Chapter 34 1. British missionaries gave the first science and technology enlightenment class to the governor of Shanxi

This morning, Yi Peikun, the new vassal who had just taken office, came to Fufu with a message from the Ministry of Industry.The speech said that Shanxi should raise 105,000 jin of high-quality iron within two months to ship it to Shanghai and hand it over to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau according to the usual practice. Calculated, the shared silver is 4,200 taels, which is deducted from the current year's small silver. Yi Peikun said to Zhang Zhidong with a mournful face: "Sili has received this message from the Ministry of Industry, and it has been very difficult for the past few days. This assignment is too difficult."

"What are the difficulties?" Zhang Zhidong asked. Yi Peikun said: "There are two difficulties. One is that one hundred and five thousand catties of good iron cannot be raised. According to the people in the yamen, there has been almost no iron smelting in Shanxi in the past few years. At most, there are only more than 50,000 catties. It is impossible to raise 105,000 catties of good iron within two months. The second is that the price of iron plus feet costs four cents per catty. This is the old imperial calendar a hundred years ago. Now that you don’t even have enough money for your feet, what should you do?”

Although Yi Peikun complained, it was justified.Zhang Zhidong frowned.It has been more than two years since he came to Shanxi as a governor, and he has never been an officer, so he asked, "How did you do this before?" Yi Peikun replied: "The iron dispatch in Shanxi has not been done in the past two years. The last time it was done in the sixth year of Guangxu. People in the yamen said that when Bao Geng did this, he used three methods: concealment, bribery, and pressure. Passed." "What is concealment, bribery, and suppression, please explain in detail." Zhang Zhidong frowned again, interrupting Yi Peikun's words.

Yi Peikun said: "Hiding the truth means hiding it from the imperial court. Everything is going on as usual, without any haste. When the two-month deadline expires, a report is given to the imperial court, saying that all 105,000 catties of good iron in Shanxi are ready. From now on, it will be shipped to Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai to let the court know that the Shanxi Domain Office is working diligently. Bribing means bribing Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, giving a large silver ticket to the staff in the bureau, and asking them to pass through Jiangsu at that time. The governor reported to the imperial court that the 105,000 catties of good iron from Shanxi had been received in full. In fact, only half of the iron was good iron, and the other half was flat iron that did not meet the requirements and unusable waste. Iron. The clerks of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau only want to gain their own profits, and use all the flat iron and scrap iron as good iron. Press, that is, Yafu County. Shanxi's iron production is mainly in Lu'anfu, Liaozhou, and Pingding In the prefecture area, these prefectures and counties were pressured with catties of iron and silver money to transport them to Shanghai as scheduled, and the treasury did not give them an extra penny of silver to replenish them, and let them apportion and exploit them, turning a deaf ear to them.”

"It's unreasonable!" Zhang Zhidong slapped the desk hard, which made Yi Peikun's heart skip a beat. "It's unforgivable to hide it from the top and suppress it. This bribery of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau is even more sinful! Yi Fangbo, do you know what the Jiangnan Bureau is doing with these irons? It's for making guns and bullets! No wonder the Chinese and foreigners Wars are always lost, how can guns and bullets made of such iron beat foreigners? What a bastard!" "Bao Geng's approach is certainly wrong, but the Ministry of Industry's request is really impossible. The Secretary is unwilling to do what Bao Geng did, so he came to ask for your advice." Yi Peikun raised his face, A pitiful face in a dilemma.

Yes, concealment, bribery, and pressure are not enough, and it is not enough to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Industry. How can this be done?Zhang Zhidong also lost his mind.He thought for a long time, but he couldn't come up with a good solution, so he stood up and said to Yi Peikun, "You go back to the mansion first, and we can discuss it in a few days." Yi Peikun had no choice but to leave Fufu.Zhang Zhidong was troubled by this matter for several days, and he still had no good plan.He asked Sang Zhiping to help him out.Sang Zhiping couldn't think of a good idea for a while.He said to Zhang Zhidong: "Some things seem difficult, but that's because they haven't gotten into it yet; if they really get into it, there are always ways to think about it."

