Preparing for a new navy? Although it was expected, but the Qiying who listened to it clearly said it, Yi Zhixiang was still a little uncomfortable in his heart, it was obvious that the imperial court had no money, and the idea of building a navy was to fight the warships in Yuan Qi's hands.

Feeling out a cigar and lighting it slowly, spewing out a cloud of smoke, he said slowly: "The navy is not as good as the army, a warship can easily be three or four hundred thousand taels of silver, which can be called the most money-burning type of troops, the imperial court is preparing to build a navy, from scratch, from small to large, it requires a sustained long-term huge investment. ”

Qi Ying said with a dry smile: "Lord Yi is not unaware of the current predicament of the imperial court, where can he still get the money to prepare for the navy. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

Sure enough, it's a dime! Yi Zhizu leaned back slightly, and didn't say a word, just looked at him levelly, waited for the following, seeing his expression, Qiying was a little embarrassed, coughed lightly, and said: "This time Yingyi attacked, the fleet crisscrossed my Daqing sea area and entered a no-man's land, if you don't build a navy and build a fleet, you can't protect yourself at all, and you are subject to foreign Yi everywhere."

Now it is a fact that the treasury is empty, and it is true that there is no silver, but the preparation for the construction of the navy is not an overnight thing, and the warships can be added slowly, but the naval generals must be trained as soon as possible, and the meaning of the imperial court is to establish the navy first, train the generals, and the warships can be added one after another.

As soon as the imperial court eases up, it will give priority to the purchase of warships for the navy, not to mention that once the second batch of treasury bonds is issued, the navy's military expenses will be allocated. ”

This is full of sincerity, the imperial court must issue treasury bonds through the hands of Yuan Qi, with this, Yi Zhizhi does not need to worry about anything, he is not verbose, and asked directly: "How big is the scale?" ”

"The initial size is 10,000 people." Qi Ying said: "The soldiers were recruited by the imperial court from the southeastern provinces. ”

Soldiers recruited by the imperial court? Yi Zhifen secretly sneered, groaned slightly, and then he said: "My lord doesn't know much about the navy of Western countries, the navy is a technical branch, most of the naval officers of Western countries graduated from the naval academy, and they entered the naval academy to study since childhood, if the imperial court wants to establish a real navy, it must establish a naval academy, starting from the cultivation of naval talents."

In order to develop the navy, it is necessary to be able to be self-reliant, have its own shipyards, manufacture warships on its own, and not hide from adults.

Nowadays, all European countries are competing to build ironclad warships powered by steam engines, and in a maximum of twenty years, the current sail warships will be eliminated. ”

Is it so troublesome to build a navy? Qi Ying couldn't help frowning, and groaned slightly, before he said: "Lord Yi is now the Admiral of Nanyang, and the preparation for the construction of the navy is ..... Lord Yi. Saying that, he smiled, "What advice do you have, Master Yi will draw up an excerpt and play it to the emperor alone, Lord Yi is now a member of the first grade, and he has this right."

However, as far as Ben Qincha knows, the emperor intends to recruit 5,000 young men from the bannermen of the eight southeastern provinces to expand the naval strength, and it has been some days, and the edict has already been issued. ”

"Thank you, for a point." Yi Zhizhi gave up, but he was a little angry in his heart, and recruited 5,000 bannermen, which obviously wanted Yuan Qi to make a wedding dress for the imperial court!

Out of the 'Sansui Hall', Yi Zhishu strolled all the way to the 'Tingtao Pavilion', he felt that Qiying seemed unwilling to talk to him deeply, think about it, although the Nanyang Minister has a lot of power, but Qiying has no money and no soldiers, neither diplomacy nor commerce, what do you have to talk about with him? However, having such a minister living in Shanghai also gave him some headaches, and the idea of supporting him elsewhere was scattered.

There are a lot of pines and cypresses planted outside the "Tingtao Pavilion", which is a little shady, Yi Zhizhi walked into the lobby under the leadership of the next person, and saw Zhuo Bingtian drinking tea and reading a book, and immediately arched his hand and said: "Lord Zhuo is so leisurely." ”

"Half a day of leisure, I didn't expect contentment to come so soon." Zhuo Bingtian said casually and stretched out his hand and said: "No need to be formal, sit down and taste tea, listen to the pine waves, and relax your sullen breath." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, turned around and pushed open the windows on both sides, then turned back to sit down, and said, "What are the regulations of the imperial court for the construction of the railway?" ”

"Yingyi's request for the right to build the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway is content and agitated, right?" Zhuo Bingtian put down the book as he spoke, got up and walked to Yi Zhizu and sat down, Yi Zhishu poured himself a cup of herbal tea, and the old god said, "Where did Lord Zhuo start with this?" ”

