The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

"Young Master, what are you doing?"

Uncle Fu instinctively stood up, clenching his fists tightly. This young master used to be a reckless fellow; had he relapsed into his old ways?

"Hey! Uncle Fu, why are you so excited? Sit down first." Shen Lian couldn't help but shake his head.

"Isn't this because my father put me in charge of the household? I need to know how much property we have so I can make some plans."

"The family currently has over 1.5 million taels of silver in cash, over 12,000 mu of land outside the city, and over 1,500 mu of land in our hometown. In addition, we have over 100 shops in the city, and a courtyard and about ten shops in the capital. We also have some shares in some money shops and trading companies."

Uncle Fu clearly understood these things and spoke them after a little thought.

"It seems like a lot, but it's far from enough!" Shen Lian murmured upon hearing this.

"Young Master? What are you doing? This is the family fortune that Master has worked hard to build up over his entire life. Don't you dare do anything reckless!"

"Alright! I understand, Uncle Fu! You can go ahead and get back to work!"

Uncle Fu quickly retreated; this young master was terrifying. He claimed that millions in assets weren't enough.

What is he going to do?

Uncle Fu was pale and covered in sweat as he hurriedly walked towards the backyard.

After Uncle Fu left, Shen Lian took a piece of paper and started calculating.

The Eight-Nation Alliance had nearly 20,000 troops that entered Beijing. To achieve anything significant, they would need at least 5,000 well-trained troops, preferably 10,000.

At the current price of about ten taels of silver per Hanyang rifle, ten thousand men would cost one hundred thousand taels. This is the minimum expenditure. Ammunition consumption would be even greater; if he wants a strong army, he will definitely need frequent live-fire training, which would probably cost another one hundred thousand taels.

To defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance, rifles alone were not enough. Heavy machine guns and cannons were also needed.

He remembered watching a video before, where Li Hongzhang went to England for an inspection, and the Maxim rifle was priced at two thousand taels per gun, not including bullets.

Old Li kept saying it was too expensive and he couldn't afford it.

Shen Lian will definitely buy it, but I don't know if the machinery bureau that Lao Li built in Tianjin can manufacture Maxim rifles now.

At two thousand taels per gun, a force of ten thousand would need at least a hundred guns! He didn't want his soldiers to risk their lives to build them up.

This heavy machine gun, plus its ammunition, would probably cost several hundred thousand taels of silver.

And that doesn't even include the cannons that cost tens of thousands of taels each; who knows how much that will cost!

Shen Lian slumped dejectedly in his chair. Indeed, the sound of cannons could bring in a fortune. This war was truly not going to be easy.

With the Shen family's meager assets, they'd probably be exhausted before the war even started. The old man certainly wouldn't support him doing this.

With the Eight-Nation Alliance about to invade, he couldn't just stand by and watch them burn, kill, and loot in the capital!

Besides, I heard that the Eight-Nation Alliance looted tens or even hundreds of millions of taels of silver from Beijing. Even if they only managed to take a small bite, let alone all of it, that would be enough to support an army of 100,000.

The timeframe was too tight; all in all, it was less than a year.

Where could he get a few million taels? Shen Lian was at a loss for a moment.

If only he could rob them, there's the richest family in the world just two hundred miles away. Unfortunately, he doesn't dare.

Even with tens of thousands of troops, Old Yuan didn't dare to move, let alone someone as small and weak as him.

Looks like I still need to find a way to make money!

How do other time travelers make money? Making glass? That's been around for ages. Making soap? It's worthless now.

Honeycomb briquettes? Forget it! I don't have time for that right now.

"Little Tiger, Little Tiger!" Shen Lian was at a loss for what to do, so he decided to go for a walk.

"Young Master!" Shen Xiaohu ran in.

"Come on, let's go out for a walk!"

"Young Master, should we prepare the car?" Shen Xiaohu asked.

"No need, I'm just taking a walk!"

The two arrived at the front yard, and Shen Xiaohu immediately called out, "Laifu, come here quickly. Young Master wants to go for a walk!"

"Hey! Coming!" Four strong young men hurried over.

"Your name is Laifu?" Shen Lian asked curiously, looking at the man in his early twenties in front of him.

"Yes, young master! Thank you for the reward, young master!"

"I heard you were beaten by Chang Wei?" Shen Lian asked with a smirk.

Chang Wei? Who is Chang Wei? He dares to hit me? Lai Fu was completely confused.

Shen Lian laughed and led the way out.

The soldiers on guard at the gate straightened up as soon as they saw Shen Lian come out. However, Shen Lian frowned at their lax posture.

Such soldiers are only good for scaring ordinary people; they're not even capable of fighting foreigners. They'd probably have a hard time making them run even a few miles.

The area in front of the General's Mansion was spacious and clean, but very deserted with hardly any pedestrians.

But once you turn one corner, the street becomes lively, teeming with people. Various vendors' calls rise and fall in a cacophony.

Shen Lian observed the street scene from the late Qing Dynasty with curiosity!

Although the place appeared very prosperous on the surface, many pedestrians on the street looked pale and sickly. Every now and then, a dirty beggar would reach out his hand to beg, but seeing that they were not ordinary people, he dared not approach them.

Everywhere you look, you see homeless people with tattered clothes and numb faces under the eaves of houses along the street.

"Are there any natural disasters in China? Why are there so many refugees?"

"Yes, young master. I heard that Shaanxi and Shanxi are suffering from a severe drought, and many people have starved to death. I also heard that some kind of insect has broken out in Laoshan, and the crops have all been eaten. Alas!"

"Besides, Linqing has never lacked refugees. It's just that there are a few more this year!" Shen Xiaohu shook his head and said.

"Damn this world!" Shen Lian sighed and shook his head helplessly.

As they walked and looked around, the group gradually arrived at the river dock outside the city.

Although the canal is now in disrepair and can no longer support large boats, the dock is still quite lively. It was here that Shen Lian fell into the water.

As soon as the three grain ships docked, a large group of people surrounded the manager as soon as he landed.

"Shopkeeper, three silver dollars per boat, we'll take the job!"

"Boss, give it to me. We only need two yuan and fifty cents."

"Go to hell with you, Zhou the Bald! I only want two yuan, see if you can still steal it!"

Before the shopkeeper could speak, a group of people started pushing, shoving, and cursing.

The fat shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his brow and was about to speak.

"One dollar, I only want one dollar per ship!" a deep, resonant voice rang out.

"Lu Da! It's you again, you remnant of the bandits! You're breaking the rules!"

The group of people who had just been arguing turned around and glared at the burly man in tattered clothes.

The man was at least 1.9 meters tall, with large, thick bones. He wore only half-length trousers and tattered straw sandals.

"I'm so sorry everyone! My family has elderly and infirm members waiting for us to cook!"

Despite the crowd's angry rebukes, Lu Da remained calm and simply bowed respectfully.

"Hmph, I'll let you off this time. But if you do this again, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

The crowd, who had been scrambling for the item, seemed somewhat wary of Lu Da, and dispersed, grumbling and cursing.

The shopkeeper nodded in satisfaction and walked up to Lu Da, giving him a few instructions.

Lu Da waved his hand, and a group of people rushed out from a corner of the dock. There were old people, women, and children among them.

The older children had white hair, while the younger ones were probably only seven or eight years old. A group of people began to work hard carrying bags of rice down the stairs.

Just as Shen Lian and the others were engrossed in watching, a figure approached.