Yi Zhifen did feel the great pressure, the English "Warrior" can be said to be the world's first real ironclad battleship - ironclad ironclad ship, from all sides crushed the French built in 1859 "Glorious" - wooden-hulled ironclad ship, with epoch-making significance!

The focus is not on this ironclad battleship, but on England's strong industrial manufacturing capacity and shipbuilding capacity, following the "Warrior", England has successively built countless ironclad ships, opening the era of giant ships and cannons.

Ren An continued: "The two 'Warrior' class ships are led by designer Isaac? Watts designed that the ship that has been launched is 128 meters long, 18 meters wide, and has a draft of 8 meters, and the power should be a hybrid of steam and sail........ The displacement should be above 9000 tons, only high, not low. ”

Yi Zhizu groaned expressionlessly for a while before he spoke: "Continue to pay close attention, and in addition, try to spy on the development of Armstrong's artillery, these two ironclad ships should be equipped with Armstrong guns." ”

"Yes." Ren An said in a deep voice, the Armstrong artillery is the latest rear-loading artillery developed by England, and the degree of secrecy is very high, and if you want to spy on it, the difficulty is not ordinary.

Yi Zhizhi then said: "Can Krupp make progress? ”

"Not much progress." Ren An said in a low voice: "Krupp is developing a rear-loading artillery, which is true, but it can't be further explored. ”

"Yuanqi has a train wheel contract with Krupp, right?" Yi Zhizu said slowly: "I asked Yuan Qi to form an expedition group to visit Krupp, he is not only interested in their artillery, but also in their steel casting process. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Yuanqi and Krupp will have long-term cooperation, it is best not to use your own people for these things, don't be afraid to spend money, Yuanqi is not short of money, and is willing to spend money!" ”

"My subordinates understand." Ren An hurriedly said.

"Go get busy." Yi Zhizu said softly, Krupp cannon he can be said to be familiar with, the rise of Krupp also means the rise of Germany, now it is 1860, not far from the Franco-Prussian War, the unified Germany is not only to break the existing pattern in Europe, but also to Europe to bring great disasters, especially the First World War.

However, for him, the death of a world war is too far away, and he is afraid that he will not have a chance to see it, but the unification of Germany, Yuan Qi can still make great use of it, at least the rise of Germany can greatly contain Britain, France and Russia.

Turning to him, he thought of the British 'Warrior', even if he was prescient, but Yuanqi's foundation and background in shipbuilding were too poor to be compared with Britain and France, so he had not dared to develop iron-hulled ironclad ships with great fanfare, for fear of irritating Britain and France by leaking the news.

Fortunately, in the past 20 years, Yuanqi has hired a lot of shipbuilding technical personnel from Britain, France and the United States at a high salary to cultivate and accumulate a large number of professional shipbuilding technical personnel for Yuanqi.

After a slight groan, he called Lin Meilian and ordered: "To generate electricity to Qingdao Shipyard, the 9,000-ton 'Warrior'-class ironclad battleship has been launched." ”

Qingdao Shipyard was established for a short time, but not short, founded in Xianfeng three years, all technicians and workers are Chinese, are the elite cultivated by Guangzhou and Shanghai shipyards, the main task is to develop ironclad ships.

It can be said that in the development of ironclad ships, Yuanqi was earlier than Britain and France, however, Qingdao shipyard has been in the stage of accumulation of experience and technology and personnel training in recent years, and the previous attempts to build iron-hulled ships of small tonnage of one or two thousand tons, three or four thousand tons, are mainly used for training.

After all, this thing is too much silver, even if the Yuan Qi family has a big business, it can't withstand the indiscriminate toss, and a casual iron-hulled ship is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, like the 9,000 tons of Yingli, at least three or four million taels of silver.

It was only after learning that England had begun to order 'Warrior'-class battleships, and Yi Zhifu ordered that Qingdao Shipyard began to try to build iron-hulled ships of more than 8,000 tons.

