After listening to Zhao Fengchang's talk about his conversation with Qin Zheng, Zhang Zhidong's expression couldn't help but change, since the seventh year of Guangxu (1881) when he served as the governor of Shanxi. Bayi ??? Chinese Net ? ?? Later, he successively served as the governor of Liangguang, the governor of Huguang, and the governor of Liangjiang, and served as a feudal official for more than 2o years, and he was so majestic that he was majestic, but in Zhang Zhidong's heart, he always had a wish, that is, to become the master of the military aircraft and take charge of the government. After all, no matter how powerful the feudal officials are, they are only local officials, and joining the military aircraft is equivalent to being the prime minister of the dynasty and holding the power of the government, and the two cannot be compared.

In addition, Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang have always been at odds, but Li Hongzhang suppressed Zhang Zhidong everywhere, the two were appointed governors at about the same time, but Li Hongzhang served as the first governor of Zhili among the eight governors of the Qing court, which was one line higher than Zhang Zhidong's Liangguang governor; 。

If he reached this deal with overseas Chinese, he could really enter the military aircraft and officially upgrade Zhang Xiangshuai to Zhang Zhongtang, Zhang Zhidong was naturally happy in his heart, although the overseas Chinese meant to push himself and Li Hongzhang into the military plane at the same time, but Zhang Zhidong had no objection.

In fact, strictly speaking, Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang are not political enemies, Li Hongzhang's biggest political enemy is actually Weng Tongyong, not Zhang Zhidong, and in a sense, Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang still belong to the same camp, and both of them actually belong to the Westernization faction.

And Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang have a grudge that began with the Sino-French War. At that time, Zhang Zhidong was the governor of Liangguang, and because he recommended Feng Zicai, he won a great victory at Zhennan Pass, and he wanted to expel the French army from the whole territory of Vietnam and restore the Vietnamese vassals. However, Li Hongzhang insisted on peace, signed a peace treaty with France, abandoned Vietnam, and finally made Vietnam a French colony and let French influence penetrate deep into the Indochina Peninsula. Zhang Zhidong even telegraphed the Qing court that he should postpone the withdrawal of troops to see the changes, but was reprimanded by Li Hongzhang. From this moment on, the two began to look at each other unpleasantly.

Later, when it came to the First Sino-Japanese War, Zhang Zhidong advocated the use of troops against Japan, and in the case of the defeat of the Qing army in the 6 seas, Zhang Zhidong even played to the imperial court, allowing him to lead troops to Qinwang, of course, Zhang Zhidong's Qinwang action was just a gesture, not really able to lead troops to fight with Japan, but also won the approval of the Qing court. However, Li Hongzhang believed that the war situation was unfavorable to the Qing court and could only negotiate peace with Japan, while Zhang Zhidong supported the main battle, did not know the general trend, and was scholarly and angry, and played King Qin to the court, but by virtue of his tongue, in vain. Therefore, he criticized Zhang Zhidong for "Zhang Nanpi has been an official for decades, and he still can't avoid the views of scholars", and Zhang Zhidong was not polite, and ridiculed Li Hongzhang for "Li Hefei discussed peace two or three times, and openly regarded himself as a senior."

But after all, the two are not the kind of political enemies who never die, and in Dacheng, the two can still cooperate, just like this southeast mutual protection. And Zhang Zhidong also understands that when it comes to joining the military aircraft, Li Hongzhang is actually more qualified than himself, and Li Zhongtang, who has been competing for so many years, is not called in vain.

However, Zhang Zhidong is not the kind of person who can sell anything for promotion, he has his own bottom line and principles, so he said: "According to what Zhu Jun said, overseas Chinese have no small ambitions, follow the story of the three feudatories in the past, divide one side, tear the soil and claim the king, it is inevitable that the tail will be difficult in the future, and become the henchmen of the imperial court.

Zhao Fengchang said: "Xiangshuai's concerns are not unreasonable, but the only way to do it is today, the overseas Chinese have already captured Jingdao and Weihai, and it has become a fact based on Shandong, not to mention that on the surface, the overseas Chinese have indeed made contributions to the sky for my Qing Dynasty, which has not been seen for more than 25o years. And it is better to let the overseas Chinese divide one side than to let them take charge of the government, and now there is a Russian army pressing the border, and those who can resist Russia are the only overseas Chinese, so Xiang Shuai sold them weapons and ammunition, which is also a last resort. ”

Zhang Zhidong also nodded and said, "Zhujun's words are as honest as Si Ye." ”

Zhao Fengchang said: "What's more, we don't have enough financial resources now, and we sell weapons and ammunition to overseas Chinese, one is to help them resist the Russian army and protect our Qing territory; the other is to allow us to alleviate the financial resources, so that the Hanyang Iron Works can maintain its operation, first pass this current difficulty, and wait for Xiang Shuai to take charge of the military plane, take charge of the government, preside over the reform of the law, eliminate the disadvantages and promote the benefits, enrich the country and strengthen the army, even if the overseas Chinese are divided into one place, what are they afraid of, they only need to slowly cut it to become invisible, and the safety of the court is not in danger, inside but not outside, in Germany but not in danger." ”

