"Your Majesty, this is a full set of banknotes issued by the United States, Britain, France, Germany and other countries collected by Wechen. In addition, according to the emperor's intentions, Weichen invited a painter to make several copies of the banknotes of other countries. Please also ask the emperor to judge. As early as the morning, Lin Qizhao, president of the Daqing Bank, presented the banknotes of various countries and the newly designed samples.

Guangxu took it and flipped through it casually: "This matter is too late, Rong Zhen will be unpredictable." What about the rest? ”

"The equipment for printing banknotes has been installed in China, and is currently familiar with the use and maintenance of the equipment with the assistance of technicians from the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, Wechen has reached an intention in various countries that the Qing Dynasty will use silver to exchange gold for various countries as a gold reserve for the issuance of paper money, and the total exchange amount will not be less than 300 tons of gold according to the total amount of currency of the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, after the official issuance of paper money in the Qing Dynasty, various countries will provide a leveling fund of no less than 30 million pounds sterling to maintain the stability of the currency of the Qing Dynasty. Since countries have not yet agreed on specific distribution rules, they are still being discussed. ”

"What's the exchange rate?"

At present, the gold and silver exchange ratio used by all countries is 1:15, and Wechen proposed that the Qing Dynasty exchange gold for various countries at a ratio of 1:16, but was refused. All countries offered to exchange at a rate of 1:17. Weichen did not agree, and the matter was also requested by the emperor to adjudicate. ”

Damn foreign devils, it seems that they won't stop if they don't bite a piece of meat from Daqing this time. Guangxu gently knocked on the dragon case, thought for a moment and said: "I believe that these three hundred tons of gold are only the first phase of the exchange quota, for such a large population of the Qing Dynasty, I believe that more gold will be exchanged for the issuance of paper money in the future." Then the amount of silver circulating in the world will inevitably increase significantly, which will also lead to a further decline in the price of silver. If there are any more deliberate heavy sellings of silver, the exchange rate of gold and silver will be further expanded. In some cases, countries will certainly demand higher exchange rates. If this is really calculated, the loss of the Qing Dynasty will be too great. For the already weak economy of the Qing Dynasty, it is difficult to guarantee that the domestic economy will not collapse after such a large loss. Hey, there's still some time before the new currency is decided. You talk to them first and try to minimize your losses. ”

"Oh, this is the paper money issuance regulations drafted by Weichen, and I also ask the emperor to approve it." Lin Qizhao folded his fold and stepped back.

Seeing Lin Qizhao retreating, Tang Shaoyi went out of the class to play: "Your Majesty, Weichen was ordered to negotiate with the ministers of various countries to open the treaty port, and now there is a beginning of eyebrows. On the basis of the more than 10 treaty ports that have already been opened, a total of more than 10 new ports have been opened, including Hangzhou, Hefei, Nanchang, Yantai, Yingkou, and Yucheng, and it has been agreed that they can be gradually opened. After speaking, he also presented an excerpt.

Guangxu put down the fold: "Take Hefei first, Hefei is located in the inland area, and there is no port available." Judging from the carrying capacity of the existing roads in the Qing Dynasty, if the port is opened in Hefei, the materials and commodities will incur a lot of additional costs due to transportation, which is not conducive to the sales of products. Hefei should wait until the Beijing-Shanghai railway is opened to traffic. As for Yingkou, let's take it out first, this place is located between Huludao and Lushun, and it is not good for too many merchant ships to come and go. The additional commercial ports were first placed in the Liangjiang and Zhili places. ”

"Another point, don't keep thinking about new additions, the original commercial port should also consider expanding and standardizing. The industrial park model of Hangzhou and Jiangning can be used as a reference, firstly, to rectify their existing factories, and secondly, to facilitate management after centralization. At present, the people are very resistant to the opening of the port, and they always think that it is an unlucky thing to allow foreigners to import machines. Adopting the model of an industrial park to put all of them together can also alleviate the people's resistance to the opening of the port. ”

"In addition, I thought we could consider taking advantage of the convenience of Hong Kong and Macau to open up the places adjacent to them. Taking Hong Kong as an example, consideration can be given to opening up the area north of the Kowloon boundary and south of the Shenzhen River as a commercial and trade zone, and the area will be subject to special economic management measures to form a special economic zone. I have a draft of the specific related matters, and I will discuss it later. ”

As for the measures of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the future, Guangxu has long been in the making. The reason why we have not been able to make a decision is because if all of them are copied and implemented, there will inevitably be a large number of floating people like those in later generations. First, the management of the floating population is a problem, and second, as a large number of people enter the SEZs to work, will it lead to the prevalence of money worship when these people return to their hometowns with incomes much higher than those of the local area? And what makes Guangxu most unable to decide, in this way, how much impact will the traditional family model be affected by being away from home for a long time? Family is an important way of inheriting Chinese culture, and this is also one of the things that Guangxu wants to preserve most when he returns to this era.