Yi Zhicontent gave himself a big vacation, took Xu Yixuan and Lin Meilian to Hangzhou to play unrestrained, went to Wushan Grand View, visited the West Lake, visited Jingci Temple, went to the Qiantang tide outside the Hou Chaomen, strolled on the white embankment, took photos on the broken bridge, wandered in the Yongjinmen, played for more than half a month, he seemed to be unsatisfied and went to Jiangning to play, until the end of the year, then returned to Shanghai with satisfaction.

Yi Zhizhi didn't know where to go for more than a month, the American minister Bo Jia almost went crazy, Yuan Qi's series of abnormal actions in the United States, the United States was slow to react, and after a month of gradual awareness, in-depth investigation, and then sent a telegram to Bo Jia in Shanghai, so that Bo Jia could understand the competition behind the matter.

So much so that Bo drove to the mansion every day to inquire recently, but no one knew where Yi Zhizhi went, and he didn't even know where to send a telegram, which made him anxious enough, and at the same time realized that this matter was not trivial, and Yi Zhi's lack of whereabouts was definitely not a coincidence.

As soon as he got the news that Yi Zhizhi had returned home, Bo Jia hurried over, and as soon as the two met, Bo Jia said dissatisfiedly: "Are you deliberately avoiding me?" ”

"For more than a month, I went out to deal with some personal matters." Yi Zhixiang smiled and asked knowingly, "Is it because of Yuanqi's withdrawal of foreign students and the closure of factories and semicolons?" ”

"Whatever the reason, can't you tell me in advance about such a big thing?" Bo Jia smiled bitterly and said, "It's time to say it now." ”

"I just have a hunch that there is a high probability that a large-scale war will break out in your country." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "These measures are just to minimize losses. ”

Just a hunch to do such a big reaction? The ghost believed this, and the expression on Bo Jia's face was extremely serious, "It's just a premonition? ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "It turns out that my hunch has always been very effective, and your country's Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama have openly announced their independence from your country. He actually returned to Shanghai after learning the news.

Mississippi and the other three states were naturally aware of the announcement of their secession from the United States, but he did not think that a large-scale civil war would break out, and even said: "The country is trying to avoid the outbreak of war and try to preserve the unity of the Union ......." Speaking of this, he stopped talking and said, "What kind of premonition is it?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "The newly elected president of your country, Mr. Lincoln heard that he is a resolute abolitionist? ”

"You're wrong with this information." "It is true that Mr. President was a staunch abolitionist when he was young, but now he can only be said to be a conservative and sleek abolitionist, and compared with the unity of the Union, the abolition of slavery is not worth mentioning. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "At the time of the presidential election of your country, the south ordered a batch of more than 10 million taels of silver from Yuanqi, and the delivery was completed the day after Lincoln was elected, and they continued to place orders of more than 10 million taels of silver....... ”

Before he could speak, Bo Jia's face immediately turned extremely pale, "The latest rifles and bullets? ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said softly: "There are also some artillery and a large amount of medicine. ”

Bo said with difficulty: "Your Excellency plans to support the southern rebellion? ”

"If a large-scale civil war really breaks out in your country, Yuanqi will firmly support your federal government." Yi Zhixiang said without hesitation: "Before, it was because I didn't know the inside story, but after judging that a civil war might break out in your country, Yuan Qi had already stopped continuing to sell arms to the south. ”

"I think I should represent the federal government. The Government would like to express its high respect and sincere gratitude to Your Excellency. Bo Jia said in a sincere tone, and as he spoke, he stood up, "I must report this news to China as soon as possible." ”

"I have a telegraph room here." It is easy to know the way of contentment.

In the spring of the eleventh year of Xianfeng, the first month.

The situation in the United States deteriorated completely, and the six southern states declared the establishment of the Confederate States of America, and quickly formed an army belonging to the Confederate States of America, and elected the president of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis.

The Civil War, a civil war of great magnitude in the United States, was inevitable.

On the very day that the Confederate States of America formed their own army, two fleets laden with arms and medicines set sail from Canton and Shanghai to New York, accompanied by a group of officers of the Yuanqi Navy and Army, who went to the United States not to participate in the war, but to observe, and a group of war correspondents.

Zhenhai Mansion, Changle Book House.

"The big boss plans to report on the civil war in the United States in a row, just like the Crimean War?" Zhao Liewen asked slowly.

