Jingshi, supervising the administrative office, signing the detention room.

Gong Wang Yixun frowned slightly and looked at Yi Zhi's reply with contentment, the establishment of diplomatic relations with the future power, this is an important step in the diplomacy of the Qing Dynasty, which is undoubtedly in favor of the Qing Dynasty to send a congratulatory telegram to the North German Confederation and send ambassadors to formally establish diplomatic relations, but the latter sentence 'between countries, interests first, historical origins, traditional friendship and even friendship condensed by blood are not worth the word interests. What does 'it mean?' Is it implied that the imperial court cannot rely too much on Britain and France?

He was pondering to himself, when a Zhang Jing walked to the door and bowed down to report: "Lord, the English Minister to China, Walson, and the French Temporary Representative to China, Sual, have come to pay a visit. ”

"Please ——。" Yi Xun put down the telegram as he spoke, stood up, and straightened his clothes, and then slowly greeted him, but he was thinking in his heart, the British and French envoys came together, I don't know why?

After greeting the British and French ministers at Yimen and politely greeting a few words, Yixun gave Walson and his entourage to the second hall, and after taking a seat politely, Walson asked tentatively: "The Liangjing Railway only arrived in Shengjing, and it is expected that it will be fully completed and opened .....to traffic in another two years. ”

What do you mean? Build a railway? Where did the imperial court get the money to continue to extend the railway to the northeast? Besides, the imperial court has always regarded the northeast as the last retreat, and there is no intention to continue to build the railway at all, and with a slight mutter, he said simply: "I'm sorry, my country currently has no plan to continue to extend the railway to the northeast." ”

Walson was very unwilling, and continued: "The northeast of your country is vast, rich in products, and now it is being developed by large-scale migration, and it is necessary to continue to extend the railway to the northeast, which will greatly promote the development of the northeast. ”

Britain and France are not coveting the Northeast, right? This thought flashed, and Yixun immediately denied it, Britain and France were only interested in coastal ports, and it was impossible for them to be interested in the Northeast, so what was the purpose of encouraging the imperial court to build the Northeast Railway? Make hay?

He didn't think much about it, spread his hands, and said: "The construction of the railway requires a huge amount of money, the Northeast is vast and sparsely populated, and it is impossible to raise funds on the spot. ”

Walson smiled and said, "Money is not a problem, we can provide large low-interest loans." ”

Shangjiaozi provided a loan to build the Northeast Railway? Yixun was very vigilant in his heart, and he groaned slightly, and then he said tentatively: "If there are enough funds, my country plans to build a railway ....... from Jingshi to Zhangjiakou. ”

Walson is not only interested in the Northeast Railway, he has been in Beijing for several years, although he has not been to Zhangjiakou but also knows that Zhangjiakou is a transportation center that communicates with Shanxi and Mongolia, when he said: "The railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou has extremely high commercial value, and China is willing to provide large loans, only need to use the right to operate as collateral ......." ”

It seems that the other party wants to contract the railway construction project of the Qing Dynasty, Yixun nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "Building a railway is not a trivial matter, since your country is willing to borrow funds, this king will report this matter to the imperial court." ”

Walson continued: "I heard that your country is building a Northwest Railway to connect Xinjiang with the newly built province of Anxi? ”

"It's just connecting Xinjiang." Yixin said cautiously: "Yuan Qi was responsible for raising funds to build the railway, and the imperial court did not interfere. ”

The French pro tempora, Suar, who had been silent, said: "We want to be able to participate in the construction of railways in your inland provinces and the Northwest Railway, and we can not give the best price and provide the latest railway construction technology." ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Xun said slowly: "I think the two of you should understand very well that China's main task at present is not to build railways but to build industries, especially military industries, and we welcome European countries to invest and build factories in our country." ”

"We will definitely do our best to assist your country in preparing for the establishment of a military industrial system." Walson pondered: "However, Tianjin's industrial base is too weak, and it will take a long time to develop. After a pause, he added, "Railways are one of the basic conditions for the development of industry, and if your country wants to develop industry, it must improve railway transportation as soon as possible." ”

Sual said directly: "We not only hope to cooperate with your imperial court, but also hope to cooperate with Yuanqi, and hope to contract more railway construction projects." ”

"Yes." Walson bowed his head and said, "We're going to Shanghai." ”

What does the cooperation between Britain and France with Yuan Qi mean to the imperial court? Yixun's heart sank, the other party is threatening the court? Or do you really want to work with Yuanqi to get more railroad construction projects? Compared with the northern provinces, the railway construction in the southeastern provinces is in full swing, and there are indeed more opportunities.

