As soon as Yi Zhixiang's voice fell, a group of diners on the second floor turned their heads and whispered, who was the other party? The first-class viscount, the Nanyang Admiral, and the treasurer of Yuan Qi, not everyone can casually come to him, and it is definitely a dignified thing to come forward to greet him. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

And the other party in Shanghai can definitely be said to be the existence of the emperor of the soil, whether it is officialdom or shopping malls, they are absolutely all their words, and it must be of great benefit to be familiar with each other in front of them.

Although many people know in their hearts that Yi Zhixiang's move is to encourage them to bring their female dependents to the restaurant, in the face of such benefits, why not let the female relatives show their faces? Didn't I see that other people's lords, daotai, and county lords all brought their female dependents to go?

There was a smart and anxious person, and then he got up and left quickly, intending to pick up the female dependents to take the lead, a middle-aged gentleman arched his hand and said: "I dare to ask, dare to ask how often the lord comes here to feast?" ”

"Sit, it's all casual, you don't have to be too formal." Yi Zhisuff stretched out his hand and pressed it without any sham, and then said: "As long as Benjue is in Shanghai, he will come at least once a month." As he spoke, he waved his hand, "Don't disturb your meal, please take care of yourself." ”

"It's not about not disturbing you, it's about asking everyone here not to disturb us." Yan Shikuan chuckled and said, "If the big shopkeeper is the boss, we can touch it a few more times in the future." ”

"Just your delicate heart." Yi Zhizu rolled his eyes.

"As soon as the big shopkeeper's words spread, the business of this restaurant is only afraid that it will become more and more popular." Wu Changqing smiled and said: "However, in the future, the pressure on the Shanghai Daoya County Government will be great, and I am afraid that any injustice will be stabbed to the big shopkeeper." ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi smiled, "I just wanted to encourage them to bring female donations to socialize and lead the trend, but I didn't expect this layer to be regarded as unintentional." ”

"I'm afraid it's hard to think of this restaurant if you can't think of it, and in the future, not only gentry and businessmen, but also ordinary people, and foreigners will also frequent this restaurant." Yan Shikuan said with a smile: "I have to think about it, whether to invest in this restaurant." ”

"Virtue." Yi Zhizhi said angrily: "These two melons and jujubes can also enter the eyes of your strict shopkeeper?" ”

Yan Shikuan smiled disapprovingly: "This fertilizer water can't flow into the fields of outsiders, how about Yuan Qi build a restaurant by himself?" ”

With a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi bowed his head and said: "It's not impossible, but it's still a little early, just wait two years." ”

Liu Guangdou is the magistrate of the county, and he is responsible for indoctrination, seeing this situation, he felt quite embarrassed, hesitated for a while, and then plucked up the courage to say: "Sir, the woman shows her face, which is contrary to etiquette and religion, and this trend is opened, I am afraid that the lord will be ......criticized in the future." ”

Seeing that he was outspoken, Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "Lord Liu is dedicated to his duties and persuaded him with good words, and Benjue is very pleased." After a pause, he said: "However, Shanghai is not an ordinary prefecture and county, but a treaty port, because of its geographical location, in a few years, it is possible to keep pace with Guangzhou, and become the most prosperous treaty port in the Qing Dynasty, and all kinds of Westerners from Western countries, such as officials, missionaries, merchants, scholars, craftsmen, soldiers, sailors, etc., will come one after another."

At that time, Shanghai will become a place where the East and the West meet, and the cultural thoughts, political economy, military science and technology, social customs, etc., will form a huge collision between the East and the West, and the feminist movement and women's emancipation in the West will also surge.

Of course, Benjue does not deny that Yuanqi needs a large number of female workers in order to promote machine silk reeling factories, open large-scale spinning factories, Western-style schools, Western-style hospitals, etc., so let's say that women's emancipation is not only in line with the trend, but also the trend of the times, which cannot be stopped. ”

Speaking of this, he smiled and said, "Benjue is not afraid of being pointed at by a thousand people...... ”

Before he finished speaking, he raised his eyes and saw Li Wang coming quickly, he estimated that there was something urgent, and immediately stopped, Li Wang walked quickly to him, and said softly: "Lin Butang has arrived in the West Garden." ”

Lin Zexu came to Weifu? What happened? It seems that there is nothing major recently, but whether there is anything wrong or not, Lin Zexu came, he didn't dare to slack off, immediately greeted a few people, and hurried back to the West Garden.

In the lobby of "Tingtao Pavilion", Bao Shichen accompanied Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, who were dressed in civilian clothes, and talked softly, and the topics all revolved around the disaster victims' work-for-relief, recruitment of the navy, and the Naval Academy.

