The inside and outside of the Yangxin Palace are brightly lit, in the Dongnuan Pavilion, the Empress Dowager Ci'an listened to the routine reports of several military ministers in turn but was a little absent-minded, Yuan Qi planned to build the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and let the British contract the rumors She also heard about it, and she had been in charge of the country for five years, she had cultivated her own forces, and she could know the slightest disturbance in Beijing, not to mention that this news was deliberately spread by Su Air.

Guangzhou is one of the foundations of Yuanqi, Yuanqi's influence in Guangzhou is greater than in Shanghai, the railway from Beijing to Shanghai has been opened, and now the railway from Guangzhou to Beijing is going to be built, what is Yuanqi going to do? Prepare for a rainy day?

The two railways plus the ever-expanding navy, once Yuan Qi was in trouble, the imperial court did not even have the ability to parry, and what made her feel even more embarrassed was that Yuan Qi actually handed over this railway to the British to build, which put the imperial court in a dilemma.

After a patient insignificant routine report, Ci'an pondered for a while, and the ministers of military aircraft stopped saying a word, and then she slowly spoke: "There are rumors in the market that Yuan Qi plans to build a railway from Beijing to Guangzhou, and the British Railway Company will undertake the construction of this railway, but is this true?" ”

"Back to the Queen Mother." Su Shun said calmly: "The ministers have indeed heard of it, but the ministers secretly think that it should be a false thing, the capital division to Guangzhou is five thousand miles away, and it will cost hundreds of millions of silver to build the railway, and Yuan Qi and England are not friendly, how can they let England contract this railway?" ”

"According to the palace, the English minister Walson has been in Shanghai these days." Ci'an said unhurriedly: "And the news came from the French embassy ....... ”

"Back to the Queen Mother." Minister of Military Aircraft Wen Xiang said: "This matter should be true, and someone from the British Embassy has confirmed it." ”

"Let's discuss." Ci'an didn't care about it, and didn't seem to be too concerned about this matter.

"The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway runs through the north and south, passing through many provinces, and once completed, it will inevitably be the most important railway trunk line in the Qing Dynasty." Wen Xiang said slowly: "Weichen secretly thinks that this move is a good act for the benefit of the country and the people, besides, this matter also involves Britain and France, and Weichen secretly thinks that the court should push the boat with the water." ”

"No." Su Shun said in a deep voice: "It is not appropriate to build the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, and it is even more inappropriate to build it by the British. ”

Seeing Su Shun's opposition, Ci'an was a little surprised, and she was also a little relieved, as for the reason for the inappropriateness, she was naturally clear, and she groaned slightly, before she spoke: "This matter involves England, what should I do?" ”

"Back to the Queen Mother." Su Shun said calmly: "The railway transportation is fast, which is of great benefit to the provincial capitals and counties, and it also implicates England, and the imperial court should not oppose it openly, otherwise it will be criticized by the provincial officials and gentlemen, and England will not be willing to give up." Weichen secretly thought that it was best to let Yuan Qi take the initiative to give up. ”

Let Yuanqi give up on his own initiative? It's almost impossible! Ci'an glanced at him suspiciously, and said, "Is there a good plan for the rain pavilion?" ”

"The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway was proposed by Yuanqi, and it is not easy for Yuanqi to take the initiative to give up." Su Shun said slowly: "In Weichen's humble opinion, it is best to delay the time, even if it can be delayed for three or five years, it is good, Weichen asked to go to Shanghai to lobby." ”

Ci'an nodded slightly, this proposal is good, it is unlikely that Yuan Qi will take the initiative to give up, but it is quite feasible to delay for three or five years, with three or five years, the imperial court should be able to build its own military industrial system with the help of Britain and France, as for letting Su Shun go to Shanghai to lobby, she was a little hesitant, and the important ministers of the court ran to Shanghai again and again, and she was a little resistant.

After a slight hesitation, she spoke: "This matter will be discussed after it is fully confirmed." Kneel down. ”

After the military planes retreated, Ci'an ordered: "Xuangong Wang Yixun is here." ”

After waiting for Yixun to come in and ask for a salute, Ci'an asked directly: "What does Uncle Huang think about the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway?" ”

"The thief thinks it is not appropriate to object." Yixun said without thinking: "Britain is facing a large-scale economic crisis, the domestic railway construction project has been greatly reduced, resulting in a large backlog of rails, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway is extremely important to England, if the imperial court is opposed, it is very likely to be at odds with England."

