Lin Zexu in the "Instructions to Merchants of Various Countries to Submit Tobacco and Soil Manuscripts", at the beginning of the sentence said that foreigners can not do without tea and rhubarb, without these two things, there is no life, and now listening to Yi Zhi's contentment, the expression on his face is quite unnatural, such a simple truth, how did he not expect it before, this can be regarded as throwing his face to the West.

However, he did have the intention to hold the trade between the two countries hostage, and when he saw it, Yi Zhizhi smiled at the corner of his mouth, he nodded and said, "What's the high argument about contentment?" ”

"I can't talk about it, but it's just a little superficial." Yi Zhizu said modestly, and then said slowly: "Three hundred years ago, the discovery of a new route from Europe to India, the discovery of the Americas, and the success of the round-the-world voyage opened the Age of Discovery.

Because of the huge profits of East-West trade, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, which had dominated East-West trade, have successively become European maritime powers and even maritime hegemons.

In addition, England began to carry out the industrial revolution decades ago, a large number of machines replaced manual work, production capacity increased significantly, and now England not only needs the trade of the Qing Dynasty, but also needs the market of the Qing Dynasty - in order to dump industrial products, in view of these two points, England will never tolerate the Qing Dynasty to cut off trade and close the country! This only strengthens the determination to provoke England to war! ”

If you want to talk about the understanding of the West, Lin Zexu asked himself that it was far less than easy to be content, and he heard him say that cutting off trade could only be counterproductive, and he couldn't help but be suspicious, after all, the other party still had the identity of a businessman. In public and private, in sentiment and reason, the other party will not agree to cut off trade, and after a little groaning, he tentatively said: "Contentment has judged that England will go to war, how should we deal with it?" ”

"Actively prepare for war." Yi Zhizhi said: "England's center of gravity and fundamental interests are in Europe. For the Qing Dynasty, all England needed was trade and markets, no thoughts, even if there was a war, it would not be a war for the country, it was nothing more than sending a fleet to expedition to test the reality and reality, if it could win a battle, it would not only eradicate the crows. Slice. It can also keep the sea and Xinjiang peaceful for decades. ”

This can be regarded as talking about Lin Zexu's heart, and after a little thought, he said: "Contentment is both a merchant and a big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, now that the treasury is empty, if the imperial court is actively preparing for war, it is inevitable to raise donations on the spot, and the Thirteen Elements and Yuanqi are inevitable, and contentment will not fail to see through this." Why do you advocate active preparation? ”

The meaning of these words is easy to understand and understand. If you want to actively prepare for the war, you need silver, which is to donate to the thirteen lines and Yuan Qi, and with a smile, he said: "If you are a businessman, you must not only calculate small accounts." You have to be able to settle a big account, and the battle with England is not only related to the success or failure of the smoking ban, but also to the safety of Guangzhou. Adults can rest assured. Preparing for war, Yuan Qi will definitely do his best. ”

Although he is young, he can take care of the overall situation and understand the general situation, no wonder he can be in charge of Yuan Qi, and no wonder Deng Tingzhen favors him, Lin Zexu stroked his beard and jaw and said: "But in the year of the weak crown, he has such insight and mind, and he is content with future achievements, I am afraid that he will not be under you and me." ”

Lin Zexu and Deng Tingzhen are both feudal officials, ranking in the first grade, which can be said to be a very high praise for Yi Zhicontent, Yi Zhizu hurriedly bowed and said: "The two adults are the pillars of the country, how dare the kid look at them." ”

"Contentment doesn't have to be presumptuous." Lin Zexu said with a smile: "There is a shortage of people who are familiar with Yiwen and the national conditions of England, and they are willing to move into Yuehua Academy to assist Ben Qincha?" ”

Yi Zhixiang hurriedly arched his hand and said: "My lord's love, I am grateful, but under is the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, there are many affairs, and there are many people who come and go, and it is inconvenient to move into Yuehua Academy. ”

Lin Zexu didn't want to recruit Yi Zhizu as a staff member, Daoguang was quite important to Yuan Qi, he couldn't let Yi Zhixin enter the curtain, and with Yi Zhi's relationship with Deng Tingzhen, if he had the idea of entering the curtain to win the rank of promotion, he would have already been Deng Tingzhen's guest of the curtain, he really lacked the manpower to understand English and understand the English situation, however, Yi Zhi's words are not unreasonable, Qin Cha Xingyuan is not a place where idle people can enter and exit at will.

