The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 296 A Small Step towards Industrialization (Request for Subscription and Ticket)

Tongshun Building.

"Your Majesty, Daotai Wu requests to see you."

A report from the guards of Prince Gong's Mansion came from outside a reception room with a circle of sofas and a Western-style low-legged coffee table.

Prince Gong, who was standing by the glass window with his arms folded, staring at the busy construction sites outside, only said one word: "Spread it!"

Then there was a soft sound of the door being pushed open, and Wu Jianzhang came in holding a paper box. He came behind Prince Gong, lifted his robe and knelt down: "Your Highness, I have drafted a treaty with Envoy Wen, a total of five articles, please review it."

Prince Gong did not turn around, but said to Guiliang and Shengbao who were guarding him: "Old Taishan, Kezhai, please look."

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Shengbao agreed, took the paper box handed to him by Wu Jianzhang, put it on the coffee table, opened it, took out a piece of document paper from it and started reading it with Guiliang.

This treaty was a "supplementary treaty" with a total of five articles. One of them was mutually beneficial, that is, the opening of ports; two were what the Qing Dynasty sold to China, namely, the establishment of concessions in northern ports such as Tianjin and the joint management of northern customs such as the Tianjin Customs; two were about Britain helping the Qing Dynasty to set up a new army, namely, the sale of 30,000 foreign guns, 100 cannons, a large amount of ammunition and the dispatch of military advisers by Britain to help the Qing Dynasty train its new army.

Although it was a traitorous treaty, the Qing Dynasty still increased its level of treason when facing the threat of a more powerful version of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At least it did not cede territory or pay compensation, and even gained tens of thousands of European-style new troops.

"Your Majesty, there is no problem with the treaty, but can the emperor agree to it?"

Gui Liang came close to Prince Gong and said worriedly: "The British want us to open Tianjin and set up a concession in Tianjin."

"I will agree to it!"

Prince Gong said calmly: "The British are still neutral. That is to say, what we can get from the British, the Taiping rebels can also get! If we don't want it, then even if the Taiping rebels have tens of thousands of new troops, not to mention Tianjin, Beijing will have to be named Hong!"

"Your Highness, we can't keep being threatened by the British with the supply of foreign guns and cannons, otherwise they will definitely make further demands!"

Wen Xiang on the side reminded.

Prince Gong lowered his eyebrows and said, "That's true. Bochuan, what can you do?"

Wenxiang said, "Your Highness, I think those foreign guns and cannons are not much worse than ours. Perhaps we can invite some foreign craftsmen to teach us how to make foreign guns and cannons!"

Prince Gong raised his eyebrows and said, "That's a good idea, Wu Daotai. Can we invite the craftsmen in the Qing Dynasty who can make foreign guns and cannons?"

"Of course we can," Wu Jianzhang replied with a smile, "Foreign guns and cannons are originally traded by foreigners. There are commercial gun factories in foreign countries. As long as the money is paid, the whole factory can be bought back."

Wu Jianzhang was not talking nonsense, because he had already handled the business of importing "foreign gun factories" once!
The Qichang Foreign Company, in which he and Luo Xueyan jointly held half of the shares, sent an American manager with several Guangdong compradors, as well as Yu Dabao and Huang Shouren, to the United States last month to introduce a "foreign gun factory."

Luo Yaoguo also asked his diplomatic adviser Major Ma Hui, American Minister to the United States Marshalli, and American Navy Rear Admiral Perry to write letters of recommendation for Qichang Trading Company's "comprador group" to take to the United States. He hoped that Qichang Trading Company would be able to introduce the production technology, corresponding equipment and molds of the M1842 Mississippi rifle from the United States this time.

However, Wu Jianzhang would not tell Prince Gong about this, as he is now a bureaucratic capitalist on Luo Yaoguo's side!

"In that case." Prince Gong thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Then let's add another clause to the treaty, asking the British to help us hire British craftsmen to help us make foreign guns and cannons. Of course, silver is easy to talk about! Wu Daotai, do you think it's okay?"

"Okay, okay, if I have money, of course I can!"

Hearing Wu Jianzhang's ready agreement, Prince Gong waved his sleeves, turned back and sat on the sofa, served tea and sent Wu Jianzhang away.

After Wu Jianzhang took the draft treaty that Guiliang and Shengbao had just approved and went to the British for revision, Prince Gong said to Shengbao and Wenxiang: "After the draft treaties of Kezhai, Bochuan, etc. are finalized, you two will take the British ship to the north. When you arrive in Beijing, first go to the Fengtai Camp in Wanping to meet the monk king, and then talk about the 30,000 foreign guns, 100 foreign cannons and the factory in Tianjin to manufacture foreign guns and foreign cannons!"

Shengbao nodded and said, "I understand! Foreign guns and cannons plus the new army are the lifeblood of our Qing Dynasty. They are more important than anything else!"

Prince Gong looked at his confidant and considered for a moment: "Ke Zhai, you are also an old military veteran, and you have seen the Shanghai New Army and the Taiping Foreign Rifle Team. I will write you a note and ask the monk king to keep you in the Fengtai camp as an assistant." "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Shengbao looked delighted.

Although the battle was not fought well this time when we went south, the country sold well!

If I can train new troops with the monk king, it will be of great use in the future.

