"Why does the kingdom want us to cut the land?" The Vietnamese representative asked Zuo Zhidan with a look of consternation.

As soon as Zuo Zhidan came up and opened his mouth, he proposed the conditions for Vietnam to cede land, and of course he would not be unprepared. Without any threatening expression on his face, Zuo Zhidan asked with a cheerful look when talking to his friends: "You have been fighting with the French for several years, do you think the French are fools?" ”

The Vietnamese representative shook his head violently, France is certainly not a fool, these wolf-like guys are brutal and smart, and they beat the Vietnamese very badly.

After receiving a clear answer, Zuo Zhidan continued to ask: "Then do you think we sent troops to help you beat the French away, and the French are the accountants compared to you?" Or is the accountant better than us? Of course they will hate us, and they will trouble us everywhere. I think you know this very well, and if you hadn't thought it through, you wouldn't have said that you came to us in such a hurry to ask for help. ”

When the Vietnamese deputies heard Zuo Zhidan say so frankly, he did not dare to make Zuo Zhidan angry again. In a mild tone, the Vietnamese representative said: "We are willing to serve the kingdom of God, but the kingdom wants us to cede the land, is this too ungraceful for the Celestial Empire?" ”

Zuo Zhidan laughed helplessly with an expression of hatred that iron is not made of steel, "If someone wants to attack Vietnam, let's not talk about it from the north." Those who attack from the south will start from where France is now fighting. We don't really have much benefit for us if we want that piece of land, and after we occupy that piece of land, other countries that want to do something to Vietnam must take care of China first. If China doesn't let them do it against Vietnam, as long as we have a drop there, do you think they dare to do it? This is something that is very good for you Vietnam, why don't you understand? ”

The Vietnamese representative was stunned for a moment, and this reasoning can be explained, but it sounds too overbearing. With a look of embarrassment, the Vietnamese representative said, "But ......" began with a statement, and the Vietnamese representative could not find a reason to refute Zuo Zhidan.

Zuo Zhidan waved his hand and said in a rather helpless tone: "It's not a matter of being able to do it. This is a question of whether you can maintain long-term peace and stability in Vietnam. Our Chinese Celestial Empire will be able to resist an invasion from the sea for you, and whoever wants to invade Vietnam must first be able to pass our Chinese pass. Today the French come, and we beat the French away. What if tomorrow the British come? Shall we send the British away again? Sending out troops requires money and food, and so many troops need to sacrifice their lives to fight. None of us are willing to fight Vietnam for the sake of territorial expansion, and you make us pay so much for Vietnam, how can you make us account to our emperor? If you don't want to accept it, then please go back and figure it out for yourself. We're happy not to take advantage of you, and act like we're bullying you! ”

After sending off the Vietnamese representatives, the party committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was very puzzled that Zuo Zhidan did not continue to work hard to achieve his goal, "Minister Zuo, Vietnam can't even beat the French, what can we do if we force them to cut the land?" Do they really dare not say yes? ”

Faced with such a question, Zuo Zhidan said with a smile: "As far as the French are concerned, they will definitely ask Vietnam to cede the land, as long as the Vietnamese agree to cede the land to the French, we will send troops to take down that land." At that time, it also saved a lot of tongues. The Vietnamese are not the problem, the French are the problem! ”

This solution made the comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suddenly realize that it is true that it is easier for Vietnam to cede land to China than to cede land to France. After all, this was the first time the French had attacked Vietnam, and the number of Chinese attacks on Vietnam in history was really not too much. It is understandable that the Vietnamese are more wary of China.

It is not without comrades who do not understand the thoughts of the Vietnamese, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not qualified to decide on foreign wars, and even harsh words are useless. So this matter was reported to Wei Ze by Zuo Zhidan.

When Zuo Zhidan went to see Wei Ze, he was told to wait first, and Wei Ze was interviewing officials. Zuo Zhidan waited honestly in the reception room, and he sighed in his heart, Wei Ze is getting busier and busier.

Wei Ze is indeed very busy, and the more he talks about Wang Mingshan of the Ministry of Finance. The young man was quite famous in the Ministry of Finance for his stubborn personality. One of the most famous events was the 1861 Budget, in which the army tried to build a fleet capable of protecting the Siamese rice trade routes, and the budget was exhausted, so Wang Mingshan openly objected. At that time, the Minister of Finance Levi was about to be transferred to Hunan to become the governor, so the Ministry of Finance was thinking about who could succeed the post of Minister of Finance.

Because of Wang Mingshan's opposition, and the Ministry of Finance was also happy that someone came out to top the tank, and the final special appropriation was not passed. The army has a very bad impression of Wang Mingshan, a little kid, and the so-called notoriety has spread thousands of miles. Wang Mingshan can be regarded as "popular", because of the public cruel words of several senior generals of the General Staff, he almost became the person of the year in 1861. Even Weezer knew the name of the diehard.

