It is indeed very frustrating, but the domestic demand for steel is too small today, especially the demand for steel. Therefore, except for a small amount of steel sold domestically, most of the steel is actually sold overseas, such as Japan or Southeast Asia.

In the past, the biggest headache for Elaline and her sisters was not the speed of the iron plant, but what to do with the extra products after the production capacity was increased. Now the production capacity is more than 20,000 tons more than in the past, if it weren't for the ongoing planning of Wuhu New Area, even Yan Shao didn't know how to deal with the extra steel.

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According to Yan Shao's meaning, it is to accumulate grain, build a high wall, and slowly become the king.

Nothing to do with us outside, we just take care of our one-third of an acre of land, and wait until the outbreak of the Baolu Movement in 1911.

Yan Shao has great confidence in the outbreak of the Baolu Movement, even if many things have been changed by him in this era.

Because as long as the rubber stocks in London and Shanghai collapsed, the only means that the Qing court could use to make up for the losses was to nationalize the Sichuan-Han Railway and the Guangdong-Hankou Railway, and then sell them to the four-nation consortium or something...

"But it looks like even if I want to keep a low profile, no one else will let me keep a low profile..."

Putting a letter in his hand on the table, Yan Shao let out a long sigh.

Seeing Yan Shao pretending there, Caterina pursed her lips, but Elano said with a smile. "Who told you that you have promised people in advance, and now it's hard to shirk and say that you don't have time..."

"yes, who told me that I had already promised someone...". Yan Shao picked up the letter again and looked at it.

The letter was from Zhang Jian, and the content of the letter was very simple, that is, he had agreed with Yan Shao to invite Yan Shao to Beijing. and representatives of the Consultative Bureau across the country launched a 'huge' petition campaign to demand that the Qing court convene the Diet as soon as possible.

Originally, Yan Shao thought that he was in the UK or elsewhere at this time, so he agreed. It's just that Ji Luhua can't catch up with the changes, he never imagined that the time he went to Xiangshan would be bombed, which led to a change in his itinerary, and he is still in China.

Since he is still in China, he must fulfill what he once promised others.

Speaking of which. You haven't been to the North yet, have you? Putting the letter away, Yan Shao smiled at Elano and the others.

After making some arrangements, Yan Shao took Elanon, Caterina and a few maids and more than 20 'bodyguards' to Shanghai by boat. Of course, it wasn't just Yan Shao who went to Shanghai. There are also Li Guoyun as vice president and several other directors of the Innovation Association.

The petition campaign launched by Zhang Jian this time was indeed huge, with a total of 16 provincial representatives participating, and a total of 55 people including Yan Shao and them.

However, when they saw Yan Shao's bodyguard group of more than 20 people, Zhang Jian and others who came to the dock to greet him couldn't help but be surprised.

"It's a big boss. You have to bring so many people with you when you go out..."Seeing that Yan Shao was surrounded by so many people. Zheng Xiaoxu couldn't help but sarcastically.

Hearing Zheng Xiaoxu say this, Zhang Jian and the others couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and the faces of Li Guoyun and the others showed a hint of anger.

In any case, Yan Shao is the president of the Innovation Association, and now he is here on behalf of more than 30 million Anhui people, and now Zheng Xiaoxu, who has just gotten off the boat, said this, isn't this a slap in the face of Anhui people in front of them? Even if Li Guoyun and the others have opinions on Yan Shao in private, they will not tolerate this kind of thing.

But just when Li Guoyun was about to have a seizure, Yan Shao said with a smile. "There's no way, are there many enemies? That's all I can say, and I hope you don't be surprised..."After all, I was invited to a meeting this time. It's always hard to get into trouble with others, and it's hard to say anything else, Yan Shao still has the strength to tolerate this offense.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Zheng Xiaoxu was now the president of the Preparatory Constitutional Association, Yan Shao wouldn't even know what Lu Dao was doing in front of him, so naturally he would not be angry because of this offense.

Merely...

If Yan Shao knew who was in front of him, I am afraid that he would not only have to turn his face, but also compare his middle finger, even if he stepped forward and kicked two feet, it may not be impossible.

Without him, because the person in front of him who had served as the prime minister of the puppet Manchukuo in another time and space...

