Perhaps for other countries, the scenery of the Qing Dynasty in recent years is unlimited. {}{}[]{} The places where large-scale wars are still breaking out in the whole world are in the Far East, and the Qing and Japanese wars, Qing Russia, and Qing and Dutch are all participating countries, and the Qing are all victorious countries. Especially in the near future, a larger and grander war will break out between the Qing and Japan, which will bring great hidden dangers to the domestic economic development of the Qing State. The advantage is that the foreigners are not optimistic about the Qing Kingdom in the Second Qing-Japanese War, so the prices of goods are low. The foreigners desperately transported goods to the Far East, just to make as much money as they could before the second Qing-Japanese war. In this way, all kinds of materials in the entire Qing Dynasty have been enriched, and with the abundant materials, various infrastructure construction has also been rapidly advanced.

But the biggest trouble comes from the layout of the industry. This is because seventy percent of the country's existing industrial facilities are concentrated in coastal cities, and two-percent are concentrated on both sides of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, all of which are within the firing range of naval guns. In other words, once the navy is defeated, all the country's industrial facilities may be destroyed by the enemy overnight, and China, which has just entered the process of industrialization, will "return to the pre-liberation period overnight."

Guangxu understood this shortcoming, Yan Fu, Tang Shaoyi and others had also been on the fold, and even Li Hongzhang and other old ministers were worried about the upcoming Japanese fleet. But it is not possible to make a bigger change in a short period of time, because this is completely limited by traffic conditions. In the period when the national transportation network is not developed, all these industries can only be placed in areas with better transportation conditions, which can save a lot of transportation costs, and second, regardless of the abundance of manpower in these places. Or the quality of manpower is better.

Therefore, in order to ensure the balanced development of the domestic economy and defend against foreign enemies, a strong army is needed. And a strong army. A stronger national economy is needed to support it. And to develop the country's economy, it is necessary to increase investment in infrastructure, so that the funds invested in the construction of the army will be reduced. With the reduction of military input, there will be no strong army to ensure the country's steady economic development. This seems to be a paradoxical question. In fact, in order to set aside more funds for the country's economic development, the army has stopped expanding.

However, the army is not just a unit that only invests but does not reap, and in the Qing-Japanese War, the army earned 230 million taels of silver for the country. Although the Qing Russian War did not receive reparations, it received more than 30,000 free labor. You must know that Russians living in ice and snow are more powerful and able to endure hardships than Chinese. Even though the Qing-Dutch War did not receive much indemnity, the wealth plundered from the South Seas, including the precious metals recovered from the British, was worth nearly 200 million taels of silver.

Japan's reparations have long been used up, and the money that Nanyang has snatched back is still not ready to be used. Alaska's gold is a secret that cannot be disclosed, so if the country wants to develop its economy, it can only rely on loans. In order to develop industry, it is necessary to have a large number of basic processing equipment, so most of the loans are used to purchase equipment from Western countries. The equipment needs to be manufactured and transported before it can be installed. And it takes a long time to produce a product after the workers are trained. As a result, Tang Shaoyi's begging father to sue her grandmother for the loan that she wanted could really be invested in China, but only a small part of it could be invested in China. Therefore, in order to get rid of the loss of domestic equipment procurement, Guangxu put forward the requirements of equipment localization and set up a reward fund. High bonuses were given to those who gave priority to the production of equipment or products that were in the greatest demand in the country and needed by the imperial court.

In Tianjin No. 1 Locomotive Factory, when the steam engine roars and spews black smoke, when the crankshaft drives the wheels to run over the gap in the rail joints to make a regular crashing sound, when the locomotive drives to the factory at high speed and slowly stops. The director and technicians of the locomotive factory are pleased to announce that the first domestically produced locomotive passed the test at one time. This locomotive pulls a train like a normal locomotive. Just returned to Tianjin from Guangzhou without any problems along the way. This was the first trial production, especially the reciprocating steam engine installed in the front of the locomotive, which was the first steam engine produced in the factory under the guidance of German engineers. The first production, the first test can be done right the first time. Even the German engineers were stunned by the achievements of the Chinese, knowing that sixty percent of the workers who produced this locomotive were illiterate, and a group of workers who could not read the drawings produced high-quality products. The Germans always thought that there was a lot of luck in passing the test, but who knew that in order to produce this locomotive, especially the core reciprocating steam engine, those illiterate workers had to memorize the entire drawing.

