Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 79 The Mysterious American
The temptation of the British did not cause any heated debate in the court. In the eyes of civil and military officials, even the foreign affairs activities of the Qing Dynasty would be interfered by the foreign powers, let alone the nominal vassal state.

"Your Majesty, this is just a trivial matter, so why not agree to the British. Now that our Qing Dynasty has finally achieved such a peaceful situation, it is time to try our best to strengthen our country. If we can use this matter to exchange for the help of the British, it will be even better. Myanmar is a hundred times barren." Li Hongzhang said earnestly.

It cannot be said that Li Hongzhang’s words are unreasonable. Many people in later generations believe that this is the development path that China should take. This is also in line with the Chinese philosophy of life: "If you are successful, you will benefit the world, and if you are poor, you will be alone".In the ancient feudal society, when the state was almost semi-closed between countries, such a foreign policy may be correct.But when the world is moving towards integration and the exchanges between countries are getting closer, such a development path will not work. When others take the world's best raw materials, energy sources, and vast markets as their own, then Can this kind of development behind closed doors catch up with others?Throughout the history of the growth of every powerful country, all of them came from foreign expansion. This is a typical example. Not long after the Meiji Restoration, they dared to send troops and annexed Ryukyu. Small.Expansion abroad is the best way to accumulate primitive capital. Otherwise, the only way is to exploit the farmers in the country and use the price difference between raw materials and products to accumulate primitive capital.Guan Xuqing wants to change China's idea of ​​sitting behind closed doors and having no worries in the world, which may lead China into the abyss of corruption, but in Guan Xuqing's view, this is even better than the current "forbearance" and "forbearance". The thought of forgiveness is strong.

"Those are the lands passed down from the ancestors, so why don't we just want to let them go?" Guan Xuqing glanced around at all the civil and military officials standing in the Jinluan Hall.

After hearing this, Li Hongzhang said: "Your Majesty, the British have always been rich and despised the land. This time, they are just using British merchant ships to provoke and make trouble. As long as we agree to the British request as soon as possible and eliminate the excuses of the British, the British will have nothing to do." The reason for sending troops."

"Okay, I'll leave this matter to you. Let the king of Burma agree to the British's request as soon as possible, but that's all. If the British make further progress and want to send troops to Burma again, I swear to deal with them to the end." Guan Xuqing finished speaking, He flicked his sleeves and walked out.

"The emperor is wise." Seeing that the emperor finally let go, Li Hongzhang couldn't help showing joy, and knelt down with all his ministers.

Guan Xuqing returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation after retreating from the court, Wang Shang hurriedly followed in, and whispered: "Your Majesty, the servant you are looking for has already brought."

"Oh? Bring it in." Guan Xuqing's expression was full of surprise.

Wang Shang brought a foreigner in his 50s into the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This foreigner was wearing a simple tuxedo with a neatly buttoned bow tie on his chest. His hair had obviously been combed carefully, reflecting the identity of the owner.

"Honorable Your Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, it is a great pleasure to meet you."

"Haha, Mr. Jones. Welcome to Daqing, I hope my ministers have not neglected you."

Jones gracefully bowed to Guan Xuqing and said, "The beauty of China has opened my eyes. If I have time, I really want to visit it."

"There will be opportunities. The Qing Dynasty and the United States have many similarities, such as the same vast territory and rich products, but there are also many complementary places. The United States is prosperous in science, while China has the most abundant human resources in the world. The two countries Looking at each other across the ocean, it is actually very necessary to improve the relationship between the two countries.”

"That's one of the reasons our President sent me here."

Guan Xuqing continued: "President Cleveland must have a clear understanding of the current world situation. The strength of the United Kingdom is now at its weakest. Domestic industrial and agricultural reforms are slow, with serious problems, and there is little progress in military innovation. Shu, its navy has just gone through a dark period, and most of its warships are aging without replacement. Even in terms of tonnage, if China hadn't defeated the French Far East Fleet, I'm afraid the proud Royal Navy has now been surpassed by the French. And the British That stubborn and arrogant isolation policy has left them without a single friend in the whole world."

