Witch Wind

Chapter 137 A Heavy Blow (Part )
The blue-green sun burst out of the sea, and just as it showed its face, the blazing sunlight was like a heavy hammer, hitting the earth fiercely. The spring rain last night was pouring, and the wet earth was immediately hammered to the point of steam rising. Whether it was people, dogs, wild cats wandering around, or flowers and plants everywhere, they were all surrounded by the scorching heat.

On the south bank of the river, Pinghai County, which was destroyed in the war several months ago, still looks the same.

On the rotten ruins and broken wood, thanks to the nourishment of the spring rain, clusters of fresh, vibrant colorful mushrooms sprouted.

There are many simple thatched huts scattered everywhere in a mess.

People always have an instinct to be attached to their old land. In the past few months, the refugees who had fled have returned to Pinghai County from various towns and villages. They built thatched huts on their original homesteads and started their own lives again.

In the county, the ruins of the residences of the wealthy merchants and officials had been cleared, and some building materials such as large wood, bricks and tiles were piled up on some of the residential plots. However, no construction had started on any of the residential plots, and only a few old men had built thatched huts to guard the building materials.

In Pinghai County, almost all the young and strong people who were able to work, especially those skilled craftsmen, crossed the river to the north side of the river.

The International Concession, which was completely razed to the ground by the war, is being rebuilt at an intensive pace.

The redesigned architectural drawings covered a larger area, were taller, used more materials, and were more luxurious than the original buildings, which meant they required more workers and craftsmen.

Take the Pinghai Cathedral of the Holy Mother Church for example. Its floor area and height are more than twice the original ones. This cathedral and its ancillary buildings alone employed more than 100,000 craftsmen.

Others include consulates of various countries, banks of various countries, headquarters of large and small chambers of commerce, various clubs, pubs, hotels and other functional buildings. There are also those expatriates who received compensation, and they also hired people to rebuild larger and more luxurious villas and gardens.

Because of the "surprise of friendly nations", ambassadors from various countries stationed in Fentian City jointly filed a protest to the Dayu Dynasty. Therefore, the reconstruction funds for the Pinghai City International Concession, including the pensions for those who unfortunately died, were fully borne by the Dayu Dynasty.

There is no doubt that this is an astronomically huge amount of money.

In particular, officials at all levels of the Dayu Dynasty, working together with major "friendly countries", colluded with each other, and calculated the reconstruction costs of the International Concession and the total amount of pensions for the deceased expatriates, which reached a jaw-dropping and terrifying figure.

Dayuchao was reluctant to take out so much cash.

If there was no silver, then land would be used as compensation. Amid the protests of ambassadors from various countries, the land area of ​​the International Concession was expanded several times. The newly planned International Concession was 400 miles long from east to west and 200 miles wide from north to south. There were nearly 300 villages and towns on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Their farmland, vegetable fields, mulberry forests, tea mountains, etc. were included in the names of the consulates general of various countries.

After this battle, the Pinghai County Government, or the Dayu Dynasty government, completely lost its administrative power over all areas of Pinghai County north of the Yangtze River.

At the mouth of the river, on top of a scarlet stone, under a brocade umbrella, Princess Yihe frowned, fanned herself quickly with a small round fan, and stared eagerly at the sea in the east.

Difficult, too difficult.

In rebuilding the International Concession, Princess Yihe was faced with design drawings submitted by the consulates of various countries, which were several times larger than the original concession complex. Even though the Dayu Dynasty provided a large piece of land to cover the costs, the huge reconstruction funds still made her breathless.

That’s right, not a single tael of silver was allocated from the Dayu Dynasty’s treasury.

All the reconstruction costs fell on Princess Yihe.

Princess Yihe looked at the design drawings brought out by the consuls general of various countries, and she had the urge to order Murima and Yang Tianji to go on a killing spree and "biubiu" all these foreign slaves!
What the hell is going on! These barbaric slaves are clearly slaughtering a fat sheep!

