In order to prepare for the arrival of the new arrival, Daotai Mansion in Shanghai had begun renovations half a year ago. As long as the money was available, there was nothing that could not be done. With the work of flowing craftsmen day and night, the back house of Daotai Mansion had doubled in size. , a spacious hall facing north and south in the flourishing Jiangnan courtyard was Zai Chun's temporary palace.
Outside the palace is a vast chrysanthemum nursery, and the Double Ninth Festival is a good day to enjoy chrysanthemums. The sweet-scented osmanthus in the yard is also in bloom, and the fragrance floats into the main hall on the breeze, refreshing the heart.
Such beautiful scenery is a good time to admire the chrysanthemums in the moonlight, drink wine and compose poems. Even the dozens of beauties from the south of the Yangtze River in the garden are asking for advice. They are waiting for the Long Live Lord to appreciate the beauties. However, it ruins the scenery. All the beauties can only hear the palace. Angry roars came from inside, and the little girl turned pale with fright.
Manshun led the eunuchs and waved at these beauties, "Back off...all of you back off...Is this a place where you can stay? Lord Long Live is discussing important matters, and you still dare to eavesdrop in the yard?"
"If you are unruly like you, you won't survive even half a month in the Forbidden City... Stay back!"
Emperor Tongzhi's personal eunuchs and the most loyal new Yulin army began to take over the defense of the garden. They took three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry, and the beautiful garden became desolate.
"Haha... We are prosperous and people are prosperous? Haiyan and Heqing are clear? Fifth uncle, my nephew has just returned to China, and you are giving me a bad look?"
"Why didn't you report the floods and droughts in the three prefectures and seven counties of Henan? The situation in the northwest was at a stalemate, and Zuo Jigao couldn't even raise military expenditures. Why didn't you report it?"
"Before I went to Europe, I told the court that all ministries should study my plan for the industrialization of the Qing Dynasty... Have you implemented this plan?"
"While I was away, apart from building the Mawei Shipyard and Zuo Jigao building the Lanzhou Machinery Bureau, what else did you do?"
"Less to mention the special zones in Zhenjiang and Changzhou... apart from a few silk reeling and textile mills, is there any heavy industry?"
"Besides, even if there are some achievements in the Jiangnan Special Zone in Zhenjiang and Changzhou, is it the credit of that high-ranking official in the imperial court? Isn't it the result of Marshal Zeng's hard work? What's the use of mentioning this?"
This Double Ninth Festival meeting had a strong smell of sex from the beginning, and Prince Chun Yi Pei was scolded by his nephew until his face turned red!
Prince Chun had the most noble status in the team that received him. He had to be the first to answer Emperor Tongzhi's question just now. No one could go past him.
However, the fifth master was still perfunctory with the kind of superficial official articles in the Forbidden City. He first praised and then sang praises. The useless official articles were written by the Hanlin Academy at first glance.
How could Xiao Zai Chun do this? He has become accustomed to the Chinese business style over the years. All the government orders conveyed from top to bottom are detailed and concise. From the beginning, he gets straight to the point without so much nonsense and meandering.
If you have difficulties, talk about difficulties. If you need a reward for your achievements, just say so directly. Even if your overspending reimbursement is rejected, you can appeal in a formal manner!
There are straightforward words going back and forth, clearly organized one, two, three and four, and there are even the latest inventions of bar charts and pie charts for data analysis.
This is work, you know exactly what you have done and what you have not done!
Prince Chun didn't understand Emperor Tongzhi's preferences when he first came up, and he didn't take a good pulse and ended up in trouble!
Weng Tonghe, who was on the side, was the emperor's master after all. When he saw Fifth Master's blushing face and rough neck, he quickly came out to smooth things over, "Your Majesty... After all, Prince Chun has never been in charge of actual government affairs, and he doesn't know many details very well..."
"Haha, not sure? Why didn't the person who knew clearly come?" Zai Chun's eyes flashed coldly, making Weng Tonghe tremble.
