The Liu Mansion, which was originally a spacious house, suddenly became crowded with more than 300 people. The house was not enough to live in. Fortunately, there were mostly children, so they were crowded here and there, so they could barely settle down.

Liu Yiming admitted that he was impulsive. Although the weather in April was not freezing to death, if he did not keep warm at night, he would still get sick. With four people sharing a quilt, the only option was to join a group to keep warm.

"Your Excellency, when He Shun sent someone here, he sent a few more, saying that he had hidden them all these years." After eating, Liu Yiming sat on the stone steps of the yard. The lounge chair was moved as a bed.

.

"Huh?" Liu Yiming was lost in thought again and didn't hear clearly.

The old man realized that he was wrong and waved to the back, and the four girls came forward.

The four of them were all in their teens and should be the liveliest in their lives, but these four stood in front of Liu Yiming with low eyebrows.

No matter how beastly Liu Yiming is, he has no interest in this. He likes Lolita, but not this kind. Lolita is not talking about age. Copper smelting should be damned!

Liu Yiming sent several people off.

"When will Mr. Li plan to see me?" Liu Yiming asked.

"Master Li will be here tomorrow afternoon," the old man said.

"Come here? Isn't it too arrogant?" Liu Yiming knew the officials' pomp. Did Li Hongzhang also want to go on patrol incognito?

In other words, Li Hongzhang didn't believe it. It was Li Hongzhang who was unlucky. As for leaving Liu Yiming here? The rear party would not do that!

Early the next morning, the street was quiet. It had obviously been cleaned, but I didn't know if this kind of cleaning was normal.

Liu Yiming didn't have much time to pay attention, and was acting as the principal of a primary school. These people, the youngest was five or six years old, and the oldest was eleven years old. Fortunately, they were quite obedient and not naughty children. Just seeing the cautious appearance of these children, Liu Yiming felt a little bit in his heart.

Not the taste.

"Your Excellency, come with me!" Just after nine o'clock, the old man came to call him. Liu Yiming immediately understood that the afternoon was also a guise, and everyone left in the afternoon.

Liu Yiming took Xu Hui to the house next door. Well, Liu Yiming began to wonder whether this street belonged to Li Hongzhang.

"Master Li, I, Liu Yiming, have been appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South China. This is Xu Hui, the Minister of Industry and Commerce." When Liu Yiming entered the door, he saw an old man. Compared with the photos that were widely circulated in later generations, he still looked younger at this time.

"Are you Liu Yiming? The younger generation is to be feared!" Li Hongzhang knew that Liu Yiming was not very old, but he seemed to be only in his twenties and could make great achievements. It was really rare. At the same time, this age also caused some changes in Li Hongzhang's mentality.

Li Hongzhang greeted the two of them into the room, which was a traditional Chinese living room. Li Hongzhang sat on the left side of the room. Liu Yiming didn't think much about it, but was called by Li Hongzhang to sit on the right side.

"Minister Liu, let's make a long story short, what do you want and what can you bring to Beiyang?" Li Hongzhang did not hesitate. He had to confirm the quality of this person, otherwise there is no need to continue the conversation.

"Beiyang doesn't need what I need, and I can provide convenience for what Beiyang needs." Liu Yiming seemed to have said nothing in one sentence, but in Li Hongzhang's ears, it said everything.

"I would like to hear the details." Li Hongzhang asked someone to serve tea before he said to Liu Yiming.

"What Beiyang lacks is nothing more than two things, money and unrestricted external channels. We have these in Nanhua. What Nanhua needs is just a market and some refugees." Liu Yiming took a sip of tea. Although

It's cooperation, but it also needs to show Nanhua's size.

"What you say is unfounded." How is it possible to talk in vain and only want benefits?

"There is a ship at the dock, the Richardson, a 5,000-ton bulk carrier, flying the British flag. The goods on it are all produced in Nanhua. The goods were priced at two million taels and sold to Beiyang. They were resold to Beiyang.

There is no problem in making tens of millions. This is also part of the cooperation I am preparing for." Liu Yiming said.

Li Hongzhang didn't send anyone to check. He was there anyway and couldn't escape. As for Liu Yiming's profit concession, Li Hongzhang didn't care. Is Beiyang short of money? It's short! It's short! But what's short of money is money that can be shown openly. In private,

?Prime Minister Hefei is thin all over the world. Although he is attacked by political enemies, it is not groundless.

"We have a common enemy and goal." Liu Yiming was unmoved when he saw Li Hongzhang, nb!

"You mean Japan?" Li Hongzhang asked, showing his interest.

"It's not just Japan." Liu Yiming said, "There is also the emperor."

Li Hongzhang had seen many people who were not afraid of imperial power, so he was not too surprised. He was just a little more wary of Liu Yiming. The intelligence Liu Yiming had shown so far meant that he had a thorough understanding of the die. And he, Li Hongzhang, knew everything about Nanhua.

Very little.

"I don't know what grudge Japan has against you, but I would like to hear your opinion." Li Hongzhang said.

"I don't know what grudges I have against Japan, but this is a disgusting and despicable country, and nothing is too much." Liu Yiming reminded Li Hongzhang slightly.

