As soon as the news spread, the news fell sharply because of the outbreak of the war in South Africa, because Johannesburg was captured by the Franco-Austrian forces and plummeted again, and then the shares of the Transvaal Mining Company, which had been hovering at a low level for several months, were directly closed by huge buy orders.

Immediately afterwards, as the vane of the stock market, the Yuanqi silver stock also directly rose to the limit, less than half an hour, the stock market index of the two places went crazy and climbed, less than an hour after the opening, there was a rare scene of thousands of shares rising together, and the stock market hall was crowded with people, and it was crowded to the brim.

The popularity of the stock market has driven the entire financial market, bonds, insurance, foreign exchange, gold and other exchanges have appeared in full swing, and all financial speculators know what the victory of the South African War means for the Qing Dynasty! At this time, no matter what kind of security it is, as long as it can be eaten, it will bring a lot of income.

The large and small branches of Yuanqi Bank also suddenly became lively, especially the gold bar and brick trading business appeared a rare hot scene, but not to buy gold to hedge, but to exchange gold for banknotes, a large number of funds can't wait to pour into the securities market.

Some people rejoice, and naturally some people are sad. The newspapers were full of reports on the victory at the Battle of Maputo, and the reactions of diplomats stationed in the Qing were mixed, and the United States and Russia, which had close ties with the Qing and stayed out of the matter, were mixed.

The two countries are not only happy to see the Qing weaken the strength of the European powers, but also happy to see the Qing economy flourish, after all, this is a good thing for both of them, over the years, the trade volume between the two countries and the Qing has been steadily and sharply rising, this time the world economic crisis, the Qing has been of great help to both countries.

However, the military strength of the Qing State has risen so quickly, and the two countries are also very worried, it is a good thing that the allies are strong, but if the allies are too strong, it may not be a good thing.

As for Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and other five countries that declared war on the Qing Dynasty, they were shocked, heartbroken, and worried; in the past two days, the major newspapers of the Qing Dynasty have been full of reports on the Battle of Maputo, and there are even many war correspondents' reports on the battlefield, and they are shocked and heartbroken by the total annihilation of the combined naval fleet of the five countries, and they are worried about the submarines developed by the Qing State that can launch torpedoes under the surface of the water, the new types of mines that can be laid under the surface, and they are even more worried about the army in South Africa.

Shanghai Hongkou, Huangpu Road, German Consulate.

The German Consulate is located at the confluence of the Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek, facing the Huangpu River from west to east, and consists of a three-storey office building and residential building.

As early as when the two countries declared war, he rushed to Shanghai from Beijing, and has been living in the consulate general during this time, not only him, but also the ministers of other countries are now in Shanghai, the reason is very simple, although the Qing State has an emperor and a cabinet council of the prime minister, but the real control of this huge empire is Shanghai, the king of Zhennan, Shanghai is more like the capital of the Qing State than Beijing.

Consul General William Knape paced out, lit a cigarette, and then he spoke: "My country has always been friendly with the Qing State, and I have never understood why China would agree to send troops to South Africa....... ”

"Naturally, there is a reason to send troops." Mu Mo said in a deep voice: "But no one expected that the combat power of the Qing Navy would be so powerful. ”

"The combat power of the Qing Army is also very strong." Kenape said unhurriedly: "There is no need to continue the war in South Africa, and now, we have to think of ways to repair the relationship with the Qing State." ”

"Repair the relationship?" Mu Mo turned to look at him and said, "The war is not over yet, how can we repair the relationship?" ”

"Secret peace." Knappe said: "By the way, you can also try to buy the captured warships from the Qing State." ”

Buy the batch of warships captured by the Qing State? That's sixty ironclads! Mu Moo's heart moved, if he could really buy it all, Germany's naval strength would immediately be able to compete with England! However, he soon calmed down, "The scale of our navy is limited, and it is useless to buy so many warships........" ”

Knappe said: "What would happen if France bought those ships?" ”

After the defeat of the Franco-Prussian War, France has been haunted, if France gets those ships, it will be a disaster for Germany! After a deep groan, Mu Mo said, "The Qing Dynasty will sell those warships?" ”

