The residence of Baron Zhang Zhigao, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire, is crowded with cars and horses in front of the door, the flow of people is like weaving, the courtyard is full of lights, and the big red happy characters can be seen everywhere.

Under the cool air of early autumn, Zhang Zhigao appeared in the lobby wearing a knee-length suit of exquisite European aristocratic style, holding the hand of the Vice Minister of Culture and Education of the Empire, Baroness Luo Sulan, who was dressed in a pure white wedding dress and wore a necklace inlaid with white gold and sapphires, light and elegant.

Guest Wen Yi sighed to another guest, Liu Yun: "It's good to get married." ”

Liu Yun replied: "Then get married." ”

Wen Yi smiled: "I'm not as interested as you." ”

"You want to be a monk."

"Wordy."

Because their parents are in a completely different time and space, and as high-ranking officials of the empire, Zhang Zhigao and Luo Sulan are not good at blatantly engaging in Western-style weddings, so heaven and earth worship, and the second worship parents change to bow in the direction of the palace, and after the husband and wife worship each other, the banquet will be opened.

Although the host couple is immersed in happiness, some of the guests have their own thoughts: a group of diners led by Major General Lu Zixiang, commander of the 1st Praetorian Guard Division, are launching fierce combat operations with the goal of delicious food and wine on the table; However, Ding Jieyun, the commander of the Praetorian Guard, ignored the existence of food, and focused all his energy on getting acquainted with the dignitaries at the banquet; While Liu Yun and Wen Yi were eating and drinking, they were still discussing military affairs, and they did not have the right to ask for more personal time.

"Sending people to Europe and the United States during the general election is a bad idea." Liu Yun nibbled on sweet and sour pork ribs and said to Wen Yi.

Wen Yi swallowed a fish ball: "No way, in a hurry, the matter of revising the New Covenant with the United States is basically no problem, Germany and France have not yet opened up the situation, and Britain is even more stubborn, and it needs to make a favorable diplomatic situation before the elected government is formed." ”

"Do you know the way? Ding Jieyun privately proposed to me that he hoped to find an excuse to attack the Philippines and turn it into the empire's first overseas territory before the historical Spanish-American War. ”

Wen Yi chewed on the steak and said, "I hope he made this suggestion just out of ignorance." ”

Liu Yun lifted the crystal glass goblet: "What do you say?" ”

Wen Yi put down his chopsticks: "On the surface, attacking the Philippines is only to take Spain as an enemy, but in fact, the United States' intentions against the Philippines must be considered. The historical Spanish-American War took place in 1898, the fuse of the war was the mysterious explosion of the American battleship "Maine" in the port of Havana in Cuba, but the background was the contradiction between the rising industrial countries' demand for colonies and the declining old colonial countries with more colonies, in the war, the United States defeated the weakened Spanish fleet with absolute superiority in maritime power, and controlled the Philippines and Cuba. It seems to me that even without the bombing of the USS Maine, a Spanish-American war seems inevitable, and the United States will still march on the Philippines. ”

"It will affect our diplomatic strategy."

"That's right, and it will also attract the attention of the European powers. We need a period of peace and tranquility to carry out a comprehensive economic, political, and cultural transformation of this empire, and before that, we must not take the initiative to provoke war, let alone launch aggressive attacks against European countries, lest the great powers regard us as competitors and jointly stifle our reforms. Except, of course, for Russia, and the reason why we have made friends with Britain, France, the United States and Germany is to deal with Russia. The Ministry of Culture and Education has launched the propaganda of 'reconquista lost territory', taking the repossession of the territories occupied by Russia as a spiritual guide for national military education, and the Imperial War College has also conducted a series of simulated operations with the Russian Far East as a battlefield, but I think that the capture of the Far East is not only a move to regain lost territory, but also a demonstration of strength, and the significance of changing the strategic pattern of the world from the fact requires careful planning and careful implementation, and our fate, the fate of the empire of our dreams, is all based on the future Sino-Russian war as a fundamental turning point. ”

Liu Yun wiped his lips stained with sweet and sour juice with a hand towel: "Rest assured, let the sleeping lion wake up slowly, we have grown teeth enough to defend ourselves, and then, we have to sharpen our claws and tear apart all the stupid prey that blocks our vision." ”

Wen Yi stared at him: "Not only to tear apart certain prey, but also to let the people of this country enjoy a freedom that even in that world has never been, this is your promise to me." ”

Liu Yun said: "I haven't forgotten, everything is in progress." ”

"You should understand my desire for freedom, and my desire to share it with my fellow citizens."

