Yi Zhizhi smoked a cigarette and quietly looked out the window at the bleak scene, nicknamed 'Devil Six', Prince Gong Yixun is definitely an extremely dazzling figure in the late sunny political situation, with several ups and downs in his life, but the first time he planted his head was for the title of his biological mother, which was really unexpected by him, originally he thought that Yuan Qi's birth had completely changed the trajectory of Yixun's life, but now it seems that it is still taken for granted. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Although Yixun's fate was bumpy, it can be regarded as a longevity, after the Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu three dynasties, especially rare is that Yixun was the central head of the Qing Dynasty's Westernization Movement, advocating learning foreign science and technology to strengthen China's military strength, advocating maintaining peace with European and American powers, and supporting the establishment of China's early modern military industry.

For Yi Xun, Yi Zhifen still has a good impression, when he was in Beijing, Yi Xun had a close relationship with Yi Zhixin in order to win the support of Yuan Qi, this time he was pushed to the end, relegated to the study to study, he wanted to reach out and pull a hand.

Mianyu naturally knew that Yi Zhixin had a good relationship with Yixun, and when he saw that he was silent, he said tactfully: "The emperor has always taken Prince Gong seriously, and this severe punishment is nothing more than a warning. ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said: "Yuan Qi has selected young children to study abroad every year over the years, and this year he has sent college students to study abroad to understand and learn from the West. ”

Arrange for officials to go to Western countries for inspection? Is this to let Prince Gong Yixun go to Western countries for investigation? Mianyu couldn't help but be stunned, and hesitated: "I'm afraid the emperor may not allow ......." ”

"It will definitely be allowed." Yi Zhi's contented tone was very determined.

After hesitating, Mianyu said directly: "Prince Gong has a close relationship with Yuan Qi, everyone knows about this, how can the emperor let him out of Beijing easily?" ”

Is this worried that Yuan Qi will collude with Prince Gong to rebel? Yi Zhixin couldn't help but laugh secretly, "The relationship between the prince and Yuan Qi is not close?" ”

Mianyu couldn't help but sigh, and said: "Prince Gong's identity is different after all. ”

"What's the difference, the prince is still the emperor's uncle today." Yi Zhisuff pursed his lips and said disdainfully: "Yuan Qi wants to rebel, why should he collude with the clan?" Wouldn't it be more popular to play the banner of expelling the Tartars? ”

Seeing him casually say such rebellious words in front of him, Mianyu could only smile bitterly, but what the other party said was also true, if Yuan Qi wanted to raise troops to rebel, it was really impossible to collude with the royal clan.

Yi Zhishu continued: "If the Qing Dynasty does not want to lose the country, it must go out, investigate the national conditions of Western countries in detail, learn from each other's strengths, blindly cling to the defects, rest on their laurels, and do not know how to be flexible, and it is a matter of time before the country dies." After a pause, he continued: "The delegation can charter merchant ships from Britain, France, the United States and other countries to travel around the world...... ”

Before the words fell, Cao Gensheng walked in quickly and reported: "The big shopkeeper, Yunnan Pu'er Mansion, Toast in the car, Yin Youcai called,"

"Reading ——。"

"Hong Xiuquan, the puppet king of the Taiping army, led a large army to sweep through northern Burma, and turned eastward at Xiangkong, but the Burmese army did not pursue. It is suspected that he went to Chiang Mai to meet the puppet wing king Shi Dakai. ”

Yi Zhizi's face sank, then he got up and walked quickly to the desk and opened the map of Myanmar to find the location of the elephant hole, the elephant hole he saw was not far from the Burmese capital Amarapura, and it was estimated that it was only two hundred miles, his face became more and more ugly, it only took two days, the Taiping army could come to the capital of Burma, but Hong Xiuquan turned eastward, obviously not wanting to fight with the Burmese army.

Looking at the map, Mianyu's face was also very ugly, and after hesitating, he said, "The Taiping Army is planning to divide Chiang Mai?" ”

The Taiping Army wants to get rid of Yuan Qi's control and entrench themselves in Chiang Mai to save themselves! This is the situation that Yi Zhishu least wants to see, which means that the Taiping army is completely out of control, which means that the plan to disrupt Southeast Asia is bankrupt! Knowing this, the Taiping army should not have been allowed to attack Chiang Mai in the first place.

