Dominate the Country

In the Qianqing Palace at night.

The East Warm Pavilion was lit by lanterns as bright as day, the windows were wide open, and the cool night breeze blew into the house, and a faint scent of osmanthus could be smelled.

Chen Ming was holding the test questions for several subjects of this year's imperial examination and slowly reading them carefully. These were the test questions drawn up by the Ministry of Culture and Education, and they were now an absolute secret of the court.

The long test paper was printed in two books, one of which was held in Chen Ming's hand and read carefully, while the other was opened by Li Xiaomei with great interest.

"A school conducted a questionnaire survey on students. Among the students surveyed, 63 were preparing to take the accountant exam, 89 were taking the intermediate foreign language exam, 47 were taking the architect exam, 24 were taking all three exams, 46 were taking two exams, and 15 were not taking any exam. How many students were surveyed? ()

A. 120B. 144C. 177D. 192

……

Numerical reasoning. Observe the arrangement pattern of the sequence carefully, choose the most reasonable item, and fill in the blanks Items to make it conform to the original number sequence arrangement pattern.

Please start answering the questions:

21. 1, 6, 20, 56, 144, ()

A. 256B. 244C. 352D. 384

22. 1, 2, 6, 15, 40, 104 ()

A. 273B. 329C. 185D. 225

…”

Li Xiaomei's face was confused. She didn't know much about mathematics. She looked at the test questions in front of her and felt like she was reading a book of heaven.

There is a bullshit pattern between 1, 2, 6, and 15.

Even Chen Ming felt dizzy when he looked at these math problems at this time. The number sequence that might have been able to be seen at a glance at the beginning has now become a mess. It has been more than 20 years since he traveled through time, and too much knowledge and memory have been forgotten by him.

"Forget it." Chen Ming sighed and put away the folded paper. He told Zhang Dayong, "Send it back to the Ministry of Culture and Education the day after tomorrow morning."

As a monarch, as a superior, it is always inevitable to make some gimmicks. Regardless of whether Chen Ming can understand these test papers or not, he will take some time to "read" them.

This thing was only delivered this afternoon, and it will be sent back to the Ministry of Culture and Education the day after tomorrow, which means two days. These two days are the gimmick. This proves that the emperor has carefully read these test papers.

Many things are so hypocritical, and this is the society of adults, that is politics.

As a time traveler, Chen Ming was very disapproving of these false rituals, but after more than 20 years in this era, he himself has unknowingly learned this set and naturally applied it to life and government affairs.

The clock rang, it was already ten o'clock, the night was deep, and it was time to rest. But just when Chen Ming was about to fall asleep, a memorial suddenly came from outside. This was not from someone else, but from one of his younger brothers, the fourth brother, Deng Wang Chen Kuai.

Just like the second son was awarded a title, the third and fifth sons were eager to get a hard job, and the fourth son also found a hard job, he went to North America to serve the troops.

Chen Kuai certainly would not return to Nanjing at this time, but he could send the memorial to Nanjing.

Not only that, Chen Kuai also had another important mission when he rushed to America this time, which was to discuss with John Bull the demarcation of the border in the northern part of America.

Although the term Canada in later generations has appeared at this time - in Quebec, the general meaning is different from that in later generations. It refers to the land along the Canadian River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The first person to cultivate here was not the British, but the French. Even in later generations, English and French were spoken in parallel in Canada, and the French had a deep foundation here. The French were defeated in the Seven Years' War and lost the entire Canadian colony.

In this era, the footsteps of the British and French are still only in the eastern part of Canada. In the original time and space, the name "Canada" will have to wait for a few years before it is officially recognized by the government. With Quebec as the core, it will not become the province of Canada until the outbreak of the First Raven, and the Second Raven has ended for several years. The Canadian Federation, which is also a dominion under the British Empire, will appear, and its territory is completely limited to the eastern coastal location.

After World War II, Canada (the country) consists of ten provinces and three special administrative regions. Many places - administrative regions - have only appeared one after another a hundred years after this era.

Therefore, Chen Han can now not only occupy the northern part of Canada without any burden, but also occupy it legitimately - it is a piece of unowned land.

You must know that in history, even the demarcation of the boundaries between the United States and Canada was not carried out until the middle of the next century. And the demarcation of the boundaries between Alaska and Canada was something that happened after the United States bought Alaska. The demarcation process is also very funny! I won't say more here, you can find Baidu if you feel like it.

These things just show that in the current era, the British have no idea of ​​western Canada.

