Eunuchs who traveled through the Qing Dynasty

But in the early stage of economic construction, Xiao Ran didn't want to go to war with foreigners on a large scale.The wars of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the south of the Yangtze River and the two Opium Wars left China with not only the pain of the ancient Mixiu, but also refugees everywhere, scars everywhere, and the treasury was empty.Whether it is people, money, or food, China is not allowed to invest in a new round of conquests.

However, the matter of the railway needs to be resolved urgently, and it is really difficult to weigh the pros and cons.What should we do?

Yituo, it is best to select outstanding talents, study abroad, learn skills, and then let the Chinese build the railway by themselves.Having said that, he also knew in his heart that Erjin's tough attitude might not be easy to fool around, so what he said seemed to lack confidence.

Xiao Ran frowned, walked back and forth non-stop, suddenly raised his head and said to Ma Chao: "If a thief comes to your house to cultivate wasteland, what will you do?"

"Ah? Da... Your Excellency asked me?" Ma Chao was taken aback for a moment, then scratched his head and said with a silly smile: "I, Ma Chao, can't even read all the words, so how dare I interrupt indiscriminately! But..." He coughed and bared his mouth. With white teeth, he smiled grinningly and said: "If someone really dares to plant on my land, I will let him plant. The harder the planting, the better. When I collect the grain later, I will kill them one by one. Kill them all, and steal all the food..."

"Go!" Xiao Ran suddenly laughed loudly, patting Yi Guizi to repair the railway, and told them to do it.Borrowing must also be borrowed, and the more the better.Well, do the Russians and Americans also want to build the railway?All come, all come, the more the better! "

♂ Volume 8 in the harem ♀

→Chapter 116 - Bioweapon←

Ran's meaning couldn't be more clear, and Yimen'er immediately saw Khan.However, Xiao Ran's temper could not allow him to say anything, so he hesitated for a while, and said: "I have no problem here, I will call everyone together tomorrow morning and submit the draft. But... I don't know what the Queen Mother is planning , can you give me permission. Or, brother, you can go talk to the Queen Mother first?"

"Air? I'm not in the palace now, how can I ventilate?" Xiao Ran smiled helplessly, and said after a while: "It's okay. You can find a chance to tell the Queen Mother, this is my idea, and she will definitely agree."

Yi resigned.Xiao Ran was stunned for a while, took Ma Chao with him, and rode to Tongran Hall again.

Coincidentally, Yu Lai was meeting with a guest, and it was Ai Dun, the manager of Fulai Matheson.Xiao Ran is now the largest customer of Fulai Matheson in China, and even in the whole of East Asia, so Ayton bowed respectfully when he saw Xiao Ran.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two parties sat down.Yu Lai said with a smile: "Brother-in-law is really a coincidence. If you don't come, I'm going to send someone to invite you. Mr. Ayton, tell our master about what you just said."

Xiao Ran wondered, "Oh, is there any good news?"

Ayton said: "That's right. I heard from Mr. Fang that your company has a lot of connections in your country's government, and there is a difficult matter in the bank. I would like to ask Mr. Xiao to come forward and help clear it up. Jardine Matheson in my country, Yue A copper line was built in Shanghai before. But because it was not approved by the government and was often secretly destroyed, it had no choice but to dismantle it. I heard that my country's Dadong Company is also preparing to apply for the right to lay copper lines in Shanghai with your government ..."

"Wait, wait first!" Xiao Ran was at a loss as to what he said, wondering: "What are copper wires, why haven't I heard of them?"

"Mr. Xiao doesn't know? Copper wires. As the name suggests, they use copper wires to transmit messages. In the past, flying horses used to transmit letters. If you have copper wires, you can send orders here, thousands of miles away, and receive them instantly. ..."

"Ah! So it's a telegram!" Xiao Ran suddenly realized.

It turned out that the word "telegraph" was a translated name introduced from Japan later. At that time, Chinese people called it "copper wire" or "wire".This new technology that can transmit messages instantly and travel thousands of miles.It is needless to say what value it has for the Qing Dynasty, which has internal and external troubles and frequent wars. What is a pity is that at that time, there was almost opposition from the government and the opposition, and they all believed that this was a demon and a foreign law.The wires that Jardine Matheson spent a lot of effort on erecting were damaged at both ends in three days, and were forced to be dismantled in less than half a month.

