As Guan Tianpei, he led the twelve Western warships of the Navy Division to accompany him to Dinghai, not to share the profits of the war to recover Dinghai, but to let the Guangdong Navy Division obtain the main battle merits of the recovery of Dinghai, whether it is Lin Zexu or Guan Tianpei, they all know in their hearts that with the shrewdness of being content, it is impossible not to see this meaning.

To the surprise of the two, Yi Zhifen didn't seem to care about this battle feat at all, and his words were extremely sincere, but Guan Tianpei didn't dare to pretend to be confused, and immediately made it clear that "Contentment doesn't have to put gold on the old man's face, this time the old man led the fleet to Dinghai, which is to attribute the main credit for recovering Dinghai to the sailor."

To tell the truth, the old man didn't want the sailor to grab this credit, and discussed with the ministry for a long time, or felt that the Yuanqi group practice should not be too eye-catching, the Yuanqi group practiced cross-provincial expeditions, and recovered Dinghai in the first war, which is not necessarily a bad thing for the Yuanqi group practice for Yuanqi and contentment, but it is not necessarily a good thing, it can be said to be a blessing and a curse. ”

"The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it." Lin Zexu took over and said: "Yuanqi is rich and powerful in the world, and it is itself eye-catching for the government and the opposition, if Yuanqi's group training is sharp again, showing far more combat power than the Eight Banners Green Battalion, once the war against England is over, the imperial court is afraid that it will disband Yuanqi's group training when it comes back, and it may even harm Yuanqi."

Yuanqi regimental training using Western-style military training methods, just less than half a year, can achieve initial results, which shows that there are extraordinary, now the West is strong, England is aggressive, even if the court retreats can be exchanged for a temporary peace, but it is difficult to last, the Qing Dynasty wants to enrich the country and strengthen the army, to counter the English, only to effectively imitate the West, the headquarters does not want Yuanqi to be jealous of the imperial court, and be strangled. ”

Yuan Qi is now in the cone pocket, and this edge can't be hidden at all. Even if it can be covered up this time, once the British army attacks Guangzhou, it will not be able to cover it up at all, but Lin Zexu is a little sincere in thinking about Yuanqi, and he is content and happy to buy Yuanqi another half a year and a year of development time. nodded immediately and said: "The Lord of the Ministry and the military gate put themselves in Yuan Qi's shoes, how can they not know this painstaking work."

Yuanqi group training is formed under the supervision of the minister, and its scale is also determined by the minister, although it is the name of the group training, in fact, it is no different from the righteousness and courage of the sailor. ”

Speaking of which. After a pause, he said with a smile: "However, everyone has the heart of fame and fortune, and this time when the army is sent to Dinghai, all the children of merchants are very enthusiastic, if they can recover it in one fell swoop." ”

"Be content and rest assured." Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Lin Zexu said: "If you recover Dinghai." Contentment drew up a list of meritorious servitudes, and the headquarters asked the imperial court for merit for them. He said. He changed his words and said: "Sharpen the knife and report that it was sent to Beijing in an expedited manner of 800 miles yesterday, but Yingyi is now in Tianjin, calculate the time." I'm afraid it's too late, I heard that I have a fast ship on hand, can I send another good news to Jiangning on the fast boat, and if I can send the good news to Jingshi before negotiating with Yingyi, the court will have a little more confidence. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "That's no problem. Today, you can get on a fast boat and rush to Jiangning. ”

Ningbo Prefecture, Dinghai County.

Puppet Zhixian -- Guo Shili, the magistrate appointed by the British army, sat in the beautiful back garden of the county office, but he had no intention of enjoying the scenery, but his face was full of sadness, and the British army's attack on Dinghai could be said to be effortless, but to govern Dinghai, it was extremely difficult, and when the British army entered the city, Dinghai was already an empty city, and everyone in the city who could walk, regardless of whether it was a person or a domestic animal or poultry, had run out.

For this reason, he posted a notice of peace with the people, but no one responded at all, Dinghai County is not big, but it is empty and deserted, because there are only three or four thousand British troops left behind in the city, it is difficult to see an eastern face, there are no people, not just the appearance of desertion, this is very fatal, because no people means no fresh food, vegetables and fruits.

Not to mention that the people in Dinghai also polluted the water source, put poison and some filth into the well, the British army in the city did not dare to drink the well water in the city at all, but went outside the city to get water, but the water outside the city also has problems, and many sailors and soldiers have been infected recently, but he, the magistrate, is at a loss for this.

Guo Shili was a Prussian missionary, very talented in languages, in Guangzhou for nearly ten years, he did many detailed investigations of the coast of China, can speak fluent Cantonese and Fujianese, can be said to be a China expert, "Eastern and Western Examination Monthly Unified Biography" was founded and edited when he was in Guangzhou.

