Li Hongzhang was promoted to the governor of Zhili because he perfectly solved the problem of Tianjin's teaching plan, and Tianjin became his jurisdiction. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Gao Sheng is naturally a happy event, but Tianjin is a troublesome place, this is the third time that foreign warships have come to the city, the first two times they even hit the city of Bei, once the British and French forces, once the Ming army, this time it is the British, French, American and Russian fleets are coming.

Li Hongzhang felt that if he didn't deal with this place well, something would happen sooner or later.

Li Hongzhang's subordinate, Vice Admiral Gordon, advised him that as long as the Qing Dynasty did not move the capital, as long as the capital was still in the north, it was best not to make enemies with foreigners.

Li Hongzhang knew that it was impossible to move the capital, so he asked for other solutions, Gordon suggested building a navy, but it required a lot of silver, Li Hongzhang had no money, Gordon said that the cheap way was to build a strong fort and buy excellent artillery.

Li Hongzhang was fortunate to appoint Gordon, a foreigner, as the commissioner for coastal defense in Tianjin, and asked the imperial court for a batch of appropriations to rebuild the Dagu Fort, but he really didn't want to see the foreigners come to Tianjin again to show off their might.

Gordon is a typical British gentleman, if this kind of person works with Zeng Guofan, he will definitely appreciate each other, but he works with Li Hongzhang, but he can only despise each other, but the problem is that these two people are such two kinds of people, they discriminate against each other, but they can cooperate with each other well, Li Hongzhang is broad-minded and can tolerate people, while Gordon is businesslike and doesn't care about other people's private affairs.

Gordon's businesslike personality made him choose the Krupp cannon imitated by the Ming Dynasty, because a simple comparison can tell that this rear-loading rifled gun is indeed the most superior. Britain originally had the Armstrong breech-loading rifled gun, but Britain itself had to give up and not use it, and the British government investigated and found that this kind of gun was defective, and Gordon naturally could not recommend this kind of cannon to China with a clear conscience, even if the British minister found him, he was unmoved. He didn't think he could dishonor himself.

Krupp can also make the same quality, or even better cannons, but at this time, the Franco-Prussian War is in full swing, and secondly, the price of Krupp cannons is too expensive, they sell at least 178,000 taels of silver, and they have to add 40,000 or 50,000 transportation costs, the Ming imitation cannon is not bad in performance, the price of 100,000 taels of silver is very cost-effective, not to mention, the freight problem has also been solved. Therefore, the use of Ming cannons can greatly reduce costs. This is the most realistic for the Qing court, which is stretched thin on funds, and borrowed from the east and west.

So Gordon suggested using the Ming artillery to build the Dagu Fort.

Li Hongzhang has no need to object, he doesn't understand these things at all, so he has become the biggest customer of Daming Arsenal in the future. Historically, the Krupp Arsenal sold more than 20,000 cannons to foreign countries, and Li Hongzhang alone purchased more than 7,000 cannons from this factory, which can be said to be Krupp's largest high-quality customer. Now this customer has become the Daming Arsenal.

"Are you saying that Li Hongzhang bought the cannon to build a fort?"

After listening to Hao Kejiu's explanation, Zhu Jinglun nodded.

He also thought that Li Hongzhang was to equip the army.

Hao Kejiu was a little nervous, and insisted on selling weapons to Li Hongzhang, which he strongly advocated, and he was selfish, because he was a native of Shanxi, Shaanxi was in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he was born in Rishengchang, Rishengchang had a close relationship with Manchu officialdom, and this time Li Hongzhang bought cannons, and he also contacted Hao Kejiu through Rishengchang.

However, the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty disagreed with the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of War, which was already at odds with the Ministry of Industry, also stood on the side of the Ministry of Rites. The Ministry of Rites' Foreign Affairs Department, which was in charge of foreign affairs, resolutely refused to sell weapons to the Manchus, because their current diplomatic strategy was to attack the Manchus. The Ministry of War also believed that the Manchus were now the biggest threat to the Ming Dynasty, and they had always advocated the Northern Expedition, but the goal of the Northern Expedition had always been on Hunan, so they also believed that whoever sold weapons to the Manchus was a traitor.

But as a Jin merchant shopkeeper from Shanxi, he was also educated by Confucius and Mencius since he was a child, even if he put aside the concept of hometown, Hao Kejiu's worldview is more recognizable to the Manchu Qing, between the Manchu Qing and the Ming Dynasty, he may choose the Ming Dynasty now, but between the Manchu Qing and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he will definitely choose the Manchu Qing.

Hao Kejiu has done a lot of work, so that the Ministry of Industry supports his attitude, the Ministry of Industry is not very concerned about these businesses at this time, the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Chen Qiyuan's biggest interest is to promote the silk reeling industry, and now it has also launched silk weaving and, cotton spinning industry, he does not understand the military industry, nor does he care, so the arsenal is actually a burden he threw out, supporting Hao Kejiu, it is not enough because Hao Kejiu is his own person.

So Hao Kejiu felt a lot of pressure, most of the pressure from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War was on his head, plus he was a foreigner, he himself began to retreat, in case he was involved in the court dispute, it was not a joke, in order to have a little incense with Ri Shengchang, it was really not worth his life.