Yi Zhishu hurried back, and as soon as he entered the door, he smiled again and again: "The Lord of the Ministry didn't say hello when he came, but he was rude to let him sincerely." ”

Lin Zexu got up and said with a smile: "The headquarters doesn't like to deal with those foreigners, so I deliberately came here in a slight way." ”

Yi Zhizhi said to Wei Yuan again: "I've seen Mr. Wei." ”

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "You don't need to be polite. ”

"It's rare for Mr. Wei Yuan to come to Shanghai once, and you have to be polite if you're not welcome." Yi Zhizu said with a smile: "I called the table to wash the dust for the two of you, and you have to toast the two of you for a few cups." ”

After the four of them greeted each other, Wei Yuan sat down, and said: "All the way from Baoshan, Shanghai's cash-for-work project is extraordinary, and contentment is really generous. ”

"As a port, Shanghai is strategically located, radiating the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang, once the Beijing-Hangzhou railway is opened to traffic, it can cover the north of the Yangtze River, and it will not take a few years to become the largest treaty port in the Qing Dynasty." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "If you don't plan now and think about it in the long run, it will be a lot of trouble in the future." ”

Lin Zexu didn't hesitate to save a sentence, "This kind of vision and courage can only be found with contentment." ”

"Lord Ministry's praise." Yi Zhishu hurriedly humbled a sentence, and then said tentatively: "The ministry lord came here in micro-service, won't it be to inspect the work-for-relief project?" ”

Seeing him ask like this, Lin Zexu didn't go around in circles, and said straightforwardly: "What is Yuanqi's plan to send troops to Annan?" ”

Is it really for the matter of sending troops to Annan? Yi Zhishu was pondering the purpose of Lin Zexu's coming on the way back, and vaguely guessed that he was here for this, after all, there was nothing big during this time, when he said without thinking: "Let's fight first to see the situation, if you can fight, if you can't, you will occupy Xin'an Mansion, Hongji Coal Mine is very important to the development of Guangzhou, and it has great value in itself, and it must be occupied by unscrupulous means." ”

Lin Zexu was stunned when he heard this, but he didn't expect Yi Zhishu to say it so explicit and straightforward, he couldn't wait to say: "How valuable is Hongji Coal Mine?" ”

Yi Zhishu took out a cigar and said slowly, "Immeasurable." ”

The few people who saw him looked at him with a shocked face, and Yi Zhizhi lit his cigar slowly, and then said slowly: "The anthracite produced by Hongji can be called the top, it is a rare industrial coal, not only suitable for open-pit mining, but also has a large and considerable reserve, and it is no problem to mine for decades, and its value is indeed immeasurable, if you have to estimate, it is conservatively estimated to be two billion silver dollars." ”

Two billion silver dollars! Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, and Bao Shichen looked at him dumbfounded, with an expression of disbelief on their faces, seeing this situation, Yi Zhishu smiled secretly in his heart, I don't know how Daoguang would react when he saw Lin Zexu's secret folds?

Hongji's coal reserves are quite large, and it is the largest coal mine in Southeast Asia, with reserves of three or four billion tons, and Yi Zhizhi is only estimated at two billion taels of silver, which is indeed very conservative.

After a while, Lin Zexu muttered, "Is it really so valuable? ”

Yi Zhizu nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Since the beginning of the previous year, Yuan Qi has successively sent people to Hongji to explore coal reserves, and the coal reserves of the entire Xin'an Mansion are extremely amazing, and it is estimated that they will not be mined in two hundred years, otherwise, they will brazenly send troops to Annan and seize Hongji Port." ”

This information is really shocking, including Bao Shichen, no one expected that the reserves of Hongji Coal Mine were so amazing, and the value was so great, the imperial court could only earn 30 or 40 million taels of silver a year, and a Hongji Coal Mine was worth 2 billion taels of silver, which was really amazing!

After a while, Wei Yuancai said: "After all, Annan is a vassal state of the Great Qing Dynasty, so forcibly occupying it is no different from forcibly seizing it, and I don't worry about damaging Yuanqi's reputation?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "Expanding abroad and plundering resources is a long-term goal of Yuanqi. ”

Seeing that he said so calmly, Wei Yuan said in astonishment: "How is that different from the Western countries? ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and asked slowly, "Does Mr. Wei know how many people there were at the beginning of this dynasty, and how many people are there now?" ”

As for the population, Wei Yuan really doesn't know very well, he only knows that the increase is very large, but if he wants to be specific, he really doesn't dare to say anything, after all, there is still a Bao Shichen who is known as the 'all-round staff' here.

"At the beginning of the founding of the country, the country had a population of only 60 million." Yi Zhizhi said without hurry: "Today, there should be more than 400 million people in the country, after 200 years of recuperation, it has increased sevenfold, and the southeast coastal provinces have increased the most, Guangdong, Shunzhi was only 3 million in the last years, and now it is as high as 25.7 million!" Even more so in Fujian!

In the past two hundred years, the cultivated land has only increased by three percent, and now the per capita cultivated land in Guangdong is less than one and a half acres. Four acres per capita!

