Chapter 142 – Hard Bones
“Where did the girl go?”
Huang Ying shook her head, “I’m not sure. The girl has been going out a lot lately, and sometimes she comes back very late.”
The guard let out an oh. After lowering his head and thinking for a moment he said, “Our world son has finished his errand and returned, he will arrive at the mansion this night, because he still needs to go to the palace early tomorrow morning to resume his orders, so he will not be able to see the girl, tomorrow noon our world son is waiting for the girl at the Wanfu building, please relay a message to Miss Ping.”
Huang Ying responded and asked him again, “Where is your World Son going on this trip?”
“The World Son has ordered that this trip is confidential and must not be divulged.” The guard finished, clasped his fists, and then left.
Huang Ying watched him leave and turned around to go back to her room. Walking over to Yu Qingping, who was sitting in front of the window, she relayed as much as she could.
Yu Qingping just gave a hmmm and didn’t say anything else.
“According to me, this Liang Shizi is not bad, at least his heart is thinking of you. After the past, you will be the wife of the son, and I heard that Mrs. Guangping Bo is also quite good to get along with, so you will be the master of the house then.”
Sitting on the couch, Aunt Yao said so after returning the call.
“I’ve worked hard for more than ten years, is it just to be the World Son’s Lady of an Uncle’s House?”
“Then what are you hanging on to him so much for?”
Yu Qingping looked out of the window and said in the middle of the day, “Of course because he is an imperial guard.”
……
Fang Qingxue had recently been working intensively on the affairs of the Flower Moon Society’s implementation into the county, and although Empress Dowager Lu had said that she didn’t need Zhao Su to intervene in the specifics, she still had to be in charge of supervising it, as well as guarding against any obstacles that might arise.
Zhao Su morning saw Fang Qingxue with a large stack of files back to the Yamen, frowning tightly, as if burnt out look, can not help but enter his office room to inquire about it.
“Mr. Fang could it be that he has encountered some obstacles?”
“It’s not the cabinet side?” Fang Qingxue spread his hands, “I’ve already been there three or four times, and I’ve handed in my proposal, but the cabinet just can’t approve it. Other adults are good to say, the Ministry of Public Works Minister Mr. He always said that the Ministry of Expenditure is limited, recently the court just set up a new Department of the Sea, he took the court to build ships need a lot of money as a pretext, insisted on refusing to pass.”
“Then you have not thought about from the emperor’s side to think of ideas?”
“The cabinet does not pass, the emperor can not pass ah.” Fang Qingxue looked at her, “According to the statute, all national policies must be repeatedly reviewed by the cabinet, and then by the emperor to decide. Whether or not the emperor’s side can be passed, the cabinet’s opinion is the premise.”
Zhao Su does not quite understand the specific statute of the court administration, but so said, is also a little difficult to do.
The implementation of any new policy, not to destroy the existing order as a prerequisite for the implementation of the emperor’s power, he also knows that the order of the court can not be chaotic.
Only once she heard that it was He Zong the old man who was the roadblock, she couldn’t help but frown as well. This time is even sue can not sue, because shipbuilding really need money.
“Then what should we do now?” She asked.
“In fact, the implementation of the policy, although it is true that there should be money to support, but from the next Flower Moon will still have nearly a year’s time, do not need to immediately pay out, not to mention that the various state capitals can still top a while, so this is not a big problem.
“I thought why the old minister refused to pass this regulation, mainly because he does not support the Flower Moon Festival. The key is that there are still many people in the court who support him. In this way, there are a few lords in the cabinet who haven’t taken a stance today.”
Speaking of the pedantry of the He family, Zhao Su couldn’t help but agree. Last time when they confronted the court in Qianqing Palace, the He family had already made their stance clear on women’s employment. How could they support the Flower Moon Society? This time, they were held in their hands.
“There has to be a way.” She said.
“Thinking about it.”
In the past in the Ministry of household serious and prudent minister Fang, at this moment lying back sitting in the circle chair, completely without the style of the chest at that time. After a while he picked up his hat and stood up: “I go to find Zhang Shangshu to think about it.”
The Flower Moon Society is considered an independent government office under the Ministry of Rites, so usually these are Fang Qingxue’s direct interface with the relevant government offices. Zhang Yu was in charge of the Ministry of Ceremonies, but he usually did not ask about the Flower Moon Society.
Zhao Su sent him out, also in the corridor worried.
He Zong this hard bone, what method should be used to gnaw him down?
……
Since the last time to send word, do not discuss the appointment of the Department of Coastal Administration, really no one mentioned again. During this time, He Zong is dealing with shipbuilding affairs.
“This is a list of all the yards in Jiangnan that have the ability to build big ships and have successfully launched them. Calculating on the basis of launching twenty ships for the first fleet, at least twenty shipyards are needed, but there are only thirteen on the list.”
“That means the Jiangnan side can only build thirteen ships at the same time?”
“I’ve checked a few times, and it’s true.”
He Zong frowned, “What about the shipyards in the north?”
“There are a few large shipyards in Dagu, and I heard that they belong to the same owner, who once built three ships that sailed the sea. Today still sailing on the sea.”
“Then go find their proprietor and have a good talk. It’s also convenient to launch from Dagu to the Ryukyus.”
The Minister of the Ministry of Public Works who handed over the list frowned: “My humble servant originally thought the same thing, but after inquiring around, I found out that this family’s situation is a bit special.”
“How special?”
“These dockyard owner surnamed Cheng, family lives in Cangzhou, called Cheng Yunhui, originally had a son and a daughter, the results of the son in the marriage before the death. There is a daughter left, bias this daughter married a long time ago, although the daughter once also had a son, but also died early, and now she has no children at her knees. At present, she is facing some family property disputes.”
He Zong frowned, “Then why hasn’t he ever given birth to another?”
“Your honor is unaware that this Cheng Yunhui’s husband, too, is no longer alive.”
He Zong froze, “So the owner of these shipyards is a woman?”
“Exactly! These several docks are Cheng Yunhui and her husband built up from scratch, not the ancestral property, but Cheng Yunhui has two younger uncles, eyeing the widowed sister-in-law wants to divide this family property, do not want to pass it on to her daughter, now Cheng Yunhui’s dock all rely on the mother’s family brothers to help hold up.”
“Outrageous!” He Zong said in a deep voice, “Since this is the family business that my brother and sister-in-law earned from nothing, what does it have to do with the two younger uncles? Even if the family business was passed down from the ancestors, since the family has been divided, it has nothing to do with them, why would they ever covet it?”
The Minister of Ministry of Public Works sighed as he folded his hands, “Anyway, the current situation is like this. Give them the ship to build, no accident, then let them a few windows at the same time to start work, build a few ships out not a problem.
“But since it will take several years before and after, no one knows what will happen in between. If something goes wrong because of the competition for the family property and delays His Majesty’s sea administration, we won’t be able to afford it.”