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Having traveled all the way from Jiangning to the capital, the original plan was to do everything possible to prevent the potential Jingkang Incident. Search: \(¨Complete¨God¨Station¨) to read high-quality literature for free. However, plans are always subject to change. After roughly understanding the situation of the Secret Investigation Department, the main part of the prepared plan could not be handed over. The remaining matters were merely minor details, and it didn't really matter whether they were explained or not.

When he first arrived in the Wu Dynasty, he didn't place too much hope on the role that physics and chemistry from later generations could play. Although foreign wisdom can be used to solve domestic problems, in this world lacking an industrial base, reforms wouldn't yield decisive results in a short period. If people developed a dependency on them, it would only further erode the soldiers' morale. Secondly, the Confucian system severely frowned upon reforms and technological revolutions. This taboo wasn't explicitly stated, but once reforms infringed upon vested interests, resistance would come in various forms. After the events in Hangzhou, when Ning Yi was considering what he could do, his first choice in terms of technology was no longer gunpowder, but rather indigenous steelmaking.

Chinese culture, spanning five thousand years, is vast and profound. That being said, when it comes to technology, such as metallurgy, once the technology develops to a certain level and people feel that it's "good enough," the ironmaking technology may undergo small-scale changes over the long millennium or even two millennia, but there would be no true technological revolution in the real sense. And this small-scale technological change may largely be due to the blacksmiths' hoarding of their skills. If there were any truly powerful techniques, they wouldn't be widely disseminated, and would eventually be lost in the torrent of time, leaving new artisans to develop new skills.

Purely in terms of technological innovation, this self-sufficient and prosperous land didn't have the capacity to discard the old and embrace the new. Its hallmark was more about marking territory and sticking to the old ways. Ultimately, this was because of the land's prosperity, which led to a huge slap in the face after the Industrial Revolution in the West. Looking back, many historical "angry youths" would talk about the technological innovations of the Song and Ming dynasties, claiming that they had the seeds of the Industrial Revolution. In reality, this was just wishful thinking. After the ruling structure and culture of this land were initially formed, even if it developed from scratch a thousand times, it would be difficult for an Industrial Revolution to occur around the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. If it weren't for foreign invasions, it would inevitably be internal division and squandering. A nation without a sense of crisis wouldn't seek change, but would only fear it. Therefore, there would be no changes in the eighteenth century, but perhaps possibilities in the eightieth century.

Of course, even for Ning Yi, this was just an aside in his thoughts. Because of these considerations, he had thought about many simple technological innovations that could be achieved in a short period of time, and the first thing he thought of was indigenous steelmaking. In the late 1950s, the indigenous blast furnaces that were all over China didn't have too many strict and profound technical requirements. That movement was later heavily criticized. After a lot of waste, only eight million tons out of more than eleven million tons of steel could reach industrial standards. But compared to the steel at this time, even the three million tons of scrap steel that didn't meet industrial standards would far exceed the standards of the Wu Dynasty at this time in many indicators.

Here, there was no need for high industrial standards, and there was no fear of too much waste. As long as a line of thought could be opened up and a suitable carbon content could be found, at least a batch of good knives could be produced that blacksmiths at this time would take half a year or several months to make, and using them to arm elite troops wouldn't be much of a problem. However, since the Wu Dynasty army lacked not good knives but army discipline, Ning Yi handed over the initial experiments to Lu Hongti.

On the other hand, although there were no painful precedents like the Eastern Depot and Western Depot, the upper echelons at this time were cautious about establishing a large-scale spy system, as can be seen from the restrictions the Secret Investigation Department faced in many matters. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation and the participation of many imperial relatives in checks and balances, the Secret Investigation Department probably wouldn't even have the power to act. Therefore, the plan to develop a large-scale public opinion guidance system based on the Bamboo Chronicle couldn't be supported from the beginning.

Firstly, the upper echelons simply wouldn't understand how much sense it made to mobilize the lower masses. Conversely, this would seem more like the beginnings of a cult. And once it was placed under the name of the Secret Investigation Department, the expansion of this system would also lead to the uncontrollability of the Secret Investigation Department. For these reasons, Ning Yi decided to go it alone. This time coming here, the matter of the cloth shops was secondary. Even if he didn't intervene, Tan'er would have enough ability to push everything forward after she arrived. What Ning Yi really needed to do was to give enough thought to the matter of the Bamboo Chronicle before leaving.

