Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 584 Don't Try to Take Advantage

Is Jia Lian looking for money? Yes and no! It is true that without money you can do nothing. However, money alone is not enough.

How much money did modern China spend on buying foreign guns and cannons, and what was the result?

Zhang Zhidong made a Hanyang rifle, which was still in use until the Liberation War. A rifle was made for half a century, and the output was only one million.

Therefore, Jia Lian would rather not earn a penny than increase production capacity. In the future, Europe will always be at war, and Jia Lian will not only sell to the Ottomans, but also to the whole world.

There must be a generation gap in technology, and education must be expanded in terms of talent.

How to attract science and engineering talents? This is the significance of the engineering college being able to directly confer titles on graduates.

Ibrahim had a very harmonious negotiation with the shopkeeper, and the price did not change. Jia Lian would not let Tsarist Russia have an easy time just for such a small amount of money.

Even in terms of revolver ammunition, 10,000 rounds of bullets were given as a gift. It was euphemistically called a small gift for the first transaction.

Ibrahim had no doubt that the difference between doing business with official and private individuals was huge.

Can the motivation and attitude be the same when making money for the court and for oneself?

Ibrahim immediately went south to Guangzhou to pick up the goods.

After the Russian envoy learned that Jia Lian had driven Ibrahim away, he stopped making trouble and sent a message to the country, but the distance was too far and it could not be received for a while.

In order to save time, Ibrahim boarded a clipper from Tianjin and followed the postman, sailing at a speed of twelve knots.

The journey was quite tiring, but time was urgent and he couldn't care less.

After arriving in Guangzhou, Xue Pan, who was waiting there, personally received him. After inviting him into his mansion to rest, he told him in person: "We must seize the Arab supply point! I hope the Pasha of your country can understand."

Ibrahim also understood Xue Pan's meaning and immediately said, "The Pasha will grant you as much territory as you can conquer."

What does it mean? It is unrealistic to expect Osman Pasha to cede land on his own initiative, but if you can conquer the land and are willing to accept the title, that is another matter.

How could an old wily man like Xue Pan be fooled by him? He sneered and said, "I have conquered it, and I still want your Pasha to confer the title? Your vision is not as good as that of the Emperor of the Great Zhou. Oh, that's true. You are from the Ottoman Empire, so you really don't need to do this."

Ibrahim still refused to admit defeat, and even after being exposed, he still tried to save his identity: "Everyone has to save face."

Xue Pan looked at him viciously: "If you can save face, my brother-in-law will not be able to stay in the court any longer and will be forced to go into exile overseas. The only heir to the Duke, a second-rank official of the empire, accepting a foreign title, what kind of nature is this? Do you really think that the censor is just there to eat? You people really can't be friends, because you always think about calculating friends. Forget it, let's talk about business from now on, and don't mention anything else. This time, the overall price of the goods will be increased by 30%, and you can't take it away if you pay less than a copper coin. Come on, show him out!"

Ibrahim was flexible and when he saw Xue Pan getting upset, he immediately said, "Don't get excited, my friend! We can talk about anything."

After Xue Pan waved his hand to signal the servant to leave, he looked at Ibrahim coldly and said, "Remember, you only have one chance."

Even though Ibrahim gave in, Xue Pan still added 10 percent to the price of the goods, saying that this was a punishment for him for scheming against his friend.

Ibrahim regretted his decision so much that his intestines turned green. He made it a point to remember that from now on, the conditions offered by Jia Lian would be the most favorable the first time.

Time waits for no one. After withdrawing the silver bill from the bank to pay the bill, Ibrahim returned immediately. Because there was too much cargo, he rented six warships for escort.

The huge fleet returned with 20,000 flintlock rifles, 10,000 rifled flintlock rifles, 3,000 revolvers, and 100 cannons.

The fleet was so large that when it docked in Yangon for supplies, it scared the British, who thought it was the Zhou Empire's fleet attacking, and Mumbai was in chaos.

When the British learned that it was the Ottoman Empire's purchasing fleet, they were confused. They wanted to stop it, but they didn't dare to. They tried to find out in a roundabout way, but there was no way. They could only vaguely guess that it was arms.

If it was arms, it would be even more frightening, showing that the Zhou Empire had terrifyingly strong production capacity.

