Conscription in a million, or even two million? Bo Jia looked at him suspiciously, does this guy know what it means to conscript one million and two million? With such a large number of troops, what a large-scale war? How long will it last? More importantly, how much does that cost? Isn't this guy trying to sell arms and medicine to the United States?

Seeing the look of disbelief, Yi Zhizhi laughed and said, "It seems that you still lack enough understanding of this war. ”

Unconvinced, Bo Jia said: "We realized that what we were going to face was a long and arduous all-out war, so we conscripted 500,000 soldiers. ”

"Conscripting only 500,000 soldiers shows that you are still overly optimistic." Yi Zhicontent said unceremoniously: "How high is the casualty rate of modern warfare?" The Battle of Solflino, which broke out in Italy the year before last, killed 50,000 or 60,000 people in 15 hours.

How many large-scale battles can 500,000 troops fight? If this war lasts for three, four, or even five years, is that enough?

The eleven southern states have a population of 9 million, have been preparing for war for ten years, have a large number of outstanding military talents, have their own military factories, and have the support of Britain and France, and it is simply wishful thinking to end the war in two or three years! ”

After a slight sigh, Bo Jiacai said: "The south has a population of 9 million, but don't forget, this number includes 3 million blacks, and it is impossible for blacks to enlist in the army, so the actual population is only 6 million, and five or six hundred thousand troops are already the limit of the south." ”

Yi Zhi was content to argue with him, it was time to remind him, it was none of his business whether the other party listened or not, he was not worried about the final result of this war, he waved his hand and said: "Just truthfully convey my suggestions to Mr. Lincoln, I don't care if it will be taken seriously." ”

After a pause, he continued: "At present, the only thing that the north has done correctly is to blockade the southern ports with naval fleets, but the size of your fleet is really worrying, and it is impossible to implement an effective blockade. ”

"The National Assembly has passed the "Temporary Expansion of the Navy Law", and the naval fleet and officers and men will be rapidly expanded. ”

"If you are in urgent need of warships, Yuan Qi can sell a batch to you, fifty or a hundred, it's okay." Yi Zhizu said slowly, now there are not a few sail warships in the South Sea Fleet and the East China Sea Fleet, and he doesn't mind selling them to the United States for this batch of sail warships that are about to be eliminated.

Hearing this, Bo Jia was greatly moved, the Northern Navy fleet only has a pitiful 82 warships, only half of which can go to sea to fight, and now it is urgently recruiting civilian ships, if you can buy fifty or a hundred warships from Yuanqi, the strength of the navy can be doubled immediately! After a little hesitation, he said, "I will report this matter to China immediately." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "All the warships, I will equip you with the latest breech-loading rifled guns, and allow your country to recruit two thousand or three thousand mercenaries in the Nanyang Navy, so that you can completely blockade the southern ports, even if Britain and France send the main fleet, it is enough to compete!" ”

As soon as he heard this, he couldn't sit still, and quickly stood up and said, "I'm going to send a telegram!" ”

After the uncle left, Zhao Liewen said with a worried face: "Big shopkeeper, is the amount we are pressing in the north too big, if the war really lasts for four or five years, and when the war is over, our trade volume with the north will be at least hundreds of millions of taels of silver......." ”

Yi Zhixin shook his head disapprovingly, "The north has a strong industrial base, our arms trade can be done for a year or two at most, and the north will soon be able to imitate artillery, guns and ammunition, as for the warships, those sail warships are already facing elimination, and selling them to them can be regarded as making the best use of everything."

By the way, it can also help us train the navy in actual combat, and in addition, the blockade of southern ports is also conducive to our cotton hegemony, which is the point. ”

President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of the Navy Kidion. Wells was distressed by the inability to effectively blockade the southern coast, and was overjoyed to hear that Yuan Qi was willing to sell fifty to a hundred sail warships equipped with breech-loading rifled guns.

What's more, Yuan Qi's warships did not need to pay cash, they could pay with war bonds, and what made them even happier was that they were allowed to recruit two or three thousand mercenaries from the Qing navy, which was simply a relief in disguise.

The two sides hit it off, and within only six days of the telegram exchange, the two sides finalized the purchase of 50 large and small warships equipped with new breech-loading rifled guns from Yuanqi, together with artillery and ammunition, with a total value of 20 million silver dollars, and recruited 3,000 mercenaries from the Qing Dynasty to set sail for the United States with the fleet carrying arms and medicines.

The longevity festival is approaching, the whole Beijing division is dressed up with a new look, from the West Beijing Old Summer Palace to Xizhimen, through Xinjiekou, Xi'an Gate through ***, and the Forbidden City's Qingyi connection, all the way to the color of the square one after another, even interspersed with the color wall, color gallery, drama stage, song platform, lamp fang, lamp tower, light gallery, dragon shed, lantern shed innumerable, the temple view of the road, also set up a large celebration altar.

