Li Hongzhang got off the sedan chair and smiled slightly: "Although it is early summer, the weather is still cold, Yuemeng, you don't sleep?" Not afraid of the cold? ”

Xuan Yuemeng smiled: "I can accompany Master Li Zhongtang, what is this?" I know that Lord Li Zhongtang has been working hard for government affairs all day long, so I specially asked Lord Zhongtang to relieve his boredom and let Mr. Timothy Lee accompany Lord Zhongtang to drink. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled and said: "In the middle of the night, do you think this is the Qinhuai River?" ”

Young Master Meng smiled: "Although this is not the Qinhuai River, however, the security along the river along the coast of Tianjin is still good, only in the sea near the northeast there are a small number of pirates, although we are just a small boat, but we can also enjoy ourselves." ”

Li Hongzhang looked at Yuemeng's cruise ship and couldn't help admiring, although it is not as big as a regular freighter, but it is also an all-iron armored structure, and it is beautifully crafted and gorgeously decorated!

Li Hongzhang smiled: "How much is the displacement?" How much silver was spent? You bought it? ”

Young Master Meng smiled: "The displacement is 800, and it cost 200,000 taels!" It's from a foreign company, where can I buy it? ”

Li Hongzhang smiled, knowing that if he asked Xuan Yuemeng, Xuan Yuemeng would not tell the truth, Li Hongzhang had become more and more suspicious of how much money Xuan Yuemeng had, because with his vision, he had always been able to see that in the interaction between Xuan Yuemeng and Timothy Li, Xuan Yuemeng was in a leading position! If you can't see this, is he still Li Hongzhang?

It's just that Li Hongzhang can't be sure that the proportion of Xuan Yuemeng's wealth is greater than that of Timothy Li, he thinks that the two of them should be five or five, which is the most reasonable explanation, and Timothy Li succumbs to the subordinate position, it should be because of Xuan Yuemeng's intelligence!

Li Hongzhang took Xuan Yuemeng's hand and said with a smile: "Okay, let's get on the boat, the main department hasn't been on a boat for a long time." Yanagihara Maemitsu and the Japanese mission have left, and Motobu Hall now has a big concern. ”

Young Master Meng smiled: "Don't be happy too early, I remember that I repeatedly hinted to Lord Zhongtang during the negotiation, I think the Japanese will never give up like this, look at the history of the Japanese to know that they have no personality, no credit, their contract, even wipe the fart - share of the straw paper!" ”

Li Hongzhang looked at Xuan Yuemeng with a smile, "Yuemeng, you seem to be particularly disgusted with the Japanese, why is this?" I think the Japanese still want to make friends with our Qing Dynasty, after all, they are a small country, what can they do to disadvantage our Qing Dynasty? ”

Xuan Yuemeng knew that the explanation was also in vain, and he couldn't say that he was crossing the crowd and telling Li Hongzhang about the decades of tragic war with the Japanese in the future, right? "Lord Zhongtang just be vigilant, compared to the Western countries, this small country in the eyes of adults is the most dangerous!"

Li Hongzhang nodded, and did not speak for the Japanese again, although he still didn't care in his heart, but Xuan Yuemeng's intellectual performance during this period of time was too explosive, and Li Hongzhang would not take Xuan Yuemeng's words seriously at all.

There was an awkward quarrel between Young Master Meng and Zhao Qingluo, and Zhao Qingluo didn't hold hands with Young Master Meng.

Young Master Meng went over and took Zhao Qingluo's hand and said softly, "Are you still angry?" ”

Zhao Qingluo snorted softly, "I'm a slave girl, what right do I have to be angry?" Gentleman! ”

Young Master Meng smiled lightly: "Don't recruit me, I heard the words of the slave girl, and I was furious." ”

Zhao Qingluo's pink face turned red, she didn't look at Xuan Yuemeng, she looked at the black sea, the sea breeze blew, blowing away the hair in front of Zhao Qingluo's forehead, Zhao Qingluo brushed her hair, this action simply stunned Young Master Meng.

Master Meng: "I don't know if you'll wait for me, but I'm going to marry you!" ”

Zhao Qingluo's body trembled slightly.

This is the first time that Young Master Meng has accurately said that he wants to marry Zhao Qingluo, and he has never said such a thing to a woman!

It was supposed to be a sweet moment, but Zhao Qingluo's eyes turned red.

Young Master Meng knew that because of the disparity in age between the two people, he didn't believe that he was a mature soul, why couldn't he be with Zhao Qingluo? Actually, he is much older than Zhao Qingluo!

Young Master Meng is to defeat appearance with feelings!

He doesn't believe that when people live, they want to be rich and good-looking!

He knew that no matter how much money he made, Zhao Qingluo would not value it.

After getting on the cruise ship, Li Hongzhang knew why such a cruise ship cost 200,000 taels, you know, an ocean-going freighter twice the size of this kind of cruise ship can be bought for only 1230,000 taels of silver!

It turned out that Master Meng's cruise ship was bought by him Timothy Lee from a British nobleman, and it was the most advanced equipment in this era!

The configuration of civilian ships has reached its peak!

