In Xiyin Academy, Ye Zhao was drinking tea while listening to the beginning and end of the Ming Ningguo grain interception case and the results of the Ming Ning State grain interception case by Sun Bozheng, the governor of Su and Anhui.

The grain ship has been released, Gao Zhihou, the prefect of Ningguo Mansion, has been removed from his post and taken over, and more than a dozen squires who have bewitched the villagers to make trouble have been imprisoned, and more than 100 people have been beaten.

Sun Bozheng is a thunderbolt method.

Ye Zhao tasted the tea and didn't speak much.

"Lord Wang, your subordinates have raised fifty loads of grain and rice to enter Ningguo to help the villagers, and now Ningguo's mansion has been Ningding. His Majesty successively criticized the gentry this time, and he was very frightened, but if this was not the case, the people in the Suwan area would be rampant, and many incidents would surely arise in the future. ”

Looking at Sun Bozheng's hanging eyebrows and triangular eyes, Ye Zhao nodded slightly, this Sun Bozheng, I am afraid that his reputation among the people will not be good in the future, I think he is already a cool official in the people.

Looking at the folds on the table again, Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Agriculture, folded the bullet and Sun Bozheng was too harsh, and set up a big prison to make Su Wan people panic, and said that Su Wan had just been pacified, and it should be pacified.

Although Sun Bozheng served as the superintendent of Guangdong Customs, Li Xiaocun recommended him and made friends with Li Xiaocun, but Li Hongzhang's excerpt may not be a party dispute.

"There you go." Ye Zhao waved his hand.

Sun Bo bowed down and slowly retreated.

Ye Zhao picked up the telegram on the table again, it was sent from Shanghai, the Russians suddenly wanted to intervene in the negotiations, and the officials of the southern country withdrew in protest.

Alas, the Northern Dynasty, Ye Zhao is really scratching his head, the diplomacy of the officials in the north is really a mess, Du Han may be a strongman in the officialdom, but diplomatic negotiations are actually a toddler baby, don't you know that without ventilating to any party, suddenly pulled the Rakshasa people in, and asked them to become a member of the mediation country, not only offended the southern country, but even the three mediation countries of Britain, France and the United States were also guilty together? However, countries such as Britain and France want to get used to it and will not take it too seriously.

Thinking about it, Ye Zhao slowly picked up a pen and paper and wrote a letter, which was addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to use this opportunity to communicate with Britain, France, and the United States, so that the three countries could better understand the position of the Southern Dynasties, put pressure on the North, and solve the status problem of Shanghai in the best interests of the Southern Dynasties.

Although the center of gravity of Britain and France is not in the Far East, they will not ignore the Russians sitting on the Far East, especially when the Crimean War ended, Britain, France and Russia were still in a hostile state, and Britain and France and other countries have always been vigilant about the expansion tendency of the Russians and have always regarded them as threats.

After writing the letter and considering it from beginning to end, the young clerk who had been standing next to him hurriedly took over and rushed out.

"Master, the carriage is ready!" A tower-like man appeared at the door of the hall, and the deputy head of the guard of Prince Qian's mansion, Urden.

The U.S. Consulate General in Nanjing has begun to take shape, and the ruined wasteland has gradually been enclosed with walls, planted with green grass, and small Western-style buildings in the Renaissance style have also risen from the ground, with stained glass windows, like a church.

When Ye Zhao's motorvoy entered the iron gate of the consulate, he saw that the iron windows of the small western-style building were open, and many Chinese and Western characters leaned on the windows.

Jackson greeted him early, his blue eyes were full of joy, today is his birth, this birthday meeting held in the embassy, although the regent has long said that he will come to participate, but he doesn't want to really come, he naturally has a big light on his face.