Yixin was not in a hurry to express his position, nor did he dare to express his position at will, after sending the two away vaguely, he pondered for a long time, and then decided to send a telegram to Yi Zhicontent, after all, for the situation in Europe, Yi Zhizhi knew far more than the imperial court, and he vaguely felt that this matter was a bit strange.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

"The turmoil in London's financial markets has not only failed to be effectively controlled, but has been further amplified." Yi Zhizu glanced at Kong Jian'an, Xie Xiuyuan, and Zhao Liewen, and said slowly: "The bankruptcy of the two railway contractors in which the Overron Gurney Bank invested caused panic in the market, which led to a large-scale run, and finally collapsed in the run.

The collapse of Overron-Gney Bank sparked a massive run across England, with shares of many banks and financial companies falling by one-half, two-thirds or even five-sixths, and the biggest drop in share prices on the day, with a loss of up to £130 million in market value. ”

Shaking the telegram in his hand, Yi Zhixiang said in a stern tone: "I can now say with certainty that a new round of economic crisis in England has come, and in view of England's position in the world economy, this is bound to be another large-scale economic crisis on a worldwide scale!" ”

The large-scale economic crisis in England finally broke out, Kong Jian'an, Xie Xiuyuan are all worried, and now the financial market in Guangzhou and Shanghai has begun to take shape, and the outbreak of a large-scale economic crisis around the world will inevitably have an impact on the financial market of the Qing Dynasty.

Thankfully, since Yi Zhixiang accurately judged that an economic crisis would break out in England in one year, Yuanqi had plenty of time to prepare, although it could not avoid losses, but it minimized losses! At the same time, a large-scale clean-up and rectification of the financial markets in Shanghai and Guangzhou was also carried out.

Lighting a cigarette, Yi Zhizhi continued: "In the economic crisis of 18857, the industrial output value of England fell by half, and the textile industry, metallurgical industry, and coal industry all stopped work and reduced production on a large scale, and prices fell sharply.

In order to get out of the economic crisis, England took advantage of technology and equipment to dump at low prices, and between 1857 and 1859, England's cotton textile exports increased from 29 million pounds to 48 million pounds. India is a major dumping ground, and the total amount of cotton cloth exported to India is more than twice the total amount of cotton cloth exported to continental Europe and the United States!

In this economic crisis, England has one more dumping ground, and that is our Daqing! In order to win the support of Britain and France, the imperial court greatly reduced the tariffs on the basis of our consultation, regardless of our opposition, which is tantamount to opening the northern market to Britain and France!

In the face of the dumping of industrial products at low prices in England, if there is a lack of necessary protection, there will inevitably be a large-scale bankruptcy and bankruptcy trend, in order to avoid this situation, we must take the necessary measures, and I intend to carry out subsidies to enhance the competitiveness of our national enterprises. ”

Subsidy? Kong Jian'an and Xie Xiuyuan couldn't help but look at each other, even Zhao Liewen's heart jumped, and the substantial implementation of subsidies was definitely a huge loss for Yuan Qi!

"The big shopkeeper." Kong Jian'an hurriedly said: "We can take measures to restrict the southward flow of goods in the northern market, and we only need to set up cards at the water and land checkpoints to collect taxes, which is simple and effective." ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at him, "Does Shopkeeper Kong mean to give up the northern market to Britain and France?" ”

Seeing Kong Jian'an, Xie Xiuyuan hurriedly said: "Big shopkeeper, Yuan Qi will suffer huge losses if he does this, I am afraid that the shareholders will strongly oppose it, can we manage to reduce the price of raw materials, or reduce the ...... wages?" ”

"Even if you want to lower the price of raw materials and reduce wages, it must be implemented in the process of low-price competition." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "Furthermore, I do not agree with this, which will damage the purchasing power of the people and is not conducive to cultivating and expanding the domestic market."

If we want to grow and develop, we must base ourselves on the domestic market and destroy the domestic market, which will cause greater harm in the long run. ”

After a pause, he said earnestly: "Yuanqi rarely does loss-making business, but a loss-making business like this, Yuanqi must do, because only Yuanqi has such strong financial resources, finance and industry are interdependent, financial collapse, industry will inevitably have large-scale bankruptcy, similarly, large-scale bankruptcy of industry, finance will inevitably face shrinkage or even collapse."

