"Your Excellency Minister Zuo, I have a question, you don't seem to care whether we will recognize your government or not." Sir Humphrey, the British consul in Canton, took his tea and said in an understated tone.

"Yes. Why should we care about your recognition when there are so many conditions attached to it? Zuo Zhidan replied while putting a few pieces of sugar cubes from Guangdong in the black tea cup. After talking with Wei Ze, Zuo Zhidan understood that he was valued by Wei Ze, and understood the relationship between the system and the individual, so he seemed to have let go of his heavy burden, and his demeanor became more calm. If it had been before, he would not have been so relaxed in diplomacy anyway.

Sir Humphrey scolded his mother in his heart, but there was no displeasure on the surface. The Liberation Army has such arrogant qualifications, and the war has reached this point, and all kinds of intelligence point to one result, and the defeat of the Manchu Qing is only a matter of time. Britain did not have the possibility of sending a large army to maintain the Manchu regime, and if it could send hundreds of thousands of troops, it would be better to wipe out the United States nearby.

Sir Humphrey moistened his throat comfortably after taking a sip of black tea made from Chinese tea and sugar cubes, "According to what Your Excellency Zuo said, your government will implement a policy of normal trade?" ”

"Yes, our government does not see anything wrong with normal trade. As for the cooperation between China and the British side in the construction of judicial and customs laws, we are quite satisfied. After Zuo Zhidan took a sip of tea, he picked up a 6-piece cream cake and stuffed it into his mouth. With the development of the breeding industry of the Guangfu Army, dairy cows imported from Europe multiplied in Guangdong, and the number of dairy products increased dramatically. Everyone loves the cream cakes on the market.

Lord Humphrey was also very fond of cream cakes, and when Zuo Zhidan came to visit, he brought a cake with a beautiful layer of cream decorated with jam, and among the assorted jams and blueberry jams, Sir Humphrey chose his favorite blueberry flavor. He also said while eating: "That is to say, after you occupy Shanghai, you will take over the customs completely." All the agreements we signed with the Manchus will be null and void. ”

"What does the agreement you signed with the Manchus have to do with us?" There was a hint of mockery in Zuo Zhidan's tone.

Since England was not in a position to force the Restoration Army to accept the Old Testament, Sir Humphrey did not mention any nonsense that was completely out of tune, and he went straight to the point, "How long after you occupy Shanghai will you be able to resume trade?" ”

Zuo Zhidan had been prepared for this for a long time, and he replied: "Then our fleet must be able to control the waters around Shanghai." Of course, your unarmed merchant ships can enter the Yangtze River to do business. Warships can also dock harmlessly at our ports with our permission. This is also a condition agreed upon in our previous agreement. ”

"So can you give us three months to prepare in Shanghai?" Humphrey asked.

"A month at most, and in a month, our troops will march to Shanghai. We do not want a military conflict with your country, but we are not afraid to fight any hostile opponent either! Zuo Zhidan also threw out the bottom line of the Liberation Army.

After waiting for Zuo Zhidan to left, Sir Humphrey scolded hatefully: "Damn Chinese, can your broken ships be hostile to our battleships?" ”

Despite this scolding, Sir Humphrey knew that the broken ships of the Liberation Army, which were only equipped with a few small cannons, could indeed inflict great losses on the British side. This is not an absolute number of losses, and in terms of absolute numbers, the British Royal Navy is not at all afraid of the warships of the Liberation Army. However, the Royal Navy was able to maintain a limited number of battleships in China, and the broken ships of the Liberation Army had the potential to sink the British battleships. As soon as there were losses, Britain faced the problem of insufficient supplies.

Not to mention, even if those wrecked ships could not rectify the situation on the ocean with the British Royal Navy, they could cooperate with the Liberation Army to seize Hong Kong. Once the naval stronghold of Hong Kong was lost, the Royal Navy had to return to Singapore for supplies. The expedition from Singapore to China was a costly operation.

Even if it can cause huge losses to China along the coast of China, it will not have much practical significance. As long as the British Army could not stand on land, every war would only be a waste of national strength. Britain believed strongly in force, but it knew better that a war that could not be won was meaningless. Just like the Crimean War, even if Russia suffered heavy losses, Russia did not cede land or pay reparations, and the sky-high military expenses were just a waste in the end.

At this time, Sir Humphrey made a wise judgment that Britain could only wait for an opportunity.

So throughout February, the Liberation Army Navy carried a large number of land forces north along the coastline. The navy adopted the tactic of leapfrogging and transported the army ashore, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo, Zhoushan, these cities and regions were captured one by one. After landing on ships, the follow-up troops attacked the perimeter. And the navy is easily continuing north, north.

On March 1, Zuo Zongtang made a painful decision in the city of Hangzhou. Give up Hangzhou and break through to the north.

Ten days ago, France had already told Zuo Zongtang about the latest strategic situation. The Navy will enter Shanghai on March 15 at the latest. The British had accepted the future of the Liberation Army's occupation of Shanghai, and the French had no choice but to accept it. They simply did not have a fleet to stop the pace of the Liberation Army.

Of course, both Britain and France hoped to create trouble for the Liberation Army, that is, to help the Qing army retreat north of the Yangtze River as much as possible. Of course, there are limits to this kind of help, and the steam-powered warships of more than 500 tons of the Liberation Army really forcibly built a naval blockade line, and Britain and France could not deal with it. In terms of the combat effectiveness displayed by the Manchu side, they were simply not enough to stop the Liberation Army from attacking Shanghai on land. Even if Britain and France fell out with the Liberation Army, they could not prevent the Liberation Army from seizing Shanghai.

