A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 124 Stupid
Li Yu had just entered Xiyuan today when he saw an acquaintance.

Tang Shaoyi came over with a smile and cupped his hands and said, "Master Li is going to give lessons to Lord Long Live?"

Li Yudao: "That's right, now the emperor is very interested in Western learning. Tang Daotai, come to Beijing for business again?"

"I will present last year's customs report to the Queen Mother, and I will also bring Governor Yuan's note." Tang Shaoyi said.

Now the customs tariff has reached 3000 million taels per year, accounting for about 32% of the Qing government's fiscal revenue, second only to the land tax of 3700 million taels.

The identities of the customs officials have naturally increased, and ordinary second-rank officials dare not underestimate them.

Li Yu said: "Fortunately, the trains between Beijing and Tianjin are smooth now, and there is a lot less fatigue."

Tang Shaoyi said again: "It's a good time to see you. I have something to ask Mr. Li for advice."

Li Yu said: "Please speak on the Taoist platform."

Tang Shaoyi said: "Recently, Governor Yuan is planning to purchase armaments, and the order has almost been placed. But suddenly an American came a few days ago, claiming that he can provide the most advanced power solution for warships, which can improve ship power and make it possible to use coal forever. Sailing on the sea surface, it is very suitable for ocean operations.”

"No need for coal?" Li Yu didn't feel right when he heard it.

"Yes," Tang Shaoyi lit a cigar, "I took out all the design drawings, and it doesn't feel like a fake. Governor Yuan is very interested in it."

Li Yu said helplessly: "Daotai, you have been fooled, this is a liar."

"Oh?" Tang Shaoyi took a puff of smoke, "Liar?"

"There is no way in the world that you can sail on the sea forever without fuel." Of course, Li Yu knew that it was a perpetual motion machine scam.

Tang Shaoyi said: "I also find it very strange, but the American named John made a serious statement, the design drawings were very detailed, and he also said that the U.S. Navy adopted his plan."

Li Yu said categorically: "He is deceiving you. In the field of thermodynamics, it is called the second type of perpetual motion machine. It is a complete fraud. The British and French academies of sciences have ordered the prohibition of any related patent applications."

Tang Shaoyi said: "If it is really a liar, it will be troublesome. Governor Yuan is also planning to invest 500 million taels of life in his research and development."

I'll go, 500 million!This liar really dared to open his mouth.

Li Yu hurriedly said: "The Daotai must dissuade Governor Yuan, otherwise the 500 million yuan will be lost, and the development of armaments will be delayed for nothing."

Now that Beiyang has not come out of the haze of losing to the Japanese navy, Yuan Shikai hopes to find a shortcut to catch up with the Japanese navy.

But Li Yu knew very well in his heart that the navy is the military that burns the most money. There is a saying: the army for five years, the air force for ten years, and the navy for a hundred years.

Even in the 21st century, the Navy burns a lot more money than the Air Force.

Tang Shaoyi said: "I really can't see where the problem is. By the way, you said that this is the field of thermodynamics. I have the impression that you have published related papers. You are knowledgeable. Otherwise, you should tell the governor. .”

"Okay, I'll go with you to Beiyang." Li Yu couldn't think of a good way either. It is true that people who have not received modern science education are too easily caught by the perpetual motion machine trick.

Even after 100 years, there are still people who are tirelessly studying perpetual motion machines, and there are also people who are fooled, not to mention China, which has just received scientific enlightenment.

Tang Shaoyi said: "Fortunately, there is a sensible person like you, otherwise we don't know how many times we would be deceived by foreign liars."

Li Yu smiled bitterly: "We still need to keep our eyes open."

Hey, it's still caused by xenophilia.

In his previous life, many foreign swindlers who couldn't get along abroad were able to run rampant in China, bluffing and deceiving, not to mention the early [-]th century, it was really helpless.

Tang Shaoyi said: "I still have to go to the General Tax Department of the Customs to report to Mr. Hart today, and tomorrow we will go to Tianjin together."

