In the sixteenth year of Guangxu, Hubei undoubtedly attracted the eyes of the whole China in a certain way, the three construction sites of Guishan in Hanyang and Daye's iron mine and Ma'anshan coal mine were in full swing, the Moon Lake under Guishan Mountain was filled in flat, and thousands of people carried the picks to build the foundation under the mountain, these projects are the core of Hubei Western-Hanyang Iron Works, and at the same time it is not only these three places, but also the official weaving bureau and the official silk bureau in Wuchang, and even together with Hankou, a "Huguang Steamship Bureau" was also established. The silver flowed out of the treasury like water every day, but it was not exhausted -- every month the anti-smoking bureau would release 300,000 cigarettes to the treasury, and as for the special funds allocated by the navy's yamen last year and this year, not even a penny was touched.

Under the auspices of Zhang Zhidong, Hubei Province started a large-scale construction project to establish foreign affairs, which naturally fell into the eyes of foreigners, and for a time all the Shanghai Ocean Wenhua newspapers reported one after another, all of them called him "the leader of the Qing Dynasty's foreign affairs", even Li Hongzhang of Beiyang was not allowed to give up the reputation of this "first person in foreign affairs", although there were such chaos as the people beating Western miners, but in the case of Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, this chaos was not worth mentioning -- Hubei had foreign affairs, as he envisioned, and the process was as smooth as he envisioned. Seeing that several major events were carried out smoothly, the whole person naturally became light-hearted.

If the past had been put aside, there would have been nothing to do in the house today, maybe Zhang Zhidong would have taken the customs ferry to Hanyang to supervise the foundation of Guishan, but today he stayed, all because of the guest who came to see today, to be precise, the person represented by the guest.

"Zhongzi, Ziran sent this Song Jieqi from North Korea to Wuchang thousands of miles away, I'm afraid it's not just to send some Tuyi!"

Look at the ten catties of Korean ginseng and ten knives of Korean paper listed on the gift list. Zhang Zhidong is quite useful. He is the governor of Huguang. There are naturally a lot of people who give him gifts, but as we all know, it is not a good silver thing, and heavy gifts will make him feel disgusted with what he wants, but Tang Haoran's gift is just right, this Korean ginseng is given by the younger generations to the elders to replenish the body, as for the Korean paper, it is just a thin gift for the literati, Zhang Zhidong will naturally not refuse.

But Tang Haoran sent people all the way, and it was his henchmen who came to send this "thin gift", which couldn't make him think about it. What's more, now that Tang Haoran is in the post of the commander of the DPRK, although he is outside the Beiyang Gate, he is still entering the Beiyang, how can he not have scruples.

"Brother Xiangtao, Ziran's gift is not easy to accept!"

Sang Zhiping smiled, took the gift and said.

"It's better for Xiangtao to see what else Song Jieqi brought in addition to gifts!"

Nodding, Zhang Zhidong said with a smile.

"Since it is a person sent by Ziran, it is natural to meet him. Someone, please come in. ”

He turned his face to Sang Zhiping and said:

"Nakako. Are you evasive, or? ”

"Brother Xiangtao, Song Jieqi is Ziran's confidant, and he doesn't know the relationship between you and me? I'll stay, and I'd like to know about Ziran's recent arrival in North Korea. ”

There is a very special emotion for Tang Haoran Sang Zhiping, this emotion is appreciation from the heart, of course, there is a trace of guilt, if he could keep it, how could he go to the country for 3,000 miles, although it is said that the king of North Korea is abolished, it is not majestic, but the crisis behind this majesty does not know, if it is left in Hubei that day, how can it be so dangerous?

If he had been seen by the governor of Huguang in person when he was serving as a supplementary official in Hubei last year, Song Yuxin might not have lost his human form with excitement, but now his whole person seemed very calm, and when he was led into the signing hall by the attaché in the palace, the person went first to say:

"Xiang Shuai, Song Yuxin, a registered scribe of the Korean Unified Supervision Office, is waiting to meet you."

"Call him in!"

As soon as he entered the house, when Song Yuxin was about to make a big salute, Zhang Zhidong smiled and said:

"Excuse me."

He said, pointing to the chair on the left.

"Ziran Yu is not an outsider, so you don't need this big gift, sit down!"

Song Yuxin, who was exempted from the gift, did not have a letter of gratitude, but saluted respectfully and said:

"I have long admired the prestige of my lord, and I have longed for worship for many years. It's a great honor to be able to take the time to appreciate your face today! ”

"Hey, you are Song Jieqi, I have heard of your name for a long time, you were also a supplement in Hubei at the beginning, when Ziran left Hubei, there was only one person like you, who could not leave him, and the love between the scenes was also rare. Sit down, sit down and talk. ”

While Song Yuxin was seated, Zhang Zhidong took a serious look at him. I saw Sheng Xuanhuai in his forties, not only short and thin, but also small head and face, thin eyes, pointed chin, up and down his body, looking at this appearance, he really didn't look like an adult and gentleman, but after thinking about it: When Ziran was coldly treated and left Hubei and transferred to the capital, he was able to abandon the errand in Hubei and follow him to the capital, just this loyalty is also rare, and he can be trusted by Tang Haoran, in addition to loyalty, he must also have some real skills, didn't he decide to see him for this?