Along the road of the capital of the ministries, temples, the official offices of the prison also build the shed, set up the color workshop, a few miles of a throne, the throne is surrounded by a warm, beautiful facilities of scenic spots, along the way the color wall with the color silk formed by the "longevity without borders", "the Son of Heaven ten thousand years" and other big characters can be seen everywhere.

The city is full of joy, but Prince Hui Mianyu is worried, Prince Gong Yixun was sent to Xiling to guard the mausoleum, which made him frightened, always worried that the same bad luck would come suddenly, these years he is not only close to Yi Zhixiang, but also has a very close relationship with Yixun, once Xianfeng is seriously ill, it is very likely that he will not let him go.

He pondered whether he should consider retiring bravely from the rapids, taking the initiative to resign as the supervising minister, and recuperate in the government to avoid the limelight.

However, the Wanshou Festival is approaching, and it is obviously not appropriate to report illness at this time, so he secretly made up his mind that he would report the illness as soon as the Wanshou Festival was over.

"Lord Wang." The housekeeper came in and reported softly: "Wen Zhongtang and Jia Zhongtang came to the door to ask to see." ”

Wen Zhongtang is naturally Wen Xiang, the Minister of Military Aircraft, and Jia Zhongtang is Jia Zhen - a scholar of Tirenge University, a member of the Ministry of Management, and a bachelor in charge of the Hanlin Academy, both of whom can be said to be the right-hand men of the Yixin Party. ”

Wen Xiang and Jia Zhen came to see Mianyu, naturally they came for the matter of Yixun, the three of them met, greeted and sat down, Wen Xiang said straightforwardly: "Prince Gong was sent to Xiling to guard the tomb for no reason, can the prince know why?" ”

Didn't you tell them? This may not be big, Mianyu groaned, even if Yixun didn't disclose it, there is no need to hide this matter, Xianfeng Dragon Body is not safe, Jingshi has a lot of rumors, and immediately said slowly: "It should be related to the Emperor's Dragon Body is not safe." ”

Wen Xiang and both of them are the best people, as soon as they heard this, they immediately realized that Xianfeng's condition was not simple, and their hearts sank, Jia Zhen said with a solemn expression: "In this way, Prince Gong sent it to Xiling to guard the tomb, and if it is a disguised confinement, now that Su Liu is in power, and if there are any changes, it will inevitably increase, and I am afraid that no one will be able to curb it in the future." ”

Wen Xiang said bluntly: "In such a situation, the prince must not stand idly by. ”

He didn't want to sit idly by, but what could he do? Mianyu knows very well in her heart that whether Yixun can make a comeback depends on Yuan Qi and Yi Zhi's attitude.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Jia Zhen continued: "The prince should enter the palace to meet him and show the emperor his ......." ”

Mianyu said coldly: "The Ancestor and the Holy Ancestor are both young successions, can the two of you still remember the four auxiliary ministers at the beginning of the Holy Ancestor's succession?" ”

This is vague, but Wen Xiang and Jia Zhen were like lightning strikes, and they couldn't speak for a long time, Shizu Shunzhi Ye also succeeded to the throne at the age of six, and the imperial uncle Dolgon assisted the regent, and Dolgon's honorific title also changed from 'uncle regent' to 'imperial uncle regent', and then to 'imperial father regent'.

The 'Imperial Father Regent' has not only equated Dolgon and Emperor Shunzhi with the relationship between father and son, but also completely become the 'Emperor Taishang'.

Later, the Holy Ancestor Kangxi succeeded to the throne at an early age, and the four auxiliary ministers - Sony, Suke Saha, Kubilong, and Aobai were all heroes with different surnames, and none of them were royal relatives, just for fear of repeating the mistakes of Dolgon's regency.

As the so-called lesson from the past, if Xianfeng is seriously ill, for the sake of his six-year-old son, it is absolutely impossible to let Prince Gong Yixun assist the government! There's no room for manoeuvre! The only thing to count on is Xianfeng's recovery, so that there is some hope.

Shocked, Wen Xiang muttered: "The emperor is in full bloom, and he shouldn't be ........" ”

"Not really." Mianyu said softly with relief: "The emperor is just taking precautions, once he recovers, he will inevitably be in the capital." That being said, after learning that Xianfeng was suffering from tuberculosis, he no longer had any extravagant hopes.

In a blink of an eye, it is the eighth day of the first month of June, the ninth day of the first month is the day of the Longevity Festival, the eighth day of the first month is the warm life, Xianfeng drove back to the Forbidden City, gave a banquet to the civil and military officials, the next morning, Xianfeng got up early, bathed and changed clothes, wore dresses, and then led the princes and nobles, civil and military ministers to the temple to bow to the ancestors.