This time heading north, Yunzhu and Jin'er didn't bring any accompanying staff with them. Because the first batch of personnel training was still being carried out in Jiangning at this time. This was something that had been prepared since returning to Jiangning from Hangzhou, similar to on-the-job training in later generations, enough to train professionals who, in the eyes of this time, were already usable within two or three months. When Yunzhu and Jin'er settled down here, a batch of new and old employees will arrive in the capital in a month or two to begin preparing to participate in the new store's work.

Even after that, training on literacy, work skills, and corporate culture wouldn't end. Establishing a sufficiently solid evaluation, promotion, and mutual supervision mechanism would allow everything to proceed as usual even without the care and participation of Yunzhu and Jin'er, the bosses. The basic framework for these things could be built now. On the other hand, to make good preparations for localizing these things, it was natural to begin referencing the various restaurants and brothels in the capital at this time.

These things were stuck in his mind. Although Ning Yi seemed leisurely during the day, able to chat with Cheng Zhouhai and others all day long, and even proposed a plan to Qin Shaoyu to visit one store every day starting tomorrow, he casually invited Yao Zunian, Cheng Zhouhai, and others to join him. In reality, many things were still turning in his mind, perfecting his ideas from the words of Yao Zunian, Cheng Zhouhai, and other knowledgeable people. He also had to write out copies of the articles of association of modern companies, analyze which ones could be used, which ones needed to be changed, and which ones should be simply deleted. In a sense, it was like returning to the feeling of starting a business at the beginning. Of course, doing it again, although there were many tedious things, everything was much more familiar.

That afternoon, Qin Siwon and the Monk Jueming returned to the mansion, but they told Ning Yi about Zhou Pei. In recent days, this little princess had been busy with various visits. It was said that she was also preparing to meet the Empress Dowager and didn't have time to come to Ning Yi, but she had seen Qin Siwon twice. The first time, she asked about the place where Ning Yi lived, and this time, she asked Qin Siwon to help ask if he would like to attend a grand event at the Qingyang County Princess's residence in two days.

"Qingyang County Princess? Who is that?" Ning Yi didn't know this name.

"One of the most famous talented women in Bianliang, the daughter of Prince Tan. After she got married, her husband, Liu Qingzhou, also loved poetry and literature. The couple respected each other as guests and often met friends at home with literature. Over time, the Cai Mu Garden in her home became one of the most famous venues for literary gatherings, and those who went there were all talented. If Liheng is interested, you might as well go and have a look," Qin Siwon explained with a smile. Afterwards, the Monk Jueming next to him also added a few words with a smile. The Qingyang County Princess was his cousin, and he was also familiar with Liu Qingzhou.

"If you're interested, you can go for a stroll with this monk in two days."

"I'm afraid I don't have time..." Ning Yi thought for a while. He had always lacked interest in such poetry and literary gatherings, especially recently. He had prepared a lot of poetry for use in the Bamboo Chronicle's branches and didn't want to waste it: "However, how is Xiaopei recently?"

"In just two or three days, she has captivated many people," Qin Siwon laughed. "I heard that yesterday afternoon, Grand Scholar Yan Lingzhong in Prince Chong's mansion examined her knowledge, and Zhou Pei answered fluently, amazing everyone. It's just that her poetry is a bit contrived, which is what everyone likes the most. Although it may have been specially arranged by that prince, I think someone should be moved to propose marriage in these two days, haha."

Speaking of this, Qin Siwon laughed happily. Zhou Pei had a good appearance, and no one could deny that she was a beauty. Her knowledge was outstanding, and she also possessed the identity of a talented woman. Added to her family status, who wouldn't want to marry her? Her contrived poetry, on the other hand, showed that this woman's personality wasn't too unconventional, and she was a good candidate for marriage. Zhou Pei's goal in coming to the capital this time, given by Kang Xian, was to find a talented man she liked as an object. This matter must have also been discussed with Qin Siwon and Prince Chong Zhou Ji, asking them to help keep an eye on her to prevent Zhou Pei from having too much fun and losing her sense of urgency.

