Su Shun can stand out among the many children of the clan, not only is he knowledgeable and far-sighted, he acts decisively, but also has a big advantage - he is well-read and has a strong memory, and has an excellent memory, in just half an hour, he wrote the excerpt, and after checking it, he glanced at Yi Zhicontent, who was sitting next to him and drinking tea leisurely, and said: "What is the matter with the economic crisis and the search for a way out of the capital?" ”

"The economic crisis, simply put, is the collapse of finance, the withering of all industries, the depression of the market, and the lack of livelihood of the people." Yi Zhishu put down the teacup and said slowly: "In this case, the stored funds in the hands of financial institutions such as bank ticket number, Qianzhuang Yinhao, etc., cannot be lent out, and if they cannot lend, there will be no interest and no profit.

It is the nature of businessmen to pursue profits, and the pursuit of profits by capital is the essential characteristic of finance, capital has no borders, regardless of the East or the West, as long as it is profitable, capital will come one after another.

The outbreak of large-scale economic crises in Western countries, a large amount of capital in the West could not invest in the West for profit, but the Qing Dynasty economy was booming, which naturally attracted Western capital to flock in. ”

Su Shun hesitated and said, "Will that lead to the disadvantages of cheap money and expensive money?" ”

"That's a good question." Yi Zhishu said with a smile: "This will cause a series of problems, but now is not the time to discuss this issue, let the emperor understand that the large low-interest loan is the British and French begging us to borrow a big loan." ”

Su Shun nodded, and said in a very casual tone: "Brother Guocheng is so ordered, are you afraid of the imperial court and the alliance between Britain and France?" ”

"Yes." Yi Zhishu said unabashedly: "If the imperial court forms an alliance with Britain and France, it will force Yuanqi to rebel, and the battle of Jinjing will also evolve into a big war, even if Yuanqi has a great advantage, it will also cause huge casualties, and the Qing Dynasty may fall into a long-term war, Britain and France and other countries will inevitably continue the war to strive for more benefits, and this war will probably be completely out of control, which is not what I want to see." ”

Hearing this, this is definitely a heartfelt word, Su Shun sighed lightly, and said, "It's still Brother Guocheng who thinks about the long-term ......." ”

"For the Qing Dynasty, every large-scale economic crisis in Western countries is a rare opportunity to develop, catch up, and surpass the West." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "I hope to win this war as soon as possible and cleanly, so as to win the time and opportunity for development." As he spoke, he stood up, "Brother Yuting slowly transcribed." ”

Su Shun sat still and didn't move, after a long conversation today, Yi Zhishu can be said to have no reservations about him, and there is no lack of taboo words, this is a kind of trust in him, I believe that he will take care of the overall situation, and will not instigate in front of Xianfeng, what makes him ashamed is that Yi Zhifen thinks about this war far more than Xianfeng.

He took the draft fold and read it slowly, he shook his head slightly, the goods are still comparing goods, people are more dead than people, compared with the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty and Yi Zhicontentment, this gap is really not a star and a half, but it is a pity, such a talent, the court obviously has a chance, but it has not been able to catch it.

Early the next morning, at five o'clock in the morning, before dawn, when Xianfeng met with the first group of ministers, he saw Su Shun handing the folds to Beijing overnight, and after reading it carefully, he stared at the candlelight a little distracted, and only said after a while: "A large-scale economic crisis broke out in Britain and France? ”

"Back to the emperor." Bao Jun, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, hurriedly said: "This is indeed the case, and Pa Xiali also mentioned it during the negotiation. ”

The several conditions put forward by the co-author court themselves cannot be called conditions at all? Xianfeng didn't know what to say for a while, Peng Yunzhang had already taken off his hat, and kowtowed lightly: "Weichen's news is blocked, laughing at China and abroad, and I implore the emperor to punish him." ”

Xianfeng glanced at him and sighed lightly: "I am short of talents...... ”

Hearing this, several military ministers hurriedly removed their hats and kowtowed, but Xianfeng said softly: "That's it, the telegram is carried by the wall, etc., and the British and French are false and wronged, and Su Shun and Yi Zhizhi are content to fight for the interests of the imperial court." ”

The Tianjin negotiations broke down, and Yi Zhishu immediately ordered the annihilation of the British troops stationed at Majiakou.

The Zizhulin section of the Haihe River, the river surface of two or three miles long is densely packed with all kinds of large and small ships, all of which are filled with all kinds of flammable materials, and behind the fireboats, there are more than 20 steam gunboats of the Beiyang Naval Division.

