Chapter 1667: Strength and Weakness

The war stopped, and the world was pacified.

Perhaps because of the lack of manpower elsewhere, there hasn't been much movement, but in the capital and even the entire Zhili, a earth-shaking frenzy has already been set off.

Spring is warm and flowers are blooming, the river water is thawing, all things are reviving, and the frozen land is also melting and suitable for operation. The displaced people have also been organized together, and a vigorous great construction has begun.

Road repair, water conservancy repair, urban construction, factory construction and production, as well as other agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery industries—everyone is busy everywhere, and there are no idle people at all.

Wang Yan is also not afraid of too many people. Everything here is waiting to be done, and it is transitioning to the industrial era. Human resources are quite important, and there is no situation where there are people but no work. Even if Zhili cannot settle them, just continue to expand outward.

Anyway, the money is printed by himself, and the materials are mobilized by himself. As long as the distribution is reasonable, although everyone is not full, the work can be done. As long as it can be done, it can develop like a snowball, and naturally it will become stronger and stronger.

All this is seen by people.

These "people" include border people, plateau people, people in the mountains in the south, various officials with different thoughts, hidden remnants of the former Qing, as well as Japan, Russia, the United States, Germany, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Austria...

These foreign devils who are eating in the Shenzhou—if you add up both hands and feet, you can't count them.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs—in history, after the Second Opium War, the Yamen for Managing Affairs of All Nations was first established, with institutions such as the Tongwen College under it to handle foreign affairs. Later, institutional reform took place, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was formally established by the Yamen.

Now Wang Yan has established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in advance, also specializing in foreign affairs, as well as various trade matters, etc.

The Yamen is outside the palace, together with the other six ministries. Today is a time of internal and external agitation, and the matters involved are also very many, and foreign affairs are quite important.

In the Yamen at this moment, there are three parties. One is the people of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the second is the people of the Ministry of Commerce, and the third is a large group of foreigners.

As a model merchant who successfully bet on the right side, Li Wantang became the person in charge of commerce in the new dynasty. Various internal trade, commercial rules, formulation of various laws and regulations, tax-related affairs, allocation of various resources—all these matters are also a high-ranking official with great power, which would be a step to the sky in any dynasty.

Especially since Wang Yan's new dynasty does not allow people to donate for official positions, nor does it wholesale loose officials in large numbers. He also did not set rules for hereditary succession. Even the Heavenly King, and even Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang, did not get the privilege of hereditary succession.

He is even reforming himself, so how could he indulge others? With great power in his hands, Wang Yan cannot hear or see dissatisfaction...

The atmosphere in the large room is relatively oppressive, and the smell of cigarettes and cigars in the room is pervasive, even making the room foggy.

"It is a new dynasty now, and the British warships have been sunk by us, so the rules must also change. On this point, I believe you have an understanding, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here."

Li Wantang paused, giving the translator time to speak, scanned the circle, looked at the ugly faces of the foreign devils, and said, "Now we are developing and becoming strong, which can be called changing with each passing day. What the capital is like and what Zhili is like, I believe you have all seen. The lives of the commoners are getting better and better, and their hands are getting richer and richer.

The Holy Emperor has opened his grace, allowing you to continue trade and exchanges, so the rules must be set well. The ports and tariffs that you forced the former Qing to recognize in the past must all be changed."

These foreign devils all knew that there would be such a day, and even in the past, they couldn't see anyone when they wanted to. It was only after the matters of the new dynasty were basically handled that they began to reorganize foreign affairs.

However, even if they were prepared, they still had to sell misery. It's a negotiation, after all; talk first, and then slowly cut the price, which is never a loss.

Unfortunately, Li Wantang didn't indulge their bad habits.

"You don't have any sincerity to cooperate with our Shenzhou. Earlier, you shelled our army in Hong Kong, and recently I heard that quite a few merchant ships have encountered pirate looting at sea, and every time there are warships patrolling for the pirates. You all have a share in this."

He reached out and pointed at the representatives of England, Portugal, and others.

The few foreign devils pointed at all had serious faces.

"Li, you cannot wrong us. Pirate rampantness is an old thing, and there are quite a few pirates who are directed by the big families on your side. Perhaps it was when your merchant ships were being looted that our warships happened to pass by and were seen by your merchants.

