Gold deposits are frequently found in western America, and western Alaska should also have them. Although it was just speculation, Yi Zhi's contented tone was very sure, Zhao Liewen's hearts were all moved, if a large-scale gold mine was really discovered in Alaska, under the deliberate guidance and instigation of Yuan Qi, it would inevitably trigger a large-scale gold rush!

This will not only promote a large-scale spontaneous wave of immigration, but also has great benefits for Yuanqi itself, for the large-scale relief and immigration of the northern provinces, a large number of imported grain, a large number of cash-for-work projects, a huge amount of low-interest loans to the imperial court, and a huge amount of .......silver exported to the United States, Yuanqi is also stretched thin even if he has abundant funds.

The three people of this house are well aware that Yuanqi has issued a large number of banknotes without gold and silver guarantees, and once there is a large-scale run, the consequences will be unimaginable, and it can be said that Yuanqi is now in the most dangerous situation since its establishment, and it is urgent to maintain the confidence of the government and the opposition in Yuanqi.

After pondering for a long time, Yi Zhengxing spoke: "Even if a large-scale gold mine is explored in Alaska, it is the same as the gold mine in Shandong, it is difficult to make profits in the short term, and it is a ...... to fill the hunger with a cake." ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand and corrected: "This is not called painting cakes to satisfy hunger, but to enhance confidence, so that the Qing Dynasty can enhance their confidence in Yuanqi, after all, these large-scale gold mines are not fictional, but real, with the expansion of the scale of machine mining, the output can also increase steadily year by year." ”

Li Hongzhang said bluntly: "I am anxious to let the government and the opposition strengthen their confidence in Yuanqi, but because of the over-issuance of banknotes? ”

In the past two years, in order to stimulate the economy, in order to implement the gold standard, in order to provide large-scale disaster relief, Yuanqi has exported a large amount of silver on the one hand, and issued a large number of banknotes on the other hand, which can be said to have a serious problem of over-issuance.

Glancing at him, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "Large-scale exploration and mining of large-scale domestic gold mines is indeed to relieve the huge pressure caused by the over-issuance of banknotes. ”

After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "Yuanqi's super issuance of banknotes is not for profit, not for the purpose of plundering people's wealth in disguise, but for the implementation of the gold standard, for disaster relief, for the development of industry, and at the same time, it is also the need to stimulate the economy.

You don't have to worry about it, the over-issuance of banknotes is based on the huge production of gold in South Africa, and if it goes well, it will take years to fill the hole. ”

"What if something happens?" Zhao Liewen's face was full of gloom, the large-scale immigration and recruitment of workers in the northern provinces greatly damaged the interests of the local gentry, and he was also subjected to overwhelming accusations and attacks for this.

"Don't worry." Yi Zhi's content said in a relaxed tone: "Large-scale exploration and mining of large-scale domestic gold mines is only one of the measures to alleviate the pressure of over-issuing banknotes, and the exchange is in full swing to plan to list and finance a series of new large-scale factories and mines to alleviate the pressure of Yuanqi's capital turnover."

In addition to the active disaster relief efforts of the imperial court and Yuan Qi, it is also necessary to call on the government and the opposition to actively donate money for disaster relief, which is a rare opportunity to enhance the cohesion of the country and the nation. ”

As he spoke, he looked at Yi Zhengxing, "Xingzhi wrote an article with the title of 'Prosperity in Many Difficulties', calling on the government and the opposition to actively donate money to help the victims of the disaster in the northern provinces........ ”

The severe drought in the five northern provinces has affected more than 200 prefectures and counties, and tens of millions of victims, which has triggered a large-scale wave of immigration and recruitment, and the cash-for-work projects in the disaster-stricken prefectures and counties have also been carried out in full swing.

As soon as the article was published in the newspapers of the southeastern provinces, Yuanqi Bank immediately set up a special account for disaster relief fundraising, and publicized it in various newspapers, and all factories and mining enterprises under the name of Yuanqi responded one after another by organizing disaster relief fund-raising activities.

Soon, disaster relief fund-raising activities spread all over factories and mining enterprises, and all kinds of universities were not far behind to carry out extensive publicity and encourage students to use their spare time to go to the streets to publicize and raise funds for disaster relief.

Emperor Guangxu timely issued a clear order to the world, cutting half of the royal family's expenses - donating 2 million yuan to help the victims in the north, the government and the opposition, officials, gentlemen, businessmen and other strata have enthusiastically donated, for a time, the whole country set off a huge wave of disaster relief fundraising.

