Yi Zhishu already felt strange, he was neither a feudal official nor an important minister in the court, let alone a clan noble, but a merchant in Guangzhou, why did Daoguang ask him his opinion on the ban on smoking? Daoguang will need to care about what he thinks about the smoking ban? Of course not.

The reason why Daoguang asked this question is that he is concerned about whether the smoking ban can continue to be implemented, and to put it bluntly, is whether he can ask the British side to ban crows in accordance with international practice when negotiating with the British side. After reacting, Yi Zhishu immediately paused and groaned slightly, before he continued: "No matter what the crows of various countries do. Whether the slice trade is legal or not, the Qing Dynasty strictly prohibits crows. According to international practice, it is illegal for English merchants to smuggle opium to the port of Daqing, and it is completely possible to lodge a strong protest against this, asking England to ban crows. Piece trade. ”

At this point, his tone changed, "But, Raven. The profits of the trade were staggering, and the English court benefited greatly from it, and even a strong protest only prompted the crows. The situation may be more complicated than it is now, when the trade in the area of land has shifted from open trade to underground smuggling, the coastline of the Qing Dynasty is long, and the coastal defense is in vain. ”

Daoguang looked at him and said, "Crow. If you can't block the source, the smoking ban can't be completely implemented, so is there no other way? ”

"It's not like there's no way." Yi Zhizhi said: "If you want to put an end to the English crow. There are two ways to trade in pieces, one is to follow the example of England, build a strong navy, build a naval fleet, and severely crack down on sea crows. Piece smuggling. The second is to promote the normalization of foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty. ”

Promote the normalization of foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty? What do you mean? Daoguang was confused when he heard this, and pondered for a while before he said, "But like to Citigroup?" ”

"The Emperor Mingjian." Yi Zhishu said calmly: "This time Guangzhou is banned, the reason why Citigroup will respond positively and completely cut off crows. Piece trade, that is, because through normal trade they can also earn not inferior to crows. The profits of the slice trade, and the market of the Qing Dynasty is huge, and the demand is also large, and the two are compared to weigh the trade-off, and they are willing to give up crows. Piece trade.

Businessmen seek profits, this is the nature, two businessmen do business, the normal situation is that both parties are profitable, this is the win-win model that Yuanqi has been advocating, the abnormal situation, that is, one party profits, one side loses, this kind of business generally cannot last.

In the past two hundred years, the foreign trade of the Qing Dynasty has always been profitable, while the European countries that traded with the Qing Dynasty have always been loss-making, France, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and other countries that originally had trade with the Qing Dynasty have withdrawn from trade because they cannot afford losses. ”

Hearing this, Daoguang interrupted him and said, "A businessman is pursuing profits, how can he come from the ocean to do a loss-making business?" ”

"Your Majesty, what Wechen is talking about is the loss of the country, not the loss of businessmen." Yi Zhizhi said: "For example, crows. Piece trade, the Great Qing dipping hand crow. It is a truth that the merchants in the film business have made money, but the silver of the Qing Dynasty has been lost in large quantities. ”

Daoguang nodded slightly: "England has never severed trade with the Qing Dynasty, but there is no loss?" ”

"The same loss." Yi Zhizhi said: "But all the countries that trade with the Qing Dynasty, without exception, are losses, because the Qing Dynasty is almost impossible to enter and exit, and all European countries have to bring a large amount of silver to buy porcelain, silk, cloth, tea, etc.

The reason why England was able to hold on was because England owned the colony of India, India, the Qing Dynasty, and England, and this triangular trade made England unable to give up its trade with the Qing Dynasty, and India's cotton also allowed England to barely maintain trade with the Qing Dynasty.

Citigroup was different, Citigroup used furs instead of silver in exchange for goods from the Qing Dynasty, so Citigroup also barely held on until the crow. The rise of the slice trade.

Crow. The main reason why the piece trade can grow so rapidly is silver! In the humble opinion of the micro-minister, the crow. If the slice trade is not effectively curbed, the countries that had to withdraw from trading with the Qing Dynasty due to lack of silver will join the crows. The piece trade came because there was only crow. The piece trade was able to extract a large amount of silver from the Qing Dynasty, and with silver, it was possible to continue trading with the Qing Dynasty. ”

After a pause, he continued: "The reason why Weichen suggested that he should use his national strength to fight a war with England is because of this consideration. If this is the case, the Qing Dynasty is in danger, and this is by no means alarmist. ”

The Qing Dynasty has always been heavy on agriculture and light on commerce, and Daoguang has never been very concerned about commerce and trade. The flood caused a large loss of silver, and all he thought of was to ban smoking to prevent the loss of silver, and he never thought about foreign trade, nor did he expect that the impact of foreign trade would be so great.

