Although Huang Dianyuan established a Nanhua Association to actively collect information on Nanyang to assist in the conquest of Nanyang, he still has an inextricable relationship with the Tiandihui of Nanyang, Liangguang and Fujian, and he just hopes to spread these news through the mouth of the other party. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The Nanyang Navy has now become the strongest military force in the southeast of the imperial court, and the news that it has been pinned down by the South Seas and the northwest and the exhaustion of troops will inevitably stimulate the forces of all parties, and he believes that there must be close ties between the God Worship Society of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the more powerful gangs such as the Heaven and Earth Society and the Blue Lotus Sect.

To be honest, he didn't understand why God would choose to start an incident in the next year or two, because of a severe natural disaster. Or was he noticed by the local government and forced to start an incident in advance? Or is it for some other reason? In short, there is nothing wrong with providing and creating conditions for them at the right time.

Huang Dianyuan is now most concerned about the battle of Nanyang, after all, the success or failure of this battle is directly related to the survival of the Nanhua Society, he doesn't want the Nanhua Society that took countless efforts to set up is like a flash in the pan, seeing that Yi Zhishu is not optimistic about this battle, he shook his head slightly, and said: "It's really a little hasty, I originally thought that the conquest of Nanyang would take at least seven or eight years...., but I didn't expect that it was only three years, and the big shopkeeper couldn't wait to raise troops to march south, and if it was delayed for another three years, it would not be ..... insufficient troops." ”

"Time is running out." Yi Zhizhi said with a cigar in his mouth: "I also hope to delay it for a few more years, but this year is the best opportunity." ”

Huang Dianyuan said curiously: "How do you say this?" ”

"That's a long story." Yi Zhizhi said: "I have never told anyone. ”

Hearing this, Huang Dianyuan became even more interested, and chuckled: "Now everything is in place, just wait for the morning after tomorrow to send troops, and if you are idle, you will .....be idle." ”

Lin Meilian came in with a tea tray to serve tea at this time, and Yi Zhixin said casually: "Don't go out, you are also listening." ”

What to listen to? Lin Meilian was a little puzzled, and after serving tea, she obediently stood behind Yi Zhicontent.

"What are you most afraid of in the South Seas? Afraid of the interference of Western countries, afraid of Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain joining forces, afraid that France and Citigroup would take advantage of the fire and robbery, and take the opportunity to get a piece of the pie, after all, the strength of the Nanyang Navy is not strong now, and it cannot compete with Western countries. Yi Zhishu said slowly: "Why did you choose to wait for the expedition to the South Seas this year?" It is because this year the Western countries are too busy to take care of themselves, and they cannot take care of the South Seas. ”

"Why is that?"

"Intelligence, learn to collect intelligence and analyze intelligence." Yi Zhizhi said: "For a long time, Yuanqi has attached great importance to the collection of intelligence, and Western countries are naturally the focus. ”

After a pause, he continued: "In the past two years, there have been severe natural disasters in central and southern Europe, agricultural harvests have failed, and food prices have more than doubled, and cotton in the south of Citigroup has also failed, and the price has also doubled, most importantly in the United Kingdom.

In the past two years, the British stock market has been bleak, stock prices have fallen by three or four percent, many companies have closed down and gone bankrupt, and the most prosperous railway companies in these years have not escaped the doom, and last year, many railway projects were suspended, and even the progress of the main line was greatly slowed down ....... ”

"The big treasurer—." Huang Dianyuan hurriedly stretched out his hand to interrupt him, "I really don't know much about commerce and trade, stocks, railway companies and the like, I don't know what to say, can you say it simply?" ”

"It's simple enough." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "In general, since the twenty-third year of Daoguang, the British economy, which has a pivotal position in the world economy, especially in the Western economy, has gained a new round of prosperity and development, and the fundamental reason is the rapid progress and development of metallurgical and mechanical manufacturing technology, and of course, it has also benefited from the development of overseas markets, such as our Daqing Dynasty."

This has greatly stimulated the development of railway construction and textile industry, European countries have set off a new round of railway construction boom, and the textile industry has also greatly reduced the cost because of the progress of textile machinery manufacturing technology, thereby expanding demand, increasing profits, and developing rapidly.

