On July 2, 1859, at the No. 6 pier in the old port, Lin Haijiang brought a band to welcome Zhang Yunji, Jia Wuji, Lu Wei and Fu Shanxiang who returned triumphantly.

However, in the eyes of outsiders, Lin Haijiang's hand is too beautiful, in the name of negotiation down the river to the hinterland of the other party, in the arms of the 60,000 army, the tiger tooth extraction, plundered the equivalent of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's treasury and Hong Xiuquan's private treasures, only with 5,000 people not only plundered successfully, but also killed and injured at least 6,000 more than 6,000 Taiping troops, almost a ratio of more than 60 to 1! And most of them are the most elite and brave Heavenly King's Mansion sword players in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

It seems that this battle has made the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing court terrified, and it seems that where there is water and ships, it will not be able to resist Lin Haijiang's attack?

The director of the Imperial Chinese Treasury, Cluna, frowned and led her subordinates to seal the mountains of silver ingots and gold, silver and jewelry, without estimating the feelings of Zhang Yunji and the others on the side.

Zhang Yunji developed a problem in the Liangguang Governor's Palace, that is, he likes small pieces of jewelry, such as rings, and this time he also got a few to bring on his hand, but he was found by Cluna and a seal was pasted on his hand, and then the two gendarmes offended and took away the two rings that originally belonged to him, which made Zhang Yunji, who was full of joy, stand on the pier and want to cry without tears and feel pitiful.

Lin Haijiang, who went to intercede, also suffered a big deflate, and later seven or eight generals and ministers jointly cooperated, and Zhang Yunji took back the two rings that belonged to him, and since then he has not seen the scene of Zhang Yunji's ten fingers and fingers full of gemstone rings, and even where Clouna appeared, Zhang Yunji put his hand in his pocket.

After the welcome ceremony, Lin Haijiang commended all the meritorious ministers, and then announced that he would double the compensation for the officers and soldiers who were killed and injured in the war, etc., Lin Haijiang's policy can be said to have won the hearts of the grassroots officers and soldiers, and the soldiers who fought in the war were afraid that their wives and children and parents who died in front of them had no one to support, and with the strong advocacy of the Ministry of the Chinese Emperor [***] and the support of Lin Haijiang's appropriation, all the widows and parents of the martyrs were given a free supply equivalent to the regular company level, and there were also special jobs for the widows of the martyrs.

Some people even say that Lin Haijiang has worked more on the dead than on the living, and it is obvious that Lin Haijiang's strategy has been successful, and the Chinese Empire has become one and the same, and it can be said that the atmosphere of officers and soldiers using their lives, practicing martial arts, and refining essential combat skills is rising.

After the celebration, Zhang Yunji reported to Lin Haijiang about the placement of Qin Tianqiong and Zhao Fan, the two marquis of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising, in addition to the 300,000 taels of silver promised by each person, Zhang Yunji specially arranged them in Indonesia, separated them from their subordinates, and then let them be comfortable as uncles, so that people all over the world can see that the Chinese Empire counts!

However, the rebellion of Qin Tianqiong and Zhao Fan also brought the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had begun to deviate from morality, back to the previous track, which may have been completely unexpected by Hong Xiuquan, but these days Hong Xiuquan's heart has always felt particularly blocked, and the entire more than 16 million taels of silver and countless jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings have been plundered, and the roof of the main hall of his Golden Dragon Hall has also been blown up in the crossfire, and now Hong Xiuquan can see the sky and the broken hole as long as he looks up.

Hong Xiuquan never expected that Lin Haijiang's negotiation to save people was fake, and it was true that he robbed his own treasury? Hong Xiuquan understands the importance of this money better than anyone else, and the current kingdom of heaven has already completely changed its taste, although Luo Outline of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng of Banbishan all listened to the order, but they all sent people back to Tianjing without exception, and they all used the excuse of being busy with military affairs or occasionally feeling cold, etc.

