Yi Zhizu impeached the governor of Jiangsu, Fu Shengxunnian, and recommended Xu Jishe to take over as the governor of Jiangsu, Xianfeng ordered to review Xu Jishe's case, and as soon as the news spread, the entire Beijing officialdom immediately caused a great sensation!

As the minister of Nanyang and the prime minister of the foreign affairs of Western countries, Yi Zhishu is in charge of the negotiations and trade affairs of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Neijiang, and also supervises the affairs of coastal defense, training the Nanyang navy, and organizing industrial, mining, transportation, and industrial affairs. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

But it is really unheard of to be impeached on the grounds of old age and infirmity, and what is even more surprising is that Yi Zhixin not only impeached, but also recommended Xu Jishe, who had just been dismissed from his post and dismissed, to take over as governor of Jiangsu, if this is a blatant provocation! Provoke the dignity of the Son of Heaven! Provoke the prestige of the imperial court! is unscrupulous to the point of no return, but Xianfeng actually ordered a review of Xu Jishe's case, how can it not cause a sensation in officialdom?

Known for his outspokenness and daring to admonish, known as the 'Iron Imperial History', Chen Guangheng took the lead in the impeachment of Yi Zhizhi in the matter, relying on his power, no scruples, reckless prestige, forming a party for personal gain, controlling the money industry, and having ill intentions....... There are more than 30 counts.

The next day, the various sections and the imperial history followed suit, and they were impeached one after another, and some speculative Manchu and Mongolian officials also followed the impeachment of the previous chapter, and there was an uproar inside and outside the Beijing Division, and the officials and gentlemen discussed one after another, and all kinds of rumors continued in the market.

On the third day, the Manchurian and Mongolian relatives and nobles of the Zaiquan family relayed, followed by the impeachment of the bullets, and the officials of the Mu Zhang'a family were not far behind, and the news spread, and many officials with a wait-and-see attitude competed to follow the trend of impeachment, and even many Han members followed the impeachment, and for a time the bullets rolled to the Old Summer Palace like snowflakes.

Fang Bicong, Xianfeng gently patted a few stacks of overly high folds on the shore table, glanced at Mu Zhang'a, and said casually: "Who is behind the trouble?" ”

"The minions don't dare." Mu Zhang'a hurriedly kowtowed and replied, but secretly slandered himself in his heart, if it weren't for your unrelenting attitude towards the bullet and ambiguous, how could such a huge momentum be formed? It is easy to be content with the impeachment of a group of officials.

As the saying goes, once a son of heaven is a courtier, many officials sharpened their heads and wanted to do what they liked in order to win their appreciation and favor to fight for the opportunity to take the position, and those in high positions wanted to keep their existing positions.

Xianfeng did have the intention to connive, but he knew very well in his heart that it was impossible to move Yuan Qi at the moment, he just wanted to see how powerful Yuan Qi was in the court, and there were so many bullets in just three days, which made him very down-to-earth, and he groaned slightly, so he said: "All the bullets are left in the middle and not sent, and I pass on my oracle, Yuan Qi is not opposed, and it is not easy to play." ”

"Yuan Qi is not reversed, and it must not be played." This sentence soon spread throughout the Beijing Division, and the officialdom of the Beijing Division immediately lost its voice, and the boiling Beijing Division quickly regained its calm, and at the same time, the rapid horses came out and quickly spread this message to the provinces.

At the mouth of the Yangtze River, four sail warships were quietly moored on the sea, two small steamers slowly approached with black smoke, and after setting up a springboard, Kovalevsky quickly got on the battleship, and the Commodore of the Russian Imperial Navy and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yevfimi Vasilyevich Putyatin stood at the door of the official hall and said with a smile: "I really didn't expect to see you in the Far East." ”

Kovalevsky gave a military salute very casually and said with a smile: "Your Excellency General's trip to Japan, is it still smooth?" ”

"Don't mention it." Putiyatin shook his head and smiled: "We were rudely expelled in Nagasaki, Japan is now a vassal state of the Qing State, and all foreign affairs are in charge of the Nanyang Minister of the Qing State." ”

The two of them entered the official hall and sat down, and Putiatin then asked, "How big is the size of the Qing Nanyang Navy?" ”

Kovalevsky said slowly: "According to the intelligence collected from Shanghai, the Nanyang Navy has two naval academies of considerable scale in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and currently has about 50,000 troops, more than 100 large and small sail warships, and more than 40 steam gunboats. ”

"In this way, you really can't underestimate the Qing Navy?" Puti Yatin turned his head as he spoke, "What is the current situation in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" ”

"It occupies Hunan, and now it is gradually expanding outward." Kovalevsky said: "The Nanyang Navy did not actually participate in the war, but only defended the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. After a pause, he continued: "The Nanyang Navy is subordinate to Yuanqi, and it can be seen that the relationship between Yuanqi and the Qing court is not good, but Yuanqi is very protective of the foreign interests of the Qing State, and in Ili, the northwest, Yuanqi has stationed two brigades. ”

"Let's cross the boat." Putiyatin got up and said, "By arrangement, I want to visit the Duke as soon as possible." ”

Shanghai, Zhenhai Mansion, Changle Book House.

