Jingshi, supervising the administrative office and the yamen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the signing room, King Gong spread out a large map of Europe and carefully searched for Schleswig and Holstein, two small principalities that caused war, and when the Prussian-Danish War broke out, he subconsciously thought of the unification of Germany.

"Europe is now gradually entering the era of the rise of the giants, the hegemony of Europe, the war will be endless, Britain and France will inevitably be involved in the war, Italy has completed the unification, the next 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! ”

It had only been a few months since the outbreak of the Prussian-Danish War, and he was shocked by his foresight and judgment.

Finding the two inconspicuous little principalities of Schleswig and Holstein on the map, Yixun pondered for a while before raising his head and ordering: "Gather relevant information as soon as possible, and this king must understand the causes of this war in detail." ”

The two men who were standing on the side hurriedly bowed down and said yes, quickly retreated, Yixun took out a small snuffbox and pulled the stopper and sniffed, if large-scale wars broke out in European countries one after another, it would naturally be a good thing for the Qing Dynasty, whether it was the Crimean War or the American Civil War, the Qing Dynasty benefited a lot from it.

In the Crimean War, the Qing Dynasty beat the Reservoir Dogs and not only recovered the northwest territories annexed by Russia, but also took the opportunity to expand in the northwest, and also bought Alaska and Kamchatka Peninsula, and expelled the Russian army that invaded the northeast, and even the purchase of Siberia can be said to have benefited from the Crimean War.

During the American Civil War, the imperial court did not seem to get any benefits, but Yuanqi used the cotton trade to make a lot of money in Europe, and the domestic cotton price increase was not small.

In the War of German Unification, how should the imperial court seize benefits? You can't always watch Yuanqi make money, right? However, when it comes to international trade, the imperial court is really lacking in talents, thinking of this, he secretly regretted in his heart, if he could be well encircled and contented, why did the imperial court fall to this point? I'm afraid it's already a prosperous scene!

Then he thought of Britain and France, and Yi Zhizhi clearly pointed out that German reunification would inevitably break out into war with France, so would Britain be involved? How much of an impact will the outbreak of war in Europe have on Europe's economy? Will Britain and France, especially France, be more dependent on trade with the Qing Dynasty?

This time, the Qing Dynasty, the United States and Russia concluded an alliance, Britain and France after a strong protest was also not over, and instead proposed to the imperial court to obtain the same tariffs and preferential treatment as the United States and Russia, the imperial court did not care, but Yuan Qi did not respond to the request of the two countries, and this matter was also suspended, and Britain and France should have no time to take care of this matter anymore after the outbreak of the Prussian-Danish War.

He was pondering to himself, and a subordinate official reported at the door: "Lord Yu, Prince Yi is here." ”

Prince Yi Zaiyuan has been in the palace frequently in recent days, what is he doing here? Yi Xun was puzzled in his heart, but he quickly got up to greet him, and as soon as he met, he smiled and said, "How can Prince Yi have time to ...... today?" ”

Zaeyuan said with a haha: "I happened to be passing by here, but Coco remembered something and came in to ask." ”

The two of them entered the house and sat down, and Zaiyuan asked about the progress of the construction of the Liangjing Railway, the immigration development in the Northeast, the construction of Shengjing, the implementation of Xinxue and the 375 rent reduction. ”

Yi Xun, who is accustomed to dealing with foreign officials from Western countries, is very displeased with the atmosphere of officialdom that is cloudy and foggy and circling in circles, and he has been patiently grinding his teeth for a long time, but he is vigilant when he hears this, and laughs: "Prince Yi is here on the order of Yi?" ”

This was too direct, Zaiyuan coughed dryly and covered it up a little before saying: "The queen mother is also very concerned about this matter, if it is not handled well, it will affect the preparation of the military industry by the imperial court." ”

Yi Xun nodded and said, "The bulk commodities of the Qing Dynasty's foreign trade are mainly produced in the southeastern provinces, and the southeastern foreign trade is all monopolized by Yuanqi. Speaking of this, he smiled wryly, "The imperial court can't be the master of Yuanqi, if Britain and France only need tariffs and trade preferences in the north, the imperial court can give them, and if you want to get the same preferential treatment as the United States and Russia, the imperial court can't do anything." ”

