Standing beside Lin Haijiang, Clouna knew what the young imperial head was worried about, and sometimes even Cloner felt that Lin Haijiang was too indecisive, and as the leader of a country, it was inevitable to sacrifice a small part for the sake of increasing the interests of the part.

Lin Haijiang frowned and took a deep breath, it is true that the interests of ordinary people are sacrificed, these ordinary people are just milking cows in the eyes of those in power, and even grass mustard, and they keep saying that they are for the country and the people, for the community, and for the common people! The kings who are light and the people are important will not care about the life and death of the common people, and the common people are just some numbers for them.

Lin Haijiang has been a common man and a soldier, he knows the pain of being ignored and ignored, and he does not want to become a victim of policy, but the economic and financial reform of the Chinese Empire should have been implemented a long time ago, even to the point of imperativeness, and now it is just a delay, where will he go?

For a long time, Lin Haijiang made up his mind that as long as he was still the head of the Chinese Empire, he would never sacrifice the interests of ordinary innocent people in exchange for development, and he would never be a person who said one thing and did another.

Lin Haijiang looked at Clouna and said, "Then why don't we try to play the gold standard?" I don't really understand the financial part, you can tell me in detail, the financial reform and the establishment of the industrial system, as well as the future fiscal balance of the empire, all depend on the results of this reform, and whether the empire's economy can really get on track. ”

Cluna smiled slightly: "The Kingdom of Great Britain can be said to be the first country to try a comprehensive gold standard, which not only involves the national currency, but also involves the exchange rate of foreign currencies has been the surplus and deficit generated by international trade, under the gold standard, the exchange rate is fixed, eliminating the uncertainty of exchange rate fluctuations, which is conducive to the conduct of world trade, and the large banks of various countries have a fixed gold price, so that the real value of the currency is stable, and no country has a privileged position." But at the same time, the gold standard limits the ability of monetary policy to meet the domestic equilibrium target, only the currency is pegged to gold to ensure price stability, gold production can not continue to meet demand, large regulatory banks are unable to increase their international reserves, and gold exporting countries are under great economic pressure. ”

Lin Haijiang nodded and said: "It sounds very good, much better than the previous silver standard, and the United Kingdom, France, Russia, the United States and other countries are all implementing it, if we reduce the scale and try to pilot it, there should be no problem, right?" In addition, we can also refer to the experience and lessons of the actual regulation and control of various countries, which can be said to kill multiple birds with one stone, so why not do that? ”

Clouna said thoughtfully: "On the surface, it looks really good, but in fact, the distribution of gold stock in various countries is absolutely unbalanced, the United States, Britain, France, and Russia account for two-thirds of the world's gold stock, and most of the gold stock is controlled by a few powerful countries, which will inevitably lead to the destruction of the free minting and free circulation of gold coins, weakening the basis of gold coin circulation in other countries, and the growth rate of gold production is far lower than the growth rate of commodity production, and gold cannot meet the needs of expanding commodity circulation. This greatly weakened the basis for the circulation of gold coinage. ”

Cluna paused and said: "Führer, you have been planning large-scale wars, relatively speaking, the scale of these wars is not large, if the scale of the war from Europe to Asia, it means that once the war breaks out in the world, gold will likely be concentrated by the participating countries to buy arms, and stop free export and cashing of bank bills, which will eventually lead to the collapse of the gold standard, whether it is the gold standard or the silver standard, or the collapse of the paper money credit system, then it will cause a series of collapses, If the economy collapses completely, then the people will have no food to eat, and the soldiers will have no weapons to defend against the enemy, and in terms of the current situation of the empire, neither the silver standard nor the gold standard is suitable, we need an economic system and model that belongs to and suits us, and this model can be adjusted at any time according to our needs. ”

Lin Haijiang looked at Cluna, it can be said that he knows a lot of things that Cluna said, but he is very satisfied with Cluna's opinions and suggestions, which further strengthens Lin Haijiang's trust in Cluna and hands over the economic lifeline of the entire empire to a foreigner he is very familiar with!