For this reason, Hong Xiuquan was furious, and dropped a few pieces of porcelain, which was originally not much, and what annoyed Hong Xiuquan the most was that the dogs and cubs of the Chinese Empire Lin Haijiang also set a fire in addition to robbing and burned his inventory ledger, and now how many things are missing in it, no one can say, but Hong Xiuquan can be sure that even his own knife players have also robbed a lot of treasures, otherwise it will not be that the situation has just subsided, and nearly a thousand knife players suddenly disappeared en masse?

Hong Xiuquan was desperate to give those guys who took their own things a sweltering heat and snow in the clouds, but very few were caught.

The main reason why Hong Xiuquan is extremely painful is that he has no way to take Lin Haijiang at all, and more than 60,000 people beat him with 5,000 people, Hong Xiuquan glanced at the big hole on the top of the Golden Dragon Palace, this hole is not blocked by him, so as to remind himself how Lin Haijiang's hard slap was in his face.

Hong Xiuquan was ruthless, but Lin Haijiang had already chosen his surname and forgot about Hong Xiuquan's one-yard words, Lin Haijiang was looking for someone to evaluate those antique calligraphy and paintings, and what surprised him was that these antique calligraphy and paintings were assessed at more than 50 million taels of silver.

Lin Haijiang is very aware of the truth of the antiques in the golden era of the troubled times, although it is said to be worth 50 million taels, only a lot more, but such a large-scale influx of antiques into the market will definitely drive the market price to plummet in a short period of time, and if it is not good, it will cause a market crash, and even a situation where there is no market, so this batch of antiques can be exchanged for more than 20 million taels of silver, which is very good.

Looking at the re-evaluation of several pawnshops and antique shops that were picked up from Guangzhou, Lin Haijiang was a little at a loss, he only knew Wang Xizhi's words and Zheng Banqiao's bamboo for calligraphy and painting, and he didn't know the rest, how precious it was, where it was precious, Lin Haijiang didn't want to care, if it was sold to a foreign company, the price would definitely be higher, but when he thought of the incomparably difficult return of cultural relics to the motherland in later generations, Lin Haijiang would rather make a little less, at least sell them domestically.

Zhang Yunji also gloriously undertook the task of selling this batch of antique calligraphy and paintings, for Lin Haijiang's unscrupulous means, and even to sell this large number of antique calligraphy and paintings, Zhang Yunji can only use the word loser to describe Lin Haijiang in his heart, and he can't think of more appropriate words in addition.

Lin Haijiang is selling in tears, at the beginning of Guangzhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui merchants are waiting, and the first person to eat crabs left safely, including Yanjing, southeast Jin, Jin northwest The old rich people also went out, although the current treasury of the Qing Dynasty is clean and can run a carriage, but the folk Hui merchants and Jin merchants are not poor, hundreds of thousands of taels or even millions of taels of silver they can mobilize in just one month, this is a very incredible thing in Lin Haijiang's opinion?

The country is so poor? The gentry below are so rich? Almost all the land was annexed by officials and gentry, Lin Haijiang remembered what Cixi said to him at the time, to win the world, you must win the gentry, and the gentry is the foundation of the world? Is it the foundation? What are the tens of thousands of poor people?

Lin Haijiang does not want to repeat the mistakes of the Qing court, he would rather bear the infamy of the ages, but also completely move the system formed by more than 2,000 years of feudal society, Lin Haijiang does not need temporary stability and false prosperity on the surface, because the kind of false prosperity that deceives himself and others cannot withstand the test of war, it can be said that war is the real touchstone of a country or an entity, Lin Haijiang is in such a position on the cusp, the Chinese Empire has now been announced to the outside world, except for Prussia and many insignificant small countries, Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries have not yet recognized it.

Lin Haijiang knows very well that Britain and France are definitely not good men and women, they are willing to intervene in Hainan for the interests of Guangzhou, Guangxi and Southeast Asia, and this alone has touched the hearts of the British and French authorities, because in their eyes, a railway with the right to develop border minerals and land use is equivalent to the unlimited extension of the lease and consulate, where does the railway extend? Where their interests will go.