Hearing what Yi Zhifu said so seriously, his heart was heavy, an English smuggler. Piece, has given him a headache, those European countries are mixed in again, crows. Doesn't the proliferation of films have to reach the point of no return? And the crows. The direct consequence of the flood of tablets is that there is no silver available in the Qing Dynasty.

After a long silence, he said in a deep voice: "How about the forbidden sea?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Yi Zhizu said and moved his knees slightly, today he came prepared, tied a cushion on his knees, but kneeling for a long time, he still couldn't bear it, seeing this situation, Daoguang raised his hand and said: "Flat body, sit down." "Usually, the monarch and the minister play together, and the minister's reply is as concise as possible, and he will not extend the topic like Yi Zhizhi at all, he asks what he answers, and never mixes a little more digression.

After Xie En got up and sat down, Yi Zhizhi continued: "Your Majesty, this is not what it used to be, the Holy Ancestor was able to ban the sea in the past, but now, it is impossible to ban the sea at all!" Although the Qing Dynasty is not the center of the world, but it is the center of trade between the East and the West, England absolutely cannot tolerate the Qing Dynasty forbidden sea, now England has a strong naval fleet, enough strength to break the Qing Dynasty's sea ban, the Qing Dynasty forbidden sea, will only further increase the scale of the war, and now the coast is densely populated, rich and prosperous, and the situation is very different from the situation when the Holy Grandfather was in power. ”

Crows are strictly forbidden. At the time, there were many ministers in the DPRK and China calling for the ban on the sea, and Daoguang proposed to ban the sea, which was not a whim and hot-headed, but when he heard Yi Zhicontent say this, he also had some drums in his heart, whether England will expand the scale of the war because of the ban on the sea, not to mention, the price of the ban on the sea is indeed too great now, if it provokes a popular uprising, it will really outweigh the losses.

With a slight groan, he pulled back the topic and said: "Promoting the normalization of foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty can effectively curb crows. Piece of smuggling? ”

"Yes, Citigroup is the best example of this." Yi Zhishu said in a firm tone: "Crow. After all, the slice trade is an illegal trade, and if it is a legitimate trade, it can be obtained no less than a crow. Slice trade profits, no one wants to be a crow. Piece trade. After a moment's pause, he continued: "There was an economic crisis in England, and the price of fine iron fell from more than twenty pounds a ton to eight pounds into silver dollars, that is, thirty-two dollars. Today, the high-quality iron of the Qing Dynasty is 140 yuan a ton, and the quality is not as good as that of England.

If the Qing Dynasty can build railways on a large scale at this time, it can not only greatly reduce the cost of construction, but also guide England to turn to legitimate trade, the territory of the Qing Dynasty is vast, and the market for railway construction is incomparable. Piece smuggling. ”

Daoguang groaned: "The railway is expensive, and the large-scale construction of the railway, where will the money come from?" ”

Is this tempting? Yi Zhixiang was secretly happy in his heart, and immediately said calmly: "There is no silver in the imperial court, but there is no shortage of silver in the Qing Dynasty, and the officials, gentry and businessmen have silver in their hands, and most of them hide in the silver cellar to sleep. ”

Listening to his big vernacular, and his tone was relaxed, Daoguang smiled secretly in his heart, ordinary ministers talking to him, which one is not literary, and the words are rigorous, concise and concise, where can he be like this kid, however, the words are vernacular, but it is not unreasonable, and the ministers do not have this insight at all.

"In addition, to build a railway, there is money to repair the law, no money is to repair the law without money, the imperial court has abundant funds, can be fully rolled out, several lines start construction at the same time, funds are tight, you can borrow, borrow from domestic bank ticket number money bank, borrow from foreign banks, you can also issue stocks, raise funds, you can also call on local gentry and merchants to build on their own, you can also sell the right to operate the railway, in short, as long as the imperial court is determined to build the railway, this way can be flexible and changeable, no need to worry about silver."