After the meeting, Lin Haijiang chatted with Cluna for a while, now Lawrence is already a fairy-like child every day, since Lin Haijiang announced the establishment of the Chinese Empire, awarded Lauren is an honorary citizen has been read the Medal, Lawrence fired Lin Haijiang's squid, the uncle stopped serving, and took the Spanish girl almost the same age as Cluna every day to dance, drink, and fish, and life was extremely comfortable.

Lawrence can be described as a successful retirement, in the eyes of Lin Haijiang Lawrence is also an understanding person, because Lawrence knows very well that Lin Haijiang is an authentic pure nationalist, although Lin Haijiang has never treated Lawrence as an outsider, but Lawrence knows that no matter how good his personal relationship with Lin Haijiang is, he is not a Chinese with black hair and yellow skin, so he chose to retreat bravely and seize the opportunity to make himself happier while he can still be happy.

Lawrence could enjoy life, but Lin Haijiang couldn't, and the installation of a large number of industrial infrastructure parts and the arrival of engineering personnel from Prussia made the whole of Hainan lively, especially the dozens of built docks in Haikou can be described as loading and unloading materials and machinery and equipment day and night.

Prussian Plenipotentiary von Fernandes. The Earl of De Weiss arrived again in person, and Lin Haijiang received Feng Haijiang at the humble temporary executive residence in Haikou. Earl of D'Weys, von. The Earl of Dwys, looking at the stretching roads and looking at the humble offices, sighed: "It is a blessing for Prussia to choose the Chinese Empire as a strategic partner, you are a group of doers, doers with shrewd minds, outstanding will, and strategic vision. ”

Lin Haijiang smiled slightly: "Feng. You are gracious, Count D'Weys, you and I are both nationalists, your nation and my people need to catch up, and it is our honour to cooperate with Prussia, please pay tribute to Prime Minister Bismarck on my behalf. ”

Feng. After walking on the smooth and smooth road for a while, the Earl of Dewys squatted down and tapped lightly a few times, and then found a stone with water chestnuts and smashed it hard, but only a few white spots appeared on the road surface. The Earl of Dewis was extremely surprised: "Dear Lin, my honorable Führer, what is this? Oh, my God! ”

Lin Haijiang pointed to the road and said, "Cement! Europe too! ”

"It's definitely not cement, I've been exposed to British things, they can't be so hard, you know, with this hardness, even artillery can't blast open, this is definitely not the kind of British's snack cement like biscuits." Feng. The Earl of Dewys's head was like a drum.

Lin Haijiang smiled slightly: "Cement is a powdery water-hardened inorganic cementitious material, which can be hardened in air or better hardened in water, and can firmly cement sand, stone and other materials together. Cement is an important building material, mortar or concrete made of cement, strong and durable, widely used in civil construction, water conservancy, national defense and other projects. In 1824, Aspuddin, a British construction worker, obtained a patent for Portland cement. He used limestone and clay as raw materials, combined according to a certain proportion, calcined the mature material in a vertical kiln similar to burnt lime, and then grinded it to make cement, because the color of the hardened cement is similar to the stone used for construction in Portland, England Island, it is named Portland cement, it has excellent architectural ability, and has epoch-making significance in the history of cement, that is, the kind of biscuit cement that is easy to crack as you said, And our cement is a new variety that has been transformed by many experienced engineers and technicians! It's our unique secret. ”

Immediately, Lin Haijiang led Feng Haijiang. Earl Dewis visited the fortress complex of the Haikou Imperial Fortress under construction, and Lin Haijiang told Feng Haijiang. Earl De Wais said: "These fortifications with reinforced concrete inside are permanent fortifications that can withstand the direct hit of 380 mm cannons. ”

Feng. The first reaction of the Count of D'Avis was to pull the hand of the lord Lin Haijiang and said eagerly: "Prussia and future Germany need this cement, my Excellency!" ”

