Chapter 61: The wind and clouds rise

After the 18th day of the first lunar month, various provinces reported to each other. The two lakes belonged to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the provinces of Zhili, Shandong, wrote to the court, requesting to imitate the story of the two rivers, and start to divide the boundary sites and build railways in the province. In particular, the governor of Hunan Gong Yu, said in the memorial, "I read the edict issued by my master on September 12, the seventh year of Xianfeng, and regretted it. The railway's great work is beneficial to the country and the people, and it is actually a contribution to the present and good policies of later generations. Although I am stupid, I also admire the benefits of the ancient sages of "seeing the wise and thinking about the good". Although the two rivers are different, the human relationship is not far away. All households have worldly careers, so there is no need to plan more. I am free to work for my official duties. I will always think about my gratitude, and ask my father to submit my favor to me and conduct instructions. Then the world is very lucky, and the people in Hunan are very lucky."

The memorials of other provinces are similar, and they all hope that the imperial court will allow them to build railway projects in the province. The Military Affairs Office reported to the imperial front. The emperor specially called the second hall of the Ministry of Revenue and the General Administration to the Hall of Yangxin. "Yan Jingming, you are the Minister of Revenue. From the fourth to the seventh year of Xianfeng, how much money will the Ministry of Revenue spend in total on the project money?"

"Reply to the emperor, the railway project was completed in three years. The total cost of various expenses was 16.9633.7 taels of silver. The Ministry of Revenue allocated 9.4948 taels of seven cents. The remaining amount was donated by the Liangjiang vassal treasury and various provinces."

After hearing Yan Jingming's words, Bai Xujing knelt down and replied: "Your Majesty, I think that a railway worth more than 300 kilometers will take four years and cost tens of millions! This is a region with neat roads and gentle terrain from Jiangning to Shanghai, with mountains in Hunan and Hubei, and building railways is even more difficult. Therefore, I thought it would be better to reject Gong Yu's request and carry out railway construction in Zhili and Shandong. On the one hand, it can make the province's land run through, and on the other hand, it can also accommodate large numbers of soldiers to eliminate the withdrawn army. This is a method of killing two birds with one stone."

The emperor refused to comment, "What about you? You discuss it, what do you think of Bai Wei's words?"

Yi replied, "Your Majesty, I think that things will be smooth and smooth. Once the railway work is booming, it will definitely be a storm. However, all the civil and military officials in Shandong and Zhili have no experience in promoting work. Even if they recruit civil servants, they will be in trouble. Therefore, I thought, it would be better to report to each province and return them one by one. When the time is right, then make a judgment. Wouldn't it be more in line with the will of heaven and man?"

The emperor did not find it difficult to choose between two completely opposite views. He seemed very interested, "Well, Lao Liu held the opposite view from Bai Wei. Who else? Do you have any different opinions?"

Sushun opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but swallowed it back. Bai Wei and Yi were both officials in the court with hatred and jealousy. Needless to say, Yi was, as the emperor's younger brother, and he was promoted. Now he is the leading minister and the veritable chief minister of the court. Although Sushun asked himself that his saints were still unfair, he could not compare.

Bai Wei met at Weng's house on the first day of the Lunar New Year. He also wrote a poem to mock himself. Although Su Shun did not understand poetry, he naturally deeply imitated several disciples. After hearing his retelling after returning to the house, he explained it to him: This is to compare him to Yang Guozhong in the era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. With such an experience, the things in the court were even more scattered. Su Shun held a grudge in his heart and always wanted to find some opportunity to take revenge on him, but he just didn't hide it.

When others didn't say anything, the emperor took the initiative to call the general, "Weng Xincun, the two rivers are your hometown. After the railway is traveling with you, do you have any letters from home? What do you think about Yu Railway?"

When the emperor asked, Weng Xincun couldn't stop talking, "I returned to the emperor. I was fortunate to follow Jiangnan last year. I was also kind to the emperor and returned to my hometown to visit. After talking to the village for a long time, I said that the railway was a thing, although I only saw it in my life, but it was like a giant dragon, winding, and there was no need for human power. When it was dragged, it roared - the people thought it was a monster. But after the passage, the people experienced it and realized it deeply that the court allocated a lot of money to build railways, so that merchants and traders could fight, and the people would no longer have the pain of the past rain and snow carrying the journey. Although it cost a lot of money to ride a car, I thought about the heavy money spent by the court to benefit the people, and the people were willing to do so."

"Does anyone know how much it costs to take a newly laid train?"