Now everyone knows that the reason why the Japanese fleet is strong is because Britain sold the first ship that was originally sold to the Qing Dynasty to Japan, and the news that the new Japanese fleet is about to return to China to attack the Qing Dynasty has become a big stone in people's hearts under the deliberate propaganda. We can also build warships and cannons ourselves, although they are not as good as those made by foreigners, at least it is not a hope. But there is one thing we build that we must sell to foreigners, and that is the steam engine. Now that the Qing Dynasty and Germany have a good relationship, Germany will sell the steam engine to the Qing Dynasty, but what if Germany does not sell it again? Let the built warship be parked on the slipway as a battery? As the saying goes: it is better to ask for others than for yourself. Fengtian Locomotive Factory and Tianjin Locomotive Factory received the will to localize the steam engine at the same time, and there was no other requirement, and all parts of the locomotive must be domestic. The Americans were very ghostly, and deliberately left a hand to cause the steam engine produced by the Mukden Locomotive Factory to be underpowered. The reason is that there is a problem with the materials of the Qing Kingdom, and it is necessary to purchase materials from the United States before they can be produced. The Germans were very dedicated and rigorous, they taught the Chinese everything they knew about the steam engine to be produced, although the Qing emperor would give the first domestic locomotive factory and personnel to give rich returns, but the Germans valued their country's position in the world, which was a good opportunity to prove to the world that Germany was at least stronger than the United States. There was no way, the Qing Emperor hyped up this competition at home, and countries around the world were speculating whether the United States, an industrial power, would win or Germany, an industrial power. Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had been threatened by Britain with a fleet, did not dare to be angry with Britain no matter how violent he was, so he could only shout a few words to the United States.

Guangxu is also helpless. The British warship has just been rammed, so it is necessary to find another topic for the countries of the world to avoid everyone from staring at the collision. Therefore, it was originally just an internal competition, and it was artificially touted as a comparison of the strength of the United States and Germany. Guangxu was originally worried that he might not be able to achieve this effect in just a dozen days, but it turned out that Guangxu's worries were a bit unnecessary. The literati who were helpless were very good at doing this kind of thing, and the literati who had fought for thousands of years were very good at how to stir up emotions, and with the help of Wilhelm II, this matter had at least overwhelmed the ship collision in East Asia.

Now it has been proved that domestic materials can also meet the requirements of production. The first locomotive in Tianjin, which was built with German aid and owned 40% of the shares, also received an order for 10 locomotives from the imperial court at the moment when the locomotive drove back to the factory -- this is only the first phase, because it depends on the results of mass production. Also because of the success of localization. The Qing Dynasty had already decided not to buy locomotives from outside. And the Fengtian Locomotive Factory, which delayed the R&D progress because of its tricks, could only cry alone with an order for 10 car boxes.

The success of domestic locomotive self-production not only indicates the improvement of domestic industrial capacity. It also means that you can save a lot of money on buying foreign products. Anyway, it is to spend money, and the purchase of domestic goods can make domestic factories able to feed more people, thereby driving more industries. Guangxu was very happy, and the result of his happiness was to personally send the Nanyang Chinese representatives back. I also have to take a train that is fully localized. That is. The emperor is happy to tour the south. For the emperor's sudden idea, the bigwigs in the court were not happy, but the emperor's attitude was very resolute.

"At the beginning of this year, we will use troops against Russia, and at the end of the year, we will use troops against Nanyang. Now that the war has just stopped, the soldiers have not yet taken off their armor, the country has been decided, and the south is especially unstable. With the emperor's mind, he only needs to wait for the time when the world is settled in three or five years. If the emperor has a wandering nature, it is not possible to tour the world. The emperor paid the fate of the rise and fall of the dynasty. At this time, the gains of the southern tour outweighed the losses. Please think twice. Li Hongzhang was openly opposed, and now that Guangzhou has gone through the rebellion at the beginning of the year, not only has it not put down the idea of anti-Qing and Ming restoration, but it has become more hidden, and all kinds of guilds have flourished, especially the Xingzhong Society. Guangxu knew what this Xingzhong Society was doing, and this anti-Qing organization founded by Sun Wen even set up a branch in Guangzhou, doing the work of rebellion in the name of literati exchanges. It's just that now it's hard to start if people don't make an outrageous move, and the court can only monitor it first.

Guangxu understood that Li Hongzhang and others were worried that they would be assassinated by the revolutionaries and the Japanese when they went south. But what Li Hongzhang didn't know was that the comrades who accompanied Lu Haodong on his journey to the south of the Yangtze River were now the directors of the Guangzhou Hall of the Zhongxing Society, and the people of the Zhongxing Association did not know that the person in charge of the Guangzhou Hall of the Zhongxing Society was actually a spy of the CIA of the imperial court. As for the Japanese, under the deliberate propaganda of the imperial court, it is by no means an exaggeration that the Japanese are street rats in China.

"Since the imperial court promotes the use of national products and strengthens national defense, then as an emperor, he should lead by example. All of you are important ministers of the imperial court, and I believe you also understand how much this will promote the national economy once domestic products are popular. Guangxu waved his hand to stop Li Hongzhang from continuing to advise: "I have made up my mind, there is no need to say more." The trains and their items on this tour are all products produced by our Daqing Dynasty, and the "Shi Ji Bao" and local propaganda agencies are ordered to cooperate. Then he decreed that all places should not practice palaces, hold wine banquets, or conduct ceremonies, and all food, clothing, housing, and transportation should be solved by themselves. On this trip, there is no plan, no route, everything is casual. ”

Since the emperor has decided, it is naturally not good for him to oppose it in front of him as a courtier. After going to the court, Li Hongzhang, who was still uneasy in his heart, planned to go to Yingtai to continue to advise. But the emperor was not in Yingtai, and he was called to the Summer Palace by the Queen Mother as soon as he came to the court. learned from Kou Liancai's mouth that the queen mother of the two palaces also disagreed with the emperor's southern tour at this time.

