Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

"There's no need to say more polite words. Since Mr. Zakharov came from afar, does he want to discuss business with me?" Guan Xuqing asked straight to the point.

"That's true. I heard that the military industry of the Chinese Empire has reached an unprecedented height and produced many advanced weapons. To be honest, I also obtained some weapons produced by your country through abnormal channels before. The performance is by no means inferior to For any major military country in the world, I think it would be too wasteful for these advanced weapons to be backlogged in the warehouse. I can use my channels around the world to help your country sell them. First, it can show your country’s national prestige. It can help your country get a large amount of rewards." Zakharov said his intentions in a leisurely manner, but kept silent about his profit points, showing the characteristics that a shrewd businessman should have.

Guan Xuqing stared at him with a smile, and said, "It's unnecessary to show national prestige. Since it's a business, there must be a word of profit. I want to know how much profit you plan to extract from it?"

Guan Xuqing immediately talked about Zakharov's weakness. The businessman is only after profit, otherwise everything is empty talk. The shrewd Zakharov obviously didn't expect His Majesty the Emperor to talk about this issue so directly. I was at a loss for words for a while, and then smiled awkwardly: "Since it is the first business I do with your country, of course it is only for friendship and not for profit. Please let His Majesty the Emperor decide everything."

"Okay, you really deserve to be a big arms dealer. What you say is extraordinary. I also know the world's arms market. Generally, the highest is 20%, right?"

"His Majesty the Emperor has a very accurate grasp of the market conditions. 20% is in the African and American markets, and 15% in the European market." Zakharov had to look at the young Chinese emperor differently.

"How about this, I will give you 30% profit points, and for every 5000 million pounds in trading volume, I will give you an additional 5.00% profit sharing, what do you think?"

Zakharov looked at Guan Xuqing in astonishment, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. Regardless of his value just now, he fell to his knees and said, "Okay, okay, I completely agree..."

Guan Xuqing laughed loudly, and then said: "But I have one condition, that is, the price of Chinese weapons is higher than that of any other country in the world."

"This...price factor will largely restrict the transaction volume, but in the context of the world's melee, I think it should still be able to achieve good sales."

"That's it for this matter. However, there is one more thing I don't understand, and I want to ask you."

"I am all ears."

"Do you prefer France or Ottoman Turkey?"

"Your Majesty, I am a businessman, and an arms dealer at that. My purpose is to make money and make friends in your country. The sense of nationality and patriotism are as bland as soda water to us."

After finishing speaking, Guan Xuqing, Li Hongzhang, and Zakharov all burst out laughing.

The flames of war ignited from Central Europe were unprecedentedly fierce and burned throughout Europe and the North African continent. The war dealt a fatal blow to the economies of all countries, and even Britain, the king of industry, suffered an economic depression.This economic crisis brought about a major turning point in the development of capitalism, marking the peak of free capitalism, and the transition to monopoly capitalism began.

Before the outbreak of the economic crisis, Germany defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War and received huge war reparations, which promoted investment and speculative mania in Germany, thereby creating conditions for the arrival of the economic crisis.The overexpansion of railway construction in the United States also provided the premise for the occurrence of economic crisis.The economic crisis broke out first in Germany and the United States, and soon hit the United Kingdom and France, like a rapidly spreading fuse, which immediately formed a world economic crisis.

The economic crisis lasted until the fifth year after the end of the war, and industrial production in many countries experienced two declines.This makes the damage caused by the economic crisis more serious and profound.Early in the war, U.S. steel production fell by 14 percent, oil production by 14 percent, and shipbuilding by 23 percent.The stock prices of the entire industry fell by 40%, and the railroad stocks fell by 60%.There were 47000 bankruptcies, with total liabilities of $12 billion.German steel production fell by 18%, the operating rate of the machine manufacturing industry was only 30%, and stock prices plummeted by 50%.British pig iron production decreased from 1872 million tons in 685 to 1895 million tons in 609, shipbuilding was cut by more than 15 percent, and capital output fell by 82%.This economic crisis has shown a new feature, that is, heavy industry has replaced light industry as the center of gravity of the economic cycle.The crisis first started from heavy industry, and it also hit the heavy industry of all countries the hardest.

