Wang Ding had a detailed discussion with Yi Zhixiang, knowing that he spoke unscrupulously, and he had been vigilant since he opened his mouth, and when he heard that his tone was wrong, he hurriedly scolded in a low voice: "Be careful about the loss of honor in front of the king." ”

Listening to the reminder, Yi Zhishu hurriedly stopped, I don't know what went wrong, when he entered the palace, the prince also reminded him that the monarch and the minister should play the duet, the language should be concise, the expression should be clear and clear, and the attitude should be respectful, but the problem of Daoguang should be clearly expressed, and it is really not concise.

Daoguang waved his hand disapprovingly, and said, "This is the first time he has seen me, so there is no need to be demanding." As he spoke, he raised his hand and said, "You go on." ”

Yi Zhizu moved his knees a little uneasily, the general ministers are prepared to cushion their knees for the audience, he has no experience, he is not prepared at all, he is not used to kneeling and replying, he is really not used to it, he groaned slightly, he said: "The last six articles proposed by Yingyi are not groundless, but proposed in accordance with international practice, one by one, Weichen is worried that it will not be clear for a while, can Weichen be allowed to use the excerpt to play." ”

Seeing that he repeatedly mentioned international practices, Daoguang said with great interest: "What is international practice? ”

"Back to the emperor, international practice refers to some customary practices and precedents that are gradually formed in the exchanges of various countries and are jointly observed by all countries." Yi Zhixiang paused slightly before continuing: "Our east is a suzerain-vassal system, and all the small countries around it regard the Qing Dynasty as their suzerain, and they respect the Qing Dynasty.

This is not the case with the Western Ocean, which is not the case with European countries, regardless of its size, strength or weakness, all countries are equal, just like the Seven Heroes of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the seven countries are divided into large and small strong and weak, but in their exchanges, all countries are equal in status, and the same is true for European countries, and international practice is established on this basis. ”

After a slight hesitation, Daoguang asked, "How many countries are there in Europe?" ”

This can make Yi Zhicontent asked, he really didn't know how many countries there were in Europe at this time, meditated for a while, and then he said: "Back to the emperor, Europe has a vast territory, comparable to the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and there are many large and small countries, and there should be more than 30 countries in total. ”

There are more than 30 countries in such a small place? Isn't that a country that is not as big as a province in the Qing Dynasty? The corners of Daoguang's mouth curled, revealing a disdainful expression, and then asked, "How big is Yingli?" ”

"England is a European power and a European power." Yi Zhizhi said without thinking: "Its mainland in Europe is composed of the British Isles, and like the Japanese State, it belongs to the island country, and the local territory is not large, not as large as the Japanese State. However, England had large colonies overseas.

Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America have British colonies, its territory has exceeded the Qing Dynasty, is worthy of the name of the British Empire, because its territory throughout the eastern and western hemispheres, also known as the 'sun never sets empire', the British Empire and our Qing Empire, can be said to be the two empires of the East and the West. ”

The British Empire, which was larger than the Qing Dynasty? Daoguang was taken aback, and hurriedly asked, "Is the colony the same as a vassal state?" ”

"It's not." Yi Zhizhi said: "England's direct dispatch of officials and troops to overseas colonies to rule is completely different from the vassal states of the Qing Dynasty, in essence, the colonies are the overseas territories of England. ”

How could England be such a huge empire? Daoguang was a little distracted for a moment, when Qianlong sent an envoy to Beijing to congratulate him, Qianlong and the Manchu Dynasty gave the most grand reception to the first visiting envoy in Europe, but the understanding of England was limited to one of the smallest countries in Europe, and no one knew that England was such a huge empire.

If he had known that England was such a huge empire, he would have been much more cautious on the issue of banning smoking, and would not have sent radicals like Lin Zexu to Guangzhou to ban smoking. Such an unscrupulous ban on smoking has attracted external trouble for the imperial court.

Seeing that Daoguang was gloomy and silent, Wang Ding didn't care if it violated the etiquette of the monarch and the minister, and said: "Since England is a big empire in the West, it seems that we have nothing to wait for it equally. ”

Yi Zhixiang knew that he was enlightening Daoguang by saying this, and thought that he was asking for his opinion, so he said without hesitation: "Not only for England, but also for other countries, we should wait for it equally." The Qing Dynasty was the suzerainty of all Asian countries, not the suzerainty of European countries, and not the suzerainty of all countries in the world. ”

There was a quiet in the warm pavilion, the impact of these words on the three of Daoguang was not small, all along, China has been a **** country, the center of the world, a big country, the four seas are unique, all countries come to the court, subconsciously treat other countries as vassal countries, for those who do not come to the court, countries far away from China, all regard them as barbarians, and now it is easy to be content but want the Qing Dynasty to treat other countries equally, how do the three of them accept it in their hearts?

