Li Yu just entered Xiyuan today and saw an acquaintance.
Tang Shaoyi smiled and walked over, cupping her hands and saying, "Master Li, are you going to teach Long Live Master?"
Li Yu said: "Yes, the emperor is very interested in Western learning now. Where is Tang Daotai, are you coming to Beijing to do business again?"
"I will submit last year's customs report to the Queen Mother, and also bring a note from Governor Yuan," Tang Shaoyi said.
Now the customs tariff has reached as high as 30 million taels per year, accounting for about 32% of the Qing government's fiscal revenue, second only to the land tax of 37 million taels.
The status of the customs agents has naturally increased, and ordinary second-level officials do not dare to underestimate them.
Li Yu said: "Fortunately, the trains between Beijing and Tianjin are now smooth, so there is less fatigue from traveling by boat."
Tang Shaoyi added: "It's just a good time to see you. I have something to ask Mr. Li for advice."
Li Yu said: "Taotai, please speak."
Tang Shaoyi said: "Governor Yuan has been preparing to purchase armaments recently, and the order has almost been placed. But suddenly an American came a few days ago, claiming to be able to provide the most advanced warship power solution, which can improve ship power and make it possible to use coal forever.
It sails on the sea and is extremely suitable for ocean warfare."
"No coal?" Li Yu felt uncomfortable when he heard this.
"Yes," Tang Shaoyi lit a cigar, "I took out the design drawings. It doesn't feel like they are fake. Governor Yuan is very interested in them."
Li Yu said helplessly: "Daotai, you have been fooled. This is a liar."
"Oh?" Tang Shaoyi blew out a puff of smoke, "Liar?"
"There is no way in the world that can sail on the sea forever without fuel." Of course Li Yu knew in his heart that it was a perpetual motion scam.
Tang Shaoyi said: "I also find it very strange, but the American named John spoke very seriously, and the design drawings were very detailed. He also said that the US Navy adopted his plan."
Li Yu said categorically: "He is deceiving you. In the field of thermodynamics, it is called the second type of perpetual motion machine. It is a complete scam. The British and French academies of science have ordered to ban any related patent applications."
Tang Shaoyi said: "If it is really a liar, it will be troublesome. Governor Yuan is prepared to invest 5 million liang in his research and development."
I'll go, five million! This liar is really brave enough to open his mouth.
Li Yu hurriedly said: "Daotai must dissuade Governor Yuan, otherwise the five million will be wasted and the development of armaments will be wasted."
Now that Beiyang has not come out of the gloom of its defeat to the Japanese Navy, Yuan Shikai hopes to find a shortcut to catch up with the Japanese Navy.
But Li Yu knew very well that the navy was the most expensive military service. There is a saying: five years for the army, ten years for the air force, and one hundred years for the navy.
Even in the 21st century, the Navy's cash burn level is much higher than that of the Air Force.
Tang Shaoyi said: "I really can't see what the problem is. By the way, you said this is the field of thermodynamics. I have the impression that you have published relevant papers before. You are knowledgeable. Otherwise, you should go and talk to the Governor.
."
"Okay, I'll go to Beiyang with you." Li Yu couldn't think of any good way. It is true that people who have not received modern scientific education are too easy to be fooled by the perpetual motion scam.
Even a hundred years later, there are still people who are working tirelessly to study perpetual motion machines, and some people are also fooled, not to mention China, which has just accepted scientific enlightenment.
Tang Shaoyi said: "Thankfully there are understanding people like you, otherwise we don't know how many times we would have been deceived by foreign swindlers."
Li Yu smiled bitterly: "You still have to keep your eyes open."
Alas, it is still the fault of worshiping foreigners and favoring foreigners.
In his previous life, many foreign swindlers who could not survive abroad were able to run rampant in China and cheat. What's more, in the early twentieth century, it was really helpless.
Tang Shaoyi said: "I have to go to the General Taxation Department of Customs to report to Mr. Hart today, and we will go to Tianjin together tomorrow."
