Wei Yuan already had a strong interest in Yuanqi, and he also greatly appreciated Yi Zhicontent, who advocated the construction of railways, the issuance of national bonds, and the establishment of a machine silk reeling factory, otherwise he would not have agreed to be a staff member to Yi Zhizhi because of a letter from Lin Zexu, and there was a like-minded Bao Shichen in Shanghai, and the two worked together in the shogunate of Tao Shu, the governor of Liangjiang, for more than ten years, and the friendship was extraordinary. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

For going to Shanghai, he has no resistance, but Lin Zexu's words made him faintly uneasy, Lin Zexu just took office, but he said that he was leaving, and the tone of this was also a little wrong, there seemed to be a bad premonition, could it be that he was not optimistic about this game of chess?

The two of them walked slowly into the pavilion on the side of the road, and after taking their seats, Wei Yuan said cautiously: "Dong Weng seems to be sure that Yingyi will inevitably attack Jiangning, and he will ..... this battle Not sure? ”

"The heroes are powerful, and the ships are strong and the guns are strong, and the coastal sailors are difficult to compete with ......." Lin Zexu said slowly: "Compared with Tianjin, the old man is more willing to attack Jiangning, as for the victory or defeat, it is really not optimistic." ”

Wei Yuan said puzzledly: "If you know this, why don't you make another plan?" ”

Lin Zexu shook his head slightly and said, "There is a huge difference in strength, there is no better way." ”

Although Lin Zexu didn't say it explicitly, Wei Yuan had already vaguely guessed a rough idea, and he was silent for a long time before he spoke: "The Yuanqi regiment practiced a battle to recover Dinghai, which shows that the combat power is not good, since it is unlikely that Yingyi will attack Guangzhou, why not transfer the Yuanqi regiment to Jiangning?" ”

Lin Zexu glanced at him quietly, although he was convinced of Wei Yuan, and he also deliberately revealed some information when he traveled with him today, but the matter of Yuanqi Tuanlian secretly coming to Jiangning was too confidential, he didn't dare to reveal it, and he groaned slightly, before he said: "Yuanqi Tuanlian is a newly trained army, the scale is also small, and it is not good at water warfare, so it is difficult to send a big ......." ”

Before he finished speaking, he turned around to look at the sound of horses' hooves, and saw Yi Zhicontent galloping first, and couldn't help but say, "This kid can also ride a horse?" ”

Yi Zhishu learned riding skills in the eight schools, and he rarely had the opportunity to ride a horse on weekdays, and he naturally had itchy hands when he seized the opportunity, and he was more than ten steps away from the gazebo, so he let go of the reins, and only after a circle did he throw the stirrup off the saddle, and dismounted, Wei Yuan greeted the pavilion and smiled: "Good skills." ”

Yi Zhicontent immediately looked at the other party a few times, and saw that he was in his early forties, thin and weak, and looked like an old master, so he knew that it must be Wei Yuan, and immediately strode forward to meet him, and said with a smile: "It's just that I can ride, but I don't dare to be Mr. Wei's false praise." ”

Wei Yuan smiled and arched his hand: "Undertaking tens of millions of national debts, the Focan-Guangzhou Railway has been completed and opened to traffic, and the shopkeeper of Yida is now famous in the government and the opposition. ”

"Mr. Wei is famous all over the world, and he has admired him for a long time..." Yi Zhishu said and strode to the front, because he had hired the other party as his master before, he was still waiting to say a few words, Lin Zexu said with a smile in the pavilion: "Contentment That Western clipper is not an ordinary eye-catching ...... ”

"Lord Ministry's reminder is that I will come to Jiangning next time to change one." Yi Zhizhi said and walked into the gazebo to salute.

"This is White Earth Mountain." Lin Zexu said: "Mo Sheng told Contentment about the war. As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and motioned for the two to sit down.

Hearing that Zheng Chenggong had led 3,000 warships and 100,000 troops to attack Jiangning, and the defeated troops were here, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but feel surprised, he heard that Zheng Chenggong had such a defeat for the first time, and he was silent for a while, and he said with emotion: "If it weren't for the defeat of Baitu Mountain, Zheng Chenggong would not have recovered Taiwan from the Dutch." ”

"That's true." Lin Zexu said: "However, the word contentment seems to have the meaning of borrowing from the past to metaphor the present?" Don't hide it, talk about it. ”

Yi Zhizhi was not humble, and after a slight sigh, he spoke: "I think that the battle with England, no matter what the outcome is, is a good thing for the Qing Dynasty, this battle at least let the Qing Dynasty and the opposition see the strength of the ships and guns of the Western Ocean, and realize the gap between the Qing Dynasty and the Western Ocean, if this war breaks out decades later, that is the real sorrow of the Qing Dynasty." ”

"Oh?" Wei Yuan was puzzled and said: "Why is it that the outbreak has been delayed for decades, but it is really sad?" ”

"Because Western countries are now in the beginning stage of rapid development." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "If the Qing Dynasty can realize its own shortcomings at this time, and realize the gap with Western countries, it is not too late, as long as it can catch up, there is still hope to catch up with or even surpass Western countries, if it is ..... later."

