"Oh, it turns out that the young master has also heard of it. It is Yihequan. In fact, to put it bluntly, it is just some rural village men. Fool men and women are idle and have nothing to do, so they just do some things to invite the magic Dharma Assembly. Could it be that the young master is also interested in this?"

"Oh, that's not." Zai Tian waved his hand and sent the shopkeeper away, then began to ponder.

"It's just some rural village men. If my brother thinks it's noisy, he will send someone to disperse it. Why should he be sad?" Jianning looked at it and said.

Zai Tian waved his hand: "You don't understand, this is not a simple incident..."

Since Zai Tian’s vague memory, there is indeed an impression of “Yihequan”, but it should have happened a few years later. However, today it seems that maybe it is something that is missing from his impression, or maybe it is the beginning of this incident that is seen in front of him.

"Since the eleventh year of Guangxu, our Qing Dynasty has been working hard for more than ten years. It has developed rapidly in Zhili and even the surrounding provinces, farmers, industry, merchants and soldiers, and the demand for labor in various places has continued to increase. However, in front of us, there are still so many young and strong people who have not been used, which is a dereliction of duty by local officials. Moreover, once these people are bewitched and used, it is easy to cause local chaos and cause unnecessary trouble to the court. If they are not handled properly, they may be another one, twist!"

Li Hongzhang said in a deep voice. He had experienced the turmoil thirty years ago. At that time, some originally harmless rural villagers were also some of the originally harmless rural villagers, but because of Hong Xiuquan's bewitching, they eventually formed a major uprising that shook the foundation of the Qing court.

"No," said that a small incident that seems inconspicuous after a few years of fermentation and snowballing may sweep the world. At that time, it will be difficult to clean up again!" Zai Tian also said.

"I'll issue orders now to ask all parts of Zhili to investigate such matters strictly!" Li Hongzhang said as he got up and was about to go out.

"Let's go!" Zai Tian called him and then said, "It's better to clear away the flood than to control the flood. If you want to prevent such situations, the court's regulations are on the one hand, and on the other hand, there must be guidance."

Li Hongzhang bowed and said, "Young Master already has a solution?"

"I dare not say there is a way, but I just have a general idea. Let's talk about it and you will take a closer look." Zai Tian said.

"On the one hand, the court should establish rules to prohibit or restrict such gatherings. Let me think about it, it is called the 'Rally and Parade Management Regulations'. In the future, if there are more than 50 people initiated by private or civil groups, the gatherings or parades in public must be reported to the local county government and armed forces department in advance, and they can only be carried out after approval. Otherwise, it will be banned; secondly, all gatherings and parades, all contents shall not involve attacks on third parties, such as the so-called slogan of "destroying foreign countries" that these people must not use!"

Zai Tian said while saying that someone was there to take a quick note.

"The main core points are these two points. After you go down, you are discussing and show me a complete plan." Zai Tian accidentally let it go, but fortunately there is no one in the private room now.

"yes!"

"On the other hand, local officials should know how to make good use of people's strength during the slack farming period. Whether it is dredging water conservancy, building roads or developing economic and material goods, it is a good way to use people's strength, but people's strength must not be abused. First, ensure seasonal agricultural production, and it must be emphasized that this is not corvee service, and the court must make some efforts. You can also go down and get a note of this. I think that you can build the road first. If the rural county towns cannot build railways, you can build cement roads. Rammed earth, stones and ash are not too complicated, and there is no technology. There is no terrain that cannot be avoided in the Zhili Plain. You can use cement roads to connect various prefectures, prefectures, counties, and townships."

Li Hongzhang nodded again to agree.

"There is also the armed forces!" Zai Tian looked at Liu Shaoqing again. Now, there are many people in various armed forces in Zhili. After the war with Japan, thousands of disabled soldiers were transferred to civilian positions, most of whom returned to local counties to organize the "armed forces" level government office. Now, there are more or less dozens of military-transferred personnel in each of the four provinces and two cities around the capital.

"I plan to establish a reserve and militia system. The prefectures and counties are based on townships and small counties, and the county is based on the principle of 20 draws one, and choose young people to be militias. They usually engage in production at home and organize and practice during slack farming. At the same time, these militias also need to bear the local social security. If they perform well, they can be introduced into the Guards in the future as part of your source of troops."

"Young Master's method is good." Liu Shaoqing said sincerely: "It can maintain public order, make full use of the surplus labor force, and hide troops from the people. I am so happy that the army-transfer officers and soldiers who were originally unwilling to be lonely."

For these villagers, there is no hope for the imperial examination. Being able to enter the Guards is a clear way for them to get rich. In the words of the common people, the Guards are paid four taels of silver per month, and the salary of one soldier is enough to support a family of three. As long as they don’t die for twenty years, they will be a landlord when they return home. If they are lucky enough to be admitted to the military academy, it will be enough to bring honor to their ancestors. Even if they are in a difficult life, they will die on the battlefield and cannot enjoy their happiness. However, the court’s pension is enough for the family’s elderly and young people to live without worries for the rest of their lives. You haven’t seen this war, and each soldier who died in battle gave each of the three hundred taels of silver.

What is the concept of 300 taels of silver? In today's society, one tael of rice is 1000 cents per stone, five cents per egg, and twenty cents per pound of pork. One cent can buy two mixed buns. Three hundred taels of silver can buy a house and several acres of good land. A family of five can live steadily for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, being able to enter the Guards is definitely a big temptation for the villagers. Otherwise, there would not be so many people who would make money by running training classes under the banner of the Guards.

