Establish the national system, build a team of officials at all levels from the central to local governments, and then select outstanding talents from universities such as Danfu and other universities to study abroad to fill the government agencies at all levels from the central to local governments, thoroughly improve the bureaucracy, and begin to govern society and build the country.

Li Weiguo took advantage of his highest prestige and his hostile forces to carry out drastic reforms, highlighting his decisiveness and perseverance, thus laying a solid foundation for China's future development.

In addition, Li Weiguo also solved a major event, which is to expand domestic demand to cope with the challenge of foreign trade tightening.

As we all know, in modern times, China's trade has been a huge surplus for most periods, with the peak exports of 47 million taels of silver and the imports of 18 million taels of silver, resulting in a surplus of 29 million taels of silver. Until the UK began to reduce the import of yakiat, and after the First Yakiat War in 1840, the deficit began, and by 1860, it reached the maximum deficit of 14 million taels of silver, equivalent to 2 million yuan. In this year, exports increased to 87 million taels of silver, and imports increased to 101 million taels of silver.

However, starting from 1863, Li Weiguo unified the ten provinces in Jiangnan and completely banned the trade of Yabo. He was executed whether it was smoking opium or buying and selling Yabo. He used iron-blooded methods to eliminate Yabo in Jiangnan. This year, China's trade deficit instantly reduced by half and restored a huge trade surplus. This year, China exported 110 million taels of silver and imported 67 million taels of silver. Among them, the total export volume of the ten southern provinces reached 88 million taels of silver and imported 24 million taels of silver and had a surplus of 64 million taels of silver. In order to deal with Li Weiguo, the Qing government in the north colluded with the British and French powers and did not ban Yabo trade, resulting in only 13 million taels of silver (most of the trade ports are in the south), but the import was as high as 43 million taels of silver and a deficit of 30 million taels of silver, indicating that the elegant films of European and American elegant film merchants such as Britain, France, and the United States were dumped to the north.

After the Third Yabo War and the Northern Expedition to destroy the Qing Dynasty in 1865, Li Weiguo immediately signed the imperial order, burning down all Yabo imported from the European and American powers to China, arresting and executing all those who smoked Yabo and sold Yabo. Police and customs in various places cracked down on smuggling, allowing all Yabo merchants from the European and American powers to flee and stay away from China.

Although the iron-blooded ban on smoking was cruel, it fundamentally stopped the poisoning of opium to the country and the people, causing China's trade surplus to soar to 16.14 million yuan (14.02 million in the south + 2.12 million in the north), which was equivalent to a surplus of 113 million taels of silver. This was a huge achievement that the Qing Dynasty could not compare with. The people benefited and the whole country celebrated.

This year, Yipian merchants from Britain, France, the United States and other countries lost all their money, and countless people jumped off the building and committed suicide.

This year, the British and French governments not only lost the third Yabo War, but also caused a huge trade deficit, and they vomited three liters of blood.

However, two years later, in 1867, that is, in the 3967th year of the founding of the New China (the second year of Guanghua), European and American elegant film merchants led by Britain were unwilling to fail. They quickly colluded, and Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and other countries implemented maritime blockades in the seas of the seven continents of Southeast Asia (South China Sea), intercepting and robbing Chinese merchant ships heading to Europe, thereby blocking China's export channels to Europe and the United States.

Britain and other powerful people thought that using this method could reverse the unfavorable trade deficit problem. But they soon discovered that they were dreaming.

After learning about this, Li Weiguo immediately took anti-retaliation measures, completely banning the import of European goods and restricting exports to Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and other countries. At the same time, he also canceled the sea route from the Qizhou Ocean and changed to taking the Pacific route to the United States directly, because North America (referring to the government of the Northern Alliance of the United States and the South Military Government) was friendly to China. He also transferred to Europe through North American merchant channels and continued to obtain a trade surplus.

Although profits have declined after Americans have transferred their hands, they are still profitable and continue to generate revenue.

