Under the leadership of Guangxu, the Qing Dynasty, although the industrial and commercial reforms were several years later than Japan, it still achieved gratifying achievements. By the end of the 16th year of the Guangxu period, the Ministry of Revenue calculated that the Qing Dynasty had nearly 3,000 factories with more than 10 workers, of which more than 600 were using steam power. The number of workers reached more than 300,000. There were only 42 enterprises in this area, and the others were established by private capital or jointly with foreign investors.

The pioneer of China's industrial revolution was still the cotton textile industry. In 1891, the Qing Dynasty had 200,000 spindles. The printing and cloth industry had already produced factories using printing and dyeing machinery, and 170 printing machines had reached 170. The hemp and wool textile industry has basically completed the technological transformation due to the direct use of international advanced technology.

But the biggest driving force for China's industrial reform was the construction of railways. By 1890, although China had only more than 700 kilometers of railways, the planned construction in the next few years reached more than 5,000 kilometers. In addition, the development of the ship shipping industry. In 1890, China had 280 commercial ships with a total tonnage of 110,000 tons. These ships were almost all built locally in China - this is why Guangxu was so confident in building ships.

Railways and shipbuilding have brought about rapid development of the steel industry, and at the same time, the coal industry has achieved rapid development.

The development of industry brought rich employment opportunities, and the Northeast Reclamation Plan promoted by Guangxu greatly reduced the number of people who were displaced and became beggars due to natural disasters in history. On the one hand, it saved the court's relief funds. At the same time, the newly added income of farmers and workers stimulated consumption, further boosting the pace of industrial reform.

Now, the industrial and commercial development of the Qing Dynasty has initially formed a scale and has begun to enter the fast lane. As long as Guangxu is not dead, China will definitely complete the industrial revolution before Japan.

Of course, there is another variable between this, that is, China must win a war with Japan in the future.

Therefore, in early 1891, Guangxu began to invest all his money to complete the combat readiness plan. In addition to the army's preparation, the navy's talent training and shipbuilding plan, and the construction of naval bases were also included.

At the end of 1890, the first phase of the Lushun Military Port was completed, becoming China's first large dock port that can accommodate 10,000 tons of ships to repair and maintain. The construction of the Lushun Military Port took four years and cost more than 1.3 million taels of silver (the entire fortress was planned to be completed for 7 years, with a budget of 3 million taels of silver). France contracted the construction of the last iron ship repair factory, Dashiwu, tap water, lifting dock, railways, various warehouses, factories and offices.

The French who contracted the project tried their best to build the project for the Qing Dynasty because they wanted to perform well before taking on the big work of the Beijing-Hanzhou Railway. For this reason, the French transported a large water pump that could pump 90 tons of water per hour, absorbed the leaking gate, and built a large stone dock with a length of 41 zhang, a width of 12 zhang, a depth of 3 zhang, a stone staircase, and a sliding prop. There was also a layer of concrete outside. There was also a repair shop, an electric light factory, a boiler factory, a machine factory and four warehouses, each covering an area of ​​48,500 square meters. In order to prevent fire and waterproof, all iron roofs and beams were used. The 5 cranes were connected by small railways around them, and large and small circuit lights were also installed.

However, the French did not get the project of the Jinghan Railway in the end, but they got the construction project of the Qingdao base. In 1891, the Qing government approved the fortification in Qingdao. The Qingdao base planned to imitate the Lushun base, but the tonnage would be further expanded, and the planned investment of four million taels of silver was planned - the French at least did not waste their efforts.

In addition, the Germans have improved the projects of Weihaiwei Fortress and Dagu Fortress, which are much smaller, but they also have a budget of about one million taels.

The British benefited the most from the next round of arms race and industrial development. In addition to the shipbuilding plan, the British also undertaken the construction of another major railway line in the Qing Dynasty, the Jinpu Railway. The railway was planned to invest 36 million taels of silver and was completed and opened to traffic 25 years ago in the Guangxu period. For this reason, the Qing government needed to pay out more than four million taels of silver every year.

In March, Emperor Guangxu met with envoys from various countries to Beijing at Ziguang Pavilion and more than 30 counselors. This was the first time that Guangxu had met with envoys from various countries since he took power.

In the late 19th century, the rule of the Qing government of China could be described as riddled with holes. Western powers were eyeing China. Before, Zaitian was too young, and on the one hand, he was worried that the Western powers would feel that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it and erode China more severely, so he always introduced Yihuan, Li Hongzhang, Yixin and others to support his appearance. At least these people were enlightened and capable ministers in the eyes of foreigners. On the other hand, they were also a way to hide their own low-key strategy to give him more time and space to make some basic preparations.

Now the industrial and commercial reforms of the Qing Dynasty have begun to show results, and their relationship with Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries is much better than in another time and space, which makes Guangxu feel more confident. Another reason is that Li Hongzhang is nearly 70 years old, and Yihuan is becoming increasingly difficult to bear the work pressure due to physical reasons, which makes Guangxu have to stand in front of the stage.

