"Coastal defense is the important task of the country, and this drama of the navy yamen cannot be sung only by them, the old and the young, but also by a few more talents. "www.biquge.info The Empress Dowager Cixi said again, "The sixth master thinks, who else is more suitable?" ”

Prince Gong thought for a moment and replied: "Back to the Empress Dowager, the servants think that the coastal defense of Beiyang is the top priority, and the direct governor Li Hongzhang can also be the assistant minister of the navy. ”

"What the sixth master said is that Beiyang is the gateway to Beijing and Tianjin, and all matters of coastal defense must be prepared as soon as possible, and Li Hongzhang must enter the sea department." Empress Dowager Cixi nodded and said, "Shen Baozhen has been in charge of the shipping administration for a long time, and he should also be in the same department as the sea department, and there must be people in the Nanyang coastal defense. In this way, the North and South Seas can be united. Besides, Shen Baozhen is the same year as Li Hongzhang, and he is Lin Yizhe's uncle, so there is naturally nothing wrong with doing things. ”

Hearing the words of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Prince Gong knew that she had already made up her mind, and this time she told herself, in fact, it was more of a "notice" nature, and Cixi asked her own opinion, which was tantamount to testing herself, and she couldn't help but be afraid in her heart.

From the last time he was impeached and removed from the title of King of Yizheng because of the official participation in the speech, to the return of the King of Yizheng because of the Yunxing Gardener, the ups and downs during this period have given Prince Gong a deeper understanding of Cixi.

"The Empress Dowager Shengming!" Prince Gong said in a loud voice, "The slave is very submissive! ”

Seeing that Prince Gong had no other discussions, the Empress Dowager Cixi was very satisfied, and after talking for a while, Prince Gong retreated.

After Prince Gong left, the Empress Dowager Cixi thought about it and said to Liu Chengyin: "Liu Chengyin, summon the Seventh Master to meet you." ”

Liu Chengyin responded and walked out quickly. The Empress Dowager Cixi sat on the throne and looked at the door of the main hall.

Outside the hall, the snow is at the beginning of the day, and the red sun is in the sky.

"Lord Lin, please come here." Liu Chengyin said to Lin Yizhe with a smile, leading the way in front.

"There is Mr. Lao Liu." Lin Yizhe looked at the old man with a clear face in front of him, smiled and saluted, and followed closely behind him.

"It has been snowing heavily for several days, but today is finally a sunny day, and there is a way to be 'Ruixue Mega Year', and the Queen Mother's mood has also improved a lot." Liu Chengyin said as he walked, as if he was chatting with Lin Yizhe, but Lin Yizhe understood in his heart that Liu Chengyin was using his way to convey important information to himself.

"After days of heavy snowfall, it suddenly turned sunny, and the weather was cold again, the so-called 'snow is not cold and the snow is cold', the weather is cold, Mr. Liu is the **** hard worker, and he must pay attention to keeping warm." Lin Yizhe looked at Liu Chengyin, whose face was old and his figure was a little rickety, and said with concern, "The younger generation has learned the method of Western medicine and health care, if the junior manager Liu is willing, the junior will copy it to the general manager Liu to see." ”

Listening to Lin Yizhe's words, Liu Chengyin smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's freezing this day, I'm getting older, and my hands and feet are not dexterous, and I feel more and more useless, if Lord Lin has a magic method, then I'm not welcome." ”

Listening to Liu Chengyin's words, the eyes of several little eunuchs around him showed surprise.

Liu Chengyin has never talked much with foreign officials, let alone accepted the slightest gift from foreign officials, but this time he actually chatted with Lin Yizhe, and was willing to accept Lin Yizhe's "Western medicine and health care method" (in fact, it is definitely not just a method), which is very different from usual, which really surprised them.

Lin Yizhe was relieved to hear the hint in Liu Chengyin's words and know that he had accepted himself sincerely.

He is familiar with history and the history of the Qing Palace, and he knows quite clearly what illness Liu Chengyin died of in history. It was because he moved the idea of helping Liu Chengyin treat his illness and prolong his life.

The current Liu Chengyin can be said to be one of the strong helpers in his palace. And from his previous performances, we can know that he is a very intelligent and kind person.

Such a person can live longer, and his help can be stronger!

Not long after, Liu Chengyin took Lin Yizhe to the door of the main hall, and Lin Yizhe noticed that today's summons was a little different from the past.