"I understand."

Wen Yi sighed and took a sip of red wine: "You remember, when I was in college, I wrote a novel involving democracy, but no domestic publishing house dared to accept it, and the reason for the rejection was nothing more than involving politically sensitive issues and could not be promoted in Chinese mainland, you can feel my feelings at that time." ”

"As a result, you published it on the Internet and sent it to many friends, including me, in fact, it was because of your novel that I thought of taking you with me."

"I haven't heard you say that, really?"

Liu Yun said very seriously: "We grew up together, have I ever lied to you?" ”

Wen Yi replied resolutely, "Yes." ”

"It's just a little thing that's not worth mentioning."

"How about cheating on my first love."

"That's also because your emotional foundation is not strong enough, how can true love be broken up so easily."

"It's so thick-skinned."

"It's not a secret to you."

When the topic of the two was getting farther and farther away from military politics, Zhang Zhigao and Luo Sulan came over, holding wine glasses in their hands to toast Liu Yun and Wen Yi.

Wen Yixian sighed: "Xiao Luo really looks more and more beautiful." ”

Liu Yun turned his head to look at him: "What do you mean, only now will you put this kind of afterthought." ”

Luo Sulan smiled: "Mr. Wen will make fun of me." ”

After Wen Yi drank a glass, he squinted at Zhang Zhigao: "Xiao Zhang, I'm sorry, you don't have the honeymoon, the honeyweek may be okay, let's leave next week, give you three days off first, hurry up and enjoy it." ”

Zhang Zhigao smiled and nodded: "It's okay, it's a long time coming." ”

Liu Yun patted Zhang Zhigao on the shoulder: "I like this sentence, the coming day is long, the coming day is long." ”

About a month later, when the national election began, Zhang Zhigao accompanied the Imperial Foreign Minister Zeng Jize to envoy to Europe and the United States, and Luo Sulan was also working as a double job in the Ministry of Culture and Education and the Supervisory Committee of the Chinese People's Party.

At the beginning of December 1895, the first national election of the empire came to an end, except for Tibet and the Mongolian Special Administrative Region, all provinces elected the representatives and senators in the quota, and a total of 400 representatives and 48 elected senators were elected throughout the country, plus the 24 senators appointed by the emperor, the system of the House of Representatives and the Senate was basically complete. In this unprecedented general election, the Chinese National Democratic Party won a resounding victory, winning 263 seats in the House of Representatives and 36 elected seats in the House of Councillors, in addition to 16 seats in the House of Councillors, with a total of 52 seats in the House of Councillors. In addition, Kang Youwei's royalists won 67 seats in the House of Representatives and 10 seats in the Senate, while Sun Wen's Liberal Party won 59 seats in the House of Representatives and 7 seats in the Senate, with the remaining seats divided between small parties and independents.

In mid-December, the emperor issued an edict, announcing that the name of the country would be changed to "Zhonghua", and the name of the year would be changed to "Guangxing", and from 1896 to the first year of Guangxing, the official change to the Western calendar, and announced that the Manchu and Han would merge, abolish the Eight Banners, and cancel the Manchu formulation.

At the end of December, the Emperor appointed Wen Yi as the Imperial Chancellor and appointed him to form the second Imperial Cabinet. Immediately, Wenyi submitted the list of new cabinets:

Minister of National Defense - Zhang Zhidong, Duke of Seung'en;

Minister of the Interior - Duke of Chengde, Weng Tonghe;

Foreign Secretary - Earl Zeng Jize;

Minister of Commerce and Industry - Viscount Niu Jin;

Chancellor of the Exchequer - Viscount Han Lang;

Minister of Science and Technology - Baron Ma Feng;

Minister of Transport - Chen Baoxuan;

Minister of Culture and Education - Tan Sitong;

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry - Baron Tian Masahiro;

Minister of Health – Sun Wen;

Minister of Justice - Kang Youwei.

