With the popularization of cable telegraphs, it is not many times more convenient to obtain information than before, and there are also a lot of business contacts between Nanyang and the Wa Kingdom. ”

Yi Zhizu nodded slightly: "Yes, I only learned that he was seriously ill half a month ago, I don't want to be so fast, Xiaoming is only in his thirties, he is in the prime of life, he suddenly fell ill, and died quickly, quite suspicious. ”

In the past two years, the Wa Kingdom has set off a wave of downfall, Yuan Qi sent the East China Sea Fleet to assist in Pingdang, Ma Yiqing naturally did not know about this matter, and then contacted Yi Zhizu to investigate the cause of Xiaoming's death, he said with some hesitation: "The big shopkeeper will not use troops on a large scale against the Wa State?" ”

Yi Zhizhi was content and silent, and slowly lit a cigarette, originally he planned not to use troops against the Japanese country for the time being, the purpose was to stagger the expansion of the northwest, originally he planned to take advantage of the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War, England had no time to look eastward to expand in the northwest, but it was not as good as the sky, the Austro-Prussian war came and went quickly, and it ended in less than two months, and the northwest expansion plan had to be temporarily pressed down.

The next large-scale war in Europe was the Franco-Prussian War, and the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War was delayed until 1870, which means that there were still three or four years to go, and Yuan Qida could use this time to pacify the Wa Kingdom first.

Although Genki has been committed to assisting the shogunate in maintaining its rule over the years, and has tried his best to continue the policy of seclusion and seclusion of the Wa Kingdom, the Wa Kingdom still has a strong sense of national crisis, and the frequent outbreak of the shogunate movement of various scales, and the accession to the throne of Meiji made him realize that he could not delay any longer.

No one knows better than him what kind of harm the war-sized Japanese state will bring to the Qing Dynasty once it becomes stronger, and he must nip this threat in the bud as much as possible and completely eradicate this hidden danger, and at present, the territory of the Qing Dynasty has extended from Alaska and Siberia to Southeast Asia, so it is reasonable that he can no longer tolerate the continued existence of the Japanese state as a vassal state.

After a long silence, he spoke: "Increase the copper production of the two provinces as much as possible." ”

Yuan Qi's consumption of copper materials is not used for money but for the manufacture of military bullets and shells, as soon as he heard this, Ma Yiqing knew that his guess was correct, and Yi Zhizhi was indeed preparing to make a big move against the Japanese State, so he immediately got up and said: "The lower officials obey the order and increase the output of copper mines as much as possible." ”

Ma Yiqing, who was waiting for him to retire, thought for a long time before he ordered: "Send electricity to Siam, and Yang Xiuqing, the king of the east, quickly come to Manila." ”

After receiving the telegram, Yang Xiuqing did not delay at all, and set off immediately, he knew very well that there must be something important when Yi Zhishu was suddenly summoned at the end of the year, and he hurried to Manila on the twenty-eighth day of the lunar month.

Yi Zhishu was quite satisfied with Yang Xiuqing's quick arrival, and after a while of greetings, he asked, "How is Siam doing now?" ”

Yang Xiuqing naturally understood the meaning of the other party's question, and immediately said without hesitation: "Siam has been in chaos for several years, all the royal family relatives, princes and ministers have been hunted down, the local gentry, rich and landlords have been basically wiped out, temples and books have also been basically destroyed and burned, the war has been raging for a long time, and the people are thinking about peace, which has fully met the needs of building a province." ”

Southeast Asian countries and the South Seas Luzon Java situation is different, has a long history and heritage, must break the inheritance, eliminate its cultural class, in order to be conducive to permanent rule, of course, this kind of thing Yuan Qi is not easy to do, the Taiping Army is no pressure to do, let the Taiping Army destroy, Yuan Qi and then expel the Taiping Army, and then establish a province and set up a county, not only conducive to the stability and consolidation of the Qing Dynasty's rule over Southeast Asia as soon as possible, but also conducive to the rule once and for all, Even the subsequent wave of liberation movements could not have much impact on Southeast Asia.

Yi Zhiren nodded with satisfaction and said, "Is the East King planning to ask Tian Wenshe?" Or continue to stay in the battalion? ”

All the way from Siam, Yang Xiuqing has been carefully pondering the reason why the other party suddenly summoned him to Manila, and even said tentatively: "If the big shopkeeper has a useful place, just give orders." ”

Yi Zhishu didn't go around in circles, and said straightly: "Yuan Qi is going to use troops against the Wa Kingdom, is the East King interested?" ”

Large-scale use of troops against the Japanese state? Yang Xiuqing's heart couldn't help but move, Siam was established as a province, his troops were naturally going to be evacuated, and the Taiping army in Bangladesh had already revealed the intention of incorporation, but he felt that the Taiping army in Bangladesh would not be able to jump for a few years, and for the troops who had followed him from birth to death for so many years, he naturally wanted to try his best to settle them and give them a good way out.

