At that time, the First Sino-Japanese War had not yet taken place - Guan Zhuofan would not allow it to happen, and there was still considerable room for imagination for China and the countries of the world to be regarded as first-class powers. The victory of the Xuan army in the United States to quell the rebellion further broadened this space. The United States, on the other hand, because of the "friendship cemented in blood" with China in this war, has a good impression and confidence in China that other countries do not have.

Finance needs a "concept", and there is no more attractive "concept" in the world than China, an ancient country, which is in chaos and has "begun comprehensive reform, opening up, and modernization".

Therefore, Guan Zhuofan is confident that China's treasury bonds will be sold well in the United States.

What's more, J.P. Morgan, who is in charge of underwriting, is the top master in the world.

Also, Morgan's company, I have 50% of the shares, and the fertilizer still hasn't flowed into the fields of outsiders.

When people in China see that foreigners from abroad are enthusiastically subscribing to China's treasury bonds, they will naturally "change their concepts" and actively buy their own treasury bonds.

Cixi sighed lightly and said, "The national debt is good, but when the time comes, we must pay it back." ”

This sentence is actually quite to the point.

Treasury bonds have lower interest rates than banks, and they do not require collateral, which seems to be cheaper for issuers; On the other hand, when repaying principal and interest, unlike loans, there is absolutely no room for delaying the rollover of government bonds, otherwise it will be a "default," and in serious cases, it may lead to the collapse of the financial credit of the entire country.

Guan Zhuofan said: "The Queen Mother Shengming. From beginning to end, the ministers must stare at it with all their strength and live within their means. There must be no room for failure to repay principal and interest in a timely manner. And also. It's time for the deadline. If the state has something else to do, we can also sell new bonds. This treasury bond can be sold in one installment. ”

Ci'an was still ignorant, but Cixi and several military planes heard it, "the country has something else to do" is a euphemism, Guan Zhuofan's real meaning: In case the money is not enough at that time, you can issue new debts to pay off old debts.

So, we can spend other people's money all the time? It's wonderful!

Guan Zhuofan said: "Foreigners value us. It's the words 'all innovation, forge ahead'. If this situation remains unchanged, foreigners will be willing to pay for our China. The minister thought that foreigners would think so, and the Chinese would think so. ”

Both the two palaces and the military plane nodded deeply.

As a result, the construction of railways and the issuance of treasury bonds were decided.

Under the "Advisory Committee," a "railway stock" and a "treasury bond stock" should be set up to take charge of their affairs.

"Railway stocks" became the abuse of the "Ministry of Railways" in the future; "Treasury bond stocks" became the abuse of the "Ministry of Finance" in the future. And, from now on. In addition to the household department, another financial center has emerged in the central government.

The "Advisory Board" has been weighted from this point on.

However, Kwan Zhuofan told King Gong that on the railway matter, the advisory committee and the prime minister's national affairs yamen should "cooperate sincerely".

The amount of the first tranche of treasury bonds is 50 million taels of silver, of which 15 million taels will be sold in China and underwritten by a group led by Shanghai Citibank; The other 35 million taels were sold overseas and underwritten by the Morgan-Sandoz firm in the United States.

The first phase of the treasury bonds was mainly used in two directions, one was to build railways; One is to rectify the flag service.

The expenses for rectifying the flag office are mainly the "severance pay" for buying out the "flag age". Based on the five-year salary of a flag soldier, the "severance pay" of a flag household is 300 taels. Guan Zhuofan's goal is to cut 100,000 flag households within five years, and the total "severance pay" is 30 million taels.

In addition, Guan Zhuofan planned to relocate most of the laid-off bannermen to Hei, Ji, and Liao to serve as the "production and construction corps" for the development of the northeast, and the number of these people was about 400,000 to 500,000, so seeds, farm tools, winter clothes, and livestock would also be a large expense.

This year's "pilot", the cost is limited, next year the whole country will be rolled out, the year after next will enter the climax, the "severance pay" will focus on the expenditure of these two years, and the relevant funds should be prepared in advance.

Of course, this will affect the allocation of railway construction to some extent, but the railway funds are spent on an annual basis, which is relatively "even", and is not concentrated in two or three years like the rectification of flag affairs, and after the flag affairs are backward for a period of time, the imperial court will be able to invest a large amount of funds originally used to raise the eight banners into the construction of the railway.

