50,000 units? Deng Tingzhen asked in surprise: "Why do you need so many silk reeling machines?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "The French silk reeling machine not only has high silk reeling efficiency, but also has a slightly better quality of reeling silk. ”

"That's a good thing." Deng Tingzhen said with a smile, Guangdong is a large sericulture province, and he is also quite concerned about sericulture as the governor of Liangguang, and the French silk reeling machine can improve the efficiency of silk reeling and the quality of raw silk, and he is naturally happy.

Seeing that he praised lightly and then disappeared, Yi Zhizhi naturally did not do it, he led the topic of silk reeling machine along the way, in order to blow the wind on the recruitment of female workers in the machine silk reeling factory, so as not to interfere with the local government as immoral, he immediately continued: "The French silk reeling machine is good, but it is driven by a steam engine, and I am going to cooperate with the silk merchants in Shunde to open a machine silk reeling factory to recruit female workers. ”

"Recruiting female workers?" Deng Tingzhen frowned.

"Silk reeling has always been done by women." Yi Zhifen hurriedly explained: "The old man is rough, no matter how good the silk reeling machine is, it can't reel good silk in their hands, and this machine silk reeling machine factory must have female workers, and the factory is full of women, and there is nothing wrong with it." ”

After a slight groan, Deng Tingzhen said: "The machine silk reeling factory makes money, right?" ”

"Considering that female workers are not easy to recruit." Yi Zhizu smiled slightly: "The silk reeling factory offers a high price to recruit female workers, and whether it can make money will have to be known after trial production." ”

"If you don't make money, what will you do?" Deng Tingzhen waved his hand disappreciatively and said, "You are not the master of good money. Yuanqi was first built. It's also a donation and a railroad. It's not easy, either. "When will the mint start minting?" ”

"It is estimated that it will be half a year later." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "Now the factory is being built and the machines are being installed. ”

"Don't delay this." Deng Tingzhen said: "The excerpt of Baoxing, the governor of Sichuan, involves the harm of the flood of foreign dollars, and the introduction of self-minted silver dollars with this momentum can save a lot of trouble." ”

Yi Zhishu hurriedly said: "I understand." ”

A merchant ship flying the French flag slowly sailed into the port of Whampoa, and the handsome Captain Milles, with short blond hair, a thick beard, and a pair of light blue eyes. Thirty-five-year-old Milles Mott stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the dark city of Canton in front of him, and he couldn't tell what it was like, since the French Revolution, for nearly half a century, French merchant ships never appeared in Canton again.

France's exit from the East-West trade circle, which dominated the global economy, was driven out by the Thirteen Lines and the British East India Company, which is now bankrupt and collapsed. Pan Qiguan Pan Zhencheng, the general merchant of the thirteen banks of the year, is also gone, and France is expected to return to this enviable trade circle again!

Millers took a deep breath. With an intoxicated face, he muttered, "This is a city where even the air is filled with the smell of silver. "For half a century, France has been away from this economic center for too long, and this time I have to make a good acquaintance with the Yuanqi treasurer with a unique vision - Yi Zhicontent, whether France can reopen trade with the Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou, the key lies in this person.

He knew very well how important the attitude of the Thirteen Merchants was, and that the French merchant ships were forced to pay higher tax rates than those of Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands and other Protestant countries because they were not welcomed by Pan Zhencheng, the general merchant of the Thirteen Merchants, which made the French merchant ships unprofitable and were finally forced to withdraw from the trade in Guangzhou.

Hearing that the French merchant ship had arrived at Huangpu Port, Yi Zhixiang, who was training a group of students in Yuan Qiyi School, happily explained a few words, then rushed back to the dormitory and washed it hastily, changed his clothes and rushed to the Wu family garden with Wu Changqing.

Seeing Yi Zhi's contentment face, Wu Changqing couldn't help but say: "Brother Zhifen seems to be particularly welcoming to the arrival of the French merchant ship, what's going on?" Don't tell me that it's because of the silk reeling machine, now Changle Machinery Factory has been able to produce a large number of silk reeling machines. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and asked instead of answering: "I heard that Pan Qiguan Pan Zhencheng didn't like French businessmen very much back then, and he made things difficult everywhere, does Changqing know what the reason is?" ”

"Haven't you heard of this?" Wu Changqing said with some surprise: "There are really not many children of the Thirteen Elements who don't know about this. After a pause, he said: "Pan Qiguan is proficient in three foreign languages, one of which is Spanish, which he learned in his early years of trade with Luzon, and it is also with Luzon that he knows that the Spaniards have massacred Chinese on several occasions in Manila, so he is extremely disgusted with Spain, as for France, it is because France and Spain are both Catholic countries, and Pan Qiguan hates the house and the Uzbeki." ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhixiang was in awe of Pan Zhencheng, but he also felt that France was really wronged. He must have played a very dishonorable role in the Hua incident, otherwise Pan Zhencheng would not have hated Catholicism so much.

After a slight sigh, he spoke: "I remember I told Changqing that France and England are feuds, and the two countries have fought hundreds of wars over the years, the most famous being the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, and the most recent is the Napoleonic War, that is, in the American Revolutionary War, France also secretly supported the Americans behind the scenes. ”

Wu Changqing said with a smile: "Brother Contentment, this is trying to form an alliance with France?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizhi nodded and said: "England is now dominant, it is not a good thing for our Qing Dynasty, the United States is still too weak to fight England at all, France is a good ally, and its strength is strong enough, and the most important thing is that France's military achievements are not inferior to England, whether it is musket artillery or steam ironclad technology, it is what we urgently need now." ”

Wu Changqing said worriedly: "Do we really want to make arms privately?" ”

"The arms business is no better than opium. Poor intentions. Yi Zhizhi said: "Crow. We don't do it, but arms are a must-do, Europe will not be peaceful for a few years, Russia and England, France, Ottoman and other countries compete for European hegemony, sooner or later there will be a big fight, we can't just sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, we have to take the opportunity to make war money, arms business is naturally the best choice.

Furthermore, doing the arms business is not only to make money, but also to the needs of its own development, and the military industry can also promote the development of industry. ”

A few years after the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion in 1850, the Crimean War broke out in Europe, and Russia and the major European powers fought in the Balkans. (To be continued.) )