Seeing Shi Tinglan clenching the horsewhip in her hand, Zhou Xiuying immediately raised her head and turned the horse's head.

The two girls missed the horse, Shi Tinglan waited for Zhou Xiuying to finish, and immediately asked: "What is Company Commander Zhou doing here?" ”

Liu Chang immediately said the truth: "I want an official position." ”

Shi Tinglan knew that the personnel issue was the key to Liu Chang's own hands, and she and Yang Changmei were almost consultants in the Hongjun, but she had never had a say in personnel issues, so she raised her head and said: "A small inspection, a small company commander......"

The sarcasm in her words was heavy enough, and Liu Chang immediately asked the horse to run faster: "Anyway, I am also the thirty-six inspection points in front of the palace......"

"Do you want me to get you a name for the prime minister?"

Although the name of the prime minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is very high, it is of no value to Liu Chang: "It's better to find a way to get me a company of people, and if there are more people, I will have a little more confidence in conquering Huangyan and Linhai." ”

"Really?" Shi Tinglan's eyes kept blinking: "It's only a person, it's too stingy." ”

But she suddenly had a lot more on her mind.

When Liu Chang and Shi Tinglan arrived at Panshi Village, Xian Na, the company commander of the battalion company, was already waiting there with several other company commanders, and before he got off the horse, Xian Na told Liu Chang: "Check, Mr. De Mengs has 100,000 urgent military information and wants to meet you, so you should rush there immediately." ”

"What's going on?" Liu Chang asked him, "What's wrong?" ”

"Mr. De Mmons refuses to say, but tells us that you will rush over as soon as you arrive at the Rock Village."

Shi Tinglan said behind Liu Chang: "It's not necessarily a big deal, foreigners play this game." ”

Liu Chang knew that this was definitely not a trivial matter, although it was said that Demons was not very effective in purchasing armaments, but he made a fortune by trading with the Hong Army, so he sped up: "Let the horse team led by Company Commander Zhou have a good rest." ”

De Mons's sailing ship had stopped directly at the pier in Rock Village. It's just that this time the draft is really deep, Liu Chang took Shi Tinglan on the sampan together, Shi Tinglan glanced at the very beautiful sailboat in front of him, and nodded: "This boat is not bad, and the national sect will help you clean up this foreign brother later." ”

"Your Excellency Earl de Mons, we're here to check!"

The Count of De Mons, who was wearing a wig, looked very serious. Personally welcoming Liu Chang on the deck, he stretched out his white gloves: "Your Excellency General Liu, I hope we have a happy cooperation, I have the most urgent information to inform you now." ”

"What's going on?"

The arms dealer told Liu Chang a very urgent piece of information: "I have received a piece of news in Shanghai that is extremely unfavorable to our legitimate trade, didn't you mention that you wanted to buy a steamship?" At that time I thought that Zhejiang lacked enough boiler coal, and your navy could start with some small fast sailing ships. ”

"What's going on?"

Liu Chang remembered this very well, and although he intended to buy it, De Mons believed that Liu Chang could neither solve the manpower problem nor ensure a large source of boiler coal, so he suggested that he should start with the sailing fleet.

But now the situation has changed dramatically: "I have returned to Shanghai this time. I heard that a group of Ningbo merchants, with the support of Daotai, had prepared 70,000 silver yuan to buy a European commercial paddle steamship from the British and arm it, and if his plan could be realized, our trade would be devastated. ”

In this time and space, the central government of the Qing Dynasty still resolutely rejected any Westernized warships, ships, or ordnance, but the government officials below were forced by the demands of the situation. However, they had begun to passively introduce Westernized steamships, ordnance, and other supplies.

If such an armed steam paddle steamer was purchased by Ningbo merchants, it would not only be a devastating blow to the troops of Ge Wu and Ye Niangzi stationed on Yuhuan Island, but also to the arms trade of Demons.

Because such an armed steam paddle steamer, although it was loaded with only a small number of Western artillery, had a decisive overall advantage in firepower, speed or range. In history, this "Baoshun" ship was invincible in more than a year after it was put into use, and with the assistance of former pirates such as Buxing, it almost wiped out the pirates on the entire Beiyang and Nanyang seas.

It's just that this triggered a backlash between the center of the Qing Dynasty and the Shandong Naval Division, and the "Baoshun" was once seized by the Shandong Naval Division, and Zhang Sigui, who was in charge of the ship, also resigned, just in view of the actual needs. The Qing court reluctantly admitted the existence of this "treasure ship". ..., Liu Chang also understood what a bad situation this was, if his arms input at sea was cut off, it would be a devastating blow to the Hong Army: "Then what should I do?" No matter how many silver dollars we pay, we will buy this ship. ”

"Yes! Your Excellency, General! De Mengs told Liu Chang: "I have now offered 100,000 silver yuan, and I am ready to buy this ship, even if I can't buy it, I will delay the delivery of this ship." ”

Historically. The "Baoshun" was delivered in the summer of 1855 and began its cruise to the Shandong Ocean in the sixth lunar month, with the first battle taking place in July.