In addition, the speed of railway traffic has long been accepted by the Qing Dynasty and the opposition, originally the local opposition to the construction of railways, after seeing the convenience brought by the railway, as well as the great promotion of local commerce and industry, many local gentry and businessmen have changed their attitudes, from opposition to welcome and even eagerness, the southeastern provinces set off a boom in railway construction is the best proof.

In addition, Yuan Qi controlled the newspapers in the southeast, and also infiltrated the newspapers in the northern provinces, and the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway would inevitably promote in the newspapers to raise shares, and if the imperial court opposed it, there was a possibility of losing the hearts of the people. ”

After a slight sigh, Ci'an said: "Uncle Huang didn't think about it, once this railway is completed, how big is the threat of Yuan Qi to the imperial court?" ”

"The minister weighed it carefully." Yixu said calmly: "Yuanqi has a large fleet, and there is also the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, if it intersects, Yuanqi can go hand in hand by land and water, and doesn't care about one more Beijing-Guangzhou Railway." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Yuan Qi has made a lot of money in Europe in recent years, and it is not a good thing to encourage Yuan Qi to invest the silver in local infrastructure construction with his humble opinion. Thinking about translocation, if Yuan Qi had a disobedient heart, he would not have spent huge financial resources on railway construction.

In addition, the construction of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway also has great benefits for the imperial court, which is not only convenient for the Beijing division to connect to the southeast, but also brings a lot of taxes and silver to the imperial court. ”

After thinking for a while, Ci'an said, "Will England have a close relationship with Yuanqi because of this railway?" ”

"Back to the Queen Mother." Yixun secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and hurriedly said: "This possibility is not very likely, Yuan Qi and Ying Ji are nothing more than interest cooperation, in fact, the reason why Ying Ji is willing to support the imperial court is nothing more than hoping to seek greater benefits in our Qing Dynasty."

For England, they would like to see a divided Qing Dynasty, and only in this way can they maximize their interests.

In the humble opinion of the ministers, Britain and France and other countries will definitely not give up their support for the imperial court because of their cooperation with Yuan Qi, because they cannot get more and greater benefits from Yuan Qi. ”

Ci'an nodded approvingly, Yixun's opinion is quite thorough, the reason why Britain and France and other countries are willing to support the imperial court to build a military industry and develop industry is not only to obtain benefits from the imperial court that cannot be obtained from Yuanqi, but also to promote the confrontation between the north and the south of the Qing Dynasty, just like the north and south of the United States.

After a slight sigh, she spoke: "Is it possible to let Yuan Qi postpone the construction of this railway for three or five years?" ”

"Impossible!" Yi Xun said without thinking: "Yuanqi chose to build the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway at some time, not for nothing, one is that Yuanqi now has a large amount of surplus funds on hand, and secondly, this move should also be to deal with the impact of the European economic crisis on the Qing Dynasty. ”

Although Ci'an thinks that Yixun's analysis is not unreasonable, but after she determined the matter of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, she still ordered Su Shun and Zaiyuan to go to Shanghai to lobby, but whenever there is a little hope, she doesn't want to give up, it can be delayed for three or five years is three or five years, it is really not good, it is good to delay for two or three years, and the current imperial court really needs time.

Shanghai, Zhennan Palace.

Accompanied by the porter, Walson slowly went to Changle Bookstore, in order to fight for the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, worried that the night would be long and dreamy, he showed unprecedented efficiency, and quickly gathered people to form a fairly professional negotiation team to negotiate with Yuan Qi about the construction of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.

Yi Zhishu met Walson in the study this time, and after a little greeting, Walson tentatively said: "Your country has made remarkable achievements in railway construction in recent years, and in just 20 years, it has surpassed a large number of most European countries, and even Russia has been far surpassed by ....... ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhishu smiled and said: "Most of the European countries have small territories, and most of them are less than one province of China, even so, the total railway mileage of our country is still not as good as your country and the North German Confederation.

As early as a few years ago, the total length of railways in your country exceeded 15,000 kilometers, and in Germany it also exceeded 10,000 kilometers, while the total length of railways in China is still less than 15,000 kilometers. ”

Walson smiled when he heard this, and then said: "I don't quite understand why your country will give priority to the development of remote and desolate northwest ...... in the construction of railways. ”

Yi Zhizhi said without thinking: "The development of the Northwest Railway is because the northwest of our country is rich in high-quality cotton, the cotton trade in recent years has promoted the construction of the railway in the northwest, of course, but also for the sake of national defense, China's northwest has always been the source of chaos, with the railway, is conducive to the consolidation of the northwest frontier."