This economic crisis has also become more serious and difficult to escape due to the concurrent world agricultural crisis.The substantial growth of agriculture in the newly reclaimed areas of the Americas has resulted in a long-term relative surplus of world agricultural production and a continuous decline in the prices of agricultural products.The agricultural crisis lasted until the end of the 19th century.The intertwining of agricultural crisis and industrial crisis caused the economic development of capitalist countries to slow down greatly in the last years of the 19th century, and economic crises became more frequent.

However, at the same time, China created a miracle. In the case of a major reversal in the world economic situation, it still achieved a growth rate of 30.00%. The strong driving force for economic growth has earned the empire a lot of war capital.This proves from one aspect that Guan Xuqing's strategic thinking of "supporting war with war" is completely correct.Of course this is what happened later.

Ps: Friends, I haven’t seen flowers these days, I don’t know why, I’m depressed...

Soaring Front: Yuan Shikai's Worries in World War I Chapter 282

The war in the north became more and more intense, and the Philippines in the south took the opportunity to make small moves. Britain used its power in the Philippines to become restless in southern China.Yuan Shikai has been worrying about this matter recently. He has been in charge of Malacca's affairs for a year. Although the small department keeps winning, the big department has never made an inch. Financially, it has been unable to make ends meet. In desperation, he had to ask the court for money frequently. The emperor's reprimand.

In order to increase financial revenue, Yuan Shikai came up with the idea of ​​the Philippine Islands. He repeatedly sent fishing boats to the Philippine waters to snatch fishery resources, and sent resource exploration teams to land on Luzon Island as civilians many times. However, the results of these measures were not without success. It was captured and sent back by the Kaputinan authorities, which made people feel ashamed.

Just at the beginning of this month, the Kaputinan authorities issued a warning to China for the first time, claiming that if such behavior occurs again, these Chinese people will be executed directly in accordance with local laws.This was a dangerous signal, and Yuan Shikai naturally knew that the 18th of this month was the day when the Republic of the Philippines was established and also the day when the Republic of the Philippines joined the Commonwealth of Nations.Austin Chamberlain, British Secretary of State for India, the eldest son of Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, will participate in the Philippine founding celebrations as the representative of the British royal family.This is not only a major event in the history of the Philippines, but also an important signal of changes in Britain's Asia policy.

As a fast-growing old-fashioned official, Yuan Shikai did not go through the orthodox imperial examinations, which reduced some deep-rooted restraints for him. He keenly grasped this message and specifically asked the National Security Bureau to launch investigations.The final answer is yes, starting from this year, the Minister of Indian Affairs of the British Empire will assume the management authority of the colonies in the entire Asia-Pacific region, that is to say.In the Asian colonies, the Secretary of State for India was the plenipotentiary of the British Empire.This means that the policy focus of the British began to tilt towards Asia.

Yuan Shikai immediately reported his worries to the emperor. After reading the memorial, Guan Xuqing's first thought was that the British finally began to fully counterattack the Sino-German alliance, and even began to pay unprecedented attention to China.In this memorial, Yuan Shikai not only analyzed the situation clearly, but also proposed his own solution. One of them was to try to contact the German Asia-Pacific forces to drive away the British forces. In terms of benefits, he also promised to give Germany People from the southern Mindanao Island came to lure them.

Guan Xuqing had to admit that Yuan Shikai's memorial showed that he or his staff had a solid foundation in foreign affairs, and pointed out that the feasibility of this article was due to the fact that the British took the Indonesian islands in the hands of the Dutch. The relationship between Australia and the Philippines in the Commonwealth of Great Britain is bound to arouse uneasiness among the Dutch.And through the Dutch to find the Germans who have an excellent relationship with the Netherlands, on the one hand, they can avoid attracting the attention of the Germans to avoid suspicion of instigating troubles, and on the other hand, they can be sure that the Germans will intervene, thus putting pressure on the United Kingdom. And then profit from it.

