Chapter 27 Calculated

Even so, it will take half a year for the official documents to go back and forth.At that time, the situation had changed again, and Li Hongzhang's return to office was a foregone conclusion. After Zhang Shusheng and his son accidentally offended Zhang Peilun, Li Hongzhang realized that Zhang Shusheng had the tendency to "not return for a long time" to Beiyang, so he took advantage of the opportunity to try his best to win over Zhang Peilun. Follow Li Hongzao's path, and come up with a result that Zhang Shusheng and Zhang Shusheng will return to their respective duties.However, Li Hongzhang's mother's death was less than a year ago, and the civil strife in North Korea had been settled, so there was no need to use force. The ministers of various countries made excuses to keep Li Hongzhang and wait for the right time before issuing the edict of appointment.

When Li Hongzhang came to Beijing from his hometown in Hefei, he lived in Shanghai for several days, and was deeply impressed by Zuo Zongtang's plan to expel Li Hongzhang's forces from Liangjiang.At the same time, views on foreign affairs and military affairs are very different. For example, in the dispute between China and France in Vietnam, Li Hongzhang believed that "the other's desires are hard to satisfy, and my salary is hard to pay." Liu Yongfu, the "Black Flag Army" who rejected the law, not only sent arms to the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Cen Yuying, to help Liu, but also formally wrote to the Prime Minister's Office, thinking that "it is not difficult to decide the main battle and the main peace." The current situation, " Not only do most of the Thai and Western countries think that the law is not the case, but it is expected that if they do not cooperate with China, the matter will never end, and regrets cannot be pursued.” Even France is not worried. If it really wants to go to war with China, the danger is very great, but it will be like riding a tiger. It is impossible not to bluff, and if China falters, it should be done in moderation.He said that he "observes the current situation silently, but the main battle is consistent with justice, and the situation is appropriate, even if the relationship between China and foreign countries is not unfavorable."

Just because he has always held such arguments, the imperial court specially sent Li Hongzhang to Guangdong to supervise the handling of Vietnam affairs.But if Zuo Zongtang kept advocating military intervention, he might eventually have to go to Guangdong to command the war against France, and his reputation would be ruined. Of course, the General Administration is also very prudent and will not believe Zuo Zongtang's "justice" theory. It is just Li Hongzhang's negotiation with Bao Hai, which makes it more difficult. This is true for France, but also for Britain, which often makes Li Hongzhang troubled.The British businessmen hoped to connect a dry line from Wusong to Shanghai, but Zuo Zongtang insisted on not allowing it;The most embarrassing thing for Li Hongzhang was that Zuo Zongtang proposed the addition of foreign medicine and local tobacco.

"Foreign medicine and local tobacco" all refer to opium, and "additional tax" means adding "toll tax".Zuo Zongtang believed that opium was infinitely poisonous, and advocated confinement in conquest. After receiving the approval, he negotiated with Li Hongzhang and British Minister Wade. Wade proposed to increase the tax on the import of foreign medicines, and the sales tax in the mainland would not increase. Zuo Zongtang also agreed, but the import tax for each box was 150 taels in China, and the UK was only willing to pay 80 taels. two.The difference is too huge, and there has been no discussion.

Afterwards, Zuo Zongtang was released, and Li Hongzhang took over the negotiations, while Wade was transferred back to China. He hoped that this negotiation would be successful as per the conditions of the United Kingdom, which would increase his face after returning to China. Li Hongzhang wanted to help, but Zuo Zongtang's Unwilling to compromise, expressing opposition in Jiang Du's position, this has led to a stalemate. But the biggest conflict in career was that Li Hongzhang was originally in charge of "Haifang", and Zhang Peilun had a proposal to set up a special "Navy Office" to create a new type of navy, which was greatly appreciated by Li Hongzhang.However, once Zuo Zongtang visited Liangjiang and visited Haikou and the Yangtze River, he changed his original idea of ​​"land defense" and specially invited Peng Yulin, who was born in the navy, to discuss building a new type of warship, and he has already started to do it. .Zuo Zongtang pioneered Fujian Shipping Administration, and he cannot be said to be an outsider in this regard. Therefore, it is foreseeable that Zuo Zongtang will never allow Beiyang to take power alone when a new type of navy is established in the future. As long as his theory is overthrown in the dispute between "Coastal Defense" and "Land Defense", there is nothing to worry about. Now that Zuo Zongtang also advocates coastal defense, it will become a competition between each other to do one thing. Power cannot be monopolized, and things cannot be done Freedom of heart is the most intolerable thing for Li Hongzhang.

