send-off, but a gesture to prepare to open up and talk, but it is not difficult to say openly, but it is necessary to talk freely.

Zhu Zhiren knows very well that maybe this is really an opportunity, but he wants to listen to what the other party relies on, what kind of conditions he can offer, and whether it is worth investing in himself.

It has not been easy for him in Yongping Mansion in the past few years, and he has almost stumbled to maintain this situation, doesn't he want to go further? But the conditions don't allow it.

He also knows very well that if he can't make any gains in the next year, then I'm afraid that it will be a luxury to continue to serve as the prefect of Yongping, and the transfer is even more wishful thinking, maybe there will really be only Zhishi.

"The old man knew that Ziying could have chosen Ningbo, Baoding, and other places that were far better than Yongping Mansion, but he chose Yongping Mansion, so it naturally makes sense, and it can make Qi Ge Lao and Master Qiao agree to your choice, there must be a reason, so the old man wants to hear the reason, can you?"

Zhu Zhiren's question also made Feng Ziying hesitate a little and smile, "Ziying has nothing to say to people, before Qi Shi Qiao Shi didn't agree with the little nephew's choice of Yongping, and the official teacher also suggested that the little nephew could choose Huangzhou, well, the hometown of the official teacher, but later they still agreed to the little nephew's choice, and there are two reasons for this." ”

"First, Yongping Mansion is located in Liaodong into the Central Plains, the throat hub outside the Central Plains, my father is the governor of Jiliao, Jizhen and Yongping are not harmonious, it will directly affect the hearts of the Liaodong army, and the little nephew also has this condition to deal with this kind of discord that should not be there; ……”

Zhu Zhiren nodded, this should be the main reason why Qi Qiao and Guan Yingzhen put Feng Ziying in Yongping, if there was no Feng Tang Jiliao's identity, no one else would have such conditions to suppress the Jizhen military.

"Second, Shi Bo is afraid that he also knows that the little nephew is dissatisfied with many fellow villagers in the north in the strategy of opening the sea, although the little nephew also argues, but it is a reality that the people in the north and Jiangnan are different, so the little nephew hopes to make a try in Yongping to see if he can make the benefits of the sea open and benefit Ze Yongning,......"

Zhu Zhiren pondered, "Yuguan? Do you want to open a port in Yuguan? ”

Yuguan is Shanhaiguan, but Shanhaiguan is the jurisdiction of Shanhaiwei, Yongping Mansion can not manage, but there are many coastal harbors south of Shanhaiwei, which belongs to the land of ancient Yuguan, and now it should be regarded as Funing County, but Shanhaiwei, Funingwei and Funing County are intricate in this area, and the population itself is sparse, so it is not valued by Yongping Mansion.

Feng Ziying nodded.

Zhu Zhiren was a little disappointed, opening a port and building a wharf are relatively simple, nothing more than people and money, Feng Ziying has this plan, naturally to take advantage of the needs of Shanhaiwei and Funingwei, and the southern products can continue to enter Yuguan Port from Jiangnan and Guangzhou.

It's just that this has become a simple commercial port, which is of course of great benefit to Shanhaiwei and Funingwei, but what about Funing County and Yongping Mansion? Maybe it's just some business tax revenue? But if the goods are imported for Shanhaiwei and Funingwei, there is still a question mark about how much this commercial tax can be received, and military materials have always been exempt from commercial tax.

"It's a good idea to open a port near Yuguan, but the population around here is too small, except for Shanhaiwei in the north, Ziying, you plan to hand over the rice and military materials in the south to Shanhaiwei by sea, and then transport them to Zhuwei and Ningyuan in Guangning by land?" Zhu Zhiren said with a smile: "Of course, it is a good thing for Liaodong Town, and it is also a good thing for the military department, the household department and the imperial court, but it is of little significance to our Yongping Mansion, Ziying, you are a fellow of Yongping Mansion, not a guerrilla of Ning Yuanwei and Guangning Zhuwei." ”

Without waiting for Feng Ziying to explain, Zhu Zhiren continued: "Ziying, I know that it is not easy for Ling Zun to be in Liaodong now, it is normal for you to have this plan, it is unreasonable not to have this idea, but you also have to consider that Qi Ge Lao, Master Qiao and Dongxian arranged you to Yongping, I'm afraid it's not just as simple as doing a good job of logistics for Liaodong Town, right?" As you yourself said, the Beidi people are quite dissatisfied with your strategy of opening the sea, and if you only import military funds for Liaodong by opening the port of Yuguan, the Beidi people will probably be a little disappointed. ”

Zhu Zhiren's words are true, of course, there is also the meaning of considering from the perspective of Yongping Mansion itself, and his own Yongping Mansion Tongzhi has purely become a logistical support for Liaodong Town, but he has neglected his own duties, even if he can collect some commercial taxes, but it may be a little far from Zhu Zhiren's expectations.