Lin Haijiang believed that Britain and France must be waiting for him to beg them to give the Chinese Empire recognition, as well as the political status of the Chinese Empire, etc., but Lin Haijiang did not plan to do that at all, because Lin Haijiang speculated that within this year Prussia would inevitably launch a war against Denmark, followed by a war against Austria, and after the dust settled on the two crucial wars, then Prussia could find a reason, even if it was not a reason, to declare war on France at will.

Lin Haijiang received information from Miller from Europe and Prussia, Prussia's northern and southern city-states seem to be much less divided than in history, the southern city-states have the support of the north, and now they are gradually breaking away from the control of the French, the army is the hard waist of politics, and weapons are the embodiment of the specific combat effectiveness of the army.

Therefore, Lin Haijiang judged that whether it was because of the Spanish royal family or not, Prussia's war against France was like an arrow in the bowstring.

So for France, Lin Haijiang is now able to deceive as much as he can, although this behavior is very shameless and very dirty, but Lin Haijiang often uses the Anglo-French alliance to burn the Old Summer Palace to remind himself, in order to deepen the thickness of his face, and make those things that are a little blushing and embarrassed to do it into a justifiable name, although the British and French forces did not burn the Old Summer Palace, but Lin Haijiang does not intend to let go of these two embarrassed bastards.

Moreover, Lin Haijiang did not have the international consciousness of the forerunners in history, Sun Yat-sen, Duan Qirui, or even Chiang Kai-shek, no matter whether they were forced by force or power, since Chiang Kai-shek was the chairman of the Military Commission, there are still more than 600 million US dollars in arrears and foreign debts that have not been repaid, and these more than 600 million US dollars are only the mantissa of unequal treaty repayment.

This time Britain, France, the United States, Russia and other countries did not recognize the Chinese Empire, Lin Haijiang actually felt very happy, because he did not intend to bear the burden of the Qing court's treaty repayment, for this he even did not hesitate to throw the country into a war, otherwise just those huge treaty reparations are enough to suppress the Chinese people for decades, and the money for repayment is not as good as Lao Tzu who made weapons for military expenses and beat him!

Many times Lin Haijiang himself admits that he thinks too simply, ignorance is a blessing! However, the sales of antique calligraphy and paintings surprised Lin Haijiang!

In just two months, the antique calligraphy and paintings that were originally intended to be sold at a low price were sold for 56 million taels? Lin Haijiang was very dizzy after seeing the first batch of silver and silver dollars shipped back, but Lin Haijiang did not use this money to Prussia to buy warships.

The reason is very simple, because Lin Haijiang's purchase of warships and payment for arms and materials will cause the loss of silver is far greater than the speed of opium in the past, if this scenario continues, within three years, China will fall into a silver shortage, for the economy Lin Haijiang has no good ideas, he wants to issue currency, establish an economic system, but he doesn't know where to start? Moreover, today's international bulk transactions are still based on the payment of silver dollars as the main means.

China was the first country in the world to use coinage. The earliest currency at the end of the primitive society was the physical currency, and the most primitive metal currency appeared in the late Yin Shang period 3,000 years ago.

However, in Lin Haijiang's view, China has not been able to effectively establish a monetary system that suits its national conditions, and the reason is very simple, because successive dynasties have regarded the issuance of minted currency as the main means of collecting people's wealth.

The Qing Dynasty also had paper money, and it appeared very early. As early as the eighth year of Shunzhi shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, because the financial income could not make ends meet, it imitated the old system of lighting, printed and distributed banknotes, and the annual issuance amount was controlled at 28,000 yuan, which was issued for 10 consecutive years. This was the first time that the central government of the Qing Dynasty issued paper money.

To this end, Lin Haijiang summoned Clouna and a group of students studying in Prussia, but most of these students belonged to a bottle of dissatisfaction, half a bottle of masters, and there were no measures in the overall strategic economic planning, and what Lin Haijiang needed at the moment was not to make money or to grab a vote, but to establish an imperial economic system.

