Bao Shichen's words were vague, but Yi Zhizhi understood what he meant, the Nanyang Fleet was stationed in Wuchang without authorization, which may intensify the contradiction with the imperial court, and may even make the contradiction public, which is not conducive to the implementation of the follow-up plan. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After a slight sigh, he said: "In this situation, the Taiping army may attack Wuchang at any time, and wait for the official letter of the imperial court to go back and forth a few times, but I am afraid that the daylilies are cold, I can't wait, and I can't afford to wait!" Now that the navy controls the waterway of the Yangtze River, it is equivalent to pinching the lifeblood of several provinces in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and I am afraid that there will be no chance to bargain? ”

Bao Shichen nodded slightly and said, "It's still the big shopkeeper who sees it thoroughly." ”

With Yi Zhi's order, the fleet moored in Wusong immediately whistled and set sail, and the battleships stationed in Wuchang were steam gunboats and small and medium-sized sail warships -- mainly loaded with 28 guns, and the fleet composed of 40 warships marched up the river with great momentum, and all the warships had eye-catching banners on both sides -- to resist bandits and defend Jiangnan!

No matter how you say it, the Nanyang Fleet is still the economic division of the imperial court, and the local officials in the provinces and counties along the Yangtze River who are not worried about the Taiping Army going down the river are all aware that the Nanyang Naval Fleet is acting without authorization, but they all turn a blind eye, but they still have to report truthfully.

Liangjiang Governor's Palace, signed room.

Li Xingyuan, the governor of Liangjiang, paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and the Taiping army suddenly turned around and went south to Dongting to capture Yuezhou, which was enough for him to have a headache.

If the Nanyang Navy is really to resist or encircle and suppress the Taiping Army, it is nothing, and it can even be said to be a great thing, after all, there is a navy to assist in the defense of the Yangtze River waterway, and there is no worry that the Taiping Army will go down the river, even if the court blames it, it is nothing more than a few reprimands, but what if Yi Zhizhi is to take advantage of the fire to rob?

He didn't dare to think about it, if Yi Zhizhi was really harboring evil intentions, there was the Taiping Army above, and there was Yuan Qi below, and the southeastern provinces would definitely be in danger! Jiangning, as the political, economic, military, and cultural center of the southeast, must bear the brunt!

"Dong Weng." Staff member Jin Anqing said slowly: "There is nothing abnormal in Yuanqi's branch in the city, the Nanyang Navy fleet is advancing westward, and it must be to defend against bandits going east." Besides, with the power of the two river sailors, even if they have the intention to intercept it, they are also powerless.

In addition, at present, the bandits occupy Yuezhou, and it is possible to go down the east of the river at any time, and the relationship between Yuanqi and the imperial court is delicate, so it is really not appropriate to have any move to provoke the relationship between the two...... Dong Weng may wish to make it clear that he supports it. ”

Make it clear that you support it? Li Xingyuan couldn't help but sigh slightly, and then he sat down slowly, and said, "Don't worry about the saint's blame?" ”

Jin Anqing smiled slightly, and said: "Dong Weng, as the governor of Liangjiang, ordered all the prefectures and counties along the Liangjiang to sacrifice the army, which is equivalent to justifying the westward expansion of the navy, which is conducive to easing the relationship between the imperial court and Yuan Qi, how can the saint be blamed?" Presumably, Dong Weng also knows that the bandits have infiltrated Dongting, and only the Nanyang Navy can completely encircle and suppress them. ”

Li Xingyuan was greatly moved when he heard this, and said with a slight sigh: "Mr. will draft the excerpt according to this idea." ”

Jingshi, Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Xinuan Pavilion.

Xianfeng was a little annoyed and threw the fold of Seng Lingqin on the case, and sent 10,000 new troops of the Eight Banners together with tens of thousands of local green battalions to surround Changsha like an iron barrel, but still failed to completely annihilate the Taiping army, but also let the Taiping army enter Dongting Lake, captured Yuezhou, and directly threatened several provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Is the Nanyang Navy under my command?

"The emperor is angry." Mu Zhang'a kowtowed lightly and said: "The bandits enter the Dongting, according to Yuezhou, they are like thorns in the eyes and thorns in the flesh, and they will want to pull them out and then ...... quickly." ”

Before he could finish speaking, Xianfeng interrupted him and said, "It's easy to be content and reward the commander of the Nanyang Navy?" Minister of Nanyang? Now that the entire Nanyang civil and military forces are already easy to elect officials, do you want to make the officials of the Prime Minister's Yamen also become easy to elect officials? ”

Listening to Xianfeng's tone was not good, Mu Zhang'a was full of bitterness, and hurriedly kowtowed heavily, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the Nanyang Navy is now under the control of Yi Zhicontent, whether the Nanyang Admiral is rewarded or not, it is meaningless, and it does not show the sincerity of the imperial court.