At this point, Prince Yi Zaiyuan naturally understood, and sighed lightly before he said: "If this is the case, the imperial court can be described as disgraced, can you communicate with Yuan Qi for a ......, let Yuan Qi focus on the overall situation." ”

"We'll talk about it in a few years." Yi Xun said slowly, he knew very well that it would not be easy for Yuan Qi to nod his head in this matter, otherwise Yuan Qi would not even have a response, paused, and continued: "I just received a telegram that war broke out in Europe, Prussia and Austria declared war on Denmark, Britain and France can't take care of this matter for the time being, don't worry." ”

Another war in Europe? Zaiyuan was happy in his heart, there were many European countries, and he didn't know what Denmark, Prussia, and Austria were, but he didn't ask much for fear of showing ignorance, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "I'm afraid that Yuan Qi will not agree to this matter easily, and the letter is difficult to communicate, and I am afraid that I will have to go to Shanghai." ”

"Even if you go to Shanghai in person, I'm afraid it will be difficult to properly solve this matter." Yi Xun said slowly: "However, you must try your best." After a pause, he continued: "Now that the train is coming and going, I will go back in the next year, and come back before the opening of the office." ”

Years ago, Shanghai was particularly prosperous and lively, most of the factories in Baoshan began to take turns on holidays, a large number of workers poured into Shanghai, began to purchase frantically before the year, and many workers who were ready to return to their hometowns were even more energetic to buy, buy, buy!

In recent years, the wages of the factory have increased steadily, and the monthly wages of ordinary workers have been as high as six silver dollars, plus holiday benefits, they can have an income of 80 silver dollars a year, which is simply unimaginable income for farmers who work all year round, even compared to the price level of the Qing Dynasty, it is also a high income.

These workers used to be accustomed to a hard life, even if they were rich, they were extremely thrifty and reluctant to spend indiscriminately, and their families in other places would basically send their wages home, but the New Year was a completely different scene.

Yanjiang Avenue, the head office of Yuanqi Bank, the general manager's office on the fifth floor.

Yi Zhizu stood by the window and looked at the busy scene on the Huangpu River without saying a word, behind him, Yan Shikuan, Kong Jian'an, and Xie Xiuyuan were arguing endlessly about the upcoming account dividends, because of the American Civil War, Yuan Qi made a lot of money through arms and drug trade, cotton trade and financial investment, Yan Shikuan and Xie Xiuyuan both advocated large dividends, but Kong Jian'an was against it.

Since the establishment of Yuanqi, the development is very fast, the stall is getting bigger and bigger, although it makes a lot of money, but the expenses are also not small, the annual subsidy to the imperial court is not a small amount, the amount of investment in railways, education, factories, immigration and disaster relief is quite amazing, the dividends of the account period can not be considered high, it is rare to earn a lot in this account period, Yan Shikuan, Xie Xiuyuan all advocate a large dividend to unite people's hearts, boost the reputation of Yuanqi, in order to attract more gentry and businessmen to join Yuanqi.

Kong Jian'an also has good reasons for opposition, Yuanqi wants to hoard gold, and needs a huge amount of silver as a backing, and furthermore, Yuanqi's current situation is still in a period of rapid development and growth, and it needs to continue to expand its operations, in order to consolidate Yuanqi's financial foundation and ensure a sufficiently rich cash flow, it should greatly withhold profits as retained income.

In addition, the profits of the past two years belong to windfall profits, which are benefited from the American Civil War, once the war is over, it will not be possible to obtain such huge profits.

The two parties insisted on their own words, the public said that the public was reasonable, and the mother said that the mother was reasonable, but Yi Zhizhi did not express his opinion, let the three of them argue, and when there was no movement behind him, he slowly turned around, glanced at the three of them, and said slowly: "Yuanqi's income has been very considerable over the years, but the account dividend is not high.