Kyoshi, Prime Minister's Office.

Since the beginning of the summer, the drought in the provinces has continued to worsen, and the scope of the disaster has been further expanded, from Liaoning in the north, to Shaanxi and Gansu in the west, and to Suzhou and Anhui in the south, forming an unprecedented vast drought area, and Zhili, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi are the main disaster areas.

What worries him even more is that last winter, there was little rain and snow and more sunshine in the north, which was a rare warm winter, which not only caused a serious spring drought, but also easily caused insect plagues - locust plagues, including Tianjin, most of the prefectures and counties in Zhili have broken out on a large scale, and the locusts that cover the sky and the sun will devour the remaining dealers, and the results of the hard work of fighting drought in the past few months have been destroyed.

For Zhili, this is tantamount to adding insult to injury, the only consolation is that so far, only the locust plague in Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan are still only drought.

"Tuk tuk" rhythmic knocking on the door sounded softly, and Yi Yi commanded softly: "Come in." A Zhang Jing reported softly at the door: "Lord Wang, Su Xiang is here." ”

"Please ——。" Yi Yi said and put down the report in his hand and stood up, Su Shun walked in quickly with a smile on his face, "Good news, it's raining!" ”

It's raining? Yi Yi glanced out the window, only to find that the sky had darkened, Su Shun walked quickly to the window, pushed open the window and pointed in the direction of Tianjin: "Tianjin, Baoding, and Hejian have called one after another, and it is raining heavily!" The drought in Zhili has been solved! ”

Slowly pacing to the window, glancing at the gloomy sky in the south, Yi Yi showed a rare smile on his face, it was finally raining! However, he soon frowned, "The drought has been resolved, this theory of continuous drought is self-defeating, is Yi Guocheng a mistake in judgment this time, or is it deliberate?" ”

"Deliberately not so." Su Shun pondered and said: "For this disaster relief, Yuan Qi has made very adequate preparations in all aspects. Speaking of this, he smiled, "There are unpredictable circumstances in the sky, even if Yi Guocheng is good at astronomy, this kind of thing cannot be completely predicted accurately, besides, it is only raining in Zhili at the moment, and Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan are still in drought." ”

Before the words fell, a Zhang Jing reported at the door: "Lord Wang, the king of Zhennan is calling——。 ”

"Take it in." Yi Yi glanced at Su Shun as he spoke, "Is it good news or bad news?" ”

Su Shun shook his head slowly, "The call came so quickly, it won't be good news." ”

Sure enough, as soon as Yi Yi picked up the phone, he listened to Yi Zhi's voice that was not in a hurry or slow, "The climate in my country this year is extremely abnormal, there are many heavy rains in the northern summer, and there are many droughts and heavy rains in Zhili for a long time. ”

A heavy rain made the people of Zhili who had experienced the drought and locust plague happy, beat the gongs and drums to thank God for the gift, and finally it rained heavily after asking for rain countless times, how not to make people happy, many local officials and gentlemen also braved the rain to go to the Taoist temple to thank God and repay their wishes.

But God seems to be deliberately embarrassed, the heavy rain is endless, for ten days, the rain has not stopped, or the heavy rain is pouring or the rain is continuous, the Daqing River, Hutuo River, Zhulong River, South Canal, Zhanghe, Wei River flooded at the same time, Zhili experienced drought, locust plague and then ushered in floods!

It is not only Zhili that suffers from floods, but also the southern provinces have suffered continuous heavy rains after the beginning of summer, with heavy floods in the upper and middle reaches of the Ganjiang River, the Fuhe River and the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, and the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River and Zishui River flooding at the same time. Severe floods in more than 20 prefectures and counties in Jiangxi, Hunan and Fujian provinces, floods in the southeastern and northern coastal areas of Zhejiang, and some counties along the Yangtze River in Hubei.

"The flood in the south and the drought in the north are so serious that the disaster is unprecedented in the two hundred years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty." Yan Shikuan, who was a little blessed in his posture, pondered and said: "In the past, natural disasters, the emperor will issue an edict against himself, but the emperor is young and a hypocrite, so he is ...... Many people blame the Cabinet and constitutionalism for this natural disaster, and there are many rumors in the market that it is because of the implementation of the constitution that the anger of the heavens and the people caused the ...... of this catastrophe. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhicontent's eyes swept over Yi Zhengxing, Zhao Liewen, and Li Hongzhang in turn, it was obvious that someone was using this disaster to make a fuss, not only against the cabinet and the constitution, but also at Yuan Qi, after all, the constitution of the Qing Dynasty was the result of Yuan Qi's great efforts.

