Do you want to make a profit or not? Lin Zexu's heart moved, Yuanqi regiment practiced troops to Dinghai, if he returned in defeat or returned in vain, whether it was a big account or a small account, it would be a loss, but this kid said in a firm tone that he would not lose money, why is he so confident, could it be that Yuanqi regimental training has a full grasp of sending troops to recover Dinghai? Otherwise, how dare you say that it is a guarantee or a loss?

Liang Tingfang felt quite interesting about Yi Zhi's words, and Lin Zexu, who saw it, was silent, and he smiled and said: "The thirteen lines monopolize the foreign trade of the Qing Dynasty and suffer the most. ”

"Yuan Qi is not juxtaposed with the thirteen rows." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "If the imperial court agrees to a series of unequal terms in England, Yuan Qi is the biggest victim, once England achieves an equal or even transcendent status in several treaty ports, English merchants will open banks in treaty ports to carry out financial plunder, with Yuan Qi's current strength, it is impossible to compete with the Bank of England at all."

In addition, England will use the treaty port as a base, dumping English industrial products on the one hand, and plundering all kinds of agricultural and mining raw materials in the Qing Dynasty cheaply, destroying the economy of the Qing Dynasty, Yuanqi's silk industry, sugar industry, tea industry and mining industry will suffer heavy losses, in addition, Yuanqi's factories and machine production will also suffer huge losses, these are not at all comparable to the Thirteen Lines. ”

Liang Tingfang said in disbelief: "Yuanqi is so strong, it is still difficult to compete with the Bank of England?" ”

Yi Zhixiang had the leisure to explain more to him at this time, and said: "This matter is a long story, if Mr. Liang is interested, let's discuss it another day." As he spoke, he looked at Lin Zexu.

Lin Zexu smiled and said: "Last month, I asked the Yuanqi regiment to train troops to recover Dinghai, and I was a little reluctant to be content, but now I am trying my best to send troops to Dinghai." But is it because now that we have the certainty of recovering Dinghai? ”

"The battle that is uncertain is naturally reluctant in the future." Yi Zhishu said unabashedly: "Now that the British army in Dinghai has an epidemic, and the battle of Sharpening the Knife Ocean has created an opportunity for a surprise attack, I naturally don't want to miss such a rare opportunity to severely damage the British army." ”

Although Yi Zhishu had already made it clear that he was sure to recover Dinghai, Liang Tingfang was still unwilling for Lin Zexu to take this risk, and he knew it very well in his heart. The war is full of too many uncertainties, and the Yuanqi group training is hastily formed, and it has never experienced a war, so it is really risky to send troops to Dinghai.

Listening to Lin Zexu's tone, he seemed to be a little moved, and he hurriedly said: "The opportunity is rare, but fighting is not doing business, and there is no chance of it." Even if Yuanqi regimental training is comparable to the green battalion, it is not the enemy of Yingyi, the battle situation is changing rapidly, and it is an inter-provincial expedition, once it fails, the consequences are unimaginable.

No one knows the strength of the British navy better than Contentment, and it is unequivocal to say that the Great Shimizu Division is not the enemy of the Yingyi fleet at all, and I don't know if Contentment has considered it. Yingyi was defeated and sharpened the sea. What will be the reaction? ”

"Yingyi's reaction is nothing more than two kinds." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "One is to sit down and settle this dispute peacefully through negotiation, and the other is to continue to recruit soldiers, expand the scale of the war, and fight the court by force to accept their terms." ”

There was a pause. He continued: "It seems to me that the latter is more likely, and that England will dominate Europe and the seas, and will not be anticlimactic. After losing troops, it is inevitable to continue to increase the number of troops and expand the scale of the war. ”

Liang Tingfang was puzzled and said: "Knowing that this is the result, why do you still send troops to Dinghai?" ”

"In the family of a businessman, in terms of doing business, not all businesses have to make money." Yi Zhixiang glanced at him as he spoke, and said sarcastically: "Some businesses, knowing that they are losing money, have to do it, the picture is not the present, it is the long-term, the picture is not silver, but the people's heart, Mr. Liang is a scholar, full of scriptures, should not not understand this truth."

Compared with England, the Qing Dynasty is politically economic, military, scientific and technological, cultural and educational, and is backward in an all-round way. Just swallow your anger and humiliate yourself to accept a series of unequal terms in England? What would be the consequences of that? ”

Speaking of this, his voice became high-pitched, and the speed of his speech increased significantly, "Knowing that the Qing Dynasty is so weak and easy to bully, all the powerful countries in Europe, including Citigroup, will send troops to the door and impose all kinds of unequal terms on the Qing Dynasty, and the appetite will grow bigger and bigger, today is just a small island, tomorrow it may be ceded to Taiwan, Hainan, and the day after tomorrow it will even propose to cede Liangguang or Xinjiang, Tibet and the three northeastern provinces, as long as you pay 6 million in this war, next time it may be 20 million, Next time, it could be 200 million!

