Chapter 13 Section Thirteen

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at Prince Chun's Mansion.Although the days were short in late autumn, and there were still two hours before dark, King Chun specially led the way and accompanied Li Hongzhang to see the beauty of the towers and forests. This Prince Chun's Mansion is no longer the Prince Chun's Mansion in Taiping Lake, where Xilin Taiqingchun, a poetess from the Eight Banners, and Bei Zi Yihui sang and sang.The old mansion is the place where the current emperor was born, and it has naturally become the place where the so-called "dragon dives into the abyss". Therefore, in the early years of Guangxu, King Chun found a huge house, which was located in Shanzi Hutong. It was originally owned by a relative of Heshen, a power official in the Qianlong Dynasty. Once "Heshen fell and Jiaqing was full", the six relatives were lucky, and the family fell down quickly. The abandoned house and garden, the place is too big, no one dares to Buy it, because you can't afford to repair it even if you buy it.

This is just right for King Chun. What he wants is a large place. He only spent 3,500 silver to buy the foundation site, but it cost more than ten times the house price to rebuild it. It took two or three years to start construction, and it was not until the spring of the eighth year of Guangxu that the title "Shiyuan" was completed. The main hall of Shiyuan is grand and spacious, and the three characters "Yi Shou Tang" come from the handwriting of King Gong.Among them is a plaque enshrined: "Xuan Praise the Seven Virtues", which is the imperial pen of the late emperor Mu Zong, and it was specially moved from the Taiping Lake mansion to enshrine it here.

There are two western-style buildings on the two wings of Yishou Hall, which are called "East Building" and "West Building". Xuan Pavilion". Along this bend of water, twists and turns to the east, is a rockery.There is "Wenyuan Pavilion" on the mountain, and "Fengyue Shuangqing Tower" at the foot of the mountain.Bypassing the rockery, there is a huge flat land, with many long pines planted, and a hall with thatched eaves, inscribed "Fusong Thatched Cottage".To the west across a small stream, across Banqiao, is a plum grove, with five couplets hidden in the middle, named "Hanxiang Pavilion".

Behind the "Hanxiang Pavilion" there is a winding path, shaded by white walls, and a corner of the red building, presumably it is the residence of the family members.At the end, turn to the east, there is a door with hanging flowers, push the door to enter, there is no other world, it is a water pavilion modeled on the "Three Pools Reflecting the Moon" in the West Lake, with nine curved rails and accessible in all directions.A banner written by King Chun himself hangs at the entrance, with the word "Tui'an" in the big book, which is actually a "signature room" for Yan Wang Yanjian's close staff.

Take a rest and have tea in Tui'an.Then I went back to the Hanxiang Pavilion and went west again. There was a "Painting Pavilion". The west of the pavilion was the end of Shiyuan. A little fun place". In addition, there are tower victories titled "Xuanchun", "Qinqiu", "Tiyun" and "Lanxia". Although Li Hongzhang has a strong waist, he is still an old man in sixties after all, so he can only pass by in a hurry or look at it from a distance. . After visiting the whole garden, King Chun hosted a banquet in his study "Tao Lu".This is not brevity, but sympathy, because sitting in the main hall, the prince's etiquette will be closed, and he will have to give way to his clothes. Wouldn't it make the guests suffer?There are seats in the study, just count and drink.There was only one accompanying guest, Beizi Yimo, the youngest son of Prince Hui Yimian.Most of the plaques in the garden were written by him. He is one of the closest cousins ​​of King Chun, and he was specially invited to accompany him, which means that Li Hongzhang should not be regarded as an outsider.

The host and the guest, surrounded by a marble-topped mahogany round table, formed a confrontational situation, with no distinction between upper and lower. Naturally, they talked about gossip, but there were also Yuedan characters.Chun Wang mentioned Zuo Zongtang and expressed disappointment in regret, while Li Hongzhang reported his grievances directly, talking about how Zuo Zongtang had a grudge with Zeng Guofan, and how he had a grudge with his close relative Guo Songtao.In order to fight for the territory of Guangdong, Zuo Zongtang did not hesitate to attack Guo Songtao, the governor of Guangdong, and protect his general Jiang Yili from taking over.

"So it's this grievance!" Chun Wang looked as if he had just woken up from a dream, "I heard people say that it was a misunderstanding caused by Ganoderma lucidum in Xiangyin Confucian Temple. So it's not!" "What?" Yimo asked, "It's a good thing to produce Ganoderma lucidum, why did you misunderstand it?" "I'm afraid I won't be able to fully explain it." King Chun said, "Does Shaoquan know about this case?" "It's the third year of Tongzhi..." In the third year of Tongzhi, Xiangyin Confucian Temple suddenly found a copy of five-color ganoderma, which caused a sensation.Soon after, Guo Songtao was ordered to be the governor of Guangdong. As soon as the good news arrived, Guo Songtao's younger brother Kun Tao, a writer, wrote a letter of congratulations, saying: "The Confucian temple produces mushrooms, which will endanger the prosperity of our family." Hearing this, Zuo Zongtang, who was awarded the title of Uncle Ke Jing by Hong Yang's merits, was very displeased.