But now that May is approaching, the owner shows no sign of delivery, and the reason is that Deemmons has made an offer. Although it may be a breach of promise, it can give the owner a higher return on the business. This made the shipowner very shaken.

De Mons could not immediately come up with 100,000 silver dollars in cash or guarantees, but this offer alone made the ship's owner excited, and he allowed De Mons to raise funds to buy the ship within a certain period of time, and also asked De Mons to pay a deposit of 10,000 silver yuan, and De Mons almost used all means to raise a large loan.

The corresponding Ningbo merchants were now trying to buy the ship outright by raising the price, knowing full well that if the ship was lost in their hands, it might fall into the hands of hostile pirates or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and this Mr. De Mons was clearly not an agent of a Qing general.

It's a pity that for them, 70,000 silver yuan was originally an unbearable burden, it turned out that they couldn't afford this money, and Duan Guangqing, who was still known as a capable person, came up with the idea of letting the public share half of the cost of buying the ship.

And every price increase above 70,000 silver yuan made them very shaken, and they had now offered a price of 75,000 silver yuan, and De Mons understood that their bottom line had reached 85,000 silver yuan, and they had also made many contacts between Shanghai and Ningbo, and the shipowner had promised that they would have the right of first refusal under the same conditions.

"I have a month to raise funds, and I'm ready to at least delay the delivery of the ship if we can't buy it," De Mons told Liu. ”

In the official documents of the Qing Dynasty, the ship was completely operated by Chinese, and only then could Emperor Xianfeng recognize the existing facts.

But in fact, in the first year of the ship's initial operation, most of the crew were foreigners, and De Mons was fighting for the "Baoshun" ship while digging into the wall through all means, legal and illegal, so as not to affect his arms business.

At least Ningbo has not been able to hire enough foreign crews as it has historically, and De Mons's complaints to consulates have made delivery of the ship difficult.

Liu Chang made a lot of determination, his current financial resources cannot be compared with the merchants of Ningbo Mansion, you must know that Ningbo Mansion during this period can be said to be extremely rich.

It can be seen from a statistic that it was the Portuguese who monopolized the entire escort business in Ningbo at that time, and they could earn 750,000 silver yuan every year in this "escort" business, and the escort of the timber business alone had to be handed over to the grape people 200,000 silver yuan, while Bu Xingyou was also engaged in the escort business, and the contradictions between them reached a general outbreak in 1858, and Bu Xing's fleet broke the Portuguese.

Liu Chang has already made up his mind: "If we make every effort, how long can the delivery of this ship be delayed?" ”

"At the latest, it can only be postponed until June and July of this year's lunar calendar, and the owner of the ship will not leave such a big ship in his hands for too long, and if he wants to go to sea to carry out combat missions, it is estimated that it will be delayed for one or two months." De Mons told Liu Chang: "I know that 100,000 silver yuan is a lot of money. ”

Liu Chang nodded, this Baoshun ship is too much of a threat to himself, even if this is the first modern steamship introduced by China, he must destroy this ship: "I can pay 150,000 silver yuan, no more!" ”

This is almost all the cash that Liu Chang has in hand, fortunately, he has gained a lot from opening Taiping County and Xianju County this time, otherwise Liu Chang really has no determination to snap up this steamer with an original price of only 70,000 silver yuan, and there are also a number of rebates from the handlers.

But Liu Chang has more options: "Also, you immediately send someone to Hong Kong to prepare to buy a steamship for me, and you must rush to buy it in time at any cost." ”

Liu Chang clearly knew that even if he could fight the Ningbo Gang financially, I am afraid that the Qing government would not allow such a threatening steamship to fall into his hands, at least he could not get the corresponding license for this "Baoshun" ship.

But buying in Hong Kong is different, with a European like De Mons, a steamer can inadvertently run aground and fall into the hands of Chinese rebels: "And you can tell the owner that if you want to get more money from Ningbo, it is better to cooperate with our actions, and we can make the Ningbo people pay a higher price." ”

De Mons came to his senses at once: "That's right, I can tell him that as long as he keeps this ship in his hands for an extra month or two, he can earn double or even more profits, and I can openly quote him an offer of 150,000 silver yuan." ”

This is purely for the Ningbo people to make trouble, as long as the delivery of this steamer is delayed, then De Mons's business can be done in the meantime.

But Liu Chang asked another question that he was concerned about: "By the way, what kind of weapons and ammunition did Your Excellency send me this time!" ”

ps: The second update is sent, and I continue to ask you for a monthly pass (to be continued.) )