Then, drive back to the Taihe Palace, accept the congratulations, hundreds of people composed of the ceremonial band, play the Dan Majesty music, headed by the prince, the prince, the county king, all python robes and gowns, each according to the grade sequence, in the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple officials praised, solemn "Qingping" movement, performed three kneeling and nine kowtowing to celebrate the gift.

The tedious liturgy was carried out all morning. Bow down, and give a feast in the Baohe Palace. After the banquet, I went to the big stage on the third floor of Changyin Pavilion to listen to the play, and then, I gave food, gave the four treasures of the study, and gave weaving and embroidery antiques, and everyone got a lot of honor.

Xianfeng took the medicine in advance, and after a whole day of tedious etiquette, Leng is qi did not have a violent cough or hemoptysis, but the weather was hot, and he and all the civil and military officials wore mending gowns, crowns and hats, it was really hot, and normal people felt uncomfortable, not to mention that he was weak and suffered from tuberculosis.

In fact, after noon, Xianfeng felt very unwell, but in order to please an auspicious celebration, in order to dispel the rumors of the Beijing Division, and in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the court, he has been trying his best to support it.

Finally waited until the sky was dark, the civil and military officials withdrew, and Xianfeng, who returned to the dormitory, breathed a sigh of relief and completely relaxed, after this day's tossing, he also had some confidence in his body, and he was not as weak as he imagined.

To his own surprise, and to everyone's surprise, at the family banquet in the evening, which had a relatively relaxed atmosphere, Xianfeng fainted due to diarrhea.

On the second day of the Wanshou Festival, it was still a festive scene, and the big drama was sung, but Xianfeng's figure was gone, only half a day, Xianfeng was greedy and cool at night, and the news of the dragon's poor health spread among the officials, and a group of officials who did not know the inside story were not too surprised, but Prince Hui Mianyu was frightened and hurried to find out the inside story.

All the imperial doctors have entered the palace, and martial law has been imposed inside and outside the Xianfeng Palace, without permission, the eunuchs and palace maids, imperial doctors, imperial ministers, ministers of the guards, concubines, etc. are not allowed to enter and exit at will, Mianyu can't find out any news at all, but the more he can't find out the news, the more he realizes that the situation is serious, and he immediately didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly sent someone to send a telegram to Shanghai.

Wanshou Festival, the government and the opposition rejoice, three days off, the whole country celebrates, all over the civil and military officials, all over the country to set up incense cases, to the direction of the capital to make a big gift, Shanghai large and small government offices, schools, factories, etc. have a holiday, regardless of the new city and the old city are overcrowded a celebration, Yuan Qi also set off 10,000 taels of silver fireworks on the riverside avenue on the Bund on the night of the Wanshou Festival, the festive atmosphere to a climax.

Yi Zhifen led a group of wives and concubines to visit the Huangpu River at night to watch the fireworks, late at night to return happy, the next day to the third pole of the day, he got up, with early he was reading the newspaper, there was a maid to report, "There is an urgent call from Beijing." ”

As soon as he heard the urgent call from Jingshi, Yi Zhishu was keenly aware that something must have happened to Xianfeng, and immediately got up and rushed to Changle Bookstore, as soon as he entered the courtyard, Zhao Liewen hurriedly greeted him, and said: "Jingshi called, saying that it was today's celebration, and the emperor was missing, and it was reported that he was infected with wind and cold." ”

"What do you think?" Yi Zhishu asked casually as he walked.

"It should be not light." Zhao Liewen said slowly: "Otherwise, it will inevitably show up with a strong spirit, and the longevity celebration is not a trivial matter after all." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded approvingly, and said, "Take the chess, let's talk about two games, and there should be news in the future." ”

Before the two finished a game of chess, Cao Gensheng walked in quickly and reported: "The big shopkeeper, Prince Hui Mianyu sent a secret telegram. ”

"Reading ——。" Yi Zhizu put down the chess pieces in his hand and raised his head, Mianyu called, it was definitely not a trivial matter.

Cao Gensheng read in a deep voice: "The palace is under martial law, and it is impossible to inquire about the condition, and I am afraid that there will be a big change." ”

Although he had expected it, Zhao Liewen was still quite shocked when he heard the secret message sent by Mianyu, during the Wanshou Festival, martial law in the palace was enough to show that the matter had reached a very serious point, and he said with a very solemn expression: "Could it be that a big change is coming?" Today, it's only one in thirty. ”

Yi Zhishu was also a little surprised, and he muttered a little before he said, "Call back, pay close attention." ”

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