Under the envious and jealous gaze of a group of officials who were waiting for Qi Shan to meet, Yi Zhishu walked quickly into the single courtyard where Qi Shan lived, and he had already received the news that Qi Shan and Lin Zexu went to Changle Machinery Factory, Changzhou Shipyard, and Guangdong Navy Division Ammunition Bureau to inspect today, and also went to the railway station under construction for a walk, obviously wanting to see the train railway.

This makes a little uneasy, Qi Shan is the minister of Daoguang who relies on him, this time he came to Guangzhou, and at the beginning of getting off the train, he was anxious to inspect Yuanqi's factory and the Fozhou-Guangzhou Railway, which is obviously unreasonable, it is obvious that the investigation of Yuanqi's situation is also one of the tasks of the other party's visit to Guangzhou.

Walking into the living room, he glanced at it quickly, and saw Qi Shan and Lin Zexu in the room, the two of them were dressed in civilian clothes and did not sit up and down according to the rules of officialdom, but sat opposite each other at will, and they didn't know what they were talking about, they seemed to be talking very happily, compared to Lin Zexu, Qi Shanxian was thinner, and he also had a long beard, looking much younger than Lin Zexu, and seemed to be in his forties.

However, Yi Zhizu had a detailed understanding of Qi Shan's situation, and knew that he was only one year younger than Lin Zexu, and he was only fifty-five years old this year, which was the age when he was in the prime of life and full of energy. When they met for the first time, he was naturally not rude, so after a glance, he quickly lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes, and stepped forward to salute.

Qi Shan looked at him carefully, and saw that he was not only young, but also tall, very handsome, and steady, without the cramped appearance of ordinary officials when they saw him, especially rare is that the official dialect is not mixed with a Cantonese accent at all, but also has a bit of Beijing flavor, and can't help but secretly praise, Cantonese official dialect, he sounds really difficult.

"Contentment is not formal." Qi Shan said with a smile: "An article "Eighteen Articles of Railway Rejuvenation" and an article "National Debt Wheel" have made the content famous in Beijing, and the old man has been admired for a long time. As he spoke, he saw that Yi Zhizhi was standing with respect, so he pointed to the chair and said, "No need to be formal, sit." ”

"Master Xie." Yi Zhizhi said, generously sat down at the lower head, the waist was straight, the other party was not only Qincha, but also likely to take over Lin Zexu as the governor of Liangguang, the first impression is very important, he doesn't want to leave a bad impression on the other party when they meet for the first time, especially if the other party is Manchurian, it is very likely that he will try his best to curb Yuan Qi, this first impression can not be bad, otherwise it will be difficult to recover it in the future.

Lin Zexu knew Yi Zhi's contented temperament, and he was also anxious to know whether Yingyi had increased his troops, so as soon as he sat down, he asked directly: "What is the result of the negotiation between Contentment and Yingyi?" ”

The main thing to talk about with Yilu was to return the prisoners of war, and Yi Zhizhi was not able to say it directly, so he immediately bowed and said: "In the meeting with the commander-in-chief of the British fleet, Yilu, and the British Governor-in-Chief in China, Yi Lu, at the Governor-General's Office of Macao and Macao yesterday, through the conversation, we can be sure of two points: First, the British are sending reinforcements to Guangzhou on a large scale, with a strength of about 10,000 to 15,000. Second, the commander-in-chief of the British fleet, Yi Lu, will face dismissal because of his ineffective operation, and the new commander-in-chief of the fleet is said to be British Rear Admiral Pu Dingcha. ”

As soon as he heard that England had increased his troops by 10,000 to 15,000 people, Lin Zexu's heart couldn't help but tighten, Qi Shan also looked solemn, a few thousand people had already made the Qing Dynasty helpless, and now that there were more than 10,000 troops, what would be the situation?

Without waiting for the two of them to speak, Yi Zhizhi continued: "The main purpose of this Yilu appointment is to exchange more than 4,000 prisoners of war captured by us. ”

"Swap?" Qi Shan said in a deep voice: "What did Yingyi get in exchange?" ”

"In exchange for the security of the port cities on the southeast coast." Yi Zhizhi said: "If we return all the prisoners of war, Yilu guarantees that before the end of the negotiations, in fact, before the arrival of British reinforcements, they will not attack the port cities along the coast, otherwise, they will intensify their attacks on all the port cities along the coast indiscriminately." ”

"Shameless!" Lin Zexu scolded angrily before he said, "How can contentment reply to them?" ”

"How else can I reply?" Yi Zhishu said with a wry smile: "In exchange for the stability of the Great Qing Sea for more than half a year, this deal is still cost-effective, and it has been agreed that all British prisoners of war will be returned within ten days." ”

"No." Qi Shan said in a deep voice: "Yingyi's large increase in troops is obviously to expand the war, and returning more than 4,000 prisoners of war at this time is not to enhance Yingyi's strength?" ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at Lin Zexu and said slowly: "The reason why I rashly agreed is because of several considerations, one is that the British fleet can come and go freely on the sea, and it is impossible to prevent it, if it deliberately attacks the coast, in most half a year, at least more than ten cities will be poisoned by the British army, especially Jiangnan."