The twenty warships anchored along the shore of the British position saw this situation, and fled downstream in a panic without firing a single shot, and on the British position, Major General Grant saw this scene through the telescope, and his heart sank to the bottom, and without the artillery reinforcements of the battleships, their situation would be even worse.

Colonel Charlotte said with a gloomy face: "General, we are being attacked from both sides, and there are nearly 20,000 Qixin troops in Tianjin City, and there is no reinforcement ......." ”

"There will be reinforcements." Grant said confidently, he believed that Ergin would not give up on them easily, and would definitely go all out to rescue, "We must now rely on the fortifications to hold on to the reinforcements, and by the way, we will be able to severely defeat the spirit of the Qing army, otherwise, we will not be able to retreat calmly." ”

"How many days?"

"Herald the Ministries." Grant said in a deep voice: "The marines are landing at Dagukou and coming for reinforcements, we must hold on for a day, and the two armies can converge to evacuate safely!" ”

After giving the order, Grant looked at the Qing army camp opposite, even if the Qing army had an advantage in artillery, but the fortifications they built could minimize the damage of the artillery, and the Qing army attacked, he was confident enough to make the Qing army pay a heavy price!

"Boom, boom, boom" The cannon sound on the opposite side rang out, and in an instant, a dense explosion sounded on the position, Grant held a telescope to observe, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth, and there were cat's ear holes dug in the trenches to prevent shelling, and such shelling did not pose much of a threat at all.

However, when he saw a large number of Qing troops starting to charge towards the position amid the sound of artillery, a trace of surprise flashed on his face, this is a new tactic? Use artillery suppression to buy time for infantry charges? However, why was the Qing army so scattered?

When the tide-like Yuanqi New Army approached the position of five or six hundred meters, the British army's artillery hidden in the trenches opened fire one after another, seeing this scene, Grant showed a smile on his face, to say this trick, or in Humen, he learned from the Yuanqi New Army.

One by one, the flowering bombs exploded in the straggler line, and the solid bullets rolled on the ground, and the charging Yuanqi New Army lay down on the spot, the company commander Qiu Dayu was a veteran, and the cat ran to a mound of dirt and lay down, and a figure followed and lay beside him, "Company commander, is it safe here?" ”

"Where is there a safe place on the battlefield?" Qiu Dayu glanced at him, and when he saw that it was the squad leader Guan Xiaosi, he said casually: "It's the first time you go to the battlefield, are you afraid?" ”

"It's false to say I'm not afraid, but I'm still ordering it now." Guan Xiaosi said in a sullen voice: "The two soldiers in front of me were blown up. ”

"It's okay, the artillery will carry out artillery suppression." Qiu Dayu said and turned around and gestured, and said loudly: "Mortar, mortar preparation." ”

The sound of artillery seemed to pause, and then it sounded again, but it was a little messy, not dense at all, Qiu Dayu looked up at the smoke rising from the opponent's position, "It seems that it has been resting for a few minutes, and the artillery is clearing the opponent's artillery at a fixed point." ”

Qiu Dayu was right, when the British artillery was exposed, it immediately attracted the shelling of the new army artillery of Yuanqi, Grant saw this scene from the telescope, his face was a little ugly, the artillery of the Qing army was not only numerous, but also accurate and fast, a cannon fired will attract four or five shells.

The mortars that had been placed also began to be tested at this time, and Grant, who noticed the small guns, observed curiously, and when he found that the shells of the small guns could fall directly into the trenches, he became nervous.

In less than ten minutes, when the sound of artillery was sparse and the loud military horn sounded, the Yuanqi new army, which was originally lying down, got up and continued to charge, and quickly entered the range of rifles, and a large number of British troops rushed out and entered the trenches ready to shoot, but at this time, a dense burst of shells rained down on the position, and then a dense explosion sounded, and the unsuspecting British troops landed with heavy casualties.

"Good fight!" Wu Yundong, who stood on the lookout platform and watched, praised loudly: "Mortars are worthy of being a big killer against the trenches. ”

Under the cover of mortars, the new army of Yuanqi easily rushed into the position within 100 meters, at this time, the mortars began to carry out extended shelling, and a large number of British troops entered the trenches again at this time to counterattack, and at this time, the charging new army of Yuanqi fell down again.

Seeing this scene, Grant was speechless to the extreme, couldn't he line up like them, beat the drum, and charge forward fearlessly and bravely, and fight a battle with dignity?

