Master Yuan, start!

After the railway was opened, not many people were willing to take it at first, and even the scholars who came to Seoul to study were a little hesitant.

The former was somewhat afraid of this steel giant, while the latter was interested in new things but was short of money.

So Yuan Shikai made a bold decision and, in order to promote the railway, announced that the railway would be free to ride in the week before it opened, without the need to buy a ticket. And within the next year, half of the free seats would be released on the first day of every week for scholars from all over the world in Korea to ride.

So, although the platform is usually deserted, with more goods than people, every Monday, students from Incheon Academy take time off to ride this train. On Mondays, the train station is always filled with Cantonese, Wu, Tianjin dialect, and other dialects, with the occasional Korean curse word thrown in. This bustling atmosphere has been going on for nearly a month.

This group of scholars were having a great time on the train, and Yuan Shikai was not without gain. He had two selfish motives in letting people ride the train for free.

First, there is the intention of recruiting talents by promoting new things. Railways are still a rare thing in today's China, and even in today's East Asia. New students who are interested in learning Western things are interested in this and will definitely want to visit Seoul.

In addition, Yuan Xiangcheng had already submitted a manuscript to Shenbao, asking it to publicize the news of free railways in North Korea in the country, with the aim of attracting talents to come to North Korea and use them for his own purposes.

In addition, the more important point is that Yuan Xiangcheng wanted to rely on the feedback from a large number of free passengers and the corrections made by railway staff to explore a set of railway operation and riding standards that belong to this era.

In 1887, today's railway operating standards were far from what he knew about the 21st century, and he could not copy the British experience. After all, the standards that were suitable for the British might not be suitable for the Chinese. This move could accumulate Chinese experience and establish Chinese standards.

Unlike the original time and space, there are a lot of Japanese words left in the railway terminology. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the lack of railway talents, a large number of staff from the former Japanese South Manchuria Railway were recruited from the Northeast.

Although this measure alleviated the problem of insufficient railway operating personnel across the country, it also made Japanese words such as responsible person, crossing traction section, main locomotive, temporary stop, etc. in the Manchuria Railway deeply engraved in the Chinese railway system.

If you observe carefully, you will find that although cars in later China drive on the right, trains actually drive on the left on the tracks. This is because the inherited British and Japanese standards are too strict, and changing these standards in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China would consume a lot of manpower and material resources, so they had to compromise.

Frankly speaking, the trains of that era were too bumpy, and Yuan Xiangcheng, who was riding from Incheon to Seoul, was still a little uncomfortable with it. After the ride, he could only order that a thick cushion be added to the seat to reduce the bumpy feeling for the incoming Prince Chun Yixun.

The steam slowly dissipated from the platform. When the locomotive came to a complete stop, the lined-up soldiers of the Jiashen Right Army also stood at the exit one by one, waiting for the arrival of their master.

"All of you, salute!"

The soldiers lined up and quickly slammed the butts of their guns to the ground. Instead of kowtow or kneel, they gave a standard military salute.

"Ever since I knew that the prince was coming to the court, Xiangcheng has been thinking about it day and night, from the sixth summer to the early autumn of the ninth month. Finally, the prince has come!" Yuan Xiangcheng kept saying nice things, but he had no intention of kneeling down to Prince Chun.

"Hahaha, Wei Ting, I was in the capital to gather my entourage, so I was delayed for a while. I didn't expect that you missed me so much?" Yi X got off the motorcade and looked at the semi-open roof of Mapo Railway Station, and then looked at the onlookers not far away, without paying attention to Yuan Xiangcheng's etiquette.

"Weiting, I never thought North Korea would change so drastically today. Ever since I disembarked in Incheon, I have been repeatedly shocked.

The endless stream of steam cargo ships at Incheon Port has already opened my eyes. After getting off the ship, the yellow... yellow..."

When "Rickshaw Driver" Yuan Xiangcheng saw that Yi X couldn't remember, he reminded him.

"Yes, a rickshaw! This thing is really good. It's not as stuffy as a sedan chair, and its speed is comparable to riding a horse in the city. The most important thing is that it combines the speed of a horse with the stability of a sedan chair.

It took only a quarter of an hour to get me from Incheon Wharf to Incheon Railway Station. This distance to the capital would take four sedan bearers more than an hour to carry me there.

And this train is really a good thing. It is faster and more labor-saving than a rickshaw. The rickshaw driver was already out of breath when he pulled me to the destination. When I got off just now, I looked at the driver in the locomotive. He looked normal and not out of breath at all.

I asked someone, and they said that Incheon to Seoul was only several dozen miles away. I didn't expect this driver to have such great strength that he could pull such a huge thing for dozens of miles without changing his expression. "Yixin quickly shared his miraculous experience with Yuan Xiangcheng.

