Under the leadership of the concierge steward, Li Hongzhang was a little nervous and a little excited, he had been pondering on the train to Shanghai but couldn't figure it out, although the old man of his family said that he was the same as his teacher Zeng Guofan, but his career was not smooth, he has always been a small Beijing official, with a low official rank, shallow prestige, and Yuan Qi has no entanglement.

The one who has something to do with Yuan Qi is his teacher, but Zeng Guofan has never recommended him to Yi Zhi, so how did he get into the eyes of Yi Zhicontent? You must know that there are more low-grade officials like him who actively support the reform of the law and support the constitution, and many officials still have a Yuanqi background, how did Yi Zhishu take a fancy to him?

He is not a character who drills the horns of the bull, and he put his hand away if he can't figure it out, and he deliberately pays attention to it, this town south of the palace covers a vast area, the scenery is beautiful, a grass and a tree, a pavilion and a pavilion are quite ingenious, and the many palaces and princely mansions of the Beijing division are very different, more like a garden than a palace, in many specifications, are still the specifications of the Hou Mansion, I think it is easy to be content to promote the Duke and the Prince, has not been rebuilt.

As the treasurer of Yuanqi, it is impossible for Yi Zhishu to have no money, and it is impossible for him to dare to trespass because of scruples, it seems that he should be disdainful or disliked!

I walked and watched and pondered all the way, and at the gate of a courtyard, a tall, good-looking, and Western-style woman glanced at him and said, "Li Futai, please come with me." ”

Li Futai? Li Hongzhang took a moment to react to the address of him, and hurriedly followed him without squinting, and when he entered the room, he saw at a glance a handsome man who looked no more than thirty years old, no beard, and looked at him with a smile, he hurriedly took a few steps, knelt down and said, "Xiaguan Li Hongzhang greets the prince." ”

"I don't have that much red tape here." Yi Zhishu smiled and said, "Gradually, no need to be polite, sit." ”

"Thank you, Lord Wang." Li Hongzhang got up neatly, bowed down and said: "The grace of the prince's promotion, the lower officials are unforgettable." ”

Yi Zhizhi nodded with a smile, stretched out his hand to sit down, and looked at the other party with interest, if there was no Yuan Qi without him, Li Hongzhang should have pulled up the Huai Army at this time, ranked as one side of the governor, Anxi established a province, and added a governor, he first thought of this buried talent.

Later generations had quite a great controversy about Li Hongzhang, but one thing cannot be erased, Li Hongzhang's ideas and concepts were quite advanced, and he actively advocated the Westernization Movement, and the first railway, the first iron and steel plant, the first machine factory, the first modern military academy, and the first modern naval fleet in modern China were all built and founded under the auspices and participation of Li Hongzhang.

Although the current Qing Dynasty has already changed beyond recognition because of Yuan Qi's birth, for a talent like Li Hongzhang, Yi Zhishu can't bear to bury it, and the court doesn't reuse it, so he naturally can't be polite.

Li Hongzhang, who was waiting, sat down generously at the bottom, and Yi Zhizu asked directly: "What is your opinion on the status of the Northwest in the Qing Dynasty and the continuous expansion of Yuan Qi in the Northwest?" ”

Seeing that he asked so directly, Li Hongzhang hesitated for a moment before he said: "Back to the prince, since the founding of this dynasty, the biggest border trouble is from the northwest. ”

After a pause, he continued: "The prince is eloquent and strategic, and the lower officials are dull, and they don't understand the purpose of the continuous expansion of the northwest. ”

"The purpose of the continuous expansion of the northwest is not only to open up the territory, but also to curb the infiltration of British and Russian forces into the northwest, to ensure the security of the northwest, and to completely consolidate the northwest."

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him as he said, "As the governor of Anxi, he must be well aware of the situation of the various ethnic groups in the northwest and the countries of West Asia, and he should also be well aware of the expansion of British and Russian power in Asia, as well as the pattern of Europe.

With the continuous expansion of our country in the northwest, the attention of European powers will turn to West Asia, and Anxi Province is very likely to become the focus of world attention.