He said: "Xiangyin really has auspicious auspiciousness, and it's because of me being a knight. What has it to do with his Guo family?" Wrote an "Ode to Ruizhi", describing Zuo Zongtang's achievements. "That's right! That's what I heard." King Chun said, "I asked Zuo Jigao face to face, and he smiled and didn't answer, which seemed to be tacit consent." "Zuo Jigao often acted like a hero to deceive others. It's just inconvenient to say it clearly." Li Hongzhang made an assertion: "Zuo and Guo are evil, and the music lies in Zuo, which is the public opinion of the world."

"Competing for wages for coming and going!" Yimo, who had an extremely heavy drinker, took a drink from Tao Ran, "It's better to ask for a living here." "Xinquan Beizi is a blessed man, with beautiful luxuries, and drinking and drinking. This kind of happiness is really enviable." Li Hongzhang turned to King Chun and said: "If Hongzhang has the temperament of Zuo Jigao, I am afraid that the seventeen provinces All the governors have been offended." "How do you say that?" "It's not for the salary! This can't be hidden from the prince. In the first year of Guangxu, the Ministry of Households announced that the Beiyang and South Ocean coastal defense funds were 2 million each year. In fact, they received less than 400,000 a year. The tariffs and likin assigned by the decree were paid by the provinces. I want to stop it. Cough!" Li Hongzhang shook his head and refused to say any more.

When it comes to this level, King Chun arouses endless thoughts, such as building a navy, increasing flag salaries, repaying foreign debts, and building a royal garden for the Queen Mother to take care of, spending a lot of money everywhere.Two years from now, the emperor will get married, and he will have to raise millions of silver for the wedding, where will he come from? His temperament is relatively straightforward and simple, his ambition is strong but his talents are inevitably short, so when he thinks of these difficult things, he will immediately look worried, and his interest in gossip will not be reduced a lot.

