Chapter 12 Section 12

As a rule, the income of the governor of Sichuan is 12,000 taels a year from Kuizhou Customs and 30,000 taels a year from Sichuan Salt Bureau.Ding Baozhen did not take any of it, but only took the 13,000 taels of Yanglian silver approved by the decree, which was reduced and distributed since the Xianfeng period, and the actual income was 11,000 taels every year.Divided into 12 months, the monthly income is less than 1,000, and it will be sent by the vassal at the beginning of the month. This cheap salary of less than one thousand taels has to pay for the salaries and meals of the staff, and share the profits with the relatives who come to help, so that they are often in embarrassment.Every time when the clothes were not available, Ding Baozhen would check a box of old clothes and send them to the pawnshop for two hundred taels of silver. The old clothes were not enough to pawn, so he added a bell with the seal of the governor's office, and it was inconvenient for the court to reveal it. After sealing and opening the box, only relying on Ding Baozhen's identity, you can pay as much as you say.Over time, this suitcase will not be touched. It will be redeemed this month, and it will be sent to the pawnshop untouched next month. When the court sees it, there is no need for the material officer to ask, and even the silver and the pawn ticket are handed over.

After hearing this, Prince Gong laughed, and said after laughing: "There is no saying: 'Master Guan sells tofu, the people are hard but the goods are not hard.' With the governor's seal, it doesn't matter if the goods are not hard! People don't accept the goods!" Prince Gong's wise words made the girl couldn't help but she couldn't help laughing, she quickly covered her mouth and suppressed her smile, her pink face flushed, she put down the hookah, and flashed out of the window, giggling out of the window. Ding Baozhen was very interested, "Since that's the case, where did he get those extra expenses?" He asked for an example: "For example, if you go to Beijing, you will have to pay a lot of money for all kinds of entertainment, at least?"

"This question, the prince asked Hongzhang, and he really asked the right question. If it were someone else, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to answer it. I remember that year was Guiyou..." Guiyou——In the winter of the twelfth year of Tongzhi, Ding Baozhen was still serving as the governor of Shandong, and asked for leave to return to his hometown of Pingyuan, Guizhou to visit the grave.When the boat arrived in Hankou, Li Hongzhang's eldest brother, Li Hanzhang, the governor of Huguang, sent someone to take him to Wuchang, and had a good time with him.After the banquet, Li Hanzhang asked someone to bring out several letters of silver, and said sincerely: "I know that my brother is as clear as water. But this time when I return to my hometown, there will always be some poor relatives and friends who want to help. . If you don’t accept it, you’re looking down on me.”

Speaking of such words, Ding Baozhen had to accept it, and handed it over to his old department. Zhang Yinhuan, an alternate Daoist in Li Hanzhang's shogunate at that time, took care of it on his behalf, and will deal with it in the future. In the autumn of the following year, when he returned to his post after returning from leave, he still passed through Hubei, so he asked Zhang Yinhuan to return the three thousand taels of silver.Zhang Yinhuan thinks that they have not been opened, and it is obvious that they have not been used. In terms of mutual friendship, it is unreasonable.It's better to unpack and reseal, and finally get Li Hanzhang's favor.

"Zhang Qiaoye told me this personally." Li Hongzhang said again: "In the winter of Bingzi, Zhihuang was ordered to supervise Sichuan. When he entered Beijing, he ordered to 'chiyi', but Tianjin; Hongzhang sent people to wait in Baoding in advance. Invite him to Tianjin for a meeting. Knowing that Zhihuang's eunuch is in a state of embarrassment, and the entertainment expenses in Beijing are still unfunded, I specially pooled up 10,000 silver to give it to him. This time, Zhihuang finally rewarded me, compared to my brother. It's better to look good." Speaking of this, he took out a small red envelope from the boot leaf, and offered it with both hands across the kang table: "In the blink of an eye, the Empress Dowager's longevity will be long, and there will be some expenses in the palace. It's the prince's birthday, and we can't leave the Hong Zhang to share the Beiyang cheap salary, so as to prepare for the prince's reward."