It doesn't take much to be late, and then ten or twenty years later, the gap between the Qing Dynasty and the Western countries is far from the current gap, it can be said that it is a world of difference, and then if a war breaks out again, it will not only be England, but also the Western countries, I am afraid that the Western countries will take turns to fight, and it is not only the navy that will come to attack, but the army and navy will go into battle. ”

Wei Yuan said in surprise: "Why did Master Yi say this? ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him, then looked at Lin Zexu, and said: "Citi merchants just came to the news that England and France have now developed ironclad ships that do not need to use wind power to sail, and said that England may use ironclad ships in this war to test the power of ironclad ships, and I hope that we can capture ironclad ships by unscrupulous means, and the two countries will jointly study and imitate them." ”

"Ironclad?"

"A battleship built entirely of steel, without a single log or sail on the whole ship, powered by a steam engine, has a displacement of 2,000 tons, can carry more than 1,000 troops, and has more than 100 guns, and ordinary artillery cannot hurt it in the slightest."

And how can you build a ship with iron? Won't it sink? Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan couldn't help but look at each other, unable to imagine what the ironclad ship looked like and how it was built, but there were many unbelievable things in the West, and the two of them also knew that it was impossible for Yi Zhishu to talk nonsense in front of the two of them.

After a long silence, Lin Zexu spoke: "If Yingyi really sent ironclad ships to participate in the war, wouldn't it be very likely to attack Guangzhou?" ”

The ironclad ship Yunyun is naturally easy to know and be content, and Lin Zexu, who listened to this, asked so, and he groaned slightly before saying: "It is possible, it is possible that Yingyi may use the Humen Fort to test the power of the ironclad ship, but an ironclad ship should not be enough to threaten the Humen Fort, and Guangzhou is not Yingyi's main target after all." ”

Lin Zexu nodded, relieved, he was really worried that Yi Zhisuff would transfer the Yuanqi regiment to train troops back to Guangzhou in order to protect himself, the other party said this, obviously to take care of the overall situation, he stood up and said, "Since we are here, let's go to Baitu Mountain to have a look and see this section of the river." ”

This section of the river in Baitu Mountain is open, the water flow is gentle, suitable for mooring a large fleet to moor, it is no wonder that Zheng Chenggong chose to camp in Baitu Mountain to besiege Jiangning City, Yi Zhizhi naturally understands the purpose of Lin Zexu to come here to investigate on the spot, and he is attentive to investigate and memorize, others are not clear, but he is quite clear that it is the Heaven and Earth Society that guides the British fleet, Zheng Chenggong's status in the Heaven and Earth Society is very lofty, and the British fleet led by the Heaven and Earth Society may really be anchored in this section of the river.

When the sun was setting in the west, Lin Zexu and his entourage came down from Baitu Mountain, and Yi Zhizhi broke up with him by the river, and called a small boat at the nearby wharf to rush to Sanshanmen.

Sanshanmen is in the southwest of Jiangning City, commonly known as Shuixi Gate, because the West Water Pass is close to the side, the two gates of water and land are the main roads out of the west of Jiangning City, it has always been a place where business travel is prosperous, Yi Zhizhi took a small boat along the river, and arrived at the wharf outside the Shuixi Gate at ten o'clock at dusk, among the densely moored ships on both sides, he easily saw his particularly conspicuous flying clippers.

Of course, he knew that the flying scissors were conspicuous, and this time he deliberately came to Jiangning by flying scissors, because the flying scissors were conspicuous and easy to contact with the officers and soldiers of the Yuanqi regimental training, so the boat was rowed close to the flying scissors, and the captain Hu Haisheng rushed to the side of the ship with a few sailors and crew members to watch vigilantly.

Coming on the boat, Yi Zhizhi said: "The vigilance is so high, but someone is looking for trouble?" ”

"Back to the young master." Hu Haisheng said nonchalantly: "A few splashes came to blackmail and were scared away. ”

And so eye-opening splashing? Yi Zhixiang frowned, at a glance, he knew that this ship was either rich or expensive, but it was not something that ordinary scoundrels dared to provoke, besides, Lin Zexu only took this boat to Jiangning to take office, is it a gang? Coming for him? After a slight groan, he said: "Be vigilant, report something immediately, try not to cause trouble, things come to the door, don't be afraid, I will carry everything." ”

"Yes, the little one understands." Hu Haisheng hurriedly said aloud, as he spoke, he lowered his voice and said: "As soon as the ship docked, someone came to contact us, and I have already accompanied Li Wang to the inn." ”