Tactically, this advice is almost unassailable.Of course, from a purely military point of view, except for China, which can compete with the British fleet, no country in this region has dared to send a challenge signal to the huge fleet of the British Empire in this regard.The Germans are in dire straits in the war in Europe, and China has twice rejected the request to send troops to the Marne River, so it is still unknown whether the Kaiser will have a grudge against this.

Guan Xuqing pondered for a long time, picked up the ink pen, and replied on Yuan's paper: "I am very happy after reading your article."What pleases me is not what you think, but it is because you live up to my deep hope.In today's world, the two powers are vying for supremacy, and I, China, watch from the sidelines.Here, Qing realizes a lot.However, the sage said that it is too late, and Wang Qing thinks about it.I met all the barbarians in Beijing last year to make a peace treaty, and Qing thought about it.I have nothing to ask for in the southeast, but you can also try one or two.This is it.

Yuan Shikai is a smart person, he should be able to understand my intention of replying to this approval, and do something about it.

In the high position of the emperor, he can no longer say anything like ordinary people.In front of his ministers, he couldn't say everything very straightforwardly. This was a traditional technique of manipulating people. Guan Xuqing had been the emperor for more than ten years, and he had long been familiar with this technique.

Capable ministers in China can often have absolute power within their own jurisdiction, especially in the absence of any political opponents, the chief minister often has no constraints other than the emperor can give him a little pressure, such as Singapore This is the case with Governor Yuan Shikai.Western countries are mainly run by state machinery, while China is run by people. This is the fundamental difference between the political systems of China and the West.

This is also one of the reasons for Guan Xuqing's plan to pay close attention to the reform of the official system.After thinking about it, Guan Xuqing's thoughts have gradually turned back to the domestic situation from the Sino-Russian war, and his mental state has eased. He called Wang Shang to arrange a car for him, and personally called Tang Shaoyi to let him arrange the reform of the official system. The group is ready to meet the driver, so they change their clothes and prepare to go out.

Now Guan Xuqing’s travel tool has changed from a sedan chair to a car. Karl Benz led his working team to build two cars for the emperor, named Longteng and Shunfeng, with a speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour, and the new buildings in the south of the city are also Surrounded by asphalt roads, the transportation facilities in the capital are increasingly developed.

The car drove out of the Xihua Gate, and the guards were on both sides to protect it, and the convoy slowly drove south.I don't know when, suddenly there was a shout in my ear: "Wrong!"

There was a piercing sound of brakes, and Luo Ming, the head of the security regiment, was threatening to arrest people with a pistol.Guan Xuqing frowned in the car, telling Luo Ming not to embarrass the complainant, just bring him here.

"Grassman...Ge Fengshan, I have grievances and I want to appeal to the emperor, please forgive me." An old man in his 60s knelt in the middle of the road tremblingly, his voice was high-pitched although he was nervous.

Guan Xuqing personally got out of the car and came to Ge Fengshan and waved his hands: "Be flat, if you have any grievances, just tell me."

"Your Majesty. The grassroots have been dealing in medicinal materials for many generations. I implore the emperor to issue a decree to abandon Western medicine and western medicine, otherwise the grassroots will have a hard time." After finishing speaking, Ge Fengshan handed over a letter of advice, and all the bosses in the capital medicine guild were on it. Signatures were left, and there are as many as fifty or sixty according to rough calculations.This posed a difficult problem for Guan Xuqing.

This place is in the downtown area, and I don't know how many pairs of eyes are watching from the street. People from the Ministry of Justice and Shuntian Mansion are already busy when they receive the news. This Ge Fengshan dares to block the street to sue. It seems that he must be a * In a hurry, life and death have long been ignored.

But looking at his appearance, he was sincere. Guan Xuqing signaled the guards to help him up, adjusted his tone and said, "I prescribe western medicine and medicine to open a new way for the people of the world. It is not about replacing traditional Chinese medicine with western medicine. What do you do?" Your business, why can't you live?"

"Your Majesty knows that the Son of Heaven has the virtue of loving life, but the officials who handle things don't understand it." It doesn't matter what Ge Fengshan said, but it frightened the accompanying ministers to their wits.

PS: When I saw the flowers just now, I jumped, and I was so excited and excited.