At this time, Zhu Jinglun summoned him, which made him feel even more nervous, he had already thought before he came, he had to withdraw.

So after explaining Li Hongzhang's purpose, he immediately said: "Then Li Hongzhang really wants to build a fort." ”

Zhu Jinglun said with a smile: "Who is he building the fort for?" ”

Hao Kejiu cold sweat is about to break out, the Chinese say that the companion is like a companion tiger, in fact, most of them are scaring themselves, but they just can't change it, when Hao Kejiu was the treasurer, he saw that Zhu Jinglun was not so nervous, but now that he is an official of Daming, he is not comfortable, obviously Zhu Jinglun said with a smile, he just feels that the emperor is reprimanding him.

Hao Kejiu hurriedly said: "Of course, it's used to beat foreigners." ”

Zhu Jinglun nodded: "That's good." I'm still afraid that they will use it to beat me Daming? ”

Hao Kejiu said: "Xu is Weichen's thoughtfulness, otherwise Weichen would go back and reject them." ”

Hao Kejiu decided to withdraw decisively, he suddenly felt that he couldn't erase his feelings so much, selling cannons to the enemy, isn't this the enemy, all dynasties and dynasties are the business of the Zhujiu clan, even if you want to do it, you have to do it secretly, just like the Jin merchants gave the Manchu Qing pig iron to let the Manchus fight the Ming Dynasty.

But he was stupid, he wanted to sell cannons with great fanfare, and he clashed with the six parts for this, isn't this a long life.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Jinglun shook his head: "Since he is beating foreigners, it has nothing to do with us, if he wants to fight, he will sell it to him." ”

Without waiting for Hao Kejiu to answer, Zhu Jinglun said again:

"I heard that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wants to sell ironclad ships and buy cannons, what do you think?"

Hao Ke took a long time to reply, because he had to figure out what the emperor meant, whether he could really sell it or talk casually.

He found that Zhu Jinglun probably really wanted to sell the Manchu cannon, he didn't believe that the emperor was making money, and he made a circle in his heart, Hao Kejiu felt that the emperor might have a big plan, sell the cannon to the Manchu Qing, and sell the ironclad ship and the cannon to Changmao, isn't this just sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, and when these two evil tigers are both defeated, the Ming Dynasty will go north to the Central Plains in one go, isn't it ripe.

As soon as Hao Kejiu thought that the emperor had such a big consideration, he suddenly felt even more that he had made a big mistake in advocating business with the Manchus in the past few days and obstructing the sale of weapons to Changmao, and it was simply against the emperor.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly changed his words: "Weichen has some shallow opinions, I don't know whether to talk about it or not?" ”

"But it doesn't hurt to speak!"

Hao Kejiu said: "Weichen thinks that cannons and ironclad ships should be sold to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and cannons should also be sold to the Qing Kingdom. If both countries lose out......"

Obviously, Hao Ke has been thinking too much about it for a long time.

This is not Hao Kejiu's problem, this is the problem of the worldview of the entire Chinese people, everyone thinks that the world will be united for a long time, either you will unify me, or I will unify you, sooner or later you will have to fight, then it is naturally best to let the potential opponent live and die.

On the contrary, Zhu Jinglun didn't think so far, of course he also knew that he would definitely be unified in the end, but the way of reunification was the annexation of the Six Kingdoms by Qin Shi Huang, or the annexation of West Germany by East Germany.

But almost all officials believed that sooner or later the world would have to be unified by force, and no one thought that the Manchus would take the initiative to hand over power. Zhu Jinglun also felt that it was difficult for the Manchus to abstain on their own initiative, and Yuan Shikai forced the Manchus to abdicate. But the Manchus could not be allowed to surrender on their own initiative, but the Han governors were easier to win over, once the time was ripe, the governors of all parts of the south of the Yangtze River declared independence, and then joined the Ming Dynasty, which was faster and more stable than using force.

But is Hao Kejiu's idea wrong, and yes, when everyone thinks so, he is right, because the Manchu Qing must think so too.

Zhu Jinglun did not have the habit of being unconventional, but praised: "Lord Hao is thoughtful, then go and do it." ”

Hao Kejiu left the palace only to find that the clothes on his body were already soaked, Guangdong is not good at this, the weather in November is still hot like an oven, Shanxi is about to wear a cotton jacket.

After feeling that he understood the emperor's meaning, Hao Kejiu immediately sent a report to the shopkeepers in Tianjin and Nanjing, telling them to immediately agree to export weapons to the two sides, sign the contract, and receive the money in the account first.

These shopkeepers have all been trained by Hao Kejiu in the past few years, and he doesn't understand the production management of the arsenal. However, he was very familiar with the commercial operation of the ticket number, and set up more offices in the relevant areas, and wherever there was business with the arsenal, he opened shops and set up shopkeepers.

Not only in Daming, such as Foshan, Guangzhou has a branch, but also in Tianjin, Tianjin, Shanghai, and even in Japan have opened a semicolon.

The only job of these semicolons is to pull business for the arsenal, because the development of the arsenal in recent years can be described as a rapid advance, with a metaphor that is like a wild boar, suddenly breaking into the flat farmland, the wolf rushing, turning the originally calm field upside down!