Chapter 487: No Jiangcheng News, Still Singing Fallen Plum Blossoms Across the River
Chapter 487: No one sent a letter from Jiangcheng, but the song of falling plum blossoms is still sung across the river
"My humble concubine Dongmei pays respect to the Marshal."
The gift Li Hongzhang gave to Shao Quanzhong turned out to be a beautiful woman.
Ping'er behind Shao Quanzhong curled her lips and said, "Li Zhongtang, it seems your efforts will be in vain."
Yes, the Marshal is a normal man who likes beautiful women normally, but he is not very lustful. His whole heart is devoted to conquering the country.
So far, Shao Quanzhong has had two wives and four concubines. The only one Shao Quanzhong actively proposed to marry was Rong Hui.
The first wife Wenxiu and the third wife Liuniang, the two women that Shao Quanzhong favored very much, both pursued Shao Quanzhong and went through great efforts to enter the Shao Mansion.
The remaining three concubines, including himself, were all political marriages, and they all contained huge political benefits, so great that Shao Quanzhong could not refuse. They established reliable connections for Shao Quanzhong with the three major forces of Spain, Russia, and the Qing Dynasty.
She was a truly peerless beauty. How much effort had she put into staying by the Marshal's side? Even Princess Sissi, the most beautiful woman in the West, who had the Austro-Hungarian Empire behind her, did not get the title of a concubine.
Now, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty are all the Marshal's sons. The Marshal no longer needs to please the Qing Dynasty. Why would he accept another person into the Shao Mansion?
Yes, this little girl is also naturally beautiful, but compared with herself and Princess Sissi, she is still slightly inferior.
The Marshal is now 39 years old and has not accepted any new concubines in the palace for nine years. Will he make an exception and add another concubine to his harem just because you, Li Zhongtang, sent a beauty?
The Marshal is a man of temperament and very responsible. He has never treated women as playthings or thrown them away after playing with them. Adding to his harem would cause him a lot of trouble.
Your status as Li Zhongtang is not enough to qualify you to marry Marshal Shao.
This time, Shao Quanzhong came to attend the navy's triennial regular meeting. He met with his own people and did not need an interpreter. He let Maria take a break and only brought Ping'er as his secretary.
Ping'er was secretly making fun of Li Hongzhang for not knowing the current situation and not being able to guess the Marshal's intention when giving gifts. Suddenly, she realized that there was something wrong with the Marshal's reaction.
Shao Quanzhong stared blankly at Dongmei who saluted him politely. "You are Li Hongzhang's concubine Dongmei? The one who was Zhao Xiaolian's maid? Are you still alive?"
Why does this sound so fresh? How can you ask someone face to face if they are still alive?
Ding Ruchang certainly didn't dare to criticize the Marshal's inappropriate words. At most, he criticized it in his heart and bowed to report, "Prince, you are an official in the same court as Li Zhongtang, and it seems that you know Li Zhongtang very well. This is Li Zhongtang's favorite concubine Dongmei, and Li Zhongtang is willing to give her away as a gift."
"At the same time, Li Zhongtang has reported to His Majesty that he has already sought the title of Consort of Prince Rui for Dongmei. Prince Rui, you don't have to worry about anything."
That is to say, the Qing court paid for Shao Quanzhong to support this concubine, and Shao Quanzhong only needed to accept her.
Shao Quanzhong stared at Dongmei for a long while, but his eyes were not like those of a man looking at a beautiful woman, and his expression was very complicated.
Li Hongzhang's concubine was of course very beautiful and had a tall figure, at 1.68 meters, slightly taller than Liu Niang. Among all the women Shao Quanzhong had ever seen, she was only slightly shorter than Princess Sissi.
This is a working people who was born as a maid. Her natural feet are exposed under her skirt, which does not conform to the aesthetics of the Qing Dynasty. It is because Li Hongzhang himself is well versed in Western affairs and has many contacts with Westerners that he favors this kind of concubine.
Shao Quanzhong stared at him for a long time, then suddenly sighed and said to himself, "Since I have come across him, I should save him, otherwise I will feel guilty."
"Admiral Ding, tell Li Jianfu that I accept his gift."
