Departing from Chittagong on the 11th of the 11th of the lunar month and arriving in Hong Kong on the 27th, Li Kezai crossed 12,000 miles in half a month, but he still thought that the cruiser with a speed of 16 knots per hour was too slow.

After only a little more than a year away from the mainland, when he returned to Hong Kong, Li Kezai felt a little strange. As the battleship passed by Lantau Island, a seagoing ship of great size, estimated at four or five thousand yuan[1], staggered past the battleship. I thought it was the big treasure ship of the Nanyang Company before, but I didn't expect it to be a ship with wheels in the middle of the belly.

The chimney sandwiched between the middle and rear sails spewed gray smoke, and countless passengers who leaned on the side of the ship to watch the sea cheered and applauded the battleship, never to see such a comfortable passenger. The giant ship apparently combines treasure ship and steam turbine propeller technology, and can already be carried separately between passengers and cargo. Safety and comfort have been greatly improved, and it is no longer as difficult as life and death in the old world. This is the latest development of the domestic shipbuilding industry under the general trend of passenger and cargo exchanges in Nanyang and even Tianzhu.

Thinking that coal depots have been built in Eagle Harbor and Malacca, Li Kezai sighed with infinite emotion, and the sail era of the navy may not last many more years.

The battleship docked in port, Li Kezai couldn't wait to run towards the Heavenly Temple, and Dabaotou Singh wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by An Pingyuan and Zheng Mingxiang and others. There are already guards to follow, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be Chanjuan, so there is no need for them to be "bright moonlight" anymore.

The hurried footsteps stopped outside the Heavenly Temple, listening to the melodious heavenly song, Li Kezai suddenly felt a little apprehensive, and the bamboo flute in his hand also felt a little heavier.

The singing stopped abruptly with his appearance, the old priest worshipped for a long time, the heavenly maidens were deeply blessed, and the familiar girls around the Yiren only dared to glance at him from the corner of their eyes. As he looked at the somewhat haggard Ito, he spoke. The halls of the Temple were empty.

"Miss Xin......"

Li Kezai called hard, feeling that his soul had never been so weak and so eager as it is now.

"Why did Your Highness deceive me......"

Miss Xin's eyes were misty, one hand unconsciously twisted the corner of her clothes, and the other hand covered the collar. Li Kezai vaguely saw the tether around his neck, which must be embellished with the jade pendant he gave before.

Trying to move his mind away from the jade-like skin, Li Kezai smiled bitterly, and he really couldn't hide it. Or rather, I really thought I could hide it. That's an insult to people's IQ.

Li Kezai stammered: "I, I think, this has nothing to do with my other identities." ”

Miss Xin pursed her lips, the mist in her eyes became heavier, but her tone was much firmer: "It's related, Your Highness." ”

When Li Kezai's burning gaze came, the firmness suddenly dissipated, and Miss Xin lowered her head. The blood on Qiao's face faded layer by layer: "I, I'm afraid of ......"

From the Wuya Palace in Nanjing to the main hall, in front of the emperor and all the important ministers of the court, Chen Wance said in a firm tone that could not be refused: "I am as beautiful as a husband, like a woman in the north, and a husband and wife are compatible." It's a family, and she can't say no! ”

After the establishment of the capital in Tokyo, in order to take care of the hearts of the people in Lingnan, the emperor and important ministers of the court would come to Nanjing to "escape the cold" from the end of December to the Lantern Festival of the next year, and a large court meeting before Chinese New Year's Eve also became a routine condolence meeting. But the great court meeting at the end of the twenty-third year of the Holy Dao caused a big controversy. The theme, as Chen Wance said, is the unification of the north and the south.

Although Chen Wance's words are a bit vulgar, they are very right. No one dares to say that the north is not Chinese. Then his tone softened again: "Since you are husband and wife, you have to love each other." If the husband is strong and the woman is weak, the husband naturally has to bear more. Even if you suffer some hardships at the beginning, it is also the fault of the bride who does not know what to do, and when she gets along, the hardships in front of her head are nothing at all. ”

A low chuckle rippled through the hall. Many officials said, but they didn't expect Chen Xiang to be a wonderful person. can compare the north and south affairs to the newcomers, and even more dirty and straight to the joy of the boudoir.

