Written before the chapter:

Dear book friends, first of all, thank you for your support. I would like to tell you my thoughts on a few comments in the book review area. I don’t know what kind of person the book friend “Kulun 1911” is, but I support his speech in the comment area. The Qing Dynasty was indeed backward and closed and corrupt, but we cannot deny that when the Qing government promoted the “Western Affairs Movement”, when Emperor Guangxu wanted the “Reform of 1898”, they wanted the country to be better. No matter what their purpose was, even if it was just to maintain their own rule, they wanted the country to be better. As for Cixi, I can only say that this is a weird thing, just in line with the saying “When a country is about to perish, there must be monsters”, just like the eunuch group and relatives in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs and military generals in the late Tang Dynasty, eunuchs and Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty, were all weird.

In addition, I also respond to the book friend "The Wanderer Thinks of Hometown" based on this topic. Thank you very much for your support. For the two chapters of "debate", I actually thought about it when I wrote it as the above. "The reason why I heard my words is not because of who I am, but because what I said makes sense"! So I did not use the emperor's identity to issue regulations, but debated with others as an ordinary person. I want people to accept my thoughts, not my identity.

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Zai Tian turned his attention to Hu Yifan again: "How is the Navy?"

Hu Yifeng also calculated the navy's production capacity at this time, and then said: "At present, Jiangnan Shipyard and Guangdong Shipyard are being expanded, and both major shipyards can be expanded by the latest next year. At that time, we will have four major shipyards, Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which can build warships of more than 20,000 tons. The shipyards with a capacity of 10,000 tons are Busan, Qingdao, Huangpu, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Kaohsiung, and Haiphong. Now, two factories in Tianjin and Dalian are building new ones.

The type of battleship is expected to be launched in the water next spring for sea trials. If the sea trials of these two types of battleships are successful, it will be expanded and completed in Shanghai and Guangzhou. The four shipyards will start construction together, and 4-6 battleships of this type can be added in three years. During the same period, about eight new armored cruisers of 10,000 ton and about 12 fast cruisers of 5,000 ton. As for warships below 4,000 tons, there can be as many as twenty."

Hu Yifan said, Zai Tian calculated. "Thus, the total tonnage of the 35-ton warship will come out. But it is still a little different from your 400,000 tons demand. Do you also need to purchase from the outside?"

Hu Feng said: "No, the emperor, there is no need to purchase from the outside world. On the one hand, I have seen all over the world. There is currently no warship that can match the two "Emperor" class battleships and two "Commander" class armored cruisers that we are about to deliver. I just want to purchase from the outside, but I have no place to buy them. In addition, with our shipbuilding capabilities, as long as we drag for a year, we can add at least two battleships. In terms of total tonnage, it is enough.

. Third, our "Emperor"-class battleships are equipped with at least eight main guns, and one battlefield capability is better than the current two main battleships of other countries. Even our new generation of "Emperor"-class armored cruisers, if they are not weaker in armor, are only half of the "Emperor"-class, and rely solely on firepower, they have surpassed the battleships of other countries. Once we have equipped six to eight "Emperor"-class ships, we can basically be sure to form maritime power."

The new generation of the "Great Emperor"-class battleship of the Chinese Dragon Flag Fleet was produced in a standardized manner when Zai Tian inspected the Dalian Shipyard in 1902. This type of battleship was nearly 20,000 tons of water displacement and was equipped with 8-10 twelve-inch main guns. It is the largest and most advanced warship in the world today.

If you have weapons, what about human problems?

Liu Shaoqing said: "The new military service law has just been implemented this spring. Up to now, more than 40,000 veterans have been discharged from active service and returned home and become local armed forces, or local security forces. It is expected that by the end of the year, more than 30,000 people will return to the local area one after another. In the future, about 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers and officers will be discharged from active service every year. However, after returning to the local area, these people can train for the court and reserve more than 500,000 reserve militias every year. Within three years, our army can be expanded at least three times the current level, reaching 120 divisions and two million people. Once a large-scale war begins, 30 divisions can be expanded within half a year, and another fifty divisions can be expanded within one year. If the war lasts for three years, we can recruit 5 million soldiers, all of which have been trained by basic military."

The new military service law changed the recruitment system to the military service system, which stipulated that every young man of appropriate age had the obligation to serve in the military. They either directly enlisted in the army, or were assigned to militia reserves locally, or participated in local security forces. With the current population base of 400 million in the Qing Dynasty, it was not difficult to recruit five million soldiers in three years.

In addition, the Military Service Law also stipulates that the service period of ordinary army soldiers is five years, and the service period of technical troops such as artillery, cavalry, and engineers is eight years; the service period of ordinary naval soldiers is eight years, and the service period of technical troops is ten years. In this way, once the new recruits arrive, there will be sufficient veterans to pass on the troops, and there will be no technical disconnection.