Xiao Ran was already used to this kind of behavior of Chinese people, so he didn't think it was unusual, and said, "Mr. Ayton, so you said. Are you going to ask me to get in touch with you and fight for the right to lay telegraphs in our country?"

"Mr. Xiao is really refreshing!" Ayton stood up happily, and said: "Yes, I have been cooperating with your company for a long time, and I know Mr. Xiao's courage. This time, our bank plans to lay a road from Shanghai to Tianjin. It will be a very promising big business to set up telegraph lines to Beijing and various places along the line. If you are willing to help, let our company get the laying rights, our bank has decided that we are willing to form a joint stock with Tongrantang to jointly operate the telegraph offices. In your Chinese language, this is an opportunity that is hard to find even with a lantern. Mr. Xiao, what do you think?"

It seems that in order to invite Xiao Ran to come forward, Fulai Yangxing really spent a lot of money this time.It is already a great sympathy to be willing to partner with Tongrantang.Xiao Ran lowered his head and pondered for a while.He said: "Mr. Ayton, we are old friends. Let me see it like this: I will fight for you for the right to lay the telegraph, but I will open the telegraph office later, and I will have all the management rights. That is to say, you are only responsible The laying and equipment of the initial line will be handed over to us after completion. As for the construction cost, I will give you a fair price. What do you think?"

"What... what?!" Ayton couldn't believe his ears. He was stunned for a long time, jumped up suddenly, and said loudly: "How can this work? We put a lot of effort into erecting wires for the purpose of opening a telegraph office , all of which will be handed over to you to manage, then wouldn’t we be in vain? No, definitely not!”

The cost of laying a telegraph line from Shanghai to Beijing is at most two to three million taels. Even if the price given by Xiao Ran is reasonable, how much money can he make?Therefore, it is impossible for Ayton to accept Xiao Ran's proposal anyway.

For a long time, Fulai Foreign Trade Co., Ltd. has cooperated with Tongrantang, buying at low prices and selling at high prices, making a lot of money.Some smuggled goods can even earn two to three times the profit.Regarding these, Xiao Ran turned a blind eye to them, for nothing more than to let Fulai Matheson, driven by huge profits, spare no effort to transport new technologies and technologies from the West.In fact, in this aspect, Fulai Foreign Firm did not disappoint Xiao Ran; but Xiao Ran's practice of never haggling made Ayton privately think that this Xiao Dong's family had the potential to be a prodigal son, and he knew nothing about business. Some contempt.It was precisely because of this contempt that Ayton had no reservations at all this time, and revealed his plan in full, but unexpectedly, Xiao Ran was uncharacteristically, and made Ayton's intestines turn green with remorse .

Even Yu Lai was extremely surprised by Xiao Ran's attitude.But he didn't know how much telegrams could play a role in a country's military strategy, national economy and people's livelihood.If even this kind of thing has to be operated as a joint venture with foreign devils, then Xiao Ran is either an idiot or really crazy.

"Why didn't I understand clearly enough?" Xiao Ran suddenly lowered his face, and said with a sneer: "Mr. Ayton, I can tell you about this matter openly and honestly today because we have been working together happily Why not tell you directly, I am willing to spend money for you to lay wires and buy your equipment. I regret it again. You may not be very clear about how powerful I am, so I will tell you now: Don’t talk about occupying your telegraph office. Even if you occupy your entire Fulai foreign company including all branches in China, yes It's easy for me

If you don't believe me, I can transfer tens of thousands of troops to you right now, do you want to try? "

What he said was so decisive that Ayton could not believe it.For a moment she was so frightened that her face turned ashen, her calves shook, and she couldn't even stand still.Xiao Ran got up and came over, patted him on the shoulder and said: "The reason why I don't want to do this is because I am a businessman. In business, you must be honest, and if you have no trust, you will not stand. I also don't want to lose you as a business partner , so Mr. Ayton, my suggestion. You must think carefully about it."

Ayton had lost his temper at this time, wiped off his sweat, and said in a low voice: "Here, what else are you considering? Even if I agree to a proposal like Mr. Xiao's, it is absolutely impossible for the head office to agree. If Mr. Xiao insists, I think we have no choice but to give up..."

"Give up?" Xiao Ran chuckled, "I'm afraid you can't help this matter! I've been letting you make money, right? If you don't do what I say, I will terminate all the business with Fulai Foreign Firm from now on. Cooperation, and you in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, all the branches, don't even think about one of them can continue to open! From now on in China, you don't even think about earning any more money! How about it, listen to what I say Clear?"