For his subordinates, there is no doubt that integrating into the Yuanqi New Army is the best belonging, but he knows that the Yuanqi New Army rejects them in his heart, although he claims to be very strict in governing the army, but it is not comparable to the Yuanqi New Army at all.

Now Yuan Qi wants to use troops against the Japanese on a large scale, and needs to use his subordinates, obviously to repeat the Taiping army in Siam, this is undoubtedly a rare opportunity, whether it is for his own consideration or for his subordinates, he can't refuse, he immediately straightened his chest, and said loudly: "I am willing to be the vanguard of the Japanese army!" ”

Yang Xiuqing's reaction can be said to be as early as Yi Zhi's expectation, a person with extremely strong power, unless there is no opportunity, as long as there is a chance, it is impossible to be willing to ask Tian Wenshe to be a rich man, and Yang Xiuqing has been fighting in the north and south for more than ten years, and it is also a very unaccustomed thing to let him out of the camp, and he will never let go as long as he has the opportunity.

After hesitating, Yang Xiuqing said tentatively: "Big shopkeeper, since we are the vanguard of the conquest, can we be officially included in the establishment of the Yuanqi New Army?" ”

Since he wants to drive the Taiping Army to work hard, he naturally can't help but give benefits, Yi Zhishu deliberately pondered for a moment before saying: "The Taiping Army can be independently organized and trained into an army, and give you a group army number with a brigade and battalion system, with a number of 30,000 soldiers, how about it?" ”

Yang Xiuqing has dealt with the new army of Yuanqi, and when he heard that he had formed an army independently and had 30,000 soldiers, he was overjoyed, and immediately stood up, saluted a military salute, and said loudly: "Yang Xiuqing, a subordinate, has seen the big shopkeeper." ”

Yi Zhizu said slowly: "At the beginning of the year, I led my troops to attack and recover Siam from Chiang Mai, and you led your troops to evacuate from the sea and go to Batangas, Luzon for reorganization, and you should be treated the same as the new army of Yuanqi." ”

"Subordinates obey." Yang Xiu said clearly, and then added, "Xie Da shopkeeper." ”

"Sit, I don't have that many rules here." Yi Zhizu stretched out his hand and pressed it, and when he sat down, he continued: "The Taiping army has been in trouble in the Qing Dynasty for many years, and it has been in trouble in Siam for many years. ”

"For the title of the imperial court, subordinates are not rare." Yang Xiuqing said with a smile, he was sincere, he had been the king of the East for so many years, and he was really not uncommon for earls and marquises, but Yi Zhizhi was also a prince, and he didn't expect the court to give him the title of king at all, besides, the Qing Dynasty may not last long, and it is estimated that the title of the Qing Dynasty is the same as that of the Taiping Army, and it is not worth much.

Yi Zhisuff only mentioned this sentence because he had promised Yang Xiuqing before, if he returned to seclusion, he would keep a title, seeing that the other party didn't care, he didn't say much, and the conversation turned around, and said: "Although the Taiping Army is also experienced in a hundred battles, it has also been comfortable for a few years, and the strategy and tactics of European hot weapons have changed a lot in recent years. ”

Since he has recruited Yuan Qi, Yang Xiuqing no longer wants to have anything to do with the Taiping Army in Bangladesh, and besides, he himself ran away from Hong Xiuquan's internal strife, so he immediately said with a look of embarrassment: "My subordinates have never had any contact with Bangladesh, and this matter is better for the big shopkeeper to call." ”

Seeing that he was clear, Yi Zhixiang didn't care, and chuckled: "Okay, I'll call them personally." ”

As soon as he arrived in Shanghai and returned to the mansion, he heard that Ren An asked to see him, and as soon as he heard that Ren An asked to see him, he knew that most of the time he was investigating the cause of Xiaoming's death, and immediately ordered him to take him to the study to wait.

After taking a bath, I ate some snacks at random, and I rushed to the study with contentment, and as soon as I entered the door, Ren An greeted him and reported: "The big shopkeeper, the cause of death of the king of Xiaoming is quite complicated...... ”

Complex cause of death? Yi Zhizu frowned and said, "Sit down and talk slowly." ”

After taking his seat, Ren Ancai said slowly: "The cause of death of the filial piety king announced by the imperial court of the Japanese state is smallpox, but according to the subordinates, people have taken measures to get different answers from the mouths of the two imperial doctors around the king of the Japanese, one is assassination, the other is poisoning. ”

Yi Zhishu originally didn't care much about the cause of Xiaoming's death, all he needed was an excuse, as long as the death of the king of Xiaoming was strange, he could use the topic to play, listening to Ren An's words, his curiosity couldn't help but be hooked, even if it was a puppet, the king of Xiaoming was the nominal king of the kingdom, how could the cause of death be so bizarre and complicated?