Even if it is intensively cultivated, one and a half acres cannot guarantee food and clothing, the group Yong recruited by the Yuanqi group training is very clear in the next, before entering the Yuanqi group training, not to mention eating meat, even white rice is a luxury, and sweet potato rice can be eaten all year round It is very good.

There are many people and few places, and the only way out is to expand externally! Nanyang is undoubtedly the best direction for expansion! This is one of them.

Second, the South Seas, the Qing Dynasty does not occupy them, Western countries will also occupy them, England, the Netherlands, Spain has occupied a lot of places in the South Seas, and the follow-up France will also follow, and when the South Seas are all occupied by Western countries, what will the Qing Dynasty face?

Third, without external expansion, the Qing Dynasty will not be able to resolve the increasingly intensified social contradictions, improve the current economic situation, and reverse the current backward situation, and will always be in a situation of backwardness and being beaten! Is it foreign expansion, aggression against other countries? Or do you rest on your laurels and be invaded? It shouldn't be difficult to choose, right? ”

After a pause, he continued: "Breaking through the east of the Guandong, going to the west exit, and going to the South Seas, are the three major immigration waves, among which the following Nanyang is the largest, rather than letting the people spontaneously immigrate outward and be bullied, it is better for the imperial court to expand and immigrate outward, Yuan Qi hit Annam this time, not only to forcibly occupy Hongji, but also an attempt to expand to the South Seas." ”

The hall was quiet, no one said a word, the land was narrow and dense, the number of teeth was increasing, the population increased dramatically, the serious social problems caused by food shortages and land annexation had been paid attention to as early as the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, and now, it has become more and more intense, but the imperial court is powerless, perhaps, as Yi Zhizhi said, expansion to the South Seas is the only choice.

Yi Zhizhi smoked a cigar and kept silent, Daoguang stopped at Xin'an Mansion with Yuanqi, but he intended to expand the war in Annan, today's conversation with Lin Zexu can be regarded as a precaution, of course, if Daoguang can be prompted to make up his mind to annex Annan, let Yuanqi toss in Annan It would be better!

After a long time, Lin Zexu spoke: "Annan is capricious, Yuan Qi is sure to conquer?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "How many troops does the Yuanqi Regiment have to practice, this is just a tentative attack. ”

Lin Zexu came to Shanghai this time, just to understand Yi Zhi's true intentions and thoughts of sending troops to Annan, Daoguang did not say a word about Yuan Qi's dispatch of troops to Annan, Wang Ding and Pan Shien couldn't figure out Daoguang's thoughts, and they didn't know what Yi Zhixiang wanted to do, so Lin Zexu came to find out, now the dispute between the Manchu and Han dynasties in the DPRK and China is like fire and water, and neither Wang nor Pan wants to miss any opportunity.

After a little hesitation, Lin Zexu asked: "The situation of Hongji Coal Mine, can contentment be played truthfully?" What is the emperor's attitude towards Yuan Qi's dispatch of troops to Annam? ”

"The emperor didn't ask about the situation of Hongji Coal Mine, and he didn't say it in detail." Yi Zhizhi said: "Yuanqi Tuanlian has now fully captured Xin'an Mansion, and the emperor Zhu approved it and stopped at Xin'an Mansion. ”

Stopping at Sin'an? Lin Zexu said in a deep voice: "Is it willing to be content? ”

"Of course it's going to be a dozen." Yi Zhizhi said without thinking: "If you don't hurt Annan, the imperial court may not be able to pocket Xin'an Mansion." ”

Hearing this, Wei Yuan smiled and said: "Xin'an Mansion was taken into the pocket of the imperial court, wouldn't Yuan Qi be thankless?" ”

"Hongji Coal Mine is naturally Yuanqi." Yi Zhixiang smiled: "However, Yuan Qi will pay taxes to the imperial court as usual. ”

"Two million a year." Lin Zexu said abruptly.

Pay two million taxes to the imperial court a year? Yi Zhishu shook his head like a rattle, "Impossible, Hongji Coal Mine has limited transportation capacity now, and it can't mine many tons of coal a year, two million, Yuan Qi can't afford it, and it's almost 200,000." ”

"Contentment is worthy of being the treasurer of Yuanqi." Lin Zexu laughed and said: "Yuan Qi sent troops to Annam without authorization, and he wanted to block the mouth of the court and China with 200,000 taxes and silver a year?" ”

It couldn't have been Daoguang who asked him to come, right? Yi Zhishu pondered for a moment before saying, "500,000 a year, no more!" Not to mention paying taxes normally, Yuanqi can't earn 200,000 yuan a year from Hongji Coal Mine. ”

"Half a million can gag most people's mouths." Lin Zexu said with a smile: "Wang and Pan will inevitably be able to Ding Yuanqi. (To be continued.) )