Some things are not so simple that you can't say whether you can make them or not. It will take a long time to make so many weapons by hand.

In fact, these ships were not only loaded with arms, but also more than a thousand people and a large amount of supplies in Yangon, and transported to supply points on the peninsula.

As for people, it’s hard to deal with people in China, and people from the neighboring small countries are really worthless.

Taking religious factors into consideration, Xue Pan chose Japan and Korea as his main immigration destination, and made up for the shortfall with Burma. The key point is that Jia Lian emphasized that Indians were not allowed.

Xue Pan expressed his incomprehension, saying that they were all human beings, but Jia Lian told him that the people there were lazy and undisciplined. Xue Pan then remembered that he would never marry an Indian man.

The woman didn't mind and bought a few hundred from the British and took them with her.

You know what, the British Royal Navy really cares about this deal, and is serious and responsible. Not only did they send their own ships to transport the goods, they also sent three warships to help escort them.

When the Xue family's head shopkeeper saw this situation, he knew that the British were up to no good, but it didn't matter. If you want to watch, just watch. How dare you stop me?
Just remember one thing: the Angsas are cowards. As long as they can't beat you, they will definitely sit down and talk business.

Well, this is what Master Jia said, and it is absolutely correct.

With the loss of its North American colonies, Britain now attaches much more importance to India. Although the East India Company is still the one making trouble, once the company can no longer make trouble, the British government will directly intervene.

It has to be said that the Xue family trading company is not a good company. Every year, one or two of its ships get lost in the waters around Gwadar. As a result, they become acquainted with the local kings and sell them many flintlock rifles.

Otherwise, how can Guangzhou survive with so many arsenals? They must have a market. Jia Lian was a little worried about selling to others, but he had no worries at all about selling to the Indian king. Anyway, that place would still be a mess after hundreds of years, and all the weapons used were made in other countries. Oh, there was a little brother who used the C++ package, that was another matter.

Recently, Xue Pan has been thinking about building a port here as a supply point.

The British were still very wary of the East China Sea. If they really encountered one or two ships, they would directly turn into pirates.

What they feared was this kind of large-scale fleet, because apart from a huge shipwreck, there was no other way to explain the disappearance of the fleet. The only possibility was that they were attacked by the British fleet.

Once the Zhou Empire has made up its mind, it will not listen to your explanation and will definitely attack you first.

Even though Jia Lian repeatedly reiterated that he had no interest in India, the British did not dare to believe it.

Speaking of which, India, apart from having more arable land, has very few other resources, and is even worse than Siberia.

It's a pity that no one wants to go to Siberia now. It's too damn cold.

Even the King of Dongping, who was entrenched in the Heilongjiang River Basin and further away, reached an agreement with the local natives, who accepted protection and traded with them. They exchanged various furs and gold for food, ironware, and weapons. Although the King of Dongping could make a lot of money every year, it was useless because he could not produce it himself. In that place, money was the most useless.

Therefore, whenever the King of Dongping traded with the mainland, he would bring back large quantities of supplies.

Recently, Prince Dongping submitted a memorial. He heard that a railway was being built and he also wanted to build a railway leading to the outside of the Great Wall.

Emperor Chenghui showed the memorial to Jia Lian and asked him if he wanted to repair it.

After reading the memorial, Jia Lian said with a look of disdain, "If he is willing to pay half the money, I will repair it."

Emperor Chenghui said: "Then I will reply to Prince Dongping in this way." The Prince of Dongping was in the capital. After receiving the reply and knowing Jia Lian's intention, he jumped three feet high and started cursing.

"Damn Jia Buqi, why doesn't he go and rob? The land outside the Great Wall is divided into east, west, south and north. My family's territory is in the north of Heilongjiang River. A little further north are all dense mountains and old forests. The good places outside the Great Wall have been given to the court. Building a railway requires money, and we are only responsible for the land within our family's territory."

The Prince of Dongping made his position clear.

Emperor Chenghui was too lazy to act as a middleman, so he asked the two to sit together and talk on their own.

Emperor Chenghui was certainly willing to build railways outside the Great Wall. Not to mention how many industries it would drive development, the control over the areas outside the Great Wall alone would be on another level.

