Qinzhou, a corner of Songshou City, is located in the Ning family mansion. Ning Mengli, the ill governor of Qinzhou, lay on the couch and talked to his son Ning Changzhen, who was sitting beside him. The room was filled with the smell of medicinal herbs, and Ning Mengli, who had a sallow complexion, had a red face at this time.

Those who are about to die will suddenly be radiant, which is the "return to the sky". Ning Changzhen knew this. Seeing that his father, who had been sick, suddenly became energetic, he understood that his father would be almost out of reach.

He was sad in his heart, but he held back his tears and listened to his father's teachings before his death.

Ning Mengli also knew what it meant to suddenly get better. He didn't care about many regrets and seized time to explain his funeral. He was old enough to go, and the family's important responsibilities depended on his son to choose.

"I... have not had much time. When that day, the court will definitely let you succeed to the position of governor..., and you... have been dealt with for many years and will be fine..."

"You have left your name in His Majesty, so no one in the city dares to do whatever he wants..."

"On weekdays, I have more contacts with Nanyang Company, one more friend, and one more road..."

"What my father said, the child should keep it in mind..."

"besides,"

Ning Mengli said slowly, Ning Changzhen listened carefully. In fact, he knew everything his father wanted to say, but his father didn't explain clearly, and he was afraid he would die with his eyes open, so he had to listen.

Ning Changzhen was originally trusted by the emperor and wanted to be an official in the Central Plains, but his father Ning Mengli was in poor health. In order to prevent changes in Qinzhou, the emperor asked him to return to his hometown to serve his father.

Qinzhou, the Anzhou of that year, was included in the Zhou Dynasty. Because it was named as Anzhou in the south of Shannan, it was renamed "Qinzhou" under the name of Qinshui outside Songshou City. The Ning clan of Anzhou became the Ning clan of Qinzhou and was still the governor of Ning Mengli.

Now, Ning Mengli is almost out of reach. All signs indicate that after his death, his son Ning Changzhen will successfully succeed as governor.

The Ning clan is a large clan in Qinzhou, far away from the Central Plains. In theory, the position of governor should indeed be hereditary to the Ning clan, but Ning Mengli is not that confused. He knew that the situation is different now. If the Ning clan still had the idea of ​​Qinzhou for Ning clan, then sooner or later would be in trouble.

The current imperial court is extremely powerful. Once something happens in Qinzhou, the government army can arrive at Qinkou in a few days on a sea boat. If the government army does not even take action, the "Qianjun" of the Nanyang Trading Company will pounce on it first.

The situation has changed. Although Qinzhou is far away from the Central Plains, it is actually not far away as the maritime route matures. Ning family can no longer obey the imperial court on the surface like before, but in fact, they do whatever they want in Qinzhou.

He had to let his son remember this, and more importantly, if the Ning family wanted to maintain their foundation, they had to be a hawk in the court, not only a guardian dog, but also a hunting dog.

Where is the prey? One is Jiaozhou.

The situation in the Jiaozhou General Administration is stable now, but everything is in case. Ning Mengli knew that once something happened in Jiaozhou, the official army attacked from Guangzhou and Nanzhong, as the governor of Qinzhou, he or his son, must lead troops to help the battle.

This is very important, and you cannot make excuses to shirk it. Otherwise, if the emperor thinks that their Ning family has a different intention, the disaster of extermination of the clan will probably be a long time.

By the same token, the Xiyuan area north of Qinzhou is also two places where the imperial court wants to use troops. If there is any problem, the nearest reinforcements will be the Qinzhou garrison.

Yongzhou Prefecture is based in Nanning, which means "Southern border peace". It is about 200 miles away from Qinzhou Songshou. Qinzhou will be the southern gateway to Yongzhou. A large amount of materials and personnel entering Yongzhou must be transferred through Qinzhou.

The Yongzhou General Administration is located in the Xiyuan area, and the Xiyuan barbarians are everywhere. The Ning family, which is quite influential among the Xiyuan barbarians, must assist the court in stabilizing the situation around Yongzhou.

The court must let the emperor know that the Ning family is of great use to stabilize the situation in the Xiyuan region. Only in this way can the family be prosperous. Ning Mengli is worried that his son will not realize this, and has been repeatedly emphasizing it in the past few days.

The court has officially decided that from now on, the official documents and documents will be uniformly used as "Lingnan" to refer to the Lingbei area. The court believes that Lingnan is vast and it is difficult to manage it by relying solely on Guizhou General Administration, Guangzhou General Administration, and Jiaozhou General Administration. Therefore, the Yongzhou General Administration and Rongzhou General Administration were added.

This is the "Five Management of Lingnan". The Ning family is located in Qinzhou and is under the jurisdiction of the Yongzhou General Administration. In order to ensure the safety of Yongzhou, the court will soon invest manpower and material resources to open up the land post roads in Yongzhou and Qinzhou. Ning Mengli asked his son to take this matter as a top priority and must assist the court in repairing the roads.

