The study was full of smoke, Yi Zhixiang and Wu Changqing each held a cigar and swallowed the clouds, with the departure of Xie Xiuyuan, He Shutai, and Yan Shikuan, Wu Changqing was very casual, got up and pushed open a window, and said casually: "Is Brother Contentment going back to Guangzhou for the New Year this year?" ”

Yi Zhizhi took a sip of hot tea, and then said slowly: "Is your old man okay?" ”

"Fortunately, in recent days, I have been talking about my brother who is content. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Yi Zhixiang smiled and said, "Old man, this is not to worry about Yuanqi." ”

"Brother Si Yu was awarded the Admiral of Nanyang, and he prepared to build a naval ......." Wu Changqing pondered for a moment and said straightforwardly: "The imperial court's move is clearly to annex Yuanqi Tuanlian, what does Brother Contentment think?" ”

"What else?" Yi Zhizhi lifted Erlang's legs with his robe, and said slowly: "The arm can't resist the thigh, Yuan Qi can't compete with the imperial court now, and can only be the will of the imperial court." ”

Hearing this, Wu Changqing was surprised, others don't know, but he knows that Yi Zhizu has put a lot of effort into Yuanqi group training, when Yuanqi group training was first established, Yi Zhizu and a group of group warriors ate and lived together and trained together, it is no exaggeration to say that Yuanqi group training is trained by Yi Zhizu himself, and it will be easy for the imperial court to annex it?

After a slight groan, he tentatively said, "Have another idea?" ”

"It's a new thing." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "The development of Yuanqi's group training to the point where it is now is the limit of what the imperial court can tolerate, and it can no longer challenge the bottom line of the imperial court. ”

Starting from scratch? Wu Changqing's mind turned, and he vaguely guessed what the other party meant, and said tentatively: "Nanyang? ”

Yi Zhizhi did not answer the rhetorical question, "Where does Changqing think it is good?" ”

"Luzon!" Wu Changqing said with a smile: "Manila and Basho are across the sea, and Luzon was originally a vassal state of China, and it is justified to seize Luzon from Spain, and Yuanqi Tuanlian now has this strength!" ”

Yi Zhishu shook his head slightly and said, "It's not appropriate to seize Luzon from Spain at this time!" ”

"What's wrong?" Wu Changqing said suspiciously: "Spain is not strong now, is it possible that it dares to send a fleet to the South China Sea to start a war?" ”

"Spain is not afraid." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "But if we seize Luzon from Spain, it will cause the British to be jealous of Yuanqi, Luzon is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and Burma is also a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, what will the English think of seizing Luzon and invading Burma?" will inevitably suppress Yuanqi!

Spain is now a toothless tiger, and if it is fought, it will be fought, but England is now the hegemon of the sea, and when Yuanqi's strength is not strong, it is best not to let England regard us as a potential opponent, in that case, the gains outweigh the losses. ”

Not Luzon? Wu Changqing frowned and said, "It can't be Nanfang from Poluozhou, right?" ”

The Nanfang State of Borneo Island is also a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, the Yuanqi fleet has frequently traded with the Nanfang State in the past two years, in the Nanyang, in addition to Luzon, Wu Changqing believes that the Nanfang Kingdom is more suitable, although the Nanfang Kingdom is far away, but it has not been invaded by the West, the local area is neither rich, the population is not much, and the most important thing is that the trade between the Nanfang Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty is not much, which is convenient for secrecy.

"Nanfang is good, but it's too comfortable to train soldiers." Yi Zhishu said that he didn't sell it, and said straightforwardly: "What I care about is Annan." ”

"Annam's Coal Mine!" Wu Changqing sat up straight like a cat that saw a mouse, staring at Yi Zhizhi with bright eyes, if he could seize the Hongji Coal Mine in Annan, Yuan Qi would be able to save a lot of silver a year, but he knew how big the market for Annan coal in Guangzhou was, not to mention the industrial coal for steam engines, even the people's daily coal consumption had also increased rapidly in the past two years.

With the promotion of honeycomb coal, more and more people are now starting to use coal, and the demand for Annam coal is also increasing, and he knows very well that this market will only get bigger and bigger.

