Partners! Bo Jia was keenly aware of this word, and it was clear that a partnership was a further relationship than a business partner, and it seemed that it was a very wise move for the United States not to be involved in the invasion of Britain and France, and it was possible that the relationship with Yuanqi would develop further. Super fast and stable update, this article was first published by

Now that large-scale economic crises have broken out in European countries, they are too busy to take care of themselves, and the only thing that can help the United States is the Qing Dynasty, no, it should be Yuan Qi to be correct, the war provoked by Britain and France did not cause much harm to Yuan Qi, nor did it have a huge impact on the economy of the Qing State, and it is fully capable of pulling the American economy out of the trough as soon as possible.

Yi Zhisuff lit a cigarette and said in a relaxed tone: "Say, what can Yuanqi help with?" ”

"If Yuan Qi is sincere in helping, there will be more places to help." Uncle is not polite, the two have known each other for 20 years, the relationship is extraordinary, and he speaks more casually, "The scale of this economic crisis and currency crisis is quite large, and my country's finance, metallurgy, textile, coal, shipbuilding, railways and agriculture have suffered heavy losses, causing losses of at least 30 million pounds ....... ”

Thirty million pounds? Yi Zhishu secretly said to himself, this is more than 100 million silver dollars! In terms of the total economic volume of the United States in this era, it is not enough to describe the nerves and bones!

After a pause, Bo Jia continued: "Your country is now undergoing large-scale railway construction, and there are a large number of railway skilled workers in our country who are unemployed, can you contract a few more railway construction projects?" ”

"Absolutely." Yi Zhi's content agreed very refreshingly, now the Qing Dynasty is setting off a wave of railway construction, Yuan Qi in the ambitious preparation to build the north-south artery across Xinjiang, the provincial gentry and businessmen in the light of seeing the speed and convenience of the railway and the huge profits, are also actively brewing to raise funds to build the railway, in this case, subcontracting a few sections of the railway to the United States, can be described as a good thing to kill two birds with one stone, he has no reason to refuse.

After a pause, he continued: "It is okay to contract railway construction, but with the continuous improvement and improvement of railway construction technology, as well as the impact of this large-scale economic crisis around the world, the impact of various raw materials and wage reductions and other factors, the railway construction projects of Britain and France and other countries in our country have been greatly reduced, and I can only guarantee that you will be given the same price as Britain and France." ”

"Of course." Bo Jia nodded, "Your country's railway construction has caught up with a perfect opportunity. ”

The reason why he chose to end the war with the four Western countries as soon as possible and try his best to avoid a civil war was to seize this opportunity and take advantage of this world-wide large-scale economic crisis to accelerate the construction of railways and industrial infrastructure in the Qing Dynasty.

After a slight sigh, Bo Jia continued: "Benefiting from Yuanqi's large import of wheat, the loss of agriculture is not very large, but you should know that China is the largest cotton exporter, and the textile industry in England, France, Prussia and other countries has been greatly impacted, and now the cotton backlog is seriously ........ ”

"I'm sorry, Cotton, Yuanqi can't help." Yi Zhisuff refused without thinking: "China's textile industry started late, and now it has only initially formed a scale, and the demand for cotton is not large, and China itself is rich in cotton, so there is no need to import." ”

Seeing the uncle, he showed a look of disappointment, he smiled, and said: "I can understand your country's eagerness to expand foreign trade, in fact, in addition to cotton, there are many commodities, soybeans, tobacco, American ginseng, edible oil, indigo raw materials, leather, fur, hardware, and various minerals, such as manganese ore, copper ore, gold and silver, etc., which are very popular in our country.

In addition, China currently needs a lot of funds for construction, many banks in European countries have come to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin branch offices to find a way out for domestic funds, your country can also follow the example of opening a bank, set up a factory, build a hospital, Yuan Qi will give certain preferential treatment within the scope of its ability. ”

Lin Meilian came in at this time and reported: "Big shopkeeper, the banquet has been prepared." ”

"I'll pick you up and wash the dust today." Yi Zhishu stood up and said, "Let's talk while eating." ”

Yi Zhicontent and Uncle Driver talked while eating, and the two of them broke up happily after half an hour, Yi Zhifen did not have the habit of giving away, and sent Uncle to the gate of the yard, and saw the lantern go away, Lin Meilian asked softly: "Is the big shopkeeper going back to the backyard......?" ”

"Someone went to call Minister Xie and Hu Guangyong from the headquarters." Yi Zhizhi commanded, although this banquet was eaten for a long time, but it was a lot of chatting, eating less, and drinking red wine, he had nothing to do at all, and estimated that tomorrow morning, Yixun and his party would come again, and there were many things, I was afraid that I would forget.

