After several years of transition, in 1898, the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu, Hu Chuyuan's workload was significantly reduced a lot, and he was much more comfortable.

In the past two years, Zhongnanhai and Fuyou Street and Nanchang Street have become the main concentration of the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office, especially in the South China Sea area, which has been an important place in the capital division, and Emperor Guangxu will occasionally go to the Qinzheng Palace in the South China Sea to discuss major matters.

Hu Chuyuan and his family lived in Ziguang Pavilion, while the second assistant Zhang Zhidong and foreign minister Zhang Baixi also lived nearby.

Because Hu Chuyuan's identity is relatively special, the area around Ziguang Pavilion was rebuilt into a separate garden, named Zizheng Garden.

At this time, Yanjing is also completely different from a few years ago, the biggest change is that there are too many Manchurian evacuations, many of which are forcibly evacuated, only Prince Gong, Prince Alcohol, and Prince Su are left behind, concentrated between Beihai and Houhai.

Living quietly in the Zizheng Garden, Hu Chuyuan has also become very quiet.

People say, "Thirty is standing, forty is not confused."

He is now in this period of confusion, in addition to still not being able to find a breakthrough in China's future, he can already grasp the rising trend of the whole China.

Stimulated by huge investment, by December 1897, China's annual coal mine output reached 40.84 million tons, and the total annual output of iron and steel reached 6.27 million tons, second only to the United States and Germany, and has surpassed Britain, and this almost all depends on the rapid development of China's railway industry, and China's steel refining enterprises are almost fortunate to enjoy the promotion effect brought by the development of their own railways.

The total length of railways reached 73,000 kilometers, surpassing France in one fell swoop and becoming the top five railways in the world.

China's railway industry is basically completed under the condition of its own imported technology production, especially in the basic profile such as steel rails, the proportion of its own supply accounts for almost 95%, if we exclude some special circumstances before 1890, such as in the construction process of the Jinghan Railway, in order to pursue speed and outsource to the Americans, after that, all contracts for the construction of domestic railways are firmly in the hands of domestic merchants.

Affected by this, China's development in machinery, steel, coal and other aspects is also very rapid, in Jiangnan and North China, trams have begun to appear, and the length of electric railways is also steadily increasing.

Textile, steel, chemical, electrical, shipbuilding, machinery, metallurgy, porcelain is China's fastest growing industry, especially the textile industry, has firmly occupied the world's number one textile exporter and the largest textile industry country, it is undeniable that China's textile miracle is largely based on two strange models, that is, the price advantage of low-end textiles produced by low labor costs, and the advantage of high-end silk fabrics produced by the monopoly operation of raw silk.

In the past ten years, China has been importing wool spinning from the United States to meet the export demand for high-end textiles, but with the development of animal husbandry in Shandong and Northeast China, China has gradually introduced foreign sheep breeds, and has made great efforts to promote them.

Around the railway, wool textiles from both places can be easily imported into emerging textile industry centers such as Qingdao and Tianjin, while Shanghai stubbornly uses imported wool from the United States, because textiles exported to the United States and Australia will always face greater competition, and the domestic wool processing industry can not be as fine as the British.

In the traditional agricultural field, with the spread of chemical fertilizers and mechanical cultivation, as well as animal husbandry and other technical improvements, coupled with large-scale investment in the agricultural base, China's total agricultural output increased 14 times compared with 1878...... In fact, there are also problems with the price index and the foreign exchange redemption rate, but in all fairness, the total grain output, especially the grain production, has indeed increased by about 4.5 times, and the opening of the ban in the northeast is one reason, and more importantly, it is indeed the effect of the domestic smoking ban, a large amount of land is no longer cultivated opium, but instead planted cereals and cotton, this phenomenon is particularly obvious in Shandong and Hebei.

However, all these data can actually be ignored, and what really deserves Hu Chuyuan's attention is the average national income and price index.

With the implementation of the "Precious Metals Control Act" and the "Silver Yuan Coupon Law", the country has gradually replaced the silver yuan with Qing Yuan bills, which makes the domestic money supply more abundant, and in Shanghai, the average monthly income of workers has reached 32.7 Qing Yuan, equivalent to 75% of the average standard in the United States.

Along with this large increase, prices in China are also rising, but the increase is far less than the increase in income, the per capita food supply has also increased fourfold, and the increase in the output of other cash crops is more pronounced.

By the end of 1897, the number of urban dwellers in China had increased from 34 million to 93 million, accounting for 24.5 percent of the total population, according to the Cabinet of Ministers' Office.

This data means that the market capacity is surging, and people have more funds for consumption, and to some extent must also consume, which is one of the reasons for the rapid development of the textile industry.

Ma'anshan, for example, is a new county built almost entirely on rich capital and technology, and is now home to more than 700,000 inhabitants after only 15 years of investment.