"Comrade Wang Mingshan, your attitude towards land reform seems to be very supportive?" Weeser asked.

Facing Wei Ze, Wang Mingshan was obviously a little afraid, so he replied cautiously: "Yes." From a fiscal point of view, without land reform, there would be no stable tax revenue. Without stable tax revenue, it is difficult to make a more effective budget. ”

"If I put you in charge of the land reform issue, will you be able to stick to the principles?" Weeser continued.

"I will definitely stick to my principles." Wang Mingshan replied. After finishing his expression, Wang Mingshan couldn't help but show his timidity, "Governor, where do you want me to carry out land reform?" ”

Wei Ze replied, "I want you to go back to Anqing." Huainan's land reform must be vigorously promoted, and if this matter is said to be hesitant, it will definitely not be done. Only by quickly cutting through the chaos and allowing the masses in Huainan to be able to get land and have land to plant, can the people of Huaibei know what is the difference between our Guangfu Army and the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Of course, there is a lot of resistance to the land reform in Huainan, and different comrades must have different opinions. Now I think there must be comrades who stand on the standpoint of land reform and taxation. Comrade Wang Mingshan, you are very famous, I have heard that you dare to argue with the General Staff. So I wanted to ask if you would like to take on the job! ”

Hearing Wei Ze mention that incident, Wang Mingshan was even more afraid, and he asked in a low voice: "Dudu, are you angry with me?" ”

"Comrade Wang Mingshan! Are you doing your job?! Weser asked unhappily.

Wang Mingshan immediately explained: "Dudu, I'...... I couldn't help it! Wang Mingshan explained, "The Ministry of Finance has already spent so much of its budget. The new Minister of Finance has not yet taken office, so let me agree to an increase in the budget, how dare I agree? ”

"That means, you're doing your job!" Weser asked.

"Yes! I'm just on business! Wang Mingshan hurriedly replied.

"That's fine! What else do you have to worry about when you do work? Weser replied unhappily. The reason why he has a good impression of Wang Mingshan is because some people dare to stick to their posts and do not shirk. Wei Ze could not openly criticize some of the CMC's practices, and that was because Wei Ze himself led the work of the CMC, and he could not push for some things with a too tough attitude. In terms of system construction, a certain collision is necessary, and Wei Ze himself takes care of everything, and the result will be very bad. Therefore, there are people who insist on their own departmental system, and some people think that they are reducing the efficiency of the system, but on the whole, there are many disputes, and some of the more frivolous demands can be effectively resolved.

For example, the plan to secure a trade route with Siamese rice can be combined with the acquisition of land in Vietnam. If you get guò at the beginning, it will be very troublesome to add later. In Weizer's experience with state-owned enterprises, additional plans are actually less efficient than establishing new budgets.

Wang Mingshan didn't have such a cognitive height as Wei Ze at all, and he was originally quite worried about what he had touched. If you offend the big guy of the Military Commission, it will not end very well. After all, a considerable part of the Ministry of Finance are comrades from the logistics department, and Wang Mingshan is actually not very good in the army.

Now he didn't expect that because of his "ignorance", he would be able to be appreciated by Wei Ze, which was unexpected. So Wang Mingshan immediately followed Wei Ze's words and expressed his attitude, "I will definitely do a good job in the work arranged by the organization!" ”

"Very good, then you can go to Luzhou as soon as you get ready. There, Comrade Shen Xin and Comrade Lei Hu will hand over the work with you! Weeser put the job down.

When sending Wang Mingshan out, Wei Ze said: "Comrade Wang Mingshan, you will do what is arranged in the organization." If you have any questions, you can raise them with the higher department, and after getting a reply from the higher department, you can continue to work. Don't be on your own, and don't be afraid! ”

After sending Wang Mingshan away, Wei Ze met with Zuo Zhidan. After introducing the situation, Zuo Zhidan said: "Governor, Vietnam seems to be very uninteresting!" ”

Wei Ze said with a smile: "The Manchu Qing Dynasty let the British enter the capital, and there is nothing interesting about Vietnam." Will they be able to defeat the French on their own? In the end, it's just a matter of ceding land to France or ceding land to us, and we can afford to wait. The French can't afford to wait for the war in Vietnam, so let the French help us promote this matter. ”

Zuo Zhidan nodded again and again, "Then let's wait first." ”

Wei Ze sneered and said: "If the Annan side really cedes the land to France, when we take the land from the French, if the Vietnamese side is willing to participate, we can allocate some land that the French have snatched from Vietnam to them." Of course, in exchange, we can claim the mining rights of the entire Hongji coal mine. Don't do things so absolutely. ”

"Understood!" Zuo Zhidan nodded vigorously. It's not a good thing in the long run. R1058