Chapter 1 A Rather Good Position

The envoy of Chunnan stationed in Dongping was quite a good position, as many of the trade activities between Chunnan and Dongping each year had to go through the envoys. In terms of Chunnan purchasing military equipment from Dongping, the envoys absolutely dared not skim any profits, but there was still a lot of room for maneuver with many other goods. For example, they could help merchants who wanted to enter the Chunnan market arrange some local affairs in Chunnan. On one hand, this could add a business partner to their own family and gain some benefits. On the other hand, Dongping merchants would naturally reciprocate after making profits in Chunnan. The envoy was originally a public relations position, using a large amount of national funds to continuously organize various gatherings, and then feeding back the various information obtained at the gatherings. The envoys could often hear about which merchant firm had sent how much of what to where, what new and interesting products were available, or what new technologies had emerged from a certain merchant firm that made everyone envious. Among all kinds of information, there wasn't much that involved national livelihood or military affairs, but there was quite a lot that the envoys could relay to related merchants. By relying on the dissemination and exchange of such information, a clever envoy could obtain various silver and gifts beyond count in a year, and those with political ambitions could rely on this channel to meet many people and establish basic friendships and trust.

Basically, the position of envoy to Dongping, which was held for a term of one year, was now a popular one, mostly filled by young talents who would have great prospects in Chunnan in the future. On one hand, it was to broaden the horizons of young people through this position, which was not high-level but could allow them to contact many important figures, and to temper their character. On the other hand, it was also to allow people who had not yet formed habits and rigidity in the officialdom to observe and learn from Dongping's various systems. From this point of view, the Chunnan ruler could be considered a somewhat ambitious person, but the national system and situation were such that there was little room for this ruler to exercise his abilities. And in recent years, the energy spent on handling and settling party disputes and succession struggles had greatly increased. Of course, as Consort Lian, Chang Ling, once said in private, young people at least have ideals and will not desperately try to make money in this position. After all, they will think about doing something. If you put an old man there, you can't be sure. From this sentence, Consort Lian, Chang Ling, can be considered to have a bit of political acumen.

The current envoy was the top scholar of Chunnan's previous year, from a not very high background. His family could barely be considered wealthy. He had always been unknown, never produced any major figures who shocked the court, nor any prodigal sons who committed crimes. This young man named Zheng Zhe finally passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-nine. Because this guy was quite capable of doing practical things, after working in the Ministry of Rites for a year, he achieved remarkable results. This was why he was directly appointed by the Chunnan ruler to come to Danyang, despite having no backing. And Zheng Zhe was diligent and conscientious. Although he couldn't interfere with the military purchases between the two countries, nor could he say that he could influence anything, he could, to a large extent, put aside the constraints of his family in terms of contacting private business cooperation, and do things right and well as much as possible. Of course, if he wanted to help his family, he would also have to see if his family had the strength to help those merchant firms. Zheng Zhe's style won him many friends, especially the goodwill of those large merchants and aristocratic families in Chunnan and Dongping. However, after all, he had no family background, and it didn't seem easy to make any remarkable achievements in the position of envoy.

When Zheng Zhe's steward handed him a simple invitation, inviting him to attend the opening ceremony of the Danyang-Dongjiaji-Thunder Cliff airship route, Zheng Zhe frowned. He didn't understand what was going on. But then the news sent by his subordinates from different departments in Chunnan surprised him. Although he had always heard that Dongping was going to engage in civil aviation, flying was really too cutting-edge a technology. Even the slightest possibility of leaking the technology was unbearable. And now, was Dongping really going to put the airships in front of ordinary people just like that?

But, on second thought, Zheng Zhe had to admit that this was indeed quite tempting. Being able to fly in the sky and overlook the entire vast land was simply a treatment comparable to those legendary gods. And the fast transportation brought by flying was even more desirable. The Chunnan army had been craving airships for a long time. This was an invincible reconnaissance weapon that could make the enemy on the ground have nowhere to hide. And the effect of ground attack had also been proven by Dongping's several combat examples. Even aside from these, being able to directly cross mountains and ridges, several times faster than winding ground roads, made it impossible to refuse this kind of thing.

"Who sent this?" Zheng Zhe asked.

The steward immediately replied, "It's someone from the Jiuzhou Trading Company, a subordinate of Master Song, who runs the silk business in Ximen."

Zheng Zhe smiled and said, "Master Song is definitely not interested in this kind of thing, nor is he important enough to issue this kind of invitation according to his own wishes. This is a business cooperated by the Internal Treasury and the Ye family, a bit like that Federal Express. The Ye family provides the technology, and the Internal Treasury provides the money. Although Master Song has huge wealth, his level is quite different after all. Someone wants to see me. I'll write a reply, and you wait and send it to Master Song's mansion in person."