After groaning slightly, he smiled and said, "In the future, there will be rushes for contentment." As he spoke, he took a sip of tea from his teacup and said with a smile: "A group of Guangzhou gentry in the front hall are discussing the establishment of a gentlemen's bureau to assist the government in banning smoking. ”

What gentleman's office? Yi Zhicontent didn't have the time and energy to talk to those gentry, but since Lin Zexu had spoken, he couldn't push back, so he immediately got up and saluted and went to the hall, to be honest, he didn't like to deal with the gentry in Guangzhou, the reason is very simple, don't look at him as the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, but after all, he is just a businessman, and he is not very treated by the gentry.

After Yi Zhizhi withdrew, Lin Zexu looked at Deng Tingzhen and said, "Yi Zhi's contentment words, how credible does Brother Wei Zhou think it can be?" ”

Although Deng Tingzhen has served as the governor of Liangguang for three years, he rarely pays attention to foreign trade on weekdays, and his understanding of the West is limited to the Western experience published in the "Xiguan Daily", and he can be said to be ignorant of the national strength and military of England.

After a slight hesitation, he spoke: "This son is both a merchant of Futai and a treasurer of Yuanqi, and he has many dealings with foreign merchants, but as far as I know, this son prefers Citi merchants, and rarely has business dealings with English merchants, purchasing machinery, building railways, and hiring mechanics, all of which are Citigroup's.

Besides, this son also hates crows. Piece, Yuan Qi openly refused to recruit smoking crows. Flakes, all crow smokers. The shopkeeper of the film was dismissed, and from this point of view, he had no need or reason to exaggerate the threat of England, which did not benefit him. ”

Lin Zexu has heard most of these things, including Citigroup's withdrawal from Crow. Piece trade, he also heard that it was due to Yi Zhi's strong request, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "I heard that Yi Zhixiang has an excellent relationship with the Wu family?" ”

"Not bad." Deng Tingzhen groaned: "Yi Zhifen's rapid rise has benefited from the strong support of the Wu family, but. Yi Zhixiang is very assertive, and he does what he says, Yuan Qi donated two million to strengthen the defense of Humen, which he said when he went to Humen alone to investigate. ”

Lin Zexu stroked his long beard and muttered for a moment before he spoke: "The combat strength of the Guangdong Navy Division is worrying, let Yuan Qi donate 200,000 yuan first." How about recruiting 10,000 water warriors? ”

"Two hundred thousand is not a big problem." Deng Tingzhen said with a smile: "Yuan Qi took it out, Yi Zhixiang will definitely not shirk it, but it is best to let the merchants and salt merchants of the Thirteen Lines donate this silver first, and the good steel has to be used on the knife edge, and Yuan Qi is now building an additional fort for Humen to replace artillery, which also makes Yuan Qi breathe a sigh of relief." ”

Lin Zexu nodded, thinking of the time when his majesty left Beijing. Daoguang also asked him to cherish Yuanqi, so he said: "As for Brother Yiwei Zhou, the thirteen lines and the salt merchant donated 200,000 yuan. ”

Yi Zhizu came to the front hall, and saw Zhang Weiyun sitting at a glance, and hurriedly stepped forward and bowed down and said, "The junior has seen Nanshan Gong." ”

Zhang Weiyun didn't expect to see Yi Zhifen here, and immediately smiled: "How could contentment come here?" He said and smiled to everyone: "Everyone, this is the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, Yi Zhizhi. ”

Everyone was surprised, and they were still guessing which junior boy it was. Listening to Yuanqi's big shopkeeper, I couldn't help but be secretly surprised. What is he doing here? Yi Zhizu shook his head and said with a smile: "Lord Qincha and the boy came to listen, and you will continue to discuss." So saying, he sat down at the bottom of his head.

All the gentry and celebrities here are the top figures in Guangzhou, all of them are famous, and most of them are from Jinshi. has been an official, and the most poor Liang Tingfang is also a deputy Gongsheng, although Yi Zhishu is famous in Guangzhou and can be regarded as the number one person, but after all, he is just a businessman. The gentry really didn't take him seriously, and when they saw him sit down, they were all a little tired.

Seeing the expressions of the people, Yi Zhishu secretly laughed, coughed lightly, and said: "Although you can talk freely, the kid is here to report on the affairs of the Gentleman's Public Bureau in the Xiguan Daily. ”

Hearing this, all the gentry were relieved, if the Gentleman's Bureau could be published in the "Xiguan Daily", the impact would naturally be greater, and they all immediately smiled and nodded at Yi Zhi, which was regarded as a greeting, and then continued to discuss.

Yi Zhixiang listened for a while, and finally understood what was going on with this gentleman's bureau, and immediately couldn't sit still, Lin Zexu asked him to come, afraid that he was interested in him entering the gentleman's bureau, he didn't have the leisure to do so, so he sat down slightly, and quickly found an excuse to slip away.

