Chapter 121 Stanford Takes Action

"I have good news for you. I just received a telegram from London. President Lincoln approved my application to build a trans-Pacific telegraph line. From now on, you can keep in touch with the mercenaries you sent to the United States at any time."

Shao Quanzhong listened with a smile and did not interrupt Xihuade. This shrewd foreigner was definitely not here to report good news to him.

"In fact, I acted first and asked for permission later. I had already contacted the Cyrus Cable Company in advance. Now the British warship Agamemnon, which is employed by Cyrus, has arrived in Shanghai with a full load of copper cables. On the American side, the 5,000-ton fast battleship Niagara has arrived in San Francisco, and the work of laying two-way transoceanic cables has begun."

"congratulations."

Shao Quanzhong's congratulations were perfunctory. It was pointless for him to contact the mercenaries, and Yang Changjiu couldn't really listen to him. He must have his own ideas.

"I'm here to discuss with you. Since the ships that lay telegraph cables have already arrived in Shanghai, why not just lay them directly in Hailing? It won't cost much more. I've already discussed it with the British Embassy's Counselor, Sir Thomas Wade. The two sides will form a joint venture to lay telegraph cables throughout the Jiangning Provincial Government. In the future, you can use the convenience of fast communication at will."

Shao Quanzhong immediately became alert. There is no love without reason. Why did the Americans build telegraph lines for him to use at will?

Even if cable telegraph was charged, the profit would be very slim. Why was Heward so excited about it?

"Thank you for your great help. Do you have any requests for us?"

Xihuade nodded. The other party was very knowledgeable and knew that there was no free lunch.

"I heard that you allowed the British to establish trading posts in the cities under the jurisdiction of the Jiangning Provincial Government..."

It turns out that the United States is using its old tricks again, trying to share the interests of all superpowers and also want to gain commercial benefits on its own territory.

Shao Quanzhong shook his head unceremoniously, "Mr. Seaward, I'm sorry. The Yangtze River Basin is the British sphere of influence tacitly recognized by the great powers. The United States wants to join in and share the profits. Even if I agree, the British cannot allow it. You'd better not waste your efforts."

Heward smiled playfully, as if he and Shao Quanzhong were old friends. "How could I not know this? I didn't mention building an American trading post here, did I? The British have priority commercial interests here, and we Americans recognize that."

Then why are you here? You can't be an internationalist fighter who is selfless and only helps others for free to help our Qing Dynasty.

"I reported to President Lincoln that you are in charge of the northern half of Jiangsu Province. The news of your rise in the Qing Dynasty has been widely spread among the top leaders of the United States. The Federation is optimistic about your future and is ready to establish a lasting and deep friendship with you. I have two more good news to report to you."

The main part is about to begin. The two victories have made me famous. The United States also wants to bribe me to be their traitor and lackey, and their spokesperson in China.

Well, it is not right to be a traitor, but I can accept the benefits of the United States. The best case scenario is that the United States and the United Kingdom compete to bribe me, and I will make a lot of money from the endorsement fees of these two companies.

Xi Huade looked sincere, "The first good news is that our Citibank is going to open a branch in Shanghai. The first business will be to provide your Huai Army with a long-term interest-free loan of 3 million US dollars. Congress is already reviewing it and it will definitely pass."

Shao Quanzhong was very happy. The Americans really gave him money. They were much more sincere than the British. It was a direct interest-free loan, which was equivalent to giving it away for free.

I don't plan to repay this loan for more than ten years. I'll wait until inflation reaches a certain level in the future. By then, three million dollars will be worth nothing.

"The second good news is that Mr. Stanford, the governor of California and a wealthy man, has just established the Central Pacific Railroad Company and asked President Lincoln for permission to build the Transoceanic Railroad in the United States. This huge investment will take several years of negotiation before it can be approved by Congress. However, with our huge industrial capacity in the United States, we can help you build a railway network in your territory first."

