There are many fragrant grasses in February in the south of the Yangtze River, and spring is in the drizzle!

It is still a snowy winter in the north, but in February, it is already drizzling in the south of the Yangtze River. Going up the Yangtze River, several of the most common 400 boats of the Great Qing Dynasty are moving forward, no different from other ships on the Great River, the same tattered sails, the same repaired hulls.

But as long as you have the qualifications to step inside this ship, you can marvel at its luxury, because all the shabby appearance of this ship is disguised.

Hu Xueyan, the god of wealth in Jiangnan, sat on the rosewood circle chair, only daring to touch half of his buttocks, and his waist was also half bent.

It's not that the temperature in the cabin is too high, it's just that sitting opposite him is Xiao Letian, the god of wealth in the East China Sea, and the master of the Great Qing Kingdom, Aixin Jueluo Zaichun.

The little emperor came out to study, he didn't express any opinions, just listened quietly on the side, his eyes looked at the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan outside the window, and his ears and heart were on the talks between the two gods of wealth.

Xiao Letian and Hu Xueyan's conversations were all focused on the economy, from the issuance of bonds to the preparation of the East Asia Telegraph Company, and even the issue of Zuo Zongtang's military spending, the entire Jiangnan economy was as plain as chatting about homely things in his mouth.

"Zuo Jigao's military spending, how is Brother Hu's preparations?"

"It's very embarrassing! The Ganshan area has been shattered, the people's livelihood has withered, and Guanzhong has been unbalanced by floods and droughts in recent years, and there is no extra financial resources to collect on the spot, so now there is no other good way to send it up from Shanxi and Luoyang......

"It's a pity that a few days ago, the imperial court also ordered that the silver deposits from Henan and Shanxi should be mobilized to Beijing, which made the local merchants panic!"

Xiao Letian nodded, "I know about this, the imperial court is going to exchange paper money for local deposits, and in the future, Zuo Jigao will have no silver, so he can only use bonds to pay military salaries!"

Hu Xueyan patted his head: "Isn't this nonsense? If the imperial court blindly prints, the bonds will depreciate more and more, and when the time comes, not only will the people's hearts be turbulent, but I am afraid that the army's morale will also be unstable......

Xiao Letian said with a smile, "This is also a helpless thing, the imperial court has been running out of money for many years, and it is easy to learn a set of spells to print money, and it is not necessary to use it well...... Fortunately, the economy in Jiangnan will not be chaotic for a while, and it is best to purchase and transport many materials directly from us, don't let Zuo Jigao take bonds to purchase locally, it will overwhelm the ...... of the economy in the north."

"Hey...... It's a pity that the freight is really high for thousands of miles, and it would be nice if there was a Westerner-like railway in the Qing Dynasty......"

Zaichun suddenly said at this time, "There will be, we will have what the Qing Dynasty should have, as long as I am in power, I will build a cross-shaped railway along the territory of the Qing Dynasty from south to north, from east to west, and then the north and south can be connected to all directions, and the army can be mobilized quickly and conveniently......"

"Your Majesty Shengming!" Hu Xueyan owed half a buttocks just to kowtow now, and as soon as he saw the emperor speak, he knelt on the ground, as deferential as he wanted.

"But if Your Majesty wants to build a railway, you must appease the salt gang and the trough gang in the world, these people are all living on the Grand Canal, once the job is cut off, they will rebel!"

Zaichun nodded, "Aiqing, I know, if the railway is built in the future, I will also give priority to relocating these people who live by the canal, and will not let them ......have food and clothing."

Ancient people were simple and easy to fool, and the little emperor just said a word, which made Hu Xueyan burst into tears of excitement, which shows how low the expectations of the people of the feudal dynasty are for the ruler.

At this moment, suddenly a whistle roared on the river, and then the boat quickly dodged and the hull of the ship shifted violently to the right, and the precious porcelain in the cabin and the furnishings on the Bogu shelf crackled down, and Zaichun fell to the ground without sitting firmly.

"How can you do it? Will you sail ......" Long Ye rushed out in a rage, but when he saw the scene on the river, he suddenly jumped like thunder.

"These damn brutes......" Long Ye took off his coat and plunged into the icy river with a fierce man.

At this time, Xiao Lotian and a few people ran out of the cabin, and when they looked at the steaming wooden-hulled freighter on the river, they knew what was going on, this was a steam paddle steamer, thick black smoke went straight to the sky, and the deck was full of laughing foreigners and sailors, in the busy inland river, they actually did not slow down and knocked over the three boats and were still laughing.

The boatman who fell into the water swam out with his family in his arms, and the shipowner who wept bitterly was about to commit suicide holding on to the plank, and the ship was the goods bought by all his property, and he was completely helpless if he fell into the Yangtze River.

Long Ye and the sailors on the surrounding ships went down to save people, and there was a low curse on the river, but no one dared to stop the foreigner's freighter.

"Check whose ship is that?" Xiao Lotian ordered angrily. Hu Xueyan shook his head and sighed and said, "No need to check, I know this ship, it is a cargo ship of Shanghai Shunlong Foreign Company, with British shares behind it, and it is extremely arrogant in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River......"

"Prime Minister, don't act rashly, the dock of Xinglong Foreign Bank is close to the British warship, and it is not so easy to deal with......" Hu Xueyan knew what Xiao Lotian was going to do, so he hurriedly persuaded him.

"Huh? It's just a bunch of scoundrels who bully the weak and fear the hard, and if I want to use soldiers to deal with them, I'm going to lift them up...... To deal with scoundrels, there must be a way to deal with scoundrels......"

"Let the CIA take action, check the property of this Shunlong foreign company in the concession, and burn a few for me to be lively...... And the captain, first mate, and second officer who sailed the ship today, all of them made a few accidents!"

Xiao Xiulian silently translated the order into a code, and then handed it to the herald to quickly leave the boat to find the nearest telegraph room on the shore, and it is unknown how much of a storm this coded message sent to the CIA branch in Shanghai will cause.

At this moment, Zaichun's little face turned blue with anger: "In my land of the Qing Dynasty, foreigners are so arrogant? Is this the miserable scene of the colony that you said master?"

"No, my apprentice, Jiangnan can only be regarded as a semi-colony, have you never seen how miserable the real colony is, where the aborigines are all slaves!"

"Europeans have been trading slaves in Africa for 300 years, and the lives of the untouchables who colonized India are not as good as a dog, and the colonized people in countless mines cannot escape until they die......"

"The Qing Dynasty still has its own government, the people are hungry and even have the opportunity to read, the most terrible thing in those places is not to be colonized, but to be brainwashed, and they even feel that the life of being colonized is a matter of course......"

"Look, the British ships are running rampant on the Yangtze River, and our people at least have anger in their eyes and curses in their mouths...... At least we know that this is not right, and that even if there is even a little bit of this spirit of resistance, our nation will not be extinct!"