I can’t tell you why I’m so angry after not seeing Long Live Master in the past few years? The aura was not at all what one should expect at this age. The frightened old man quickly lowered his head and smiled and said, "Your Majesty, there are too many things going on in the capital. Someone must stay behind..."
At this moment, no one dared to mention Guiziliu and Yixuan. They had to come to pick up the two, but the last one didn't come. It would be a ghost if Zai Chun wasn't angry!
The fifth master was so angry in his heart, "Sixth and Seventh Lao, just cheat me. I will be scolded in Jiangnan in exchange for a Prime Minister. You just wait..."
"Your Majesty...it is true that various ministries are overstaffed. When Your Majesty returns to the capital, I will definitely discuss it with Your Majesty in detail..."
"But it would be wrong to say that our Qing Dynasty has done nothing. At least Fuqing's errands have been done beautifully. The Qing Dynasty has now established a telegraph network..."
Yi Pei gave some maggots to those bastards in the capital, and then quickly pushed out Fu Qing to share the firepower with him.
Fu Qing also knew what the Fifth Master meant and quickly stood up to salute Emperor Tongzhi, "Your Majesty... The Qing Dynasty's telegraph network cannot be said to have been established at this moment. It can only be said that the general skeleton has been established..."
"The Qing Telegraph Bureau has now extended telegraph lines to the capitals of various provinces. In addition to Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu and Shaanxi, which have just ended the chaos..."
"At present, the decrees of the capital can be transmitted to Baishan, Heishui, Guangzhou and Fujian at all times... and in Hong Kong, Fujian, Shanghai, Jiaodong, Tianjin... there are five interfaces connected to submarine cables..."
"The Qing Telegraph Bureau and the Chinese Telegraph Bureau have signed a communication agreement... Through the submarine telegraph network, we can also quickly get news from Europe..."
"Then the slave will expand and refine the network... Tibet is really too difficult, and the engineering team under the slave still needs to gain some experience..."
"But the telegraph networks in Lanzhou, Xinjiang and other places will definitely move forward with Marshal Zuo's military power... When the chaos is over, the ministers behind will be able to send the news to the capital!"
Zai Chun kept nodding. The Qing Telegraph Bureau that Fu Qing was in charge of was the only department he was satisfied with. In the entire Qing Dynasty, only Master Qing still did some personnel work.
"Okay, okay... I can rest assured that the Qing Dynasty Telegraph Bureau is in your hands... When can you guarantee that all counties in the Qing Dynasty will have telegraph access?"
Fu Qing thought for a moment, "Your Majesty, places like Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Mongolia are really in special situations... Except for these places, the remaining provincial ministers can guarantee complete coverage in three years..."
"but……"
"But...if you have any difficulties, just tell me! I want to hear the truth, the truth!"
"Yes! But the money is not enough. It is really not enough. If we want to completely telegraph all the counties in the Qing Dynasty in three years... we will need at least 7 million to 8 million taels of investment!"
Hiss... There was a gasp of air-conditioning in the hall. Lian Xing, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, chewed his teeth and said, "Sir Fuqing, you don't know how much money the imperial court has now? Although the printing of Beipiao has greatly eased the finances, but the cost There’s plenty of room for money!”
"Seven to eight million? Three years of investment? Impossible, really impossible..."
Fu Qing became anxious when he saw it, "Not much! Really not much... Your Majesty, gentlemen, you can't always think about setting up telegraphs in the plains. It's really simple. Just stick wooden telegraph poles on both sides of the post road and then pull the wires." Come on!"
"There are many mountains in our Qing Dynasty! For many post roads in the mountains, the labor cost of bare wood and wires accounts for two-thirds of the investment..."
"And this wooden pole cannot be used just by cutting down a tree. It has to be smoked with charcoal and smeared with kerosene to prevent insects, moths and corrosion... so that it can be used for a long time. Doesn't this all require money?"
"But what if the court doesn't do anything? Even the private treasury of Lord Long Live's Ministry of Internal Affairs has no money!"
Zai Chun thought for a while, "Fuqing... you asked a question, so do you have any solutions that I can choose?"