"How much you can afford depends on how wide your shoulders are, the north has been impregnated by the Tartars for too long, and if you enter the country directly without indoctrination after recovering the land, it will damage the foundation of our Anglo-Chinese national system. The will of the minister has not changed, and the north must be disciplined, ten years is better! ”

Xue Xue opened her mouth, did not entangle with Chen Wance on the "husband and wife matter", and directly stated her position. The two looked at each other, and there seemed to be electric light flashing back and forth.

On the dragon chair, Li Xian groaned, and he was also surprised by the controversy. Originally, he just mentioned the affairs of the north in his New Year's message, which was intended to remind the important ministers not to regard the Northern Expedition as a distant event in ten or eight years, but he didn't expect Xue Xue and Chen Rice to disagree and quarrel on the spot.

Both of them are very old, but this quarrel, like young people, is extraordinarily full of energy, and they have always been fighting with each other. They are not fighting over whether to go on the Northern Expedition, but over how to digest the north after the Northern Expedition is successful.

Since the thread has been poked out, let's just quarrel here to find a result, so Li Xi didn't interject and allowed the two to continue to debate.

Chen Wance's proposition is very clear, and after the restoration of the land, according to the existing system of Yinghua, he will immediately begin to comprehensively transform the north. However, Xue Xue resolutely opposed it, advocating to follow the military management system set up when the Jiangnan was restored, and first separate the north from the south for at least ten years.

Chen Wance, who is in charge of the affairs of the North and the South, including the integration of the North and the South, is nearly seventy years old, and of course does not want to see the day when the integration of the North and the South will be achieved in his lifetime. And Xue Xue is in charge of a country's internal affairs, so she naturally wants to seek stability for Yinghua as a whole, and she does not want to let the south be dragged by the north in her lifetime, and she will be ruined.

The opinions of the two men are faithful to their respective positions. And this position is not only related to personal merits, but also an unavoidable choice for Anglo-Chinese integration in the north.

"The government has gone to the countryside to be a huge and complicated area, medical care, health and other things are spreading, the economy and the imperial examination are integrated into the north and south, and the local council will be established after the restoration of the land, not to mention the rebellion in the hearts of the people, just say that the treasury is ......"

Xue Xue made a statement based on facts, and everyone listened with bated breath.

"Let's just say that the national treasury, once the north and the south are united, the tariffs will immediately lose 10 million, and the relief will be at least 10 million. The government goes to the countryside, counting the five provinces, taking the simplest official system, 30 million per year, and 20 million per year for medical and health care. The additional cost of garrison and local security is at least 10 million per year. After the restoration of the land, the north and the south should be roughly the same, and the country will lose 10 million first, and then invest 70 million, which is 80 million! ”

"And what about what the state gets in the north? The Manchu Qing Dynasty earned 30 million last year, that is. Even if I, Yinghua, maintain the harsh government of the Manchu Dynasty, I can only get 30 million. The income and expenditure were offset and the loss was 50 million. ”

Xue Xue forced Chen Wance: "Even if the economy is boosted after the north enters the country, this is not something that can be done in a few years. I, Yinghua, are now guarding the policy of overflowing. Maintain 10% of the national debt every year, and have no balance of any money. Chen Zhengchu, where did the 50 million come from? That's 50 million a year! ”

Million!

This is the first time that Xue Xue has reported the estimate of the country's financial situation after the restoration of the land, and the number is so large that the other courtiers have gasped. Before entering the Western Regions, the annual expenditure of 20 million yuan made the court shout that the treasury had no spare money. And now it's 50 million...... Even if the Anglo-Chinese country can reach more than 200 million or even 300 million when the land is restored, this number is absolutely unbearable.

Li Xian greeted Mei Yingcheng, the new envoy of the planning department: "Mei Qing, what about the estimate made by your planning department, you can report it to everyone." ”

Mei Yingcheng is the grandson of Mei Wending, proficient in astronomical calendars, and was a former Jinshi of the old Qing Dynasty. When Li Xi and Yinzhen were in the "honeymoon period", the former Ji Si envoy Gu Xiyi dug him to Yinghua. In this regard, he is good at the study of statistical analysis. As Gu Xiyi's assistant, he has been diligent and diligent for many years, and has made great achievements. After Gu Xiyi became a minister, Mei Yingcheng deservedly took over the post of Ji Si Envoy. Become the big treasurer of the Anglo-Chinese country.

