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When Li Hongzhang went to see Vézé, he was very excited. He couldn't tell if he was anxious or excited, but the fact that Vézé was willing to meet him in person had a deep meaning. Li Hongzhang had met important people, but he had also been an ordinary person. It wasn't easy for him to meet people who had too much to manage. If it wasn't for the interest of the important people, they wouldn't have the time to meet those insignificant people. This wasn't because they were arrogant. For anyone, a day was 24 hours, and it wouldn't become 48 hours just because they were emperors. A person's energy wasn't limited. The emperor was also a person, and he needed rest. In history, emperors who were diligent usually didn't live long.
The meeting was easy. With Li Hongzhang's ability, it wasn't difficult for him to explain complicated things clearly or even easily. During the meeting, Li Hongzhang's witty remarks vividly described the ugliness and stupidity of feudal Korea, which made Vézé laugh out loud.
After more than half an hour, Li Hongzhang showed off his achievements and talked about his construction in the futures market, as well as his thoughts on using the futures market to operate in Korea, Vietnam, Siam, and even Japan in the future. After finishing, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but feel that he had grasped Vézé's bottom line. After all, Vézé was a high and mighty emperor. For an emperor, Vézé was extremely proficient in the situation below him. It was even a little shocking. But an emperor was an emperor after all. From a professional point of view, Vézé couldn't be regarded as a real professional.
At this time, Vézé said, "Old Li, the futures market will be developed in China in the future. It's inevitable to use financial means to serve physical production. No one can stop this. But for your work, the Human Resource Department's high evaluation isn't just because it's innovative. "
Hearing Vézé talk about what Li Hongzhang cared about the most, Li Hongzhang pricked up his ears and listened carefully. After confirming the importance of futures in Vézé's heart, Li Hongzhang wasn't surprised. Most of Vézé's speeches were mentioned in the annual documents, which were not "groundbreaking". However, the reason why Vézé and the HR department approved of Li Hongzhang was very, very important to Li Zhongtang from another time and space.
"There are a few important tasks for a leader. One of them is to train a succession team. If this leader did not consider the problem of a successor and acted arbitrarily in his position, trying to maintain his power until his death, this kind of person was not qualified. In Korea, you can use young people boldly. Although I personally think that this is because you are facing a new problem, and you may not dare to bear the responsibility of messing things up. But in general, I think you have built a team, and the team can operate well. I think it's good. " Vézé slowly talked about his evaluation of Li Hongzhang's work, and beat Li Hongzhang hard.
Li Hongzhang's view of Vézé as "not professional enough" immediately flew away. From the perspective of an emperor, it was obviously inappropriate to talk to an official like this. It wasn't that he humiliated Li Hongzhang, but that Vézé actually told the truth. At least in the era of Manchu Qing, telling the truth was the most undesirable choice. The official couldn't tell the truth to the emperor, and the emperor couldn't tell the truth to the official. Once this iron rule was broken, the order of Manchu Qing would be gone.
But in the Min dynasty, this kind of thing didn't seem to matter. What Manchu Qing needed was to use all kinds of excuses to maintain personal privileges. The Min dynasty's judgment on everything had long been clear. Therefore, lies were an indispensable necessity for Manchu Qing, and lies were very harmful to the Min dynasty that was trying to maintain.
Because he had enough understanding of this, Li Hongzhang was very unhappy, but he could still say calmly, "It seems that Your Majesty doesn't approve of my personal performance?"
Vézé had enough understanding of Li Hongzhang himself. As the saying goes, it's easy to change a leopard's skin, but hard to change a leopard's skin. Li Hongzhang lacked the persistence of ideals in his nature. His persistence was the persistence of having power. First-class politicians used power to realize their ideals, second-class politicians aimed to grasp power, and third-class politicians strived to grasp all opportunities to obtain power. In other words, first-class politicians used power as a tool in their hands. Second-class politicians themselves were power itself. For third-rate politicians, the power they fantasize about is what they crave the most. Materialism, mechanical materialism, and idealism could probably be the labels on these three people's heads.
Li Hongzhang could probably be regarded as a second-class politician. Because of Manchu Qing's rubbish level, Li Hongzhang himself could probably be regarded as a third-class politician sometimes. Because he might not be able to understand the true face of power in an industrial society. In Vézé's understanding, the reason why third-class politicians could always cause terrible damage was because the power in their hearts was their own imagination. When unrealistic people grasped political power, when people who didn't know the difference between reality and fantasy stood above the masses, it was always the beginning of disaster.
"Some progress, once started, can't go back. For example, in the era of backward productivity, the feudal system lasted for thousands of years. When productivity developed to the point of centralization, the feudal system was abolished. Although the feudal system was restored several times, it was no longer the mainstream of China's politics. For example, Old Li, no matter why you were able to establish a team, I personally hope that you can maintain the progress you've made. Don't reverse the progress. I don't doubt your personal ability, but how far you can go depends on yourself, "Vézé said lightly. After all, there was a rule in the system that Li Hongzhang's position was managed by the Ministry of Human Resources, not by Vézé's "golden mouth" to promote Li Hongzhang. At this time, he could only speak lightly.