The starting point of the route was set outside the North Gate of Danyang, where there was a large open space. A fairly large airship mooring station had already been built there. Now, the original camp had been transformed, with huge hangars and spacious waiting buildings lined up on both sides. In the middle, there were more than twenty airships parked. Although only twelve airships were actually put into operation on this route, today needed to have a bit of a scene, and Ye Tao specially put his Yunzhou One and escort flying team here. Naturally, this was also a kind of temptation. When everyone saw these five special and beautiful airships parked on one side of the mooring station, everyone's eyes were straight. However, the airships used for the route were not simple either. They were basically the same as the airships that Ye Tao used before he had the Yunzhou One as his flagship, except that the space for each person was slightly smaller. And the price of taking the airship was unexpectedly cheap. The whole route was two days, and on the first night, it would be stationed at the "airport" of Dongjiaji. The full airship ticket price also included the cost of accommodation in Dongjiaji, totaling thirty taels of silver. But this ticket price of thirty taels of silver limited the weight of passengers and luggage to no more than two hundred and fifty jin. Any excess would be charged a baggage fee. And this route was tentatively scheduled for two flights a day, both taking off in the morning.

No one knew why Ye Tao and Tan Weixin were so skilled at arranging this kind of business. The airship mooring station initially had quite complete ticket checking, ticketing, and security check procedures, and even the ticket transfer and change system was very complete. The meals provided on the airship during the flight were also very exquisite. Since there was a lack of heating tools on the airship, only cold dishes and some heat-preserving foods could be provided, but the types and proportions of the airship meals, the preparation and supply on the ground, and a series of arrangements were all very good.

In the waiting building with huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows, Zheng Zhe's eyes were fixed on the Yunzhou One and the Snow Owl airships. These were the new types of airships that several scouts had reported seeing recently. Looking at the smooth and gentle appearance and the gondola connected to the airbag with a rigid frame, one could tell that these airships were completely different from the airships used to establish this route.

"Mr. Zheng came very early today." A voice sounded behind Zheng Zhe. As soon as Zheng Zhe heard it, he quickly turned around and politely said, "Greetings, Lord Suo."

The person who came was Suo Yong. Suo Yong had been doing quite well in the Ministry of Works in recent years. With the good technical and production management foundation he had laid in the Ye Family Workshop, he had greatly improved the production quality and efficiency of the factories under the Ministry of Works in just a few years. The joint research and development team of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War also finally had new products born constantly, without always relying on the technicians of the Ye Family Workshop to conduct commissioned research. Even the production methods of the factories directly under the Ministry of Works were gradually changing. Those businesses with little technical content were gradually outsourced to private firms, and the factories only carried out more core production. The quality was higher, the quantity was greater, but the price had dropped significantly. Although he had offended some people to some extent, Suo Yong had gained a firm foothold in the Ministry of Works and the entire officialdom. People who knew him, even those who had had disagreements with him, had to admit that Suo Yong was down-to-earth and capable. And Suo Yong and Suo Zheng, this pair of brothers, one who was now a powerful and capable official, and one who was still the only logistics general in Dongping, was also a story of success.

Suo Yong usually had a lot of dealings with Zheng Zhe, but today, Suo Yong was only here to introduce him. He said, "Mr. Zheng, my little junior brother is looking for you today. It should be a very good thing."

"Oh?" Zheng Zhe said with great interest, "General Ye is looking for me? ... Lord Suo, can you reveal what it is about?"

"Hasn't Chunnan always wanted to buy airships? You've come to me countless times to talk about this matter, but I can't make the decision. However, now that my little junior brother has obtained His Majesty's permission, he can sell airships to you. You can weigh it yourself." Suo Yong said lightly, but there was a hint of comfort in his tone, as if he had finally settled something. If Ye Tao heard it, he would definitely mock his senior brother, who had developed skills in being an official. This could move Zheng Zhe more than saying more words.

Sure enough, Zheng Zhe bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Lord Suo, for your accomplishment."

Ye Tao exchanged a few brief pleasantries with Zheng Zhe and handed the prepared documents to Zheng Zhe. Liu Yong also handed a copy to Suo Yong. Suo Yong was also seeing this thing for the first time, but seeing the numbers listed inside, he felt that it was a bit difficult to remain calm. He knew the manufacturing price of the airships, and even if he didn't, with his deep understanding of the Ye Family Workshop, he could estimate the price of the airships. The airships listed in the documents were actually at least forty thousand taels apiece, but the actual cost might not exceed fifteen thousand taels. Moreover, the price of forty thousand taels was the price after the signal machine and other devices were removed. The specific changes were clearly listed in the document. This price did not include the training of pilots. If Chunnan required Dongping to train pilots, then the training price for each pilot would be three thousand five hundred taels.

If Chunnan accepted all the prices listed in the documents, and Chunnan wanted all the things that could be sold, the total amount of this military purchase order would undoubtedly exceed two million taels, which was a blatant extortion. However, Zheng Zhe's reaction was very calm. He did take a deep breath, but after calming down a little, he said very calmly, "Thank you, General Ye and Lord Suo, for your accomplishment. I will send this document back to Yu Hang in the shortest possible time and will definitely reply as soon as possible."