The three of Daoguang were sitting, but Yi Zhizhi was kneeling, he didn't have the habit of kneeling, after a long time, he felt a knee pain, so quiet, he couldn't stand it, hesitated slightly, and then he said: "England is the hegemon of the sea, but also the hegemon of Europe, and for European countries, it can still be treated equally." ”

Before he finished speaking, Wang Ding reprimanded lightly, "Hugh's nonsense." ”

Did you say the wrong thing again? Yi Zhishu was a little speechless, and stopped talking, Daoguang glanced at him, and said slowly: "This matter has nothing to do with mind, it is about etiquette." ”

What about etiquette? Yi Zhishu was slightly satisfied, and then reacted, not about etiquette, but about Confucian culture, treating other countries equally, will have a great impact on the Confucian view of the world, and Confucian culture is one of the foundations of the imperial court to maintain its rule.

Not allowing him to think too much, Daoguang changed the topic and said: "You have experienced the battlefield in the two battles of Modaoyang and Dinghai, how is Yingyi's combat strength?" ”

Yi Zhizu had long expected that Daoguang would ask about this, and immediately said in a deep voice: "The Yingyi Navy is strong and the army is weak, and the Great Qingshui Division is difficult to match, naval battles, ten times surrounded, the victory or defeat is unpredictable, and land battles, five times surrounded, there is a chance of victory." ”

That is to say, there is no chance of winning a naval battle at all? Daoguang said in surprise: "The battle of Sharpening the Knife Ocean, isn't it the total annihilation of the Yingyi Yuehai Fleet?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Yi Zhizhi said: "The Yingyi Yuehai Fleet is just a small fleet blocking the mouth of the Pearl River, and it doesn't even have a capital warship, and the Yingyi's main battleship - that is, the kind of warship with 74 guns, all came to Tianjin to show off their strength, even if it is a small fleet, the Guangdong Navy Division can only encircle and annihilate it with ten times the warship." ”

That being said, in fact, he knew very well that if there was no participation of Yuan Qi's five patrol fleets, it would be impossible to annihilate the other party with only the warships of the Guangdong Naval Division, but for those five cruisers, he didn't want to mention it, it was just catching lice and putting them on his head, asking for trouble.

Daoguang asked, "How many of Yingyi's main warships are there?" ”

"Judging from the information from the crews and sailors of the merchant ships of the British and Citi countries who came to Canton, England had at least seventy or eighty third-class battleships -- that is, the main warships, and more than ten second-class and first-class battleships -- warships loaded with more than 100 guns."

With so many main warships, how can this battle be fought? Daoguang's heart sank, and he turned his head to glance at Wang Ding, who had been fighting hard, and Wang Ding hurriedly bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, although the scale of the Yingyi Navy fleet is large, it has to defend the Quartet, and the troops that can be drawn are limited. ”

"What Wang Zhongtang said is very true." Yi Zhizhi continued: "England has stationed sub-fleets in many overseas colonies, and although the naval fleet is large, it is impossible to transfer all of them to our Qing Dynasty, and besides, England is now in a large-scale economic crisis, and there is no sufficient financial resources to support a large-scale war. ”

The English court also has no money? Daoguang's heart couldn't help but move, didn't he dare to start a war lightly because the treasury was empty? After a slight groan, he said, "What is an economic crisis?" ”

This is really hard to explain, and even if he says it clearly, Daoguang may not be able to understand it, Yi Zhishu groaned slightly, and said: "To put it simply, it is a serious recession, a sharp depreciation of the currency, the closure of factories, the closure of money banks, and the depression of the market. ”

Daoguang said with some puzzlement: "Since England has no money, why is it still provoking a war?" ”

"Because we are rich in the Qing Dynasty." Yi Zhizhi said: "In all the foreign wars of England, if the war is won, the defeated side will pay a huge amount of war reparations, which is an effective way for the English court to pass on the economic crisis. As he spoke, he moved his knees, and after kneeling for a long time, his knees were really uncomfortable.

