Super Dictator

"Namo Amitabha Night, Duotagadu Night,..." When Wei Jichen returned to the city from Haikou, he heard a powerful and low Buddhist mantra blowing in the wind in the city.

When I looked up, I saw Monk Guixi sitting cross-legged on the city wall, with his eyes closed, holding the seal of Amitabha, reciting Buddhist secrets with a solemn expression, and his shoulder-length white eyebrows moved automatically in the wind. I don't know if it was an illusion or something. Wei Jichen seemed to see a faint red light radiating from his body, like the Buddha coming into the world.

Wei Jichen stopped unknowingly and closed his eyes. He could feel his body getting lighter and lighter. The wronged souls in the city were all heading towards the west. There was no longer the oppressive and gloomy feeling before.

Slowly opening his eyes, Wei Jichen found that he felt peaceful and relaxed.

"This is the rebirth curse!" Wei Jichen muttered to himself without any teacher.

"Wei Shuai." Wang Huaiqing saw Wei Jichen open his eyes and speak, and walked over with a strange expression.

"What's wrong?" Wang Huaiqing's look made Wei Jichen a little confused.

Wang Huaiqing said hesitantly: "You have been standing here motionless for an hour."

Could this be the Buddhist enlightenment? Wei Jichen glanced at Monk Guixi on top of the city wall with a complicated expression.

"Did you hear the monk chanting sutras?" Wei Jichen turned around and asked Wang Huaiqing.

Wang Huaiqing shook his head.

"Then have you seen the monk sitting on the wall?" Wei Jichen asked again, pointing to the top of the wall.

Wang Huaiqing replied amusingly: "Such a big living person, of course my subordinates will see it."

Fortunately, at least the monk is real.

In the next three days, Wei Jichen saw the Guixi monk sitting on the city wall without eating or sleeping for three days and three nights, constantly reciting the mantra of rebirth. The atmosphere in the entire Lushun city gradually relaxed. Of course, this may also be Wei Jichen's psychology. effect.

With the concern of Yike Tang'a, Wei Jichen and others, the Fengtian Coal and Iron Mining Bureau was finally quickly established in Haicheng. It was originally chosen to be established in the provincial capital of Fengtian, but since the iron mine was close to Haicheng, Wei Jichen proposed to establish it nearby.

The general office of the General Administration is Zhou Fu, the former Prime Minister of the Enemy Camp Affairs Office who asked for a vacancy because of his weak health after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Zhou Fu can be regarded as Li Hongzhang's capable person in running foreign affairs, and the general manager is Yan Dunyuan.

When Zhou Fu was Li Hongzhang's staff, he actively planned to establish the Beiyang Navy. He also founded China's first military preparation school, Tianjin Military Preparation. He followed Li Hongzhang in foreign affairs for more than 30 years, pioneered China's commercial railways, and later served as an official in Liangjiang. There is no doubt about the ability of the Governor-General and Minister of Nanyang to maintain national integrity in foreign negotiations.

After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Zhou Fu wrote a poem, "Since ancient times, the enemy has been defeated by the enemy, why should we seek medical treatment when we are in a hurry?" to express his resentment and grief. This was because before the Sino-Japanese War, he saw that the Beiyang Navy was not strong enough and should continue to fight. He wanted to buy more warships, but the ministers in the court were too lazy to pay attention to him. His son Zhou Xuexi was also a great industrialist in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.

Historically, Zhou Fuyuan only came out again in 1898.

This Fengtian coal and iron business cannot be carried out without capable and experienced talents. Yan Dunyuan is still immature, so Wei Jichen sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang to invite Zhou Fu to come out. After several attempts to persuade and talk, he finally persuaded Zhou Fu.

As soon as Zhou Fu took office, he established the Anshan Iron Works and started raising funds. Due to the government-supervised commercial model, the initial funding for the establishment was set at 3 million taels. The Ministry of Household Affairs directly allocated 700,000 taels, and Fengtian Prefecture contributed 500,000 taels. Two, other funds were raised from the private sector. Wei Jichen injected a total of 500,000 taels through Zhang Zuolin and Yan Dunyuan respectively, and another 300,000 taels were publicly invested. Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai of the Steamship Investment Company raised 500,000 taels, and Wang Wenshao and Yi Ke Tang A and others also invested a total of 500,000 taels.

Once the upfront funds are in place, it’s time to purchase the equipment.

At this time, the Hanyang Iron Works run by Zhang Zhidong found that the equipment purchased was not suitable for refining due to the high phosphorus content in the Daye iron ore, so Wei Jichen set his sights on this.

The composition of iron ore in Anshan area is complex, and Daye iron ore is not suitable. This does not necessarily mean that Anshan iron ore is not suitable.

Wei Jichen knew that after Sheng Xuanhuai took over the Hanyang Iron Works, he would send people abroad to inspect and purchase other equipment, while a batch of old equipment would be shelved.

Therefore, Wei Jichen suggested that Zhou Fu first mine some iron ore and transport it to Hanyang Iron Works for refining. If he could produce steel that met the requirements of railway rails, he would buy these machines at a low price. If not, he would buy new machines from abroad. .

Zhou Fu certainly had no objections.

The iron factory finally got back on track, but Wei Jichen looked sad. Why? Because he was almost out of money. Wei Jichen estimated that his money was only enough to build the port on Changxing Island. After that, he would be empty-handed and penniless. Return to before liberation overnight.

