Hearing Lin Zexu say this, Deng Tingzhen reacted after a while, glanced at Yiliang, and then said: "This kid is really not a fuel-efficient lamp, this is in the name of recruiting group training, and by the way, recruiting miners for Changhua Iron Mine, killing two birds with one stone." ”

Lin Zexu had vaguely heard about the Changhua Iron Mine, but he didn't know the specific situation, and when he heard about the recruitment of 5,000 miners, he couldn't help but be surprised, and said: "Changhua Iron Mine needs so many miners? ”

"Don't dare to hide it from adults." Deng Tingzhen said with a smile: "Changhua iron ore reserves are huge, and the mining scale is expected to be tens of thousands of people. ”

On such a large scale? Lin Zexu groaned slightly and said: "Why rush iron ore mining, the current priority is to fight against Yingyi." ”

After stroking his beard and muttering for a moment, Deng Tingzhen said in a deep voice: "These 10,000 regimental trainings are all Yuanqi employees, and they recruit scholars to serve as military attachés at all levels, and Yuanqi not only has money but also channels to purchase Western firearms. ”

"Brother Wei Zhou, are you worried about Yuan Qi's troubles?" Lin Zexu said disappreciatively: "I'm worried about it, 10,000 regiments of Yong and scholars are all screened from various prefectures and counties, even if you don't think about the clansmen, you have to think about your relatives at home, how dare you make trouble?" ”

Hearing this, Deng Tingzhen also felt that he was a little worried, this 10,000 regimental training is not a native of Guangzhou, even if Yuan Qi has the intention to make trouble, they do not dare to obey for the sake of their relatives at home, he smiled to himself, and said calmly: "The reason why I am worried is because Yuan Qi recruited soldiers to serve as military attachés at all levels of regimental training."

Before, Yuan Qi set up 5,000 regimental training, saying that it was good to transfer military attachés from the superintendent and sailor to assist in the training of the regimental training, but that kid was to get a batch of scholars to serve as the leaders of the regimental training at all levels, which obviously did not want us to interfere in the regimental training. ”

"Brother Wei Zhou's move is a little inappropriate." Lin Zexu said unceremoniously: "You are not only meddling in group training. It's Yuanqi's business. Yuanqi disbanded after the group practice. A large number of Tuan Yong will also enter Yuanqi's various factories or money houses. ”

"That's what Lord Lin said." Yi Liang continued: "Yesterday, Yi Zhilu came to report, and he also revealed that he was worried that the superintendent and the military attache of the water division would bring bad to the atmosphere of Yuanqi's group training. ”

"This kid thinks very highly of himself." Deng Tingzhen said with a smile: "That's it, let's not interfere in Yuanqi's group practice, let him toss by himself, but we have to beat him well, we have high hopes for Yuanqi's group practice." Prepare for great use. ”

Yi Liang glanced at the two of them and said, "Xia Guan is now worried that Yi Zhixiang may not be willing to form 10,000 regiments to practice, and this is a lot of expenses in a year." ”

"Don't listen to him cry poor." Deng Tingzhen said: "Yuanqi's capital silver is tens of millions, what is the cost of three or four hundred thousand a year for Yuanqi?" ”

Lin Zexu couldn't help but say: "Yuanqi has such a lot of funds? ”

"When Yuanqi was not monopolized, the total principal of the pawnshop money bureau in Guangzhou alone was more than 20 million." Deng Tingzhen smiled as he said and said, "Although Guangdong is rich, it is not as good as Liangjiang. ”

Hearing what he said seemed to imply, Lin Zexu said in a slight silence: "At the beginning of the month, I had already recommended Brother Wei Zhou to the emperor to be the governor of Liangjiang, and I estimated that there should be a response in the next few days." ”

Deng Tingzhen was after a while. Hurriedly asked, "Why?" ”

"Crow. The film is not over, and the side provocation is about to rise again. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to leave Guangzhou in a short time. Lin Zexu said slowly: "The two rivers are heavy, how can the governor be hung for a long time, Yi Zhizhi said that the British army may attack Jiangning, think about it seems possible, if Jiangning is lost, we are the sinners of the court, the important ministers of the court, few people who know the British, only Brother Wei Zhou is in charge of Jiangning, it is enough to resist the invasion of Yingyi." ”

On 28 November, the Qichang fleet arrived at Whampoa.