Zhang Zhidong listened to it, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing that Zhao Fengchang's words were indeed not wrong, if the Qing court itself could work hard and strive to be strong, then whether it was the great powers or overseas Chinese, it was not a big trouble, but can the current Qing court be self-reliant? Zhang Zhidong has been an official for decades, and he knows that the court has accumulated deep evils, and it is difficult to return, and there is also a dispute between the Manchu and Han Dynasty, so it is not an easy thing to want to enrich the country and strengthen the army. At the beginning, the whole country ran foreign affairs for more than 3o years and built the first ironclad fleet in Asia, but in the First Sino-Japanese War, it was defeated by a small country like Japan. After the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang once claimed to be the pasteur of the Qing court, and Zhang Zhidong also felt the same way after hearing it.

Although Qin Zheng repeatedly said that although the overseas Chinese are strong, they lack the ability to govern the country, but Zhang Zhidong understands that this is just an apology, because the strength of the army is by no means out of thin air, and the overseas Chinese have built hundreds of countries overseas, if they are not good at governing the country, how can they build an army that can fight well? There is one thing that Qin Zheng said is not wrong, that is, overseas Chinese are returning to China for the first time and do not know much about the situation in China, and once overseas Chinese have a foothold, it will not take a few years to know the situation in China well.

However, Zhao Fengchang's proposition is not unreasonable, after all, the imperial court is weak now, and it has to rely on overseas Chinese to resist the Russian army, so he can only overcome the current difficulties first. And regardless of anything else, if this transaction is not carried out with overseas Chinese, Hanyang Iron Works will not be able to survive in the first place. To say it nicely, it is the lesser of two evils, and to say it badly is to drink a donkey to quench your thirst, but in the current situation, even if you know that it is a glass of wine, you can only drink it first, otherwise you will die of thirst, thinking of this, Zhang Zhidong couldn't help but feel a little excited, waved his hand, and said: "Okay Zhujun, just do as you say." ”

Zhao Fengchang nodded and said, "Yes." ”

In fact, Zhao Fengchang is not ignorant of the current situation of the Qing court, but although he is a man of extraordinary intelligence, after all, he is still a wise man of the people, and he has not been an official in the court, and he does not have an intuitive understanding of the degree of decay of the Qing court, and Zhao Fengchang is in the prime of life, and his mentality is also different from that of old people such as Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong.

So the next day, Zhao Fengchang came to Qin Zheng again, and after some discussion, the two finally reached a unanimous agreement, Zhang Zhidong sold weapons and ammunition to the traverser according to the purchase list submitted by the traverser, and helped the traverser defeat the Russian army; And in the end, Qin Zheng signed the agreement on behalf of the crossing group and Zhao Fengchang on behalf of Zhang Zhidong.

However, there is also an annex to the terms of the purchase of weapons and ammunition, which is also a formal contract for the purchase of weapons and ammunition, after all, the terms of the purchase contract are different from the agreement reached between the traverser and Zhang Zhidong, the former is an exchange of interests between the two parties, and the terms are not necessarily written so clearly, while the purchase contract is a commercial contract, and the terms and conditions of both parties must be clearly written.

Although Qin Zheng is not a professional negotiator and formulates contract terms, Bi Jing lives in modern society, so he is no stranger to the purchase of contract terms, and soon drew up the terms of the contract, Zhang Zhidong sold weapons and ammunition to the crossing group, with a total price of 150,000 taels of silver, which was delivered to the crossing group in three phases, and the weapons and ammunition of the first phase could be delivered to the crossing group immediately, and the remaining two phases were set for 3 months and 6 months later.

The crossing group, on the other hand, used cash to buy the goods, which were also paid in three installments, and each delivery required to pay off the current fee, and was responsible for driving the ship to Wuchang to transport the weapons and ammunition back. However, Qin Zheng also put forward very strict requirements and inspection standards for the quality of the weapons and ammunition purchased, the rifle reached the inspection rate of 1 out of 50, while the others had to reach the inspection rate of 1 out of 10, once the existing inspection failed to pass the product, that is, Zhang Zhidong was required to give compensation, and the ammunition used in the inspection of weapons was provided by Zhang Zhidong and was not included in the delivery.

Zhang Zhidong was very satisfied with this contract, because the total price of 150,000 taels of silver made a profit of about 3o-4o taels of silver, and it could ensure the production expenses of Hanyang Iron Works for the next two years. Since it is an overseas Chinese who pays in cash, and pays for the goods, the period is 5o thousand taels of silver, which is indeed to solve Zhang Zhidong's urgent need, and Zhang Zhidong has no objection to Qin Zheng's request, after all, the other party must want to buy good goods when buying weapons, and he will not easily compromise on quality if he changes himself.

Although the Hanyang Arsenal has one or another problem in its operation, after all, Zhang Zhidong personally supervises it in Hubei, so the quality of the weapons produced is still basically reliable, and Zhang Zhidong is quite confident in this.