Prince Gong hesitated for a moment, and took the envelope.The bag was not sealed, so I took out the bank note and saw that it was 40,000 taels. "Too much, too much! Shaoquan, you deserve it..." "No!" Li Hongzhang clasped his hands together, making a gesture of deep refusal, "There are also dividends from China Merchants, which is what the prince deserves." When China Merchants was established, there were official shares and commercial shares. It was a means of turning the public into private. The official shares did not decrease while the commercial shares increased greatly. Invisibly, the official shares became worthless.The extra commercial shares, Li Hongzhang used to entertain the big bosses in Beijing, called "dry shares", with dividends but no share capital.Prince Gong also has some "dry stocks" in his hands, so there is no need to refuse after hearing what Li Hongzhang said.

"Having said that, I'm still ashamed of it. Thank you!" Prince Gong continued to ask: "Recently, we took back China Merchants' shipyard and wharf. This matter has been done very well, and everyone has an explanation." When mentioning this matter, Li Hongzhang had lingering fears. If American Merchants Qichang Bank turned its face and refused to accept its account, and the shipyard and wharf could not be recovered, the turmoil would be ruined and ruined.However, it is inconvenient to say this in front of Prince Gong, so I just replied relaxedly: "It was originally done as promised. I didn't do anything wrong at the beginning, and now I have no trouble."

"I only found out after reading the banknotes. Negotiations on 'reselling' are tricky, right?" Prince Gong's inadvertent remark just hit Li Hongzhang's heart as a casual chat. According to the memorial written by Li Hongzhang last summer when he was ordered to interrogate him, he said that the steamer terminal of China Merchants was actually the port of Tuomei Merchant Qichang. The foreign bank's "management on its behalf and the use of the American flag" is just to cover up the eyes and ears of outsiders. There is an explanation in the public law of the world that it has to sign a contract. Qichang will issue "promissory notes" and "receipts" without bank guarantees. As consideration for the "subscription".The memorial stated clearly: "The bank will pay the full amount of bank notes. It will be decided at a later date. The bank notes will be returned and the shipyard will be taken back. It is up to itself." Therefore, China Merchants should be able to withdraw them at any time, and according to the actual , much otherwise.

According to Li Hongzhang's report on the eighth day of June of this year, he had completed the peace talks between China and France, and he was ordered to quickly withdraw the telegram from China Merchants Steamship, and he appointed Ma Jianzhong and Sheng Xuanhuai to "jointly discuss with Qi Changxing East and West Ward in Tianjin." ", the result is "more than a month of discussion" before it can be discussed.Seward "is willing to resell it at the original price to China Merchants", and no longer mentions "management on behalf of him", but it is good luck to be able to take it back "at the original price", but it is not the same in reality.

There is a sentence in the memorial: "To Qichang's advance payment account on behalf of the China Merchants Bureau, that is, separate accounting and settlement." This is a blindfold.Bullying the Empress Dowager Cixi, King Chun and the elders of Beijing, they don't know how to do business, let alone how foreign businessmen operate.Qichang took over the property of China Merchants, and operated as usual, making a big profit. All expenses were naturally paid out of operating income.Why is there a title of "advance payment"? If it is really "management on behalf of", Qichang should return all the surplus except expenses and remuneration to China Merchants. Now Qichang has been in business for a year for nothing. It is necessary to pay a sum of compensation in the name of "advance payment account", and also to praise Seward for "he has always been faithful, this time protecting China Merchants and practicing the foreword is not beneficial to the overall situation", so "with According to the proposal, the China Merchants Bureau will be appointed as the 'chief inspector director', and the salary will be 5,000 taels of silver every year."

