Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, is not pleasing to the eye is Zuo Zongtang, jealous that Zuo Zongtang has two long-sleeved and good dancing gods of wealth "Hu Xueyan" and "Qiao Zhiyong", but since he got Li Guolou's help, he issued a hero post, calling on his protégés to deposit all the private money and public accounts into the bank, and the deposit numbers on the bank books overnight were doubled up, and when he learned from Li Guolou's mouth that the amount of deposits in the bank had exceeded the 20 million taels of silver mark, Li Hongzhang himself was also shocked, it turned out that his energy was even greater than he thought, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Li Guolou looked at it and said: "Lord Zhongtang, this is nothing, if the imperial court is willing to let me issue national public bonds, with the current situation of our Qing Dynasty, there is no need to borrow from foreigners, why should wealth be given to foreigners, and the interest is very low than borrowing from foreigners, and there is no need to pay interest to foreign banks once every six months, one year, two years, or even three years, and pay off the principal and interest at one time, so that the court will not have to bear a heavy financial burden, and can have hundreds of millions of taels of silver at one time, and the interest is low. It can also allow private capital to gather in the hands of the state, and the speed of industrial development can be three or four times more than that, and you don't need to tear down the east wall to make up the west wall! ”

Li Hongzhang also looked at Li Guolou and said, "There will be such a good thing!" ”

Li Guolou smiled and said: "Lord Zhongtang, it is a bad reputation, since then the Qing Empire has become a debtor country, no longer owes money to any bank, but owes money to the people of the whole country, with the comprehensive national strength of our Qing Empire, we can owe ten years of fiscal revenue and will not shake the foundation of the country, that is to say, we can have 500 million taels of silver in our hands, to develop the national economy, if you are old and black-hearted, get an inflation or the like, even the interest will be saved, which is equivalent to the people of the whole country, as well as the fooled foreigners, free to lend 500 million taels of silver to the Qing Dynasty, As the saying goes, you owe so much debt, who dares to let you step down, those people are scared to death, afraid that the country will collapse if you step down, this stall is spreading, this is called a real rich man! ”

Li Hongzhang stared at Li Guolou deeply, young people have peculiar ideas, learn the methods of Western countries, take on debts to develop the national economy, thinking about Li Guolou's words, whether it is feasible, pacing back and forth, and said: "Next year, as long as you can successfully complete the set goal next year, you can see in the rich city Please come to the bank, this opinion can be submitted for discussion, but unfortunately Prince Gong's power will become smaller and smaller, our backstage power will become weaker, there is still a difference between the Manchu and Han dynasties, the Tongzhi Emperor is surrounded by those Qing schools, and he will be impulsive if he is not careful, We can't spread the stall all at once, the emperor is too young, in a word, it is a river of blood, understand! ”

Li Guolou was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat on his back, his ambition is to climb up with power, if the Great Qing Dynasty is made out of a "500 million taels of silver" by him, Emperor Tongzhi doesn't know what kind of person he will become, and he wants to establish a great cause like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and then become Xiang Yu and Napoleon, and the ending is a matter of time or time, fortunately, Li Hongzhang reminded him, otherwise he would be a sinner through the ages.

Li Guolou turned over and knelt on the ground and said, "Uncle, I won't mention this matter again, I still do it step by step, run too much, and the worse I fall, I know it's wrong!" ”

"Hmmm······" Li Hongzhang squinted at Li Guolou kneeling on the ground, he is a smart person who saw the positive and negative endings of the development of the situation, if it is not good, it is really a ruin of the country, the Qing Empire is surrounded by wolves and tigers, and there are several countries that will hope that the Qing Dynasty will become strong and prosperous, few and far between, and the situation of Taoguang can not be changed for the time being, and those Qing factions who pretend to be national heroes cannot be allowed to grasp the power of the country, and the Qing Dynasty has worked hard to accumulate the foundation, and it must not be destroyed in his hands.

"Xiaolou, don't be afraid of being like this, I have my own measure, and then I plan to make it smaller, and cut off Zuo Zongtang's right arm first, do you understand what I mean." Li Hongzhang was moved by Li Guolou's suggestion, but he didn't want to make it too big, every year the Qing government can issue nearly 10,000 silver bonds to the people, so that Hu Xueyan "Fukang Qianzhuang" and Qiao Zhiyong "Dade Tong" and "Dade Heng" have no business to do, this trick can make Zuo Zongtang unable to eat and walk around, a rope sleeve directly strangles Zuo Zongtang's neck, and see who will send silver to Zuo Zongtang in the future.