Take the Kingdom of England for example. The total number of officials and employees of their consulate general is no more than 600 people. However, the design drawings of the new consulate general they produced are of a majestic, luxurious, and almost extravagant palace!

The entire new consulate general has a total of 1,080 separate rooms of all sizes!
It even includes functional rooms such as a library, a wine cellar, a billiard room, a sauna room, a cigar room, a high-end guest room secret room, etc. With these rooms, this is not a formal and serious consulate general of a country, but a high-end and luxurious resort hotel!
If the consulate general looks like this, one can imagine how outrageous the designs they came up with for other bank headquarters, chamber of commerce headquarters, high-end hotels, and various luxury clubs are.

Moreover, these greedy foreign slaves proposed that all the rebuilt buildings, the materials used, the interior furnishings, including those large crystal chandeliers, those high-end tiles, etc., all must be extremely expensive luxury goods - for example, the crystal chandeliers must be collectively purchased from the royal brand that was once ranked number one in the Kingdom of Farus!
If you use the purchase price of a crystal chandelier of that brand to exchange for ordinary brands of other brands with no difference in appearance and quality, you can purchase at least twenty of them!
This is true for crystal chandeliers, glass windows, various ceramic tiles, floor tiles, large and small pots and pans, and furniture.

The reconstruction of the International Concession is like a feast and carnival of all kinds of top luxury goods from hundreds of countries in the Far West!
The ambassadors and consuls general of various countries must have discussed it privately. They colluded with certain central officials of the Dayu Dynasty and concocted the "Secret Agreement on the Reconstruction of the International Concessions", which made Princess Yihe almost want to draw her sword and kill someone, and almost want to resign and lie down.

It's fine if the building is rebuilt.

At least these rebuilt buildings are magnificent and you can see them standing right in front of you. You can feel that every ounce of silver you spend is used where it should be used!

But that pension!

Princess Yihe was too lazy to explain how much money was involved.

She really wanted to send out assassins from the Weaving Department to kill all the court officials who signed the "Secret Treaty on the Reconstruction of International Concessions" without leaving a single one alive - the problem was that Princess Yihe's biological father, a powerful prince today, was one of the initiators of this secret treaty!

Uh!
pension!
Those barbarian slaves who claim to be civilized and gentlemanly become shameless once money is involved.

The total number of dead expatriates reported by the consulates general of various countries in the International Concession was over five million!

When she saw this number, Princess Yihe almost vomited blood!

Damn it, the total population of expatriates from all over the world in the entire International Concession is only about two to three million.

Five million of your compatriots died?
Did each of you die twice?
Such a ridiculous number was actually passed without any commotion by the important officials of the Dayu Dynasty... passed... They actually approved the numbers reported by these foreign slaves!
The average pension is fifty taels of silver per person!
Fifty taels per person!
The standard of this pension is not very high. If a regular soldier of the Dayu Dynasty died in battle, the official pension silver was also one hundred taels of silver!
But five million people!

These beasts actually said that their overseas Chinese lost five million people!

Fifty taels of silver per person, five million people, that would mean two hundred and fifty million taels of silver...Haha, Princess Yihe was tired, tired mentally, it was because her biological father was not around, otherwise she would have wanted to take out her small revolver and empty the magazine at her biological father!
This money finally fell on her head!

Money, money!
Every day, as soon as Princess Yihe opened her eyes, she could hear the sound of silver flowing out of her pocket!

The small treasury that the Weaving Department of the Imperial Household Department had accumulated through frantic wealth in the Jiangnan region over the years had been emptied of almost half in just a few months, but the reconstruction of the International Concession was still a long way off.

As for the Cathedral of Our Lady of Pinghai, which was designed to cover an area of ​​3,000 acres and has a tallest tower as high as 120 meters, several months have passed, and the foundation has just been dug and three foundation piles have just been driven into the foundation!