With Li Hongzhang's intelligence, how could he not know this? In order to suppress his excitement, Li Hongzhang's voice trembled. "Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions about work?"
"There will naturally be comrades in charge of financial work who will talk to you about this matter. I have nothing else to say. If there was anything to say, it would be a cliché. The Restoration Party is first and foremost an organization. It's easy to understand that an individual wants to be above the organization, but it's not something that the organization can accept. In this regard, I hope that you can put yourself in the right position and take care of yourself, "Vézé gave Li Hongzhang a very cliché advice and let him leave.
After receiving a certain degree of official promise from Vézé, Li Hongzhang almost walked like the wind when he went out. This "Li Zhongtang" in another time and space didn't go to celebrate. Instead, he went to see Liu Bufan, the secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee. With a calm attitude and a proper tone, Li Hongzhang said, "Secretary Liu, personally, I still want to continue working in the Ministry. I can only thank you for your invitation."
Liu Bufan was very unhappy. Recently, he and the others had been trying to rope in various forces, but the effect was minimal. However, the effect was minimal. Those who were doing well in the ministry would naturally not choose to stand with the provincial government. Although those who weren't doing well in the Ministry also wanted to try a change of environment, their real role was very limited. As for the wavering party like Li Hongzhang, so far, only Li Hongzhang had given him a clear explanation. The others were ambiguous and silent. It seemed that they were ready to observe for a while longer.
Naturally, he showed his displeasure on his face. However, most of Liu Bufan's displeasure wasn't actually directed at Li Hongzhang. Compared to this kind of direct notification, those guys who were waiting for a good price were truly hateful. Liu Bufan's tone was filled with displeasure as he said, "Then let's cooperate more in the future."
"There is indeed a lot of room for cooperation." Li Hongzhang didn't walk away with his nose in the air because of Liu Bufan's displeasure. He said quite sincerely, "Not only can we use reliable standards to buy foreign goods, but we can also sell China's products abroad. Hunan produces tea, and the tea trade is actually a very big business in foreign countries. "
Of course, Liu Bufan knew that the tea trade was a very big business. China's tea was exported in large quantities. As the hometown of tea, Hunan took advantage of the withdrawal of state-owned enterprises to take over the tea production from the Ministry's hands. However, the overall operation wasn't as good as expected. The Ministry did not completely give up on the tea industry. The southern Tibet and Ceylon, which were seized from the British, were rich in tea, and the tea was very suitable for the British. Hunan's tea was the biggest source of tax revenue for Hunan, and Hunan had high hopes for it. The price couldn't be lowered, and there were also problems with the brand, which caused Hunan's tea to fall into a new predicament.
However, since Li Hongzhang was willing to cooperate, Liu Bufan couldn't completely give him the cold shoulder. He said perfunctorily, "As long as we can cooperate."
Seeing Liu Bufan's perfunctory attitude, Li Hongzhang quickly explained, "Secretary Liu, how many years have you been drinking tap water? Fifteen years? Twenty years? "
This strange question made Liu Bufan feel a little insulted. People who drank tap water were city people. Now, even the larger towns had begun to have tap water companies. He replied angrily, "What? Director Li, do you think I'm a country bumpkin? "
Li Hongzhang shook his head, "In Korea and Japan, tea is used for a lot of purposes. I've also seen Koreans drink tea. Those upper-class people in Korea also like rare tea. Although Hunan's tea is good in their eyes, it's not rare enough. "
Looking at Liu Bufan's annoyed attitude, Li Hongzhang sped up the progress of his explanation, "In Korea and Japan, tap water is rare. After they boil their own water, it's inevitable that there will be a strange smell. If they boil tea and drink it, the taste of the tea can effectively cover up the smell. If Hunan can come up with tea that the lower class people in Japan and Korea can afford, and it has a good effect in this aspect, then I believe that this kind of tea will definitely be a big seller. "
Liu Bufan didn't expect that Li Hongzhang would actually teach him how to do business, which made him even more unhappy. Fragrant wine needs no dark alley. If the tea of the dignified tea village can't be sold at a high price, it would be too embarrassing. Liu Bufan was very unhappy with Li Hongzhang's suggestion. But when he thought about it, he also felt that it was not without reason. When the central government started the tea business, the price of the tea sold to the outside world kept dropping. Moreover, one of the best-selling tea was the very cheap Anhua black tea.
However, after Hunan seized the management rights of the tea, in order to collect more taxes, the price of various tea slowly increased. In the first few years, Hunan's tax revenue did increase, but now Anhui, Fujian, and Yungui tea crazily attacked the market, causing Hunan's tea to encounter unprecedented challenges. Hunan's financial revenue also rapidly declined. Now that he heard Li Hongzhang mention such a detailed matter, Liu Bufan didn't want to think too much about it. As long as Hunan's tea sales can return to the previous level, the foreign sales money is nothing.