"This. This..." Ayton was so anxious that he was about to cry, looked at Yulai pitifully and said, "Mr. Fang, because of the friendship of old friends, you should speak for me!"

"Well, of course." Yu Lai said solemnly, "Brother-in-law, if we do this, won't we completely ruin Mr. Ayton's job? We are old friends. How can I live in my heart! I think so, wait for Fulai Foreign Firm It's closed down, let Ayton come to our Tongran Hall as an apprentice, I will take him well. Running errands and doing odd jobs should be fine..."

"Ah!" Ayton's eyes darkened, and he was ready to die!Ai Ai felt sad for a long while, then stomped her feet and said, "Okay! I can only say give it a try. But I really can't guarantee whether the head office in our country will agree."

"No guarantee, you just need to bring what I said today verbatim."

Seeing that there was no room for maneuver, Ayton had no choice but to cry and sighed.Xiao Ran and Yu Lai looked at each other and laughed loudly. It is absolutely impossible for Fulai & Co. to give up their business in China, so they have to obey obediently. This is also a forced and helpless thing.

It was already very late, Xiao Ran returned home with Yu Lai, Yu Lu explained the telegram to him in detail, Yu Lai naturally found it extremely novel.Speaking of Zhang Zhidong, let him be the director of the pharmaceutical factory, so that Rolto can be replaced, and he can concentrate on invention and research. Both of them feel that this is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.Yulai also mentioned that Rolto hadn't come to the company for several days, he had been in the pharmaceutical factory all the time, and he didn't know what was going on there, so we just went to have a look together tomorrow.

The next morning, the two came to Tongran Hall together, and Zhang Zhidong was already waiting there early.After a brief confession, the three of them went to the pharmaceutical factory in the eastern suburbs of Beijing together.It was Zhang Zhidong's first time riding a bicycle, but he learned it surprisingly quickly. After just a couple of laps, he was able to ride a bicycle decently.This guy's learning ability is even inferior to Xiao Ran's.It was also the first time for Zhang Zhidong to experience the speed and convenience of this new type of machine, and he was full of praise, and he admired Xiao Ran's Western views even more in his heart.

Tongrantang Pharmaceutical Factory has now been expanded into a general chemical factory. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, covering an area of ​​more than [-] mu, which is extremely spacious.To the east is a pharmaceutical factory and to the west is a chemical plant. Rows of factories are very large-scale, and many factories are under construction.

First came to the chemical factory, and as soon as he entered, Xiao Ran obviously felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere.Although he seldom came here, he was secretly surprised that there were hardly any people in the empty factory area today.Yu Lai also asked in doubt: "Hey, why is it so quiet today?"

As soon as the words fell, several people rushed out of a factory building. The first one was the yellow-haired Rolto, who ran over and said, "So it's the boss! If you want to come, Why didn’t you say hello in advance? Oh, just in time, the manufacturing of plastic has made great progress in the past two days, let’s go, I’ll show you there!”

Xiao Ran tilted his head to look at Rorto, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell where the problem was.Rolto changed his aristocratic attitude today, and led everyone to the laboratory with great enthusiasm, introducing his latest research results.

Inspired by nitrocellulose plastic, Rolto synthesized several new types of plastic, including adding camphor to nitrocellulose to make real celluloid.And experiments have found that this kind of celluloid can be molded at the boiling point of water, and can also be cut, drilled or sawed at a lower temperature, and has excellent hardness and wear resistance.

Plastics are widely used, and there is basically no need to repeat them.Anyway, Xiao Ran was in the later life, and he never left this thing for a day.Basins, bottles, etc., and a pile of plastic toilets and spittoons.The development of various uses is a long and systematic project, so Xiao Ran is generally quite satisfied, and patted Rorto on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

Next, Yu Lai proposed to go to the factory to have a look, but Luo Erto jumped up all of a sudden, objected loudly, and insisted on taking everyone to visit the pharmaceutical factory.Xiao Ran immediately realized that there must be something wrong in the factory, so he pushed Rolto away and led everyone to the factory.Sure enough, as soon as I entered the workshop, the inside was in a mess, with burnt discarded plastic everywhere, and the walls were also blackened. It seemed that there had been a fire just now.Most of the workers were absent, only a few were busy cleaning up.

