"Sir, I partially agree with you that it is in the interests of the British Empire to let Zhu Ming rule the richest part of China."

After a long silence, Pashali finally put down the small coffee cup in his hand and said, "But we should not forget the prophecy of the French emperor, the sleeping lion of China has woken up!"

As far as I know, from 1847. China, especially the Ming Dynasty, which was controlled by King Zhu Jishi, began to import a large number of machinery and equipment to Europe! The currency and financial reforms of the Ming Kingdom were also relatively successful, and the HSBC Bank controlled by Zhu Jishi became more and more like the Bank of England. Moreover, Zhu Ming also began to follow the example of Europe, involving the bourgeoisie in the management and policy-making of the country, and they had a constituent assembly, a local public bureau, a constitution, and not long ago, a civil code. In addition, the scale of Jishi University and Jishi Academy continued to expand in 1848, not only building a school building in Guangzhou, but also purchasing land in the Shanghai Concession to prepare for the opening of a Shanghai branch.

Doesn't it all sound familiar, sir? Zhu Jishi is imitating the European powers, introducing our systems, laws, education, science, and machines. Considering China's population and resources, we can't think of Zhu Jishi as Ali Pasha, he is ...... Peter the Great!

If we do not take any measures to curb Zhu Ming's development, China will soon be reunified, and at most ten years, China will regain its former prestige and position in the Eastern world. Is this in the interests of the British Empire? ”

Listening to Pa Xiali's eloquent talk, Wen Xian also had to admit that the other party's analysis was still very reasonable. Once China was unified with Zhu Ming. It must be a powerful empire. But the problem is. The Manchus fell. The Chinese gentry class turned to Zhu Ming. Now Zhu Ming's Jiangnan strategy can only be described as bloodless. Lin Zexu, the most powerful faction in the Jiangnan region, also reached an agreement with Zhu Ming to hand over Jiangnan to Zhu Ming peacefully, and then led his troops to "go north to King Qin". In Wen Xian's view, this is just the strange and hypocritical thinking of Asians, and Lin Zexu has actually surrendered to Zhu Ming!

The elite and wealth of the whole of China have been controlled by Zhu Ming, and what capital does the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have to compete with Zhu Ming for the right to rule China? Britain to support a doomed regime. And isn't it too stupid to offend a great empire that is sure to become the hegemon of the East?

"No, no, no, I don't think we need to fight Zhu Ming in order to support the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, at least ...... This will not happen at the moment. Ali Guo put down his coffee cup and waved his hand, he had just returned from the north, and he knew the situation there better.

"Judging from the current situation, the combat effectiveness of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army is very strong. They are made up of some who believe in ...... Religious fanatics who believe in God. Although their God and ours are clearly not the same one. But religious beliefs do give them extraordinary courage and fighting power! If they could still get sophisticated weapons and the guidance of European professional officers, Zhu Ming would not have been able to defeat them so easily.

And, as far as I know. The city of Beijing has been the capital of China for hundreds of years, and the city has gained and lost. It has a special meaning in the minds of the Chinese! Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom took control of Beijing, they would at least be regarded as orthodox by the people of northern China, a country whose perception of orthodoxy is not the same as that of us Europeans. Because in China's long history, dynastic changes have been very common. Therefore, at present, all we have to do is to help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom obtain the city of Beijing as soon as possible. We can even do this quietly, as Jardine Matheson has just shipped a shipment of ammonium oil explosives and Besemai rifles from England to be sold to the Manchu court......"

Before his words fell, he saw the door of the study being pushed open, and a British captain walked in, who was the head of the embassy guard: "Mr. Minister, Mr. Consul, the big thing is not good, the Chinese army has entered the concession!" There are thousands of people, and the guards can't resist at all! ”

……

Just when the three Britsmann were discussing whether to add icing on the cake to Yang Xiuqing's revolutionary cause, Zhu Jishi had already arrived in Hangzhou City, and in a mansion on the edge of the West Lake, he was talking with Li Hongzhang, Shen Baozhen, Lin Congyi, and a few so-called Jiangnan geniuses who had come to Hangzhou to meet him.

