Two governor's palaces, backyard, study.

Under the candlelight, Lin Zexu sat motionless on the wide Taishi chair, like a statue, and I don't know how long it took for him to seem to come back to life, he glanced at the desk a little blankly, and then lowered his head and picked up an official letter and an excerpt on the ground, the official letter was a express sent by the post station - the Yingyi fleet had been anchored outside the Baihe estuary in Tianjin.

The Yingyi fleet will go north to Tianjin, Yi Zhizu has said it a long time ago, and said it several times, in this regard, Lin Zexu is not abrupt, and there is nothing shocked, after all, Yi Zhizu has analyzed in detail, even if the British fleet will attack Tianjin, it will not attack the Beijing Division, what makes him lose his temper is the excerpt.

After the fall of Dinghai, almost an empty city, Guo Shili, the puppet governor of Yingyi, posted a notice to settle the people, asking Dinghai residents to go home and live and work in peace and contentment. After Lin Zexu learned of this situation, he hurried to write an excerpt overnight - "The Situation of the Secret Detective Dinghai and the Plan to Attack the Film", in the excerpt, he did not mention the matter of the Yuanqi regiment training troops to recover Dinghai, but only advocated taking advantage of Yingyi's eagerness to stabilize the situation in Dinghai, and called for the opportunity to call on the residents to go home to live and work in peace and contentment, and pretend to be soldiers and villagers, or train villagers to be regimental brave, enter Dinghai one after another, wait for the opportunity to move, and recover Dinghai in one fell swoop.

In this excerpt, he sent troops to regain Dinghai for the Yuanqi regiment to blow the wind, but he didn't want Daoguang's comments on the excerpt but he rebuked unceremoniously: "If you cut off trade outside, you won't cut it off, and if you check the law inside, you can't clean it." It is nothing more than empty words and prevarication, not only does it not help in the end, but it gives birth to many waves, and thinking is better than resentment. Look at what you say to me. ”

In just a few lines, Lin Zexu seemed to see Daoguang's gloomy face and cold gaze between the lines, and in the first few excerpts, Daoguang's tone was still relatively gentle, but this excerpt, attitude and tone took a sharp turn. As a feudal official, he was at this sensitive time, and he knew too well what Daoguang's change in attitude towards him meant.

Sighing secretly, Lin Zexu got up and picked up the scissors to cut the candles, the room was much brighter, and he slowly paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. After thinking about it carefully, Daoguang's attitude towards him changed sharply, coupled with the threat of the Yingyi fleet, it was estimated that the will to dismiss him would soon come down.

At this time, it must be too late to count on the Yuanqi regiment to train troops to recover Dinghai, the army expedition, not to say that you can go, the only chance at the moment is to win a big victory off the coast of Guangzhou. A real victory is enough to make Daoguang change his mind, but this time can't come?

Without waiting for those Citigroup warships and Yuanqi's sailing fleet, relying only on the twelve modified Western warships and big millet boats of the sailors, if he wants to win a substantial victory in the Sharpening Knife Ocean, he really doesn't have the slightest certainty, and Yingyi is not stupid, he can't beat it and run. No one is fast, so they can only watch people run away calmly.

But if you have to wait. It's also troublesome, because even Yi Zhifen is not sure that he will be able to persuade the Citigroup warship to assist them, if he can't be convinced, time will be delayed, and he doesn't even have a chance to fight, but what if he convinces the Citigroup warship to join the war? Even if it's too late. But this victory is still his credit, at least in the future, it will be much easier, and it will not be too long.

Early the next morning, Yi Zhishu got up early. After washing, eating breakfast, and about to go out to the dock, the housekeeper Qian Jun hurried over, bowed down, and handed over a post, saying, "Young master, do you want to open the door to greet you?" ”

Yi Zhizu took the post and looked at it, there were three big words in the middle Lin Zexu, and his heart couldn't help sinking, this early in the morning, Lin Zexu came to the door in person, isn't it strange that something major happened? He waved his hand and said, "You don't have to greet you, and don't make a noise, I'll go to greet you." With that, he hurried out.

Rushed to the gate, just saw a green cloth sedan chair outside the door, and then saw Lin Zexu, who was slightly fat in civilian clothes, coming out of the sedan chair, Yi Zhishu hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and said: "The lord of the ministry has something to send someone to summon to go down." ”

Lin Zexu waved his hand and said, "This time and again, I don't know how much time I have to delay." As he spoke, he glanced at the deserted street, pointed forward casually, and said, "Don't go in, let's go." ”

Glancing at a few entourages beside the sedan chair, Yi Zhizu hesitated for a moment before saying, "The scenery in the garden is still in sight, so the master of the ministry should go to the garden for a walk." To be honest, he was worried about Lin Zexu's safety, Lin Zexu banned smoking in Guangzhou, and there were a lot of people who offended, and there were many people who had seen him.