"There was a five-year drought in the north of the Qing Dynasty, and then a war in South Africa, and Yuan Qi's family is afraid that it will be empty." "If someone is willing to buy it, I don't think Yuan Qi will refuse, after all, with the existing naval combat power of the Qing Kingdom, there is no need to quickly expand the size of the navy." ”

Mu Mo's heart moved, and he said decisively: "Prepare the car, go talk to him." ”

"Don't go, it's too eye-catching." Knapé laughed, "I'll test it." ”

Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

"The big shopkeeper." Hu Guangyong said with a wry smile: "It stands to reason that a large amount of gold is a good thing, however, these years the banknotes are in a serious state of over-issuance, the reason why the banknotes can be maintained is to put a large amount of gold into the market, and now a large number of gold is withdrawn, which means that the banknotes in circulation in the market are seriously flooded, and there may be a phenomenon of expensive money, that is, inflation." ”

As early as the continuous issuance of banknotes, Yi Zhishu had already expected that sooner or later this evil result would appear, and had long begun to think about how to deal with the possible serious inflation, and immediately said slowly: "We can start from two aspects, one is to minimize the total amount of banknotes in the domestic circulation field."

China has implemented the gold standard, and paper money is directly linked to gold. Although paper money is not allowed to be freely exchanged for gold at home, but internationally, it is allowed to freely exchange gold, and domestic banknotes are overflowing, so we can transfer a large number of paper money abroad and increase investment in North and South American countries, as well as Ottoman, Transvaal, Mozambique and other countries.

In addition, banks must appropriately adjust their monetary policies, reduce the scale of credit, increase their efforts to collect loans, and try their best to control the amount of money in circulation.

In terms of state finances, it is also necessary to vigorously reduce fiscal expenditures, increase fiscal revenues, and persist in balancing revenue and expenditure.

Another is to control the scale of investment in fixed assets, strictly control the scale of investment in factories and mining enterprises, and reduce the scale of large-scale infrastructure projects.

On the other hand, it is necessary to increase the effective supply of commodities, appropriately readjust the economic structure, readjust the industrial and product mix, reduce military products, expand the production capacity of civilian products, and support and support the production of commodities in short supply.

Simply controlling the amount of money will seriously affect economic growth, and it is necessary to take a two-pronged approach in order to reasonably alleviate the pressure of inflation without affecting economic growth.

In addition to these two aspects, there is another way, that is, to limit prices, set up price departments, and ....... the prices of some major livelihood commodities. ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Zhao Liewen, "The top priority at present is to curb inflation, otherwise it is not conducive to the stable growth of my country's economy."

Inflation itself is a very complex economic phenomenon, and it is necessary to adopt different countermeasures according to the causes and prescribe the right medicine.

Relying on Yuanqi alone cannot curb inflation, and it is necessary to cooperate with the imperial court to jointly set up a special department, which will be handled by Huifu, and the manpower needed can be drawn from various industries and departments. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen couldn't help but be stunned, this matter actually fell on him in the end, he hesitated and said: "Big shopkeeper, the student is a little bit of money, I'm afraid it will be difficult to take on such a heavy responsibility......." ”

Yi Zhicontent said without refusal: "Don't be humble. After eight years, King Gong is about to step down, and you should also let it go out to experience experience. ”

Before the words fell, the secretary came in and reported: "Big treasurer, the German consul general asks to see you." ”

"Nope." Yi Zhicontent said simply, not to mention the consul general or the minister came, he didn't see it, the South African war has not yet ended, and now is not the time to negotiate, and he doesn't want to see any of the ministers and consuls of the five countries.

"The big shopkeeper." The secretary hesitated for a moment before he said, "The other party said that there was a big deal...... ”

Big deal? Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "At this time, what big deal can Germany have?" ”

Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "It's just a consul, and it doesn't hurt to see the big shopkeeper, but the students are curious, what kind of big deal it is." ”

"Then let him in." Easy to be content with the way of disdain.

