The Prussian-Danish War, which was easy to focus on, was like a glass of cold white - light and tasteless, and the Prussian army, which had undergone the new rigorous training and was equipped with the new breech-loading rifled guns, with the assistance of the Austrian army, easily captured Jutland with little resistance from any decent resistance, while the great powers such as Britain, France, and Russia were silent about it.

On the contrary, the Civil War was fought brilliantly, the Northern Army, which grasped the initiative on the battlefield and launched a counteroffensive, broke out a large-scale battle with the Southern Army in Wildness, Virginia, and two major battles broke out one after another - the Battle of Mangyuan and the Battle of Cordharb, the Northern Army invested 120,000 troops, but the Southern Army only had more than 60,000 people, and the two sides fought fiercely for more than a month, the Northern Army suffered more than 50,000 casualties, and the Southern Army only suffered 30,000 casualties.

The news spread, public opinion was in an uproar, and political leaders from the East and the West once again focused on the United States, while at the same time, the price of gold in New York rose rapidly and reached a new high!

"What about the price of cotton?" Yi Zhishu put down the telegram from New York, looked at Xiu Yuan and asked directly, he didn't care too much about gold speculation, it was just a matter of making more and less for Yuan Qi, but the amount of cotton was too large, and the price fluctuated violently It was not a matter for Yuan Qi.

"European cotton prices are largely unaffected." Xie Xiuyuan said slowly: "Although the land war was lost, the north's naval blockade of the south has become more and more strict with the continuous growth of the navy, according to statistics, nearly half of the smuggling ships in the south will be intercepted now, therefore, the price of European cotton has been steadily rising, unless it can hit the northern navy hard." ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen interjected: "How big is the Northern Navy now? ”

"There are 700 warships of all kinds and sizes, and there are more than 60,000 naval forces." Xie Xiuyuan said slowly: "Unless Britain and France send the main fleet, it is impossible to hit hard at all with the south alone." As he spoke, he looked at Yi Zhicontent, "Big shopkeeper, now that the gold price in New York continues to be high, will it all be taken off?" ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said, "Don't be in a hurry for the time being, wait and see first." ”

Wait and see? Xie Xiuyuan hesitated slightly, this means that the situation in the north may continue to deteriorate? Yuan Qi had emptied the gold on hand below $200, with the victory of the north, the price of gold fell, and under the instruction of Yi Zhi Contentment, it turned out that Yi Zhi's decision was extremely correct, and now that the price of gold has hit a new high, will it be too risky to continue to hold?

"Big treasurer, the price of gold in New York has risen fiercely, it has hit a new high of two hundred and thirty dollars, and the average price of our large amount of food is one hundred and forty-five, if we can sell them all, there will be at least ten million dollars of net profit." Xie Xiuyuan tactfully reminded that he hoped to settle down and there was no need to continue to take risks.

Yi Zhifen naturally understood the meaning of these words, but he waved his hand disapprovingly, "It's okay, continue to wait and see." ”

Seeing his resolute attitude, Xie Xiuyuan hesitated in his heart whether to persuade again, but Zhao Liewen had already spoken: "The big shopkeeper is judging that the battle situation will continue to deteriorate?" ”

"It's hard to say whether the war will continue to deteriorate." Yi Zhizhi pondered and said: "With the current situation, the south can still fight the war to this point, it can be seen that the previous judgment is good, the south does have great hopes for the general election at the end of the year, if the south can win back one or two games on the battlefield in the past few months, maybe there will be hope at the end of the year."

For the north and the south, these few months can be said to be the most critical time, I think there will definitely be a big war, as for the result, it is difficult to say, don't worry.

In addition, the price of gold has risen so sharply that it is also a bit abnormal, it should be that there are European financial forces behind the fuel, we don't need to worry about the high level of no one to take over, first stable, not in a hurry! For us, this should be the last dividend of this war, and we can't be soft! ”

In mid-June, Grant led his troops to attack Petersburg, an important town south of the southern capital city of Richmond, in an attempt to encircle Richmond from the flank.

Robert Edward Lee, commander of the Confederate Army, led his troops to lure the enemy deep and evacuated Petersburg on his own initiative, and the more than 60,000 men of the Grant Division marched into Petersburg, and then counterattacked, besieging the Grant Department in Petersburg in one fell swoop. In addition, it sent a detachment of more than 10,000 men to attack Washington, burning, killing and looting along the way, cutting off all cable and telegraph lines in the north, and cutting off Washington's communication with the outside world.