People have arrived? It seemed that they were going well, Yi Zhifen secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Go to the inn." ”

The "Liufu'an" inn is not far from the wharf, but it is only a quarter of an hour away, and Li Wang greeted the detached courtyard under the charter of Yi Zhizhi, and said, "Young master, they have arrived, in the east chamber." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded, turned to the east wing, stepped into the door, and the commander of the first battalion of the third regiment, She Goucheng, and the two regimental Yong hurriedly stood up and saluted, and said, "The commander of the first battalion of the third regiment She Goucheng has seen the principal. ”

Yi Zhi, a first-level officer of the Yuanqi Regiment training camp, was familiar with it, and nodded slightly, before he asked, "The journey was smooth?" ”

"Back to the principal, the journey went well." She Gou said: "I couldn't find a boat for the New Year, so I stayed in Xiangtan for two days." ”

After sitting down, Yi Zhizu stretched out his hand and pressed it, and said, "Sit." Then he asked, "When will most of them arrive?" ”

"Back to the principal, most of them should have just arrived in Changsha now." She Gou said: "Most of them take a boat all the way to Shaoguan, and then turn to Hengshui by land, it takes a lot of time, and it is estimated that it will take half a moon to reach Jiangning." ”

In other words, a month and a half is enough to arrive in Jiangning? Yi Zhicontent secretly thought in his heart, in this way, there is no need to take the sea route, after all, once the war starts, the risk of sea transportation will become infinite, and what logistics support needs is stability, and furthermore, entering the sea from Huizhou Mansion, he is also worried that he will not be able to hide the eyes and ears of the Heaven and Earth Society, and the British army will increase its troops in a large manner, and the attitude of the Heaven and Earth Society will be difficult to understand, and he has no need to take risks.

Early the next morning, Yi Zhizu got up early and entered Jiangning City, and rushed directly to the Governor's Mansion of the street.

The Liangjiang Governor's Mansion is in the center of the city, originally the Han Dynasty's Mansion of the former Dynasty, the scale is large, Yi Zhizhi handed the gift post in, and was soon led in, he paid a little attention all the way, and found that the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion seemed to be higher than the Liangguang Governor's Mansion.

Menzi led him out of a courtyard until he stopped, "Lord Yi, please." ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at the door of the courtyard, and saw that it said Xiaoxiang Pavilion, as soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Lin Zexu standing on the steps outside the door, and hurriedly walked up to greet him, Lin Zexu waved his hand and said: "Contentment does not need to be polite." ”

When the two entered the house, Lin Zexu asked directly, "Is there any news?" ”

Yi Zhizu hurriedly replied: "Lord Huibutang, most of Tuan Yong has arrived in Changsha, because of the baggage, the speed may be slower, and it is estimated that it will arrive in Jiangning within half a month." ”

Lin Zexu didn't say anything, and only said after a while: "Liangjiang and the surrounding provinces, there is no large-scale transfer of troops and horses, and the headquarters has not received relevant orders. ”

What does that mean? Yi Zhizhi was content, and then said tentatively: "Lord Ministry, are you worried that things have changed? ”

Lin Zexu said in a sullen voice: "The green battalion soldiers and horses are assembled and mobilized, and the speed is far less than that of Yuanqi's group training. ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said: "It's still the first month, it's still early, besides, since you want to lure Yingyi to attack Jiangning, it is not appropriate to mobilize troops and horses to Jiangning at this time." ”

Lin Zexu said in a deep voice: "Have you thought about contentment, if Yingyi doesn't come to Jiangning, but goes to Tianjin to ......." ”

"No!" Yi Zhi said confidently: "I dare to guarantee that Yingyi will definitely come to Jiangning." ”

Lin Zexu glanced at him and said: "The emperor is on a southern tour, not in Beijing, if Yingyi lands from Tianjin, and the soldiers are directed at Beijing, can you think about the consequences?" ”

"No, it won't." Yi Zhizhi said without hesitation: "The terrain in the north is open, and it is easy for cavalry to move, it is impossible for Yingyi to risk going to attack the Beijing Division, and besides, from Tianjin to the Beijing Division, the battleships cannot make the trip, and it is impossible for Yingyi to abandon the long and short." ”

Although he was sure of all his dares, it was naturally because he knew the trend of history, and knew that after the arrival of British reinforcements, he directly crossed Guangzhou, attacked Jiangning, and forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the "Jiangning Treaty".

"I hope so." Lin Zexu said softly, to be honest, he felt that this was a big gamble, if it was really easy to be contented that his judgment was not bad, and he could get a big victory in Jiangning, it would naturally be the icing on the cake, if he made a mistake in judgment, Yingyi would attack Tianjin directly, then the consequences would be unimaginable, not only would Yi Zhixin be unlucky, but Daoguang would definitely be angry with him! (To be continued.) )