Li Hongzhang was a very smart person and was very sensitive to the struggle between various forces. After taking charge of Korea's work, he devoted himself to this work and provided a lot of very insightful opinions for the country. To a large extent, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' handling of Korea was based on the analysis made by Li Hongzhang's team.
Although Li Hongzhang directly faced the Ministry of Commerce, behind him stood the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Li Xin, had a good relationship with the Minister of Commerce, some things could not be solved through personal relationships. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly disapproved of the Ministry of Commerce's plundering business activities in Korea. This was not because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had any support for Korea, but because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believed that the result of the Ministry of Commerce's desperate blood-sucking would inevitably lead to the financial collapse of Korea. The Ministry of Commerce could leave at that time, and then it would be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' turn to clean up the mess created by the Ministry of Commerce.
It was not until Vézé brought up the matter of the company that Li Hongzhang's tragic feeling of being treated as a vanguard suddenly dissipated. He saw the possibility of solving the Korea problem gently. After all, the cooperation between the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was far greater than the dispute.
How could the group of people from the Ministry of Commerce be fooled by Li Hongzhang's trick? They immediately put forward a rebuttal. "Does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still need to do business?"
Li Hongzhang said with a fake smile, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can choose not to invest and not to pay dividends. We just need to get the authority to guide. "
In the battle of words between these two departments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs meant that "we can't squeeze the vassal country too hard. If we crush the local government of the vassal country, it will not be worth it." What the Ministry of Commerce meant was, "we didn't do anything, but can we crush Korea?"
Vézé could only temporarily suppress this very professional problem and solve it later. Once this matter was suppressed, there was no other big deal. Once the three meetings were over, the matter officially began to be discussed.
Li Hongzhang was very happy to be able to speak in front of Vézé. He confidently took out the data. From 1877 to 1882, China built thousands of kilometers of railways in Korea. These railways belonged to China and connected the important cities and seaports of Korea. Whether the Koreans were willing or not, they were involved in the tide of industrialization.
China's RMB and China's banks came along with the railway. The paper with advanced printing technology completely exceeded Korea's local ability to copy. China's powerful national strength also made Korea not dare to reject this kind of paper as the settlement currency between China and Korea. China's industrial products were spread all over Korea along with the railways. China's banks had set up offices in every port in every town. Not only did they provide RMB services, but they also provided local currency storage services in Korea.
In order to make money, the Korean landlords exported grain to China and Japan at very low prices, and then used the money to buy various consumer goods. The export of large amounts of food caused the local farmers in Goryeo to be starved, and the importation of cheap industrial products destroyed the local handicraft industry. Every social class in Goryeo was stirred up. A rebellion was about to start in Goryeo, which was full of dry firewood.
After listening to Director Li Hongzhang's introduction, Vézé felt that this was just a classic example of an agricultural country being invaded by industrial countries. China's modern history was a history of how an agricultural society completely collapsed under the invasion of foreign industries.
No matter how much Li Hongzhang looked at Vézé with expectation, he hoped that Vézé could immediately make a judgment in favor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vézé looked at the representative of the Ministry of Commerce, indicating that it was time for him to speak.
When Li Hongzhang was explaining, the representative of the Ministry of Commerce tried to interrupt him several times, but Vézé ordered him not to speak. Finally, it was time to speak. The representative of the Ministry of Commerce stood up and said in fluent Shandong dialect, "Your Majesty, Director Li is wrong. We are more wronged than Dou E! "
Seeing that this man was almost in tears, Vézé could only comfort him. "Don't worry, don't worry, take your time."
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Commerce has received instructions from Your Majesty not to excessively exploit Korea. The Ministry of Commerce has also made a comprehensive arrangement. Just now, Director Li also said that we first entered Korea with RMB and banks. If we really wanted to make a lot of money from Korea, we wouldn't have done that! "
Filled with anger after being "slandered", the Ministry of Commerce stated its version from the perspective of the Ministry of Commerce.
As Li Hongzhang said, the first commodity that China entered Korea was RMB, and the first thing that was developed in Korea was banks. This was because when China built the railway in Korea, they used a large number of local Korean laborers. After using RMB as the payment currency, the Chinese merchants sold all kinds of goods to the Korean laborers at a very low price. In order to ensure that RMB had enough purchasing power in Korea, along with the railway and the telegraph along the railway, banks were also developed.
During the construction of the railway, China had hired as many Korean laborers as possible. After the railway was completed, the railway hired a large number of Korean employees. These hiring activities created a large number of jobs. In order to get a job in China's railway company, Korean laborers almost broke their heads.
