He naturally knew in his heart that it was not easy for the northwest to expand to the Persian Gulf, however, he was unwilling to give up, for the Qing Dynasty, if the northwest can expand to the Persian Gulf and consolidate, it not only means that it has rich resources, but also greatly improves the status and discourse power of the Qing Dynasty in the world, if the Qing Russia can carve up Turkey, it will form a huge threat to Europe!

Of course, the expansion of the northwest cannot be achieved overnight, it is a process of gradual annexation and encroachment, it takes time, but the time can not be delayed too long, in his plan, at least before the outbreak of the first world war, to complete the expansion of the northwest, after the first war, the world national liberation and independence movements one after another, is no longer suitable for large-scale expansion.

Today's oil exploitation and utilization, is still in the era of lamp oil, mainly to extract kerosene to provide lighting, for the refined gasoline and diesel are abandoned, however, with the continuous improvement and promotion of the internal combustion engine, oil will soon enter the power era, with Yuanqi behind the help, maybe ten or twenty years later, the internal combustion engine will be widely used, the value of oil will also be recognized by the world.

However, neither Zuo Zongtang nor Feng Renxuan were obviously dissatisfied with this explanation, because they could not understand the importance of oil at all, and in their opinion, the most important strategic materials were silver, grain and munitions.

The two people who saw him stared at him stunned, Yi Zhizhi was also speechless, he knew that for people nowadays, it was impossible to understand the importance of oil to a country, he knew, but he couldn't explain it to them, lit a cigarette, and then said slowly: "Now the Qing Dynasty can be said to have entered the steam age, but the steam age will soon end and be replaced by the electric age."

The steam engine will also be replaced by the internal combustion engine, if coal is the fuel of the steam engine, then oil - that is, I say black gold is the fuel of the internal combustion engine, and the widespread application of the internal combustion engine may last for hundreds of years, and oil resources will become the most important strategic resource of every country.

In the future war, the metropolis will revolve around these energy resources, and all the external expansion of the Qing Dynasty is nothing more than to compete for resources! The expansion to the South Sea is to compete for seabed resources, and the expansion to the northwest is to compete for land resources, including Alaska and Siberia bought by Yuan Qi before, all of which have only one purpose, resources! ”

These words were not only shocked by Zuo Zongtang and Feng Renxuan, but even Zhao Liewen was also shocked, Yuan Qi knew some of the major research institutes in Shanghai, and knew that Yuan Qi had invested huge financial and human resources in several research institutes, but he never thought that Yi Zhifu would assert that the steam age would soon end and would be replaced by the electric age.

He knew very well that Yi Zhifen would not be able to open his mouth, and immediately said excitedly: "Big shopkeeper, does this mean that our Daqing will lead the electric age like England leads the steam age?" ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at him and said: "Our science and technology education started too late, there is a shortage of talents, and it is not easy to lead the electrical era, but Yuanqi has been working hard to lead the electrical era." ”

Zhao Liewen continued: "England led the steam age to achieve the status of the British world hegemon, if the Qing Dynasty can lead the electric age, will it replace England as the new world hegemon?" ”

The new world hegemon? Yi Zhixiang really didn't think about it, he said in a relaxed tone: "The world hegemon is not so easy to do, it is currently the era of hegemony, with strong countries rising one after another, competing for hegemony, and wars are endless, and it will form a large-scale world war - a war in which all the world's powerful countries will be involved!"

We are qualified to fight for the world hegemon, but there is no need for that, and it is in the best interests of the country and the nation to use war to grab interests to the maximum; of course, we must consolidate the hegemony of Asia. ”

World war? Zhao Liewen, Zuo Zongtang, and Feng Renxuan are all hearing this word for the first time, all the world's powerful countries will be involved in a war, so how big will the scale of the war be? Just thinking about it, all three of them had a chilling feeling.

Sensing that the topic was far away, Yi Zhishu immediately pulled the topic back, "All along, Britain and Russia have been actively expanding in Asia, and Russia was beaten back by us, but the British are still expanding, and after the expansion to Southeast Asia is blocked, the British will definitely turn the target of expansion to the Persian Empire, and then go north, directly to the Central Asian countries."

