"Gong Quan, why can't you spit out something?"

In the Anhui Guild Hall, which served as a camp, Zhou Fu, Li Hongzhang's most trusted staff, asked with interest. As soon as Li Hongzhang sent Guan Zhuofan away just now, the smile on his face disappeared, half leaned back in the chair, and only said this sentence, then closed his eyes and was silent.

"Hmm......" Li Hongzhang rubbed his shaved head with his hand, and said after a while: "Yushan, what do you think of this Guan Yixuan?" ”

"It's much stronger than those uncles!" Guan Zhuofan left a very good impression on Zhou Fu, and he felt unhappy, "People are young and capable, and they don't have a city government, and they are also very enthusiastic about our Huaijun, which can be regarded as generous help." ”

"Hehe," Li Hongzhang smiled noncommittally and asked, "Tell me, how good he is?" ”

"The camp under Quan Gong is Guan Yixuan's haode, the defense area of Shanghai's northern front, which he gave out, 300 tents and 3,000 stone of military rations...... By the way, there is also Qingpu City, which was also assigned to our Huai Army. ”

"That's a good word, but if you think about it, if in a few days, the edict appointing me as governor arrives, then can I get these things myself?" Li Hongzhang opened his eyes and said leisurely, "Guan Yixuan can't say that let Huaijun stay on the boat and don't come down." ”

"This ...... Most of them are also to be obtained. Zhou Fu seemed to understand a little.

"It is true that you are young and capable, but if the city government is not deep, it is not true, it is not true that you are helpful, but it is not necessary to be generous." Li Hongzhang shook his head and said with a smile, "To put it bluntly, he took my own things and gave them to me." But I can't deny his favor! ”

Zhou Fu thought to himself. Although Li Hongzhang's words are too harsh. But it can't be said that it doesn't make sense.

"Then ...... How do you say, 'You can't spit out something'? ”

"Yushan, think about it, what is most lacking in our Huai Army now?"

"Money, of course." Zhou Fu replied without hesitation. Now no matter where the army is, there is no shortage of money.

"Exactly." Li Hongzhang sighed, "The current centicards are all under the name of his Shanghai General Administration of Donations. The so-called 'Tusi has wealth', since the northern front has been defended by the Huai army. It stands to reason that this part of the tax should also be collected by the Huai army, but as soon as he met, he sent one big gift after another, asking me how to open this mouth? and they became empty land, but they had no riches. ”

It turned out that Li Hongzhang was thinking about this. Zhou Fu thought for a while and said, "Guan Yixuan's is called the 'Shanghai General Administration of Donations'. Speaking of which, Jiading, Nanxiang, and Baoshan are not part of Songjiang Mansion. It does not belong to Shanghai County, but is under the jurisdiction of Taicang Prefecture. We will collect it, and it makes sense. ”

"The tax card has not been handed over, how can I collect it?"

"Let's open a 'Jiangsu Donation Bureau' and set up a new card." Zhou Fu is also a talent who is full of economy and is good at practice, and at this moment he gave Li Hongzhang an idea, saying: "The tax card must be supported by soldiers, and as soon as the Xuan army withdraws, we can naturally drive the tax source to the new card and turn their tax card into an empty shell." ”

Li Hongzhang was silent, and after a while, he slowly shook his head and said: "When the Huai army first arrived in Shanghai, he didn't have the merit of size, but he grabbed the money with the Xuan army who made great achievements, what will the people next to him think?" What's more, in that case, it would be equivalent to breaking his face with Guan Yixuan. ”

"It can't be said to be a broken face," Zhou Fu argued, "He is the secretary of the Jiangsu domain, although he has a knighthood, he is still a subordinate official of the Duke of Quan." ”

"Yushan, your temperament is still a little anxious." Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, "Do you know that I helped him with military affairs in the teacher's curtain, and in the past few years, which two people do you admire the most?" ”

Zhou Fu was stunned - he knew that he knew, but he was talking about money, why did he suddenly turn to people?

"One is naturally my teacher, and the other is the deceased Hu Linyi, Hu Wenzhong." Li Hongzhang followed his own train of thought and said, "The two of them, all those who have meritorious service, will never be awarded the title alone." Hu Wenzhong always pulled the official text to lead, and my teacher simply let Taqibu take the lead, preferring to give them some credit. You say, this is weishenme? ”

The official text is the governor of Huguang, the most rich and useless person, who only knows how to buy wine and hug his aunt's wife every day. Before Taqib died, he was only a commander under Zeng Guofan. The reason why Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan had to push them out, Zhou Fu also knew.