"When I say to the emperor, the ticket price is limited to three or five cents per person." Yan Jingming thought it was very fast, "Each trip carries a total of 650 passengers, four trains a day, which is 9,100 taels. The silver spent by the court can be recovered in less than three years - after that, every day and every year will be profitable."

The emperor burst into laughter, "This is just an algorithm that our monarch and ministers have fantasized in the Hall of Peace. In fact, the income is far less than this. The land expropriated along the railway line will compensate the people, the coal, public use, and losses spent on railway operations, and the people who take the railway are mostly greedy for freshness. When the limelight passes, the multiplier will inevitably decrease, and the increase and decrease. If one counts one by one, it is already a blessing to be able to recover the railway cost within ten years."

"Then, I think it's better to raise the fare and change it to..."

"Bah!" the emperor cursed with a smile, "Do you really think that I issued an order to build a railway to compete for profit with the people? Something that is useless!"

Sushun was scolded and lowered his head embarrassedly, "I am confused, please teach the emperor."

"The use of railways is mainly two. The first is to increase circulation, and it is not far away. This is what will happen after the railways in various provinces of the Celestial Dynasty are deployed more and more frequently. At that time, from the country of Tianfu to the land of fish and rice, the people can take the railway to operate every day, which is not as safe as going up the river. It is not as safe as well as faster? No need to mention the circulation of goods in the two places, how convenient and fast is it?"

"The second is to prepare the military power of the Celestial Dynasty, which can reach the surroundings! The so-called speed of soldiers means this - this layer cannot be said much, and it can be clearly seen when I fought with the British last year. Think about it, if there was a railway that could be connected to the north and south, from Longxing to the southeast half of the wall, although I knew that the British would never dare to bombard Guangzhou City with artillery, the people in the city were panic and prices soared, it would be inevitable, right?"

The emperor paused for a moment, "It's too far. I'll come back to what Weng Xincun said just now. The common people, when they saw the train, were shocked and thought it was monsters, but after they passed, they were happy to see it. As for what Bai Jie and Lao Liu said just now, it's not unreasonable. The cost is so huge that they can use millions of people. Once they are drawn from the fields, they will inevitably harm the farmers - I will not do anything to cure the things that damage the meridians."

"The emperor is wise." Su Shun replied, "The slave also thought that it was time to choose slack farming, or after the new military law was implemented, the green camp soldiers from various provinces should be eliminated and withdrawn from the green camp in various provinces, and to build railways in the construction of the construction industry, so that people can use their talents and things to their fullest."

The emperor ignored him and asked Yi, "Lao Liu, the British envoy is here soon, right?"

"Yes, Viscount Audridge and Consul Bashali and his group have never returned from the south of Beijing a few years ago. A telegram was sent to request our dynasty to be exempted for several days, saying that in the eighth year of Xianfeng, together with His Excellency Gladstone, the captured soldiers of the Celestial Dynasty, went north together to complete the prisoner exchange and the armistice between the two countries."

"Oh?" the emperor asked, "Aren't they very anxious? Why did they actually delay?"

"I don't know this, but I heard from the ministers of all countries in Beijing that the soldiers of the Celestial Empire were bullied during their detention in Hong Kong! Seeing that the soldiers of that country were treated with more care in our Celestial Empire, Aldridge and others felt ashamed, and they were even more afraid of attacking us when they exchanged prisoners in the future. Therefore, they delayed for several days and exchanged with each other after the soldiers' shape recovered as before."

"Is this true?"

"If you listen to your words, I can't tell the truth or falsehood. But I think it's a shame to do something like this, the British claim to be a civilized country."

Bai Jie replied, "Your Majesty, I think that even if the British claim to be righteous, they must be wary of the soldiers below doing things wrong. If you want to be groundless, it may not be without reason. For this matter, you must ask the British for an explanation."

"The truth is unknown, what should I say? Besides, the land of Hong Kong is thousands of miles away from the capital..."

The emperor interrupted the two people's arguments, "Okay. Don't argue anymore." He said, "This matter is easy to resolve. In the future, the soldiers will come to Beijing and I will see you personally. I will know if there is any humiliation. If not, don't mention everything; if there is, the British will always pay the price!"

"Yes. The emperor clearly sees Wanli, the truth is true and false. After waiting for our soldiers to return to the capital, they will know after questions and answers. If it is true, I think that if I don't wait for the emperor to pursue it, I will not spare these people from the servant. I must follow up in detail and revitalize the prestige of the country!"