To put it simply, it only takes two words to describe...

Traitors...

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The explosion of the Xiangshan Iron Works once caused a sensation throughout the country, and Zhang Jian also knew about it, and there were also two shootings in Shanghai, so after hearing Yan Shao's explanation, the people present showed a relieved look, and Zheng Xiaoxu was also a little surprised.

Glancing at Zheng Xiaoxu reproachfully, Zhang Jian stepped forward and said roundly.

"Now that the representatives of the provinces have arrived one after another, we have arranged accommodation for them, of course, some of them have found their own accommodation, I don't know what you mean..."

After all, Yan Shao was invited by him, and at this time, it could only be Zhang Jian.

Hearing Zhang Jian's words, Yan Shao smiled and said. "The company has an office in Shanghai, and we can live there."

"That's good..." Zhang Jian and Yan Shao also have some business dealings, and the distance between Nantong and Shanghai is not very far, so they naturally know about this matter, so they didn't say anything.

After inviting Yan Shao and them to a nearby restaurant for a dust-washing banquet, Yan Shao took Li Guojun and them to the group's office in Shanghai.

It is said to be an office, but it is actually a small three-storey western-style building, which usually has a lot of business, so it can also be called a person coming and going.

After calling the person in charge of the office, Yan Shao said to Li Guoyun.

"Brother Feijun, if you have anything, just look for him, Yan will go to rest first..."

After Yan Shao left, the person in charge of the office led Li Guoyun and them to the third floor of the western-style building.

The so-called office was originally similar to a guest house, and people from the company would live here when they came to Shanghai to work, so there were many rooms in the office, and soon the young man in charge arranged the room for Li Guoyun and them.

It doesn't look too big. But the room was very tidy, and Li Guoyun also nodded.

"I'm sorry for you..."

Hearing Li Guoyun speak so politely, the person in charge of the office also smiled. "Where are the words. This is supposed to be the duty of the next..."

As the boss of the group, Yan Shao was naturally arranged in the best room.

And after removing his coat, Elaline, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, said softly. "What are you going to do about this petition?"

"How?" Yan Shao smiled. "Of course, I will do what others do, anyway, there are so many leading figures, and there is no need for me, a businessman, to take the lead."

Indeed, even if Yan Shao is now the largest industrialist in the country, his influence in this kind of matter is still not as good as that of those who read.

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After 1909. Zhang Jian, chairman of the Jiangsu Consultative Bureau, sent a telegram to the provincial advisory bureaus, suggesting that a congressional petition comrade meeting be organized. After more than a month of multi-party contact, representatives from various provinces arrived in Shanghai one after another. A meeting was held to discuss the matter of petitioning for the speedy convening of the National Assembly.

Just like Yan Shao said, Yan Shao just sat on the sidelines and watched the meeting of the provincial representatives this time, and did not put forward too many opinions himself. After all, he knew very well that although the Qing court was finally forced to form a cabinet in 1911 due to the national situation, 9 of the 13-member cabinet were Manchus. Seven of them are royalty. Only 4 positions were reserved for Han ministers...

It is precisely because more than half of the cabinet ministers are members of the imperial family that this cabinet is historically called the 'Imperial Cabinet'.

"President, how are we doing now?"

Seeing that the representatives of other provinces kept speaking, but they were sitting here without saying a word, Li Guoyun felt a little uncomfortable.

"This ...... I didn't ask you not to speak, but I didn't have much opinion on this matter, so I didn't speak, if you have any ideas, you can just say it. After all, you're also the deputy director of the Advisory Bureau anyway, aren't you..."

Hearing Yan Shao say this, Li Guoyun breathed a sigh of relief. And several other representatives of the Anhui Consultative Bureau also stood up to speak.

After a period of meetings, the provincial delegates agreed that they had to go to Beijing to petition the Qing court to 'quickly convene the National Assembly'.

At this time, Zhang Jian, as the landlord, noticed that Yan Shao had not spoken, and after frowning, he looked at Yan Shao's position and raised his voice. "Regarding the matter of the petition, I don't know what Speaker Lu Daoyan thinks..."