Fortunately, Yuan Xiangcheng had been trained, otherwise he might have laughed out loud on the spot. As a prince of the Qing Dynasty, he actually thought that the train was pulled by the train driver, and was surprised why the train driver didn't even breathe after arriving at the station.

You are so ignorant, Qing Dynasty, you deserve to die.

Chapter 92: North Korea Can Revitalize Northern China

"Weiting, I haven't seen you for several years. Are you still used to staying in Korea?" Yuan Xiangcheng welcomed Prince Chun Yix into the room, and the latter asked kindly.

YiX did not speak first to convey the central government's imperial decree, but instead took his time to ask about Yuan Xiangcheng's well-being.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. Although Xiangcheng's food, clothing, housing and transportation in Korea are not as good as in China, he is still happy and comfortable." Yuan Xiangcheng didn't know what he was planning.

Yi X was not in a hurry. He took out a roll of yellow silk and placed it on the table. It was obviously an imperial decree brought from Cixi. After placing it firmly on the table, he turned to Yuan Xiangcheng and asked:

"Weiting, are there any other people from your hometown in Henan?"

"In reply to your Highness, my father passed away when I was young, leaving only my mother. Besides, I still have my young son and my young wife by my side in the village."

"Oh, you already have a child." Yi X sighed and fell silent. After a moment, he said:

"You have made great contributions in Korea this time. The news has spread throughout the court, and all the civil and military officials have seen it."

"I don't deserve it. Defending Korea is my duty."

"However, some people in the court said that Korea is a cold and bitter land, and that the United States, Russia, Japan and other countries are eyeing it covetously. Taking Korea would be a hidden danger to the court. Moreover, you previously suggested in your memorial that after Korea returns to China, agricultural taxes should be waived for five years in order to win over the people.

Wei Ting, you see, since the uprising, the imperial court has invested hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in Korea every year, and even the Korean customs are at your disposal. This is nearly two million taels of silver a year. Is it worth it for Korea? The tax revenue of Shaanxi Province alone is only two million taels, and Korea loses the same as Shaanxi in a year.

Therefore, some in the court proposed that Korea remain a vassal state, or even allow it to become independent, to prevent any trouble in Korea from affecting Shengjing. Yi X's primary concern was his son's country and people.

Although he did not oppose Yuan Shikai's decision to abolish the feudal system and establish counties in Korea, he always felt that it was a bottomless pit. In addition, Korea did not have the political significance of the Qing court like the Northeast. Therefore, Yi X also tried to ask Yuan Shikai's opinion through the mouths of the upright officials in the court.

"Your Majesty, these short-sighted people have no idea about the international situation. North Korea is of great benefit to our country in defending against foreign enemies.

With Korea in place, Shandong, Liaodong, and Korea would form a pincer attack. If an enemy army invaded Shandong, reinforcements could be drawn from Korea and Liaodong. If it invaded Korea, troops could be dispatched from Liaodong by land or Shandong by sea. If an enemy army attempted to attack the capital, it would have to traverse three lines of defense and guard against surprise attacks from its rear.

If we lose Korea, Liaodong and Shandong, separated by the sea, can be easily conquered one by one. That's how the French reached the gates of Beijing!" Yuan Xiangcheng naturally wanted to refute this statement. Not to mention that Korea at that time had a large amount of resources needed for industrialization, even if Korea was a resource-scarce place, it would have great benefits if it belonged to China.

The first is the strategic advantage. Many people think that North Korea is a peninsula that is deep in the ocean and has a closed and remote geographical location, making it unsuitable for direct rule.

However, from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty to the Jiashen period of the Qing Dynasty, and even the later War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, all of them have proved the importance of North Korea.

If North Korea is unstable, the Northeast will be lost, and if the Northeast is lost, the capital will be unstable.

The three Korean Wars fought by successive top decision-makers have shown that North Korea's safety is related to China, so instead of allowing North Korea to establish an independent country, it is better to bring it under direct jurisdiction.

In this case, the military influence of the East Asian continental regime will shift from near-sea defense to far-sea detection.

Secondly, with North Korea, the Yellow Sea area north of Shanghai will in fact become China's inland sea, and the scope of economic activities along the northern coast will also increase from 500 kilometers centered on the Bohai Sea to 1000 kilometers centered on the Yellow Sea.

By then, not only Tianjin, Yingkou, Dalian and other places along the Bohai Sea coast can build large-scale cities, but also form the Bohai Rim Economic Zone.

