Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

In the Qing Dynasty, only Liu Ye dared to say such tough words.

But even if Liu Ye said it, Prince Gong was still horrified and shouted, "Liu Ye, now is not the time for us to cause trouble. Be honest. If you provoke a prince or a marquis, we can still put out the fire. But if you provoke foreigners, no one can help you!"

Liu Ye said helplessly, "Your Highness, are you really that afraid of foreigners? Actually, foreigners are not unreasonable. As long as we set clear rules with them, they will seriously abide by them. Of course, if there are loopholes in your rules that they can exploit, that's another matter. Do you think I will leave them any loopholes?"

Prince Gong sucked his teeth. The question asked by Liu Ye was a bit redundant. This kid was very smart. Except for being a little impulsive sometimes, he was almost flawless in doing things and would never leave any loopholes for foreigners to exploit.

Prince Gong asked, "What are your plans now? Please tell the Empress Dowager and me first so that we can have a clear idea of ​​what's going on. Otherwise, if you cause trouble, we won't be able to control the situation..."

Liu Ye replied, "First, there are many coal mines in Yanzhou. I plan to import equipment from the West to develop the mines, producing 200 million kilograms of coal a year. This way, we will have enough coal to guarantee the expenses of our fleet, and the surplus can be used for other purposes. Your Highness, with the current development of technology, there are too many places that need coal. I also suggest that the court can open mines, which will also expand our financial resources. Second, there are iron mines in Laiyang. I plan to import iron smelting equipment and build an iron smelting plant. Whether it is making guns, cannons, or even warships in the future, it is absolutely inseparable from steel. If we purchase from abroad, a large amount of money will eventually be made by the foreigners. Let the foreigners make money, why not leave it for our own people? Third, in addition to these two, I have also reached a consensus with the American Minister John Ward to build an ordnance factory in Shandong. This ordnance factory will be established by me and the foreigners. I will provide the technology and land, and the foreigners will provide the equipment and personnel. Hehe, once a large number of foreign guns are produced and sold all over the world, then it will be a huge treasure trove!"

Cixi's eyes lit up and she asked, "Liu Ye, when did you actually cooperate with the Americans? You know how to make guns and cannons?"

Liu Ye chuckled and replied, "I know a thing or two about this. I designed a very advanced foreign rifle myself. Unfortunately, our court lacks talent, equipment, and the raw materials to produce rifles and ammunition. We can only cooperate with the Americans. Although some of the money they make will be taken away by the Americans, the majority of the money will remain in China. Why not?"

Prince Gong was immediately overjoyed. Having his own arsenal would be an extremely powerful aid. Whether it was suppressing the Nian bandits or destroying the Taiping rebels, wouldn't it be easy if he had a large number of foreign guns?

Prince Gong laughed and said, "Excellent, excellent! As long as this arsenal is built, we won't have to worry about not having muskets anymore. Liu Ye, you must, you must build this factory as soon as possible and allocate all the guns to the army. With a large number of foreign guns, we won't have to fear the Nian bandits or even the foreigners!"

Liu Ye said angrily, "Your Highness, you wishful thinking. Even if it is produced, the court will have to spend money to buy it. This is not an iron ore or coal mine. It is funded by the court. It will be opened with taxes, and we can just allocate it when the time comes. This firearm is a joint venture with the Americans. Everything must be done according to the rules. We have to buy it at the market price, and they have to pay taxes according to the tax law. The two are unrelated. If we requisition it, forget it!"

Prince Gong was stunned and asked, "Liu Ye, what do you mean?"

Liu Ye replied, "What do you mean? Do you even need to ask? Your Highness, this is my private property. I built it with my own money and technology from the Americans. It's not a government-run enterprise. If you want foreign guns, of course you have to pay for it!"

Prince Gong was furious and shouted, "Asshole! You're dreaming, but firearms are state weapons. How can they be privately owned? This is no joke. The factory must be handed over to the imperial court! Liu Ye, you don't want to be impeached by the court officials and torn to pieces, do you?"

Oh, damn!

Liu Ye felt a surge of frustration. Damn it! I'm expanding your financial resources, providing you with a large supply of weapons to equip your army, and you're not allowing me to build my own arsenal? Damn it! If it becomes a government-run arsenal, it'll be completely ruined. Can you really count on those officials to manage your business properly?

"Your Majesty, this is impossible!"

Without a second thought, Liu Ye directly rejected Prince Gong's questioning and replied, "Your Highness, there is one thing you must understand. I will completely hand over the operation of this arsenal to the Americans. My purpose is, first, to develop more advanced weapons, second, to oversee the finances of the arsenal, and third, to train our own apprentices and even technicians. I will not be involved in anything else, because I know that we are all outsiders when it comes to management. The court will definitely not be able to provide a decent talent. On the contrary, due to various complicated relationships, a large number of idle personnel will be stuffed in, and the entire arsenal will be ruined! An arsenal that does not make money, an arsenal that supports idle people, is of no use to the court!"

Prince Gong angrily declared, "Even so, we absolutely cannot allow a massive arsenal beyond the control of the imperial court to appear in Shandong, let alone hand it over to the Americans. If they take the weapons and directly arm an army, what will happen? Where will you put your country? By then, I'm afraid the impeachment memorials against you will pile up like a mountain! Not only you, but even I will be blamed!"

Liu Ye said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, you probably don't know that this factory was originally intended to be built in the United States according to the Americans' wishes. They simply didn't want to come here. What's the benefit of coming to China? Are there technicians? Are there experienced workers? Are there equipment? We have nothing. Building a factory in China will at least delay their time to make money for a year or two. I was so shameless and begged them to come here. We must build a team of people who understand these technologies. This is the foundation of our country's prosperity and military strength! Can we make guns and cannons ourselves without relying on their mature experience and technical equipment? This is simply a dream! No matter what, you must follow my opinion. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility!"

"Can you afford it? If anything goes wrong, it'll be a crime worth losing your head!"

Prince Gong roared angrily. He really didn't understand why Liu Ye was so stubborn. He would rather not have this arsenal than let the Americans take control of it. If the Americans took control of it, it would be a powder keg ready to explode at any time!