Is this possible? Yes! The European powers did this in the Americas, in India, in the South Seas, and as long as they had a foothold, they continued to expand! As long as war breaks out, they will be greedy and gradually increase the war reparations, and their appetite will grow bigger and bigger, and they will not be satisfied, which is the nature of the invaders!

This is why, knowing that I could not change the outcome of the war, I still strongly advocated seizing the opportunity to strike hard at the British army, in order to let all countries know that our Qing Dynasty is not so easy to fight, and if you want to take advantage of our Qing Dynasty, you must first weigh your own strength, and be mentally prepared to pay a heavy price first.

Moreover, as the Lord of the Ministry said, in the face of the strong invasion of England, the Qing Dynasty needed a real victory to boost the morale of the army, stimulate morale, and stabilize the people's hearts! A great victory won completely by virtue of its own strength is enough to make the officials, gentlemen, and people of the Qing Dynasty see hope in the Eight Banners Green Battalion. ”

After saying it in one breath, Yi Zhizhi didn't pay attention to the rules of officialdom, picked up the teacup in front of him and took a big sip, Lin Zexu and Liang Tingyu both had a dignified face and a solemn expression, both of them knew that it was difficult to fill the desire, this is the nature of human beings, the Qing Dynasty is vast and dense, prosperous and rich, if it is weak and easy to deceive, what Yi Zhixiang said is not alarmist, but will happen nine times out of ten.

Liang Tingwei glanced at Lin Zexu, he knew Lin Zexu's temperament, listening to these words, Lin Zexu would inevitably ignore personal gains and losses, and approve of sending troops to Dinghai, at this time, if he still stopped, it would be unwise, he immediately showed a smile, and said: "It is said that contentment has a long-term vision." The true color that I just saw today is a sigh of self-esteem. ”

"When it comes to the long-term vision, in the Qing Dynasty and the opposition, I am afraid that few people can be content." Lin Zexu said smoothly: "This time the Yuanqi Troupe practiced Dinghai Gonggong, and the headquarters must be heavily protected and recommended talents for the country." It is also the responsibility of the department. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhi couldn't help but smile and said, "Lord Ministries allowed to send troops to recover Dinghai?" ”

"Contentment for the country and the people, regardless of the gains and losses of Yuanqi, how can the headquarters care about personal honor and disgrace?" Lin Zexu said with a smile, and said in a relaxed tone: "As contentment said, let's not count small accounts, count big accounts, seize this rare opportunity." Hit the arrogance of Yingyi hard, not only let Yingyi and Western countries know that our Qing Dynasty is not a soft persimmon, but also let the government and the opposition know that Yingyi, who has strong ships and sharp guns, is not invincible. ”

Yi Zhishu hurriedly got up and said, "Since the Lord of the Ministry is in favor of sending troops, I will retire first, rush back to Xiguan to mobilize a variety of grain, grass, ammunition and soldiers, and return to Humen tomorrow morning." At that time, Guan Junmen should also come back. ”

Lin Zexu said: "It's a surprise attack." Naturally, the soldiers are fast, contented to be busy, but whenever there is a need, even if they open their mouths, the headquarters gathers the strength of the whole city of Guangzhou and helps each other. ”

"Lord Yubudo." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "It has already been arranged a few days in the morning. Inside and outside Guangzhou, I am afraid that Yingyi has many ears and eyes, but it is not appropriate to make a noise. As he spoke, he arched his hand and said, "Retire below." ”

Looking at the back of Yi Zhi's contentment leaving, Liang Tingfang sighed with emotion: "This is really a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers." ”

Lin Zexu said with a smile: "It is a hero who has been a teenager since ancient times. ”

Liang Tingfang said: "My lord is extremely optimistic about Yuanqi group practice? ”

"It's optimistic and content." Lin Zexu said: "Although this son is young. But what he thinks and does is very different from ordinary people, although he is bold and risky, but he is cautious, this time the Yuan Qi regiment trained thousands of people to send troops to Dinghai, if there is no six or seven percent certainty, he will not try his best to insist. ”

After hesitating, Liang Tingfang still couldn't help but say: "My lord, this is to hand over the future of his career and the honor and disgrace of his life to him." ”

Lin Zexu waved his hand and said, "Yi Zhizhi is a businessman, and he still knows how to calculate big accounts, how can the old man, as a feudal territory, only care about personal honor and disgrace?" There is no need to mention this matter again. ”

This is an iron heart, Liang Tingfang's reminder is just doing his duty, of course, he will not chatter endlessly, and immediately keep silent.

Heading up the river from Humen, the wind became less and less, and the speed of the ship slowed down, Yi Zhizhi thought to himself, it was time to build a steam ship at the Changzhou shipyard as soon as possible, and the "Enterprise" steam paddle ship that was seized this time was intact, if he was not worried about leaking the news, he would have taken the steam ship back to Xiguan.