Daoguang smiled when he heard this, and there were a number of civil and military ministers under him, but whenever there was a little matter, the first thing was to ask him for silver, to build a railway, such a big thing, this kid actually told him that he didn't have to worry about silver, and that there should be a few more ministers like this, but it would be much more comfortable.

"Tea." Daoguang commanded the outside world, only then did he look at Yi Zhicontent, and his heart was already a little happy, this kid is well-informed, familiar with China and foreign countries, for business and trade, he has a vision and unique insights that ordinary people can't reach, it is really a rare economic talent, no wonder Wang Ding named him to enter the department.

Listening to the tea, the leader of the eunuch Wang Changqing on duty outside the door hurriedly poured a cup of hot tea and brought it in, Daoguang glanced at him, and then looked at Yi Zhicontent, Wang Changqing was on an errand by his side for a long time, and he understood that this was to give Yi Zhizhi a cup of tea, and he couldn't help but be secretly surprised, Daoguang generally only appreciates tea for senior ministers and ministers such as military aircraft and college students, how can he give tea to such young courtiers as Yi Zhicontent, and it is already extraordinarily generous to sit down.

Thinking in his heart, his hands and feet were not slow at all, and he hurriedly poured another cup of hot tea in, Yi Zhixiang didn't expect that he also had a share, and was about to stretch out his hand, Wang Changqing reminded in a low voice: "Don't thank you yet?" ”

And thanksgiving? Yi Zhishu hurriedly got up and said, "Thank the emperor for giving tea." Sitting down, he reached out to serve the teacup, Daoguang waved his hand to retire the eunuch, and then picked up another fold and opened it to take a closer look, the construction of the railway is very controversial, even if he doesn't have to worry about the silver, he is difficult to make a decision for a while, this matter, have to convene the ministers to discuss carefully.

Outside Zhengyang Gate, Da'er Hutong, 'Wharf Inn'.

Seven or eight tables in the lobby on the first floor are full of people, these people are old and young, but they are all brightly dressed, the instrument is magnificent, at a glance, you can know that it is either rich or expensive, the shopkeeper old horse head will take out the best tea leaves that he treasures on weekdays, and wait carefully, for fear that a bad greeting will cause trouble.

Naturally, these people were not guests of his inn, they were all here to visit the Yi master who lived in the backyard, and he noticed that these masters were either adults, or the housekeepers of this and that house, and a few of them were shopkeepers, all of whom were masters who raised their feet higher than others, how could he not accompany him.

He didn't understand why the Lord Yi stayed in his small inn, his heart was both happy and worried, yesterday a palace eunuch came to deliver the decree, he knew that the young man's identity was not ordinary, but fortunately, the guys were attentive and there was no offense.

"Shopkeeper." A young man came up to him and said softly: "I have found out, the master in our backyard is really not an ordinary person." ”

"Nonsense, ordinary people can be summoned by the emperor one after another? Can so many noble people come to visit? Say it. ”

"The shopkeeper has heard of Yuanqi, right?"

"Yuan Qi?" The old horse head frowned and shook his head, and said, "I haven't heard of this name, what is it?" ”

"The shopkeeper hasn't even heard of Yuanqi?" The young man who had just found out clearly said in a pretentious manner: "Yuanqi is a bank, that is, a silver number, which is different from our Jingshi's 'Four Hengs', and Yuanqi is a super-large silver number that monopolizes all the large and small silver numbers in the entire Guangdong Province, and that master is the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi." ”

"Who are you kid?" The old horse head said: "The emperor will summon a big treasurer with a silver number?" Which of these is not the master who plucks a hair thicker than our waist, and will come to meet a silver-numbered treasurer? ”

"Don't talk about it, this silver number shopkeeper is not ordinary." The young man said: "I heard that he still has a knighthood on his body, and he is a third-class light car captain." ”

The old horse head said softly: "What is the captain of the third-class light car?" In these forty-nine cities, there are a lot of yellow and red belts all over the streets, and whoever has a title that is not higher than the third-class light car captain? You can't be mistaken, are you? ”

The young man was anxious, and hurriedly said, "How can there be a mistake?" The small one came out of the mouth of the little maid in the backyard. ”

"That's weird." The old horse head said to himself, he really couldn't figure it out, how could a big shopkeeper with a silver number in Guangdong be so valued in Beijing? (To be continued.) )