Seeing that Yi Zhizhi was content and silent, Mianyu said tentatively: "Can we send troops to exterminate the Shida Kaibu in Chiang Mai before the two armies converge?" ”

After being silent for a long time, Yi Zhizhi slowly shook his head, "The current Taiping army is a hard bone, attacking Chiang Mai, there will inevitably be many casualties, and besides, Yuan Qi can't support the three-front battle from the northwest, Tibet to the southwest." ”

So what to do? Mianyu said with a worried face: "You can't watch the Taiping Army sit big in Chiang Mai, right?" This will put tremendous pressure on Yunnan. ”

"Going back to Yunnan is a dead end! Unless the Taiping army can't stand in Chiang Mai, they don't dare to return to Yunnan! Yi Zhizu said slowly, lit a cigarette as he spoke, paced back to his seat and sat down, "The Taiping army has more than 200,000 people, at least 50,000 elite soldiers, well-armed and sufficient ammunition, Burma and Siam may not dare to provoke, and the Taiping army must be busy consolidating Chiang Mai, and there will be no war in the next few years."

In any case, the Taiping army entrenched in Chiang Mai, which gave the Qing Dynasty an excuse to use troops in Southeast Asia, postpone it for a few years, and wait until the northwest and Tibet were stabilized, and it was not too late to march into Southeast Asia with all its strength to deal with the Taiping army. ”

Mianyu then asked, "What about Yang Xiuqing in Annan?" Not on the other yet? ”

"It's coming!" Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The climate of Annam is divided into dry season and rainy season, May to October is the rainy season, it often rains, mostly heavy rain and torrential rain, high temperature, high humidity, not conducive to the movement of the army. November to April is the dry season, the climate is dry and foggy. Among them, the dry season is divided into a hot season and a cool season, November and February are the cool season, the temperature is moderate, the most suitable for sending troops, it is now September, and it is okay to wait for two more months. ”

Jingshi, Yuanmingyuan, Dehe Garden, Yile Palace.

Xianfeng sat in the hall, sipping wine and enjoying the performance on the opposite stage, from time to time he also hummed a few words leisurely, on the left side of him was already a little pregnant Yi Concubine - Yehenala clan, on the right side is Mei Guiren - Xu Jiashi, the beauty is on the side, the wine is current, and there is a lot of drama in front of him, Xianfeng will leave all his troubles behind.

Seeing Xianfeng sipping wine while watching the play, Yehenala couldn't help but secretly worry, although Xianfeng is a good wine, but the amount of wine is really not big, and he is irritable after drinking, and he beats and scolds the eunuchs and palace maids around him at every turn, she is pregnant, but she doesn't dare to be frightened....... ”

Xianfeng seemed to be in a very good mood, and his interest in watching the play was also high, so he immediately waved his hand and said, "Concubine Ai is pregnant, so she will go and rest." ”

"It's rare that the emperor is in such a good mood today." Yehenara smiled lightly: "It's better to let Sister Yuche come to accompany the emperor to watch the play." ”

"You have the heart, let her come." Xianfeng nodded slightly, he was really in a good mood today, and he pushed the old six Yixun to the end, and relegated him back to the study to read, which was really a sulk in his chest.

Moreover, during this period of time, political affairs were also very handy, the Jin merchants borrowed 40 million taels of silver at low interest, blocked the Yellow River breach, and it was more than enough to help the victims, and the troops in Heilongjiang were also able to continue, especially rare is Yuan Qi's attitude, Yuan Qi has no silver, and he can also guarantee that the Jin merchants will give the court a large loan, and take the initiative to bear half of the interest, which makes him feel very comfortable.

Before the Yehenala clan left, Han Laiyu, the chief eunuch, hurried over and reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Peng Yunzhang handed over a sign asking to see him, saying that Prince Hui was calling from Shanghai ........ ”

Without waiting for him to finish, Xianfeng said impatiently: "Urgent? ”

"Military intelligence is involved." Han Laiyu hurriedly bowed and said.

At present, the Qing Dynasty is using troops in Tibet and Heilongjiang, although there are no troops in the southwest, but he is more concerned about the situation of the Taiping Army in Burma, after all, the Taiping Army is the biggest trouble in his heart, and he is uneasy every day.

After driving back to Fangbi Cong, after washing up, Xianfeng let people call in, Prince Gong Yixun was dismissed from the military plane, Mu Zhang'a was seriously ill, recuperating in the house, Lin Zexu went to Henan to govern the river, and now the military aircraft department is headed by Peng Yunzhang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and the co-organizer of the university.

Peng Yunzhang naturally knew that Xianfeng was watching the play, and he also knew that Mianyu's telegram was not an urgent matter, but after all, it involved the military situation in Yunnan, so he had to hand over the sign to ask for a meeting, but he was ready to be scolded. ”

After reading the telegram carefully, Xianfeng couldn't help frowning, the Taiping army may join forces to entrench in Chiang Mai, Yi Zhicontent is unwilling to send troops to suppress, and the Taiping army of Annam will not send troops south until October.

Hong Xiuquan and Shi Da Kaihe troops are entrenched in Chiang Mai, not to fight with Siam in Burma, this is a big hidden danger, more than 200,000 Taiping troops have a consolidated territory, after full repair, it is a huge threat to Yunnan, and it is possible to kill back to the Qing Dynasty at any time!

