mtl008 Chapter 135 City
Chapter 135 City
Xu Siyu went to the house again, and the housekeeper of Cheng'an Marquis Mansion explained to her why Ping Chi did not reply to the letter.
It turned out that Pingchi had quietly left Changjia Mansion a month ago and went north to discuss important matters with King Ming and Marquis Guang'an.
The steward of the Marquis' Mansion should keep such a secret strictly confidential.
It was also because Xu Siyu often received special treatment from Marquis Cheng'an that the butler dared to reveal a few things.
If you can't find anyone to help you, you can only do it yourself.
Xu Siyu refused to directly raise the price on the grounds that price was a national commercial matter that needed to be reviewed and approved by the courts of both countries.
She continued to collect rubber, but paid according to the originally agreed price, and promised that if the court agreed to raise the price later, she would comply with the order according to the agreed time.
Without receiving a satisfactory answer, many rubber farmers stopped harvesting rubber, and the Xu family's rubber production also decreased.
The Xu family earned less money, but Xu Siyu didn't care too much.
Her personal goal had been achieved long ago, and her family life was not affected at all.
On the contrary, the people in the southern countries who relied on collecting raw rubber suddenly lost their income and were not used to the days of poverty.
Some people are secretly researching rubber, but not everyone has the financial resources like Xu Siyu to invest in research and development.
To the outside world, Xu Siyu only used the waterproof properties of rubber to make tents, raincoats, rain boots...
Xu Siyu's clients have always been wealthy people who value reputation, and many of them buy products just to try something new.
Those workshops imitated the model and made some products, but found that the styles and quality were not as good as those of Banfang Department Store, and the prices were not as good as traditional tung oil paper, tung oil cloth, clogs, and even leather materials that were affordable to the people. As the sales were poor, they stopped making rubber.
After the ups and downs, the Xu family caravan received more raw rubber.
Xu Siyu was very satisfied with the result of this purely market regulation, so she did not submit a letter to the Cheng'an Marquis Mansion to request a meeting.
Cheng'an Hou Pingchi returned from the north. Not long after, his old acquaintance Guang'an Hou Pingxiang also returned with 20,000 elite troops.
As soon as Marquis Guangping came back, he went to Cuihua Garden to find Xu Siyu to customize two thousand tents. He also wanted to buy the by-products of sanitary napkins developed by Xu Siyu - waterproof cotton and absorbent cotton for military and medical use.
"The military doctor said that the cotton cloth you made is more effective than ordinary cloth in first aid."
[That's not nonsense!] Xu Siyu thought to herself, thinking about how much raw materials she had wasted in her experiments. Some of the things she hadn't intended to make were just failed experiments, and then she discovered that they had other uses.
Xu Siyu felt that this was just like life.
“If you plant flowers intentionally, they will not bloom; if you plant willows unintentionally, they will create shade.”
"Then, Lord Marquis, at what price and in what quantity is he planning to buy?" Xu Siyu would charge for anything, whether it was flowers or willows.
Besides, the Xu family had just spent two thousand taels on their five hundred acres of cotton fields in the northwest, which was just enough for her to make a comeback from Pingxiang.
"How about I seal off your city?"
Xu Siyu's hand holding the teacup shook unconsciously.
The boss with a pair of eyes was trying to figure out whether Pingxiang was telling the truth or not.
"Don't be surprised." Ping Xiang handed Xu Siyu a yellow book. "This time, I'm back for both a southern tour and to recruit soldiers. We're about to march east..."
"No, we have already marched east!" According to what they brothers had agreed upon, on the fifth day after he went south, Pingxia led his troops to attack the Baoping camp.
Judging from their signals, Jingzhao City has now been occupied.
After resting in Gucheng, we will continue to Lijing.
Xu Siyu was staring blankly at the yellow book, still digesting what he said.
Ping Xiang gestured for her to open the yellow book. "This is my eldest brother's handwritten order. As long as the Xu family provides military supplies, and he succeeds in his mission, this dynasty will grant you the title of earl and the salary of a thousand households. I will also grant you a city in the southwest. Then, you can serve as a chieftain and station troops on your own."
city!
Heart!
Xu Siyu was very moved!
She almost wanted to agree immediately, but she still remembered Lin Yiqing's reminder not to be impulsive, and told Pingxiang that she needed to think about it.
If you want to get, you must give up.
Xu Siyu asked Pingxiang, "How much do you want?"
Ping Xiang shrugged and replied, "Who knows when the tough battle begins?"
They have already prepared a lot, but they are not sure how much they will consume, so the more reserves the better.
"But if there's a need, I'll be in charge. I just hope Second Madam Lin will be generous enough to donate!"
Xu Siyu wanted to help them, after all, this also concerned her safety.
In fact, they were already in the same boat and there was no chance of retreat.
After reassessing her family's strength with Lin Yiqing, she handed over a letter stating the upper limit of her support, which was considered as agreeing to Pingxia.
……
The Ming army encountered some obstacles on its way to Lijing, but not many.
The Divine Might Army protected them all the way eastward.
In order to launch their campaign without a pretext, they used the words "Song is a disaster for the world, and national disasters recur year after year; the Yellow River army will cleanse the Central Plains!" to build momentum for the Ming army.
They also used brutal water attack tactics to destroy three sand dikes in the middle reaches, causing the Yellow River water to flow violently downstream that summer, fulfilling God's revelation.
The city of Lijing and the cities downstream were flooded, and corpses floated for thousands of miles.
At the same time, the Ming army approached Lijing.
Finally, Song Changyu fled south with his court and hid in Nankang Prefecture on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
Pingxia did not kill them all.
During the entire battle to capture the capital, the Ming army also lost 50,000 troops. Although the Shenwei Army had been incorporated into the Ming army, it still had a barely 150,000 troops. However, after being ravaged by the flood, the land was devastated, the people were homeless, and there was a wider and more complex border. Their most urgent thing at the moment was to protect it.
In rear areas like Changjia Prefecture, surplus food, medicine, and even coffins were diverted for disaster relief.
Pingxiang even asked for everything the Xu family could give.
The Mo people, who had been hiding for two years, saw the situation and invaded the south again. After the Ming Dynasty had taken control of the capital, half of their people went to Yanping Prefecture to guard the gate.
In early August, the Ming Dynasty issued an edict to move the capital to Yanping Prefecture.
In Changjia Prefecture, except for the Marquis of Guang'an who was guarding the southwest, other court officials hurriedly packed up and rushed to Yanping Prefecture, which was renamed Mingjing, to organize the enthronement of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the conferring of honors before the New Year.
Pingxiang invited Xu Siyu to see the vacant land in Changjia Mansion and told her that except for the Mingwang Mansion and the surrounding five miles, she could choose any other land.
"Are you really letting me choose?"
"You are about to become the Earl. The regulations of Cuihua Garden are a little small."
"Don't you want to give me a city?"
"Both." They were always generous to their meritorious officials. "There will be an Earl's Mansion in Changjia Prefecture, and the fiefdom will be granted upon the order of my father."
Xu Siyu had always been puzzled by the Heike brothers who only called themselves kings and princes when they founded the country. Now she understood that the throne belonged to King Linjiang.
Taking advantage of Pingxiang's good mood, Xu Siyu said: "I heard that your majesty suffered hardships in the early years, which damaged his dragon body..."
"What do you want to ask?" Since they were all acquaintances, Pingxiang told her not to beat around the bush.
"With power in the forefront and a weak father and a strong son, can the capital be stable?"