You know, the regent is becoming more and more difficult to see nowadays, and the consuls of various countries in Nanjing have their own foreign affairs departments to receive them. Although I know that the regent works in Xiyin Academy, if there is no prior arrangement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is impossible to enter the mouth of the alley, and I think so, do foreign envoys in London say that they can meet the queen if they want to? Nowadays, the regent of South China, no different from the emperor, rules half of China, and is said to have all kinds of opportunities, and it is already "heaven's grace" to be able to meet them in Chinese when encountering critical matters, and it is natural to communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in ordinary matters and small affairs, but the efficiency of the Yamen in the south is not much different from that of the countries of Europa, and the consuls of various countries have gradually become accustomed to dealing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Tom, happy life." Ye Zhao was dressed in a yellow robe, handsome and majestic, he smiled and hugged Jackson gently, and the other consuls had different expressions on their faces, but the representative of China's mysterious royal family also had such an approachable moment, which was undoubtedly a good message of kindness.

"This is my gift." Ye Zhao made a gesture, and his own blue-armored warrior presented a brocade plate and lifted the red silk cloth, which was a big pearl, shining brightly, and it was a tribute to the Siamese country.

Jackson was stunned for a moment, and said continuously: "It's too precious, it's too precious." ”

Ye Zhao smiled and waved his hand, and greeted the consuls of various countries one by one, and then walked into the hall surrounded by them.

The hall is covered with a Chinese embroidery carpet, half an inch thick, soft and comfortable to step on, and the octagonal palace lamps are hung everywhere, and the Huayao Hall is full of oriental charm.

In fact, from these small details, we can know the take-off of the Southern Dynasties, let's just say this carpet, not to mention the Chinese magnates, even foreign officials and businessmen, no longer travel thousands of miles from Europe to buy the famous French carpet, but gradually replace it with Chinese textiles. The number of Western merchants who operated the trade between China and the countries of the South Seas increased, and the merchant ships who came from Taixi to plunder the resources of the South Seas and trade Chinese silk and tea gradually found that the system of transporting opium in the South Country was more and more restrictive, and the taxes were also extremely heavy. In this atmosphere, the opium merchants' calls for political axes to discuss opium trade tariffs with the south were ignored and even received coldly.

Nowadays, merchants from the East are more likely to carry industrial products, and although the profits are lower because of the competition of local goods from the south, it is a hundred times better than the occasional trouble with carrying opium.

The Europeans, who had relied on plundering precious metals in the Americas to enter the trade system of East Asia and Southeast Asia, found that time seemed to go back a few years ago, and China's trade with Europe gradually appeared in surplus.

The Europeans, who were already alarmed, lamented that if the sea routes of trade between the East and the West were not fundamentally improved, in the near future the Europeans would completely lose the Far Eastern market, and the merchants who went to the Far East trade would find that the old trade chains were broken, and when they brought large quantities of tea and silk back to Europe, they would find that we had no goods to exchange with them on a reciprocal basis, and could only pay the difference with large quantities of silver and gold.

With the lamentation of Europeans, Chinese bonds, which had been gradually receiving a cold reception in London, have gradually become active, and for businessmen and investors alone, no one has paid attention to such far-sighted cries, and China's prospects are bright, and it is naturally profitable to invest.

Of course, there are opportunities and dangers in crisis, and the British have begun to study the cultivation of tea plants in India to break China's monopoly on the world tea market, and at the same time, the Suez Canal Company, which was established last year, has accelerated the pace of canal construction, and more and more Egyptians have been forced to invest in the construction of the canal.

Ye Zhao has a little understanding of these situations, and also knows that at the end of this century, it was precisely because Indian tea and Ceylon tea defeated Chinese tea in the British market that China's economy and foreign trade suffered a catastrophe.

Nowadays, the Europeans have already started the experiment of cultivating tea plants in India, which is naturally very dangerous for China, even if China can get rid of its dependence on the tea trade, but its huge profits, Ye Zhao does not want to give up early, because Ye Zhao has already explained to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sent people disguised as servants of British merchants, and went to India to understand the situation.

China's intelligence spies and secret police, in terms of the scope of their activities and the wide range of applications, can now be said to be the world's number one.

No way, who in the country doesn't know the important role of spies when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party compete for power? For Ye Zhao, the construction of the intelligence network of the intelligence department has always been placed in an extremely important position.

As for the Suez Canal, in fact, Ye Zhao wants to participate in it, but the British and French must not want the Chinese to get involved, but this canal is difficult to complete in ten or eight years, so there is no need to worry about it for the time being.

