The Japanese army in Shandong was annihilated, and its impact on the war situation was actually limited from a military perspective. After all, the navy had already won, and the Japanese combined fleet could no longer pose a threat to the Italian task force.
However, the annihilation of the Japanese troops in Shandong was a great political encouragement to the Qing Dynasty. This annihilation battle was considered a victory for Li Zhongtang, and the burden on Li Zhongtang was relieved a lot. After all, the Italians performed well and were against Japan.
Fake foreigners are still easy to catch. Who in the market today would not praise Li Zhongtang for his foresight and foresight.
It seemed as if Li Er was not the only one who was scolded when the Huai army was defeated.
Although the praise from the market and even the Qing court made Li Zhongtang feel better, hiring foreign soldiers also had its own worries. Li Zhongtang's worries have not stopped recently, all because of money issues.
Lord Zhou Fuzhou, who had just returned from supervising the troops on the front line in Rongcheng, was pulled over by his benefactor Li Zhongtang.
"Yushan, what did you see in Shandong?"
As a staff member for many years, how could Zhou Fu not know the meaning of his benefactor's words?
I saw him speaking. "The Italian army's battle formation is quite sharp. It can be said that it is invincible and invincible. It's just that the consumption is too much and a headache. In just one honor, more than 50,000 shells were fired, and millions of shells were fired."
We may not be able to afford the consumption of bullets."
"So...the Italian army has no intention of doing anything?"
"Not yet..."
"In that case, what's the point of complaining?"
Li Zhongtang's words made Mr. Zhou wake up from a dream. "It's me, Meng Lang!"
Yes, since the soldiers can do that. To go out to destroy the Japanese and worry about the ammunition consumption is a typical small gain. As for not being active enough, this is normal. Those Qiu Ba of our own can spend one or two less silver.
He can't move, and he can't win even with money. The battle is even more irritating.
Although Li Zhongtang understood the performance of the Italian army, such a modern war still made it difficult for him.
The most obvious example is that money cannot be restrained from being spent, which finally allowed the 6 million taels of silver allocated by the court to be gone in less than a month.
I wonder if it would be easy for Li Er to deduct some money from the court. Not only did he have to convince the princes of the court, but he also had to fight Weng Shuping in a battle of wits and courage. In the end, this little money was the only money the court had in the past six months.
As for the remaining gap, we can only count on Li Zhongtang to find a solution on his own. In addition, because of his hard work and familiarity with foreign affairs, he was allowed to borrow money from foreigners.
Borrow foreign debt?
Although foreign debt is easy to borrow, it is difficult to repay it. Li Er has been doing foreign affairs for so many years, and he has already figured out the habits of foreigners. As long as you ask, you can borrow as much as you want, but in addition to interest, there are various other conditions.
Being in it can make you sick to death. But it’s impossible not to borrow it. The family is waiting for the rice to be cooked, so Li Zhongtang has no choice but to become a good doctor after a long illness.
Just when I was thinking about the trouble of foreign debts, I heard a servant coming to report that Mr. Shanda had arrived.
This person in Shanda is talking about Sheng Xuanhuai. As the Huai Army's purse, how could he bypass him when it comes to borrowing money from foreigners? This matter of not borrowing foreign debts will be handled by Sheng Xuanhuai. He, Li Zhongtang, only needs to wait for the final decision.
That’s it.
Not to mention, Sheng Xuanhuai had a good negotiation with the foreigners. The conditions for the previous loan of 20 million taels were very good, and he was very satisfied.
"I've met my lord."
After a brief greeting, Li Zhongtang asked directly without giving Sheng Xuanhuai time to breathe. "Xingsun, how was the discussion this time?"
Don't blame Li Zhongtang for asking anxiously. Isn't this an urgent need for money? More than 100,000 frontline soldiers are counting on Li Er to pay for it. If he doesn't borrow money, he won't be able to support him even if he is sold.
