Chapter 221 Jane is in the Emperor’s Heart

Shao Quanzhong was a little puzzled. Three days ago, he had just sent the British investment contract and loan contract over an expedited distance of 800 miles. According to the time calculation, the Military Affairs Council might have received them only last night.

How come the imperial edict arrived today? Didn't the Military Affairs Office know that I had returned to Hailing before?
The subordinate who came to report was holding a telegram, "Sir, Zhang Zhidong has already pulled the telegraph line into the Forbidden City, and this is the telegram from the Grand Council."

Well, China’s industrialization and modernization is no longer a battle fought by me alone, Zhang Zhidong has also been added.

Lian Zengzhitou, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang and Ding Baozhen all agreed with him in "learning advanced foreign technology in order to control it".

The Eastern and Western Buddhas may not understand Western affairs, but Guiziliu of the Grand Council does, and Zhang Zhidong understands even better.

Zhang Zhidong was the third place in the imperial examination chosen by Empress Dowager Cixi. With the support of this "famous minister of the revival of the country", the Empress Dowager was not stubborn at all, which was completely different from what she had imagined.

Would she still want to push the train into the river when she saw it? Probably not. What Cixi was shown was the first locomotive in China, so it was easy to scare people.

Now, he adheres to the principle of "anything is allowed unless prohibited by law" and acts first and reports later, even building a railway in Jiangsu without reporting it.

Before the old Buddha saw the train, tens of millions of ordinary people had become accustomed to it.

The old lady shouldn't make such a fuss, as it would make her seem less knowledgeable than ordinary people.

"Shao Quanzhong has made great achievements as the Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He made the British surrender and double the war reparations, and enhanced the prestige of the Qing Dynasty. He is commended. When the Western Expedition returns victorious, he will be rewarded.

The Celestial Empire specially approved the British's request to invest in the Ili Provincial Railway. The first year's railway investment was to be advanced by Shao Quanzhong from the Western Levy, and the approval document would be sent directly to Hart.

This is the 30th day of the first month of the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign.

Shao Quanzhong likes to read court letters, not imperial edicts, because court letters are not empty talk.

The people in the Grand Council are not fools. When they saw the two contracts, they knew that Shao Quanzhong had taken a great advantage for the Qing Dynasty this time.

The railway in Yili Province is related to the border defense of the Qing Dynasty and has great military significance, but it will not make any money at all and is basically a loss-making business. It will take a long time for the British to get their 50 million taels of silver back.

Then the low-interest loan of 10 million taels of silver was basically given for free, and that little interest was definitely not enough to offset the rate of inflation.

In fact, the 30 million taels borrowed at the beginning were enough for the Western Expedition, and there was still surplus. The 10 million taels borrowed later in the second phase of the loan was completely in vain.

Shao Quanzhong is truly a talented person, a staunchly loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty. He was able to extort 60 million taels of silver from the foreigners, making the imperial court rich all of a sudden.

I feel embarrassed to use your special fund to give to others, but it should be okay to use it as a payment for building the railway, right?

In this way, the imperial court did not spend a penny, the Western Expedition was fought, and the railway was built. Our Qing Dynasty has never achieved such a great victory in diplomacy, okay?

As for the remaining railway funds, the court is just short of money this year, but it will be fine next year. The Qing Dynasty has tens of millions of taels of tax revenue a year, and its GDP ranks first in the world, so it is not short of money.

Shao Quanzhong is now a very high-ranking official. Each promotion requires a huge amount of merit or years of experience. He is already in the group that receives annual salary and year-end bonuses.

It is impossible for you to be promoted every time you make a contribution like when you were a low-ranking official. Your merits will be accumulated for you, and you will be promoted to a higher rank after you return from the Western Expedition.

This is basically what Tingji means.

Shao Quanzhong did not mention the idea of fighting the Russians. This was impossible to get approval. He had to kill them first and report later, leaving the court no way out. In this regard, Shao Quanzhong was very similar to the Japanese pirates who hated him to death.