Thinking wildly, Ye Zhao was let to the first seat, Jackson, British Consul Hilton, French Consul Ai Tang and others sat next to Ye Zhao and talked to the regent, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the consuls of several countries want to guess the intention of South China policy and diplomacy from the regent's words.

In particular, British Consul Hilton, a few days ago, the British Consulate received an official letter from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that Siam's formal establishment of tributary relations with South China was that trade negotiations between the Kingdom of Britain and Siam could be conducted in Guangzhou, and that China was willing to do its utmost to provide guarantees for the treaty signed between the two sides, and at the same time help the two countries sign a fair and just trade treaty.

This is a very clear signal that China wants to participate more and more in the affairs of the Nanyang countries, as the original suzerainty of the Nanyang countries, China has always had extraordinary influence in the Nanyangs, and even the remnants of the defeated soldiers in the civil war or the Chinese pirates often establish a state in the Nanyang. Hilton, who was increasingly amazed at the changes in South China, could not but be cautious about the note from the South China political axe, and he had already sent a telegram to Xin Jiapo overnight to learn about the contract with Siam.

However, Xinjiapo quickly replied, saying that there was no need to pay attention to the Chinese's thoughts, that South China had only inherited the consistent good-faced style of China's political axe, and its ties with the tributary states in Nanyang were extremely fragile, and its support for the tributary countries was believed to be at a minimum. He also asked Consul Hilton to reassure the Chinese, but also to let the Chinese know that the British had the right to trade with any country in the South Seas without the approval and finger-pointing of a third country.

Hilton could only sigh in his heart, South China is not a closed country, but more and more interested in maritime trade, if it is not appeased, I am afraid that sooner or later there will be trouble.

Sitting beside Ye Zhao at this moment, Hilton hesitated and interjected: "His Royal Highness, about the trade transaction between the Kingdom of Siam and ......"

Ye Zhao waved his hand and said, "I won't talk about business today." "I knew that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be boring, although some officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were indignant, but Ye Zhao would not keep a record of the accounts, and planned any revenge plan in his heart. The national strength is like this, there is nothing to be done, there will always be a time when the clouds open and the moon will see.

Hilton had no choice but to laugh twice and swallow his sigh into his stomach, the arrogance of the empire is only afraid that sooner or later it will brew its own bitter fruit.

…… In the negotiations in Shanghai, Britain, France, and the United States really quickly and actively participated, and I heard that the officials of the North Korea had exerted tremendous pressure in private, and the Russian fleet had to sail away from Shanghai and go north to Rostock, and even the plan to build a ship repair yard and a dock on the Liaodong Peninsula had to be stranded because of the strong opposition of Britain and France.

The Southern Infantry Regiment had set up artillery in the suburbs of Shanghai, and was ready to attack the city, but the directors of the British and French Ministries of Industry were forced to jump to their feet, and they took turns to visit Du Han, and they almost kidnapped him to sign.

At the end of September 1859, the north and south finally reached a draft agreement in Shanghai, only waiting for the approval of the six kings and the regent Yulan Zhu, in the draft agreed that Shanghai was owned by the north, but the armed entry of the north and south was strictly prohibited, and the Shanghai Jiang Customs was jointly managed by the north and the south, and the tariff distribution was subject to the goods from all over the world from the south to the north, and the goods from the north and the south were free to circulate, and neither side imposed entry tariffs.

Ye Zhao was extremely satisfied with the treaty, not only obtained the tariff rights of Shanghai, but most importantly, the free circulation of goods between the two sides, so that the entire Chinese economy was not separated, which was of extraordinary significance to the south.

Sure enough, he gave Beiguo the ownership of Shanghai, and he was full of face, and he immediately received a rich return.

The dispute between the north and the south seems to be a sentence, but Ye Zhao knows that in fact, it is just a new beginning.

As the dust settles on the Shanghai talks, the candidate for the vice premier of the Southern Korean Government Council has also surfaced.

Xiyin Academy, in and out of the academy is full of busy clerks, they are busy tidying up the room, preparing the official offices for the deputy prime minister and the minister of parliament who will also work in Xiyin Academy.