Moreover, the reason why Yilu was anxious to claim back the prisoners of war was that he was unwilling to fail, and hoped that in his hands, that is, before the arrival of reinforcements, the war could be ended with dignity, and we would return the prisoners of war, the strength of the British army would not be damaged, and if the negotiations made a slight concession, an imminent large-scale war might become invisible.

On the other hand, this group of more than 4,000 British prisoners of war, we will have to return them to the British army sooner or later, but sooner or later, whether it is the exchange of prisoners of war or the ransom paid by the British army, I think that it is not as good as returning it to the British army at this time. ”

This huge number of British prisoners of war, Qi Shan has long planned to use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Yingyi, if it is returned to the British army in vain, he is afraid that the negotiation with Yingyi will be quite difficult, but Yi Zhizhi is reasonable, he is not good to refute directly, and he groaned slightly, he said: "The war is not over yet, and the four thousand prisoners of war will be handed back, how can contentment explain to the imperial court, how to explain to the people of the world?" ”

Yi Zhizu looked at the two of them, and said with a smile: "What I want to explain to the court and the people of the world are the two adults, and they have nothing to do with the kid, Yuan Qi Tuanlian is just responsible for the detention and management of this batch of prisoners of war, besides, the return of four thousand prisoners of war, such a big thing, how can a businessman in the lower district be able to call the shots, and there are no Lord Qincha and Lord Ministries in Guangzhou." ”

Qi Shan couldn't help but sigh, and the two of them had to bear this notoriety for this matter? Lin Zexu glared at Yi Zhizhi and said, "Such a big thing, contentment dares to agree without permission." ”

"The ten-day period was proposed by Yingyi." Yi Zhisuff said with an innocent face: "Besides, I also made it clear to Yingyi that this matter must ultimately be decided by the two adults." ”

Hearing this, Qi Shan's face softened slightly, he knew that Lin Zexu was the most important to clear his name, and immediately said tentatively: "What does Shao Mu think it should be?" ”

Lin Zexu understood in his heart that he couldn't be the master at all for this batch of British prisoners of war, and if he wanted to be the master, he would pay Yuan Qi a reward of two million, and Yi Zhizhi was content with this just to give the two of them a step down, and besides, he also agreed with Yi Zhi's idea of exchanging 4,000 prisoners of war for peace in the coastal provinces for more than half a year, and this account was worth it.

For Qi Shan's thoughts, he was also clear, and he groaned slightly, before he said: "The Yingyi fleet arrived in Guangzhou in two days, if it goes north again and disturbs the south of the Yangtze River, we are afraid that we will all be able to escape the blame, besides, if we can really eliminate a war, it will also be a great merit, Jingshi, let's play truthfully, as for the gentry in the world, we can carry out correct public opinion guidance." ”

Listening to the words of 'correct public opinion guidance' from his mouth, Yi Zhi couldn't help but laugh secretly, Lin Butang's learning ability is still very strong, and his ability to accept it is also strong, and he can immediately think of using newspapers to guide public opinion.

Qi Shan didn't know about Lin Zexu's issuance of the reward notice, listening to this, he couldn't help but feel quite surprised, thinking about it, it was not unreasonable, Yi Zhizhi and Yingyi agreed on a ten-day period, ten days after his arrival in Guangzhou, the British fleet went north again to disturb Jiangnan, how could Daoguang spare him?

However, in this way, the negotiation with Yingyi is not an ordinary trouble, Yingyi's requirements are very harsh, make concessions, to what extent, Yingyi will be satisfied? Can Yilu end this war with dignity? What's even worse is that negotiating with Yingyi is completely an errand for him, the minister, who is not negotiating, and he can only bear the notoriety of losing power and humiliating the country.

However, after thinking about it, he felt relieved, Lin Zexu cherished his feathers, it was impossible to count on him for negotiations, with him involved, only the talks would collapse, and the consequences of the negotiations would always be borne by someone, if this war could really be eliminated through negotiations, what if it was a bad name?

Besides, Lin Zexu agreed to return the prisoners of war, what else could he do? It's not impossible to suppress it as a messenger, the problem is that if this matter spreads, he will inevitably become the target of public criticism.