In other words, if we don't expand in the northwest, the British will expand, and we have finally stopped the pace of expansion of the Russians, but we can't cheapen the British in vain, so we must be ahead of the British and expand in the northwest.

The Persian Gulf is not only rich in oil, but also the outlet to the northwest of the Qing Dynasty, which has important strategic and economic value for the Qing Dynasty! No matter what the cost, it's worth it! ”

Seeing that he was determined to expand to the Persian Gulf, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but sigh lightly, "The expedition in the northwest must be supported by strong financial resources, although Yuanqi has strong financial resources, but he can't withstand the consumption of perennial conquests. ”

"Yuanqi will definitely invest heavily in improving the livelihood of people in the northwest, and Ji Gao has no need to worry about this." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "The construction of the Northwest Railway, cotton planting and promotion will greatly improve the livelihood of the people in the Northwest, in addition, once the railway is repaired to Dihua and Yili, Yuanqi will explore mineral deposits in the Northwest and invest in the construction of a series of factories such as woolen mills, cotton mills, canning factories, and milk factories to promote the economic development of the Northwest." ”

Hearing this, Zuo Zongtang's eyes lit up, and then he said worriedly: "After Jiuquan, the yellow sand is long, and the difficulty of railway construction should not be small, right.......?" ”

Yi Zhicontent said with a smile: "Ji Gao is worried that the railway cannot be built in the desert, right?" ”

Feng Renxuan was also very worried about this, and said: "According to the students' understanding, there is no railway across the desert in the world at present. ”

"Then let's create a world first." Yi Zhizhi said disapprovingly, paused, and continued: "However, Ji Gao's worries are not unreasonable, it is indeed difficult to build a railway in the desert, and it is necessary to control sand while building a railway, the progress may be slower, Jiuquan is connected to Dihua, it may take five or six years, this is already the limit." ”

"In the past five or six years, Dihua can open the railway, which has been a blessing in the northwest." Zuo Zongtang stroked his beard and said with a smile: "The construction of the Northwest Railway is not only beneficial to immigrants, but also beneficial to the northwest, which is really a rare benefit. ”

The construction of the Northwest Railway is mainly due to the large-scale immigration from the northwest, which provides a steady stream of labor for the construction of the railway, and at the same time, the immigrants also obtain rich wages through the construction of the railway, laying an economic foundation for moving to the northwest, which can be described as a move that benefits the country and the people with one stone.

"There are not many things that can be praised by Ji Gao." Yi Zhizu joked to him, Zuo Zongtang has always been above the top, and there are indeed not many things that can be praised by him.

Feng Renxuan, who cared about the military, said: "What does the big shopkeeper mean, but wait until Dihua is opened to traffic, and then use troops on a large scale?" ”

"Nope." Yi Zhizhi said simply: "The northwest expansion must seize the opportunity, in my prediction, there will inevitably be a large-scale war in Europe in the next three to five years, we must seize this opportunity to expand in the northwest, and now we must expand the armament war. ”

"Will a large-scale war break out in Europe in three or five years?" Zuo Zongtang and Feng Renxuan asked in unison, obviously, both of them were a little unconvinced, and then, Feng Renxuan asked again: "Will England be involved in the war?" ”

"The outbreak of the Prussian-Danish War has opened the prelude to the unification of Prussia with Germany, and Prussia will soon have further actions, to be exact, within two or three years, and the completion of Prussia's unification should be a matter of six or seven years."

Yi Zhizu explained slowly: "Prussia is unified, there are two main enemies, one is Austria and the other is France, that is, the Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War will break out in Europe.

"It is difficult to say whether England will be involved in the war, but even if England is not involved, it will definitely not start a war with us in West Asia at that time, we must seize the opportunity of the outbreak of war in Europe to contain Britain, and the other is to seize the opportunity of England's invasion of Persia."

Yi Zhifen not only has keen insight and accurate judgment, but also is very good at seizing the opportunity, Zuo Zongtang and Feng Renxuan are very convinced, listening to this explanation, both of them can't help but believe a little.