Therefore, regardless of the present or the future, Li Hongzhang believed that Zuo Zongtang was a thorn in his side that must be removed. This has to start with cutting off Zuo Zongtang's wings.The advisers under Li Hongzhang all had such a view, and believed that the first target should be Hu Xueyan. So Shanghai Taoist Shao Youlian, together with Sheng Xuanhuai and others, secretly agreed on a way to attack Hu Xueyan, which caused Hu Xueyan's embarrassment in the matter of repaying foreign debts. At that time, Hu Xueyan handled two unsettled loans. One was a business loan in August of the fourth year of Guangxu. The total amount was 6.5 million taels. There is something special in it.It turned out that in the third year of Guangxu, Hu Xueyan handled it and borrowed five million taels from HSBC Bank.

Each period is six months, and the four customs of Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jianghai and Jianghan still issue invoices and repay on schedule.In addition, there is an additional condition, that is, after agreeing on this condition, if the borrower gives up and fails to close the ticket within three months, Hu Xueyan will be fined 150,000 taels of silver. If HSBC fails to pay the bank within three months, the fine will be the same. Due to the intervention of Shen Baozhen, governor of Liangjiang, this loan was delayed for a long time due to twists and turns. Bai Yanhu fled to the west in a hurry, and Liu Jintang also advanced to Toksun at the western end of the Turpan Basin. More than 20,000 people surrendered.But the head of the Hui tribe, through Heshuo and Yanqi, went out of the iron gate and closed in Korla, and established a line with the Russian army. However, the Western Expeditionary Army was unable to go west due to food and payment difficulties. Zuo Zongtang was extremely anxious.After finally negotiating this foreign debt in May, at least the hope of plum blossoms to quench thirst, the morale of the army was first lifted, and at the same time, it was easier to be caught off guard by borrowing money from merchants in the three grain platforms in Shanghai, Hubei, and Shaanxi.

Unexpectedly, when going through the formalities, there were twists and turns. It turned out that the British HSBC Bank loan, as usual, had to go to the Prime Minister's Office to send a note to the British Minister, stating the loan conditions, etc., and the British Minister then transferred to the General Taxation Department and the Consul in Shanghai. , transfer to HSBC to do so. In this way, if the loan is released and cannot be recovered, the UK can negotiate with China. This notice is actually a letter of guarantee issued by the Chinese government, so HSBC Bank drafted the draft and handed it over to Hu Xueyan, and then consulted Zuo Zongtang. Please ask the prime minister's office to handle it, and HSBC's manuscript states that "the interest rate should not exceed one cent", but in Zuo Zongtang's memorial, why does it say that the monthly interest rate is one cent and two cents five cents?For this reason, Chief Taxation Secretary Hurd, who is in a key position, stated that this loan cannot be established.

Of course it needs to be checked.According to Hu Xueyan's reply, Zuo Zongtang said that HSBC's interest rate is only one cent, which is not bad, but the payment method is calculated in shillings and converted into silver dollars. This kind of silver dollars has always been common in southeastern provinces and is called " Rotten silver" is not available in the northwest, so it is still necessary to borrow cash in units of two. But the market price of the shilling, according to the listing in London, will be different sooner or later. If the exchange rate rises at that time, Hu Xueyan will suffer a loss, so he contacted the German business Tailai Matheson Co., Ltd. to "recognize the shilling". This will take a considerable risk. Tailai Matheson The interest rate of 2.5% is not much.

