"Your Highness, British Minister Wen Han, French Minister Bourblon, and American Minister Mai Lian have been waiting for an hour, you really don't meet them, these foreigners have already drunk seven pots of tea!" Fu Shanxiang saw Li Yunzhong's constant review and reminding.

Li Yunzhong put down the fold, relaxed his waist, and said, "It's been two hours, I think they should be in a hurry, you can call them in!" ”

"Your Royal Highness, you should prepare a little more tea next time." As soon as Wen Han came in, he complained humorously.

Li Yunzhong said with a smile: "I've been too busy lately, a few days ago I personally searched for thousands of foreign guns on the Yangtze River, do you know where these guns came from?" ”

Wen Han looked at Mai Lian with Bourblon and motioned for him to explain.

Mai Lian decided not to admit it, and said strangely: "Oh! God, there are thousands of them, Your Highness, you have made a lot of money, you must know that the value of this batch of goods is not less than 200,000 silver dollars. ”

Li Yunzhong replied: "Of course it's my luck, that's why I earned 200,000 taels, if I'm unlucky, I'll definitely lose 2 million taels for no reason." ”

Wen Han saw that Mai Lian's forehead was sweating, and interjected: "Your Highness, we still talk about some happy topics, such as we can build another railway, you see that Hangzhou has been captured by you, because of the report of the Times, now the whole of Europe knows about your heroic figure, which also makes many businessmen pay attention to the virgin land of the Far East, and they hope to do business under your rule." ”

"Of course I welcome businessmen who are sincere, but I am resolute in cracking down on those who sell opium and drugs and speculate. Recently, the Ministry of Punishment planned to launch a strike hard campaign to crack down on the drug trade. I hope that when you return, you will warn the unscrupulous merchants not to peddle opium on my territory. Li Yunzhong said solemnly.

Wen Han frowned and asked, "Your Highness, I don't know why you have such a big prejudice against opium. Opium is also very useful, it can be used as a painkiller, and our British Empire has not banned the circulation of opium, and there are many opium houses in the country. ”

Li Yunzhong looked at Wen Han's eyes to make sure that he was not lying, and said: "You British people are not afraid of addiction, opium is harmful, and long-term smoking makes people lose their appetite and lose their spirits." I remember that you, Mr. Charlie, the British commercial superintendent in China, were themselves a hardcore opponent of the opium trade. He considered the opium trade to be a disgrace to the British Empire. ”

Wen Han said: "Whether or not to smoke opium depends entirely on the will of the individual, and those who are addicted to it can also quit drug addiction by will, and I think that the benefits of opium outweigh the harm, although some domestic journalists call the war against China in 1840 the Opium War." ”

Li Yunzhong retorted: "In any case, opium is now notorious in China, and we will not allow opium to continue to exist, and you also know that there are many newspapers in the territory of the Great Han Dynasty, and I don't want them to accuse the government of inaction." ”

Mai Lian felt that it didn't matter. The Americans, who seldom worked in the opium trade in China, agreed, in order to win the favor of Li Yunzhong: "I support Your Highness's decision, but of course I cannot give orders to citizens engaged in the opium trade." I can only kindly remind them not to let Your Highness catch you. ”

Li Yunzhong saw that their momentum had fallen to the bottom line, and took the opportunity to mention: "You have sold a large number of guns to the Qing army during this period of time. The Hunan army in Jiangxi, the Qing army in Xuzhou, and the Qing army in Hangzhou and Fujian all bought in large quantities. According to my statistics, there are more than 10,000, do you have anything else to add? ”

Burbulon hurriedly denied: "Your Highness, you have miscalculated. At most, there are only 5000 of them, all our stocks in the Far East, these are domestic orders, and we cannot disobey them. ”

"So your country has decided to side with the Qing army? I think we can break off relations! Li Yunzhong said solemnly.

"That's not the case, Your Highness, listen to my explanation, many of the treaties we signed with the Qing State ten years ago have expired, and the country is considering continuing to renew the contract, so there is this order, I think if the Qing State does not agree, the country will definitely send troops to teach them a lesson, and then we will be on the side," Wen Han did not hesitate to explain the domestic plan and inventory.

Li Yunzhong said angrily: "I think that most of the treaties you signed with the Qing State are under the control of the Han army, and you are looking for the Qing State to renew the treaty, is this a violation of our agreement, I can unilaterally terminate all the treaties we signed." ”

……

After some bargaining, Li Yunzhong finally got his wish and obtained the right to purchase one fourth-class battleship and two fifth-class cruisers.

Wen Han wiped the sweat on his forehead, he didn't know if the country was in favor of his decision, a battleship can change a war, and reluctantly smiled: "Your Highness, can we discuss the matter of the railway now, you have captured Zhejiang, which is very suitable for building a railway, and our foreign companies of the British Empire are very willing to serve you." ”

Mai Lian and Bourblon pledged in unison: "Our foreign companies are also willing to serve you. ”

Li Yunzhong asked a question that had been held in his heart for a long time: "You are working so hard to earn benefits for foreign banks, what can you get?" Why don't you serve me! You can get both silver and fame. ”

Wen Han said with a smile: "Your Highness, you won't know about the situation in our country, the sensible people of these foreign banks are very powerful in the country, they can manipulate the election of parliamentarians, if they are satisfied with my work in the Far East, I will be transferred to the country, a job with a very high status." ”

Li Yunzhong saw that they were unwilling and not reluctant, so he nodded and said: "The railway from Hangzhou to Shanghai can be built, and if you are interested in Hangzhou to Suzhou, you can also start construction." ”

Several ministers were very satisfied with Li Yunzhong's decision, and all returned to the Nanjing embassy with smiles on their faces.

Li Yunzhong said to Fu Shanxiang: "I haven't seen any guests today, I'm really tired of talking to a few of them, beauty, come and rub my shoulders." ”

late at night

Zhao Laoqi tossed and turned, extremely conflicted in his heart, hesitating whether he should remind King Han to pay attention to safety, so he thought about it while walking, and came to the palace again.

Fu Shanxiang said to Zhao Laoqi very formulaically: "Your Highness is resting, you can come back tomorrow!" ”

Hearing that the King of Han was resting, Zhao Laoqi did not hesitate, and smiled at Fu Shanxiang: "Please Lord Fu to report on your behalf, the lower officials really have urgent information to report to the King of Han." ”

Thinking of Ailang's tired appearance, Fu Shanxiang became angry at Zhao Laoqi's entanglement: "Your Highness said, you won't meet the minister today, you can come back tomorrow if you have something." (To be continued......)

PS: Double monthly pass and the day after the worst, today I always have nosebleeds, I took the time to go to the infirmary and asked, saying that I was overtired, I was depressed, I didn't do anything, just code words, how can I be overtired?