Compared with Gu Xiyi, Mei Yingcheng is less pioneering, and he is no longer in charge of the economy because of his internal affairs, but his meticulous work is better than that of his predecessor. Thanks to his efforts, the ability of the Planning Department to survey a country's economy has been continuously improved, and many affairs that require the assistance of non-governmental organizations such as the Shentong Bureau have gradually been able to converge to the court.

There was a bang. Mei Yingcheng spread out a long report and began to make a detailed analysis, which made everyone's eyes dizzy. After a full three quarters of an hour, he concluded: "What Xue Xiang said is only looking at the short term, and the planning department believes that in order to realize the integration of the north and the south, it will only be calculated in terms of silver investment, at least eight to one billion taels will be needed. and in terms of income and expenditure. It will take at least fifteen to twenty years before the North will balance. ”

Before, they were just pumping cool air, but now everyone is coughing. There are even people who want to stop talking, probably because they want to say things like "Let's ignore the Yankees".

Mei Yingcheng's analysis is reasonable, the north has a large population, poor products, and a backward economy. Due to the long-term exploitation of the imperial merchants with the Jin merchants as the core, the private industrial and commercial forces are very weak. Even if the south invests capital and at the same time becomes a dumping ground for commercial goods, it is difficult to compare local profits with those of the south.

More than 20 years since the founding of the country, the political style of facts and figures has been established, so most of them have the intention of echoing Xue Xue, and feel that after the restoration of the land, they should first be in the military management in the north for many years.

Chen Wance did not admit defeat: "How can you regard the north as a lonely place!?" As long as the north and south are integrated and there is no pass and sluice, it will be like the water potential, and the north and south will be equal! ”

Putting aside the playful tone just now, Chen Wance said in a deep voice: "The affairs of the north and the south must not only be counted as a silver account, but also as a people's heart!" Now the restoration of the land has faced the resistance of the northerners, if the restoration of the land still rejects the northerners, I Yinghua can hold up the righteousness of China in the north? At that time, it will be a small mess, and it may become a boiling pot, and the scourge left by the Manchu Qing Dynasty should not be borne by us, and the northerners should also regard it as our violence. ”

"We can find another way to take the money, but after taking the north, China will be unified, and the righteousness of the integration of the north and the south must not be lost, this is not something that can be bought with money!"

Chen Wance's turn to people's hearts has made many people change their attitudes again. That's right, problems that can be solved with money are not problems, and righteousness is not something that can be bought with money casually.

After the restoration of the territory of Yinghua, it will have to keep the north out of the national system for a long time, and will not evenly distribute the welfare and opportunities of a country to the north, which also means that the south will continue to squeeze the north at the level of capital and commercial goods, and the rift between the hearts of the north and the south will become deeper and deeper, and within a country, 70 million northerners will all have different hearts.

Xue Xue spread her hands: "What about 50 million?" ”

Chen Wance shrugged: "Without these 50 million, you can't get 70 million." ”

The quarrel continued, and people continued to join, holding different positions, and in the end, everyone looked at Li Shi. Although the Northern Expedition has not yet been put on the agenda, the current quarrel is quite a bit of a retreat, but once the country has a strategy on this, it means that the Northern Expedition is not far away.

Li Shi secretly said that it is indeed impossible for the ruler to be paranoid, and the more powerful the country, the more emphasis is placed on moderation, just because the weights on each side of the scale are too heavy, one side is pressed down, and the other side is not rising, but jumping out of the scale.

"Military management is needed, but it cannot last for ten years, and investment is needed, but it is impossible to have 50 million a year. The north and the south must be one, but we must not lose our foundation......"

Li Shi said things that were no different from pounding paste, and the final decision seemed to be finding a balance between Chen Xue and the others.

Compared with the Mobei and Western Regions systems, the military management of the north was carried out in the form of the capital protectorate, and the integration was carried out in stages. For example, three years in Shandong. Five years in Beijing. During the period of military administration, the local government was maintained with the techniques of the old dynasty, and gradually transformed from various fields such as government, medical and health, culture and education.

Even so, once the soil is restored, it will require a minimum investment of 30 million per year. At least for ten or even twenty years, there is no way to consider throttling on this, only open source.

