I opened a mall in ancient times

"That turned out to be Luo Chaochao? Didn't you say he was a middle-aged man?" When the officials heard that it was Luo Chaochao, they couldn't believe it.

Eunuch Cui also felt puzzled.

Luo Chaochao is a young man. He should be quite famous. According to his age, he has just reached the crown this year. How did he become a middle-aged man?

Or is there more rumors in Beijing that they don't know about?

"Boss Luo just turned 30 this year." Eunuch Cui weighed his words, and then said, "I don't know where it came from that he was in his [-]s? As far as I know, he hasn't married yet,"

"That's what everyone is saying."

Several ministers said so, still a little unbelievable.

They are the kind of people who don't take care of the female family members very much. If you ask the female family members in the capital what kind of person Luo Chaoxi is, then they must know, but it's a pity that they ask a man who doesn't care much, so it's strange.

In fact, with Luo Chaochao's ability, he shouldn't be so unknown, but Luo Chaochao couldn't bear the limelight a few times before and ran to the south with a mission to open up new markets in the south. He didn't get to know these people at all. Chance.

In addition, Luo Chaochao's business has been successful, and it has set up such a big stall.In everyone's perception, it is impossible for young people to achieve this step. Even if there is, it is because of the support of family members.

Therefore, Luo Chao Chao's image in the eyes of these people naturally became a middle-aged man in his 30s.

"It's so young, but why did he come back from the south? What happened over there?" They thought about it and asked again.

"This slave is not very clear. The slave is just a guide."

Seeing that there was nothing to be asked from Eunuch Cui, everyone left muttering, and as soon as Luo Chaoxi entered the imperial study, he felt a burst of refreshing coolness.

In addition to the ice basins that can be seen everywhere in the room, there is also a very conspicuous large wooden fan placed in the corner.

But it's not electric, but a large hand-operated fan, which blows the cool wind on the ice to Emperor Qing, so that Emperor Qing in the room will not be hot.

It's just a little bit expensive for court ladies and eunuchs.

The lack of electricity is also because the palace is inconvenient, and the batteries are difficult to store and difficult to explain. We simply use manual labor. The emperor is not short of people to serve him. If one is tired, he can replace it with another, which can save all troubles.

This fan is also sold in Jiushui. When it was first sold, it applied to Luo Chaochao. Luo Chaochao directly gave the authority to the store manager of the branch and let them decide by themselves.

Now it seems that although there may not be air-conditioning in summer, it is nice to have a fan and ice cubes.

"The tide is here, sit down quickly." Emperor Qing said happily when he saw Luo Chao, "Don't worry about those empty gifts, the fan sold in your store is really easy to use, summer is not as hard as before."

Luo Chaoxi smiled: "As long as you like it."

"Come here, go and make some food and bring it up again. Boss Luo is exhausted. He must have not eaten today. We will wait until we are full."

Luo Chaochao accepted the arrangement honestly, let him eat and drink, let Emperor Qing complete the routine of courteous corporals, and only then did he get to the point.

Luo Chaochao also has a separate report in his hand. These reports have written a lot about the scope of application of this rubber and the benefits to Sheng Kingdom after using it. There is a thick pile of it, which can even be used as a weapon for self-defense when rolled together.

Emperor Qing was watching this right now.

"What you said is not a problem. Siam and Chenla probably won't have any opinions, but will it be too late?"

Now that the northern border is tight, they have mobilized a new group of troops to the north not long ago, bringing food, weapons and the latest supplies.

Not necessarily when it will start.

"If you take a boat...it should be in time." Luo Chaochao pondered for a moment, "But the current road is really inconvenient, and it takes too much time and energy to transport, but it is also prone to accidents if people are stationed at the southernmost point .”

"what do you mean……"

Emperor Qing felt that there was a deep meaning in Luo Chaoxi's words, but he couldn't tell for a while.

"Your Majesty, please let me take a look at the rubber products made during this period."

After Luo Chaochao finished speaking, the eunuch who was waiting outside came in with a tray.

The items that were sent in were all small items, ranging from clothes to utensils, and even small handicrafts.

"This is a glove." Luo Chaochao introduced them one by one, and let the emperor experience it for himself, and even did a lot of control experiments for him.

Emperor Qing's eyes became brighter and brighter, and he understood what Luo Chaochao meant without Luo Chaochao's further explanation.

"There is also a carriage, if Your Majesty doesn't mind, you can try it." Luo Chaoxi said, "It's just that it looks a little dusty after traveling, don't mind."

"Of course I won't mind." Emperor Qing wouldn't mind, of course he wouldn't.

The carriage that had been sent to the palace after a thorough inspection stopped in front of them.

The eunuchs put on clean curtains in advance, wiped the outside of the cabin, and wiped the wheels, so that it didn't look so distressed, and it wouldn't look like it was dug out of the garbage.

"Isn't this just an ordinary carriage?"

"The anti-skid tires and shock-absorbing equipment are made of rubber." Luo Chaochao turned his head and said, "There are also bearings made of iron." Luo Chaochao explained again. Emperor Qing didn't understand it very well, but it didn't prevent him from thinking that it was very powerful. .

Luo Chaochao got into the car with him, and Eunuch Cui acted as the driver and drove the car in front.

In order to facilitate the emperor's actions, the ground in the palace is paved with bluestone slabs, and the gaps are very small. Someone will regularly clean up the weeds inside to ensure that there will be no problems. If there is any damage, it will be replaced in time.

Barely counted as walking on the ground.