Zuo Zongtang, who today looked at the public court of the Zhejiang governor Yamen in Hangzhou, this is the pinnacle of his official position so far. Although there are rumors that Zuo Zongtang will be promoted to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Fujian completely falls into the hands of the Guangfu Army at this time, if it were not for the act of "boosting morale" like appointing Peng Yulin as the governor of Guangdong, the highest official position in his life would only be the governor of Zhejiang.

Even if he pretends to be high, Zuo Zongtang's eyes are full of regret. Zuo Zongtang admired Jiang Zhongyuan very much for creating the road of promoting the feudal officials by group training, and he undoubtedly reached the same height as Jiang Zhongyuan. After taking charge of the military administration of Zhejiang, Zuo Zongtang repelled Shi Dakai's attack on Zhejiang, and in the face of Li Xiucheng's onslaught of 200,000 troops, he still held Zhejiang, and prepared a plan for a comprehensive counterattack. And these painstaking years of hard work came to naught in an instant before the onslaught of the Liberation Army.

Closing his eyes, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but sigh. Today, he really hasn't served anyone. Anyone who has made friends with Zuo Zongtang, whether it is a high-ranking official or a great Confucian, or a heroic man of the world, praises him and calls him an immortal talent. Just like Zeng Guofan, who Zuo Zongtang looked down on very much, even if he was humiliated by Zuo Zongtang many times, he still asked Zuo Zongtang to come out of the mountain in a low voice. Zuo Zongtang has absolute confidence in his own ability.

And when Wei Ze entered Guangdong, it was when Zuo Zongtang became the minister of military training and bandit suppression in Zhejiang. Seven years have passed, and Wei Ze has changed from a force occupying Guangdong to a pattern force that has swept Jiangnan. Compared with many figures in history, Weize has built a Southern Dynasty. This Southern Dynasty is full of vigor and has the potential to sweep the world.

Compared with Wei Ze, Zuo Zongtang could only choose to flee to the north of the Yangtze River. In such a comparison, Zuo Zongtang couldn't even say "both Shengyu and He Shengliang". The chaos in the world has given birth to bandits like Wei Ze, and what Zuo Zongtang wants to say is that "he was born at the wrong time".

"My lord, everything has been moved, should we hurry up?" Hu Xueyan asked beside him.

Zuo Zongtang opened his eyes and looked at the business wizard he had excavated. In the retreat, everyone was already panicked and ran first as much as possible, but Hu Xueyan, who had always followed Zuo Zongtang, was still loyal.

"Let's go!" Zuo Zongtang said to Hu Xueyan.

After all, Jin Liang is Jin Liang, Zuo Zongtang knows how to judge the situation very well, and at this time he already knows the news that Zeng Guofan led his army across the Yangtze River into Luzhou. In the latest Northern Expedition of the Liberation Army, the Manchus are certainly the sworn enemies of the Liberation Army, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which believes in God, is also on the list of enemies of the Liberation Army. In the past, the Qing army fought with the Taiping army, and the Guangfu army sat on the mountain and watched the tiger fight. Now, although the situation is not good, we have to retreat. But this is also the time for the Qing army to temporarily jump out of the circle to take a breath and watch the Taiping army and the Guangfu army fight.

Leaving Hangzhou under Li Xiucheng's onslaught is certainly a military risk, but giving Hangzhou to Li Xiucheng can also allow the Guangfu Army to go to war directly with Li Xiucheng. This is also another reason why Zuo Zongtang chose to run away at this time.

The guards escorted Zuo Zongtang out of the Hangzhou Governor's Yamen, where only some old furniture remained, and even if he retreated, Zuo Zongtang stayed in the rear. This is his self-esteem, if he is pursued by Li Xiucheng when he retreats, it will eventually turn into a rout. Zuo Zongtang will never forgive himself.

At about this time, the commander of the Jiangnan battalion of the Qing army, the governor of Jiangnan, Dexing'a, was like an ant on a hot pot at this time. His troops were stationed in Lin'an, nominally at a rivalry with Hangzhou. In fact, when Li Xiucheng stormed Hangzhou, the troops of the Jiangnan battalion did not move at all. The Jiangnan battalion was originally unable to fight, especially when the former Jiangnan Governor Zhang Guoliang led the elite to fight against Li Xiucheng, it suffered a crushing defeat, and Zhang Guoliang was killed. Since then, Jiangnan Daying has taken self-protection as the highest principle.

When Li Xiucheng stormed Hangzhou, he also sent Li Shixian to monitor the Jiangnan battalion, so although Zuo Zongtang had already told him about Dexing's retreat, the Jiangnan battalion tried to move several times, but was attacked by Li Shixian and had to retreat back to Lin'an. At this time, seeing that the appointed time had arrived, the Jiangnan camp still couldn't move.

Slipping back and forth, Dexing'a suddenly stopped, gritted his teeth and ordered his subordinate generals: "Let your subordinates not bring anything, let's leave quickly." ”

"My lord! How could you not bring so many things? The generals said one after another. In recent years, the Jiangnan battalion has become more of a nest of pleasures than an army. The barracks are full of markets, casinos, and brothels. Because the Liberation Army banned smoking in Liangguang, the price of cigarettes plummeted. Originally, a month's military salary could only be drawn for half a month, but now the ordinary soldiers of the Jiangnan battalion can be drawn for a month, and there is still a little leftover.

Let this army leave a qiē behind and go into battle lightly. It's something you don't have to think about. At this moment, a Tanma came running with a happy face, "My lord, the Cantonese bandits have retreated!" ”

This is really good news, and Dexinga's face immediately shines.