Not at ease with Prince Gong? Yi Zhizuo leaned back slightly and said, "Are Huifu not at ease with Prince Gong?"

Zhao Liewen has always had prejudice against Gong Wang Yi, and there is no need to hide it. He immediately nodded and said, "The Empress Dowager is virtuous and cautious in nature, and can put state affairs first. If Gong Wang is not liked to be risky, ignore the overall situation, and is difficult to control. If you take office as Prime Minister, you may be a disaster but not a blessing."

Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "Yi is indeed not an ideal candidate for prime minister, but he is the most suitable compared to his brothers. Besides, he has made great contributions to advocating constitutionalism. We cannot cross the river and destroy the bridge."

After a pause, he continued: "The Qing Dynasty's constitutional promotion is too fast, and a smooth transition is needed. King Gong is the current emperor's uncle. He took office as prime minister, which is conducive to appease the Manchus and stabilize the court. This is irreplaceable for Sushun.

Sushun is the son of Prince Zheng and is a relative of Yuanzhi. If he lets him replace Prince Gong, he can form a good transition. Eight or twelve years later, the Qing Dynasty will be expected to implement real constitutionalism. As for Yi being difficult to control, there is no need to worry, he cannot make trouble."

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Liewencai said: "The expansion of the northwest should take place in the past two years. Once the war begins in the northwest, the country will be empty..."

"A portion of the Eight Banners New Army was transferred to the northwest." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The remaining ones are mixed and not allowed to interfere with military power and financial power. Even if he has the ability to do anything, it will be in vain."

Seeing that he had thought about it for a long time, Zhao Liewen stopped talking and said, "The Empress Dowager should have some concerns about Prince Gong's appointment as Prime Minister, so it would be better to just leave the secret letter."

Yi Zhizu nodded and said, "Okay, Huifu drafted a copy."

After Qingming Festival, Shanghai entered an annoying rainy season. The drizzle fell endlessly. In the drizzle, a train slowly drove into the Shanghai platform. As soon as the door opened, countless passengers flocked out, and a surging crowd formed on the platform.

Ding Baozhen, wearing a braided dressed in a blue long gown, did not rush to get off the car, but sat in her seat through the car window and looked at the crowd on the platform in a daze. Chen Jin, the accompanying staff member, whispered: "In less than 30 years, Shanghai's population has surpassed Jiangning and has become the largest city in the southeast..."

"It is not just the population that surpasses Jiangning." Ding Baozhen whispered: "Shanghai is now the political, military, financial, economic, industrial, commercial, and scientific and technological cultural center of the entire Qing Dynasty. It attracts thousands of people of all kinds every day. No city in the Qing Dynasty can have endless potential and unparalleled vitality like Shanghai."

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Shanghai is indeed a miracle, and it's not their fault that they want to set up the Consultative Conference in Shanghai."

As the two were talking, the accompanying servant stepped forward and whispered, "Sir, the carriage is empty."

"Get out of the car." Ding Baozhen said as he stood up and shook his long gown, and walked towards the car door in a hurry. No one in the passenger in the same carriage would have thought that this person who had long beards in his fifties, was serious and looked like an old master, would be the governor of Jiangsu.

Ding Baozhen's courtesy name was Zhihuang, a native of Niuchang Town, Pingyuan, Guizhou. He was a Jinshi in the third year of Xianfeng. He served as a Shujishi in the Hanlin Academy, an editor, a magistrate of Yuezhou, a prefect of Changsha, a magistrate of Shandong, and a governor. Last year, Yi Zhizu personally named him from the Shandong governor to the governor of Jiangsu.

The four-wheeled carriage was driving lightly on the smooth asphalt road. Ding Baozhen was interested in looking out the street scene outside. He came to Shanghai in a very intimate manner for the affairs of the Advisory Bureau. Now the Advisory Bureau has become the hottest topic in the Qing Dynasty provinces, and the governors of all provinces regarded the Advisory Bureau as the top priority.

Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Bookstore.

"...... According to the information from Tianjin port and railway station, the British transported 30,000 long spears and a large amount of ammunition this time." Ren An added, "There are also a batch of machinery and equipment, which should be used to build an ammunition factory."

Seeing Yi Shizuo pondered without saying a word, Yan Yangtian said slowly: "It's the end of March now, the spring plowing and sowing season has passed. The famine in Japan will continue. There is no need to carry out a large-scale clearance. It can be said that the war in Japan has basically ended, and some troops can be drawn to Tianjin..."

Yi Zhizu nodded slightly and said, "Should Senggelinqin lead his troops to stay in Japan and continue to clear the attack, and other troops were transferred to Tianjin one after another."

