Li Hongzhang never thought that the emperor would directly ask him to enter the cabinet and assist the emperor in governing the government! This is a one-step approach, go straight to the cabinet!

Even if Li Hongzhang thinks that he is extremely talented and full of self-confidence, he does not dare to think of such a difference. After all, he has just entered the age of not being confused, and being able to serve as the governor of a province is already a great kindness. How dare you want to enter the cabinet directly and become a humerus minister of the imperial court?

Originally, his stealing hope was just to be transferred to Shengjing, take charge of a department, and become a real minister. After a few years or even more than ten years, changing a ministry, having the experience of being in charge of two or three ministries, and then having the opportunity to become a vice premier of the cabinet or something, assisting Premier Zeng Guanlan and becoming a cardinal minister of the imperial court, it is already extremely rare.

But he never expected that the emperor would directly speed him up and transfer him to the cabinet to assist the emperor in governing the government! In this way, it should not be as simple as transferring to the court as a minister, but it is likely to directly serve as the vice premier of the cabinet to assist Premier Zeng Guanlan Zeng to help deal with the affairs of the imperial court.

Therefore, Li Hongzhang's eyes widened, his throat tightened, and his throat was a little sweet. It was so unexpected and surprising to him.

However, modest words must be said, Li Hongzhang hurriedly bowed down and excused himself: "Your Majesty, the talent of the micro-minister is insufficient, and it is valued by His Majesty, and he guards a province on behalf of the Son of Heaven and patrols Jiangsu, which is already the virtue of greedy for heaven, how dare he have extravagant hopes." I also ask Your Majesty to choose other colleagues with outstanding talents in the DPRK and China. It is really difficult for Weichen to take on such a heavy responsibility. ”

Feng Yunshan laughed and said, "Li Aiqing doesn't have to be humble! In the past few years, Aiqing has served as the governor of Jiangsu, and I have actually made the Ministry of Supervision and the Department of Secret Services pay close attention to Aiqing's governance of Jiangsu Province in Suzhou City, the establishment of the academy with priests, the recruitment of exiles to reclaim the famine, the relief of the poor, and the severe punishment of the Yabao, all of which are very powerful, laying the foundation of the Three Wu, and the effect is here.

In particular, in Jiangsu's education, agriculture, canal dredging, and official road repair, it can be described as vigorous and resolute, and the results are immediate. Aiqing has done a good job in encouraging the development of Jiangsu's industrial and commercial trade industry, especially the establishment of small and medium-sized workshops, private factories and goods companies, and a large number of factory companies have emerged throughout Jiangsu, so that Jiangsu's fiscal and tax revenues continue to increase.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Finance and Taxation, the total fiscal and tax revenue of the empire last year was 520 million holy yuan, of which the fiscal and tax revenue of Jiangsu Province alone reached 112 million holy yuan, accounting for 21.54% of the entire empire, more than one-fifth of the entire empire. Of course, the main thing is Shanghai's tariff revenue, which has 50.5 million holy yuan, but even in addition to these tariff revenues, there are nearly 61.5 million holy yuan of fiscal and tax revenue, which Aiqing has really done. I have checked the data, and when Aiqing first arrived as governor of Jiangsu, Jiangsu's net fiscal and tax revenue in the previous year was less than 12 million saint yuan. In 8 years, Aiqing has been able to increase the net fiscal and tax revenue of Jiangsu Province by more than 5 times, which is really an outstanding achievement.

And, among them, there is a lot of investment in the universal education of ordinary schoolchildren, the elderly over sixty years old medical care, I am afraid that it is not less than 10 million Shengyuan, this is not counted, and the official roads of Jiangsu are built in all directions, canal dredging and excavation management, the most ideal, the most significant, not only for the people and businessmen to go out to provide great convenience, but also to promote the development of industry, commerce and transportation in Jiangsu and even the surrounding provinces.

