250,000 yuan a fast cruiser, this is admitted, although Yi Zhizhi is tempted, but he is not in a hurry to express his position, he still has scruples in his heart about buying sail warships, and besides, battleships are not as good as armed merchant ships, merchant ships can freely enter and exit Guangzhou, but battleships are not, he groaned slightly, and then asked: "Your country already has a steam ship now, right?" ”

"Yes." Augustine. Helde hurriedly replied, "Fulton invented the steamship before he died. ”

"Fulton is dead?" Yi Zhizu feigned surprise, but in fact he couldn't remember who Fulton was.

Herder nodded, "It's been more than twenty years since I died." ”

It's been more than twenty years since the appearance of steamships? That steam warship should have appeared a long time ago! Yi Zhishu said tentatively: "I heard that the British have developed a new type of steam warship. ”

John. "Although steam warships do not rely on wind power, they generally have a small tonnage and little combat effectiveness. ”

The tonnage is on the low side? Is it that the steam engine has not been improved yet? Yi Zhixiang was a little puzzled, but he didn't ask again, he knew very well that the upgrading of naval warships in this century was very fast, and buying sail warships at this time was completely a loss-making business, but it was okay to use it for training.

After a slight sigh, he said: "The territory of the Qing Dynasty is vast, and it takes two or three months to travel by land from Guangzhou to Beijing, and the need to build a railway is very urgent, but the construction of a railway requires a large amount of steel, and the construction of a steel plant is even more urgent.

At the same time, we also hope to cooperate with your country's powerful railway companies, we will pay money, they will contribute technology, and build the Daqing Railway together, there is no doubt that this is a huge market, all the railway companies that are willing to come to Daqing, we warmly welcome. ”

As soon as the words fell, Olifin asked, "Excuse me, is the construction of the railway funded by the government?" Or is it a businessman's contribution? ”

Yi Zhizhi said to the old god: "Judging from the information fed back so far, the railway construction in the Qing Dynasty will be run by government and business in parallel. ”

Wu Bingjian and Wu Changqing's grandson were speechless for a while, what this guy said was serious, God knows where he got the information, the poor in the court are almost unable to open the pot at the moment, and there is still money to build a railway, of course, the two will not expose his lies.

Although a group of foreign businessmen are in Guangzhou, they are drawn as a prison, not only can not even enter the city of Guangzhou, even Xiguan can not be casually strolled, usually come and go either foreign businessmen or thirteen lines of businessmen, naturally do not know the situation of the Qing Dynasty, listen to the Qing Dynasty railway construction will be government and commercial offices in parallel, are very excited.

Qing not only has a vast territory, but also a large population, quite rich, it is no exaggeration to say that Qing is the world's largest market, now Qing to build railways, open factories, purchase machinery and equipment, this is their firm, can be said to be great news, everyone knows, this contains how much business opportunities!

While delighted, Olifen said with some concern: "Mr. Yi, will your government allow foreign businessmen to enter the hinterland of the Qing Kingdom?" ”

Yi Zhisuff said with a smile: "Don't worry, in a few years, the Qing Dynasty will be completely open to the outside world." ”

"Oh, that's delightful news."

Wu Bingjian took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and instructed Wu Changqing: "Changqing, you take the guests to watch around in the garden, and come back at one o'clock to have a banquet." ”

Hearing Wu Changqing say that he wanted to lead them to see this garden, all the foreign businessmen were very happy, and they were invited to the Wu family garden to watch the banquet, which was a thing worth boasting about among foreign businessmen, and they all got up and said goodbye at the moment.

When everyone left the courtyard, Wu Bingjian looked at Yi Zhizhi with a smile and said, "Contentment wants to build a railway?" ”

"It's only a matter of time before the railroad is built." Yi Zhizhi said: "At present, no one in the Qing Dynasty realizes the importance of the railway, the railway is not only easy to transport, easy to travel, but more importantly, fast and large carrying capacity, if the train from Beijing to Guangzhou, then from Beijing to Guangzhou, according to the current train speed - an hour 30 kilometers...... It will arrive in six or seven days.

This is not only a commercial need, but also a national defense and military need, because the train can transport a large number of troops and equipment, grain and grass, with the railway, the speed of the troops' assembly, pulling, and transfer to battle will be increased by more than ten times, not to mention that there is a dense railway network in the country, as long as there are two major trunk lines in the north, south, east and west, it can greatly enhance the imperial court's control over the local provinces, and the imperial court can reduce 100,000 soldiers and horses. ”

Wu Bingjian really did not link the railway with the national defense and military, if he really wanted to be content with such an algorithm, then the construction of the railway could reduce the burden of the imperial court, and the annual expenditure of 100,000 soldiers and horses was not a small amount. ”

After a pause, he continued: "You plan to lobby the imperial court to build a railway?" But the imperial court had no money at all, and the cost of the railway was not low. ”

"The cost of the railway is actually not high, at least it is lower than the cost of opening the canal." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The imperial court has no money, it can issue treasury bonds, a profitable thing, why doesn't the imperial court do it?" ”

Seeing him mention the national debt, Wu Bingjian said with some concern: "Does Yuan Qi really plan to undertake the national debt of the imperial court?" The imperial court issues treasury bonds, what will it pay back? ”

"Customs revenues can be used as guarantees." Yi Zhi's contentment said without thinking, he remembered very clearly that the customs of the Qing Dynasty were in the crow. After the war, he was controlled by the British, and now that he is here, he naturally does not want such a thing to happen again.

Hearing this, Wu Bingjian smiled bitterly and said: "Will the imperial court be willing to use the customs as a mortgage to build a railway?" You're so whimsical! ”

"It's not impossible." Yi Zhishu said seriously: "The imperial court at the expense of customs taxes in exchange for railway construction, in fact, is a very cost-effective thing, strengthen the control of the local and not to mention, after the completion of the railway construction, can completely eliminate the transportation pressure of the canal, the grain does not need to go through the canal, directly can be transported by rail, which can save a lot of silver, moreover, the income of railway transportation is also a considerable income, plus the reduction of soldiers and horses, this account is cost-effective." ”

Wu Bingjian shook his head slightly, and said, "Wait until you have enough strength to protect yourself, otherwise the imperial court will be able to eat Yuanqi without even slag." ”

"Juniors understand." Yi Zhizu bowed slightly and said: "The construction of the railway is just a disguise, the younger generation is eager to develop the steel plant, steel is the foundation, casting cannons and guns, opening factories, and building railways are inseparable from steel." ”

"Guangdong has been dominating at home and abroad with high-quality pig iron since ancient times, especially the pig iron produced in Luoding is of the best quality, and it is not bad to open a steel plant." Wu Bingjian nodded slightly, then changed his head and said, "What do you think about the purchase of a battleship?" ”