Just when Daoguang couldn't make up his mind, Zhang Erhan bowed down at the door and reported: "Your Majesty, the scholar Wang Ding, the scholar of the Ministry of Households, Tang Jinzhao, and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Yiji, handed over the sign outside to ask to see. ”

Daoguang paused for a moment, and then understood that the three of them came to ask for rain, and the Jingshi had not rained for more than a month, and he, the son of heaven, had to go and ask for rain in person, but the three of them came just in time, just to ask for the opinions of the three people, and even said: "Let them come in." ”

After the three of Wang Ding came in to greet him, Daoguang said straightforwardly: "Guangdong Governor Yiliang plays a report, crow. The root cause of smuggling lies in the long-term asymmetry of foreign trade. After repeating Yi Zhi's analysis, he said, "What do you think about this?" ”

As soon as Wang Ding heard this, he knew that this must be an opinion that was easy to be content, and Yiliang could not have this insight, so he groaned a little, and said: "Back to the emperor, this opinion can be described as hitting the nail on the head, pointing to the root." ”

Tang Jinzhao, who was originally the secretary of the ministry and was transferred to the head of the household department, followed: "Back to the emperor, Weichen thinks that it is indeed quite reasonable. ”

Yiji, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, said bluntly: "Back to the emperor, the slave doesn't understand the economy, but it makes sense to listen to it, and he loses money every year, and he can't help but do business, how can he not think of other ways?" ”

Daoguang smiled when he heard this, stretched out his hand, and said, "It's all flat." The three people who were waiting to thank him got up, and then he said, "Since you all feel that it is reasonable, you can talk about it, once the crows are completely banned. Will smuggling affect Guangzhou's foreign trade? ”

Hearing this, the three of them didn't dare to speak indiscriminately, Guangdong Customs is the South Treasury of the Son of Heaven, and the annual tariff is 1.45 million taels of silver. This money was mainly allocated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The main function of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is to manage the affairs of the Crown. In other words, the Guangdong Customs is actually the emperor's money bag.

Since Daoguang asked, the three of them didn't dare not reply, and after a little thought, Tang Jinzhao of the household department opened his mouth and said: "Go back to the emperor, because the crow. smuggling, losing tens of millions of taels of silver a year, smuggling is prohibited. Guangzhou's foreign trade will inevitably be affected, however, the bulk commodities exported by the Thirteen Banks' foreign trade are mainly tea, and for decades, England and Citi have been accustomed to drinking tea, and Weichen secretly thinks that even if it has an impact, it will not last long. ”

Daoguang glanced at the fold on the desk and looked at the three of them expressionlessly. Wang Ding knew that Tang Jinzhao didn't get to the point, and his heart moved. If this is an analysis that is easy to know, how can there be no advice? What does that kid want to do? Build a railway!

Thinking of this, he hurriedly bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, business and trade are originally for profit, and crows are forbidden. Piece, foreign businessmen will be in a situation of continuous loss, and in the long run, crow. It is very likely that smuggling will not be stopped, and even if it can be stopped, it may re-emerge and spread again.

Wei Chen secretly thought that the long-term unequal foreign trade was actually the source of the disaster, and the imperial court was banning crows. At the same time, it is necessary to follow the guidance of the good way in order to properly solve the trade imbalance, and only in this way can foreign trade flourish in the long run. ”

These words can be regarded as speaking to Daoguang's heart, and he is also worried that foreign trade will be cut off or it will be difficult to stop opium smuggling because of the smoking ban, so he immediately bowed his head slightly and said: "Is there a good plan for Dingjiu?" ”

Although Wang Ding guessed that Yi Zhishu was likely to take this opportunity to promote Daoguang's determination to promote the construction of the railway, he was reluctant to take the initiative to say it, so he bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, crow. The profit is large, and it is difficult for Weichen to have a substitute. ”

Daoguang said with a smile: "Railway construction, may it be replaced?" ”

"Back to the emperor—." Wang Ding pondered and said: "The construction of the railway costs a lot of money, and there are a lot of profits, and the territory of the Qing Dynasty is vast, and it may not be able to be completed in decades, and the construction of the railway is a move for the benefit of the country and the people." ”

As soon as he heard that he suddenly went around to build a railway, Yi Ji wanted to open his mouth to object, but suddenly realized that this was a matter of Daoguang's money bag - whether the tariffs of Guangdong Customs would be affected, and Daoguang himself took the initiative to propose it, so he quickly closed his mouth with interest.

Glancing at him, Dao Guangcai said: "If the railway is built, the control over the foreigners will inevitably be loosened, and they will take the opportunity of building the railway to go deep into the interior to preach or learn our Chinese culture." ”

Without waiting for Wang Ding to speak, Tang Jinzhao said: "Your Majesty, this is not a concern, but foreigners can first build railways in Guangdong or Guangxi, and learn from others, once they have mastered the technology of railway construction, they will build inland railways by themselves. ”

This is feasible, Daoguang nodded slightly, and has already made up his mind, let the Thirteen Lines build the Fozhou-Guangzhou Railway as soon as possible, so that the imperial court can investigate in detail and see if the railway train is really as good as it says.

Guangzhou, Huangpu Port.

A beautiful full-sail fast sailing ship slowly galloped into the port, and on the bow, Olifin pointed to the direction of Guangzhou City with excitement on his face, and said loudly: "Guangzhou, Guangzhou is ahead!" On behalf of Olifin, 13 Banks and Yuanqi Bank, I would like to welcome you to Guangzhou! ”

Looking at the large black buildings in front of them, and at the dense and almost empty boats of all kinds on both sides of the river, a group of young people who came to Guangzhou for the first time and had been adrift at sea for three months couldn't help but cheer loudly, they finally came to the largest port in the Far East, the most prosperous and prosperous port in the world!

As soon as the ship entered the port, Oliphyn couldn't wait to slip off the ship, took a small boat to Xiguan, nearly a year, he went from Guangzhou to France, from France to Boston to New York, went around a big circle and returned to Guangzhou, he is now most urgent to see Yuanqi's Yida shopkeeper as soon as possible - easy contentment!

Yi Zhizhi is not far from Huangpu Port in Yuanqi Yixue, every time he comes to Yixue, he does not want to be accompanied by the husband of Yixue, change into student clothes and walk around, watch the progress of the expansion project, the housekeeping of the students' dormitories, the food in the canteen, and sometimes watch the students on the playground take physical education classes under the shade of the trees.

Of course, it is essential to talk to several tentative school leaders of Yixue to understand the various situations and needs of the school, Yixue has just been established, and there are foreigners in the school, all kinds of miscellaneous things will naturally not be less, every time he comes, the most headache is to enter the conference room.

Today is the same, in the conference room with a few school leaders to talk about trivial matters for nearly an hour, he came out dizzy, and was about to go back to Xiguan, but a student he met shouted timidly: "Big shopkeeper." ”

Glancing at the other party, it seemed that he had some impressions, and Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "Is it Yuanqi's apprentice?" ”

The student bowed down smartly and said, "Wang Liqiu has seen the big shopkeeper. (To be continued.) )