Due to its geographical location, most of Canada's land is frozen wilderness, and the only profitable land is the southernmost coastal area. Quebec in the east and Vancouver in the west. Even in the 21st century, Canada's population distribution is still concentrated in the southeast and southwest corners. In addition, there is a narrow strip along the border dividing line with the United States. This is the densely populated area of ​​​​the whole of Canada. The population density in most of its land is less than one person per square kilometer.

But as for Chen Han, Chen Ming hopes to reach an agreement with Britain on "Canada" as soon as possible.

There are two benefits to doing this. One is to make the British feel at ease with Chen Han; the east and west ends of the North American continent are completely unrelated and too far apart. If both sides advance together, they may not meet until the next hundred years on the endless frozen land. And who takes advantage and who suffers, that depends on their own ability.

But judging from the national strength of China and Britain, the British are most likely to suffer.

But now Chen Han has taken the initiative to contact the British and discuss the boundary with them, which naturally gives the illusion that Chen Han has no ambition to claim land in western Canada.

You know, the war in North America has been suspended, and the British have accumulated strength for so long to play a big counterattack, but the progress is small. London saw this and signed an armistice agreement with France, the United States and Spain very cleanly, except for the Dutch, and the next war treaty is still under negotiation.

The British efforts in North America did not yield the results that London wanted, and the huge pressure from India and the huge financial pressure forced them to bow their heads. This matter is still under negotiation, but Chen Kuai is going to discuss the demarcation of Canada with the British as a representative, which will give Britain some comfort.

The Americans must be happy to see this scene, and of course the French are willing to do so.

The signals released by China are equally deeply felt by the Americans and the French.

The big losers in the entire anti-British alliance are Spain, in addition to the Netherlands. These two unlucky countries may be able to bite off a little bit of benefit from the British, but they were stabbed hard by the Chinese. Unlike the big duck with a big family and a big business, the Dutch lost the East India and Ceylon, which is equivalent to having an arm cut off. Even more unfortunate is that the British have not yet made peace with the Dutch.

But Amsterdam can only bear it.

The second benefit of this move is that when the foreigners are relieved of Chen Han’s "ambition", it will be natural for Chen Han to transport a large number of immigrants and materials and develop the east coast of North America in the next few years. And in the next few years, several vassal states will also be established here.

This will eliminate the vigilance of foreigners.

Chen Han needs to hide his ambitions as much as possible, quietly accumulate strength, and wait for the chaos in France in Europe.

The emperor said that the chaos in France is likely to cause chaos in the whole of Europe. At that time, most of the British attention will be attracted to the European continent. Only then will Chen Han have the best time to attack North America.

In the past few years, in order to reassure the foreigners, Chen Han needs to focus on the northwest and southwest.

Russia is Chen Han’s first enemy in the future, and the rich India is the main direction for Chen Han’s expansion of interests in the future.

Many people disagree with the emperor’s judgment. The French are now heavily in debt. The huge debt may trigger a debt crisis. France may be in chaos for a while, but will a European power really be in flames and change dynasties?

This is too surprising. And this chaos will also trigger war and chaos throughout Europe...

Forgive their short-sightedness, the civil and military officials in the court really can’t see this possibility. As for the French enlightenment movement, those things made many people in the court laugh. How dare a mere merchant steal the monarchy? It was ridiculous.

Some people even directly suggested that the cabinet should include such books in the list of banned books, despising foreigners for being barbaric and vulgar, uneducated, ignorant of the etiquette between monarch and minister, and ignorant of the moral code.

But it was useless.

What the emperor believed was "heavenly justice".

Therefore, Chen Kuai's division of the boundaries between the two did indeed play a certain role in covering up Chen Han's accumulation of strength in North America. However, the current King Deng Chen Kuai was hiding in a wooden house, roasting a fire, and pitifully watching the Foreign Ministry staff around him "chatting" with the British envoy in the snow and wind and the howling north wind.

Chen Kuai was now on the left bank of a large lake. The local British called it "Winnipeg Lake", and the translated name was Lake Winnipeg.

The lake is very large, and you can't see the end of it at all, but the weather here is very cold, just like the North Sea [Lake Baikal]. It's only September and the local area is snowy and windy, and the bitter cold is comparable to the coldest month of winter. The lakeside is frozen, and there is only a vast expanse of white under the heavy snow.

Cold, it's really cold here. The wind and snow in the north, the cold wind penetrates the bones.

Chen Kuai sat in the wooden house, and he didn't care about the etiquette of eating. He just drank the thick white broth, and then ate the meat inside, and then put down the casserole with satisfaction. Picking up the handkerchief to wipe his face, Chen Kuai shouted the name of his close follower outside: "Xiaowulang, bring me hot water."

From the name, you can tell that Xiaowulang is Japanese, and it is a common imagination for Chen Han to have one or two Japanese around him.