When Guangxu was worried about how to take advantage of its good and discard its dross to use the experience of the development of the special economic zone, the court was met with resolute opposition.

Wechen disagreed. Xu Tong, a university scholar, stood up: "Weichen thinks that the matter of opening a treaty port involves the foundation of the country, and it is absolutely impossible. This, one of them, too. Second, China has been trading with silver since ancient times, and it has been thousands of years, and the use of silver has long been a deep-rooted practice in China. In previous years, we could not win the foreigners in the Qing Dynasty, and we had to open the treaty port with land compensation as a last resort. Today, there is no war and it has just won the battle, and its Pacific Fleet is even better than the Beiyang Naval Division. Why did the emperor open the treaty port and foreigners for no reason, and exchanged it for gold, and lost nearly 20% in vain. The minister thought that the emperor was wrong. ”

The opening of treaty ports and the exchange of gold for the issuance of paper money, these two things Guangxu has long let out the wind, but no one has written an excerpt in any way related to this matter in the past few days. I thought that no one would oppose it, so I chose to openly mention this matter in the court today, the purpose of which is to talk about this matter through such a formal and open peace talk, so as to lay a good foundation for future practical government. But I didn't expect that there were still people who openly opposed it.

Xu Tong's words immediately caused a lot of discussion in the court, most of which were voices of approval. Those who agree with it believe that it is really a helpless move to open the treaty port with the land compensation before, and who told us that we can't beat the foreigners. Now that our Qing Dynasty has just defeated the Orientals, it wants to open treaty ports for foreigners to invest and set up factories, and we have to exchange gold and issue paper money. This is not just letting foreigners make our Qing Dynasty money, this can't be said anywhere?

But now that the situation of the court is in this situation, all the officials in the court who are thinking about the activity point can see it clearly. First took advantage of the great victory to hold the male army, and then the Daqing Bank held the financial power, and even the Empress Dowager Cixi had to hand over the power. At this time, when the emperor was in high spirits, it was not a long time to come forward to oppose the emperor at this time. You Xu Tong are looking for death, we can't die with you.

Therefore, in favor of the agreement, that is, in the following whispered discussion. There really hasn't been anyone who has come forward to second. But Xu Tong, who heard a voice of approval, stood side by side with Tang Shaoyi proudly, and looked at him with disdain.

"Actually, Lord Xu is a big mistake." Tang Shaoyi came forward to object: "Today, all countries in the world have implemented the gold standard, if our Qing Dynasty does not synchronize with foreigners, once the price of silver in the foreigners is allowed to rise and fall as they wish, it is really the economy of our Qing Dynasty in the hands of foreigners." In this way, the foreigners hold the economic lifeline of the Qing Dynasty, and our Qing Dynasty can only be slaughtered by foreigners. The pattern of today's world is no longer dominated by China, and our Qing Dynasty has been weak for a long time, and if we do not catch up, our Qing Dynasty will always be constrained by foreigners. ”

"Even if foreigners have nothing to do with the price of silver, it is difficult for foreigners to be able to indulge in the treasury of the Qing Dynasty." Xu Tong was still dismissive.

"Foreigners naturally can't indulge in our Qing Dynasty treasury, but if they come, our Qing Dynasty's foreign trade will suffer huge losses."

"Then, according to Lord Tang's words, giving the silver of Baihuahua to foreigners is to make money for the Qing Dynasty?" After Xu Tong, who was proud, finished speaking, he saw Guangxu staring at him with a murderous face, and Xu Tong knelt on the ground with an idea: "Tang Shaoyi and Lin Qizhao bewitched the king's heart, and their actions shook the country's foundation. Wechen was willing to ask the emperor to remove the two of them, and the law department would ask them for their guilt. ”

This emperor deserves ...... Guangxu pressed his head gently. Before the first noon, there was a Sun Yuwen, and everyone was against it. finally took advantage of Sun Yuwen's agreement to negotiate and violate his Guangxu will to slaughter him, and now there is Xu Tong again.