"Shaoquan!" King Chun wanted to be calm but couldn't calm down. It turned out that he had to talk about the business in advance after the meal and said: "Everything is urgent! If you want to build a navy now, even if you start a Beiyang branch first, It also requires a huge sum of money. In the future, it will be increased year by year, and the funds will be more and more. In terms of financial management, if there is no long-term stability strategy, it will be a big deal!" "My lord can see it, and Hongzhang thinks so too. The way to manage money is nothing more than throttling expenditure and increasing revenue. Yan Danchu comprehensively checked the name and reality, and tried his best to eliminate excesses. The level of throttling is entrusted to someone. As for the way to increase revenue, Hongzhang Er's brochure said it very clearly, if you think about it, the prince will still remember it!" Alcohol King can remember.Over the past month or so, all the plans for the navy have been based on Li Hongzhang's memorials, and King Chun can almost recite the original scriptures by heart. "You say, 'The way to open up sources of income should follow the Western approach, develop coal and iron, create railways, and promote business and government. The mines and iron are solid and rich, and the railways are indeed far-reaching benefits; but to attract investment and stock, the government has no funding; if Borrowing foreign money with light interest, although it is common in all countries, is shocked by the crowd. If it wasn't for the sage to preside over it, who would dare to break the public opinion to risk not doing it? 'It doesn't matter, as long as it is beneficial to the country, there is nothing forbidden by the top.However, far away water can't save near fire, mines and railways will always be profitable after ten or eight years, how can we raise millions of silver in front of us? " This question caught Li Hongzhang's heart. He thought for a while, and slowly answered: "My lord still remembers that there was a discussion about printing banknotes in the original folder. In Western countries, banknotes are not only used in their own countries, but also in other countries. Why can't the Qing Dynasty be printed? If the Ministry of Households imitates the foreign method to finely print banknotes, and distribute them to the provinces of Haiphong every year at a rate of one million, the most important thing is that the income and expenditure are consistent. Buckle, no different from cash.Once the credit is established, it can be used everywhere, and the benefits are immeasurable! " "This...," King Chun said suspiciously, "isn't this the method of distributing treasure money in the past? I have talked to many people about this method, and the explanation has never been successful." "Yes, there has been no success in issuing treasure banknotes in the past dynasties. However, how can the banknotes issued by the bank in the north and the bank in the south work? The reason is that our banknotes are real. If we issue one thousand taels of silver, there will be one thousand taels of silver there. It’s like buying chips with money first in a game of gambling. You will be suspicious that you won’t be able to exchange chips for money after you gamble. If you issue banknotes, and if there are cash in there, your credit will naturally be good.” "Shaoquan!" Yimo laughed, "When you say it, I think of an allusion, just like Wang Jiefu wanted to turn Dongting Lake into fertile land." Li Hongzhang was taken aback for a moment, and after thinking about it, he remembered that the allusion mentioned by Yimo was actually the story of Liu Gongfu. This is a story that can be seen countless times in the notebooks of Song people, and Yimo also misremembered it.The original record: Wang Anshi loves to talk about things that benefit the country, and some villains agree and flatter him, saying that Liangshan is 800 miles away, and the water can be broken to form a field, which can produce great benefits.When Wang Anshi heard this suggestion, he was very happy, but after thinking about it, he had no doubts, where can the water be broken?At that time, Liu Gongfu, a first-class figure in Dongfang Shuo, was a guest, and answered Wang Anshi's words: "Beside Liangshan Po, another 800-mile-long water pool will be dug, which can accommodate the water that has been resolved." Wang Anshi laughed and did not talk about this anymore. suggested. Yimo quoted this allusion to mean: Since the money is there, why bother to issue banknotes?Of course Li Hongzhang understood, and he replied appreciatively: "Xinquan Beizi asked a good question! Banks issue banknotes, of course, they don't need to dig 800 miles to accommodate the water of Liangshan. When issuing banknotes of 10,000 taels of silver, there is no need to prepare for 10,000 taels of silver." , there is room for maneuvering. However, this is not issuing money indiscriminately, it is the use of one money for two money, and it is interest-free borrowing, which is not harmful to the people and beneficial to the country. It is the best calculation.” "Shaoquan," Chun Wang said very attentively, "Say more! I still can't figure out the reason behind it." "My lord, please think about it. If you issue a banknote of one tael of silver, you will receive one tael of cash. This tael of silver can be exchanged into British pounds. It can be used to order ships and buy guns with foreign countries. Wouldn't it be that one coin becomes two coins?" Use? This extra money is equivalent to borrowing from the people. The banknotes are like IOUs, but there is no need to pay interest. As for the common people, with this banknote, they can pay taxes on grain and buy firewood and rice. The silver is still one or two taels of silver, and the penny is not short, isn’t it harmful to the people and beneficial to the country?” "Ah! This is a good idea!" King Chun was very excited, "It is very troublesome to borrow foreign debts, and you have to guarantee and pay interest. If you issue 10 million taels of banknotes and exchange 10 million in cash, you will borrow for nothing. It’s a huge amount, and that’s fantastic.” "Yes!" Li Hongzhang said, "However, if the tens of millions of taels of silver are misused and squandered, it will be a huge debt. If it is used to mine and build railways, it will be used as profitable capital to make money." Come on, let’s add more capital, so that the interest will continue to increase, and in less than 20 or 30 years, our Qing Dynasty will be as prosperous and powerful as the Western countries!" King Chun was overjoyed when he heard this, and decided to talk about this wonderful financial plan.Li Hongzhang originally had a commentary post, which was drafted by Chief Taxation Secretary Hurd, and he had had several long talks with the general manager of HSBC Bank, Cameron. Just the first step. "Shaoquan," Chun Wang finally made a conclusion: "I would like to invite all colleagues from the Military Aircraft and General Administration to a meeting, and we will discuss three major issues: the navy, the railway, and the bank. What do you think?" "I have heard about the prince's ruling." Li Hongzhang said, "But foreign businessmen call it a bank, we should call it an official bank. To avoid confusion due to similar names." This is to dispel the doubts of defenders of morality, deliberately not using the name of a foreigner, King Chun understood, and said "yes" repeatedly.Then he asked again: "You always have to visit guests first these days, and the military plane and the General Administration have to be prepared. Maybe the superiors will summon one more time. I see the date of the meeting, it doesn't have to be too urgent. Twenty-eight, okay? " "Yes! Twenty-eight." Li Hongzhang said, "The meeting is presided over by the prince, so it is natural to let the prince decide the date." When he returned to Xianliang Temple, Li Hongzhang did not go into the bedroom, but went to the hall where the shogunate gathered and handled affairs, and reviewed the documents and telegrams.While watching, a ruling was made at the same time, and the shogunate drafted and issued separately according to his will.Finally, I read the list of visitors starting tomorrow. There was a long piece of red paper with no fewer than a hundred people. Li Hongzhang frowned when he saw it, picked up a pen, and smeared heavily, cutting out half of it.