Lianyungang, Rizhao, Qingdao, Yantai on the west coast of the Yellow Sea, and Andong, Pyongyang, Incheon, Seoul, Gunsan, Gwangju and other places on the east coast of the Yellow Sea can also form a larger and more widely radiating Yellow Sea economic circle.

It can even be said that Dalian will be located in the center of the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea economic zones, and will certainly have a broader development prospect than in later generations. In addition, the eastern part of the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast will complement each other, which can effectively drive the overall development of the Northeast.

Therefore, taking over Korea can not only consolidate national defense, but also promote the economic development of the northern coastal areas north of Jiangsu, slowly stabilize the economic center that has gradually moved south since the Song Dynasty, and enable balanced development between the north and the south. This will also be of great benefit to the future regional balance of New China.

Yuan Xiangcheng knew that there were more benefits to gaining Korea, but he couldn't tell Yi X in front of him at this time, so he could only find another way and start moral kidnapping:

"If China's land is moved north, it will become a bitterly cold land; if it is moved south, it will be filled with miasma. According to them, Guangdong and Guangxi are no longer necessary, nor are Tibet, Xinjian, Outer Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and other places where our ancestors rose to power."

"Well, that's not the case..." Yi X remembered that his distant relative, Heilongjiang General Yishan, ceded Outer Manchuria to the Russians with a stroke of his pen, so he decisively stopped Yuan Xiangcheng from speaking.

Flylu D! Book 9[qi587424

Seeing this, Yuan Xiangcheng had no choice but to change his mind and use money to impress Yi X: "Your Highness, Korea is not a losing business. You are far away in China, and you don't know that the coal mines in Pyongyang and the foreign-owned factories near Incheon have already started to make profits. Even if the agricultural tax revenue in Korea does not increase in a few years, the income from commercial taxes and customs alone cannot be underestimated.

Furthermore, the customs revenue in Xiangcheng will not remain in Korea forever. Once the country is stabilized, it will be immediately handed over to the central government. There will be no second thoughts! "

Yuan Xiangcheng explained the importance of North Korea from a strategic perspective, and from an economic perspective, he stated that North Korea would not become a black hole in the country's finances in the future.

Seeing this, Yi X naturally didn't know what to say. After all, Yuan Xiangcheng was no longer a small military officer in the palace, but a governor who commanded tens of thousands of troops and was in charge of a region.

But how could he have imagined that what Yuan Xiangcheng just said, "the Korean customs were handed over to the central government", did not mean "handed over to his Qing Dynasty court".

Seeing that Yuan Xiangcheng had made plans for the future of Korea, Yi X didn't intend to beat around the bush any more and simply went straight to the point, addressing the most pressing issue:

"The Governor-General of Haidong is an important position. Although it has not yet been established as a province, it is not as important as the governors of several provinces in the country, but it is similar to the generals in the three northeastern regions." Yi X pointed out the importance of Yuan Shikai's Governor-General of Haidong.

"You are facing the Western nations alone in Haidong. Remember that although you must communicate with the Central Government on all major issues, you must also be bold and courageous!"

"I shall die for my country!" Yuan Xiangcheng replied with a sentence that could be understood in any way. The word "country" can refer to the Qing Dynasty or China.

"Although we now have telegraphs, it no longer takes more than a month to send a letter like it did a few years ago, but no matter how fast the telegraph is, it is not as fast as what you learned on the spot in Korea. So Wei Ting, you have to be the Huo Qubing of the Qing Dynasty, not the Yue Fei of the Qing Dynasty." Yi X said meaningfully.

Yuan Xiangcheng heard encouragement and provocation in these words. Huo Qubing and Yue Fei were both great heroes.

One was the Marquis of Guanjun, who led a lone army on a long-distance raid, ignoring all dissuasion and deep into the desert to attack the Xiongnu in the northern part of the Great Wall and annihilate the Xiongnu Zuoxian King. The other was Yue Wumu, who led a large army to the north, determined to strike directly at Huanglong. However, he was recalled to the court by twelve golden medals to be executed.

What Yi X meant by this was that he wanted him to be a more independent general outside the capital, rather than a military officer who blindly obeyed the orders of the court.

After all, in the current court, the one who has the final say is the Empress Dowager, not his son Guangxu.

But Yuan Xiangcheng was still a little stunned. Looking at Prince Chun Yixun, who was sighing with his head bowed before him, he thought to himself, "You're right, aren't you? You know, whether it was Huo Qubing or Yue Fei, they were fighting against barbarians, especially Yue Fei, who was fighting against the Jurchens, the ancestors of you Manchus."

But since YiX had pointed it out to him, he could only say yes.

"Xiangcheng is well aware that Korea is a country with many factions and their strengths are intertwined. No matter what is discussed in the court, we will definitely protect Korea for the country and save the country for Your Majesty!"