The United States is really a big country, rich, very rich. The civil war over there has made people's brains become dog brains, but it does not delay the capitalists here to build the Transoceanic Railway. In theory, my Qing Dynasty has more money than the United States, but the tax revenue of an agricultural country is not as good as that of an industrial country, and the GDP is far higher, so the money available to the rulers pales in comparison.

The Americans wanted to help me build the railway, which was indeed a good thing, but the right to the road must be in our own hands. It turned out that the United States did not compete with the British for the purchase of raw silk, but was eyeing the long-term profit from building railways.

"Thank you for the strong support from the United States. However, we cannot let you pay for all the money to build the railway. We in Hailing are not short of money. So, I will immediately set up the Jiangning Railway Company and raise shares from the private sector within the Jiangning Provincial Government."

Shao Quanzhong thought for a moment and immediately ordered, "Siwen, inform Xiu'er and let Wenshi take the lead to start preparing for the construction of railways in central and northern Jiangsu. First, we need to build a railway from Xuzhou to Hailing. Our coal and iron will arrive soon. It is really difficult to rely on water transport."

Shao Quanzhong was very good at building railways. He even built a parallel line with the South Manchuria Railway in Japan. He had the ability to get along well with foreigners, get benefits from them, and protect the bottom line of national interests in his previous life.

Shao Quanzhong called Wu Ziyi over, "Ziyi, don't you know English and can communicate well with foreigners? My father-in-law is going to the United States to recruit people, and I can't let Xiu'er be too busy. You will be responsible for contacting the Americans to jointly set up a railway company. Our shares cannot be less than 51%."

He also said this to Heward. Heward actually didn't care at all. There was no problem with the joint venture. The Americans didn't care about the control. Their capitalists wanted the Qing Dynasty's money, not to rule the Qing Dynasty with thankless efforts.

Hillward could not discuss the matter of the joint venture to build the railway in detail, as he had to wait for Governor Stanford to send someone over, and it could not be done immediately. Now both parties had a basically confirmed intention.

After sending Xi Huade away, Shao Quanzhong ordered, "Give Hailing Arsenal an additional 50,000 taels of silver in research expenses to promote the imitation of steam locomotives."

He glanced at Zhang Siwen, "The person who notified my father-in-law to dig for the fulminate of mercury cap technicians hasn't left yet, right? Ask him to go this time and buy two more steam locomotives. Let Ding Gongchen lead the team to disassemble them for research, and try to use the locomotives we built ourselves after the railway is built."

Rong Hong would jump for joy when he heard the news. Shao Quanzhong had originally promised to promote the industrialization of China after taking control of the country.

Plans cannot keep up with changes, and Shao Quanzhong is very good at communicating with foreigners and taking advantage of them, and he has already started doing it.

"By the way, Ziyi, how is the matter of sending retired wounded soldiers to train insurance teams in various places going? Send a few more war horses to each insurance team, and set up a reserve force of cavalry..."

"report!"

"Come in."

"Something bad has happened. Commander Tian Xing was beaten."

Huh? Shao Quanzhong patted his forehead. Am I not dizzy? Why does this sound so strange?
Brother Tian is a Wudang sword master, and he also learned boxing and kicking kung fu from Yang Luchan. He is well-known in the Chinese martial arts world and can be ranked among the top figures.

If you say that he was ambushed and shot, I would believe it. Who can beat him?
"Go quickly, Commander Tian is being chased and beaten, and he doesn't dare to fight back. It's terrible."

How could my elder brother be in such a miserable state? Who is so bold? Do you think you are Wu Wenxi, running wild in my military camp?
Even if Yang Luchan and Dong Haichuan came, they couldn't beat my eldest brother at will. I'll let you know what it means that no matter how good your martial arts skills are, you can be knocked down with one shot.

"Sven, take the pistol squad, let's go see who is so damn brave."

(End of this chapter)

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