But Wenxiang thought more and whispered to Prince Gong: "Your Majesty, do you think we should set up a government office to manage foreign affairs? Currently, foreign affairs are managed by the Minister of Commerce of the Five Ports."

"We have to set one up," Prince Gong thought for a moment, "Let's set up a Zongli Yamen to handle foreign affairs. I'll write a memorial to the emperor and explain this matter in detail."

He paused, frowned and said to Wenxiang: "Bochuan, when you meet the emperor, remember to recite the military song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall"!"

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Taihu Lake, Dongting Lake and Dongshan Mountain.

In late autumn, the trees on the east bank of Dongting Mountain were already covered with frost, and the roads were covered with a thin layer of ice. The wheels of the carriage passed over them, making crisp crackling sounds. In the carriage, a man and a woman were talking and laughing quietly.

"Your Majesty, there are so many things going on in Suzhou City, how can you still have time to go to Dongting Mountain Island?"

The speaker was Zhou Xiuying. Su Sanniang was pregnant and needed to take care of the fetus, and Luo Yaoguo was young and energetic, and at the peak of his life, he was very hot-tempered. Naturally, she had to stay with Mr. Luo and be "beaten" every day. Even if she was physically inconvenient, she had to serve him with her cherry-like mouth. Fortunately, she was also a relaxed person and a chivalrous woman who kept her word. She had sold her body and art to Mr. Luo, so she could do whatever Mr. Luo wanted, right?
"Miss Xiao Zhou, do you know that this Dongting Mountain Island is a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers are hidden?"

Luo Yaoguo looked at Zhou Xiuying with a smile and asked, half-jokingly calling her "Miss Zhou".

"Miss Xiao Zhou" nodded and said with a smile, "I know. He is from the Zuantian Dongting Mountain. The businessmen in Jiangnan have always been dominated by the Dongting Mountain Gang, the Hui Gang, the Ning Gang, and the Longyou Gang. Recently, there are more people from Guangdong and Fujian."

Luo Yaoguo nodded gently, saying in a leisurely tone: "The people who really have the final say in the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce are all from Dongting Mountain. The Xi family, the Weng family, the Ge family, the Shen family, the Qin family, the Xu family, the Sun family, the Deng family, and other families in the two mountains are all richer than kings and princes. Half of the money houses in Suzhou, Shanghai, Changzhou, Huzhou, and Jiaxing are controlled by them.

If I want to really make my HSBC Bank a success, I still need the cooperation of these Dongtingshan people. I want to industrialize, but I can’t do it without the support of the financial industry! "

Oh, that’s it!

Zhou Xiuying nodded her head vigorously, although she had no idea what "industrialization" and "financial industry" meant.
Luo Yaoguo knew that she didn’t understand, but how many people in China at that time could understand him?
The path he now had to take was extremely difficult because he had to advance two conflicting lines at the same time: one was called "dividing the land"; the other was called "developing capitalist industry and commerce."

If we don’t take the route of “dividing the land”, there will be no way to ease the sharp contradiction between people and land, and the whole society will “explode”!
It is difficult to industrialize a society that explodes every now and then.

Moreover, if the land is not divided, most of the funds in the hands of the landlords and gentry will be used to suck blood from the tenants and poor farmers through the cycle of high rents and usury.

Luo Yaoguo believes that this cycle of high rent plus usury is a kind of idleness - the funds borrowed through usury are not invested in production, but are used to eat up the high rent. The landlords and gentry are equivalent to lending money to poor farmers to pay the high rent for their land. After the funds have been idle for a circle, they have not produced any value except depriving some farmers of their food and making them bear more debts.

At the same time, usury in rural areas has raised the overall cost of capital, making it impossible for industry and commerce to obtain cheap funds.

However, "dividing the land" seriously violates the market rules.
This will inhibit the development of capitalist industry and commerce.

Without the development of capitalist industry and commerce, it would have been impossible to push China, at least partially, onto the path of industrialization in the mid-19th century.

After all, Luo Yaoguo couldn't expect Tsarist Russia to help build an industrial system, right? Nicholas I himself didn't have one!
Without external "aid", industrialization can only follow the route of "light first, heavy later", follow the market rules, and develop step by step.
Luo Yaoguo looked at the red and yellow autumn scenery outside the window and said his idea lightly: "The four elephants, eight cows and seventy-two golden dogs in Nanxun Town, Huzhou, are also one with the people of Dongting Mountain! These elephants, cows and dogs specialize in the Hu silk business, while the people of Dongting Mountain run money houses and help them manage their money.

Of the one million given by the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce this time, 30% came from people in Dongting Mountain and 20% came from people in Nanxun. The funds for industrialization can be raised by people in Dongting Mountain, but the industry must rely on people in Nanxun.

I am going to Dongting Mountain now to let them know that I am reasonable and that Luo Xueyan, Zuo Jigao and I are all family members. From now on, southern Jiangsu and eastern Zhejiang will be our territory, and they can invest money and do business without worry!
Now, Zuo Jigao is also in Dongting Mountain. Most of the Xishan people in the Dongting Mountain Gang made their fortunes in the Huguang area. They are also the merchants who sold rice from Huguang to Jiangnan. Zuo Jigao is familiar with some Xishan people. I will form an alliance with him in Dongting Mountain, and those people will feel more at ease when they see him. "

(End of this chapter)