"For every large-scale war that takes place in this world, Yuanqi's newspaper should keep track of it." Yi Zhizhi said: "This is a rare opportunity for the Chinese people to understand the world, the United States and our Qing Dynasty have close business and trade exchanges, and it is a typical example of the Western democratic republic, with the help of this war, you can have a comprehensive understanding of the United States, besides, the Chinese people are also generally interested in the war, which is also conducive to increasing the sales of newspapers." ”

"The direct opening of the cable telegraph with the United States can be regarded as handy now." Zhao Liewen said with a smile, and then asked: "Is it really possible that this civil war in the United States is comparable to the Crimean War?" ”

"Probably more than the Crimean War." Yi Zhizhi said: "This is a war that deserves close attention. "Not only do we pay attention, but the court will also pay attention."

During this time, under the influence of Yi Zhi, Zhao Liewen also paid close attention to the situation in the United States, and when he heard this, he hesitated and said: "What does the big treasurer mean, the current situation in our Qing Dynasty is quite similar to that of the United States?" ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said: "The civil war in the United States is actually caused by the contradiction between the two economic systems, and Yuan Qi and the imperial court are not just economic systems. ”

Seeing that he seemed reluctant to say more, Zhao Liewen changed the topic and said: "What will be the attitude of European countries towards this war?" Support the South? ”

"European countries, especially great powers such as Britain and France, will not want to see a strong, unified and ambitious United States." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "For the European countries, they most want to see the United States split in two, which is now more in their national interests, so they will support the South, after all, the cotton in the South is urgently needed by both Britain and France."

But how to support, how much support, European countries also need to balance, the United States is now a major industrial power in the West, not Ottoman, Persian, India and other countries can be compared, and the territory is vast, the population is large, they also have to be cautious. ”

After a little muttering, he continued: "The only ones who can have the strength to intervene in the civil war in the United States are Britain, France and Russia, Russia is too far away, and the navy is weak, and the reform of serfdom is currently being carried out in China, so it is impossible to interfere.

The only ones left are Britain and France, England's colony in North America - Canada borders the United States, and the defense is weak, and England is a large navy, a small army, not suitable for large-scale land warfare, especially land warfare with a vast territory, in addition, the battle of Tianjin and Beijing, the shock to the British army should not be small, and it is estimated that the willingness to directly intervene by force is not very strong.

The situation in France is different, France's colony in the Americas, Mexico, borders the southern states of the United States, and he desperately wants the independence of the South, which will facilitate France's colonization of Mexico, but France has a strong army and a weak navy, and can only be fully sure of joint armed intervention with England.

Of course, the American Northern Union will not sit idly by and ignore Britain and France, but will actively carry out diplomacy and try its best to urge Britain and France not to interfere in their internal affairs and maintain neutrality. In my projections, it is highly likely that the American Northern Commonwealth will make some major concessions in order to obtain the neutrality of Britain and France. ”

If Britain and France intervene with arms, Yuanqi's cotton hegemony will also collapse! Zhao Liewen really didn't understand, in this kind of situation where Yuanqi was powerless and the situation was extremely complicated, Yi Zhicontent still had the courage to make a desperate bet and pour all Yuanqi into cotton hegemony, if this collapsed, what would be the result of Yuanqi?

In February, Hu Guangyong sent a telegram from London saying that the price of cotton in the London market had not risen because of the imminent war in the United States, and that the price remained at 9 cents a pound, and that he had successfully eaten 400,000 bales and bought a large amount of cotton futures.

Seeing this telegram, Xie Xiuyuan and Zhao Liewen were worried, after all, this situation was too abnormal, which showed that the English textile merchants and cotton merchants did not care about the imminent war in the United States at all, or that the English merchants did not think that the war in the United States would affect the supply of cotton in the south.

Yi Zhizhi was content but didn't care at all, and called back Hu Guangyong to let go of his hands and feet, and he couldn't hesitate, but all the bonds, futures, and physical goods related to cotton in the European securities center and commercial and trade center were all eaten in large quantities, and there was no need to worry about funds, and he would continue to inject large amounts of funds in the future. 10