With Zhang Jian's voice, everyone else also looked over.

felt that the meeting was about to end, and Yan Shao, who was about to go home for dinner, was also a little dumbfounded when he heard Zhang Jian call himself. After all, he knew very well that this petition would only end in failure, so he didn't prepare any speech at all, but since Zhang Jian had named him, he couldn't say nothing.

After pondering for a moment, Yan Shao arched his hand around. "All of you here are social elites, leaders in the business world, and also my predecessors Yan, who have eaten more salt than Yan has eaten, Yan is naturally willing to follow your predecessors, as for the opinions, the opinions that Yan wants to put forward have been put forward, so Yan Shao doesn't know what to say. However, if all of you here do not give up, Yan is willing to bear the cost of going to Beijing for the representatives of various provinces this time, and the ships to Beijing can also be used by our company..."

Anyway, it doesn't cost much, Yan Shao naturally doesn't mind selling personal favors to earn some fame by the way.

After hearing Yan Shao's words, Zhang Jian nodded with satisfaction, and there was a round of applause at the venue.

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Everyone knows that Yan Shao is a rich man, so naturally he won't mind borrowing light in this matter. After the meeting, Yan Shao also sent a telegram to Wuhu by radio and transferred a passenger ship over.

The distance from Wuhu to Shanghai is not too far, a few hours is enough, so the representatives of the provinces have just departed and the passenger ferry is already waiting at the pier.

However, it took Yan Shao and them quite a while to go from Shanghai to Beijing.

"Bolan, I'll leave it to you next..."

After arriving in Beijing, almost everyone standing outside the gate of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, including Zhang Jian and Yan Shao, looked at Sun Hongyi's back.

As a member of the Zhili Consultative Bureau, Sun Hongyi will represent the representatives of other provinces to submit a petition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for the "speedy opening of the National Assembly." "If the Congress is expected to be convened within a year, the world will be very fortunate!"

Hear Zhang Jian's words. Sun Hongyi, who was only 39 years old at this time, nodded. "Don't worry, I'll do my best..."

As he spoke, he walked through the gate and submitted a petition to the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office.

This time, it is not without reason that Zhang Jian will choose Sun Hongyi. First of all, he is a member of the Zhili Council, and he has some connections in various ministries, and secondly, he has also entered Yuan Shikai's curtain and worked for Yuan Shikai, so naturally he also has some face, and it is more appropriate for him to submit the petition than for someone else.

Moreover, at the meeting in Shanghai, Sun Hongyi also expressed his willingness to lead the delegates to sign the first place, and if the Qing court blamed him, he would bear it alone. That's why in the end, 55 delegates representing 18 provinces will petition the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Because of Sun Hongyi's identity, he didn't suffer any embarrassment in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but he looked at the petition in front of him. The officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate had a headache.

"The petition has been sent to us..."Looking at the petition on the table, Tong Lei frowned and looked at the other colleagues. What do you say to do? ”

"This—" said a younger-looking official, after a moment's hesitation. Or do you want to hand over the petition on behalf of the delegates? ”

Hearing his words, the other officials all glanced at him dissatisfied.

Officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate have always been very disgusted by such posts that interfere in the government's affairs. It's almost impossible to get them to deliver petitions instead of the tables. The younger official seemed to have thought of this as well. So after noticing the dissatisfied gazes of his colleagues around him, he hurriedly lowered his head.

The fact that the Metropolitan Procuratorate did not come forward on behalf of the delegation somewhat disappointed the delegates.

"What's next?" Seeing that the Metropolitan Procuratorate didn't intend to pay attention to this matter at all, Sun Hongyi said with some disappointment.

In fact, it was not only him, but most of the other delegates were also like this, only Yan Shao was like a person who had nothing to do, except for when he was petitioning, he was almost always accompanying Elaline and them to wander the streets.

After hearing Sun Hongyi's words, he gritted his teeth and Zhang Jian spoke. "Since they don't want to pay attention. Then we will go to the other ministers and ask for their support..."

"That's right. If there is the support of other ministers, this matter will be easier..."Luo Lun nodded in agreement.

Zhang Jian's gang quickly adjusted their mood, set off again, and began to consult the courtiers for support.

