"I heard you're going to Quanzhou again tomorrow?"
After finishing dinner, Han Mo had just returned to his room when Zhe Yourong directly asked.
"Don't you feel bored? How about this, since we're going by water this time, why don't you come with me to Quanzhou for a few days?"
"Can I?"
Hearing Han Mo say this, Zhe Yourong couldn't help but feel a surge of longing.
Ever since she became pregnant, she hadn't stepped out of the manor for a long time.
Being confined to her room every day, it would be a lie to say she didn't want to go out.
"What's not to like? Going by water won't be too tiring. Let's get a big boat this time and bring Chun Tao and the others. You can consider it a trip for sightseeing!"
"That would be wonderful. You rest first, I'll go tell them to prepare!"
"Chun Tao! Chun Tao!"
Hearing Han Mo say this, Zhe Yourong immediately called out to Chun Tao and began to busy herself.
Listening to the chirping of the women, Han Mo's face finally showed a hint of a smile.
After stretching lazily, he returned to the desk beside him, spread out a sheet of paper, and began to write a letter. kanδん
In his memorial, Han Mo briefly narrated the recent situation of the Maritime Trade Office to the Emperor. Then, he took this opportunity to mention again the establishment of an ordnance bureau in Mingzhou and the expansion of the Quanzhou iron ore.
Of course, the most important point was to transfer skilled craftsmen from the ironworks in Xingzhou and Cizhou to the south.
To promote this matter, he decided to leverage his connections with Liang Shicheng and Fan Zhengguo.
Although the iron ore in Quanzhou was currently in operation, its scale could not compare with that of Xingzhou and Cizhou.
Scale determined their craftsmanship. To increase the production capacity of this iron mine in a short period, the fastest way was to transfer outstanding talents from other places.
Casting cannons was indeed difficult. Moreover, even if they were successfully cast after hard work, without effective flaw detection methods, who knew if the next cannonball would explode?
Compared to casting, machining with a lathe, although more difficult, was much more reliable!
With the experience of manufacturing the Spinning Jenny last time, Han Mo was confident that he could build this primitive lathe.
"Tell me, should we also buy a house in Quanzhou?"
Before Han Mo's letter was finished, Zhe Yourong walked in again with a cheerful face.
"Whatever you wish. We don't lack money anyway, so buying another house is not a big deal! However, I have something else to show you!"
As Han Mo spoke, he took out the plan for establishing schools that he had written from a nearby drawer and gave it to Zhe Yourong.
"What is this?"
Looking at the thing Han Mo handed over, Zhe Yourong felt a little curious.
Although she was already accustomed to her husband's occasional whimsical ideas, she asked curiously when she saw him taking out something so solemnly.
"This is what I showed those big families. What do you think, should we do the same in Xiangzhou?"
Han Mo said casually as he wrote the letter.
"Of course, why not! We don't lack money now, and it shouldn't cost much copper coins in a year. As for food, even if other grains can't be guaranteed, with our many fleets, bringing a few ships from overseas would be enough for them to eat!"
After reading the contents on the paper, Zhe Yourong replied almost without thinking.
"Then I'll leave this matter to you. I'll write a letter to my granduncle to discuss it, but for the specific matters, you'll have to find someone to take the lead!"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Fuzhou will be fine, but will Xiangzhou..."
"Don't worry, Xiangzhou is the stronghold of the Han family. As long as my granduncle speaks, no one dares to refuse him!"
"If there's such a good thing, why did you tell them? Can't we just do it ourselves?"
Having been with Han Mo for so long, Zhe Yourong's vision was naturally far beyond that of ordinary people.
She could even see the benefits of establishing schools without Han Mo's explanation.
Compared to other families, the Zhe family had a stronger need for this matter.
After all, the Zhe family was a family of generals!
Whether it was a collateral branch or a direct descendant, if you added up all the disciples, you could probably count the scholars with two hands.
In a society dominated by civil officials, a military family like the Zhe family was too humble.
In the entire court, there were very few civil officials who could stand by them when needed.
If they could spend money to produce a few Jinshi in every imperial examination, who could guarantee that after decades or a century, the Zhe family would not become a first-class noble family?
"How can we enjoy all the benefits ourselves? If we hoard all the benefits, not only can we not digest them ourselves, but the burden will be too large, and we will be exhausted!"
Of course, there was one point that Han Mo did not explicitly tell Zhe Yourong.
That was, the Han family's foundation was in Xiangzhou, while the Zhe family's foundation was in Lin, Fu, and Feng prefectures. This territory was recognized by all forces in the court. Blind expansion at this time would only bring unnecessary enemies.
As long as the imperial court still needed the money from the Maritime Trade Office, even if Han Mo left his current position and anyone else took over, they would not dare to tamper with the rules Han Mo had established.
As long as the Maritime Trade Office remained, as long as the East India Company remained, and as long as they could continue to extract vast wealth from overseas, anyone who dared to violate this rule would surely become a common enemy of the entire interest alliance.
"Alright, I'll listen to you anyway!"
Although Zhe Yourong felt that Han Mo seemed to have some unspoken words, she didn't probe further. She just quietly stepped forward and poured Han Mo a bowl of warm osmanthus soup.
Seeing the soup bowl she handed over, Han Mo didn't say anything. He just took the bowl, drank it down in a few gulps, and then picked up his brush again.
"Someone!"
After finishing the letter, Han Mo took the paper and walked to the door.
"Young Master-in-law!"
"Send this letter to Manager Zhe by carrier pigeon as soon as possible!"
"Yes!"
After receiving the envelope handed over by Han Mo, Jiang Yan responded, then turned and walked towards the backyard.