On August 12, 1868, Li Mingyuan and a group of high-ranking Chinese Independence Army leaders came to the port of Port Alegre to see off Sun Bin and his entourage from Prussia.

"On the way back to Europe, you will pass through the coast of Brazil, and you must be careful not to be spotted by the Brazilians on board."

Before the envoys boarded the ship, Li Mingyuan gave a final order.

"We are on a Prussian merchant ship, and the Brazilians should not forcibly board the ship for inspection, and besides, there are two Prussian warships escorting the merchant ship nearby, even if the Brazilians find out that something is wrong, they will not dare to tear their faces and force a conflict with the Prussian warship."

The Brazilian Navy had a total of five ironclad ships, and three ironclad ships fell into the hands of the Chinese Independence Army during the Paraguayan War, and the Brazilian Navy, which had only two ironclad ships left, did not have the strength to force Prussian merchant ships to anchor for inspection.

Two ironclad ships, dozens of small gunboats, and some sail warships, these strengths are a great threat to the Chinese independent army that has just come into contact with modern naval warfare, but compared with the old Western powers, they are completely untable.

An ironclad ship with a displacement of more than 4,000 tons will take at least half a year to complete from the beginning of construction, plus the performance of the warship will be inspected at the time of delivery and the seafarers will adapt to the performance of the warship, and the strength of the Brazilian Navy can only be maintained at the current level within a year, so Sun Bin is not worried about the threat of the Brazilian Navy.

"I am very relieved of the strength of the Prussian fleet, but this purchase of machinery and equipment is a private transaction, and the lack of flaws by the Brazilians during the voyage to Europe can avoid arousing their alarm, and the construction of the fortifications of the Chinese Independence Army in Rio Grande do Sul can be improved as much as possible."

"The lowly officials understand that during the voyage, the lowly officials will strictly order the envoys not to go out of the deck at will, so as not to be discovered by the Brazilians."

"There is nothing wrong with being careful, when the Chinese Independence Army is weak, it must be thoughtful everywhere, otherwise attracting the attention of hostile forces in advance will lead to disastrous consequences."

Accompanied by Prussian warships during the voyage, the possibility of the envoys being discovered by the Brazilian Navy is extremely low, but Li Mingyuan still has a trace of vigilance in his heart, two months after the end of the Paraguayan War, the ordinary Western powers may not know much about this news, but Britain and France must have known the news a long time ago.

In the 19th century, South America was a British sphere of influence, and the Paraguayan War, and the subsequent Guano War, were fought with the covert support of the British.

Paraguay's López Jr. rejected the British demand for free navigation on the Paraguay River, causing dissatisfaction among the British, who supported an alliance between Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay against Paraguay.

With the defeat of the Paraguayan War and the loss of the main Brazilian force, the regime of López Jr. in Paraguay still exists, and it can be said that the original purpose of Britain's support for waging the war was not achieved.

According to Li Mingyuan's impression, the British should have sent someone to contact the Chinese Independence Army at the end of the Paraguayan War, first issued a verbal warning, and then cooperated with artillery diplomacy to drive the British warship to the gate of Porto Alegre, and fired artillery demonstrations to force the Chinese Independence Army to comply.

Because he was worried about the armed intervention of the British, even after learning that the Brazilian army would not be able to counterattack Rio Grande do Sul in a short period of time, Li Mingyuan never relaxed the construction of fortifications, and the bunkers, artillery towers, and logistics bases moved to Hexi County all had the intention of preparing for the armed intervention of the British army.

The British did not send diplomats to issue threats, either intending to completely eliminate the Chinese Independence Army or being stumped by other affairs, and did not care about the Chinese Independence Army for a while.

Brazil has imposed a complete blockade on the Chinese Independence Army, and food, medicine, and daily supplies are not allowed to flow into Rio Gro Sul.

Argentina and Uruguay are on the border, wary of the surprise attack of the Chinese Independent Army and Paraguay, and Paraguay's decades-old family wealth was defeated by López Jr., and it is even more delusional to want to get supplies from him. Moreover, López Jr. is angry about the abduction of Paraguayan women by the Chinese Independence Army in Paraguay, and if it were not for the serious loss of strength and the threat from Brazil, López Jr. would probably have turned against the Chinese Independence Army.

None of the surrounding countries were trusted allies of the Chinese Independence Army, and in the face of possible armed intervention by the British, Li Mingyuan could only spend money to seek help from the outside.