"Principal." Yan Yangtian hurriedly said: "Yang Xiu's military discipline in the Qing Dynasty is scattered... It is inevitable that he will relax after a long time of staying in Tianjin... It is better to have his troops stationed in Fukuoka for training. After all, the focus of stationing troops in Tianjin is on deterrence."

Speaking of Yang Xiuqing's troops, Yi Zhizu felt a headache. The officers and soldiers of the New Sixth Army formed by the Taiping Army said that they were almost all veterans with great combat power, dared to fight and fight. They were just casual and pondered for a moment, and then he said: "Okay, let Yang Xiuqing come to Shanghai."

Seeing that it was a slightest slight, Zhao Liewen said slowly: "The shopkeeper, Yuan Qi has developed tea gardens and mulberry silkworm bases in Japan in recent years. After the war, the war will be over. Please restore it as soon as possible..."

Yi Zhizu nodded, "I will organize immigration from coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Shandong to attract experienced tea farmers and mulberry farmers to go with the most preferential policies."

As soon as the words finished, Lin Meilian reported at the door: "The shopkeeper, Jiangsu Governor Ding Baozhen is looking for a meeting outside."

"Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I came just right, please invite him in." Seeing this, Ren An, Yan Yangtian and the others quickly stood up and left. The two of them were waiting for him. Yi Zhengxing, who had not spoken, then said, "Why not sell the mulberry trees in Japan? In this way, Yuanqi can not only obtain a considerable income, but also avoid paying large immigration fees."

After hearing this, Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "The purpose of conquering Japan is to permanently incorporate Japan into the Qing Dynasty. Which of these two methods is better?"

Yi Zhengxing hesitated and said, "This entry and exit is too expensive."

"Yuanqi has done a lot of losses like this." Yi Zhizu smiled and said: "In the short term, this is a loss-making transaction, but in the long term, it is a stable profit but not a loss."

"Do you make a profit?" Yi Zhengxing was a little confused and couldn't figure it out for a moment. Why did he make a profit and not lose money in the business?

Zhao Liewen explained with a smile: "Water is included in our Qing Dynasty territory, so Yuanqi naturally cannot continue to monopolize the trade with Japan as before. However, if Yuanqi organizes immigration to Japan with the most preferential policies, he can continue to monopolize the trade with Japan. This is a killing two birds with one stone."

Yi Zhizuo smiled and stood up and said, "Yahuang is here, welcome."

Ding Baozhen walked into the yard and looked up and saw Yi Zhizu standing on the steps outside the study to greet him. He quickly accelerated his pace. He had also seen several princes in the capital, all of whom were astonishingly stubborn. Officials below the governor did not look at the seats at all when they came to visit, let alone to greet him. That was simply unimaginable.

After walking quickly to the front, Ding Baozhen bowed and smiled, "I've killed the officials, why dare to be the prince to welcome him?"

"Ya Huang is the one who greets me in person." Yi Zhizu smiled and bowed back, and then introduced: "Mr. Zhao doesn't need to introduce it. This is a dog son, let's do it."

Yi Zhengxing bowed obediently, "You have met Lord Ding."

Yi Zhengxing is the legitimate son and the 800-year-old prince. Ding Baozhen dared not accept his tribute. He quickly avoided it and bowed, saying, "Criminal, don't kill me." As he said that, he greeted Zhao Liewen again.

After entering the house and sitting down, Ding Baozhen said straight: "The Jiangsu Consultative Affairs Bureau originally planned to be divided into Jiangning and Suzhou, but all the members of the Representatives hoped to combine the Consultative Affairs Bureau into one and set up the Consultative Affairs Bureau in Shanghai. The officials dare not make decisions without authorization."

After pondering for a little, Yi Zhizu said: "Shanghai's atmosphere is open and it is also the political and economic center in the southeast. It is quite suitable for Jiangsu Advisory Bureau to be located in Shanghai." As he said that, he asked back: "All the members of Jiangsu Advisory Bureau have been elected?"

Ding Baozhen hurriedly said: "There are 160 in total, and all have been selected."

The election of members of the Advisory Board adopts a sequel system. The candidates are elected first by voters in the first round, and the candidates are elected in the second round to select formal members.

Yi Zhizu then asked: "How many candidates are there? What is the proportion of formal members of parliament to candidates? How many voters are there? What is the proportion of voters to the total population?"

Ding Baozhen was sweating from these questions. He didn't expect Yi Zhizu to ask so carefully. Fortunately, he was aware of the basic situation of the province and pondered for a moment before he spoke: "The candidates are more than 1,700, and the formal members are about 10% of the candidates. The total number of voters is more than 150,000, and the proportion of voters to the total population is five-thousandth."