The core enterprise in the local area is the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Machinery General Factory, which has a total annual output of about 2.2 million tons of pig iron, wrought iron, steel and special steel, of which steel and special steel account for half and directly employ 27,000 workers.

This data is roughly the same as that of the Carnegie Steel Plant in the United States, where the mining farm around this plant also employs 4,000 miners, the Ma'anshan Power Plant, which provides electricity for the factory, the laborers who provide transportation services for the factory, and more than 60 downstream processing plants that produce knives, agricultural machinery, steel, chains, steel cables, hardware, etc., and the upstream mold factory, there are more than 100,000 workers in this connection alone.

In Ma'anshan, there is also another giant state-owned enterprise, the Ma'anshan General Plant of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, which involves shipbuilding, firearms, steam engines, steam turbines, boilers and other factories.

In addition, there are cement factories and glass factories that are integrated with power plants, as well as textile factories and silk reeling factories to solve the marriage problems of local workers, and chemical plants and fertilizer factories that solve coal mines and other ores.

In just 15 years, Ma'anshan County has become the second largest industrial town in the six provinces south of the Yangtze River after Shanghai and Fuzhou, with as many as 300,000 workers, and the rest of the population is largely accompanied.

Similar cities are Newcastle and Pittsburgh, both of which are rapidly emerging industrial cities that rely on local minerals.

A similar situation is not a company in China, including Laiwu, Daye, Zibo, Anshan, Xuzhou are rising in a rapid way, in Huzhou, the annual coal mining has also reached three million tons, in Yongchun, Dehua, Longyan, Quanzhou and other Fuzhou cities that developed earlier, the mining industry is becoming the most important economic lifeline in the local area, and the iron ore mining volume in Fujian Province has reached 3.5 million tons per year, supporting the development of Fuzhou's entire industrial system.

In Fuzhou, the overall industrial economy is much larger than that of Ma'anshan, and it has a larger textile industry, tea industry, and furniture industry.

From the point to the surface, we can see the changes in the economy of the late Qing Dynasty at this qualitative level.

The same change is reflected in taxes.

In 1897, after the implementation of the new tax policy, the annual income of the Qing government axe surged, the total amount reached 492 million yuan, but the scale of overspending was as high as 370 million yuan, mainly relying on the sale of official shares to maintain the new growth of expenditure, and the main expenditure was concentrated in the investment in infrastructure, the national education expenditure appeared for the first time, the expenditure of 34 million yuan that year, for the preparation of the construction of schools and schools in various places, and the government-run schools and schools all adopted the compulsory education system.

In this year, the total amount of Manchu support, clan support, and internal affairs government service silver plummeted to 25.8 million yuan, the navy's military expenditure was 62 million yuan, the eight banner battalion's expenditure was almost separated, and the total army military expenditure of the entire green battalion, training army, and new army was 74.2 million yuan.

At this stage, China's total military expenditure was generally maintained at the standard of previous years, but the expenditure of the navy has further increased, and the military expenditure of the army has been reduced on the surface, but the efficiency of its use has increased greatly.

With the gradual death of the old demons of the Hunan army and the Huai army, Hu Chuyuan also survived until the spring, and prepared for the establishment of the Huguang Corps and the Jianghuai Corps, and the original Hunan army and Huai army were successively dismantled, and after Mei Qizhao's death, the Jiangxi army was further merged into the Jianghuai Corps.

The land battalion of the Fuzhou Navy Division under Ye Bojun gradually grew and expanded into the Fujian and Zhejiang Corps, plus the Qingxu Corps maintained by Zhang Zhidong, collectively known as the Four New Army Corps.

The four major corps began to adopt the division and brigade system, with a total of 17 main divisions and 5 reserve divisions, each with between 10,000 and 14,000 men, and the number of artillery columns increased, and almost all of them were close to the reinforced columns of a regiment.

Hu Chuyuan was not in a hurry to expand, but he had already begun to form the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Corps, the Liangguang Corps, the Southwest Corps, and the Northeast Corps.

Therefore, Hu Chuyuan can finally relax during this time...... Although the rapid growth of the total economic volume will inevitably lead to the problem of price instability, and there is also a lack of maintenance for the long-term development of the economy, and it may have a greater negative effect, at present, Hu Chuyuan is not in a hurry to consider these problems.

In the Zizheng Garden, the spring of another year is coming, the willows and green flowers are blooming, the garden is purple and red, and the blue waves are rippling.

Today, the Imperial Court welcomed a very special guest of honor, Queen Liliukarani and Princess Kaorani of the Kingdom of Hawaii, who held a state banquet reception in Yingtai yesterday.

In recent years, the diplomatic ceremonies of the Qing Empire have begun to become more out-of-the-box, fully able to show the momentum of a world power.

Sure enough, Queen Liliukalani and Princess Kaorani were intimidated by yesterday's ritual.

On this morning, Hu Chuyuan was preparing to accompany his family for a simple rest for two days, and the queen and princess couldn't wait to come over to meet him.

