Prince Gong personally led the officials of the Prime Minister's Office to Tianjin to meet with the Prussian mission, selected the address of the Prussian embassy in Tianjin, and built two two-story buildings with a construction area of about 2,200 square meters. Such a large scale of the legation highlights the importance that the Qing Dynasty attached to the Prussian Empire. Li Hongzhang, Minister of Beiyang International Trade Affairs, discussed preliminary intentions with Prussian Minister Knieping to prepare for the Prussian delegation to meet with Emperor Tongzhi. A shocking treaty is actively pregnant, and in the process of 'handing over' negotiations with each other, the "little devil" Ding Ruchang and the "fake foreign devil" Li Guolou have photos of them in the center in every meeting.

The Western-style officials took the members of the Prussian mission to visit the military industrial facilities in Tianjin and the military camps that were never allowed to foreigners, and also let the Prussian mission officials go deep into the grassroots of the army to visit.

Seeing this mystery, the Qing officials inquired about the news from all sides, and the behavior of the Westerners betraying their sovereignty shocked the court, and they all bitterly reprimanded Prince Gong Yixun and Beiyang Minister of Trade and Commerce Li Hongzhang for conspiring to betray the interests of the country, but the Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun, who was already pro-government, still did not make any of these protests.

In the middle of this, Li Guolou should correct his attitude in the negotiations of the Seven Kingdoms, so that the Qing Dynasty could win respect, and was promoted by Li Hongzhang and promoted to the fourth-rank military attache "second-class 'waiter' guard", and the civilian official was also promoted to the second-class "Shaoqing of the Hanlin Academy", which is also a fourth-grade officer.

At this time, Li Hongzhang promoted Xu Shou as the general office of the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, and received the rank of second-grade civil official, which was also quickly approved by the imperial court, causing a public outcry. The Qing faction lodged a solemn protest against Li Hongzhang's promotion of Xu Shou by leaping the ranks, and also entered the palace to make a statement to the Empress Dowager Cixi, but the Empress Dowager Cixi also supported Xu Shou as the general office of the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, which once again made the Qing faction return.

Li Guolou accompanied the officials of the Prussian mission to meet Xu Shou and Xu Jianyin, father and son, at the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau. Xu Shou learned that Li Guolou recommended him to be the "general office" of the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, and the two sides talked very happily about Li Guolou, who was two levels lower than him.

In the room where various ship models were stored, Li Guolou suddenly had an idea and said: "General Manager Xu, can you find a way to make a small train out, just like the game train in the concession, I want to build a train for play in the Old Summer Palace, as long as the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces takes a luxurious train, there is hope for our country's dream of building a train." Oh! The locomotive was placed in the back, so that the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces sat in the front. ”

Xu Shou looked at Li Guolou as if he was looking at a freak, but it was not good to refuse on the spot, so he was silent and pretended not to hear. Li Guolou saw the suspicion in Xu Shou's heart, and hurriedly explained: "General Manager Xu, I forgot to tell you that I actually have an official hat, the post of supervisor of the Wanshou Mountain Project, and the special 'door' to supervise the repair of the Old Summer Palace. Doing this errand well and benefiting the country and the people is called a roundabout tactic. General Manager Xu, time is running out, do you want to watch our Qing Dynasty fall behind more and more, or do you want to catch up? ”

Xu Shou frowned and said: "Lord Li, the manufacturing technology of the train has long been mature, a steam engine can start, and there is no big problem with laying the rails. ”

"Oh!" Li Guolou thought for a while and said: "General Manager Xu, it doesn't matter, it can be run at both ends, so that the queen mother of the two palaces can sit in the front if she wants to sit in the front, and sit in the back if she wants to sit in the back." The facilities in the train must be luxurious, what bedrooms, bathrooms, restaurants, office rooms, all the best facilities, as for the speed, can be a little faster than the carriage, to be safe, the distance of the track is about four kilometers, safety first, clean first, try to be less smoke, more spray of water vapor is okay. Hehehehehe! ”

Li Guolou put his hands on his waist and laughed alone, as if he saw the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces praising him with satisfaction.

Although Xu Shou was a little reluctant to do such a meaningless thing, Li Guolou couldn't be offended, and if he didn't agree, he would not give a loan to Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau if he invited him in, let alone sponsorship. I could only follow the topic and ask: "Then Lord Li, when will the construction of this small train be completed?" ”

Li Guolou looked Xu Shou up and down, not believing that Xu Shou could build a train, and said: "Of course, let the British make it, and you will supervise it." It's all over the place. ”

Xu Jianyin, who was next to him, was extremely dissatisfied when he heard it, and said: "We can build a small train ourselves, it's not too difficult, it's just a large toy car." ”

Li Guolou sneered at each other: "Assistant Xu, of course it's good to build it yourself, but I hope it won't rust off in a few years and sink into the Huangpu River again." The parts can be made of brass, don't want to save money, and durability is also a big plus. ”

Xu Jianyin's face was flushed by Li Guolou's words, and he gritted his teeth with hatred, because Li Guolou was ridiculing their father and son. The first steam-engine steamship of the Qing Dynasty, the "Yellow Bird", which was built by their father and son, had already sunk into the Huangpu River in Shanghai due to disrepair.

Xu Shou hurriedly looked at his son Xu Jianyin, this "Manchurian" who had forgotten his ancestors was not easy to offend, so he hurriedly played a round and said with a smile: "Lord Li, rest assured, our Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau will join hands with public relations to ensure the manufacture of a 'fine' and good play train." ”

Li Guolou was still dissatisfied, and said: "General Manager Xu, if you want to say big characters, it is a big train, and a strong country needs a big train." After saying that, Li Guolou also tended to keep up with the personnel of the Prussian mission, and no longer paid attention to the Xu father and son.