As for grain exports, China's grain prices were much lower than Korea's, and Korea's grain exports to China had no competitive advantage. Their grain exports were mainly targeted at Japan. China's railway and merchant ships, as well as the port facilities built in Korea, made the grain transportation costs plummet.
"What does it have to do with the Ministry of Commerce that the landlords are desperately exporting their food? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can also officially give some opinions to the Korean court, and the Korean court has to listen to their sincerity. They won't listen to anything the Ministry of Commerce says. Without the efforts of the Ministry of Commerce, Korea's transportation costs and waste along the way would only be higher, and the money they could earn would be even less. Without the Ministry of Commerce, there wouldn't be the current situation in Korea! "The Shandong man who represented the Ministry of Commerce concluded.
The information provided by the two parties could be said to be completely opposite. In the description of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Commerce was the savior of Korea, representing the most advanced productivity of Korea, and bringing Korea into the industrial age. In the description of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce was desperately squeezing the local people of Korea, desperately extracting wealth from Korea, and directly causing political turmoil in Korea.
Vézé didn't directly make a decision, he asked, "Do the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce think that Korea will be in turmoil?"
Li Hongzhang and the others basically had the same opinion. The landlords and local tyrants of Korea originally didn't have the opportunity to carry out large-scale grain sales, but the intervention of China finally gave these people the opportunity and ability to engage in overseas trade. After the landlords received the grain, they naturally had the right to dispose of the grain and turn it into cash. After the cash was deposited in the bank opened by China in Korea, they could still receive interest, and it was very convenient to deposit, withdraw, and even transfer money. These tyrants naturally had to pursue the greatest interests of their own families. As for whether the local people of Korea would starve to death because there was no food to eat, this was not the responsibility of the landlords at all.
Without commenting on whether it was right or wrong, Vézé asked, "Does the Korean court know that the country has reached such a point?"
The representative of the Ministry of Commerce quickly replied, "Your Majesty, we have also seen the information collected by Director Li. Ten years ago, the King of Korea came into power, and Concubine Min forced the Emperor of Daejin to retire. Since then, the so-called civilized people of Korea have colluded with Concubine Min. Although they dare not disrespect China, they have colluded with Japan. This time, in order to make money, Korea sold Korean grain to Japan at a low price. If they didn't export so much grain, Korea would be self-sufficient. "
How could Li Hongzhang be willing to let the Ministry of Commerce gain the upper hand? He immediately refuted, "Your Majesty, it is better to deal with this matter through diplomacy. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only needs to tell Korea to stop exporting grain to Japan. Even if the Korean court doesn't listen, I can definitely spread the news in Korea. As long as the people of Korea know about this, the situation can be reversed. Moreover, the current crisis has something to do with Emperor Dazhoujun and the others adding fuel to the fire. Your Majesty, the situation in Korea is indeed related to the economy, but it is a big mistake to think that we can solve Korea's problems with economic means. I have been investigating Korea for several years, and this matter is not so simple. "
Vézé finally spoke, "This matter can be divided into three parts. First, we can't let our people and property in Korea suffer losses. If Korea asks if our banks and railways will be safe during the turmoil, we need to find out. Second, we need to find out if Emperor Dazhoujun has the intention to make a move. If we can get rid of Concubine Min, what kind of attitude and policy is Emperor Dazhoujun going to implement toward China. Third, we need to study how to establish a joint-stock company to control all of Korea's main business activities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce will work together to deal with Korea. "
"Your Majesty, I can understand the first two parts, but what should we do with the third part?" Li Hongzhang quickly asked. The first two parts sounded easy, but they were actually a coup d 'état. If Emperor Dazhoujun could fully embrace China and turn Korea into a country that was more obedient to China, Vézé would support a coup d 'état in Korea. Only the third part was beyond Li Hongzhang's understanding. Since they had already decided to do a coup d 'état, there was no need to establish a joint-stock company.
"If Korea's economy is not good, even if Emperor Dazhoujun is in power again, it will be meaningless. If we want Korea's economy to improve, we need to implement many policies in Korea. If the country acts, Korea will beg us to help them. If we act as a joint-stock company, Korea will have to do business. Capital management is much better than Korea's feudal system. "Vézé didn't want to be mysterious, so he explained very seriously. However, this explanation confused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce. How was capital management compared to a feudal system? This was a question that was rarely mentioned.
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