At the same time, Li Weiguo knew that the Chinese Navy did not have a powerful ocean-going fleet at present and could not counterattack the fleet composed of the British Royal Navy, the Royal Dutch Navy, the Royal Spanish Navy and the Royal Portuguese Navy. He could only temporarily endure it and wait until the Chinese Navy became stronger before counterattacking.

According to Li Weiguo's naval development plan, the next stage will be completed in 3970 (1870), and there will be three years left.

It just so happened that the country is in a period of large-scale construction, and the losses of foreign trade can be made up for by expanding domestic demand.

Therefore, Li Weiguo took advantage of his supreme prestige in the hearts of the people and publicly called on the people of the whole country to refuse to use foreign goods and purchase domestic goods.

Because of the poisoning of the elegant films, bullying by foreigners, and enslavement of the Qing Dynasty, Li Weiguo saved them, recuperated, exempted from heavy taxes, reduced commercial taxes, exempted from three years of agricultural taxes, anti-corruption and integrity, and established civil rights. These series of people-friendly policies made the people grateful and respected Li Weiguo.

Therefore, when Li Weiguo issued a call, the people responded one after another, selling only domestic goods and refusing to sell foreign goods.

Farmers work hard to open up land, sell grain for money, and buy more fertilizers, oxen, farm tools, etc. from domestic merchants.

Women no longer weave cloth, and spend more time raising silkworms and breeding other livestock, and then sell them for money to buy finished fabrics, cosmetics, jewelry, etc. from domestic merchants.

Tenants who broke free from feudal constraints gained freedom. They had no land and did not need to continue to work as slaves in the landlord's house. Instead, they worked in factories, mines, and shops of the country or individuals, and received higher labor remuneration. In this way, they also repay the court, responded to the emperor's call, and became the working class in New China.

Landlords dare not exploit tenants anymore. Some people have the benefits to develop in the direction of large plantation economy, and some people have the benefits to no longer be financial slaves. Instead, they invest in building mines and factories, and turn to doing business, making money from money.

The status of merchants is no longer humble. They are grateful to the country and respond to the emperor's call. They no longer import foreign goods. Instead, they invest their funds in government bonds, actively support and participate in the construction of major industrial bases in the country, invest in factories, and become big capitalists.

Soldiers cannot slack off without fighting. Responding to the emperor's call, they actively help the country build railways and roads, and building bridges when they encounter mountains. They can exercise their physical strength, save money, and do things. They have medals and win multiple goals at one fell swoop.

The officials and nobles took the deterrence of the State Independent Commission Against Corruption. They no longer bought foreign luxury goods, but instead supported domestic products and responded to the emperor's call.

Young people with aspiring spirit actively sign up for domestic universities such as Danfu to learn knowledge and serve the court in the future.

All of this is the credit of Li Weiguo. His supreme prestige unified people from all walks of life, expanded domestic demand, and drove the country's economy to develop rapidly.

Li Weiguo worked hard to accomplish these major events, and his sense of accomplishment was extremely pleasant and proud.

But he is not arrogant. He knows the huge gap with traditional industrial powers in Europe such as Britain and France. Even though China's total economic output is currently the world's largest, it is mostly the grain GDP created by the peasant class. Because more than 200 million people, only a few are capitalists and the working class, most of them are landlords and farmers. Although they create huge amounts of GDP grain, most of them are eaten and consumed by themselves, and cannot generate excess surplus value and industrial added value. If they cannot increase their comprehensive national strength, they cannot strengthen their country.

As an agricultural country, China has a huge amount of manpower and GDP, but does not have much industrial added value. Overall, it is not as good as one-fifth of Britain's comprehensive national strength, and its industrial added value is not even one-third of the United States, which fought a civil war for five or six years.

This is the huge gap between agricultural countries and industrial countries!

Li Weiguo, who understands this gap, naturally has to focus on industry. This is why he personally inspected the Liaozhongnan Industrial Base. It is because the overall layout and resource distribution of the Liaozhongnan Industrial Base are very close to the Great Lakes Industrial Zone in the United States.

