Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Bookstore.

Zhao Liewen walked into the room with a smile on his face, glanced at the Yi Zhizu father and son who were talking, and said happily: "Big shopkeeper, Transva Telegram, the gold mine has been put into mining, and it is expected to produce 25 tons of gold annually."

Twenty-five tons? Yi Zhizu received the telegram and glanced a few times, and smiled and said, "How many ounces are twenty-five tons equivalent to? Eighty-hundred thousand ounces, what was the situation in the California gold mine back then?"

"The California gold mine was discovered in 1848. The output of the first year of mining was only 400,000 ounces, and it soared to 2 million ounces in 1849. By 1853, it reached more than 3 million ounces." Zhao Liewen said casually as if he had known it: "The estimated output of the Transvaal gold mine in the first year is 800,000 ounces, which is far greater than that of the California gold mine."

There is no doubt that the Transvaal gold mine reserves exceed that of the California gold mine. There is no doubt that the two are very different. South Africa's gold reserves claim to account for more than half of the global gold reserves. This is not a pity. Yi Zhizu smiled and said: "South Africa's military use is expensive, and it is necessary to station troops for a long time. This output alone is unlikely to convince the public.

Furthermore, it is urgent to implement the gold standard. Now that Yuanqi has insufficient gold reserves, if the gold standard is implemented as soon as possible, the Chinese people need to have full confidence in Yuanqi, and this output is still insufficient."

Speaking of this, he paused and said: "Call back, speed up the exploration and mining of gold mines, and do everything possible to support South Africa's gold mining. The gold output next year must be as high as 100 tons!"

One hundred tons is 3.2 million ounces. If it can achieve this output, the Qing Dynasty will become a world gold-producing country. More importantly, the current gold-silver exchange ratio of 100 tons of gold is equivalent to 70 million taels of silver, which is definitely an extremely terrifying income!

With 70 million a year, Yi Zhengxing's heart was beating wildly and hesitated: "A yearly output of 100 tons, how many years can the Transvaal gold mine be mined?"

"It depends on the reserves of the Transvaal gold mine." Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I think it should be fine for mining for thirty or fifty years."

He didn't dare to tell the truth because he was afraid of scaring the other party. I remember it very clearly. The South Del gold mine in South Africa has a reserve of 50,000 tons. It only has a production of 100 tons per year and cannot be mined for hundreds of years. As for what he knows, the South Del gold mine is not only the world's largest gold mine, but also has a rare high gold content. Its annual output once reached 1,000 tons!

Thirty or fifty years! Yi Zhengxing and Zhao Liewen were still shocked. Thirty or fifty years meant three or five thousand tons of gold!

Seeing the two people, Yi Zhizuo was secretly funny, changed the topic and said, "Feng Zicai mentioned that when Transvaal formed an army, he needed to buy arms. He called him back to warn him that he needed to be extra cautious. Although the number of Boers is not large, he is brave and good at fighting. South Africa's gold mining is not a matter of one day or one night. It is necessary to curb the Boers' growth. It is best to use the British army to weaken the Boers' power to the greatest extent."

After recording the telegram, Zhao Liewen thoughtfully said: "The students did not understand why they destroyed the Boers, followed England and directly turned Transvaal into a colony of our country in South Africa."

Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I also want to annex Transvaal directly, but this is unrealistic." After a pause, he continued, "If we destroy Transvaal, the war with the British in South Africa may be endless. The British not only envied the Transvaal gold mine, but also worried that our further expansion in South Africa threatened their colonies in South Africa and would never give up.

Furthermore, European countries that are greedy for gold mines will inevitably raise criticisms and condemn them because we destroyed Transvaal, which may lead to the joint efforts of European countries in South Africa. We do not need to take this risk.

Keeping Transvaal, we can constantly weaken the Boers' strength by provoking wars between the Boers and the Blacks, and then supporting the Blacks, so we can gradually control the entire Transvaal, which is much safer than directly destroying Transvaal."

"Dingling" the crisp phone ringing sounded. Yi Zhengxing quickly got up and picked up the phone, asked a few questions before turning around and said, "It was King Gong who called, saying that constitutional establishment was about to be established. I asked my father if he went to Beijing to participate in the formal establishment meeting of the Supervisory Yuan?"

"Reply to Prince Gong, I won't join in the fun." Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I will send them a congratulatory message at that time."

