"Are you still young? He was already twenty years old this year, so he had to choose one!”
Li Ying's eyebrows were raised, and a rare look of anger appeared on his face.
The two maids who were serving at the side looked at each other in surprise.
After serving the Empress Dowager for three years, this was the first time he had seen the gentle and kind Empress Dowager lose her temper. Only the Emperor could anger the Empress Dowager.
With a bitter face, Qin Zhen took the photo and took a look. He took out a photo and handed it to his mother.
"Zhou Youwei?"
Li Ying's eyes lit up and a bright smile appeared on her face. She gave her son a thumbs up and praised his taste.
"That's right. I like Youwei very much. She has a gentle and dignified personality. She's well-educated and well-mannered. She's so beautiful that she can topple a country.”
Qin Zhen rolled his eyes.
Of course, he had to seriously consider the candidate for the empress. Among the ten girls, only Zhou Youwei was the most suitable.
First of all, the Zhou family only had two siblings in Zhou Youwei's generation. The elder brother had died in the First World War, leaving behind a fifteen-year-old daughter.
After Zhou Youwei became the empress, she was not afraid that the Zhou family would become strong again and threaten the imperial power.
Imperial Kingdoms could not avoid the problem of relatives interfering in politics. In the history of Great Qin, there had been many incidents of relatives interfering in politics, and it was only after the implementation of the Constitution of the Monarch that this problem was gradually eliminated.
However, as long as the imperial system was not abolished, the aristocratic class would still exist. If the relatives could not become officials, they could not use their power to earn money and do business.
Great Qin was a highly developed capitalist country, and once a family that was as wealthy as a country appeared, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Fortunately, Great Qin's largest capitalist was the royal family, who controlled 70% of the country's banks, education, water, electricity, roads, military, heavy industry, ship manufacturing, and shipping. They had a firm grasp of the country's economy, which was why they had been able to stand firm against the Western countries 'attacks for two centuries.
Without the royal family controlling the economy, Great Qin would have collapsed long ago.
More importantly, he knew Zhou Youwei and was very close to her. She was childhood sweethearts with his predecessor.
Her predecessor was introverted and liked to be quiet, while Zhou Youwei was soft on the outside but tough on the inside. Qin Zhen was still very puzzled as to how the two of them got together.
"Mother, Youwei and I are childhood sweethearts. I'll just ask the Minister of Internal Affairs to propose marriage. Don't worry.”
"No, I'll personally arrange your marriage. Zhou Yahui and your father are old friends. When your father was still alive, he said that Youwei would be the Crown Princess. It just so happened that Youwei's mother passed away and she needed to be in mourning for three years.”
After Li Ying finished speaking, she put away the photo with a smile on her face and got up to straighten her long dress.
After getting a clear answer from Qin Zhen, she couldn't wait any longer.
At this critical moment where foreign enemies were lurking around, the situation was treacherous, and the western powers had sealed off the country with their deadly hands, it was an inspiring event for the fearful citizens to have an heir.
"Little Zhen, rest early. Mother will make a trip to the Zhou family!”
After saying that, Li Ying left with the two maids in a hurry, leaving Qin Zhen in a mess.
Was it necessary?
Was it that urgent?
Alright, they were going to get married sooner or later anyway. It wouldn't be bad to get married next year.
After enjoying the breeze in the pavilion for a while, Qin Zhen got up and walked towards the bedroom, which was the independent Chinese-style villa located in the center of the palace.
……
The next morning, in the parliament building.
The parliament building, built in 1720, took up a huge area and was divided into the main building and 18 auxiliary buildings. They were distributed at the foot of Mount Li in the northeast of Xianyang City in the shape of the Eight Trigrams. The appearance was a combination of Chinese and Western, and it was very unique. It was also the power center of the Great Qin Empire.
There were seven provinces on Qin Island, which were divided into North Province, East Province, West Province, South Province, Tai 'an Province, Haidong Province, and Jingdu Province. The names of the provinces and cities were all in Chinese.
Xianyang, which was located on the coast, was the capital. It was once the world's largest port, the world's largest industrial zone, the world's largest financial center, the world's largest shipyard, and the world's largest city. The resident population was three million. The city's layout was reasonable, and there were many high-rise buildings. It was extremely prosperous.
The first city in the world to build a streetcar and subway was not in the west, but Xianyang. It could be seen how developed Great Qin was before it declined.
However, after the western countries rose up, they saw Great Qin as a thorn in their side, and they worked together to kill Great Qin. In the First World War, Xianyang suffered a devastating blow, and one-third of its infrastructure was destroyed by Great Britain's cannons. Over 300,000 civilians died.
More than ten years had passed, and the smoke had dissipated. After the reconstruction of Xianyang City, it had returned to the scale before the war. However, the traces of the war could still be seen everywhere, such as an unexploded cannon shell on the square in front of the parliament building.
The reason why it was left behind and surrounded by a white marble fence was to sound an alarm for future generations and not forget the national humiliation.
Every time Qin Zhen came to the parliament building, he had to see the 381mm shell that was deeply embedded in the concrete.
It was launched on August 12, 1917 by the Queen Elizabeth class battleship Balham.
On that day, the outer seas of the port were filled with the Union Flag, Star-Spangled Banner, and other warships from the nine countries. Explosions filled the sky, and Xianyang City was on fire. Countless exquisite buildings had been destroyed by the bombardment, and unarmed civilians were crying and wailing. This was the first time since Great Qin had been established that it had been attacked by an enemy.
Qin Zhen looked at the cannonballs for a while, then turned his head to look at the towering monument not far away, and the black golden dragon flag fluttering in the wind on the flagpole in front of the monument. The huge golden Qin character made his sense of mission even heavier.
Revenge-none of the enemies who had humiliated Great Qin could be spared.
Qin Zhen made up his mind and turned to walk to the stairs in front of the parliament building.
At this moment, in the parliament building, more than a hundred high-ranking officials and generals had already arrived in advance and were waiting for Qin Zhen to arrive.
Yesterday, the western countries had announced that they would ban the export of food to Great Qin, and today, the Emperor had called for a cabinet meeting to discuss how to deal with this crisis.
Minister of National Defense Xiao Teng turned to Prime Minister Li Xiong.
"Old Li, when you went to report to His Majesty yesterday, what did His Majesty say?”
Li Xiong put down the fountain pen in his hand and said softly,"Didn't you see the notice? His Majesty decided to distribute food, oil, and meat for free until the crisis was resolved.”
Hearing this, Xiao Teng's expression changed.
He wasn't blind or deaf, so of course he knew about this cabinet announcement that had shaken the entire country.
The problem was that the western countries were determined to destroy Great Qin, and they had sent a few fleets to patrol around Qin Island, forming an impregnable fortress. Where would the food and food for these 15 million people come from?
"Old Li, the notice has been sent out, and the people in the country believe it. If we can't send out the food, I'm afraid we'll be in big trouble!”
"I don't know either. Everything was decided by His Majesty. All we can do is unconditionally obey His Majesty's orders.”
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