On February 18, the Gentlemen's Public Bureau was established, and Lin Zexu freed his hands and turned his attention to the seizure of the pump and ship crows. More than 20,000 boxes of crows. In order to prevent some filthy officials in Guangdong from getting up and down their hands, he strictly stipulated the procedures of inspection, collection, escort, care, storage, and guarding, and personally determined the "Regulations for the Collection of Barge Tobacco and Soil" and ordered the British merchants. Sheet pump ships sailed from the ocean to the vicinity of Humen one after another.

On February 21, the newly established Gentlemen's Bureau of Guangzhou set up a general bureau for the collection of tobacco and cigarette guns in the Big Buddha Temple, Yi Zhishu and Pan Shiming were invited, Yi Zhixiang originally did not plan to go, but heard that the General Administration not only confiscated tobacco and tobacco guns, but also prepared anti-addiction drugs and gave them to smokers, and estimated that they might need to donate, so they happily went.

Before he got out of the gate of Yuanqi, he ran into the guerrilla of the left battalion of the Humen Raising Standard-Mai Tingzhang, and he hurriedly arched his hand and said: "General Mai." ”

"Yida shopkeeper is going out?" Mai Tingzhang smiled and arched his hand: "Guan Junmen specially sent the last general to invite the shopkeeper Yi Da to Humen and his party. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly and said, "The artillery has arrived?" ”

Mai Tingzhang nodded and said, "I arrived yesterday." ”

When the artillery arrived, Yi Zhixiang still had the heart to engage in charity, and immediately ordered: "Go to the Big Buddha Temple with the shopkeeper of Kong, donate more actively, I will go to Humen, I'm afraid it will take a few days." ”

Humen, Jingyuan Fort.

A brand new Western artillery was dragged onto the battery in the sound of a group of officers and men's neat trumpets, and the faces of all the officers and men showed excitement and joy that could not be concealed; they knew that Western artillery was not only powerful, but also of good quality, so they did not have to worry about the danger of exploding, to be honest, what they were most afraid of was that their own artillery would explode, and there was no chance of escaping.

Guan Tianpei walked around the fort with great interest, watching a group of officers and soldiers busy, he was very satisfied with this largest fort that was built this year, of course, he was even more satisfied with this batch of Western artillery, looking at a black and shiny large-caliber heavy artillery, his heart was also full of joy, adding five forts, replacing this batch of artillery, he no longer had to worry about the British warships attacking Humen.

A pro-soldier trotted over and reported: "Yujunmen, the shopkeeper of Yuan Qiyi has come up." ”

"Oh, it's not slow." Guan Tianpei waved his hand and said, "Follow me to meet our God of Wealth." ”

Hearing this, the generals immediately echoed and smiled: "Welcome the God of Wealth." ”

Yi Zhizu strode onto the fort, and Guan Tianpei and the others who saw him greeted him, and hurriedly bowed his hand and said, "Close the military gate." Then he bowed to the generals behind him, and the generals returned the salute.

Guan Tianpei smiled heartily: "It's really timely to be satisfied with this batch of artillery, these days, the governor has been worried about the British warships breaking through the tiger gate." ”

Yi Zhishu smiled and said, "Can you send someone to carefully inspect it?" Can the specifications of all caliber guns be the same? ”

"Yes, every one of them has been carefully inspected, and they are all good colors, as if they were cast in a mold." Guan Tianpei said with satisfaction, and as he spoke, he pointed to the artillery and said, "Now that the artillery has been replaced, the standardized artillery bombardment mentioned by Contentment should be explained in detail." ”

"It's actually quite simple." Yi Zhizu walked to the edge of the fort as he spoke, pointed to Jiang Xin, and said: "Compared with naval guns, the biggest advantage of coastal defense artillery is the high accuracy of shelling, why?" The reason is very simple, the coastal defense artillery can first calibrate the shelling of the elements, taking the rungs island as an example, and the artillery of various calibers can determine the shelling of the rungs island in advance, such as the firing angle and direction of the artillery, and so on. ”

"What does contentment mean to predetermine a place in a watercourse?"

"Not bad." Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "You can set up a reference object on the shore with soldiers, such as two benchmarks with a straight line, and when the ship crosses the benchmark, it will send a signal, and you can mark some more predetermined positions." ”

"Hahaha." Guan Tianpei laughed loudly: "Good method, the artillery specifications are unified, the charge is unified, the size and weight of the shells are unified, and the artillery shooting is familiar with Zhu Yuan in advance, once the enemy warship enters the predetermined position, a salvo will be fired, and it is strange if it does not sink!" Now there is some training. (To be continued.) )