Okay, that's what I want from you: to protect your majesty's country and people. When Yi X heard this, his joy was beyond words.

"Yuan Xiangcheng, you have made great contributions in Korea, but you are not yet established. In the next few decades, you can make achievements in Jiangnan, Guangdong and Guangxi, and Xinjiang. Don't hesitate in Korea." Yi X seemed a little worried and gave Yuan Xiangcheng a few more words of advice.

In the next few decades, there will be achievements to be made in various areas. What does this mean? Yi X said it clearly. Cixi is now over 50 years old. How long can she live?

Isn't this just a different way of saying, "Yuan Xiangcheng, work hard. When my son comes to power, he will definitely make you happy."

Talking about the fun, Yi X couldn't help but say, "After all, Korea is the best. It's far away from the troubles of the capital, and there are so many new things. If the emperor could come and see it, it would be much better than staying in that small courtyard in the Forbidden City!"

"Emperor Qianlong has visited the south of the Yangtze River several times. Your Majesty, why not choose a good opportunity to let the current emperor come to Haidong for an inspection?" Yuan Xiangcheng continued speaking following Yi X's words.

However, Yi X, who was talking so eloquently just now, now had the indecisiveness in his character that prevailed again.

The emperor's tour was no small matter, not to mention that it was the empress dowager, not the emperor, who held real power. Yi X felt a little scared at the thought of facing Cixi.

He replied indifferently, changing the subject. He then picked up the yellow silk on the table and said to Yuan Xiangcheng, "In fact, I came here this time because I was entrusted by the military ministers to hand over the negotiation with the Russians to you."

"Wu Da and Yiktang'a are already on their way to Hunchun. The Russians are holding border demarcation negotiations under the guise of this, but in reality, they're secretly trying to spy on the strength of the Qing Dynasty's northeastern border. Yuan Xiangcheng, the court has appointed you as the plenipotentiary ambassador for this negotiation. Don't let the Russians take advantage!"

As December began, the temperature in North Korea had dropped below 12 degrees Celsius, and it was no longer possible to wear summer clothes. The Jiashen Right Army had already changed into autumn uniforms.

Near the end of the year, agricultural activities were no longer possible in Northeast China. The Jiashen Right Army that had gone to the Sino-Korean border to reclaim wasteland gradually returned to urban areas such as Pyongyang and Seoul to build sites for industrial and mining plants.

Although the agricultural production season has passed in North Korea, cross-sea trade is gradually becoming lively. The road from Incheon to Seoul is bustling with merchants on the road. Those who can afford to buy some train cars can load goods on the train.

If you can't afford the money or the goods are too small, you can find a modified rickshaw to transport them. After agreeing on whether to pay with grain or silver, the rickshaw driver will happily start running.

Under Yuan Shikai's deliberate control, most of the landless Korean farmers were arranged to settle in the settlements on the Sino-Korean border, while the stevedores and rickshaw drivers at the docks were mostly Chinese people who had come to Northeast China.

The closer it got to winter, the more people from Shandong went to Guandong. Farmers who could not pay the autumn taxes went bankrupt one after another. After boarding ships in Dengzhou, Yantai, Jiaozhou, Qingdao, they were taken to Seoul by ships.

After arriving in North Korea, after a simple diversion, these people will make a final decision between being sent to the Pyongyang area, staying in Seoul to work, taking over the Jiashen Right Army settlement on the Sino-North Korean border, or being incorporated into the Jiashen Right Army.

In addition to the common people who had lost their homes, there were also idle farmers who came to Seoul because of the high wages in North Korea. They earned some money by working hard before the New Year so that their families would not have a shortage of food in the spring of the following year and would not have no money to eat before the summer grain was harvested.

In addition, the Western-style enterprises in the capital, represented by the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, were burned down during the Sino-French War. After Li Hongzhang left his post in Guangdong, these Western-style enterprises became unwanted children.

Under Yuan Shikai's secret suggestion, the machines and related personnel of the foreign-owned factories in Tianjin were taken to Incheon little by little like ants moving house.

Incheon, an area less than 100 miles in radius from Seoul, has become the industrial and commercial center of the north. Although it still lags behind the old port of Shanghai in the south, it has caught up with the level of pre-war Tianjin.

Not only the economy, Incheon and Seoul also became holy places for new Chinese scholars to study.

However, looking at this bustling scene, Yuan Xiangcheng could not be happy, simply because something happened in the south again!

In just half a year, the French attacked the southeastern coast again. William I, who was committed to expanding Germany's colonial cause, also brazenly sent troops to China after seeing the French successively acquire colonies in China.

In the second half of 1887, the situation in China was changing rapidly.