Xiao Yungui was not surprised by Bao Ling's diplomatic rhetoric. The naval plan was not something he could decide alone. The last time the warship exchange and shipbuilding plan was discussed in the British Parliament for a long time, and finally it was passed with the secret efforts of the Rothschild family. This time the Western King's appetite was even greater. He was not satisfied with the three civil ship shipbuilding factories and docks in Shanghai. What he wanted was a navy that could sail far, and what he wanted was a shipbuilding yard and dock that could build larger warships.

But Bao Ling's subsequent words made Xiao Yungui feel unhappy, "But if His Excellency Xiwang can consider handing over the railway construction rights from Shanghai to Nanjing, Wuhu to Nanchang and the mineral mining rights along the road to us, perhaps the Prime Minister and Parliament will not reconsider your country's naval plan."

After hearing this, Xiao Yungui frowned. He found that the British had never given up on the plunder of China, the raw material market, and at the same time he had never given up on the original intention of turning China into a commodity dumping place. But then he thought that China seemed to have only these two points attracted the great powers. In the situation where industry and technology were lagging behind, China only had these two points of interests that could attract them.

"Is it necessary to add tariff agreements and legalization of opium trade the whole condition of the UK?" Xiao Yungui's tone became a little cold. Bao Ling seemed to notice the unhappiness of the Western King, and said with a smile: "It is undeniable that the customs tariff policies of Shanghai and Jiangning have been greatly improved compared to the Qing Dynasty. Many chaotic and miscellaneous taxes have been removed. But the King of Xi must also know that the tariff rates set by your country are very unfair to us foreign merchants, and your country's policies seem to be more inclined to protect the interests of our own merchants in China. Therefore, after discussions at the British Chamber of Commerce in China, unanimously hope that your country can lower the tariffs. Especially the tax rates for gauze, kerosene and other goods with large imports. Our Britain hopes that your country can make fun of this trade barrier and make the market more open."

Bao Ling paused and continued: "As for the legalization of the opium trade, it is what we hope for. After all, opium still has a market in China. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has implemented a smoking ban in the mainland, it has not restricted the import of the goods, right?"

Xiao Yungui smiled faintly and said, "Although we have no restrictions on imports, the opium trade volume in the four ports in Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and Fuzhou this year has set a record low in history, while the ports under the Qing Dynasty in Guangzhou had millions of pounds of opium trade volume last year and this year. But now you are going to war with the Qing Dynasty, resulting in the closure of the ports in Guangzhou. Opium merchants have suffered huge losses, so you think of finding new sales channels here again, right?"

Bao Ling was slightly embarrassed. As the King of the Western Region said, the ban on smoking under the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did lead to a sharp decline in opium sales at trading ports under the control of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but in turn it surged in sales in Guangzhou. The Qing Dynasty passed through Guangdong and Hunan routes to transport opium. The Hunan Army, which was stuck in the middle, naturally made a fortune. Moreover, due to the narrow sales, the price of opium rose, and opium merchants from various countries were happy. Therefore, even if the Taiping Army banned smoking in the mainland, it did not affect the opium trade too much.

But the situation is different now. Due to the declaration of war with the Qing Dynasty, the Guangzhou Pearl River Estuary was blocked by the British Far East Navy, resulting in the closing of the only profitable opium port. Opium merchants from various countries suffered a lot of losses. The British and French governments that provoked the war were under considerable pressure. Originally, the two countries could have ended the war against the Qing Dynasty within half a year or ten months, but now, due to the failure of Dagukou and the impact of the Indian uprising, military operations were postponed indefinitely. God knows when the Indian uprising will be suppressed.

Under such circumstances, Britain had the intention to renegotiate with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Some British MPs even proposed to provide guns and ammunition to the Taiping Army. Britain sent a coalition force to form a coalition force to fight against the Qing Dynasty. This could not only continue the war, but also solve the dilemma of Britain's inability to send large-scale army to participate in the war, and at the same time minimize Britain's losses.