After a long silence, he spoke: "Since Shao Mu agrees, then return it to them, but before the prisoners of war are returned, I will check them in detail." ”

This was because he was worried that the Guangdong side would deceive and lie about his military exploits, so Lin Zexu said: "This is natural. ”

After this incident, Qi Shan's mood was a little depressed, and he didn't say anything for a long time, seeing this situation, Lin Zexu stood up and said: "Brother Jing'an has been running around for a day, rest early, and say goodbye." ”

Yi Zhishu also hurriedly got up and bowed, not wanting Qi Shan to say, "Be content and stay." With that, he got up and sent Lin Zexu out, turned back to the hall, and after taking his seat, he stretched out his hand to give up his seat and said with a smile: "The contented old man has read the "Theory of National Debts" carefully, it is quite incisive, the court has a fixed income, but the use is impermanent, once a major event occurs, it is inevitable that it will be stretched. ”

is the so-called obedient and listening, as soon as he heard this, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but secretly complain, Daoguang wants to issue treasury bonds? At present, the life of Yuanqi Bank is not easy, and when he saw Qi Shan, he quickly grabbed the crack and said: "In the lower courage, the reason why the imperial court cannot make ends meet is that it will never be endowed. ”

Qi Shan Yileng, secretly thinking that this kid is not ordinary and will never be given, this is the decree issued by the Holy Ancestor Kangxi when he reformed the tax system, and this also dares to criticize?

Seeing that Qi Shan was silent, Yi Zhizhi continued: "Never adding endowment is the ancestral system, and it is also a measure that the imperial court has won the hearts of the people, and it has been implemented for more than 100 years, and it is difficult to change. ”

"The taxes and silver paid by Yuanqi in the past two years are indeed quite considerable, and they have reached the taxes of ordinary medium-sized provinces, and they are growing rapidly every year." When Qi Shan said this, he found that he had deviated from the topic, and after a pause, he continued: "However, far water can't quench the thirst of the near, the nature of the English dog and sheep, fearing power and not virtue, now a large increase in troops, a big war is inevitable, but the imperial treasury is empty, unable to support a big war, want to try to issue 10 million taels of silver treasury bonds, Yuan Qi may bear it?" ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but be secretly vigilant, the imperial court sent Qi Shan to Guangzhou to negotiate, and he didn't know in advance about the large-scale increase of the British army, what kind of big war was inevitable, it was purely nonsense, what was the reason for Daoguang to want Yuan Qi to apportionment 10 million taels of national debt?

The answer is self-explanatory, Daoguang wants to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle, can Daoguang not know the situation in Guangzhou? I don't know that Guangzhou is facing a war, people are panicking, and Yuan Qi has suffered a run on it several times? At this time, 10 million taels of treasury bonds were apportioned to Yuanqi, which was to put Yuanqi to death.

Refuse! Obviously impossible, he had stated to the imperial court before that Yuan Qi could undertake the issuance of treasury bonds by the imperial court, if he refused at this time, the imperial court would never tolerate Yuan Qi, and a trumped-up crime could be copied from Yuan Qi, not to mention that Yuan Qi itself had many things that the imperial court did not tolerate.

agreed, this 10 million is enough to drain Yuanqi Bank, even if it will not go bankrupt, it will be a big loss of vitality, he didn't dare to think about it, he pondered for a while, and then he said in a deep voice: "The state affairs are difficult, Yuan Qi has no reason to stand by, not to mention that this is the first treasury bond issued by the imperial court, how can Yuan Qi have a reason to shirk." ”

Hearing this, Qi Shan couldn't help but be secretly surprised, of course he knew the current situation of Yuanqi Bank, and also understood Daoguang's intention to issue this 10 million taels of silver treasury bonds to Yuanqi, but he never thought that Yi Zhishu just groaned a little, and then accepted it, this kid is really not simple, no wonder he can be so young but Ren Yuanqi is the big shopkeeper, and he can also make Yuanqi's business prosperous in a short period of time.

After a pause, Yi Zhizhi continued: "The imperial court tried to issue treasury bonds for the first time, and Yuanqi also undertook treasury bonds for the first time.

10 million taels of silver, may be a small amount for the imperial court, but for Yuan Qi, it is not a small amount, Yuan Qi undertakes this national debt, but there are many details to be agreed upon, and the adults may have full power? ”

This kid is really not ordinarily powerful, turn his head and put him in the army, don't think about it, Qi Shan also understands that the so-called details of this kid can definitely be difficult for him, at least because of his status and status, but he can't show weakness, and immediately said with a smile: "The headquarters has held important positions, but he has not been in charge of the transfer department, and he has never dealt with the money bank in his life, there are those details to be negotiated, be content and talk about it." (To be continued.) )