New Shun 1730

The emperor took the money from the internal funds, and when the new year was approaching, he took the opportunity to sing some high-pitched songs such as "frugality cultivates virtue", which attracted a lot of flattery. Little did he know that the emperor took 20,000 taels and invested it in Liu Yu.

Twenty thousand taels is not much, and even the noble family in the capital can easily get it, knowing that Liu Yu's business is not short of the capital of twenty thousand taels. The emperor is too lazy to care. Corruption has been eradicated. For the time being, there are still a lot of things to rely on these nobles.

Thinking that Liu Yu's approach was to dig a sweet well in the desert, it was not about competing with the people for profit, but the money was very refreshing.

Liu Yuming promised to return it all next winter. If he made any profit, it would belong to His Majesty. If he lost any money, he would find a way to make up for it. It's so considerate, how could you not agree?

Even though he knew that Liu Yu was trying to make a big deal out of a tiger's skin, he still felt that Liu Yu might be afraid of someone impeaching him. At this time, he had not decided whether the matter was successful or not, so he did not delve into it.

After taking the money, several old family members who had seen the world came out of Duke Yi's mansion and followed Lin Yunwen to the south without rushing to celebrate the New Year at home. With various connections, customs and defense inspections along the way are naturally a green light.

Among these people who went south to do business, they also brought a letter written by Liu Yu in Latin, asking everyone at home to hand it over to the French business store in Guangdong. The recipient of this letter was French Dong. Head of Indian Company in Pondicherry, India.

Liu Yu knew that France had spies in the capital of Dashun. Of course, they were open spies in the capacity of missionaries, similar to open spies like later embassy attachés.

But these spies didn't know that well about Dashun's internal affairs.

In this letter, Liu Yu introduced the war between Dashun and Russia, expressed congratulations on Louis XV's wedding, and talked about the Sino-French alliance against Russia.

It was implicitly expressed that during the Shun-Russia War, Dashun was not satisfied, but said that if one day France and Russia broke out in a war over the Polish throne, China would join the war at the appropriate time.

"...The Lena River should be the natural border between China and Russia. It is like God has arranged in advance those obstacles that he does not want to be crossed. For France, they are the sea, the Pyrenees, and the Rhine River, Switzerland and Piedmont... The Austrian-Russian alliance seemed to be against the Turks, but France should have been wary of it in advance Be wary. We all know the strength of the Anglo-Dutch alliance and hostility to France. If Austria's tentacles reach Lorraine, France will... Similarly, once the Russian expansion in Europe stops, it will be obvious that the east will be theirs. In the next direction, a Peter can appear in Russia, then the next Peter may appear, the Lena River..."

He instigated a wave of conflicts in Europe, expressed the interests of the Sino-French alliance, and then talked about the trade issues of various countries in China, regretting that France was squeezed out by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in China's trade.

He expressed some views on France's excessive issuance of banknotes, its pure credit standard in this era, and its Mississippi bubble and stock price collapse.

We also made some analysis on the prospects of trade between France and China.

It is believed that the hole left by Louis XIV is too big. The French aristocracy is now getting poorer and poorer. The shrinkage of property caused by the Mississippi Bubble makes it difficult to sell luxury goods such as silk and porcelain shipped from China.

All countries were engaging in trade protection, and French merchants could not sell their goods in Britain, and vice versa. Now that France's consumption power has plummeted, the East India Company must change its thinking in order to ensure sufficient profits, otherwise it will only go bankrupt.

In view of the empty French treasury and the difficulty of the East India Company in making money, Liu Yu suggested that the French East India Company could transport a batch of arms, including 7,000 flintlock muskets and bayonets, field guns with gun mounts, and if there were any warships, they could also sell two warships. warship.

In order to get the French to take the bait, Liu Yu made it very clear that he could guarantee that these goods would not charge a penny of tariffs, and that they would be paid in gold instead of silver.

Because the price of silver in Europe plummeted, gold itself was a commodity that could be shipped to France to earn 50% profit, which was a huge temptation for French Indian companies.

At the same time, the French forces in Southeast Asia were basically expelled by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For the time being, there was no conflict between China and France. On the contrary, Liu Yu also implicitly expressed his dissatisfaction with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In addition, the Sino-Russian war described above and his hatred of the French king The support of marrying the former princess of Poland is a natural geopolitical ally.

