"It's up. Serve. ”

"On - vegetable ——。"

Heat oil ——, into the pan.

At this time, the Imperial Dining Room was no longer sufficient, and in order to meet the needs of the New Year's dinner, the size of the Imperial Dining Room was temporarily expanded by more than three times.

At 8 o'clock in the evening of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the Taihe Hall was brightly lit, and the cups were staggered, and it was peaceful. For this welcome dinner, Guangxu also specially purchased generator sets and installed electric lights. For the first time since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, a New Year's dinner was held in the main hall of the imperial palace. Governors from all over the country, and senior officials above the second grade in Beijing attended the dinner. What is different from previous years is that not only is the time scheduled on the evening of the 30th day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, not only is it allowed to bring his wife to attend, but Guangxu also invites ministers from various countries to China, and even in spite of the opposition of the courtiers, in the form of a Western self-toast, such a New Year's party was held. The magistrates may have to ask: how could such a "depraving of customs and damage to the royal majesty" be done at that time? Can the old lady be okay? Of course not, if there is, it is not enough to rely on the identity of Emperor Guangxu. The reason is because Guangxu persuaded Cixi. In addition to courtiers and ministers of various countries, Guangxu also sold tickets aggressively. The ticket is as high as 1 million tael, but it still attracts as many as 16 giant businessmen from all over the world, mainly Jin, Zhejiang and Guangzhou. For these giant businessmen, being able to pay 1 million taels to get acquainted with the powerful people of the DPRK and China will be of great help to their future business, not to mention that if the merchants who can come here can cooperate with each other, the profits will be huge. So tonight's 1 million taels is definitely worth it for these giants. (Afterwards, Guangxu regretted it, and he knew that the tickets would be sold for 2 million taels.) Of course, Guangxu's ministers such as Zhang Qian and Lin Yongxiang appeared in the banquet hall, and for Guangxu, these two people came here to put money from the left pocket into the right pocket. There were also 5 merchandisers of virtue and 2 merchants of England. With a stroke of his pen, Guangxu, the income from the sale of tickets, took out 10 million taels to repair the queen mother's garden, allocated 10 million taels to the household department, and used the other 2 million taels for military academies and universities. There are 10 million taels of money to repair the garden, can the old lady object! And a million taels? Doesn't it cost money to host a dinner party? The royal dinner is almost this amount of material costs for the whole banquet of the Manchu and Han Dynasty (fortunately, there is no venue fee and overtime pay for workers). What everyone didn't know was that Guangxu asked Leng Jun to write down the other 14 Chinese giants who attended the New Year's dinner, and said with a smile something that made Leng Jun shudder: "Those who come are rich masters, it seems that I will soon have money." ”

What surprised the ministers of various countries was that at such an important dinner, the emperor of the Qing State did not sit on the dragon chair from a distance and accept the greetings of the ministers of various countries expressionlessly. Instead, holding a wine glass and gently shaking the red wine in the glass, he shuttled through the dinner party, walked up to them and talked to them cordially. In the end, the dinner was also praised by the ministers of various countries in China. French Minister Shi Alan told reporters after the dinner: "Since the Qing Taihe Palace summoned the ministers of various countries, this dinner really means that the imperial palace of the Qing Kingdom has opened its mysterious door to the world, and the backward Qing Kingdom has taken steps towards world civilization." What no one noticed was that a New York Times reporter took precious photos with his camera.

Guangxu held a wine glass and walked through the dinner. Talk to many local governors you've never met. Guangxu listened to the reports from the governors from all over the country and affirmed the work of the governors. On the one hand, he asked the governors to stabilize the locality, stabilize the people's hearts, strengthen cooperation with merchants from Western countries, speed up the process of industrialization, and increase taxes for the imperial court.

The guests were full of interest and conversation, and the performance life on the stage was vivid. Guangxu was in the corner of the Taihe Palace, and in front of him stood an emaciated old man with a white beard and a peaceful face. The old man was talking to Guangxu, but Guangxu was just listening quietly. At this time, Guangxu did not have the smile on his face when he talked to other governors, but his brows were tightly knit and his face was melancholy. This old man is the famous Zhang Zhidong in later generations.

Zhang Zhidong is a native of Nanpi, one of the representatives of the Western-style school, and his proposal of "middle school is the body, Western learning is for use" is a summary and summary of the basic program of the Western-style school and the early reformists; He has made a very high contribution to promoting the development of China's national industry, and a high-ranking person commented: "China's heavy industry must not forget Zhang Zhidong." He spent a lot of energy to set up military and civilian industries, and the most famous is the preparation for the construction of the Hanyang Iron Works. What he did in his life is most praised by later generations for his historical contributions to the process of China's education moving from feudal tradition to modernization. American scholar William Ayers highly praised Zhang Zhidong's contribution to China's education reform in his book Zhang Zhidong and China's education reform: "During Zhang Zhidong's life, the form of Chinese education has undergone fundamental changes, and his efforts have decisive significance in this regard."