The discrepancy between the preface and the postscript should not be discussed in depth, otherwise the flaws will be exposed, so Li Hongzhang cleverly broke the conversation: "Although negotiations are difficult, thanks to Uncle Mamei's ability. Looking back at the turn of autumn and winter last year, I talked more about Uncle Mamei. Damn it, call him a traitor. There are even rumors: that the Merciful Sage has issued an order to punish him, and the vendors at Caishikou have closed their stalls and are preparing for execution by the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Now I don’t know what to say?" Prince Gong listened to this slightly angry emotion, but was indifferent.Not to mention Ma Jianzhong, even a close relative like him was slandered as a traitor back then, where is the reason for this? So when Ma Jianzhong talked about Westernization talents, Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang both praised Zhang Yinhuan, the new imperial envoy to the United States.Just as they were talking vigorously, the girl with long braids came back in again, went to Prince Gong's side, and asked quietly: "Please tell me, where are you going to eat?" Li Hongzhang was suffering from being unable to get away, and when he heard this, he made a loud noise, as if he was in a daze of conversation, and suddenly realized: "It's too late to chat with the prince! He looked up at the clock and said, "It's almost noon, so I really have to say goodbye." " Prince Gong was very considerate of him: "You just arrived in Beijing, so many people are waiting to see you! I won't keep you. Are you free that day? Tell me a day, I'll make an appointment with some people, let's talk again!" So a date was agreed, and Li Hongzhang bid farewell to leave the house.Back at Xianliang Temple, as expected, many people were already waiting. When the sedan chair arrived, they stood upright.Li Hongzhang borrowed a pair of sunglasses to cover it up, and pretended he didn't see him. The sedan chair was carried directly to the second hall, and before he got off the sedan chair, Ghoshha had already carried a large stack of notebooks, ready to talk back and forth. "Come in!" Li Hongzhang ordered, "Read and listen." As he was changing his clothes, he listened to Ghoshha read the name card and the name in the handbook.Among the guests waiting to be interviewed, he only left one Zhang Yinhuan, and all the rest were blocked by "Tao Fau". Zhang Yinhuan reunited with him after a small farewell.Daguang from Zhili was ordered to be the imperial envoy to the United States in June, and he was handed over to Beijing in early August. It was only 20 days, so there were not many pleasantries when we met. The first thing was Changed into plain clothes and had lunch with Li Hongzhang. "Did you summon that day?" Li Hongzhang asked at the dinner table. "Ten days ago." "What did the Queen Mother say?" "The Empress Dowager said: 'You have always been serious about things. People who can do things are often jealous.' I met and replied: 'I dare not blame others. It is always something that I can't do in my life, which will cause people to discuss.' "Hmm! Hmm!" Li Hongzhang said, "If you suffer once, you will learn to be good. It would be best if your sharpness can be restrained a little. Although you suffer because you are not from a high school background, no one dares to look down on you. Don't say goodbye." Yes, when you take out your poem manuscripts, how much better are you than those who have been awarded the Imperial Academy by writing big papers? In this case, don’t have a prejudice in your heart that you look down on Kejia. Zuo Jigao has been acting surly all his life, just because I often have a thought of 'I am not born in the second class', because it is in my chest. Your talent is by no means inferior to others, and I am afraid that you will be proud of your talents." "Yes!" Zhang Yinhuan replied, "I accept Zhongtang's words." "When are you going to leave?" "It's still very early. Because of the concurrent stationing in Spain and Peru, we have to wait for the note agreed by the three countries, and according to the rules, the old envoy must leave before the new envoy can take office. With such a twist, I'm afraid it won't happen within the year. .” "Then what have you been doing idle watching for the past few months?" "I want to learn foreign language. Negotiations cannot be done in secret. After intermediate interpretation, there is always a sense of itching." "Good!" Li Hongzhang praised him deeply, "I also have aspirations