Li Hongzhang swallowed his saliva, and said in a trembling voice: "I'm afraid that Weichen is not enough to take on this important task, foreigners are thousands of miles away, and the middle is full of vast sea, and Weichen is not used to taking a boat, this is ......"

Li Yunzhong made a condition: "You are now a six-rank staff officer, whether you go abroad or not, I will promote you to the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and you promise to go abroad!" After returning to China, I will promote you to a Shangshu, or the governor of a province, and the Jinshi who follow you abroad will be reused, and when you come back, they will all be Liupin County Order, and I will also test you. ”

Li Hongzhang hesitated, this bait is something he can't refuse, this group of jinshi who went abroad will have a connection with him after returning to China, as long as he is encircled, these people are his team, and after coming back, he will be promoted to Shangshu, and after a few more years, he will become Zaifu, and then Shoufu, isn't this the biggest ambition of a scholar!

"Wechen is willing!" Li Hongzhang replied word by word.

"Ha Lu Ha...... Good! Li Yunzhong was very happy, and added: "You go to Europe to carefully inspect their political system, industrial appearance, and collect folk wizards, you should no longer hold the mind of strange and obscene skills, ignore them, as long as there are famous and surnamed people in Europe, you can recruit them, the salary is as you like, I can afford it, by the way, I have a book here "Foreigner Life Record", this book is written by Princess Xixian herself, you have to study it carefully, it introduces the details of foreigners' living habits, court etiquette, etc., and, I will send someone to copy a map of the world, and it is more convenient for you to carry it. ”

……

Li Hongzhang memorized the contents of the emperor's instructions one by one, and planned to copy them down after he returned.

"Alright. That's all, I'll send you to Shanghai. After that, you will be blessed! ”

"Wechen retires!"

On the train from Nanjing to Shanghai, 200 scholars had solemn faces. Clutching the package in his hand, he waited anxiously for the verdict of fate, as if he was going to the execution ground.

Li Hongzhang was restless, he only persuaded half of the 400 scholars, and the rest of the people heard that they were going to Europe, and they were unwilling to live or die, and would rather resign than cross the ocean and leave the motherland, and his mouth was about to wear out. It took more than 200 people to persuade them to visit and talk to each other.

Li Yunzhong saw Li Hongzhang constantly glancing at him, and immediately understood his thoughts, and comforted: "Shaoquan doesn't need to be careful, there are two hundred people who have exceeded my expectations, this time the journey to Europe is far away, no less than Tang Seng Xitian to learn scriptures, you have to take care of your body." ”

"Your Majesty Xie is concerned, and Your Majesty has instructed your ministers to do things. The minister took it to heart. Li Hongzhang was also not in a high mood, and said goodbye to his family in a hurry this morning, and he had been gone for a year, and there was no news.

"Your Majesty. Shanghai has arrived! Tang Liang saw the train slowly stop and reminded in a low voice.

Shanghai Mayor Zhou Lichun, British Minister Wen Han, American Minister Mai Lian, and French Minister Bourblon led Shanghai celebrities and gentlemen. Stand straight on the platform.

The train stopped, and there were guards at the door. A red carpet was rolled out, and the doors had just opened. In the distance, the newspaper interviewer kept holding the camera shutter.

Li Yunzhong walked out of the car door and waved to the greeting personnel.

"Your Majesty!" Under the leadership of Zhou Lichun, Shanghai officials bowed down to greet them.

"No courtesy" Li Yunzhong walked to the red carpet and said loudly.

"Your Majesty, hello, welcome to Shanghai again!" Wen Han and the three greeted him with a smile.

Li Yunzhong also replied: "Respectfully, this Shanghai has been established as a city, and from now on it will be the territory of my Han Dynasty, and I welcome you, hahaha Several of us are old acquaintances, so why be so polite. ”

On a wide four-wheel drive carriage, Li Yunzhong, Wen Han, Burbulon and others sat opposite each other, looking at the increasingly prosperous Shanghai, Li Yunzhong sighed: "There is more and more taste of Shanghai here, you see that street lights are installed on the side of the road, which is rare in Nanjing, and all roads are paved with cement, which makes me want to set the capital here!" ”

At the beginning of this year, because Zhejiang was at war, hundreds of thousands of people came to Shanghai, and they started a business here with their industrious hands, and I believe that Shanghai can now be compared with the first-class cities in Europe." ”

Li Yunzhong turned back to Zhou Lichun and asked, "I heard that you have established a parliament in Shanghai, and you, the mayor of Shanghai, have a lot of tricks!" ”

Zhou Lichun sweated on his forehead, and said stupidly: "The parliamentary system was taught to me by a person named Hong Renji, he said that His Majesty will be happy to see the Tao, Hong Renji also claimed that he was an old friend of His Majesty, Weichen found that he was very talented, especially put forward many opinions on the governance of Shanghai, this Shanghai has become like this, he has half the credit!" ”

Li Yunzhong pondered carefully, Hong Renji! Isn't he Hong Xiuquan's clan, he came to the door so quickly: "Where is he now, I will see him later." ”

