The next day, early in the morning, Li Guolou was called to Li Hongzhang's residence. Sign up and enter, meticulously courteous. Then he practiced scooping up the hookah gun and lit a cigarette with Li Hongzhang.

"Let's go!" Li Hongzhang closed his eyes, enjoyed the first bag of hookah in the morning, exhaled a breath of turbidity, opened a pair of slender eyes, and said slowly: "Xiaolou, did you sleep well last night?" ”

Li Guolou took out two articles from his sleeve and put them on the table, one was a review book, and the other was an errand given to him by Li Hongzhang "Etiquette and Precautions for Western Missions in the Qing Dynasty to Go Abroad and Negotiate Abroad", a thick article, which poured his hard work all night.

"Lord Fu Xiang, I didn't sleep last night when I wrote an article." Li Guolou replied respectfully, afraid that Li Hongzhang would find him to settle accounts.

Li Hongzhang took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and said, "Oh······ That means you're not drunk. What did you mean by pretending to be the king of Yue last night? ”

Li Guolou licked his face, smiled and said, "Lord Fu Xiang, you don't know that you, a grandson, just like to make some small movements. For the sake of Master Fu's career, how dare the grandson indulge himself. Now that I have come to my senses, I have learned from the pain, and I no longer dare to be self-righteous. ”

"Hmm······ That's right. Li Hongzhang scooped up the folds on the case, flipped through and read it carefully, slowly and silently, and didn't know what he was thinking.

Li Guolou stood still, not daring to sit down, he was in the limelight yesterday, and the Li family won glory. But there were also a few mistakes, and he made a taboo, and he may have to be skinned by Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang put down his fold and said loudly: "Sit down, don't be restrained, I don't blame you." Don't think that I have a prejudice against you, this is a love for you. At your age, you are still chanting the wind and the moon, and I am very pleased that you can spend your mind on the right way. Being able to establish a martial arts hall in such a short period of time, and also being able to compile detailed regulations, tactics, and ideological courses, is quite skilled. How do you do that? ”

Li Guolou bowed down and said: "Lord Fu Xiang, I don't hide it, because the lower officials are fluent in English, some professional English books have been involved. I like to use my brain, and I have the habit of writing, so I write articles very quickly, and I usually don't go out to play, so I put all my thoughts on errands. ”

"Really?" Li Hongzhang glanced at him and said, he wouldn't believe Li Guolou's nonsense, someone copied Li Guolou's article and studied the detailed rules, so that it could be explained. However, as an official, there are staff and clerks, but I don't know who is hiding behind Li Guolou?

"It's Master Fu Xiang, the lower officials don't dare to lie, you look at such a long article, I can't write it in one night. Even Master Rice never entered my room, I sorted it out by myself. "How dare Li Guolou say that it was Wu Peipei who collected information for him, and Xie Xiuzhu helped him transcribe the article, which was a secret of his family, even if others knew about it, he would not admit it.

"Oh! That's right! My family is also a thousand miles of horses! No! My steam train too! Hahahaha! Now Li Hongzhang believed it, and looked at Li Guolou with pity, and his grandson was angry, which made his face shine. He will not be ashamed when he goes abroad, and even the national events such as the national flag and national anthem of the Qing Dynasty have been handled well.

"Thank you uncle for the compliment, my grandson must take this sentence as a motto and live up to my uncle's expectations." Li Guolou was relieved, with a bright smile on his face, it seemed that there were only good things today, nothing bad. With peace of mind, I picked up the teacup, blew the blue tea leaves on the floating water, and drank the slightly hot tea.

Li Hongzhang was very happy, nodded and said, "Xiaolou, I'll write this sentence down and give it to you later, so as to encourage." ”

Hearing that the senior officer Li Hongzhang praised him and affirmed his achievements, Li Guolou was very excited, couldn't help but express his inner thoughts, pondered, and said: "Lord Fu Xiang, although the subordinate officials are in charge of the martial arts hall with strict discipline, honesty and honesty, and seeking truth from facts as the standard, as long as I am given time, I can carry forward the spirit of the martial arts." However, just having a martial arts system still can't change the weakness of the Qing army, and fundamentally eliminating the stubborn diseases of the Qing army is the long-term solution. Xia Guan has a huge plan, benefiting the country and the people, as long as he does it, the country will prosper, and the army will be strong. I wonder if Master Fu is interested in listening? ”

Master Xu Chan stepped into the living room and said with a smile: "Li Xuezheng, if you have any ideas, let's listen to them, so that I, a man who eats ancient times, can evolve into a foreign devil." ”

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said, "Eat breakfast first, and talk while eating." ”

Before the dinner table, Li Guolou said: "Last time, Master Fu said that if you want to control the rivers and canals in the Zhili area, you need a lot of people, many of these people are good seedlings to be soldiers, hard-working, young and strong, and many of them are homeless people, as long as they have a meager income, they are willing to be soldiers. My proposal is not to train soldiers, but to learn from the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, to build a huge agricultural army, and to establish an industrial and agricultural base in the northeast. However, unlike the Ming Dynasty, the land was distributed to the soldiers, and the land was embezzled by the officers. Rather, it was based on the fact that the land was the state, and the peasant soldiers owned only houses and very little land for themselves. And those original landowners all became shareholders of industrial enterprises, so that the big landowners became the pioneers of the industrial revolution. The advantage of this is that the state income increases, and the interests of the big landlords and big bureaucrats are not harmed when enclosing land, and there can be much less resistance. There is a strong peasant army to defend the birthplace of the royal family, and there is a steady stream of soldiers, and there will be no phenomenon that one generation is inferior to the other, and raising a half-peasant and half-soldier army with a very low salary is equivalent to the state does not need to pay for raising soldiers, but only needs to use funds to equip them, and will not let the peasant reclamation officers become corrupt and degenerate. The plan for the development of the royal birthplace should be boldly implemented, with the central idea of defending the royal birthplace, changing the military household system of the Ming Dynasty, adapting to the needs of the times, allowing the Weihaiwei Naval Base to have a stable rear, preventing the Western powers from coveting it, and allowing the two suspicious neighbors, Russia and Japan, to retreat in the face of difficulties. ”