Since the General Taxation Department of the Customs moved to Beijing from Shanghai, it has not been moved. It is just that during the Gengzi Incident, the two-story foreign building originally used for office work, that is, the Beijing Red Building, was destroyed by boxers and a new house was built.

After bidding farewell to Tang Shaoyi, Li Yu went to give Guangxu a half-hour class today.

After entering Yingtai, I found that Yu Deling had just finished teaching Guangxu an English class. When Yu Deling walked out of the palace gate, Guangxu inside shouted, "You forgot your coat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yu Deling absentmindedly went back to pick up her coat, now it was cold outside, she didn't even feel it just now.

"And your textbooks." Guangxu shouted again.

Yu Deling turned around to get it after hearing it.

Her mental state is obviously not good.

Li Yu asked, "Sister De Ling, what's bothering you?"

Seeing Li Yu, Yu Deling sighed and said, "I was at the Empress Dowager's place today, and I overheard Rong Zhongtang talking to her. It seems that she wants to betroth me to Rong Zhongtang's son Baron."

Why is it Baron again!

Rong Lu's physical condition is very bad now, but Baron is his son after all, so he should take care of it.

Although De Ling is a Han Chinese, he belongs to the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, which does not affect the ban on non-marriage between Manchu and Han.

The Yu family is not an ordinary small family, plus De Ling is now a celebrity in front of Cixi, he thinks it is a good marriage.

Of course Li Yu knew the virtues of Baron, and said, "He's a dandy."

Yu Deling said sadly: "I know, but what can I do?"

Ronglu's family is conservative, and his son is no exception.

De Ling has lived abroad for a long time, but the feudal concept in his heart is much less.

What Rong Lu only wanted in his heart was to let Baron know more about Western learning, and make good use of De Ling to achieve multiple things at one stroke.

Guangxu behind heard it and said: "I thought you could avoid it for a while."

De Ling said: "Where can I avoid it?"

For various reasons, Guangxu also hated Ronglu very much, saying: "In short, just leave the capital."

Li Yu thought about it, Guangxu's method is really good, it seems to be an evasion, but it is actually a proactive strategy.

Today's women don't go out of the gate. Of course, entering the palace to serve Cixi is a yard, but they are as conservative as the Ronglu family, but how could they like "unclean" women who run around.

So Li Yu also said: "What the Holy Majesty said is not a problem. In a few days, Baron must be thinking about other women."

A glimmer of hope ignited in De Ling's heart: "Where can I go?"

Li Yudao: "It happens that I'm going to Tianjin tomorrow, why don't you go to Tianjin and take refuge for a while."

De Ling said happily: "That's great, I'm a weak woman, I really don't dare to run around."

The next day, Tang Shaoyi met Li Yu at Zhengyangmen East Railway Station as scheduled. He saw not only Li Yu, but also a woman in a western dress standing next to him, and asked, "Who is this?"

Li Yu hurriedly explained: "The daughter of the Yu family, Miss De Ling."

"Oh! Okay!" Tang Shaoyi said with a half-smile.

Li Yu couldn't talk to him too much, but fortunately Tang Shaoyi was not a pedantic person either.

"Then we have to pay for a ticket when we get on the bus."

Tang Shaoyi still bought the upper class car, and the 15 silver dollars a ticket felt like modern people's 15 dollars a ticket to him.

Because the Customs Daotai is really too rich.

He doesn't need to be greedy at all, it is really that the salary paid by the customs system in the late Qing Dynasty was too high.

Corruption in the bureaucratic system of the Qing Dynasty was extremely common, but Hurd's Customs and Taxation Department has always been a relatively clean government office. For decades, there have been almost no major corruption incidents. The reason is the high salary maintenance system created by Hurd.

Adding salary and various subsidies, Tang Shaoyi earns as much as 7000 taels a year.This was only given by the tax department. After all, Tang Shaoyi was a member of the imperial court, and he could receive the money from Yuan Shikai, so it would not be lower than this amount.It is true that there are not many people like him who can enjoy themselves in both the foreign system and the bureaucratic system of the Qing Dynasty, and can even mediate.

