Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

Before Lu Wansu finished speaking, he heard a commotion in the banquet hall outside, and there were even a few wailings in the hall. Lu Wansu slapped his thigh when he heard it, and said, "It's broken, they must all know the news !"

Lin Yuan said: "Let's go out and have a look." After Lin Yuan finished speaking, he took Lu Wansu out, and saw that the people in the hall were clearly divided into two parts, one part was brought by Lin Yuan, and each of them was with a face. Shocked, the other part is the Shanxi merchants, all looking depressed, and some of them are still crying silently.

Lin Yuan walked among the crowd and asked, "What's the matter? What happened?"

An old man on the side said: "I am the treasurer of Xinglong Kuida. The collection team we sent to St. Petersburg has just returned. According to the news they brought back, the tea merchants in St. Petersburg should pay us a total of 56 rubles, but it is only Less than 50 rubles were recovered! The more than [-] rubles in the middle are enough to close our Xinglongkui semicolons in Mongolia and Russia!"

A person next to him also said: "That's right, we also encountered the same trouble with the double name!" Before the words fell, everyone next to him echoed and said: "That's right, the Russian government does not pay back this kind of debt. No matter, talking to those tea merchants, our Qing court doesn’t care about us!”

At this time, a middle-aged man stood up and said: "Master Lin, we are alone in Russia, like weeds without roots, like the Russians have an embassy in our country, and they can always ask the embassy to deal with it if something happens, but we are here In Russia, there is not even a person in charge of the matter, and once something happens, you have to smash your teeth and swallow it in your stomach, and break your arm and hide it in your sleeve!"

Standing in the crowd, Lin Yuan waved his hands and said, "Everyone, don't panic, leave this matter to me, and I will handle it for everyone."

A middle-aged man stood up and asked, "Master Lin, how do you plan to deal with this matter for us?"

Lin Yuan said: "Everyone, don't panic, do you know where the crux of the problem lies?"

One person said: "Of course I know, the root of the problem is that the freight rate of the Russians is much lower than ours, so we are subject to the Russians everywhere."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "That's right, if you want to win against the Russians, one way is to increase their freight costs, which can be guaranteed by raising the tax rate, but now there are various treaty restrictions, so this method is very difficult. If it works, then there is only one method left for us to choose, that is, I will find a way to reduce your shipping costs."

Everyone looked at Lin Yuan in surprise, and asked, "Does Commander Lin have any wonderful ideas?"

Lin Yuan said: "Just now I got the news that our Jingyun Railway has been built to Datong. Our next step is to build a railway from Datong to Kulun, the most important trading place in Mongolia. At that time, a group of you I can transport the goods transported by a team of thousands of camels in one train, but now you need to travel a long distance in the sand sea for a month to transport a batch of goods, but it only takes less than ten days to reach Kulun by train!"

Everyone looked at Lin Yuan excitedly, and Lin Yuan went on to say: "The most important thing is: Chinese businessmen use our railway, and they only need to pay very little tax, while Russian businessmen use it, I guarantee that their taxes It will be ten times as much as yours! How about it? You don’t have to worry about not being able to compete with them, do you?”

An old man stood up and said, "Although Commander Lin's strategy is good, the Russians are not stupid. They have long regarded Mongolia as their own territory. Will they allow you to build a railway there?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said: "I'm not afraid of the Russians. We are building a railway on our own land, why should we listen to the Russians? If the Russians refuse to accept it, let them come and fight. It's not like we haven't fought before on the battlefield. Don't you think so?"

Everyone laughed and said: "That's right, that's right, we donated money when we beat Lao Maozi a while ago!" Just when everyone was in high spirits, an old man stood up and said, "This old man admires Shuai Lin's courage. , but there is one thing, I don’t know how long it will take for the railway to be built, but it will take three or two months, right? It’s far from being able to quench my thirst!”

Lin Yuan smiled and said: "Everyone has persisted in the past few decades. Will everyone not be able to persist in the past three or two months? If the business in Mongolia and Russia can't persist, we will withdraw these businesses first. When our railway is built, it’s not impossible for us to make a comeback! If everyone’s money is really hard to turn over, you can borrow money from me first. Don’t worry, I won’t charge a penny of interest!”

Lin Yuan continued: "Not only that, I will write a letter after I go back, set up an embassy in Russia, and send a minister to Russia. At that time, everyone can come to him for anything."

Only then did everyone cheer up, and the gloom just now swept away. When the banquet was over, Lin Yuan returned to the post house. Xu Jingcheng came to look for him just after entering the house. Seeing his worried face, Lin Yuan couldn't help asking: "What is this?" What's wrong?"

Xu Jingcheng sighed and said, "I'm worried about you, my lord!"

Lin Yuan laughed loudly and said, "What is there to worry about?"

Xu Jingcheng said: "Is it true what you said in front of everyone today that you want to open an embassy in Russia?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Of course it's true."

Xu Jingcheng quickly said: "That's what I'm worried about, my lord, this embassy must never be established!"

Lin Yuan was taken aback, and asked, "Is there anything that cannot be established at an embassy? Besides, when you bought warships in Germany, didn't you use your status as a minister stationed abroad?"

Xu Jingcheng said helplessly: "These two things are different. I bought a warship that time, but if it is a minister stationed abroad, it is a different matter. Since our Qing Dynasty has exchanges with foreign countries, we have only sent a minister abroad once. That was in England, and the person who went there was my good friend named Guo Songtao, who was sent to a foreign country as a minister, which caused an uproar in the court."

Lin Yuan asked in bewilderment: "Isn't it just to send a minister? How could it cause an uproar?"

Xu Jingcheng said: "Those high-ranking officials have written letters saying: How can our officials of the Celestial Dynasty live in a barbarian land? Some people said that going to a barbarian land is a hostage, so they all opposed it. 'Deal with the 'barbarian' view to deal with relations between countries, or resolutely go to the UK."

"However, Guo Songtao was called back after only two years. The reason is very simple. There are too many discussions among the ruling and opposition parties, and Guo Songtao's deputy often makes up stories to slander Guo Songtao. For example, once, the king of Brazil came to In the United Kingdom, the Queen of England invited ministers from various countries to attend the concert, and when the King of Brazil entered the venue, all stood up to welcome him, which was originally a basic etiquette.”

"But the deputy actually said to the court that Guo Songtao, as an envoy of the Celestial Dynasty, stood up to the king of a small country. There are too many such things to damage the majesty of a great country, so he was called back, and no one will go abroad again."

When Xu Jingcheng said this, he said earnestly, "My lord, you'd better not touch this bad luck!"