Wei Jichen now has three properties. One is the brothel, which is very profitable, but the money earned is only a small amount; the second is the Kuaishou Shipping Company, which balances the balance of payments. This is because Wei Jichen takes some official work from time to time through connections; the third is the escort agency. The business of the escort bureau is doing well. Due to the strong people and horses, there are already more than a thousand escorts. They have won the trust of merchants in the three eastern provinces and are already booming. However, Wei Jichen will not withdraw funds from here because the escort bureau still needs to work hard. develop.

Money, money, Wei Jichen stood on the deck of the small ship heading to Changxing Island, and began to think about it distractedly. Money came slowly to start a business, so what could come quickly? Robbery of a bank, Wei Jichen smiled when he thought of this.

However, the word "rob" made him think of another way out, not to rob banks, but to rob bandits and horse thieves. Well, it was time for Troop A to enter actual combat training.

"Shuai Wei, the ship has arrived at the shore!" Wang Huaiqing's reminder interrupted Wei Jichen's thoughts. When he looked up, he saw that Changxing Island had arrived.

At this time, there were only a few small fishing villages on Changxing Island. Wei Jichen planned to move these people to Lushun to free up the island. Today, he brought a group of technical personnel borrowed from the Navy Yamen to investigate.

The first sight is a lush virgin forest with rolling mountains and lush trees.

The small ship sailed into the fishing port. There were four or five fishing boats moored inside. The people on the boat looked at Wei Jichen and his party curiously.

However, the eyes of the technicians behind Wei Jichen were shining. One of them came forward and said excitedly to Wei Jichen: "Congratulations, Commander Wei, this is simply an excellent natural port. The usable coastline is probably no less than 30km. The water is deep and the waves are small. There is no silt, and with a little expansion, large cargo ships can be docked. If Wei Shuai is not satisfied yet, even a warship like the Dingyuan can be docked with a little more investment. "

Even though Wei Jichen knew it well, as soon as he arrived at Changxing Island, he heard the technicians say this and couldn't help but put a smile on his face.

"It is best to divide the port into two parts, one for small and medium-sized cargo ships, and the other for large cargo ships in the future." Wei Jichen said with a smile.

"There is no problem with this. After I lead the others to conduct a careful investigation, I will definitely be able to give Wei Shuai a satisfactory answer." The leading engineer said without any pressure.

"Well, I'll trouble you." Wei Jichen nodded and walked onto the plank. The small ship had already stretched out the plank and set it on the shore.

The technical engineers were busy carrying instruments and going to investigate, while Wei Jichen took his entourage to the fishing village.

Since the Japanese occupation was too short, they had not had time to harm this remote place, so the small fishing village still looked peaceful and quiet.

The smoke from cooking fires slowly rises into the sky, four or five children are playing in the village, and the fishermen go home with a smile on their backs carrying fishing nets and bamboo cages. It is obvious that the day's harvest is good.

If possible, Wei Jichen is not willing to disturb the peace here, but in order to keep it secret, these people will be moved to Dalian, Lushun and other places.

"Sir." After receiving the news, the village chief led several men and hurriedly came to see him.

"The old man is so polite." Wei Jichen stepped forward to help him up and said with a slight smile.

"I would like to invite you to go to this little man's house to have a rest. I wonder why you are here today?" The chief asked cautiously as he looked at the high-ranking official wearing a flowered feather on his head.

"Old man, you must also know that Lushun and Dalian were invaded by Japanese pirates. The city's population is less than one in ten, so some people need to be supplemented from nearby areas. I am here to investigate and deal with this matter." Wei Jichen said straight to the point as he walked.

Not long after, they entered the house of the elder here. The house was made of local materials and the structure was made of wood. Wei Jichen stepped on the floor and made a crunching sound.

Moving? Although it was difficult to leave my homeland, Dalian Bay was right across the street, not too far away. The old village chief did not object, but asked about the time of relocation.

"I will build a port on Changxing Island, so the men in the village can go and work to earn some money. I'm afraid it will take two or three months after the port is built. You can set off again in due course." Wei Jichen said calmly.

While Wei Jichen was working on building the port, a British merchant ship set off from Dagukou. This ship would sail to Nagasaki, Japan.

On the passage outside the first-class cabin, Princess Maud, wearing a sky blue dress, leaned in front of the guardrail, her eyes quietly looking at the blue sky.

Several guards were standing guard from a distance, and the old attendant stood behind her with his head lowered, obeying Maud's orders at any time.

"Japan is the last stop, right?" Maud asked, slightly opening her lips.

The old attendant took a step forward and whispered: "Yes, Your Royal Highness, from now on you will go from Vladivostok, via Siberia, to Moscow to congratulate the Russian Emperor on his coronation."

Nicholas II was Maud's cousin-in-law, and Wilhelm II was Maud's cousin.

"Your Royal Highness, the Danish royal family has called again to urge you to go back quickly." the attendant reminded.

The second son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark proposed to Maud, and Maud's father, Prince Edward, had already agreed. Although Maud had never met the prince, political marriages were just like this. She had seen a lot and understood it well. Opened, neither disgusted nor happy at all

"Louis and little Victoria both cruised the Mediterranean and India and received imperial medals, and I, Maud, will cruise the entire globe and become the first British princess to leave footprints around the world. After arriving in Nagasaki, you call me back and say I’ll get married again at this time next year,” Maude said calmly.

Louise and little Victoria were both Maud's sisters.