"As for the dispute between the emperor and the empress, it can be easily solved by fighting a losing battle presided over by Emperor Guangxu. By then, the emperor's prestige will be insufficient and the threat will be easily resolved. But as a result, perhaps the tiger skin since Tongzhi's resurgence will be exposed.

It’s open.”

Li Hongzhang was a little touched. As one of the leaders of the Westernization Movement, he knew very well how weak this layer of tiger skin was, and he also knew what would happen if this layer of tiger skin was gone.

"But when the emperor grows up, he will be in power when he grows up. You can't stop it. The coming turmoil will definitely be more than this. Cooperation with Nanhua is a way out. Nanhua has just purchased a series of naval warships. Perhaps, this can be Beiyang's

The key to breaking the ice?" Liu Yiming used Li Hongzhang's ideas to guide Li Hongzhang.

It was Li Hongzhang's common practice to rely on foreign countries and rely on self-respect, and this would continue until the warlord period.

Sure enough, Li Hongzhang was moved. Especially after learning about the Japanese preparations, Li Hongzhang had been thinking of ways to strengthen armaments. This tall old man understood better the meaning of investing more than half of the finance in the military. This was preparing for war! The goal of the war would be

Who? Obviously, Beiyang bears the brunt!

"According to your statement, I, Beiyang, will definitely be at the front. Regardless of victory or defeat, Beiyang will lose." Li Hongzhang said.

"Then it's just like 1885. Won't it be enough to fight without victory or defeat?" Liu Yiming said.

In reality, this is not possible. In 1885, the battle was against France. There was no victory or defeat yet, and there were several countries that had not been beaten by France? Very few.

"How many people do you want? Let's agree first, I only have refugees here." Li Hongzhang said. No matter what, Li Hongzhang could only give it a try.

"As much as you want, I don't want it for nothing. The price will be deducted from the payment for the goods, but there are three chapters in the contract law." Liu Yiming said.

"Speak! You are a man too, mother-in-law." Li Hongzhang said.

"First, if you have a family, you can't break it up. It's best to get it back for the ones that have been separated. This fee will also be deducted from the payment."

"Secondly, although it's like buying and selling, you can't catch people for buying and selling. I'm an immigrant, not buying a slave."

"Third, Nanhua needs to build a wharf to transport immigrants. This matter needs to be kept strictly confidential. Once Japan knows about it, who knows what harm it will do? It's best to disguise it as a business transaction of money. What do you think?

"Liu Yiming finished.

"Wharf?" Li Hongzhang stared at Liu Yiming.

"It's not a concession, it's for confidentiality. Your military port is not short of spies. Beiyang can send people or warships to garrison." Liu Yiming knew that Li Hongzhang had misunderstood.

Li Hongzhang made the decision directly.

"As for the subsequent cooperation, including many aspects, to show sincerity, Nanhua has more or less made concessions." Liu Yiming's intern Xu Hui came up with a list.

"Don't panic, I, Beiyang, want to use your name to purchase ordnance, artillery, warship equipment, etc., are you willing?" Li Hongzhang said.

"No problem, aren't you a second-hand merchant? I can." Liu Yiming nodded, and then Li Hongzhang lowered his head and started to look at the list.

Li Hongzhang looked at it and expressed no further expression except that he was surprised that Nanhua could produce artillery shells. After all, the current situation was not difficult, and it was even easier.

"I'll talk to you about these matters to someone else. I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave first." Li Hongzhang stood up and waved to the back.

"Here, let me introduce you to Zhang Youqiao, my son-in-law, who participated in the Battle of Mawei in 1885." Li Hongzhang didn't know why he mentioned this matter. This is not a bonus!

"You young people, let's talk!" Li Hongzhang said and left. Liu Yiming asked Xu Hui and Zhang Youqiao to talk. To put it bluntly, this kind of high-level negotiation is to reach an intention and then draw up or even verbally agree on a treaty.

But to Liu Yiming's surprise, Zhang Youqiao didn't care about the trade treaty. After thinking about it, they realized that although the amount of money seemed to them not small, it was not real.

"Minister Liu, I have a few questions, and I hope that Minister Liu can clarify them." Zhang Youqiao finished talking about trade cooperation absent-mindedly, and immediately asked Liu Yiming actively.

"Mr. Youqiao, please speak." Liu Yiming cupped his hands and returned the greeting.

"Can you tell me how your army dealt with the Dutch navy? According to investigations, the Netherlands had at least thirty warships and hundreds of guns at that time, but your army did not have a navy." Zhang Youqiao said about the navy.

The impression was very deep.

There was nothing to keep secret. Liu Yiming first analyzed to Zhang Youqiao the situation of the Dutch navy's foreign power and internal cadres, and how to block the news and strategic deception, and finally closed the door and beat the dog.

After finishing speaking, Zhang Youqiao became a little strange.

The Battle of Mawei destroyed the largest shipyard in East Asia. How similar was the process? The difference was that even though a war had begun, the warships in the port were still ordered not to fire first, so that the already weak navy could only be passively beaten.

"Please trouble Mr. Youqiao to take someone to hand over the goods. I still have use for this ship!" Liu Yiming said with a smile.

Soon the two sides completed the first round of trade exchanges, although this was not what Liu Yiming valued most.

In the following time, Liu Yiming walked around Tianjin Wei while communicating with Zhang Youqiao.
Chapter completed!