"The imperial court has no plan to build the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway, and for the construction of the railway, the government and the opposition have mixed reputations, arguments, and are not content and agitation, how can Yingyi ask for the right to build the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway?" Zhuo Bingtian said unhurriedly: "Contentment, don't you feel that you are in a hurry? ”

"Yes, it's under the agitation." Yi Zhixiang said frankly: "The transfer of the construction rights of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway and the compensation for the cession of land, which is more important, there is no need to repeat it below, the lesser of two evils, and it is also forced to be helpless, not to mention anything else, the losses and military expenditures that continue the war are almost enough to build this railway." Moreover, letting England undertake the construction of this railway is also a ......pros that outweigh disadvantages for the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Oh?" Zhuo Bingtian said with a smile: "Can you talk about contentment, what are the benefits?" ”

"The first is balance." Yi Zhizhi said calmly: "In today's world, in terms of railway construction technology, England is the first to be recommended, followed by the United States, and taking this opportunity to let England participate in the construction of the Qing Dynasty's railways, which is conducive to balancing the relationship between the three countries, and is also conducive to the Qing Dynasty to obtain the most advanced railway construction technology and management technology in the world."

Secondly, it is conducive to the introduction and use of the abundant funds of the United Kingdom, the richest country in the world today is none other than the United Kingdom, the outbreak of a serious economic crisis in Europe, a large number of funds in the United Kingdom are idle, and actively look for a way out, through the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway in the United Kingdom, can absorb a large number of rich funds in the United Kingdom. ”

Again, taking advantage of this opportunity, the Qing Dynasty was able to introduce a large number of mature industrial achievements in England, England is the first country to carry out the industrial revolution, but also the country with the highest degree of industrialization, the construction of such a railway, England will have a large number of factories settled in the Qing Dynasty, which is conducive to the rapid development of industry in the Qing Dynasty. ”

As he spoke, he smiled, "Are these benefits enough?" ”

Seeing him ask like this, Zhuo Bingtian shook his head and said, "Could it be ..... Aren't these the main benefits? ”

Yi Zhizhi nodded and said: "The Beijing-Hangzhou Railway is just a main line, after tasting the sweetness brought by the railway, the Qing Dynasty will inevitably set off a wave of railway construction boom, a large number of railway trunk lines and branch lines will be built one after another, and the Qing Dynasty will form a perfect railway network, at least after decades of continuous construction."

Because of the construction of the railway, the Qing Dynasty and England and the United States would form a close economic interest, in this case, the Qing Dynasty could avoid war with the Western powers to the greatest extent! For the imperial court, this is the greatest benefit! ”

"Can war really be avoided?" Zhuo Bingtian said with a solemn expression, what is the Qing Dynasty most afraid of now? There is no doubt that it is a threat from the Western maritime powers, and in the battle with England, the Qing Dynasty can be said to be afraid!

"Of course!" Yi Zhi said confidently: "When England invests a large amount of money in the Qing Dynasty, for its own interests, a large number of English officials and businessmen will oppose war with the Qing Dynasty. ”

Zhuo Bingtian nodded, in this way, the benefits of this matter really outweigh the disadvantages, and he groaned slightly, before he said: "The importance of the railway, contentment has been said very clearly in the "Eighteen Articles of Railway Rejuvenation", but the imperial court has no silver ...... at the moment. ”

"That's not what I'm talking about below." Yi Zhizhi said: "You can introduce a large amount of English funds, the imperial court has no money, you can borrow from England, you can also issue treasury bonds, of course, if the imperial court feels that the amount is too large, you can also enter into a public-private partnership, or let the private sector directly participate in the shares." ”

Borrowing from England? Zhuo Bingtian really never thought about it, he hesitated: "It won't damage the face of the court, right?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "Backwardness and beating, land cession and compensation, loss of power and humiliation of the country, and even more loss of face!" ”

Glancing at him, Zhuo Bingtian said, "Which way does contentment tend to be?" ”

"Private." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "After the railway is built, can it still be demolished?" Let go of the private joint venture to form a railway company to operate, and the imperial court only needs to set up a department in charge of railway transportation to carry out macro-control and management, and then it can sit back and enjoy its success. ”

After the railway is built, can it still be demolished? This sentence really went to Zhuo Bingtian's heart, and he was a little puzzled when he thought about it, "Yuan Qi doesn't plan to participate in the construction of the railway?" ”

Yi Zhishu didn't think about it, and said casually: "How can Yuan Qi not participate in the construction of the railway?" Yuanqi will set up a railway company. ”

