In Shanghai, at the construction site of the Huayi Machinery Factory, located more than two miles south of Dongjiadu on the Huangpu River, Qin Tianmin, wearing a seventh-grade official robe, was taking his cousin Qin Xiaocheng to watch hundreds of craftsmen and coolies busy building the factory. The exterior wall With a sad look on his face, he took over the job from Lu Hong. He originally thought he could show off his talents, but unexpectedly, the complexity of the matter really gave him a headache However, these days, he followed his family After benefactor, it really gained experience. Next to him, Qin Xiaocheng looked at Wang Daosheng and Chen Huan, who were busy training the nursing home of the machine factory not far away Oh, now the Huayi Machinery Factory is not called the nursing home, but renamed the "security team". He immediately came to Qin Tianmin's side and took out a telegram from his arms, "Brother, my cousin has called to report that our coal mine in Feixian County now has a monthly income of more than 500 taels of silver, and the growth momentum is strong. Otherwise, I can't see that our Qin family will become a big family in Yizhou in a year" "Want to go back?" Qin Tianmin turned his head and looked at his cousin with a look of disdain. He is not stupid, and he is also diligent in his work, but when it comes to his knowledge, he is really short-sighted. Qin Xiaocheng turned his head to see if there was no one around him, and then whispered: "Brother, although Lu Doushi was your savior, you have helped him a lot by following him these days Now, you have helped him a lot" I didn¡¯t find a good job for you. I think, with what my eldest brother has done, even if I donate two to thirty thousand taels of silver to an alternate Taoist platform, that¡¯s not an exaggeration!¡± Qin Tianmin heard what his cousin mentioned about what he had done! Quite a lot, and he looked a little pleased. I have to say that my benefactor is really a strange person. He has achieved great success in the officialdom in such a short period of time. However, to the outside world, those who really understand these things, In fact, there are only a few people at the core of this group, and he is obviously an extremely important one! He did not refute Qin Xiaocheng's words. His brother would undoubtedly be his most important help in the future. All he wanted was some advice. He pointed at the machine factory that was quickly restoring production capacity on the abandoned Zhang family factory. He did not move. He asked seductively: "Xiaocheng, among the descendants of the Qin family in Feixian County, you are also a shrewd person. You have seen Mr. Lu's methods. Do you know how much this industry is worth?" "Machine Factory This is really a big industry! Today, a machine can be sold for more than 300 taels of silver!" Qin Xiaocheng, as the current money manager of the machine factory, naturally knows the prices of these transactions, but he curled his lips, " Brother, it¡¯s just that in this production capacity, the two of us are simply insignificant, and we don¡¯t even have any shares. Even if Mr. Lu can give us a salary of thousands of taels a year, I think it¡¯s far better for us to go home and dig coal!¡± ¡°Stupid!¡± When Qin Tianmin heard that his brother was talking about his own private property worth several thousand taels, he could only despise him fiercely, "Xiaocheng, the property that our benefactor created casually, let our Qin family live in Feixian County has completely turned around. Do you think this is your business ability? Although we have not made any real profits in the machine factory, how can our benefactor be the kind of person whose rewards and punishments are unknown Your vision is too low! " Qin Xiaocheng obviously did not expect to be severely criticized by his eldest brother. However, after careful consideration, he also knew that what Qin Tianmin said was true. However, now that he is working so hard, he, a rich kid who has always been pampered, is indeed It was a bit hard to accept. Of course, since Qin Tianmin had spoken, he didn't dare not listen. He immediately sang "Oi" and ran to the west warehouse in a hurry. At this moment, Chen Huan, who had been training outside the factory earlier, hurried in and shouted from a distance, "Mr. Qin, Mr. Huang Daotai and Mr. Xue have arrived outside the factory and said they want to come in and take a look at our production. Machine!" Qin Tianmin was stunned after hearing this. He hurriedly waved and took two stewards outside to greet him. Halfway through, he met Xue Fucheng and Huang Zuluo, who were looking around with interest. