At the end of October 1859, Zhang Youcun, vice minister of foreign affairs of the Southern Dynasties, and Naobu I, the chief of the shogunate, signed the "Sino-Japanese Treaty of Friendship and Commerce" in Nagasaki. Nagasaki Customs is said to be under the joint management of the Central Committee, and a five-member committee has been established, with three Chinese members and two Chinese members. At the same time, the inhabitants of Nagasaki were self-governing under the emperor's rule, and the self-government council was elected by the people for a five-year term with the approval of the shogunate and the emperor, and the first chief member of the self-government committee, Koroku Totsu, had already been approved.

Although this move has preserved the face of the emperor and the shogunate to a certain extent, they do not know that Zhang Youcun is cunning and great, which really makes the committee put on a very legitimate coat.

At this time, Ye Zhao had just received the war report of the great victory in Hizen, and the six ministers of the Parliamentary Affairs Department listened to the statement of Foreign Minister Zou Kaizhi on this matter, and jointly agreed on a charter that was probably similar to the evaluation report of later generations, and handed it over, the impact of this war on Sino-Chinese relations, the impact on the situation in the East China Sea, and so on.

Li Xiaocun said that the current navy is weak and has been unable to use the current situation, Chen asked the regent to approve the purchase of warships, also known as the indemnity of the northern country, half of which can be used to build the Shanghai-Nanjing railway, and the rest to the navy to purchase ships, to speed up the construction of the Fuzhou shipyard, also known as the Guangzhou shipbuilding company's new ship construction efficiency is extremely high, and the 3,000-tonnage ship can already reach about one a year, and the sailors need to go to Europa to buy ships, and the ship needs to stop receiving orders for civilian ships, and make every effort to build warships, waiting for the completion of the Fuzhou shipyard. Then coordinate the share of orders for military and civilian ships.

The Guangfu Shipbuilding Company originally wanted to synchronize with Britain and France to build a first-class tonnage heavy battleship with a displacement of more than 6,000 tons, and maybe even as high as **,1000 tons, but the realistic coastal defense pressure made Ye Zhao's idea run aground, and more and more sea areas that needed to use the navy were needed, but there was no time to slowly engage in these technical breakthroughs, so it was better to start building a new armored ship like the Guangzhou ship.

The tonnage of the new ship being built is much higher than that of the Guangzhou, about 3,000 tons, and although it may not be easy for Chinese shipping technicians and skilled workers to absorb technology, it is an excellent opportunity to exercise and learn.

Ye Zhao approved its feasibility, and approved a few folds, such as the adjustment of the special tax rate of the railway, the calculation method was changed to the percentage of net profit, which is more transparent, which is also because of Ye Zhao's personal experience of the owner of the big railway, the original more complicated way is too vague, the cost, trains, profits, etc. are all taken into account, almost a section of the railway, the tax amount can have more than ten times the deviation, and all explain it. Although the current one-size-fits-all approach is arbitrary and unfair to the railway owners in some remote sections, it is not possible for tax officials to develop the bad habit of relying on vague terms and conditions to enrich their own pockets when the tax system has just started to improve, otherwise it will form a habit and unspoken rules over time, and it will be extremely difficult to govern it. What's more, the current southern railway, there is really no too remote route, the north-south main line is far from completed, what is the branch line?

Looking at the time, it was already more than twelve o'clock, and just as I was about to get up, the internal affairs office of the secretary's office sent an urgent telegram from Tianjin, which was a ciphertext telegram from the Tianjin Group of the Internal Affairs Office.

The telegram said that the main force of Shi Dakai of the Northern Expeditionary Army collapsed in Henan, Shi Dakai was defeated and captured, and I heard that not only did the new army of the North employ hundreds of Rakshasa instructors, but this time Shi Dakai broke the bandits, and even the Rakshasa people directly dispatched 1,000 infantry to assist in the battle. He also said that from the intelligence analysis of Yanjing, it is likely that the Rakshasas were obsessed with obtaining the right to build a military port on the Liaodong Peninsula, and may even have reached a preliminary agreement with the Northern Dynasties.

Looking at the message, Ye Zhao was out of his mind for a while, one sighed about the fate of the Wing King, and the other was the battle between the north and the south, but it gave the Rakshasa people an opportunity to take advantage of, but the connection between the north and the Rakshasa is getting closer and closer.

While pondering, I got into the carriage, and asked Zhu Sisi to have dinner at noon today, but in fact, I met my parents and Zhu Sisi's brother and sister-in-law.