for this. But at the age of 80, I learned to play drummer. Although I don't know that I don't know what I can do, I really don't have the time. I often tell my nephews: If you are young and don't work hard, the boss will hurt you. Sad. Now that they want to learn foreign language, the opportunity couldn’t be better. When I leave Beiyang, where can I find these foreigners as teachers?” He then asked, “Have you talked to the gentlemen of the General Administration?” "We've talked several times." Zhang Yinhuan said, "The most difficult thing in negotiating with the United States today is the issue of restricting the entry of Chinese laborers. What purpose should be pursued? The general administration has no idea. I don't know how to proceed?" Then, Zhang Yinhuan talked about the case in detail.The U.S. Congress passed an "Immigration Act" bill in the eighth year of Guangxu, restricting the entry of Chinese laborers, because over the years, Chinese laborers have entered the United States, no less than 100,000 people, especially Jinshan. Opportunities for work, and thus long ago in this regard, are prepared to be somewhat limited. However, the "Immigration Law" can only restrict the entry of Chinese workers in the future. Overseas Chinese already in the United States suffer from discrimination and disputes, so they must find a way to live in harmony.Therefore, when Zhang Yinhuan went here, he first had to negotiate with the US government to protect the lives and properties of overseas Chinese, and secondly, he had to discuss how to relax restrictions on immigration.As the saying goes, there is a long way to go, Zhang Yinhuan of course wants to invite this old man of Westernization to teach him the way. "Speaking of this level, let me tell you a story." Li Hongzhang's eyes showed a confused and solemn expression, "Fifteen years ago, at this time, I went to Tianjin to pick up my teacher—Zeng Wenzheng At that time, he was exhausted physically and mentally because of the teaching case in Tianjin, and he thought he was too weak, and the court didn't understand it. It was just because his contribution was too great, and he was embarrassed to transfer him, which swept his face. It just so happened that Ma Gushan was assassinated, and the situation in Liangjiang would not be settled unless my teacher returned to his post.So I went along with the flow and asked me to take the Guanfang of the direct supervisor, and naturally I also took over the Tianjin teaching case. It was my first time to conduct a Sino-foreign negotiation.I have seen a lot of foreigners, so I have nothing to fear, and they were in their prime at that time, very energetic.To be honest, I also feel that my teacher is too self-serving. " This last sentence was first heard by Zhang Yinhuan. It turned out that Li Hongzhang's attitude towards foreign affairs in his early years was different from his later one.Listen carefully!He put down his chopsticks and watched intently. "I remember that I arrived in Tianjin on August 25." Li Hongzhang continued calmly: "As soon as I arrive, I will naturally go to see my teacher first. Wen Zheng told me, 'Shaoquan, you take my hand, I just ask One thing about you, how do you negotiate the teaching plan?' I didn't even think about it at the time, so I replied to the old man, 'There are things wrong with foreigners, so I only use ruffian accent with him.' Do you know what is ruffian accent? " "I guess it means playing a rascal." Zhang Yinhuan replied. "By the way! This is a local dialect in our Hefei. Of course my teacher knows it, but he deliberately pretended to be puzzled, 'Oh, ruffian accent, ruffian accent!' He stretched his fingers and straightened his beard. What's wrong with this ruffian accent Law? Hit him up and listen to me.'Look at his expression, I'm also alert, so hurry up and smile.' The disciple is talking nonsense. What should I do in the future negotiations with France? To ask the teacher to teach. Wenzheng nodded and said after hearing that I had admitted my mistake. 'For negotiating with foreigners, I think it's always good to give him the word 'sincerity'.If I have the strength to say something, I am not afraid of him, nor will I bully him.Sure enough, if you are loyal in words and deeds, you can also go to the hometown of barbarians. 