Just like this, more than one million taels of real gold and silver have been spent.

"There is a sum of money that must not be used." Princess Yihe covered her face with a round fan and said in a cold voice, "The offering silver for the Jiazi walking of the three ancient families can only be more, not less, and absolutely not a single cent can be used."

Exhaling heavily, Princess Yihe said softly, "If it really doesn't work, consider selling another batch of official positions. Send a letter to Fentian City and ask them to pick out a batch of officials who are really needed in remote areas."

"In Jiangdong Province, the local rich are well-hidden. There is always silver in their cellars. Now each of them has a vacant official candidate hanging above their head, and the highest is only the fourth rank. Such an official cannot be sold at a good price. They must be given a real position! They must be given a high-ranking official!"

Princess Yihe gritted her teeth and said softly, "The price of a real vacant position is ten times that of a candidate position! With their means, they can always get it back by going to the local government, right?" An old eunuch asked cautiously, "Then, what rank will the real vacant position be given?"

Princess Yihe twitched her fingers and said in a deep voice, "Let's go for it and get through this difficult time first. Send a telegram to the old saintly queen mother and tell her that if she doesn't provide a few vacancies for the third-rank officials, I won't be able to get through this hurdle."

"There are eight vacancies for third-rank officials, and at least twenty vacancies for fourth-rank officials. For the rest, a hundred vacancies for fifth-rank and sixth-rank officials should be filled."

With a cold light flashing in her eyes, Princess Yihe tapped the armrest of the chair with her fingers and said softly, "Aren't there rebellions in several provinces in the northwest? Isn't the news suppressed and not reported at all? Isn't it said that even three provincial governors were killed?"

Princess Yihe smiled with a slight curl of her red lips: "Come on, be bolder, and give them more real jobs in the northwest. Be bolder, sell more. As for the official title, try to make it as high as possible!"

"We can even have our secret agents in the northwest tip off the rebels, and when these local rich men are ready to take up their posts in the northwest, we can intercept them halfway, kidnap them and extort them, forcing them to sign a pledge of allegiance and join the rebels. We can charge them with colluding with the rebels and plotting treason. Well, if we confiscate all nine clans, won't we get all the property of this family?"

Tapping her fingers quickly on the armrest, Princess Yihe said excitedly: "This idea is brilliant, isn't it? Even the provincial governor can be sold, so why not? If they are sold, the provincial governors, even the first-rank officials of the imperial court, will never get this position unless they pay 20 million taels of silver!"

"After their entire family is executed, this vacant governor's position can be sold again!"

The old eunuch looked at Princess Yihe pitifully and said, "I'm afraid it will ruin my reputation!"

Princess Yihe pondered for a moment, and spat at the old eunuch's face. "Reputation? The bad reputation is the reputation of the court. What does it have to do with me? Hey, hey, hey, you tell me, why should the reconstruction of the International Concession be entirely placed on my head?"

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs doesn't pay a penny?"

"He didn't even allocate a single ounce of silver from the Ministry of Revenue?"

"There are so many wealthy government offices in the country, such as the Canal Transport Government Office and the Salt Administration Government Office. They are all rich! Why should my little Imperial Household Department Weaving Department bear the cost of reconstruction? Was the destruction of the International Concession caused by me? Why should all the affairs of the country fall on me?"

After slapping the old eunuch in the face, Princess Yihe scolded him impatiently, "Hurry up and generate electricity. This time, I am only concerned with killing people, not burying them. Let's get through this difficult time first. Even if there is a flood in the future, what does it have to do with me?"

Princess Yihe twisted her waist triumphantly and said with a smile: "I will also make a small account and deduct some dowry money from it. After this trip, I will go and marry with rich money. I will live a happy and carefree life in the future. Why should I care about the reputation of the country?"

"Besides, does the Dayu Dynasty still have a good reputation given its current poor morals?"

