The concept of the 'Chinese nation' was indeed put forward by Yi Zhifen more than ten years ago, and it has been publicly propagated in newspapers over the years, and it has been vigorously promoted in the Yuanqi New Army, and everyone here knows it, but the imperial court has never publicly expressed its position on it, neither refuting nor agreeing with it.

Obviously, this concept is more conducive to winning the hearts of the people and consolidating the rule of the imperial court, but if the imperial court wants to agree with this, it must open a knife to the hardcore crops of the Qing Dynasty - the banner people, and all the privileges of the banner people must be abolished, which is bound to cause dissatisfaction with the banner people and cause turmoil in Beijing.

Seeing that no one was silent, Prince Hui Mianyu reluctantly smiled and said: "Integrating all ethnic groups into one Chinese nation is a good thing for the imperial court, which is conducive to consolidating the frontier and uniting the people, but in the two hundred years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, many things have been deep-rooted, and this matter can only be slowly ........" ”

"There's no need to hide it, it's not the flag man that the court is worried about." Yi Zhisuff sneered: "The banner people are not farmers, workers and businessmen, they have been supported by the imperial court for two hundred years, and now the treasury is empty, the number of banner people is huge, and the livelihood of the flag people has long become a major heart disease of the imperial court.

If the Qing Dynasty dies, what will be the result of the banner people? At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the descendants of the Zhu family were slaughtered, which is a lesson from the past, even if you don't think about the country and the people of the world, you should always think about the long-term and future of the banner people? ”

This is a big rebellion, but what is said is the truth, if the Qing Dynasty dies, the banner people will inevitably be martyred for the Qing Dynasty, this is definitely not alarmist, the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan, Mongolia can still retreat to the grassland, now, where can the banner people retreat? Grassland? Northeast? The new army, which has a large number of firearms, has completely crushed the cavalry, and Yuan Qi will definitely not allow Mongolia and the Northeast to be separated, and it will inevitably be completely wiped out!

For a while, the faces of everyone present were a little ugly, but Yi Zhizhi continued: "Abolishing the policy of benevolence of the banner people is enough to show the determination of the imperial court to change the law, and it is enough to show the strength of the imperial court to change the law, which will not only be praised by the government and the opposition, but also save a lot of expenses for the imperial court, which is also a great thing for the banner people."

The imperial court gave favor to the banner people and forbade them to engage in other occupations, which was not a disguised imprisonment for the flag people? If the imperial court has abundant financial resources and can make the flag man rich, it will be fine, but if the livelihood is poor and not as good as the ordinary people, what do the flag people think in their hearts? Is it gratitude to the imperial court? Or resentment? ”

Su Shun said: "The imperial court has been raising the banner people for two hundred years, and the banner people have lost the ability to make a living on their own. ”

"If you don't abolish grace, the banner people will never be able to support themselves." Yi Zhizhi said: "The imperial court must take advantage of the remaining strength, abolish the grace, lift the confinement of the banner people, now is actually an excellent opportunity, Tianjin open port, the imperial court will set up a factory in Tianjin, a large number of workers are needed, and the banner people can be filled."

The machine textile factory is also in the ascendant, Yuan Qi can take the lead in opening a textile factory in Tianjin, recruiting flag women into the factory, and the imperial court can also open a new school, implement free education, and cultivate the ....... of the children of the flag people. ”

"It's really a great opportunity." Yixun nodded slightly.

Zaiyuan said: "Even if the imperial court sets up a military industry in Tianjin, how many workers can it accommodate?" There are millions of bannermen in Jingshi alone. ”

Millions of flag people? Yi Zhishu was a little stunned, all along, he thought that the flag people were only a million people, how could they suddenly appear in millions? He couldn't help but think of what Wei Yuan said-"Gather millions of people who are not scholars, farmers, workers, merchants, soldiers, and people in Beijing, and don't do anything, although they exhaust the right supply at home, it is not enough to support them." ”

Isn't that an exaggeration? But how many people can Jingshi have? He looked at Su Shun and said with some hesitation: "There are millions of banner people in Jingshi? ”

"Two million is still available." Su Shun said slowly: "The number of soldiers in the Eight Banners has always been around 300,000, and there has been no significant increase or decrease in the past dynasties, the Beijing division is 150,000, the northeast is 50,000, the provincial garrison is 90,000, at the beginning of the founding of the country was five ding, seven ding and one amount, and now it is fifteen ding and one amount." The number of 150,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp is more than 2 million, and this does not include women. ”

Isn't it three million including women? Yi Zhishu was really taken aback by this number, he vaguely remembered that the population of Jingshi at the end of the Qing Dynasty was only more than one million, and he immediately asked: "So many banner people live in Jingshi?" ”