'Caoye! " Li Hongzhang returned to the topic, "You ask about the mental method, this is the mental method! " "Yes." Zhang Yinhuan was deeply educated, repeating Zeng Guofan's words: "I am not afraid of him, and I will not deceive him. If you have the strength, you can say what you say." "This is it." Li Hongzhang changed his expression to ask for advice: "Qiaoye, what do you think of the recent discussions in Beijing?" Zhang Yinhuan understood what he meant, Li Hongzhang had a lot of suggestions here, and most of these suggestions were not liked by the defenders of Taoism. If the resistance is too great, you have to try to eliminate it in advance, or even give up temporarily.He asked about Jingli's discussion, which is the discussion in this regard. "No one can talk about building a navy. It's hard to say otherwise, especially the construction of railways. Even a little bit of opening, they will not agree." "Uh," Li Hongzhang asked very attentively: "You say that some open-minded people object, but who are they?" "For example, Weng Shangshu, he doesn't take it seriously." "What's the reason? Or are you afraid of breaking Feng Shui?" "This is one of them. Besides Fengshui, there are other principles." Zhang Yinhuan said, "Zhongtang also wanted to get these principles." Of course Li Hongzhang knew this truth.After all, it was still because of the construction of the railway that many graves had to be dug in the wilderness.It has always been praised that the benevolent government is deep and thick, saying that it is as deep as the dry bones. Similarly, it is unbearable for benevolent people to expose the bones. Noticing that Li Hongzhang was at a loss, Zhang Yinhuan thought he hadn't thought of it yet, so he deliberately said: "Liu Boquan recently had a memorial, I might as well tell Zhongtang about it." "Oh!" Li Hongzhang asked with great interest, "What kind of wonderful article is it that makes people laugh and cry?" "That's how it happened. There was a yellow belt who set up a bureau in the imperial city and gathered together to gamble. One day, he killed a gambler for a gambling account. The body was exposed at the root of the imperial city for more than ten days. It was never collected. The local Officials are afraid of the power of the yellow belt, and dare not intervene. Liu Boquan said: "A certain Jia entrusts his body to the heavenly family, and the flames are burning; who is the certain B, who dares to offend the authority rashly? If you beat him to death, you will be free." A certain A, who is a noble man, kills a mere person. The situation is reasonable, and the minister dare not intervene. Only thinking of the benevolence of the pilgrimage, the grass, trees, birds and beasts are salty, and the body of a certain B is exposed, and the sun is full. Kite, Kui, with the meaning of the ancestors of the king and the dead bones, seems not suitable for the prosperous age. It seems that it is also the end of a benevolent government if you don't order the magistrates to inspect and bury them.'” The meaning is very clear, and it is exactly what Li Hongzhang thought. In the future, the bones will be exposed , there must be a speech official, and a bitter statement.However, because of this level of concern, why not run the railway?He was really confused at this moment. "Alas!" He sighed and said, "Families with descendants must take good care of the feng shui of their ancestral tombs. If there is no owner of a solitary tomb, they are afraid that the bones will be exposed, which will harm the peace of heaven. In this way, it is difficult to move even if you are so bound." Zhang Yinhuan didn't answer immediately, and after a while he said: "Zhongtang has more things to do to improve the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages." "That's right!" Li Hongzhang said, "But the most urgent thing right now is the one that has the most to do with the national economy and the people's livelihood. It's better to build a railway in Shandong and transport it to Nancao. I've brought a post with you. You might as well take a look." When the servant went to pick up the post, Zhang Yinhuan briefly recalled the situation of the Shandong Canal.His memory is excellent, although he has been away from Shandong for several years.When I think of the silted North Canal, I see it right in front of my eyes.The canal is divided into north and south in Shandong, because in the fifth year of Xianfeng, the Yellow River broke through Tongwaxiang and seized the old course of the Daqing River into the sea. Therefore, the canal was divided into two sections between Dong'e and Shouzhang, so the south of Linqing The canal to the north bank of the Yellow River is called the North Canal.The canal in Shandong, originally sourced from Wenshui, is divided into two at Nanwangkou