This account period, Yuan Qi did earn a lot of silver, preliminary estimates, about 300 million taels of silver, I also want to pay dividends, won the praise of a number of shareholders, but the actual situation does not allow, Yuan Qi needs to use silver in a lot of places, can not be so easy to throw out this silver. ”

Hearing this, Yan Shikuan hesitated before saying: "Big shopkeeper, Yuanqi has made a lot of money in this account period because of cotton trade, and all shareholders have high expectations for the dividends in this account period. ”

"Yuan Qi is not afraid of any blow now." Yi Zhizu said loudly: "Moreover, such a huge amount of money is retained as a provident fund, as long as the head is not kicked by the donkey, it will not leave easily, which is also a great benefit to Yuanqi's stock price, so don't worry about it." ”

After a pause, he looked at Kong Jian'an, and then said: "The enthusiasm of the shareholders cannot be hit, and the profits and losses cannot be the same, and the articles of association formulated by the company cannot be easily changed. ”

Hearing this, Yan Shikuan and Xie Xiuyuan were overjoyed, but they were content but continued: "Enlarge the infrastructure construction funds of Luzon and Java, the investment amount of the Northwest Railway, the education funds and other expenditures by three or five times, and the rest as dividends, of course, compared with the previous account period dividends, there should be a significant increase." ”

Hearing this, Kong Jian'an couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, the infrastructure funds of the two provinces in Nanyang, the amount of investment in the Northwest Railway, and the education funds are all large expenditures, and if they are magnified by three or five times, they can easily retain hundreds of millions of taels of silver, which is tantamount to a compromise plan adopted.

Since Yi Zhishu has spoken, and it is a compromise method adopted, it is not easy for the three of them to entangle anymore, but Yan Shikuan changed his head, "The big shopkeeper, many shareholders and cooperative owners have quite opinions on raising the wages of workers, and think that there is no need to ....... at all. ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said: "Yuanqi's wage standard is still low compared to Britain and France and other countries, and this wage standard will continue to increase. ”

Since Yuanqi began to vigorously develop industry, a large number of factories have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain under the vigorous drive and support of Yuanqi, more than 20 years, the West has experienced two economic crises, the Qing Dynasty not only did not suffer the impact but became more and more prosperous, now the Qing Dynasty does what is the most profitable, but anyone who has a little bit of eyesight knows, start a factory! Invest in Finance!

The return on investment finance is high and the time is short, no one in the Qing Dynasty gentry and businessmen does not know it now, even the workers in Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places know, but there are risks in investing in finance, and the risks are not small, some people make money and some people lose money, but starting a factory can be said to be a package of profits, and its income is several times that of investing in land, and no one will give up their factories because of the high wages of workers.

Seeing Yi Zhi's contented attitude, there was no room for discussion, Yan Shikuan smiled and said: "They just feel that they are offering such a high salary, and they feel heartache, let them give up the factory, I'm afraid no one is willing." ”

Yi Zhizu slowly paced over and sat down, lit a cigarette, and then said slowly: "To improve the wages and benefits of workers, this is to better develop the industry, the factory needs a large number of labor, where does the labor come from?" England drove peasants from the land to factories through the enclosure movement, the emancipation of black slaves in the United States, and the abolition of serfs in Russia, all in order to obtain more cheap labor.

It is impossible for us in the Qing Dynasty to follow the enclosure movement, and there are no black slaves and serfs to be emancipated, so we can only attract a large number of peasants to the factories by raising the wages of workers.

At the beginning of Yuanqi's establishment, why was the salary set low? Because there was no shortage of labor in the factory at that time, the huge number of victims was enough to meet the needs of the factory, but now there are fewer and fewer disaster victims, and they have emigrated to Nanyang, Northwest, Northeast, Mongolia, and now Siberia, and now a large number of rich laborers.

However, over the years, more and more factories have been built, and if we do not raise the wages of workers and widen the income gap between workers and peasants, there will be a gradual shortage of workers - we cannot recruit workers, and we must not only look at the present, but also look at the long-term .........

Besides, Yuan Qi is the largest factory owner in the Qing Dynasty, and the number of workers under his command is also the largest, greatly increasing the wages of workers, if you want to talk about losses, Yuan Qi's losses are the largest, Yuan Qi has taken the initiative to increase workers' wages, what opinions can they have? ”nt

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