As soon as Yi Zhengxing put down the phone, Lin Meilian reported at the door: "The big shopkeeper, Hu Guangyong, and Huo Qizheng were looking for a meeting outside."

"Let them come in." Yi Zhizu ordered casually, thinking that it was a matter of investigating overseas capital. Since the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, Yuan Qi has drawn capital to make trouble in the financial markets in the Americas and Europe, and has made a lot of money. If European capital did not notice it, it was purely self-deception. He was naturally very alert to European capital coming to the Qing Dynasty. He did not want the financial market he had finally cultivated to be messed up by European capital.

After Hu Guangyong and Huo Qizheng came in to see the ceremony, Hu Guangyong reported directly: "After these days of secret investigation, a large amount of European funds did flow into Guangzhou and Shanghai. It is estimated that the amount should be around 10 million pounds, and it is still flowing in a large amount."

Huo Qizheng continued: "The stock market stabilized and rebounded, and there was not much foreign capital flowing into the stock market. According to his subordinates' speculation, the other party should be waiting for an opportunity..."

What opportunity are you waiting for? The South African War broke out? Wait for the stock market to plummet and then take the opportunity to enter the market? Yi Zhizuo slightly sniffed a cigarette. It seems that the other party is sure that the Qing Dynasty will not give up the gold mine in Transva, and has full confidence in the Qing Dynasty's victory in South Africa... No!

No, besides a few people, can they be full of confidence in the Qing Dynasty's battle in South Africa? How could European capital be full of confidence in the Qing Dynasty? If this is true, England would not rashly declare war on Transvaal!

There is something strange about this! He then said in a deep voice: "The capital flowing into the stock market is really not much?"

After hesitating, Huo Qizheng said: "According to what we know at present, it is indeed not a big deal. It is estimated to be around 400,000 to 500,000 pounds, and most of them are earned at low prices. In order to avoid alarming the enemy, we dare not inquire in depth and carefully..."

Hu Guangyong said in a plea: "Generally, too large funds are used to enter the market through brokerage banks and brokers of all sizes to avoid exposure. Brokerage banks and brokers also strictly keep their customers confidential, and it is difficult to check general methods."

After a pause, he continued: "I personally think that European funds flowing in large scale when England declared war on Transvaal was nothing more than two purposes. One is to crack down on the stock market in Guangzhou and Shanghai. Once the stock market collapses and a large-scale financial crisis breaks out, Yuanqi will definitely be unable to take care of South Africa. The other is to make money and capital is profitable. Such a large-scale flow of capital must come for profit."

Making money? How to make money? Zhao Liewen said with confusion: "The European bankers wouldn't think that our Qing Dynasty could win the war in South Africa, right?"

Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "Gold-silver exchange ratio!"

"The big shopkeeper clarified the clarification." Hu Guangyong nodded, "After Germany implemented the gold standard, the gold-silver exchange ratio in Europe has steadily declined, and has now fallen to 1:20, but my country's gold-silver exchange ratio remains at a high of 1:22, and all the pounds flowing into Guangzhou and Shanghai have been converted into silver."

Zhao Liewen said in surprise: "The pound can be exchanged for gold freely. They are so kind to promote our country's implementation of the gold standard?"

"They are not kind-hearted!" Yi Zhizu said coldly: "They want to cause a large-scale run!"

"The shopkeeper can see it thoroughly." Hu Guangyong took over the conversation and said, "They are constantly exchanging silver on a large scale. Once a war breaks out, it will inevitably cause panic, which will trigger a large-scale run. At that time, the stock market will also fall sharply due to the outbreak of war. One impact will inevitably trigger a serious financial crisis!"

Zhao Liewen gasped, "A trick to kill two birds with one stone?"

"Not bad." Hu Guangyong nodded and said, "It is indeed a killing of two birds with one stone. It can not only trigger a run, but also suppress the stock market. Moreover, they can make steady profits without losing money. They can also make steady profits by transporting silver back to Europe. If we exchange silver for them to deal with the run, they can also start the price."

The room was immediately quiet. European capital was not a conspiracy, but a dignified open conspiracy. This was a clear idea that in order to exchange gold for gold, the Qing Dynasty has continuously increased the gold-silver exchange ratio, resulting in serious outflow of silver. To be honest, this is simply to use gold to smash people. If you want to absorb gold, you will eat a lot and eat it until you spit it out! And once you spit it out, the loss is not an ordinary big one!