in Wenshang County, flowing to Linqing in the north and Jining in the south.Since the Yellow River diverted, the Wenshui River could not cross the Yellow River to the north, so the North Canal can only divert water from the Yellow River for injection.However, the Yellow River carried all the silt and sand, making the river bed of the North Canal gradually silted up, and it has been impassable for boats for a long time. Thinking of this, Zhang Yinhuan immediately asked: "Naturally, it is because of the poverty of the Jinbei Canal that the Nancao is transported. This section is about two hundred miles from Jining to Linqing!" "You're really good, Qiaoye!" Li Hongzhang held his hand, "You have to take a good look at this post for me." It is said that the post was written by Sheng Xuanhuai, a celebrity under Li Hongzhang.Sure enough, the railway he proposed to build was from Jining to Linqing.The cost of the two hundred-mile railway is estimated to be two million silver. If the treasury is short of funds and cannot be allocated, it may as well borrow foreign debt to build it. If it is built with foreign debt, the railway will have a double burden in the future, one is the maintenance cost of the railway itself, and the other is the repayment of the principal and interest of the foreign debt.Therefore, before building, it is necessary to plan the way of operation.According to Sheng Xuanhuai's view, once this road connects the north and the south, it means that the whole river will be connected. The improvement of business travel will be of great benefit to the national economy and the people's livelihood, and the income of the railway itself will also be considerable.But at the beginning of the operation, it may not be as expected, so it is necessary to have a stable and reliable business. This business is the freight of Nancao.The railway was built to transport the rice in the south, so it is only natural that the rice in the southern provinces must be transported by this railway.Sheng Xuanhuai estimates that Nancao has 400,000 shi per year, with a shipping fee of 3 qian for each shi, and a fixed income of 120,000 shi throughout the year.It is necessary to request an order in advance and order the provinces to do so. In addition, even talking about the details of the construction of the railway project, I can't look at it in detail for a while. Zhang Yinhuan only feels that there is a story about the canal that can be added. "The canal lacked this section at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, there was the Jiangnan Canal from Hangzhou to the Yangtze River; the Hangou between the Jianghuai River and the Huai River; the ancient Sishui River from the Huai River to Xuzhou, which will be the Yellow River in the future; the Sishui River from Xuzhou to Jining. Linqing Above all, there is the Weihe River in Tianjin, and the Baihe River in Tongzhou. Later, in the Zhiyuan period," Zhang Yinhuan thought for a while, and said with great confidence: "It was the Jezhou River in the 20th year of the Zhiyuan period. The Jinkou dam in Yanzhou will stop Sishui from entering the Fuhe River, which will flow in Jining and divide it into the north and south. It will be considered accessible from Jining to Dongping. The excavation of the section from Dongping to Linqing will be done later. But if it can reach Dongping, Nancao can enter the sea from Lijin and go directly to Tianjin, which is a major event on the north-south transport route. Afterwards, the sand in Haikou will be silted up, and it will be transported 200 miles from Dong'an Han Station to Linqing and enter Yuhe. Is this section of the railway to be built?" "There are signs in ancient times, that's great! Qiao Ye, why don't you spend a lot of money, just add this paragraph to the post." As he spoke, he ordered the servants to fetch pens and inkstones, and put the dishes away on the dining table.Zhang Yinhuan did his part, wrote down the text without adding any points, then ticked and smeared it, and it was over in a moment. Li Hongzhang received it in his hand, looked at it, nodded, and then asked, "Qiaoye, what else can I tell you about this matter?" "Xingsun is a great talent, so why use other people's troubles to raise money for it?" Zhang Yinhuan said, "The two-hundred-mile-long railway, although it is built along the North Canal, will inevitably require the demolition of many houses and the digging of many graves. On this level, if Without a proper way to deal with it, I am afraid that obstructions will occur everywhere and even