The imperial court did not know the price Shao Quanzhong had to pay, but only saw the results, which made them think that Shao Quanzhong was truly awesome.

The court did not give Shao Quanzhong an official title, but gave him another commendation.

The guard produced another telegram from his hand.

Although the telegram was signed by the same emperor, it was not written in the tone of the military council, but in the emperor's own voice. It should have been drafted by the Holy Mother Empress Dowager herself - the young emperor himself could not have done this. "Shao Qing's contribution this time is huge. Although I have no timely reward for the border, your contribution to the court is in my heart.

First, Qiao Songnian gave you the name "Yu Ting". Although it is elegant, it does not suit your name. I guess it is because Qiao Qing is not willing to change the name given by his biological father.

You are my right-hand man and a famous minister of the court. Your achievements today will surely be recorded in the history books. It would be unsightly if your name did not match the record.

Now you have made our Qing Dynasty proud, and you are worthy of the name of "Quan Zhong". I specially grant you the name "Weiting" to show my satisfaction. From now on, your names will match, which will be a good story in history.

Admire this. "

Shao Quanzhong was stunned and took a long time to catch his breath. He seemed to be overwhelmed by the emperor's grace.

That is, being bestowed with a name by the Emperor would definitely be an honor that could be boasted about by future generations. The subordinates who were watching, including Hu Liuniang, also thought so.

Only Shao Quanzhong is slandering the Holy Mother Empress Dowager in his heart. You asked for it.

You can give me any other word, but this one. I will fulfill my promise to Brother Tian and drive out the Tartars, which will be very "historical".

…………

In the following days, Shao Quanzhong felt much more relaxed and could spend more time with his family. Of course, he still had to go out for inspections every day, mainly to inspect the major industries of his subordinates in Hailing. Xuzhou was too far away, so he did not go this time.

However, after Rong Hui's repeated requests, he finally went to Xiaoxiang Cliff to meet with a group of scientists from the Foreign Hanlin Academy.

Shao Quanzhong was only doing this for the sake of his wife's face. Mark Twain finally found a job. Many of Shao Quanzhong's previous activities involved military secrets and he was not involved.

The photo of Shao Quanzhong and scientists was later reprinted everywhere, showing the great Marshal Yu's emphasis on basic science.

In the eyes of the great Western scholars who defended Yu Shuai, Yu Shuai is a perfect man with unparalleled foresight. Those who say he is a pragmatist are absolutely making up stories, and there are photos to prove it.

Yes, later Shao Quanzhong was also called Yu Shuai. A person can have several characters, right? It doesn't mean that once the emperor bestows a character, the original character cannot be used.

The third day of February, Hailing North Gate Pier.

Shao Quanzhong ended his one-week winter vacation by returning home to visit his relatives and boarded the Feifu (fú) reconnaissance ship of the Nanyang Navy, preparing to return to the Suzhou front line.

In addition to the original group of people, there will be 80 new students who will be sent to Prussia and Britain. They will change warships in Zhenjiang and go to Shanghai, and then take flights and cruise ships to Europe.

The students going to England this time did not need language training. Jiangyan was what Shao Quanzhong later called the "dragon's rising place". Now the people of Jiangyan had benefited from it. Every family was rich, and their children all went to Shanghai Ling Bilingual Middle School.

The children who go to Prussia have to attend a one-year preparatory class in Prussia, mainly to learn German. Now that Shao Quanzhong is not short of money, he will not organize German training classes in China. Isn't it faster to learn in the local environment?

The leader of the group that takes the students to Europe this time is Rong Hui.

Well, Shao Jiming was chased to England by Shao Quanzhong, and he has to start primary school in England. Our Qing Dynasty has lost a gourmet.

Rong Hui was really worried about her son being alone away from home, so she resigned from her position as principal and decided to go with her son to study for a few years despite Shao Quanzhong's protest.

The powerful wooden steam reconnaissance ship belched out thick smoke and sounded its whistle.

Suzhou, Mr. Shao is back.

Damn it, the bandits in Ili Province, the Russians in Central Asia, your Grandpa Shao is here!

(End of this chapter)

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