In September 1833, when the Chinese had quietly entered North America, the ignorant Americans did not know it. U.S. President Andrew Jackson sent a special envoy, Gu Sheng, to China to ask him to sign a trade agreement with China to boost the economic development of the United States of America.

In the mid-19th century, the United States still had a strong colonial economic character, exporting large quantities of primary products and importing large quantities of manufactured goods. The invention and application of the cotton gin has made the slave storage behavior of the southern plantation economy continued, and there was an irreconcilable contradiction with the free ~ capitalism in the north.

At this time, Americans heard that the Chinese were carrying out commercial trade all over the world and were carrying out industrialization in a big way relying on rich resources and advanced technology. For this Duli war, soldiers can put a shot before the collapse is patriotic emerging nations~ countries, especially the northern factory owners, desperately want to increase their power, establish a political position with an overwhelming advantage, and realize the revitalization of the United States.

So, the United States wants to get some help here in China.

Historically, in 1843, after the defeat of the Qing Empire at the hands of the British, France, the United States and other countries concluded unequal treaties with the Qing Empire one after another. However, due to the change of ownership in the south, all of China's main foreign trade windows were in the hands of the Chinese Empire, and this new country was clearly not comparable to that of a country like the United States, which had come out of a soft egg colony. Judging from the information about the Chinese Empire that the United States has obtained from Europe, this new country, which has entered the ranks of modern countries, is not the kind of horn that the Qing Dynasty is capable of.

Therefore, Jackson's goal for Gu Sheng is very low, to obtain a reasonable trade tariff and establish diplomatic relations with China, which is the whole of this diplomatic activity.

Nanjing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire, Gu Sheng, accompanied by several officials, met Chen Yanggu, an official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry with whom he was negotiating, and his student Li Hongzhang, who was only about ten years old.

Hong Kong, where Gu Sheng arrived first, was rumored to be a city that became overnight in Europe and the United States, which was very shocking. There are a variety of modern buildings built here, and as China's most important foreign trade port in Guangdong, many merchants and foreign merchants have established foreign banks and companies here. Later, he sailed north to Shanghai, where Gu Sheng was completely shocked, and in his opinion, the city's prosperity and fashion atmosphere far exceeded that of his own country and European cities.

"Mr. Chen, thank you for taking the time to come here in your busy schedule, I am very grateful." Gu Sheng saw Chen Yanggu, who was already gray-haired, and hurriedly stepped forward to shake hands with him.

Chen Yanggu shook hands with Gu Sheng and said, "Originally, it was a matter of duty, but Mr. Gu Sheng was polite." His calm voice was sandwiched with a London accent, and he spoke very standardly, making Gu Sheng suspect that he was talking to an Englishman again.

The two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while, and sat down on both sides of the long negotiation table, Chen Yanggu beckoned, and the attendant respectfully took out the official document of the diplomatic agreement submitted by Gu Sheng the day before yesterday from the folder.

Chen Yanggu opened the official document and reviewed it again, before he said to Gu Sheng: "Mr. Gu Sheng, after careful study, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our empire believes that this diplomatic agreement submitted by you is feasible and beneficial to both sides, and our Chinese empire agrees to formally establish diplomatic relations with the United States of America and establish diplomatic relations at the minister level, and the trade between the two sides is comparable to the trade agreement concluded between China and the United Kingdom. On the basis of the tariff on raw materials, the tariff will be reduced by 10 percent, and the tariff on the manufactured goods imported by Britain into China will be increased by half of the tariff. This is a balancing measure between Britain's perception of our country and the economic situation of your country. ”

Gu Sheng nodded, the written document he submitted at the beginning was much lower than this tariff, but he himself knew that it was unrealistic, it was still difficult for the United States to obtain the same trade status as Britain, and the main export products of the United States were agricultural and industrial raw materials, such as cotton, wheat, coal mines, etc., and the price of these products entering China was much lower than that of entering China from the British colonies, which was also beneficial to the United States to a certain extent.

