Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 317 Post-war Economy
The result of the Sino-Russian War caused great shock in the world. Those world powers who were fighting in the European battlefield suddenly seemed to wake up from a dream. Only then did they really realize that the sleeping bird The centuries-old oriental lion has finally awakened.At the beginning of the war, compared with the tragic European battlefield, the world focused more on the Far East, because this was a contest between a lion and an elephant. Although China's development momentum in recent years has been extremely rapid, but This country's opaque military policy has caused a lot of headaches for many Western powers. When they can't figure out China's military strength, they still put more hope on the Russians, to be precise, on the Nikolai La II body.After all, he holds the largest territory in the world and the largest standing army in the world. Even the British Empire in its heyday never dared to make a move on this country. Fell the halberd and sank into the sand.It is simply an impossible task for China to defeat the huge empire, and at most two countries will lose both sides.

But in the end, China's overall victory caused an uproar all over the world. The Chinese army finally gradually unveiled its mystery in front of the whole world. Astonished, even Kaiser Wilhelm II, China's close ally, was shocked.

Guan Xuqing stayed in St. Petersburg for two days, temporarily entrusting the affairs here to Liang Qichao, and all Chinese troops continued to be stationed in place, waiting for the emperor's dispatch at any time.After dealing with these matters, Guan Xuqing returned to Beijing with a large group of ministers. After the war, the country's economic development was what he cared most about.

After returning to Beijing, Guan Xuqing immediately convened an imperial meeting to listen to the development reports of various departments.To his relief, the economic development situation is still very gratifying.

The industry and commerce in Shanghai and Wuhan already had a solid foundation. During this period of time, under the encouragement and operation of the local government, a number of national industries were launched soon.

The iron factory in Hanyang has expanded its production scale. With the help of German experts, the quality of molten iron has been greatly improved. Recently, it has also been praised by the British engineers of Jiangnan Sino-British joint venture shipyard.The local civil iron products factory also came into being, widely producing iron farm tools and civil utensils, which greatly promoted the development scale of local agriculture.Since Shanghai has been open for a long time, the private daily necessities industry has become more developed. Because of the so-called ZTE since Tongzhi, the folks in the south of the Yangtze River are rich, and women's products such as mirrors, needles, threads, etc. are very popular. Some people set up factories for the production of such daily necessities. They also accumulated a lot of wealth.In terms of light industry, there is also a sewing machine factory, and a new type of rice and noodle industry that uses foreign machinery to process grain and oil. The cotton textile and knitting industries already have a foundation. Now that there are new policies, they will naturally become more prosperous. Because of the strong demand from the people, they made a fortune.

The most novel thing is the leather shoes worn by foreigners, which also became popular in the upper class.A businessman surnamed Yun opened a western-style leather shoe factory in Shanghai. It used an English trademark called SKY brand, and the factory name was also called Sky Leather Shoes Factory.The sales of the Sky brand leather shoes produced are not bad, and it is said that even foreigners often buy them for wearing.All of a sudden, this businessman surnamed Yun became very famous, because the leather shoes were so famous that people even forgot his real name and called him the shoe god, or called him by his factory name, Sky Cloud or cloud sky.Recently, because the industry in his hands has prospered and the funds are abundant, he also wants to buy a share in the Imperial Savings Bank through official channels through the mayor of Shanghai, Zeng Guofan's son-in-law Nie Jiju.

"It's a good thing, I agreed with Sheng Xuanhuai first." Guan Xuqing said with a smile.

"Cha." Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, Li Zhen went on to say, "It's just that the business of this shoe factory is booming, and there are also a group of people who are jealous. There is trouble in front of the leather shoe factory, because there is no violation of laws and regulations, and the place is not very easy to control. When they are not in charge, they block the door and scold mothers. When the trainers ask, they all reason that they are here to clean the shoes, saying Yun If someone can do it, why can’t we do it? Which rule of the empire prohibits washing shoes at the entrance of the shoe factory?”

The ministers all laughed, and Guan Xuqing couldn't help laughing: "Well, there is indeed no such article in the imperial regulations, and these rascals took advantage of the loophole."

Kang Youwei also came out of the class and said: "There are still good literati who are poor and bored. They wrote this eclectic novel to slander Yun. It is said to be called "Glory with One Step". It was quite a hit in Shanghai for a while. It drove the private printing industry. Ling Nie Jiku was also quite helpless, this kind of thing can’t be forced, Shanghai has a lot of people, and it needs to maintain a stable and united image, so I asked Liu Guangdi for instructions, and then reported to me to plead guilty.”

The ministers laughed again, Guan Xuqing said with a smile: "Let's leave this matter to the local authorities as they see fit. This Nie Jiju is just like his father-in-law. It's fine wherever he is, but he's too serious. Report to Beijing, can you treat my palace as a teahouse?" Guan Xuqing's rare joke made all the officials laugh.

Under such circumstances, the negotiations between China and Russia started in Beijing. The Chinese side was led by the Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Tingfang. For some reason, an old man named Wang Zaiying was sent.Negotiations were held with Russian representatives, extraordinary and plenipotentiary negotiator Cassini, and Deputy Foreign Minister Romanov at the Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the former Prime Minister's State Affairs Office. The focus was on how to deal with post-war Russia.

As the defeated party, Cassini completely lost his previous spirit, and his tone of voice lacked any strength. He cleared his throat and said: "As the tsar's plenipotentiary representatives, we express regret for the huge losses caused by this war to the two countries. At the same time, I also hope that your country can stop all military operations from the perspective of the friendship between China and Russia for generations, stop the hostile relationship between the two countries, withdraw the army from Russian territory, return to the south of Heilongjiang, west of the Ussuri River, and restore the original border Since then, the people of the two countries have lived in friendship and have not invaded each other. The Russian side is willing to compensate the Qing army for its losses within a fair and reasonable range."

Before Wu Tingfang could speak, Zaiying sneered and said, "Your envoy is very good, but it seems that the lion has opened his mouth a bit. This war was completely caused by Russia, and you not only asked us to withdraw our troops but also to go to the previous border , Is that national border reasonable? Don’t forget how much territory you have encroached on our country. Second, I don’t know where the phrase Sino-Russian friendship from generation to generation came from. In history, your country has been coveting our territory. Kangxi fought a war with your country. Needless to say, the result is that the Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed and recognized by your two countries. What the boundary should be has long been settled. As for the actions of your country in the past hundred years, you have lived in peace These four words come from your mouth, and this minister is very surprised. I am very blushed for your country." During this period of time, Zaiying was slandering the history of Sino-Russian relations. This passage is reasonable and restrained, and even Wu Tingfang can't help but feel sorry for it. The old man looked at him differently, but what happened after a while was shocking.

(End of this chapter)