Do the math, it's a turnaround.

Prior to this, the imperial court allocated two million taels of silver to the Railway Unit of the Advisory Committee every year as a supplementary fund for the construction of the railway.

The planning, construction, and management of railways will mainly employ American companies and personnel.

The main reason for making such a choice is not only because of the "special relationship" between China and the United States and Guan Zhuofan, but also because although the United States is a rising star in the industrial countries, the construction of railways, especially in dealing with ultra-long mileage and complex terrain, is truly unparalleled in the world, and the bosses of Britain and France are all stunned.

Taking the Pacific Railroad under construction in the United States as an example, after the east and west sections are combined, the total mileage is more than 3,000 kilometers, which is longer than the Beijing-Shanghai line and the Beijing-Hanzhou line planned by Guan Zhuofan combined. The entire Pacific Railroad project is one of the greatest industrial miracles in human history, and Kwan believes that the Pacific Railroad is no less impressive than the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.

Speaking of which, Xuanjun has a lot to do with this railway. The Xuan army expanded in the United States, and the replenishment of troops mainly came from the Chinese workers who built the Western Pacific Railroad.

When Kwan Zhuofan was in the United States, Sherman's engineering unit's ability to lay and repair railroads also left him with the most direct and profound impression of American railroad technology.

China and the United States are both large countries with vast territories and complex landscapes, and the technology and experience of the American railways are the most applicable to China's national conditions, and Guan Zhuofan believes that with China's high-quality labor force, it will not be long before there will be an industrial miracle similar to the Pacific Railway on the land of China.

*

*

Zuo Zongtang, the new governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, handed over the official affairs of the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and entered Beijing to see His Majesty.

Zuo Zongtang arrived in Tianjin first, and he and Liu Changyou, the governor of Zhili, and Chonghou, the minister of commerce and commerce, were only slightly perfunctory, and most of the time, they soaked in the Xuanjun military camp, and a group of juniors with titles, positions, and ages lower than him, such as Hua Er and Daniel Zhang, hooked shoulders and called them brothers.

It is said that the "Left Mule" hero deceives people, which is not bad, but who is not bullied and who scores, Zuo Zongtang looks down on people who are not as good as him, or people who he thinks are powerful and compete with others, in the face of the real strong, or when there is a request for others, the mind of the "Left Mule" is alive.

Wall and Daniel Zhang also gave Zuo Zongtang face and asked him to "watch the". This is the first time that the Xuan Army has invited "outsiders" to parade, and the other party is not a central official, but a local chief.

After watching it all day long, Zuo Zongtang was deeply shocked, and a plan he had been planning for a long time became more and more urgent.

At that time, it was customary for the guests to give a "reward" to the sergeant after "watching the exercise", but for Xuan Jun, Zuo Zongtang did not dare to make a mistake, and first asked Wall in private if it was appropriate to do so. Wall replied that Xuan Jun trained like this every day, there was nothing unusual, and Marshal Zuo's kindness could only be understood.

In the end, it became a "mutual gift" between the two sides, Zuo Zongtang gave Xuanjun 20,000 taels of silver, and Wall gave Zuo Zongtang 200 Spencer guns and 40,000 rounds of fixed ammunition. Zuo Zongtang smiled and thanked him repeatedly, and Hua Er said: "Lord Zuo is too polite, Master Pei Ziye has explained, 'Chu Jun and Xuan Jun are originally a family. ’”

Zuo Zongtang entered Beijing and entered through Chongwen Gate. The evils of the tax collectors of Chongwenmen are well-known in the world, but the Military Aircraft Department has already greeted in advance: Don't embarrass Zuo Zongtang.

Like when Guan Zhuofan returned to China to enter the Hajj, Zuo Zongtang first went to the palace gate to hand over the fold to ask for peace, and then the soldiers and officials hugged each other, and went to the Bingzhan Hutong next to the Donghua Gate and stayed in Xianliang Temple.

After a little washing, Zuo Zongtang wore a pearl robe and gown, and went to the Yiyong and loyal Beizi Mansion to visit Guan Zhuofan.

When I arrived at Beizi Mansion in Wicker Hutong, I handed in the post, and after a while, the middle door of Beizi Mansion actually opened slowly, and a young nobleman, dressed in a dark leather robe, stood with a smile and a hand.

Zuo Zongtang was surprised, and the courtesy was so much!

*(To be continued......)