The flotilla entered the harbor, and John. Green and Werthmore were taken by Consul Snow to the Thirteen Merchant House by small boat, and when they entered Snow's office, Werthmore complained loudly: "Sailing in the non-monsoon season is really terrible, we sailed for a full month longer than the normal sailing." ”

"You should thank God for arriving in Guangzhou safely." Snow got up as he said and asked, "Tea?" Or coffee? ”

"Thanks, tea, green tea." John. Green laughs, "I think I'm in love with green tea." ”

"Me too," said Wittmo. ”

Snow glanced at the two of them and said, "Can green tea really prevent scurvy?" ”

"It's unbelievable, but it's true." John. Green said and sat down on the chair casually, and said: "In a year, my fleet has made two round-trips, and there has not been a single scurvy among the crew and sailors, what a magical leaf, this year, I will order more green tea, and those guys in the Navy will definitely love it too." ”

"That's great news." Snow said and instructed his attendants, "Three cups of green tea." He walked to the door and closed the door before asking, "Did they agree to the exchange?" ”

"Of course I agree." John. Green laughed, "Why not exchange?" The patent for a Mini bullet with a fast loading speed and a 400-yard guarantee of 70 percent shooting accuracy is a deal that I don't think any European country will refuse. ”

"Still, there are some regrets." Weetmo said slowly: "We can't provide all kinds of drills and cutting lathes for making artillery, the United States does not have this technology at the moment, and the damned English have a tight technical and mechanical blockade of weapons. ”

"No worries at all." Snow smiled: "I invited you here in a hurry just to tell you that the situation has changed. ”

"Your Excellency the Consul has obtained the technology of the Mini bullet?"

"Nope." Snow shook his head with a smile and said: "In the past six months, the relationship between the Qing Kingdom and England has been extremely tense, and there have been several small-scale armed conflicts between the two sides, each with casualties, and the Qing Kingdom has cut off trade with England, a war is about to break out, and the secret of the Mini bullet should be made public soon." ”

"Is there really going to be a war?"

"With the pride of the English people, this war is inevitable."

Listen to this, John. Green's eyes lit up, "What does Your Excellency Consul mean, there is no need to trade with Yuanqi, we can sell this batch of machinery and equipment and technology at a good price?" ”

Snow smiled and said, "I think Yuanqi should be in urgent need of these machines and equipment now. I heard about this half a year. All the fire caps in Macau were bought out at a high price. ”

Wertmo said cautiously, "Will the United States be involved in this war?" ”

"Nope." Snow said without hesitation: "We need trade." But there is no need for war. ”

After a little thought, Wittmo said: "If you don't participate in the war, can you guarantee that you can obtain the technology of Minnie bullets?" The English are accustomed to technological blockades. Moreover, this deal, which was specially approved by officials of the Ministry of War, will need to be sent home next summer. ”

Snow hesitated for a moment before spreading his hands, "It seems." It's important for us to continue with this deal, but I want to sell it for a good price, not just a trade. ”

The next morning, Yi Zhizu and Wu Changqing hurried to the U.S. Pavilion, although Yi Zhizu was sure that the United States would agree to the exchange, but everything was unexpected, he was really worried that the arms dealers or officials in the United States would be kicked in the brains by donkeys, and now that the Yuanqi group training has begun to recruit, war is also imminent. The raw materials of the craftsmen of the factory are also ready, and the machinery and equipment and technicians are waiting. But the fleet of Qichang and Wei Temo did not inform him until the day, which gave him a very bad premonition.

Snow with John. Green greeted the two of them at the door, greeted them slightly, and went up to the reception room on the second floor, and did not see Witmore and Olifin appearing, Yi Zhi's heart felt more and more bad, and after sitting down, he asked with a smile: "Is the fleet going smoothly all the way?" ”

"God willing, everything went well, but there was a slight delay." John. Green said, not without pride: "Completely unaffected by the monsoon, across the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic, now we are American merchant ships." ”

The other party is not bragging, in the non-trade season, the foreign merchant ships that come to Guangzhou are indeed only American merchant ships, Yi Zhizhi nodded with a smile, and said: "The Americans have an unparalleled spirit of adventure and exploration. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Yi, for the compliment."