At the same time, Liu Yu also extended a huge olive branch to the French East India Company.

The problem he mentioned is exactly the dilemma France is facing now:

The excessive issuance of banknotes, the Mimi Sibi bubble, the mess left by Louis XIV, and the French aristocracy were too poor to afford too many luxuries.

Except for mirrors, mechanical watches, music boxes, American ginseng, and cactus cochineal dye, the rest of France's hair cannot be sold to China... So much of the French East India Company's income comes from buying gold in China and returning it to Europe in exchange for silver.

Originally, they could still sell silk and porcelain to France, but now France is very poor, the big hole left by Louis XIV has not been filled, and there has been an issue of indiscriminate issuance of banknotes and gold yuan coupons. If the French East India Company can continue to follow the previous trade The model is about to end, I’m afraid.

Now Liu Yu has given France a new trade direction, arms and warships.

He also stated that he could pay the order price for the two warships in full, as long as France could bypass the blockade of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and sail to China. As for the specifications of the warship, this requires an interview, quotation, and advance payment.

At the same time, he told the French that the Dashun Mission was actually going to Paris from Moscow, and hoped that the French government could send a high-level envoy to negotiate by sea. He could serve as an introducer.

As arms and warships were trade items, Liu Yu expressed the hope that the French East India Company would give a reply within a year and a half.

As a country that wanted to form an alliance with France, if France had no interest, then it would choose to buy this batch of arms and ships from the Dutch and the British.

"...The gold and silver from China can provide bread for one thousand French military factory workers, provide wages for two hundred craftsmen in French shipyards, and bring huge profits to the East India Company."

"If the trade is reached, as an officer of the emperor's guards and the son of a hereditary duke, I can mediate some trade issues. For example, high luxury taxes can be imposed on mechanical watches and mirrors from Britain and the Netherlands, while some can be exempted for France. Of course, you need to use arms to offset tariffs."

"For every Cossack killed by a French flintlock in the Lena River, there will be one less Cossack in Europe; for every Dutch and British ship sunk by a French warship in Southeast Asia, there will be one less French enemy ship in the English Channel."

"God will not make lead bullets incapable of killing people just because the people using flintlocks are not French."

"The booming arms industry and shipbuilding industry can solve the problem of food and clothing for your country's workers, and at the same time preserve a huge industrial army for your country. Once a war breaks out, they can make enough guns and warships, and if there is no With Chinese imports, then in normal times, a thousand military ironsmiths and hundreds of shipbuilding carpenters may choose to be farmers or textile workers..."

"... In any case, please reply as soon as possible. When your envoy arrives in Guangdong, you can report my name, take out my token, and take a boat to Wendeng, where I will meet with you. If you encounter obstacles in Guangdong, you can go to Fujian, and the governor of Fujian can give you enough convenience. "

"If no arms arrive within a year and a half, even if we have common enemies and common interests, we can only choose another ally. At least, the Dutch will be happy to see us lower tariffs on their goods. "

"Please forgive us for using tariffs as a weapon, but I have to say it is very effective. "

"Finally, I wish the King of France and his wife a happy marriage. In addition, I personally admire the French locksmith skills and hope to get a fine lock..."

The long secret letter did not have much polish. Liu Yu believed that even if the French East India Company was a group of idiots, the benefits brought by this letter would be enough for them to send arms.

Before the arms arrived, Liu Yu would not ask the court for half a flintlock and a spear, but would rather use sticks to train the ranks.

If the French disagreed, he could also ask the British, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Tariffs are a weapon, but the people in the court will not use them for the time being.

The money is actually not expensive, and Liu Yu believes that he may only need one or two batches of arms, and he can copy them on his side.

As for the trade of the French East India Company, it is a dead end, and no one can save it, but the early orders can provide blood transfusion for France and Britain in the war in India, and fight for a while longer, don't be so scared so quickly.

Liu Yu is not worried that France will win the British occupation of India. On the one hand, it is almost impossible. On the other hand, the French navy is weak and powerless, and it is simply unable to maintain it. If it wins temporarily, it will lose in the future. It can weaken the power of Britain and the Netherlands and do a little for Dashun to go to Nanyang.