Because of the introduction of foreign investment and investment in infrastructure construction in the Qing Dynasty's industrial and commercial reforms, the top five of the Western powers, except Russia, have achieved a lot of benefits. With these four major King Kong towns, the Russians dare not blow up the thorns, not to mention other second-rate countries such as Austro-Hungary, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, etc. Zai Tian is not afraid of them now, and these countries also have a lot of trade exchanges with China, so this meeting was a joy.

"The British Empire has a strong industry and the world's most advanced navy, and China is now in its development stage. We need the British government to continue to support our country in naval and industrial construction. Of course, the Chinese government will continue to support the UK as firmly as ever."

As the boss of today's world, the British naturally received the first attention of Zai Tian.

Wallson replied politely: "As Your Majesty, you have seen, the British Empire is willing to become a firm supporter and partner of the Chinese government. I believe that delaying future cooperation will deepen the already deep friendship between the two countries. At the same time, on behalf of our government, I would like to express my great gratitude to your country's soldiers for rescuing people in distress in our country."

Last spring, the freighter "Zhongzhuang" of the British Swire Shipping Company lost its direction due to heavy fog and sank on the sea of ​​Shuwei in Fuzhou. Cheng Shaoxun, the agent who discovered this danger, immediately led the officers and soldiers to rescue him, and finally rescued the seven British people and more than 40 Chinese crew members on the ship. Later, he managed to salvage the ship out of the water and return it to the British Swire Shipping Company. For this reason, the British had sent letters to express his gratitude many times and gave each soldier who participated in the rescue forty taels of silver as a reward.

Zai Tian smiled and said, "This is something that any civilized country will do. I believe that if it were the British Empire, it would not stand by and watch the subjects of any country in distress." After that, he shook hands with Hurd beside Wall: "I also want to thank Mr. Hurd for his efforts in customs work. Of course, I hope that Mr. Hurd can help us recover more tariffs and contribute to our country's development."

Although it is a shame for a country's customs to be controlled by foreigners, Zai Tian has to admit that with the current situation of the Qing Dynasty, the customs under Heard are indeed much more honest and efficient than the officials of the Qing government. Therefore, Zai Tian ended with a pun joke.

This is how diplomacy is. The well-dressed gentlemen said all kinds of unnutritious words, but they ignored the dispute between China and Britain on the border between Tibet. However, the Russians would not let the Qing government and the British come together completely.

"Oh, I feel relieved to see your happy conversation with Mr. Wallsen. My respected Majesty. Is it because your government finally reached an agreement with the British government on the issue of India and Tibet?" Kuo Leiming joined this small circle uninvitedly, and he didn't open the pot when he opened his mouth.

Wallson looked at the Russian minister in disgust.

The international competition between the British and Russians is well known, so both sides do not have to worry about anything. Wallson retorted, but Zai Tian spoke first: "Oh, Mr. Kuo Leiming reminded me. Regarding the border issue between India and Tibet, I think that in such a harmonious and friendly environment between China and Britain, a peaceful solution can be found. As the head of the Chinese government, I think that the Qing Dynasty can appropriately open some places in the border areas of Tibet as trading ports, such as Yadong. I wonder if Mr. Wallson is willing to help me convey the goodwill of our government to His Majesty the Queen of your country?"

The sudden pie made Wall stunned for a moment. He immediately said, "I am honored, my respected Majesty. After the meeting, I will immediately pass this news back to the country. I believe that Her Majesty, the Queen of Our country, will also be grateful for your magnanimity."

In Zai Tian's mind, the British are different from the Russians. The British are more inclined to control China's economy and even politics in order to make profits, while the Russians also hope to obtain land in addition to these.

Another important factor is that the British are far away, while the Russians are close at hand. Even if Britain has occupied some land for a period of time, China can find opportunities to recover in the future. As long as China's industrial and commercial system is sound, Britain's maritime advantages will not be effectively suppressed. After all, China's domestic demand is enough to support the country's development for decades.

But the Russians can rely on their powerful army to ensure that the fat they swallow will not be spit out again.

The Chinese have been playing this trick for thousands of years when they are in distant relationships and attacking each other. This is the fundamental idea of ​​Guangxu’s alliance with Britain to resist Russia.

As for the Tibetan border issue, the British Indian colonial army now has no military advantage on the Indian-Tibet border, and their soldiers have not been able to seize the key pass of Longtushan until now. It is not that there is no attempt, but the combat skills of the Tibetan soldiers guided by the staff team left by Liu Shaoqing can be described as leaps. In addition, the weapons and equipment are not inferior to the British and Indian army, so the British failed to fight back several times, but instead lost thousands of soldiers in vain.

So Zai Tian is confident that the concession he made now will definitely receive a response from the British government.
Chapter completed!