In today's hall, the Empress Dowager Ci'an was not present, and Prince Gong and Wenxiang were also not there.

Sitting in the hall, except for the Empress Dowager Cixi, it is Prince Alcohol Yilu!

Seeing Prince Alcohol, Lin Yizhe understood a little in his heart, and couldn't help but secretly admire the skill of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

"Please go in by yourself." Liu Chengyin's voice pulled Lin Yizhe's thoughts back, "I still have some things to do that Lafayette has to do, so I won't go in." ”

When Lin Yizhe noticed that Liu Chengyin said what he said just now, there seemed to be a flash of sadness in his eyes, as if he was going to do something very difficult, and he couldn't help but be surprised, but at this moment, it was inconvenient for him to ask more.

"Mr. Liu, please." Lin Yizhe said.

Liu Chengyin bowed and returned the salute, and then hurriedly took the person away. At this time, Li Lianying came out of the main hall, nodded at Lin Yizhe with a smile, and led him into the main hall.

After Lin Yizhe finished saluting the Empress Dowager Cixi, he noticed that Prince Alcohol had been looking at him with a smile, so he roughly guessed what today's summons was for.

Sure enough, after a few words of encouragement from the Empress Dowager Cixi, she directly announced to him the personnel appointment of the future naval yamen.

Hearing that he had become the "Minister of Naval Affairs", Lin Yizhe knew that the Empress Dowager Cixi was fulfilling the promise she made a few days ago, and he let out a long breath in his heart.

I finally have a chance to let go of my hands and feet!

"Lin Yizhe, I have discussed with the seventh master the silver for the navy, and I will give you a piece of the Japanese indemnity. But now the money has not arrived, and the treasury cannot take out much silver for a while. Now that the war in the northwest is in urgent need, Haiphong is also using silver everywhere, what good way do you have? Empress Dowager Cixi asked.

"Back to the Queen Mother's words, the minister thinks that the silver used for coastal defense must borrow foreign debts." Lin Yizhe said.

"Oh? Borrowing foreign debts? Prince Alcohol looked at Lin Yizhe and looked a little surprised, "Lin Yizhe, could it be that when you ran the shipyard, the money for the shipbuilding was not borrowed?" ”

Lin Yizhe listened to Prince Alcohol's question, and couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.

"Back to the prince's words, the shipyard uses silver, except for the silver attributed to the Western Expedition, and the rest of the monthly is only enough for daily operating expenses, and shipbuilding is not enough at all." Lin Yizhe replied, "However, the shipbuilding is the important business of the country, and the coastal defense ships cannot be abolished, and the minister's uncle Shen Baozhen is to raise funds in many ways, please use the ships to help the provinces, and draw silver from the foreign medicine tax in Fujian Province. When turnover was difficult, he also borrowed a small amount of foreign debts from foreign commercial banks, and repaid all of them afterwards. This is an expedient measure, and the minister also thinks about it before and after, and it is a last resort. ”

This Prince of Alcohol, the father of Emperor Guangxu, heard that he has a bit of a "clear stream" atmosphere, and the first time I heard him speak today, I knew it!

"I see, I say, there is no silver, and you can't conjure up so many soldiers out of thin air!" Prince Alcohol laughed and said, "Did you borrow foreign debts, but also borrowed, and always built a ship, and it came in handy, now think about it, if this ship is not built, this Taiwan will be lost!" ”

Hearing Prince Alcohol's words, Lin Yizhe couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

If this person wants to change, he will change very quickly!

In the late Qing Dynasty, among the four princes (Prince Gong, Prince Xuan, Prince Alcohol, and ******) who participated in the center, Prince Gong was the most thoughtful and rigorous, which also stemmed from the fact that he took on the burden of presiding over the daily work of the Central Committee from the age of 28. Prince Gong is generous, which even Westerners recognize. This has led to a group of elites around him, who have supported the operation of the government in the midst of internal and external troubles. Prince Gong himself has a high cliff and a clean body, neither like the fourth brother Emperor Xianfeng who has "scandals" constantly, nor like the later ****** Yixuan who has "scandals".

Compared with the intelligent and resolute Sixth Brother Prince Gong, the seventh-ranked Prince Alcohol seems to be a little more "old-fashioned", and his performance is more low-key, more hidden, and more wise and foolish.