"How can they all live in the capital?" Su Shun said with a smile: "When the master was young, he began to build barracks in the suburbs of Beijing, and successively moved the soldiers and their dependents in the inner city to live in the suburbs of the city. ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said: "Isn't the eight banners stationed in the northeast and the provinces also fifteen dings?" ”

Su Shun nodded, "The situation in the Northeast and the provinces stationed in the Eight Banners is slightly better, roughly around ten fingers. ”

In this way, wouldn't there have to be five or six million people in the Great Qing Banner? Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but secretly speak, no wonder the Eight Banners livelihood made the imperial court anxious, the number of bannermen who did not produce is so large, it is strange that it is not anxious!

After a slight sigh, he said in a deep voice: "The population multiplies, the larger the base, the faster the reproduction, millions of banner people, tens of thousands of new people can be added in a year, and hundreds of thousands in ten years, the abolition of the benevolence policy is imminent, and it can no longer be delayed!"

If the Tianjin factory cannot be arranged, it can also be relocated to the Northeast, Mongolia, and the Northwest, and East Siberia can be recovered, or it can be relocated on a large scale, and if it is delayed, the Eight Banners system will inevitably collapse on its own! ”

Wusong, Huangpu River Estuary.

On the deck, Feng Yunshan, who was wearing a Western-style dress with short hair, looked at Baoshan with chimneys and said with emotion: "Every time I come to Shanghai, I have a strange feeling, and the changes are so fast!" ”

Shi Dakai, who was standing beside him, was shocked, although he had long heard that Shanghai was prosperous and rich, and there were many factories, but it was better to see than to hear, the dense chimneys and the factories that seemed to have no end were completely beyond his imagination, and he couldn't help but say: "How long has Shanghai been open?" ”

"Less than twenty years." Feng Yunshan said and glanced at him sideways, "This is completely made of silver, if it weren't for Yuan Qi's strong financial support, it would be impossible to develop so fast!" All the way here, Xiamen and Ningbo, you have also seen it, and it is completely incomparable. ”

Hearing this, the expression on Shi Dakai's face was a little gloomy, and he sighed lightly before saying, "I should let the Heavenly King come and see." ”

"The Heavenly King had seen the scene of Guangzhou in the early days, but at that time, Yuan Qi was just getting started." Feng Yunshan said softly: "For more than ten years, the speed of this development is unimaginable. ”

Shi Dakai looked at Baoshan on the opposite side and did not say a word, the development of Yuan Qi is indeed beyond his imagination, the first battle of Jinjing, Yuan Qi won more with less, defeated more than 100,000 coalition troops of the four Western countries, forced the other party to negotiate peace, and sent more than 100 warships, which really made the Taiping army shake up and down.

With the strength of Yuanqi's navy greatly increased, the kings of the Taiping army realized that even if they wanted to live in a corner of Bengal, they must have a good relationship with Yuanqi, otherwise, Yuanqi would conquer them, which would be easy, and this time he and Feng Yunshan came to Shanghai to test Yi Zhi's true intentions.

After a long time, he spoke: "I don't know what the situation of the East King is now?" ”

"Don't worry." Feng Yunshan said: "The East King is now a sharp blade in the hands of Yuan Qi, Siam is not flat, there will be no problem." ”

It was already afternoon when the boat arrived in Shanghai, boarded the wharf, set foot on the avenue along the river, Shi Dakai was like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, looking at everything was very novel, the wide and smooth black asphalt road, the four-wheeled carriages, two-wheeled carriages, rickshaws, bicycles, bluestone paved spotless sidewalks, the pedestrians who came and went had braids and wore robes and coats, and there were also those who cut short hair and passed on the tunics, as well as the big girls and little daughters-in-law who were dressed up with flowers.

Feng Yunshan pulled his sleeve and said softly: "Shanghai has an open atmosphere, advocates the emancipation of women, and advocates women's work, which coincides with ours. After a pause, he continued: "This place is full of dragons and snakes, let's go to the Zhenhai Mansion first." As he spoke, he turned his head and ordered, "Call a carriage, or rickshaw." ”

"It feels like I've come to another world," Shi Dakai couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and asked, "Is this what Western countries look like?" ”

"It should be about the same." Feng Yunshan said with some uncertainty, he had never been to the ocean, how could he know what the Western countries were like.

Zhenhai Mansion.

The porter Jin read Feng Yunshan's post over and over for a long time, and then rushed to Changle Bookstore. But he knew that the big shopkeeper was in the house, and those distinguished guests had already left, if it was an ordinary guest, he would push it directly, but this Mr. Feng was a special guest who was specially explained by the big shopkeeper, and he didn't dare to be careless.

