Jiangning, Dashengguan Wharf. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Originally, the civilian ships such as large and small merchant ships, cargo ships, and cao boats were all driven out near the wharf, and the wharf is now all full of sailor warships, and the sailor warships on the river are cruising back and forth, and the heavily armed soldiers on the riverbank are three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, and a scene of slaughter.

As early as 10 days ago, there were constantly naval warships and brigades of soldiers to gather in a steady stream of Dashengguan, Jiangning City has long been spread all over the city, the minister of Qincha, the governor of Liangjiang General Lin Zexu led the troops to Hangzhou, to recover the Ningbo County occupied by the Yingyi.

At four o'clock in the morning, Lin Zexu set up the Qincha honor guard and went to Dasheng Pass, Jiangning City, large and small civil and military officials, all of them sent each other, the gentry and merchants of the city sent each other one after another, the whole Jinling City was boiling, and many people rushed to the downstream river of Dasheng Pass to watch the rare grand expedition scene.

Recently, the "Jiangning Daily" has published every day that the Yingyi fleet has ravaged the southeast coast, attacked and plundered the coastal prefectures and counties, and occupied Ningbo Prefecture and committed a series of evil deeds, such as burning, killing, lewdness, and plundering, and at the same time published articles extolling the heroic deeds of civil officials and military generals who died in the war against the Yingyi.

Of course, Lin Zexu won successive battles in the governorship of Liangguang, and the record of defeating Yingyi was not less introduced, and now Lin Zexu is a messenger again, leading an army of 20,000 land and water to Hangzhou to supervise the fight against Yingyi and recover Ningbo, which completely ignited the enthusiasm of the officials and gentlemen of Jiangning City to resist Yingyi.

The huge guard of honor passed through half of Jiangning City to arrive at Dasheng Pass, as a counselor and minister, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, got out of the sedan chair, and saw that the docks were densely packed with warships, waving flags, he secretly thought that this movement was really big enough, and the idea of holding a departure ceremony was made by him.

This expedition to Hangzhou, Lin Zexu from Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu transferred 20,000 soldiers and horses, land and water to Hangzhou, is to create a false impression to the British army, Jiangning's defense is empty, although Yi Zhizu has concluded that the British army is very likely to attack Jiangning in July and August this year, but he still hopes to try to create an opportunity for the British army to attack Jiangning, enhance the confidence of the British army to attack Jiangning, to be honest, he is afraid that the British army is delaying, if it is delayed until next year, the imperial court does not drag across, Yuan Qi may be dragged down first.

After a concise ceremony, the sailor warfleet full of soldiers slowly left the dock in the rumbling salute, on the deck, as a messenger, Lin Zexu bowed his hand to bid farewell to the officials and gentry who sent each other, in the wide official cabin, the monk Lingqin, who had never seen a British warship and rarely took a boat, asked curiously: "How powerful is the Yingyi battleship?" ”

Hearing this, the veteran Yang Fang also looked over, although he had been fighting all his life, he was inland, and he had never been in contact with the Yingyi battleship, so he was naturally concerned, Yi Zhizhi took a puff of cigar slowly, and then said slowly: "The situation is not very clear, the British army's biggest battleship this time is a third-class battleship, that is, their main battleship, the standard configuration is seventy-four guns, the capacity is six hundred and eighty people, and there are more than thirty guns on one side, which can be fired at the same time, think about the power." ”

Yang Fang said: "I heard that the Yingyi battleship is three stories high? How big is that? ”

"There are four or five big ships we are on." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "The British warships are not only tall, but also very strong, and the sea ships and inland river ships are not the same idea at all, because the sea is stormy, and it is impossible to sail far at sea if it is not strong. ”

Monk Lingqin said: "How much silver does such a third-class battleship cost?" ”

"Western battleships are priced according to the tonnage of displacement, and the unit price is one hundred and fifty taels per ton, and the general displacement of third-class battleships is more than ........ two thousand tons." Yi Zhizhi groaned and said: "Just the cost of the warship, it is 300,000 taels, plus artillery, if all Western artillery is used, 400,000 taels." ”

A battleship costs 400,000 taels of silver? Monk Lingqin and Yang Fang's eyes were round, how much silver does it cost to build a fleet? Millions of taels? After a while, Yang Fangcai said: "Yingyi is so rich? ”

"England is far richer than we think." Yi Zhi nodded and said: "This kind of third-class battleship is their main battleship, there are at least sixty or seventy of them, and it is difficult to count other auxiliary battleships." ”