"They're lying down and shooting!" Charlotte said in surprise: "And it's moving forward on her stomach!" ”

After a little observation, Grant said: "They are equipped with a rear-loading firing pin gun, is it a Dresser M1841?" But their rate of fire seems to exceed that of the Dresser M1841. ”

"Damn it!" Charlotte didn't know who she was complaining about, "Why is the Qing army always the first to be equipped with the most advanced weapons?" ”

The Dresser M1841 firing pin gun can be said to be a rear-loading firing pistol with excellent performance, the Prussian army has long begun to secretly assemble, in 1848, the secret of the Dreiser M1841 firing pin gun has been made public, but it has not attracted enough attention, after seeing the new army of Yuanqi using the rear loading gun to occupy a great advantage, it is inevitable to complain.

The British troops in the trenches, which relied on the superiority of their rifles, could not raise their heads at all, and to Grant's horror, they crawled forward while shooting, and soon reached a distance of one or twenty meters from the trenches, and then ripped off their belts and put grenades, pulled their fuses and threw them into the trenches.

A series of explosions sounded in the trenches, and the British troops who were huddled in the trenches and waited for the Qing army to enter the trenches to fight were blown up with flesh and blood, and they didn't understand until they died, where the hell did these shells come from?

Grant looked at this scene in a daze, his face was like ashes, it's over! He knew it was over! originally thought that relying on the trenches would be able to hold on for at least a few days and deal a heavy blow to the Qing army, but this time, how long did it take to capture the peripheral positions, and what was even more terrifying was the Qing army's way of fighting! Trenches are useless at all!

He even doubted that in the confrontation between the two armies in Humen, the Yuanqi army deliberately started a trench construction competition with them, whether it was a conspiracy, and the Yuanqi new army had already had weapons and tactics to deal with the trenches! They are stupidly confident in the trenches!

Charlotte's face was pale and she persuaded: "General! Retreat, it's too late if you don't retreat. ”

Fall back? Grant looked at the direction of Dagukou with some blankness, it is simply impossible to retreat now, it is fifty or sixty miles away from Dagukou, and he was chased and killed by Yuan Qixin's rank, how many people can escape back? The other side has at least 2,000 cavalry, and it is impossible to retreat, and retreating in this case is purely looking for death!

What about surrender? This thought instantly popped into his mind, with the offensive of the Yuanqi New Army, they might not hold out until dark, even if Erjin would send marines to the rescue, it would be impossible to arrive before dark, and they couldn't bury more than 10,000 officers and soldiers here, right?

As far as he knows, Yuanqi's new army is not barbaric, and the treatment of prisoners of war is also humane, and in the last war against the Qing, all the British troops captured by Yuanqi were unconditionally released, but he still had some hesitation.

If they surrendered, Ergin would have no choice but to be forced to surrender, he knew very well that this war was related to British expansion in Asia, to the safety of India, to the gains and losses of Malacca, Burma, and Bangladesh, and that if he surrendered, no one would blame him, but he himself could not feel at ease.

However, even if he does not surrender, this war is also a definite defeat, from the moment the Qing naval fleet blockaded the Bohai Sea, this war, they have already lost! Why bother to let so many officers and soldiers die in vain in this part of the Far East. However, less than an hour after the start of the war, he ordered to surrender, how could he be embarrassed?

"Order the artillery to move forward." Wu Yundong's voice couldn't suppress the excitement, this was the first time he personally commanded a large-scale battle alone, this battle can be described as smooth, extremely smooth, and his heart is naturally very happy.

Yuanqi has always been the most important military merit in the new army, because he is a merchant child, close to Yi Zhifen, has been guarding Shanghai, although all the way to the governor of Jiangsu, in charge of the green camp of Jiangsu province and the new army of Yuanqi, but did not set up any military merits, this battle is fought, no one dares to gossip about him!

The commander of the 203rd Brigade behind him, Xiong Changsheng, the chief soldier of Wusong Town, reminded: "Junmen, there is no suspense in this battle, whether to block the south to prevent the British army from breaking through." ”

"Not necessarily." Wu Yundong said slowly: "If you don't encircle the south, you want the British army to break through, once they break through, this battle will be easier to fight, and there will be fewer casualties." ”

Xiong Changsheng didn't say anything, this was the first tough battle of Wusong's Third Brigade, he hoped to create a brilliant record of annihilating the British army on the opposite side, Yuanqi New Army has always attached importance to the honor of the troops, which is a rare honor.

Wu Yundong's idea is different, in the case of having already won, he hopes to minimize casualties, he doesn't know Yi Zhi's contentment thoughts, and he doesn't know whether to fight the Eight Banners New Army after fighting the Xiyi Coalition Army.