Zhang Zhidong said with a smile: "I'll leave this to you, just get in! How do you drill?" Sang Zhiping thought for a while and said: "Give me ten days and a half a month, and I will go to the place where the iron is tapped." "Okay, go down and check!" Zhang Zhidong said, "Come back in half a month, I'll wait to hear from you." More than ten days later, Sang Zhiping returned to Taiyuan in a hurry.He didn't go home, but went straight to Fufu. "How is the field inspection these days?" Zhang Zhidong asked anxiously after making a bowl of good tea for Sang Zhiping himself.

Sang Zhiping took the tea bowl, took a sip and said, "I have been running around several counties in Lu'an Mansion non-stop these days. As far as these counties are concerned, one hundred and five thousand catties of good iron can be raised." "That's good!" Hearing Sang Zhiping's words, Zhang Zhidong heaved a sigh of relief.As long as there is enough good iron, the rest is just a matter of money. Although it is difficult, it is easier to handle after all. "Why did Yi Peikun say that good iron from Shanxi only weighs more than 50,000 catties at most?"

"It's like this." Sang Zhiping drank two more sips of tea.He wiped his mouth and said, "There is good iron, but the government refuses to pay a good price when it is purchased, so the boss of the iron smelter refuses to take out good iron, saying that there are not so many good iron, and if you want to buy it, you can buy flat iron." , A lot of this flat iron is actually scrap iron. As for the good iron, they smuggled it to Zhili for sale.” "Oh, yes. The reason for this is actually very simple after you said it. The price offered by the Ministry of Industry is low, and when it comes to the county where the iron is produced, the price offered by the county government is also low, and the iron sellers take the low price In this way, when you arrive in Taiyuan, you will only see good iron and less.” Zhang Zhidong described the process of raising iron in Shanxi in concise and clear language.He said with emotion, "Baogeng lived in Taiyuan to enjoy the blessings and refused to go down, and Yi Peikun was unwilling to endure hardships to check on the spot. Once you go, you will understand the matter. The sages warned: To be an official, you must understand the feelings of the people. This The word 'observation' is really important."

"Exactly." Sang Zhiping deeply agreed with the governor's sentiments, "Inspection means to check in person, not just listen to the report and read the official documents. After all, there is a layer of separation, and many truths will be deceived." "Brother Zhongzi, have you inquired about the price of good iron? According to the price offered by the iron boss, how much would it cost to buy one hundred and five thousand catties of good iron?" Zhang Zhidong said, holding a bowl of tea himself, sipping Take a sip. "I asked, a catty of good iron costs about eight or nine cents of silver. If calculated on an average basis of eighty-five cents, one hundred and five thousand catties of good iron cost eight thousand nine hundred taels of silver. There is still a shortfall of nearly five thousand taels of silver."