In the "Qixiang Coup" that overthrew Su Shun and other ministers who took care of their lives, the exploits of Prince Yi were often concealed behind the halos of Cixi and Prince Gong: it was he who led his troops to seize Su Shun and Duanhua from the hot quilt and complete the most difficult, risky, and critical task of the coup. In the subsequent "uncle and sister-in-law republic" system, he was in charge of the "Shenji Battalion", the main force of the capital garrison, for more than 30 years, and in fact formed the basic pattern of Prince Gong mastering diplomacy and Prince Alcohol mastering military affairs.

The current "uncle and sister-in-law republic" of the Qing Empire is characterized by the coexistence of the two systems of "listening to the government with the curtain down" and "the prince and the auxiliary government", and the "prince and auxiliary government" is the condition and premise for the Manchu nobles to accept the "curtain and listen to the government". And Prince Alcohol is not only the emperor's uncle, but also the brother-in-law of the Empress Dowager Cixi, which is destined for him to be accepted by the majority of people. In Cixi's eyes, this was undoubtedly a counterweight to Prince Gong, although he stood up indignantly to speak for the sixth brother when Prince Gong was repaired by Cixi twice in the early days.

Before his "debut", Prince Alcohol gave the world the feeling that he was quite "left", more conservative and xenophobic. He always scoffed at Prince Gong's reforms, especially the foreign policy of "foreign trust and harmony, and implicit restraint", and suggested that the Empress Dowager "get rid of all strange tricks and tricks, and foreign instruments", and even secretly wrote twice to suggest weakening Prince Gong's power. In the wild history, it is said that he "has long been concerned with his brother's dictatorship". There is no doubt that this kind of mutual supervision is exactly what Cixi wants to see the most.

Prince Alcohol, who had previously appeared as a high-profile "ultra-leftist" person, made a shocking turn once he took power. In terms of foreign strategy, he almost completely inherited the "surrender line" of Prince Gong that he had criticized earlier, and even went further, leaving observers at home and abroad with a stumbling glass.

Regarding his "ultra-left" remarks when he was a spectator, Prince Alcohol, who took the burden, admitted that he "tried to be biased" and did not know the price of firewood and rice. But in fact, judging from the swiftness and thoroughness of Prince Alcohol's change of face, it is very likely that his previous "ultra-left" appearance was just a trick to win the support of the "fundamentalists". When he was in the opposition, he didn't have a backache when he stood and talked, he could point out the country and reprimand Fang Xuan, and once he personally took power, for the sake of his son's country, he could only become, or be reduced to a realist.

Lin Yizhe knew that the first round of "reform and opening up" of the Qing Empire lasted more than 30 years. In the last 10 years of Prince Gong's reign, almost all reform measures have not been suspended, and more progress has been made in the construction of infrastructure such as navy, railways, and telecommunications, especially in Xinjiang and Taiwan, which have greatly strengthened the control over the border provinces. In terms of diplomacy, Prince Alcohol also showed the same flexible figure as Prince Gong, so much so that mainstream historians in later generations criticized this "patriotic prince" for being as weak and "traitorous" as his brother as soon as he took on the burden of managing the country. This is similar to Prince Gong's coup d'état and execution of Su Shun and others, but he inherited all of Su Shun's policies almost completely, especially the policies of Han ministers such as Zeng Guofan, and effectively separated the power struggle from the policy.

What's even more paradoxical is that Yeshi passed on the struggle for power between Prince Gong and Prince Alcohol to have noses and eyes, in fact, the two brothers often gathered, and they jointly felt that it was more tiring to carry the burden and the burden of the Qing Dynasty with a lot of visitors. Perhaps, the kind of "dispute" left on paper is just "the predecessors scattering dirt and the descendants are confused"......

"But this foreign debt, I'm afraid it's not so easy to borrow?" The Empress Dowager Cixi frowned and said, "Foreigners' money is not willing to be borrowed in vain, and there must be something pledged, right?" ”

"If you go back to the Queen Mother, borrowing foreign debts is not all things that need to be pledged," Lin Yizhe replied, "Foreigners attach great importance to reputation, and if there is a guarantee, foreign debts can still be borrowed." The foreign money borrowed by Zuo Zongtang was guaranteed by the tax department of the treaty port, although there was no pledge, but it helped a big thing. ”

"Zuo Zongtang's precedent, I don't know what the pros and cons are," the Empress Dowager Cixi said, "The interest alone is very expensive." I'm afraid it's not appropriate. ”

Hearing that the Empress Dowager Cixi expressed her dissatisfaction with Zuo Zongtang's loan to the west, Lin Yizhe secretly admired the Empress Dowager Cixi's eyes for not rubbing sand.