Today, the textile industry and railway construction are in major crises, on the verge of bankruptcy, coupled with poor agricultural harvests and soaring prices of grain and cotton, which means that a new economic crisis is erupting that will encompass the United Kingdom and the whole of Europe, including Citigroup. ”

Speaking of this, he smiled, "Do you understand?" ”

Huang Dianyuan shook his head and said, "What does this have to do with the conquest of the South Seas?" ”

"Naturally, there is a relationship, and it is not a small relationship." Yi Zhizhi said: "As the saying goes, some people are happy and some people are sad, the outbreak of economic crisis in Europe is worried about Western countries, who is happy?" Let's clear the day! This means that the construction of our railways in the Qing Dynasty will reduce costs, and it means that Britain will increase its investment in the Qing Dynasty.

As Britain's largest foreign trading country and the most important overseas market, in the case of the outbreak of economic crisis in Europe, Britain will not go to war with us because of Spain and the Netherlands, France and Citigroup are also too busy to take care of themselves and have no intention of stirring up the South Seas, and Spain and the Netherlands will also dare not send troops to the South Seas on a large scale because of the economic crisis. ”

Huang Dianyuan nodded and said: "Knowing each other and knowing oneself, invincible in a hundred battles, no wonder the big shopkeeper attaches so much importance to intelligence gathering, but, having said that, the big shopkeeper has the ability to peel off the cocoon." ”

Lin Meilian's eyes were full of brilliance when she listened, and she said softly: "The economic crisis means that the treasury is empty? ”

"It's more harmful." "The economic crisis means that many factories have closed, construction projects have been suspended, prices have skyrocketed, a large number of workers have lost their jobs, incomes have decreased, consumption has declined, and social contradictions have intensified. ”

Unbeknownst to him, the economic crisis in Europe was not only a large-scale economic crisis, but also a revolution that swept across Europe on a large scale, and in January 1848, an uprising broke out in Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, in which the rebels defeated the government forces and established a liberal government.

Then the February Revolution broke out in France, and the rebels seized all the important strongholds in Paris and occupied the royal palace. Philip was forced to flee to England, and the House of Orleans was overthrown. Subsequently, the revolutionaries announced the abolition of the monarchy in France, the formation of a bourgeois provisional government headed by Lamartine, and the establishment of the Second French Republic.

In March, a massive mass demonstration erupted in Berlin, the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia, which turned into an uprising.

Subsequently, students and workers in Vienna, the capital of Austria, also staged demonstrations demanding constitutional government, and the uprising forced the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I to be forced to depose Prime Minister Metternich and agree to the convening of a National Assembly and the formulation of a constitution. The European Revolution was growing stronger and more intense, rapidly spreading throughout Europe.

In the early morning, the sky was only exposed to the white of the fish's belly, and the loud sound of military trumpets sounded on all sides of Yulin Port, and the officers and men of the navy, who had been recuperating for many days, got up one after another to make the final preparations for setting sail.

Lin Meilian hurriedly rushed to Yi Zhicontent's big tent after tidying up, but saw that Yi Zhicontent had already gotten up and was sorting out her military uniform, and hurriedly stepped forward to help. ”

Lin Meilian pursed her lips and smiled: "All the way south, I'm used to it." Thinking about it, she asked, "How many days will you sail this time?" ”

"The fleet is large, there are many transport ships, and the speed cannot be fast, the total is about seven or eight days."

Hearing that she only needs to sail on the sea for seven or eight days, Lin Meilian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's not long, it's just over." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly and ordered: "Someone will go and inform Yan Yangtian, Chen Hongming, Yizeng, Chang Bao, and Huang Dianyuan to go to the 'Zhenjiang' in a while." ”

After breakfast, the fleet slowly sailed away from Yulin Port, and on the deck of the 'Zhenjiang', Yan Yangtian pointed to Yulin Port and said: "Junmen, the geographical location and conditions of this port are not bad at present, but if we capture the Nanyang Islands, the importance of this place will be greatly reduced, and it seems that there is no need to continue large-scale construction." ”

Groaning slightly, Yi Zhizhi said: "There are not too many ports, even if you take Nanyang and Annam, this is also an indispensable transit port, in addition, it is also a military port for training recruits, and the port construction should not be cut and slowed down, Yuan Qi is not bad for that bit of silver." ”

"Yes, my subordinates."