But nothing can be said for sure. The customs system managed by Hurd is by no means free from greed, especially himself.

When Hurd traveled all the way to China to become an official, he first considered his own interests, followed by the interests of the British Empire, and finally the interests of the Qing government and even China.

Even foreigners themselves have estimated that Hurd probably accumulated a huge private wealth of more than 500 million taels of silver during his decades as the Customs and Taxation Department. This is just a figure on paper.

Hurd once made a lot of money secretly by taking advantage of the convenience of reimbursement.For example, when he went on a business trip to Paris and rented a bungalow for half a year, he actually spent 7500 taels of silver. This was the number he reported, but the actual rent was only 1000 taels.

As a comparison, the house rented by the Qing Legation in the UK at that time only cost 4000 taels of silver for a year.

Hurd himself said: If he wanted to, he could have earned more.

After all, the British government wanted Hurd to serve as the ambassador to China and offered a high salary of 2.5 pounds per year, equivalent to 6 taels of silver a year, but Hurd directly refused...

But even so, the overall level of corruption in Hurd's customs system is much better than that of other Qing government offices, which is quite ironic.

When Hurd first took office, the customs revenue was only 500 million taels. By the time he left office in 1908, it had exceeded 3000 million taels.

The greed of several million taels can almost be said to be the price for the Qing Dynasty's old life.

Zhili governor's yamen.

Zhang Yi, the general manager of the Kaiping Mining Bureau, knelt tremblingly in front of Yuan Shikai, kowtowing his head, "Governor, the little one really knew that he was wrong. At that time, the little one really didn't know that Dao Cuilin was cheating."

De Cuilin is currently working in the Taxation Department of Tianjin Customs.

If it is said that Hurd still has a bit of professional ethics and knows in his heart that he must do a good job in the field of work that should be done well, then Detriline is really a guy who is crazy about searching for wealth.

Yuan Shikai was furious: "According to what you say, the entire Kaiping Mining Bureau has become the property of the British?"

Zhang Yi tremblingly said: "Basically, this is the case, Your Excellency Governor."

Yuan Shikai threw the cup in his hand vigorously, Zhang Yi dodged subconsciously, and the teacup shattered hard on the ground.

Yuan Shikai scolded: "You bastard, how dare you hide?!"

Seeing that Yuan Shikai was about to stand up and make a move, Yang Shiqi quickly stopped him: "My lord, let him explain clearly first."

Kaiping Coal Mine was the largest coal mine in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. As the governor of Zhili, Yuan Shikai was spending money on purchasing military equipment. Thinking that the Kaiping Coal Mine was under his own management, he wanted to tax it to provide military expenses.

However, when he arrived at the Kaiping Coal Mine, he found that the dragon flag of the Qing Dynasty had been lowered and instead became the British flag, and he was dumbfounded on the spot.

Zhang Yi didn't dare to hide any more, and said [-]: "More than two years ago, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing and Tianjin. I hid in the concession. I thought it would be safe inside. But the British army actually said that the pigeons I raised were being given to the imperial court. He tipped me off and locked me up. Detriline found me later and said that the British wanted to occupy the Kaiping Coal Mine, and he was mediating, but he had no property rights, so he asked me to authorize him to handle the Kaiping Coal Mine property rights.”

Yuan Shikai said angrily: "You believe it?"

Zhang Yi's tears were about to come down: "My lord, at that time I was in the prison of the British army, and I was shot and fired every day outside. It was too scary! I don't know what's going on outside, but I thought about the boss who is as big as Detriline. You won't lie to me, I didn't expect..."

Yang Shiqi calculated with his fingers, and said, "No! Since the incident happened two and a half years ago, and you only authorized it temporarily and did not sign a formal sale contract, it is impossible for the British to directly take full possession of the Kaiping Coal Mine."

Zhang Yi's mouth trembled, and he continued: "Master Yang said yes! So after I was released, an American named Hoover sent by De Trilin and the British Merlin Company gave me a copy "Selling the Kaiping Mining Bureau Contract" forced me to sign it."

Yang Shiqi asked: "So you signed it?"