No one is perfect, and Zhang Zhidong is also arrogant. When Jang Zhidong was preparing to build the Hanyang Iron Works. He telegraphed Xue Fucheng, the minister stationed in Britain, to buy a furnace for a steel-making plant, and the owner of the British Tisset factory replied: "If you want to set up a steel mill, you must first test all the iron, stone, coal, and coke factories in the factory, and then know what the quality of coal and iron is, what kind of steel can be smelted, that is, what kind of furnace is used. Zhang Zhidong said: "With the size of China, why not, why not find coal and iron first and then buy a furnace?" But buy a coke according to the one used in England. The British factory owner had no choice but to obey. The result - everyone knows. "If Zhang Zhidong was founded, the advance people would go abroad for a detailed investigation, or the success could be faster, and the cost could be saved. However, at that time, the atmosphere was obscured, the mediocrity was in the court, and the hole of Gou Wuzhang was reckless, and he was afraid of smelting iron and coal. However, in Guangxu's view, merit is definitely greater than sin. Hanyang Iron Works is a steel conglomerate. This was the first large-scale capitalist machine-produced steel industry in modern China, and it was also the largest steel mill in Asia, and the construction of the steel mill was a few years later.

"The Hanyang Iron Works run by Lao Chen will be completed and put into operation in September. The whole factory includes 6 large factories such as pig iron factory, Beise hemp steel factory, Simmons steel factory, rail factory, iron goods factory, wrought iron factory and 4 small factories such as machine factory, iron casting factory, iron making factory, fish fillet hook and nail factory. There are 2 furnaces, 3,000 workers and 1,000 coal miners. ”

In addition, the old minister also has a Hubei weaving layout. Last year, he was already driving in Wuchang, with 30,000 spindles, 1,000 cloth machines, and 2,000 workers. ”

"Are there any difficulties? Speaking up, I might be able to help. ”

"Although the Hanyang Iron Works has not started, the Hubei weaving layout is still profitable, so everything is still good."

"It's good at the moment, but I'm afraid it won't be possible in the future. The profits of Hubei weaving layout alone may not be able to make up for the losses of the iron factory. ”

Zhang Zhidong said: "Could it be that the emperor can pinch it?" ”

"I don't know how to calculate, but I know a little more than you do." Guangxu smiled slightly and said slowly: "The coal and ash ore in Ma'anshan are equally important, and they cannot be coking. Daye's iron ore has too high phosphorus content. And the smelting furnace you purchased is a sour ore furnace, and you can't remove phosphorus. The steel produced will be brittle due to high phosphorus content and no toughness. Does Zhang Zhongtang dare to bet with me? ”

Zhang Zhidong was shocked: "How does the emperor know so much about the old minister's Hanyang Iron Works?" ”

Guangxu didn't speak, and Kou Liancai on the side took over: "In fact, as early as last year, the emperor has been paying attention to the progress of the Hanyang Iron Works. But the emperor was worried that if he directly intervened in the Hanyang Iron Works, he was afraid of dampening Zhang Zhongtang's positive surname. Therefore, they can only help each other secretly. ”

"No one to speak, when you're dumb." Guangxu's face did not change: "Go and call Zhang Qian." ”

"Weichen has seen the emperor and Zhang Zhongtang." After Zhang Qian finished speaking, he stood aside quietly.

"Zhang Qian, tell us how the affairs of Hanyang Iron Works are going?" Guangxu's words made Zhang Zhidong feel like falling into the fog.

"Yes." Zhang Qian said slowly. Since Zhang Qian was commissioned to set up Asia Mining, Guangxu kept his eyes on the Hanyang Iron Works. At first, Zhang Qian didn't know why, and the affairs were complicated at the beginning of the formation, so Zhang Qian didn't pay attention to it. In October last year, Guangxu strictly ordered Zhang Qian to conduct laboratory tests on the raw materials used in the Hanyang Iron Works. As soon as Zhang Qian sent the iron, stone, coal, and coke used in the Hanyang Iron Works to the United States for testing, Zhang Qian knew that the emperor's worries were necessary.

