Yi Shen originally came to show his merits proudly, and in just a few days, he finalized a war loan of 200 million yuan, which can be called a great merit for the imperial court that is in urgent need of war funds, but he didn't expect to be poured a basin of cold water on his head, and he said unwillingly at the moment: "More than 70 million arms, even if the northwest intercepts a part, it has nothing to do with the overall situation........" ”

Abundant? It's hard to know that it's a play with Yuan Qi, you can borrow a lot of money, you can use it left and right, but what's the use of asking for so many arms? What's more, in terms of weapons, Western goods can't catch up with domestic products, and what worries him even more is that if he buys so many arms, will Yi Zhixiang be misunderstood?

"You're generous!" Abundant? sneered, and said coldly with a straight face: "What is the concept of 70 million arms, do you know?" You don't think the machine can produce it in one turn, do you? Even if Britain and France have developed industry, it will take at least two or three years or even longer for such a large arms order to be delivered.

Can we afford to wait that long? The current situation is becoming more and more critical, and a major war can be said to be on the verge of breaking out, and British and French arms may not be urgent even if they are transported by sea, let alone by land.

Crossing the border through the northwest by land, as long as Yuan Qi puts on a posture of marching into the northwest, Zhu Shanhai will definitely not care about our life or death, and will inevitably intercept the transit arms in an attempt to protect himself. ”

Speaking of this, he slowed down his tone, "We are in urgent need of arms, but we can't expect to buy large quantities from the West, far from quenching our thirst, we must base ourselves on manufacturing, rapidly expand military production capacity, what we urgently need now is funds, and renegotiate ....... with them." ”

Hearing this, Yi Shen's face wrinkled like a bitter melon, "The reason why Britain and France agreed to provide such a huge loan is that they want to dump arms, and Britain has only broken out in the past two years A serious economic crisis has broken out in an attempt to recover economic ....... as soon as possible." ”

Abundant? He waved his hand impatiently to interrupt him, "I have repeatedly reminded you that the British intend to get involved in the northwest and desperately hope that large-scale civil strife will break out in our country, so don't lower your posture when negotiating, and be tough when you should be tough........" ”

Before he finished speaking, the phone on the table rang, and he stopped, "Go ahead, continue to talk to them, I'd rather borrow less than be led by their noses." ”

The call came from the Military Police Department, saying that a large-scale student demonstration had broken out, and the procession was coming towards the Prime Minister's Office. I can't help but have a headache, and during this time, three large-scale student anti-civil war demonstrations have broken out one after another, and the scale is getting bigger and bigger each time.

"I'm full!" Abundant? scolded angrily, and then said: "The old rule, the military and police are dispatched to maintain order, and they are not allowed to carry weapons or obstruct." ”

Putting down the phone, he got up and ordered someone to pack up the documents and move the office location, he had no interest or time to talk to the students or meet with the student representatives.

Student demonstrations were not confined to Beijing, but also broke out in many provincial cities in the north and south of the Qing Dynasty, with students as the main body, anti-civil war demonstrations of different scales.

Of course, Shanghai is no exception, Shanghai University is far ahead, even Beijing is far behind, and the scale of demonstrations is naturally the largest, reaching the scale of tens of thousands of people.

On the lookout tower on the wall of the Zhennan Palace, Yi Zhizu held a telescope and looked at the procession with great interest, waving banners, waving large and small slogans, and shouting neat slogans, with a faint smile on his face.

"It's so big that you can't see the end at a glance." Zhao Liewen said in a relaxed tone: "I never realized that there would be so many college students in Shanghai, and the military academy students haven't participated yet, right?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "Military schools are different, the students in the school have obtained military status, and they are considered soldiers, so it is naturally impossible to participate in this kind of spontaneous demonstrations. ”

"The universities of the Qing Dynasty have sprung up from scratch, from less to more, like mushrooms after a rain, but in just 40 years, they are already impressive." Zhao Liewen said and quipped: "Look at the big shopkeeper, is there a feeling of a military parade?" ”

"It's very fulfilling." Yi Zhizhi nodded, "If you want to say that this life is enough to be the best, it is not the military, not finance, not industry, but education....... ”

Zhao Liewen said sincerely: "In the past 40 years, such achievements have been made by the great treasurer. ”

"This is the beginning, and it's far from the time to be proud." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "In the future, we will continue to increase investment in education, and we must complete the nine-year compulsory education ........ nationwide as soon as possible." ”

As he spoke, he turned around and glanced at Yi Zhengxing, who was standing behind him, "Science and technology are the primary productive forces, and the competition between countries is, in the final analysis, the competition of science and technology is the competition of talents, and education, no matter what the circumstances, must be put in the first place." ”

"The child must take it to heart." Yi Zhengxing nodded vigorously.

"Let's go back." Yi Zhizhi said and slowly walked down the wall, Yi Zhengxing quietly pulled down the corner of Zhao Liewen's clothes, deliberately took a few steps behind, and when he got off the wall, he said softly: "Why do you want to condone student demonstrations?" Just to make a splash and hide from people? ”

After a slight sigh, Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "There is a sub-couplet in front of the door of Ming Donglin Academy, the upper couplet is the sound of the wind and rain, the sound of reading is in the ears, and the lower couplet is the family affairs, national affairs, and everything in the world is concerned. ”

Returning to Changle Bookstore and taking a sip of tea, Zhao Liewen said tentatively: "At present, anti-civil war demonstrations of different sizes have broken out in the northern and southern provinces, will it be self-defeating?" ....... Is it necessary to conduct public opinion guidance? ”

"How?" Yi Zhishu asked rhetorically, and said slowly: "Over the years, Yuan Qi has always been against the civil war. ”

Zhao Liewen pondered for a while, and also felt that it was quite tricky, but in fact, it was easy to know that he had openly flaunted his opposition to the civil war on many occasions over the years, and if public opinion was guided, a bad one might be attacked again, and he was silent for a while, and then he said: "At present, many newspapers in the northern and southern provinces are also calling for opposition to the ....... of the civil war. ”

"There is no need to guide public opinion, and directly use actions to show attitude." Yi Zhizhi said: "In view of the rapid deterioration of the situation between the north and the south and the imminent outbreak of war, it was announced that the southeastern provinces had entered the stage of wartime control, and wartime financial control, economic control, food control, communication control, traffic control, price control, and urban control ....... implemented. ”

All kinds of wartime controls have formed a clear system, listening to this series of controls, Zhao Liewen couldn't help but secretly speak, Yi Zhizhi glanced at him, and said with a smile: "Are you worried about the cost too much?" It was a rare opportunity to treat it as a drill, and this series of wartime systems lacked testing. ”