C805 Eight Flags Heart (2/2)
Yi Xiang started to complain. He was born into the foreign service and was nicknamed the sixth son of the devil. He truly knew about the price for purchasing Western arms.
Don't mention corruption, this little bit of money isn't expensive, because right now it's the middle of the world, the benefits of industrial production isn't high, the cost of weapons and equipment are shocking, plus the cost of shipping is a huge sum of money.
In fact, by the beginning of the twentieth century, after 1900, the cost of purchasing new weapons in Beiyang was also very high. At the time, the purchase price of 12 7.5-cm-caliber rapid-fire guns imported from the UK plus 6,000 rounds was 170 thousand silver taels.
Fifty years later, the technology and industrial capabilities of the West had been greatly improved. The cost was much lower than it was in 1867. So right now, the foreigners were offering a fast cannon of seven thousand taels of silver. That was a price of conscience.
Hearing Yi Nan's complaints, empress dowagers frowned. ”Old Sixth, we all know that you're difficult, but no one said anything about you. Don't be so presumptuous …”
I don't know why, but even the normally taciturn Yi Xuan was enraged today. ”Why can't you blame my Sixth Brother for getting angry, these days the yamen runners from the minister of nine city gates and the Shuntian Palace reported to me one after another. The Baji s from the capital make tea in the teahouses, restaurants and gardens all day long just to talk about paper money ….”
”This bunch of heartless little bastards, just by watching us print a little more money, they'll make their bonds go down in value … They actually dare to speak ill of our imperial court behind our backs! ”
”Bastard!” Are we doing this for ourselves? It was all for the sake of the Great Qing … However, just for the sake of that tiny bit of profit, they took the lead to sell off their bonds, raising the price of the capital city by thirty percent! ”
Now I understand, from the bottom of my heart, they are not in the same heart as us, they are definitely from Xiluo's family, and are definitely from here with us, they are the ones who came here to enjoy life, as long as we let them eat a little grievance, they would immediately fall out!
With a ”pa” sound, he slammed the table. ”That's right. After they had entered the city, they had learned that Chinese people had bad habits. They were all petty and petty people. The Eight Banners Iron Army that had always been successful had long since dispersed …”
The topic of conversation was very heavy. Everyone was speechless, because this involved many old rumors within the family. The Manchu was originally a military aristocrat group. With a few tribes gathered together, robbing and strengthening themselves, the Xiluo's family was merely a clan leader that relied on their toughest fists.
In the past, everyone had a common enemy. Together, they would go to the south to rob the Han people. For the sake of a common ideal, they would unite and stay close to each other. However, when they were in the mountains and the rivers, when they no longer had to fight with their lives on the line, their hearts would slowly disperse.
The first three generations of the founding fathers could still remember how difficult it was when they were in the Golden Steel Horse Empire, but after the third generation, the eight banners were all grown up with iron stalks of crops and had never suffered any hardships since they were young.
This batch of children who had grown up in honey didn't have any aspirations. Every day, they would open their eyes and refuse to accept the fact that number two was number three.
What's there to be proud of about an emperor? According to the old Manchu Emperor, even he has to call me brother! If there was anything unfair about the distribution, they would start a fire and jump up and down to curse at everyone. It was as if the mountains and rivers of the Qing were all fought by their ancestors.