In the afternoon, we will go to Taiping Mansion to inspect the Guangzhou Iron and Steel Branch that is being prepared, but in fact, the main thing is to let the reporters take a photo and spread the news of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway Survey Project, the expansion of the Taiping Port Port, and the inclusion of Taiping Mansion in the Southern Post Road Project, so that the industrialists in the South will strengthen their confidence in investing in heavy industry in Taiping Province, which is also one of the heavy industry bases in Ye Zhao's blueprint for the South China.

Taiping Mansion is the area of Ma'anshan, more than 100 miles away from Nanjing, although the north-south railway trunk line is not passed, but the expansion of the port, as well as the promotion of the southern post road project, will make it more and more closely connected with the southern interior, and the transportation conditions will be better and better.

In addition to the allocation of the state treasury, it also accepts the donations of the local squires, and also encourages the local squires to raise funds to repair the roads. Most of the road is still a loess road, but at most it is more solid and stable.

Jinyun Garden on the bank of the Qinhuai River, Cuizhu Fei Pavilion, the environment is very elegant, and it is a first-class restaurant in Nanjing today.

When Ye Zhao arrived at the Cuiyun Xuan on the second floor that had been booked earlier, it was already past one o'clock, Zhu Sisi was already in a hurry, and when she saw Ye Zhao coming in, she said angrily: "I've been waiting for you for an hour!" ”

Brother Zhu and Zhu Sisi's sister-in-law Li Cuixiang got up with a smile, and said that it was okay, and Li Cuixiang said: "Mr. Ye, I see that you are a rich and busy person, and our family is in a hurry, but it is difficult for you." ”

Zhu Sisi looked helplessly at her brother and sister-in-law, but what can be done?

Zhu Sisi told her brother and sister-in-law that she had a marriage partner, and Li Cuixiang was the first to object, although she was in free love with Boss Zhu, but she couldn't see her sister-in-law looking for her in-laws by herself. She is also the most attentive to Zhu Sisi's family affairs, and has introduced many sons of large families, who calls herself a beautiful fairy, and she is a patrol bureau, if you don't find a good mother-in-law, it won't be a big loss? But according to my sister-in-law's own surname, she is such a tall person, and she must find a strong cow with the same temper as her, and that ten ** is a poor boy, ironclad.

As soon as Zhu Sisi said that she was in love with someone, Li Cuixiang immediately jumped to oppose it, but although Zhu Sisi was good to her sister-in-law and helped her do a lot of things to wipe her buttocks, where would she listen to her interference in her life?

Although Boss Zhu was reluctant, he also asked his sister what kind of family this family was, and as soon as Zhu Sisi said that it was the Shaodong of Taihexing, Boss Zhu and Li Cuixiang immediately straightened their eyes. Zhu Sisi is not very clear about the business world, but Zhu Boss changed jobs last year and worked for a construction company, which has Taihe Bank as a shareholder, and Zhu Boss slowly knew the name of Taihe Bank, and heard that many factories and mining firms have shares, and their property is more than one million taels, and there are even legends that their family background is as high as five or six million taels, even if Wu Chongyao, the first person in the original thirteen lines, cannot compare.

As for the main family of Taihe Xing, it is extremely mysterious, and I only heard that it seems to be surnamed Ye.

Li Cuixiang likes to listen to her husband say this, especially after her husband entered this one of the top construction companies in Guangzhou, and gradually heard more about the needles and threads of the upper class, and her knowledge has also risen, and she has firmly remembered the major shareholder Taihe Bank behind her husband's construction firm.

Boss Zhu inquired carefully, Zhu Sisi's surname was frank, and there was nothing to hide, and he said that the pervert's family should be quite rich, and said that she had fifty silver dollars per month for her pocket money, etc., Li Cuixiang's eyes widened, what kind of family is this? I thought that my husband would gradually become a foreman after changing jobs, and the salary was already quite high, but the pocket money of a concubine casually for a month was worth the salary of my husband for a year.

The wife and concubine have a total of six rooms, even if the money is the same, then the pocket money costs three or four thousand silver dollars a year, and how much does it cost to spend plainly? The cost of the house is not tens of thousands? God, this family is not supported by millions of silver, who has this confidence?

For the first time, Li Cuixiang felt that this sister-in-law had done something that she could see, so she whispered to Zhu Sisi for a while, telling her how to compete for favor when she knew how to advance and retreat, and made Zhu Sisi cry and laugh.