"Yes!" Zhang Zhidong said slowly, holding the tea bowl in his hand, "I asked the former iron escort officer. When transporting iron from Shanxi to Shanghai in the sixth year of Guangxu, every catty of iron cost five cents of silver. Fifteen thousand taels is spent on bare feet, and the expenses may be even higher now. Including the money to buy iron, the difference is more than 10,000 taels, where does this huge expenditure come from?" "I met a man in Changzhi this time, and he said that if the errand is entrusted to him, one hundred and five thousand catties of iron, he only needs three thousand two hundred taels of silver, and all of them can be shipped to Shanghai on schedule." Seeing the excited look on Sang Zhiping's face, Zhang Zhidong also became excited: "Who is this person? He can have such a great ability, and he only needs three cents for every catty of iron!" "This man is a foreigner." Hearing that he was a foreigner, the joy on Zhang Zhidong's face disappeared immediately.He said coldly: "Foreigners are liars, don't believe them." The joy on Sang Zhiping's face remained the same: "I talked to this person all night, and I don't think he is a liar. He is more honest than many of us Chinese." "You talked to him all night?" Zhang Zhidong opened his eyes wide.Although he has been paying attention to foreign affairs for many years, has read several books written by foreigners translated by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau Translation Library, and has written many books on barbarian affairs, but like his friends from the Qingliu Party in the capital, I have never seen a foreigner up close, let alone talked to them.Of course, the most important thing is that he doesn't understand foreign language; on the other hand, he doesn't bother to talk to those yellow-haired, blue-eyed barbarians: they are all sinister, uneducated, officials of a dignified and righteous state , How can I talk to them! "Yes." Sang Zhiping laughed and said, "We talk in Chinese. Brother Xiangtao, you may not have thought that his Chinese is more pleasing to the ear than mine. I often have Henan native accents in my words." , and what he said was almost a standard Beijing accent." "There are such foreigners?" Zhang Zhidong knew that Sang Zhiping was an honest gentleman and would not tell lies, but he still had to doubt it, because it was too incredible. Sang Zhiping could fully understand Zhang Zhidong's surprise, so he said in detail: "After I arrived in Changzhi, the county magistrate Hao told me that there was a very capable foreigner living in the posthouse, and asked me if I wanted to see him. I said foreigner I would like to meet, but we can’t talk to each other. It’s useless to see each other. County magistrate Hao said with a smile, this foreigner can speak fluent Chinese. Ling accompanied me to the post house. As soon as the foreigner saw me, he spoke to me in a very skillful Beijing accent. As soon as I was happy, I chatted with him all night." "What did you say?" Zhang Zhidong was also interested.He is a very curious person, and he has a strong desire to find out what he doesn't know. "This foreigner told me that his name is Timothy Li, he is British, he came to China when he was twenty-five in the eighth year of Tongzhi, and he has lived in China for fifteen or sixteen years." "Oh, it's been so long, no wonder he can speak Chinese. What does he do?" "He's a missionary." Hearing that he was a missionary, Zhang Zhidong immediately felt disgusted.He hated foreigners, especially missionaries among foreigners.He had seen the missionary from afar: wearing a black toga with a cross on his chest.No matter how he looks at this kind of dress, he is not pleasing to the eye.But what made him most unacceptable was the set of theories and canons of the missionaries.Zhang Zhidong regards God, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, all men as brothers and all women as sisters, and the ascension of souls to heaven after death, as well as baptism, worship, praying and singing hymns, etc. ridiculous.In particular, what he hates most is the rampant and domineering behavior of those foreign priests in China.They built churches everywhere in China, preached forcibly, and accepted Chinese people as believers.They despise the government, ignore the laws and regulations of China, and stir up troubles.Many things are obviously unreasonable for them, and they filed lawsuits, but the Chinese lost the lawsuit.For decades, there have been endless teaching cases, all of which were settled by the Chinese admitting their mistakes and paying compensation, and arresting and killing their own people.In the past two years in Shanxi, he has also encountered several headache lesson plans, which have not yet been resolved. Zhang Zhidong frowned and said, "Since this man is a missionary, you shouldn't associate with him. Even if he can save thousands of taels of travel expenses, we don't want to look for him. Those missionaries are very sinister. I don't know." What evil intentions are they hiding behind their backs?" Sang Zhiping laughed loudly: "Why have you become so timid and afraid of getting into trouble! You are a dignified governor, and he is a little missionary. Are you afraid that he will eat you up?" Zhang Zhidong smiled sheepishly, and said, "It's not that I'm afraid of