Who who has been walking in the court for a long time doesn't know that the person who can come up with this idea by opening treaty ports and exchanging gold to issue paper money, and who has already begun to negotiate, can there be anyone else except him Emperor Guangxu? You, Xu Tong, are opposing this matter and opposing his emperor. Guangxu was thinking about finding an excuse to dismiss Xu Tong, but when Xu Tong said this, it made Guangxu difficult to start. Everyone said that it was Tang Shaoyi and Lin Qizhao who bewitched the king's heart, but what they opposed on the surface was that they were not your Emperor Guangxu, so how could Guangxu start.

Guangxu waved his hand: "Retreat." ”

In the imperial study, Guangxu summoned Tang Shaoyi and Lin Qizhao to see him.

Lin Qizhao just finished saluting and then spoke: "Since the Qing Dynasty wanted to exchange silver for gold and prepare to issue banknotes, the international silver price has fallen. The emperor is also requested to adjudicate this matter as soon as possible. ”

"It is inevitable that the exchange of gold will issue banknotes, so there is no need to worry about that. As for whether the exchange of 300 tons of gold is enough, I don't understand and won't calculate. You Lin Qizhao are experts, you just decide. It's just that this is a little higher than the seventeen exchange rate, and you can talk to the countries about it. "Even if Guangxu is a traverser, he has no ability to change the future trend, so the gold standard must be implemented. It's just that when it comes to the opening of the port, Guangxu is a little worried: "The opening of the port will definitely cause opposition from some officials, so don't open so much in the early stage." Let's choose two or three places around Shanghai to try out, and also explore the trend of the people. ”

With a "bang", Xu Tong, who returned to the military aircraft, slapped the table and stood up violently, and said angrily, "Inexplicably opening the port, inexplicably exchanging gold." Our Daqing Dynasty is not in a panic of burning too much money, so we have to rush to the shelves to give it to foreigners. There is also that Kang Youwei, who has made a strong society in Shanghai, and every day he is drumming up some reform and reform to confuse people's hearts. The emperor doesn't care about what he should be in charge of, but he doesn't care about it. Don't look at the emperor who didn't say anything about changing the law, but what he is doing now is not the same as changing the law. To put it bluntly, isn't it to make the ancestors' Jiangshan Sheji the same as foreigners. In the long run, where is the national body? How can I be a country? ”

The Qing Dynasty has been the same for hundreds of years, haven't you also come over, this is about to change, for what? Besides, the emperor's issuance of banknotes is not the same as the silver bills of the bank, isn't the silver bills issued by our Daqing Bank itself paper money? Why do you have to exchange some gold with foreigners? What's more, this opening port, our Qing Dynasty has an enmity with silver!

"Master Xu, no matter how the world changes, what has changed is also the world that he loves the Xinjueluo family. What are you anxious about? Prince Shiduo, the foreman of the Minister of Military Aircraft, said coldly.

This is such a cold sentence, which made Xu Tong, who was originally holding back his words, open his mouth and stammer. I opened my mouth several times, but I couldn't say it when the words came to my mouth. After hesitating for a while, he sat back in his chair and said with a gloomy face: "This world is not only the world where he loves the Xinjueluo family, but also the world of the people in this world." In the founding of the People's Republic of China, there is a saying that the monarch is the light and the people are the most important, and this change of law is related to the state system and is the foundation of the country. How could it be that the emperor said that change can change, and the thoughts of the people in the world don't care? ”

"Who said it doesn't matter, Master Xu didn't see those who went to work in the emperor's factory, but everyone thought of the emperor's goodness. This is not to be able to work in the emperor's factory, but the common people are much more lively than entering the court as officials. ”

"Prince Li, you don't like what you say. If others say it, it's just that, but you are the first auxiliary military aircraft, the foreman of the military aircraft, and it is related to the national system, don't you ignore it? If you also shake your hands and stand aside, I will go into the garden to see the Queen Mother, I don't believe that the Queen Mother and her old man will come by the emperor. National events are not a drama garden, you can sing as much as you want. The hearts of the people in the world, the society and the country, can't think of a thing from the surname. ”

"Never." Prince Gong Yixin sat aside and said heavily: "Master Xu went to see the Queen Mother at this time, what do you want the Queen Mother to do?" Now the emperor has great righteousness and heavy troops outside, and the entire Northeast and Liangjiang are the emperor's confidants, and now they have the support of foreigners. At this time, it is the time when the emperor's authority is in his hands, what the emperor wants to do, who can stop it? Don't say that you and me, even the Queen Mother and her old man, I'm afraid they are also powerless. ”

"Are we not doing anything, just watching the emperor sing the government as a play? Foreigners are all tigers and wolves in the Qing Dynasty, and they are afraid of it, and the emperor is not unclear. But why did you open the door and take the initiative to welcome this tiger wolf in? Prince Gong, you are also an old foreigner, you know the door and door here better than anyone else, no matter what, you don't need to take the initiative to recruit the wolf. You are the emperor's sixth uncle, the emperor has listened to you since he was a child, if you don't invite you to talk to the emperor, this national system cannot be changed lightly. ”

