There is a gate on the left and right wings of the Palace of Supreme Harmony Square. The left gate leads to the South Third Palace, and the right gate leads to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They are two very busy gates in the palace.
Weng Tonghe stood in the doorway of the left wing door, watching several new soldiers debugging the telegraph machine on the table. Blocked by the eight-meter-high pedestal, nothing can be seen.
"Sir Weng, the telegraph machine has been debugged. Please write a sentence as you like..." The New Army soldier pushed over pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
Weng Tonghe became angry when he looked at the telegraph machine in front of him, became even more angry when he looked at the bald new soldiers, and became even more angry when he looked at the silly Xiao Letian on the pedestal of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
The Grand Scholar of Wuyingdian raised his pen and wrote angrily, "No one can encounter evil spirits and monsters." After writing this, he threw the brush aside.
The two New Army soldiers were dumbfounded at first sight. The ink in their stomachs was no match for Weng Tonghe. They didn't recognize the first four of these eight characters at all, and they didn't understand the meaning of the last four.
The meaning of Weng Tonghe's writing of this sentence is very clear. This sentence comes from "Zuo Zhuan Xuan Gong Three Years", which means that people can't predict when they will show up to harm others. In fact, it is an allusion to Xiao Lotte and the New Army are both a bunch of evil spirits, and literati would not use curse words when they curse.
But you, Weng Tongheguang, just want to be happy, and you don't want to think about whether these new soldiers can understand them. Words like demons and demons are not commonly used by ordinary people.
"Sir... can you say something else? We don't recognize these characters, and there is absolutely no code for these four characters in the code book. We can't send them."
"What, you can't even send such a simple sentence, and you still brag about how powerful the telegraph technology is. You are trying to deceive the court."
"Oh, sir, you have to be reasonable when you speak. This telegram is for transmitting emergency information, not for publishing articles. Do you need to drop a book bag to convey military information in a war? You don't need it in the life you wrote about, let alone There’s a war.”
"That's right, you're still wasting telegraph resources when it's obviously of no use at all. Isn't this just because you're full? I think you just don't know how to say nice things, so you insist on making something sour and fake to show your innocence."
"You..." Weng Tong's face turned red with anger. They didn't expect that two pawns from the New Army would dare to teach them a lesson. They really went against the grain.
"Whether you want to send a telegram or not? We can wait. In this cold weather, do you still want the emperor and the queen mother to blow the cold wind?"
When Weng Tonghe heard this, he immediately turned off his fire. He picked up his pen and wrote an ancient poem casually, "The grass grows in Liliyuan, and the grass dries up every year." Then he shouted angrily, "We know each other this time, don't tell me that you don't do this either." know."
"Haha, I understand this, sir, please please..."
Tat-tat-tat...tat-tat...The telegraph machine began to tap rhythmically. At the same time, the telegraph machine at the right door suddenly spit out a small note with Morse code appearing on it.
"It's out, a note is out..." Prince Gong and a group of Qingliu watched in surprise as the machine spit out notes, but no one recognized the little dots on it.
The new army opened the code book and got the result after a casual search: "I found it. This is an ancient poem. When the grass grows in the original land, it will grow with each year."
With a bang, people all rushed out, and the eunuch shouted in the square, "The translation has come out, Li Liyuan grows grass, one year old and one withered... Master Weng wrote an ancient poem."
At that moment, Weng Tonghe's mind was buzzing like thunder: "How could it be possible? How could this be possible? You are cheating. You must be cheating."
Weng Tonghe picked up his pen and wrote another ancient poem. He translated it before even reaching the other side for two minutes. The eunuch yelled, "It has been translated again. The yellow sand will wear golden armor in a hundred battles. The Loulan will not be returned until it is broken."
At this time, Weng Tonghe went completely crazy. He jumped up and shouted, "Cheating, it must be cheating. They must be using gestures, sign language, or it's sorcery."
Xiao Letian pouted, "The facts are all in front of us, and you are as tough-mouthed as a boiled duck. That's all you Qingliu can do."
"Your Majesty the Queen Mother, please extend the telegraph line. We will retreat to the South Third Residence and let the other side retreat to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This way, you don't have to worry about our gestures..."
"Okay, let's do it like this." Weng Tonghe nodded in agreement.
The telegraph line began to be extended again. Dongtou Weng Tonghe stretched it all the way to the Nine Dragon Wall in front of the South Third Institute, while Prince Gong and the others retreated directly to the courtyard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This time no one on either side could see the other.
Another telegram was sent, and the eunuch who got the translation result two minutes later yelled again, "It's translated. This time I'm sending a recipe. It's Master Weng's recipe last night. A plate of assorted ducks, stir-fried." A plate of meat, a plate of five-spice peanuts, a portion of Liubiju pickles, a basin of pimple soup, a piece of pancake...'Oh my lord, you have eaten enough at night, aren't you afraid of accumulating food?"
"Hahaha..." The courtiers burst into laughter, while Weng Tonghe and his face flushed with shame. The iron-like reality shattered his fantasy, and the wonderful Western technology left him speechless.