When Zuo Zongtang led his army to the west, he kept clamoring for guarantees from the imperial court to solve his financial and logistical problems. In the war-stricken provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, food is scarce and prices are high. Zuo Zongtang claimed that he had to have three months' rations in hand before his troops could fight a big battle. Not only munitions, but even large quantities of grain had to be brought into Shaanxi and Gansu from other provinces. In order to raise supplies, Zuo Zongtang explicitly demanded that Beijing agree to a common practice that had been common to all dynasties since ancient times: that is, to use the resources of the southeast to supply the military supplies of the northwest. In 1867, the Qing Dynasty government asked the five southeastern coastal provinces to provide 3.42 million taels of silver per year for the "Western Levy Payment". This amount was known as "co-pay" in the Qing Dynasty's finances, but only after the provinces had already collected enough of the various donations needed by Beijing or other provinces.

As early as 1867, Zuo Zongtang planned to urge the provinces to propose quotas to meet their military needs. He requested and received approval from the Qing government for a lump sum loan arrangement from a foreign firm; The loan was guaranteed by the tax departments of the treaty ports and approved by the governors of the provinces, and the repayment was made to the foreign businessmen by the provinces within a time limit. In May 1867, Zuo Zongtang sent Hu Xueyan to obtain a loan of 1.2 million taels from foreign merchants in this way. However, in December of the same year, when Zuo Zongtang asked for another 2 million taels of foreign debt under the same arrangement, the Qing court objected to Hu Guangyong's high interest rate and only approved half of the loan. The tax departments of the four ports were ordered to lend the remaining 1 million taels demanded by Zuo Zongtang without paying interest. Therefore, Zuo Zongtang was not allowed to seek other loans from foreign businessmen for the time being. However, in order to meet his needs, the Qing government desperately raised a total of 6.24 million taels of "Western Levy Tax" every year, increased the quota borne by the original five provinces, and asked the other two provinces to donate as well. Although most of these provinces have not been able to pay their salaries quickly. However, Zuo received an average of 4 million taels per year from these provinces (from September 1866, when Zuo Zongtang was first appointed to Shaanxi and Gansu, until February 1874).

For Zuo Zongtang's greasy play on this, many ministers in the court have complained a lot, but due to the "political correctness" of the Western Expedition, they have not "studied deeply", but for the reason, the Empress Dowager Cixi, as the supreme ruler, is not unclear at all! It's just a temporary forbearance!

"The minister is well aware of the difficulty of handling foreign debts, but if foreign businessmen can be given certain convenience, the interest on this debt can even be waived." Lin Yizhe said.

"Lin Yizhe, you said that you don't have to pay the interest on this debt?" The Empress Dowager Cixi stared at Lin Yizhe closely, as if she thought she had misheard, "Is there such an interest-free loan?" ”

"Back to the Queen Mother's words, it is exactly so. Previously, the shipyard had no money to do, and it was impossible to repair the big stone dock, and the dock could not be built in one day, and the giant ship could not be built in one day. At the beginning of the loan of the legal person, the person who sought it was the national soldier ship that could be docked for repair at any time. With this convenience, the interest is discounted, and the stone dock has been completed on schedule. Lin Yizhe made a little sloppy eye here and replied, "If it can be handled according to this law, it can not only solve the temporary urgency of coastal defense, but also reap the effect of two benefits." ”

"Your method is to use profit and power as a pledge." The Empress Dowager Cixi understood and said, "France is now like an ally with my Qing Dynasty, and I have benefited a lot from it, and it is only natural that its warships are docked for repair." However, borrowing huge debts is not the same as repairing docks, if it is for borrowing, it is difficult to say which is better and which is harmless. ”

"The Empress Dowager Shengming!" Lin Yizhe said, "Borrowing foreign debts is a temporary expedient measure, and as long as you do your own power and only give it convenience, you will not be hindered by it." ”

"I understand that the mystery of borrowing foreign debts is all grasped in the midst of this." Prince Alcohol laughed, "Lin Kunyu, isn't this the reason?" ”