Now that they see Ye Zhao, Boss Zhu and Li Cuixiang are naturally full of smiles, the more they look at this brother-in-law, the more pleasing they are, Boss Zhu sees Zhu Sisi's attitude towards Ye Zhao, and his eyes widen even more, putting on his brother's shelf: "There are no rules!" Still don't apologize to Mr. Ye? ”

Zhu Sisi still respects her eldest brother very much, especially outside, when there are others, she won't save face for her eldest brother, so she has to say sorry to Ye Zhao. Ye Zhao was amused to laugh, but Zhu Sisi was also funny, how could this pervert always bully himself unconsciously, but in his heart, it was sweet.

Ye Zhao apologized: "Brother, sister-in-law, I'm really sorry, I suddenly received a telegram and delayed the time." ”

Boss Zhu and Li Cuixiang said that it is okay, Zhu Sisi ordered the dishes to be served over there, they were all ordered by Ye Zhao yesterday, and the delicacies of the mountains and seas were extremely rich.

Li Cuixiang helped Ye Zhao and Boss Zhu pour the fragrant Zhennian Xinghua Village Fen wine, and said with a smile: "Mr. Ye, listen to Sisi, your family runs Taihe Bank, I don't know which Taihe Store it is?" He also said, "Sizhong is doing things in Yongdingxing." ”

Ye Zhao sighed, now there are several commercial houses specializing in construction in Guangzhou, among which Yongding Bank is the largest, gathering skilled craftsmen, feng shui masters, numerologists in the south, and equipped with new construction equipment such as steam cranes, from the euphemistic style of Jiangnan gardens to small western-style buildings full of oriental charm and even four or five storey buildings can be built, and the Qianwang Palace is also a group of people from Yongdingxing.

"Yongdingxing, it seems that my family also invested money." Ye Zhao said with a smile.

Li Cuixiang had no doubts, and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Sizhong is still your buddy, Mr. Ye, you can take care of him more." ”

Ye Zhao hurriedly said: "It must be." He smiled at Boss Zhu again: "Big brother, we have drunk together, and I am still your matchmaker." ”

Boss Zhu was stunned, and then he remembered, no wonder he felt familiar, although he hadn't seen him for a long time, but this Mr. Ye was the most stylish among the people he had come into contact with, so he remembered it clearly.

Zhu Sisi forgot about the matchmaker, and when she saw her sister-in-law squeezing her eyebrows, she blamed her for not saying it for a long time, and she could only pretend not to see it.

With the relationship of matchmakers, Boss Zhu and Li Cuixiang are even more affectionate to Ye Zhao, and there is a reason for intimacy, isn't it?

"Aren't the eldest brother and sister-in-law working in the printing house?" Ye Zhao felt a little strange.

Li Cuixiang hurriedly said: "I quit my job." The wages of the printing factory were mean, so Sizhong changed careers. ”

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, both of them were printing factory workers, and they were in free love, but the traditional thinking was deep-rooted, women no longer do things when they got married, and men supported the family, that was also good, the couple felt that there was no problem, and they didn't need to interfere. In later generations, until the end of the 20th century, in fact, many families were like this, and East Asian civilization, starting from China, was the most severely damaged in China.

Although Zhu Sisi was helpless, she was very happy to see her brother and sister-in-law "like" the pervert, although it seemed that she had been stammering the pervert, her brother and sister-in-law's spleen and surname were like this, but it was nothing, even if the sister-in-law, in addition to vanity, was actually very good.

As for the pervert, he never cared about these, although others were not in tune, but they were extremely warm and treated, even if they sometimes joked arrogantly in their mouths, in fact, they had no concept of wealth and poverty, and they would not look down on their brothers and sisters-in-law because of his brother and sister-in-law, very atmospheric people. Perhaps, if the pervert is not such a person, he will not be bullied by him.

Boss Zhu explained that he would go to Taiping Mansion with the construction team. Ye Zhao had been drinking with Boss Zhu and sent him and Li Cuixiang away, before telling Zhu Sisi about going out in the afternoon. Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one near the left, Zhu Sisi gently kissed Ye Zhao on the face, this was the first time she took the initiative to kiss Ye Zhao, she was very shy, Ye Zhao laughed: "Finally captured the heart of the beauty!" Zhu Sisi was so angry, she bit him hard, watched him leave triumphantly, and couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle.

