Chapter 657 Changes in Nanjing

"Madam, please come in. The Queen has been waiting for you for a long time."

The maid in front of Li Xiaomei led Li Xiao to Kunning Palace with a friendly face.

The old couple of Li had already followed the emperor and the empress dowager back to their hometown Lushan, but the uncle's family was still in Nanjing, and the uncle's wife was also in Nanjing. Although Li Xiao had no imperial edict and no title, she went in and out of Kunning Palace just like going in and out of her own home.

Chen Ming had not yet conferred a title on Li Kun. He had to wait for a while, at least after Java Island was taken, and then he would confer a title on Li Kun. Now the Li family had to hold back for the time being.

The weather in August was also scorching hot, and the autumn heat was fierce. Li Xiao was dressed in formal clothes, wearing three layers of clothes inside and outside. She was sweating all the way into Kunning Palace. It was not until she stepped into the palace that the coolness suddenly hit her.

"Sister-in-law, please sit down and have a rest." Li Xiaomei, who was wearing casual clothes, looked happy.

Little Li was not polite and chose a seat closest to Li Xiaomei to sit down. When she picked up the teacup, she gave Li Xiaomei a subtle look.

"You all go down. Leave me to talk to sister-in-law."

With an order, all the palace maids and eunuchs in the hall left tactfully.

Little Li did not waste words and went straight to the point. This was the most important and serious matter for the Li family now:

"The matter ordered by the queen has been somewhat clear, and the Liu family has already taken action. Liu Dezhao sent out his sons and nephews, and there are also several capable retainers..."

Little Li told the actions of the Liu family that the Li family had discovered. That was not a small fight, but a full-scale effort.

Li Xiaomei slowly smiled, "I knew that Concubine Liu was a sensible person." After His Majesty had already agreed to let the nobles and ministers intervene in the affairs of America, the Liu family immediately made such a great effort to prepare. Of course, it can be understood that they attach great importance to America, and it can also be shown from another aspect that they do not have the determination and perseverance to do everything they can to win the throne of the crown prince.

But Li Xiaomei does.

For the sake of her son's throne and Chen Ding's future, the entire Li family is completely willing to go all out.

The Liu family is very powerful, and Li Xiaomei will certainly not take it lightly because of the current actions of the Liu family. But this is a good sign, isn't it? Otherwise, wouldn't the Liu family still put all their energy into the development of the country?

Even though this is because the prince born by Concubine Liu is still young, and it is not yet time for the Liu family to charge for him, the current actions of the Liu family also make Li Xiaomei feel relieved.

Will people who are really interested in the throne relax because of their young age? Looking through the official and unofficial history of China from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many foreign relatives and powerful families have already started planning and gathering strength when their sons were still in their infancy.

Doing big things requires money and manpower. A large number of manpower and funds are used in North America, which means weakening their own power in the country.

The actions of the Liu family made Li Xiaomei laugh at this moment.

There is no way, the pressure of the Liu family on her is too great.

First, there is Liu Wanyun's position as a concubine. She is the second only to her in the palace. The eldest is always the most vigilant of the second; then there is Liu Dezhao's future, an important minister in the cabinet; even if Li Kun develops the Li family's industry again and again in the future, can he compare with the powerful Liu Dezhao?

China is an official-oriented society. Even Chen Ming's pillow now sees being an official as more "promising" than doing business! The strength of the Liu family is too strong.

There are high-ranking concubines inside and important state officials outside. This is a complete posture of seizing the throne.

"Sister-in-law, go back and tell my brother that except for the Liu family, the other Yao family, Shi family, Feng family, Zheng family, etc., all need to be watched. Try to find out their actions as much as possible, otherwise I will not be able to calm down."

Li Xiaomei patted her chest with her hand, and her face unconsciously flushed.

God knows how difficult her position is. Especially Li Xiaomei has been reading history books step by step in recent years. The queens of those founding emperors who rebelled to become emperors, starting from Lu Zhi and ending with Queen Ma, can be said that the founding emperors themselves are generally very good to their original wives, except for Liu Xiu, the scumbag - from the perspective of the original queen. But things are so strange, and the end of these founding queens is mostly very miserable.

Let's not talk about the fate of Lü Zhi. Liu Xiu's original wife Guo Shengtong was quite tragic. Emperor Wen of Sui's Empress Dugu was very powerful when she was alive, but her sons killed each other. Isn't it the greatest sorrow of a mother? Whether it was Empress Dou or Empress Zhangsun, the founding empress of the Tang Dynasty, the mutual killing of their children and grandchildren was the most painful sorrow of a mother. There is no need to say more about the three empresses of Zhao Kuangyin. And Zhu Yuanzhang's Empress Ma's legitimate son died early, and the legitimate grandson lost the country. If the spirit in heaven knows, it must not be beautiful.

Looking at these founding empresses, Li Xiaomei thought about herself again. She felt that her position was not fragile. Even if Chen Ming had a favorite concubine in the harem, she would not end up like Guo Shengtong. But the defects of the Li family are too obvious. The uncle of the country has it, but he can't gain a foothold in the officialdom. The Li family does not have strong support in the officialdom, and it will take a lot of effort to make up for it when it seizes the throne in the future.