For a time, the north was shocked! Europe is shocked! But anyone who paid attention to the Civil War was shocked!

"General Li fought this battle so beautifully!" Xie Xiuyuan's face was full of excitement, "The price of gold in New York has risen like crazy, it has now risen to two hundred and eighty-four dollars, and the rise is still strong, if the Northern Army can't change the current unfavorable situation in the short term, it will not be difficult to break through three hundred dollars!" ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said slowly: "Let's not pursue the highest price, tell them, let them start selling the gold in their hands." ”

Selling? Xie Xiuyuan was stunned and began to sell when the rally was the most violent? Not only him, but Zhao Liewen was also puzzled, selling at this time was purely because he couldn't get along with the money, and after hesitating, he said: "The Northern Army has the ability to change the situation of the war quickly?" ”

"That's for sure, no doubt about it!" Yi Zhizhi said: "It may not be soon, but it won't be too long, before the general election at the end of the year, the north can definitely change the tide of the war." ”

Speaking of this, he smiled, "Don't just stare at Petersburg on the Eastern Front, I think the Western Front is the main battlefield, Sherman gathered 100,000 elite soldiers to attack Atlanta, the industrial center of the South, and it was Johnston's 70,000 Southern Army who defended Atlanta, as long as Sherman could capture Atlanta, it would be enough to turn the tide of the war." ”

Xie Xiuyuan was still a little unwilling, and hesitated: "Is it too early to throw it now?" ”

"It's not early, it's just the right time." Yi Zhizhi glanced at him as he said, "Financial speculation is the most taboo to be insatiable, and it is also taboo to constantly hesitate to make decisions." ”

"The subordinate will send a telegram immediately." Xie Xiuyuan hurriedly got up and said.

He went out with his front foot, and Cao Gensheng came in with his back foot to report: "Big shopkeeper, Frankfurt is calling." ”

"Reading ——。"

"Denmark has signed a special agreement with Prussia and Austria on Gastein. Schleswig was ceded to Prussia, Holstein was ceded to Austria, and the Holstein capital port of Kiel was placed under Prussian trusteeship. ”

Holstein ceded to Austria? The port of Kiel is hosted by Prussia? Yi Zhixin couldn't help frowning, after reading the telegram, he got up and walked to the desk and flipped out the map of Europe, looked at it for a while, and then his fingers lightly and rhythmically clicked on the map.

Seeing that he was silent, Zhao Liewen leaned over, glanced at the map, and said, "The big shopkeeper thinks there is something wrong?" ”

"There is a problem with the Gastein exclusive agreement." Yi Zhizu pointed to the map and said: "Huifu look, Holstein ceded to Austria, for Austria, Holstein is an enclave, and Austria must pass through Prussia to reach Holstein. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Liewen was quite surprised, "Prussia and Austria are not both Germans, but also allies ........ ”

"Bismarck was just using Austrian ........" Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "Bismarck is known as the 'iron-blooded prime minister', and if he wants to unify Germany, he will inevitably exclude Austria, and it is impossible to allow a country to have two voices ......... Speaking of this, a Prussian war popped into his head!

Yes, the Austro-Prussian War, he would have forgotten the Austro-Prussian War, before the Franco-Prussian War, there was a war between Prussia and Austria, but the scale and impact were not as large as the Franco-Prussian War, what about time? And when did the Austro-Prussian war break out? He raised his face and meditated for a while, but he was not impressed at all.

However, it is certain that the Austro-Prussian War must have preceded the Franco-Prussian War, and it seems that it should have been these two years, because Prussia could not have waged wars continuously, there must have been a time gap, the Franco-Prussian War was 1870, and the Austro-Prussian War should have been between 1865 and 1867.

Prussia is an army power, there is no doubt about it, but Austria is also a European power, the scale of the Austro-Prussian war should not be small, and the impact in Europe should not be small, how should Yuan Qi use this war to grab benefits?