But these were not what he needed most, and he asked, "Mr. Chen, on behalf of the United States of America, I would like to endorse the agreement on trade. But what about the technology transfer? ”

Chen Yanggu replied: "The technology transfer proposed by your country in the memorandum involves a wide range, from iron and steel smelting, machinery manufacturing to shipbuilding and military industry, almost all of China's industrial sectors are included, for this reason the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked His Majesty the Emperor for instructions, and His Majesty's instructions are to open up the paid transfer of some technologies, and some major and key technologies, which need to be discussed slowly by the two sides. ”

In fact, the United States in the 19th century was the most valuable country in the entire history of machinery. From 1818, the Americans invented the horizontal milling machine, to 1833 Otis designed and manufactured a single-bucket excavator, in 1834 Page and Fay invented the tenon and groove machine and tenon machine respectively, in 1834 Perkins invented the industrial refrigerator using ether as raw material, in 1835 Whitworth invented the rolling gear, in 1836 McCormet created the combine harvester, and in 1846 Howtget invented the lock stitch sewing machine.

However, it takes a process to go from invention to industrial production and widespread application. And these world-changing inventions, after being invented, some did not attract people's attention, and some blamed the patent owners for putting them on the shelf, which can be described as a very difficult road to development.

And Lin Hong has the weapon of the system. As long as it is an industrial machinery product that has appeared in the world, he can get it out. Therefore, Gu Sheng's view that China's degree of industrialization is higher than that of the United States is actually a hole. At this time, China's industries were basically in the Pearl River Delta region, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Taiwan, whether it was steel smelting, coal mining, RI chemicals, and railway industries.

Subsequently, the Chinese Empire and the United States of America signed the Sino-American Trade Agreement and established diplomatic relations.

After the diplomatic talks, Li Hongzhang and his teacher Chen Yanggu sat in a carriage and took a nap.

Li Hongzhang sat next to him during the talks, and saw the whole process of the talks, so he couldn't help asking: "Teacher, you told me last time that the countries of Europa and even America all put trade first, and they all want to dump the products of their own country's merchants in the other country's country in order to make profits. Could it be that this is the foreign policy of China, which is born out of the idea that peace is precious? Will there be a loss to our country? ”

Chen Yanggu was very pleased with the students who were good at thinking, he stroked his white beard and said: "Zihuang (Lin Hong took the word for him in advance), you are still young, do you know why these Europa countries dump goods, do you like to go out more and enter less?" ”

Li Hongzhang thought for a while and said: "There is a lot of wealth in this world, the more I sell, the more money I get, the less I enter, the less money I spend, in contrast, the one who buys me more things, he has to give me more gold and silver, so when I am rich, he will be poor." ”

Chen Yanggu laughed and said, "That's right! This is what Europa calls a part of mercantilism, in which countries are as constant as individuals are based on their own economies, and international trade is used as a matter of goods to a greater or lesser extent, as has been the case for centuries. ”

When Li Hongzhang saw the teacher's expression, he couldn't help asking: "Then teacher, isn't this kind of theory wrong?" ”

"Of course not!" Chen Yanggu said with a smile, "In this world, wealth is not fixed in the first place, in terms of industrial production, in the past, it was only possible to earn 100 yuan by hiring 100 people, but now a machine can earn 100 yuan, and the remaining 100 people can do other jobs, isn't this an increase in wealth?" Besides, I have a mine today, and I have discovered another mine tomorrow, and my wealth has increased again? What's more, the domestic economy is sometimes more important than international trade, especially in a large country like ours, where the domestic economy is changed from one to two, and two to four, and the wealth is rolling more and more, which is much better than those fools who only know how to go in and out! ”

Chen Yanggu didn't want to talk more, but said: "Learn Ji Gao (Zuo Zongtang), go back and read more books, don't keep thinking about playing, and ask me if you don't understand." ”

"Yes, Teacher."

In fact, there are many historical celebrities who are now under Lin Hong, such as Shen Baozhen is now studying in Fujian Middle School, and Ding Baozhen is also studying in Guizhou Pingyuan Middle School. And Hu Linyi has been promoted by Lin Hong to the Imperial University. In addition, Peng Yulin was arranged to enter the Imperial Naval University in Shanghai, and after graduation, Lin Hong arranged for him to study at Lu University, so that Peng Yulin could become an all-round talent on land and sea.