To add insult to injury, there are a few people who are willing to serve the British army and help go to the villages near the city to buy all kinds of meat and vegetables for the British army in the first two days, and I heard that they were sent to Ningbo Mansion, which means that in the next few days, the British troops living in the city will completely cut off fresh food.

Just as he sighed, a Han man in his early thirties hurriedly walked in and said: "My lord, according to the news of Ningbo Mansion, I heard that our Emperor of the Qing Dynasty issued a holy decree that the soldiers and civilians of the coastal provinces should investigate the traitors, and all those who report and expose or arrest and send them will be rewarded heavily, and the coastal people are ordered not to sell food to the British army, otherwise they will be punished as traitors." ”

This is really called a disaster, this time, I am afraid that it is even more difficult to get fresh food, Guo Shili gloomy face for a long time, before he said: "You have to think about it, it is impossible for four thousand people to go without fresh food for a long time, that will seriously affect morale, what good way can Rong Rong have?" ”

Lin Rongrong shook his head and said: "The appearance of the English people is very different from ours, they don't understand the language, they don't speak, and they are all soldiers with guns, what we Qing people are most afraid of is dealing with soldiers, unless those soldiers are withdrawn from the city and stationed near the port." ”

"Nope." Guo Shili refused without thinking about it: "England wants to open up Dinghai into a stronghold in the Far East, and it is impossible to be stationed outside the city for a long time, Macau is not leased by the Portuguese, why are there so many Chinese?" ”

Lin Rongrong replied, "Most of the Portuguese in Macao are merchants, not soldiers. ”

"This is only temporary, and Dinghai will be the same as Macau in the future." Guo Shili said: "However, we have to solve the problem of fresh food now, many people are sick, and they need fresh food. ”

hesitated. Lin Rongrong said: "It's not that there is no way, if you can't buy it, you will send troops to rob it." ”

This is not a good way, it is not conducive to the future rule of England in Dinghai, but except for this method. There is really no other way, Guo Shili sighed lightly, at the moment, the most urgent thing is to provide enough fresh meat, vegetables and fruits for those sick soldiers and sailors, some people have died of illness, and this situation cannot be allowed to continue to deteriorate, it seems that the only way to send troops to rob it is to send troops to rob it.

Just when Guo Shili, the puppet magistrate of Dinghai, was worried about the health and fresh food of the British army. Qi Shan, the governor of Zhili, who was far away in Tianjin, sent people to send a large number of cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, vegetables and fruits to the British fleet blockading Tianjin Haikou.

The north gate of Tianjin City, the inner west side, the Tianjin Government Office, the three halls of study.

Qi Shan, who was only fifty-five years old, but his beard was already a little gray, put down the oracle in his hand, stood up with a heavy heart and paced the room with his hands behind his back. You can't open the side to provoke, this is to focus on caressing.

Mainly caressing. It can be said that he is in his arms, he has seen the British warships with his own eyes, he knows very well that he can't fight at all, once the war starts, the Qing Dynasty has no chance of winning, although there are not many British soldiers. But there are not many Tianjin soldiers at present, and a large number of reinforcements are rushing to Tianjin, but he knows the current situation of the Eight Banners Green Battalion, and he does not have much hope for those reinforcements, but is afraid of a bombardment of the artillery group. Those officers and soldiers ran faster than artillery shells.

Daoguang tends to caress is naturally a good thing, but how to caress in order not to lose the national body? The conditions put forward in the note submitted by Yingyi were too harsh, not to mention, and it was accompanied by a grievance appeal, attacking Lin Zexu, who banned smoking in Guangzhou, for his unfair treatment of Yingyi, and resolutely demanded that Lin Zexu be severely punished and compensate for the price of cigarettes. If one is not good, the big hat that has lost the national body will be buttoned down.

A long entourage reported at the door: "Master, the superintendent of Zuoying Qianqian asks to see him." ”

Although Bai Hanzhang is just a small Qianzong, but very clever, it was sent by Qi Shan to contact Yingyi, the last time he went on the Yingyi warship to accept the note, today it is he who sent cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, vegetables and fruits to reward the British army, I heard that he asked to see him outside, Qi Shan immediately ordered: "Let him come in." ”

After Bai Hanzhang came in, he pricked Qian'er beautifully, and then got up and said: "Report to Lord Ministry, twenty cows, two hundred sheep, many chickens, ducks, eggs and a large number of vegetables and fruits have been sent to the Yingyi battleship, and the commander of the Yingyi fleet Yilu conveyed the gratitude of the Yingyi Navy Division to the Lord Ministry. ”