Zhang Yi kowtowed vigorously and said, "You little one dare not not sign."

"What the hell!" Yuan Shikai would have shot him if he had a gun.

Yang Shiqi quickly persuaded him, "My lord, don't get angry."

Yuan Shikai said angrily: "Aren't you angry? I must beat him to death today, this is a good thing!"

Zhang Yi was so frightened that he quickly said, "Governor, please spare my life! I was also deceived by them at the beginning. I thought it was a lease contract, but I didn't expect that they changed the word 'rent' to 'sell' in the final contract. I didn't take a closer look, just..."

"You, you, you! Are you a pig brain?!" Yuan Shikai was so angry that he was speechless, "Where is my gun? I will let you taste the taste of bullets today!"

Yang Shiqi hurriedly said: "My lord, don't get angry! We can't kill him, the queen mother values ​​him very much."

After moving out Cixi, the anger in Yuan Shikai's heart subsided somewhat.

Kaiping Coal Mine was originally opened by Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang.

After the death of Tang Tingshu, the first general manager, although Zhang Yi was mediocre, he still became the new general manager of Kaiping Coal Mine relying on the relationship of Prince Chun Yizhen.Anyway, for Yizhen, nepotism is commonplace.

After Zhang Yi became the general manager, he no longer supplied the best quality Wucao coal from the Kaiping Coal Mine to the Beiyang Navy.Because in his opinion, Beiyang Navy offered low prices and slow payment returns, so it was not a high-quality customer.

Instead, sell high-quality coal to foreign merchants.

Then they hoarded more than 1000 tons of low-quality coal that was hoarded in the warehouse, which was not even wanted by China Merchants Shipping and Tianjin Machinery Bureau, and gave it to the Beiyang Navy.

The batch of low-quality coal sold to the Beiyang Navy contained a lot of dross, which gave off billowing smoke when burned, and damaged the ship's power system.

Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the Beiyang Navy, wrote to Zhang Yi many times to protest his behavior of selling low-quality coal to the Beiyang Navy.

Zhang Yi, relying on someone above him, ignored Ding Ruchang.As a result, when the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Ding Ruchang and Zhang Yi were still arguing over the issue of coal.

The Beiyang Navy was wiped out in the Sino-Japanese War, and Ding Ruchang committed suicide and died for his country.Zhang Yi still stayed in his position well, and his life was very nourishing.

He sold high-quality coal to foreign businessmen, and most of the tens of thousands of taels of silver he got were donated to the Empress Dowager Cixi to build the Summer Palace.The Empress Dowager Cixi was very happy and boasted: "This person is very good at handling things."

And Zhang Yi's position as the head office is naturally more secure.

Yang Shiqi asked in a gloomy voice, "How many taels of silver did you get from selling Kaiping Coal Mine?"

Zhang Yi said: "They, they said they would give me 60 taels in total, but they didn't actually give me much..."

Yuan Shikai was so angry that his teeth were itching. Zhang Yi saw that his veins were still bulging, and quickly said, "I will honor all the money they give to Mr. Yuan. I just ask you to spare my life."

Yuan Shikai scolded: "60 taels? In terms of assets alone, the Kaiping Coal Mine needs at least 600 million taels. Besides, it will be mined every year in the future. Now you sell it for 60 taels!"

Yang Shiqi was really afraid that Yuan Shikai would kill him, and it would be difficult to explain to Cixi, so he also cursed: "Hurry up and get out! Don't dirty your eyes again!"

Zhang Yi hastily kowtowed a few more times: "Thank you, sir, for not killing me."

He ran out in a panic.

This guy really went all out, made such a big mistake, Cixi still didn't kill him, this is Lafayette.Hehe, the eunuch below has to praise her for being reasonable and nostalgic.

After he ran out, Yang Shiqi said to Yuan Shikai: "My lord, the deal is done, we can only find a way to get back."

Yuan Shikai had stayed abroad for many years, and said helplessly: "You can try, but it is basically impossible. How can the tiger and wolf spit out the meat in their stomachs?"

(End of this chapter)