Yi Zeng smiled: "It's still the military that thinks far-reaching. ”

"If we take the South Seas, the navy will also be expanded on a large scale." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "We can't learn from Genghis Khan, every piece of land we have laid must be firmly guarded." As he spoke, he pointed ahead, "Mineral deposits are not only on land, but also inexhaustible mineral deposits on the seabed. ”

Mineral deposits on the seabed? Everyone was stunned, hesitated slightly, and Yi Zeng said: "Even if there are mineral deposits on the bottom of the sea, how to mine them?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "I can't now, but I can't know that I can't in the future?" ”

"The military gate, the South Seas is not small, if you want to hold it firmly, I am afraid you must have a large navy." Yan Yangtian said: "Will the imperial court allow it?" ”

"I'm not talking about you, you are now in an era of rapid development and change, and your thinking has to keep pace with the times." Yi Zhizhi said in an old-fashioned manner: "The railway has changed the land transportation, and it is no longer a matter of traveling thousands of miles a day, and it only takes four or five days from Guangzhou to Beijing, don't you think that our territory of the Qing Dynasty is too small?"

Why Northwest Expansion? It is built on the basis of the railway, and now looking at the distance of Xinjiang, as soon as the railway is opened, it will arrive in four or five days, and no matter how wide the expansion is, the imperial court can easily rule!

The ocean is the same, you have seen the steamship, the future sea ships will be replaced by the steamship, now England, France has tried to build a steam iron ship, Yuan Qi is also investing a lot of money in research and development, you see, within 20 years, navigation will inevitably undergo earth-shaking changes.

In the future, our wooden-hulled sail warships will be eliminated, all of them will be replaced by steam ironclad warships, and merchant ships will also be replaced by iron ships.

Nowadays, we see that the South China Sea is very large, and it will take seven or eight days to get from Yulin to Manila, but if the ship is fast, it only takes one or two days to reach Manila, what will it be? At that time, one or two fleets will be able to protect all the maritime frontiers of the Qing Dynasty. ”

Everyone is collectively sluggish, and it is not impossible to think about it carefully, after all, the speed of the steam ship built by Yuan Qi is not comparable to that of a sailboat, and the railway is also a living fact in front of him.

Seeing the expressions of everyone, Yi Zhixiang smiled and said, "Back to the official hall, let's let Mr. Huang talk about the situation in Manila in detail." ”

After taking a seat in the official hall, Yi Zhifen glanced at everyone and said: "Manila is the political, economic and military center of Spain in Luzon, and Manila Bay is also very open. ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Huang Dianyuan and said, "Mr. Huang, let me introduce you to the situation in Manila." ”

Huang Dianyuan was not humble, coughed lightly, and said: "You all know that since the beginning of the former Ming Dynasty, the Spaniards entrenched in Luzon have carried out several large-scale massacres against the Han Chinese, and the reason is that they are worried about China's conquest of Luzon, but Lin Feng, a pirate of the former Ming Dynasty, did lead his troops to attack Manila.

The Spaniards have always been hostile to the Han Chinese in Luzon and strictly guarded against them, and the status of the Han in Manila has always been very low, which can be said to be the lowest level, which is clearly reflected in the taxation of the Spaniards.

Even then, the Spaniards strictly controlled the size of the Luzon Han Chinese, who were exempt from paying taxes, the local natives (Malays), the mestizos of Han Chinese who were required to pay twice the basic tax, and the Han Chinese who were required to pay four times the basic tax.

Since the establishment of the Nanyang Navy, especially after the conquest of Annam and the Japanese Kingdom, Spain has been very vigilant, not only sending more troops stationed in Luzon, but also taking unprecedented precautions against the Luzon Han Chinese, which also makes it very difficult for us to spy and collect intelligence. ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "We have been spying and collecting intelligence on Manila for two years, and the information we have so far shows that the Spaniards have eight warships in Manila, with about 5,000 troops stationed, and about 7,000 or 8,000 natives trained by the Spaniards. ”

Two years of intelligence spying on Manila? Everyone present suddenly felt solid in their hearts, as for the strength of Manila, they didn't pay attention to it, after all, the total is only about 13,000 people, far less than the strength of the Nanyang Navy, Yizeng couldn't wait to ask: "How are their weapons and equipment?" ”

"The artillery is not observable." Huang Dianyuan said: "As for the muskets, we can't tell whether the Spaniards are mini guns or not, we only know that they are musket guns with bayonets, and about half of the indigenous soldiers are equipped with muskets, but the muskets of the indigenous soldiers are obviously inferior to the Spaniards." ”

After a pause, he added: "This is on the surface, I have heard that in the event of a war in the royal city of Manila, the white men will form merchant legions. ”