Xu Jianyin looked at Li Guolou's back and said angrily: "The villain has a will!" ”

Xu Shou hurriedly said: "Jianyin, don't talk 'nonsense', your future depends on him, my backer in the court is Li Shaoqing, don't think that his official position is two levels lower than mine, Li Shaoqing is full of people." ”

Xu Jianyin heard the sarcasm in his father's words, but the arrival of the Prussians opened another window for him, and he came from Shanghai to ask for more advice from the Prussians, and he also wanted to study in Prussia. This organizer Li Guolou can't be offended, this tone can only be endured.

"Father, don't worry, I don't talk too much to people who don't know how to pretend to understand, and I won't refute Li Shaoqing's rudeness." Xu Jianyin reluctantly followed out, and continued to listen to the Prussians degrading the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau to nothing. And those Qing officials who accompanied him echoed each other, and recorded every sentence of the Prussian criticism along the way.

Li Guolou saw Xu Shou and Xu Jianyin following up, and deliberately said: "See, the Prussian engineer's words make people feel like they have seen the sun." Don't just think about tackling key problems, one difficulty after another can be overcome, but how much time and silver is spent on 'waste'. Sometimes the effect of cooperation is hundreds of times better than building a car behind closed doors. I know there are a lot of irrationalities here, how long have you been here? Why don't you know? ”

There was a large group of submissive manufacturing bureau officials next to him, and they only had to be trained, and no one dared to stand up and argue with Li Guolou.

Li Guolou visited the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau for a day, there was nothing he was satisfied with, and he didn't even think about eating at noon, putting on a stinky face that made people want to beat him, and he had to scold any technician when he saw it. Let the officials of the Manufacturing Bureau be afraid when they see Li Guolou, knowing that his mouth is poisonous, and he has the face of a villain. Only to see the members of the Prussian mission immediately bow and bend down like shrimp, and smiles are instantaneous.

At the time of parting, Li Guolou pointed to the officials of the Manufacturing Bureau who were farewell, and said: "You listen to me, this official will give you a year, and wait for this official to come back in July next year." Either get a reward from the imperial court, or a fine, the official means are ruthless, catch the criminal, and break the little 'leg' bone on the spot. But he was also willing to reward him heavily, and if he did a good job, the official himself took out 10,000 taels of silver and rewarded him on the spot. Do what you want. After speaking, Li Guolou flicked his sleeves, didn't pay attention to anyone, and didn't even give face to Xu Shou, the general office of the second official, and directly boarded the carriage and left.

"The person Li Zhongtang used, why is he so arrogant!" An official of the Manufacturing Bureau of the Fourth Grade couldn't believe that there was such an official, and it was impossible for him to exist in the world in the Qing Dynasty.

"Hey, the Holy Grace is thick! Master Zhang, haven't you heard? Jumping up on the rocket of the Shenji Battalion, now you are on par with him, and next year you will call yourself a slave and kneel to greet him. Another official of the Manufacturing Bureau did not forget to tease, shook his head and sighed, so helpless.

Xu Shou saw Li Guolou on the other side, this was deliberately embarrassing him, wanting to ignite his fighting spirit, and said: "Don't complain, take out what the Prussians said and analyze it one by one." Let's hold a meeting now, rectify what is right, and list some things that can't be done. I personally 'handed over' to Li Shaoqing and asked him to solve it for us, which is the 'spirit' of science. ”

"Ahh Father, Li Shaoqing doesn't give you face so much, you have to visit the 'door' in person! Xu Jianyin said angrily, he couldn't wait to fight with Li Guolou.

Xu Shou looked around and said loudly: "People look down on us, can we look down on ourselves?" ”

"Can't!" The officials of the Manufacturing Bureau, who had already been holding back the fire in their stomachs, waved their fists and shouted, hoping to smash Li Guolou's nose with one punch, hum! Wait until the boxing match in August, buy ape Taishan to win, and take revenge on the "snob" Li Guolou.

A group of officials, technicians, and senior technicians with high noses and blue eyes who clenched their fists and jumped to 'want' the test, all shouted that Li Guolou looked good, and with firm steps, chased the stars home or went back to the dormitory of the manufacturing bureau.

An old servant led the way with an oil lamp, Xu Shou and Xu Jianyin, father and son, walking in the factory area, and they all slept in the dormitory of the manufacturing bureau. Since childhood, I have developed the habit of hard work, and I don't care about enjoying life anymore.

Xu Shou saw the oil lamps in front of him shaking, and some people didn't arrive in the dormitory, so he couldn't help but smile slightly: "Jianyin, now you know that it is good to be cursed." Li Guolou's stinky face for a day made the people of Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau regain their fighting spirit, which is more admirable than a few words of praise. This person is not a gentleman, the energy is great, beyond imagination, your career is still long, good students learn from others, the chief's mind is to ponder a deep meaning, sometimes what you see, does not mean that it is the real situation. Li Guolou values our father and son very much, but he is not close to us, this is to win soldiers for the country, do you understand? ”

Xu Jianyin walked silently, thinking quietly, listening to the sound of footsteps, and said with a smile: "Father's teachings and children understand, tomorrow I will also visit Master Li at the 'door', even if he laughs at me again, I will not bother with him." Hey! ”

Xu Shou said slowly: "Tomorrow, Lord Li, will change his face again, and that person will be a person you don't know." ”

"Hmmm! Master Lee will cry. Xu Jianyin figured out the reason, saw through Li Guolou's hole cards, and it is not an exaggeration to take the blame for Jing again, and the drama of harmony has long been used badly.