If it cannot be quickly eradicated, once the disaster hits Jiangnan, the imperial court will inevitably be even more stretched, and I pray that the emperor will think carefully. ”

Jiangnan has always been the wealth of the imperial court, once the Taiping army into the provinces of Jiangnan, the imperial court will inevitably be greatly damaged, and it is difficult to recover within three or five or even seven or eight years, this is a clear thing, Xianfeng can not know, there is a priority, the current should be to exterminate the bandits as the first priority, secretly comforted, he said: "Yi Zhizhi is now content with the period of keeping the system has not expired, will he be edicted?" ”

"Your Majesty." Mu Zhang'a hurriedly said: "Yuanqi semicolon is all over the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, Jiangnan raw silk is one of the most important commodities in foreign trade, Yuanqi categorically cannot tolerate bandits and chaos in Jiangnan, if the emperor gives an order, Yi Zhishu will be reinstated." ”

After pondering for a moment, Xianfeng said: "Okay, the purpose." ”

At the wharf of Wusong and Baoshan North Gate, a small boat slowly approached the wharf, and a young and handsome young man jumped ashore, helped the boatman pull the boat, and said in a Guangxi official dialect: "Sir, slow down." ””

With the words, Feng Yunshan, dressed as a scholar, got out of the cabin, slowly landed ashore, glanced at the bustling wharf, and said with a smile: "I don't want this Baoshan wharf to be so lively." ”

"Sir, let's take the train." The young posterity said excitedly: "I have long heard that the train is fast and ...... steady. ”

"In English, it's better to speak Cantonese." Feng Yunshan glanced at him casually.

Li Yiwen blushed and hurriedly said, "Got it, sir." ”

Feng Yunshan turned around and glanced back, and saw that the small boat that Luo Outline was taking had also docked, so he took Li Yiwen to the city gate with a leisurely expression, this time he came to Shanghai to meet Yi Zhicontent, he himself insisted on coming in person, after all, Yi Zhicontent's identity was there, if the Taiping Army did not have a person with the same status and status, it would be too insincere, down the river, and saw the Nanyang Navy fleet going up the river, he was very glad that he was here this time.

After entering Baoshan County, Feng Yunshan was not in a hurry to go to Shanghai, but found an inn to live in, and Luo Xuan, who was in charge of liaison, took Li Yiwen to Shanghai by train to meet the head of the Xingqing Gang.

That night, Luo Jian hurried back to Baoshan, and after a brief report of the situation at the inn, he said with concern: "Sir, let me go to the meeting with the big shopkeeper tomorrow, I don't know the face but don't know the heart, after all, he has been an official of the imperial court." ”

Feng Yunshan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about ......." ”

Luo Xuan hurriedly said: "However, their warships are all along the river. ”

"That's to prevent us from going down the river." Feng Yunshan said firmly: "It's not to start a war with us, don't worry, it'll be fine." ”

In the afternoon of the next day, Feng Yunshan rushed to Shanghai, and then arrived at the Zhenhai Marquis Mansion by carriage under the arrangement of the Xingqing Gang, and was led in after being led all the way to the gate of a courtyard.

In the courtyard entered, a tall, good-looking, and beautiful woman in a long Western dress greeted her with a smile, and did not say much, but said, "Sir, please come with the little girl." When she arrived at the door, she politely said, "Sir, please come in." ”

Feng Yunshan walked into the room slowly, and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties, with short hair and a long robe, standing in front of the desk looking at him with a smile on his face, and immediately smiled and said: "I have heard the name of the shopkeeper of Yida for a long time, and I can see it today, how fortunate it is." ”

"You're welcome, sir." Yi Zhishu glanced at him slightly, then stretched out his hand and politely said, "Sir, please take a seat." After the two of them sat down, he continued to ask, "I don't know what position Mr. occupies in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" ”

Feng Yunshan hurriedly arched his hand and said: "My surname is Feng, and my name is Yunshan." ”

Feng Yunshan? Yi Zhixiang was slightly surprised, he didn't expect Feng Yunshan to be so bold that he would come to Shanghai in person, but after thinking about it, a few of those who dared to rebel were timid, so he immediately returned the salute with a smile and said: "I don't want the king of the south to come in person, this is a bit rude, and I hope the king of the south will not be surprised." ”

"The big shopkeeper is polite." Feng Yunshan hurriedly said: "Yuan Qi didn't pull the flag and set off the cannon, otherwise the identity of Yida's shopkeeper is the same as our heavenly king." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, didn't answer the words, and asked directly: "What is the plan for your army to break through the siege in Changsha and not turn into Xiangxi to accumulate strength and open up a base area, but turn around and enter Dongting?" ”

"Ziyiyang went down to Dongting by water, and he was completely forced." Feng Yunshan said calmly: "Monk Greenqin's Eight Banners New Army musket is extremely powerful, and it is clenched tightly, if you don't change to the waterway, even if you enter Xiangxi, I'm afraid it will be difficult to gain a foothold." ”

"In the battle of Cangshuipu, I heard that you inflicted heavy losses on the vanguard of Seng Lingqin and captured a batch of mini guns and ammunition, how many are there?"