The shock absorption function of walking on this kind of ground is limited, so instead of being in the palace, they went to the racetrack.

The racecourse is made of soil, without floor tiles, so it is very suitable for potholes.

The eunuchs at the racetrack were still a little dazed, they didn't understand that the emperor was going to the racecourse in a carriage, and they wanted to pick him up, but they were pulled aside by Eunuch Xia and the others.

"I don't like running around here."

When he came to the ground, Emperor Qing couldn't help but said, "Even riding a horse is very bumpy, and my bones are about to fall apart."

"That's the kind of place where it works."

Emperor Qing was ready for everyone to be knocked up, but they didn't feel much shock when they came to the land.

Emperor Qing subconsciously opened the curtain of the carriage and looked out, making sure that they were on the racecourse now, but the shock after lowering the curtain was indeed not strong.

"Now the tires can't be replaced with hollow shock absorbers. If they can be filled with air, the effect will be better."

The carriage circled around the racetrack a few more times, and when it returned to the imperial study, Emperor Qing had already made up his mind.

The things that Luo Chaochao brought back were also divided according to their functions.

What Luo Chaochao said before is that the capital is too far away from Siam, which is indeed a problem. Without water, it would take at least a year to go back and forth by horseback, but it can be compressed to about three or four months by water.

Including the time in Siam in the middle, it will take at least five months, and when I come back, it will be around October at night.

too urgent.

Emperor Qing thought about it for a long time, but put it aside temporarily.

Because there are still many important things to do now, there is no way to push this forward with all our strength, so we can only take it slowly, but we don't completely reject Luo Chao Chao.

It's not that I don't do it, but that the time has not come and I can't spare the time.

Luo Chao Chao was not surprised either.

There are so many problems in Sheng Country now, it's too late to deal with each one, let alone one more thing added.

"How long did you stay in the capital this time?"

"It should be about half a month. If you need me, you can stay for a while."

"That's just right." Emperor Qing said, "You should stay in the capital for a while, there are still many things that need your help."

Luo Chao Chao naturally had no objection.

He can probably guess why.

There are Siamese merchants in the port cities of Suzhou City, Siamese merchants in the capital city, and many Chenla merchants. These people came to the capital city, thinking about whether they could sell all their goods, but obviously, they did not go well.

After all, it is limited here, and with Jiushui, it is not so unusual for things that were originally considered rare in the capital now.

Instead of spending more time running to the capital to do business, it is better to clear all the goods in Suzhou.

At this time, Luo Chaochao's branches all over the country have become an intelligence network, especially Kangzhou City and several nearby cities. Almost every city near the border has a cloth shop under the name of Luo Chaochao. The cloth sold has greatly changed the living conditions of the people in the frontier, and made many people recognize this place.

When there are more people coming here, all kinds of news will be revealed in the coming and going.

For example, recently foreigners often come to buy cotton-padded clothes and warm clothes, as well as a lot of denim and tarpaulins for waterproofing.

If it hadn't been noticed in advance, no one would have discovered that such a group of people was secretly collecting supplies.

For more than half a year, the merchants who went to Beidi to do business will also be robbed by a group of unidentified masked men. The methods are extremely cruel, and none of them can come back alive.

Everyone thought it was Beidi who did it, but those people didn't know if they killed him. They even said that the other party was a horse thief wandering on the grassland. It was their bad luck to be robbed. Without evidence, they had nothing to say. Can swallow this breath.

But these actions of Beidi also illustrate the turmoil and danger at the border.

Soon Luo Chaochao sent out a message, ordering his shops and various franchise stores to prohibit the sale of cloth and supplies in the shops to foreigners.

After receiving Luo Chaochao's order, these shops at the border quickly followed suit.

How could they not know at the border?

It's just that because of the mutual market treaty between the two sides, they dare not refuse it explicitly.

Now that the boss has spoken, they must follow suit. Some of the more extreme ones even posted a notice at the door explaining this.

Sheng Kingdom was not idle either, the troops stepped up their training, and food and supplies were sent to the north.

Now all the people in Sheng Kingdom are united, and there is even a lot of beating from top to bottom. During the process of transporting food and military pay, some people did think carefully and wanted to embezzle a little bit, but at least they held back and didn't dare to do it.

They believed that Emperor Qing would take advantage of this to clean up the moths.

The frontier is already stormy, but the interior is still relatively stable. As the dragon god of this land, Luo Chaochao can also feel a sense of urgency.

The recent batch of picked cotton was also taken away in a centralized manner and made into various supplies for the march. The tax paid by Luo Chaochao was dumped in the hands of several people and returned to Luo Chaochao's hands again.

But since it is for the country.There was no need for Luo Chaochao to make money, they only charged a cost price and labor, and in addition to guaranteeing daily supplies, the rest of the staff and raw materials were speeded up to make military supplies.

From this point of view, the preparations before the war were indeed tense, but Emperor Qing and some insiders were not afraid. Even Luo Chaoxi led a team to Suzhou after completing the tasks assigned by Emperor Qing.

These people were approved by Emperor Qing to go to Chenla and Siam. There were not many people, only a few hundred, and Suzhou was responsible for preparing ships and various supplies.

Luo Chao and the others sent away the envoys to Chenla and Siam, and stepped up their expansion.

This time, his expansion range began to spread further south.

Among other things, the product resources in the south are really rich.

Luo Chaochao is like a normal person here, how to expand how to expand, how to make money, and even got a surprise in the middle.

He discovered an iron mine near the territory of Miaojiang.

The specific quality is unknown, but everyone knows how important a new iron mine is to a country.