Chapter 192: Great Ming Characteristic Economic Theory

The Zheng lord's officials exchanged awkward glances, their expressions strained, and even stopped chewing their betel nuts.

Zheng Qiao said, "Ever since the rebel Nguyen clan seized Quang Nam, our country's teak production has dwindled. Large timber... well... this..."

Zheng Zhilong asked, "Doesn't the Red River region produce teak?"

Zheng Qiao said with a bitter face, "It does produce some..."

Recalling that the Zheng lord's warships were mostly built of silver-leaf wood and white lauan, it seemed they truly did not produce teak.

Zheng Zhilong put on a stern face and said, "Then this is rather difficult to handle."

Zheng Qiao clasped his hands and said, "I beg the Imperial Envoy to make an exception..."

Zheng Zhilong sighed and said, "I'm not one to press a point once someone admits fault."

Zheng Qiao said, "The Imperial Envoy's magnanimity is admired throughout our humble nation."

Zheng Zhilong said, "Ah, forget it, forget it! Let's drop the matter!"

The officials in the hall all looked astonished, and Zheng Qiao was equally incredulous. Recovering his wits, he hastily clasped his hands and said, "This humble minister thanks the Imperial Envoy on behalf of my lord for his great kindness!" Zheng Zhilong smiled and waved his hand, saying, "No need, no need. Oh, by the way, our forces captured over thirty warships from the pirate Zhong in this campaign. I had thought to gift them directly to your nation, but after all, they are the spoils of our soldiers..."

Zheng Qiao hastily said, "Our nation is willing to pay silver to reward the Heavenly Army's heroic campaign against the pirates."

The Zheng lord's navy had no shortage of men—what they lacked was warships. Zheng Zhilong's proposal hit exactly where it itched.

With warships in hand, the Zheng lord's navy would still hold the advantage over the Nguyen lord, and losing Zhong Bin made little difference.

Zheng Zhilong said, "By Fuzhou shipyard prices, small vessels go for a thousand taels, large ones for three thousand. These thirty warships come to over forty thousand taels in total—let's just say forty thousand even. How about it?"

Zheng Zhilong's quoted price was nearly double the actual value of this batch of worn-out ships.

But the Zheng lord was desperate for warships, and not daring to offend Zheng Zhilong, they accepted without haggling.

Zheng Zhilong sold thirty broken ships and got silver; Zheng Qiao got warships and placated Zheng Zhilong's navy.

For a moment, both sides felt they had come out ahead, and the atmosphere in the hall became quite harmonious.

Zheng Zhilong chatted idly with Zheng Qiao for a while, building rapport at length, then shifted the topic: "Oh, right—when we fought the pirate Zhong, I noticed the scenery around Cat Ba Island was quite lovely. I'd like to build a trading post on the nearby shore, for future sightseeing purposes. I ask the Lord to grant this."

Zheng Qiao thought to himself: "Cat Ba Island? Isn't that place plagued by sea centipedes?" He tried to dissuade Zheng Zhilong with a few words, but unexpectedly Zheng Zhilong's attitude was utterly resolute. Zheng Qiao thought: "It's a stretch of coastal wasteland with only a few scattered villages—even ceding it outright would be no loss, let alone building a trading post. Very well, since these Ming men aren't afraid of death, why should I stand in their way?"

Thereupon, Zheng Qiao agreed.

Zheng Zhilong stated that verbal promises meant nothing—the trading post matter required an imperial edict from the Great Viet emperor.

The Great Viet emperor was now merely a puppet of the Zheng lord; issuing an edict was just a matter of stamping a seal. Zheng Qiao slapped his chest and promised it would be done.

With the trading post negotiations concluded, both sides were extremely satisfied with the outcome.

Each even felt they had gotten the better deal, and their mutual flattery from then on was entirely sincere.

Having chewed their betel nuts to satisfaction, Zheng Qiao asked with a smile, "Imperial Envoy, what do you think of these dancing girls?"

Zheng Zhilong said, "They have a certain charm, though their teeth are a bit black."

Throughout the land of Jiaozhi, everyone practiced the custom of tooth blackening, taking pride in a mouthful of black teeth—especially in the northern Zheng lord's domain, where nearly everyone had blackened teeth. Zheng Qiao smiled and said nothing more.

That evening, Zheng Zhilong lodged at the palace, and in his room, six maidservants were already waiting.

