"Sir, this is the festival fund applied for by the three companies in the New Year. Please give me your approval..."
"Sir, this is the menu for your banquet with Chinese businessmen at the Coastal Building. Please take a look..."
"I've put the application form for the labor salary of the special zone fence sent by Shopkeeper Fan here for you..."
On the second floor of Lotte Matheson, Xiao Letian has been buried in countless official documents. Nian Gen needs him to make decisions on all kinds of things, even the menu for banquets for businessmen.
Xiao Letian rubbed his temples and said to Mr. Long who was delivering the documents, "If the new army's funding approval is less than 5,000 silver dollars, just let Xiao Hexin and Sima Yun make their own decisions. There is no need to ask me for advice on everything...tell the old shopkeeper later." , let him make his own decisions about the allocation of funds for the construction of these ancillary facilities in the industrial zone..."
At this time, Mr. Long suddenly started coughing violently as if he had caught wind. "Cough cough cough...it's cough cough...I'll do it right now..." Mr. Long's face turned red as he coughed.
"The hidden injury is not healed yet? Didn't you say that you can slowly resolve it with internal strength?" Xiao Letian quickly stood up and patted Master Long's back gently.
Master Long's injuries were from the battle with the ancestors of the Forbidden City a month ago. This old monster was really powerful. His overbearing palm force caused Master Long's lungs to suffer hidden injuries. He did not fully recover even after a month of nursing.
"Master Long, why don't you let a Western doctor take a look? It's a pity that Dr. Buck has gone to Beijing. If he were here, he might be able to do something..."
"Ahem, cough, don't bother. No matter how high the medical skills of foreigners are, they can't cure quack diseases. If this is an internal injury, you still need to see a Chinese medicine doctor... Ahem, cough. I'll grab another medicine later and use my internal strength to nurse it back to health. ...cough cough cough..."
This time Xiao Letian didn't listen to Master Long's words. His face turned purple from holding back and he still kept erect. Xiao Letian shouted downstairs, "Where is Wang Huaiyuan? Let him come to see me quickly..."
At this time, Wang Huaiyuan, the person in charge of the execution hall, had just arrived with a secret message. He quickly ran up to the second floor after hearing the summons.
"Sir, you called me?"
"Immediately arrange for capable men to take Mr. Long to Beijing and go to Dongjiaomin Lane to find the British doctor Buck... Mr. Long's injury is really annoying. Let the Western doctors see if there is a good way..." At this time, Mr. Long still shook his head.
"No, no, no... cough, cough, cough, I can't leave, I'm leaving... cough, cough, cough, who will protect you..."
"Stop talking nonsense, why are you protecting me like this? I'm protected by the new army. If nothing serious happens, just leave quickly!" Wang Huaiyuan saw Xiao Letian's serious face and knew that this was a military order, so he held up Lord Long without saying a word. Just go downstairs.
"Let's go, Mr. Long. It only takes two or three days to get to the capital by carriage. Let's come back as soon as we are done with the illness. We won't delay, okay? Let's go, let's go..." After coaxing and persuading, Mr. Long was finally sent downstairs. .
Half an hour later, Wang Huaiyuan came back and said, "Don't worry, sir. More than 20 brothers from the execution hall will personally escort Mr. Long back to the capital to ensure that there will be no mistakes... and here is the latest information from Thirteen Niangs..."
Xiao Letian opened the wax-sealed silk scroll and was stunned after just two or three glances. "The imperial court will send Tongwenguan scholars to Europe and the United States after this year to inspect? Will they also build a shipyard in Mawei? Zuo Zongtang will open a shipbuilding school in Fuzhou ?Prussian-German emissary Jonas secretly met with Jaap Six?"
Xiao Letian slapped the table with a bang, "Wang Huaiyuan, immediately send an order to Chun Shisanniang, I want to meet this Jonas secretly! Quick, quick, quick, I must see this German before the year... No, you secretly sneak him in Please come to Tanggu, even if you use force, I will invite him to celebrate the New Year here..."
Wang Huaiyuan didn't expect that this information would make Xiao Letian so moved. He turned around and ran away without saying a word. The sound of the stairs was followed by the sound of horse hooves going away.
Xiao Letian rubbed his temples and carefully recalled the memories of his previous life. He knew that in 1866, the fifth year of Tongzhi, the Qing Dynasty began to try to go abroad and learn advanced Western technology. Fuzhou Shipping Bureau was the first school to cultivate new naval talents. More than half of the talents in Beiyang and Nanyang studied here.
Deng Shichang, the famous commander of the Zhiyuan in modern history, came from here. This is really the cradle of China's modern navy.
"On this day, tears are flowing all over the world, and the power of the navy has been strengthened." Xiao Letian recited the famous sentence that once brought tears to his eyes, and he was filled with emotion in his heart. At the same time, he also knew that the reform intensity of the Qing court next year would definitely be much greater than before in history. Because Xiao Letian is here, and because Xiao Letian has been in Tongzhi for four years, the Qing court, which has been struggling, cannot help but face the challenges of science and technology. With his strength, even those rotten scholars were severely punished by him.
With Xiao Letian as a troublemaker, the scale of Tongwenguan's visit to Europe and the Fuzhou Shipping School will definitely be much larger than the real history. The pace of exploration by the Qing court will definitely increase. For Xiao Letian This is a big opportunity.