Lin Haijiang seemed to enjoy the feeling that the Prussians would call him the Führer. The Earl of Dwys asked several times in a row before pretending to suddenly realize: "We are allies, this is definitely not a problem, but I hope that Prussia can provide me with the latest research results of Siemens, the latest progress of wireless telegraphy, Earl, you know, as the funder of this significant invention, I am very concerned about the progress of this matter, in order not to affect our alliance, so it is inconvenient for me to interfere too much, you understand this." ”

Feng. Earl Dewes smiled and nodded, "That's natural, the agreement between our two sides originally had a clause on the sharing and sharing of civilian and military inventions, and you have the right to ask for this clause in the foundation." ”

Lin Haijiang smiled with satisfaction: "Then Your Excellency, let's go have a drink!" It is said that the Spanish girls in Haikou are very enthusiastic! ”

Spanish girl? Originally, I wanted to say that I had a tired journey. Count Dewis was refreshed in an instant, smiling side by side with Lin Haijiang, and for a while, the sun seemed to be less hot, and everything around him became cute?

And at this moment in the Beiyang Yamen of Tianjin Wei, the air is so heavy that people seem to be breathless, the abnormally hot weather makes the earth seem to be baked, standing outside the door like an iron cast of Goshha constantly someone is in a coma and falls to the ground, Zeng Guofan is quite good at governing the army, not to mention his own soldier Goshha, so quietly someone dragged the fallen person away, waiting in the room to hurry to replace.

There was no ice basin in the room, and Zeng Guofan, who was dressed in court uniform, was already sweating on his face, but as if he didn't realize it, Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Jize, and Zeng Guobao of the Zeng clan gathered together today, accompanied by Tang Jiayao and Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang is the first time to participate in such a tense and serious secret inner hall discussion, it can be said that those here belong to the decision-making level of the Hunan army, not the executive level, Li Hongzhang looked at Zeng Guofan who was playing with a snuffbox with an expressionless face, and Zeng Guoquan with an arrogant face, Zeng Jize and Zeng Guobao are full of bookish atmosphere, and their attitude towards people is also very kind, Li Hongzhang naturally knows that Zeng Guobao is a well-known smiling tiger, and Zeng Guoquan is ruthless, these two people can be said to be the pillars of Zeng Guofan in the Hunan army, Many blackface dramas need them to sing, otherwise where did Zeng Dashuai come from who loves soldiers and loves the people like sons!

Zeng Guofan put down his snuffbox, coughed and looked at Tang Jiayao and said: "I called you all here today for nothing else, just two things, the first thing is that Mingzhi is going to take the second batch of seedlings to England, this trip is not easy, Mingzhi you have to think twice about what you should do, the money that should be spent can not be spent, I want to send a big use when this group of officers comes back, the imperial court has decided to increase the annual purchase of four million taels of ships to us in Beiyang to 11 million taels, this is the grace of the queen mother of the two palaces!" The queen mother of the two palaces is also staring at the big relationship, we can't do it, I'm afraid I'm sorry for the emperor's grace, and I'm sorry for the people of the world. ”

As soon as I heard that there were more than one flip, Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Jize, and Zeng Guobao's eyes suddenly lit up, and Zeng Guofan snorted coldly: "Look at how many of you have no interest?" Do you know what kind of silver it is? It's the sympathetic silver of the two houses! Now, together with the Long Live Lord, it is a meal of three small dishes, and the use of the inner court has been reduced from 13 million taels to 2 million taels, and a batch of Huangzhuang is also ready to sell to raise silver for our Beiyang, this is the silver to save the lives of the Qing Dynasty! ”

Zeng Guofan looked at Zeng Guoquan with a disdainful face and said: "You are my closest relatives, no one dares not to listen to what I say, you didn't listen to my orders before, and I don't care if the soldiers annihilate the silver and plunder me, we all eat this bowl of rice in the Qing Dynasty, if the little rabbit cub in Lin Haijiang is overturned in this world, we will have nothing, including your heads one by one!" ”

"Someone! Drag me out and beat him with twenty sticks, and help him remember his last name for a long time! Zeng Guofan waved his hand, and more than a dozen Goshha broke in like a tiger and a wolf, and the adults couldn't help it, and directly pressed Zeng Guoquan to the ground with a military stick, and the blood was flying, Zeng Guoquan was also a character, and he didn't even hum!

