Let Yuanqi invest in the Eurasian railway in the Russian section? Yi Zhixiang was secretly amused in his heart, and there was a feeling of feng shui taking turns, the European powers of the late Qing Dynasty came to the Qing Dynasty to invest in railways to seize the natural and economic resources of the Qing Dynasty, but now Russia took the initiative to ask Yuanqi to invest in the railways in the territory.

In his opinion, the military value of this railway is much higher than other values, the trade between Qing and Russia is secondary, and the opening of the Northwest Railway is the most important, once the Northwest Railway is opened, the Qing Dynasty can firmly control the northwest, and then control Central Asia. Although the border with Russia has been demarcated and a non-aggression pact has been signed, these things are not reliable, and what is really reliable is its own military strength and military base.

Although he attached great importance to this Eurasian railway, Yuanqi had no intention of investing in the railway for Russia, and Yuanqi did not have so much money to invest, and he also hoped that the Qing Dynasty would open the railway to the northwest first to gain time to consolidate the northwest and Central Asia.

The railway was also of unparalleled importance to Russia, and he believed that without Yuanqi's investment, Russia would have tightened its pockets and built the Great Trans-Siberian Railway, which ran from Moscow to Vladivostok.

After a slight hesitation, he said slowly: "The importance of this trans-Eurasian railway to your two countries is needless to say, Yuanqi also hopes to open this railway as soon as possible to promote the economic and trade between the two countries, however, China is also undergoing large-scale infrastructure construction and industrial infrastructure construction in China, and it is impossible to allocate funds to assist your country." ”

For Russia, which is eager to develop its economy, the Qing Dynasty not only has a huge market but also the most important source of raw materials, and this railway connecting the Qing and Russia has extraordinary significance for Russia.

In addition, the Qing Dynasty's ambitions for the expansion of Central Asia have been undoubtedly exposed, and the intensive construction of the railway connecting Central Asia has also doubled the pressure on Russia, and Russia's expansion to the East for 200 years has adopted a policy of gradual penetration and encroachment, and they are also worried that the Qing State will continue to infiltrate and encroach on the Kazakh steppe, and they are also not at ease with this neighbor who has shown its fangs.

All this prompted Russia to speed up the construction of this railway, but Russia is not able to allocate huge sums of money to this huge project.

Seeing Gorchakov silent, Putiyatin spoke: "This big railway connecting your two countries is of great significance to our two countries, but for European countries, it is tantamount to a nightmare, once the news leaks, European countries will inevitably block it in every possible way, with the current situation of our country, without the strong support of Yuan Qi, it will be difficult to complete it in 20 years." ”

"The news about this railway simply cannot be blocked." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "Your country can go to the Frankfurt Financial Center to raise funds. ”

If he wants to say that he opposes the Qing-Russian railway, England and France should be the most opposed among all European countries, because once this railway is opened, it will inevitably deal a heavy blow to the maritime trade between the East and the West, and it will also strengthen Russia's economic strength and improve Russia's economic status in Europe.

Frankfurt, the only Russian financial center in Europe's four major financial centers – London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam – could finance it, but he did not suggest it purely out of good intentions, as the distance from Moscow to the Kazakh steppe would cost a huge amount of money.

Russia raised funds in Frankfurt under the opposition of most financial forces in Europe such as Britain and France, and it must not be a low interest, and the huge interest will seriously affect the development of Russia.

Sure enough, listening to the translation, Putiyatin showed a wry smile, "It's not that I haven't considered going to Frankfurt to raise funds in my country, but in the case of the opposition of most European financial forces, it is not ordinary to raise such a large amount of money. ”

After a deliberate groan, Yi Zhizhi said, "I'm sorry, Yuan Qi can't do anything about this matter." ”

Hearing him say this, Gorchakov knew that there was no room for mediation in this matter, and he couldn't help but be disappointed, but he seized this opportunity and said: "Land trade is not as good as the sea, the land route is far away, the loss is not small, and the profit is far less than that .......of sea trade. ”

This guy is a master negotiator, and he even suspects that this is the main purpose when he refuses to invest in Russian railways, but what the other party said is the truth, the profits of land trade are far less than those of sea trade, and it is necessary to adjust tariffs appropriately, besides, the alliance between the three countries, he already has preferential intentions.

