Chapter 402 Risks

Regarding Liu Changyou's straightforwardness, Shen Baozhen could only say with a bitter face: "Zimo, I know your difficulties, but I have been friends with Disheng for many years, if you don't give me a face, you have to give Disheng a face!" ”

He continued: "As for the reinforcements, I am trying to find a way to dispatch them, and now I am discussing the matter of borrowing generals with Wang Butang, and I think there will be results in the near future!" ”

Liu Changyou wanted a tangible benefit: "Youdan, it's no problem for me to coexist and die with Fuzhou for you, but these five thousand Hunan people can't!" If Fujian no longer sends reinforcements to Jiangxi, then I'm afraid everything is over, which general are you borrowing from Fujian Wang Butang now? ”

"For the time being, it was agreed that Rao Tingxuan would not be borrowed, and others would not borrow—1-"

Rao Tingxuan is the defeated general of the Hong Army, the fact that the Hong Army has defeated him more than once, but Fujian is also very difficult now, and the Hong Army has occupied more than ten counties after entering Fujian, so although Liu Changyou is a little dissatisfied, he still said: "Rao Tingxuan is weaker, but there are always no reinforcements to be strong, but it has to be stepped up!" ”

Shen Baozhen nodded, and he said: "Although the borrowed general is still being raised, the salary is already eyebrowed, as long as Zimo is in charge for three months, he can get a military salary of 300,000!" ”

"Three hundred thousand?" Liu Changyou was very satisfied with this number: "Is there really 300,000? ”

Liu Kunyi next to him was also concerned about this problem: "As long as there is 300,000 military salaries, everything is fine, not to mention three months, even half a year!" ”

The Hunan army has always been bitter, the military salary is insufficient, Zeng Guofan's most wrong thing in his life is that he knew that Shanghai could raise 500,000 yuan a month, but he still sent Li Hongzhang to Shanghai, and as a result, he raised his biggest opponent.

And 300,000 taels is also a big number for Liu Changyou and Liu Kun, so Shen Baozhen assured them: "As long as your army can be in Fuzhou for three months, it is guaranteed that there will be 300,000 taels of military salaries." ”

"That's good, that's good!" Liu Changyou is very satisfied with this result: "As long as there is a salary, there is a way to do everything!" ”

It's just that Shen Baozhen turned around and said the same thing to Mrs. Lin: "As long as there is a salary, there is a way to do everything, but Fuzhou has no salary, and there are no reinforcements, so I don't know how to do it......"

"Didn't the lord say that Fujian Wang Butang is willing to help pay 300,000 yuan?" Mrs. Lin is Lin Zexu's daughter, and she has always been Shen Baozhen's virtuous helper, she asked: "What's more, I also wrote to Rao Tingxuan to cry, I can always help, right?" ”

As soon as he talked about this important military aircraft, Shen Baozhen's face became bitter: "It's difficult, it's difficult!" The current situation in Fujian, you know better than me, the red thieves have been occupied for more than ten months, and Wang Butang has great skills, and he is unable to support Fuzhou......"

In history, Rao Tingxuan did indeed lead his troops to aid Guangxin and Fuzhou, and won a big victory, but it was just a fluke victory, and at this time, although the Hong army that entered Fujian was only a partial division, but Fujian had no spare strength to take care of the danger in Jiangxi.

In this case, Shen Baozhen could only summarize one sentence: "If this situation is the case, Liu Changyou can only be dragged down, and if he leaves, Fuzhou will fall immediately, hey......"

Thinking that the Hong Army had recently occupied Suchang, and had also broken the army of the Monk King and Shengbao, which was unstoppable, Shen Baozhen could only sum up: "Since then, Fuzhou has been troubled!" ”

Mrs. Lin asked, "Young Dan, haven't you considered Shi Jingfen's method?" ”

Shen Baozhen couldn't help but be silent, and only said for a long time: "Shi Jingfen, ......"

……

"This year is the best year since Shanghai opened up to Westerners!"

Sitting on the couch and talking to a group of Westerners, De Mons now behaves like a true European aristocrat, and a famous family with a history of hundreds of years.

The question he is talking about now is the question that the entire Shanghai Westerner community is most concerned about: "Why this year is the best year, it is very simple, the Chinese buy the most cloth, while the Westerners buy the most silk tea!" ”…,

For the trade between the East and the West in the nineteenth century, the variety and total volume of commodities were relatively limited, so the best manifestation of the economic crisis was that "the Chinese did not buy cloth, and the Westerners did not buy silk", and the purchasing power of both sides was weak.

This year, however, the export of British cotton cloth and silk and tea has reached a historical high, largely due to the fact that the Rainbow Army occupied the port of Ningbo, which increased by 20 percentage points from the previous year despite the impact of the war.