However, the Guards recruit soldiers very strictly and strive for excellence. There is no way to raise a soldier, so they have to strive for excellence.

Liu Shaoqing once made a calculation for the emperor. Because the Guards have a large amount of training, each soldier must ensure that each month has 60 kilograms of grain, 30 eggs, 20 kilograms of meat and 20 kilograms of various vegetables. Just for eating, a soldier costs at least fifteen taels of silver a year. In addition, every three years, a quilt, a cotton coat, a military dress, two military uniforms every year, and bullets that need to be fired every year, a soldier must consume at least eighty taels of silver a year. How many people are in a division? No one can catch more than one million taels a year. Can one be used to attract soldiers like this?

But in this way, when the troops are really used, there may be a shortage. At least in the early stages of the war, there may be insufficient troops. For example, this time, if Yang Yong had not used the Koreans to fight Yutobu and Nozin Dokun in Pyongyang, he would have had to pay 10,000 or 20,000 more lives in this battle.

Zai Tian’s idea now is to hide his troops from the people. On the one hand, the court saved money, but on the other hand, it provided the most basic training and reserves for the soldiers, with the best of both worlds. It seems that the emperor has been considering this issue for a day or two.

"Anyway, this is just an idea. You should understand the details better than me, so you can improve it yourself. But you must implement it quickly. Also, this county magistrate must criticize it severely!" Zai Tian pointed outside and said sternly.

"yes!"

Li Hongzhang and Liu Shaoqing received the order and went back to think about it.

In the autumn of the 23rd year of the Guangxu period, with the issuance of a ban on government decrees by the court, the entire North China region began a vigorous comprehensive governance work to uphold social security. At the same time, in order to alleviate the conflict between religion and the people, the Qing court clearly issued a decree requiring local officials from all over the country to treat religious citizens with nationality equally when accepting civil and civil lawsuits in the villages and religions; for priests and religious citizens with other nationality, local officials will send troops to the consular magistrates in their provinces, and report them to the Zongli Yamen, who will coordinate with the country to repatriate them.

Since then, local officials have clear laws to deal with religious and civil cases. Although the Qing Dynasty officials were extremely outdated, the introduction of this bill still helped to alleviate the increasingly tense religious and civil relations. At the same time, the Qing court also specially sent personnel to post notices in various states and governments to explain these new laws and regulations, and strive to make it known to everyone.

Tianjin Port.

Since the Second Opium War, Tianjin has become the most important economic and military center in the region. It not only has consular concessions from various countries, but also has Tianjin Machinery Bureau, one of the five major military-industrial enterprises of the Qing Dynasty, and Tianjin Shipyard, one of the four major shipyards. In addition, there are many modern educational institutions such as Tianjin Naval Academy, Transportation Academy, and Mining Academy.

Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing government began to produce thousand-ton frigates in Tianjin Shipyards. Then it began to build destroyers. During the war, it became an important port for repairing damaged ships. After the war, the Qing government considered that most of the main warships in the future were thousands or even tens of thousands of tons, and due to the limitations of its geographical location, the Fujian Shipyard could not become the core shipbuilding base in the future. In order to improve shipbuilding capabilities and to expand production capacity, the court decided to spend huge sums of money to expand the Tianjin Shipyard.

Zai Tian’s first destination for this in-cover trip was Tianjin, and the Tianjin Shipyard was one of the main contents of his itinerary.

After listening to the progress of the Tianjin Wharf and dock expansion project of the shipyard General Officer Tang Bowen, Zai Tian turned his attention to a foreigner present.

"To introduce you, this is Mr. Parsons, an engineer who came to Tianjin Shipyard last year. He is now in charge of the power of the shipyard. The test ship "Zhang Heng" you will see later uses Mr. Parsons' latest power steam turbine." Seeing Zai Tian's gaze turning, Tang Bowen cleverly introduced it.

"I'm honored to meet you, my dear lord." Although I don't know what kind of official this young master is, I think my immediate boss must have a good position, so Parsons was very sensible and quick to say hello.

"Oh, I've heard of you, Mr. Parsons. I heard that your steam turbine is very advanced, and I look forward to your next performance." Zai Tian said with a smile. "Then, let's go to the dock."

The latest expansion of Tianjin Port's 1 10,000-ton deep water terminal has just been completed. This deep water terminal can accommodate a variety of ships within 20,000 tons. Moreover, the No. 2 Pier under construction will be able to accommodate ships within 50,000 tons.

The Qing Dynasty might have nothing, but it just doesn’t lack people. In the Sui Dynasty, which lacks industrial machinery, the Grand Canal was dug more than ten meters deep, not to mention now.

Now on the dock, a 10,000-ton ship is docked - the "Jinquan"-class battleship "Duke of Jin" purchased from the UK.

This warship was purchased from Britain at the most intense Sino-Japanese War. Its original name was "Revenge" and another sister ship of the same type, "Qi Huan Gong" - the original name "Resolution" - were built by the Palmer Shipyard on the Tyne River. The "Qi Huan Gong" started construction on June 14, 1890, launched on May 28, 1892, and delivered to the Qing Dynasty after completion on December 5, 1893; the "Qi Wen Gong" started construction on February 12, 1891, launched on November 3, 1892, and delivered to the Qing Navy after completion on March 22, 1894. At that time, the Sino-Japanese War had ended.
Chapter completed!