Yi Zhizu pondered for a while before looking at Yi Zhengxing, saying, "What is the proportion of voters in England to the total population?"

After hesitating, Yi Zhengxing said: "I only remember the data from England in 1833. The proportion of voters to the total population is 3.3%. This proportion has grown steadily every year. It is estimated that it should have reached 5% or even higher now."

After listening to the conversation between the two fathers and sons, Ding Baozhen smiled bitterly and said, "This is the first election in the Qing Dynasty. It is normal for the low proportion. As far as the officials know, there are many people who meet the conditions of voters, either they are scruples, they don't understand, or they are not keen on, and they are unwilling to sign up."

Yi Zhizu sighed lightly and said, "It is said that constitutional thought has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It is completely exposed in one election. Jiangsu's situation should be the best among all provinces. If Jiangsu is like this, other provinces can be imagined."

Zhao Liewen also looked a little sad. The revised "Advisory Bureau Charter" and election rules have tried their best to relax voter qualifications. The proportion is still so low, which is really ugly.

"Take it slowly." Yi Zhizu quickly cheered up, "With more than two thousand years of imperial power, the road to constitutionalism will be so smooth. Take it slowly, ten years will not work. For another ten years, with the implementation of constitutionalism, the situation will inevitably gradually improve."

"What the prince said," Ding Baozhen echoed: "It's hard to start with everything. After all, it's the first election that has been unprecedented. Many people don't understand, are not keen, and have concerns, which is normal."

After pondering for a little, Yi Zhizu said: "Give me a message to each province and ask them to conduct statistics and archive the election situation of the Advisory Bureau for future comparison."

"Yes." Zhao Liewen responded quickly.

After lit a cigarette, Yi Zhizu continued to ask: "The elected members of the parliament are all officials, gentlemen, gentry, merchants and gentry?"

Ding Baozhen nodded and said, "The prince clearly understands that the elected member of the parliament may be an official gentry who has held official positions in the central or local governments, a gentry with traditional fame, a gentry with new education, or a business gentry with rich assets."

After a pause, he continued: "What the following officials have seen is that they do not have enough understanding of the election. The competitive style of the election, which is linked to interests, is that of canvassing for elections, has never appeared at all.

They all believe that being elected as a member of parliament is based on his own cultural lofty status such as his knowledge, literacy and public morality to win the support of everyone. In short, as long as he has a certain reputation and prestige, he can become a member of parliament.

In the West, it was a campaign, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was a victory for people with virtue and took the initiative to give up the virtuous. After a gentry was elected, he repeatedly verified to give up his seat as a member of the parliament, which was also rumored to be a good talk."

After hearing this, Yi Zhizu felt like he couldn't smile bitterly. No wonder the elected members of the parliament were all "gentlemen". It would be strange if ordinary people were elected in this election situation! It seems that Western campaign culture will be difficult to accept in the Qing Dynasty for a while.

Take your time, and you can't become fat in one breath. After comforting yourself, Yishi changed the topic. "Water has experienced wars and rare famines, and the population has dropped sharply, and one out of ten is not available. Now it needs a large number of immigrants, especially tea farmers and mulberry farmers. Yuanqi will provide a generous immigration policy. You can first follow the prefectures and counties to announce traditional plans. This is also an alternative relief to the poor. Don't take advantage of loopholes."

Since the Yuanqi conquered Nanyang, Yuanqi has been constantly immigrating in recent years. The generous immigration policy has long been well known. Most of the immigrants who immigrated to Nanyang in the early days now live in wealth. If this was a live advertisement for Yuanqi immigrants, Yuanqi immigrants today are no longer as difficult as they were at the beginning. Often when news comes out, ordinary poor households flock to them.

When he heard that he wanted to immigrate to Japan in large quantities, Ding Baozhen was naturally happy and nodded quickly and said, "Water is only a few days away from Jiangsu, and there should be many people willing to immigrate. Don't worry, the emperor must do a good job of publicity and statistics from all prefectures and counties."

After seeing Ding Baozhen off, Yi Zhizu looked back at Zhao Liewen and Yi Zhengxing and said, "I will give you a task to compare the tax situation between the Qing Dynasty and Britain and France."

Zhao Liewen was stunned and said tentatively: "The shopkeeper is preparing to innovate taxes?"

"What are you thinking?" Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Hui Fu knows which is higher than which taxes in the Qing Dynasty and Britain and France?"

Zhao Liewen really didn't know about the tax situation between Britain and France, so he immediately looked at Yi Zhengxing, "Should you know something?"

"I'm not very clear." Yi Zhengxing said: "But I think it should be higher between Britain and France."
Chapter completed!