Li Guolou comprehended, blinked a pair of smart eyes, and smiled: "My subordinates understand, Lord Zhongtang's idea is really high!" ”

"Hey, hey, hey." Li Hongzhang nodded, smug about his ability to adapt Li Guolou's idea, and after waiting for June next year, he will be powerful and no one can shake him.

"Hmm······ Xiaolou, how do you feel about dealing with Prussians these days, what do you think of Liu Mingchuan! ”

Liu Mingchuan was born in the foothills of Daqian Mountain in Hefei, Anhui Province, it can be said that Li Hongzhang is half of his fellow countrymen, originally a Huai general, is Li Hongzhang's right-hand man, Liu Mingchuan came from a bad background, when he was young, he killed the local Tuanyong leader, joined the local smuggling gang, and then started to rob the house, gathered hundreds of poor and young people, and became the leader of the self-protection armed forces in the village, two years later, with the banner of "defending the well", the west of Daqian Mountain built a walled fort, and became a regimental training arm in this area to deal with the Taiping Army and the Twist Army, in 1859, The Taiping Army attacked Hefei Changcheng Town and Guanting, and Liu Mingchuan was ordered to lead the troops to "assist in suppression" and repelled the Taiping Army.

In November 1861, Li Hongzhang Hefei recruited Yongding, organized and trained the Huai Army, Liu Mingchuan was recommended to organize a team of 5 people, known as the "Inscription Battalion", and set off with him to make great contributions to the Qing Dynasty's elimination of the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom and the East Twist, but the imperial court was afraid that Li Hongzhang's army was too powerful, and after the elimination of the East Twist, he cut off Liu Mingchuan's official position with "poor health", and let Liu Ming pass on the old man to return to his hometown.

Liu Mingchuan returned to his hometown with the title of first-class baron, who knew that soon, the "Ming Army" stationed in Shaanxi to suppress the chaos in the west suddenly mutinied, and collapsed within a few days, and the Qing court planned to dismiss Liu Mingchuan and investigate and punish him.

Li Guolou was choked by Li Hongzhang again, the Prussians asked him, he said a few words bluntly, Liu Mingchuan was beaten into another book of despicable villains by the Tongzhi Emperor and the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces, belonging to his heart can be punished, there are major "rebellion" suspects, the court does not kill Liu Mingchuan, it has already given Li Hongzhang a lot of face, he is only a few officials, Li Hongzhang turned around and begged him, with sinister intentions, he took a fancy to the insignificant military power in his hands, and on the contrary, he wanted to cut off his military power, and wanted to insert the Huai army forces into the martial arts, Jiang is still old and spicy, and he has a little abacus in his heart, Li Hongzhang has already seen through it, and he is stunned by his boss "Principal" Weng Tongxi, and he can't be stunned by the cunning and cunning Li Hongzhang.

Li Guolou thought about the words and sentences, and after thinking clearly, he said: "Lord Zhongtang, don't the lower officials want to take over your class, you can find a great god to suppress me, once this person comes, will I still have a way to live, I will be busy for a long time, making wedding dresses for others!" ”

Li Hongzhang glanced at it and said: "Xiaolou, you are still early, I am not old, at least twenty years later, a generation of personnel will be a generation, you can suppress those soldiers, those officers who came to further their studies, who will listen to your fart, Liu Ming will pass on to you, who dares to say a word loudly!" ”

Li Guolou said yes in his mouth, not to mention the fire in his heart, Li Hongzhang's words were already clear, he could only take advantage of the situation and said: "Oh, it's the lower officials who are not thoughtful, I will write a fold and submit it to the emperor when I go back tonight, and I will raise Liu Ming to come to Wutang to give a lecture, Lord Zhongtang, I am afraid that the official position is not easy to handle, the court has just issued an order to denounce Liu Mingchuan, and even the title has been deprived, if I promote him as a five-grade official, not to mention the demotion, the emperor will have an opinion on me!" ”

Li Hongzhang said with the city government in his chest: "Don't mention any official position, Liu Mingchuan just wants to make some contributions to the country, and the bookstore is suitable for him, do you understand!" ”

"My subordinates understood." Li Guolou bowed down and saluted, and then took it to protect Liu Mingchuan to do official affairs, he didn't need to intervene, Liu Mingchuan, the big Buddha, at least also needed a second-grade military attache hat, which was a few levels older than him, and it was not his turn to protect.