The courtiers need to look at the emperor's face and speculate on the emperor's thoughts, so the emperor's personal eunuch has become the best person for the courtiers to understand the emperor's words and deeds. But Kou Liancai in front of him was different from other eunuchs, he had always been humble to everyone, and he had never heard him gossip. Li Hongzhang didn't say anything, turned around and walked towards Zhonghai.

Located on the west side of the Forbidden City, Zhonghai, once a royal garden, is being transformed into a busy construction site. In the clearing, steel pipes wrapped in asbestos are being buried one by one; Inside the temple, pieces of heat sinks are being assembled. Ever since the steam from the power station was brought to the palaces of the princes and ministers in Beijing for heating, the ministers of the DPRK and China have been quite concerned about the cold military aircraft department. It was not until the emperor who was afraid of the cold was dizzy from the charcoal fire when discussing state affairs at the military aircraft that the emperor decided to install the heating facilities that had been used on a large scale into the military aircraft department. Who knew that the preliminary planning had just ended, and a fire caused by a short circuit in the Heart Cultivation Hall was particularly fierce in the dry winter. Guangxu, whose cheeks were blackened by the fireworks, learned from the pain, and at the same time ordered the maintenance of all the circuits in the palace, considering that in order to protect the original style of the all-wooden palace complex of the Forbidden City, Guangxu decided to move the military aircraft department to Zhonghai, and at the same time modernize the circuits, communications, heating and other aspects of Zhonghai. In order to move to the warm new office space more quickly, all the ministries of the DPRK and China have made an unprecedented concerted effort to give the greatest support to this project, and now after more than two months of emergency construction, the entire Zhonghai renovation project is nearing completion.

Li Hongzhang called Yang Du, the secretary general who was supervising the construction: "留子 (Yang Du's character), when will the project be completed here." The military aircraft department has been packed up and is waiting to be moved. The old man can't stand the coldness of the military aircraft department, hahaha-"

Yang Du, who is in his early twenties, is also good-looking, and Yang Du, who can be favored by the emperor as a personal secretary, Li Hongzhang certainly knows how promising Yang Du will be. But his son Li Jingfang is useless, and he is still guilty of "capital enemy" and reflects at home. Nowadays, there are more and more young faces in the court, which means that these old ministers are slowly fading. Therefore, Li Hongzhang has never put on a cold face on these young people, but is like an elder. Li Hongzhang only hopes that when he is old, these young people can look at his face and leave the Li family a way to live.

Yang Du clasped his hands into fists and said respectfully: "Now that it is the final installation, please rest assured that it will be completed in half a month at most." ”

Li Hongzhang smiled and approved. Today is a good day, the sun is shining and the ground is windless. Li Hongzhang and Yang Du talked while walking, and laughter came out from time to time. Walking to a secluded place, Li Hongzhang asked in a low voice: "Now that the court situation is decided, it is the end of the year. It was supposed to appease people's hearts, but the emperor was going to tour south at this time. Didn't you hear anything before? ”

"Student Tian is the secretary general of the emperor, which is to assist the emperor in handling paperwork. This is related to the overall situation of the government and politics, and where can students know. ”

The old man wanted to know why the emperor suddenly proposed to tour the south. I didn't sell it to the old man, as the emperor's secretary, most of the big twists and turns in the court were presented to the emperor by you, and the old man didn't believe that you didn't see it. ”

"The Prime Minister doesn't have to worry too much, the students think that as long as the emperor's southern tour is properly defended, there is nothing wrong with it." Yang Du still looked respectful, but when he saw Li Hongzhang pull down his face, he smiled and said: "The emperor has no heirs, and it is also a great disaster for the country." ”

Li Hongzhang was stunned at first, and then said angrily: "For a woman, the emperor actually disregarded the safety of the country and the dynasty, and once he let the people with a heart gain power, the world has just been peaceful......

Yang Du said in a low voice: "The student doesn't think so. There is a royal army stationed in various places, who can threaten the emperor's authority. There is one thing that the prime minister may not know, most of the emperor's internal envoys on the southern tour are military generals such as Feng and Duan, and there is only one civil official - Cen Chunxuan, the head of Dali Temple. ”

What is Dali Temple for? Dali Temple is in charge of the trial of criminal and prison cases, which is equivalent to the Supreme Court and is the highest judicial organ in the country. The emperor's southern tour did not bring other civil officials, but only Cen Chunxuan, the Zhengqing of Dali Temple, and Cen Chunxuan also had an alias called "Guantu", so that the purpose of the emperor's southern tour was clear at a glance. The emperor went to Jiangnan officialdom in order to rectify Jiangnan officialdom.

The emperor began to rectify the officialdom, just like the emperor once said: if the weak China wants to occupy a place in the forest of the world, then the country can only have one voice. (To be continued......)