With his hands behind his back, Gu Yanwu walked slowly to the large building known as the "Mei Tower". He looked at the signboard upstairs and paused for a moment.
One of the functions of electricity is that this kind of signboard composed of small light bulbs makes the night makeup of the city more beautiful. A woman like Gu Mei will naturally not give up such a fashionable thing, so the signboard of Meilou , decorated with countless small light bulbs.
But Gu Yanwu knew that Gu Mei was not happy.
She wanted to cling to high branches all her life, but in the end she was depressed. Although she had a huge industry, she could never get the serious attention of Yu Guozhen - Yu Guozhen even went to steal the princess of Qianming, but never stayed with her.
Until now, Gu Mei is still gritting her teeth when mentioning Yu Guozhen.
However, Gu Mei's business is doing well. Meilou and Hengbo Club have opened from Xixiang to Jinling, and from Jinling to Shanghai. Now she also has a branch in Yanjing. With the help of roads and telegraphs, she controls these many industries. , has always been considered the richest woman in the Chinese Dynasty.
I don¡¯t know how many old scholars who claim to be romantic want to marry her. Even though she is now close to half a hundred years old, there are always people who come to propose themselves. Don¡¯t those dramas always talk about poor talents meeting rich beauties? A beautiful woman has to find a few enchanting concubines for a poor talented man.
This is so poor, so we must eat sticks. Naturally, Gu Yanwu didn't want to eat when he came. He delayed coming out until this time because he wanted to avoid the most disturbing moment of the day. Friends as far away as Liaodong even asked him via telegram whether the news he announced today was true or false.
His Majesty abdicated the throne after eight years!
For China, this is shocking news, and it even focuses everyone's attention on this matter. I don¡¯t know how many people, how many rooms, the topic of the whole day today was this matter.
I think that in the Meilou where heroes from all walks of life gather, the most talked about thing today should be this matter.
Slowly stepping into the building, Gu Yanwu passed through the lobby and heard the storyteller slam the table: "The Holy Emperor was furious, looked back around, and shouted, 'Who will capture this thief for me?" He heard a general step forward and said, The ox is willing to capture it"
This is what the storyteller is talking about in "Records of the Great Prosperity of the Guo Dynasty". The Chinese dynasty could not help but let the people speak. Although Yu Guozhen's name was still somewhat taboo, the story of his entrepreneurial and foundation creation could not help being spread. Of course, that kind of dissatisfaction The old literati who fabricated rumors and slanderous people are still on the blacklist. Although Liu Jingting has passed away, the storyteller industry is flourishing in Dachang. There are people who specialize in storytelling in better teahouses and restaurants. Many people stay there for half a day, and some even miss work and are late because of this.
"Tsk, tsk, your majesty established the foundation and won the victory after hundreds of battles, but now he has abdicated the throne after a period of twelve years. He is so upright and upright, which is really rare in ancient and modern times."
"Indeed, in ancient times, emperors were often rebellious in their later years. Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty was heroic, and there was chaos in Hou Jing's later years. Even Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, who was known as the Mingjun, also acted rebelliously in his later years. He was greedy for power and infatuated himself, which made him unable to grow old. Why bother?¡±
"Otherwise, otherwise, your majesty is wise and can discern thousands of miles away. Without you in our country, just like there is no sun and moon in the heaven and earth. Your majesty is wise, if there is no such old man, where should we go?"
Such comments reached Gu Yanwu¡¯s ears, and Gu Yanwu smiled.
He knows better than these people the reasons why Yu Guozhen wanted to "abdicate."
When he got to the second floor, he was waiting to ask Dr. Tea to arrange a single room for him, when he saw a young man coming towards him and saluting him respectfully: "Mr. Gu, my husband has invited you."
Gu Yanwu was stunned for a moment, then recognized this person as Wang Chuanlu's secretary.
After the abolition of the Shiye system, the paperwork of officials began to be handed over to secretaries. However, secretaries generally use young people no more than thirty-five years old, unless the young people themselves have no pursuit of an official career. Gu Yanwu nodded and followed the young man into a single room. He saw Wang Chuanlu with a weathered face sitting there, with several plates of refreshments and a pot of tea placed in front of him.
The water is boiling and the aroma of tea is overflowing.
"Chief Assistant"
"In seven more days, he will no longer be the chief assistant." Wang Chuanlu was a little disappointed.
"That's wrong. Although there is a change of office in September, the replacement of the old with the new will still have to wait until January next year." Gu Yanwu said with a smile: "The chief minister still has three months left in his term."
Wang Chuanlu nodded. The three-month term is a fleeting thing.
"I don't understand why Your Majesty is in a hurry to abdicate. Even after eight years, Your Majesty is only just over sixty. With His Majesty's body, it will still be fine for another eight years. Over the years, under His Majesty's rule, we, China, have served all nations In our sect, the people are prosperous and the market is progressing like never before. Without His Majesty¡¯s guidance"
The sound of conversations outsideAnother message came in, and Wang Chuanlu sighed: "Even the common people in the market understand the truth, why is Your Majesty so stubborn?"
Gu Yanwu smiled: "I also asked Your Majesty in the interview. Didn't His Majesty say that a reasonable retirement system is the only way to avoid too drastic turmoil in the replacement of old and new ones. The reason why monarchs in the past dynasties often change The bloody atmosphere is simply due to the old man's greed for power, the young man's lack of hope to display his talents, and even the young master's accession to the throne, which is unable to support him."