The emperor picked up the *** on the imperial case and took a sip. "I can't talk about this yet. Let's talk about it after everything is stable." He said, "Chongshi has submitted a memorial to me during his tenure, mentioning the Miao Xinjiang support and the Miao people's livelihood measures. I have given detailed instructions and handed over to the Military Affairs Office to discuss this matter. I will ask you to take it later. What should I do? Should I follow the method mentioned in the Chongshi Memorial Examination? Or have other plans? The Military Affairs Office has come up with a solution in the past few days, and I am waiting to ask for it."

Yi was very popular with the emperor. Chongshi was a close friend who was favored by the emperor, and he was not as ignorant as Sushun. The last note to rectify Miao and Viagra must be a strange person. Once there were too many violent words and deeds in the note, he had to take it seriously. While thinking, he agreed, "Yes." Thinking about it, he added another sentence, "Chongbaishui is a great talent in the clan, and he has been trained by the emperor for many years. When the new treasure is first released, he can tell that his finger is that although the original brother Zhe has not seen it yet, he can also imagine the color of it."

"He is a young man after all, and sometimes he has taken it for granted. It is inevitable that he will be ridiculous if he appeals to the writing. Yi will not mention that Bai Wei, Weng Xincun, Sun Ruizhen and Zeng Guofan are his teachers and elders. There is no need to obscure the inappropriateness of his memorials. If it is inappropriate, it is also in accordance with the original intention of a gentleman to love his friends and be virtuous!"

Seeing everyone responding voluntarily, the emperor smiled and talked about the topic of railway construction. "The law of railways, even if the Heavenly Kingdom had some experience over the years, many things were not something we could do ourselves, just like railway tracks, roadbeds, locomotives, carriages, etc. Until now, we still have to buy them from abroad."

"Yes, this matter was the negligence of the ministers. The Jiangning Iron and Steel Plant was first built and did not have the production capacity. It was all because of the ministers and local governments that were not supervising effectively, which led to the superiors..."

The emperor rushed to say, "I am not going to blame you, you have seen it. The governors and governors of various provinces have submitted memorandums to request the construction of railways in the province. In the future, there will be more and more such things. Are you still afraid that after the iron plant is completed and started in the future, there will be no place to use its power? What I want to say is not this."

He said, "In the second year of Xianfeng, I moved to Rehe and once traveled outside the palace..." He admitted the ridiculous things in public, and even the emperor smiled a little embarrassedly.

Eight years after ascending the throne, the emperor who was nearly thirty years old became more powerful and became more powerful. A shy smile made people feel a rare close heart. Su Shun immediately met and replied, "The emperor is in the ninth level and is concerned about all the people in the world. The slaves think that in the thirty years of Daoguang, the emperor came to the Qianqing Palace and said: "... Staying in this inner courtyard all day, without understanding of the affairs of the people... I will definitely become a foolish monarch like Emperor Hui of Jin's. It is the holy intention that the emperor always goes out to visit! It is as heartless as Zhu Houzhao of the previous Ming Dynasty, and even does not know why the emperor's main tasks are incomparable."

Yi and his friends cursed in their hearts at the same time! They could actually find a basis for the emperor to leave the palace, Yeyou? It’s really a blessing for him to think of this answer in this moment?

After all, the emperor was not a foolish monarch. Although Sushun's words made him feel very pleased, he would not take his words as real. "Once, he brought Chongshi and Weng Tonghe out of the palace. When he was chatting, he talked about railway construction. At that time, I said that railway technology is not a secret that was not passed down. There are British people, Americans, Germans, French, and even Denmark, and there are also many people who are familiar with them. What I want to say today is the same. Railway work is often discussed with foreign countries outside Britain and France, and with the help of the technology and manpower of other countries, we can do our own major affairs in our heavenly dynasty. There is no need to rely solely on the British!"

After a few words from the king and his ministers, Yi suddenly remembered something, "The emperor, my brother and the general office's official office's comment on "The war between the two countries is over, the treatment of prisoners of war" was submitted by the Ministry of Justice before the New Year..."

"I'm still watching, I'll be in a few days. I'll discuss it with you in detail."

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Everyone knelt out, Liufu, Jingyu entered the hall, and whispered to the eunuch to put away the worship pads on the ground one by one. The two of them quietly arrived in front of the warm room. The emperor was sitting cross-legged on the kang, muttering something, "No, I can't remember it!" As he sighed, as if he was worried.

Jingyu carefully entered the warm pavilion and bowed, "Your Majesty, do you need any servant to serve him?"

"This has nothing to do with you. I can't remember some things. Oh, nothing, nothing."

Seeing the emperor's color a little panicked, the two of them dared not ask too much, "If the master wants to check something, why not give it to the slave?"

"This matter is not something you guys can understand, I'll do it myself." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations from ***(***.***) ***. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter completed!