***
"Dad, I will never talk to my brother again."
As Mingyue spoke, she rubbed her little face against Qin Mu. All the oil on her little face got onto the dragon robe of the Qin Emperor. The palace maids serving in the palace saw this and laughed secretly. It was really a case of giving someone a taste of his own medicine.
Qin Mu hugged his precious daughter and laughed, "Mingyue, what's wrong? Did your brother bully you?"
"Dad, my brother went to Yangzhou to play and refused to take me with him. I ignored him. Humph! I will never pay attention to him again..."
"Hahaha... ... ."
"Daddy, can you take me there?"
"Okay, next time Daddy goes out, I'll take you there. Let's go to Xiangshan to admire the red leaves and ride horses on the grassland..."
When Mingyue heard this, she smiled brightly, got out of his arms, stretched out her white and tender little finger on her right hand and said eagerly: "Pink, Daddy, let's pinky promise..."
"Pin it up!"
Qin Mu really made a promise with her. Yang Zhi said, "Mingyue, be good. Daddy has been busy with state affairs and hasn't had time to have lunch yet. Come over here quickly, Mingyue, and let your daddy finish lunch first."
"Okay!" The girl was very obedient. She immediately jumped from under Qin Mu's legs and ran to Yang Zhi.
Yang Zhi hugged her and couldn't help thinking of her son. As the crown prince, Qin Ye, together with the Minister of Rites Tan Qiubai, took more than 300 new scholars to Jiangyin and Yangzhou for sacrifice. This was a very grand event, not just for fun as Mingyue said.
This time, it was Qin Mu who took the initiative to let his eldest son go. Yang Zhi was very pleased about this. This matter was extraordinary and would be of great help in consolidating Qin Ye's position as the crown prince.
But precisely because this move is of great significance and Qin Ye is still young, Yang Zhi can't help but worry that he will make a mistake, which would be counterproductive.
Anyway, she has been feeling a little uneasy ever since her son left Beijing.
Qin Mu said as he ate, "My lady, don't worry. Although Ye'er is young, my lady has taught him well, so nothing will go wrong. It's just a step back. Even if something goes wrong, it's better than always keeping him under your protection. As the crown prince, he has to take responsibility."
"I know, but..."
"If jade is not polished, it will not become a useful object. My lady, please stop being so arrogant. Come and have a drink with your husband."
"Daddy, I'll accompany you. I want to drink, too. I want to drink, too..."
"You? Sure, come and have a drink with daddy, hahaha..."
"My dear husband, Mingyue, stop messing around. You are still young and can't drink." Yang Zhi saw Mingyue reaching for the wine glass. She got anxious and quickly snatched it away.
Xiao Mingyue didn't dare to make a fuss, she just looked at Qin Mu with a pitiful face, Qin Mu gave her a look and laughed, the little girl immediately slipped over and climbed onto his legs with great familiarity.
Qin Mu handed the wine glass to her mouth and said with a smile: "My dear daughter, drink slowly, try a little, don't drink it in big gulps..."
"Husband! How can you be a father like this?"
"Hahaha... It's okay. It's okay, let her have a taste. When she grows up a little bit, it will be nice for her to have a drink with me, her father..."
"Ah!" Mingyue took a sip and immediately stuck out her tongue, her beautiful facial features pressed together, "It's so bitter... Daddy, I don't want to drink it anymore, I don't want to drink it anymore..."
"Hahaha... ... ."
Qin Mu was very happy, and Yang Zhi was so anxious that she personally made soup to feed Mingyue. After feeding her two mouthfuls, Yang Zhi couldn't help laughing when she saw Mingyue drinking the soup in big gulps.
After lunch, Qin Mu returned to the Jianjia Palace and saw a memorial that had just been delivered. This was a memorial jointly signed by the Deputy Admiral of the Ocean Fleet Ke Chenshu and the Chief Clerk Ren Zhong. It came from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, passed through Ceylon, crossed the Bay of Bengal, and arrived at Wang Bencheng and was then sent back by telegram.
Seeing this report, Qin Mu, the emperor of the Qin Dynasty, felt as if he was in a dream. He conquered Paris, captured the King of France, the Queen Mother, and the Prime Minister alive, and forced France to cede Marseille and the Blue Coast. He also persuaded Spain to recognize Portugal's independence, and united the Habsburg family to attack the Ottoman Empire...
"Is this an envoy I sent?"
Qin Mu had a strange look on his face. He looked at the memorial from left to right, as if he was looking at the most novel thing.