Xu Tong has always hated foreigners, and every time the Qing Dynasty signed a treaty with foreigners, Xu Tong was always heartbroken. But Xu Tong is just a famous physicist, if it is about self-cultivation and surname cultivation, it is okay, but as for the ability to govern the country through the world, he does not have it. Prince Gong Yixin just shook his head but didn't speak, how can the matter of governing the country be temporary, there is some truth in this that Xu Tong can't explain clearly, and there is no need to say it.

"If everyone has no way, I will go to Qianqingmen to kneel and admonish, even if I fight to the death, I can't watch the Jiangshan Sheji of the Qing Dynasty go on like this." After speaking, Xu Tong arched his fists with both hands, and was about to walk out.

"Master Xu, slow down." Yi Xin stood up and sighed: "This king is very old, and he has no intention of asking about the affairs of the court, but now that the matter is like this, wait for the old man to ask the emperor first and then make a decision." ”

When Yi Xin came to the imperial study to face the saint, Guangxu was discussing with Tang Shaoyi and Lin Qizhao. When he learned that Prince Gong Yixin asked to see him, he only thought about it for a while, and he understood the meaning of Prince Gong's coming.

Yi Xin saw that the emperor was discussing what the early dynasty said, and wanted to retreat first. I didn't think about the emperor but said: "Sixth uncle, sit down, now this ** is not in Beijing, the sixth uncle is the first person in the Qing Dynasty's foreign affairs, and this foreign affairs is just to ask the sixth uncle to correct one or two." ”

Since the emperor asked him to discuss this matter together, he also happened to listen. He had never heard of a series of terms such as economic globalization, foreign trade, company law and securities law, administrative supervision, market economy, and so on. finally waited until the emperor finished talking, but the emperor was asking his opinion.

Wechen was terrified, and Wechen couldn't understand after listening to it for a long time. I'm ashamed. ”

Guangxu asked the others to retreat, and brought a cup of tea to Yixin: "Sit down, how long has it been since Uncle Sixth came to this imperial study?" ”

"For more than half a year, when the emperor went to conquer Grangetai in person, the old minister listened to the telegraph operator here and said that the emperor fought on Grange Terrace. I love that Xinjue Luo can produce an emperor with a blood surname like you, which is better than the style of the ancestors who raised troops back then. ”

"Yes, the thirteen armors of the ancestors rose up back then. But Uncle Six, look at the battlefield of Grange, how many people are there around me? Today's Qing Dynasty is no longer the era when millions of iron horses could fight the world in the time of Taizu. The sixth uncle is here today, is he also against the opening of the port and the exchange of gold? ”

"Wechen came for this matter. but for the emperor. ”

"Doesn't the sixth uncle also think that this law shouldn't be changed?"

"No, Weichen thinks that this law must be changed, and it must be fast. Now the small Oriental countries can fight the Qing Dynasty for thousands of miles, and the Qing Dynasty will not change, and the world will be in danger. It's just how and when to change. Please be cautious again. ”

"The Queen Mother once told me that the Qing Dynasty is like a seriously ill person. If the drug is too violent, the fear of disease is not cured and people go first, and it is easy to take conditioning first. It's just that it is only conditioned but feared that the disease will expand and eventually there is no cure. I believe that the maximum amount of medicine that a person can bear should be used, supplemented by conditioning. What does Uncle Sixth think? ”

Weichen thought it was inappropriate. What is maximum? How does the emperor master this degree? Once the medication is not taken carelessly, the consequences are unimaginable. The emperor is still young, why not seek stability first? Slowly accompany your own team, and after ten or twenty years, now when the courtiers in the court and the central government are old, they will try to make big things......" Yi Xin was only halfway through his words and was interrupted by Guangxu.

"I have made up my mind, and the sixth uncle doesn't need to say much." Guangxu waved his hand and said, "Sixth Uncle's method is good, but I can't wait." I have this time when I am young, but this country does not, and the Chinese nation does not. I can't afford to wait. ”

"The Qing Dynasty is the Emperor's Great Qing, since the Emperor has time, why doesn't the Qing Dynasty have it? If this changes, how can this dispute between the government and the opposition be settled. Yi Xin suddenly knelt down and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, think twice." ”

"This prescription for healing has been opened, but the prescription for conditioning has not been opened. There is Uncle Lao Liu. (To be continued.) )