Li Hongzhang stopped drinking porridge, Mu Lengleng looked at Li Guolou, he had long forgotten to eat breakfast, and asked, "Xiaolou, did you also think of this plan?" ”

Li Guolou ate sweetly, with hot porridge in his mouth, nodded frequently, and said vaguely: "Master Fu, I just have an idea, and I haven't written it out yet, but I have taken many notes." ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "Then when can you write specifically?" ”

Li Guolou snorted and ate violently, drank a big bowl of hot porridge, put down his chopsticks, reached out and grabbed a meat bun and took a bite, and said, "Master Fu Xiang, next year, there is no money to implement it now." ”

Li Hongzhang was dissatisfied: "What can Xiaolou do like this, you don't have money, I do." You should write out all the plans for the northeast tuntian and industrial construction, and don't draw a castle in the air, but conduct field investigations. In August, September, and October in the three northeastern provinces, you can still inspect it, and by the way, I will go to see the construction of the Weihaiwei Naval Base, and when I return from my visit to the West, I will see the preliminary implementation plan and the theoretical report of the feasibility plan. ”

Li Guolou said with a bitter face: "Master Fu Xiang, I can hand over the feasibility report and theoretical ideas of the three northeastern provinces to you at that time." The preliminary implementation plan is a cumbersome project, and I don't dare to write it without a year or two of field visits, because the harm is endless, and I will become a historical sinner. ”

Li Hongzhang had a sense of urgency and asked, "Master Xu, do you understand?" Based on what Li Guolou said, first organize a team and plan it. When digging canals to recruit workers, you can first vigorously publicize it, so that those river workers have an expectation, one or two years is very short, and it is a flick of a finger. The Qing Empire's immigration policy was to change when the time came, and the defense of the three eastern provinces could become the central idea, and with the development of this idea, the Qing Empire would be impregnable. ”

"Yes! The subordinates understand and will arrange it. Xu Zhan looked at the two careerists in front of him, the plan was too huge, what did Li Hongzhang think, would he be the emperor? Or did Li Guolou take advantage of the situation to ascend to the throne and have the ambition of sealing the territory?

Xu Zhan already felt a murderous aura emanating from Li Hongzhang and Li Guolou, one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, will these two people meet each other in the future. In his thoughts, he also thought about Li Guolou's plan, which is much better than building a Beiyang naval division, and civil industrial construction is the cornerstone of the industrial revolution. Li Guolou's insights are several times stronger than Li Hongzhang's, will Li Hongzhang take the credit alone this time? It seems that Li Guolou is going to be reused and trained as a successor.

After chatting for a while, Xu Zhan was sent away by Li Hongzhang, and during the conversation, Li Hongzhang suddenly slapped his head and said with a smile: "Xiaolou, I was almost interrupted by you, I called you here because I have something to tell you." As for Wutang's tactical thinking, it is still taught on the basis of your formulation of modern war thinking, based on facts, false war achievements harm others and yourself, 30,000 soldiers and horses, 3,000 soldiers and horses died, only one-tenth. I was so scared that I didn't dare to fight, and I admitted that the whole army was annihilated, and the army deceived the court from top to bottom. Those old antiques should have been thrown into the garbage heap a long time ago, who would dare to make irresponsible remarks and let him change positions. As for the ideological education curriculum, it should be taught in accordance with the original teaching curriculum, and no ideology should be added. ”

Li Guolou cried with joy, turned over and bowed to the ground, fell to the ground, and said loudly: "Thank you Master Fu Xiang for your cultivation, the lower officials will live up to their mission, build the martial arts hall well, and become the cradle of cultivating a generation of officers in the Qing Dynasty, and the soldiers take loyalty to Lord Fu Xiang as their own responsibility." Untimely dross will one day be thrown into the garbage. As he spoke, Li Guolou kowtowed three times and worshipped Li Hongzhang as an emperor. This is the Han people's way of confession, implying that it has been made clear that one day Li Hongzhang rebelled, and Li Guolou rushed to the front as a pioneer officer.

"Go ahead! Wutang is not perfect enough, see more, listen more, study more, and see what needs to be solved. Li Hongzhang picked up the teacup, crossed Erlang's legs, and trembled. He is not in a hurry, he is still young, less than fifty years old, energetic, and under his control, the blueprint of the Qing Dynasty has begun to take shape.

Li Hongzhang can still firmly control Li Guolou, so he still dares to reuse Li Guolou, and the Han people do not pose a threat to him. The big opponents are still those princes and nobles, and Mancai is the big rival of his career.

Li Guolou has already seen that Li Hongzhang has great ambitions, money, power, and land. The powerful Lord Fu Xiang will continue to develop, and one day he will be in a yellow robe. That sister-in-law, Li Jingshu, grows up slowly and will inherit Li Hongzhang's foundation. And will he be crowned king one day? Or a flying bird, a good bow hidden, a cunning rabbit died, and a lackey cooked. Thinking of this, Li Guolou couldn't help but shudder, this was not the result he wanted, he didn't want to see the world in chaos. The future is full of uncertainties, Li Guolou does not dare to think about this line of thought, put aside unrealistic ideas, let the Qing Dynasty become strong first, as for what kind of country will the Qing Empire become in the future? And how will the people around you change? These unknowns are left to be solved in the future.