It turned out to be Morrison's son, Yi Zhizhi was a little relieved, Morrison was a British missionary, lived in Guangzhou and Macao for more than 20 years, not only learned Chinese, but also learned Chinese people to keep long nails, braids, food and clothing are all Chinese, is a full of China, but also the first British secretary and translator of the commercial superintendent in China, the official title is vice consul, died of illness in Guangzhou a few years ago.

This Ma Ruhan looks not very old, but about twenty, I think he should have been born in Macau, under the influence of his father, he has studied Chinese culture since he was a child, and it is not surprising that he became a China expert at a young age, and the Chinese secretary and translator of the British Commercial Supervision Office in China, needless to say, this is the son inheriting his father's business.

However, the identity of the other party, Yi Zhicontent doesn't like it very much, and it won't take a few years, crow. The war will break out, and then the British will become the enemies of the Qing Dynasty, and he does not want to be scolded as a traitor by the Chinese people, and it will affect his own reputation, and the reputation of the industries and commodities under his name will be a big loss.

It is for this reason that he only dealt with American businessmen and did not deal with British businessmen, and although he didn't like it in his heart, he still said politely: "Ling Zun is a great missionary who has made indelible contributions to the cultural exchange between China and the West, and I admire him." ”

Ma Ruhan bowed slightly and said: "To be so respected by the shopkeeper of Yida, my father must be very pleased if he knows about it." Picking up, he said apologetically, "I'm sorry to disturb the conversation between the two." As he spoke, he looked at Bo Jia and said in English: "Pete, Your Excellency the Inspector General suddenly has a stomach ache, please go over and take a look." ”

Although he rarely dealt with the British, Yi Zhishu also knew that the current British Chief Superintendent of Commerce in China was Yilu, so he smiled disapprovingly and said to Pitt in English: "Compared to a sumptuous dinner, the visit is obviously more important, and it seems that I can only invite you next time." ”

Bo Jia shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "Oh, I'm really sorry. ”

Out of the ophthalmology medical bureau, Yi Zhifu strolled all the way to Wanghai Tower, Wanghai Tower is nearby, to the west is just a stone's throw away, Li Wang had already booked a private room on the second floor, he entered the private room, a cup of tea was not finished, Qichang Xing, Olifin's Xing and Weitmore Xing's owner John. Green and the other three hurried over.

After a little greeting and sitting down, Oliphy said with a smile: "We are preparing to return to China at the beginning of next month, and we are preparing to find an opportunity to visit Mr. Yi in the next few days." ”

"I invite you here today because the situation has changed slightly." Yi Zhixiang did not go around in circles, and said directly: "I am going to build a railway from Guangzhou to Foshan, hoping to complete it before the end of 1840." ”

Listen to this, John. Green, Olifin, and Werthmore are all in the same boat, and the construction of the railroad was implemented so quickly? After a while, the three of them were very excited, and it seemed that Yi Zhizhi said that he wanted to implement the industrial revolution in the Qing Dynasty, not just talking, which was real.

Olifin reacted the fastest, and hurriedly said: "There is no steel plant in Guangzhou, and it does not have the ability to produce rails, and it will be completed in three years, so will all the rails be purchased from the United States?" ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "Yes, all the rails are imported, but at the same time, to build a steel plant, the Qing Dynasty must be able to build its own rails." ”

Foshan is one of the four famous towns in Guangdong, not far from Guangzhou, but there are also thirty or forty kilometers, to build a thirty or forty kilometers long railway, the amount of silver dollars needed is not a small amount. Green said cautiously: "The rails are all transported from the United States, and the cost must be expensive, estimated at least four or five million silver dollars. ”

"It's only four or five million, and Yuan Qi hasn't taken it into account yet." Yi Zhishu opened the folding fan with a brush, and shook it unhurriedly: "Guangzhou to Foshan is only more than 30 kilometers, the road is flat, the cost is not so high, this is the first railway in the Qing Dynasty, a little discerning railway companies will not treat this railway as a hammer deal."

This Fozhou-Guangzhou railway is not officially funded to build, but by the Yuanqi Bank wholly-owned construction, since it is an investment, naturally to pursue profits, for the sake of fairness, I will release the wind, Fozhou-Guangzhou railway, will be the world's major railway companies open bidding.

Of course, I would be happy to work with your country's railway companies, but I will not be able to account to the shareholders unless I give priority to your country's railway companies under equal conditions or if there is no significant difference. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Yi, for your generosity." Olifen bowed slightly: "We will truthfully convey Mr. Yi's sincerity to the Congress and the major railway companies, and we will do our best to publicize and lobby, I believe that the major railway companies will be very happy to come to Guangzhou to build the first railway of the Qing Dynasty." ”

John. Both of them know that whoever can contract the construction of the Focan-Guangzhou Railway will be able to occupy an absolute advantage in the next Qing Dynasty railway construction boom, and the United States and the Qing Dynasty's commerce and trade will also prosper sharply, and they will definitely be able to surpass Britain in one fell swoop and become the largest partner of the Qing Dynasty's foreign trade, and their three firms will naturally benefit greatly.

The three people who saw it looked excited, and Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but laugh secretly, the Foguang Railway is really a hammer deal, once the ** war broke out, the Qing Dynasty was defeated, and the land was ceded and reparated, the court will inevitably be opposed to the construction of the railway, and if you want to set off a railway construction boom, I don't know what year you have to wait.

It is also based on this understanding, he is in a hurry to build the Fozhou-Guangzhou railway, not hesitating to import rails, but also to complete before the outbreak of the first war, there is a railway put into operation, not only to accumulate experience, but also to cultivate talents, can lay the foundation for the future construction of the railway, of course, the most important thing, or to take this opportunity to lay a good industrial foundation for Guangzhou.

After a slight sigh, he spoke: "I invite you to come today, there is another thing, Guangzhou produces silk, you should all know, I am going to build a batch of machine silk reeling factories, in addition to a batch of steam engines, but also a batch of silk reeling machines, in addition, there is also a sugar process and machinery and equipment. ”

Silk reeling machine? After a pause, John said: "We know about raw silk, but we haven't seen a silk reeling machine, and our country doesn't produce silk, so there is no silk reeling machine at all." ”

Yi Zhicontent glanced at him and teased: "America doesn't produce crows either. Piece, Qichang behavior how to know to go to Turkey to buy crows. Selling pieces in Guangzhou? ”

John sneered, "Raven. The film has huge profits and can operate for a long time, and we don't know which country has a silk reeling machine. ”

"France." Yi Zhi was content to go around in circles with him, and said directly: "France is the main producer of raw silk in Europe, in addition to importing raw silk from Guangzhou, your country is importing raw silk from France, France has the best silk reeling machine, once Guangzhou adopts machine reeling, the output and quality of raw silk will be greatly improved, and the price will be reduced, which is very beneficial to your business banks in Guangzhou." ”