Since the General Department of Customs and Taxation moved from Shanghai to Beijing, it has not been touched. However, during the Gengzi Incident, the two-story western-style building originally used for offices, the Beijing Red Building, was destroyed by the Boxers, and new buildings were built.
After bidding farewell to Tang Shaoyi, Li Yu went to teach Guangxu today's half-hour lesson.
After entering Yingtai, they found that Yudeling had just finished giving an English lesson to Guangxu. When Yudeling walked out of the palace door, Guangxu inside shouted: "You forgot your coat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yudeling absentmindedly went back to pick up her coat. It was cold outside now, but she didn't even feel it just now.
"And your teaching materials." Guangxu shouted again.
After hearing this, Yu Deling went to get it.
Her mental state was obviously not good.
Li Yu asked: "Sister De Ling, what's bothering you?"
When Yudeling saw Li Yu, he sighed and said, "I was at the Queen Mother's place today and overheard Rongzhongtang talking to her. It seemed that she wanted to betroth me to Rongzhongtang's son Balong."
Why is it Balon again!
Ronglu's current physical condition is very bad, but Balon is his son after all, and he still needs to take care of him.
Although De Ling was Han, he belonged to the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, which did not affect the ban on intermarriage between Manchus and Han Dynasties.
The Yu family is not an ordinary small family, and De Ling is now a popular person in front of Ci Xi, so he thinks it is a good marriage.
Of course Li Yu knew what kind of virtue Balon was and said, "He is a dandy."
Yudeling said sadly: "I know, but what can I do?"
The Ronglu family are all conservatives, and his son is no exception.
De Ling has lived abroad for a long time, but the feudal concepts in his heart are much less.
All Ronglu wanted in his mind was that he could use this opportunity to let Baron learn more about Western learning, and by making good use of his virtue, he could accomplish more with one stone.
When Guangxu heard this, he said, "I thought you could avoid it for the time being."
De Ling said: "Where can I avoid it?"
For various reasons, Guangxu also hated Ronglu and said: "Anyway, just leave the capital."
Li Yu thought about it, Guangxu's method was really effective. It seemed like an escape, but it was actually a proactive strategy.
Today's women are all about staying close to home. Of course, entering the palace to serve Cixi is one thing, but they are as conservative as the Ronglu family. But how could they like a woman who runs around and "doesn't keep the rules".
So Li Yu also said: "What the Holy One said is correct. In a few days, Balon's thoughts will definitely go to other women."
A glimmer of hope ignited in De Ling's heart: "Where can I run?"
Li Yu said: "I happen to be going to Tianjin tomorrow, why don't you follow me to Tianjin for a while."
De Ling said happily: "That's great. I am a weak woman and I really don't dare to run around."
The next day, Tang Shaoyi met Li Yu at Zhengyangmen East Railway Station as scheduled. He saw not only Li Yu, but also a woman in a dress standing next to him, and asked: "Who is this?"
Li Yu hurriedly explained: "The daughter of the Yu family, Miss De Ling."
"Oh oh oh! Okay!" Tang Shaoyi said with a faint smile.
Li Yu couldn't say much to him. Fortunately, Tang Shaoyi was not a pedantic person.
"Then we need to get a replacement ticket when we get on the bus."
Tang Shaoyi still bought a first-class carriage. To him, a ticket worth 15 silver dollars was like 15 yuan for a modern person.
Because Customs Daotai is really too rich.
He didn't have to be greedy at all. In fact, the wages paid by the customs system in the late Qing Dynasty were too high.
Corruption in the Qing dynasty's bureaucracy was extremely common, but Hart's Customs and Taxation Department had always been a relatively clean bureau. There had been almost no major corruption incidents for decades. The reason was the high-paying system created by Hart to support integrity.
Including salary and various subsidies, Tang Shaoyi's annual income is as much as six to seven thousand taels. This is only given by the tax department. After all, Tang Shaoyi is a member of the imperial court, and he can receive money from Yuan Shikai, so it will not be less than this amount.
.Indeed, there are not many people like him who can get along well in both the foreign system and the Qing Dynasty's bureaucracy, and can even mediate.
However, nothing can be said for sure. The customs system managed by Hurd is by no means free of corruption, especially himself.