Seeing that he was stunned, Zhao Liewen was afraid of interrupting his train of thought, so he stood quietly and secretly figured out in his heart, and when he saw him light a cigarette, he said: "The big shopkeeper means that Prussia's cession of Holstein to Austria is itself a conspiracy?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizhi took a puff of his cigarette, and then said slowly: "Bismarck is intent on unifying Germany, Austria is Prussia's next target, but poor Austria is still in the dark, otherwise it would not agree to this Gastein agreement." ”

The next target for Prussia was Austria? Zhao Liewen felt a little unbelievable, and muttered, "It's unlikely...... ”

Yi Zhizhi sneered: "It is precisely because it is unlikely that Austria will not take precautions. ”

"Can't Britain, France, Russia and other countries see it?" Zhao Liewen said suspiciously: "The continental equilibrium policy pursued by Britain should oppose the unification of Germany, not to mention France, the unification of Germany will threaten France's European hegemony, and Russia should not be happy to have a unified and powerful Germany as a close neighbor ........." ”

"Bismarck was not only an outstanding statesman, but also an outstanding diplomat, and he was bound to properly handle relations with Britain, France, Russia, and other countries." Yi Zhizhi said: "The Prussian-Danish war is not the best example, Britain, France and Russia are silent about this war. ”

Zhao Liewen's words changed, "The unification of Germany should be a good thing for Yuan Qi, right?" ”

"Of course it's a good thing, a great thing." Yi Zhizu chuckled and said, no one knows better than him the turmoil in Europe after the reunification of Germany, it can be said that in the First World War and the Second World War, Germany is a well-deserved protagonist, if Britain and France can realize that Germany will bring great disasters to Europe and the whole world, they will inevitably strangle it in the cradle at any cost.

For the Qing Dynasty, for Yuan Qi, Europe is naturally as chaotic as possible, not only can it make war money with the help of war, but Britain, France, Russia and other countries will also have no time to take care of the East, this is an extremely rare opportunity - the opportunity to catch up or even surpass Europe! Wasn't that how quickly the United States rose to become a superpower?

Naturally, his finger was drawn from Prussia to the edge of Western Europe, Ottoman Turkey, Russia has coveted Turkey for a long time, with the opportunity of the war in Europe, it should be a good choice to join forces with Russia to carve up Turkey, for the territory around the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, there is no need for the Qing Dynasty to get involved, but around the Persian Gulf, he is bound to win!

After the conclusion of an alliance with Russia and the signing of a non-aggression pact, Central Asia was already in the bag, and he had been thinking about how to expand into the Persian Gulf, just because considering that the Persian Gulf was the sphere of influence of the British, he had been pondering the timing of expansion.

You can take advantage of Germany's unification war, take advantage of Britain and France's lack of time to look eastward to expand step by step, you have to discuss it with Russia, and you must make careful preparations in advance, of course, pulling Russia in, naturally, is to prevent the Qing Dynasty from becoming the target of public criticism, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea is what European countries care about the most, and it is also what Russia dreams of, so that Russia can block the wind and rain in front, and the Qing Dynasty will not be too eye-catching to seize the Persian Gulf in the rear!

It seems that the military factory cannot be reduced because the American Civil War is about to end, on the contrary, it must continue to expand, and the northwest should also begin to expand the army, thinking of this, he looked up, and saw that Cao Gensheng had already left, so he wrote a telegram, and the governor of Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang, and the governor Feng Renxuan immediately set off for Shanghai, and handed it to Zhao Liewen after writing: "Send a report immediately." ”

Zhao Liewen glanced at the telegram, and suddenly felt inexplicable, he really couldn't keep up with the thinking of this big shopkeeper, what does Prussia have to do with the northwest? Is it necessary to let the Northwest military and political chief Baba come to Shanghai from thousands of miles? It wasn't until he got out of the courtyard that he vaguely guessed that he might want to take advantage of the war in Europe to expand to the northwest, and he couldn't help but secretly say to himself, just a guess, so vigorous?

Yi Zhishu asked Zuo Zongtang and Feng Renxuan to come to Shanghai to naturally have a personal interview, the northwest expansion is a big chess, not something that can be said clearly in telegrams and letters, besides, Zuo Zongtang is a stubborn temper, if he doesn't make sense, that guy may be yang and yin, as for Feng Renxuan, there is no need to worry, although he is not from Yuan Qiyi, he is also a descendant of Yuan Qi, and he is extremely eager for war, which is why he has always placed Feng Renxuan in the northwest.

After thinking about it, he turned out the map of Central Asia and West Asia and spread it out, intending to think about it carefully, but Lin Meilian walked in at this time, glanced up at her, and said contentmently: "I don't see a guest today....... ”

Lin Meilian said with a smile: "These two, the big shopkeeper is afraid that it is not suitable to refuse to meet." Saying that, she stepped forward and handed over two famous stickers, and when she looked at the post, Yi Zhizhi was also a flurry, it was actually Feng Yunshan, the king of the south, and Yang Xiuqing, the king of the east, these two actually came together? It seems that it was invited.