After the fight, Zeng Guoquan grinned and glanced at Zeng Guofan and said: "Since I was a child, you beat me for the third time, and the first two times saved my life, this time must be no exception, I am not a bastard, or I am arrogant, if you have anything to say, you can speak directly!" ”

Zeng Guofan nodded and said, "You still know the severity, the sword of the South Seas is already on the outside of Dagukou, can't you all see the cruising ironclad ship?" How about the bandits? was taken out of the nest by Lin Haijiang, and even the bezoar dog treasure was served in a pot, and now there is not even a movement, what does this mean? This shows that Lin Rei's strength has reached a place we can't imagine, the kind of foreign guns, English, French, Russian, and American made by Lin Rei himself, none of them are willing to sell it to us, and privately inquire about where that thing is a rare thing among foreigners, who dares to underestimate this Lin Rei on this point? This is a great move to change the dynasty! Lin Rei's mind is not scary enough? ”

Zeng Guofan turned to Tang Jiayao and said, "Mingzhi! You must beware of Lin Rebellion's idea of beating us seedlings! This is all carefully selected by us, the British accepted our request from the Beiyang, and sold it to us They can build the latest ironclad ships and cannons, the English shipbuilding technology is second to none in the West, it is much more clever than the Prussia of Lin Wei shipbuilding, no more, three years of work, learn from the seedlings and return to China, our warships can also return to China together, and the warships purchased by the Russians with loans will also return to China, at that time is when we compete with Lin Wei. ”

Zeng Guoquan hesitated for a moment and said, "What about the bandits?" Isn't it counted as the account of half of the Hunan army's bloodshed? ”

Zeng Guofan smiled slightly: "Duke Gomocherov and Lieutenant General Duravyev have raised 20,000 Cossacks in Russia, we pay these people, they fight for us, and some foreigners in Shanghai have also expressed their willingness to form a foreign gun team to fight for us, and this court has agreed." ”

Li Hongzhang hesitated a little and said: "Will these foreigners be so good?" To pacify the bandits for our Qing Dynasty, is it just as simple as paying salaries? ”

Zeng Guofan smiled and said: "Foreigners are not stupid, they are cats that smell fishy, and the conditions that the imperial court promised to the Russians and those foreigners in Shanghai are the same as the conditions promised to our Hunan army before." ”

As soon as Zeng Guofan's words came out, Li Hongzhang's face suddenly turned pale, and Li Hongzhang was surprised: "My lord, don't do it!" The people are still the people of my Qing Dynasty! If these foreigners are allowed to burn and loot, the prosperous Jiangnan will be completely scrapped! I don't want to recuperate for thirty or fifty years! ”

Zeng Guoquan glared at Li Hongzhang and said: "Those bandits and gangsters should have been killed a long time ago, but all this money is cheaper than foreigners, we are unwilling!" ”

Zeng Guofan snorted coldly and said: "Whether it is the Cossacks of the Russians, or the Citigroup, England, or France, they are not in the name of their political axe country, according to their words, they belong to mercenaries, if this person is addicted to robbery, but it is much more powerful than smoking a big cigarette, and so on the bandit den in Nanjing, let's lead the disaster to the east and see if Lin Haijiang can still sit firmly in Diaoyutai, when he beats the foreigners, naturally there are foreigners looking for him to settle accounts, what does it have to do with us?" ”

"But!" Li Hongzhang's but only exited, Zeng Guofan said unhappily: "Even if it suffers from military disasters and foreign disasters, in the end, it is still the land of my Qing Dynasty, and it will be exempt from taxes for ten years, and it will be good to fill in some population from Zhili!" ”

(To be continued)