Zhou Fu's heart moved, and he was about to speak, Li Hongzhang smiled and waved his hand, and said, "Digress." Yushan, please continue—after the feast, it's time to hit the road, right? ”

"Yes," Zhou Fu said, "this way, spectacular!" ”

"This 'American delegation', Vice President Johnson and below, eminent giants, add up, dozens of them, the most important of them, let me count, there are-"

After a pause, he began to wrench his fingers:

"Secretary of State Seward, named William."

"The Minister of Finance, Chase Clan, is named Saimen."

"The Minister of Commerce, Davis, is David."

"Secretary of War Stanton, named Edwin."

"The Minister of Ordnance, Ramsay, is named George."

"Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army, Grant's name, Ulysses."

"Commander-in-Chief of the Western Military District of the Federation, Sherman, named William."

"The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, named John, is John—these two Shermans are brothers of the same mother."

"Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Cameron, named Simon."

"These dozen or so are the most important figures in the 'delegation', and they are also the highest-ranking key figures in the US imperial court.

"There are also dozens of industrial and commercial tycoons - the prime minister knows, the West is based on business, and the status of big businessmen is extremely high, not under the imperial court. However, there are too many people to remember, and the best ones are such as Hill's, whose name is Willy; Morgan, named John; Rockefeller's, also known as John. ”

Li Hongzhang cocked his thumb: "Yushan." Terrific! Changed me, so many foreign names, but I can't remember it! ”

Zhou Fu smiled: "The lord has a fallacious reputation. There are also many names that I can't remember, but they are all transcribed in my notes. I went back and sorted it out, and sent it to the prime minister. ”

"Okay," Li Hongzhang said, "Yushan, you are really a caring person!" ”

After a pause, he said, "Here." Some of the names seem to have been heard. For example, that — well, 'Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army' Grant, and. 'Commander-in-Chief of the Western Military District of the Federation' Sherman. ”

Li Hongzhang only listened to it once, and remembered the official position and name word for word, and Zhou Fu couldn't help but admire it, and said: "Yes!" Good to remember! These two of them showed their faces in the folds that King Xuan sent back to China from the United States that year. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said, "In this way, it is also an 'old man'." ”

Zhou Fu smiled: "Lord." The word 'old man' is wonderful! In particular, the 'Commander-in-Chief of the Western Military District of the Union' Sherman - the United States put down the rebellion, and King Xuan went south to Atlanta. After that, the momentum was like a bamboo, and finally hit the capital city of Richmond in the south, and this way, he has always fought with this General Xie - this situation is like a lord to King Xuan, hand in hand. Battle Shanghai, set Jiangsu! ”

Li Hongzhang laughed: "It's not comparable." Not comparable! ”

If the words are regrettable, they are actually very happy.

"Count the clerks and retinue." Zhou Fu said, "There are more than 200 of these 'delegations visiting China'. ”

"Prior to this, the 'Advisory Committee' had ordered a hundred Western-style carriages from American businessmen -- this kind of carriage I have seen, the shape is very different from ours, it is light and flexible, and it is much faster to run."

Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said: "This is not bad, people did a lot of business before they arrived in China." ”

"Yes, Zhou Fu said, "However, some people say that this kind of car, the best product, has to be regarded as England." Of course, compared to American goods, British goods are also a little more expensive. ”

"Even if there is a difference in quality," Mr. Li said, "it is about limited." The point is that when Americans take American cars, the guests are in good hands. ”

"Yes," Zhou Fu said, "the 'advisory committee' probably does the same thing." ”

Li Hongzhang nodded: "This is what it looks like to do foreign affairs, Chongdi Mountain is just fooling around!" ”

After a pause, he said: "Hehe, a hundred cars, this traffic is busy, it is really 'very strong'!" ”

Zhou Fu said: "This team is more than just a hundred cars - in front of each car, there are two cavalrymen of the Xuan Army Guards Regiment, which are not only for the front and rear, but also for the protection of the pass; In front of and behind the whole convoy, there was a cavalry regiment of one hundred and fifty men each. Combined with the mobile sentinels patrolling on both sides of the ranks, the Xuan Army Guards Regiment had a total of about eight or nine hundred men. ”

"The whole team, from beginning to end, is several miles long."

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "It's really lively." ”

"When the convoy passed through Tianjin City, it was already very lively. Needless to say, there are crowds of people - who doesn't want to see this Western scene? In addition, on the street where the convoy passed, one flower shop after another was erected, on which various words of welcome were written in Chinese and English. ”

These words, passed down by word of mouth, spread from Tianjin all the way to Beijing. Knight-"

Zhou Fu said with a smile: "I learned a foreign language from it, called 'China'. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Welcome to China." ”

Zhou Fu was stunned, he never expected that the prime minister would actually know this foreign sentence!

The two looked at each other for a moment, and couldn't help but laugh at the same time.

After laughing, Li Hongzhang said: "I'm really a little curious: where is the entire 'delegation to China', more than 200 people? ”

Zhou Fu said: "Divided into two groups. I just said that: Vice President Johnson and Cameron, the 'chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee,' these ten senior members, along with their entourage, stayed in Shochu Alley. ”

Li Hongzhang was slightly stunned, let out a soft "oh", then stretched out a slap, opened his five fingers, and said, "Is this number?" ”

Zhou Fu nodded: "Exactly!" ”

It turned out that the ten American dignitaries lived in the old residence of the "Five Masters" - Yi Cheng was stripped of his title and expelled from the jade, and the mansion was also taken back by the imperial court.

Li Hongzhang retracted his hand, sighed, and said: "'The carved jade masonry should still be there, but Zhu Yan has changed' - I can't help but make people sigh!" ”

After a pause, he said, "I heard that this one-"

Stretched out his hand again, opened his five fingers, shook it, and said, "Still living in Shochu Hutong?" ”

"It's a very remote small courtyard," Zhou Fu said, "In the northeast corner of the original palace, a very high wall was built, and the guards of the Zongren Mansion and the families who took care of the prisoners entered and exited through a small corner gate, which was actually completely separated from the original palace." Even if the American guests saw it, they would think that the other side of the high wall was outside the mansion. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded, sighed leisurely, and said: "'I saw him rise Zhu Lou, I saw him feast guests, and I saw his building collapse'!" ”

Zhou Fu was stunned and quite surprised.

What Li Hongzhang read was the sentence in Kong Shangren's "Peach Blossom Fan".

Zhou Fuzhi's surprise, first, he didn't expect the prime minister to also read "miscellaneous books"; Second, Kong Shangren's "Peach Blossom Fan", although there are no obvious taboo words, but between the lines, quite a clear thought, the Holy Ancestor saw it, very unhappy, found a reason, dismissed Kong Shangren's official, and sent him back to his hometown. Time has changed, and now there are naturally no so many taboos as Kang, Yong, and Qianshi, but putting "Peach Blossom Fan" on the table is somewhat out of line.

Li Hongzhang didn't notice Zhou Fu's slight abnormality, and said: "However, the prince's mansion is magnificent, the layers are tired, and the soju alley has just been vacated, and it is not out of shape at all. Well, what about a hundred or dozens of people? ”

"This group lives in the Huitong Fourth Translation Museum."

This time, Li Hongzhang was stunned, and it was really strange: "Together with the Four Translation Pavilions?" How so? ”

*(To be continued) R580