It's almost seven o'clock, and you still want to see someone to talk about? Lin Meilian hesitated, and then instructed the little servant before saying, "My subordinates will accompany the big shopkeeper for a walk." As he spoke, he took the lantern from the maid's hand.

Hu Guangyong lives in the back street of Zhenhai Road, not far from the mansion, I heard that Yi Zhizhi wanted to see him at this hour, it was very unexpected, but he didn't ask much, and hurriedly changed his clothes and went out, no one in Shanghai dared to pretend to be the name of the Zhenhai Mansion to deceive the shopkeeper of the Yuanqi General Account, this point, he was not worried, there were two rickshaws waiting to go out, he didn't say much and went straight to the car, and the two cars rushed to the mansion one after the other.

Sitting in the rickshaw, blowing the oncoming cool breeze, Hu Guangyong secretly wondered what would happen, he was only thirty-four or five years old, originally the second shopkeeper of Yuanqi Hangzhou Branch, and last year was inexplicably transferred by Yi Zhishu to Shanghai Yuanqi headquarters as the fourth shopkeeper.

He has always felt very strange about this, after all, he has nothing outstanding in the Hangzhou branch, how did he get into the eyes of the big shopkeeper? Although he has a good relationship with Wang Youling, the political envoy of Zhejiang, how can a mere political envoy of Zhejiang be regarded by the big shopkeeper?

Two gas lamps were specially installed outside the gate of Zhenhai Mansion, illuminating the front of the door as if it were daylight, as soon as he got out of the car, Hu Guangyong saw that there were also two rickshaws rushing to the opposite side, he moved in his heart, and simply stopped and waited, and saw the Minister of Commerce, Xie Xiuyuan, the second shopkeeper of the original Yuanqi headquarters, couldn't help but feel more surprised, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Minister Xie ......." ”

Xie Xiuyuan said tentatively: "Shopkeeper Hu was also summoned by the big shopkeeper? ”

"Exactly." Hu Guangyong hurriedly said.

"Let's go in together." Xie Xiuyuan smiled and said, he is also quite curious about this Hu shopkeeper, although Yuanqi is not a place to rank seniority, but the shopkeeper of the headquarters is not easy to promote, this person is from Jixi, Anhui Province, with a mediocre performance, but he was personally named and promoted by the big shopkeeper, this kind of thing is really rare in Yuanqi.

Yi Zhicontent was drinking tea and reading books in the study, and Lin Meilian, who saw it, led the two in, put down the book and stood up. As he spoke, he glanced at Hu Guangyong a few times, and saw that he was only in his early thirties, with a beautiful appearance, bright eyes, and a calm and steady demeanor, and couldn't help but feel good.

Xie Xiuyuan smiled, "The Ministry of Commerce has a lot of contacts with the headquarters, and I have dealt with Shopkeeper Hu a few times. ”

"It's better to know." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "The Ministry of Commerce has not arranged a deputy position, because it has not been able to find a suitable candidate, so let Xueyan assist you, the end of the war in Goryeo is imminent, and Yuan Qi should also show his strength." ”

Is this the promotion of Hu Guangyong to the vice minister of commerce? Xie Xiuyuan was a little surprised, and Hu Guangyong was also a little surprised, and hurriedly arched his hand: "The big shopkeeper——。 ”

"Snow Rock doesn't have to be prevaricated, and there is no need to be humble." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, and then asked: "Is the promotion of cotton planting still ideal?" ”

Seeing him ask about the matter, Xie Xiuyuan hurriedly said: "Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, Zhili is a cotton-producing area, after the price of cotton has been raised in recent years, the people are very enthusiastic about planting cotton, Xinjiang, Gansu before there are businessmen leasing acres of land, planting cotton, but the scale is not large, in recent years, the organization of immigrants to open up wasteland, encourage the planting of cotton, quite effective...... ”

Speaking of this, he tentatively said: "The big shopkeeper intends to vigorously develop the textile industry? ”

"Cotton is a strategic substance related to the national economy and people's livelihood, its importance is second only to grain, as a large agricultural country, we must promote the planting of cotton, at least we must ensure self-sufficiency." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "In addition, in addition to being used for textiles, the use of cotton is gradually expanding, and military industry, Western medicine, chemical industry, etc. will all need a large amount of cotton in the future."