As for whether or not to really repair it, it would be best if it could be repaired. If it costs too much, Emperor Chenghui will not be in a hurry. That is Jia Lian's concern.

Nowadays, all the farms outside the Great Wall are private territories of the court dignitaries. They are only the court's territory in appearance. Emperor Chenghui is old and has no power to do many things. He can only rely on Jia Lian.

In fact, in order to appease the powerful relatives and clansmen, Emperor Chenghui allowed them to seize land in Liaodong. He could not solve this mess.

The Prince of Dongping specially found a top-notch brothel to entertain Jia Lian and held a banquet in his honor.

Since the emperor had given the nod, Jia Lian naturally came to the banquet with dignity, but he did not bring any women.

"I'm here to discuss something. We should have discussed it in the government office, but the prince insisted on discussing it here. Please leave if you have nothing to do with me." It's not that Jia Lian is serious, it's just that there are too many women in the family and he can't take care of them all. Moreover, the so-called training that the brothel women received was not interesting in Jia Lian's eyes. What's wrong with being able to play the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting? I'm not interested in these.

Several so-called popular prostitutes had not even stood there for a moment after entering the room, but after hearing what Jia Lian said, the Prince of Dongping had to wave his hand and signal them to leave.

The two sat opposite each other, and the prince poured the wine himself, raised his glass and said, "You are indeed the most difficult guest to invite. I will drink first today to show my respect."

Jia Lian raised his hand and held his hand, saying, "Wait a minute, let's talk about business first, and we'll talk about it later after we have a drink."

The prince looked helpless. After so many years, how could he not know who Jia Lian was? He wanted to play the emotional card, but now it seemed that there was no hope.

The prince put down the cup and said, "Okay, let's get down to business. I won't talk about other things about building a railway outside the Great Wall. From the capital to Shanhaiguan, and then to Liaodong, no matter how you calculate this distance, it can't be counted on the Dongping Palace, right?"

Jia Lian sneered and said, "If you insist on calculating it this way, then I have to explain it to you. What is the purpose of building a railway? There is so much black soil outside the Great Wall, rice and soybeans are planted every year, and there is an endless amount of wood to be cut. The amount of materials is inexhaustible. I want to ask you, how can we transport it? With your limited manpower? I can't let you transport it forever. What's wrong with asking you to pay half of the funds? The Prince of Dongping is the biggest beneficiary."

The prince was no pushover and immediately retorted, "One should act with conscience. Take Liaodong for example. Who got all the land that the palace gave up? I heard that a coal mine was discovered in your fiefdom and there is an iron mountain nearby. Can you let the coal and iron rot in the ground and on the mountain? There are so many farms in Liaodong. Which one of them can't use the railway? Why don't you ask them for money?"

Jia Lian raised his hand to interrupt him: "Stop, they are them, you are you. Jia will collect the money from them. If you don't pay, don't even think about using the railway to transport materials."

When the prince heard this, he knew that he couldn't get away with it easily this time, so he softened his tone and said, "How about this? With Jinzhou as the boundary, the palace will invest half of the railway to the north after Jinzhou, but it also needs half of the shares. You can't just let us pay and not get any benefits, right?"

Jia Lian didn't look happy at all, pointing at the other side, saying: "Look at what you said, the abacus beads are about to fall on my face. You are just showing off your skills before an expert when you want to settle accounts with me. You still want shares, no way! It's up to you to repair it or not, I will repair it to the outside of the pass, and the houses in the palace will not be able to use the railway. I said, even if His Majesty comes, I will not agree, unless all my positions are removed."

The prince's face turned extremely ugly. He knew that this negotiation would be difficult, but he didn't know it would be so difficult.

"It's meaningless for you to say that. We are all family. We built the railway for the court, so that materials from outside the Great Wall can be transported to the Great Wall, and so that the court can better control Liaodong. The current war situation has undergone fundamental changes. The Dongping Palace just wants to live a peaceful life as a peaceful king and a rich man."

Jia Lian sneered, "You were smart to withdraw from Liaodong. Otherwise, what was waiting for you was Jia's army to leave the border. You are far from being good at fighting. Okay, I am willing to sit down and talk to you today. You should seize the opportunity and don't ask for too much. You should put away your thoughts and try to scheme against me."

