Nourishing Heart Palace, East Warm Pavilion.

After Daoguang sat down, a group of ministers of military aircraft, household departments, military departments, and ministers of the Ministry of Industry rushed in, and knelt down in unison and said: "Weichen Mu Zhang'a and others respectfully invite the emperor to be sainte." ”

Glancing at everyone, Daoguang spoke: "Today's deliberations are all free of courtesy and flat." ”

Obviously, today's deliberation time will not be short, and there is also the meaning of letting everyone speak freely, and a group of ministers have thanked each other and got up, and after everyone got up, Daoguang said: "I specially summoned you here today to discuss the three things of Yuanqi Bank, the construction of railways, and the issuance of treasury bonds. ”

These three things have long been rumored among the ministers of the Beijing Division, and each of them has inevitably caused fierce debates.

Zhu Shiyan, the Han Shangshu of the Ministry of War, took the lead in speaking: "The construction of the railway is beneficial to the country and the people, and the military affairs are especially good, and the ministers of Weichen plead to the emperor to build the railway on a large scale to consolidate the country." ”

Pan Shien, a scholar of Tiren Pavilion, the prince of the Taibao, the minister of military aircraft, and the minister in charge of household affairs, followed and said: "The construction of railways and the issuance of treasury bonds are all strongly approved by the ministers. ”

Wang Ding, Minister of Military Aircraft and Household Shangshu, followed closely and said: "These three things, Weichen also agrees. ”

As soon as the three of them spoke, the two attendants of the household department and the military department hurriedly followed the opening and agreed.

Seeing this situation, the Minister of Military Aircraft walked, and the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate Yu Shi Kuizhao said in a deep voice: "Weichen does not dare to agree, the construction of the railway, the cost is expensive, whether it can travel thousands of miles a day, no one has witnessed it, Deng Tingzhen, the governor of Liangguang, has also heard of it, and has never seen it in person, how can it be so rash?" ”

Wang Ding didn't let it go at all, and sneered at each other: "What is rashness? The "Eighteen Articles for Rejuvenating the Country by Railway" clearly stated that the construction of the railway is not an overnight effort, and it must be prepared for five to ten years. It must be a careful investigation, many inquiries, and after the implementation, it will be played on the fold, and during the preparation period, it is completely possible to introduce trains and railways from the West with thirteen lines to see its effect. ”

This is in line with Daoguang's intentions, and he also has the intention of introducing trains and railways into the Thirteen Lines and trying it out in Guangzhou to see the effect, but he is not in a hurry to express his position.

The military department is full of Shang Shuxi and bowed down and said: "Weichen opposes the construction of the railway, the Qing Dynasty established the country, the one who relies on it, the bow and horse riding and shooting, deterring the world, and the person who relies on it is also the bow and horse riding and shooting, the train and railway travel thousands of miles a day, where is the rest of the Qing Dynasty iron cavalry?" ”

Mu Zhang'a, a scholar of Wu Yingdian University, the chief minister of military aircraft, and the minister in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Industry, followed closely: "Although the railway is good, it is not beneficial to the country..." ”

After a pause, he said: "How much iron does it take to lay the good railroad tracks on the ground and stretch for thousands of miles?" How much civil power does such a large project have to be consumed? How much silver does it cost? Yi Zhi's content with the "Eighteen Articles of Railway Rejuvenation", his heart can be punished, and this move is to exhaust the national strength of the Qing Dynasty.

In addition, the railway occupies a wide area, and a railway, I don't know how many people's land and houses will be occupied? Even more abominable, destroying feng shui, building railways, building bridges when encountering water, and piercing holes in mountains, greatly damaging feng shui along the line.

Once the railway is completed, the boats and cars along the line, the stack and shop houses have no way to make a living, and the post stations along the way will also be canceled, and there are people who have lost their land, so many small people have lost their livelihoods, and if they are not properly disposed of, they will gather as rogues and turbulent places, and the court must not worry.