Zuo Zongtang said that the case was "consistent from beginning to end", but that it was "unexplained and analyzed" the previous time, and he also strongly stated that Hu Xueyan "borrowed foreign money for no other reason." Obviously, this is Zuo Zongtang's case. Tang insisted on it, and the imperial court had to buy his old face, but Zuo Zongtang felt that it was very unpleasant. From then on, Hu Xueyan's credit was discounted, but he couldn't do without Hu Xueyan. Of course, Hu Xueyan also wanted to try his best to cover up his past mistakes, so he had a way to borrow money from business. This year—at the end of the third year of Guangxu, Zuo Zongtang wrote to Hu Xueyan in a reply letter: "This year's salary is very tight. Urging the co-payment and raising the funds of the Ministry, the overall situation is out of question. The foreign funds are all over the place, and it is not for your painstaking efforts to maintain it. There is no way to talk about it. Now that the salary is full at the end of the year, we still have to wait for the first batch of foreign funds to arrive quickly before they can be used for expenses. In addition to repaying the debts owed by Hubei, it is still necessary to evenly allocate the Shaanxi relief and Gansu refugees. The remaining foreign funds, in addition to repaying the loan from the Shanghai Bureau, will be calculated until the turn of summer and autumn next year. After that, I don’t know what to do. I think Soldiers are comforting, but salaries are very worrying. We have to pre-plan the place a year in advance. According to a solid and convincing theory, what my brother wants to offer to merchants, you have already planned it on your behalf. It is self-evident that a single word of Taoism is of the same heart for thousands of miles.”

