Deng Zixuan's face was a little red, and he said, "My lord! If a railway from Fuzhou to Shanghai is built, with a 400-horsepower steam locomotive as the standard, it can also pull 10 carriages, which can transport hundreds of tons of goods at a time, and it only takes one day to arrive. If you are carrying passengers, you can transport at least 200 people at a time. The speed of steam locomotives is dozens of times that of horses, the speed of transporting goods reaches 20 times, and the speed of trains far exceeds the speed of ships, especially in the interior. At present, long-distance transportation in Western countries basically depends on railways. ”

Shen Baozhen was overjoyed when he heard this: "Westerners are indeed amazing, if the Qing Dynasty is full of running trains, what kind of scene would it be." Hu Xueyan said confusedly: "Brother Zixuan, the wheels won't fall off when they run on the rails!" Deng Zixuan said with a smile: "Brother Hu, you see, this iron wheel has a hub inside, it will block the inside, even if it turns around, it will not derail, and the steam locomotive runs very smoothly on the tracks." In my spare time, I did experiments, and seeing is believing, and the results are very good. Then Deng Zixuan ordered his subordinates to bring up a wooden box.

Deng Zixuan opened the wooden box, laid the steel rails on the table, and then put the model steam locomotive on the rails, and then pushed it with his hands, and the model train ran quickly by inertia. At the beginning of the construction of the model train, Wang Tiehammer put in a lot of effort, and according to Deng Zixuan's drawings for half a month to complete the manufacture of the model train. The model trains and carriages are lifelike and lifelike, and are basically miniature replicas of the steam locomotives that operated on the railways in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Shen Baozhen watched it with relish, and Hu Xueyan also praised it with an eye-opening view. Suddenly, Shen Baozhen's face was a little gloomy and said: "Deng Gongzi, the steam locomotive is indeed good, but we can't do it right now." To put it simply, the court can't pass it, even the conservatives will be whipped by everyone. When the Mawei Shipyard was built, how much pressure did Lord Zuo encounter to become what it is today. Deng Gongzi, it's not the old man who spoils you! ”

Obviously, Deng Zixuan was prepared and said: "My lord, this matter is not in a hurry, in the future, we can lay a railway between Mawei Shipyard and Fuzhou City, and then let the steam locomotive run." Cargo transportation is required between Mawei Shipyard and Fuzhou City. Seeing is believing, so that people can really see its benefits, once the people are clamoring, then adults will be able to read the book naturally. Don't worry, my lord, I will work with merchants to provide silver support, without the imperial court to invest a penny, this move will leave a name for the ages. ”

Leaving a name for the ages, what a glory this is, Shen Baozhen was overjoyed when he heard it, and he actually drank too much that day. Deng Zixuan's goal was to first enter the steam age in the coastal zone in the next few years, which was very important for his future plans. The age of steam also means the arrival of the industrial age, and the concept of Chinese will also change. Deng Zixuan knew very well that it was the Sino-French war that stifled the rise of China's modern industry, which is an indisputable fact. Because after the Sino-French War, the Qing Dynasty gave up the opportunity to build its own warships, and also gave up the popularization and development of modern industry. Although the ironclad ship was purchased, and it was known as the Shijie Second Fleet. However, the Qing Dynasty did not have its own industrial base and relied entirely on foreigners, which laid the groundwork for the failure of the First Sino-Japanese Naval War in the future.

Deng Zixuan knew very well in his heart that the current court seemed to be calm on the surface, but the internal undercurrents were surging. Emperor Tongzhi is a doo who can't be helped, and he is sick and will soon be over. The six princes are scheming, and one is worried about the throne. The Empress Dowager Cixi was young and unstable, and she was good at playing with power, so she had to guard against internal instability and worry about Hanchen's rebellion, so she had to maneuver in all directions.

At present, Cixi supports reformers such as Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Shen Baozhen, so Cixi is now a big deal about how to consolidate her position, and as long as it does not involve her core interests, it should be said that she has turned a blind eye to running a business and has almost no time to take care of it. Moreover, the western frontier was unstable, and once the counterinsurgency in the west began, the imperial court had no time to take care of it. As for foreigners, if steam locomotives appear in the land of the Great Qing Dynasty, it is in the interests of foreigners, and on the contrary, foreigners will help each other.

The next day, Shen Baozhen personally accompanied Deng Zixuan and Hu Xueyan to visit the naval warship. Although 10 warships were launched, four warships were distributed to the coastal zone for defensive duty, and only three warships were moored in the harbor at this time. Female dependents were not allowed to visit the battleship, so Wan'er stayed in the Shen Mansion. The reason is that it is unlucky for a woman to go on a battleship, which is the rule of the Oshimizu Division.

