.In 1875, the United States' steel production reached 1.4 million tons, surpassing Germany and ranking third in the world.

Because the Schott furnace appeared in China in advance and the same steelmaking method was popularized in Europe, the world's steel production also entered the era of great leap forward. According to Ye Zhao's impression, the world's steel production today is almost the same as that of his own impression in the mid-1880s.

The UK produces 1.917 million tons, accounting for 21.7% of the world's steel.

Since the end of the 1960s, when countries produced dozens of tons of steel annually, China has been firmly ranked as the world's largest steel power for several consecutive years. According to the figures counted in early 1876, the steel production of Imperial China last year was 2.5 million tons, and its advantage over the United Kingdom was already very obvious.

This made Ye Zhao sigh that this era can be the worst era for the ancient imperial country in the East, but it can also be the best era.

In 1875, the total amount of coal mined by the China National Government, including the colonies, exceeded 100 million tons, becoming the second member of the coal production of 100 million tons after Britain, and the copper production exceeded 100,000 tons, becoming the world's largest copper-producing country.

Against this backdrop, Western newspapers had to exclaim that the Eastern giants were leading the arrival of the electrical age.

In fact, the Second Industrial Revolution also represents the end of the era of capital-driven capital and the beginning of the era of monopoly industrial group.

After the beginning of spring, Ye Zhao came to Jiangsu Province for inspection. After nearly two years of preparation and public publicity, the Jiangsu Province's elected political envoy is about to kick off.

In the past two years, the Empire's economy has developed steadily. The benefits of Russia's indemnity to the Empire's infrastructure are obvious. Asphalt roads have gradually connected to provincial capital cities. Ye Zhao has rarely been stable for two years, except for handling political affairs in Beidou. He has only gone to Dihua a few times.

The political situation in the entire Eastern world is still stable. Only Japan has many warlords, and small-scale conflicts often break out. Moreover, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider, and the social conflicts are sharp. Now the Southeast Group has sent an observation team to settle in, and Ye Zhao is too lazy to worry about it anymore.

However, in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places, some progressive people who like to discuss current affairs gradually formed various groups, all of which appeared in the form of academic research. In fact, in Ye Zhao's view, they were already the prototype of a political party.

But these academic groups are now

Often they disdain the Western constitutional rule. The general view is that parliament is good and is the mouth of the people, but the people's voices are chaotic. If the parliament is given too much power, it will bring disaster to the vast imperial country.

It was against this background that Ye Zhao and Zhu Sisi came to Suzhou Prefecture, the capital of Jiangsu Province.

There is paradise above and Suhang below

It is also said that the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River are the best in the world, and the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River are the best. There is no need to describe the beauty of Suzhou water and wood gardens.

When Ye Zhao came to Suzhou, he naturally lived in the Humble Administrator's Garden. In the past, Li Xiucheng's Zhong Prince's Mansion was expanded based on this garden, which is different from the magnificent royal garden of Beijing City. The Humble Administrator's Garden creates an atmosphere of small bridges, flowing water, mountains, rocks and flowers.

Yuanxiang Hall is built on the water, with three rooms wide in the area. The north platform of the hall is spacious and the pool water is clear and clear. The emperor and the imperial concubine stay here.

The spring is bright, and goldfish swimming in the lotus leaf pond, while Ye Zhao sits by the pool and reads the newspaper.

The "Imperial National Economic Daily" is reducing the impact of kerosene prices on the electricity industry in branch offices, which makes Ye Zhao feel that he doesn't know what year it will be.

Today, the oil mining of Imperial China is mainly in the Nanyang. The mining volume of Oriental Petroleum Corporation in the Nanyang reached 3 million tons last year. The gasoline products and kerosene products packaged in the 10-kilogram plastic pestle bottle have been spread throughout the major cities of Imperial China.

With the dependence on Nanyang oil, the navigation security in the Nanyang area has been increasingly valued by the Imperial Kingdom. With the completion of three monarch-class battleships and various types of warships in recent years, the total tonnage of the Imperial Navy armored ships exceeded 10,000 tons, and the total tonnage of the British naval armored ships during the same period was more than 10,000 tons.

In 1 year, the British Navy's military expenditure was yo 10,000 pounds, while the Imperial Navy's military expenditure was 10,000 silver dollars, which was about 3 million pounds.

However, the Imperial Kingdom's relatively centralized system and standardized naval scientific research institutions have made the Imperial **Felix more efficient, rather than being exploited by arms dealers.

The current situation of oil reliance on sea transportation can't help but worry Ye Zhao. To say that there are a few of the most terrifying oil production areas in the territory of the Empire, the Qiuming Oilfield is the Qiuming Oilfield, but Ye Zhao does not want to use these resources. On the contrary, the Nanyang islands are now in cost-free plunder. If the indigenous people gradually form the national consciousness and start self-control, it will not be as convenient as it is today. In fact, to put it in a despicable way, Ye Zhao now believes in the principle of robbing the resources in Nanyang. However, the image created by the Empire in Nanyang must be extremely positive, and he should care about the people's livelihood and equality requirements of these indigenous peoples. Compared with the old colonial countries, it makes people feel friendly.

The plunder of the South Asian colonies and the dependence of the Imperial Industrial System on oil have made building a strong navy that can cope with any challenges the Imperial Empire urgently pursued.