Gradually, there are three main tasks, one is to actively cooperate with the expansion of the Northwest Army, and the other is to try to consolidate the territory that has been laid, and strive to lay down a place and consolidate a place, so that the blood of the Northwest Army cannot be shed in vain, nor can Yuan Qi's silver be wasted. In addition, Xinjiang Zuozhitai is surveying and drawing a map of the northwest and exploring mineral deposits, and Anxi must give full assistance. ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly arched his hand and said: "The lower officials must do their best to live up to the love of the prince." ”

Yi Zhizu nodded slightly: "Anxi Province is established, and there are tentative five prefectures and twenty-eight counties, and there are suitable candidates to recommend." ”

What does that mean? Li Hongzhang was a little puzzled, although Anxi is remote, there has never been a shortage of officials in the Qing Dynasty, and Yuan Qi has also selected officials from among the new graduates over the years, it is impossible that no one is willing to go to Anxi, why did he recommend officials? Is this an intention to let him cultivate his own power in Anxi? Is it to counterbalance the Governor of Ansi?

Thinking that Feng Renxuan was also from Yuanqi, and had commanded troops in the northwest for many years, he quickly extinguished this thought, bowed slightly, and said vaguely: "Xiaguan Xie Wang Ye is considerate." ”

Slightly muttering, Yi Zhizhi said: "The imperial court has issued an edict to establish Anxi Province, has been awarded the governor of Anxi, after returning to Beijing to handle the handover, after the beginning of the year, this to Anxi, the road is far away, three or five years can not return, the family should be properly settled, if there is difficulty, you can directly propose, Yuan Qi will assist as appropriate." ”

"The subordinate obeys." Li Hongzhang stood up and bowed slightly, but he was a little strange in his heart, could it be that this is the rule for officials in the northwest? The Qing Dynasty officials adopted a system of avoidance, which is not a Qianli official.

Sent away Li Hongzhang, Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette, the four ministers of the late Qing Dynasty - Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, two people have been recruited by Yuan Qi, Zhang Zhidong is now only in the Hanlin Academy, has not temporarily emerged, not in a hurry, Zeng Guofan is if he leaves, it is not easy to recruit, he doesn't care too much, for Zeng Guofan's kind of person, too deliberate, but not beautiful.

He was thinking about it, Xie Xiuyuan, who had just left, went and returned, and said as soon as he entered the door: "Big shopkeeper, the New York branch is calling, now that the gold price of the New York Gold Exchange has fallen to a low level, do you want to eat it again?" ”

Yi Zhifen glanced at him and said, "What do you think?" ”

"In the current war, the Northern Federation has an absolute advantage, and it is bound to be difficult to repeat, and the chief treasurer also judges that the war will end next year." Xie Xiuyuan said calmly: "There is no possibility of making a profit by continuing to invest in New York gold, and according to the opinion of his subordinates, there is no need to eat it." ”

"We didn't just invest in New York gold to make money." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "Our purpose is to exchange the gold of the United States, eat it, eat it in large quantities!" ”

Hearing this, Xie Xiuyuan was a little anxious, "Big shopkeeper, Yuan Qi's arms and drug trade with the United States in recent years has been huge, and so far, the United States is still in arrears with us as much as six million taels of gold, and continues to eat a large amount of gold, but I am afraid that it may not be able to cash out." ”

After a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "Then eat six million taels of gold, and in addition, exchange a large amount of dollars for the purchase of war bonds issued by the north in the financial market, don't be too greedy, buy 10 million taels of gold war bonds and stop." ”

Buying war bonds? Xie Xiuyuan found that he really couldn't keep up with the other party's thinking, and ate the same amount of gold as the arrears on the New York Gold Exchange, which is easy to understand, but it is nothing more than to cash out the six million gold, what can you do to buy war bonds?

After hesitating, he said: "Big shopkeeper, now that the victory of the north has been decided, and the bonds issued by the north have risen well, it seems that there is not much profit margin at this time." ”

"What I need is not profit, but gold! Besides, who says there are no profit margins? Yi Zhishu knocked down the cigarette ash lightly, and said unhurriedly: "Because of this war, prices in the United States have skyrocketed and paper money has depreciated, which will inevitably lead to a series of negative problems. ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Xie Xiuyuan, "In this series of negative issues, for the Northern Federal Government. What is the most important question in terms of the government? ”

Xie Xiuyuan was asked by him, but he was secretly impressed in his heart, this is the gap! He had never thought about this problem, and after a little pondering, he said: "My subordinates think that the most important thing is to stabilize the banknotes!" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "How to be stable?" The banknotes issued by the United States during the war are not guaranteed by real money, just like the Ming Dynasty banknotes in our Ming Dynasty are of the same nature, to stabilize the banknotes, only recycling! ”

After a pause, he continued: "After the victory of the war, in the face of soaring prices and the depreciation of paper money, the Northern Federal Government. The most important question for the government is how to protect the interests of the war bondholders!