There are many newspapers and rumors among the people, and they are very appreciative of Aiqing's Jiangsu politics. ”

Feng Yunshan's boast of detailed data made Li Hongzhang flattered and very moved, he didn't expect that the little achievements he had made were really his duty. But I didn't expect the emperor to investigate so carefully, so attentive, and even said that every piece of data was memorized in his heart, and he couldn't help but admire the emperor's talent, and was deeply moved by the emperor's appreciation and respect for himself. For a while, Feng Yunshan had a feeling that his nose was sour and he wanted to cry, and he secretly said in his heart: "This is the so-called death of the ancients!" ”

But Li Hongzhang has always been calm, although his heart was full of agitation, his face was flushed, and he was extremely moved, but he still did not lose his temper, and explained modestly: "Your Majesty praises, Weichen is ashamed and dare not be, in the future, he can only smear his liver and brain, and then die!" However, these achievements mentioned by His Majesty are not the work of Weichen alone, but the hard work of the entire Jiangsu colleagues, and the careful guidance of His Majesty and the imperial court, as well as the hard work of the people of Jiangsu. Moreover, colleagues in other provinces have also done very well, probably just because Jiangsu is rich, and the gentry and common people have some surplus money, and the policy of the imperial court has changed, and the trend of opening factories and industrial and commercial trade has arose, so they have followed suit, which has greatly increased the fiscal and tax revenues, and the wealth and industry and commerce have been greatly circulated. In particular, the unique advantages of Shanghai Port, Shanghai Customs are all due to Liu Kunyi, the prefect of Songjiang, and Zhang Zhidong, the magistrate of Shanghai! And there is also the Holy Capital City, because it is in Jiangsu Province, the Holy Capital City is now developing better and better day by day, and Weichen has never seen such a huge capital, and even the original Beijing City of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is far from being comparable. The tax revenue of Shengjing City alone accounts for one-eighth of the fiscal and tax revenue of the entire Jiangsu province.

Therefore, these are not the credit of Weichen, everything, in the final analysis, is still the new policy formulated by His Majesty is too good, and Weichen and others just follow the gourd and draw the scoop. ”

Feng Yunshan waved his hand: "Although other provinces are also developing very well, they are indeed not as huge as Jiangsu's development!" Wu Chongyao, the governor of Guangdong, was originally the head of the Thirteen Banks, and had served as the Minister of Commerce of the Empire and the general manager of the Nanyang Company.

The second-ranked province of Guangdong Province had a fiscal and tax revenue of 104 million holy dollars, accounting for exactly one-fifth of the entire empire's fiscal and tax revenue. The revenue of his Guangzhou customs accounted for 56 million saint yuan, and the other fiscal and tax revenues were not as high as Jiangsu. Moreover, Guangdong was the foundation laid by us at the beginning, and long before the implementation of the first five-year plan, there was nearly 18 million Shengyuan in fiscal and tax revenue, so in terms of good development, it was still Jiangsu under Aiqing's rule. Aiqing doesn't have to be humble!

However, I am very happy that Aiqing can not attribute the results to herself. Moreover, what I want to say is that Aiqing and the other governors have not done enough!

Aiqing has also been an official in the empire for a long time now, and she knows the Kingdom of Great Britain in Europe, which is commonly known as Yingyang, right? ”

Li Hongzhang said: "Back to Your Majesty, Weichen knows." Britain used to be the most powerful country in the world, but now it has been defeated by our Chinese Empire and has become the second or even third power. ”

Feng Yunshan shook his head: "If it is calculated according to comprehensive strength, Yingyang is still the most powerful country in the world, especially their advanced level of industrialization and many systems. It is only because the political system of the country is different, and the country itself is very narrow, the population is not large, and the distance is far away and not enough attention is paid to it, so it will be defeated by our army during the expedition to the Indian Ocean. But if the army of our Chinese Empire goes on an expedition to Europe and attacks them, it will definitely fail miserably.

You must know that at the beginning, a huge dynasty of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the annual tax revenue was only 46 million taels, while the British Yang was more than 300 million taels, which was 6 times that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In terms of land area and population, the Manchus were at least ten times larger than the British. ”