"I'll contact you if I have any news on my end." Liu Bufan asked him to leave.
Li Hongzhang wasn't discouraged. His teacher, Zeng Guofan, once won the approval of Emperor Xianfeng by saying, "Fight after defeat." Although Li Hongzhang didn't have his teacher's spirit, he also had the courage to learn from his teacher. Now that he had obtained some kind of approval from Vézé, Li Hongzhang knew that what he needed to do was no longer "not make mistakes," but "be able to get things done." The question about tea was raised by Wang Shizhen, but Li Hongzhang also raised a common problem at the meeting, which was how to sell China's goods to Korea through the futures market. More than a month later, Wang Shizhen came up with an investigation report. She believed that among the daily necessities, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, firewood, oil, and tea had great potential. China could sell these products in this country at a price that Korea could accept.
The report looked a little whimsical, but in fact, it was supported by good data. Using tea to improve the quality of drinking water was undoubtedly a good idea. Yuan Weiting had another performance. Wang Shizhen found the feasibility of selling tea in large quantities during the investigation, and Yuan Weiting dug out a few parasites during the investigation. Tea was one of the most popular supplies in the "Korea Railway and Telegraph Company." Every day, tea and water were supplied in the water room, and the staff liked to bring a pot of tea with them. The people in the logistics department used the method of applying more and brewing less, and then used the convenience of the train to sell the remaining tea at a price that Korea could accept.
It was Yuan Weiting's hard work and courage to make a bold and decisive reform on this supply loophole. These trivial things gave Wang Shizhen enough data to support her investigation. It wasn't that Korea didn't want to use it, but they couldn't afford it. When they could afford it, these people were willing to pay.
Since Hunan Province didn't want it, Li Hongzhang went to Anhui Province. Anhui Province also produced tea. Although the quality wasn't as good as Hunan's, it effectively lowered the psychological price of their tea. Even so, after listening to Li Hongzhang's price, Anhui Province's Governor and Deputy Governor frowned.
Deputy Governor Zhang Haiyang was also in charge of the tea production. He said with a bitter face. "Chief Li, your price is too low."
Li Hongzhang laughed. "Low price? Can you all make a profit?"
"How can you call that earning some walnuts and dates? It's shameful. "Zhang Haiyang shook his head.
"Korea is so poor, and they can't afford it." Li Hongzhang tried his best to persuade them.
But Anhui Province's response was to shake their heads. "The price is too low. I can sell it in China at this price. Not to mention this price, even if it was doubled, I would be able to sell more in the domestic market than this. The more I sell it, the less I can earn. I can't do this. "
Not only Anhui Province, Fujian Province, Yunnan Province's representatives also had the same attitude. When Li Hongzhang was considering if he should set up a tea factory in Korea, Henan Province's Party Committee Secretary Li Shixiong came to look for Li Hongzhang.
"Chief Li, I heard that you are buying tea leaves?" Li Shixiong asked.
"The price is very low." Li Hongzhang had been communicating with the provincial officials for a long time, and he had lost confidence. He mentioned the most difficult part as soon as he came up, so that they could talk for a long time with hope, only to end up parting on bad terms.
"What's the price?" Li Shixiong asked.
After listening to Li Hongzhang's price, Li Shixiong also frowned. Just when Li Hongzhang thought that things were hopeless, he heard Li Shixiong ask with difficulty, "How much can you buy?"
A glimmer of hope returned to Li Hongzhang's heart. He explained the futures market to Li Shixiong. After explaining for a while, Li Shixiong said doubtfully, "Why does it sound like selling Qing Miao?"
Li Hongzhang shook his head like a rattle, and his tone sounded a little exaggerated. "It's definitely different. You can't buy Qing Miao because you have to sell it after you grow it. Now, you have a plan before you plant it. For example, one catty is considered one contract, and one thousand catty is considered one contract. You sell this contract. At this time, people who want to buy it can buy one contract, ten contracts, half a contract, or even less according to the rules. First, give the deposit. On the day of the settlement, pay all the money in full. If they breach the contract, then the deposit will be deducted. Other than the operation fee of our operator, the rest will be paid to you. Of course, if you breach the contract, there will be corresponding punishment. "
"Isn't this the same as ordering?" Li Shixiong still grasped the main point.
Li Hongzhang continued to explain, "It's still different from ordering. If you order, you know who will buy it in the end. Futures trading is based on this voucher. Zhang San bought the voucher. If Li Si offered a higher price, Zhang San might sell the voucher to Li Si. Wang Wu offered a higher price, and Li Si sold the voucher to Wang Wu halfway. Maybe the final exchange period is when the person who has traded seven or eight times will finally pay. This has nothing to do with you. You just need to ask us for money. We might be able to give you money, or we might be able to pay the penalty. "
"Why does it sound so unreliable?" Li Shixiong didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
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