"Lord Liu, do you know the shape of the sea now?" Xu Jie asked with some eagerness.

"I know a little bit about it, Master Xue also sent me a few books made by Jishi, and the old man also read it once. The numbers are so accurate and the analysis is so thorough that I have no one else in the clear. When he spoke, Liu Mingchuan's calm tone also had a hint of emotion (historically, the personal relationship between Xue Fucheng and Liu Mingchuan was very good)

"Do you agree with the younger generation?" Xu Jie continued to ask.

As early as the beginning of the People's Restoration, the Japanese who had just had a few sampans dared to land in Taiwan, and later on the affairs of Korea, if it wasn't for the proper handling of my Qing Dynasty, I am afraid that the land of Sanhan would no longer be mine. As for the matter of the navy, the third province really doesn't understand. But it shouldn't be as Jishi said, right? Although Lao Liu was aware of the ambitions of the Japanese, his unfamiliarity with maritime affairs still did not allow him to have a proper evaluation of the strength and weakness of the Qing and Japanese navy.

"Lord Liu thinks that the most important thing to win in a war is what." Xu Jie asked.

"The boss plans, the soldiers use their lives, and the supplies are sufficient. To put it simply, it is the war that fights about people and money. As soon as he talked about fighting, Liu Mingchuan immediately became interested, and his tone eased a lot.

"It's not good to compare the Beiyang Sailor and the Japanese Sailor in terms of personnel, so let's talk about the money. In addition to Dingzhen in Beiyang, two warships like Zhiyuan Jingyuan cost only 360,000 pounds, and the dome cruiser that the Japanese planned to order at the Armstrong shipyard cost 300,000 pounds, which is twice the tonnage of my Zhiyuan ship, and they are all fast guns. As for the expenses, the annual expenses that can be received in Beiyang are only about 1 million taels, and the military expenses of the Japanese navy are 8 million yen a year. Xu Jie said with a heavy heart. Didn't you say that you need money to fight a war. Beiyang has no money, you can't say that Beiyang can still defeat the Japanese. And as long as you admit it, the rest will be easy. Xu Jie smiled in his heart.

"And then?" Liu Mingchuan's expression at this time was like that of a businessman who was asking for a price. Because he knows that if Beiyang has no money, the final outcome must be defeated. And what he wants to know is what kind of impact this ending will have on him in Taiwan. And knowing what you want to know, it's time for both parties to bargain.

"And then? Naturally, there was a defeat, followed by the signing of a certain agreement somewhere. Then there is the compensation for the land cession and other benefits to the other party to ensure peace for a while. Xu Jie said with a bit of a bachelor's eye.

"Uh, Jishi, be cautious." Zhang Peilun on the side wiped his sweat and reminded in a low voice.

"What's there to be cautious about, I have been in the Qing Dynasty since the Daoguang period to the present, wasn't that the case that time? It's just that more or less things are lost. I don't care about anything else, Mr. Xu can say whatever he wants. Lao Liu stroked his palms and said, and the expression on his face swept away the gloom just now. said with a red face. Liu Mingchuan's thinking is a pure military thinking, when encountering problems, he thinks about how to solve them, and then uses the most direct and effective methods to do so, and rarely considers whether doing so will cause trouble in politics or other aspects. Whether Liu Mingchuan was forced to fall into the grass due to life, or later followed Li Hongzhang or even later became an official, he has always been thinking like this. And there's no intention of changing. This kind of person is very comfortable in wartime, but in peacetime, I am afraid that he will offend a group of people. This is also the reason why Lao Liu was idle at home for 13 years before the Sino-French War, right? However, Lao Liu still likes people who have a temper with him, especially those who have the ability to be angry with him.

"And if the land is cut, Master Liu thinks, which piece does the Japanese people want the most?" Xu Jie said with a slight smile.

"I don't think it's Taiwan, right?" Lao Liu is such a smart person, Xu Jie's so-called "guidance" has no effect in his eyes, and Lao Liu is too lazy to dwell on the details and get straight to the point.

"Isolated overseas, rich in resources, important in location, and moderate in size, I really can't think of a reason why the Japanese don't want it," Xu Jie sighed. "And in order to plot against Taiwan, the Japanese have planted all kinds of eyeliner and eyes and ears in Taiwan, I think Lord Liu has dealt with a lot, right? Whether it is from the strategy or the actual operation, the Japanese are already executing, what else does Lord Liu not believe?? ”

“……。” Lao Liu was silent, why didn't he speak? Nonsense, if you agree, isn't this tantamount to saying that the security of Beiyang and Taiwan is one? If he said he didn't agree, Lao Liu wouldn't have said nonsense with his eyes open. …,

"Lord Liu, if you still don't believe what the junior said, can you make a bet with Zaixia?" Xu Jie said.