Jones didn't answer, and continued to listen carefully, with deep thinking on his face.

"However, the British occupy the most fertile land in the world after all. They have the gold coins they have searched for hundreds of years. Once they calm down, their strength will grow at a terrifying speed. Any country in such a competition It is impossible to defeat the United Kingdom. What I am worried about is that once the United Kingdom becomes strong again, it will inevitably start a new round of expansion. Not to mention that your country does not have this concern. In Central America, in Venezuela, in Oregon, once the British make up their minds Get these benefits. Can your country tolerate it?"

As he spoke, Guan Xuqing became a little excited: "Instead of trying to curb the ambition of the British in the future, it is better to take advantage of their weakest moment. Let us unite to defeat the British. Or your country will help me defeat the British." People. Count the benefits? Your country will benefit from Central and South America. And the Pacific Ocean will be a pond for both of us."

Guan Xuqing's descendants have undergone quite strict speech skills training. He is engaged in the financial industry, and he can easily fool those clients who are more sophisticated than monkeys. What's more, in front of the existing factual basis, he can draw a blueprint that the other party cannot refuse. How he can not guarantee.

Jones nodded subconsciously, and Guan Xuqing's words described a wonderful prospect.The old world hegemon will be held back by China's wars, while America will truly take America into its own hands and rely on him to grow and thrive until finally the banner of world leadership emerges from the hands of Great Britain.At this time, the isolationist forces in the United States are far from being as serious as they were later, and many American elites are indeed considering such issues.

"Your Majesty, your proposals are indeed very sweet, and some of them have also been mentioned by President Cleveland, which makes me doubt whether you have talked with them before. But you also know that the United States is a democratic country, and it is actually implemented. Our people hate war, especially a war with such a powerful country as Britain. Even if it is for a just cause, I think it will be difficult to persuade the people to agree to send troops, but we may be able to give your country some financial and technical support. , and mediate from it when necessary." Dulles said carefully.In fact, in his heart, he is very much in favor of forming an alliance with China. The current strength of the United States is not enough to affect the Far East, so the United States is at an absolute disadvantage in dividing up China's interests. After signing this alliance, the United States will own China, a huge country. market and established itself on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.

If the alliance with Russia is to seek skin from a tiger in order to limit the military power of the United Kingdom in the short term, then the alliance with the United States is to provide a long-term boost to the strength of China.The United States can not only provide the capital and technology China needs, but it is also a good helper when it comes to dealing with Britain now and Russia and China in the future.

After a week of secret negotiations, Jones finally boarded a ship from Tianjin to San Francisco with a contract he was satisfied with.This treaty includes the United States providing a loan of 2000 million U.S. dollars to help China carry out currency reform, and opening up the export of important industrial equipment such as steel, metallurgy, shipbuilding, and precision machinery to China. Subscribe for a $1000 million war bond and provide a $[-] million low-interest loan.However, in order to maintain a neutral image, the United States will not export strategic materials such as arms and steel to China during the war.

At that time, one tael of silver was equivalent to two dollars.

As a price, American goods will enter China with a tariff of less than 2.5%. It seems that China has suffered a lot. With the industrial strength of the United States, their products entering the Chinese market with low tariffs will definitely hurt China. The fledgling industry has caused a great impact, and looking at the treaty, the United States actually does not need to pay anything. Loans and war bonds must be repaid, and those industrial equipment must be bought with real money, for China's currency system The reform to provide a stabilization fund is a matter of great benefit to the United States.

In the treaty, the United States did not undertake an obligation, not even destroying its neutral image.However, Guan Xuqing had already obtained what he wanted. With China's education level, he wanted to train his own skilled technicians and invent good machine tools.Build up heavy industry step by step.I don't know how long it will take.And the great powers will not give China such time and environment.Only by implementing the doctrine of borrowing can China's national heavy industry be developed in the shortest possible time.

As for the issue of low tariffs, it is nothing to China now. According to the Sino-British "Beijing Treaty", China's current customs duties are still in the hands of the UK, and they will only be counted if they are withdrawn.

(End of this chapter)