Lin Zexu naturally knew what he was worried about, and he was not stubborn, he smiled slightly, walked straight into the gate, turned the porch, and entered a secluded garden, Lin Zexu spoke: "The Yingyi fleet has arrived in Tianjin, and the emperor ordered Qi Shan, the governor of Zhili, not to shoot and fire. ”

Baba came to the door early in the morning to tell him about it? This is obviously impossible, Yi Zhishu nodded, and did not say a word, the British army went north, the troops came to Tianjin, and Daoguang's attitude wavered, this was all expected, and he had already said it.

After a slight pause, Lin Zexu asked: "How many days does it take to go to Hainan and go back and forth?" ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizu immediately reacted, it seems that Daoguang's attitude towards Lin Zexu has changed, Lin Zexu is in danger, and he urgently needs a victory to alleviate the crisis, he immediately muttered: "It depends on the specific situation, if the fleet is exactly in the eight, it will only take eight days to go back and forth at the earliest, if the fleet is not in the eight, I am afraid that it will not be able to come back for ten days and a half." ”

Knowing that what he said was the truth, Lin Zexu slowly bowed his head and said: "Yingyi is arrogant, and he must counterattack in time, and furthermore, the main fleet of Yingyi has arrived in Tianjin, look at the emperor's meaning, it should be the main fu, not the main battle, with a contented analysis, the imperial court and Yingyi will negotiate, most of them will be carried out in Guangzhou, which means that the main fleet of Yingyi will go south in a few days, we must hurry up." ”

Seeing what he said, Yi Zhizhi was not broken, and nodded: "Don't worry, Lord Ministry, if you know the severity, you will definitely go and return quickly." ”

Yi Zhishu took a fast boat to the sea, to the eight institutes, in fact, just to make a show, on the eighth day, he rushed back to Humen from the eight institutes, he took the flying clippers, although it is not a real flying clippers, but the hull is slender and long. Even in the Western sailing ships are also very conspicuous, the ship entered the sea, the Shajiao Fort has been transmitted, yes, as soon as the ship is docked at Humen Wharf, Lin Zexu and Guan Tianpei can't wait to meet it.

As soon as they met. Guan Tianpei hurriedly asked, "Is it done?" ”

Yi Zhixiang greeted the two of them unhurriedly before saying, "They have conditions." ”

"On what terms?" Lin Zexu asked calmly.

Such a good opportunity, Yi Zhixiang naturally will not miss it in vain, he immediately said: "Citi people hope to bring their families to Guangzhou, hope to open factories, establish universities, and establish churches in Guangzhou, in addition, they also proposed a high military expenditure - 200,000 yuan." Moreover, the booty captured by their warships, including the Yingyi warships, must belong to them. ”

There are so many conditions for listening, and there are a few violations of the forbidden law, which is obviously not for him to decide, Lin Zexu pondered for a moment before saying: "This is not the place to speak, go back to the Admiralty Office to discuss it." ”

All the way to Humen Village, Yi Zhishu secretly laughed in his heart. These conditions were naturally put forward by him, of course. He transposed himself and put himself in the shoes of the Citi people, otherwise, Lin Zexu's shrewdness could be seen through at a glance, such as building a church and bringing his family, all of which must be proposed. Of course, whether Lin Zexu agrees to these conditions or not, after the Opium War, they will be released.

I returned to the Admiral's Office and entered the signing room. Lin Zexu said: "200,000 yuan military spending, isn't it too high?" ”

"Not high." Yi Zhizhi said: "The 200,000 yuan includes the consumption of ammunition, the loss of warships and the casualties of soldiers, to be honest, it is really not high, they asked for 500,000 when they opened their mouths, and it was reduced to 200,000 after soft grinding and hard bubbles, and there is no room for negotiation." ”

"If you include these, it's really not that high." Guan Tianpei muttered: "The Citi battleship is fast, and the pursuit and interception are all them, and they can't avoid damage to the battleship and casualties among the soldiers." ”

Holding his long beard and groaning for a while, Lin Zexu said: "Citi people in Guangzhou set up factories and universities, the imperial court did not strictly prohibit this aspect, and the headquarters could be the masters, but it was expressly forbidden by the imperial court to bring family members and build churches, how could the headquarters dare to agree in private?" Moreover, the captured booty, especially the warships, is not only urgently needed by the sailors at present, but also the war report is submitted, and the imperial court will send a messenger to inspect it, how can it be given to them? ”

Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "I have thought about this below, they said, whoever captures the loot belongs to whom, this is the rule of Citigroup, if we need it, we can buy it with silver, and if we want to deal with the inspection, they can also rent it." After a pause, he continued: "As for bringing his family and building a church, I think that the lord of the ministry can agree to it for the time being, but first of all, I declare that this matter has to be written to the imperial court, and it will take time.