Seeing that the other party was not active, Yi Zhizhi was also lazy to go around in circles, and asked directly: "Did our transaction have an accident?" ”

John. Green smiled and said, "I heard that there will be a war between your country and England?" ”

Hearing him ask, Yi Zhishu secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, the goods arrived, the other party wanted to sit on the ground and raise the price, and the subordinate who saw him offered fragrant tea, and he smiled and said: "Driver, change a cup of coffee." As he spoke, he took out a box of cigars, scattered them around, lit them slowly, and took a puff before he spoke: "Mr. Green is worried that if war breaks out, the technology of the Mini bomb will soon be leaked?" ”

Seeing that he broke his mind in one bite, John. Green said briskly, "That's true. ”

Yi Zhifen smiled, stretched out three fingers, and said, "Three questions, one, the British have mastered the technology of Mini bullets, will it be made public?" Second, Humen is heavily prepared, even if war breaks out, is the battlefield necessarily in Guangzhou? Third, will war break out? When will the outbreak occur? How many years will it last? ”

After speaking, he stood up and said, "You have thought it through, and then reply to me." Saying that, he nodded politely and said, "Farewell." Without waiting for the two to react, he left quickly, and Wu Changqing quickly got up and quickly followed, saying in Chinese: "Want to capture the old man?" ”

"You're really lifting them up." Yi Zhizhi laughed and said, "The goods are dead on the ground!" I don't have the leisure to grind my teeth with him. ”

The Drawing Room, Snow and John. Green and the two stared at each other, Leng didn't react, he didn't say a few words after eight hundred, and the conditions hadn't been put forward yet, and the other party actually left, what do you mean? Snow came back to his senses and immediately realized that he had done something stupid, and the other party couldn't afford to delay, and they couldn't afford to delay either, besides, the other party was right, God knows when the war would break out? Even if it breaks out, will Guangzhou become a battlefield? The Qing country is vast and populous, how long will the war last?

He hurriedly got up and chased out, but saw that Yi Zhizhi and the two had already reached the first floor, which made him even more anxious, the other party was obviously not pretentious, and he was afraid that he was still angry, which was not conducive to the cooperation between the United States and Yuan Qi, in a hurry, he hurriedly said in a loud voice: "Mr. Yi, please wait." ”

Yi Zhizu stopped, looked up at him, and said with a playful face: "Your Excellency has thought about it clearly?" ”

"Don't think about it." Snow hurriedly said, saying that he hurriedly chased downstairs, and when he arrived, he said apologetically: "John is just worried, it's as simple as that." ”

"The deal continues?"

"Of course." Snow smiled and said, "Mr. Yi's people can go to the port to pick up the goods at any time, and the list of goods is in Wetmo, and then they will be sent to the Yuanqi General Ship." ”

"It's a pleasure to work with." Yi Zhizu smiled and stretched out his hand and said, "The real thing and the detailed principle text explanation of Minnie bullet, I will hand it over to Wetmo." ”

Out of the American Commercial Pavilion, Wu Changqing couldn't help but smile and said: "It's happy, but it's a little bit unenjoyable, let's listen to the conditions they put forward and perform such a play again." ”

Yi Zhixiang said slowly: "We are now in the honeymoon period of cooperation with the United States, and we have to leave them a decent place." ”

The two of them returned to Rongyuan on the front foot, and Weitemo followed on the back foot, and as soon as they met, Weitemo said apologetically: "I just went to Olifin, I didn't expect Mr. Yi to go so fast." ”

"There's been a lot going on lately." Yi Zhishu said and stretched out his hand, "Mr. Wittmore, please take a seat." ”

After taking his seat, Weetmo took out a list and said, "There is a necessary explanation, we hired two craftsmen for the sand casting of artillery, but there is no lathe for drilling and cutting artillery. ”

Yi Zhishu didn't know if the United States really didn't have it, or because of the technical blockade, but he didn't have the heart to pursue this matter, he only needed a land cannon at the moment, the caliber was not large, and he could cast or buy it himself, no problem, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "There are others?" ”

"There are machines and technicians for the barrel and the gunpowder cap."

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "No, we can't make it difficult for others, and make a deal." As he spoke, he unlocked and took out a box of mini bullets and a document from the drawer, and said: "This is the mini bullet equipped for the Hall type M1819, this is the principle, and it can be directly patented." ”

After Wetmo put it away, he then asked, "How many barrels and fire caps did you bring?" ”

"Three thousand Hall-style M1819 barrels, fifty thousand fire caps." Wittemo smiled: "In addition, there are two clippers and six merchant ships that were delivered, all of which went directly to the Eighth Institute, and the standard marine guns equipped by the British and French armies you mentioned also brought a few." ”

"Okay." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "After these two busy days, I will invite you to a banquet to express my gratitude." ”

On the first day of December, Lin Zexu followed Daoguang's edict and officially issued a proclamation in the name of Lord Qincha, announcing the closure of Hong Kong and the permanent severance of trade with England.

On the 4th day of the first month of December, Yilu did not show weakness and announced with the captain of the "Wolaji" that from 11 December, the Guangzhou port and the Pearl River estuary would be blocked. (To be continued.) )