Everyone here is already a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and they have already thrown away the Manchu official robe and replaced it with the red official uniform of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the biggest official is Li Hongzhang, the father and son of the Li family came back from Anhui, and there is a prince in which dynasty and which generation they are left in. Zhu Datianzi's style in this regard has always been not small - in fact, the title of Daming is not very valuable, and there is no fief; Second, there are not too many privileges, and they can't even be exempted from individual taxes. The income was nothing more than a mansion and an annuity that was neither too much nor too little. Now Li Hongzhang has been crowned the Duke of Lujiang County and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shen Baozhen was given the official son of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he was not knighted. Although the title of the Ming Dynasty is not very valuable, except for inheritance and a few exceptions, it still needs to be meritorious. The Li family's father and son have the merit of accepting the land and returning to obedience, but Shen Baozhen has no talent and no merit. However, the official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is really big enough, if it weren't for the lack of qualified civil officials in Zhu Ming's court, even if it was Lin Zexu's son-in-law, Zhu Jishi would not give such a big official as soon as they met - of course, Shen Baozhen's name Zhu Jishi had heard of it in later generations, he was an important minister of the Westernization faction, Fujian Shipbuilding School, and Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau were all his handwriting. In China in 1848, he was indeed a rare talent.

Several talented people have also given the secretary of the imperial study, the imperial study is a newly established institution, in fact, it is Zhu Jishi's secretariat, the post of minister of the imperial study is concurrently held by Luo Zenan, and below the minister is a bunch of secretaries. Those Jiangnan talents may not be able to do other things, but they are good at drafting an edict or copying a book.

And there are also talented people among these talents, such as Weng Tongyi of the Weng family in Changshu, Yu Wenbao of the Yu family of Doumen, Pan Zuyin of the Pan family in Suzhou, Zhao Liewen of Yanghu, and Wang Tao of Changzhou County, all of whom are young talents. Now they are all smiling like flowers, and the stars are surrounding Zhu Jishi. Wen Xuan's sycophancy is endless, and the one named Weng Tongyi also wrote a poem, singing praises to King Zhu, and blowing him to the sky and the earth.

Zhu Jishi also smiled lightly, looking at the talented man but frowning slightly in his heart. Before the start of the Jiangnan Battle, a series of plans drawn up by the General Staff also included the content of suppressing the local resistance in Jiangnan. After all, the literary style in the south of the Yangtze River is prosperous, and the hometowns of many Manchu Qing important ministers are in the south of the Yangtze River, such as the Cao family in Yangzhou, the Pan family in Suzhou, and the Yu family in Doumen. It's time to report Jun's grace, right? How can they take refuge now? Isn't that Weng Tongyi the teacher of Emperor Guangxu and a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty? His brother Weng Tongshu seems to be still in Beijing, why did he come to Hangzhou to seek refuge in Daming?

"Strategist, now the talented people in Jiangnan are squeezing their heads to come to Daming...... Will the gentry of Zhili also vote for Yang Xiuqing? After the banquet dispersed, Zhu Jishi suddenly asked Luo Zenan beside him such a question.

"Yes, when Huang Chao entered Chang'an and broke into Beijing, there were gentry officials who served him." Luo Zenan was holding a copy of the recital that Miao Peilin had just sent to Zhu Jishi's army, which was to report on the situation in the north. He handed Zhu Jishi both hands, and said with a smile: "I don't know the current situation of Zhili, but the hearts of the people in Henan and northern Anhui have floated, and many gentry who were originally attached to Miao Peilin are secretly contacting the bandits and want to switch to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom." ”

"Is there such a thing?" Zhu Jishi took the chapter and looked at it, it was indeed written like this! Not only did the gentry on Miao Peilin's territory begin to waver, but even a lot of wall grass appeared on the territory of the Confucian family in Shandong, and many officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came!

"This is not yet Beijing! If you really want to win Beijing, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing still don't know what Lu Dao will look like......" Zhu Jishi shook his head and threw the chapter on the desk.

"If you get Beijing, maybe you should die." Luo Zenan picked it up and put it away, and said with a slight smile: "Your Majesty, it is not a good thing to succeed too easily since ancient times, if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is difficult to achieve today, it may be able to become a climate, but they rise too fast, it is too easy to succeed, and the foundation is unstable, I am afraid that Beijing City is the tomb of heroes where Hong Yang is buried!" As he spoke, he suddenly paused and turned his head to look at Zhu Jishi: "By the way, Your Majesty, there has just been news from Hong Kong Jishi University, Brother Trigo left for Tianjin half a month ago!" (To be continued......)