…… Ye Zhao went to Taiping Mansion with a light car, as the actual ruler of the southern country, he said that he was a light car and a simple follower, but in fact he was accompanied by more than 100 guards and more than 1,000 battalion soldiers, and was accompanied by Zheng Zewu, the chief officer of the Suwan patrol.

Zheng Zewu is Ye Zhao's old acquaintance, his original name is Zheng Gouzi, when Ye Zhao broke Chen Yucheng, Zheng Zewu was in charge of the team, and scolded those women in the women's hall who refused to go home, was seen by Ye Zhao, and was kicked by his boss. Later, although he also asked Mr. to give a loud name and abandoned Zheng Gouzi, the nickname that had accompanied him for many years, he was still the same person, and he was still that rough man.

When the matchmaker had just broken the Taiping Mansion, Zheng Zewu was the capital of the Taiping Mansion for the land patrol in southern Anhui, and the highest commander of the Taiping Mansion when it was under military management.

Basically, among the 8,000 patrol troops, musketeers can account for more than half, and the strategic provinces, Guangdong, Suzhou, and Anhui patrol each province patrol 20,000, Yunnan and Guizhou, rated at 15,000, and the same firearms soldiers account for more than half.

In Suwan and Yungui, there are also a small number of well-armed militia groups, and weapons are not handed over for the time being, and if they are out, they will be soldiers, and if they return, they will be for the people, and it is easy to manage to protect their homes and defend the territory, and the kind of firehead army with more than a dozen people and dozens of people is actually the easiest to disturb the township, so they will naturally be abolished.

In fact, the total strength of the total strength before the disintegration of the late Qing Dynasty was about 400,000, and later the warlords fought in a melee, grabbed strong men everywhere, and became soldiers with guns on their shoulders.

Su Anhui patrol chief officer, Ye Zhao will naturally choose someone he trusts very much, and finally chose Zheng Zewu, a fierce general of the Pingyuan army. Since then, Zheng Zewu has lived up to his trust, and has been following Ye Zhao as the commander of the garrison, suppressing the conspiracy of the Fair Revolutionary Party and the opposition with iron and blood.

At this moment, Ye Zhao was sitting by the bonfire, watching Ouerden, the deputy head of the guard, roast sweet potatoes for him.

The team of more than 1,000 people, although the infantry team also followed the carriage and marched in a hurry, but Ye Zhao was sympathetic and couldn't let the carriage and horses go too fast.

There are faint villages in front, beside the loess road, there are small streams flowing, there are already horse army scouts wiring in all directions, because it is not far from the Yangtze River, and also encountered the patrol river defense post.

"Dog, here you go!" Ye Zhao beckoned to Zheng Zewu, Zheng Zewu grinned and hurriedly ran over.

Ye Zhao pointed to the seven or eight large sweet potatoes scattered on the side and said, "You can also take a piece of roast, sit down, and talk." ”

"Wow!" Zheng Zewu knelt down on one knee and hit a thousand, then sat down cross-legged, his waist was straight, he picked up the sweet potato and skewered the wire, and carefully placed it on the bonfire iron frame.

"I heard you've got a new son?" Ye Zhao asked with a smile.

Zheng Zewu was stunned, but he didn't want the prince to know this, scratched his head, smirked, and said restrainedly: "Yes, it's quite like mine, big head." ”

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "When I return to Nanjing, I will take a photo with him." ”

Zheng Zewu was startled and said, "Lord Wang, this, this is not good, that kid stinks, but how can I take pictures with you?" ”

Ye Zhao glared and said, "What words?" Our children of the Pingyuan Army, it tastes bad in your mouth? I wish they would grow up soon, learn more culture, and be better than us. ”

Zheng Zewu scratched his head in fright and didn't dare to speak.

Ye Zhao took the sweet potato handed by Urden, broke it into three pieces, threw it to Urden and Zheng Zewu each, and said, "Share the blessings." ”

Ouerden and Zheng Zewu were holding sweet potatoes and wanted to kneel down to thank them, Ye Zhao frowned and said, "Give me a good squatting and sitting, my words are the wind in my ears, right?" Kowtow at every turn, how many are sincere? ”

Zheng Zewu and Urden stared at each other, and they both cried and said: "The master (prince), the slave (the small) is sincere." ”

Ye Zhao couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sit down!" ”

Seeing that the prince was in a good mood, the two of them relaxed, slowly sat down by the bonfire, and ate sweet potatoes with the prince.

(To be continued)