Each was charming and radiant, with gleaming white teeth, wearing very little fabric, revealing snow-white skin.

The next day, Zheng Zhilong struggled to climb out of bed, wrote up the results of the negotiations with the Zheng lord's court into an official document, and handed it to his subordinate to deliver to Bai Qing.

The subordinate asked, "Commander, aren't you returning with us?"

Zheng Zhilong sighed and said, "Someone needs to remain at the Zheng lord's court for communication and negotiation. Naturally, I must take on that duty. You go on ahead."

The third month of the fourth year of Tianqi.

Ever since the Macao craftsmen flooded into Nan'ao Island, Lin Qian had been busier than ever, holding countless meetings as construction on Nan'ao Island and Zhangzhou proceeded in full swing.

With Huang Hetai having firmly secured his seat as Garrison Commander of Zhangzhou.

Lin Qian ordered the Engineering Bureau to replicate Macao's successful model in Zhangzhou, building bridges and paving roads on a large scale.

According to the preliminary plan, the works were divided into:

First, reinforcing the Yuegang docks to increase vessel traffic. The work consisted of reinforcing berths with dressed stone, building breakwaters, and expanding cargo sheds and warehouses. Second, repairing inland transshipment routes and improving short-haul overland transport.

Fujian is mountainous, and especially the stretch from Huafeng to Xinxu is all mountain paths requiring manual porterage, which greatly hindered the transport of trade goods. Thus the work mainly involved laying or widening stone slab roads, building drainage ditches, and reinforcing bridges to improve transport efficiency.

The preliminary budget for these two projects was fifty thousand taels of silver, with the main workforce drawn from the locally abundant labor supply.

Once that fifty thousand taels of silver was spread around, from Zhangzhou prefectural city north to Zhangping and Longyan, the common folk all sang their praises.

Lin Qian won the people's hearts, and the Prefect gained political achievements.

In this way, Lin Qian held military power in his left hand and popular support in his right, with gentry and commoners supporting him from below and Ye Xianggao serving as his front from above.

The local Prefects and County Magistrates were quickly reduced to figureheads.

So much so that even though Lin Qian rarely bribed them, these civil officials still had to live at his mercy.

Just after Lin Qian finalized the engineering details with the Engineering Bureau, he went to meet with the carpenters and blacksmiths, having lunch right at the meeting.

The meeting's topic was establishing "standardized" carpentry and ironwork workshops. The goal was to standardize tools first, then components and materials. This approach showed no complex inventions on the surface, but was in truth an essential preparation before large-scale "factory-style" production.

As early as when shipbuilding began on Nan'ao Island, Lin Qian had discovered that the Great Ming had no concept of standardization whatsoever—craftsmen's products relied entirely on personal experience, feel, and oral formulas.

Even for completely identical products, the dimensions and structure would differ.

Take ship nails, for example: nails forged by Blacksmith Zhang might not hold together the planks of Carpenter Li, so that when repairing ships, the blacksmith had to be present on site to inspect and custom-make nails to size—a tremendous waste of productivity and a drag on production efficiency.

Some craftsmen's guilds even deliberately created differentiated standards to protect local artisans' interests, giving rise to schools like the "Suzhou style" and "Guangdong style."

At this meeting, Lin Qian mainly pointed out the development direction; the specific details were to be refined by carpenters like Xiao Jiu who had participated in standardized shipbuilding. With every trade in need of revival and every matter demanding Lin Qian's personal attention to detail, he would exhaust himself to death otherwise.

At the meeting table, Lin Qian was noisily shoveling rice soaked in cabbage soup into his mouth.

Xiao Jiu stood before a translucent screen, pointing at page after page of drawings for gears, saw blades, planes, axes, and ship nails, speaking a torrent of words. Beside him stood an interpreter translating his speech into Portuguese.

After painstakingly summarizing several production accidents caused by non-uniform parts standards, Xiao Jiu shifted his tone.

"Therefore I believe that unifying standards is an absolute necessity! The impact this will have on the carpentry and blacksmithing trades is no less than Qin Shi Huang's unification of weights and measures!"

One craftsman said, "The idea is good, but why should the island's standards be the standard? Don't let this end up becoming another 'Guangdong style.'"

Lin Qian said flatly, "As standardization advances, any carpentry or blacksmith workshop producing non-standard products will find itself unable to stay in business." His intention was that through competition, the market would naturally eliminate backward industries—but to the craftsmen's ears, it meant something entirely different, and for a moment they fell into fearful silence.