Among the 11 ministers, six members of the Chinese People's Party -- Niu Jin, Han Lang, Ma Feng, Chen Baoxuan, Tan Sitong, and Tian Zhenghong, one royalist -- Kang Youwei, one member of the Liberal Party -- Sun Wen, and three non-party members -- Zhang Zhidong, Weng Tonghe, and Zeng Jize -- are the cabinet of the great political coalition.

On the third day after the formation of the new cabinet, Prime Minister Wen Yi submitted his annual policy address to the two houses of the National Assembly, which took three days to pass the third reading, and in the following week, the prime minister successively appointed or retained the governors of the provinces, the chief executives of the special administrative regions, ministers and consuls in foreign countries, and appointed Tang Caichang, president of the Hunan Provincial High Court, as the president of the Imperial Supreme Court after consulting the National Assembly. All this is being done in an orderly manner in accordance with the Constitution, and this new system is gradually unfolding with the backing of strong military and spiritual power, and this era is changing the fate of a great Chinese empire and the people of its land that have suffered many vicissitudes.

At the same time, the process of East Asian integration is also moving forward steadily; since the signing of the Sino-Japanese alliance treaty, Japan has been incorporated into the strategic system of the Chinese Empire, economic, military, political, and cultural cooperation has been carried out in an all-round way, the yen is linked to the Chinese yuan, the establishment of the Sino-Japanese Joint Command, the improvement of the Sino-Japanese political consultation system, and the establishment and activities of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association all show the growth of a new pattern in Asia. Korea and the Ryukyus, which were originally vassals of the empire, were directly included in the empire's economic development plan and armament expansion plan, and the two countries used Chinese yuan, and the armies of the two countries were directly under the command and control of the imperial general staff, and politically they also carried out internal affairs reform in accordance with the imperial constitution.

The wheel of history is slowly turning, and the people who drive the wheel seem to hold the fate of the world, but are their own destiny in their own hands?

In the first year of Guangxing, at the end of February 1896, the Imperial Foreign Minister Zeng Jize led a delegation back to Beijing, and nearly 5 months of traveling around the world made him tired, but his vice-minister Zhang Zhigao maintained a state of excitement as he wished.

The Imperial Chancellor, Wen Yi, had learned of the results of this visit by telegram, and he particularly cherished the signing of the new commercial treaties between China and the United States, China and France, and China and Germany, and was also pleased with the intention expressed by the British side to revise the new treaty - at the same time, the Imperial side had ordered four new 4,000-ton protective cruisers from the British Armstrong Company at a cost of 1.3 million pounds, equivalent to 5 million imperial silver dollars. Of course, the Germans, who had provided China with four armored battleships, were no less, and the order for eight 4,000-ton protective cruisers and eight 3,000-ton light cruisers was a real fortune for the shipyards of the German Empire, but the order, which was worth up to four million marks, equivalent to 14 million imperial silver dollars, was not entirely for the Imperial Chinese Navy, two-thirds of the price would be shared between Japan and Korea, and half of the warships would be distributed among China, and a quarter for Japan and Korea.

After greeting Zeng Jize and giving Zhang Zhigao a week's long vacation, Wenyi summoned Han Lang, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Niu Jin, Minister of Finance, Chen Baoxuan, Minister of Communications, Tian Zhenghong, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, and Ma Feng, Minister of Science and Technology, to hold a meeting on economic strategy.