This is a matter of public and private affairs, and it is very beneficial to Ning. Ning Mengli is afraid that his son will not be able to understand clearly, so he has repeatedly emphasized this in the past few days.

The imperial court was in the Xiyuan area, and the Yongzhou General Administration was established in the Yushui River Basin and the Rongzhou General Administration. In fact, except for the location of the capital, other prefectures and counties are all so-called "limited prefectures and counties", which are not normal administrative divisions.

The governors and county magistrates of all prison prefectures and counties were all local chiefs, and then they promoted their own officials. The court did not send officials from the Central Plains to immigrate to these areas.

Ning Mengli knew that the imperial court set up these two general administrations, in addition to the convenience of including the Xiyuan area and the Yushui River Basin under its jurisdiction, another purpose was to vigorously develop sugarcane cultivation, and encourage the restricted prefectures and counties to plant sugarcane, and then make sugar sugar, and transport it through Cangwu through waterways (Yushui) to Guangzhou Fanyu downstream.

This kind of general administration, which was established almost for the purpose of making money, did not force the Ning family to a dead end. Ning Mengli felt that if the family did not perform better and got a share of the pie, if other wealthy families seized the initiative, the Ning family might lose its status in the future.

If the land route from Yongzhou to Qinzhou is opened, the sugar produced in Yongzhou can be transported directly to Qinzhou. Ning, which is already involved in the maritime trade, has enough sugar and can do business, so how confident will it be?

Not to mention the sea salt produced in the coastal salt farm in Qinzhou, it was transported to Yongzhou by land and sold to the surrounding Xiyuanman, which was also a huge profitable deal.

Ning Mengli was afraid that his son would throw away Jinshan, so he suddenly sat up and grabbed his son's hand tightly and said loudly:

"We must seize this financial path. With Nanyang Trading Company, we can at least protect the family's foundation!"

Seeing his father so excited, Ning Changzhen nodded in fear: "Father! My child knows, please don't be excited, lie down first..."

"Don't verbally agree, but don't take it to your heart!"

"Yes, the kid knows."

"Don't just nod, remember it in your heart!"

Ning Mengli said, becoming more and more excited: "The territory of Feng Xian in Gaoliang is located near the sea, and people have sea trade, so there is no worries; the Chen family in Longzhou is not based on the sea, but the emperor's approval is given. The children of Chen family went to the Rongzhou General Administration to open up land on a large scale and build sugarcane plantations..."

"We are near the sea and have fleets, but we can't compare to Feng and Xian in maritime trade. In terms of number of people, we can't compare to Chen, so we can't go to Yongzhou to reclaim land on a large scale and plant sugarcane. But we have seaports and sea salt. As long as the trade routes between Yongzhou and Qinzhou are smooth, we will make a lot of profits."

Seeing his father so excited, Ning Changzhen was quite worried. Since his father, who has always been unfamiliar with management, since he had close contact with the shopkeepers of Nanyang Trading Company, he talked about the way of management one by one, and became more and more verbose.

But he also understood these principles, so his father didn't need to say anything more.

Ning Changzhen led his troops north to assist the emperor who was still in Qiandi to fight in the Huai River. He had a rough understanding of the emperor's style of conduct. After interacting with the shopkeepers of the Nanyang Trading Company, he naturally knew what the current situation was.

The court wanted to promote maritime trade, and for this, it would be difficult to make great efforts to open up wasteland and plant sugarcane. Whoever sees this clearly and then responds actively will have good results.

He really felt the strength of the court. Not to mention the emperor's personal army, not to mention the army of the Guangzhou General Administration, even the "天天" of the Nanyang Trading Company, it is not easy to mess with. He will only fight against the court if he has a problem with his mind.

All the well-known people in the clan can see this. If anyone is overestimating their own abilities and does not need to speak to the court, everyone will tie up the person and hand it over to the court for disposal.

Faced with his father who was unwilling to let go, Ning Changzhen almost had to pat his chest and promise that he would definitely consider his family in the future, be loyal to the court (the emperor), and be a front pawn for the court.

However, Ning Mengli was still nagging because he found that his son missed something and then asked: "What else?"

Ning Changzhen was asked inexplicably by his father: “Ah?”

"Ah? Are you still?" Ning Mengli, who had finally calmed down, became excited again: "Read! Read! Let the children of the clan read more! Then choose the seedlings to study in Guangzhou, study in Huangzhou! Take the exam and become an official... Cough cough cough..."

"Yes, yes, what my father said!" Ning Changzhen quickly helped his father lie down, "What the child knows is that he wants to study, he wants to study."

Ning Mengli was still worried: "You left your name with the emperor, so you don't have to worry about not being an official, and you are familiar with the emperor. If something happens, someone will say a word or two to you. What about the future? What about the descendants? Hum?"

"Someone must be an official! It is best to be an official in the court. Even if you can't become an official, you have to have a connection in the court. What are the connections? In the same year as the exam! Otherwise, there will be no one to protect you and the family will be defeated!"
Chapter completed!