Xiao Jiu said, "The initial plan is to first establish 'Standard Timber Workshops' and 'Standard Blacksmith Workshops' on Nan'ao Island and in Zhangzhou Prefecture."

The workshops will use unified production with divided labor—each person makes only one or several types of products, all products undergo unified quality inspection, and each item leaving the factory is stamped with the three-character steel seal 'Standard Part.'

The preliminary budget for the two workshop sites is ten thousand taels of silver."

Seeing that the craftsmen present no longer raised objections, Lin Qian nodded to Xiao Jiu, approving his plan.

Lunch happened to be finished by then, and Lin Qian had no more time to listen to the technical details, personnel assignments, and compilation of the *Standard Parts Illustrated Catalog* that followed. Returning to the residence, the moment he stepped through the door, the gatekeeper said, "Master, Regional Commander Ma, Garrison Commander Huang, and the Director of the Military Affairs Bureau have arrived and are waiting in the main hall. Chief Zhou and Director Wang of the Civil Household Bureau are waiting in the study."

"Understood."

Lin Qian knew that one group had come to report on military matters, and the other to discuss finances—he would have to prioritize.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Send word to the study to have them wait a while, and also summon Director Fang of the Construction Bureau to my study."

"Yes, Master," the gatekeeper replied.

Lin Qian then strode into the main hall and took the seat of honor.

Ma Chenglie and the other two rose to bow; Lin Qian gestured for them to sit, then picked up the tea on the table and drained it in one gulp.

Per Lin Qian's request, his tea was kept warm.

Lin Qian swept his gaze over the three men and said, "Garrison Commander Huang, your defense zone is in Zhangzhou Prefecture. It's not good to be constantly absent from your post. From now on, unless there's something major, there's no need to come every month." Huang Hetai rose and said, "I thank the Helmsman for his consideration, but this humble officer feels a hollow emptiness in his heart whenever a month passes without seeing the Helmsman."

Given the power of Huang Hetai's backing, how would the Fujian Regional Commander dare refuse his leave requests?

Besides, the seas off Fujian were perfectly peaceful, and military officers were entitled to ten-day rests, so Huang Hetai was certainly not abandoning his post—it was just that the round trip was somewhat tiring. Ma Chenglie shot him a glance and thought to himself, "This kid's flattery skills have improved at an alarming rate. Good thing the Helmsman isn't one to listen only to praise, or this fellow would climb right over my head sooner or later."

Lin Qian waved his hand: "There's been much to deal with lately, so let's skip the pleasantries. How did things go this month? Speak directly."

Ma Chenglie first reported on the coastal situation along the Zhangzhou-Chaozhou area, as well as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi's response to the bandit suppression at Lianzhou.

Then Huang Hetai rose and ordered a servant to wheel in a translucent screen, clipping a map of Zhangzhou onto it.

On the map, numerous red dots of varying sizes were marked along the coast, with small annotations written beside them.

Huang Hetai walked up to the map and said, "Zhangzhou has a total of two guards and four battalions, comprising over two thousand guard station soldiers, plus three stockades including Tongshan Stockade, with over fifteen hundred camp soldiers, and another five hundred or so roaming troops.

Of course, these are all padded rolls with phantom soldiers—the actual troops on the ground total roughly two thousand men."

The fifteen hundred newly recruited soldiers from before still lacked legal status, and now that vacancies existed, they could simply fill them under borrowed names.

After filling those, there were still five hundred vacancies left—might as well recruit to full strength.

So Lin Qian ordered the Director of the Military Affairs Bureau to recruit five hundred more men, bringing the Nan'ao Island forces to three thousand five hundred.

Huang Hetai circled the red dots with his finger: "Tongshan Stockade and these several guard stations are already under Regional Commander Ma's control.

The other two stockades and the remaining guard stations are now under this humble officer's charge—especially the chief officer of Zhangzhou Guard, who has been replaced with one of the Helmsman's trusted men. They're thoroughly our own people now."

The greatest significance of buying over these guard station soldiers and camp soldiers was to shatter the false sense of security of Zhangzhou's officials and gentry, making it easier to pressure them through force. Lin Qian had no expectation that these guard troops would ever fight; when the time was ripe, the guard station system itself would be abolished.

Having finished reporting on the military situation, Huang Hetai ordered the screen flipped to the next page.