Of course, he knew that without a little basis, it would be impossible for Ren An to report to him, so he said, "Be careful." ”

Nodding, Ren Ancai said slowly: "According to the news released by the Imperial Court of the Kingdom of Japan, on December 1013, King Xiaoming suffered from a cold because he went out to watch songs and dances, and he had symptoms of cold and anorexia after bathing at night; On the 14th, he was diagnosed with smallpox after consultation with the imperial doctor. ”

The 15th and 16th are the danger period; On the 17th, he began to improve and regain his appetite; On the 18~22nd, he entered the chickenpox stage, and his condition improved significantly, and his appetite and bowel movements were normal.

On the afternoon of the 23~24th, he entered the pus stage, and his condition improved significantly, but that day and night he took a sharp turn for the worse, with high fever, vomiting, and dysentery, and passed away on the 25th.

These symptoms were consistent with smallpox, but his subordinates felt that it was too simple, so they sent people to inquire about the specific condition of the imperial doctor around the Waking, one was the imperial physician Irako Mitsushun, who said that the symptoms of the Wawang from Xiaoming were exactly the same as the symptoms of arsenic poisoning.

Another imperial doctor, Tohi Eleven, said that the lower abdomen of King Xiaoming was pierced by a sharp blade, and the murder weapon was initially judged to be a gun, which was pierced from the bottom diagonally. ”

Yi Zhizu said expressionlessly: "What about your analysis?" ”

Ren An said cautiously: "In the opinion of his subordinates, whether the king of Xiaoming died of smallpox, arsenic or assassination, it was all assassination.

According to the investigation, King Xiaoming is in good health, except for hemorrhoids, he rarely even suffers from colds, and is in the deep palace all the year round, rarely goes out, how can he get smallpox for no reason? That's bizarre enough in itself! ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "With the bold speculation of his subordinates, the king of Xiaoming may have been attacked by two groups of people at the same time, poisoned first and then assassinated, and he must be put to death. ”

Don't ask, easy to be content to be sure, want to put filial piety to death must be the two feudal clans of Choshu and Satsuma, the reason is very simple, as the king of the Japanese Xiaoming supports the closure of the country, originally he planned to use the death of the king of filial piety to make a fuss, now it seems that this article can be done in a big way,

Seeing Yi Zhi, he was silent, Ren An hesitated, and then said: "There is another thing, my subordinates don't know whether to say it or not....... ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhifen was quite surprised, and said, "Can't be sure? ”

"Yes." Ren An said: "Not only can't I be sure, but my subordinates feel that it's too unbelievable." After a pause, he continued: "According to the intelligence invested, Prince Muhito was originally right-handed, but after he succeeded to the throne, he became left-handed, and his handwriting was originally clumsy, but after he succeeded to the throne, his handwriting was comparable to that of a generation, and his body shape seemed to be a little out of ........ ”

Tanuki for prince? Yi Zhishu was stunned by these words, is the country of Wa in chaos to this point? Not only did he assassinate King Xiaoming, but he also changed his son? Did the appearance of Genki change the original historical trajectory of the Wa Kingdom, or is the real history like this, and the Meiji Emperor, who is famous for the 'Meiji Restoration', is actually an impostor!

This matter is really too unbelievable, no wonder Ren An hesitated, groaned slightly, and then asked: "Can the imperial court send an envoy to canonize it?" ”

"No, I didn't." Ren An hurriedly said: "The bizarre death of King Xiaoming is also very abrupt, and the court has no time to send an envoy to canonize him. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "Can this matter be thoroughly investigated?" ”

"Do your best." Ren An hurriedly said.

"Hmm." Yi Zhishu nodded, and said in a deep voice: "I need an excuse to send troops to conquer the Japanese kingdom in a fair and honest manner. ”

"My subordinates understand." Ren An hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Ren An, who was to leave, Yi Zhizhi leisurely lit a cigarette, and secretly laughed in his heart, he knew that there had been some chaos in the past few years, all kinds of forced palaces, coups, false holy decrees, and fake holy flags were endless, but he really never dreamed that the Japanese people would even dare to do such a horrific thing as killing the king, compared to killing the king, the trick of the tanuki for the prince is nothing.