Tariffs are a complicated matter, but Yi Zhishu is a businessman's son and is very familiar with this aspect, so he immediately negotiated with the other party to finalize the tariffs on several major commodities in the trade between the two countries.

Unconsciously, the sun was already in the west, waiting to see Gorchakov and his party out of the garden, Yi Zhizhi slowly lit a cigarette, this kind of foreign affairs negotiation is the most tiring, nearly an hour of long talk, he is also tired enough, then returned to the study, Zhao Liewen quickly came in to report: "The big shopkeeper, King Gong is here." ”

Yixun is coming to Shanghai again? Yi Zhishu understood in a flash of thought that the other party must have come because of the alliance of the Three Kingdoms, and he couldn't help but smile, "It seems that King Gong is here to fight in the ring this time, please let him in." With that, he slowly paced out to greet him, and it was better for the other party to come to Shanghai in person, saving him from chewing on words and writing letters.

After entering the study and taking a seat, Yixin asked unceremoniously: "When the world's powerful countries are Britain and France, why did Brother Guocheng choose to ally with the United States and Russia?" ”

Sure enough, the ring came, and Yi Zhizhi said without hurry: "Those who do not seek the world are not enough to seek a time, and those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a domain." The alliance with the United States and Russia is for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, and it is true that the world's great powers are indeed the first to recommend Britain and France, and the United States and Russia are not enough to compare with Britain and France.

But this is only for the moment, in the long run, the United States and Russia will inevitably surpass Britain and France, and it will not be too long, and in a few decades, the United States and Russia will inevitably surpass Britain and France! ”

England is now known as the 'empire on which the sun never sets', with colonies all over the world, and its naval strength is so strong that even several European powers cannot compete with it, and it is a veritable maritime hegemon, and France is also the leading power in Europe.

Yi Xun's first reaction was impossible, although Yi Zhi's ability to predict the world pattern was already well-known, but this thing was too unbelievable, and he groaned slightly, before he said: "Why does Brother Guocheng judge like this? ”

Yi Zhizhi was content with a look of the old god, "Willingness is very simple, although Britain and France are strong, but in the big whirlpool of Europe, their national strength will continue to be consumed, the United States is located in North America, once the Civil War ends and the country is unified, the position of the North American hegemon will be difficult to shake, and it can develop calmly."

Although Russia is located in Europe, it is located in Northern Europe, far from the center of Europe, and after the defeat of the Crimean War, Russia is actively changing laws and reforms, promoting the development of capitalism, and deliberately avoiding war in order to bury its head in development, selling Siberia, the large concessions in the survey of the northwestern border, the large-scale uprising in Poland, the mobilization of 300,000 troops in Poland, and the sending of the Baltic Fleet as far away as the United States, etc., all prove this. ”

After a pause, he said in an accentuated tone: "In the past few decades, it is enough for the United States and Russia to surpass Britain and France!" ”

After pondering for a while, Yi Xun hesitated and said, "Brother Guocheng means that there will be a large-scale war in Europe?" ”

Yi Zhizu nodded slightly, "Yes, Europe is now gradually entering the era of competing for hegemony in Europe, the war will be endless, Britain and France will inevitably be involved in the war, Italy has completed the unification, and the next one should be Germany."

The reunification of Germany will inevitably lead to a war with France, and the sixth master may wish to wait and see, in a few years, the war will break out! ”

He has always been quite concerned about the situation in European countries, but he has not seen any signs of war breaking out at all, large-scale riots in Poland, although Britain and France have the intention of intervening, in the end it is not over, which shows that European countries are still extremely rational and restrained.

But it is easy to know that the words are conclusive, the tone is extremely positive, and he also said that war will break out in a few years, so he can't help but be frightened, if it is really as he judged, Europe is constantly in war, Britain and France have been involved in the war one after another, and it is not impossible to be surpassed by the United States and Russia.

In other words, the alliance of the Three Kingdoms, Yi Zhicontent, is completely from the long-term consideration of the Qing Dynasty, not as he speculated, in order to drive a wedge between the imperial court and Britain and France.