Seeing that he was so clear about the situation of the Taiping Army, Feng Yunshan did not hide it, and said truthfully: "More than 600 have been captured, and I don't know how much ammunition there is, but the captured guns don't play much role in our hands." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "The Mini gun has a long range and a high hit rate, but it requires long-term shooting training, otherwise the hit rate is not high, and it can be trained for a period of time." ”

Hearing this, Feng Yunshan immediately said tentatively: "I heard that Yuan Qi can buy muskets from Westerners, can he ......?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "King Nan really thinks that Nanyang Heaven and Earth will have such great ability to provide you with a large number of Western muskets, right?" ”

Feng Yunshan was stunned, then reacted, and lost his voice: "All along, it was Yuan Qi who secretly supported us?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizhi said: "Huang Dianyuan and Yin Youcai are both Yuan Qi's people. ”

"We're a fool." Feng Yunshan smiled happily, and then arched his hand: "On behalf of the Taiping Army, this king is grateful for the help of the big shopkeeper." ”

"King Nan doesn't need to be polite." Yi Zhishu paused slightly before continuing: "Yuanqi's situation, I think the king of the south also knows, I don't want the economy of the southeastern provinces to be destroyed, and it is best for your army to stop at Dongting Lake, otherwise, even if you don't want to, our two families will have to fight each other, the Nanyang naval fleet has already traced the river, presumably the king of Nan already knows." ”

Feng Yunshan said with a difficult face: "We have no intention of being an enemy of Yuanqi, however, we have no intention of stopping at Dongting Lake, I am afraid that it will be a little difficult, to capture Yuezhou, we have captured thousands of ships, and inadvertently obtained a large number of artillery pieces left by Wu Sangui that year, and recruited tens of thousands of sailors, and our strength has increased greatly, and we are ready to go down the river and capture Wuchang." ”

Are you really ready to fight Wuchang? Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said, "The destination of the naval fleet going up the river is Wuchang, it seems that we are going to ......compete in Wuchang." As he spoke, he took the cigarette from the coffee table and lit one.

Seeing what he said lightly, Feng Yunshan hesitated and said, "Yuan Qi wants to protect Wuchang?" ”

Yi Zhi said in a tone that could not be questioned at all: "The southeastern provinces - Fujian, Zhejiang and Liangjiang, including Hubei, Yuanqi must be protected. ”

This tone is really big enough, Feng Yunshan couldn't help but say: "How many troops is there in the Nanyang Navy?" Can it protect the southeastern provinces? ”

Yi Zhixiang smiled and said, "King Nan won't think that Yuan Qi has the strength of the Nanyang Navy, right?" ”

Feng Yunshan really didn't know about Yuan Qi's strength, but thinking about it, he really didn't doubt that Yuan Qi had hidden strength, and after a little hesitation, he said: "I'm afraid it's too late to stop the attack on Wuchang." ”

"It doesn't matter." Yi Zhicontent said disapprerovingly: "Let's fight a battle in Wuchang, otherwise it will be difficult for the King of the South to go back and explain to the other kings, and he must see the true chapter under his hands, and the King of Heaven and the King of the East will die and touch the mind of Jiangnan." Speaking of this, he smiled, "However, let's say first, the casualties are too large, don't hold grudges, the kings and important generals had better not come to the front line in person, the shells and bullets are not long-sighted." ”

Feng Yunshan was inevitably a little uncomfortable in his heart, but after thinking about it, whether it was Yuanqi Group Training or the Nanyang Navy, they were all famous and famous, and the Taiping Army couldn't even defeat the Eight Banners New Army, so it was no wonder that no one was in sight.

Seeing that the other party had a tough attitude, there was no room for maneuver at all, and there was also a faint meaning of taking the Taiping Army to establish authority, Feng Yunshan felt aggrieved for a while, and groaned slightly, before he sneered and said: "Since Yuan Qi wants to protect Wuchang, I will report this news to the king as soon as possible, and try not to hurt the harmony of the two families." ”