stir up popular uprisings." "That's right!" Li Hongzhang's smile faded, "That's the difficulty. The section of the railway from Tangshan to Xugezhuang is only eighteen miles long, and it took a lot of effort at that time." The railway mentioned by Li Hongzhang is the third in China.The first one appeared in the fourth year of Tongzhi. In order to do business, a British businessman specially built a small railway more than one mile long outside Yinwumen. Under the chariot, this monster appeared, and the crowd was horrified. They said that the general on the road would be severely impeached, and the infantry commanded the yamen, and quickly ordered it to be demolished. The second line was launched by the British merchant Jardine Matheson. In the second year of Guangxu, a Songhu Railway from Wusongkou to Shanghai was built. The business was quite good for passengers and goods, but some people still thought it was a "monster".Not long after, a train hit and killed a pedestrian, causing a public outcry.The Prime Minister's Office had to negotiate with the British merchants to buy back the railway for 285,000 silver, dismantle all the rail trains, ship them to Kaohsiung Port, and sink into the vast ocean. The third is the Tangxu railway, which was built by the Kaiping Mining Bureau in the third year of Guangxu.However, this railway is not allowed to use locomotives, only donkeys and horses are allowed to pull it, so foreigners call it "horse carriage railway", which is regarded as a wonder of world transportation and a big joke in China. "The Tangxu Railway was able to be built because of the Zhongtang and the direct governor. The governor has a lot to do with this matter," Zhang Yinhuan asked, "I wonder if Chen Juncheng is enthusiastic?" "Yeah, yum!" Li Hongzhang was reminded, "Cheng Jun needs to clear it first." Juncheng is the alias of Shandong governor Chen Shijie.Although Li Hongzhang and him worked together in the CCP in Zeng Guofan's shogunate, they were at odds with each other, so when they mentioned this level, they couldn't help but murmur in their hearts, fearing that they wouldn't be able to get through. Just as he was about to discuss with Zhang Yinhuan about how to get Chen Shijie's cooperation, he saw a servant walking up to Li Hongzhang, bent down and whispered: "The Palace of Prince Chun sent guards to invite him; he said please go over earlier." Hearing this, Zhang Yinhuan first said: "Let's enjoy the meal! It's getting late." After a quick meal and a cup of tea, Zhang Yinhuan got up to take his leave.Li Hongzhang beckoned him aside, he had something important to say. "Qiaoye!" He lowered his voice, "I have a problem that has been bothering me for a long time, and I still don't know what to do? Today is the key point, and I can't dodge it. You have to show me a way." "Zhongtang is serious. Please give me instructions!" "Do you think I want to take the blame for the Navy?" Hearing this, Zhang Yinhuan laughed first: "I said that their tricks can't be hidden from Zhongtang, some people don't believe it. I'm the one who knows for sure!" "Of course they can't hide it from me. They themselves know this, so they come up with all kinds of ways to win over me, and they plan to use face to hold me." Li Hongzhang said, "I have suffered a lot of scolding in the past few years, but I am afraid that I will not be able to hide it from me." No one has called me a coward yet. If I know it’s a hangman’s trap, but stretch my neck to get into it, wouldn’t I be so cowardly?” "That's right! If Zhongtang is scolded for being a worthless person, isn't that a lifetime of fame, and pay for it?" "Then the plan will be released?" Zhang Yinhuan nodded and thought for a while with his lips tightly closed before he replied: "Borrow other people's chickens and hatch my own eggs." Li Hongzhang's eyes opened suddenly, his eyes stared at him motionless, and he figured it out in an instant.Under the instigation of Li Lianying and his ilk, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Chun Wang to come forward, hoping to use the name of building a large navy to collect huge sums of money for other purposes.In the future, the Minister of Beiyang will do the reimbursement for others, and this scapegoat seems too useless.But according to Zhang Yinhuan's method, he might as well use his tricks to expand his power. If the Empress Dowager Cixi has other plans, she has to be wronged and follow suit.This is too high! "Qiaoye! Listening to a word from you is better than reading ten years of books. I know why I am here!"