After a slight groan, Feng Renxuan hesitated: "It seems that I haven't heard the news of the English invasion of Persia. ”

"England has long been involved in Persia." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "When a large-scale uprising broke out in India in 1857, England was invading Persia, and in view of the importance of India, it had to withdraw its troops from Persia. Now that the momentum of English expansion into Southeast Asia has been blocked, it will inevitably turn around and expand into Persia.

Taking a step back, even if England has no plan to invade Persia, we can force it to invade Persia, as long as we make a gesture of invading Persia, England will inevitably invade Persia on a large scale. I am afraid that after we occupy Persia, we will threaten Turkey, and then pose a threat to Europe. ”

Hearing this, Feng Renxuan had already vaguely guessed the plan for further expansion in the northwest, however, the other party didn't say it, and he didn't want to ask in detail, he knew that this must be left for a detailed discussion with him later, there was no doubt that this was definitely a huge long-term expansion plan, he couldn't help but feel a little excited, for him, this is undoubtedly an opportunity to go down in history!

Zuo Zongtang said: "The northwest has always been a source of chaos, the people are fierce, unruly, and perennial wandering outside, this time it is just forced by the Celestial Empire's military power to return, not sincere, it is easy to appease, but to recruit troops on a large scale, I am afraid it is not easy." ”

Yi Zhishu asked rhetorically: "The Northwest New Army can't recruit enough troops with such a generous salary?" ”

"Back to the principal." Feng Renxuan hurriedly said: "There is no shortage of soldiers in the Northwest, and the preferential treatment of the Northwest New Army is also unprecedented, but the new tribes in the Northwest are very wary of the imperial court, and they try their best to prevent the young people of their own clan from joining the Northwest New Army. ”

"While trying to appease, while implementing conscription!" Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice, although he could recruit new soldiers from the northern Mongolian tribes of Shaanxi, Gansu and Moxi Desert, the troops recruited on the spot in the northwest were more suitable for fighting in the northwest.

Zuo Zongtang asked, "How much does the prince plan to expand his army this time?" ”

"Fifty thousand." Yi Zhi's contentment said without hesitation.

After a slight sigh, Zuo Zongtang pondered and said: "Can the prince recruit troops from Shaanxi and Gansu, once the war is over, these soldiers cannot be properly settled, and they will inevitably become the source of chaos in the northwest." ”

"Don't worry." Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "It is estimated that the expansion of the northwest will take a generation, such a long time is enough to consolidate the various ethnic groups in the northwest, and besides, the main force of the new army in the northwest is still the Han people, and the supply of arms in the new army in the northwest is all dependent on the mainland, so they can't mess up if they want to." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The reason why the northwest is chaotic is nothing more than that it is difficult to survive, and the people have enough food and clothing, who wants to rebel and make trouble?" The imperial court did not refer to relying on the idea of the northwest to pay taxes, Ji Gao only pleaded for all the taxes in Xinjiang to be exempted, and Yuan Qi allocated some silver for relief every year, after the railway was connected, cotton planting formed a scale, factories were opened, and the lives of the local people were greatly improved, and naturally they were stable.

Moreover, for the immigrants in the northwest, it will be implemented for a long time, while strengthening ethnic integration, it is also necessary to strengthen cultural assimilation, universal education is the most important means, and the compulsory implementation of Chinese and Chinese, two or three generations, it will be completely sinicized, this is the real consolidation! ”

Zuo Zongtang said: "This requires a lot of silver. ”

"Yuanqi is not short of silver!" Yi Zhizhi said: "Without full confidence, I don't dare to continue to promote the northwest expansion, Ji Gao just let it go, and there is no need to worry about silver." ”

"With the words of the prince, the lower officials promise to stabilize and consolidate Xinjiang as soon as possible, so that the newly annexed ethnic groups can return to their hearts!" Zuo Zongtang was very happy in his heart, and immediately made a big statement.

Yuan Qi made a lot of money in the cotton trade in Europe, and this time he came to Shanghai with the intention of fighting in the ring, thinking about winning more support for Xinjiang. As the saying goes, if you have money, you have enough money, and he can't appease the ethnic groups in the northwest, and he has no face to continue to do it as the governor of Xinjiang! nt

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