Jia Lian’s dominance made the prince uncomfortable, but he had to admit that what Jia Lian said was true.

"I will never accept half of the money. At worst, we won't build the road." The prince was getting a little angry. Although he had no right to be angry with Jia Lian, he could be angry with himself. After all, he was such a lowly person. He wanted to discuss with Jia Lian about building a railway so as to revitalize the material transportation channels outside the Great Wall.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Jia Lian took a sip of his teacup and said calmly, "Even if you don't mention it, it's only a matter of time before the railway is built outside the Great Wall. The country is so big, and things always have a priority. Right now, the focus of road construction is Nanjing and Wuhan, which are the heartland of the Central Plains. One is the lifeline of food, and the other is the lifeline of finance and taxation. Liaodong can only lag behind."

The Prince of Dongping knew that Jia Lian was telling the truth. At least in the emperor's mind, Liaodong ranked low.

This was the case in the agricultural era. If a place was not suitable for farming, it would not be valued. Liaodong could be used for farming, so what? Could it be compared with the Yangtze River Basin?
"Okay, give me a definite answer." The Prince of Dongping could only take a step back.

"This road can be built ahead of time, but there is a rule: all the dignitaries and relatives of the royal family who have enclosed land in Liaodong must contribute a share of the money, otherwise I would rather not build it. Just remember that when the plan is completed, I will tell you how much money it will cost, and you don't have to worry about the rest. Also, it will not be built to the Heilongjiang River basin for a while, so you just wait. When the time comes, I will at least give the palace some respect for the sake of the old friendship between the two families."

After saying this, Jia Lian stood up and said goodbye. He only drank a sip of tea during the whole process and didn't drink a drop of wine.

The Prince of Dongping, who was sitting in his seat, did not move at all, and stared blankly at Jia Lian's back as he left.

Once upon a time, in Beijing Prince's Mansion, the inconspicuous Jia Lian was never taken seriously. Now he has grown to the point where even if the prince himself comes, he has to give him enough face.

Jia Lian had already planned to build a road to the northeast, and had sent a team to conduct on-site surveys.

The Northeast is a place that is extremely important for this era.

Why? We have coal and iron, not to mention the poor ore or the rich iron ore in Australia. Given the current transportation conditions, you just need to ask how to transport the rich iron ore in Australia.

Don’t even mention the nonsense of building a steel plant locally. Things like steel plants can only be built in the mainland.

Even a nail from overseas has to be bought back from the mainland.

In order to build the largest industrial cluster in the world today, Jia Lian must do this.

If it weren't for overseas demand, not to mention the steel industry in Beijing and Guangzhou, many private factories along the Yangtze River, such as Sugang, would have been squeezed out of business long ago.

Jia Lian needs them to survive, not only survive, but also continue to grow stronger.

It is unrealistic to expect the state to do industrialization, and the people must also keep up. Jia Lian only needs to focus on arms production and continue to expand the market.

As for the railway, under the current technological level, it is necessary to build it to the Yangtze River first, and then connect the north and the south. Jia Lian probably won't see a bridge over the Yangtze River in his lifetime.

The further south you go, the more complex the terrain becomes and the more difficult it is to build a railway.

There is no other way but to repair the places that can be repaired first. The area outside the Great Wall is undoubtedly the easier place to repair.

As for what was said to the Prince of Dongping, it was a bit like bullying an outsider.

Emperor Chenghui called Jia Lian to ask how Tan Fa was doing, and Jia Lian answered truthfully.

Emperor Chenghui remained silent after hearing this and said, "In this case, it is indeed very difficult to build a railway outside the customs."

Jia Lian said calmly, "It will definitely be repaired, sooner or later. However, if anyone does not pay, I will keep a close eye on them, and don't even think about shipping a grain of grain out via the railway. It's bad enough that they don't pay taxes, but they also want to take advantage of the court. No way."

When it comes to taxes, Emperor Chenghui doesn't want to listen anymore. It seems that Jia Lian hasn't let it go yet.

"Stop talking so much!" Emperor Chenghui could only comfort Jia Lian in this way. It would be a lie to say that he had no regrets. It was just that he was old and his energy was really not good enough.

(End of this chapter)