Chapter 216: The British Empire's Achilles' heel
Chapter 216: The British Empire's Achilles' heel
Five thousand—ten thousand?
Is the British big brother so considerate?
Because of the two unequal treaties, the Qing Dynasty paid a total of 22.7 million taels of silver to Britain.
Have the British finally found their conscience and are going to pay it all back and even pay usurious interest?
Do the great powers have conscience?
In Shao Quanzhong's eyes, a golden light suddenly emanated from Hed's body.
What a good sucker! Shao Quanzhong smiled like a flower. "Mr. Hart is honored to be here. Please go to the upper room for tea. Please!"
Shao Quanzhong knew that there was no free lunch, and if Britain wanted to give money, there would definitely be conditions.
But I don't care. Let's get the money first, and then we can talk about the conditions slowly. As everyone knows, Shao is a ruthless person, and I won't give you the soil anyway.
Shao Quanzhong was attracted by the 50 million and was concentrating on accompanying Hurd. He only waved behind him.
Emery immediately ordered, "Everyone turn right, run forward, stand still, and disperse!"
The student soldiers walked in an orderly manner and returned to the spacious guest rooms of the Shao residence. Several guest rooms were already occupied by sixty people, and they were temporarily converted into large bunk beds.
In the study, facing the attentive Shao Quanzhong, Hurd picked up the black tea specially added with milk for the British taste and smiled.
"I heard from Seaward that the Americans gave up the privilege of participating in the construction of the railway in Ili Province, which resulted in the Northwest Railway of Qing Dynasty only being built to Dunhuang. This is a pity. The British Empire cannot sit idly by and watch our friends in trouble, so we decided to make a large-scale investment in the railway project in Ili Province of Qing Dynasty."
Shao Quanzhong's mind was spinning rapidly. "Qing and Britain have always been close friends. I am grateful for the generous assistance from the British Empire. However, according to our principles, in fact, an investment of 25 million taels is enough to build a railway to Yili..."
"I understand. We have no intention of gaining control of the railway. It is enough to hold 49% of the shares according to your practice. The 50 million taels of investment approved by the parliament includes not only the railway to Yili, but also the branch line from Turpan to Kashgar."
Holy shit, this is something that only a close ally can do. They are so considerate that they have even thought of the branch lines. The investment is so huge that even Shao Quanzhong himself didn't dare to think of it this way.
No, why did the British become angels? Even if sows can climb trees, the British can't suddenly become kind.
"Master Zhongcheng, building the Yili Provincial Railway is a long process. It will probably take more than ten years. Therefore, our investment is planned to be allocated over ten years, five million taels per year. The first batch of special funds will arrive soon."
Huh? Yes, 50 million seems like a lot, but if it's 5 million per year, I can still afford half of it.
It must have started with geological surveys and then gradually built.
He got 10 million taels of silver in Jinjibao, and about 20 million taels of silver for mercenary expenses in the United States. Although he spent money everywhere, there was still profit from the Wen Group, which was enough to last for five or six years.
In five or six years, as long as the relationship with the court is established, five million taels a year will not be too much of a burden for the court. My own money can only be regarded as an advance payment and will be returned.
In this way, wouldn't the great western railway be built?
"Thank you so much. I wonder what we can do for our allies?"
Hurd was very satisfied. Shao was really a good lackey of the British Empire and knew that he did not get the money for nothing.
"As the world leader, the British Empire has always been committed to global free trade to promote the common well-being of the people of the world. Only Russia has always been against the British Empire."
Shao Quanzhong understood that this was a battle between Britain and Russia for territory. Britain wanted to support Qing, its obedient younger brother, to stop the expansion of the Russians. "In order to maintain a just world order led by the British Empire, we will do whatever it takes. In the Crimean War, more than 500,000 Allied soldiers died, and more than 20,000 British soldiers died. We spent 600 million rubles to stop the polar bear from expanding into the Mediterranean. Now, Russia is expanding towards Central Asia, directly approaching India, the pearl in the crown of the British Empire. This is intolerable..."
Well, the Russians were managing Central Asia and aiming at the Indian Ocean, which touched the British's sore spot.
Britain's interests in the Qing Dynasty are just a bonus. India is the foundation of the British Empire's dominance over the world. The British are anxious and want to strengthen the Qing Dynasty's strength to fight against the Russians.
After all, Shao Quanzhong has always portrayed himself as a loyal brother of the British.
If you don’t take advantage of this, you’d be a bastard.
Shao Quanzhong adjusted his mood and said solemnly, "Originally, my Western Expedition was to quell the rebellion in Yili Province. But since my allies are so caring, I must do my best for their interests, even if it means great sacrifices. I will fight the Russians!"
Hurd was delighted. We paid the money, the Qing Dynasty lost its lives, resisted the Russian infiltration into Central Asia, and cut off the polar bear's claws reaching into the Indian Ocean. This was the reason why Prime Minister Stanley won the majority support in his speech in Parliament in order to pass this motion in support of the Qing Dynasty.
"But - if we fight the Russians, the war will definitely be protracted and costly. We are not afraid of death, but the military expenditure -"
"I will apply to Prime Minister Stanley to provide your army with a special low-interest loan of 10 million taels of silver. I believe it will be approved."
"Thank you so much Mr. Hurd."
"We are in a cooperative relationship. The British Empire very much hopes that a good friend like Lord Zhongcheng will be able to take charge of the Qing Kingdom in the future and keep the friendship between Qing and Britain going."
Shao Quanzhong and Hurd shook hands warmly and reached a cooperation intention.
In his study, Shao Quanzhong, in his capacity as the Minister of the Zongli Yamen, signed the "Letter of Intent for Western Railway Investment" and the "Second Phase Loan Contract for the Western Expedition" with Hart.
The document was made in duplicate. The one with Hart's signature was sent to the capital at an express speed of 800 miles, requesting the approval of the Grand Council on behalf of the emperor.
As for Hurd, he only needed to send the loan contract back to London for approval. The previous investment intention had already been approved by the parliament without seeking the opinion of the Qing Dynasty. Only a fool would give money for free, and the officials of the Qing Dynasty's Military Affairs Council were not stupid enough to that extent.
In fact, in history, Britain also intended to support the Qing Dynasty to fight against the Russians. Unfortunately, Shao Quanzhong had not appeared out of nowhere, and the Qing Dynasty could not be supported and could not defeat the Russians. In the end, the British were forced to support the Japanese pirates...
Hurd was very confident in the fighting capacity of the Huai Army, so this assistance plan was implemented at this time and space.
After seeing Hurd off, Shao Quanzhong was about to go talk to Emery when Hu Liuniang ran in, "An urgent call from Zhang Siwen!"
"Paraguay has been fighting the coalition of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay for more than a year. Paraguay went from a high-spirited advance at the beginning to a strategic defensive position. Now it is being attacked at its doorstep. Lopez retreated to the Humaita Fortress on the Paraguay River.
The Allied Navy dispatched sixteen small ironclad ships and more than seventy sailing warships up the Paraná River. The Paraguayan Navy was completely wiped out at the confluence of the Paraná River and the Uruguay River.
The 32,000-strong coalition army of the Three Nations approached the Umaita Fortress, and Paraguay was facing the crisis of national extinction.
My brother-in-law Lopez could no longer hold back his pride and urgently asked me for help, asking for the Taiping Army mercenaries to attack South America. Paraguay was willing to pay any price for this.”
(End of this chapter)