The new page was still a map of Zhangzhou, but with different markings—replaced by ink-black dots and yellow patches.

Huang Hetai said, "Before this humble officer assumed his post, the Helmsman ordered me to do three things: first, build water conservancy works; second, promote the cultivation and processing of sweet potatoes; third, encourage the raising of draft oxen.

Since taking office, I have built over ten waterwheels on the Jiulong River, planted more than a thousand mu of additional sweet potatoes, and established three new cattle farms."

Lin Qian was slightly surprised: "You did all this while also securing control of the military?"

Huang Hetai clasped his hands and said, "I dare not deceive the Helmsman—these were mainly accomplished through the prefectural government. The money came from the island, totaling roughly fifteen thousand-plus taels." Huang Hetai thought for a moment and added, "With the island's auditors overseeing things, the officials couldn't embezzle much of this silver."

Just then a servant came over and said, "Master, the study has sent someone to urge you."

Lin Qian said, "We're just about done here anyway. Tell them to come discuss matters in the main hall."

The servant went out to relay the message, and Ma Chenglie, Huang Hetai, and the others took their leave.

But Lin Qian kept Huang Hetai behind, leaving him sitting in his seat feeling somewhat uneasy.

After a moment, Scholar Zhou and the others arrived at the main hall and bowed to Lin Qian.

After they each took their seats, Scholar Zhou frowned and said, "Helmsman, we've been spending silver far too recklessly lately. Director Wang, read out the accounts." "Yes." Wang Hao carried a thick ledger with him, and opening it, he read: "First month of the fourth year of Tianqi, recruiting craftsmen from Macao and such, expenditure of over fifty thousand taels of silver.

First month of the fourth year of Tianqi, Macao reservoir, roads, and such, expenditure of over twenty-eight thousand taels of silver.

Third month of the fourth year of Tianqi, Yuegang dock reinforcement and Zhangzhou road construction, advance expenditure of over fifty thousand taels of silver.

Third month of the fourth year of Tianqi, standard workshop construction, Zhangzhou water conservancy, sweet potato planting, draft ox raising, and such, advance expenditure of over fifteen thousand taels of silver.

Total expenditure within three months: over one hundred fifty-three thousand taels! And these are all extra expenses—not counting the monthly wages for craftsmen and soldiers, the procurement of cannon and ammunition, or the routine costs of stocking goods."

Scholar Zhou said with deep anguish, "Helmsman, this can't go on—the island's finances won't hold out!"

Hearing this, Huang Hetai and Fang Ju of the Construction Bureau both lowered their heads, for when it came to spending money, the two of them had indeed spent the most lavishly in Zhangzhou.

Lin Qian took a sip of tea and asked, "How much surplus remains in the public accounts?"

"Uh, there's still over one hundred twenty-seven thousand taels," Wang Hao answered honestly.

Lin Qian said, "Once the merchant fleet returns from Hoi An, we expect another five hundred thousand taels. Combined, that's over six hundred thousand taels of silver—the island's finances are quite ample."

Scholar Zhou said urgently, "This isn't about whether it's ample or not—just because we have money doesn't mean we can spend it recklessly! Take water conservancy, sweet potato planting, and draft ox raising—even if they don't lose money, the profits are razor-thin! As for road building and bridge construction, those earn not a single coin—pure loss!"

Lin Qian smiled and said, "I was originally also planning to build a charcoal factory and a sugar refinery on Dongning Island, and to consolidate Zhangzhou's shipyards."

Scholar Zhou said, "A sugar refinery earns well—no problem there. But a charcoal factory has meager profits—why bother? As for the Zhangzhou shipyard, we have money to just buy ships—why expend the effort to consolidate it?"

"Then in your view, how should the silver in the public accounts be allocated?"

Scholar Zhou said, "Naturally, build merchant ships and cannon boats, buy more goods, sell for more silver, and keep that cycle going."

Wang Hao added, "If we seek stability, we could also purchase farmland on shore."

Lin Qian smiled: "One of you thinks like a merchant, the other like a landlord."

Though the two were somewhat unconvinced, they dared not argue and waited quietly for Lin Qian to continue.

"Let's set aside buying land for now. Let me ask you—what's the ceiling on silver earned from maritime trade?"

The two were taken aback, thinking to themselves: Is there even a ceiling on this? Isn't it just sell more, earn more?

So Wang Hao cautiously ventured: "Ships?"