Xiao Ran was furious, grabbed Rorto's collar, and shouted: "What did you bastard do? Ah? What's going on? Damn, you dare to hide it from me when such a big accident happened, you Is the mother tired of living?!"

Knowing that he couldn't hide it anymore, Rolto said with a mournful face: "I don't want to... I don't know which process went wrong, but yesterday there was a sudden poisonous gas... Then it caught fire again, I, I really It wasn't intentional..." "Fuck you!!!" Xiao Ran punched Rolto so hard that his eyes were staring.

The story of the incident was soon cleared up, the poisonous gas and fire accident was basically a possibility, so Xiao Ran was a little relieved.Due to a slight explosion of combustible gas, the scene looked a bit messy. Fortunately, the fire caused was not large and was quickly extinguished without causing too much damage or casualties.

What made Xiao Ran especially unbearable was that Rolto didn't know whether he had eaten the heart of a bear or the guts of a leopard, yet he dared to hide it when such a big accident happened!How could Xiao Ran bear his temper?If it weren't for Yu Lai and Zhang Zhidong who were pulling desperately beside him, Rolto would have become a pig's head long ago.

"Why are the workers gone? Damn you bastard, tell me the truth, did you really kill anyone?"

"No, no, absolutely not..."

But that's how it happened.Just when Rolto swore and swore, there was a burst of heart-piercing cries at the gate of the factory, and saw a large group of peasant women, more than a hundred of them, rushing into the factory weeping regardless of the guards' obstruction. .In an instant everyone understood that Rolto must have lied again!Look at this driving is not only killing people, I'm afraid it's not just a matter of one or two lives!

Xiao Ran was so angry that he kicked Rorto to the ground.At this time, the common people had rushed to the front, plopped down on their knees, and cried loudly: "Master, let us decide!" Someone brought two stretchers, and the people lying on them covered their heads and faces with white cloths, and they were obviously dead.Another dozen or so men were brought in by others. Although they were still alive, they kept coughing and weeping.Bending over panting into a ball.

Xiao Ran quickly checked the dead and the injured, and found a common symptom: these people had a large area of ​​redness and swelling to varying degrees, especially the head, face and arms, and local blisters and ulcers.Accompanied by severe coughing, vomiting, and non-stop tearing, vision decreased sharply.

Xiao Ran's heart skipped a beat.This is not a burn at all, but a typical chemical poisoning!I also inquired about the incident in detail. Sure enough, when the fire broke out yesterday, no casualties were caused. However, within an hour or so, a few workers had abnormal reactions such as coughing and vomiting.Rolto panicked immediately, dismissed all the workers and went home, and gave each of them ten taels of silver as appeasement.Tell everyone not to talk nonsense.But at night, more and more people showed symptoms of poisoning, and the two most serious people died before midnight.Everyone felt grief, indignation and panic, so they united and prepared to go to the factory to discuss an explanation.

According to preliminary statistics, a total of 32 people experienced poisoning reactions.Most of these workers were hired farmers from the suburbs of Beijing. At that time, the handicraft industry was sluggish, and they went to work in the factory during the slack season. They were originally full of joy, but unexpectedly this happened.In the face of everyone's crying and blaming.Xiao Ran felt unspeakably uncomfortable.He was not afraid that these people would go to the government to sue, in fact, with his status and status, suing was also confession.But in the countryside at that time, these male laborers were the pillars of a family. If they fell, the whole family would be over with them!

Rolto had collapsed into a puddle of mud.Xiao Ran now has the heart to kill him.But the top priority is how to deal with the aftermath.After all, Rolto was a pharmacist and knew the principles of medicine well. Xiao Ran ordered him to find a way to see if he could find a cure, but Rolto said with a sad face: "Impossible! The poison they are poisoned by is... Mustard

Mustard:.It's the notorious "King of Poisons" mustard gas! ! !

Mustard gas, scientific name is diethyl sulfide, or diethyl sulfide, is a yellow oily liquid.Has a garlic or mustard smell.As the most widely used, most common and most harmful biochemical weapon on the battlefield, even though it is hated, it is impossible for any military fan to ignore its existence!Not to mention that the Chinese nation has suffered tremendous harm from this poison in history, how can Xiao Ran forget it? !

As early as 1822, Desprez discovered mustard: in 866, Meyer of Germany synthesized pure mustard gas for the first time.From this moment on, Pandora's box was opened, bringing a lingering nightmare to the whole world!