When Ye Zhao was thinking about it, his footsteps sounded. Zhu Sisi came from the lake water. Ye Zhao laughed. The matter of the people of Jiangsu Province elected political consultant was much easier to deal with. It was nothing else. Sisi became an errand. He met with important people in the provincial government and summoned several times to express his intentions. He no longer needed to do these things himself. From Sisi's feedback information, you can know the preparations of Jiangsu Province.

Zhu Sisi wore a pink flag jacket and silk pants, which made her look more dignified and generous, and she was unparalleled. From her outfit, it can be seen that this mother MP is gradually moving towards tradition. In fact, this is the case in the world. The radicals who promoted the reform of the Empire have also calmed down from a kind of uplifting mood that had just taken on new ideas and began to systematically think about the path of change in the Empire afterwards. However, even Ye Zhao didn't know whether this "maturity" was pros and cons.

Seeing the smile on Ye Zhao's lips, Zhu Sisi rolled her eyes. She knew what Ye Zhao was smirking. Last night, Ye Zhao made fun of Zhu Sisi as his coolie.

The two little maids took the tea and retreated a dozen steps away to avoid hearing the conversation between the emperor and the imperial concubine. They were both local scholars from Suzhou. Taihexing was hired when he bought gardens in Suzhou. Now he is sent to serve the emperor and the imperial concubine. They had only seen Jin Feng before, but they did not know that the mysterious master behind the scenes was Daimyo.

"Today is to summon people's ideas to express their opinions? How about it, is there anything new?" Ye Zhao asked Zhu Sisi with a smile.

Before Ye Zhao finished speaking, a guard came hurriedly and reported that Jiangsu Governor Li Shuchang came to pay tribute to the emperor.

Ye Zhao nodded slightly and said, "It seems that there is still something new!"

Zhu Sisi thought to herself that nothing could be hidden from you, and said, "Yes, when she came out of the Provincial House of Commons, she encountered someone who stopped her and complained to the emperor and was arrested. I told her not to make things difficult for him. She was about to talk to you about this."

Ye Zhao frowned slightly: "Who is it? Who is the sued?" He also said: "Jiangsu Provincial Law Council, is Sun Baozhen the president?" Although the House of Representatives has been difficult, over the years, Ye Zhao has considered himself to be quite successful in the separation of judicial and administrative affairs, but there is still a case of complaining against the emperor. It is no wonder that Ye Zhao frowned.

Sun Baozhen, who was a Jinshi, had just been released from the Dali Academy. Li Jianchen had a good evaluation of him. Before leaving office, he specifically recommended him to place him outside, so Ye Zhao had an impression of this person's name.

Zhu Sisi said: "I heard that the person who was wronged by Ming was Gang'an's descendant. He sued Yuan Baoheng's second son to occupy his concubine."

Gang'an? I was so scared that I was stunned.

Yuan Bao-Heng was the eldest son of Yuan Jiasan. Yuan Jiasan had already passed away. Yuan Baoheng also knew that he was in a destiny and had a poor health. He retired from the position of Suzhou prefect early and settled in Suzhou and never returned to his hometown in Henan.

At this time, Li Shuchang hurried over the corridor.

Someone stopped the imperial concubine Feng Jia to sue the emperor. After Li Shuchang received the letter, he fooled him. He heard that it was the case that had been causing a lot of controversy recently, so Li Shuchang couldn't sit still. No matter what, he was the head of the province, and if the prison injustice was unfair, he would always have some responsibility.

Zhu Sisi went to the backyard to enjoy the flowers. On the bank of the lake, Ye Zhao and Li Shuchang were left behind.

"After ten thousand years, I am not doing anything well, I am disturbing the Queen Mother's phoenix. I am guilty of letting down Your Majesty's kindness!" Li Shuchang bowed with shame on his face.

Ye Zhao waved his hand at the Astronomy Network, what was going on with this case? You talk to me." As he said that, he picked up the fragrant tea on the coffee table, felt a little cool, and put it down again.

Two maids hurriedly came over, knelt in front of the coffee table to change the emperor's new tea. According to the rules, each of them poured himself a small cup of drink.

"Wait!" The guard standing a few steps away suddenly stopped the two maids. One of the guards walked over quickly and said to one of the maids: "Stretch out your hand!" The other guard blocked Ye Zhao very quickly.

The maid's face turned pale immediately, and she suddenly ran to the lake, as if she wanted to commit suicide by jumping into the lake. Then the guard's leg was knocked to the ground by sweeping his crotch and pulling out a small bag of medicine powder from the maid's waist.

Nowadays, the chemical industry of the Empire is developed, and silver needles have long been a passing cloud. I can only try the poison test. Today, it is obvious that the little maid is poisoning with the determination to die with the emperor. It is good to control the time. It is just when Ye Zhao wants to taste tea, so he will probably not wait to see her reaction. Moreover, the little maid can see in the past few days that Ye Zhao will not really wait for the poison test time for the person who tests the poison.

The little maid was vomiting quickly. This was the first time Ye Zhao was assassinated after ascending to the 195th throne. He was a little stunned for a moment. The first thought was that the patrol of the place was really not safe in a very private manner.

Li Shuchang's face turned green. Looking at the eyes of the guards beside the emperor, I was afraid that he was also a suspect.
Chapter completed!