At present, there is a great demand for cotton in Western countries, and the main export commodity of the United States is cotton, known as the 'cotton kingdom', with a total export trade of up to 200 million silver dollars a year. ”

200 million silver dollars? Xie Xiuyuan and Hu Guangyong were taken aback by this number, and Hu Guangyong reacted quickly and immediately asked: "Does the big shopkeeper want to compete with the United States for the cotton market?" ”

"In the next four or five years, the Ministry of Commerce will take cotton as the most important trade commodity and understand it in detail, and the cotton situation in all countries in the world must be understood in detail." Yi Zhicontentment said: "Xinjiang's climate and soil are suitable for planting high-quality cotton, within four or five years, the scale of cotton planting in Xinjiang and Gansu must spare no effort to expand, in the case of meeting domestic demand, a large number of exports, which will be Yuanqi after tea, raw silk after another major export commodity." ”

After hesitating, Xie Xiuyuan said: "Xinjiang is far away, and the cost of cotton transportation is ....... ”

"The railway to Xinjiang is currently under construction, and it is impossible to connect it in four or five years, but it should be no problem to get to Xining, Gansu Province, and there is no need to worry about transportation costs." Yi Zhifen glanced at Hu Guangyong as he spoke, "Xue Yan can speak English?" ”

"I'm learning." Hu Guangyong hurriedly said.

"Master English as soon as possible, at least be able to speak fluently." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "The Ministry of Commerce should not only focus on the country, but also look at the world, focus on global trade, and may arrange for you to go to Europe in the future." ”

"The big shopkeeper can rest assured." Hu Guangyong hurriedly bowed and said: "My subordinates will definitely not live up to the love of the big shopkeeper." ”

Xie Xiuyuan's mind is sensitive, and he also knows Yi Zhicontent very well, so he tentatively said: "The United States will not break out in four or five years, right?" ”

"It can't drag on for four or five years, and war may break out in three or four years." Yi Zhixiang did not hide it, and said straightforwardly: "At present, the United States is the largest cotton producer, once a war breaks out, cotton production must be sharply reduced, are you interested in being a cotton hegemon?" ”

Cotton dominance! The world's cotton dominance! Xie Xiuyuan's eyes lit up immediately, "With such a long time to prepare, this cotton hegemony will definitely make a lot of money!" ”

Yi Zhicontent said with a smile: "In the past few years of the world economic crisis, the foreign trade volume will inevitably fall sharply, and Yuanqi will pay dividends in the next account period, but he can count on this cotton hegemony." ”

"The big shopkeeper can rest assured." Xie Xiuyuan said: "Yuanqi's first international hegemony, we must go all out." ”

As Yi Zhixiang expected, the next morning, at eight o'clock, Yixin and his entourage came to visit, and after hearing the report, Yi Zhixiang immediately ordered: "Declare to the outside world that I went to Baoshan." ”

Zhao Liewen looked up at the sky and said, "It should be the sun shining today, and you still go to the Lotus Garden?" ”

"Lead them to listen to Yuxuan, and I'll go over later." Yi Zhishu groaned and ordered: "Set up a table at noon." ”

Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "Is this a wind wine or a candied wine?" It's too late to catch the wind, and it's too early to make a candied wine. ”

"It's been three days, it's not early." Yi Zhizhi said: "I'll give them food today." ”

Hearing that Yixun and his entourage had arrived at Tingyuxuan, Yi Zhixin walked over slowly, and after greeting everyone, he still sat casually as if he was yesterday, and as soon as he sat down, Yixun said sincerely: "What does Brother Guocheng think is the most important thing in the reform of the imperial court this time?" ”

The most critical? Yi Zhishu groaned slightly, and then said with a smile: "I dare to say, do you dare to play truthfully?" ”

Yixun said with a smile: "Good medicine is bitter, loyal words are contrary to the ear, Brother Guocheng but it doesn't matter, let's listen to it." ”

Nodding slightly, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "The territory of the Qing Dynasty is vast, and the population is the highest in the world, this is an advantage and a disadvantage, why do you say so?" Western countries have small territories, small populations, and single ethnic groups, with only two or three major ethnic groups at most, but there are many ethnic groups in the Qing Dynasty, and there are more than a dozen or even dozens of ethnic groups with more than one million ethnic groups.

With a population of 400 million in the Qing Dynasty, how many people did the Manchus have as a nation? In the past, cavalry and archery were king, but now firearms are king, and the army can train a basically qualified infantry in three months, and how to change this situation of controlling more with less, and how to twist all nationalities and all populations into a rope to form a modern country with strong cohesion, is the most crucial thing. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at everyone, "The answer has actually been there for a long time, many years ago, I put forward the concept of the Chinese nation. ”

Everyone present couldn't help but look at each other, but they didn't expect Yi Zhishu to bring up this stubble again, and after a while, Yi Yan hesitated and said: "Brother Guocheng means to cancel the Eight Banners?" ”

"How many people can there be in Eight Flags? Can the imperial power be kept by the Eight Banners? Can it be kept by the Manchus? Yi Zhizu said loudly: "I mean to let the imperial court truly promote the equality of all ethnic groups, or rather, there is only one nation - the Chinese nation." ”