Since they want to find someone to support, they are naturally looking for the most influential kind, so the first thing Zhang Jian and the others asked to see was the chief military minister Yixuan.

Knowing that the people from this group of petitioners were coming, Yixuan also had a headache.

However, he also knows how influential these people are, so he doesn't want to offend these people for no reason. And the most important thing is that Yi Liang was considered a mediocre and corrupt official in the past. However, he was still relatively active in promoting the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, such as supporting Shen Jiaben in building a legal system.

So after meeting the representatives of the petition group, Yixuan quickly said. "I am also a member of the people, and I will help."

After meeting with the other ministers of military aircraft, Na Tong also agreed.

With the help of these two people, plus the efforts of other representatives, Lu Chuanlin and Dai Hongci also expressed their understanding.

However, in addition to these people, some other royal family nobles, such as Prince Su Shanqi, Bei Zi Pulun and Zhenguo Gong Zaize avoided them, and only Beile Zaitao and Yu Lang said that they would "do their best to help", which finally made the delegates feel a little comforted.

While the delegation was busy in Beijing over the petition, the governors of various provinces also called the Qing court, asking for "subservience to public opinion and a speedy opening of the National Assembly." Subsequently, the Imperial History Jiang Chunlin (also a member of the Senior Affairs Yuan) deliberately folded the "request to shorten the years of the National Assembly". Not only that, but even the banner people also joined the petition procession, and they "publicly elected representatives to petition the Metropolitan Procuratorate to petition for the speedy opening of the National Assembly." Under these circumstances, the Metropolitan Procuratorate had no choice but to put up these petitions together.

With such a favorable situation, the provincial deputies were naturally greatly encouraged. However, to the disappointment of the deputies, although the Qing court issued the edict "deeply pleased" the patriotic fervor of the deputies and assured that "the constitution must be established, the parliament must be opened, and those who are prudent should be given priority and urgency," they still rejected the deputies' petition on the pretext that "the country is vast and the people are not of the same intelligence, and if the parliament is opened, it will cause disturbance and unrest."

The delegates of the provincial petition were not surprised by this result—————— if the petition could be successful once, it would not be called the Chinese court.

"Although the Imperial Court did not agree, judging from the support of the ministers of the court and the response of the local governors, our actions still played a lot of roles, and the petition activities also expanded the influence of constitutionalism and made more people understand constitutionalism." Speaking of which, Zhang Jian continued. "Although we failed this time, we still have a next time, a next time, until the court agrees, but now the court has just issued an edict, and the second petition activity is not easy to start immediately, it is best to expand the scope of petition representatives, and widely solicit petition signatures to strengthen the momentum." Apparently planning to fight again next year.

Hearing Zhang Jian say this, Sun Hongyi also nodded. "Yes, as long as more people can be mobilized, forced by public opinion, the court will definitely agree..."

"yes, yes, and then I got a royal cabinet out." Sitting in the corner of the Anhui delegation, Yan Shao, as the head of the delegation, complained in his heart.

This time, because he bore the expenses of the provincial representatives in Beijing, Yan Shao also made a lot of limelight, so seeing that Yan Shao was sitting in the corner and had not spoken, Zhang Jian spoke.

"President Yan, I don't know what your opinion is?"

"My opinion is to go home quickly..."Of course, this sentence must not be said, so after pondering for a while, Yan Shaozheng said. I think it is necessary to set up a temporary group dedicated to urging the imperial court to convene the Diet early, so that we can concentrate as much as possible..."

Hearing Yan Shao say this, Pu Dianjun, Luo Lun and the others couldn't help but high-five, and Zhang Jian also nodded, which was somewhat the same as his thoughts.

Therefore, at Yan Shao's suggestion, representatives of the advisory bureaus of 16 provinces, including Jiangsu and Zhejiang, held a joint meeting in Beijing to announce the establishment of a parliamentary petition comrade meeting. According to the resolution of the comrades' association, half of the petition representatives stayed in Beijing, and the rest returned to the provinces to mobilize gentry groups such as chambers of commerce and educational societies to petition jointly to expand social influence.

The president of the Comrade Association is Sun Hongyi, and Yan Shao is the initiator of the Comrade Association and Zhang Jian is the vice president because of his own influence... (To be continued......)