Facing the urgent Li Zhongtang, Sheng Xuanhuai certainly did not dare to have any objections and said directly, "Master Zhongtang, it is not easy to negotiate this time. We borrowed a lot this time, and banks in various countries were unwilling to lower the conditions. Even the last time we borrowed money
The Dehua and Italian-Chinese banks that gave us the money were also unwilling. Privately, Mr. Banshal, the head of the Italian-Chinese Bank, told me that the last time we borrowed money, we had been under great pressure. This time we borrowed 50 million taels of silver, and the ministers of various countries have strictly ordered
Each bank must not violate the agreement of the banking consortium, and Ambassador Jia has no choice in this matter."
Sheng Xuanhuai's words made Li Zhongtang feel a little troubled. Of course, he also knew the current attitude of ministers from various countries towards the imperial court.
He planned to take advantage of the fact that the imperial court was at war with the Japanese and was short of money, and took this opportunity to win over the conditions that they had been unable to negotiate before.
Then it is very necessary to require banks in various countries not to act privately. And with the unrivaled strength of the British Empire, Minister Organa naturally became the host of the loan.
Although the trade share of Italy and Germany in the Qing Dynasty has been increasing year by year, it is still slightly insufficient compared to Britain, France and the United States, which have been involved for many years. Therefore, the two countries also know that they have no hope in taking the lead in borrowing.
Li Zhongtang naturally knew that Minister Organa had bad intentions, but what could be done about it? He could only continue talking. After all, he was still able to use barbarians to control barbarians.
"How are the talks going so far?"
"At present, the conditions of banks in various countries are similar. They all give a period of fifteen years, a 15% discount and a 50% interest. In addition, they also require the court to use cigarette taxes as collateral. In addition, each country is allowed to set up agencies in Chengdu and Xi'an to govern
Our own citizens. In addition..."
Sheng Xuanhuai Balabala talked about the various privileges required by various countries. Although these conditions may not seem high, they include various rights of various countries in Sichuan and Shaanxi. In addition to extra-legal jurisdiction, what mining and construction
Although Lu et al.'s rights were not mentioned, how could he not know the habits of these foreigners, who would bully the officials below and make it a fait accompli that would make people blind.
"We can talk about the interest further. As for the cigarette tax as a mortgage, it's okay. But regarding the opening of agencies in Chengdu and Xi'an, tell them that I am just the governor of Beiyang and have no control over the governors of Sichuan and Gansu and Shaanxi. This condition
You can only go to the imperial court."
Li Zhongtang is such a shrewd person, how can he let the foreigners get their wish? He would rather increase the interest than relax on the matter of opening an agency here.
"Okay, sir, I'll do it right away."
Although Li Zhongtang said this, Sheng Xuanhuai, who was in charge of running errands, knew that this matter was not easy. It would be difficult to negotiate with banks from all over the world this time. But what could he do about this matter? He could only continue with Li Zhongtang's conditions.
Grind it.
After sending Sheng Xuanhuai away, Li Zhongtang glanced at Zhou Fu and said, "If Yushan feels something is wrong, can he speak out?"
As two people who have worked together for many years, they naturally know each other very well. Zhou Fu felt something inappropriate in Li Zhongtang's words to Sheng Xuanhuai before, so he hesitated to speak, but it was immediately obvious to him.
"Master Zhongtang, this money is of great importance. Your Excellency delegates power to Xingsun like this. With Xingsun's temperament, it is definitely not a blessing."
Zhou Fu said this in a subtle way, he just said directly that with Sheng Xuanhuai's personality, he would definitely have someone else's hands when he talked about borrowing money. And before the loan was completed, the whole city was in trouble.
Regarding Zhou Fu's words, Li Zhongtang smiled slightly and said, "Yushan knows that ten days ago, the supervisory censor Hu Kailin was fired."
Hu Yushi was a member of Weng Shangshu. He had been biting Li Zhongtang before, but he was suddenly opened. Whether it was done to him or to appease him, it depends on how Li Er interprets it.
When Zhou Fu heard this, he immediately said, "What Dong Weng means is that the imperial court is planning to appease us first and then use this to cause trouble in the future?"
Li Er looked at him and said: "The imperial court has always used me to be both ready and defensive. If I hadn't been lucky enough to invite foreign soldiers this time, I would have stumbled here... How difficult it is!"