Seeing that no one said anything, Yi Zhengxing said, "How about actively reducing the gold-silver exchange ratio?"

"No need." Yi Zhizu laughed and said, "The gold that came to the door actively is not worth pushing out. Keep eating, I want to see how much capital they have."

Zhao Liewen hesitated and said, "Aren't you worried about a run?"

"What are you worried about?" Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "As long as we win this battle in time, we can stabilize the situation and there is nothing to worry about."

After hearing this, Yi Zhengxing said worriedly: "There are too many unknown factors in war, especially naval warfare. Will this cause too much pressure?"

"There is pressure, but it won't be too great, don't worry." Yi Zhizu said and looked at Hu Guangyong, "Just pretending not to notice and let them do it."

Hu Guangyong said with a serious expression: "Big shopkeeper, will the foreign lending be temporarily stopped..."

This is because of the other party's large-scale loans. When the situation is in progress, Yi Zhizu thought for a moment and said: "At the end of the year approaching, if you stop lending, it will inevitably cause all kinds of suspicion and even panic. However, the more you lend, the greater the pressure of running when the situation is in progress. Increase the interest rate and control the scale of lending."

Although it was undercurrents, it was calm on the surface. Because of the intentional misleading of contentment, the government and the people both believed that the Qing Dynasty would not have a war with England in South Africa for a gold mine. With the strong rebound of the stock market, the run quickly subsided. Yuanqi Bank suddenly raised the lending interest rate, and the government and the people did not respond. Instead, the securities market was quite sensitive, and the momentum of the strong rebound suddenly fell, and the stock index began to turn down.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Day in 1872. The Qing Emperor Qixiang, who had already ruled, issued an edict to the world, officially announcing the constitution of the Qing Dynasty, and also promulgated the Constitution of the Qing Dynasty.

On the same day, the Chief Executive Yuan was officially established, and the three-level advisory bureaus of various provinces, prefectures and counties were also established. The Qing Dynasty and the country were celebrating, and Shanghai was naturally no exception. All government offices, schools and factories celebrated for three days on holidays. No matter the old and new cities were immersed in the joy. Firecrackers were heard at the door of the Jiangsu Advisory Bureau, and various celebrations were endless, which was more lively than the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival.

There are not many entertainment activities these days, so the people prefer to watch the fun. Baoshan workers who are rarely on holidays are all crowded to Shanghai. Although the streets in Shanghai are so wide that they are still crowded with people. At first glance, they are densely packed with heads.

Yi Zhizu stayed quietly in the Zhennan Prince's Mansion. In this case, unless it is very necessary, he usually cannot go out. The main reason is that the security is too difficult. Once recognized, it will definitely be a disaster.

After sending a few congratulatory messages, he returned to the backyard to accompany his wives and concubines to play horse hangers. This is a new entertainment that has become popular in the upper class in Shanghai. However, the mahjong plaques are smaller than those in later generations, but the material is not to mention that low-end dominoes and high-end ones are carefully carved with ivory and jade, so they will naturally not be big.

Yi Zhizu has no time to play mahjong at all, and the mahjong is complicated these days. With a few wives and concubines, he is just a boy who gives money. His wives and concubines are all overjoyed. The family is having fun. A maid comes in timidly to report: "Prince, Mr. Zhao comes to report, saying that Xiao Mingliang is asking for a meeting."

When he heard Xiao Mingliang coming, Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "He can choose the days." After a game, he smiled and stood up, "You guys play first, I'll come with you later." As he said, he glanced at the maids in the room and said, "Today, the constitution is established, and everyone is celebrated together. All maids, servants, etc. will be rewarded for a month."

After hearing the reward for a month, several maids in the room were immediately delighted and bowed in unison: "Thank you, Prince."

Yi Zhizu smiled, waved his hand and walked out slowly. When he came out, he saw Lin Meilian standing in the yard. He couldn't help but be surprised. He walked up to him and smiled, "Aren't you going shopping?"

"The streets are full of people, and shops of all sizes are crowded." Lin Meilian smiled and said, "So I came back early, but I didn't expect to meet Xiao Mingliang at the door."

Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I'm just wondering. Mr. Zhao went out to meet friends early in the morning. Why did he come back so early? It turned out to be you."
Chapter completed!