Li Xiangjun, who was making tea, couldn't help but giggle and said, "Your Majesty, there is also a Portuguese Princess Catalina."
"Hiss~ Xiangjun, why do I feel that Jianjia Palace is so jealous?"
"How dare Nunu? She is a princess."
"Hahaha... .."
Qin Mu was delighted and joked with Li Xiangjun, then immediately summoned all the generals and cabinet ministers to discuss the matter.
The visiting delegation to Europe brought back a gift that was beyond everyone's expectations. When Di Zhongxing, Liu Meng and others heard it, they couldn't help but celebrate.
Cabinet Minister Li Yuan said with some worry: "Your Majesty, if we want to station troops in Saffi in northern Africa, Aveiro in Portugal, and Marseille in the Mediterranean, we will need at least 2,000 soldiers and 10 warships. This is a long journey and the cost must be high. It is necessary..."
Qin Mu waved his hand to interrupt him and said, "Whether it is necessary or not depends on how you view overseas interests. The Netherlands and Portugal are just tiny countries. They can come to the doorstep of our Great Qin and seize large colonies. How can a great country like our Great Qin not be able to operate a few seaports?"
Huang Zhenlin, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the colonial methods of the Western countries are indeed somewhat different from the current strategy of our Great Qin. In fact, most of the countries such as the Netherlands, Britain, and Portugal use trading companies as the front line, such as the Dutch East India Company.
In other words, the colonization process of Western countries does not require much investment from the country, and our Great Qin is now mainly relying on the navy to take the lead.
As the important strongholds on the voyage to Europe have already been seized by European countries, our Great Qin uses the navy to take the lead, which is conducive to quickly controlling the waterway and seizing and plundering strongholds along the way.
But compared with the Western countries, it is also true that our Great Qin spent more energy in the process of expansion. In the early stage of expansion, because there were a lot of spoils of war to make up for military expenditures, the court not only did not feel exhausted, but also had a steady stream of income.
However, in the future, the initial investment will always be greater than the income. If we do not change the current model and adopt the Western corporate management method, our overseas income and expenditure may be unbalanced. The expenditure of many strategic bases may be greater than the income.
Therefore, I think our dynasty might as well draw on the experience of some Western countries, grant some trading companies the corresponding qualifications, and let them operate these strategic strongholds. "
In fact, what Huang Zhenlin said was something Qin Mu had already considered. He also provided some weapons to several overseas trading companies such as the Ocean Trading Company, but he did not explicitly grant these trading companies overseas colonial privileges like the Dutch East India Company did.
Qin Mu knew very well that many ministers would oppose this.
China has always been a land power country and people’s thinking is relatively conservative.
Moreover, once these trading companies have the privilege of overseas colonization, their shareholders will gain huge benefits.
The shareholders of the Dutch East India Company were mainly composed of Dutch nobles and parliamentary officials. The profits of the company also went into the pockets of these people, so they would certainly support the company's overseas colonization.
The Qin Dynasty's trading companies were mainly composed of merchants. When the companies made profits, officials in the court could not get a share of the profits. Would they agree to grant overseas colonial privileges to companies run by merchants
If officials in the court are allowed to participate in the shares, there are so many officials, should we allow all of them to participate in the shares
At present, it is not advisable to do these things.
Then, Huang Zhenlin's proposal can only be a compromise. Some less important bases can be handed over to trading companies to operate. The Qin navy can control the most important strategic bases as much as possible.
As for several ports in Europe, it is not enough to rely solely on trading companies to operate them. At least for now, it is very necessary to station troops there.
After thinking it over, Qin Mu rejected Huang Zhenlin's opinion and then said, "Looking at the whole world, Europe will be the main trading partner of our Great Qin. At present, it is necessary to station troops in several ports in Europe, and in order to further influence the situation in Europe and allow Great Qin merchants to quickly enter the European market, and at the same time to cooperate with the implementation of the Central Asian strategy, the number of troops stationed cannot be too small.
At present, Ke Chenshu has sent a treasure ship, six clipper warships, and 500 marines to Europe. I think that we should send four more clipper warships and 500 marines to protect the interests of the Qin Dynasty in Europe. When necessary, we can cooperate with the fleets of Spain, Portugal and other countries to directly threaten the Ottoman capital Istanbul... "
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ps: When I woke up in the morning, I found that I had dropped one place on the monthly ticket list, and fell to the most embarrassing seventh place in the category. It's really one step to heaven and one step to hell. I urgently need monthly tickets and subscriptions!
.(To be continued..)
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