This burden is too heavy, and it cannot be completely pressed on the shoulders of Xiao Chen Ding.

Liu Wanyun, who is regarded as the biggest enemy by Li Xiaomei, has a father who is a cabinet minister. There is a high probability that the next cabinet will be able to make further progress. What a huge advantage!

Behind the other princes, each of them has more or less military and political support. Regardless of their position, these people have been working hard in the Chen Han system for so many years, and have complex relationships in all aspects of society. And the Li family has only been developing for a few days?

China is still a society based on personal relationships, and officials are the priority!

"Madam..."

The call of Mrs. Li woke Li Xiaomei from her reverie, "Madam, then our family will..., still not move?"

As Chen Ming opened his mouth, all the nobles and important officials in Nanjing became alert. And the Li family has not shown any signs of continuing to make a second move to North America.

"No move!" Li Xiaomei's eyebrows were all firm.

Just don't move. What's there to move? She is the main wife, Chen Ding is the eldest son, and the mother and daughter are now rushing to the throne. That's also natural. What's there to move?

Now she is going to declare to the world that her son is aiming for the throne!

Moreover, with the little capital of the Li family, a business group built on waves of loans, it can only choose between North America and the mainland, and it is simply unable to take care of both sides.

…

When the whole of Nanjing was in turmoil, the little Li's "visit" to Kunning Palace did not attract anyone's attention.

However, when the noble families were seizing the time to prepare materials and manpower, and were attracting talents to North America, the Li family, which remained stable, was like a firefly in the dark night, so shining and so eye-catching.

Saying that the Li family is stable does not mean that the Li family will not recruit people. The Li family is recruiting people all the time. The companies and shares controlled by the Li family are already quite a lot, because they can get unsecured loans from banks again and again. Then these bank checks will be exchanged for factories and shares, and the noble families who received the bank checks will not give the bank checks the opportunity to exchange them into real paper money, and will turn them into batches of manpower and materials needed for land reclamation and farming.

The people in the business community who finally received these checks are more likely to return them directly to the bank to offset their loans and interest.

How many more banknotes have been printed in recent days by the printing power controlled by the state, except for the core few people in the court and the central bank, no one knows.

Anyway, the high-speed circulation allows the money represented by these checks to be quickly integrated into the society in the constant transfer of hands.

And in this process, more and more eyes are touching vocational colleges and technical schools. This rapid talent training mechanism has been funded by more than 50 families of noble officials in a short period of time. A large number of students in school have been tempted by these families waving "employment contracts".

At the same time, a number of new technical schools and vocational colleges are also being opened and raised at a rapid pace.

The social force driven by the "great development" action in North America is so huge. At present, only the noble officials are in action. When the whole society is involved, it will inevitably become a high-horsepower engine for the rapid advancement of Chinese society.

Now, with Chen Ming's permission, the Li family is rapidly expanding its influence in the domestic economic and political fields by borrowing money. While they are trying their best to expand their influence in the local area, they are also announcing to everyone that Chen Ding is competing for the throne. However, their opponents are almost all exporting all the manpower and material resources that their family can raise to North America.

So, in the future, when the two sides really meet, will the Li family, which focuses on local development, have more advantages, or will the comprehensive strength of the opponents who are now operating in North America for the sake of seeking a way out be stronger?

Chen Ming has no idea.

But he can be sure that ten or more years will be enough for China and North America to form a certain economic and trade cycle. By then, the power of the forces behind Chen Ding's competitors in America may not be able to communicate their relations in the local area. Raw materials with low added value are also a kind of power!

Chen Ming's eyes are always on the entire noble ministers. He knows clearly the actions of the Li family, the Liu family and other families. Without considering the children, it is difficult to say who can give more help to his support goals at the last moment.

Chen Ding's biggest advantage now is still himself.

Because Chen Ming is also willing to let his eldest son take over his throne. Establishing such a rule of inheritance will create conditions for the inevitable changes in the future.

While the Li family is quietly watching the Liu family, Shi family, Yao family, Zheng family, Feng family and other competitors, more eyes are of course watching the Li family. The Li family, which attracts the wind, has a greater and more obvious advantage than the Liu family. The emperor and empress are in harmony, the eldest son is smart, and he has always been loved by the emperor, the emperor, the empress dowager, and the great empress dowager. This is the biggest capital of the Li family.

Of course, they discovered the actions of the Li family. The Li family is also robbing talents wantonly, but these talents are not blacksmiths, coppersmiths, masons, leatherworkers, bamboo craftsmen..., but managers, accountants, and top students from many colleges.

...

A carriage followed behind Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan got off the carriage after entering the city gate and walked by himself.

It has been several years since he left Nanjing. Shen Yuan feels like he is in another city when he looks at the city in front of him.

Apart from the magnificent city wall, where else is there any trace of the city that he is familiar with?