This is not driving a tiger to eat a wolf. If it is on land, France can still be considered a tiger. Now the Anglo-Dutch alliance, France is not really a tiger on the sea, India and France have nothing to do, there is no need to worry about France occupying India and expanding eastward.

Soon after this secret letter was sent out, Liu Yu's arrangements were finalized. After the 28th day of the first lunar month, he would go to Wendeng to take up his post, and the silver approved was also being raised.

What made Liu Yu laugh was that he was not the one to receive the new students of the Jinghai Palace Official School.

The emperor said that in order to show his importance, he would personally meet the first batch of students of the Jinghai Palace Official School. These students will go to Wendeng on their own later.

This is the emperor's favor, so that those students of the Jinghai Palace believe that they are the emperor's disciples, and also guard against Liu Yu's influence in the Jinghai Palace Official School in advance.

Liu Yu could only smile and say nothing about this. Weihaiwei and Liugong Island are too close to the capital.

Now is not the time to make trouble. Even if he does, he will not choose such a place as his starting point. As the saying goes, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, but this place is not high, and the emperor is not far away.

The good family sons of the old fifth battalion are the most loyal sword in the hands of the emperor. History has proved that this privileged class tied to the land is the most solid royalist party.

This is not the base that Liu Yu recognizes, but as a fellow traveler at this time, he has to take the last meal of the world.

The emperor can do whatever he wants to do, he has other plans.

The first batch of officers of the Qingzhou Army has also been selected. The list drawn up by the emperor is similar to what Liu Yu guessed. There is no son of a nobleman. All of them are good family sons of the old fifth battalion who entered the Wude Palace.

Some of them are those who cannot be promoted to the inner house from the outer house, and some of them are those who cannot be promoted to the upper house from the inner house. There are a total of 120 people.

In addition to these 120 reserve officers, the emperor also specially approved 400 new recruits from good families as the backbone.

The soldiers were recruited by Liu Yu himself.

There is no need to even issue a military order. The emperor is very aware of Liu Yu's situation. If things really don't get done in five years, he will not even be able to save his body.

The emperor even showed a huge wooden cabinet in front of Liu Yu, which was as tall as a person: he would keep all the memorials to impeach Liu Yu within five years in this cabinet.

It was not to show it to Liu Yu in five years to show how much trust it had, but to tell Liu Yu that if things couldn't be done in five years, this cabinet could be used to build a coffin for Liu Yu. Those memorials can also be used as paper money.

Even if he is the emperor, he cannot protect him, because he is a Confucian emperor, not a Yi Di chief; Liu Yu is also a dragon guard, not a horse supervisor.

None of the more than 100 candidate officers allocated to Liu Yu had official official positions.

Liu Yu was just a military training envoy, not a military chief. Of course, official documents from the military government were required for appointment, but as a military training envoy, he was not even qualified to nominate for an officer.

The normal process for minor military officers is to be nominated by the chief military officer and submitted to the military government for review. After passing the review, they will officially take office. Senior military officers are nominated by the Military Government, Tianyou Palace, the Fifth Military Department, etc.

Although these more than 100 people have to serve as officers, in fact they are officers, but after the initial training of the small station, the emperor will make everyone justified.

Only weapons and names cannot be faked, and the king is in charge.

Dashun made the Wenxuan Department independent from the government and became the Wenyuyuan. Naturally, he was very strict about the granting of weapons and titles and refused to let go at all.

The only thing the emperor did to give Liu Yu a lot of face was that he did not question Mantou's application for the Jinghai Palace Official School.

The emperor also made a forward-looking joke with Liu Yu: What Qing said, "Anyone who has an honorary title and is eighteen years old can apply," was specifically reserved for your disciples. If practical studies are really promoted in the future, and subjects such as astronomy and arithmetic are divided into subjects, then during the recruitment process, a few places can be opened. For example, if your relatives study the extremely unpopular Kanyu, you can add the sentence "Study" Only those who are qualified can apply for the exam." This is an innovative approach.

It was a joke, but I also knew that Liu Yu didn't have a trustworthy person around him, so he didn't question it.