Li Guolou saw that Li Hongzhang did not serve tea to the guests, so he could only continue: "Lord Zhongtang, the Prussians are serious and do not accept bribes, and they can be a model for foreigners, as long as we are willing to spend blood, a strong and prosperous Qing Dynasty is just around the corner, as for military equipment, the lower officials think that a batch of introductions and imitations of a batch will not be controlled by others, and the result of total westernization is that all the wealth of our country has fallen to the Prussians, so the joint venture is fundamental, the land can be lent out for 1 year, and the joint venture options must account for at least 5% of the total Qing Dynasty , there is no eternal thing, otherwise we are sinners through the ages, negotiate with the Prussian mission on the basis of this basic framework, we will not lose much, the first batch of thirty people to stay abroad are all sent to the Prussian Empire, this year at least more than 100 technical employees will be sent to study, our machine bureau will soon have a qualitative leap, ordinary guns can be made by themselves, of course, Prussian advanced weapons, they will have reservations, like the Dreiser firing pin rifle, Krupp cannon sold to us a few is still possible, so the Prussian legation, to put on the agenda, We built a 22-square-meter high-end building for Prussia, and the Prussians also wanted Berlin to build a legation for our Qing Mission, and we could afford the cost of the mission abroad, and the Chancellery's yamen should have started training diplomats, and we could not recruit foreigners to be our ministers of the Qing Empire's mission, which was really ······."

Li Guolou coughed a few times, he didn't dare to continue, the old antiques didn't know how to pretend to understand, so that foreigners thought that they could entrust state affairs to foreigners, let the Qing Dynasty lose face, let the foreigners look down on the Qing Dynasty, if he didn't stay abroad and return to China, with the revival of the Qing Empire as his own responsibility, these old antiques still don't know what the world is like.

Li Hongzhang was extremely dissatisfied and said: "Guolou, who remembers talking like this, go back and write down the Chen Notes, write them down one by one, do things with a purpose, don't think of where to go!" ”

Li Guolou let it go, was angry, and couldn't help but say: "Zha, my subordinates will definitely write it down, the Prussians are my idea to invite them to come, I must shoulder this responsibility, but there is a responsibility that Lord Zhongtang should bear by yourself, you can't indulge them because they have made countless meritorious deeds and have a few scars on their bodies, and the fallen people are hemorrhoids, if you don't eradicate the hemorrhoids, a person will start to rot from the inside, and he will never be saved!" ”

Li Hongzhang said suspiciously: "Li Guolou, what are you talking about!" ”

Li Guolou knelt on one leg, bowed his head and said: "My subordinates accompanied the Prussians to visit the barracks, and I found that there were signs of soldiers smoking opium, others can't see it, I am a catch, who can hide it from me, some officers greet each other and use the ceremonies on the rivers and lakes, I am very familiar with the rules on the underworld, and I know at a glance that they are members of the Elders' Association, Lord Zhongtang, you work hard to be an elite soldier of the Huai Army, and the festering speed is not slower than that of the Eight Banners, and if you don't fight in a few years, this army will be over, and the people who lie down on military merit do bad things, which is more hateful than those Eight Banner old soldiers, It's still better to make an example of a hundred, even if you kill half of it, or even start over again! ”

Li Hongzhang smiled cruelly: "Li Guolou, you are talking nonsense, there are people in my Huaijun who smoke opium!" ”

Li Guolou smiled bitterly: "Lord Zhongtang, often walk by the river, how can you not get your shoes wet, you are such a smart person, this kind of truth should be understood, some things are touched, in the end it will only harm yourself, I will say this, what to do, I won't say much!" ”

Li Hongzhang was extremely sad when he heard it, and he was saddened, the Huai Army was the foundation of his foothold, and his life's fame was to rely on this army, smuggling and raising soldiers, which was originally the iron law of the Qing Army, but after it fell, the army corrupted military discipline like this, and the Huai Army degenerated too fast.