"Back to the emperor, the three refining furnaces that were repurchased in the United States according to the test results were shipped a month ago. I'll be back in half a month. Zhang Qian turned to Zhang Zhidong and said: "Because the coal in Ma'anshan cannot be coking, the emperor asked Weichen to purchase 2,000 tons of coke from the United States and ship it together, and asked Lord Zhang to prepare in advance so that he could receive it at that time." ”

Zhang Qian's words made Zhang Zhidong feel empowered: "It's the old minister who is arrogant." Lao Chen thought to himself, with the size of China, why not, there is no need to find coal and iron first and then buy a furnace? So much so that he asked the emperor to condemn him. ”

Guangxu hurriedly supported Zhang Zhidong, who wanted to kneel. People in this era are generally good, but kneeling at every turn really makes Guangxu a little unbearable: "People are not sages, Lord Zhang doesn't have to be like this." In any case, the Hanyang Iron Works is the largest steel plant in Asia, and this is the work of you, Lord Zhang. ”

"The old minister doesn't feel the merit. If it weren't for the emperor's help, I was afraid that this Hanyang Iron Works would not know when it would be able to produce steel. Mr. Zhang, although you quote me for this item purchased from the United States, Mr. Zhang has helped the old man so much, how can it be reasonable for you to pay for it. I paid for these things. ”

Zhang Zhongtang misunderstood. These objects are all produced by the emperor. Zhang Zhongtang's Qian Weichen didn't dare to accept it. ”

"Zhang Qian, you've done a good job, go play, have fun." After Zhang Qian left, Guangxu said to Zhang Zhidong: "Master Zhang, these things are paid back." As long as I can train qualified steel, I won't have this money in vain. ”

"Of course, I don't give it in vain. You have to turn on the furnace as soon as possible. It is best to be able to produce steel at the end of March. ”

"As you know, railways are being built in the Northeast and in the eastern part of Zhili, and the rails used in the construction of the railways must be purchased from their own country. Zhang Qian: The steel rails produced by Asia Mining are not yet in use. Zhan Tianyou had already gone crazy, and repeatedly asked for permission to import directly abroad. So your Hanyang Iron Works should produce qualified steel rails as soon as possible. Otherwise, my railway plans would have been delayed. How's that, it's interesting enough. Your iron factory hasn't even started yet, so I've got you a good business. ”

"The old minister thanked the emperor for his grace. Lao Chen must start work as soon as possible after he returns. It's just that if the emperor's railway plan is mistaken for the Hanyang Iron Works, the old minister is panicked. ”

"Don't panic. Why do we want foreigners to earn our money. It's better to keep him in the country. Guangxu changed the topic after speaking: "By the way, I also heard that you asked the household department for money last year, but you didn't give it." I didn't report this to me, and I just heard about it. ”

"Back to the emperor, there is indeed something." Zhang Zhidong only told the story. It turned out that Zhang Zhidong had approached Weng Tongyong last year because of a lack of money, but Weng Tongdong refused to allocate money because of the lack of households, and only promised to borrow money and repay it at the end of the year. In this way, Zhang Zhidong did not borrow money.

"Let Master Weng come here."

"Master Weng will first allocate 2 million taels to Hanyang Iron Works when he goes back, and he will have to allocate special funds."

"Go back to the emperor. As far as Weichen knows, there is no shortage of silver in Hanyang Iron Works today. Weng Tongyi was unhappy: "The household entrusted the emperor Hongfu to get this money unexpectedly, and it should be kept for emergencies." In order to avoid the recurrence of the great water in Shanxi and the lack of money in the imperial court. Besides, the list of materials for the Queen Mother's garden has been presented to the emperor, and the 10 million taels are not enough. ”

It's a garden again. Guangxu looked dissatisfied: "Is this household my household or your household." The first thing we did at the beginning of the year was to transfer the money to the Hanyang Iron Works. ”

"Wechen don't dare, Wechen respects." Weng Tongyi's heart was a little desolate. The good students who were self-motivated, studious, and obedient grew up and had their own thoughts.

"Okay, Master Weng, you also go down first." Guangxu said lightly: "Lord Zhang, you go to Zhan Tianyou about the rail and confirm the rail matter as soon as possible." In addition, Dasheng is a little busy now, if you have time for your Hubei weaving layout, find Zhang Qian to give it to you. ”

The emperor's grace and old ministers were speechless. When you do your best to repay the emperor's kindness. Zhang Zhidong understood that the Hanyang Iron Works he built was not for himself to gain credit and political capital, but to really want to do something for the country. Guangxu's conversation with him made Zhang Zhidong grateful, but he spent a lot of effort for Hanyang Iron Works, and barely maintained it with local financial resources. Unexpectedly, the emperor had already seen it in his heart, and silently gave Yu help. Nowadays, it is even more direct payment to the household. The excitement in my heart is beyond words.

"Do it with your heart, I have to look up to Lord Zhang for support." Guangxu was also very happy, Zhang Zhidong did not refuse Guangxu's help, and Hanyang Iron Works did not have to toss repeatedly. In today's world, a country's steel output means the strength of the country.

"And. Master Zhang, after receiving the new practice furnace, the current training furnace of the Hanyang Iron Works will be dismantled and handed over to Zhang Qian for the north transportation. You can coordinate with him specifically. Remember to tell Zhang Qian that the money converted from your two sets of practice furnaces asked him not to forget to send them to me. ”

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