Chapter 54 Rich Country Policy

[54] Rich country policy

After a while, Li Jingfang estimated that Fubo had prepared to stop the banquet, so he suggested going to dinner, and the three moved to the lobby of the inn.

There is no one at night, and the inn has been closed.

The lobby of the inn is a simple wooden open room, about two classrooms as big. Thanks to the sloping roof of Chinese-style buildings, the floor is very high and not stuffy. There is no chandelier these days. According to the requirements of the Li family, the innkeeper lit eight candles with a thin arm. The color of the candle turned yellow, as if it had been placed for a long time. Due to the roughness of the floor and the four walls, the floodlight is not very good, so the lobby is still a little dark.

Li Jingfang smiled and said, "Brother Yao, don't think this place is simple. When I get to Jinan, I will definitely find the largest restaurant there and make up for Brother Yao."

Yao Fan took a look at the banquet and smiled, "Isn't this very good? In a golden and brilliant place, the taste may not be good. There are braised chicken and crispy meat on this table, and there are actually four small stir-fried dishes. Well, the winter melon and shrimp skin soup is also green and delicious. Oh, I'm drooling.

Li Jingfang smiled and said, "Let Brother Yao laugh."

Yao Fan saw that Li Jingxuan also pretended to come to eat with a melon skin hat, so the four of them arched their hands, modestly sat down, and had a drink together as usual.

Li Jingfang put down the cup and said to Yao Fan, "Brother Yao, we read the book you sent us all afternoon, which really opened our eyes! It turns out that the foreigner's book printing technology is so wonderful that he can shrink the color paintings vividly on paper! The painter hired by your Yao family is also very capable. The color is realistic, as vivid as a real thing, and the characters seem to be able to walk down from the picture.

Li Jingshu shouted aside, "Paper is also pleasant, light and not rough at all. I have never seen that paper. Brother Yao, I'm afraid this kind of paper is surprisingly expensive, isn't it?"

Yao Fan blew with a smile and said, "That's copperplate paper, which is specially used for copperplate printing. That kind of book, copperplate paper for a single book, is worth more than 40 pounds, about 200 taels of silver.

As for printing, I used both woodblock printing and movable type printing in the Qing Dynasty, which is naturally not as good as this copper plate. The printing cost of that kind of book is 20 pounds, about 100 taels of silver.

Yao Fan's exaggerated remarks immediately surprised the three people and didn't know how to thank them for a moment.

Li Jingfang was shocked and said, "In this way, isn't a set of three books a thousand taels? Brother Yao gave us five sets of books, but they were worth 5,000 taels!"

Yao Fan rolled up his sleeves, pressed the chicken buttocks on the plate on the table with his left hand, pulled down one leg vigorously, and said without changing his face: "Anyway, it's printed at home, and I didn't pay for it. I like to write books, and I am willing to pay for it. What is the printing fee? The painstaking, human and material resources of each set of these books can be hundreds of times more than thousands of times.

Yao Fan thought that in the Qing Dynasty, in this noble and low-level and harsh society, if he wanted those dignitaries to stand out, he must dress up for himself with a halo. Since there is no condition to pull out a senior official of the Qing Dynasty as a tiger skin, it can only be fooled by boasting about family wealth and culture.

Li Jing said that it turned out that he didn't feel sad when he gave away things from home.

The three brothers of the Li family are paying more attention to eating than Yao Fan, with a low cup and a slow cup with fewer small chopsticks. The three looked at Yao Fan's fierce eating and coincidentally thought that the cooking skills of Brother Yao's family were probably extremely poor.

Yao Fan is really hungry. Although he is full all the way, he makes big cakes of tea every day and occasionally buys some soup in the town. There is no oil. Today, it can be said that he doesn't eat for nothing. He is not pretentious. After all, his stomach is his own.

After Yao Fan ate almost and slowed down, the three members of the Li family talked about the current situation with him.

"Brother Yao, you have been running outside for a long time and are knowledgeable.

Now that the Qing Dynasty has been a founding country, it has also communicated and traded with Western countries for a long time, and has also officially run a Western-style factory. In your opinion, when will the Qing Dynasty be better than foreigners? Li Jingfang asked indifferently.

Yao Fan frowned: "Your question is very strange. I can't answer it."

"How weird is it?"

"Trade can make money, but I haven't heard that we can strengthen the country just because of the founding of trade. All the colonies in the world were arched by foreign gunboats, and no country was powerful because of trade.

As for the factory, I have said in the afternoon that foreign factories have bloomed everywhere, but what about the Qing Dynasty? Countable!

In 1861, Zeng Wenzheng built the first modern factory in Daqing, the so-called Anqing Internal Ordnance Institute. In 1865, Li Zhongtang bought the Qichang Iron Factory in Shanghai and set up the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration to make cannons. In 1867, the bureau set up a machine factory and a boiler factory and began to produce war wheels. Then Jinling Machinery Bureau, Tianjin Machinery Bureau and Fuzhou Shipping Bureau have also been established.

However, these were forced by long hair, and they were not the conscious behavior of the Wenwu of the Manchu Dynasty. These few factories are used to make guns and ammunition. To put it bluntly, they are all burning money, and none of them can make money.