"They're flag men."

"Yes, they're flag men." Li Hongzhang accentuated his tone, "Now the governors of the eighteen provinces in the world, the eight governors, almost all of them are in the hands of the Han people, and the only remaining banner man has only one official document. Speaking of which, Guan Wen himself has no ability, it is because of people, and only this Guan Yixuan can really take charge of himself. ”

Li Hongzhang's evaluation made Zhou Fu nod silently and reminisce in his heart.

"He is a guard of the inner court, and the secret of the Xinyou coup d'état last year is unknown to the outside world, but it is true that he has made great contributions. Now it is five months to stand alone in Shanghai, so in the imperial court, Xuan Jun is closer than his own son. Once his face is broken...... Li Hongzhang shook his head, "To be honest, no matter what, he will not fall, at most it will be a winnable situation." Since you can't bring it down, why bother to provoke a fierce opponent for yourself? It's better to learn from my teacher and Hu Wenzhong's practice, and treat him as an official and Taqib! ”

This analysis penetrated into the inside, and Zhou Fu was naturally convinced. But where should the military expenses of the Huai Army come from?

"Now I have to find a way from Wu Xu first. I think that in the customs, there are always hundreds of thousands of inputs every month, in addition to the military expenses of the Ying Xuan army, and then allocate the silver of the Huai army, it should be able to squeeze out a little, in addition to the money and grain that should be saved in various parts of Jiangsu, I can also have the final say. As for the donation for the northern front, it's not that you can't accept it, but you can't do it as you said - I have to get something and exchange it with him. ”

"Swap with him?" Zhou Fu asked in surprise, "What is Quan Gong going to exchange for him?" ”

"I don't know yet," Li Hongzhang smiled, "and when I become governor, I may know." ”

"If the Huai army wants to grow, this money alone is not enough." Zhou Fu said worriedly, "There are less than half of the foreign guns, and there are no foreign guns, so they all have to be bought." ”

"So your proposal of the 'Jiangsu Donation Bureau' is actually extremely haode, and it can be done as soon as it happens, so you might as well start preparing now."

"Yes," although Zhou Fu agreed, he couldn't help but be puzzled - he just said that he couldn't rob Xuan Jun, why did he say that he wanted to do it? "It's not difficult to prepare, but I don't know where to collect the money."

"Guan Yixuan just said a word, which is very interesting. He said that I am a person who wants to make a big difference, 'I have to be big enough to be able to do it.' ”

"Oh-" Zhou Fu suddenly realized, "He's talking ......"

"He's saying that Shanghai is his Guan Yixuan's territory, as long as he leaves Songjiang Mansion, he can all belong to the Huai Army, but it's up to us to 'show'!" Li Hongzhang said quietly, "Having said that, people can't say that it's unreasonable, the city that has been fought hard in a hundred battles is said to be handed over, who is willing?" We always have to fight for our own strength and fight a few victories, and then we can speak liliang. ”

"Yes."

"When I was in Anqing, my teacher repeatedly told me that I should take military training and learning war as the foundation of my life, and put all foreign affairs in the background." Li Hongzhang recalled Zeng Guofan's words, and said slowly, "When I got off the boat today, I saw the look of the gentry, and I didn't take the Huai army seriously, you passed the message to the battalion officers for me, don't pay attention to these." The army is capable of fighting, and as long as the enemy is broken, these people will naturally be subdued. ”

"Okay." Zhou Fu was inspired by the spirit in Li Hongzhang's words, and suddenly rose, "Let's fight two battles and show this group of officials in Shanghai." ”

"Shanghai's officialdom is not monolithic." Li Hongzhang said idly, "I think that Wu Xu is not Guan Yixuan's person. ”

"I heard that Wu Xu and Xue Huan are very close," Zhou Fu reminded, "Most of the people in his Daotai Yamen are Zhejiang people in the original Wang Youling Curtain, and they can't get into the needle, the water can't splash in, and they are very together." ”

"When I become governor, I'll see who he's close to." Li Hongzhang's expression became gloomy, "Guan Yixuan, I can't move, maybe he Wu Xu, I can't move." ”

*(To be continued......)