Knape was not tall, a little thin, with the thick mustache that Europeans are accustomed to, and as soon as he entered the room, he bowed and greeted: "The German Consul General in Shanghai, Wilhelm Knape, pays a visit to His Royal Highness the King of Zhennan." ”

Listening to the translator, Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "Consul William doesn't need to be polite. He stretched out his hand and said, "Please be seated." ”

Zhao Liewen asked directly: "I don't know what business Your Excellency the consul wants to talk about?" ”

Knappe smiled and said: "In the naval battle of Maputo, your navy won a complete victory, capturing sixty large and small ironclad ships, and my country hopes to be able to buy them all." ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhishu was surprised, and immediately smiled: "Sixty ironclad ships, this is really a rare big deal!" However, China has not announced that it wants to sell these warships. ”

Knappe said: "Your country's navy is unparalleled in combat power, and the size of the existing fleet is also comparable to that of England, so there is no need for these warships, and in addition, your country's ironclad ships are designed to be first-class, and Your Highness should not look down on these warships." ”

Interesting, Yi Zhizhi smiled and lit a cigarette casually, the war was not over, he didn't think about what to do with this batch of captured warships, Kenape took the initiative to come to the door, but provided him with an idea.

Today's Qing Dynasty industry is not small, itself has a strong shipbuilding capacity, and the scale of the navy is not small, can not be quickly expanded scale, after the end of this war, the Qing Dynasty can be peaceful for at least 20 years, these warships really do not need to stay in their hands.

Moreover, he really didn't look at the captured warships, even the existing warships of the Qing Navy will be gradually updated, and he knows very well that with the development of shipbuilding technology and artillery technology, the era of dreadnoughts in the era of real giant ships and cannons is about to kick off.

At present, the warships equipped by the navies of various countries, including the Qing Navy, will soon be eliminated, and it is obviously a good idea to sell the captured warships that are destined to be only transitional products.

In addition, the sale of these warships can also stimulate the arms race of European countries at an early stage and break the equilibrium situation on the European continent, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

After a slight hesitation, he spoke: "The naval battle of Maputo has been won, and there is no suspense about the war in South Africa, and China's external cable telegraph communication will be opened soon." ”

Listening to the translation, Kenape quickly stood up and bowed slightly: "I believe that it will soon bring definite good news to His Highness." ”

After waiting for Kenape to say goodbye and leave, Zhao Liewen smiled and said: "It is indeed a big deal, sixty ocean-going ironclad warships, to say the least, it will cost three or four hundred million yuan, but I am afraid that Germany will not be able to come up with such a large sum of money." ”

"You can take credit." Yi Zhixiang had a meaningful smile on his face.

"On credit?" Zhao Liewen was stunned for a moment, and then reacted, "The big shopkeeper wants to break the pattern of European equilibrium?" ”

"There's this idea." Yi Zhifu nodded, "Germany has obtained these sixty warships, and England is afraid that it will be difficult to sleep, even if it will not trigger a war in Europe in advance, at least it will allow them to contain each other, and there is no spare strength or energy to take care of us." ”

Zhao Liewen smiled heartily: "Yingli really lifted a stone and shot himself in the foot this time. ”

Simon Military Port, Fars Bay, South Africa.

On the deck of the battleship Sovereign, Arthur Hood, bathed in the autumn sunset, looked worriedly at the sea in the distance, and the coalition fleet went to attack Maputo, and there was no news for several days, and his heart was full of anxiety and worry.

The last time I received news from the Combined Fleet was three days ago, when the fleet left Durban, which was only more than 200 nautical miles from Maputo, and with the speed of a corvette, it could arrive in a day.

He really couldn't figure out what was going on in Maputo. Even if the Combined Fleet is defeated, there should always be news, it is impossible to wipe out the whole army, this is simply impossible, a naval battle is no better than a land battle, it is impossible to destroy the whole army, there are many fast cruisers in the Combined Fleet, and it is impossible not to escape even a single battleship.

"General, there's news!" A communications officer hurriedly greeted him and reported: "Durban is calling, the Combined Fleet has crossed Durban and is rapidly moving south. ”

"Over Durban?" Hood frowned, how could the Combined Fleet directly cross Durban? That's impossible! Regardless of victory or defeat, the combined fleet should go to Durban for replenishment, how can it be possible to directly cross Durban?

Something happened! Something is wrong! His face turned a little pale, "Go back to the headquarters!" ”