"Your Majesty is in the prime of his life and has not reached this point yet. He can retire after he is seventy."
"Haha, Your Majesty said that he is still in good health and can walk around, so he hopes to visit the great rivers and mountains of China before he is seventy, just like Mr. Xu Hongzu did - that invention called the camera was created under His Majesty's personal supervision. Of?"
In this exclusive interview with Yu Guozhen who stepped down eight years later, Yu Guozhen specifically mentioned the invention of the "camera". This is a new type of machinery that was launched only half a year ago. It is also the result of the development of Chinese chemistry and optics to a high level. It can be used to clearly leave images of scenery and people. It is said that in the near future, color images will be released.
For the Chinese art that advocates freehand brushwork, the realistic images of the camera are really inconsistent. But for ordinary people, this is a surprising thing. As long as you keep a still posture for a few seconds, you can take an image of a person. It is really magical.
Gu Yanwu knew that this was the result of nearly thirty years of rapid development in China's chemistry and optics. Under Yu Guozhen's personal intervention, hundreds of researchers spent a lot of time and energy on this matter. Gu Yanwu didn't know why Yu Guozhen did this before, but this time, he got some kind of answer from Yu Guozhen.
"As the emperor, your majesty can travel around the world without abdicating the throne." Wang Chuanlu sighed.
"If you are an emperor but travel around the world, I'm afraid you will do something wrong in state affairs, just like Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty?" Gu Yanwu seemed to be smiling but not smiling.
"This" Wang Chuanlu just complained. He knew that Gu Yanwu was a die-hard loyalist of Yu Guozhen, and he would wholeheartedly support Yu Guozhen's decision, whether it was correct or not.
"Chief Assistant, do you want to be re-elected?"
After writing commentaries on current affairs for so many years, Gu Yanwu's political sense is also extremely keen. From Wang Chuanlu's reaction, he finally understood what Wang Chuanlu meant.
Wang Chuanlu did not respond to this question.
Yu Guozhen did not give him a chance to be re-elected for another term. Even the emperor was about to abdicate and retire. Why did he, the chief minister, sit down continuously?
What¡¯s more, Yu Guozhen also criticized the things that have caused overproduction in recent years. Obviously, he has no hope that he can solve this problem. Under such circumstances, it is natural for someone with more solutions to come forward.
Who has a better idea?
Wang Chuanlu already knows who Yu Guozhen¡¯s ideal next chief assistant candidate is.
"Jiang'an"
"Veteran, I need you to take action this time. Human nature is for veterans to take action. One is worth two. I want to see if you can be used as two first assistants."
At the same time, Yu Guozhen was meeting with Jiang An in the study.
During Wang Chuanlu's first term, except for Zhang Chi who resigned as the second assistant and retired, Jiang An and Zhang Zheng were both in office, and four more second assistants were added. However, in Wang Chuanlu's second term, , because there were some problems in Toad Island, Jiang An was appointed as the second assistant and governor of Toad Island to stay in Toad Island. In fact, he was excluded from the central circle by Wang Chuanlu. It was only before this joint meeting that he returned Shanghai.
Hearing Yu Guozhen¡¯s words, Jiang An didn¡¯t speak for a while. Jiang An thought about it for five minutes before he said: "Your Majesty has entrusted you with a heavy responsibility, and Jiang An dare not not do his best. But for the problem of overproduction, Jiang An really has no good solution. Now there is only one way, and that is to use force to force The countries of Europe, India, and Persia open their markets.¡±
Yu Guozhen shook his head: "Force is definitely not the answer. The resistance will not stop. Even if we kill all the resisters, our goal has not been achieved and we still cannot solve the problem of overproduction in the country. Moreover, I don't want to set a precedent. Whenever there are internal conflicts, they turn to external exports and use external wars to resolve internal conflicts. The final result is either to cultivate warlords or to drag themselves down.
Militarism has never been Yu Guozhen¡¯s first choice. China is now far ahead of other countries. As long as it maintains its development, even if there are some twists and turns similar to the economic crisis, it will not affect China¡¯s bright future. On the contrary, trying to provoke a foreign war over a small internal conflict will only intensify the internal conflict. This is Yu Guozhen's understanding.
"Then how should we respond?"
"We now have a huge overcapacity in material wealth production, but not overcapacity in the entire wealth production." Yu Guozhen did not go into details when he told Wang Chuanlu, but to Jiang An, he felt that he could tell the truth: "We have now repaired If we build enough roads, these roads can transport people to various places in China¡¯s great rivers and mountains. Visiting these great rivers and mountains can create employment for countless people Once they have jobs and income, they will also have financial resources to move forward. Go buy excess products."
Yu Guozhen¡¯s solution is to adjust China¡¯s industrial structure and greatly increase the proportion of the tertiary industry that can create spiritual wealth in the industry!
China has many magnificent scenic spots and historic sites, as well as natural and mysterious cultural places. In recent years, the literacy rate of Chinese people has increased, and their appreciation of beauty has also improved. These will urgently turn into consumer demands, and these demands will become the next generation of China. a huge boost to development.
For Jiang An, this opened a new door.
¡°No wonder His Majesty said during the interview that he wanted to use a camera to capture all kinds of wonders It turns out that¡¯s what His Majesty planned!¡± (To be continued)