Chapter 1006

Princess’s Mansion.

She let out a heavy sigh upon receiving the news of Xiao Yi’s ascension to the Eastern Palace. Along with her, the Xiao imperial clan also breathed a sigh of relief.

“For all these years, His Majesty never established a Crown Prince. I had always been worried that His Majesty intended to follow the ways of the Western nations. Now that Yi’er has entered the Eastern Palace, it’s finally a relief.”

Princess Pingyang gently blew on her teacup and revealed a smile.

Sitting opposite Princess Pingyang were Prince Yong, Duke of Song, Duke of Tang, and other imperial relatives and nobles.

Hearing this, Prince Yong said, “Pingyang worries too much. No matter how foolish His Majesty is, he would not hand over his empire to others. During this time, I often had contact with Westerners in business, and the tricks they play are actually very crude. In the end, it is nothing more than nobles, dissatisfied with the emperor’s authority, raising troops to rebel and restrict the emperor’s power so that they can formulate national policies. As for the so-called popular election, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can get as many votes as you want.”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

Duke Tang said, “Exactly. If that were the case, those rich merchants would truly turn from humble chickens into phoenixes. They have plenty of money. At that time, they could easily spend a little money in any village to be elected as the village head, and then spend a little more to become a county magistrate. Then, wouldn’t even the more affluent ones become provincial governors?”

“That’s right, it’s simply absurd. We cannot let His Majesty make such a mistake,” Duke Tang said. “This world belongs to our Xiao family. If others try to meddle, we will not agree.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Princess Pingyang’s gaze shifted. Now, the court was bustling with the conflict between Pang Yukun and Fei Ji, and the power of private capital was constantly growing. However, everyone seemed to have overlooked the Xiao imperial clan, a steadfast royalist force.

And for them, nothing was more important than preserving the Xiao family’s empire.

Taking a sip of tea, Princess Pingyang said, “No matter what, we will support whatever His Majesty does. After all, we are all one family, and His Majesty has treated us well. Although the imperial family no longer relies on monthly allowances, the conveniences provided by His Majesty have made us all increasingly wealthy. Furthermore, some of our clansmen are also distinguished in the military, which brings honor to our imperial family.”

Duke Song could not help but nod. When the imperial family was deprived of their monthly allowances and sent to work in factories, he had quite a few complaints, but now that he had made a fortune through commercial trade, his life was more comfortable than before, and his dissatisfaction with Xiao Ming naturally vanished.

Duke Tang said with emotion, “Not only that, His Majesty seems to be paying more attention to our imperial family now. My son, Xiao Yue, was just transferred to the Ministry of Electricity by the Cabinet yesterday and is about to go to Jinling to supervise the construction of a thermal power plant, hehehe…”

Others showed a hint of envy. Even a fool could see the promising future of the Ministry of Electricity. If the Ministry of Railways was so profitable, imagine the electricity that would be needed by every household in the entire country in the future.

“My son is a regimental commander in the army.”

“What’s so great about that? My son is in the Chamber of Commerce, and he has so much money.”

“…”

Duke Tang’s words seemed to open up a conversation among the crowd, and one by one, they began to boast about their own children.

Princess Pingyang’s smile grew wider. Today, because of the Crown Prince issue, everyone gathered here, which showed that the imperial family was a staunch royalist force.

Presumably, it was seeing this point that made Xiao Ming appropriately raise the influence of the imperial family.

While the imperial family was celebrating, the matter of the Crown Prince was also announced to the world through newspapers. For a time, conversations in the streets and alleys after meals were all about the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

However, the excitement surrounding the Crown Prince only lasted for three days before it was replaced by another major piece of news: Lei Ming, the commander of the Southeast Military Region, was ordered to attack the British army in Southeast Asia. The first step of the operation was to capture Australia.

Below this news was a brief introduction to Australia, as well as its mineral resources and natural advantages.

For a time, the public’s attention was completely focused on this region, which was called a continent on a mine.

Qian’s Mining, this was a building located in the center of Qingzhou’s commercial district. After the newspaper published the news about Australia, Qian’s Mining immediately became lively.

Miners, large and small, with prominent reputations in Qingzhou, flocked to the company.

“Boss Qian, what exactly are the anthracite and bauxite mentioned in the newspaper?”

In the innermost room of Qian’s Mining, merchants asked with fawning smiles. This Qian’s Mining was privately owned and had only been established for five years.

But within five years, Qian’s Mining had already become one of the top five mining companies in Qingzhou, and the top four mining companies all had royal backgrounds.

It was precisely because of this that the growth of Qian’s Mining attracted the attention of other merchants. After some investigation, they realized that the owner of Qian’s Mining was a distant relative of Qian Dafu.

And who was Qian Dafu? He was a favorite in front of the Emperor. Suddenly, Qian’s Mining’s reputation spread like wildfire, and then facts quickly proved that Qian’s Mining was very well-informed.

Qian’s Mining always had first-hand information about where certain minerals were located and the quality of those minerals.

So every time there was major news, many people would come to test the waters.

“Anthracite is a hard, dense, and highly lustrous type of coal. Among all types of coal, anthracite has a lower heating value but the highest carbon content and the fewest impurities. It is mainly used in nitrogen fertilizer production and forging. Anthracite pulverized coal is mainly used in the metallurgical industry for smelting, which can improve the quality of steel. In addition, anthracite can also be used in the treatment of tap water.”

Qian Liang did not hold back in answering the merchants’ questions. As the merchants had guessed, Qian’s Mining was indeed related to Qian Dafu, but this was approved by the Emperor and was a small bonus given to Qian Dafu as a reward.

However, although Qian’s Mining was not a state-run company, at Qian Dafu’s request, Qian’s Mining basically fulfilled the same obligations as official companies, and it was precisely because of this that Qian’s Mining was able to grow so rapidly.

“So many uses, it seems to be of high value,” a merchant said in surprise.

Another merchant asked, “What is bauxite?”

Qian Liang replied again, “This stuff is amazing. It’s said that the Academy of Chemistry has mastered the technology of aluminum electrolysis, and this stuff is used to refine aluminum. It’s said that aluminum is very important to industry and can even replace copper in electric wires, greatly reducing the cost of laying electric wires. If these bauxite ores are shipped back, there’s no need to worry about not being able to sell them.”

The merchants’ eyes immediately straightened. Due to limitations in transportation conditions and mining efficiency, state-run mines could not meet the Empire’s demand for ore. Thus, privately run mines emerged, compensating for the lack of machinery through manpower.

If the Southeast Military Region could successfully occupy Australia, mining the resources there was inevitable, and this was the reason for the merchants’ excitement.