Chapter 71 The matter of Fuzhou Shipping Bureau has finally come

Besides, it must be very important to make Zuo Zongtang anxious.

Hu Chuyuan said, "Lord Zhongtang, please say that I will do it as soon as possible!"

Zuo Zongtang nodded and said, "The first thing is the military pay in Xinjiang Province. Some time ago, Nanxun merchants donated one million taels of military pay, and I also reported to the court that half of the fine was left in Liangjiang Yamen to pay the military pay. The court generally agreed, but the specific amount needs to be consulted. You pay two million taels in advance, a total of three million taels of silver. You can ship it to Shaanxi through the bank and give it to Liu Kunyi.

Hu Chuyuan nodded and said, "O OK."

Zuo Zongtang said, "The second thing is the Shanghai Shipping Merchants Bureau left by Li Hefei in Shanghai. You have to think of a way to see if you can fight back. If it really doesn't work, you can start another stove to build the Jiangnan Shipping Bureau. No matter how much you lose, you have to squeeze him out of the bureau, and the book has to make a profit.

Hu Chuyuan said, "It should be okay."

This is already quite reluctant.

Zuo Zongtang said again, "The third thing is that your third brother's father-in-law has already asked me to forward a letter to you. I was afraid that you would be distracted, so I didn't give it to you. You will know after reading this letter!"

After saying that, he took out a letter sealed with vermilion paint from the drawer next to the cloud couch and gave it to Hu Chuyuan.

The most important and troublesome things are usually put at the end.

Hu Chuyuan beat the drum in his heart and quickly pulled out the letter to browse it. When he saw half of it, his eyebrows were tightly locked.

It turned out that He Jing told all the ins and outs of what happened after Hu Xueyan's death, involving too many secrets.

There are some things that Hu Chuyuan already knew. What he didn't know was that after Zuo Zongtang arrived in Shanghai, he secretly sent people to Fuzhou to find He Jing. He wanted to use his Xiang army, He Jing's Fujian navy and Li Hongzhang's Huai army and Beiyang fleet to confront each other in the north and south.

As a benefit of joint cooperation, Zuo Zongtang will suspend the construction of the Yangtze River Fleet. The general's fee will be used to He Jing to prepare for the construction of the Fujian Marine Division, and only the old ships of the Fujian Marine Division will be allocated to the Yangtze River Fleet.

Where do these military expenses come from? Naturally, it is the salt government.

Of course, He Jing was moved, and he fell in love with each other.

Isn't the pursuit of Qing Dynasty officials, especially He Jing, to ascend to the throne of the middle hall? He wants to build a powerful Fujian sailor. Only in this way can he ascend the throne of a university scholar and become the ultimate minister.

If it is another history, it was the end of 1881 when Zuo Zongtang returned from Xinjiang Province. Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Fleet had already taken shape, and the matter in Xinjiang Province was over, and no more military pay was needed. Zuo Zongtang and He Jing could not get the salt government together, so naturally they could not compete with Li Hongzhang in the north and south.

It's different now. Zuo Zongtang freed his hand to go back and forth to the south of the Yangtze River to draw military salaries, gave Li Hongzhang a pot to draw a salary, and then connected with He Jing in the southeast. When he fought with Li Hongzhang again, the court had to think more about who to support, or tried his best to keep standing in the middle?

After that, everything was in Zuo Zongtang's plan, forcing the court to comply and hand over the salt government of Liangjiang and Fujian and Zhejiang to the two local governors.

Because the current court is completely inclined to the Beiyang Fleet, the expenses of the Fujian Marine Division and the Nanyang Fleet can only be borne by Fujian, Zhejiang and Liangjiang.

Zuo Zongtang and He Jing discussed that the only way was to let Fuzhou Ship Administration Officials and Shares run, build commercial ships for profit, and take advantage of other profits to build military ships.

However, if this matter is to be passed by the court, the two governors are not the key, but Hu Chuyuan has to pay money to bribe several princes. I'm afraid the cost will be huge and unprofitable, but they must do it.

After reading the letter, Zuo Zongtang said to Hu Chuyuan, "What is this letter about? I generally understand that many things in it must be said by He Jing himself. He Jing and I have calculated that if you want to be a serious official, you'd better start with the General Office of Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the General Office of Fuzhou Shipping Administration. The former can be promoted to Shanghai Daotai, and the latter is the Minister of Fujian Shipping Administration. Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau left too many drawbacks in the era of Zeng Guofan, and I can't make it clear. You can't go through this muddy water, so the most suitable opportunity at the present is the Fuzhou Ship Administration.

(Fuzhou Ship Administration Bureau is the name of the Republic of China. In the late Qing Dynasty, it has always been called Fuzhou Ship Administration Office. Its level is higher than that of Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. It is an institution directly under the state and is directly controlled by the emperor. The ship administration is managed by the minister of the ship administration, at the same level as the governor's office, and the transfer of the ship administration is equivalent to the supervision of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. The actual power is in hand, second only to the minister of the ship administration. The first ship's transfer was Zhou Kaixi, the political envoy of Fuzhou, and the person who actually handled the transfer was Hu Xueyan)

After a pause, Zuo Zongtang said again, "What's more, this matter is related to the overall situation of the north and the south. If you don't do it, you have to do it, so that you have the opportunity to make so much money. It is to let you supplement this bottomless hole and support the Fujian sailors who are enough to compete with the Beiyang sailors with your own strength."

Oh.

It's so high on me!

Hu Chuyuan smiled in his heart, but felt that he could do it.

He can't do it. In case He Jing escapes from the battle, the impact will only be faster. Instead of that, it's better to spend money now and fight to the death with the French.

After thinking about it, he said to Zuo Zongtang, "Oy, leave this matter to me, but I won't make a big move for the time being. What should I do with many things? I have to think about it after I go to the United States!"

Zuo Zongtang asked curiously, "Why?"

Hu Chuyuan said, "If the machinery and equipment want to be introduced and updated, they must negotiate with foreigners, but the foreigners in Shanghai are now very guarded of me as a whole, so I have to bypass them to the United States. Secondly, I want to talk to the Americans to see if we can be given the most-favoured-nation treatment in the import of raw silk and tea. I'm afraid that it will take the middle court to come forward in person. Third, those young children studying in the United States in the United States will become great talents in the future, and I also want to have a look.

Zuo Zongtang said, "You can go there. In this way, in the name of the governor of Liangjiang and the court, I will protect you as the first-class consular counselor in the United States, and go to the United States to see those children instead of me and get in touch with the Americans. I don't know whether American munitions are good or not. If they are cheap and easy to use, we can also buy them.

Hu Chuyuan said, "It's true that it's cheap and easy to use, but compared with the Germans, there is still a gap. I'll take a look first!"

Zuo Zongtang asked, "When are you going to go there?"

Hu Chuyuan thought for a moment and said, "The harvest will start at the end of April, and the layout will be made a month in advance. I have to come back before, so I have to go recently."

Zuo Zongtang said, "It's a little urgent, but it's not too late!"

Hu Chuyuan nodded and said, "Then I will go back to Hangzhou to handle the Jiangnan Silk Industry Cooperative now, and adjust the equity of Jiangnan Commercial Bank."

Zuo Zongtang wanted to stay with him for a night, but there were indeed a lot of things at the time, so he didn't stay overnight. He got up and sent Hu Chuyuan out of the government.

Fortunately, Hu Chuyuan came with a river ship. Although it was late, he also had a boat to take.

In such a hurry, Hu Chuyuan embarked on a journey back to Hangzhou.