After pondering for a while, Monk Greenqin said: "If you want to protect the peace of the southeast sea frontier, how many fleets will the imperial court build?" How many battleships? How much silver? ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhixiang couldn't help but be secretly happy in his heart, it seemed that Daoguang was intent on building a fleet to protect the southeast sea frontier, and after a slight groan, he said: "Our Daqing coast is long, and we need at least two fleets of considerable scale - the Nanyang Fleet and the Beiyang Fleet, based on twenty main warships and one hundred auxiliary warships of various kinds, thirty million taels of silver should be about the same." ”

"Thirty million!" Monk Greenqin muttered, "This is almost a year's income of the imperial court. ”

Thirty million, Yi Zhizhi is already a big discount, what he is afraid of is to scare Daoguang, but he wishes that the imperial court would build a fleet, so that the imperial court will be in urgent need of silver, which is conducive to his promotion of the construction of the railway, and it is also conducive to the development of the imperial court to indulge Yuanqi, after all, Yuanqi has the ability to add enough additional silver to the imperial court.

With a smile, he said unhurriedly: "Building a fleet is indeed quite costly, but you can't just look at the expenses and not look at the savings. ”

"How do you say that?"

"The existing coastal defense of the Qing Dynasty, not to mention resisting the invasion of the fleets of Western countries, even the arrest of crows. Pieces of smuggling are incapable, and to put it mildly, it is useless. Yi Zhishu said unceremoniously: "The coastal defense strategy should change its thinking and change from passive defense to offensive defense."

Building a fleet is an offensive defense, two large fleets, completely enough to defend the Qing Dynasty thousands of miles of sea frontiers, in this way, the coastal provinces of the naval divisions can be large-scale reduction, coastal defense fortifications along the line do not need to be maintained, only need to hold a few important points, how much silver can be saved every year?

Moreover, building a fleet is not a one-time thing, it can be invested in batches, and within ten years, the fleet can be formed, which is already good. ”

Monk Greenqin nodded, with an annual investment of three or four million, the imperial court can still get it out of the tight belt, it seems that it is still very feasible to build a fleet.

Just when the fleet of naval divisions was heading south along the river and heading to Hangzhou through the canal, a fleet of more than 100 large and small cargo ships was also going down the river through Yueyang, all the boats were loaded with bags of grain, and on both sides of the ship were marked with the words "Relief for the flood in Anhui and Henan", and the flag with a blue frame on a white background fluttering on the bow of the ship was written with the two big characters "Yuanqi".

With the expansion of Yuanqi in the south of the Yangtze River, there are really few gentry and businessmen in the southeastern half of the provinces who do not know the name of Yuanqi, and the passing ships on the river, seeing such a large-scale disaster relief stroke of Yuanqi, are secretly speechless, while feeling the strength of Yuanqi, but also admire Yuanqi's good deeds, such a generous act of kindness can be said to be unheard of, many ships have taken the initiative to avoid, and some people cheer for Yuanqi loudly.

On a big ship in the middle, Fan Xueju, who is in his forties, sits in the cabin and smokes a dry cigarette leisurely, he was originally the second shopkeeper of the "Four Seas Money Village" in Xiguan, Guangzhou, when Yuanqi merged with Guangzhou Qianye, he took the lead in merging into Yuanqi, this risky move has brought unexpected benefits to all the shopkeepers of the "Four Seas Money Village", and he has benefited a lot as the second shopkeeper, and now he is the big shopkeeper of the Anqing branch of Yuanqi, in fact, it is the chief shopkeeper of Yuanqi in Anhui Province.

He knows very well that Yuanqi's large-scale disaster relief is not only conducive to Yuanqi's rapid opening of the situation in Anhui to gain a firm foothold, but also lays the foundation for Yuanqi's expansion to several surrounding provinces, so he naturally does not dare to have the slightest neglect.

Looking at the ships that avoided along the way, listening to the loud Chen Zan, he really admired the five-body throw of the big shopkeeper Yi Zhicontent, this time for disaster relief, Yuan Qi's name is afraid to resound throughout the north and south of the river, although it is a lot of investment, but it is really worth it!

Hangzhou, Beiguan Wharf.

Liu Yunke, the governor of Zhejiang, took the civil and military officials of Hangzhou city to greet the minister on the wharf, the weather was the hottest time, although sitting in the temporary shed, but the scorching sun was on the top, and there was no wind, a group of officials were still sitting in a steamer, although they kept shaking the folding fan, but one by one the chest and back were wet.

Liu Yunke is not very old, there is still a year to know the year of the destiny of heaven, he is a nineteen-year jinshi in Jiaqing, twenty years in the sea, from the seven-pin Xiaojing official to the governor of a province, and also the governor of Zhejiang, in fact, it is smooth sailing, of course, without this war, he is afraid that he is still in Sichuan as a political envoy, he knows very well that the reason why he can take over as the governor of Zhejiang is because he is active in the main war.

