Now that she talked about the Heavenly Thunder Soldiers named Shenji Camp by Li Hong, Wu Mei couldn't help but become interested. It wasn't that she was very interested in the secrets of Shenji Camp, but she was a little surprised by the funding of Shenji Camp. Even shocked!
This was not unknown. After she learned a little more from Li Zhi, she realized that the huge expenditure of the Shenji Camp was enough to feed the 15,000 Jinwu Guards, but the Shenji Camp only had a full budget. Three thousand talents, which is even equivalent to five Jinwu Guards soldiers, can support this precious soldier of the Shenji Battalion.
It would be hard for Wu Mei not to be surprised at such an expense. If Wu Mei hadn't known that Li Hong was not greedy for money, not to mention that he already had enough money to build the East Palace, but why did the Shenji Camp have so much money? If I seize the opportunity today, I have to ask clearly.
"Li Hong, tell me, why is the cost of this Shenji Camp so much higher than that of other military buildings? Even your father's Jinwu Guards have not reached your level of expenditure."
"This... this is not my divine machine camp, but my father's divine machine camp. The expense is so high because they are important. I have been thinking about it for a long time in the past few years, and I just figured out that there are three to five thousand people."
"Are they three thousand or five thousand?" Wu Mei asked strangely.
Li Hong lowered his head, holding the chess piece in his hand, and was about to take the lead in stepping on Li Zhi's cannon, but when his mother raised her head to talk, the cannon seemed to have moved its position!
"Father, you are..."
"Your mother is asking you something." Li Zhi looked down at his own camp and then at Li Hong's camp, not giving him a chance to speak and appeal.
"In total, there are five thousand people, but only three thousand can be used in actual combat. The logistics troops behind the Shenji Battalion, as well as the people who developed those sky thunders, are all included in the Shenji Battalion's establishment. Naturally, they are It's not as small as the three thousand people you saw." Li Hong explained to Wu Mei helplessly, and then he had no choice but to jump back on his horse, and the two men joined forces to bully others.
Wu Mei nodded understandingly, and looked at her son who was defeated by his father and had no time to take care of himself. He was about to surrender and give in. He continued to ask: "But I heard that the funds for your Chongwen Hall are even huge. The figure, the expenses for this month are more than those of the Imperial College and the Hongwen Hall, is this possible? "
"Father, you can't regret your chess all the time." He was almost out of pieces, but Father Long still regretted his chess.
"I'm distracted. I was distracted by your mother's question just now." Li Zhi muttered, but he moved the car resolutely and took another step up.
"I can't tell you the cost of the Chongwen Hall at the moment. In short, you can rest assured that every penny is spent wisely. Taiyi City, Chongwen Hall, Shenji Camp, including the medical school to be built in Lantian, these From now on, it will be a waste of money. Oh, by the way, the reformed Military Academy of the Ministry of War will be built in the future, and it will also be a waste of money." Li Hong raised his head and pressed Li Zhi's eyes eagerly. The hand on the chessboard ready to regret it again.
Wu Mei looked at the father and son, whose eyes were facing each other like cockfighting cocks. She was too lazy to pay attention to the two men cheating in chess. An Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and a Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty had no chess skills at all. It was reported that they were really cheating. Make people laugh.
Wu Mei took the new tea that Bai Chun had brewed for her personally, motioned for Bai Chun to sit down next to her, took a feather duster and poked the two 'weak' ones who were still cheating in chess, and asked: "The civil and military expenses of the Manchu Dynasty It’s not as good as your Taiyi City and Chongwen Hall. Where did you spend all your money? Also, I heard from the Ministry of Finance that you approved several million taels of silver for Quanzhou?”
Li Hong reluctantly let go of Father Long's hand and glared dissatisfiedly after his plan succeeded. He looked at Mother Long who was smiling and said, "Where did the flowers go? Those thunders, perfumes, etc. all cost money." If there was no big investment in research and development, would the perfume you are using now be so much more refined than the one before? Isn't it a lot better than when Erchen was in Anxi? It's natural to spend money on Chongwen Hall. As long as you give them money and let them play around, they will always be able to surprise my father and you. This is what I call the initial investment, and it must be invested. The little money in Quanzhou is not enough. This is just the start-up capital. If it goes well, I’ll probably get tens of millions of taels of silver.”
Li Hong said he didn't care, but to the ears of his father and mother, that was not the case. Isn't this too wasteful? Although this unfilial son had always been accustomed to spending money lavishly, hearing such a sum still made the emperor and empress feel parched.
And if it wasn't for the fact that so much money was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue at once, Li Zhi and Wu Mei wouldn't have known about it. It was because the amount transferred was so large that it attracted the attention of the censor and other officials, so they reported it to the emperor and empress.
According to the prodigal son, this is just the beginning. There will be tens of millions of taels of silver to be allocated later. What is the concept of these ten million taels? But it is almost catching up with half of the annual income during the Zhenguan period.