The state is not bad today, let me see, if possible, I will come back later to dedicate it to everyone.thank you all

Soaring to the Front: The First World War Chapter 283 Reform of the Official System

ps: Thanks to book friend Faradona, your encouragement gave me hope again.This part of the work is relatively busy, and it is really impossible to do three shifts a day, but it is guaranteed to be more than 3000 words a day.Don't say anything, add a chapter of [-] words for all brothers and sisters today.I'm tired when I'm done typing, let's take a rest

Upon hearing Ge Fengshan's words, Guan Xuqing frowned. This matter seemed so simple.Immediately he made a decision: "What's wrong, you can go to the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion to file a complaint. Today..." Seeing Liu Guangdi standing in the distance dripping with sweat, he beckoned him to come over, and said to Ge Fengshan, "This is the case. The first one is Mr. Liu Guangdi of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. If you have any grievances, just tell him. Three days later, Mr. Liu will give you an explanation here, and give you an explanation.” Then he turned to Liu Guangdi and said, “Pei Village, you I heard it, you should investigate and deal with it. There is still a matter of blocking the street at the foot of the emperor, you..."

Liu Guangdi pleaded guilty on his knees in shame, and then took people to question him.Guan Xuqing got into the car and continued to go to the National Assembly Hall where the cabinet works.

Over there, in the conference room of the Cabinet Office, all the participants in the reform of the official system have gathered. Liang Qichao, who has studied the official systems of various countries, reported to the emperor the new official system settings for officials below the third rank.

Civil officials below the third rank are mainly concentrated at the prefecture and county level. Some provincial positions can be inherited vertically from the local level in the future, so they will not be involved for the time being. Liang Qichao uses prefectures and counties as examples to introduce the framework of local power operation.

The magistrate is the highest head of local administration, and there are three magistrates alongside him. Under it, there are education, industry, agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, land military service, sea military service, Duzhi, postal transmission, commerce, civil affairs, education, patrol inspection, taxation, and legal affairs. Government, Qingzheng and other bureaus.The above-mentioned departments are also set up at the county level. From the central government to the local government, these departments will establish vertical leadership lines. With the four-level structure of the central government, provinces, governments, and counties, vertical and parallel leadership will be established for departments, divisions, bureaus, and departments. Mechanisms to form an effective grid-like power structure covering the whole country.

"You..." Guan Xuqing raised his hands, and said to everyone present: "How many people have returned from studying abroad in England, please show me by raising your hands."

More than a dozen people raised their hands, Guan Xuqing nodded and said, "It must be because there are more systems in Europa. Is this structure agreed upon by you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Everyone said in unison.

"I have also been to Europe, where they have local councils, why don't you follow suit?"

"Return to the emperor..." A very elegant fifth-rank Xiaojing nodded to Liang Qichao, stood up and saluted and replied: "I came back from abroad, and I deeply feel that the establishment of its parliament has the following suspicions, so After asking several adults for instructions, I dare not add it."

"Oh?" Guan Xuqing looked at Liang Qichao, and asked noncommittally, "Is this what you guys mean?"

Liang Qichao said respectfully, "Yes."

"The difference between top and bottom, you can let it go for a while. But you guys are doing okay, I think it's good, I propose to add two. One is for group training, and the other is for village elders' association." Guan Xuqing said while several copywriters were busy recording , no one dared to ask anything.Guan Xuqing sighed secretly in his heart, this is the dual nature of feudal imperial power, on the one hand, no one dares to object, and on the other hand, he has to worry that the ministers will not understand his true intentions, so he took a deep breath and said: "Tuanlian, in the past They are all raised by the squires themselves, and will be strictly prohibited in the future. Liang Qichao, please note that this article will become a law. From now on, all private equity groups will look forward to it and will not slack off. The group training I am talking about is government-run group training. What is it for? It is preparation For military service, those who have experience in the regiment training bureau are given priority in military service. Although regiment training is not an army, it must also be strictly controlled by the Imperial Army. In addition to daily military training, the role of these regiment training is to protect the environment and the people. When the country is in crisis, Incorporate into the army at any time, and go back to each other to make a living and develop production when you are free. Have you understood what I said?"