Daoguang glanced at him, estimating that he must have not experienced a long kneeling performance, considering that there were still a lot of things he had to ask, and Wang Ding and Zhuo Bingtian were also given seats, so he commanded: "Give me a seat." ”

Listening to the gift, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but be overjoyed, he really couldn't kneel, he quickly stood up, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Wang Ding glaring at him, and then he remembered to thank him, and then knelt down and said: "Weichen thanks the emperor for his grace." Only then did he get up and consciously sat down on the small pestle behind Zhuo Bingtian.

Daoguang beckoned, "Come to me." ”

Yi Zhi's contentment dare not follow, obediently like a primary school student carrying a small pestle in front of the kang to sit down, Daoguang has already followed the topic: "England provoked the war in order to pass on the domestic economic crisis?" ”

"Wechen stood." Yi Zhishu said calmly: "England provoked a war this time for three purposes, one is to pass on the domestic economic crisis, and the other is to protect the crow. Piece trade. In the case of an economic crisis at home, England could not bear to cut off crows. Piece trade.

The third is to expand trade with the Qing Dynasty and open up the market of the Qing Dynasty. The scale of the economic crisis that broke out in England was very large, affecting the whole of Europe, even Citigroup, which was far away across the ocean, but our Qing Dynasty was not affected. In addition, we have not had a major war in the Qing Dynasty for a hundred years, and we have a long period of peace, prosperity and wealth, and a large population, which can be said to be the largest market in the world. ”

In this way, England did not provoke wars because of crows. Slice? Daoguang looked at him with some doubts, he didn't quite understand what the economic crisis was all about, why England started a war in order to get rid of the economic crisis, but he was too embarrassed to continue to ask.

After a little hesitation, he said: "Submit the reason why Yingyi provoked the war, and submit a detailed excerpt." ”

"Wechen obeys." Yi Zhishu hurriedly bowed to his body, but he secretly complained in his heart, he was not familiar with the life of Jingshi, where could he find someone to catch a knife? As soon as he thought about it, he thought of Su Shun, well, it had to fall on that kid.

Daoguang's greatest concern is naturally the war with England, from Yi Zhicontent, his questions are all around England, from Yi Zhi's answer, he is keenly aware that the economic crisis that broke out in England is the key, but he doesn't understand the economic crisis at all, so he can only wait for tomorrow to summon Yi Zhicontent alone, and then learn more about the inquiry.

He raised his face and muttered for a moment before he spoke: "It was mentioned in the "Theory of National Debts" that European countries will issue national bonds when they start wars, is this true? ”

Seeing that he finally asked about the national bonds, Yi Zhishu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, European countries have perfect and mature financial trading markets, and it is normal to issue treasury bonds, not only wars, disasters, construction projects, economic construction, etc., but whenever a large amount of expenditure is required, treasury bonds will basically be issued." ”

"What is the general interest rate on the issuance of government bonds in England?"

"Three cents." Yi Zhizu said stubbornly, and he wrote this clearly in "On National Debt".

"Then Yuan Qi dares to ask for eight cents?"

"There's no comparison." Yi Zhishu said calmly: "The Treasury bonds with a coupon rate of 3% in England are long-term Treasury bonds with a maturity of 10 to 30 years, and the average interest rate of Bank of England is low, only 5%, while in the Qing Dynasty, the average loan interest is at least 1.8% or more.

Although Yuanqi is a low-interest loan, but also lending, it is also a penny and a half, the national debt is only eight percent, Yuanqi has done his best, not Weichen complained, with eight percent to undertake the national debt, Yuanqi lost at least four million taels. ”

Daoguang is thrifty by nature, likes to settle accounts, listened to this, but did not say anything, of course he knew the truth that Yi Zhixiang said, Yuan Qi lent to foreign countries with one cent and two cents, which was in short supply at all, and the loss of four million taels was not a lie, but the British issued treasury bonds as long as three percent, but the Qing Dynasty wanted eight percent, and now the two countries were at war again, and it was strange that he could be happy when he was always thrifty.

Seeing that Yi Zhixin would not give an inch, Wang Ding couldn't help but secretly pinch a sweat for him, for fear that Daoguang would not be able to hang on his face and attack him, which would be a little troublesome, but in this case, it is not appropriate to reprimand Yi Zhicontent, after all, this kid is iron-hearted and will not give in, but for a while, he doesn't know how to turn around, so he can only be secretly anxious. (To be continued.) )