"Haha, have you finally made up your mind to accept Western learning? It's a pity that my reputation, Xiao Letian, has already risen. Among these young people who are willing to explore Western learning, who can't call me master? Qing court, just take your time and play. The bigger the better!”
"Old shopkeeper... Shopkeeper Fan... Where's the second counter in charge of printing in our foreign company? Ask him to come see me..." After a while Fan Lian came up.
"I am personally in charge of all printing matters. Your Westward Journey Notes and your small deposit certificates cannot make any mistakes. I am personally in charge of them..."
"Okay, okay, now you urgently prepare a batch of hardcover editions of "The Journey to the West" and I want to give them as gifts. One hundred copies will be sent to the Tongwen Library for students, and another four to five hundred copies will be prepared together with a private letter from me to send to Fujian. Delivered to Zuo Zongtang..."
"Zongtang Zuo? We have no contact with him. Can't we talk to him?"
"It doesn't matter. You send a capable second shopkeeper to Shanghai to find the red-top businessman Hu Xueyan. He has a close relationship with Zuo Zongtang and ask him to help make the connection..."
The old shopkeeper nodded and said, "Yes, yes, Marshal Zeng once said that according to our development momentum, the pattern of the two gods of wealth in the North, Xiao, South and Hu is a certainty. We should contact him early. I will do it right now!"
After seeing off the old shopkeeper, Xiao Letian turned his attention to the last piece of information on the silk. The Prussian and German envoys had a secret meeting with the Japanese Six.
"Germany, how could I forget you? This year should be the Austro-Prussian War, is it June or July? No matter what, victory in history is inevitable. Iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck, you How is the old man doing now? Since this emissary dares to claim that he is the emissary of Prussia and Germany, then he will definitely take orders directly from you..."
"The Prussian-Danish War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War, the three classic battles presided over by the iron-blooded prime minister Bismarck, allowed Prussian Germany to rise in Central Europe, and the prototype of modern Germany has been successfully shaped."
"I definitely won't get involved in the Prussian-Danish War, but if I don't get involved in the Prussian-Austrosian War, I'll be worthy of the nickname of "the troublemaker." This battle with Austria for the leadership of Germany is The best opportunity for Xiao Letian and Bismarck to establish a good relationship..."
Xiao Letian walked around the room excitedly. Now he has established a relatively friendly relationship with the United States, but this is far from enough. Established powers like Britain and France will definitely look down on little grasshoppers like Xiao Letian. Even if they shyly stick to it, they will never get any benefits. However, the door to the emerging powers is still open. Now is the best time to establish cooperative relations. .
"Let's do it. Wealth can be gained through risk. Without investment, there will be no return. I'm sure of this risky investment!"
Just when Xiao Letian made up his mind, a tall foreigner with a lonely look was walking silently on the street in Sijiu City.
This is a middle-aged man with typical Nordic features. His blond curly hair is exposed from the brim of his black top hat, and his blue eyes are as beautiful as the sea water. This is Jonas, the Asian affairs envoy sent by Prime Minister Bismarck.
Today is the third time that Jonas went to the Prime Minister’s Office to request a meeting with Prince Gong. The first two times he was rejected. This time, although he met Prince Gong in person, his superficial enthusiasm could not hide his indifference. He knew that the attempt to establish diplomatic relations was considered a sign of indifference. It's ruined.
Historically, the Qing Dynasty and Germany officially established diplomatic relations after the Franco-Prussian War, that is, after 1870. The real honeymoon period between the two countries was during the construction of the two ironclad ships Zhenyuan and Dingyuan. At that time, Germany was one of the few countries in Europe. Some respect the Qing Dynasty.
But in the fourth year of Tongzhi, the Qing Dynasty did not even have a complete concept of Prussia and Germany. When Yi? heard from ambassadors from other countries that Germany had not yet been unified, and that the entire German region was still in a state of loose and divided states, the Celestial Empire The country's arrogance has risen again.
So what if a small country with no unified country is located in Europe? Didn't Xiao Letian say that even within Europe there are strong and weak groups? The powerful British and French Qing Dynasties could not afford to offend them, but some small countries did not even have ocean-going fleets, and their national strength was not as good as the Qing Dynasty.
Prince Gong directly classified Germany into the sequence of small countries in Central Europe. To be honest, he didn't even want to meet this so-called secret envoy. If it weren't for the fact that he was rejected twice, would you still want to meet Prince Gong? Not to mention doors, there are no windows either.
Prince Gong casually prevaricated Jonas for a few words, turned around and came to the palace on the pretext that he had something to do, so he served tea to see the guests off, leaving Jonas mute and unable to speak out about the pain of eating Coptis chinensis.
After walking out of the Prime Minister's Office, Jonas did not sit in the hired sedan, but let the bearer follow him far behind. He walked alone on the unfamiliar streets, looking at the bizarre oriental customs, and thinking about how to do it. Help the Prime Minister expand diplomatic space.
Just as he was passing by an alley in a daze, a sudden noise in the alley alarmed him. Jonas's Chinese was pretty good, and he knew after just a few listens that a medical dispute had occurred in the alley.
"Huang, you beast, get out of here... My life is in your hands. How can you be so frantic and go to see the official? Come with me to see the official..."
"Oh my, you guys are so unreasonable. I told you before when I had the knife that there was danger, and you all agreed. Why are you regretting it now? You are so unruly..."
"Fart! You fart... We have not promised, we have never promised, it is just a simple intestinal syndrome. How can we agree that you know knives? You are a murderer, you are a demon..."