Anyway, they can be regarded as acquaintances, Hu Chuyuan did not prepare too cumbersome etiquette, and simply entertained them to have morning tea in the garden.

The beauty of the garden is certainly beautiful, but in front of the appearance of Princess Kaorani, it seems to be greatly inferior.

Hu Chuyuan thought faintly, smiled faintly, and couldn't help but start to miss the scenery of Hawaii, speaking of which, it was indeed the best place for him to spend his later years.

You can completely stay away from the world and avoid these political entanglements.

Business?

His business is big enough.

In the past two years, he has basically stopped expanding the scope and concentrated his capital on investing in domestic heavy industry.

After drinking half a cup of Keemun black tea, Princess Kaorani smiled and exclaimed: "Your Excellency, your tea is always so good." ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled leisurely and said, "If your country is willing, I can ask the Qi Black Tea Industry Company to provide you with special black tea for the palace...... In fact, I've always believed that this is also one of the best black teas in China. ”

Queen Liliukalani couldn't help but praise: "China is really a huge empire, I admire it, and there are so many kinds of such good tea, I am so envious." So, Your Excellency Prime Minister, can we talk to you about a more important issue? ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, and continued to taste Qi Hong in the cup.

Queen Liliukarani immediately said: "In fact, we also hope to carry out larger-scale reforms like yours to build our country into a more prosperous ......!" ”

Without waiting for her to finish, Hu Chuyuan couldn't help frowning.

"The problem is that we lack funding and we lack technical assistance...... Over the years, with the support of your country, we have also built up some navies and armies, but in terms of overall strength, we may still be far from being able to protect ourselves! ”

As she said this, she looked regretful.

Hu Chuyuan asked: "The scale of investment of Chinese businessmen should be considered good, before you arrived, I specially asked people to check the figures, and overall it is still very good." Considering the resources and population of the Kingdom of Hawaii, as well as the size of the territory, this is really good. The survival of a small country does not lie in expanding its financial and military strength, but in maintaining a policy of stability. Personally, I think that China's direct investment in the Kingdom of Hawaii will cause unnecessary trouble. I will give some support to the Chen family in Hawaii to help them invest better in Hawaii. ”

Queen Liliukalani couldn't help but be a little disappointed, but she could only thank: "That's really grateful!" ”

Hu Chuyuan smiled and didn't continue to say anything.

After a while, Queen Liliukalani returned to her residence, while Princess Kaorani, as Hu Chuyuan's friend, stayed alone and continued to chat with Hu Chuyuan about some changes in the Hawaiian Kingdom in the past few years.

Although the sparrow is small, it has all kinds of organs.

In the past few years, the Kingdom of Hawaii has gradually carried out more reforms, imitating the British in its political structure, and forming several political parties, but the main position is still the Chinese-dominated United Hawaii Party.

Because the Coalition Party was too powerful and had the greatest influence in Hawaii, the political situation was relatively stable, with officials in various ministries and effective governance.

After the two talked, Hu Chuyuan understood the true intention of Queen Liliukalani - she wanted to become a vassal state of the Qing Empire and obtain the protection of the Pacific Fleet of the Qing Dynasty.

After thinking about it for a while, Hu Chuyuan and Princess Kaorani said, "As the prime minister of the empire, of course I welcome this matter, but for the Hawaiian Kingdom and you, this is definitely not the best choice. ”

Princess Kaorani couldn't help but be a little surprised, and asked, "Why?" ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "In the long run, there is still a conflict of interest between China and the United States, and you can't take such a risk. You should try to maintain the reading surname of the Hawaiian Kingdom, increase your diplomatic activities internationally, ensure the recognition of more major powers, and implement appropriate and liberal governance policies at home, which is the future and best path for the Hawaiian Kingdom. ”

Princess Kaorani was silent for a long time, and then smiled after a long while: "Thank you for the reminder, now that I think of that visit a few years ago, it really opened my eyes, and more countries around the world have recognized the existence of our small country." ”

Hu Chuyuan bowed slightly, and said: "Under the protection of the two great powers of China and the United States, other countries will not easily dare to attack your idea, and at the same time, we must try to ensure that we do not completely defect to China or the United States. I think this will be a long-term path to peace. ”

Princess Kaorani continued to nod.

It's not that Hu Chuyuan doesn't want China to expand its territory, but there are too many contradictions and conflicts in it, and even if it becomes the sole suzerain, the relationship with the United States will no longer be as friendly as it is now.

Throughout the world, China and Germany, although natural allies, cannot formally form an alliance, and the only remaining ally is the United States.

Sino-US cooperation, the United States helps China maintain its hegemony in the Western Pacific, and the United States gets the advantage that its products have a larger Chinese market, and can use China to enter the market of China's vassal states.

Including North Korea, North Vietnam and the Philippines, these markets have also been open to the United States.

(To be continued)