Climb aboard the battleship Yang Fan, a wooden steam engine warship with a displacement of 1,400 tons and a length of 125 meters. The ship is 4.5 meters wide and has more than 300 personnel. The battleship is Shen Baozhen's proudest thing, and while checking the situation of the battleship, Shen Baozhen gushes about the battleship's cannons. There were also foreigner naval instructors on board the battleship. Mr. Tang asked a British Navy instructor in fluent English how sailor training was going.

When asked about the live firing of naval guns, the foreign instructor shrugged his shoulders and told the Qing Dynasty that he was afraid of spending money and rarely conducted live-fire training. Deng Zixuan knew that the current artillery was mainly composed of solid bullets and scattered bullets, and if the shooting level was too poor, it would not be a threat at all in naval warfare. After inspecting the battleship, return to the Shen Mansion. Deng Zixuan suggested: "My lord, warships fight on the sea, and naval artillery duel is the only way to fight. But I asked the British naval instructor on the battleship, and the battleship hardly conducts live-fire training, is this weishenme? ”

In fact, Deng Zixuan asked knowingly, he knew that the training of sailors cost money, and the imperial court would not spend a lot of money to shoot cannons casually. Shen Baozhen said helplessly: "Deng Gongzi, I don't know about live-fire training, but I don't have any money for training." At present, the shells are all purchased from foreigners, and the shells are silver for nothing. Deng Zixuan said: "My lord, I can provide 20,000 taels of silver for training every year, but I ask that it must be used for live ammunition, I wonder if my lord can agree?" ”

“haha！ The old man can't ask for it! Deng Gongzi is really a man of insight, if the Qing Dynasty has a third of the businessmen like you, my Qing Empire will definitely be Yang Wei. Shen Baozhen was overjoyed, and he drank high again that night. Deng Zixuan was so bold that he took out silver, and Hu Xueyan couldn't lag behind, and he himself spent 10,000 taels of silver every year to buy artillery shells for training.

In the following two days, Shen Baozhen accompanied him to visit the Mawei Shipyard. Deng Zixuan was very shocked when he visited, in just 4 years, the scale of Mawei Shipyard has become very large, and it is definitely the most modern shipyard of our time. Deng Zixuan sighed, the potential of the Chinese's creative ability is huge, the key is to provide a platform for them to use their wisdom.

In two days, Deng Zixuan looked at the Mawei Shipyard and made suggestions on how to improve work efficiency, of course, such a shocking move, Deng Zixuan all covered up from the books of foreigners, Shen Baozhen was convinced and even sighed: "At present, I don't understand foreign languages in the Qing Dynasty, and I am blind in industry." And praised Deng Zixuan for understanding foreign languages, like a tiger with wings.

Deng Zixuan took the opportunity to say: "My lord, there are dozens of scholars under the command of the juniors, and they are currently learning foreign languages. Two years later he sent a scholar to act as an interpreter if the adults needed it. Shen Baozhen was overjoyed again, and agreed without thinking. There is a personal interpreter who accompanies him every day, and it is much more convenient to communicate with foreigners. Before Deng Zixuan left, he ordered two 100-horsepower steam engines and paid in advance. He will place these two steam engines in the manor, and Deng Zixuan will start the research of military weapons in the next step.

Hu Xueyan decided to take a steamer back, so naturally he wanted to go with Deng Zixuan and his wife. Shen Baozhen personally went to the dock to see him off, and seemed to be a little reluctant. These few days are the happiest days in Shen Baozhen's life, and the whole person seems to be a few years younger. Deng Zixuan's goal was initially achieved, and he naturally left satisfied, and with a whistle, the little steamer left the Fuzhou dock and embarked on the way home.

Hu Xueyan and Deng Zixuan stood side by side on the deck and waved goodbye to Shen Baozhen. The dock gradually faded away from sight, and Hu Xueyan said in a complicated mood: "Brother Zixuan, you are really different, Lord Shen has never trusted a person he has never known in such a short period of time, you are the only one." I've known Lord Shen for many years, and he's usually very arrogant! ”

Deng Zixuan said with a smile: "Brother Hu, the difference between me and you is that you are an official robe, I am a grass people, you have too many ideas, I am at ease, presumably Brother Hu has a lot of thoughts!" Hu Xueyan thought about it and said: "What my brother said makes sense, the high place is too cold and tiring!" In addition, I have to be careful, but I can only go all the way to the dark, brother, I really envy you for living a chic life. Do you know? Lord Shen likes you very much! ”