It is not that we looted the goods, and we are even less supporters behind those pirates. We are just ensuring the safety of our country's merchant ships and have no obligation to rescue your merchant ships."

The foreigners seemed to be very anxious to defend themselves, spraying saliva three meters away, using true feelings.

Li Wantang sneered, cupping his hands toward the direction of the palace: "The Holy Emperor is wise and martial, discerning the secrets of the universe. We all know these things in our hearts. No matter how well you say it, it is useless. In the past, you fought the former Qing, and you dared to take action for any unreasonable reason, and we didn't hear the former Qing's explanation.

I believe that after several investigations, you have an understanding of the Holy Emperor's temper. It is useless for you to say it with flowers falling from the sky. Relying on strong ships and cannons to patrol our seas—did you really think you could take advantage forever?

In the past, twenty thousand of you could fight to the capital; now, twenty thousand of you can't even see the shadow of the capital. Did you think we couldn't build warships? I'm not afraid to tell you, we can build them in less than two years. If you are determined not to let us go to sea, then after we build them, let's fight."

Speaking of this, Li Wantang seemed to remember something interesting and actually laughed.

"The Holy Emperor told me a joke earlier, saying that Third Master once wanted to organize an expeditionary force after the unification of the Shenzhou, walking twenty thousand miles from the border to the west. I asked the Holy Emperor if we could fight now, and the Holy Emperor said we could fight ten thousand miles now.

Everyone, do you think twenty thousand miles is really far? Fifty miles a day is only four hundred days. If it is more relaxed, two years is enough to fight over. Now that displaced people are everywhere, conscripting a million people to eat outside is also a good way."

When this was said, no foreigners discussed whether it was feasible.

Because they didn't doubt that Wang Yan really dared to do so. They also didn't doubt that the Shenzhou had the strength to produce a million people. If these million people walked out, twenty thousand troops, eight hundred thousand logistics, plus the population and resources of other regions along the way, it was really an unstoppable powerful force.

It's just that there might be many problems during the execution, but it is certain that they can fight over...

"Li, we have never doubted the Holy Emperor's determination and the empire's strength. We have never thought of being an enemy of the empire; we just want to trade and do business with the empire peacefully. We bring things that the empire doesn't have, and the empire sells us things that the outside doesn't have.

It's just that we have traveled across the ocean, and the journey is difficult and dangerous, and the cost is very high. So we still want the Holy Emperor to open his grace, be able to open more ports, and at the same time give certain discounts on tariffs. Only in this way can we conduct more trade, and we can earn more money."

Li Wantang shook his head repeatedly: "You have many things, fresher than ours, and the quantity is large. We can't produce many things yet. So you earn too much when you sell them in, and when you buy them, you keep the price very low. We are tired to death, and you earned it all. Do you think it's appropriate?"

"Li, you are too unreasonable. You can't produce it, and you blame us for selling it?"

"No, what you sell is not what we must have. Although it is not worried about selling, we can choose not to sell. Can you understand?"

The foreigners are not stupid. Since Li Wantang has said it to this point, how could they not know that Li Wantang brought Wang Yan's requirements.

So they asked: "Li, then what do you want? Grain?"

"Listen to them, who said these foreigners don't understand human nature? Aren't they ghosts and spirits? No wonder even the Holy Emperor calls them foreign devils."

Ignoring the ugly faces of the foreigners who could understand the words, Li Wantang said, "Tariffs are not impossible to discuss. As long as every time you ship goods to my Shenzhou in the future, you also ship grain, rubber, and other things that my Shenzhou needs, then you can make deductions. At the same time, we will also appropriately increase some prices to ensure you have money to earn."

At present, the situation in the Shenzhou is excellent, the machine of development is started, roads are constantly being repaired, houses are constantly being built, various beneficial buildings have been set up in the city, and factories have begun to produce new products.

But there is a particularly prominent problem, which is that they are not full and not warm.

There are too many people, the production technology of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery cannot keep up, and natural and man-made disasters are constant. It is extremely rare for people not to freeze or starve to death; wanting to be full and warm is a distant and unreachable wish.

After all, in the 21st century, there are still places where people freeze to death, and there are places where people are chronically hungry. Not to mention that it is more than a hundred years apart, separated by three eras: steam, electricity, and information.