"Shibo, not only to import military funds from the south for Liaodong, the little nephew still has to do something from several aspects, and the opening of Yuguan is just to open a portal, as a hub for internal transportation and foreign transportation." Feng Ziying groaned and said, "I don't know if Shibo knows that Lulong and Qian'an are ......rich in mines."

Zhu Zhiren laughed, "How do you not know this? These two counties also mined a lot, but one to the mineral quality is uneven, the second is to smelt the huge investment, the local lack of craftsmen and labor, the government is unable to support, although the people have this intention, but many are abandoned because of the lack of smelting technology, the old decay just arrived in Yongping five years ago as the prefect, the emperor also intends to encourage mining, well, it is also to enrich the inner treasury with more mining taxes, the old decay also had this intention, but road traffic, population labor, iron smelting technology, and sales to the outside also need merchants to operate, many restrictions, so that can only stay on paper,......, how, Does Ziying mean this? ”

"Yes." Feng Ziying nodded affirmatively, "Shibo should know that after the opening of the sea, Jiangnan has benefited a lot, and the northern merchants have quite criticized, so the little nephew will unite with the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce and the Liangguang Iron Merchants, and intend to open mines in the north as the main business, connecting the sea to the sea, in order to gain for the north." ”

Zhu Zhiren's spirit perked up, but then he was a little depressed, "Ziying, you want to open a mine in Lulong and Qian'an, the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Industry are afraid to see it happen, I understand what you mean, open a mine and smelt iron, if the iron can be transported, it can complement the import of military funds from the south, this is a good thing, but Qian'an and Lulong are all near the mountains, if you use charcoal to smelt iron, you also need to burn charcoal, cut down trees, and need labor, smelting iron out of iron material to transport this consumption is very large, this area is sparsely populated, many inconveniences." ”

"Shibo, there will be a lot of difficulties in doing things, but we have to do something here in the north, we can't watch the silk, tea, porcelain, and cloth in the south continue to be shipped out, in terms of grain production, we are not as good as the north, and the Beijing division has to rely on Jiangnan grain, silk and all kinds of southern goods, and the most important silk, tea, porcelain, and cloth in maritime trade, we are even more out of reach, Jiangnan always says that they pay several times more taxes than our north, and the grain and salary of the nine sides depend on Jiangnan grain and silver, which is a fact, People can naturally be arrogant in the court, the voice is louder than anyone else, and the northerners are three points shorter, except for Qi Shi, the other four people in the cabinet, the first assistant and the second assistant, plus the two Li Ge Lao (Li Tingji, Li Sancai), are all Jiangnan scholars, I'm afraid Shibo will not think that Daofu Gong still represents the Beidi scholars, right? ”

Zhu Zhiren was silent.

Although Li Sancai (the word Daofu) is a Beidi scholar, but this person has served in Nanjing for a long time, and later served as the governor of Caoyun, and has very close contacts with Jiangnan scholars, and is greatly influenced by Jiangnan scholars, and often defends Jiangnan, so he is no longer considered a Beidi scholar, and even many Beidi scholars regard Li Sancai as a traitor and hate him to the core.

Zhu Zhiren is a native of Huguangshi, but although the Huguangshi people seem to have been neutral among the Beidi Shi and Jiangnan Shiren, in fact, as the Jiangnan Shiren become more and more powerful, it is impossible for the Huguangshi people to be impartial, and they are increasingly consistent with the Beidi Shiren.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Zhiren nodded.

He knew very well that it was difficult for people like him to gain the approval of people like Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe, and the only thing he could rely on was that he was from Huguangshi.

At present, although Jiangnan scholars occupy a dominant position in the cabinet, Qi Yongtai is from the Ministry of Officials, coupled with the style of honesty and integrity, and his prestige in the DPRK is very high, that is, the Jiangnan scholars also respect him very much.

"Ziying, you said that the foolish uncle understands, but in front of you is a specific difficulty, iron regardless of the north and south are in urgent need, Guangdong Foshan is famous for iron production, it is said that the iron material alone is more than 100,000 taels a year, but Foshan is densely populated, convenient transportation, developed iron smelting technology, how can we Yongping Mansion be like Foshan?" Zhu Zhiren couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Zhiren's questions are all to the point.

One is labor, the second is technical personnel, the third is capital, the fourth is transportation capacity, and the fifth is sales channels, none of which are simple.

"Shibo, the problem of labor, the little nephew hopes to coordinate with Jizhen, and there are many people in Tunwei, so they should be able to discuss; Craftsmen, there were originally some craftsmen in Tunwei and Fuzhong, and Foshan was the mainstay; The money and silver were settled by Jin Shang and Haitong Yinzhuang, and Foshan Zhuang Ji could also provide a part; Transportation is a big problem, but it can only be made do now, but it will become more and more troublesome in the future, but it can only be taken one step at a time; The sales channel is relatively simple, as long as Yuguan opens the port, everything else is easy to solve. Feng Ziying understated, but her tone was very affirmative.