The first place in the exam was Chen Qinghai, who Liu Yu secretly passed the questions. Du Feng, who boasted before the exam that he wanted to get first place, didn't even get into the top three. He was admitted to the Wude Palace. His equestrian skills, meritorious service and horseback chops raised his score a lot. However, the Jinghai Palace test paper was not tested.

But he also created another uniqueness: he was the only student who applied for Jinghai Palace from outside the Wude Palace. For a while, he was called "I can climb Mount Tai, but I went to Dongshan", and was a joke in the capital.

As the New Year approached, Liu Yu went to Yang Erguan Hutong again and gave some gifts to the Rakshasa people who would need them in the future.

At this time, I have to ask for help from others, and my appearance must be acceptable.

The Rakshasa people do not have a Spring Festival, but they do have a very important festival called Maslenitsa, which falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month this year.

During the Meat Shelen Festival, Liu Yu wanted to swing and fight shirtless. In order to express his attention, and of course to contribute more to those who would need it in the future, Liu Yu gave many small gifts and built a big swing with them.

Hannibal has now been granted a very strange title by the emperor, Young Man.

Hannibal was very grateful. Anyway, he couldn't go back now and he didn't want to go back. He just wanted to wait for his god-sister to be in danger before going back one day.

He doesn't read "Hanshu", so naturally he doesn't understand what the "Ji" in Feng means. He doesn't know that he is a man from Jixian County, so who is his godfather? He doesn't know what this Feng means in Jixian County... He's still flattering. .

For the bunch of Rakshasa prisoners captured, the emperor actually organized this group of people together, sent some officers, and the remaining prisoners after Liu Yu picked up the crops, horses, carpenters, formed a separate army.

Han Nibal, a man from Jixian County, also had the title of a fifth-grade General Wujie. This kind of Baron Viscount was not a regular title. It was not even as good as those barons in Mongolia and other places. When he saw Liu Yu, he had to call him "Sir."

Hannibal asked Liu Yu a very important question: Is the baron of Dashun common in European courts?

Liu Yu said that it is absolutely universal. If you go back to Europe and say you are a baron, no one will dare to deny it.

The crown of the Chinese Empire still has weight, at least it is very heavy now.

Although he knew that Dashun was a virtual nobility system, Hannibal still asked where Jixian County was.

Liu Yuxin, Dao Jian County, had Bole. The first person to be granted the title of Jang County was because he had raised horses for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the Royal Horse Prison, and he was granted the title of Bole in Jian County.

Let me tell you the allusion and just say that now it is called Chengwu, not Jian.

He also said that it was very appropriate for the emperor to call him the son of Jixian County. After all, the prisoners captured were all cavalry, and he hoped that he could raise a good Ma Yunyun, but he did not say the true meaning of the emperor's bad taste. He only said that if he had the chance, he would take him to Jixian County to see peonies. The peonies near Heze are still very famous.

In fact, the emperor deliberately wanted this man, who had studied military engineering in France and participated in the construction of St. Petersburg, to preside over the construction of forts in Humen and other places, because Liu Yu told the emperor that the stone forts were lagging behind and had to use mounds of earth.

The emperor may have felt that the Rakshasa people could not go to Guangdong and should make full use of them.

Liu Yu wrote a letter saying that it is better not to leave the repair of the fort to outsiders. When the missions to Rakshasa, France and other places come back, they can repair it themselves.

Whether the emperor is willing to let him raise horses, or to emulate the spirit of the Han and Tang Dynasties and become a Baron and lead the Varangian Guards in dancing, he should not let them do things like repairing forts, otherwise everything will be exposed.

Hannibal was an expert in civil engineering and fortress engineering. Seeing that the southern artillery fort had no earthen mounds to protect it but a masonry structure, he could tell the true level of Dashun.

After submitting the letter, Liu Yu gave Hannibal another piece of paper and asked him to learn the two lines of poetry on it: Yue birds nest in the southern branches, Hu horses rely on the north wind.

If Peter II died one day and his sister was really in danger, he would submit these two poems, and His Majesty would probably agree. If his sister died half a year later, Frederick II would definitely hang himself, and Britain would bleed a lot.

With this favor, Liu Yu also exchanged some drill manuals and artillery techniques of the French military academy that Hannibal had compiled these days. It seems that Hannibal had already written it and had been waiting for Liu Yu to express his sincerity and promise that day.