The king of Chu held the information sent back from Qingzhou by the fine work, and his fingers trembled slightly. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The occupation of Kwantung by the Great Yu army was a cause for celebration for Qingzhou, but it was nothing short of a nightmare for him.

In the early days of the Northern Expedition, he always had the mentality of watching the excitement, hoping that Xiao Minghe could fight with the barbarians, so that he would have more time to recuperate.

But after the fall of Pingzhou, he was extremely disappointed, obviously he seriously underestimated Xiao Ming's strength, at this time he had thought of taking the opportunity to attack Qingzhou north.

However, Xiao Ming obviously had a guard against him, fifteen Great Yu warships were moored at the wharf of Jinling City, and Jinling City was also heavily guarded.

Although his army was somewhat improved under the training of the French, it was not enough for him, because after the Northern Expedition began, he sent dead soldiers to attack the soldiers of the Great Yu Kingdom in Tongzhou in the guise of the Japanese Invaders.

He was infuriated that three hundred dead men with muskets had been routed by fifty musketeers guarding the docks in Tongzhou.

According to the dead soldiers who returned, the muskets of the soldiers of the Great Yu Kingdom had a longer range and greater power than their muskets, and more importantly, Xiao Ming's soldiers were very disciplined, and in the face of their attacks, the array of fifty soldiers was not chaotic at all.

"The Golden Horde is over, who will be next?" King Chu's eyes were a little desperate, and he knew that he was definitely not Xiao Ming's opponent now.

What's more, in the process of dealing with the barbarians, it is said that two strange weapons have also appeared.

Cao Kun was by the side of the king of Chu, different from the humble status in the past, and now the Cao family occupies a place in the state of Chu.

In order to resist Xiao Ming, the king of Chu carried out a major reform of the Chu state, on the one hand following Xiao Ming's example, and on the other hand, following the advice of the French and preparing to follow the example of Europe.

No matter what it is, now their Cao family has made a lot of profits, and compared to Xiao Ming, who strictly forbade merchants to participate in politics, now the king of Chu is more tolerant of merchants.

There are already many big merchants who trade at sea in the staff of the Chu Palace.

"Your Highness doesn't have to worry too much, although Xiao Ming defeated the barbarians, but he was also injured, but many people died in the Battle of Pingzhou, and now that the class teacher has returned to the dynasty, he must have to rest." Cao Kun said with a deep groan.

"So what? After resting, he is not going to fight, some time ago, the cutting of the feudal domain has already shown a hint, although he rejected the excerpt, but in my opinion it is just a delaying strategy. King Chu sighed.

In the past, Cao Kun was very disgusted with the King of Chu, because the King of Chu tried to ruin the Cao family to get the wealth of the Cao family, but now it is different, he likes the King of Chu more than Xiao Ming, because here he sees the future of the Cao family.

If the Chu State continued to develop, he firmly believed that the Cao family would have extremely high rights in the Chu State, and once they grasped the rights, the Cao family could use the rights to make more money.

Like him, many merchants with such hopes came to the King of Chu, and they were all people who were deeply influenced by Western merchants.

"Your Highness, Cao has a way." Cao Kun said suddenly.

King Chu was stunned for a moment, revealing an eager look, "Come and listen." ”

"On this occasion of death, for the sake of His Royal Highness Cao, I can only take risks, does Your Highness remember the Cao family's Qian Zhuang in Qingzhou?" Cao Kun's eyes narrowed.

"Of course I do." King Chu snorted lightly, of course, the Cao family's head rat is at both ends, this Cao family's money village is a gift to Xiao Ming.

Cao Kun showed an embarrassed look, "In fact, it's not just Qingzhou, the Cao family's money is now all over the northern provinces, and because of the Cao family's reputation, many merchants have deposited the silver in my money bank, and now I only need an order, the Cao family money village can immediately flee to Chu with the silver, and when the time comes, the merchants, the people and the wealthy families of the various provinces will inevitably be in chaos, and it will be enough for Xiao Ming to be busy at that time." ”

King Chu looked excited, "So wonderful, so wonderful, just like this, isn't the Cao family a thorn in Xiao Ming's eyes, a thorn in the flesh, your Cao family's business?" ”

"Your Highness don't worry, before that, I will ask Zhengyang to take stock of the Cao family's business, and then I will say that the Cao family has lost a lot of silver overseas, and it is impossible to make ends meet, and now the Cao family is poor and cannot exchange silver, maybe Xiao Ming will not punish the Cao family at that time, but will also find a way to save the Cao family, otherwise this will be a huge blow to the industry and commerce of the Great Chongqing Kingdom." Cao Kun looks confident.

After a pause, Cao Kun continued: "Of course, this is only one of them, although the barbarians are newly defeated now, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, Your Highness may as well send merchants to the Golden Horde and the Wa State, now these two countries are eyeing Xiao Ming, as long as they can hold Xiao Ming back, we can continue to expand the army." ”

The King of Chu kept nodding, and he had to say that this Cao Kun had learned a lot from Western merchants, at least this was something he had never thought of before.

He said: "If this plan can be realized, this king will let Cao Zhengtong be the long history of this king, how about it?" ”

Cao Kun was overjoyed, bowed down and said, "Your Highness Xie, Cao will send someone to Qingzhou when he goes back." ”

Hearing this, the King of Chu nodded with satisfaction.

After deciding on this matter, Cao Kun left the Chu Palace.

Seeing Cao Kun leave, the king of Chu sighed deeply, if it wasn't for the sake of survival, why would he cooperate with the French and these vulgar merchants......

At the same time, Cao Kun did not return to Caofu, but took a carriage to Lin'an Wharf.

In front of a restaurant on the dock, he stopped the carriage and looked left and right before entering the restaurant.

This restaurant is famous in Lin'an, because there are often Western merchants in and out, to the restaurant Cao Kun went directly to the third floor, knocked on the innermost room in the corridor, then the door was opened, revealing a Western face.

"Mr. Munster." Cao Kun is very respectful to the blonde and blue-eyed Westerners.

The middle-aged man known as Munster nodded, with a hint of a smile on his face, and he said, "Mr. Cao Kun, welcome to you. ”

Entering the room, Cao Kun said, "Mr. Munster came this time, and I don't know what orders he brought. ”

Munster also put away his smile at this time, he picked up the teacup and poured a cup of tea for Cao Kun, and said lightly: "The association is very uneasy about the development of science and technology in the Great Chongqing Kingdom now, and it is very confused, and I was sent here this time to find out the source of these technologies. ”

Hearing this, Cao Kun said: "I see, but don't worry, sir, whether it is the King of Chu or our Cao family, we have sent people to infiltrate Qingzhou University, and we are also trying to buy the students from Qingzhou University, as long as the benefits are enough, I believe this is not difficult to do." ”

"Indeed," said Munster, "since the Dutch bought back the steam engine from Qingzhou, their parliament was willing to even exchange the position of an earl for a student of the Great Yu Kingdom. ”