"In that case, the Qingyang County Princess's poetry meeting is also to give her more choices, right?"

Ning Yi smiled and said his thoughts. Qin Siwon nodded: "The little girl can't refuse these days. Besides the Qingyang County Princess's side, I'm afraid there are a lot of poetry gatherings that she can't refuse. Liheng, you can be considered her teacher, and it's your duty to check for her."

"I still recognize Junwu. Qin Gong, you said that Zhou Pei is a very quirky girl. That day, I just casually taught her some arithmetic, and she picked on me and argued with me all day long, and even thought that I had led her younger brother astray. I'm not much older than her, so I won't participate in her marriage matters, lest she hate me for the rest of her life... I think these matters should still be checked by the elders."

"Once a teacher, always a father, age has nothing to do with it. Zhou Pei has always admired you, Liheng," Qin Siwon waved his hand with a smile, "Besides, this prime minister is busy with official duties, haha, where would I have time to participate in these drawn-out matters of the younger generation? If the monk is free at that time, then help take care of it."

After all, these were small matters, and Qin Siwon didn't say too much about the Qingyang County Princess's poetry meeting. Of course, the people present wouldn't know that Zhou Pei had already promoted the prowess of the Jiangning's number one talent, her teacher, among her friends in the capital. Although she was a little understated when she spoke to Qin Siwon, she was actually worried about whether her teacher would go to the poetry meeting to support her.

Ning Yi, who still had a lot of things to do, naturally didn't have more time to waste on boring poetry and literary gatherings. After leaving Qin's mansion, it was evening again. Returning to the Wenhui Building, he noticed that the expressions of Yunzhu and the others were a little off. Their emotions seemed a little low. Jin'er didn't give him the cold shoulder like she did in the morning, but she still didn't seem to have much energy. She walked away with a gloomy face as if she had no energy when she saw him. When he asked Xiaochán what had happened, she only said that everyone was tired from shopping in the afternoon, and then she showed a happy smile.

Xiaochán couldn't hide it from Ning Yi in such an emotional state. After dinner that night, Ning Yi called Su Wenyu over and asked about what happened when the others went out during the day. Su Wenyu didn't dare to hide it from him and told him what he had seen.

It was still in the morning, Ning Yi went to Qin's mansion, and Yunzhu and the others still had to go out to buy things. The family followed all the way, and when they passed near the street they had traveled yesterday, they saw a corpse.

The situation seemed to be that the government was handling a case, and they were pulling a corpse wrapped in a burlap sack from the small river. The mouth of the burlap sack was already loose, and even dirty blood was flowing out after it was pulled up, obviously the person in the sack hadn't been dead for long. It was a woman's corpse that was completely naked. At that time, many people were watching, and it was said that the time of the body dumping was before dawn.

Seeing a female corpse caused by a murder on the street wasn't a reason to be listless all day long, but in Su Wenyu's hesitant tone, Ning Yi also understood roughly. There were some scraps of cloth, headscarves, and the like in the sack that contained the corpse, and the appearance of the corpse was also intact. The person who dumped the body didn't care whether the family would recognize the identity of the corpse. Su Wenyu had seen it at the time, and he was thinking that this woman looked very much like the woman who was blocked in the alley and teased by Gao Yanei yesterday. Although he only looked at it from a distance at the time, the face shape and the color of the headscarf at least had a rough idea.

"At that time, although Miss Nie, Miss Yuan, and Xiaochán didn't say it, but...I guess they also guessed that..." Su Wenyu frowned, "The woman was...subjected to a lot of abuse and torture before she died, her...her...there was even a stick inserted, we didn't look too much, later, not long after noon...we came back..."