Back in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the officials were already buzzing with discussions. When the old man came up, everyone fell silent. They were too embarrassed to attack the Qingliu leader.
"Your Majesty, Queen Mother... I admit that this telegraph technology is indeed wonderful... but I still want to object. There is only one reason why it is too expensive. It costs one part for laying and another part for maintenance. It is really too much. "
Yes, a telegraph line costs more than 100,000 taels of investment, but annual maintenance costs 100,000 taels. How many telegrams can be sent in total in a year? Isn't this a bottomless pit?
While everyone was discussing, Mr. Qing stood up again, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, how can the telegraph line lose money? The telegraph line obviously makes money, okay? Why don't we charge for sending telegrams?"
"When the telegraph line is completed, it can be used not only by the court, but also by ordinary people. Merchants can use telegraphs to exchange business information, and people can use telegraphs to convey urgent matters. When the time comes, we will collect money and use the fees to subsidize maintenance costs. In this way Won’t the problem be solved as soon as you come?”
Before the Third Master finished speaking, Weng Tonghe shouted, "Fuqing, do you want to compete with the people for profit? How can you make money from the people, and how can the court do business?"
"Why do you say this, sir? Telegraph lines provide convenience to the people. Of course, there is a fee. Isn't it reasonable to charge money? I won't say anything else. Mr. Zhang, a Hanlin bachelor last month, has enough news about the death of his grandfather in his hometown. It took a month and a half for the news to reach the capital, and by the time Mr. Zhang returned to his hometown, the funeral had already been held, and he didn’t even see him for the last time.”
"If there is a telegraph line, Mr. Zhang's family can use the telegraph to send messages when the old man is critically ill. Maybe Mr. Zhang can see the old man for the last time. I think Mr. Zhang will not be stingy with the telegraph fee for this. "
The third master's reasoning made everyone present nod, especially the governors from other places. Of course they could see the benefits of the telegraph line. If such a communication tool existed, the court's information exchange would be smoother.
Zeng Guofan also spoke at this time: "Wei Chen also thinks that the telegraph is a good thing. When Changmao was pacified, there were often poor command. The entire troop mobilization along the Yangtze River relied solely on war horses and manpower. How much money did it cost?" What a mistake, countless fighter planes were delayed..."
"This time Zuo Zongtang takes office as the governor of Gansu and Shaanxi, the most important task is to quell the chaos. I don't want him to suffer the same losses as in the past. The telegraph line still needs to be repaired. Isn't it just a hundred thousand taels of silver? After a few victories, Everything is available.”
With the commander-in-chief as a protector, the ministers immediately became active. More and more ministers supported the construction of the telegraph line, and Weng Tonghe's complexion became even paler.
Until the end, Xiao Letian actually came up with a decisive blow. He handed over his hand and said, "Telegraph lines also have a very important purpose, and that is disaster relief... Sir, if you think about the constant floods in the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers over the years, we will suffer the consequences." Are you having trouble getting information?"
"If there is a heavy rain in Chongqing and Wuhan in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, this information can be passed to Jinling and Hangzhou at that time. Then officials in the lower reaches will have many extra days of preparation time to evacuate the people and mobilize food and medicine. Will it be more convenient?"
"By the time the flood peak arrives, I'm afraid the downstream has already made all preparations. It is not impossible for people to survive the flood without dying. How can everyone in Italy not see it?"
"You keep shouting the words of the saint. Didn't the saint teach us the word benevolence? A telegraph line can save countless lives. This is not a benevolence. You keep saying it is for the good of the people. Why do you become a hindrance when it comes time to show your true intentions? .”
Xiao Letian sneered and said, "If you have the guts, go to the Confucius Temple and explain it in front of the saint. I'm afraid that your dark little thoughts will not see the lightning-like eyes of the saint."
"You..." Weng Tonghe's vision turned black and he fell to the ground.
"Pass on the imperial doctor, hurry up and pass on the imperial physician..." There was a mess in front of Taihe Hall.
No one expected that Weng Tonghe would be knocked unconscious in the first round of the fight. There were still many issues to discuss later. How could it be that Xiao Letian was so powerful in combat?
Under the emergency treatment of the imperial physician, Weng Tonghe finally came to his senses. He was actually angry because his blood pressure had risen. He quickly regained consciousness under the expert treatment of the imperial physician.
"My dear... master... why don't you go back and rest for a while." The little emperor said worriedly.
"Your Majesty, don't worry, old minister, I can still survive and be fine... I will definitely persevere in today's court meeting, I will definitely do it."
When Ci'an saw that this was not possible, he quickly said, "In that case, let's change the rules. There will be seats in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and each person will have an embroidered pier. Let's sit down for the meeting, so that Weng Aiqing can also rest. Other ministers It won’t make you overworked.”
No one objected to the Queen Mother's opinion. After a while, the young eunuchs lined up in a long line and entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony carrying Xiudun.
