King of Beiyang

The meeting between Krupp Jr. and Li Jingyuan was a great success.

Not only did they obtain a patent license for the new armor steel from Li Jingyuan, but the price was also very favorable.

The biggest gain was that they obtained four large projects from Li Jingyuan, with a total value of over 100 million marks.

Krupp Jr. even believed that whether Krupp could make a fortune in the next few years depended on this cooperation with Li Jingyuan.

The Qing Empire was a vast emerging market, and if Krupp could seize this opportunity to enter it, it would undoubtedly bring new profit growth points to the company in the future.

Krupp Jr. believed that as long as this cooperation satisfied Li Jingyuan, it would be successful.

Then, there will definitely be more opportunities for cooperation in the future.

Krupp was very confident in the German Empire's advantages in technology and quality.

Upon returning to the company, Krupp Jr. immediately convened an emergency meeting with senior management.

When the company's top executives learned that Krupp had actually secured such a large order, they were all incredibly shocked.

Subsequently, Krupp Jr. instructed everyone to immediately begin preparations for these projects. At the same time, he instructed them to report to the German Reich government to ensure the projects would be approved.

Given Krupp's influence in the German Empire, these were not problems.

However, when this news spread, it caused a huge uproar in the German Empire and even throughout Europe.

Many companies envy Krupp's luck in making a fortune.

Many other companies have also contacted Oriental Pharmaceutical Company, hoping to participate in the collaboration.

Meanwhile, Li Jingyuan was already drafting a telegram to report the situation to Li Hongzhang.

Without Li Hongzhang's support, it would be impossible to establish a heavy industry conglomerate and a military-industrial system in China.

Moreover, this involves a collaboration worth hundreds of millions of marks.

If converted to silver, it would be a full twenty million taels of silver.

Even if Li Hongzhang had been embezzling for most of his life, the wealth he accumulated would probably not be much more than this.

Furthermore, given the current state of the Qing Empire, these projects would face enormous obstacles if they were to be completed.

Those officials are all incredibly ruthless; they'll plunder any opportunity that passes by.

Even with Li Hongzhang keeping an eye on things, there are still many places that need to be taken care of.

Especially those nobles, none of them had any other skills besides being greedy for money.

  

Therefore, to ensure the progress of these projects, Li Jingyuan must consult with Li Hongzhang.

In addition, Li Jingyuan plans to place these projects on the Liaodong Peninsula.

The steel plant was located in Ansan, where there are abundant iron ore resources, allowing for convenient access to these resources.

Both the arsenal and the shipyard can be located in Dalian.

The Lushun naval port is under construction and will become the home port of the Beiyang Fleet.

Placing the arsenal and shipyard in Dalian also made it easier for the Beiyang Fleet to provide protection nearby.

The 300-kilometer-long railway refers to the railway from Anshan to Dalian.

Once these projects are completed, the entire Liaodong Peninsula will be under the strict control of the Beiyang government.

In early March of the sixteenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, at the Beiyang Minister's Office in Tianjin.

Spring was just around the corner, and Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, moved from Baoding to Tianjin.

Nowadays, Li Hongzhang spends most of his time in Tianjin, except when he spends the winter in Baoding.

That evening, after dinner, Li Hongzhang was reading in his study.

"Master, a telegram from the Third Young Master!" Butler Zhang Qilin's voice rang out from outside the door.

"What's wrong with that brat now? Could it be that he's run out of money and needs me to wire him some?" Li Hongzhang couldn't help but curse.

Li Jingyuan has been studying in the German Empire for a year and a half.

During that period, he would send a telegram back almost every month.

But these telegrams mostly contained greetings to the elderly couple and reassurances about their health. They were often only a few words long, just a few dozen characters.

However, this time Li Hongzhang discovered that the telegram given to him by the steward Zhang Qilin was several pages long.

This made Li Hongzhang feel rather strange.

After reading the telegram, Li Hongzhang was completely shocked.

"Is...is this for real? Or is that brat joking? Did he go to Germany to study naval affairs, or did he go into business? And make so much money?"

Li Hongzhang looked shocked, as if he had seen a ghost.

In his telegram, Li Jingyuan claimed that he had made a large sum of money while studying in the German Empire.

Therefore, we plan to invest domestically to build a large-scale integrated steel plant, a large-scale arms factory, a large-scale shipyard, and a 300-kilometer-long railway.

All of these projects combined represent a total investment of over 100 million marks.

Converted to silver, that's roughly twenty million taels of silver.

If it were anyone else, Li Hongzhang would definitely think they were bragging.

However, Li Jingyuan and Li Hongzhang still believed in him.

Even though this son can be a bit unreliable at times, he wouldn't joke about something this serious.

Even so, it took Li Hongzhang quite a while to accept the news.

"That brat has really given me a hard time! Bring the boss, Yushan, and Xingsun here right now," Li Hongzhang ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Butler Zhang Qilin hurriedly went to make the arrangements.

Yushan was the courtesy name of Zhou Fu, while Xingsun was the courtesy name of Sheng Xuanhuai.

Both of them were Li Hongzhang's confidants.

After returning to China, Li Jingfang failed the imperial examination again last year.

However, Li Jingxiang expressed to Li Hongzhang his desire to serve as the Minister in the Eastern Empire.

Li Hongzhang agreed with this and has already begun working on it.

Soon, Li Jingfang, Zhou Fu, Sheng Xuanhuai, and others arrived at Li Hongzhang's study.

"This is a telegram sent back by the third brother. Everyone, take a look!" Li Hongzhang pointed to the telegram on the desk.

Li Jingfang was the first to pick up the telegram, but he was quickly stunned.

Especially after reading the telegram, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Zhou Fu and Sheng Xuanhuai were equally shocked after reading the contents of the telegram.

"Your Excellency, is this...is this true?" Sheng Xuanhuai served as the Customs Commissioner of Tianjin, overseeing the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, the Telegraph Bureau, the Railway Bureau, and the Kaiping Mining Bureau, among other Beiyang industries. He was arguably Li Hongzhang's top executive in the Westernization Movement.

The third young master went to study in the German Empire and in a short period of time, he actually accumulated such a huge fortune. He also invested 20 million taels of silver to build steel mills, arsenals and shipyards, and planned to build a 300-kilometer-long railway. This is truly astonishing.

"Third Brother wouldn't joke about this!" Li Jingfang said.

"Young Master, I did not mean to question the Third Young Master. However, this matter is of great importance," Sheng Xuanhuai explained.

"The third brother seems to be serious. I've gathered everyone here to ask for your opinions. The third brother wants to build railways and factories in Liaodong. Should the Beiyang government fully support him?" Li Hongzhang said to the crowd.