If he can grab the Annan Coal Mine, just selling coal will be a lot of income in a year, but he quickly calmed down and said: "Annan is a vassal state after all, and Yuanqi directly seized the Annan Coal Mine, I'm afraid it's not appropriate, right?" ”

"Changqing is worried that the teacher will be unknown, right?" Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "It's not easy to find an excuse, and then find a justifiable way to send troops to Hongji!" After a pause, he continued: "Seizing the Hongji Coal Mine, you can not only justifiably recruit a large number of workers to mine the coal mine, but also justifiably send Yuanqi regimental training to station. ”

Wu Changqing was both excited and a little worried, "What if the imperial court interferes?" ”

"When the court knows, the daylilies are cold." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "If the imperial court really intervenes and asks Yuan Qi to withdraw his troops, then withdraw, but how can there be any reason to spit out the meat that eats in his mouth?" When the time comes, let the Yuanqi group practice changing clothes. ”

Wu Changqing pointed at him with a smile and said, "Brother Contentment is really bold. ”

"For the imperial court, it's just a source of disaster." Yi Zhifen said with a smile: "Yuan Qi snatched the Hongji Coal Mine and fought to the death with Annan, the imperial court should be happy to see it, today, I'm afraid that I'm dreaming about how to consume the strength of Yuan Qi's group training, Yuan Qi is tossing in Annan, and I'm afraid that I'll wake up laughing when I'm dreaming."

If we can't create value for Yuanqi, a group of shareholders are afraid that there will be complaints, and the robbery of Hongji Coal Mine is just the beginning of Yuanqi group practice to create value for Yuanqi. ”

After the handover with Wu Changqing, Yi Zhizhi also moved out of the Daoya, and lived directly in the West Garden in the northwest of the City God Temple.

With Yi Zhi's contentment moving into the West Garden, the originally deserted West Garden immediately became lively, and the officials and shopkeepers of various departments such as the Dao Ya, the County Ya, the Military Barracks, the Yuanqi Branch, and the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce came and went to the West Garden.

Xie Xiuyuan and He Shutai were not idle, they rented a yard on the street near Xiyuan, and publicly hung up the signboard of Donghuang Silk Company, and then advertised that Donghuang Silk Industry Co., Ltd. was recruiting franchise franchisees in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in a conspicuous position in Jiangning Daily and Lin'an Daily.

Donghuang Silk Co., Ltd. franchise fee is not low, the franchise fee of 1,000 silk reeling machines is 100,000 taels of silver, the first three years will also occupy the bulk of the income, three years later to share the profits with the franchisee, it can be said to be extremely harsh, but the machine silk reeling factory in Guangdong has made a reputation, the raw silk reeled by the machine reeling silk factory is not only of good quality, but also high efficiency, large output, is an advertisement to go out, many far-sighted gentry and businessmen do not care about the approaching New Year, have rushed to Shanghai at the fastest speed.

At the same time, countless cash money poured into Yuanqi branches around the country, applying to join that requires silver, and the biggest advantage of Yuanqi Bank is that the transfer is convenient and fast, and the deposit and exchange, a vote in hand, as long as there is a Yuanqi branch, there is no need to worry, can save countless troubles, and who does not know that Yuanqi is the largest owner of Donghuang Silk Company.

"Tingtao Pavilion" is easy to be content with the temporary study, He Shutai said in a rambling voice: "Although the Qing Dynasty is the three major raw silk centers, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian, but in fact, Guangdong and Fujian are not as good as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, how many silk reeling machines is expected to be digested by Jiangsu and Zhejiang?" ”

"Don't be too optimistic, as the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment." Yi Zhishu poured a basin of cold water on his head, "Jiangsu and Zhejiang are indeed the largest raw silk centers in the Qing Dynasty, and the output is also the largest, but the promotion of machine silk reeling is afraid that it is not as good as Guangdong." ”

Xie Xiuyuan was puzzled and said, "Why is this? ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at He Shutai and said, "Shopkeeper He should be able to guess the reason." ”

After pondering for a long time, He Shutai said: "But is it because of the quality of raw silk? ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizhi said: "The three major raw silk centers, the quality of raw silk in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is the best, the silk produced in Guangdong and Fujian is not as good as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, in the domestic raw silk market, the raw silk of Jiangsu and Zhejiang can be said to be the leader, why the machine reeling silk in Guangdong can be smoothly implemented, and very popular? It is because the quality of the silk reeled by the machine is good, and it can press the raw silk of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