Sure enough, Bao Ling then proposed the idea of ​​joint troops and also put forward many generous conditions. It can be said that in addition to the naval plan, what Xiao Yungui could think of is that Britain could give, whether it was technical, investment or diplomatic support. At first glance, Britain was going to form an alliance with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Moreover, the alliance between Britain and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also had the meaning of curbing Russia's eastward development in the Far East, so all this seemed very reasonable.

After listening to Bao Ling's words quietly, Xiao Yungui pondered for a moment: "If we become allies with Britain, will all the actions of the coalition forces ultimately depend on the interests of the two countries?"

Bao Ling smiled and said, "This is naturally. Since as allies, we must take into account each other's interests and we cannot harm the interests of our own interests." Bao Ling's pronunciation was very serious, as if to remind the Western King of the unpleasant experience after the last coalition army against Russia. That time it was a typical Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that did not take into account the interests of Britain and France for its own interests. However, that time the Taiping Army and Britain and France were not real treaty allies, but a temporary mercenary relationship, so Bao Ling specifically reminded the Western King of attention to the difference.

Xiao Yungui refused to say anything but said lightly: "If the coalition forces fight in the Northern Expedition after the alliance, Britain suddenly felt that the existence of the Qing Dynasty could maximize her interests. Will Britain stop us from continuing the Northern Expedition?"

Bao Ling was stunned for a moment before saying: "A barbaric and backward regime no longer has the necessity of existence. In my personal opinion, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will definitely replace the Qing Dynasty and unify China, but the future is really unpredictable. I never like things that assume unfounded."

Xiao Yungui touched his nose and smiled and said, "Mr. Minister, I need to consider the matter of re-signing the treaty and forming alliances. Let's meet again in a few days. In the past few days, I will have a good appreciation of the scenery of Tianjing."

Bao Ling also knew that diplomatic negotiations were the most time-consuming game, so he nodded and responded. The two talked about the international situation a few more times. Xiao Yungui seemed to be very interested in the Indian uprising and expressed regret for Britain's failure to quell the rebellion soon. Bao Ling did not notice the gloating hidden under the Western King's eyes. After a few words of thanks, he stood up and said goodbye.

Then Xiao Yungui met Hu Xueyan, who was rushing back from the United States. Last year in the Battle of Taizhou, Wang Youling and Hu Xueyan and a group of surrendered Qing officials in Taizhou were sent back to Suzhou. Xiao Yungui and Hong Yuner met this famous red-topped businessman in history together. After talking, Hu Xueyan was indeed very business-minded, so he asked Hu Xueyan to work under Zhu Changling.

Zhu Changling also had a lot of chores. In addition to dealing with Shanghai's commercial affairs, he also also had chores of Guiyun Business. Although Wei Helin was helping, Wei Helin was a little too busy with customs affairs. So Hu Xueyan took over the affairs of Guiyun Business and focused on being his business owner, but in fact he was running the private property of Xiwang.

At the beginning of the year, Xiao Yungui received a letter from Field in the United States that the laying of Atlantic submarine cables was very smooth, and the third phase of the project began soon. He hoped that the partner of Oriental could send someone to participate in a phased completion celebration. Xiao Yungui also knew that the entire submarine cable laying would take several years to complete, and he also thought that Guiyun Business now had already started to generate profits in domestic investment projects. The cigarettes, soaps, perfumes and other small commodities they produced could be pushed into a broader market. So Xiao Yungui asked Hu Xueyan to take Guiyun Business to the United States with some capable players. Their task was to open up the American market and establish a branch of Guiyun Business in the United States.

Half a year passed, and Hu Xueyan had just returned to China, and Xiao Yungui couldn't wait to meet Hu Xueyan. At this time, Hu Xueyan was wearing a Western tuxedo, with a bow on the collar, and a civilized staff in his hand. His hair had been removed. He did not combed his long hair like the Taiping Army, but cut it into a very energetic short hair. He looked much younger.