Deng Zixuan said with a smile: "If you want to live in paradise, it is actually just a realm, people have to do something in life, whether they are public or selfish, the key is to be interesting or a code of conduct." My principle is to be generous and informal. I worked hard to earn money, I was desperate to spend money. As the saying goes, if you are rich for three generations, you can leave the money for future generations. Life is short, once the money is not spent in the west, it is called sadness, and it is said that there is an afterlife, so I don't believe in nonsense! ”

Deng Zixuan spent a lot of money for himself, and Hu Xueyan was surprised: "Brother Zixuan's idea is a little weird, but there is some truth in this idea, life is indeed free and easy in the world, but I can't do this kind of realm of my brother." You and I have different life experiences, and naturally we have different goals. Throughout the ages, who does not look forward to fame and fortune and leaving a name in history, the emperor will be like this, and the same is true for the people. Brother Zixuan can see through the red dust, and he is mature and experienced at such a young age, which makes his brother admire. ”

At this time, a sailboat passed by, looking so small and helpless, but it was tenacious and persistent. Looking at the sailboat in the distance, Deng Zixuan said thoughtfully: "Brother Hu, people's journey is like that sailboat, sailing in the vast sea, maybe he will encounter stormy waves, but he must go straight to the other side, maybe he will be buried in the sea on the way, and disappear tragically, I feel that Brother Hu is like that sailboat!" ”

"Brother Zixuan, who knows me, my fate may be that sailboat!" The topic was a little heavy, and the two fell silent. Deng Zixuan secretly thought: Brother Hu! Your and my fates have been tied together, and if the earth-shattering day comes, how will you face it? After a long time, Hu Xueyan regained his composure and said: "Brother Zixuan, this time I went to Xi'an, you suggested that you reclaim the wilderness in the west and stock up on grain, and Lord Zuo appreciated it very much. The construction of a glass factory in Xi'an is also very smooth, and it is estimated that the glass factory in Xi'an has been put into production. I heard from Latham that the glass factory in Guangdong is very hot. ”

Deng Zixuan said: "Glass is still a seller's market, you say it can not be hot!" Brother Hu! Sheng Huaixuan is about to prepare to use foreigner cotton yarn to build a weaving factory in Shanghai, although the quality of foreigner cotton yarn is good, but the cost of drifting across the sea is very high, so I want to build a yarn factory in the Jiangbei cotton producing area, I don't know if Brother Hu intends to do so! ”

Hu Xueyan was stunned and said, "Sheng Huaixuan? I don't want to get involved with him. "The pursuit of interests by businessmen is the highest state, in the eyes of businessmen, there are no enemies, only interests, Brother Hu is so shrewd that he can't see this!" "Sheng Huaixuan can prepare to build a weaving factory, but I can't build a weaving factory?" Hu Xueyan said stubbornly.

Deng Zixuan shook his head and said: "Brother Hu, no, if you always put yourself in the position of the contest between interest groups, it is the most unwise." If you compete with Sheng Huaixuan, one side of Zuihou will lose, and the other side will be covered with scars, which can be described as killing 1,000 enemies and losing 800! "What do you mean by that?" Hu Xueyan was stunned.

Deng Zixuan continued: "At present, the development momentum of the national capital of the Great Qing Dynasty is good, if there is a cruel competition between brothers, or even a life-and-death contest, Zuihou will end up losing both, which is the most happy to see this situation is the foreigner, then the foreigner will not only clean up the mess, but also let the foreigner pick up a big bargain." Foreigners like our infighting, and even add fuel to the fire anytime and anywhere. ”

Seeing that Hu Xueyan was thoughtful, Deng Zixuan continued: "In business, a win-win situation is the most ideal ending. For example, if we are preparing to set up a yarn factory, we can buy the equipment produced by Sheng Huaixuan Machinery Factory, and Sheng Huaixuan is preparing to build a weaving factory, and we can purchase our cheap cotton yarn, and foreigners cannot compete with us in terms of raw materials. You have me, I have you, so that you can achieve a balance of interests and form a synergy. Win-win also means the golden mean. ”

Hu Xueyan was obviously moved by the words and said, "Brother Zixuan, I don't seem to know you anymore. Win-win! That's great, but I have this idea, it doesn't mean that Sheng Huaixuan has this idea. "Brother Hu! Brother, I can be used as a concoctant, I don't need you to come out, how about I take care of everything? Hu Xueyan said happily: "Brother Zixuan, just do it, after I came back from Xi'an, I immediately prepared to build a yarn factory in Zhengzhou, and you are responsible for purchasing the machine." ”

History changed again at this moment, Deng Zixuan used his invisible hand to let Hu Xueyan and Sheng Huaixuan mix together, to hell with the internal friction!