He turned around and ordered, "Ping'er, take her away."
Huh? The Marshal actually accepted it? This is not in line with the Marshal's usual rules. Why did the Marshal suddenly change his mind?
Ping'er didn't dare to question the Marshal's decision, and took Dongmei down to settle down. Shao Quanzhong sighed again, shook his head, and when he looked back at Ding Ruchang, he had already put Dongmei's matter behind him.
"Commander Ding, if Li Jianfu has any requests, please let me know. The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty is my eldest son. I will definitely help him if he needs help."
"Your Majesty, the Qing Dynasty is facing two problems now. One is Tokugawa Yoshinobu in the north. All his subordinates were former rebels. Of course, they have now surrendered to the Marshal. The Qing Dynasty can let bygones be bygones."
"But because of the economic integration between Northern Fuso and Daxia, the untouchables were given permanent farmland, and now the speed of industrialization is far faster than that of Qing. On our side of Qing, there are often escaped slaves who cross the control line between the two sides and run to the north."
"Of course, this problem is not difficult to solve. Li Zhongtang ordered the construction of a barbed wire fence along the line of control between the two sides. It is strictly guarded and the problem is not serious."
"But the gap in industrial capacity between the two sides is getting bigger and bigger. If Northern Fuso comes into conflict with us, the Qing Dynasty will suffer greatly."
"Therefore, Zhongtang requests that the enterprises of our Great Qing Dynasty also join the Economic Interchange Association and be uniformly allocated and managed by Great Xia. We, the bannermen, do not need to manage the enterprises. We only need to take dividends and eat the crops of the iron bar."
Shao Quanzhong thought about it and nodded, "The Qing Dynasty does not want to give the Japanese slaves permanent farmland, but only wants enterprises to join the economic integration. Although the effect is not as good, it should not be a big problem and can be implemented. This is fine, I agree."
Ding Ruchang was greatly encouraged. “The second difficulty facing the Qing Dynasty is that its two provinces in North America border the giant Federation.”
"In the army, we have famous generals like Zuo Dashuai, Nie Shuai, and Ming Shuai, who are not afraid of the Americans. But the navy is not like that. It is a beast that only eats money. The Qing Dynasty cannot compare with the Americans in terms of wealth. Now we have to build an air force, and the gap will be even greater."
"Therefore, Zhongtang hopes that the Beiyang Fleet will be returned to the Great Xia Kingdom for upbringing. Please ask the Great Xia Kingdom to establish a naval and air force garrison in British Columbia to resist the infiltration of the American barbarians."
Shao Quanzhong waved his hand, "The Air Force doesn't cost much right now, but as for the Navy to fight against the Americans, you can't afford it - I need to discuss this with Liao Rong before I can reply to you."
"As for the money, you must pay for it yourselves. If you really can't afford it, Daxia can pay for part of it. We can talk about it after the size of the fleet is determined."
"But don't worry, Admiral Ding. We will keep the garrison there and will definitely ensure the safety of the two North American provinces."
This had already met Li Hongzhang's basic requirements, and Ding Ruchang left with satisfaction.
After seeing Ding Ruchang off, Ping'er came over and said, "Dongmei has been settled in. Does the master want her to sleep with him today?"
Shao Quanzhong didn't even turn his head. "No, tell her that she is free and has escaped slavery. I don't need her to be a concubine. She can do whatever she wants. I don't care if she wants to find a young man to marry."
Huh? Why is this happening?
"That - Master, she has already been canonized as a concubine."
"What's the big deal? She was given the title of concubine by Jiliang. Do I need to discuss this with Jiliang if I say it doesn't count?"
"She has nowhere to go for now, so you can take her back and ask Xiu'er or Hui'er to arrange some work for her."
Ping'er left with a suspicious look on her face, not daring to ask Shao Quanzhong why he wanted someone but didn't use him. Shao Quanzhong went to Liao Rong to discuss what standards Daxia should set for its naval power in North America.
The next day, the Navy meeting continued. At the beginning of the meeting, Liao Rong did not respond to everyone's request yesterday about the Navy resource allocation plan, but raised a new question.
"Today, let's decide how to contain the American navy."
(End of this chapter)