him. They're not good people, so there's no need to deal with them." "I know, you are from Qingliu and hate foreigners. Regarding foreigners, I have a somewhat different view from the gentlemen of Qingliu in the capital." Sang Zhiping put away his smile and said seriously, "We should hate foreigners who bully us, but I can't help but hate them." In addition, there is also a kind of admiration. Look at their iron boats that are so big, go so fast, and walk on the ground in the sea and ocean. , The machines are so ingeniously made. They made telegrams, and a letter, which can be reached thousands of miles away in an instant. How much ability does it take to do this? I have to admire it!" Speaking of clocks, three years ago The past of the watch dropping at Longshu Temple resurfaced in Zhang Zhidong's mind.Although he thought that approach was too much at the time, he understood the feelings of the participants.Whether clocks and incense sticks are better or worse is a matter for the wise to know; similarly, it is not for the wise to know which is better between iron ships and wooden ships, foreign cannons and earthen cannons, telegraphs and horse delivery. thing.What Sang Zhiping said made sense, and Zhang Zhidong had to agree.He listened quietly, without making a sound. "Speaking of foreign religions, there are also many things that make people angry. To be honest, I will never accept their teachings, but I have also seen the other side." Sang Zhiping continued unhurriedly Go on, "For example, the purpose of foreign religions is to persuade people to do good and oppose evil. This is consistent with our Confucianism's pursuit of benevolence and success, and it is the same as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of ordinary people. The missionaries of foreign religions set up in China It is true that many orphanages take in orphans living on the streets, distribute pills in large quantities, and treat diseases for free. What I especially admire is that the missionaries are firmly opposed to opium smoking. Things are also at odds.” "Are you serious?" Zhang Zhidong didn't know that the missionaries objected to opium smoking. "It's true, I've heard of it before. This time I saw their canon from Timothy Richard, which clearly stipulates that believers must not smoke opium, and they have the responsibility to persuade others not to smoke opium." Hearing that the missionaries themselves did not smoke opium, and advised others not to, the governor of Shanxi, who was vigorously banning opium, suddenly developed a good impression of the missionaries. "There are indeed many evildoers among the foreign priests, but I have also heard that many of them are philanthropists. Timothy Li is a philanthropist. The county magistrate Hao told me that Timothy Li came to Shanxi in the third year of Guangxu At that time, Shanxi was suffering from a drought, and Timothy Li donated 10,000 taels of silver in the name of the church in Lu'an Prefecture. He also met with Zeng Jiushuai and proposed to use work as relief. Zeng Jiu Shuai rewarded him and planned to report to the imperial court to reward him with a fourth-rank title, but he declined. The people in Lu'an Mansion all said that he is a foreigner." Zhang Zhidong listened silently.This Timothy Richard, who had never met and belonged to a member of the hateful foreign priests, won a good impression in his heart. "Timothy Lee came to Taiyuan with me, and I sent him to live in the post house. He wants to meet you, would you like to meet him?" "Wait!" Zhang Zhidong hesitated in his heart.Although Timothy Lee opposed opium smoking and donated money to relieve the drought in Shanxi. him?Back then, the mainstay of the Qingliu Party, based on years of old grievances, was still unwilling to condescend to deal with the barbarians. Sang Zhiping was well aware of Zhang Zhidong's doubts, so he took out a booklet from the cloth bag he carried with him, handed it to Zhang Zhidong, and said, "This is a little book written by Timothy Richard. Yes, I advise you to read his book. I will go home first." After speaking, he left Fufu. This little book by Timothy Lee is titled "Fu Jin New Regulations".Zhang Zhidong was very interested in "Fu Jin".As a governor of Shanxi, after completing several important tasks such as banning smoking, clearing the warehouse, and rectifying the administration of officials, the most urgent task is to try to make the people of Shanxi rich.This point has always been clear in Zhang Zhidong's mind.When he was a speech official, he clearly realized that the ultimate goal of all measures is only for the strength of the country and the prosperity of the people. If these two goals are not achieved, his measures will not be implemented.Shanxi is poor, how to make the people rich is more important and practical.Zhang Zhidong should take a serious look at how a foreign missionary borrowed chopsticks to raise money. He opened the "Fujin New Regulations", and the first sentence caught his attention: "There are four major ends in government, one day teaches the people, two days nourishes the people, three days comforts the people, four days renews the people, and teaches them with the five constant virtues. , implemented in all nations.” "The Virtue of the Five Constants" is the virtuous virtues of China's sages, and it is the criterion