And the good news is not limited to this, now the Rainbow Army needs a lot of military supplies and industrial goods, and the total trade volume of the entire Shanghai Westerners is growing explosively, so De Mons continued: "All this growth has something to do with the enlightened government of General Liu Chang, and we Western merchants should continue to maintain good relations with such an enlightened government. ”

Sometimes the growth of trade has nothing to do with whether the government is enlightened or not, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Ningbo when it went downhill, but because the Taiping army needed Western industrial products more than the Qing Dynasty government, the output of silk tea increased significantly, so that Westerners lamented that the Taiping army had captured Ningbo for too long, and at that time Westerners had formed a fixed impression of the Taiping army, and no longer had any idea of supporting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, if they achieved such trade growth in Ningbo a few years in advance, Britain may make a different choice than it has historically been.

But now the Westerners in the salon believe De Mons's words, and De Mons continued: "The next China is destined to be General Liu's China, you should know that Suzhou Mansion and Changzhou Mansion are already General Liu's territory, right?" ”

"That's right!" Demons sparked a heated discussion throughout the salon: "That's right, my purchaser saw with his own eyes the fierce battle near Danyang, where thousands of war horses were buried in a big pit, it was too cruel!" ”

"It's not cruel, China once buried all the corpses in a small hill and called it Jingguan, and now General Liu can be described as merciful!"

"We are willing to maintain a good relationship with the benevolent General Yoo."

"Count de Mons, you have always maintained friendly relations with General Liu, why don't you give us a good idea."

Demons now took out his grip and told them the shocking news: "Know the miracle of the Erie Canal?" Now I have a miraculous project waiting for your assistance, and I have obtained a charter from General Liu for the Huzhou-Hangzhou railway......"

"Hangzhou to Huzhou Railway?"

Those present exclaimed: "He allowed us to build a railway on Chinese land, this is impossible, right?" ”

"That's right, I thought I would never see a railway on Chinese soil in my life."

"From Hangzhou to Huzhou, which is connected to the most prosperous business districts in China, which are the most densely populated industrial areas, I have seen countless business opportunities."

"It's not just business? opportunity, which represents a new phase in commercial relations with China, from the export of trade to the export of capital......"

Everyone was gossiping, but some people were dissatisfied and said: "Mr. De Mengs, I believe you are cooperating with us to develop this Hangzhou-Huzhou railway, but I think the most profitable railway project, you haven't released it yet?" ”

De Mons laughed: "What project? ”

"Shanghai to Hangzhou Railway!" The gentleman said unceremoniously: "This railway has been profitable since it was opened. ”

The Hangzhou-Huzhou railway, although it seems very important, is insignificant compared to the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway, and some people even suggested: "If you build a railway from Shanghai to Hangzhou, maybe you need a double-track railway from the beginning!" ”

"For such a golden railway, even the four-line has a high return!" ..., De Mons smiled bitterly: "The Shanghai-Hangzhou railway is indeed a real golden railway, but in a short period of time, the railway that we need most in the west of Shanghai has no chance to start construction for the time being, of course, this is a political limitation......

The situation in Shanghai is more delicate now, although there is a concession, but this is still an area under the Qing government, where the Qing army hired tens of thousands of soldiers to defend the city, and more importantly, not long ago, a reinforcement army arrived in the Shanghai area, a businessman talked about this: "Not long ago, a Chinese official named Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai, he brought thousands of rogue troops, and posed a threat to Shanghai's neutrality and security......"

"But the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway should start as soon as possible, and the Great Powers should guarantee the neutrality of Shanghai and ensure that he cannot be used as a tool against General Liu!" "Of course, now we can only start the construction of the Hangzhou-Huzhou railway, and I need a lot of technicians," De Mons said. ”

This is one of the obvious things, this is almost the first railway in the Eastern world, whether it is technology or equipment or experts, it must be from the Western world, many people understand that this represents a huge business opportunity, so some enthusiastic people asked De Mons: "Then I want to ask, what form will the construction and operation of this railway take, and how many opportunities will the West have to participate?" ”

"I've got the charter!" "And the railway can be built and operated by a concessionaire, and the Chinese authorities not only do not interfere, but also give very favorable and convenient conditions," said De Mons proudly. ”

"Very good!"

"Great!"

"I would like to inquire about the operation of the concessionaire?"

"Dermons Corporation, you are truly a pioneer of the civilized world!"

Everyone was amazed by the good news that De Mons had come, they already knew what De Mons was trying to do at this salon, and they even knew very well that the next meeting would be a meeting of the shareholders of the concessionaire.

It was only soon that someone spoke: "This is a very good thing, but as a shareholder of the concessionaire, I am here to solemnly remind Mr. De Mons that we must be mindful of the political risks." ”

"What do you mean?" De Mons stood up and asked, "Is it General Liu?" I must say that he was a perfect saint and that the promises he made were always valid, and I have never seen him break his promises! ”

"No!" The gentleman replied: "It is the intention of the Great Powers, and it has been revealed to me that France is ready to send two additional infantry battalions to Shanghai in the near future!" ”