Since Yuanqi wants to set up a railway company, isn't this idea that Yi Zhizu is harmful to others and himself? Zhuo Bingtian's eyes swirled around him, and he was a little puzzled for a while, and then said: "Western railways are all privately owned?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhicontentment said: "Western countries are taking a laissez-faire attitude towards railway construction, but we can't do this in the Qing Dynasty, and we must have an overall plan for the trunk line to avoid duplicate construction and vicious competition to waste funds." ”

After pondering for a long time, Zhuo Bingtian said: "What about the government-private partnership? ”

"Disapprove." Yi Zhixiang said without hesitation: "Our gentry and merchants in the Qing Dynasty are unwilling to cooperate with the government to operate, for fear of losses!" Moreover, the government-private partnership, the imperial court also needs to invest a huge amount of money, and the imperial court needs to use silver in many places, and good steel has to be used on the blade .......

For example, some unprofitable railways, private railway companies are unwilling to build, which must be built by the imperial court itself, such as some strategic places, in the next suggestion, the imperial court can not pay for the railway resolutely do not pay, don't worry about benefiting the people, can get the railway without spending money, for the imperial court, it is the greatest benefit! ”

The tone of these words was faintly preachy, Zhuo Bingtian was slightly resistant in his heart, although this kid is a member of the imperial court, he is also the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, the railway is private, Yuanqi will definitely benefit a lot, but I have to say that what this kid said makes sense!

Seeing that he was silent, easy to be content and silent, he knew very well in his heart, not to mention that there was no silver in the imperial court at the moment, even if there was silver, it would be impossible for the imperial court to build a railway with money, after all, the construction of the railway cost a lot of money, and the investment cycle was long, Daoguang did not have the foresight or the courage, and he had spare money in hand, so he also went to repair the mausoleum and the Old Summer Palace.

After being silent for a long time, Zhuo Bingtian spoke: "Regarding the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway in England, many nobles and nobles in the DPRK and China have a lot of complaints. ”

"Okay." Yi Zhizhi said happily, he really owed Daoguang an explanation for this matter, and after a pause, he said tentatively: "I have actually awarded the Nanyang Admiral, ...... the position of Shanghai Dao?" ”

Zhuo Bingtian said: "Why did you ask the old man about this?" ”

"The lord is the secretary of the ministry, don't ask the lord, who to ask?"

Smiled disapprovingly, Zhuo Bingtian said: "The Nanyang Admiral is a military position, and Shanghai Dao is a civilian position, so it stands to reason that the two cannot be held at the same time, but contentment is also clear, how did this Shanghai Dao come about, it depends on what contentment thinks... ”

Yi Zhifen is naturally unwilling to give up the identity of this Shanghai Dao, after all, the county official is not as good as the current management, but he wants to take Shanghai as his own territory to develop the plan, if there is no such identity, it will have a lot of inconvenience, a little groaning, he said: "What if you don't want to give up?" ”

"It's not in order." Zhuo Bingtian said: "However, contentment can recommend people to be this Shanghai Daotai, and the court will not refute it...... In addition, the Nanyang Admiralty's Office is located at which port, and the edict does not specify whether it is not. ”

"Master Xie's advice." Yi Zhizu thanked him, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he could recommend one of his own people to this Shanghai Daotai, and the Nanyang Admiral's Office could also be located in Shanghai, after thinking about it, he said: "Your Excellency, where is the Nanyang Minister's Office located?" ”

Zhuo Bingtian had already mentioned Qiying, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "How does the old man know about this, he has to ask the senior citizen if he is content, but he is unwilling to come to the same city as the senior citizen." As he spoke, he turned his head, "Shanghai opens a port, and the customs tariffs of Jiangsu will inevitably rise, and the old man is very suspicious, does he already know that Shanghai will open a port?" ”

"There's no such thing as an unpredictable prophet." Yi Zhishu hurriedly denied it.

Zhuo Bingtian stared at him and said: "If you hadn't expected that Shanghai would open a port, how could you use tens of millions of national bonds as collateral for the customs tariffs of the Measangjiang Customs?" ”

"Adults think too much, don't you?" Yi Zhishu said with a smile: "At the beginning, I just chose a pass at random, in order not to break the rules of Yuanqi's lending and mortgage." ”

Zhuo Bingtian had a strange expression on his face, but he didn't ask, and muttered for a while before saying: "The current situation of the imperial court, contentment and clearing, when will Jiangning be able to issue treasury bonds?" ”

Issuance of government bonds? Yi Zhi's content blinked his eyes and said, "Now that there is a truce, and the flood in Henan has passed the relief period, the imperial court does not need to issue treasury bonds anymore?" In the next steal, the top priority is to absorb funds to build the railway! (To be continued.) )