"Yuan Qi is not reversed, and it must not be played." Yi Zhizu chuckled and handed the letter to Bao Shichen, but he wondered in his heart whether this was a scene directed and acted by Xianfeng, in order to envelop him and Yuan Qi.

After reading the letter, Bao Shichen pondered for a moment before saying: "Sir, although he is young today, he is not lacking in scheming, and this oracle is very unfavorable to the sir's future..... An ungrateful betrayal of the name of the Lord, I am afraid that he will not be able to escape. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled disappreciatively: "I'm afraid that Benjue doesn't have a good reputation now, and I don't take it to heart a little bit of vanity, I'm afraid that the people's hearts will be back, don't worry, let's do it step by step, step by step, and press ..... step by step." ”

"Your Excellency." Lin Meilian walked to the door and said, "Shopkeeper Yan is here." Before the words fell, I listened to Yan Shikuan's cheerful voice, "The big shopkeeper, the telegram, the telegram from Suzhou." ”

"Erecting a telegram so quickly?" Bao Shichen looked at Yi Zhizhi in surprise.

"It's not fast." Yi Zhishu smiled: "It's just a matter of erecting lines along the railway line, and it can be faster if you are proficient." ”

Yan Shikuan held a telegram as if offering treasure, "Jiangsu Governor Fu Zhongcheng called, Brother Xie Guocheng understands." After a pause, he smiled and said: "I heard that it is sent and received immediately, and there is no need to delay the time at all, is it so fast to get to the Beijing Division?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "This is nature, and the speed of electricity is the speed of light..... Forget it, you don't understand it, in short, you can arrive in the blink of an eye, not to mention to Beijing, to Groba, to New York, theoretically it is all sent and received. ”

"Huh?" Yan Shikuan turned to say excitedly: "Isn't this telegraph office able to make a lot of money?" ”

"Do you know how to make money?" Yi Zhizu rolled his eyes and said: "The formation of the cable telegraph network has a huge role in diplomacy, national defense, and commerce, not just to make money, tell them to speed up the progress and give priority to the line to Wuchang." As he spoke, he looked at Bao Shichen and said, "Mr. Lao is still tired of writing an excerpt and asking for the installation of a cable telegram from Shanghai to Beijing." ”

Yan Shikuan said in surprise: "The big shopkeeper plans to set up a wire telegraph in the entire Qing Dynasty?" ”

"It's nature." Yi Zhizhi said: "Strive to complete the wired communication network of the Qing Dynasty in ten to fifteen years, and the complete communication network can reflect its value to the greatest extent." ”

As early as 1844, Morse invented the cable telegraph, and in recent years, it began to be put into commercial operation on a large scale, and the entire United States began to lay a telegraph network in an all-round way, and Europe is also in full swing to lay the telegraph system, and the Qing Dynasty will naturally not lag behind, as early as a few years ago, he began to prepare for the cable telegraph network, opened a wire and cable factory, trained technicians, and telegraphers, but the patent negotiations with Citigroup have not been able to negotiate. It didn't come to fruition until last year.

However, with adequate preparation, once the line is laid, it can be rolled out at multiple points at the same time, and the progress will be very fast, and I believe that it will not be long before the main framework can be formed.

Lin Meilian was listening to the amusement of a few people's gossip, and a maid walked in quickly and reminded softly: "Secretary Lin, someone from the concierge is here." She looked back, and saw a doorman looking at the gate of the courtyard, and hurriedly hurried over, and soon, she turned back and reported: "Sir, the Tsarist Russian mission Putiyatin and his party have arrived in Shanghai. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "The Prime Minister's Yamen came forward to receive him according to normal etiquette. ”

In the evening, Putiyatin and Kovalevsky came to visit, Yi Zhishu had expected them to come, had already arranged for an interpreter, and invited the two in, and after a ceremonial greeting, he asked directly: "What does it mean that your envoy went to Japan to deliver a note and redraw the border between Japan and Russia?" Is there a border dispute between your country and Japan? ”

After listening to the translation, Putiyatin said with a slight sigh: "In 1811, China negotiated with Japan to sign an agreement to demarcate the border, with the island of Zeto and the island of Shinchi as the boundary, but for some reasons, the agreement was not signed. ”

"Japan is now a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and all foreign affairs are handled by the Qing Premier Yamen with full powers." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The definition of the relevant islands, we need time to investigate, sign an agreement, and demarcate the boundary, and then we will talk about it the year after tomorrow." "The Crimean War broke out next year, and after the war, see how much confidence Tsarist Russia still has at the negotiating table?