Qi Shan bowed his head slightly and said, "It's not that they don't know the etiquette at all. ”

"Lord Yubudo." Bai Hanzhang said: "Yilu also told me that I hope that the Lord of the Ministry will come to the ship tomorrow to formally negotiate with him." ”

"Get on board?" Qi Shan frowned, and said without thinking: "The headquarters is the governor of Zhili, how can he get on the Yingyi warship?" Since ancient times, it is possible to negotiate with each other. ”

"Yes, the little one who passed on Yingyi." Bai Hanzhang said and hesitated slightly, before he said: "There is another small thing that I don't know whether to say or not." ”

"But it doesn't hurt to say it."

After a slight groan, Bai Hanzhang said: "The small boat went to the Yingyi fleet, passing through the sand mouth of the barrage, and the Yingyi boat I saw was taking precautions at the mouth of the river to measure the water level of the channel. ”

Measuring the water level of the fairway? Qi Shan's face sank, what is Yingyi's intention in measuring the water level of the channel? It goes without saying that this is a preparation for war, and Yingyi's move is intended to threaten? Or are you really going to go to war? It is estimated that there are still most threats, but they also have to be guarded against, in case the negotiation fails, and the other party threatens to use force.

After a slight sigh, he spoke: "Let's just say that the headquarters has an urgent matter and has rushed to the Beijing Division, and it will be three or five days before I have to come back, and the meeting and negotiation will be slightly delayed for a few days." ”

Bai Hanzhang retreated, Qi Shan thought for a long time, and then wrote a secret fold, to appease Yingyi, the first is to appease his emotions, Yingyi's note put forward unreasonable conditions, can be put on hold for the time being, only the matter of attacking Lin Zexu, can it be false and wronged, temporarily promised, send Qin to send south to Guangzhou to investigate, and use this as a reason to transfer the Yingyi fleet out of Tianjin.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Xinuan Pavilion.

Daoguang flipped through the excerpts one by one, especially from Liangguang, Fujian and Zhejiang, Liangjiang, and Zhili, he looked more carefully, since the British fleet went north from Guangzhou for a period of time, he has not been comfortable for a day, all along, the defense center of the imperial court is in the northwest, but I didn't expect that the British fleet will go north from the southeast coast all the way to Tianjin, all the way like no man's land, coastal defense erosion to this, it is really shocking!

What particularly shocked him was that the Eight Banners Green Battalion, which cost more than 30% of the imperial court a year to raise and nourish, was so unbearable, and Dinghai County, which was an important town of coastal defense, was captured by the British army in one day, and only 20 or 30 people were killed or wounded.

"Your Majesty." The chief eunuch bowed down at the door and reported: "Wang Ding, Minister of Military Aircraft, handed over a sign and asked to see. ”

"Let him in." Dao bald his head and commanded casually.

After entering the warm pavilion, after the ceremony, Wang Ding got up and was about to kneel down in front of Daoguang, but Daoguang put down the fold and said, "Sit." After he sat down, he asked, "It seems that today is not Dingjiu on duty." ”

"Back to the emperor, today is indeed not a micro-minister." Wang Ding said and bowed slightly: "Weichen is here today for the invasion of the English fleet. ”

Hearing this, Daoguang couldn't help frowning, he knew very well that Wang Ding had always been fighting against the main battle, he didn't want to waste his words with the other party, just before the British fleet arrived in Tianjin, why wasn't he the main battle? But Tianjin was defenseless, and there were only more than 1,000 officers and soldiers stationed on the waterway, which was less than the British army, not to mention that the British ships were strong and artillery, how to fight?

Wang Ding was afraid that Daoguang would intercept his words, so he said straightforwardly: "The British fleet has been coming to Tianjin for half a month, and there is no abnormal behavior, it can be seen that the other party is really bluffing, and coming to Tianjin is really intimidating.

Even if there is a war, there is no need to be afraid, the people on whom the Yingyi rely are the warships, and the people on whom I rely on the Qing Dynasty are the soldiers and horses on land, and the Yingyi labor division comes from afar, and the supply is difficult to continue, so they dare not leave the warships and go deep into the land. ”

This is not unreasonable, since the British fleet appeared in Tianjin, Daoguang has been busy mobilizing troops and horses to reinforce Tianjin, defending the Beijing Division, and now that all the people and horses are basically in place, there is really no need to worry about the safety of the Beijing Division, and only after a little groaning did he speak: "The reason why I am not the main battle is because I have a long-term perspective. ”

Wang Ding said in a deep voice: "The main battle of Weichen is also a long-term consideration. (To be continued.) )