In order to ensure safety, the 500 tons of gold and jewelry and other valuables excavated from Peru did not choose the more convenient and faster sea transportation, but followed the logistics force all the way to the journey.

The gold treasure is the foundation of the development and growth of the Chinese Independent Army in Rio Grande do Sul, Li Mingyuan did not dare to risk the sea transportation, on the one hand, because of the storm accident, the ship transporting the gold sank and was damaged, and on the other hand, he was worried that the Prussians who were escorted would find out, if they found that there was a large amount of gold treasure on the escort fleet, the most likely thing would happen was to kill the Chinese accompanying him and swallow the treasure.

Li Mingyuan's worries were very necessary, and a few days ago he discussed with the Prussians the details of the transaction, and when the first batch of 10 tons of gold used as a deposit was taken out, the greed and fanaticism in the eyes of the Prussians present were unabashedly revealed.

The total amount of machinery and equipment ordered is a huge number, and a total of 100 tons of gold are required for the exchange of gold for the independent Chinese army, and machinery and equipment of equal value of 100 tons of gold may be only a number in the eyes of Prussia, which negotiates the transaction, but the shock caused by the placement of 10 tons or even 100 tons of gold in front of them is incomparable.

After seeing the 10 tons of gold, Li Mingyuan took them to visit another place where 90 tons of gold were stored, and told the Prussians unmistakably that the Chinese Independent Army had sufficient funds to purchase machinery and equipment, and that there was a lot of room for cooperation between the two parties in the future, and that the Chinese Independent Army would buy important weapons such as warships, artillery, and heavy artillery from Prussia.

Li Mingyuan's golden gold in his hand impressed the Prussians, and after receiving a deposit of ten tons of gold, the Prussians quickly recruited merchant ships and two warships, and the travel treatment of more than 100 people including Sun Bin was much higher than that of the last sea voyage.

For the sake of gold, Prussia could quietly sell weapons and equipment to the Chinese Independence Army, but it would not risk offending the British to provide open support to the Chinese Independence Army, which not only Li Mingyuan understood, but also Sun Bin, who carried out the mission.

Sun Bin's envoy to Prussia was to be fully responsible for the procurement of machinery and equipment, and he also had to inquire about the situation in Europe, especially about Britain, in private.

Li Mingyuan could not easily leave Rio Grande do Sul, and his understanding of Britain mainly stemmed from the historical records of later generations, which was quite different from the current real situation, and if he wanted to find out the true intentions of the British towards the Chinese Independence Army, he could only personally send people to Europe to investigate the domestic situation in Britain, and then make a judgment in combination with the British interests in South America.

The details of the mission to Prussia had already been explained in advance, and only a group of soldiers of the Taiping Army who were pirates in the Caribbean touched Li Mingyuan's nerves.

As the only surviving Taiping Army force, Li Mingyuan felt that it was his responsibility to gather the remnants of the other Taiping Army under his command and lead them to jointly build a new Chinese state in South America.

"The Heavenly Sailor Brothers are in a foreign land, constantly facing the threat of foreign warships and pirates around Haiti, and it is really uneasy for me to think that the Heavenly Brothers are in danger and isolated.

On this voyage to Europe, I will send a detachment of naval soldiers to follow the Prussian fleet, and they will separate from the fleet in the Caribbean and make peace with the Celestial Naval Brotherhood. ”

Li Mingyuan paused, thinking that Hou Taiyuan and the others might not accept his kindness, and added, "If the Heavenly Sailor brothers are unwilling to join the Chinese Independent Army, I will not force them, and leave the weapons and materials delivered with the reinforcement fleet to them, and the reinforcement fleet will find another island in the Caribbean as a base, and then participate in the mission of transporting Chinese in Cuba and North America." ”

"The prince is wise and martial, defeated the Peruvian army with hundreds of remnants, and has developed all the way to occupy a state in Brazil today, I think Brother Shuishi will not hesitate to join the Chinese Independent Army when he hears your deeds."

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has become history, and Sun Bin does not believe that the remaining sailor soldiers will still have the idea of mainly focusing on the descendants of Hong Xiuquan, accept the leadership of the Chinese Independence Army, and join Li Mingyuan's command is the most suitable choice.

"Hopefully, the power of the Chinese in South America is very weak, and if the country does not unite and cohesive, sooner or later it will be swallowed up by other forces."

Outsiders are fighting outsiders, and insiders are insiders, the Chinese have missed too many things because of disunity and loss of blood, and Li Mingyuan doesn't want to see this kind of thing happen again.