that Zhang Zhidong has kept and practiced all his life. This foreign priest did not use the teachings of his God Jesus, but to educate the Chinese people with Chinese morals and ethics. This man It really doesn't look bad. "He who raises the people is beneficial to all nations. Sri Lanka is big, and the people are easy to support. Those who calm the people stop the war and make the people live in peace and happiness. Those who renew the people seek innovation through flexibility. Poorness leads to change, and change leads to success." , flexibility is the only rule for seeking newness.” "Poverty leads to change, and change leads to success." When Zhang Zhidong read this sentence in "The Book of Changes", he felt very kind.I thought to myself: This foreign priest has indeed read Chinese books and understands Chinese culture. It seems that it is not easy. Further reading, Timothy Li specifically proposed four new regulations for the rich Jin: develop mining, develop industries, promote trade, and run schools.These four new regulations also made some sense, and the governor of Shanxi felt that he had also gained some inspiration from them.He quickly finished browsing the 30,000-word pamphlet, and immediately sent someone to tell Sang Zhiping that he would summon Timothy Li at the Fu Office tomorrow morning. The next morning, Sang Zhiping brought Timothy Li in.When Timothy Lee raised his head after saying "meet the governor", Zhang Zhidong stared at the foreigner for a long time with his big and long eyes.It was the first time in his life that he saw a foreigner so closely, and this first foreigner surprised him. Not only did this foreign priest not wear a black robe and a silver cross, he didn't even wear the usual western clothes. Instead, he wore a set of clothes for ordinary Chinese gentlemen: a red homemade robe, a satin mandarin jacket with golden flowers on a black background, and a The black woolen hat, especially to Zhang Zhidong's surprise, was that there was a long braid dangling under the hat. This attire immediately gave Zhang Zhidong a comfortable feeling.The fluent Chinese Beijing accent and the typical gown and coat braids greatly dispelled Zhang Zhidong's deep-rooted xenophobic sentiments.Of course, Timothy Richard is a foreigner after all. His sunken blue eyes, high protruding nose bridge, and the pair of gold-rimmed tortoiseshell glasses covering his blue eyes all indicate that he is from a foreign country. Zhang Zhidong forced a smile on his face, treated him as a guest from afar, and flattered him first: "Mr.'s Chinese is really good." Timothy Lee said: "I have been in your country from the UK for nearly sixteen years. In the first few years when I came here, I specially invited a friend who grew up in Beijing to teach me to speak Chinese. Now I can not only speak Beijing Can speak Shandong dialect, Shanxi dialect, and a few words of Shanghai dialect.” Sang Zhiping interjected: "Mr. Li is in the area of ​​Lu'an Mansion, and he speaks Shanxi dialect with the local people, even the nasal sound is very similar." This sentence caused Zhang Zhidong to smile from the heart, and said: "I have been the governor of Shanxi for more than two years, and I still can't speak Shanxi dialect. Mr. is a language genius." Timothy Lee said: "I have heard for a long time that Master Futai's moral articles are all over the world, and I admire him very much." After finishing speaking, he pressed his right hand on his chest, bent slightly, and made a very respectful gesture. "It's just a name for nothing." Zhang Zhidong smiled faintly and waved his hands, "Please sit down!" After Timothy Li and Sang Zhiping sat down, Zhang Zhidong asked, "I heard that the master can help transport the railway from Shanxi to Shanghai, and the transportation cost is cheap. I wonder if there is any good way?" Timothy Lee replied: "Most of the railways in Shanxi are transported to the provinces by land. The land cost is very high. If there are rivers to transport to the south, they are also transported by boat. Compared with the entire land route, the cost is less. I would like to ask the shipping company of our country to help me to go all the way by sea, board the ship at Tianjin Tanggu Port, and go directly to Shanghai, which can save one-third of the travel expenses." Shipping!Zhang Zhidong's eyes lit up: This is a good idea!He knew that more than ten years ago, the grain in the south was transported to Beijing by foreign ships by sea. Since grain and rice can be transported, of course iron can also be transported. "Are you familiar with the steamship company?" "My country's Jardine Shipping Company has been operating the shipping industry on the Yangtze River in your country for more than 20 years, and has always had a good reputation." Timothy Li said with a bit of pride, "The general manager of the company is me. We grew up together and have a deep friendship. Shanxi produces iron and coal, and we have to ship them out of the province to sell them in order to get big profits. I can make an agreement with my fellow villagers that in the future, Shanxi’s coal and iron will go to the coastal areas The transportation is all covered by the Jardine company, and the two parties sign a contract: Jardine company will treat Shanxi Province with a 20% discount, and Shanxi will not give this business to