Although Wang Yan had long ago produced chemical fertilizers, summarized planting experience, and cultivated excellent seeds, they were all in his territory before. What he could plant was the Sichuan Basin and the Guanzhong Plain, and the grain produced was not enough for the people in those territories, let alone now that the whole country is a game of chess. Droughts, floods, and plagues have not stopped yet.

Wang Yan has also reorganized agriculture. In addition to the original Central Plains region, Wang Yan has also begun to develop the Northeast region. In the past, the Qing court carried out immigration, and later banned it for a period of time, but because of the previous fighting, there was famine in Shandong, and quite a few people rushed to the Northeast.

He was even simpler and more straightforward, directly sending displaced people to the Northeast to reclaim wasteland. How much land they reclaimed was their own, and no tax was collected.

However, it has just started, the reclaimed land is not enough, and the supply of chemical fertilizers is not enough, so the grain gap is still not small. Internal demand is not enough, so naturally, we must seek outside.

But this brings us to the large-scale meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. The foreign devils disgustingly restricted the sea trade of the Shenzhou. If you want to go outside to purchase grain and trade other materials, you have to rely on luck when you go to sea.

After all, although the sea is vast, the safe shipping lanes are basically fixed, and at present, Wang Yan has no deep-sea ability. The places he trades in Nanyang are also fixed.

Those are the territories of foreign devils, who have been enclosing land for two hundred years, belonging to waiting for rabbits...

Of course, the merchant fleet going to sea in the country was not organized by Wang Yan; it was spontaneously organized by merchants below to go out to transport grain back to buy favor.

Problems occurred repeatedly, so naturally, they needed to be solved. It's not that Wang Yan didn't do things; it's that news feedback takes time, which led to this threatening and intimidating foreign affairs meeting today.

However, fortunately, the result was good. They all agreed to the requirements, which could be considered as recognizing it while pinching their noses, and swallowing the bitter fruit hard.

After all, the market of the Shenzhou is indeed large, and it can swallow many goods, and there are many local goods, which are very popular in the Western world. Tea, silk, porcelain, etc., really speaking, are quite high-end...

"The foreigners basically agreed to all our requirements and signed new trade treaties with representatives of twenty-six countries. At the same time, there is a new explanation for the treaties signed by the former Qing, which the foreigners have also accepted and recognized."

Hearing Li Wantang's report, Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Well done."

"Master, how are our warships built?"

"It will take another two years. The difficulty of building warships is not small. Even after two years, it may not be possible. And by then, we will only have one warship. Even if it is easy to use, it cannot withstand the siege of others. It can only be in our near seas, relying on the cover of shore artillery to stand firm; otherwise, others can concentrate fire and rush in to sink our warships."

"Then we really have to go on an expedition." Li Wantang said murderously.

"In the short term, an expedition is ultimately a joke; the cost is too high, and this war is purely losing money. However, we must also have corresponding methods; otherwise, others' ironclad warships will come and go freely on the sea, and if they want to rob us, they will rob us. What does that look like?"

Wang Yan didn't look back, his voice louder, "Pang Qingyun is back, right?"

An official working behind responded, saying that Pang Qingyun would enter the city tomorrow morning.

So Wang Yan left the dinner time tomorrow night to eat with Pang Qingyun...

"Is the Master going to use troops?"

"Twenty thousand miles is too far, two thousand miles is not a problem. Our Shenzhou is too big, and there are many problems everywhere, which cannot be solved by words. Look, this time Pang Qingyun walked around the coast, not to mention the foreign devils, even the big families in the local area are very honest. I heard they all spent a lot of money to reward the army, and the officials we sent are also easy to do things."

Wang Yan revealed his thoughts simply, and then asked with a smile, "I heard from Zixuan that there have been quite a few prisoners returning from the Northeast during this period. Have you noticed?"

The Manchu Qing has perished, so the old laws naturally no longer apply to those who committed crimes in the past. In fact, this is also a very serious problem. In the process of turmoil, many prisoners spent money to run out, not to mention those exiled to the Northeast.

"To tell you the truth, Master, I have long sent people to the Northeast. It's just that the changes were too fast, and the prisoners there rebelled, and then scattered, and couldn't be found."

Li Wantang smiled bitterly, and then suddenly reacted. If there wasn't confirmed news, Wang Yan wouldn't talk to him about this topic.

"Master, could it be..."

"They are under Zixuan's command, helping to investigate the remnants of the Manchu Qing."

Li Wantang was stunned on the spot...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who gave rewards, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1668 =====