Lin Qian smiled: "Right and wrong. We need to build ships that are faster, need fewer crew, carry more cargo, and cost less to construct. That effectively reduces the freight cost per unit of goods, leaving more room for profit."

Scholar Zhou said, "That's not right! Whether a Fujian junk sells for ten thousand or twenty thousand taels, it always pays for itself after one or two voyages, and the existing Fujian junks can do maritime trade just the same. Why abandon the root and chase the branch by building better ships?"

Lin Qian said, "Setting that aside for now—suppose we had enough ships, what would be the next limiting factor?"

"This..." Both men fell silent.

Lin Qian glanced around the hall. Lü Zhou and José, the two fleet masters, were both absent—otherwise they would surely have been able to answer this question.

"It's the market," Lin Qian answered himself. "On our last trip to Hirado, we shipped two thousand dan of raw silk, accounting for half of Hirado's entire annual trade volume. Suppose we ship five thousand dan next trip, then ten thousand dan the trip after that...

As more and more raw silk floods the market, our profits grow thinner and thinner. Eventually profits hit zero, and that's the revenue ceiling.

Raw silk—what do the Japanese buy it for?"

Scholar Zhou and Wang Hao shook their heads.

Lin Qian said, "It's mainly used to weave kimono. Only Japanese nobles can afford the stuff. If the price of raw silk falls without limit and its price advantage disappears, wouldn't the nobles also reduce their purchases?"

Wang Hao clapped his hands and said, "Then we just lower the price and sell to the common folk, isn't that it? There are always more commoners than nobles—wouldn't that break the market limit?"

Lin Qian said, "This is exactly why I've been pushing these loss-making ventures. The ultra-high profits of maritime trade are built on the high risks of shipping and the scarcity of goods.

The larger our trading fleet grows, the higher our safe-arrival rate, and the faster profits fall.

To deal with the future profit bottleneck, we must open up new markets!

Using force to compel others to open their market doors, or establishing trade monopolies—that works.

Lowering commodity costs to attract new customer groups at low prices and earn money from the common folk—that's also a method.

And commodity costs are made up of production costs and transportation costs.

My integration of different industries, promotion of sweet potatoes, raising of draft cattle, and establishment of standard workshops—all of that is to lower production costs.

Building roads, building docks, building large ships—that's to lower transportation costs.

None of this is easy, and none of it can show results overnight. It requires years of accumulated effort, so that when we truly hit a bottleneck, we'll still have time to respond." When this lengthy discourse was finished, the four people in the main hall were all stunned.

Ran Qiu, who was responsible for serving tea on the side, had her mouth slightly open and forgot to set down the teacup.

Lin Qian took the teacup from her hands.

Only then did Ran Qiu snap back to her senses and apologize to Lin Qian.

Lin Qian moistened his throat and continued: "Moreover, at this stage our finances are very abundant. A bit of construction expenditure is nothing but spare change—nothing to worry about. Silver sitting unused in the treasury is nothing but pretty stones."

At this, Lin Qian raised the teacup in his hand: "Take this teacup, for example—Zhangzhou blue-and-white porcelain, two qian of silver apiece, which commoners can't afford; Xinyang Maojian tea, which commoners can't drink.

Cotton clothes and trousers are too expensive, meat isn't cheap either—commoners and soldiers can't eat their fill or stay warm.

Those who were meant to freeze to death in Liaodong will instead freeze to death in Dongning.

Those who were meant to suffer in Guangdong will instead suffer in Nan'ao.

What are we going through all this trouble for?

Putting silver into production improvements, giving everyone work, letting everyone earn silver, enriching material life, increasing society's wealth—that is the true path." What Lin Qian described was a Ming-dynasty version of economic theory based on modern market economics and Keynesianism.

It leaped beyond the traditional feudal dynastic binary of "hiding wealth among the people" versus "hiding wealth in the state."

Using powerful macroeconomic regulation as the means, it formed a development model where overseas trade and local economic development complemented each other.

In foreign trade, the methods were essentially the same as those of the European powers—aiming to establish sources of raw materials and markets for product sales.

In domestic construction, it adopted an approach similar to the Soviet model—concentrating strength to accomplish major tasks, rapidly achieving intensification and factory-style production, and completing that crucial step from zero to one.

Of course, this was only the economic dimension of the consideration. Lin Qian's series of measures also had political considerations.