I heard that Li Zhongtang has also been burned by such a money-burning method and has begun to seek wealth. Well, I set up a ship investment bureau, hoping to make money from shipping.

It's just that I can't see where the ambition of a powerful country is.

Li Jingfang listened to Yao Fan's discussion about him, but his tone was very calm, impartial, and there were no extreme words. He also let go of his previous worries and sincerely asked, "Brother Yao, how do you think he can strengthen the country?"

Of course, Yao Fan knew that the Qing Dynasty was terminally ill and hopeless, but he put down his chopsticks and squinted at Li Jingfang. Seeing that his expression was very serious, he said to himself, "If I give this boy some medicine, can he infect him with him? Can it be beneficial to my current rebellion plan? ......”

Yao Fan glanced at the other two children of the Li family and saw that their tutors were very good and did not say anything. They were waiting to hear what Yao Fan was going to say.

Yao Fan smiled harmlessly and said, "If you want to strengthen the country, there is nothing else, and make more money."

The three members of the Li family suddenly felt a little discouraged when they heard Yao Fan say such a sentence for a long time.

Li Jingfang heard that Yao Fan had not finished his words and asked, "Why did Brother Yao say that?"

Yao Fan said, "What's the matter with so many factories now? Powerful countries are compared with strength. If the Qing Dynasty wants to catch up, it will naturally build more factories, but where does the money come from? Does it rely on a ship investment bureau to make money?

Li Jingfang thought to himself, "Although Yao Fan is talking in business, he can't get rid of the merchant's nature of profit, but he is also telling the truth."

So he asked, "According to Brother Yao's opinion, how can we make more money?" Which one in the world doesn't want to make money? But once the imperial court wants to make money, it is bound to raise taxes. Which one in the world does not object?

Yao Fan said, "It's easy to make money. The court can collect industrial taxes."

Li Jingfang said, "Industrial tax? Brother Yao, you also said that there are only a few factories in the Qing Dynasty, and they are all officially run. Do you collect your own taxes?

Yao Fan said: "The reason why there are few factories in the Qing Dynasty is that the factories are all government-run, and the government does not allow private factories. Brother Li, do you think that if the government allows private factories, factories will inevitably bloom everywhere like the West. The more factories there are, the more taxes there will be, won't it be money?

Li Jingfang said, "How to set up a private factory? All the public in the field said that this would corrupt the people's customs! At present, it has been discussed between the government and the opposition to allow the official supervision and business office, and many ministers are shouting to change the official supervision and business office into the royal own official camp.

Brother Yao, do you think that a few hundred people and more than a thousand people have gathered in one place for a long time. In case something happens, how can dozens of people in the local government be suppressed?

If someone has ulterior motives to attract idle people in the name of setting up a factory and gather people to rebel, how can this be?

Besides, if a factory is set up and the strong people go to work in the factory, won't the field be unplanted? Agriculture is the foundation of the world. If agriculture is unstable, the world will be restless.

As soon as Yao Fan heard this, he sweated and said to himself, "Recruit idle people and gather people to rebel... Are you talking about me? Are you talking about me? You must be talking about me!"

Speaking of this, Yao Fan is bound to try to reverse the concept of these three people: "Western countries are full of factories, why not rebel? On the contrary, will the Qing Dynasty rebel as soon as the factory is built? Is the king of the Qing Dynasty a faint king? Is the government of the Qing Dynasty so unbearable?

Three brothers Li, you should have confidence in the people of the Qing Dynasty! Who wants to do something to get rid of their heads?"

Young Li Jingshu couldn't help saying, "If you are full of people, you will not work or do business or agriculture. Naturally, you will not rebel, but there are always many Han people in the world, but the emperor is full of people, and the court will naturally worry."

Li Jingfang angrily scared his brother: "Can you say such a thing? Don't talk nonsense."

Yao Fan smiled and said, "Well, in fact, people all over the world know that the court has this concern, and even foreigners understand that the British Count Magarni wrote in his memoirs that he went to the capital to meet the emperor. He said: 'You can have a good talk with a group of Han officials, but once a full official enters the room, the whole The atmosphere of the room will change immediately, and almost everyone at the scene becomes a little anxious in an instant.

Look, even foreigners can see that there is an invisible wall between Manchu and Han. May I ask three, which powerful country in the world is like this? Can such a country really become a powerful country?

I advise the three of you not to think about a powerful country. It is serious to make money or study honestly, and live a good life. There is a tall man when the sky falls. What are we worried about? If the court knew that you were worried about the government, it might have punished you for a big crime, and you would cry without tears.

Li Jingshu was very frustrated when he heard Yao Fan's words and said, "I know Magarni. He is a British envoy. How can this person say such a thing behind his back? Brother Yao, do you have any evidence?

Yao Fan said, "Believe it or not. These are all the black and white words they said in the newspaper after returning to China. Is this still fake?"

Li Jingfang did not give up and asked, "Brother Yao, is there no other way but to let private factories collect industrial tax?"

Yao Fanxin said, "Here comes the meat play."

said quickly, "There is still a way!"

Li Jingfang's eyes lit up: "Brother Yao, please speak."

Yao Fan said, "Issuing money."