"Gossip is avoided, today the main thing is to briefly assess the existing economic capacity, and then unify the general direction, set the basic goals, and then assign them to various departments to make specific plans. Niu Jin first briefly introduced the financial situation. ”

The chubby Niu Jin could withstand the biting cold of early spring even if he didn't need to wear a sweater, and he pushed the big glasses on his nose: "Last year's fiscal revenue totaled 253.76 million imperial silver dollars, which is equivalent to about 223 million taels of silver, and the estimated national income is about 2.8 billion to 3 billion imperial silver dollars. The fiscal expenditure was about 25,191,000 Imperial Silver Dollars, with a balance of 1,850,000 Imperial Silver Dollars. Among them, military expenditures amounted to 77.95 million yuan, accounting for 30.9 percent of the total expenditures, capital construction expenditures amounted to 63.43 million yuan, accounting for 25.2 percent of the total expenditures, and daily administrative expenditures, although they were reduced several times, reached 85.36 million yuan, accounting for 34.2 percent of the total expenditures. ”

Wen Yi sighed: "The expansion plan needs more military support, even if there is no war, the annual military expenditure in the next ten years will not be less than 70 million taels of silver, Han Lang, let's introduce the general situation of industry and commerce." ”

Han Lang, who was wrapped in layers of clothes, was no less than Niu Jin at this time, and he rubbed his hands and said: "Last year, the output of basic industrial products exceeded the original plan, the coal output was 7.63 million tons, exceeding the original plan by 16 percent, the pig iron output was 1.41 million tons, exceeding the original plan by 20 percent, and the steel output was 910,000 tons, exceeding the original plan by 15 percent. The gross industrial output of the country is estimated at 500 million to 530 million imperial silver dollars, or 16.6 to 18.9 percent of national income. The city's industry and commerce have developed rapidly, and the registered capital of industry and commerce in the country has reached 167.45 million imperial silver dollars, of which 90 percent are concentrated in coastal or provincial capitals......"

Minister of Communications Chen Baolu then reported: "In addition to the completion of the railway from Beijing to Tianjin last year, the construction of the railway from Beijing to Mukden, Jingshi to Datong, Fengtian to Lushun, Shanghai to Nanjing, and the railways from Beijing to Hanyang and Fengtian to Ningguta are also being planned. In terms of highways, the construction of standard secondary roads between the counties and counties of Zhili has been completed, there are first-class highways connecting Beijing and Tianjin, and other provinces are also openly bidding for the construction of their own highway networks, railway and highway operating companies are operating normally, and the traffic police system is being experimented......"

Tian Zhenghong, minister of agriculture and forestry, also reported on the agricultural situation: "Because the agricultural monitoring and control system has not yet been perfected, we can only estimate the national grain output, but due to the popularization of new varieties of wheat and rice, the total grain output last year reached 130 million to 140 million tons, basically meeting the needs of about 400 million people." The forest cover rate is estimated at 20 to 22 per cent, of which 30 per cent of the primary forest zone has been designated as protected areas......"

Ma Feng, Minister of Science and Technology, briefly introduced the promotion of science and technology: "Due to the weakness of basic industry, it is impossible to put cutting-edge advanced technology into practical use at a lower cost, so we put our main energy on the promotion of basic technology and the improvement of management technology...... Last year, Beiyang Heavy Industry completed the construction of the internal combustion engine plant, which is expected to produce more than 500 internal combustion engines with 5 to 50 horsepower this year, and will double next year...... The practical application of dual-use airships is being studied, and there is no obstacle to the manufacture of aircraft, but for the sake of technical blockade, it was decided to vigorously develop helium airships first, and the development of aircraft will be carried out under the supervision of the military......"

"Well, that's basically the case," Wen Yi pointed at the table with the pencil in his hand, "Now that we understand our foundation, we should speculate on the maximum goal that can be achieved, but we must not use the maximum goal as the starting point of our work, because we can't see the specific changes in the future, and various unknowable factors will affect the progress of the plan." Therefore, it should be prudent to set the basic goals in a compromise way. ”

Niu Jin interjected: "As long as the military does not increase its requirements, there will be no problems in the financial aspect, and after the use of paper money in the next year, we will maintain good credit, steadily promote inflation, and then use national debt to support the deficit, and the pressure on us will be lighter." ”