As we all know, in history, the United States had less than one million tons of pig iron production in history. The steel production was less than 10,000 tons. By 1915, the pig iron production reached 33.82 million tons, an increase of more than 30 times; the steel production soared directly to 32.15 million tons, an increase of more than 3,000 times. The annual steel production in Germany during the same period was only 10,000 tons, the UK's steel production was only 7.788 million tons, France's 4.69 million tons, Tsarist Russia's 47,000 tons, and Japan's 253,000 tons. At that time, the Chinese country had only a pitiful 34,000 tons, which was not as good as the single digits of steel production in the United States. What a humble thing!

The core of the United States' industrial achievements is that the Great Lakes Industrial Zone is the Great Lakes Industrial Zone, which is rich in coal and iron ore, which is easy to mine and compact in parts. Moreover, the water transportation of the Great Lakes is extremely convenient and cheap, making the United States' steel production cost extremely low but the quality is very high. With the continuous improvement of steelmaking technology, the larger the output gap, and it has become the world's number one in the United States in a short period of time.

For China in history, it was not until after liberation that the abundant coal and steel veins of the Liaozhongnan Industrial Base were discovered. It was precisely because of the Liaozhongnan Industrial Base that it made a super China in the 21st century, a hundred years later than the United States.

But now it is different. After Li Weiguo unified China, he immediately developed the Liaozhongnan industrial base and carried out industrial construction as quickly as possible, striving to become the world's number one industrial power before the United States develops, and continue to maintain it.

Starting from Fengtian, follow the post station and heading towards Lushun, you can reach Anshan Post in a short while.

Anshan Post, as the name suggests, is an inn where communication between Fengtian and Lushun.

But today it was different. This post station became the emperor's temporary palace. Li Weiguo stayed here for a few days and inspected the Beiyang Iron and Steel Plant less than 20 miles away from the Anshan Iron and Steel Plant every day, as well as the Qianshan (Anshan) iron ore that surrounds the Beiyang Iron and Steel Plant in an arc shape.

This area is buried with more than 10 billion tons of iron ore, with concentrated ore veins and easy to exploit. Li Weiguo set up a Beiyang Iron and Steel Plant here, taking the principle of proximity and convenient transportation. Not far away are Yingkou, Dalian, Qinhuangdao and other ports. The smelted steel can be transported directly to major coastal ports by sea, or to the mainland by land.

At the same time, one hundred miles away is Fuping Coal Mine, an open-pit coal mine with excellent texture and huge coal reserves, which can ensure the demand of Beiyang Iron and Steel Plant in the next two hundred years.

Whether it is mines or factories, the surrounding area is full of rivers, directly connecting to the Bohai Bay, which is enough to meet the needs of industrial development.

All of this is similar to the Great Lakes Industrial Zone in the United States.

Nowadays, Fuping Coal Mine and Qianshan Iron Mine are all found by the ore exploration team at the prompt of Li Weiguo, and iron ore and coal mine plants have been initially established. The Qing Dynasty set this place as a forbidden area, which has not been developed for hundreds of years and is rarely visited. There are primeval forests everywhere, with rich forest resources, and coke production can be carried out on a large scale. It is very convenient to use coal to make steel and iron.

Standing at the construction site of the Beiyang Iron and Steel Plant, Li Weiguo inspected the factory construction situation and listened to relevant reports, accompanied by Li Hongzhang, Left Minister of Works, Huang Tifang, Minister of Personnel Wu Yong, Minister of Revenue Fu Xuexian, and others, as well as the Ministry of Works (Construction Bureau), Yu Ministry of Land and Resources (Land and Resources Bureau), the Ministry of Water (Water Resources Bureau) and other relevant departments.

"At the current construction speed, when will the steel plant be put into production?"