It was those war bondholders who made a great contribution to the victory of the Union Army by providing loans to the government during the war, and if the interests of the bondholders could not be guaranteed after the war, then the government. The government's credibility will be lost, and it will cause new turmoil, and in the future, a similar situation will occur. The government will not be able to get support! ”

When he said this, Xie Xiuyuan could no longer understand that although war bonds have interest, because of the depreciation of paper money, the interest obtained is far from catching up with the depreciation, that is to say, the people who bought war bonds at the beginning not only cannot get war dividends, but will also lose money, and the loss is not small!

After a moment's hesitation, he said, "What measures will the Northern Federation take to protect the interests of bondholders?" As soon as he finished speaking, he reacted, "With gold?" ”

"I can't think of anything else they can do to protect the interests of bondholders other than gold." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "This is the last feast of the American War, speculative bonds!" ”

Speculative bonds! It's not just about making money, it's about exchanging gold! Xie Xiuyuan became excited, "Do you tell them to eat separately and eat .......?" ”

"It's nature." Yi Zhi nodded and said: "Considering that the bond may be paid in gold in the end, we can't be eye-catching, otherwise it will be a little ugly." ”

Li Hongzhang doesn't care much about the situation in the northwest, after all, the imperial court rarely interferes in the northwest, and he can't interfere, he is just a five-grade supervisor Zhang Jing, how can he pay attention to the northwest thousands of miles away, and it is easy to know that he is a little puzzled by the fact that he recommends Anxi officials, and if he doesn't understand this matter, he may be self-defeating.

When he returned to Beijing, he didn't go to the yamen to handle the handover, he knew very well that as soon as he entered the yamen, he must have endless congratulations and endless banquets, and the most annoying thing for him was the recommendation.

It wasn't until it got dark at night that he hurried to Zeng's mansion and met Zeng Guofan, and he briefly recounted the conversation when Yi Zhizu met him, and then asked: "What does the prince mean by recommending officials to his students?" ”

After pondering for a while, Zeng Guofan looked at him and said, "What do you think you mean?" ”

"Feng Zhitai is a veteran of Yuanqi's regimental training, and he has also commanded troops in the northwest for many years, so he can be called the prince's confidant general." Li Hongzhang pondered and said: "Besides, the prince attaches great importance to the northwest, if he is not a confidant, how can he let him sit in the northwest all the time?" ”

"Gradually, I have never been in a high position, and I don't know the way to check and balance." Zeng Guofan said slowly: "Zuo Jigao is the governor of Xinjiang, and the scale of his supervision is as high as 20,000 troops, which is the crown of all the governors of the Qing Dynasty. ”

Is it really to balance Feng Renxuan, the governor of Anxi? Li Hongzhang's heart couldn't help sinking, his face couldn't help but be a little dignified, seeing his expression, Zeng Guofan twisted his long beard under his chin and said slowly: "This is to prevent it from happening before it happens, to avoid Anxi's separation." ”

For Feng Renxuan, Li Hongzhang only heard about it, but he didn't know much about it, and when he heard this, he said eagerly: "Feng Zhitai has a heart for separation? "I can't help but be in a hurry, if Feng Renxuan really has the heart to cut off the king, he, the governor of Anxi, is a sheep in the mouth of a tiger.

"There's no need to worry." Zeng Guofan shook his head slowly and said, "Who is the King of Zhennan?" If there is no absolute certainty, how can Feng Renxuan be allowed to sit in Xinjiang and lead the Northwest Army for so many years?

Gradually, he became the governor of Anxi, and the division of troops to check and balance was just to prevent Feng Renxuan from monopolizing the military and political power in Anxi, wasn't Xinjiang the same at the beginning?

Northwest expansion, is not an overnight thing, if Feng Renxuan monopolizes the military and political power of Anxi, over time, it will inevitably not breed ambitions, checks and balances, both prevention and consideration, in addition, the king of Zhennan must have other measures of checks and balances, gradually rest assured! ”

Hearing these words, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and at the same time faintly excited, if his Fubiao can also have 20,000 troops, it means that he still has the opportunity to establish military merits in Anxi! "What does the teacher mean that students can boldly recommend others?"

"Be bold in recommending, bold in grabbing power!" Zeng Guofan said: "This is a rare opportunity. ”