Lin Haijiang's request was also a bit difficult for Cruna, who could only tell Lin Haijiang that the Chinese Empire in front of him had better implement the silver standard, because in the event of a war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or the Qing court, the silver standard system was crucial to the economic and financial recovery of the occupied territories.

Clouna flipped the fountain pen in her hand and introduced to Lin Haijiang: "The silver standard is a monetary system with silver as the standard currency, international practice and the actual situation of the empire, the silver standard can be roughly divided into two types, if the empire implements the silver two standard, that is, the silver weight is used as the price standard to implement the circulation of silver bars. The silver coin standard is that the state stipulates that silver is a monetary metal, and requires that silver coins be minted into a certain shape, weight and fineness, silver coins can be freely minted and melted freely, auxiliary bank bills can be freely exchanged for silver coins or silver, and silver coins and silver can be freely exported or imported to ensure the stability of the overall market. ”

Lin Haijiang's fleet mastered the shipping lanes of Southeast Asia and the surrounding seas, and he naturally knew that the flow of silver into China was not only a way of trade, but also an important channel for Europeans to carry out arbitrage business between China, Ben and Europe, and between the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a large difference in the price of gold and silver in China, Ben and Europe, and the price of gold and silver in China was between 1 to 5.5 and 6, between 1 to 10 and 12 in Europe, and between 1 to 8 and 9 in Europe, so European merchants imported silver from China to exchange gold. More than double the profit.

Cluna then said: "The silver ingots of the Qing Empire are not standardized enough, in addition to the ingot-shaped, there are round, square, rectangular, weight-shaped, girdle-shaped, archway-shaped and camellia-shaped, the shape is not consistent, and the content of messy components is different, so it is necessary to weigh and test the purity of silver." ”

Lin Haijiang knew that when he was in Guangzhou, the merchants had to stamp the silver dollars in their hands to show the authenticity, and if they were stamped too much, the silver dollars were chiseled and deformed, which was called a bad version, and the intact silver dollars that were not stamped were called Guangyang or light plates, and then called mirrors or something.

Cluna took out a handful of various Qing court copper coins and said: "Copper coins are the main currency of the Qing court, and ordinary people say that they are often using it, and if they complete the occupation, they will not be able to abolish it directly, there is only one way, that is, to make it a secondary currency, that is, credit currency, for ordinary people, don't care about its full value, it is a symbol." However, that means to adopt a complete gold standard or silver standard, the Qing court with an empty bag is simply not able to do it, not only can the Qing court not do it, we are also very difficult to implement, unless the face value is increased, so that the value of the currency is commensurate with the cost of minting, so that the more you cast, the more you lose, but in that case, the people will regard it as a big money, which can only cause panic and cause the market to rise irrationally. ”

Lin Haijiang understood what Cloner meant, that is, to let the people bear the loss in the process of financial reform, which can be said to be beneficial and a little harmful for the ruling axe, but Lin Haijiang knows very well that if this is implemented, how much of the people's hard-earned money will be evaporated in an instant?

Their own finances are naturally better, and they will make a lot of money by using the re-minting of silver dollars and copper dollars, and the whole is like the shock therapy of alternating between the old and new rubles in Russia in later generations, and implementing this kind of financial reform that transfers the crisis and plunders the surname without the slightest social security system?

Lin Haijiang is not a cold-blooded animal, he doesn't want to kill tens of millions of innocent people! But what Cluna said was the most sensible and safe way for him to solve it.

The people's family property was squeezed dry, and his Chinese imperial treasury had sufficient funds to build investment, stabilize social finance, and win the cheers of the people, but in the end the culprit was himself? Is this in conflict with your original beliefs and ideals?

Lin Haijiang closed his eyes slightly, gently rubbed his temples, and Clouna stood quietly aside, she knew that often at this time, Lin Haijiang was thinking.

(To be continued)