There is another more important point, the Northwest Railway investment is slow to return, can only be Yuanqi investment, and the inland provinces are relatively prosperous and rich, can raise funds to build railways, Yuanqi only needs to do a good job of planning. ”

Walson nodded thoughtfully, and then asked very abruptly: "I heard that Yuan Qi has expanded his army in the northwest, but he still wants to continue to expand?" ”

This question was out of line, Yi Zhishu glanced at him, lit a cigarette slowly, and then said slowly: "Your Excellency is wrong, it is not expansion, but the reconquest of lost territory, and many khanates in the northwest are all vassal states of my Great Qing Dynasty." ”

Is this not a denial of expansion in the Northwest? Is it just that the scope of expansion is limited to the vassal states that originally belonged to the Qing Dynasty? Walson was a little unsure, he really didn't know much about the relationship between the Central Asian countries and the Qing State, but he knew that many countries in Central Asia were indeed vassal states of the Qing State, and those countries that were unable to protect themselves were all grass on the wall, and whoever was strong would submit to whomever was strong.

The other party is expanding under the guise of recovering the vassal states that originally belonged to the Qing State, and he really can't say anything, not to mention that England itself is occupying colonies everywhere, and he is not qualified to blame.

After a slight hesitation, he tentatively said, "There are no vassal states of your country in West Asia, right?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "Yuan Qi doesn't have that much appetite, in the northwest, we just want to keep the territory that belongs to us." ”

God knows if this is credible, and Walson did not dwell on it, and the conversation changed, "The Taiping army in Bangladesh is also expanding its armaments, so it is not planning to continue to expand westward, right?" ”

"The Taiping Army is a rebel army in our country, and it is in a state of hostility with Yuan Qi and our imperial court." Yi Zhisuff pondered and said: "For the Taiping army in Bangladesh, we focus on prevention. ”

Hostile state? Walson couldn't help but slander himself, do you really think that we don't know that Yuan Qi is behind the Taiping Army? The weapons and ammunition of the Taiping Army were not provided by Yuan Qi, so could they still produce them on their own?

Yi Zhifu asked rhetorically, "I heard that your country is preparing to move the Governor's Palace in Calcutta to Delhi?" ”

It's no secret that Walson said, "It is true, that Calcutta is too remote from the whole of India. After a pause, he continued: "However, even if the Governor's Office were to be moved to Delhi, it would not be possible for us to give up Calcutta. ”

"This is really sad news." Yi Zhixiang looked regretful, "Originally, Yuan Qi also planned to join forces with your country's troops in India to exterminate the Taiping Army and completely eliminate this hidden danger, but now it seems that this plan is difficult to achieve." ”

"That's not necessarily without a chance." Walson said: "In order to prevent the Taiping army from expanding westward, our country has drawn a lot of troops to strengthen the defense of Calcutta. ”

Yi Zhicontent said with a smile: "This is good news. ”

The two tested each other, neither of them had a word of truth, both of them lost interest in continuing to talk, and when they saw Yi Zhicontent, they raised their wrists to look at their watches, and Walson immediately got up and said goodbye with interest.

As soon as he saw off Walson, Cao Gensheng hurriedly stepped into the courtyard and reported: "The big shopkeeper, the Beijing master is calling, Su Xiang and Prince Yi Zaiyuan have left for Shanghai. ”

"Sure enough!" Yi Zhizu muttered softly, and then beckoned Lin Meilian and ordered, "Let them prepare and set sail tomorrow." ”

Su Shun and Zaiyuan rushed to Shanghai to learn that Yi Zhifen had left Shanghai to take a boat to Nanyang to investigate, and the two couldn't help but smile bitterly, Yi Zhishu happened to choose to go to Nanyang a day or two ago, making it clear that he didn't want to see them, but in fact, this is tantamount to showing his attitude, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, there is no room for maneuver at all.

Hearing this, Walson naturally understood that it was time for him to appear, and met with Su Shun and the two on the same day, and his attitude clearly stated that England was determined to win the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and hoped that the Qing court would give strong support.

Su Shun dared to express his position indiscriminately, and hurriedly sent a telegram back to Beijing to ask for instructions, thinking about it, and at the same time sent a telegram to Gong Wang Yixun.

Soon, the two received a reply, and the reply from the Empress Dowager Ci'an and Gong Wang Yixun was exactly the same - they could not be easily agreed, emphasizing the threat of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway to the Beijing Division, and in exchange for strengthening and speeding up the preparation of the military industrial system.