Xiao Yungui laughed when he saw Hu Xueyan dressing up like this: "I thought the minister from which country was here again."

Hu Xueyan's face turned slightly red and said, "Your Highness, everyone wears this in the United States. He didn't get used to it for a while shortly after returning to China."

Xiao Yungui waved his hand and smiled, "It's no big deal. It's normal to wear suitable clothes in suitable scenarios. But we are always Han people and cannot forget Hanfu. Although we are learning the West at the moment, it does not mean that we have to learn to wear food together. Be careful that in the future, we will learn to walk to the walk in Handan. If we don't learn the essence of others, we will forget our own things."

Hu Xueyan's face turned redder, and Xiao Yungui was not easy to blame him. He changed the subject and asked, "How is the matter in the United States?"

Hu Xueyan said: "We visited Mr. Field's company and also took a boat to see the cable laying situation. The cable has completed the Canadian section, and the rest is to cross Greenland and continue to move eastward."

It turned out that Field's cable was laid along the eastern coastline of North America, rather than directly crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Thinking about it, the current technical conditions still cannot meet this deep-sea laying, and the offshore laying along the coastline is still relatively in line with the current technical conditions. This is why it takes thirteen years to complete it.

Seeing that King Xi did not interrupt, Hu Xueyan continued: "It will take several years to complete the cable laying. Then, with the help of Mr. Field, we registered a company in New York, USA, called Guiyun Investment Trading Company. Recently, the company invested in the Missouri Pacific Railway construction project from the St. Louis to Kansas in the United States. The first investment was about 500,000 silver dollars."

Xiao Yungui touched his chin and said, "I asked Field to make similar investments for me in advance. Have those investments been transferred to Guiyun Company's name?"

Hu Xueyan said: "The procedures have been completed and directly transferred from Field Company is the investment in the railway construction project from Hannibal to St. Joseph. In addition, the total funds we invested in the American railway were 1.5 million silver dollars."

Xiao Yungui said with a hint: "Increase investment in American railways, the investment of 1.5 million silver dollars is still too small. In the future, all profits of the US branches will be invested on the railways. At the same time, you should pay attention to some American factories and see which ones can be acquired."

Hu Xueyan responded, but seemed to be confused. Xiao Yungui understood what he was thinking and said with a smile: "Are you wondering why I used the money to invest in American railways instead of their own railways?"

Hu Xueyan nodded honestly, Xiao Yungui smiled faintly, and sighed and said: "Railways are still new in our country. Investment is slow to work and costs more than the United States. The cost of a Suzhou-Shanghai railway is quite huge, and it also involves many people's livelihood disputes. The workers and technologies of domestic railways are not mature. However, I will invest in the United States in the railways. However, the railways in our country will be able to see benefits in the next few years. After a few years, the railways in our country will gradually be accepted by the Chinese people, and the technology and workers will be mature. Then, they will take the money back to feed back to their country's railways and achieve twice the result with half the effort. Do you understand?"

Hu Xueyan seemed to understand but didn't seem to understand. How did the King of Westerners know that the American railway will recover investment in the next few years and will definitely make profits? But Xiao Yungui knew that once the railway that runs through the North American continent is built, investors will make ten times or even more profits in a long time! What about domestic railways? In addition to a small amount of private passenger and freight transportation, the current Suzhou-Shanghai Railway is more occupied by the army, and the people's acceptance of trains is still based on the understanding of magical objects, so there is still a long way to go to maturity of railway transportation.

Domestic railways need to be built, but they cannot be too open all at once, otherwise it will cause public rebellion. However, investment in the United States does not have such worries. As Xiao Yungui said, the money invested in a few years can not only be recovered, but also has huge profits. At that time, it is the most appropriate time to invest in domestic railways. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!