The new military service law also established a promotion channel for soldiers. In the past, soldiers could only become officers by passing assessments and entering military academy for further study. Now, soldiers can also obtain promotion opportunities with their skills and combat capabilities. These promoted soldiers are called "sergeants" and "sergeant chiefs". They do not belong to officers, but enjoy the same treatment as officers. Usually a third-level sergeant chief is equivalent to a captain. Compared with young captains, sergeant chiefs who have served in the army for many years are even more authoritative.

Dear court officials, I discussed it for more than an hour, and basically determined the development plan for the next five years of the Qing Dynasty.

Zai Tian laughed.

An emergency strategic meeting was held as a five-year development plan meeting. This shows that the government reform over the past 20 years has not been in vain. These ministers really have the goods in their stomachs, so that they can determine the development direction and plan for a great country in the next five years in just half a day. Zai Tian even felt that with such a group of ministers, constitutionalism is not a terrible thing. At least, these people who control the lifeline of the country really have this ability.

Of course, the final decision was left to the emperor.

"The country is now going to carry out war reserves, whether it is weapons, ammunition, iron ore, oil, cotton, food, clothing, etc., and they must start strategic reserves. The goal of the reserves is to support our country's operations in the event that it cannot obtain any external support in five years, and it can still support the three million troops in combat. These strategic reserves will be built forty percent in the next five years and will be fully built between 1909 and 1914!"

Grain and light industrial products were under little pressure for the Qing Dynasty, but iron ore and oil needed to be imported in large quantities. However, considering that the emperor gave ten years, the ministers were relieved.

Zai Tian continued: "The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Commerce should join forces to use taxation, banks, policies and other means to encourage landlords who still occupy a large amount of land to use the land they have in their hands to develop industries. But you must keep a close eye on this area. We want to revitalize idle land with low yields, rather than those high-yield fertile land. We need both industry and agriculture."

Wang Wenshao, Wu Tingfang and Sheng Xuanhuai agreed in unison.

"Third, we must further strengthen the construction of basic public transportation and postal and telecommunications networks in the northwest and southwest areas. At the same time, we must increase the industrial construction of the two lakes, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Northeast my country, and expand our industrial manufacturing capacity."

Speaking of this, Zai Tian remembered something. "The engineers and scientists we poached from abroad signed a ten-year contract, right?"

Prince Gong Puwei said: "That is, most of them ended from the 32nd to 33rd year of the Guangxu period."

Zai Tian nodded: "Look at the people inside, gather all those who understand electromechanical and engines. We must make full use of these people in the past two years and make every effort to develop new high-power gasoline engines and diesel engines!"

"Yeah!"

Xu Jingcheng said again: "Your Majesty, that's the matter of buying land in Australia..."

Zai Tian said: "Can this be done?"

Xu Jingcheng thought for a while and said, "There are also several opposition parties in Australia. If we can make some money now and support one or two parties, we may be able to open up the situation if the election changes in three or four years."

Xu Jingcheng's idea must have been inspired by Shanqi's previous talk about Russia. But since there is a solution, of course he has to do it.

"In Australia, there are many minerals that China does not produce or produces very little. We are determined to get the land there. In this regard, the Zongli Yamen is the main one. In addition, we cannot be completely passively beaten. The Zongli Yamen also needs to actively contact other European countries, such as Spain, Austro-Hungary, Italy, Turkey, etc., on the one hand, find strong allies, and at the same time open up several more trade routes for our future economic and trade relations."

Xu Jingcheng bowed and said that.

Zai Tian arranged his thoughts one by one, including heavy industry, military industry, transportation, communications, light industry, agriculture and other aspects. As these policies were finalized one by one, the outline of the fifth five-year plan for the Qing Empire was formed, and the details were subject to various military operations, and the counselors, Minister Wang and the six ministries to improve them.

After a while, Shanqi immediately ordered his men to go to Yitong Inn, Beijing to invite someone as soon as he returned home.

This is the fifth time that Qiude Qiushui has come to China. The first two times were before the Sino-Japanese War. From his perspective, the changes in this old empire can be described as changing with each passing day.

China is now the well-deserved overlord of the Far East. Therefore, if Japan wants to develop, it cannot avoid this country anyway. Qiude Qiushui came to China with such a mentality and asked for help from the Qing government.

But his progress was not going well.

For China, Japan can now be said to be a small country worth mentioning, which makes him unable to raise any interest. Perhaps in the eyes of the Qing government, the only thing Japan can do now is its cheap labor.

Two times before, Qiude Qiushui had never seen an official of the fifth rank or above in the Qing Dynasty, so he was sent back to Japan by others. However, he was unwilling to give up, so he came to China again.

China's prices are cheaper than Japan, because China's products are much richer and more abundant than Japan. But this does not mean that he has the ability to live in the capital of this empire for a long time.

His funds are very tight. In fact, one of his main purpose in coming to China is to seek financial support, so he must meet the person he wants to meet within a week.

