Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

In the end, Liu Ye and Yi Zhen returned to the court with the contract signed with Hua Ruohan.

In just one day, Prince Gong and Liu Ye were the only two people involved, and even the minister Wenxiang didn't show up, but they were able to deal with America!

In the court, when Yi Xin showed the contract to Emperor Xianfeng, Emperor Xianfeng frowned. The contract was negotiated, but there were many problems involved. He was afraid that his face would be greatly lost.

"Your Majesty, I beg you to execute Prince Gong and Liu Ye!"

Weiren was the first to jump out. Such a contract was simply unacceptable to him. He jumped out impatiently, shouting, "Your Majesty, opening ports and setting up factories and mines is the way to national destruction. And look, you actually allowed an embassy to be established in the capital. This, this is simply a disgrace to our Celestial Empire! And there's also the firearms trade worth millions of taels. Right now, when national affairs are difficult, we have to spend such a huge amount of money to please foreigners. It's really ridiculous!"

Other important officials also jumped out, accusing the two of making trouble and firmly refusing to sign such a contract.

Xianfeng waved his hand, and everyone gradually quieted down.

Xianfeng asked, "Prince Gong, Liu Ye, what do you have to say?"

Prince Gong looked at Liu Ye. The clauses in the letter were all drafted by Liu Ye, so it would be natural for him to answer them.

Liu Ye knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please listen to what I have to say."

Xianfeng replied, "You say."

Liu Ye replied, "First, we will purchase 200 artillery pieces, 10,000 muskets, and various other shells and ammunition from the Americans. I believe this is not too much, but too little. If I had full authority, I would double the amount!"

The ministers in the court became even more angry. If the price was doubled, it would be worth four million taels of silver. How could such a waste of money and effort be allowed?

Woren roared, "Liu Ye, have you lost your mind? You just spent this huge amount of silver with a wave of your hand. Don't you know that the national treasury is empty? Where do we get so much money? We don't even have enough money and food to suppress the Taiping Rebellion in the south!"

Liu Ye sneered, "Lord Woren, I'm not crazy. It's just that your arithmetic skills might have been taught by a fool. Let me ask you, with the 100,000 Hunan troops currently suppressing the Taiping rebels, and the three-province Qing troops in Sichuan suppressing the Shi Rebels, how much grain does it cost the court in a year?"

"This one……"

Although Weiren held a high position of power, he was not entirely clear on the expenses at the front. Sushun, standing by, stepped forward and replied, "In recent years, Zeng Guofan has spent no less than four million taels of grain annually to suppress the Taiping rebels. Add to that the costs of suppressing the Shi Rebels in the southwest, and I'm afraid the cost will be no less than six million taels..."

Weiren glanced at Sushun and snorted angrily, "Look at this! The war in the south alone costs no less than six million taels a year. Where does the national treasury get the money and grain? A lot of it is prepaid taxes paid by several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. You still want to spend a large amount of money to purchase weapons and weapons to please foreigners. It is really unreasonable!

Liu Ye was also risking his life at this time. If he didn't knock these big guys down, he was afraid that he and Prince Gong would be the ones to fall today.

Liu Ye laughed angrily and said, "First, if I had 20,000 rifles and 200 cannons, the Taiping bandits would be completely defeated within three years. The cost of 6 million taels of silver in national treasury would not be a waste of national treasury, but a saving of national treasury. Even if these weapons were allocated to the Hunan Army, it would enable Zeng Guofan to wipe out the Taiping bandits in the shortest possible time. Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Lord Woren, you don't even understand this principle?"

Faced with Liu Ye's ridicule, Woren was furious and was about to fight back, but Liu Ye continued, "Also, Master Woren, I'd like to ask you, if a child was taken in and carried ten thousand taels of gold, what do you think would happen to him if he walked out of the house?"

Woren was stunned and snorted coldly, "Of course, that's out of the question. Since ancient times, it's been said that wealth should not be displayed openly. A child with ten thousand taels of gold will definitely be murdered and robbed, and his life will be in danger!"

Liu Ye smiled and said, "Yes, our Great Qing Empire is rich in resources and has a vast territory. We have long attracted the attention of the great powers. However, our military is now lax and our soldiers are unable to fight. If we don't strengthen our military, won't we soon be like this child with ten thousand taels of gold? Putting aside other things, Tsarist Russia has been eyeing the borders outside the Great Wall for a long time. Some time ago, it even wanted to swallow up the land along the Ussuri River in one go. The Tsarist Russian army is brutal and has many artillery. If we don't take precautions, once Tsarist Russia takes action, the land east of the Ussuri River and north of the Heilongjiang River will no longer belong to our Great Qing. Even Heilongjiang and Jilin will be in jeopardy. Do you think that with our current Eight Banners and Green Camp, we can deal with the Russian army?"

Xianfeng was shocked sitting on the dragon throne. If it was really as Liu Ye said, then Liu Ye was not wasting money and grain for the country. He was guarding against the invasion of Tsarist Russia. It was definitely a far-sighted plan. A twenty-year-old boy actually had such a high vision!

Liu Ye turned around, looked at Xianfeng, and replied, "Your Majesty, Britain, the United States, and France are not a concern in the short term. They don't border the Qing Dynasty. Even if they wanted to invade the Qing Dynasty, they don't have enough power. They can only continue to plunder some money and then force us to sign a contract to sell more goods. But Tsarist Russia is different. Tsarist Russia is greedy by nature. If we don't take precautions, not only the three provinces outside the Great Wall, but also Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang may be unstable. We must take precautions early. These weapons are prepared to deal with Tsarist Russia's invasion. So, in this matter, it's not the Americans who are taking advantage, but us. You know, Britain and France are unwilling to buy firearms for us now!"

Minister of Rites Ruilin shouted, "What about ceding territory and allowing foreigners to open mines and factories? Or opening treaty ports? Would that be good for us? Foreigners are only interested in profit. The massive influx of their goods will plunder all our silver!"

Liu Ye turned around and said solemnly, "Master Ruilin, Master Weiren and Master Sushun have already said this! The state is in dire straits, the treasury is empty, and the poor are almost pawning their pants!"

Woren, standing by, shouted angrily, "How dare you! When did I ever say the national treasury was so poor that it had to be pawned? How can you speak such foul language in the court?"

Liu Ye pretended to be serious and said, "Dirty words? Could it be that Lord Woren wasn't wearing any pants? Did he come to court with his bare bottom? That's extremely disrespectful!"

Hahaha……

The ministers in the court could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

Woren's face turned as red as an eggplant and he was shaking with anger.

Liu Ye didn't care at all and said to Xianfeng, "Your Majesty, it's absolutely true that the treasury is empty now. It is absolutely difficult to support it by relying solely on taxes from the people. It will only deplete the vitality of the farmers. Once we open up trade or bring in foreigners to open mines and set up factories, it will increase our financial resources. You must know that every factory and mine operating in the Qing Dynasty must pay us taxes!