Listening to Mr. Jin's explanation of the situation, Lin Meilian took the post and went straight into the side room, took a nap in the side room, and Yi Zhicontent, who was sleeping, was woken up, glanced at the name sticker, and sat up with a grunt, "Why did Feng Yunshan come to Shanghai again?" ”

Lin Meilian said tentatively: "If the big shopkeeper doesn't want to see him, his subordinates will ask someone to send him away?" ”

"Come all the way, and if you don't see him, let him in." Yi Zhizhi said and ordered: "I drank some wine at noon, although it was not much, but there was a smell of wine on my body, so I washed it with a basin of water." ”

After washing, Yi Zhishu slowly paced to the gate of the courtyard, and saw Feng Yunshan and a big black man coming quickly, and the big black man was only half a step behind him, almost side by side, seeing this situation, he couldn't help but squint slightly, Feng Yunshan is the king of the south in the Taiping army, who dares to walk side by side with him?

Soon, he concluded that it was Shi Dakai! Although he had never seen Shi Dakai or his portrait, he had heard people describe Shi Dakai's appearance.

He couldn't help but feel excited, he was very interested in Shi Dakai, the tiger general in the Taiping Army, and he had long had the heart to recruit, but he never had the opportunity to meet, but he didn't expect the other party to come to Shanghai this time!

Seeing Yi Zhicontentment greeted him outside the courtyard gate, Feng Yunshan hurriedly quickened his pace, now it is not what it used to be, the Taiping army was strong in the past, and Yuan Qi could fight against each other, but now the Taiping army is already in decline, and it cannot be compared with Yuan Qi at all, and he, the king of the south, is really not enough to see in front of Yi Zhifen.

A few steps away, Feng Yunshan arched his hand and smiled: "After a few years, the shopkeeper of Yida is still handsome. ”

Yi Zhicontent returned the salute and said with a smile on his face: "King Nan looks at it, but it has been reduced a little, won't it be because of the water and soil?" As he spoke, he arched his hand to Shi Da, "Wing King? ”

Seeing that he revealed his identity in one bite, Shi Dakai was also a little surprised, and hurriedly saluted, "I have seen the shopkeeper of Yida in Xia Shi Dakai." ”

"I've heard of the name of the Wing King for a long time, but unfortunately I haven't had the chance to see it." Yi Zhifen said with a smile: "In the battle of Jingshan back then, I missed ....... ”

When the Taiping army evacuated Wuchang, Shi Dakai divided his troops to lure the enemy, and surrounded Seng Greenqin in Jingshan in one fell swoop. ”

"Come into the house and say." Yi Zhizu turned sideways and gave way, then looked at Lin Meilian and ordered: "Ask someone to prepare the table and open the altar for good wine!" ”

Feng Yunshan came twice, and he was not treated with such courtesy, his heart couldn't help but move, but he didn't say anything, he stepped into the courtyard, the three of them entered the house and sat down, Yi Zhixin continued: "The Wing King is like a god with soldiers, he has been in a hundred battles, and since he arrived in Shanghai, I summoned Yuan Qi and a group of officers to ask the Wing King for some experience in using soldiers. ”

Shi Dakai was not polite, but said: "The war in Goryeo should be almost over, right?" Yuan Qi still has a chance to use troops on a large scale? ”

"Although the country is big, it will be dangerous to forget the war." Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "Besides, this world will not be peaceful for many years." ”

Shi Dakai asked: "The shopkeeper of Yi Da is ready to seize the world of the Qing Demon?" ”

"When I say the world, I mean the whole world, including the countries of the West." Yi Zhizhi said: "As for the Qing court, there is still use value, you might as well let him survive for another ten or twenty years." ”

Feng Yunshan and Shi Dakai glanced at each other, they were all surprised, they didn't expect Yi Zhifu to say this, in fact, during the first battle of Jinjing, the kings of the Taiping army guessed that Yuan Qi would take advantage of the situation to overthrow the Qing court and become the master of the Beijing division after the big victory, but Yuan Qi actually turned the spearhead and conquered Goryeo.

Feng Yunshan glanced at Yi Zhizhi meaningfully, "Yi Da's shopkeeper will not be confused, and let the Qing court survive for ten or twenty years?" ”

Yi Zhiyun said lightly: "I don't want to be the emperor, and now is not the best time to overthrow the Qing court, so naturally let the Qing court survive for a while." ”

Don't want to be an emperor? Feng Yunshan looked at him stunned, not knowing what to say, but Shi Dakai said: "The shopkeeper of Yi Da doesn't want to be the emperor, but also wants to overthrow the Qing demon?" ”