However, since the British army captured Ningbo, and the British army had a few small fights, he was a little shaken, the British army's combat power was too far from what he imagined before, it can be said that it is not a level at all, this time Lin Zexu led 20,000 troops to Hangzhou, he did not have a trace of joy in his heart, but was deeply worried, Lin Zexu's toughness, he was very clear, he was worried that Lin Zexu would break his head in Ningbo.

"It's coming! Here it comes! There was a commotion in the shed, and all the officials were secretly relieved, finally came, and they didn't have to suffer this crime.

When the official ship arrived at the dock, Liu Yunke hurriedly led a group of civil and military personnel to greet him, and after the etiquette of the Qin mission was completed, Lin Zexu stepped forward and stretched out his hand to help Liu Yunke, and when he got up, he said with a smile: "Brother Yupo sits in Hangzhou and actively prepares for war, so that Yingyi does not dare to commit a light offense, which is really hard work." ”

"Ashamed, ashamed." Liu Yunke said politely, but he was secretly worried in his heart, what Yingyi didn't dare to offend? Yingyi didn't mean to attack Hangzhou at all, and as he spoke, he stretched out his hand and said, "Lord Qincha has been waiting for a long time, and the lower class has prepared a banquet for you to wash the dust." ”

"The banquet will be waived." Lin Zexu said slowly: "After retreating from Yingyi and recovering Ningbo, Ben Qincha will hold a celebration banquet to celebrate with you." ”

Hearing this, the officials in Hangzhou tensed up when they boarded the string, looking at this posture, Lord Qincha couldn't wait to use troops to recover Ningbo, Liu Yunke's heart also sank, but in front of everyone, he didn't say much, and hurriedly stretched out his hand and said: "Respectfully invite Lord Qincha to enter the city." ”

Lin Zexu sent Qin to send Yuan An to the Sujing Jingshe at the southern foot of the lonely mountain of the West Lake Baidi, which was founded by Ruan Yuan, the former governor of Zhejiang, and the time was not long, but the scenery here is good, and it is not far from the official offices in the city.

Get off the sedan chair, see that the opposite side of the Qin Cha Xingyuan is the West Lake, easy to be content and full of joy, long heard the name of the West Lake, now there is time to take a good look at the West Lake, don't look at them this time led 20,000 troops to Hangzhou murderously, in fact, it is just for show, there will be no big war with the British army at all, there is leisure time.

Lin Zexu got off the sedan chair and glanced at the officials in Hangzhou, and said, "Everyone is gone." ”

A group of officials had been waiting for his words for a long time, and they all saw the salute and retired, but Liu Yunke, the governor of Zhejiang, did not leave, and accompanied Lin Zexu to walk slowly, Lin Zexu asked casually: "What is the situation in Hangzhou now?" ”

"It's pretty stable." Liu Yunke replied.

"All the way into the city, but the market is not very prosperous."

Not only is it not prosperous, it is clearly a depression, Liu Yunke said with a wry smile: "Yingyi has invaded Cixi, it is only two or three hundred miles away from Hangzhou, and it can be reached in three days, and most of the people in the city have gone out of the city to avoid trouble, how can it be prosperous." ”

The two entered the courtyard while talking, and after sitting down in the hall, Liu Yunke hesitated and said: "There is a sentence, I don't know if I should say it or not...... ”

Lin Zexu glanced at him and said, "Brother Yupo has something to say, just say it frankly. ”

"Yingyi has no intention of attacking Hangzhou." Liu Yunke said in a deep voice: "After the capture of Cixi, Yingyi will no longer invade the north, and it seems that he intends to negotiate peace ....... ”

Hearing this, Lin Zexu's face turned cold, and he said, "How much does Brother Yupo know about Yingyi's combat power?" ”

"With all due respect." Liu Yunke said in a deep voice: "The people that Yingyi rely on are not only strong ships and artillery, but also land battles, and the Eight Banners Green Battalion is by no means the enemy of Yingyi, Yingyi's musket is sharp, and the formation is skillful, enough to block ten, and now Ningbo County, including Dinghai, has at least more than 10,000 British troops stationed. ”

Saying that, he sighed lightly and said: "Ningbo, we don't want to recover in Zhejiang, the chief soldier Li Tingyang and the inspector Jiang Wenqing fought with Yingyi several times in Shaoxing, but they all increased casualties in vain, in order to prevent shaking the morale of the army and causing panic, they have been pressing and not daring to report the matter. ”

Defeat is not reported, this is the atmosphere of officialdom, Lin Zexu didn't want to blame him, after all, the other party still dared to fight, compared to those who fled without a fight, it was not a star and a half, the other party said this, he also knew that this was tactful to ask him not to send troops to recover Ningbo, so as not to be defeated. (To be continued.) )