Han Lang continued: "At present, the output value of heavy industry is basically generated by government-run enterprises, and government-run enterprises also account for the majority of the total output value of industry and commerce; it is estimated that after the land reform continues, a large amount of capital will be invested in industry and commerce, and in addition to the opening of the securities market, non-confidential government-run enterprises will be gradually privatized, and I believe that private capital will rapidly promote the rapid development of industry and commerce throughout the country." The source of labour is also not a problem, as some of the land zoned as State farms require very little labour because of the implementation of efficient and contiguous specialized production, and the surplus labour is paid severance pay and then supported by employment agencies, and they have no other way out but to come to the cities to earn a living. In addition, in the future, some yeoman farmers who cannot afford to pay the principal and interest of state loans will have to go through employment agencies to come to the cities, and it is estimated that the urban population will more than double within 10 years......"

Wen Yi nodded: "With the comprehensive restructuring of the country, the country will gradually move towards modernization, but there must always be a clear goal to guide the progress of our work, the time limit of this goal is tentatively set at ten years, so as to connect with the military's military expansion plan, I will mention my opinion." Within ten years, the national income had doubled from what it is now, reaching the size of six billion imperial silver dollars. Fiscal revenues also doubled to the size of 500 million to 600 million imperial silver dollars. The total value of industrial output should have reached the size of two and a half billion imperial silver dollars, about five times that of the present one. The total grain output should develop steadily, and while continuing to increase the grain output per mu, we should vigorously develop the production of cash crops, so that the total agricultural output value will increase from the current 23 to 2.5 billion imperial silver dollars to 3.5 billion imperial silver dollars. In terms of transportation, the construction of the initial railway trunk lines should be completed before 1905, including the railway lines from Jingshi to Hankou, Jingshi to Datong and Taiyuan, Jingshi to Pukou, Jingshi to Mukden, Fengtian to Lushun and Dalian, Fengtian to Ningguta and Manchuria, Jiangning to Shanghai and Hangzhou, Wuchang to Guangzhou via Nanchang, Wuchang to Changsha, Nanchang to Fuzhou, Zhengzhou to Xi'an, and Keelung to Kaohsiung. In terms of science and technology, the goal is to complete the start and development of the domestic automobile industry and aviation industry before 1904, the open development of airships, dual-use, and the secret development of aircraft, and the transfer to the army around 1900, and the popularization around 1904. The decryption of other advanced technologies shall be carried out according to the principle of practicability, as appropriate after the conditions of the basic industry have been met. Basically, that's it, what else do you have to say? ”

"It feels like a big leap forward." Niu Jin said.

"When the specific plan is made, you may say that I am conservative." Wen Yi Dao.

Han Lang said: "Let me add, in 1904 the output of basic industrial products can be set at 30 million tons of coal, 4 million tons of pig iron and 3 million tons of steel, which is similar to the level of France in the same period in history, higher than that of Russia. ”

"We still have the advantage of technology," Ma Feng said, "although the basic industry is temporarily backward, but as long as the planning is thoughtful, the system guidance is sufficient, the basic industry can soon catch up, and at the same time, it also has the advanced nature of manufacturing technology and management technology, the iron armor on our warships can be lighter than the foreign iron armor, but it is stronger, our cannons can be changed through simple design changes and material additions and decreases, to achieve a longer range, higher precision, and more wear and tear effect, our optical equipment will also be more advanced than any country. The only thing we lack now is time, time for peace. ”

"Yes, it's better that the military people don't cause trouble during this period." Wen Yi sighed.

"Without the authorization of the cabinet, the military should not be able to move around." Chen Baolu was surprised that he was new to this circle and did not know some of the open secrets.

Wen Yi didn't intend to let Chen Baobi share the secret: "That's what I said, alas, I'm just talking about it casually, we always have to think about everything." ”

"That's right." Chen Bao replied and stopped asking.

Next to him, Niu Jin asked: "Your Excellency, when will you submit the specific plan?" ”

"Three days later." Wen Yi replied mercilessly.

"Cruel." Han Lang said.

A few drops of rain hit the windowpane, leaving a small piece of wreckage behind the shattered bones, overlapping with the gently swaying figures on the windowpane, and the cold rain after the coldest rain of early spring had to be penetrated in these days.