The storefronts facing the street are not shorter than three stories. Five- and six-story buildings can be seen from time to time. Moreover, these high-rise buildings clearly have the flavor of the new era, which is the bamboo reinforced concrete that Shen Yuan is most familiar with.

Yes, bamboo reinforcement is bamboo [bamboo is cut into bamboo strips of a certain thickness (the green color of the bamboo must be retained) and processed in a certain way], not iron bars or steel bars.

At present, China's steel production cannot support the steel supply in the national construction, so bamboo strips can only be used as a substitute. In the early days of the founding of the country in the last 50 or 60 years, Rabbit also did this thing, replacing steel with bamboo strips, and also conducted a special systematic study.

The data shows that in terms of strength, hardness and durability, bamboo strips certainly have inevitable defects compared to steel bars, but they are not useless. Professional architectural terminology - all kinds of indicators of bamboo reinforced concrete have fully met the qualifications to replace reinforced concrete in difficult situations.

Shen Yuan didn't know whether the buildings in Nanjing City and Qinhuangdao were the same bamboo reinforced concrete. He only needed to know that these buildings were concrete. He directly classified them into the same type of buildings.

There are more white lines on the road, and patrolmen and traffic police can be seen everywhere. The old two-wheeled carriages are almost gone. What you see more are four-wheeled carriages, and there are rows of trams passing by.

Now the tram is a brand of the city. Only when the economy and politics develop to a certain level, the tram will appear in the city. So this thing is almost always found on the coast, and the deeper you go inland, the less it is seen.

The cleaners wearing green vests and the police wearing red sleeves are no different from Qinhuangdao. But it is very different from the Nanjing city in Shen Yuan's memory.

Shen Yuan, who was only seventeen years old at the time, left Nanjing to work in Sichuan. After the training at the Wuhan Branch of the Political College, he went directly to Sichuan, and then he went from Sichuan to Qinhuangdao. It was seven years since he left Nanjing.

For Nanjing, which is changing with each passing day, seven years is too long. Now Nanjing is a completely unfamiliar city for Shen Yuan, isn't it?

Except for his parents and siblings, Shen Yuan felt that he had no major connection with Nanjing now. This was a brand new city, a city where he was about to start studying and living.

As an outstanding local official, Shen Yuan, 24, was selected to study at the Central Political College in Nanjing for a year.

During this year, Shen Yuan would also solve his lifelong event. Four years ago, his wife died of dystocia. Then Shen Yuan was transferred to Qinhuangdao, a sad place. Qinhuangdao was very remote, and he had not found a good marriage in a few years. Although this second wife was not as good as the original wife, she was not as good as the wife. Anyone could be brought home, but it also required conditions. Although Shen Yuan's original wife died, he was still very young, and as an official, he had no legitimate son. In this era, it was easy for a 24-year-old widower to find another second wife as long as he had the ability.

As Shen Yuan's return to Nanjing Central Political College for a year of training was officially finalized, his parents in Nanjing quickly finalized a marriage for him. In a short time, Shen Yuan will be a groom.

"Brother, big brother..."

The shouting sounded into Shen Yuan's ears. Although he hadn't seen his brother for a long time, Shen Yuan was still so familiar with his brother's shouting.

He looked up.

He saw a young man in military uniform jumping and waving at him across the street. This was Shen Yuan's younger brother Shen Quan.

He knew that his elder brother would come to Nanjing in the next few days - the time could not be determined, so he ran to Xiaguan Wharf whenever he had time. But today he hadn't arrived at the wharf yet, and he ran into Shen Yuan while waiting for the tram on the road. Although the two brothers hadn't seen each other for a long time, Shen Yuan had not changed much, and Shen Quan recognized his brother at a glance.

Shen Quan was so happy that he couldn't help but redden his eyes. The two brothers hugged each other on the street, and tears were flowing.

With the carriage behind them, the two young men who were two years apart in age came together. One was full of vigor and vitality. Shen Yuan's younger brother Shen Quan now worked in the Nanjing tax system and had a pretty good income; the other was calm and heavy. Although Shen Yuan is only two years older than his brother physically, his mental age is much older than Shen Quan.

Compared with the 22-year-old Shen Quan, Shen Yuan is not a young man, but a middle-aged man who has experienced the wind and rain.

"Brother, Nanjing has changed a lot, right? Our home is very close, not far ahead..."

"Big, very big. I can hardly recognize it."

Shen Yuan can now understand He Zhizhang's poem: I left home when I was young and returned when I was old, my accent has not changed, but my hair has turned gray. I feel the same way.

He is not very old, but his heart is very old, and this is how Nanjing feels to him now. Just like the history of Ya'an black tea on the sign of the tea house opposite him.

At first, he mailed two Kang bricks to his hometown as a rare item. No one in his family had ever seen this kind of tea brick, which was mainly sold in western Sichuan and Tibet. But now, all the varieties of Ya'an black tea, such as Maojian, Yaxi, Kang brick, Jinyu, and Jincang, can be bought in this small, not-so-high-end shop in Nanjing.

"This has changed so much."

Everything has changed so much.