Although the railway is conducive to the control of the imperial court, but it is also conducive to local chaos, if there is a railway in the place to reach the Beijing Division, then thousands of miles away will become a place of elbows and armpits, and all the barriers related to the periphery of the Beijing Division are all furnished, how many soldiers and horses must be gathered in the Beijing Division to prevent it? ”

Mu Zhang'a is the chief minister of military aircraft, and he is deeply respected, and his attitude is not unreasonable, and the ministers who did not speak have expressed their attitude, and the scene immediately formed a one-sided situation.

The voice of the people who waited for him was slightly lower, and Wang Ding bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, there are pros and cons to everything, and building a railway is no exception, but Wei Chen secretly thinks that the advantages of building a railway outweigh the disadvantages. ”

Daoguang also did not expect that the voice of opposition would be so loud, and the reasons for opposition were also very sufficient, especially the sentence that thousands of miles away was a place that became an elbow and armpit, and all the barriers on the periphery of the Jingshi were all furnished, which made him quite concerned, and he couldn't help but think carefully about the safety of the Jingshi.

After coughing lightly, he spoke: "The matter of building the railway will be discussed later." As he spoke, he picked up the "Theory of National Debts" and said: "This is the "Theory of National Debts" written by Yi Zhizhi just sent by Deng Tingzhen, Wang Ding, you come to read it to you." The reason why he asked Wang Ding to read it by name was because Wang Ding was the most supportive of the issuance of treasury bonds.

Hearing that it was Yi Zhi's content to write the "Theory of National Debts", Wang Ding was secretly happy, and after kneeling down to take it, he read it aloud, seeing this situation, Mu Zhang'a knew that Guang must be extremely satisfied with this "Theory of National Debts", otherwise he would not let the courtiers read it in public.

“…… Since the Holy Ancestor Shizong, breeding people, never add endowment, and then spread into the ground, the imperial court's annual income is a certain amount, encountering special circumstances, or raising troops or disaster relief or large-scale project construction, it will inevitably be stretched thin, and the income will not be able to make ends meet.

Under such circumstances, the issuance of treasury bonds is not to blame the people, which is an act of sympathy for the people's livelihood and cherishing the people, which not only does not damage the prestige of the imperial court and does not affect the face of the imperial court, but can better unite the people's hearts and enhance the reputation ......of the imperial court. ”

Hearing this paragraph, Mu Zhang'a scolded secretly, this kid is also a flattering expert, the court borrows debts, and it can be said that it is sympathetic to the people's livelihood and cherishes the people, it seems that it is impossible to punish the crime with the "Eighteen Articles of Railway Rejuvenation", this kid's "On National Debts" won Daoguang's favor, but he can't be angry with Daoguang's interest.

After Wang Ding read it aloud, Daoguang was not in a hurry to speak, and waited for the ministers to reminisce, for this "Theory of National Debts", he was indeed quite happy, the imperial court's finances were stretched, and the issuance of treasury bonds was tantamount to a timely rain for the imperial court, but the opposition of the officials in the court was quite high, and there were many criticisms, so he had to have some concerns.

Yi Zhi's "Treatise on Treasury Bonds" dispelled all his concerns in one fell swoop: Western countries can frequently issue treasury bonds, why can't the Qing Dynasty issue them? What's more, this is a move to sympathize with the people's livelihood and cherish the people, see who dares to oppose it!

Seeing that no one was silent, Wang Ding bowed down and said: "This "Treatise on National Debts" is of good quality, and the ministers prayed and published it in the newspaper. ”

Almost no one in the household minister will oppose the issuance of treasury bonds, there is a way is not a family, I don't know how hard it is to be in charge, the treasury is empty, and the life of the household department is the saddest, because for the issuance of treasury bonds, the opinions of the household department are the most unified, Wang Ding's voice fell, the household department is full of Shangshu Yihao, and the left and right Manchu Han servants Chen Guanjun, Qi Liaozao, Yucheng and so on hurriedly echoed.