"Bet on what?" Lao Liu saw that Xu Jie had changed the topic, and said busily.

"Bet that once Japan wins the war against the Qing State, he will definitely seize Taiwan. My bet is £5,000. Xu Jie said confidently.

"This Zhongtang adult's protégé can't be the ticket number, right?" Looking at Xu Jie's actions, Deng Shichang couldn't help but shed a drop of cold sweat, first yesterday he decided to give someone a salary equivalent to the salary standard of the chief soldier of the Beiyang Fleet within half an hour, and today without saying a word, he directly took out 5,000 pounds, which is more than 30,000 taels of silver. As the saying goes, 100,000 snowflakes of silver in the Qing Governor's Mansion in 3 years, this brother Jishi can make money much faster than corruption!!

"It's not easy to get this one, if the Japanese don't win, then who wins?" Lao Liu asked with a little embarrassment.

"You win." Xu Jie's answer was unusually crisp.

"This governor can't take out more than 30,000 taels of silver." Liu Mingchuan was completely depressed, he really had never seen such a person who didn't pay for money, he couldn't always do it if he didn't have money, right? Do you still continue to gamble with your grandfather?

"It doesn't matter, you don't have to press anything, if you lose in the next place, naturally the money is yours, if you win in the next game, you can leave this money to those who don't want to be slaves to the country, let them use it." Xu Jie said in a flat tone as much as possible, while writing his name on the check neatly.

"Aren't you a waste?" Lao Liu has lost his temper completely, this is a free gift, and it is not a bribe, it is a gambling money. It's hard to find trouble if you want to find trouble. I've seen bribes, but I've never seen such bribes!!

"Money? It's going to be spent, and it's easy for me to get money. As for the degree of food and clothing? I'm used to being frugal, and occasionally I want to go and eat something good, and someone invites me. (Who's not going to say it, right?) This tragic figure has already bought the order twice)" Xu Jie said with a nonchalant wink.

"Brother Jishi, no matter how convenient the money is, it can't be like this." Deng Shichang couldn't help it anymore and said in a low voice.

"Do you know how my salary is calculated?" Xu Jie saw that the situation had basically stabilized, and at the same time, in order to sue some people about the huge profits of Western industry. Xu Jie decided to let Lao Liu and the others open their eyes.

"Take the battleship I designed, how much do you think I can get for a battleship? If you want to calculate it in pounds, I only charge pounds. Xu Jie said angrily.

"9,000 taels of silver? Well, £1,500, that's a lot more than all the money in Admiral Ding's 1 year combined. Deng Shichang thought for a while and said.

"6,000 taels." Lao Liu said angrily.

"Well, actually, my salary is calculated according to the tonnage of the ships sold, for example, the **-class dome cruiser is 4,500 tons, and I take a commission of one pound per ton. That means I get a £4,500 cut for a boat, not counting my salary and other miscellaneous expenses such as confidentiality and marketing fees. Xu Jie smiled and said. (That's really not much, William White is a ton of £2--! And now, the ship has sold more than 1 dozen ....... ”

"Where did you sell me the ship in Beiyang, how much do you take a cut?" Zhang Peilun looked at Xu Jie and asked.

"The current tentative price is £0.7 a tonne." Xu Jie said.

"You're too dark, aren't you? Make money and earn it to your own people. Lao Liu said with a little disdain.

"Is this shipbuilding, or building a warship, if you don't earn more than 1 time, you will lose money, don't look at the tens of thousands of pounds less, my income will not have much impact. And this price is set by Vittorio, I don't take it for nothing. Xu Jie said rather scoundrelly.

"I knew this earlier, and I learned to build ships back then." Lao Liu rolled his eyes and said.

"Don't just ship ships. This is very profitable to make guns, armor, and even textiles, transportation, mining, food, and chemicals. I can't just rely on shipbuilding, now the armor produced in Italy and the 1889 version of small arms are my patents, as for how much was sold, whether it was a ** or a white road I don't know, anyway, I only know that the money in my bank account is increasing, and that's enough, and then I've been thinking about how to spend it. Xu Jie stared at the ceiling with his eyes and said very sloppily.

"This Western industry is really profitable." As if aware of something. Liu Mingchuan looked at Xu Jie and said meaningfully.

Everyone, support a lot, and I'll add another chapter later. Everyone recommends and collects it~~