Ning Yi opened his mouth, but finally couldn't say anything. He rubbed his mouth and remained silent for a long time. Thinking of going to Qin's mansion in the morning and what Cheng Zhouhai and the others said, he roughly understood. After Qin Shaoyu went back, he told Yao Zunian and the others about meeting Gao Muen. Yao Zunian, Ji Kun, Cheng Zhouhai and others probably also did an investigation through the Secret Investigation Department. If the order was given in the evening, the first intelligence could probably come back the next morning. Cheng Zhouhai scolded the Grand Commandant's mansion for being lawless, which was directed at that woman. The Secret Investigation Department...could probably find out the matter when the Grand Commandant's mansion dumped the body, and there was also a possibility that the Secret Investigation Department could find out about this matter when the Grand Commandant's mansion took action that night, but this was meaningless. Even if they found out, the Secret Investigation Department couldn't intervene. This kind of situation was probably the most suffocating.

In this sense, it was correct not to put the public opinion propaganda system into the Secret Investigation Department for execution.

Above that, Ning Yi could even extend it a step further. With Gao Muen's temperament, he shouldn't have taken that woman to heart. Grand Commandant Gao Qiu didn't care about his son playing with women, but he definitely wanted to add an insurance to prevent him from touching the wrong person. This insurance should be those people who were arranged around him. In that alley, Lu Qian prevented Gao Yanei from blocking people on the street, but if he went home like this, Gao Yanei would vent his anger on him, and he couldn't stand it either. Therefore, Lu Qian should be the one who was really responsible for arresting the woman. It wasn't that he couldn't play, but he couldn't play out of the question. This person had a sense of proportion, ability, and means, so it was no wonder that he could make Lin Chong so miserable.

He sat there thinking about these things, Su Wenyu sat aside, not daring to breathe, because suddenly, the second brother-in-law in front of him seemed to suddenly become very gloomy. But after a while, this gloom dissipated, and Ning Yi looked over: "Speaking of which, you were accompanying Jin'er, showing some courtesy on the way...uh, did you guys chat?"

Unexpectedly, Ning Yi would suddenly talk about this, Su Wenyu was stunned for a long time: "This...because that thing happened, and Miss Yuan didn't seem to have any mood to talk...she, she seemed to be avoiding me, but maybe..."

"Okay, don't talk about this, they are a little uncomfortable in their hearts because of this, you already know it."

"Yeah."

"Then what are you waiting for? Jin'er is not in a good mood, go and comfort her."

"Uh...but..."

"Seize the opportunity, no buts. If she doesn't comfort you, you comfort her." Ning Yi patted him on the shoulder, "Picking up girls is like this, don't be so concerned about face, listen to me, you're not wrong."

"...Oh."

Su Wenyu hesitated, his expression a little hesitant, but finally he still went. Ning Yi sat there and thought about it. In fact, neither Yunzhu nor Jin'er had never seen the dark side of society. Even in brothels like the Jinfeng Building, how many years had there not been several dead women who were secretly carried out? Even Ning Yi wouldn't be happy about such a thing happening in front of him. There would always be a feeling of being held back by something, but if he were to take justice for the heavens because he saw such a thing, and even confront the Grand Commandant's mansion, Ning Yi admitted that he didn't have the ability for the time being, and Yunzhu and Jin'er naturally wouldn't have such expectations. More than that, it was probably because they were also being targeted after that woman was targeted yesterday, and they inevitably had some fear and pain of empathy.

This feeling was very bad, but Ning Yi thought about it and didn't know how to comfort her. If he was as powerful as Lu Hongti, he might be able to kill Lu Qian and Gao Yanei tonight, and by the way, take Gao Qiu's head, but unfortunately such things could only be thought about for the time being.

It would be nice if there was a chance to crush Gao Qiu in a political struggle... He curled his lips and thought a little yy-ly. Then he went into the backyard of the inn, preparing to find Yunzhu to chat, but he didn't find Yunzhu in the yard. Afterwards, he met Su Wenyu again, saying that Jin'er couldn't be found either.

"They may have gone for a walk nearby, let's look around."

This Wenhui Building occupied a large area, and the backyard was exclusively for people of status to live in, and it was also equipped with ponds and gardens. Ning Yi walked all the way to the garden, but saw a woman sitting by a round table in the garden ahead, supporting her chin, not knowing what she was thinking in the orange-red light shed by the lanterns. This slightly lonely expression came from Jin'er, which was really a bit unexpected. She had obviously seen him when Ning Yi came in, and at this time, she was still supporting her chin, looking over here with a indifferent gaze. Ning Yi had originally entered as if he was taking a walk all the way, and at this time, he walked forward with his hands behind his back, and then...under Jin'er's gaze, he went around a rockery and left in the direction he came from.