Since the other party said that he would talk about it the next year, he was not in a hurry, and even said tentatively: "What about trade with Japan?" ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at him, "Japan does not trade with foreign countries, and the merchant ships of your country's Kamchatka Peninsula and Alaska can go to Sakhalin for trade, and from tomorrow we are ready to open a new trade port on Sakhalin." ”

What does that mean? Qing to strengthen control over Sakhalin Island and the Heilongjiang estuary? Putiyatin glanced at him with some suspicion, if this is the case, this trip will be a bit more than worth the loss, but according to the "Treaty of Nebuchu", Sakhalin Island and the area around the mouth of the Heilongjiang River are indeed the territory of the Qing State, and he really can't say anything, unless it is to carry out military coercion.

However, this is obviously impossible, Russia's main direction of expansion at present is not in the Far East, it is impossible to send a large-scale naval fleet to the Far East, and the Qing Dynasty's Nanyang Navy is not like a soft persimmon, and it is not a good thing to dare to snatch Luzon and Java Islands from Spain and the Netherlands.

After a long silence, he changed the subject, "Can my country establish a concession in Shanghai?" ”

"Absolutely." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "Although Shanghai is not ***, but it is a port open to the outside world in all directions, the Shanghai Public Concession welcomes all countries, however, the land price in Shanghai is very expensive now, and there is no good location, of course, Shanghai's development is very fast, and now the bad location, ten or eight years later, may be a prime location." ”

"China is optimistic about Shanghai's development prospects." Putiyatin said slowly: "Can the officials of your country accompany you to take a look around these days?" ”

"That's fine." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "Russia is also a rare powerful empire in the world, and we hope to strengthen exchanges with your country in the fields of politics, economy, military and culture. ”

Hearing this, Puti Yatin followed the conversation and said, "I heard that Yuan Qi is going to sell a large number of Mini guns to my country? ”

"Not bad." "Yuanqi is laying a cable telegraph and urgently needs a large amount of working capital. ”

Putiyatin laughed, "We can't afford to spend such a large amount of money on these Minnie guns. ”

"It's okay to barter land." Yi Zhishu smiled: "Alaska, Kamchatka, Siberia, I am interested. ”

In exchange for land? This guy can't be crazy, right? Putiyatin felt funny, "Your Excellency is joking, right?" It's not funny. ”

"No kidding, I'm serious." Yi Zhizhi said seriously: "If your country wants to sell worthless land one day, we are interested. ”

Yi Zhishu knows very well that Alaska, which is rich in oil and gas resources and mineral resources, was finally sold to the United States by Tsarist Russia at an ultra-low price, and his words are nothing more than a rainy day, of course, he also knows that it is not very likely that Tsarist Russia will now spend 100,000 silver dollars to purchase Mini guns, but once the war breaks out, it is not good.

Jiangning, Liangjiang Governor's Palace.

Li Xingyuan, the governor of Liangjiang, had just fallen asleep, and he listened to the report from the chief outside the door, "Master, Xuzhou military situation is urgent." ”

As soon as he heard the urgent report of the military situation, Li Xingyuan hurriedly turned over and got up, and only then did he leave the room and whispered: "What's the situation?" ”

Chang Sui said softly: "In Yongcheng, Henan, the Bozhou bandits Zhang Luoxing, Gong Deshu and others gathered thousands of people and captured Yongcheng, Henan. ”

Li Xingyuan was shocked, although Yongcheng is from Henan and has nothing to do with the two rivers, but the area around Yongcheng in Henan is at the junction of northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, Zhang Luoxing is still from northern Anhui, tens of thousands of bandits captured Yongcheng, God knows if it will flow to northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu? Could it be true that Yi Guocheng said that there was a large-scale outbreak of chaos? He couldn't help but secretly complain, why didn't Yi Guocheng impeach him, the governor of Liangjiang, he had already begged for a long time.

After a slight groan, he ordered: "Quick, hurry up and inform Yiguocheng of this situation in Shanghai, and ask him to send troops to reinforce Xuzhou to prevent bandits from entering Xuzhou and sabotaging the railway." After speaking, he walked quickly to the signing room, thinking in his heart, he still thought that the governor of Anhui had sent troops to Yingzhou, but could there be a second Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!