When Hart came all the way to China to become an official, he first considered his own interests, followed by the interests of the British Empire, and finally the interests of the Qing government and even China.
Even foreigners themselves have estimated that during the decades that Hart served as the Customs and Taxation Department, he probably accumulated a huge private wealth of more than 5 million taels of silver. This is just a figure on paper.
Hurd once secretly made a lot of money by taking advantage of convenient reimbursement conditions. For example, when he went to Paris on a business trip and rented a bungalow for half a year, he actually spent 7,500 taels of silver. This was the figure he reported, but in fact the rent was only 1,000 taels.
.
As a comparison, the house rented by the Qing Embassy in Britain at that time only cost 4,000 taels of silver a year.
Hurd himself said: If he wanted to, he could earn more.
After all, the British government wanted Hurd to serve as minister to China and offered Hurd a high salary of 25,000 pounds per year, equivalent to 60,000 taels of silver per year, but Hurd directly refused...
But even so, the overall level of corruption in Hart's customs system is much better than that of other Qing government yamen, which is quite ironic.
When Hart first took office, customs tax revenue was only 5 million taels. By the time he left office in 1908, it had exceeded 30 million taels.
The few million taels of greed can almost be said to be the price of extending the life of the Qing Dynasty.
Zhili Governor's Office.
Zhang Yi, the general manager of the Kaiping Mining Bureau, knelt tremblingly in front of Yuan Shikai, kowtowing as if he was pounding garlic: "Sir Governor, I really know that I was wrong. At that time, I really didn't know that De Cuilin actually cheated."
De Cuilin currently works in the Tianjin Customs and Taxation Department.
If Hurd still has some professional ethics and understands the scope of work that he should do well, then De Cuiling is really a guy who is crazy about seeking wealth.
Yuan Shikai was furious: "According to you, the entire Kaiping Mining Bureau has become a British asset?"
Zhang Yi trembled and said, "That's basically it, Mr. Governor."
Yuan Shikai threw the cup in his hand hard, Zhang Yi subconsciously dodged it, and the cup smashed to the ground.
Yuan Shikai scolded: "You bastard, how dare you hide?!"
Seeing that Yuan Shikai was about to stand up and take action, Yang Shiqi quickly stopped him and said, "Sir, let him explain clearly first."
The Kaiping Coal Mine was the largest coal mine in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. As the governor of Zhili, Yuan Shikai was currently using money to purchase armaments. He thought that the Kaiping Coal Mine was under his management, so he wanted to tax it to provide military expenses.
However, when he arrived at the Kaiping Coal Mine, he found that the Qing dragon flag had been lowered and turned into the British flag instead. He was dumbfounded on the spot.
Zhang Yi did not dare to hide any more and said: "More than two years ago, the Eight-Nation Allied Forces invaded Beijing and Tianjin. I hid in the concession. I thought it would be safe inside. However, the British army actually said that the pigeons I raised were being used by the imperial court.
After leaking the information, De Cuilin found me later and said that the British wanted to occupy the Kaiping Coal Mine and that he was mediating, but they did not have the property rights, so she asked me to authorize him to have full authority to handle the property rights of the Kaiping Coal Mine."
Yuan Shikai said angrily: "You just believe it?"
Zhang Yi was almost in tears: "Your Majesty Governor, I was in a prison of the British army at that time, and there were shootings and cannons every day outside. It was so scary! I don't know what's going on outside, but I thought about the situation of an official like De Cuilin.
You won’t lie to me, I didn’t expect…”
Yang Shiqi counted his fingers and said, "No! Since the incident happened two and a half years ago, and you only authorized it temporarily and did not sign a formal sale contract, it is impossible for the British to directly and completely occupy the Kaiping Coal Mine."
Zhang Yi's mouth trembled and he continued: "Master Yang is right! So after I was released, De Cuilin and an American named Hoover sent by the British Mollin Company gave me a copy
The "Contract for Selling Kaiping Mining Bureau" forced me to sign."
Yang Shiqi asked: "So you signed it?"
