Hearing Zuo Jigao's words, several masters all looked at each other, and they didn't know what to do for a while.

"Tell me, how should the old man break this matter for them?" Zuo Jigao drank all the fruit drinks, and asked the masters again.

Kong Dehong's brain teaser turned sharply, and he thought about it: "If the handsome man wants to break the trick of the Lin family, it is better to make a fuss about his appearance......"

Kong Dehong's words reminded Zuo Jigao at once, he frowned and pondered for a while, and nodded slowly.

"Lao Kong, you stay, and the others go down!" Zuo Jigao waved his hand and said to the other masters.

Several masters bowed and withdrew as if they were about to be amnesty, and Zuo Jigao then withdrew the servants, leaving only Kong Dehong alone in the house, Kong Dehong immediately stepped forward and whispered in Zuo Jigao's ear......

On the day the cruiser "Kaiji" returned home, Ding Yusheng and the shipping officials came to the wharf early.

At this time, the banks of the Majiang River are crowded with thousands of heads, and the crowd fluctuates. Everywhere there were people who came to see the demeanor of the "first ship of the Great Cadres."

Ding Yusheng raised the telescope, and in the telescope, the place between the clouds and the sea slowly shook, and as a wisp of green smoke rose, a beam of sunset reflected the long flag on the top of the mast, fluttering like a small dragon, rising from the horizon in the soaring water vapor -- that was the "Kaiji".

At this time, the "Kaiji" was dressed in a beautiful sky blue French painting, the golden dragon pattern on the bow of the ship was shining in the sun, and under the blowing of the sea breeze, the red background gold dragon tooth flag on the back mast was fluttering.

Ding Yusheng put down the binoculars in his hand and wet his clothes with tears. The shipyard staff saw the "Kaiji" from a distance and cheered. Soon. There was thunder of joy on the banks of the Ma River. Resounding through the sky.

The "Kaiji" slowly docked. The bronzed-skinned sturdy sailor has a cloth strap wrapped in his hands and his bare arms, and he skillfully performs various operations. Lin Yiqing looked at these first-generation sailors of the Qianguo Navy, thinking back to the days and nights since he had traveled to this era, and his heart fluctuated.

From the maiden voyage of the "Evergreen" in the past to the return voyage of the "Kaiji" today, it means that this ancient nation has finally been able to turn around after turning its back to the ocean for so long. A solid step towards the blue sea!

The "Kaiji" docked and lowered the trestle, Shen Weiqing, Lin Yiqing and others got off the boat, came to the shore, and met Ding Yusheng and others, talking about the hardships and turmoil they had experienced in the past few days, Ding Yusheng and the shipping officials were all sighing.

Ding Yusheng couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw that Lin Yiqing's eyebrows were full of heroism, and he looked more resolute and calm than back then.

And when Lin Yiqing saw Ding Yusheng, whose face looked very haggard, he had mixed feelings in his heart for a while, and he had a lot of things to say to Ding Yusheng. But somehow, I looked back at the mast mast and the flags fluttering at half-mast. But his throat choked.

Ding Yusheng seemed to know his intentions, and smiled and bowed. Lin Yiqing noticed that Ding Yusheng's eyes also had a trace of indescribable sadness.

Shen Youdan can be said to be the founder and founder of the shipyard, but now he is determined to die before he is paid, how can he not let them, the successors, grieve?

Not long after, the sailors of the "Kaiji" carried out Shen Youdan's coffin and transported it down the trestle, and the shipmaster and sailors lined up at the wharf to protect the coffin, firing guns to send condolences, and the onlookers also bowed to the coffin one after another to show their condolences.

"Zuo really didn't come." Ding Yusheng couldn't help but sneer when he saw that there was no Zuo Jigao on the dock.

"I didn't expect him to come, I guess he would think of my brother when he saw me, and he was angry. But on the day my uncle was buried in the ancestral mausoleum, he might send a couplet or something. Lin Yiqing smiled slightly.

Zuo Jigao's suppression of the shipmaster, he has now understood it very clearly through Mei Hong.

Zuo Jigao himself actually made a contribution to the creation of the shipyard, but because the main purpose of Zuo Jigao's construction of the shipyard was to compete with the political enemy Zeng Bohan Li Shaoquan and his apprentices, and he did not understand the shipbuilding affairs and the development of the world's navy, it brought many hidden dangers to the shipbuilding at the beginning, such as improper site selection, wrong ship type selection, and inability to build large ships. But Shen Youdan offended Zuo Jigao because of this, and Zuo Jigao began to suppress the shipmaster many times since then.