Li Hongzhang touched the various decorations inlaid on the hull, "Yue Meng, are you really willing to spend money, spend 200,000 taels to buy a boat like this, do you want to live the addiction of being a rich man?" ”

Young Master Meng said with a smile: "Lord Zhongtang, say it again, this is the property of Klinsmann Foreign Company, not my drop, it is more expensive, but there is a profit that people can earn, the actual cost of this ship is about 100,000 taels!" If we have our own shipbuilding industry in the Qing Dynasty, this extra 100,000 taels can be saved! ”

Li Hongzhang nodded, "Yes, the main hall has also thought about this problem a long time ago!" You invited the headquarters to your cruise ship today just to talk about the opening of a shipyard, right? ”

Xuan Yuemeng smiled: "You can't hide anything from adults!" We, Klinsmann & Co., would like to continue to cooperate with the Beiyang Yamen in the form of official supervision and foreign affairs to open a steamship China Merchants Bureau! Grasp the freight of the entire Qing Dynasty in our hands, so that we can completely break the monopoly of foreign freight! The freight of foreigners is like an iron lock, which completely locks the shoulder blades of national industrial development! ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and sighed, he already regarded Yue Meng as an adult! But I didn't expect Yue Meng to see the problem so thoroughly, Yue Meng's words really got to the core of the problem!

Li Hongzhang: "This matter is not small, it involves a wide range of areas, buying a ship must be bought from foreigners, but foreigners know that you want to grab business with them, even if you buy this boat, it will inevitably touch the interests of foreigners, when the time comes, I am afraid that it is not the court that can do the master, this matter, you have to think about it, there is no way at all." ”

Xuan Yuemeng actually expected Li Hongzhang from the beginning to have this attitude, if he could not touch his interests and share the benefits, Li Hongzhang might make a move, but he would definitely not do anything that took a risk.

Xuan Yuemeng was not reconciled, "Lord Zhongtang, then the imperial court also has a lot of materials to be transported from north to south, don't you plan to build a shipyard?" Can the current Caoyun still meet the needs of the Qing Dynasty to transport materials? ”

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "The imperial court can get a few boats by itself, but it will never cooperate with your Klinsmann Foreign Company, this matter, in the end, can only be done by the method of official supervision and business, and it is absolutely impossible to supervise foreign affairs, do you understand?" ”

Xuan Yuemeng sighed slightly, he understood, but if he was asked to cooperate with Li Hongzhang in the name of a Chinese businessman, he wouldn't dare, damn it, one day if your policy changes casually, Lao Tzu's property will be confiscated, isn't this the meat sent to the cutting board?

Xuan Yuemeng: "I heard that you recently proposed to send a group of students to study in the United States? ”

Li Hongzhang smiled and nodded, "You are well-informed, a little person, but you have become half of the imperial court officials, it is estimated that your father does not know these things." ”

Young Master Meng smiled: "I heard that, isn't our Klinsmann Foreign Company a newspaper?" A bunch of reporters are kept there, and the news is naturally better-informed. ”

Li Hongzhang: "What? Want to send your people to a foreign country? ”

Young Master Meng nodded happily, "Lord Zhongtang is really sharp-eyed, and he can't hide anything from Lord Zhongtang, how about it?" Isn't this easy to do? ”

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "This thing is indeed not difficult, if you want to stay abroad, you must go to a university, enter a big factory, learn some real technology, and then you can get ahead, this is something that can only be done by diplomacy between countries, and if you send it out privately, it will never be possible." ”

Xuan Yuemeng didn't expect Li Hongzhang to think so thoroughly in his heart, and even looked up to Li Hongzhang, originally, he always felt that Li Hongzhang was not much smarter than himself, look at the eyes of others, if it wasn't for a long time of contact, Xuan Yuemeng really suspected that Li Hongzhang was also crossing the crowd!

Xuan Yuemeng: "Yes, I just thought that only Lord Zhongtang can help with this, the American Concession wants to open a university that can allow people from the Qing Dynasty to go to school, isn't it a good thing for the country?" ”

Li Hongzhang sighed, "This matter, now there is no glimpse of the eight characters, the key depends on the meaning of the court, and this indicator of staying abroad, according to the headquarters of the hall, in the end, there are at most thirty or forty people, what the court does, it likes to come to a compromise, and when there are many people who oppose it, the court will get so many dozens of people to go out, this is all the old way, but if there are too few people, it is really useless." ”

Young Master Meng was shocked, "Thirty or forty people? Can't Lord Nakado state his interests to the imperial court and ask for more people to be released? Don't worry, Lord Zhongtang, I will send 1,800 people, and I will pay this fee without spending a penny of the imperial court. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled, "One thousand eight hundred? You kid, do you really dare to think, do you see the benefits of foreign technicians and want to have your own set of teams? Impossible, don't believe it, you can watch it then. This matter, the headquarters can promise you now, but as long as the court can agree, the headquarters will let you send someone and carry it for you, how about it? ”

Young Master Meng was puzzled: "Then, do you mean that you will send thirty people, and give me the extra share?" ”

Li Hongzhang smiled and nodded, "Yes!" ”

Young Master Meng also nodded, frowning slightly, "Okay, then let's make a decision!" (To be continued.) )