Zhang Yi kowtowed vigorously and said, "I don't dare not sign it, little one."
"What the hell!" If Yuan Shikai had a gun at hand, he would have wanted to kill him directly.
Yang Shiqi quickly persuaded him, "Sir, don't be angry."
Yuan Shikai said angrily: "Aren't you angry? I have to beat him to death today. This is a fertile thing!"
Zhang Yi was so frightened that he quickly said: "Sir Governor, please spare my life! I was also deceived by them at first. I thought it was a lease contract, but I didn't expect that in the end they changed the word 'rent' to 'sell' in the contract.
I didn’t take a closer look, just…”
"You, you, you! Are you a pig brain?!" Yuan Shikai was so angry that he was speechless. "Where is my gun? Today I will let you taste the taste of bullets!"
Yang Shiqi hurriedly said: "Sir, please don't get angry! We can't kill him, the Queen Mother values him very much."
After Cixi was moved out, the anger in Yuan Shikai's heart subsided a little.
The Kaiping Coal Mine was originally opened under the order of Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang.
After the death of the first general manager Tang Tingshu, Zhang Yi, despite his mediocre abilities, still became the new general manager of Kaiping Coal Mine thanks to his relationship with Prince Chun Yixuan. Anyway, for Yixuan, nepotism was commonplace.
After Zhang Yi became the general manager, he stopped supplying the highest-quality Wuchao coal from Kaiping Coal Mine to the Beiyang Navy. In his opinion, the Beiyang Navy offered low prices and slow payment returns, and was not a high-quality customer.
Instead, they sold high-quality coal to foreign businessmen.
Then he gave more than 1,000 tons of low-quality coal that was stored in the warehouse and was not even wanted by the Steamship Merchants Bureau and the Tianjin Machinery Bureau to the Beiyang Navy.
This batch of low-quality coal sold to the Beiyang Navy contained a large amount of residue, which would emit billowing smoke when burned and damage the ship's power system.
Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the Beiyang Navy, wrote to Zhang Yi many times to protest against his selling low-quality coal to the Beiyang Navy.
Zhang Yi believed that there was someone above him and ignored Ding Ruchang. As a result, when the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898 broke out, Ding Ruchang and Zhang Yi were still arguing over the coal issue.
The Beiyang Navy was completely wiped out in the Sino-Japanese War, and Ding Ruchang committed suicide and died for his country. Zhang Yi, however, still stayed in his position well and lived a comfortable life.
He sold high-quality coal to foreign businessmen, and most of the tens of thousands of taels of silver he earned were donated to Empress Dowager Cixi to build the Summer Palace. Empress Dowager Cixi was so happy that she praised: "This man is very good at doing things."
Naturally, Zhang Yi's position as the head office is more secure.
Yang Shiqi asked in a gloomy voice: "How many taels of silver did you get in total from selling the Kaiping Coal Mine?"
Zhang Yi said: "They, they said they would give me a total of 600,000 taels, but they actually didn't give me much..."
Yuan Shikai was really angry and his teeth were itching. Zhang Yi saw that his veins were still popping up and said quickly: "I will give all the money they gave me to Master Yuan. I just ask you to spare my life."
Yuan Shikai scolded: "600,000 taels? The Kaiping Coal Mine alone requires at least 6 million taels in terms of assets. Moreover, it will be mined every year in the future, but now you sold it for 600,000 taels!"
Yang Shiqi was really afraid that Yuan Shikai would kill him, and it was difficult to explain to Cixi, so he also cursed: "Get out of here! Don't stain your eyes again!"
Zhang Yi quickly kowtowed a few more times: "Thank you, sir, for not killing me."
He ran out in panic.
This guy really managed to survive. After making such a big mistake, Cixi still didn't kill him. This is Lafayette. Haha, the eunuch below has to praise her for being reasonable and remembering old feelings.
After he ran out, Yang Shiqi said to Yuan Shikai: "Sir, the deal is done. We can only find a way to get it back."
Yuan Shikai, who had lived abroad for many years, said helplessly: "You can try, but it's basically impossible. How can a tiger or wolf vomit out the meat after it eats it?"