In fact, the system of Deputy Prime Ministers and Parliamentary Ministers is similar to that of the Military Aircraft Department, except that it is more standardized and its responsibilities are clearer.

Sitting behind the generous gold-inlaid table, Ye Zhao made a gesture, and the clerk hurriedly distributed the thick stacks of documents on the desk to the officials sitting on both sides.

Li Hongzhang, Li Xiaocun, Li Jianchen, and Yuan Jia were all present, all sitting respectfully on the soft pier, each of them silent, but in fact, they were afraid that they would all set off stormy waves.

Ye Zhao took a sip of tea and said lightly: "I don't hide it from you, in fact, the four of you are all in my thinking, and they are all usable people, but who to use and who not to use, I am nerve-wracking, it has not been long since the establishment of our Government Affairs Yuan, I can't say who is more capable, and besides, you all have your own strengths and weaknesses." ”

None of them spoke, but listened quietly.

Ye Zhao said again: "Let's open it all and take a look, you should have all heard of it, the palace secretary's office has considered your reputation in various ministries and among the celebrities and gentry, although these things are not accurate, but there are also merits, at least, I know more about you." "Don't be afraid, I can still tell the truth and falsehood." ”

The four of them all bowed down and said yes, and slowly opened the document in their hands to read, each opinion was anonymous, I am afraid that except for the regent, no one knows who wrote these impressions of the four people.

Ye Zhao smiled again: "In the past, we paid attention to not commenting on Shangguan, but if you want me to say, how are you doing your errands, mediocre or virtuous, the people who work under you know best, these things can be done more in the future." Even if you want to promote officials, you can't just rely on your own likes and dislikes, and listen to the opinions of the people below, there is no harm. ”

"Yes." All four respectfully agreed, and slowly flipped through it.

Ye Zhao picked up the teacup and tasted the tea slowly, among the four people, Li Hongzhang was the slowest to look through the papers, and Li Xiaocun was the fastest, no wonder the two became opponents, and their surnames were far from each other.

When he saw that the four of them had almost seen it, Ye Zhao smiled and said: "Now you should all have a score in your hearts, Yixuan and Wuqiao, Dehou Streamer, are also quite in line with me, and they have communicated more than a dozen telegrams with the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, and the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces is also very relieved." ”

Yixuan is the word of Li Jianchen, Wuqiao is the word of Yuan Jiasan, the two old-school officials, but they have the best reputation, in fact, they are also highly respected, they are both old courtiers who are over the age of sixties, since they are not Li Hongzhang and Li Xiaocun can compare, and both of them are old-school officials, giving people the feeling that they are relatively stable, Chinese officialdom, this stable word is amazing. Li Xiaocun and Li Hongzhang are pioneers of the reformists, although they are all instructed by themselves, they are always unconventional, and they always make people feel that they are missing something as the first assistant.

Li Jianchen and Yuan Jiasan are the first assistants, which is also Ye Zhao's original intention, and even for Yuan Jiasan's comments, they are somewhat fake. In the promotion of this official, how much should be paid attention to seniority, with the age of the two, they will not be able to work for many years, but if they are given to Li Xiaocun and Li Hongzhang, in the long run, it may not be a good thing, especially Li Hongzhang, who is not yet forty years old, how much he owes experience, not to mention that if he is appointed as the first assistant now, what position will he be in the future? I'm afraid that sooner or later, I will lose the friendship of the guest and the host. Now press it, hone and hone it, it will only be good for him.

Li Jianchen and Yuan Jiasan both got up and knelt down to thank him.

Ye Zhao smiled slightly, and said: "Get up, let's discuss the candidates for the Minister of Parliament, gradually Fu and Mingxuan will definitely enter, and the rest of the candidates, Zhou Jingshan and Zheng Zhen, you will discuss it, and you will not be able to do it." ”

Naturally, all four of them even claimed to be good.

Ye Zhao said again: "Your errands in various ministries will be unloaded, go back and prepare well, and wait for the order." ”

"Yes!" The four of them got up, knelt down and said goodbye.

(To be continued)