He met Su Wenyu again on the way, and the other party was full of excitement, exchanging information with Ning Yi: "I met Xiaochán and Miss Nie just now, and they went back to their rooms."

"Jin'er is in the garden, go and comfort her well."

"Uh, okay..."

Speaking of Jin'er, Su Wenyu was still a little embarrassed, and Ning Yi shook his head, scolding him inwardly for being a rookie. Although his own experience of picking up girls in his previous life was inevitably a bit rough, it must be very powerful to bring it to this time. With a very powerful self here to guide him, he was still so timid, and it really felt like a hopeless case... He returned all the way, and when he went to the courtyard where Yunzhu lived, the other party was sitting under the eaves, giving him a gentle smile, it seemed that she had already solved the problems in her heart, and was waiting for his arrival.

"I heard Su Wenyu talk about what happened in the morning." Ning Yi put his arm around her shoulder and sat down next to her.

"It's nothing, I just remembered that we also met yesterday, and I'm a little scared." Yunzhu smiled reluctantly, leaning her head on his shoulder, "Liheng, do you think that woman might be the one we met yesterday? Although she looks very similar...but it's actually impossible to be sure, right?"

"Yeah, but if it's true, the person who did it is the Yuhou Lu Qian next to Gao Yanei."

"Huh?"

"The guy who persuaded Gao Yanei in the alley, as a servant of the Grand Commandant's mansion, can't let this matter spread too badly, but if he prevents Gao Yanei from doing things, he will be blamed when he goes back, so the best way is to arrest people at night..."

Ning Yi's tone was a little light, and he mechanically said the reasoning one by one. At this time, even saying to relax could not change what had already happened. He was Yunzhu's man, and of course he could temporarily suppress what Yunzhu was thinking in her heart with the affection between the two, but after all, he couldn't prevent Yunzhu from thinking about it later, so he simply made things a little more mechanical, expanded the involvement of things, and made the atmosphere a little colder, perhaps it would be easier to dilute the tragic emotions.

He sat there and spoke coldly for a long time, who was the mastermind, who was the accomplice, who was the cause, who was the means, who was shameless, and who felt innocent, and after saying this, he sat with the woman beside him for a while.

At the same time, not too far away in the garden, a scene was taking place.

Lanterns spread under the corridors, casting a warm yellow light. In the garden, the light of fireflies danced sparsely on the water. Next to the stone table, a man and a woman didn't know what they were talking about. Su Wenyu stood up, took two steps back, lowered his head and spoke softly. On the other side of the table, the woman was supporting her chin, her fingers covering her lips. She didn't look at Su Wenyu, but her expression seemed a little arrogant, her eyes cold. It wasn't easy for such an expression to appear on the always lively Yuan Jin'er, but Su Wenyu, as the person involved, didn't feel angry or hurt because of it, because on her raised face, which seemed arrogant and a little cold, tears were streaming down.

******************

"But what's wrong with Jin'er? She seems to have a lot of opinions about me..."

Time passed quietly. After a long time, Ning Yi changed the subject in the courtyard here.

Yunzhu laughed: "Don't you know? Of course she will have opinions about you..."

"I didn't do anything..." Ning Yi could probably understand why he was disliked. Matchmakers were often misunderstood, which wasn't surprising. Anyway, in the end, she should understand himself, and that would be enough. That's what he thought.

After Ning Yi's murmur, Yunzhu was silent for a moment, and then showed a slightly serious look, saying to him: "Liheng, I want to talk to you about Jin'er..."

"Yeah."

Ning Yi nodded, Yunzhu was about to speak when a voice suddenly came from behind: "Ning Liheng, come out."

The tone was a little stiff and resolute. Looking back, Yuan Jin'er, dressed in a goose-yellow dress, was standing at the courtyard door over there, looking over here, holding her chin up proudly, as if in a battle stance.

The tone was unkind.
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