Hearing Li Weiguo's inquiry, Huang Tifang hurriedly said: "Report to Your Majesty, according to the planned progress, the project is divided into three phases, with a total construction period of 5 years. Finally, 6 large steelmaking furnaces with a total construction period of 5 years are built, 20 medium-sized steelmaking furnaces with a 600,000-ton medium-sized steelmaking furnaces, and 100 20-ton steelmaking furnaces with an annual output of 4 million tons of crude steel, 2 million tons of fine steel, and 200,000 tons of special steel; 54 medium-sized ironmaking blast furnaces with a volume of 300 cubic meters, 14 large ironmaking blast furnaces with a total capacity of 700 cubic meters, and finally 8 million tons of pig iron; 12 fuel plants with an annual output of 150,000 tons of coke, 6 large slag factories specializing in the production of synthetic slag agents, 4 preparation factories for oxidants, reducing agents and carbon enhancers; there are also 16 derivative factories such as forging mills, foundries, etc., specializing in the production of various steel and iron materials."

The scale of this steel plant is the world's top-notch steel plant. Once completed, it will surpass the Newfound Steel Plant, the world's largest steel plant.

However, Li Weiguo cannot guarantee whether there will be larger steel plants in Europe and the United States in five years. This should be enough for China's steel demand in five years.

However, China is currently carrying out industrial construction on a large scale, major industrial bases have started construction, and railways have started to be built nationwide, consuming a lot of steel and iron. Especially the Chinese Navy, the construction of a 10,000-ton iron-clad iron ship started construction, which was all made of steel. Eating iron every day is as fast as eating, and Baoshan Iron Factory is exhausted and needs to build other steel plants as soon as possible to share the pressure.

Navy construction is the top priority, and Li Weiguo does not want steel production to affect the speed of shipbuilding.

He then said: "Five years seem to be not long, but at present, the domestic demand for steel is huge, and the supply of steel materials is tight, especially the naval construction is accelerating. It is competing with the British Navy for time, so five years is still too long."

Huang Tifang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. The data reported just now is the steel production capacity when it is fully completed in five years. In fact, the longest time is the large 100-ton steelmaking furnace. Because it uses the latest 100-ton steelmaking technology, the technology is complex, so the construction period is relatively long. Those 60-ton and 20-ton steelmaking furnaces are much easier. Among them, the 20-ton steelmaking furnaces can only be completed and put into production in one year. In addition, not only is the Liaozhongnan Industrial Base, but also the Zhili Steel Plant of the Beijing-Tianjin-Tang Industrial Base, the Huangpu Steel Plant of the Pearl River Delta Industrial Base, and the Hanyang Steel Plant of the Middle Reach of the Yangtze River Industrial Base. The construction directions of these steel plants are the same. Small 20-ton steelmaking furnaces will be completed within one year, so it is enough to meet various domestic needs."

Li Hongzhang also said: "That's right, the reason why we divided it into three ton-class large, medium and small to build steel furnaces was that we took into account the situation of early production and early results. Your Majesty does not have to worry that various domestic construction will be affected by steel production capacity."

"Very good! Well done!" Li Weiguo nodded repeatedly, and then suddenly realized that he was curious just now why the steelmaking furnace of the Beiyang Iron and Steel Plant was divided into three grades, so that's it.

At this time, Fu Xuexian, who was standing beside him, said bitterly: "Your Majesty, don't just say that they are doing well, you have to understand the weak ministers!"

Li Weiguo was stunned and asked back, "What's wrong with you?"

Fu Xuexian smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, with your pen, you have started building seven industrial bases, hundreds of factories, tens of thousands of miles of railways, recruiting 750,000 workers, and starting a large-scale production movement vigorously. You are so happy, but as the Minister of Revenue, Weichen, this wallet has been instantly deflated. Do you know how much the Ministry of Revenue has spent? "

"How many?" Li Weiguo was happy, and Fu Xuexian felt sorry for the money.

"117 million RMB!" Fu Xuexian said in pain.

Huh!
Chapter completed!