Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

This trade ended suddenly and left quickly.

That night, the giant ship's steam engine began to emit billowing white smoke as fuel was added.

The turbine below slowly starts with the joint push of the steam engine and the internal combustion engine.

On the moonlit sea, several huge black shadows began to move towards the distance.

On the dark sea, the sky and the earth were pitch black, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you.

Only the bright stars in the sky remind people that they are sailing on the sea.

Qin Ming stood on the deck, and the sea breeze blew slowly over, making him feel a hint of coolness seeping into his body through the gaps in his clothes.

Chang Baishan stood quietly by the side in a daze, his mind wandering.

After several days of sailing, the wine on the ship had been used up.

The daily life of feasting and drinking made this generous man who could travel around with his bare hands look tired.

Bored Chang Baishan looked at the direction the ship was heading and asked Qin Ming curiously:

"Your Majesty, should we bring some supplies over? Or should we let others come and return to the court first?"

"Go back to the court first."

Qin Ming had already given orders to Hei Fu before setting off.

This time they would not go around in circles, but prepared to leave here and return to the court.

"That won't work. The spies we sent into the Shenmu Kingdom haven't returned yet."

Chang Baishan was stunned for a moment and spoke quickly, fearing that Qin Ming would forget these brothers here.

"I specifically didn't let them come back. The situation here is a bit complicated. I'll let them stay here and investigate the situation thoroughly before we make any further comments."

"I see. Are you suspicious of Hua Yunhong?"

"It's not doubtful, but every family has difficult family affairs to resolve, not to mention their princes fighting with each other."

"During this period of internal strife, he certainly wouldn't be able to tell us everything so completely and in such detail. It's best for us to investigate the specific situation ourselves."

Ever since Qin Ming came into contact with Fang Yuanjian and Hua Yunhong, he always felt that something was wrong.

According to his understanding, the second prince Hua Yunhong can be trained as the heir to the throne.

Logically speaking, Fang Yuanjian is a marginalized prince.

He has no resources and no troops.

How could he have the strength to resist the imperial court and even receive intelligence from Hua Yunhong and try to snatch trade orders from him?

Could it be that Hua Yunhong, the heir to the throne, doesn't even have this little trick?

If this is true, his evaluation in Qin Ming's mind will be infinitely lowered.

It is even worse to choose Fang Yuanjian than to cooperate with such a person who has no means and no strength.

But Qin Ming's intuition told him that things might not be as simple as he imagined.

Fang Yuanjian is indeed smart, but is Hua Yunhong really worse than him?

Originally, Qin Ming wanted to stay here for a few days and investigate the situation personally.

But after feeling that the water in the other dynasty was deep and muddy.

In order not to get himself involved, he decided not to stay here any longer.

Just choose to leave and make long-term plans after returning to the court.

Fortunately, Qin Ming did not have too many conflicts with them this time.

Originally, he came here to do a trade, and both sides wanted to test each other's abilities, so there wasn't any need for so many twists and turns.

So after leaving, he didn't think about it anymore.

Put their affairs behind you for a moment.

The ship traveled for another month and finally returned to the court before the end of the year.

The capital city is already bustling with activity.

The establishment and prosperity of various factories brought visible wealth to the people.

In previous years, people would just buy a piece of meat to celebrate the New Year.

Now even some ordinary people have started to hold grand celebrations.

While decorating with lights and colors.

The shops in the capital are also unwilling to lag behind.

In order to attract people to come and support them, some of them invited opera troupes, some invited storytellers, and some invited acrobats. They all showed off their magical powers, hoping to make more money during this season.

Every household now has a lot of money in their hands, so naturally they all come to show their support while they have free time.

Among these people, many even held imperial bills in their hands.

I can get a lot of dividends every year.

Because it is a time for the people to rejoice.

Qin Ming issued special orders to the officials of the court.

Let them distribute the dividends from the court loan bills during the holidays.

Because when the court loan notes were originally issued, there was an unprecedented fanfare, and many people, after tasting the sweetness, even put all their family fortunes into it.

The more they invested, the more substantial the dividends would be, which made them start having fun even more recklessly.

Qin Ming couldn't believe it when he walked through the capital.

Although they came back at night, since they built the power plant here.

Electric lights began to appear on the streets throughout the capital, and the streets remained bright even at night.

Feeling the lively atmosphere, Qin Ming finally stepped into the imperial city.

Because it was a festival, all officials returned to their hometowns. Even those who did not return to their hometowns and lived in the capital did not continue to work in the court.

But even so, when Qin Ming came back, he still saw many familiar faces waiting for him in the imperial city.

The leader is naturally Chen Shimao.

He originally lived in the imperial city, so naturally he had to come in person to greet Qin Ming in such a big event.

In the wind and snow, Qin Ming saw them standing here and immediately walked forward.

"Teacher, didn't I say there's no need to greet you?"

"You still have to be polite."

Chen Shimao spoke with a smile. Although he was old, his voice was loud. He was blessed by God and had no major health problems.

When Qin Ming saw Guan Yue, he walked up to her and naturally took her hand.

"I prepared some food."

Guan Yue whispered in Qin Ming's ear.

"Go in and talk."

Qin Ming invited everyone into the side hall to eat.

Walking on the road, Chen Shimao waved to Song Dingsheng, and Heifu immediately walked to Qin Ming and whispered:

"Your Majesty, I heard that your first large-scale trade in the Shenmu Kingdom encountered difficulties?"

Song Dingsheng is the Minister of Rites. He is tactful and mature. When faced with the complicated trade outside, he can always handle it in an orderly manner and does a good job in this position.

He knew about the trade problems outside very early on.

"Have you delivered the goods I sent to Hua Yunhong later?"

Qin Ming did not answer, but only asked him about the compensation he had promised.

Hearing this, Song Dingsheng immediately nodded.

"Don't worry, I sent it over a long time ago. Our goods should have arrived at their port before you came back yesterday."

"Besides that, the people I sent over have already received the news from the secret guards you arranged to investigate. Would you like to take a look?"

As he spoke, Song Dingsheng also took out a letter from his arms.

Qin Ming had previously arranged for his men to enter the Shenmu Kingdom for investigation.

They didn't have telegraphs.

Only after the next ship arrives can they be allowed on board and send back the information.