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted. , to avoid being polite again, and he took a peek at Mr. Xue Fucheng, who almost died a few days ago. Except for his slightly pale face, he was refreshed and showed no sign of any physical discomfort. Huang Zuluo now also owns a small amount of shares in this machine factory. However, in fact, he only paid 20,000 taels for 200 shares because of Lu Hong's face. However, he did not expect it. This investment can make a lot of money, but when I arrived at the machine factory today, I realized that my original investment seemed to be an excellent choice. The factory here was originally a large warehouse of the Zhang family in Wuxi. However, in recent years, Zhang Shuhe has gradually wanted to step out of the industry. And I heard that Lu Hong and the Zhang family are also very close, so they got this The film is only close to a factory on the riverside, but within a few months, the factory was in full swing, and there was even a small railway more than 200 meters long leading to the riverside! He pointed to the railway and asked Qin Tianmin with a smile, "Master Qin, what is the purpose of this railway Why is it built in the factory?"???Àï! " "Sir, this is what Lu Dushi requested. Although our Huayi Machinery Factory currently mainly manufactures silk reeling machines, we are studying the manufacture of large-scale mining machines in the future. In our hometown in Shandong, a large number of old-style machines are used. Ludu is preparing to undergo a comprehensive transformation of mineral mining machinery These small railways were built to facilitate the transportation of large machinery! " , is actually his analysis of the current situation, which even mentioned that once the Sino-Japanese conflict breaks out, it will be a life-or-death duel As the saying goes, the brave will win when they meet on a narrow road. Xue Fucheng has naturally understood the implication of this! Now, Lu Hong was worried about nothing else, but whether the Huai clique¡¯s military force, which was the main military force of the Qing government in Beijing, could fully devote itself to the war! As a famous person next to Li Hongzhang, he was one of the four disciples of the Zeng family. , His understanding of Li Hongzhang is very thorough. In order to maintain the interests of the entire Huai Army, this Lord of the Central Hall has worked hard. Obviously, he wants to devote the main force of the Huai Army to a deadly fight with the Japanese. This This is not a way to maintain the interests of the Huaijun Group In addition, there is a more important reason, that is, the East Palace that really controls the power in the Forbidden City in Beijing. He carefully visited the production and engineering of Huayi Machinery Factory with great interest. Cheng Daqi introduced in detail the superior performance and efficiency of the new reeling machine. The reeling machine being tested operated perfectly under the steam power drive, which also impressed him deeply. Huang Zuluo mentioned that now The United Silk Reeling Factory, which has put into operation 100 8-strand silk reeling machines, can produce 50 tons of high-quality raw silk every day. This made him deeply feel that the production capacity of Jiangnan Weaving, also in Shanghai, fell behind. Last year, due to a fire, the entire Jiangnan Weaving Factory was destroyed. It was burned down. At the beginning of the year, Li Hongzhang and Liu Kunyi jointly proposed to rebuild the loom. They invested a lot of money and asked Sheng Xuanhuai to prepare for the reconstruction. This was the first large-scale textile factory in China with more than 10,000 spindles. However, Sheng Xuanhuai's side All the machines were ordered from the British at a huge cost. In comparison, Huayi Machinery Factory was obviously more praised by Xue Fucheng. After a visit, Xue Fucheng asked Qin Tianmin to tell Lu Hong that he would rush there as soon as possible. In Tianjin, he discussed the affairs of Korea and Japan with Li Zhongtang. In fact, he was not sure whether he could influence the military strategy of the Huai Army. On May 11, Lu Hongwei was asked how to launch the Lushun Beiyang Water Campaign. When the Japanese minister was in trouble with the investigation, Ohtori Keisuke, the Japanese minister to North Korea, put pressure on the North Korean royal family in an attempt to coerce the North Korean royal family to express its attitude on the key issue of "whether North Korea is a vassal state of China" Of course, the answer Japan wants is very clear! At this time, the Qing government accepted a suggestion made by Li Hongzhang and sent the assassins of Jin Yujun and Jin Yujun's body back to North Korea on the torpedo boat Fulong and handed them over to the Korean royal family. Ministers from the United Kingdom, France, and Russia also They all accepted Li Hongzhang's invitation to intervene in the diplomatic disputes between China and Japan! For a while, the situation in North Korea was in a fog!