But there was no use explaining all that to Scholar Zhou and Wang Hao. Judging by their expressions, they had already been persuaded—even somewhat admiring.

Huang Hetai immediately rose and cupped his hands: "The Helmsman's foresight runs deep. Your subordinate cannot begin to compare. I have been taught a lesson today."

The other three also came to their senses, rose, cupped their hands, and offered similar words of admiration.

Lin Qian smiled and gestured for everyone to sit: "That being the case, the budgets for the charcoal works, sugar refinery, and shipyard can be approved now, can't they?"

Scholar Zhou said, "The Helmsman jests. The Administrative Hall never had the power to obstruct them in the first place."

Lin Qian smiled but said nothing.

In truth, by virtue of his personal prestige, his power on Nan'ao Island was enormous—politics, economics, and military were all under his sole say, with no checks whatsoever. This kind of system, during the founding period, could avoid buck-passing and internal friction.

But once things settled down—especially after a transfer of power—it would become a huge hidden danger.

Though that would most likely happen decades later, Lin Qian had in fact always been thinking about it.

Wang Hao said, "May I ask the Helmsman, roughly how much will be advanced for the charcoal works, sugar refinery, and shipyard?"

Lin Qian said, "I estimate at least thirty thousand taels of silver, with more to be added later. But that's only an approximate figure—the exact amount will be decided after discussion between the Construction Bureau and the relevant technical personnel. Fang Ju, I'm putting you in charge of this."

"Yes!" The director of the Construction Bureau rose.

"The Construction Bureau has many affairs and will inevitably find itself stretched thin. Wang Hao, you should help out more with the financial budgeting.

The shipyard consolidation is in Zhangzhou—I'll trouble Garrison Commander Huang to give it his attention.

Second Brother Zhou, send word to Eldest Brother—the charcoal works and sugar refinery matters will require the cooperation of Dongning Island, especially the natives."

Everyone whose name was called cupped their hands and acknowledged.

Though there were many affairs to handle, everyone felt a sense of security—the days ahead held promise.

After the discussion concluded, the four withdrew.

Lin Qian said to Ran Qiu beside him, "What meetings are left on the schedule?"

Ran Qiu said, "An hour from now, people from the shipyard will come to call. An hour from now, it's the clockmaker from Macao."

Ye Zhen's three dowry maidservants had all been carefully selected—extremely loyal, and each with her own talents.

Ran Qiu, for instance, could write and calculate, was very clever, and had a meticulous mind. She had originally helped Ye Zhen manage the household.

Recently Lin Qian had been too busy, so she was temporarily serving as his secretary.

Lin Qian said, "Geng Wu, bring that clock from the Tianyuan."

At that moment, a personal guard entered through the doorway, holding a letter as he walked up to the hall: "Helmsman, sent by eagle ship from Jiaozhi."

Lin Qian took the letter, read it through, and smiled: "Geng Wu, go inform Wang Hao—tell him to add another twenty thousand taels to the coal works budget." "Right away!"

After Geng Wu left, Lin Qian calmed down and carefully read Bai Qing's letter once more.

The letter recorded in detail Zheng Zhilong's various reactions from killing Zhong Bin to those of Lord Zheng and Lord Ruan.

Zheng Zhilong's discovery of the coal mine at Ha Long Bay and selling the broken warships at an exorbitant price were both good news.

Only Lord Ruan remained obstinate and unrepentant, still clinging tightly to the teak timber even under such circumstances.

Instead, because of Zheng Zhilong's activities in the north, he had much criticism for Bai Qing.

Bai Qing very forcefully cursed back Lord Ruan's envoy, and now Lord Ruan's attitude was ambiguous—the whale-ridge timber he had previously agreed to provide was also being delayed and withheld. Lin Qian frowned and pondered for a long while, feeling that Lord Ruan vaguely exuded an air of having no fear, and might well be plotting some scheme or intrigue.

At present, the construction budget of the Engineering Bureau had accumulated to one hundred ten thousand taels of silver.

If anything happened to the merchant fleet, all the plans would be wasted effort, and it would also be a huge blow to the finances.

After much deliberation, Lin Qian picked up his brush and wrote on the letter, reminding Bai Qing to be careful, while also writing out detailed countermeasures, letting Bai Qing decide according to the situation. After sending off the reply.

Lin Qian said in a loud voice: "Geng Wu, pass the order to Bailangzai—the Tianyuan is to make ready for departure!"

Yahei

Pink Round

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