Zuo Jigao first used the problem of the lack of firepower of the "Wan Nianqing" to blame the shipmaster for making a mistake in choosing the ship type, but Zeng Bohan accused Zuo Jigao of not knowing how to pretend to understand the policy of setting the shipmaster's policy of building a dual-purpose ship for military and commercial purposes, resulting in the low combat effectiveness of the "Wan Nianqing". Unable to find an excuse, Zuo Jigao, who was so angry and devastated himself that he had been "deceived by foreigners" and accused Riyige of deliberately not providing him with the best type of ship, and that Dashbo had "harbored evil intentions" in the design of the Qianguo steamship and deliberately designed the "Wan Nianqing" with low combat effectiveness. After learning the news, Riyige was speechless, and once wanted to resign, but was retained by Shen Youdan's kind words. As the chief designer of the "Wan Nian Qing", the scholarly Da Shibo resolutely refused to be blackened by this black pot, and he showed direct evidence -- a set of drawings of the "Wan Nian Qing" full battle ship plan, saying that this was his original design of the "Wan Nian Qing", but was personally vetoed by Zuo Ji Gao, Zuo Ji Gao himself insisted on adding cargo holds to the battleship, so that the "Wan Nian Qing" was twice as large as the parent type. Riyige also confirmed to Shen Youdan that this was indeed the case, and said that the former deputy superintendent of the ship's administration, Dikebei, who is now serving in the Zuo Jigao Army in the northwest, also knew about it. Shen Youdan played the imperial court accordingly. Zuo Jigao made a fuss again, and in order to prevent the war of words from escalating, the court suppressed the matter, and specially instructed Zuo Jigao to "don't play anymore", which means that you don't want to make trouble anymore. Zuo Jigao had nowhere to come out, and in a fit of rage, he dismissed Dirk and kicked him back to France.

After experiencing this turmoil, Ri Yige, who had a good relationship with Zuo Jigao, also completely fell to Shen Youdan's side, and it was Lin Yizhe who suggested to Shen Youdan that he was able to serve as the deputy superintendent of the ship, and since then he has been even more loyal to the shipmaster. Since then, he has devoted himself to the shipbuilding of Qianguo. At the beginning of the construction of the No. 2 steamship, Lin Yizhe put forward suggestions for improvement, and Dashibo made careful revisions one by one in accordance with his wishes. As a result, the design performance of the subsequent "Maeyun" class gunboats has been greatly improved.

Zuo Jigao couldn't make a plan. Another poisonous scheme. The means used is to "draw wages from the bottom of the kettle" to the shipmaster, who is already underfunded.

At the beginning of the establishment of the shipyard, the funds for the construction of the factory were 400,000 taels of silver from the Fujian Customs under the 40% foreign tax, and 50,000 taels of silver per month from the 60% foreign tax as operating expenses. And Zuo Jigao's method is to stop the operating expenses of the shipmaster in the name of the Western Expeditionary Demand, and transfer the money to the Western Expeditionary Army, which is equivalent to choking the throat of the shipmaster!

Zuo Jigao was so resolute in doing things. Shen Youdan's expectations were deep, but Lin Yizhe believed that it was impossible for the shipmaster to rely on his nose forever, and it was inevitable to break with the Zuo clan at his mercy, just sooner or later. It would be a good thing to break free from its shackles as soon as possible. Although Shen Youdan agreed with Lin Yizhe's opinion, he was worried that the source of income had been cut off, and there was no cost to maintain the ship, so the shipyard could not operate at all. But Lin Yizhe pointed out that it was according to Zuo Jigao's thoughts. There is no way to raise funds for the construction of ships for both military and commercial purposes. At the beginning, Zuo Jigao envisioned that the ships built by the shipmaster did not need special maintenance funds, and the maintenance of the ship and the salaries of the crew had to rely on loading commercial goods to make money to maintain. His idea seems reasonable, but in fact it is impossible to operate, and it is impossible for the shipmaster to organize special manpower to attract investment, and to use such a ship that is not a donkey or a horse to participate in the competition of commercial transportation, compared with those foreign shipping companies that have already become large-scale, it seems to be weak. Even if it can make a profit, it is a drop in the bucket to maintain a warship. What's more, the cost of the shipmaster's expenses had been limited as early as when Zuo Jigao was in office, and even if there was no such thing, the cost of maintaining the ship would have to be raised separately.