This person is named Lu Zongyu, and he was an official in charge of East Asian affairs in the Qing Dynasty. Although he was only a fifth rank, Qiushui is now a civilian, so it is not easy to see him.

Today is the fifth day, and he is racking his brains in the inn to think about that path to get what he wants.

A knock on the door sounded.

Xingde Qiushui is very strange. He usually doesn’t have anyone to visit him. Could it be that the inn owner came to collect the house?

"Who?"

A voice came from outside the door: "May I ask, does Mr. Qiutoku Akihiro from Japan live here?"

Someone actually came to find me? As Xunde thought, he opened the door.

There were three people standing outside the door, one wearing a Chinese-style small-collar suit, and the other two wearing traditional Chinese-style clothes.

"Who are you?"

The young man in a Chinese suit smiled and said, "Is it Mr. Xingde Qiushui? I am Lu Zongyu from the East Asia Department of the Zongli Yamen of the Qing Dynasty. These two are my friends. I came here to visit today because an adult wanted to meet with his husband. I wonder if it is convenient for him?"

Qiushui felt a little dizzy, as if it was caused by lack of oxygen. She was racking her brains in the room and trying to meet the person she wanted to meet, but she turned out to be standing outside her door waiting to see her. This relationship was a bit messy...

Xingde cleared his throat: "It's Xingde Qiushui, I wonder which adult summoned him?"

Lu Zongyu smiled slightly, "I'll know when I'm going. Please..." As he said that, he signaled outside. The two people in traditional costumes who came with him immediately said in unison: "Please!"

Xingde knew that this was his luck. He didn't know what he had worthy of the planning of senior officials of the Qing Empire. In short, it was definitely not greater than what he wanted to plan. Since there was nothing to be afraid of, Xingde quickly cleaned up and closed the door and went out of the inn with the three of them.

A four-wheeled car parked outside the door, and Xingde Qiushui got on the car accompanied by Lu Zongyu and drove all the way.

After about twenty minutes of leaving, the car drove into a large mansion. Then, a guard came over to open the car door and asked the two of them to get out.

Lu Zongyu nodded to the guard, and the guard said, "My lord has been waiting for a long time. Please follow me."

After passing through the two corner doors and walking through the Jiuqu corridor, we came to a small garden. On the pavilion, a middle-aged man was sitting there drinking tea, and two maids next to him were adding water and fanning.

The guard took two steps quickly, stepped forward and went to Tongbing first, and then took the two of them over.

Lu Zongyu walked closer and took the initiative to greet the middle-aged man. "I am a humble person, Lu Zongyu, have seen the prince!"

Only then did Xingde Qiushui realize that the one who wanted to see him was actually a prince.

He quickly bowed deeply, "The remote commoners are lucky to see the prince! The prince is thousands of years old, thousands of years old, thousands of years old!"

The prince was Shanqi. At this time, he smiled, "Mr. Xingde is so polite. Today, I asked Mr. Xingde to pass the mansion. I just chatted for a few words without any restraint. Come, please sit down and pour tea."

Xingde Qiushui leaned half of her butt on the stone bench next to her, and then said, "I wonder what instructions did the prince summon the grass people?"

Shanqi said: "This is Mr. Xingde's fifth time coming to my Qing Dynasty?"

"Yes."

"I heard that Mr. Kotoku is a very well-known social activist in Japan, right?"

Qiushui had no intention of hiding his identity, so he said, "The prince praised him. Caomin was in Japan, but he just wrote a few more articles to help the oppressed workers fight for a little bit of rights."

Shanqi nodded, "I think that workers work and then get income. Merchants invest and then get profits. Both sides take their needs. This is natural. Why does Mr. Xingde want to speak out for the workers?"

Xingde Qiushuidao: "China's factories have complete management system regulations of the imperial court, including how many days a month and how many hours a day. What is the minimum wage level for different types of jobs, and how factories should ensure the working environment for workers. The imperial court has clear regulations on these. Therefore, in China, the rights and interests of workers are basically guaranteed. Even if some factories violate these systems for profit-making reasons, special institutions will also be dealt with disputes between workers and factories."

Qiushui said this, paused for a moment, as if looking for a suitable language to describe it. "But Japan is different. Japan is now carrying huge debts that have not been returned yet, and the survival level of the entire country is extremely bad. Therefore, the factory's exploitation of workers is several times that of China. So the workers are on the verge of complete collapse. They are in danger. Even if they work for fourteen hours a day, they still find it difficult to support their families, and they have to rely on their wives and their children to work to supplement their family income. Some families have to rely on their wives to exchange for food because of their children. Therefore, we have to fight for them!"

Shanqi nodded: "Yes, debt problem. So, Mr. Kotoku thinks, what can we do to change the current situation in Japan?"

Qiushui immediately stood up and then said with great enthusiasm: "For the sake of the 40 million people in Japan, the people hope that the Qing Empire can reduce the debts of Japan!"

...
Chapter completed!