But now Seng Lingqin led the 3,000 Eight Banners New Army into Tibet, and the Eight Banners New Army left in Yunnan was only more than 10,000 troops, and without Yuan Qi's cooperation, it was impossible to enter Burma to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army.

Thinking of this, he was upset for a while, and said in a muffled voice: "Monk Greenqin has news." ”

"Back to the emperor." Peng Yunzhang hurriedly replied: "The monk king's department has entered Tibet, and it should be able to arrive in Lhasa in the next few days." ”

Even if Seng Lingqin arrives in Lhasa, I am afraid that he will have to wait for the arrival of the successor Northwest New Army before he can march to Nyalam and Jizhi, and it is estimated that it will be at least until the beginning of spring next year, even if the war goes well, the return of the class teacher will at least wait until the year after next, and in some two or three years, the Taiping army in Chiang Mai is afraid that it has become a climate!

Thinking of this, Xianfeng couldn't help but sigh secretly, when Yi Zhizu recommended Monk Greenqin to be in charge of Tibet, did he deliberately transfer Monk Greenqin out of Yunnan? If Seng Lingqin was in Yunnan and led the troops into Burma, Yi Zhishu would definitely not stand idly by, but Gui Liangke was hard to say, he really didn't dare to take this risk!

At dusk, when the sky was dark, a carriage slowly stopped in front of the corner gate of Prince Gong's mansion, and as soon as the curtain opened, a solemn man dressed in a long robe jumped out of the car smoothly and walked straight to the corner gate.

As soon as he entered the corner door, the porter quickly greeted him with a neat salute, and only then did he get up and smile: "The prince is in the study, and the sixth master please come with the slave." ”

In the study, Yixun, who was in his early twenties, was quietly reading under the lamp, and when he saw Su Shun, he came in, covered the book and said, "But I don't think I'm messy enough here?" ”

"I'm not here to make trouble." Su Shun casually arched his hand as a salute, and then paced to the opposite desk and sat down, and said, "Would the prince like to go to Western countries to have a look?" ”

Yi Xun Yileng, "What does Yi Guocheng mean?" ”

Su Shun nodded and said, "Let the imperial court form an official delegation to travel around the West and inspect the political, economic, military, and scientific and technological aspects of Western countries..... This is a chore, and the risk is not small, but organizing a large number of officials to go out to investigate is conducive to promoting the reform of the court in the future. ”

"Western countries, this king has long wanted to travel around, it doesn't matter if it's bitter or not, it's just ......" Yi Xun said in a long voice: "Will the emperor allow it?" ”

"Yi Guocheng opened his mouth, even if the emperor was not happy, he would pinch his nose and agree." Su Shun said unhurriedly: "However, it is best for the prince to try his best to go to the West, it may be two or three years at a time, and the prince must be prepared." ”

It's better to go to the West than to stay in Beijing and be sulking, let alone two or three years, even three or five years, Yixun doesn't care, he asked directly: "How to fight for it?" The emperor is afraid that he has not lost his anger yet. ”

"This is the first foreign affairs visit of the Qing Dynasty." Su Shun smiled and said: "The specifications can't be low, the team leader must be at least the prince and the county king, this is a chore, the sea voyage, the risk is not small, the diet is also poor, and the time is not short, I am afraid that no prince is willing to go to ......." ”

Five days later, Mianyu implored the imperial court to send officials to form an inspection group to Western countries to inspect the excerpt was delivered to Xianfeng, in the excerpt, Mianyu not only elaborated on the purpose, significance, and influence of the formation of an expedition to Western countries, but also put forward the selection and assessment system for overseas inspection officials, detailed itinerary, including the focus of the investigation to various countries, and so on.

After reading the excerpt, Xianfeng knew that this was from the instruction of Yi Zhicontentment, which was actually an envoy to Western countries, the corners of his mouth hooked, showing a smile, he was also worried about how to establish close contact with Western countries, this is really trying to doze off, someone sent a pillow, and the one who sent the pillow was still easy to be content!

After a slight groan, he said, "Forward to the ministries and discuss it." ”

As soon as the news spread, the officialdom of the Beijing division caused a sensation, and it was not uncommon for the Qing Dynasty to send envoys to foreign countries, but the objects of the envoys were all vassal states of the Qing Dynasty, and they were all Western countries that sent envoys to various countries to canonize and establish diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty on an equal footing, and they were mainly to investigate the national conditions of various countries.

For the first time, many officials felt that the Western countries were no longer out of reach of them, especially the young officials of various ministries were a little panicked, the Western Ocean was far away, as far as tens of thousands of miles, and it took several months to sail to the sea by boat, and it would take at least a year to go back and forth, not to mention the great risk of sea navigation, and few officials were really willing to go.