Lin Yizhe came up with a new method for the shipping administration, which was that under the condition that the No. 2 and No. 3 steamships were already under construction and the warships were temporarily large-scale, he would build several special transport ships to imitate the Western system and set up a shipping company specializing in commercial cargo transportation, so as to compete for commercial transportation and benefit the shipping administration.

And the foreign medicine tax is the opium tax!

As everyone knows, the two wars between Daqian and Britain were caused by opium. The humiliating and tragic history of Middle-earth in modern times also began with opium.

After the Second Anti-Smoking War, as the opium trade and opium poppy cultivation were legalized, taxes from opium appeared and increased, and in fact the dependence of the government on opium grew like that of addicts. After the opium trade was legalized, some people in China advocated "using land to return to the ocean," extensively cultivating opium poppies in various parts of Middle-earth, and waging an "opium war" with Britain. As a result, the cultivation area of "native medicine" expanded dramatically, and soon the total production of "native medicine" exceeded the number of imported "foreign medicine", which of course led to a sharp increase in the number of opium addicts in Middle-earth.

Nevertheless, the benefits brought by opium to the Daqian government are also clear at a glance. The annual tax revenue of imported "foreign medicines" is about 6 million taels of silver, and the various taxes of domestic "local medicines" are about more than 2,000 taels. Such huge gains make it difficult for any government to make up its mind to cut it off. In that year, Zuo Jigao proposed an opium tax increase, which he meant to achieve the purpose of banning smoking by suppressing demand through tax increases, which was "banning and levying", but in the process of discussion, the government focused on fundraising, rather than suppressing demand. Some people went to the court to ask for a ban on smoking, but local officials firmly opposed it, saying that such a suggestion would never work. Some people even cited the example of Guangdong, saying that the customs department collects about one million cents of foreign medicine tax every year, and there is no reason why the tax is collected after the smoking ban. This huge amount of money is for all the needs of the local government, so how can we try to fill the gaps? As a result, the proposal to ban smoking was put to rest.

Because the government of the Great Cadres has become more and more dependent on the opium tax. Although there have always been calls for the ban on opium, the opium tax is always remembered by the government whenever its finances are stretched thin. When the unified donation of soil plaster was implemented, some local officials also thought of the opium monopoly, that is, it was necessary for the state to monopolize opium, monopolize the price, and implement a monopoly on opium like table salt. The Americans, who had always been a strong critic of the British opium trade, put forward proposals for the opium monopoly, arguing that the purpose of the monopoly should be to control rather than to enrich themselves; There should be a three-year gradual opium ban policy, after three years of banning, and so on. Some people believe that the monopoly income of imported foreign drugs alone can reach 30 million taels per year. The output of local medicine is more than ten times that of foreign medicine. The monopoly benefits are even more unlimited. The French had hoped to arrange a monopoly on opium in Middle-earth. The price is 20 million taels; The Germans also had the idea of contracting an opium monopoly. The local government of Daqian is enthusiastic about monopoly. However, in the end, it was not implemented due to strong opposition from the people and contradictions between the powers. However, it can also be seen from this that the dependence of the Daqian government on the opium tax can be seen.

Lin Yiqing, who was already familiar with the history of the Celestial Empire, knew that the most important revenue of the Great Qian Empire was land rent, salt tax, centigold, customs duty, inland tariff, and opium tax. The situation in the provinces was similar, and even if he was the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, if he wanted to solve the financial difficulties of the shipyard, there was basically no room for consideration in the first five, and only the opium tax still had potential to be tapped. Therefore, for Yinggui, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang at that time, and Bian Baodi, the governor of Fujian. Increasing the tax on local and foreign medicines has become the best option to help solve the financial crisis of the shipyard.

However, the opium tax is not a long-term solution for the shipmaster, and with the increasing number of self-built ships in the future, the opium tax alone will not be able to maintain the daily expenses of the warships, and another way will be needed.