But at present, raw silk is mainly sold internally, the quality of raw silk in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is enough to meet domestic demand, the desire to introduce machine reeling in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is not very strong, coupled with the franchise fee of Donghuang is quite not low, the first batch of requirements to join, should be far-sighted and ambitious and financially strong gentry businessmen, as expected, Donghuang into Jiangsu and Zhejiang, will lead to a new round of reshuffle in the silk market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, will not be too smooth, at least not as smooth as Guangdong, this, we have to be psychologically prepared. ”

"The big shopkeeper, the subordinates don't understand." Xie Xiuyuan interjected: "Since the quality of raw silk reeled by Guangdong machines is better than that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, won't it have an impact on the raw silk market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang?" ”

"The impact is naturally there, but it is not big, because the raw silk produced in Guangdong is mainly used for export." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "The two-year war has a great impact on Guangzhou's export trade, but the trade between Yuanqi and Citigroup has not been broken, Yuanqi's main export commodity is raw silk, because raw silk is expensive and lightweight, easy to transport, so Guangdong's machine silk reeling for Jiangsu and Zhejiang's raw silk market is not a big impact. ”

This point, He Shutai is quite clear, he is a little anxious to say: "The meaning of the big shopkeeper, unless it is a great breakthrough in the foreign trade of raw silk, it is not difficult to promote machine silk reeling in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but how to expand the export of raw silk?" ”

"Since Donghuang wants to monopolize the export of raw silk, it must understand the international market for raw silk." Yi Zhifu glanced at He Shutai with some dissatisfaction, "I'm just showing you the way and taking the lead, you will have to rely on yourself in the future, Donghuang should train talents to keep abreast of the international raw silk market trends." ”

After a pause, he continued: "England occupies an absolutely important position in the trade between the East and the West, and for a long time, the main trade commodities between England and the Qing Dynasty are tea and raw silk, although the amount of raw silk is not large, but the trade volume is firmly occupying the second place, but do you know how much share of the raw silk exported by our Qing Dynasty occupies in the raw silk trade of England?" ”

He Shutai didn't even know anything about the situation of the international raw silk, where would he know this data, and immediately shook his head blankly, Yi Zhizu stretched out a slap and said: "It's not fifty percent, it's five percent!" Per cent! ”

"So low?" Xie Xiuyuan lost his voice and said: "This is impossible! What other countries produce filament? ”

"India, France, the Italian Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire all produced silk." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "In addition, there is also the Wa Kingdom, however, the Wa Kingdom is closed to the country, and England has no trade with the Wa Kingdom, and most of the raw silk purchased by the British is purchased from the above four countries and regions.

In the past two years, a serious economic crisis has broken out in England, and the silk weaving market has been greatly impacted, but even so, the total amount of raw silk imported by England last year was still as high as 16 million silver dollars! ”

Sixteen million silver dollars! He Shutai swallowed his saliva, this data really shocked him!

"Once the economic crisis is over, the total amount of raw silk imports in England will rise sharply, and it is possible to double it." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "In addition, with the development of the silk weaving industry in Europe, France may also change from a raw silk exporter to an importer of raw silk, and Citigroup will also develop a large number of silk weaving industries, which is why I boldly assert that our raw silk export trade in the Qing Dynasty will increase significantly in the next few years!" Today, the export trade volume of raw silk in the Qing Dynasty may exceed 40 million, or even 50 million silver dollars! ”

Not only He Shutai, but even Xie Xiuyuan's heart is tight, the export volume of the annual raw silk of the Qing Dynasty is as high as 40 or 50 million silver dollars, what does it mean for Donghuang, who monopolizes the foreign trade of raw silk in the Great Qing Dynasty? Just the next item of raw silk, a year is tens of millions of silver dollars, no wonder the big shopkeeper attaches so much importance to raw silk! I can't wait to monopolize the raw silk of the Qing Dynasty!

For Yi Zhi's vision, He Shutai can be said to be extremely admired, naturally he will not doubt Yi Zhi's judgment, and after settling down, he asked: "Donghuang's machine silk reeling quality may compete with India, France and other four countries?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "Judging from the news fed back by Citigroup merchants, it should be very popular, but we can't rest on our laurels and stagnate, we must continue to improve and improve the quality and yield of raw silk, otherwise we will be eliminated ......." ”

Before he finished speaking, Li Wang walked quickly to the door and reported: "Sir, the Beijing division is six hundred miles in an emergency." (To be continued.) )