"The emperor has even hired a troupe of obscene performers to perform obscene plays in the palace... Ugh, the ancestral graves of our Jade Clan are already emitting black smoke, and what good is the reputation we still have!"

The old eunuch responded with a sad face, and then he shook his body and galloped out as fast as a horse. There was a continuous "swish" sound, and his figure was like green smoke, and his feet stepped on the newly grown green reeds, and he ran away in a flash.

On the river, three destroyers of the Kingdom of England blew their whistles and occupied the main channel in the middle of the river in a very arrogant manner. They went downstream and rushed out of the river estuary. On the sea near the estuary, they suddenly opened fire. Amid the low sound of the guns, dozens of water columns exploded on the sea in the distance.

Just as the three destroyers passed by, several high-speed gunboats, also flying the British naval flag, sounded their whistles and rushed across the river at high speed.

Not long after, another 10,000-ton Ingish battleship appeared, followed by two frigates, slowly and intimidatingly, almost sticking to the south bank of the river.

Princess Yihe and her entourage looked at the British ships wreaking havoc on the river with complicated expressions.

A few months ago, such a powerful Allied fleet was completely sunk by a salvo of new torpedoes from the Ingish reinforcement fleet, which was more than ten times smaller in size.

The Kingdom of England used the toughest means to announce to the world that when it comes to navy, it is the strongest in the world.

Strength is the truth.

Half of the reconstruction of the International Concession and even the compensation for the five million dead expatriates fell into the hands of the Kingdom of England.

Princess Yihe stared blankly at the battleship slowly passing by. After a long, long time, she stamped her feet fiercely and cursed in a low voice: "All of you men are useless."

Beside Princess Yihe, a group of eunuchs, old and young, froze in their tracks and all lowered their heads to look at themselves.

Well, I can’t be considered a real man.

So, isn't the princess scolding herself?
Well, as long as we are not the ones being scolded, then there is no problem. As for who the princess is blaming, what does it have to do with them, the slaves?
The waves raised by the Ingish battleship spread to the shore one after another.

Near the estuary, many wooden boats with white sails were swaying in the waves. On many of the wooden boats, some plump and white men dressed in silk and satin were speaking in various local dialects and shouting greetings to the British and foreign devils who were rushing around recklessly.

Princess Yihe narrowed her eyes and looked at the wooden boats. Her expression immediately looked much better.

"Silver, it's all silver!" Princess Yihe sighed softly, "I'll tell the two old ancestors again, this amount of silver must not be leaked."

Tapped the armrest lightly with her fingers, Princess Yihe whispered word by word: "If it is possible, no, not 'possible', but must be, catch the thief who emptied the cellars of every household in Nanxun Town for me."

"Such a huge sum of gold and silver, haha, I don't believe he won't be tempted!"

Princess Yihe gave some instructions. In the distance, a low whistle sounded on the sea. Princess Yihe suddenly took out a small pocket watch, checked the time carefully, and jumped up excitedly: "Great! Is it Earl Pingbo who is back? The people below are ready. There must be no mistakes with this batch of goods and the silver!"

"I am short of money now. Whoever dares to touch my goods or my money, I will kill him no matter who he is!"

Princess Yihe chuckled coldly and was a little hysterical. She suddenly pulled out an ivory-handled revolver from the waist of the young eunuch beside her and fired several shots at the sea in the distance.

On the river, on more than a hundred wooden boats with white sails, the men who were looking forward to it all clapped and laughed.

"Great! Uncle Pingbo is back."

"Wonderful! The fragrance of bliss is back."

"Oh, my heart is broken. If I don't restock the goods, the customers will really rebel."

"Isn't it? In the past two months, we have mixed so much flour into the blissful incense that more than a dozen employees in the tobacco shop have been beaten up... But, the stock is out, what can we do?"

"Thank God, Uncle Pingbo is finally back. I don't know how much of his cargo he has!"

(End of this chapter)