In order to solve the urgent need of the shipkeeper to maintain ships, the imperial court also extended a helping hand, and issued an edict to the coastal provinces to allocate the ships built by the shipmaster in the future, "instead of borrowing money from the sea, it will only increase the cost, and if you allocate the ships of the Fujian factory." It can not only save the cost of local purchase, but also save the needs of the Fujian Bureau. and that no useful ship will be left useless. "According to this unique system of the Daqian government, the coastal provinces will submit applications for the allocation of ships according to their own needs, and the allocated ships will be mainly used for official business at the treaty ports of the province and for the defense, communications, and transportation tasks of the ports. The provinces do not need to spend a penny when allocating these warships, as long as they bear the expenses for the maintenance of these warships after they are transferred, but what the provinces have is only the temporary right to use these ships, and once there is an incident in the maritime frontier, the shipping master can recall all these ships and integrate them into the shipping fleet for unified use.

After temporarily solving the funding problem, neither Lin Yizhe nor Shen Youdan expected that it was this opium tax that would bring an unexpected storm.

After learning that the shipmaster had solved the problem of operating expenses through the foreign medicine tax, Zuo Jigao's money bag, who knew the contradiction between Zuo and Shen, and Hu Yulin, who was the shipmaster's procurement office at the time, secretly spread the news that the shipmaster collected "foreign medicine money", and spent money to hire scoundrels to provoke the local people to go to the shipmaster to make trouble. almost injured Shen Youdan, at the critical moment, Lin Yizhe stepped forward, fired a gun to force the troublemakers back, and found out the troublemakers hired by Hu Yulin from the troublemakers on the spot, and promised not to extract foreign drug taxes (in fact, it was a different name), which calmed down the situation.

But after this turmoil, Shen Youdan, who was the son-in-law of Lin Wenzhong, a famous minister who presided over the smoking ban that year, was greatly affected and often vomited blood, and the shipyard affairs were actually presided over by Lin Yizhe.

After Lin Yizhe died young and died unexpectedly in Beijing, Shen Youdan was grief-stricken, his body became weaker and weaker, and he was later transferred to the governor of Liangjiang.

Regarding Shen Youdan's difficulty, Shen Youdan's close friend Li Shaoquan once said with regret: "Tingfeng is in Fujian, he is a registered gentleman, he has no official to keep his words and responsibilities, he has no size to rely on. The state of Sangzi, relatives are old, tossing and turning, those who win are happy, those who lose are gnashing their teeth, favoritism is abolished, loyalty is lost, and rumors are made, confusing facts, and it is difficult to shrug down the hears of the lower society. Transferred to Liangjiang, the people of Jiangnan, but afraid of the authority of the government, if Tingfeng's gentleness to do things, then the move is to resist, if the past, the dung bucket is covered, it is beneficial and does not cost, even to the city to strike the market; Dredging water conservancy, the beneficiaries are in the peasants, and the townships gather to obstruct it, and its foolishness is unreachable, and it has been used for a long time, and it is difficult to do so. ……”

Now, Shen Youdan, the founder of the shipyard, has returned to his homeland, but Zuo Jigao still refuses to let go of the shipmaster, but wants to retake the rivers and mountains at this time!

"It doesn't matter if the Zuo family sends the Banglian or not, I'm just worried that he is staying in this Fuzhou City now and not leaving, I'm afraid he is coming for you." Ding Yusheng said to Lin Yiqing.

"I've arranged it, I'm waiting for him." Lin Yiqing replied with a smile.

At this time, it was close to evening in the afternoon, and the slanting sun was in the sky, through the thick clouds, scattering thousands of rays of glow, shrouding the people of this dock in a golden glow, Ding Yusheng and Lin Yiqing unconsciously looked at the shipyard area in the distance.

On the shore of green mountains and clear waters, the shadow of the "Kaiji" moored at the riverside wharf looks particularly majestic and magnificent under the sun.

The golden sunset shone obliquely through the gaps in the lead-gray clouds, and the lead clouds inlaid with gold instantly had the illusion of Nantianmen. The touch of blue in the cracks in the clouds is like the hope brought by Lin Yiqing.

A few miles away, Zuo Jigao, who had already made proper arrangements, imagined that Lin Yiqing was being tricked by himself, and his mood finally became happy...... (To be continued......)

PS: Accompanying my girlfriend to the mall, my girlfriend fell in love with a pair of jeans, and when I got to the fitting room, I took off my pants and said to me with a wicked smile: "Do you want to be stimulated?" I nodded excitedly, so my girlfriend opened the tag on the new pants and showed me, which read: Price 12888.

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