Li Shi said to Xue Xue: "Are you confident that you can persuade the two houses to accept the decision to raise taxes by 30 million?" ”

Xue Xue was so distressed that she almost tore off her beard, and finally said helplessly: "Ten million is okay, thirty million is okay...... If you don't have Your Majesty, you can't do it. ”

Li Shi also smiled bitterly: "Don't overestimate me, the two houses have just handed over the bill for tax reduction, and they think that the Western Regions will be decided." It's time for industry and commerce to relax. ”

He looked at Chen Wance: "Everyone has to go into battle in this matter, and at the beginning of the year, you can squeeze out 50 million a year in the two courtyards, and it is no problem to push the north and south into one immediately after the restoration of the land." ”

Chen Wance sighed: "As Your Majesty said, we are not ready for the Northern Expedition, and we don't even have the consciousness to live a hard life for the time being after recovering the land. ”

He added: "Now is not a good time to explain to the two houses. The two houses are arguing about how to deal with the Manchurians. ”

Speaking of this, Li Shi couldn't help but want to laugh, it was not the two houses that laughed, but Ai Yinzhen, a famous pen in the country, and Wang Yinyu of Nantou. In these months, the two of them were either public or private, or to him, the emperor. Or to the Anglo-Chinese public opinion, they are all advocating a kind of remarks: the theory of Manchu atonement.

Public opinion on the liquidation of the Manchurians in the country has risen in waves, and even civil society groups have compiled the "Hundred Years of Disasters". One by one, a list of the full people to be hung on the long street, and the dead had to be dug out of the grave and hung, even dating back to the era of Li Chengliang.

This situation not only frightened Yinyu Hongli and other Nantou Manchu nobles, but even Yinzhen, who has always been happy to spray Yinghua national politics, also had a sense of responsibility due to the crisis. Maybe he still has a bit of pride in being the master of the Manchurians, or maybe he is afraid that Li Shi will change his preferential treatment under this trend, in short, Yinzhen not only talked about the hundred-year plan to suppress the Western Regions in the newspaper in the name of Ai Yinzhen. From time to time, he also took the opportunity to meet with the old courtiers to talk about how to "be a new man in the new world".

Combined with Yinyu and Hongli diligently to write. Pleading to give the Manchus in Nantou a way out, Li Xi felt that it was time to show his attitude and put pressure on the Manchus in the north, so as to warm up the Northern Expedition.

Of course, he couldn't just talk about this matter, so he let the two houses discuss it first, but he didn't expect that the two houses almost quarreled.

Of course, the Eastern Court strongly advocated severe punishment of the Manchurians, and there were many specific suggestions, and it was very mild and boring to send all of them to Nanyang to open mines, and the proposal to kill them all was too simple and crude, most of them were driven to the bitter cold land north of the North Sea to fend for themselves.

The Western Courtyard advocates differential treatment, and the stubborn ones are disposed of casually, but the ordinary Manchu people still have to be regarded as people, and most of the Manchus are ordinary people after all, although they eat hardcore crops, and their lives are not very comfortable, so don't expand them casually. As for the "stubborn" people who need to be dealt with, the Western Courtyard is secretive and fragmented, and the final list given is only the Manchu royal family......

The Eastern Courtyard was furious, and people of insight saw through their sinister intentions at a glance, and the chaebols behind the Western Courtyard were in cahoots with the Manchu Emperor and Jin Merchants in the north, and even some industries, such as finance, the Manchu Emperor and Jin Merchants had become the dogs of the Yinghua chaebol. These dogs are very convenient to use, and they are killed directly with one knife, which hinders Yinghua Capital from receiving the local qi in the north......

was scolded by the Eastern Court as a traitor who forgot the deep hatred of the sea of blood and the righteousness of the nation, and the Western Court also said that your "Qingliu" in the Eastern Court has always talked about benevolence, righteousness and morality, but now it is carrying out bloody revenge against the clan. Today the Manchus are not people, tomorrow they are not Mongols and they are not people. Today a clan can be a public enemy, but tomorrow can an industry, a profession, and an identity also become a public enemy? If you continue to count it, everyone will be in danger.

Speaking of the dispute between the two courts, the courtiers also openly and secretly asked Li Xi to find out, and Li Xi had no choice but to say: "It is not possible not to liquidate the Manchu family, but it is also not okay to go against the way of benevolence......