It turned out that Hu Xueyan had already done the calculations for Zuo Zongtang. At the end of the year, the salary should be paid, the drought in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces should be relieved, and the loans in Hubei and Shanghai should be repaid.Borrowing for payment must start a year earlier. But foreign money can no longer be borrowed.Borrowing foreign money is the responsibility of the state. Although the provinces are responsible for the payment, there have been years of famines, and the situation in the provinces is not good. They owe the payment for the Western Expedition and cannot return the arrears. The government still needs to find ways to do so.Moreover, Zuo Zongtang was angry with Hart for borrowing foreign money, and he himself was not very willing to borrow foreign money, especially money from British businessmen. Hu Xueyan thought of what Zuo Zongtang said, "The cost of interest is too heavy. If it's a business loan, it's worth it. Foreigners have made us a lot of money, and they have to be picky. I'm really unwilling." At the same time, he said repeatedly, "Why bother? The customs and the provinces issue tickets? It seems that the provinces are repaying the debts for Shaanxi and Gansu. In fact, the repayment is the co-payment due to Shaanxi and Gansu. I preside over the Western Expedition, and I have full power to raise the salaries. This is the so-called scheduling. If businessmen believe in Shaanxi and Gansu and trust me, they can issue tickets from Shaanxi and Gansu, so why bother with the General Administration of Labor?" Therefore, he devised a method of borrowing money from merchants, negotiated back and forth, and finally agreed that Hu Xueyan would invite 1.75 million taels of business shares, and HSBC would "subscribe" 1.75 million taels of shares, for a total of 300. 500,000, organize a Qiantai company to be responsible for lending.According to Zuo Zongtang's calculations, within seven years, Shaanxi-Gansu can get more than 18.8 million cooperative salaries.In addition to the repayment of foreign money, there are at least tens of millions of money, so the loan of several million commercial money will definitely be repaid, but the date of receipt of the cooperative payment is different, and the amount is uncertain, so a "mechanical method" is proposed. Requirements, first, no customs clearance; second, no fixed number of years, you can pay back early or late; third, pay as soon as you have money, and temporarily owe if you have no money, the interest will still be calculated, not necessarily every few months . This was his wishful thinking. Hu Xueyan could only do it for him without closing the ticket. In addition, the term was limited to six years, and the period was still half a year, with the interest being 1/2.Of course, the borrowing of business money must also be approved. Zuo Zongtang made the performance on August 16th in the fourth year of Guangxu, and sent it to the court one month later: "Borrowing business money, the interest is heavy, and the provincial customs will not only repay the principal and interest every year. It is impossible to raise the various salaries of the Beijing Association. This is a last resort. This time Gu Nian Zuo Zongtang is preparing for various affairs, and the matter is about to be completed, and it will be handled as discussed. No matter what urgent needs thereafter, you should not borrow money at will If you pay, you will be tired later." The so-called "Beijing salary" refers to all kinds of expenses in Beijing, including the salaries of civil and military officials, the salary of Eight Banners soldiers, and the "Payment into the Bank" that is sent to the palace three times a year for the personal expenses of the two palace empress dowagers and the emperor. "Inside, it is the most important budget.Due to Zuo Zongtang's frequent borrowings, he was "unable to raise money" even in Beijing. This is a very serious statement. For this reason, it was not until Zuo Zongtang was summoned to Beijing last year to plan the Western Expedition for Liu Jintang to deal with the aftermath that he had no choice but to borrow four million taels from HSBC Bank's IPO loan in an almost arbitrary situation. The risk of these two sums of money lies with Hu Xueyan alone.The business loan of 3.5 million yuan has been repaid in installments since the fifth year of Guangxu, and almost half of it has been repaid, and the principal and interest of each installment are about 100,000 silver. Shao Youlian also knows that Hu Xueyan can't be troubled. On the sum borrowed for seven years. The money was actually received in April of the seventh year of Guangxu, with an annual interest of 9.95 cents. In the first two years, only the interest was paid, and the principal was not repaid. From the third year onwards, one million taels of the principal was withdrawn every year, and the payment was made in two installments. Guangxu The first installment will be paid in April and the second installment in October, with each installment being 500,000 taels. In the past, although Hu Xueyan handled the foreign debts, he did not have to worry about how to repay them, because the governors of the provinces added the "customs tickets" and after they were collected at the Jiangguan Customs, the Taxation Department had to sign and bear joint and several liability. If the "customs ticket" cannot be cashed, the tax department can withhold the tax and pay it on its behalf.But this last four million taels, in order to relieve Liu Jintang's worries when borrowing, Zuo Zongtang almost acted arbitrarily. The silver "is handed over by the Shanghai Mining and Transportation Bureau as scheduled. If there is no silver in Shanghai, it should be allowed to redeem it from the household department as scheduled." The promise of seeking success and not hesitating to accommodate, lest the Prime Minister's Office and Li Hongzhang instigate Hurd to obstruct it, invisibly put all the risks on Hu Xueyan's shoulders, because if the provinces don't understand, HSBC will definitely find Hu Xueyan. There is no need to go through too much trouble, please ask the British Minister to deal with the Ministry of Household Affairs. With Hu Xueyan's