Not only the security team and the guerrillas, now many poor Japanese samurai who only have a sword left have come to China to make a living, they either work as bodyguards or as followers.

Many merchants in Shanghai, Yantai, and Tianjin keep Japanese as thugs.

Although the samurai swords will be replaced with wooden swords, these Japanese samurai who have been practicing swordsmanship since childhood are really good at fighting compared to ordinary strong men. The most important thing is that they are cheap, and they are not Chinese. If they die, are injured, or are disabled, it is easy to deal with them.

Unlike the Chinese, no matter if someone dies or is injured or disabled, the host family will have to pay a heavy price. There may even be a lawsuit!

In addition, the Japanese are very loyal.

This cheap and easy-to-use object is loved by many merchants and even wealthy and powerful people. And it is not unacceptable for a nobleman like Chen Kuai to have one next to him.

Although this Japanese attendant has taken a Chinese name and got a red book under Chen Kuai's handling, Chen Kuai still likes to call him Xiaowulang.

Although this man is not very old in terms of appearance, and in terms of martial arts, he cannot be compared with the strong hands among the guards outside, and his spear skills are even worse, but there is a thing called "eye chemistry", and he just fits Chen Kuai's eye chemistry.

Kogoro Aida was born in Osaka. His ancestors were wealthy merchants, but he was not the eldest son, or even the legitimate son. When he came of age, looking at the pitiful property he had obtained, Kogoro Aida did not work hard for his master in Osaka, but bought everything and came to China with his wife.

With the help of his fellow villagers, he first went to the house of King Deng's mother's family. Although his status was humble, he worked hard and tried to correct his unfluent and authentic Nanjing Mandarin.

Finally, he met Chen Kuai, King Deng, who came to his uncle's house to play, and his life took a sudden leap.

At this moment, he was eating roasted lamb with others by the bonfire outside the wooden house. The fire made the wind and snow less cold. Several people sat around the fire, and the blazing flames reflected everyone's faces. Although King Deng was the envoy of this mission, when it came to doing the real work, Chen Kuai had no power at all.

He is more like a tool for Nanjing to show its sincerity to London.

Look! A prince has come all the way here, do you think we are sincere?

He is the younger brother of the current emperor, the younger brother who has been granted the title of prince. In Europe, he is the prince.

Although he has no actual power, his status is respected.

According to the traditional vassal relationship in the Eastern world, Chen Kuai's status is more noble than that of the vassal states such as the King of Siam, the King of Ryukyu, the King of Phnom Penh, and the King of Korea, because he is a one-character king. The thrones of Korea, Siam, Annan, Ryukyu, etc. are more like a county king in the Chinese title system. Even if the King of Korea was granted the title of prince by the Ming Emperor during the Ming Dynasty, he was still a county king.

If this gentleman went to Japan, the emperor would take the initiative to meet him, and the shogun would be under his command. Aida Kogoro is already very satisfied with his current life. If it weren't for King Deng who kept preventing him from buying land and said that he would have benefits in the future, the money he earned in the past two years would be enough for him to buy a few acres of good land in Jiangnan and live a solid life.

Hearing the call of the fourth master in the wooden house, Xiaowulang hurriedly carried a large pot of hot water in.

After mixing a basin of boiling hot water, Xiaowulang stood in front holding a glass mirror, and Chen Kuai started to shave himself with a knife.

A boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, originally just growing a beard, is the time when his face is tender, but a few years ago, after Chen Kuai saw the adults shaving their beards, he followed suit, and the result is that he has become what he is now.

At a young age, not only does he have a beard on his lips, but the stubble on his cheeks is also hard and prickly.

"Damn it, I can finally leave this damn place." Chen Kuai, whose mother is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, blurted out a national curse in Ningbo dialect. But his face showed full of joy.

Both sides have been talking for more than half a month, and finally the matter has been settled and the agreement has been finalized. Chen Kuai can finally return to Tokyo.

And this time when he returns to Tokyo, he can take a boat back to Nanjing. I don’t know if I can arrive before the New Year?

He asked the emperor for permission to come to America to entertain the troops for his fiefdom. Apart from the storms on the sea, he did not encounter any danger. He not only went to the second brother's fiefdom, but also went to Manzanillo.

The Spanish have already given up on the land in the north, but they are still gritting their teeth to insist on Manzanillo. But the emperor obviously has Spain in his hands and will never give in.

I didn't suffer much on these trips, except for the cold weather in Lake Winnipeg.

I have worked hard for half a year, and my brother must give me a good word, right?

Chen Kuai has already thought about how he will feel when he is alone in the future.

It feels so good to have a piece of land that belongs to me.