In the next superficial view, these two articles will also be proposed by Yingyi, and the imperial court will inevitably agree at that time, and the ministers do not need to worry about losing their trust to the Citi people. ”

Hearing this, Lin Zexu glanced at him and said, "It seems that contentment has been considered for the headquarters a long time ago, since this is the case, then promise them, but can Yuan Qi pay this silver first?" The old rule is offset by Yuan Qi tax. ”

Yi Zhixiang didn't expect Lin Zexu to come out with the silver, and immediately nodded: "Okay, however, Yuan Qi is really tight this year, and I hope that the two adults will be considerate." ”

This is to remind them that if they buy loot or something later, they should not fight Yuan Qi's idea again, how could Lin Zexu not understand this, and immediately smiled: "Fight this battle first, if you win it, you can say anything!" ”

Guan Tianpei said, "Since the Lord of the Ministry has completely agreed to their conditions, when will their warship arrive?" ”

"The Citi battleship can't show its face in Humen, otherwise Yingyi will be more vigilant." Yi Zhizhi said: "There are carrier pigeons on the Citi battleship, and more than a dozen of them have been brought over, as long as the military gate determines the place of assembly, the five Citi warships and two fleets will arrive on time." ”

Guan Tianpei said happily: "Great, this can save a lot of time." ”

On the fifth day of the first month of August, sharpen the knife.

Early in the morning, the horizon was exposed to the white belly of the fish, the British Guangdong Fleet flagship "Du Lu Yi" lookout Jack dutifully climbed the mast, the sky was not yet bright, the sea and the sky were the same color, the eyesight could not reach far, looked around, did not see anything abnormal, he relaxed, since the attack on the Macao Gate, the Guangdong Fleet was worried about the retaliation of the Qing Navy, and the vigilance has always been very high, but, these days, there has been no sneak attack by the Qing Navy, and they have repeatedly gone to Haikou to provoke, and the other party's warship has not attacked, This made them all a little lax, and they also despised the Qing Guoshui Master a little more.

Sitting on the lookout and closing his eyes, he felt that the sky was already bright, Jack stood up again and looked around, when he saw the southeast direction, his heart suddenly tightened, and a large black dot fan was generally coming quickly towards the location where their fleet was, the enemy attacked! What made him even more nervous was that there was also a large number of black spots in the southwest direction, and the enemy attacked! Enemy attack!

The commander of the British Canton Fleet, the captain of the "Dulu One", a forty-year-old, bearded Colonel Smith was woken up in his sleep, and when he heard that it was an enemy attack, he quickly rushed out of the cabin to the deck, and without the guidance of a lookout, he could see the black spot on the sea, "Damn." He gritted his teeth and cursed, holding up his binoculars to observe as he scolded.

The ships in the southeast direction are very messy, there are Western sailboats, there are Qing warships of various sizes, but there are many of them, roughly estimated, at least seventy or eighty ships, it seems that the Qing naval division is pouring out of the nest this time, "Colonel, the southwest one seems to be an American corvette." ”

American? Smith hurriedly turned, and from the binoculars, he could clearly see that the top of the masts of the first few cruisers rushing towards them at full speed were indeed the damn American Stars and Stripes flag that was always changing, not only the American flag, but also the style of the cruiser, and he could conclude at a glance that it was indeed an American frigate.

The United States does not declare war on them? Smith thought this was simply incredible, but the facts in front of him made him have to believe that the oncoming corvettes and armed sail merchant ships were all American ships and all flying American flags, and they appeared in this sea area at the same time as the Qing Navy Naval Fleet, and rushed towards the location of their fleet, it must be a coincidence, right?

Without his orders, the well-trained officers and men of the navy were already in their positions, and several warships began to lift anchor and raise their sails, open their gun doors, load their ammunition, and make all preparations before the battle.

Looking at the dense warships attacking from both sides, Smith calmly considered, he knew very well that this was the moment of life and death for the Guangdong Fleet, and his order would decide the life and death of more than 1,000 officers and men of the fleet. (To be continued.) )