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhidong put on a smiling face and said to Song Yuxin:

"Ziran praised you greatly in the past, please let the old man let you belong to a county, the old man may have gone down at that time, if you didn't want to go to the capital with Ziran, maybe we would have met a long time ago. For a person like Jie Qi who believes in friends, I'm Zhang, others can't see you, how can I not see you?"

Although he was pretending to be calm, he could be praised by Zhang Zhidong like this, Song Yuxin was still a little flattered and said.

"Xiang Shuai is serious, he also felt that his knowledge was not reasonable enough at the beginning, and Lord Mengtang was wrong to love, which really made his subordinates feel guilty."

Seeing Song Yuxin say this, Sang Zhiping interjected on the side and said,

"Ziran was taught in foreign countries, did not learn the etiquette of the national dynasty, and received a lot of help from Jie Qi in the capital, is it wrong love? Jie Qi, you are so modest, don't you say that Ziran is ignorant of people? Don't do that in the future! ”

"Mr. Zhongzi's lesson is very important, remember it when you are in office."

Song Yuxin, who was reprimanded by Sang Zhiping like this, did not see a trace of annoyance, but the whole person became relaxed, at least as far as Sang Zhiping is concerned, his appreciation for Tang Haoran is still the same, if he can get his help, this matter will be easy to do!

Glancing at Song Yuxin, who was teaching, Zhang Zhidong continued to ask.

"Jie Qi, you traveled all the way from North Korea to Wuchang to see me, I'm afraid it's not just to send some earthen instruments, what's the big deal?"

If it's just to send some clay rituals, why send henchmen here? Although he and Tang Haoran have only been friends for a few months, Zhang Zhidong, who knows his character well, naturally knows that this Tuyi is not so easy to take.

"After taking office in Wuchang, first, Lord Tang was taken care of that day, and it was nearly August 15 since he was prepared to thank him that year. Because this matter is important, it is necessary to report it to the adults in person, maybe the adults have some effect?"

Stroking his beard, Zhang Zhidong looked at Song Yuxin and said,

"Oh? I don't know what Ziran wants? ”

As he spoke, Zhang Zhidong glanced at Sang Zhiping, and the two nodded to each other, both of whom turned their eyes to Song Yuxin.

"My lord, Lord Tang heard in North Korea that the imperial court wanted to build a railway to Guanwai, and the Navy Yamen Road was released to the Guanwai Railway, I don't know if this matter is serious?"

Seriously!

Although it seemed to be just a question, it made Zhang Zhidong's face change slightly, is it not true, can it be fake? If it weren't for the Navy Yamen's money for this year, which had already been allocated three months ago, maybe even this year's two million taels would have been withheld by Li Hefei and them.

Seeing Zhang Zhidong's slightly turned face with a faint sense of anger, Song Yuxin smiled secretly in his heart, Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong despised each other and were enemies of each other, this kind of balance of local officials was exactly what the imperial court needed, and even together with the Luhan Railway Road, it was just a balancing act of the imperial court, although both of them knew the thoughts of the imperial court, but in the end, the resentment completely fell on the two of them.

Song Yuxin's words made Sang Zhiping's brows furrow slightly, and he couldn't help but secretly think in his heart, what did Ziran want to do? The henchmen who traveled thousands of miles to Hubei were just to instigate dissatisfaction between Xiangtao and Hefei? Looking at Song Yuxin, Sang Zhiping's brows were tightly locked, but he didn't know Tang Haoran's intentions for a while.

"Now that it has been written in the world, how can it be false?"

Zhang Zhidong looked at Song Yuxin, the corners of his lips raised, could it be that he Tang Ziran didn't know about the DPRK and China when he was in North Korea?

"His subordinates came to Wuchang this time, but it was because of North Korea!"

After getting the answer, Song Yuxin began to talk endlessly:

Although Lord Tang resolutely abolished the old king of China and set up a new king, which seems to stabilize the situation in Korea, the threat of Korea is overseas, among which Russia and Japan are the most, Japan is small and weak, and there is nothing to be afraid of in recent years, but the most patient is Russia......"

Song Yuxin, who talked eloquently, talked about the threat of Russia there, and it seemed that "worrying about the east" had long been the consensus of the whole country, and Zhang Zhidong also nodded his head from time to time, although Li Hongzhang used the railway outside the border to take away the advantages of Lulu, but he also had to admit that Russia was indeed a problem for China, and naturally there would be no doubt about the threat faced by Tang Haoran in North Korea.

“…… Therefore, whether it is to consolidate the feudal domain, connect the feudal domain, or strengthen the defense to prepare for the eastern trouble, the construction of the railway is undoubtedly the most important thing in the Korean government, so the Tang lord intends to fold the imperial court, please repair the railway branch line outside the customs to connect the Korean ......"

Built a branch line of the Guanwai Railway in North Korea...... Before Song Yuxin's words fell, Zhang Zhidong's brows jumped slightly, and he immediately realized that this was the pillow handed by Tang Haoran - if the Korean Unified Supervision Office could get a share of the road money, then how could Li Hefei build the railway outside the Guanhai in peace? But how could Tang Ziran give himself such a favor for nothing? And sent people all the way to Wuchang?

Looking at Song Yuxin with half-squinted eyes, Zhang Zhidong continued to ask:

"I don't think it's all about Ziran sending you here, right?"

(After nine o'clock, there is one more, I hope you can continue to support speechless, thank you!) Empire's Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 everyone is welcome to join! (To be continued......)