After a little hesitation, he said in a sincere tone: "Brother Guocheng knows the situation well, and it should be very clear that the Empress Dowager Ci'an lacks a comprehensive enough understanding of the situation in the West, and is only dedicated to the emperor's sake, and the imperial court is now ..... close relationship with Britain and France, and the alliance with the United States and Russia, even if there is the consent of the king and the prime minister, the empress dowager will definitely not agree." ”

Speaking of this, he felt that there was no need to hide it, the other party could not have known about the thoughts of the imperial court, and after a pause, he simply said truthfully: "The imperial court relies on Britain and France because Britain and France helped the imperial court establish military factories, and the imperial court hopes to produce guns and ammunition on its own."

Although the Empress Dowager does not know much about Western affairs, she still knows about the antagonistic relationship between Britain and France and the United States and Russia, and for the sake of the emperor and the imperial court, she will not agree to offend Britain and France because of the alliance with the United States and Russia, unless Yuan Qi can actively assist the imperial court in establishing a military factory. ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him, and said slowly: "The object of the alliance between the United States and Russia is not the imperial court, but Yuan Qi, this should be clear to the sixth master, let the imperial court conclude an alliance with the two countries, I am thinking about the imperial court, if the imperial court is embarrassed, Yuan Qi will sign a treaty with the United States and Russia, and it will save a lot of trouble." ”

Hearing this, Yi Xun couldn't help but smile wryly, Yuan Qi signed a treaty with the United States and Russia, in what name? It will not be in the name of a company or a business group to sign a contract with the United States and Russia, and if you really want to force Yuan Qi to do this, it is tantamount to forcing Yuan Qi to stand on his own.

"Brother Guocheng, this is a ....... for the king and Su Xiang." Yixun's face was bitter, and he sighed lightly, and then he continued: "The queen mother is a woman, and she only has the little emperor in her heart, and the brother of Guocheng is calculating, and the state affairs are like this, this king might as well let Xian be a free prince." ”

Seeing him behave like this, Yi Zhi couldn't help but laugh secretly, if he is really willing to be a free prince, he still has to wait until today? Slowly lit a cigarette, and then he said slowly: "It's not that this king is unwilling to assist the imperial court, and Yuan Qi can let Britain and France assist the imperial court in preparing for the construction of a military industrial system, which means that Yuan Qi does not care about this, and it is not difficult to send people or even money to help the imperial court establish a military industrial system."

But you should learn to compromise, you can't let Yuan Qi compromise on everything, in the long run, Yuan Qi will not compromise one day, and then they will be scattered and become enemies?

It is understandable that the Empress Dowager Ci'an is dedicated to the sake of the little emperor, but she must learn to take into account the overall situation and must learn to compromise, otherwise she will not wait for the day when the constitution is established, and the court will be out of control. ”

After hesitating, Yi Xun said: "Brother Guocheng means to discuss ...... with the Queen Mother first?" ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said, "No matter what happens, Yuan Qi will give the sixth master a cover!" ”

Hearing this, Yixun was overjoyed, and immediately smiled and said, "This king has thanked Brother Guocheng first." ”

Yixun left satisfied, but Zhao Liewen was a little puzzled, and after seeing Yixun leave, he said tentatively: "The big shopkeeper is planning to compromise with the court?" ”

"What else could it be?" Yi Zhishu looked at him and said: "When it is time to compromise, we must compromise, the alliance of the three countries is conducive to the long-term and stable development of the Qing Dynasty, and is conducive to the expansion of the Qing Dynasty in Central Asia and West Asia. ”

At this point, he walked back to his study and said, "Polyphobia is the foundation of constitutional democracy, and it is easy to form multi-headed politics in the West – that is, multiple factions coexist, and no one faction has enough strength to eliminate the others.

Constitutional democracy is in fact a competition between multiple forces or factions to reach a balance and resolve the issue peacefully through negotiation and agreement.

In the East, however, it is easy to form a political head, that is, one faction is dominant, one is dominant, and other factions cannot be tolerated, and we prefer to solve problems by force and high pressure.

In this respect, we are not very suitable for the implementation of constitutionalism, but the current situation provides an opportunity for the Qing Dynasty to implement constitutionalism, provided that they can change their concepts and learn to compromise, and they will not compromise, and even if they implement constitutionalism, it will only be a flash in the pan. ”