However, Li Zhi and Wu Mei are not greedy for money. Li Hong spends money like this, but the effect is obvious. Chang'an, Luoyang, and Taiyi City have even undergone major changes in recent years, and there are so many extra businessmen. , even in Luoyang, the tax revenue of the northern and southern cities in one day made them dumbfounded.
However, the dumbfounded Father Long and Mother Long had not had time to slow down the expressions on their faces. Looking at Li Lingyue who walked in swaggeringly, Father Long Li Zhi laughed out loud, while Wu Mei's mind was full of black threads and she looked at it. After Li Lingyue, he turned his cold eyes to Li Hong.
"This is all your good idea! What came first, the chicken and the egg! Is this the royal princess? Li Hong, stop!" Wu Mei was furious. She looked at Li Hong who ran away from the door and followed closely. Then he listened in front of Li Lingyue.
"What are you doing? You haven't put down the chicken yet!" Wu Mei threw the feather duster on the ground, and a palace maid hurriedly picked it up and offered it to the queen. This has become an indispensable item for the queen every day.
Li Lingyue looked at Li Hong, who was running away, and then at his father, who was laughing so hard that he almost bent down, and asked in confusion: "Mother, what are you laughing at? It's so funny? Why did your brother run away?"
The other maids saw that there were still a few chicken feathers on Li Lingyue's head, and her little face, which was originally carved with pink and jade, was now stained and dirty, like a little beggar. The brocade silk clothes on her body also had several scratches at this time. But those little hands, after hearing Wu Mei's words, still clutched the two snow-white hens and looked up at Wu Mei blankly.
Looking at Li Lingyue's appearance, Wu Mei was angry and funny at the same time. This was the little brat that she was back then. Except Li Hong, who could and who dared to do such a thing that was against royal etiquette back then!
Now, the princess in front of her has inherited Li Hong's mantle. The East Palace, which had been peaceful for many years, started to get even more crazy after Li Hong came back from Anxi!
Looking at the little beggar-like Li Lingyue again, Wu Mei scolded Li Hong in her heart. If he hadn't seen the opportunity early and ran fast, I wouldn't have broken his legs.
Wu Mei was so angry that the maids in the Zhenguan Palace naturally did not dare to step forward and help Her Royal Highness the Princess clean up the chicken feathers and other dirt on her body. They all stood there tremblingly, not daring to speak.
Especially the two personal maids behind Li Lingyue, who looked no better than Li Lingyue. Faced with the queen's anger, they knelt on the ground trembling with fear, and the two hens they held in their hands clucked. But at this moment they are neither letting go nor not letting go.
Bai Chun hadn't reacted when Li Hong escaped, so looking at Li Lingyue's embarrassed appearance, he boldly walked over and said softly: "Your Highness, please put down the chicken in your hand first and let them Let them keep them in captivity for you first and let them build you a chicken coop behind your palace. Then you can see them whenever you want, okay?"
"Well, then I'll listen to you." Li Lingyue nodded, stretched out her little hand and handed the two smaller hens to Bai Chun.
Bai Chun smiled slightly, took the two hens that Li Lingyue mentioned and started clucking again, and hurriedly handed them to the palace maid next to him who had been preparing for a long time: "Take these out first, remember not to hurt them, order people Build a chicken coop in the backyard of Her Royal Highness’s palace, quickly.”
When Wu Mei heard the crow of the rooster, her face was livid with anger, but facing the little princess, she neither beat nor scolded her. In the end, she could only snort coldly, turn around and walk to her seat. Sit down and watch Bai Chunzheng gently help Li Lingyue take care of his chicken feathers.
Li Lingyue's well-behaved attitude towards Bai Chun surprised both Wu Mei and Li Zhi. Li Lingyue, who had never been afraid of anyone, was able to bully Li Dan, who was three years older than her, to tears. Li Lingyue became extremely well-behaved when dealing with Li Hong or Bai Chun, especially Bai Chun.
Wu Mei, who couldn't figure out the reason and didn't want to think about it, let Bai Chun hold Li Lingyue's hand and followed the palace maid to the back to wash up and change clothes.
As for the person who ran out, after seeing that there were no pursuers behind him, he looked up at the blue sky without a trace of clouds, which Li Hong always called the naked sky. He shook his head and started walking towards Shangshu Province. , this drought needs to be solved, but how to solve it? This is something that no one can do.
Luoyang is not far from the Yellow River, and there are other rivers such as the Luo River, the Yi River, and the Qing River passing by. Now, we can only recruit people from the Ministry of Industry and others to go to the direction of the Yellow River first to see how low the water level there is. Even the water tanker of Chongwen Hall was unable to bring water up.
Fang Xianzhong, Wu Chengsi, Wu Sansi and others from the Ministry of Industry were gathered directly at the gate of the palace by Li Hong. A group of dozens of riders hurried to the bank of the Yellow River under the dazzling sun.
(End of chapter)