To be honest, he was a little disappointed with the "enterprise" paddle ship, the technical content of the steam paddle steamer is really not high, the steam ship using the propeller is the mainstream, the "enterprise" is of limited significance to the Changzhou shipyard, but, on the other hand, this also shows that he has a great chance to catch up with Europe in terms of steam ships, because he knows very well that the propeller ship is the trend of development, and Yuanqi can invest in the research and development of the propeller ship at any cost, which is an opportunity for Yuanqi and an opportunity for the Qing Dynasty!

It was almost dusk, Yi Zhishu rushed to Henan Island, changed a clipper boat and went directly into the Wu family garden, to the Yanhui Building, Wu Bingjian rarely did not go out for a walk but paced in the yard, saw him come in, immediately waved his hand and retreated from the next person, without waiting for Yi Zhishu to come forward to salute, he said: "The steps are brisk, the eyebrows and eyes are happy, it seems that he has competed for all the merits." ”

"Pinghu Gongmingjian." Yi Zhisuff smiled and arched his hand: "I caught them all, and none of them escaped." After a slight pause, he continued: "Lin Butang is also strongly in favor of sending troops. ”

Wu Bingjian nodded slightly, and said: "It's him who also loses, and if it's Deng Butang, I'm afraid that he may not be willing to take this risk." ”

For this, Yi Zhixiang also quite agreed, although Deng Tingzhen was bold, but compared to Lin Zexu, he was still slightly inferior, however, Deng Tingzhen was a great favor to Yuan Qi and him, and it was inconvenient for him to talk about it, so he immediately turned his head and said, "How is the fleet prepared?" ”

"Where do you need to prepare?" Wu Bingjian said lightly: "Since the Yingyi blockade of Haikou, the Guangzhou salt fleet has all been idle, and they are all anchored along the coast of Henan, just to transport heavy soldiers. After a pause, he said: "Food, medicinal materials, and Lang Zhong who accompanied the army have all been prepared for you, guns and ammunition soldiers, but it's your business." ”

"There is Lao Ping Hugong." Yi Zhisuff said with a smile: "There are already reserves of guns and ammunition, and the soldiers don't need to worry, the elite on the small hoop is on standby at any time, and they can be pulled out at the first order." ”

Wu Bingjian shook his eyes and said, "You only plan to take those two thousand elites to go?" ”

"Six thousand five hundred." Yi Zhishu explained: "Since Lin Butang proposed to recover Dinghai, five battalions have been successively dispatched to Xiaohoop Wai for strong training, and there are five more warships with 2,000, a total of 6,005. ”

Wu Bingjian nodded slowly, and said: "The old man doesn't understand the war, but the old man knows that no matter how good the training of the Yuanqi regiment is, it is also a new recruit, and when he goes to the battlefield, anything can happen. ”

"Pinghu Gong rest assured." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "The younger generation knows the importance of things, and they must not do anything, and they will never be strong." ”

Coming out of the Wu family garden, Yi Zhifen went to the Ammunition Bureau again, and at ten o'clock in the evening, he came to the military camp of Xiao Hoop Wai, hearing that Yi Zhi was coming, Yan Yang Tian immediately realized that something big had happened, during this time, the regiment of Xiao Hoop Wai increased to nine battalions, and the frequency of live firing and ammunition attacks have increased significantly, Yi Zhi was content to come to the barracks at this hour, it was strange that there was nothing to do, he hurriedly sent someone to call all the commanders and deputy battalion commanders of each battalion to meet outside the barracks gate.

Seeing a group of officers greeted him outside the camp gate, Yi Zhizhi didn't say much, and directly ordered: "Summon the chief and deputy commanders of each battalion to the conference room for a meeting." ”

Yan Yangtian hurriedly reported: "Report to the principal, the chief and deputy commanders of each battalion have arrived. ”

Yi Zhizu nodded, stepped directly into the camp, entered the conference room, and after summoning everyone to sit down, Yi Zhizu glanced at everyone and said, "I think you have all guessed it, yes, the Yuanqi group practice will start tomorrow and go to fight Yingyi." ”

As soon as he heard this, Yan Yangtian immediately got up and said, "Please give the principal an order." ”

The chief and deputy battalion commanders also stood up and said, "Please give the principal an order." ”

"Sit down." Yi Zhixin pressed it twice, and when everyone sat down, he continued: "In order to facilitate command, the nine battalions of Xiaohoop Wai will be organized into a brigade, the brigade will have a regiment, a regiment will have a battalion, a brigade with three regiments, a regiment with three battalions, below, I announce that Yan Yangtian is the deputy brigade commander, and the head of the first regiment, Chen Hongming, the commander of the second regiment, and Xiao Mingming, the commander of the third regiment. ”

Yi Zhizhi appointed the chief and deputy commanders of the three regiments in one breath, needless to say, they were all students of Yuan Qiyi, and the six people to be ordered stood up to accept the order, and then he said: "The vacated position of the chief and deputy battalion commanders, you can arrange it yourself, and early tomorrow morning, the team will assemble and go to Humen by boat." ”

"Yes." Everyone stood up in unison and responded with a bang. (To be continued.) )