Although a lot of electric fans are installed in the securities trading hall, but because there are too many people, the stockholders are still sweating like rain, but few people care about the stuffiness, and everyone is excited to stare at the rising large-cap stock index and the stock index they bought.

After the news of the Northwest Rebellion spread, the stock market ushered in a wave of gains, and military stocks were popular all the way up, and soon spread from domestic military enterprises to overseas investment enterprises, and the companies investing in South American mining were like dark horses that were killed halfway, riding in the dust, far ahead, and quickly became the leader of the military industry.

The expressions of the shareholders were different, some were happy, some regretted, some regretted, and many people were inexplicable, "Isn't there a war in South America?" It is said that Chile has won successive battles, Peru and Bolivar have been defeated one after another, and many mineral fields have been occupied by Chile, how did this stock rise so well? ”

"You are too ill-informed about this, our naval fleet has arrived at the Peruvian military port, haven't you heard?"

"Our country declared war on Chile?"

"Not really, the fleet went to South America for the purpose of mediation, but if Chile is really disobedient, it does not rule out the possibility of war, as the newspapers say, the navy has the obligation to protect our interests abroad."

"You have to pay attention to current affairs when speculating in stocks, but also look at the direction of the wind, the newspaper says so, it is obviously to guide public opinion, and there is a great possibility of war with Chile, do you think about it, once the war starts, those companies in South America can not benefit? This is the beginning, and there is still a rise! ”

"Have you heard of that? Military factories in Baoshan, Qingdao, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and other places have begun to work overtime, working in three shifts, and people and machines do not stop, is this not obviously the rhythm of war? ”

The article "Report on Speeding Up the Expansion of the Navy," published in the "Beijing Daily," clearly put forward the idea of maritime frontier and placed it alongside the land frontier, and pointed out that coastal defense will be the focus of the Qing Dynasty's national defense in the future, and at the same time, it also pointed out that protecting the overseas interests of the state and the people is also the unshirkable responsibility and obligation of the navy.

Due to the development of the telegraph industry, the news of the arrival of the East China Sea Fleet in Peru in South America had already spread, and as soon as this article came out, many people realized that the Qing navy was about to officially intervene in the war of the three South American countries.

The consulates of Western countries that paid close attention to the trend of public opinion in the Qing Dynasty quickly reported the news to the country, and now the Qing Dynasty is already very important, and every move may have a huge impact on the pattern of the whole world, and no country will despise it, and the three South American countries have always been major exporters of copper ore and saltpeter, and there are not many countries with close trade contacts, so how can they not care.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Yi Zhengxing walked into the room quickly and said in a muffled voice, "Lima called." ”

Yi Zhicontent, who was discussing with Zhao Liewen about the military command system, said in a relaxed tone: "I have fulfilled their wishes, and even the reply is extraordinarily fast." ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhengxing showed a wry smile and handed over the telegram to report: "They replied that they were not sure of a quick solution. ”

Not sure? Zhao Liewen was very surprised, originally he thought that Zaizhao would be eager to fight, but he didn't expect the other party to have the intention of avoiding war, according to common sense, as a general who leads the troops outside, even if he is not sure, he will definitely do his best, it is impossible to reply directly, not sure, what kind of attitude is this?

In his reply, Zaizhao stated the embarrassing situation that he might encounter in the war, but he also reported a plan to attack the port of Valparaiso, the maritime gateway of Santiago, and attack Santiago.

Yi Zhizu turned it to Zhao Liewen after reading it, and lit a cigarette casually, it is indeed quite difficult to annihilate the Chilean Navy in a quick battle, if it were him, he would not touch the stone with an egg, after all, the power of the torpedo is too great, once the torpedo boat is close, it will basically not escape the sinking end.

Putting down the telegram, Zhao Liewen said in a relaxed tone: "It's not that Zaizhao doesn't want to fight, but he is not sure, he is afraid that the stalemate of the war will affect the pacification of the northwest, this is to let the big shopkeeper give him a reassurance." ”

Yi Zhizhi smoked a cigarette and said silently, and only said after a while: "Think about it another way, if we reach a stalemate in South America, will it be easier for the British to intervene in the war in the northwest?" ”

"As it should be." Yi Zhengxing nodded and said: "If my country's war in South America is deadlocked, it will inevitably face a two-front war, which is naturally a good thing for foreign forces in the northwest." ”

"It should work." Zhao Liewen said slowly: "Attacking Valparaiso Port, the intention of a quick battle is very obvious, and the British will release their doubts even if they have the intention to test it."

However, fighting on both land and sea fronts consumes a huge amount of money, and if the war lasts too long, it will pose tremendous pressure on our country, and its finances, economy, industry, and finance will suffer a great impact. ”

"Huifu is worried about military spending, right?" Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "With the issuance of war bonds, China's financial market can be said to have been initially cultivated, and it should not be difficult to raise one or two hundred million yuan." ”

One or two hundred million? Yi Zhengxing secretly said to himself, this war is really burning money, and he has some heartache, one or two hundred million, used to develop industry, develop the economy or infrastructure, how much can be done.

Zhao Liewen said: "Five years of drought, and large-scale relief and immigration, Yuan Qi is greatly injured, and the imperial court is even more in debt, so it will definitely not approve of provoking a war, let alone fighting on both land and sea, even if it is a bond issuance, the imperial court will most likely not agree." ”

If the imperial court does not agree to issue war bonds, it will be a big trouble, and it will not be possible to issue war bonds in the name of Yuan Qi, which is not a small amount of three or five million, and it is absolutely impossible for the shareholders of Yuan Qi to agree, they have to make a fuss, there is no way to raise money, how can this battle be fought?

After a pause, Zhao Liewen continued: "It's okay to say in the northwest, after all, the queen mother and the emperor are trapped in Gongning, even if the court is unwilling, you have to pinch your nose and nod, but South America is different." ”

"It's easy to do things with money, it's hard to do things without money, if I really don't have money, how dare I toss like this?" Yi Zhishu smiled: "Don't worry, I'm sure to convince them." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Call and invite them to Shanghai on the pretext of discussing the military command system." ”

Listening to the military spending is not a problem, Yi Zhengxing couldn't help but be greatly excited, and said: "Does Lima need to reply in time?" ”

After a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi said: "This matter has to be cut first and then played, resulting in a fait accompli, before forcing the imperial court to agree to issue bonds, call back, declare war immediately, and fight!" Let go of the hand and foot to fight, and do not delay. ”