Wen Han pointed to the rows of scholars behind him and asked, "Your Majesty these people plan to let them all go to Europe?" ”

Seeing Li Yunzhong nodding, Burbulon smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you are really great, this will greatly promote the exchanges between our east and west, there has never been such a scale of Chinese in Europe, I think Europe will definitely welcome them." ”

"I hope so" Li Yunzhong asked again: "Are you ready for the boat, I don't want anyone to have an accident on the road!" ”

Wen Han put on a gentleman's demeanor, and said gently: "Ships are available at any time, please rest assured, Your Majesty, they are all adults, although the sea is bumpy, but we have enough experience to resolve it, if someone is really not adaptable, our British Empire has territories all over the world, they can get off the ship to recuperate locally, and then take other ships to meet in Europe." ”

Recently, he found that when he talked to the emperor of the Han Kingdom, he had a wonderful feeling, and he couldn't help but think about his words and deeds, dress up, and constantly hint that he was a gentleman in his heart.

Bourblon looked at the luxurious villa in front of him and sighed from the bottom of his heart: "I haven't been here for a long time, dear Your Majesty, can you allow me to hold a birthday party here the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow is my thirty-fifth birthday, and I have been worrying about the venue!" ”

Li Yunzhong got out of the car, patted Burbulon on the shoulder and smiled: "No problem, this villa seems to have expanded a lot."

Zhou Lichun stepped forward to explain: "Your Majesty, at the beginning of the year, Weichen built a park next to it, and the Americans and the British jointly built a cathedral, so the number of guests who came to play here increased a lot, and the city government felt that this would disturb His Majesty's rest, so the land within a radius of two miles was all used for decoration, and some rare plants and trees were planted, and the open-air swimming pool that His Majesty ordered to build was on the left side of the villa." ”

Half an hour later, Li Yunzhong sent off the ministers of various countries with a smile on his face, and every time he met them, the three ministers either took the opportunity to put forward some conditions, or complained about the discrimination of their citizens in doing business and the loss of money in China, which made him feel very tired, and he had to stick to the bottom line every time and refute without concession.

"Grass people Hong Renji see Your Majesty, may the emperor live long live, long live, long live!"

Li Yunzhong looked at the twenty-five or six-year-old young man and asked kindly, "Why didn't Brother Hong go to Sichuan to enjoy happiness, but came to Shanghai to be a staff member?" ”

Hong Renji calmly replied: "Sichuan is far away and remote, the grass people have been there a few times this year, and each time they almost died, these months, the grass people have figured it out, my cousin is not enterprising in Sichuan, and his life is extravagant, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is far inferior to the Han Dynasty, even if the grass people go to no avail, sooner or later they will be captured by His Majesty, it is better to stay in the Han Dynasty with peace of mind and serve the country." ”

Li Yunzhong forced his eyes and asked: "Then why don't you come to Nanjing to find me, although you and Hong Xiu are brothers, for Mr. Feng's sake, I won't embarrass you, but will reuse it, don't you believe me!" ”

Hong Renji didn't dare to admit it, and hurriedly confessed: "The emperor misunderstood, the grass people are stupid, they just lived in Hong Kong for three years, read some Western books, increased some knowledge, and did not have the slightest experience as an official. ”

Li Yunzhong soothed: "You are a talented person, don't you have any ideas?" ”

Hong Renji took out a book from his arms and presented it with both hands: "This is a little experience of the grass people studying the West, the whole book is divided into three volumes, this is the first volume, the middle volume of the grass people is at home, and it has not been sorted out, the next volume of the grass people is writing, and the whole book can be completed in half a year." ”

"A new chapter in senior management! This name is good, and when you finish writing it, I can order the Ministry of Industry to publish it all over the world, and I will let the officials carefully study it and absorb the essence of it. Li Yunzhong flipped through it casually and asked, "Brother Hong plans to stay in Shanghai like this?" ”

Hong Renji knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, since the grass people have decided to follow the emperor, let the emperor send them!" ”

Li Yunzhong put down the book of the new chapter of senior administration, got up and helped Hong Renji up: "You know both Western culture and foreign languages, which are necessary for a diplomat, and no one in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established by me can do it, I think you are good, this post of foreign minister belongs to you, what do you think." ”

Hong Renji has a deep understanding of the political system of the Han State, and knows that the position of Foreign Minister will only become more and more important, so he hurriedly thanked him: "Thank you for the promotion of the emperor, and the ministers must have done their best for the emperor and died." ”

"Okay, you go down first, when I return to Nanjing, you will follow me to take office, since the ministers of various countries are willing to be stationed in Shanghai, then you must also find an office in Shanghai."

"Wechen understands, please rest in peace, and Wechen will leave." (To be continued......)

PS: Asking for a monthly pass, although it is impossible to get a monthly pass reward, but it is still uncomfortable to see others surpassing themselves, the monthly pass has been fluctuating around 500, and your vote can make this book advance several places, which should be very valuable.