Saving industry is actually equivalent to saving finance, not to mention, Yuanqi is not only finance, but also has many industries under its name, and has a lot of shares in many industries, both public and private, we must do so. ”

"That's what the big treasurer said." Zhao Liewen, who had never spoken, suddenly spoke: "A single filament is not a line, it is difficult to become a forest alone, Yuanqi can be a big family, a single branch, but Yuanqi can not be alone, the business of the Qing Dynasty is prosperous, and industrial development cannot rely on Yuanqi alone." ”

"Makes sense! Or Huifu said it thoroughly! Yi Zhizhi said, "You can talk to the directors and try to convince them." ”

Kong Jian'an and Xie Xiuyuan, who were waiting, got up and retreated, and Zhao Liewen said slowly: "Big shopkeeper, the imperial court opened the northern market to Britain and France, did it have the intention of using Britain and France to suppress Yuan Qi?" ”

This is really hard to say, Yi Zhizhi was silent for a long time, and he had explained the harm of reducing tariffs to Yi Xun very clearly, but the result was still the same, and he was a little suspicious in his heart.

Cao Gensheng walked in at this time and reported: "The big shopkeeper, King Gong is calling." ”

"Reading ——。"

"Britain and France took the initiative to ask for a loan to build the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, but they were very surprised, but they couldn't understand it, and they hoped that the king of Zhennan would not hesitate to allocate it."

Yi Zhizu said slowly: "It seems that Britain and France have also realized that a new round of economic crisis is coming, and they are eager to open up the market of the Qing Dynasty. ”

Zhao Liewen said: "The big treasurer, the imperial court lacks funds, and it is not a good thing that Britain and France took the initiative to borrow money to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, and besides, I am afraid that Yuan Qi will not be able to stop ...... this matter." ”

After a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi got up and went to the desk to take out a piece of information, and glanced at it a few times before saying: "Call back, the financial turmoil in England has broken out, a nationwide run has broken out, and the stock market has plummeted."

At the same time, the industrial output value of England fell sharply, the output of the cotton textile industry shrank by a quarter, and the exports of silk fabrics and wool textiles fell by three percent. The biggest drop in production was in heavy industry, where railway construction was halved, shipbuilding fell by 40%, and most of Scotland's 137 iron-making furnaces ceased production.

All signs indicate that England is facing an economic crisis of great proportions! ”

Cao Gensheng, who was waiting, quickly recorded the message, and Yi Zhizu checked it and signed his name before he ordered: "Send three copies to the Queen Mother, King Gong, and Su Xiang." ”

After Cao Gensheng left, Zhao Liewen said suspiciously: "...... this information of the big shopkeeper?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "This is the information at the time of the economic crisis in 1857, with a slight change, the outbreak of the economic crisis in England is ironclad, even if it can't be stopped, let the court understand what is going on, don't be wronged." ”

When the Empress Dowager Ci'an and Su Shun received this telegram, they were a little inexplicable, and they didn't know why the unprovoked Yuan Qi sent them such a message, England was facing a huge economic crisis, which was a good thing for the imperial court? Or is it a bad thing?

After receiving the telegram, Yixun understood the reason why Britain and France took the initiative to borrow money to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, and he soon submitted an excerpt requesting the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. In his opinion, the outbreak of the economic crisis in England was definitely a rare opportunity for the Qing Dynasty, and the construction of railways and shipbuilding were urgently needed by the imperial court, and besides, it could further strengthen relations with Britain and France!

The excerpt of borrowing money from Britain and France to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway soon caused a sensation in the officialdom of Beijing, the construction of the two Beijing railways is a disguised war reparation between Britain and France, although the imperial court also came out with a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, but in general the investment is limited, and the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is a full loan, although the specific amount is not known, but everyone knows that it is definitely a huge amount of money, which is undoubtedly a huge pressure for the already strapped imperial court! What's more, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway is not urgent, and it can even be said to be dispensable.

Su Shun couldn't make up his mind about this, and wanted to call to ask Yi Zhixiang, but thinking of the information sent by Yuan Qi before, he dispelled this idea again, and it was obvious that Yuan Qi was planning to stay out of the matter.