Who is behind this? Is it royalist? Or was it a force representing the local gentry? Last year, because large-scale immigration and recruitment harmed the interests of the local gentry, the northern provinces had already used public opinion to criticize and attack Yuan Qi, and this time it was even more straightforward, even the cabinet and the constitution were attacked!

The room was quiet for a while, and when he saw it, he was content and silent, Zhao Liewen coughed lightly, and slowly spoke: "In the face of a rare catastrophe, the emperor issued an edict to reflect on himself and self-examination, in order to win people's hearts, it can be said that it is not uncommon, however, although this time the disaster is serious, and the scope of the disaster is also wide, but the relief is effective, and there is neither starvation nor homelessness so far, on the contrary, the northern provinces have been able to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction, and the frontier has also been enriched by large-scale immigration.

In the humble opinion of the students, it must be that the local gentry who are dissatisfied with the damage to their own interests are trying to provoke public opinion again, and in terms of controlling public opinion, Yuan Qi has a huge advantage, but if the disaster lasts for four or five years, it is really a bit tricky! ”

"The royalist forces should not be underestimated." Yi Zhengxing continued: "Our country has not been implementing constitutional government for a long time, and the royalists have a lot of power in both the government and the opposition, so we must guard against the convergence of the royalists and the local gentry. ”

Li Hongzhang said in a sullen voice: "I think that in this rare disaster, the government and the opposition should work together, and it is not appropriate to mix in political disputes." ”

Seeing that the three people had different ideas, Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette and smoked slowly, the Qing Dynasty's implementation of constitutionalism was a peaceful transition under the high pressure of Yuanqi's military and economy, and there was no large-scale purge of royalist forces, which was a hidden danger in itself, and he had a very clear understanding of this.

For the large-scale purge of the royalists, it is not suitable at the moment, an absolute monarchy system has a long history, and there is an extremely deep foundation in the government and the opposition, if it is a large-scale purge, it will inevitably hurt the muscles and bones, and he is just unwilling to make a big move at this juncture.

For the Qing Dynasty, the economic crisis in Western countries was not only wide in scope and long-lasting, but also the beginning of the second industrial revolution, which was a great opportunity for the Qing Dynasty to overtake in the bend.

Don’t wait for prosperity to care for the things important to you! Sighing secretly, he asked, "How is the situation of the disaster relief fundraising?" ”

Why did you suddenly ask about the disaster relief fundraiser? Yi Zhengxing and the three of them were stunned, and Zhao Liewen immediately replied: "According to Hu Xueyan's statistics, as of the end of last month, the total amount of charitable disaster relief funds raised has exceeded 20 million yuan, reaching more than 20.62 million. ”

Yi Zhishu then asked, "Is there any detailed statistics on the source of the donation?" ”

Where does the donation come from? Zhao Liewen hesitated before saying: "Back to the big shopkeeper, I haven't counted ......." ”

"Let's take a closer look." Yi Zhizu instructed: "How much do factories and mining enterprises, businesses, schools, guilds and other groups donate? How much did the owners, officials, gentry, merchants, officers and soldiers, workers, peasants, etc. donate? How much donations from unknown sources have been raised by social charity? What is the percentage of each in the total donations? are detailed statistics ...... tabulation. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen reacted immediately, this is to make a fuss about disaster relief donations! Immediately nodded hurriedly and said, "The student will immediately go to the Yuanqi General Account for detailed statistics." ”

Nodding slightly, Yi Zhishu continued: "Call King Gong, and ask him to pay attention to the rumors in the market and pay close attention to the movements of the Jingshi." ”

Yi Zhengxing said tentatively: "Is it necessary to say hello to the provincial newspapers?" ”

"There's no need." Yi Zhizhi said: "I wish they would poke it out in the newspaper!" ”

Before the words fell, Cao Gensheng walked into the room with an excited face and said: "The big shopkeeper, Alaska called, and found soybean-sized sand gold in a creek near a bay. ”

As soon as he heard that Alaska really existed in a large gold mine, Zhao Liewen and the three of them were all overjoyed, but Yi Zhizhi's expression was quite indifferent, he had long known that Alaska had gold, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "Blocking the news for the time being, now is not the best time to encourage immigrants to Alaska to pan for gold." ”

Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "The news of the discovery of gold in Alaska has spread, I don't know how the Russians who sold Alaska at a low price will react?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, it is useless for the Russians to regret their intestines, for today's Russia, Alaska is far away.