others. First sign for two years and try it. If it works, continue to sign, If not, it will be abolished automatically when it expires. In this way, it will be beneficial to both Shanxi and Jardine." Zhang Zhidong thinks it is very good: he has already saved a lot of travel expenses by switching to sea transportation, and with another 20% discount, he can save another part. The coal and iron in Shanxi must be transported by someone, so why not use the Jardine company! "Your suggestion is very good. Let's try this iron transportation first! If everything goes well, I will sign a two-year contract with Jardine." "Master Futai is a straightforward person!" Timothy Lee said with a smile on his face, "I'll tell Jardine Mathematics, this time I will give you a 20% discount!" Timothy Lee was very happy.He won a big business for Jardine Company. Shanxi's coal and iron are very good, and he will lobby other places to buy them later.In this way, the business between Jardine Company and Shanxi can be continued continuously and huge profits can be obtained.Naturally, he can also get a very considerable commission from it.This is really a good thing. Zhang Zhidong said: "I read Mr. New Regulations of the Jin Dynasty. Mr. put a lot of thought into making Shanxi rich. As the governor of Shanxi Province, I am very grateful for this. Mr.'s book puts forward many good ideas We still need to discuss these things calmly. I will not talk about this today. Sir is British, and Britain is known as the number one power in the world. I would like to ask you to talk about what your country mainly depends on to become rich and strong." Timothy Lee replied: "There are many reasons why our country has embarked on the road of prosperity and strength. If you are interested, I will report to you in detail in the future. Let me first tell you the most important reason, that is Our country is more advanced in science and technology than yours." "What is science and technology?" Zhang Zhidong, who had already recited Shuowen Jiezi fluently in his childhood, thought he understood all Chinese characters, but was at a loss for the word "science and technology". Seeing Timothy's hand touching the side of the melon cap on his head, Sang Zhiping knew that the foreign priest was stumped by this question.Indeed, this word that all British primary school students understand should be interpreted in Chinese now. Timothy Lee really didn't know how to organize the vocabulary for a while.Sang Zhiping, who began to pay attention to Western culture a few years ago, had to answer for him. "This is a new word that has only appeared in recent years." Sang Zhiping said after thinking for a while, "The word 'science' refers to every subject and every branch of knowledge. For example, we have Confucian classics in China, which is a special study The study of the Five Classics. In the Confucian classics, there is also Yi Xue, which is the study of "Yi". Those who specialize in the study of wind and rain are called meteorology. These are collectively called science. As for technology, it is the skill of practical operation. For example, the skill of building a house is called construction technology. It is said that they are very skilled in making tiny machines. Mr. Li, I don’t know if I explain it this way, right?” "That's right, that's right!" Timothy Lee said happily, "That's what it means. The people of your country are very smart, but their ingenuity is used in the study of people. For example, what a scholar should do to be recognized by others To be a gentleman. What should an official do to gain the trust of his superiors, so that he can be promoted quickly and have good official luck. He also likes to spend his energy on memorizing the past events. I talked with many Chinese officials and found that they are very fond of your country. What happened hundreds of years and thousands of years ago is clearly explained, but what is happening right now is unclear, let alone a good way to deal with it.” It can be said that bystanders are clear!Zhang Zhidong had no choice but to agree with the foreign priest's few words.Isn't that what Chinese officialdom is like?Many people plan all day long, how to win the favor of their superiors, so as to get promoted as soon as possible.Speaking of skills, it is the ability to recite the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" and retell the anecdotes of previous dynasties. As for the ability to apply the world, he has no ability at all. Timothy Lee continued: "We British prefer to study everything in the world and discover many useful things for us humans. The reason why our UK is rich and powerful is due to this understanding of everything in the world. Research, that is to say, is due to science. It also benefits from the transformation of research results into human use, that is, technology. This is what I just said about the prosperity of the UK, thanks to science and technology." Zhang Zhidong seemed to have realized something, and fell silent.At this time, the patrol sent in a large package.Sang Zhiping knew that Zhang Zhidong had urgent business to do, so he got up and said to Timothy Li: "Zhang Futai has business to do, let's talk about it today!" Timothy Li hurriedly got up and said goodbye. Zhang Zhidong said, "Come back tomorrow afternoon, we'll continue talking."