financial resources, credit and responsibility, the principal bank of 500,000 taels of silver per installment will definitely be picked. Having said that, five hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small sum.Shao Youlian and Sheng Xuanhuai secretly agreed to "squeeze him" when the time comes, although it may not be possible to squeeze him, at least it can damage his credibility. At that time - in the spring of the ninth year of Guangxu, the relationship between China and France deteriorated again.Originally, in November of the previous year, Li Hongzhang negotiated with the French minister in Shanghai and reached a three-point agreement to peacefully resolve the dispute in Vietnam.However, the French Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Colonial Affairs expressed to their foreign ministries that they were dissatisfied with the agreement between Bao Hai and Li Hongzhang, and the navy had increased the coastal defense of northern Vietnam.And it just happened that there was a political turmoil in France. The foreign minister of the new cabinet, Samelaku, supported the military's proposition, overturned the previous discussion, and removed Baohai from his post, and sent another special envoy, Deligu, to China for negotiations. The wonderful thing is that French Minister Bao Hai came to Tianjin from Shanghai to see Li Hongzhang. He persuaded Li Hongzhang to stick to the previous agreement and blame the French government for breaking the contract. , so still according to the original plan, please allow a false return home to bury relatives.Li still refused to return to his post, but in order to start the construction of the Lushun Military Port, the Beiyang Minister's errand was next. Since he asked for leave, the Beiyang Minister was naturally appointed by Zhang Shusheng temporarily. But in February, when Li Hongzhang was originally from Hefei, the French army used force again in Vietnam. It not only captured Nam Dinh, Vietnam, but also directly violated China's rights and interests in Vietnam. The two warehouses in Haiphong and Shun An were occupied by the French army, and the food and other items stored in them were of course confiscated.In addition, the Vietnamese government, in addition to begging for aid from the Ministry of Etiquette, also specially sent "Ministry of Punishment" Fan Shenyu to China to follow the example of "Shen Baoxu crying for the Qin court". The French Minister Yiyong Hou Zeng Jize, first class, also sent a telegram back, suggesting to send troops to aid Vietnam, and not to make concessions to France. At that time, there were many ministers in frontiers who were leading the battle. Cen Yuying, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, had been preparing for the battle for a long time, but Zeng Guoquan, acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was unwilling to start the war lightly. France protested, and at the same time ordered Li Hongzhang to quickly return to his post as governor of Zhili.Then an order was issued to send Li Hongzhang to Guangdong as the governor of Zhili to supervise Vietnam affairs. All the defense forces in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan were under control.At the same time, Zuo Zongtang was ordered to plan the Jiangnan Defense Army, and was on standby to be transferred to the south to aid Vietnam. At this time, Hu Xueyan happened to be in Jiangning, so he said to Zuo Zongtang: "It seems that there should be an edict for Zhang Zhijun to return to Guangdong and Guangxi. Otherwise, once Li Hefei arrived in Tianjin, wouldn't there be two Zhili General Administrations?" "The wonderful thing is that Zhang Zhenxuan didn't have an order to return to his post." Zuo Zongtang replied, "The General Administration also knows that Li Shaoquan will never go to Guangdong, and I'm afraid he won't return to Tianjin either." "Here, my lord, give me more pointers, and let us open the door." "Li Shaoquan has always been very polite to Zeng Laojiu because of Zeng Wenzheng's points. In the siege of Jiangning, Li Shaoquan had already conquered Changzhou and went to aid Jiangning. He stayed still because he didn't want to divide Zeng Laojiu's work. Think about it, what will Zeng Laojiu do if he comes to Guangdong now?" "Yes, yes." Hu Xueyan thought for a while and said, "Your Excellency said that Li Hefei will not go to Tianjin either, because he is afraid that once he arrives, Zhang Zhijun will have to return to Guangdong, and won't he squeeze Zeng Jiushuai away again?" "exactly." "According to this, Jingli only said to ask Li XX to return to his post, and did not explain to Zhang Zeng and Zhang Zeng. It means that Li Hefei only has a false title and does not need to return to his post for the time being." "Yes, by analogy, you understand." "So, what about Li Hefei?" Zuo Zongtang pondered for a while and asked, "What do you think?" "I think he will still go to Shanghai." Zuo Zongtang nodded, "I think he can only be stationed in Shanghai first." He said, "And he can't forget about Shanghai." Hu Xueyan immediately said: "I wanted to say goodbye to my lord, go back to Hangzhou, and come to Hangzhou later. Shanghai, looking at it now, seems to be the best way to go directly to Shanghai.” It turns out that the provincial customs should release Shaanxi and Gansu, so that the repayment of the principal should be handed over to Jiang Customs, so what is the situation of the provinces, Hu Xueyan has to go to Shanghai I only found out after I checked. "Okay, you should do this first when you arrive in Shanghai, and write a letter as soon as possible. See if you haven't solved it yet, so you can remind me as soon as possible." Hu Xueyan's estimate was correct, and Li Hongzhang really asked to be stationed in Shanghai temporarily to coordinate the overall situation, observe the military situation in the north and the south, and then make progress.It means that if the Jiangnan Defense Forces are not strong enough to move southward, then it is not necessary to use force, and it is better to seek peace.King Gong understood his intentions and asked for the performance as requested, so Li Hongzhang took his turn to Shanghai at the end of March and stayed in Tianhou Palace.