The Doge's Palace? The Big Discovery?

Lin Mengchu soon understood what he had discovered, it was definitely a big discovery, an amazing discovery, and this was an astonishing fortune.

Philippine Treasury! That's right, this is the whole wealth of the Philippine colonies, the whole crystallization of three hundred years of Spanish management, oppression, deception, and exploitation.

For the past 300 years, Manila was only briefly occupied by the British during the Seven Years' War, but was soon returned to Spain, where the Spanish governors and bishops believed that the Governor's Palace should be the safest place in the Philippines and the Far East.

Therefore, in front of Lin Mengchu's eyes, there were countless boxes with lacquer seals, and just by opening one or two boxes, Lin Mengchu's breathing became short.

Gold coins, these are all gold coins, he has never seen so many gold coins, so many gold coins, how much is it worth?

Everywhere you look, it's all glittering, it's a real Spanish gold coin, like a dream.

He couldn't believe what he saw, this was just two chests opened, if all the rows and rows of chests were opened, how many gold would there be?

Even if some of the chests in it weren't gold coins, just silver dollars that were common in China, it would be enough, and he could retire now!

He soon remembered many pains in the past, he remembered that just a few years ago, he was even anxious that his family couldn't even take out a hundred yuan for the New Year, and in the end, his wife pawned the silver hairpin he married, so that he barely had a painful memory of the Spring Festival.

Another time, he made a bet with someone that he owed 600 yuan and couldn't pay it off, but he was beaten dozens of rolls by the creditor and almost lost his life......

In the spring of three years ago, he was only the leader of the regiment, if it weren't for Zhou Xiuying casually putting away the saber. Maybe there is no Lin Mengchu now, it's good now, but he thought about it for a long time, but he still didn't think where this good word was, and he only saw a lot of red blood stained next to this box?

What's going on? Lin Mengchu's mind was full of excitement, and he woke up from the rows of golden chests, and he glanced at the officer who was standing upright: "What's going on?" ”

"It was some soldiers who found out and caused a riot. The scene was very chaotic, and when he saw that the situation was not right, he fired a warning shot, and then drew his sword and beheaded a person, and finally maintained order. "This officer still has blood on his clothes.

Lin Mengchu breathed a sigh of relief, it should be this person who informed him of the news of a big discovery: "You are a political officer?" ”

He soon realized that he had made a mistake. The middle-aged man's epaulettes made it clear that he was a combat officer, and he also said with a smile: "I am a platoon commander of the 6th Independent Battalion. ”

Lin Mengchu was a little nervous again, why is this small platoon commander so uninteresting, he is not a political officer, why should he get along with the soldiers of the Marine Battalion?

This person is not one of those fanatical political work officers, why is he not moved when he sees so much gold? But standing in his position, he had to appreciate this uninteresting platoon commander: "I want to know, why are you not tempted to see so much gold?" You are the most incorruptible officer I have ever met. ”

"It's not that I'm not tempted. It's a tragedy like this I've seen once, 1,500 yuan, three lives! The platoon commander replied: "A human life is worth only 500 yuan, and it cost several hundred yuan to destroy two families afterwards." ”

Lin Mengchu calmed down suddenly, he didn't know what kind of madness this platoon commander had experienced, but the case of one bird and nine lives in the Qing Dynasty was found in Hangzhou, and a small yellow finch actually took nine lives, not to mention this box of gold.

He figured it out all at once. What about more gold? How much can you take with you? Three years ago, he was the leader of a small group that was nothing. Three years later, he is standing here, and he even has the opportunity to lead millions of people throughout the Philippines!

He didn't care how much gold or silver there was, and he didn't know whether these silver dollars were Spanish currency or Eagle Ocean, he just knew one thing that he was standing on a cliff right now.

Maybe his 2,300 soldiers will go crazy because of the distribution of this gold and silver, and even start a civil war, after all, no one can divide this gold and silver more evenly, if it is not for this platoon commander to stop it, it may have evolved into a self-mixing drama, and it is even possible that the elite troops who easily conquered Manila will collapse because of such a sum of gold and silver.

He has seen such a scene, his father and his uncle have been enemies for more than 20 years, not only do the two families not communicate, but they often raise their fists against each other when they meet, such hatred has precipitated into the bones of the family, but what is the reason for the brothers' rebellion? He only figured out last year that it was actually for a wall, his father was greedy when he split the family, and when he made the title deed, he took advantage of the unpreparedness to draw the foundation of a public wall under his own name, and after the incident was exposed, he lifted out all the old accounts in the past, causing the brothers to turn against each other for more than 20 years, and they did not interact with each other during the holidays.

His cold sweat came down, and he told himself, Lin Mengchu, Lin Mengchu, what are you coveting this bit of gold? You are now the commander of the most successful regiment in the Hong Army, and you have a bright future, and more importantly, you are only thirty-one years old today, can't you still earn a family business?

He was particularly appreciative of this small platoon commander, this time it was an appreciation from the heart, and he asked: "What is your name, and what year did you join the army?" ”

The small platoon commander smiled and showed his teeth: "Ye Huaizhi, the pseudo-Qing Xianfeng joined the army in Hongqiao for four years and participated in the Hongqiao Uprising. ”

How can it be? He himself was a cadre who joined the army in Taizhou in the spring of Xianfeng's fifth year, and this Ye Huaizhi actually participated in December of Xianfeng's fourth year? Is that the old man of the Dragon Lance Battalion or the Nanxi Battalion? How is it that he is only a platoon commander now. You must know that the cadres of that period, no matter how bad they are now, they should have a position such as deputy battalion commander, not to mention that with this Ye Huaizhi's neat handling of incidents, how can he be a very talented person.

Seeing the puzzled look on Lin Mengchu's face, Ye Huaizhi smiled frankly: "I am not participating in the Hongjun. ”

Lin Mengchu realized that this person should have participated in the Red Turban Army, which led to a delay of a year or two, otherwise he would never be a platoon commander now, but this qualification is enough, Lin Mengchu suddenly tore off his epaulettes and collar badges, and personally said goodbye to Ye Huaizhi: "To you, my authority is only so much!" ”

He handed his pistol, pocket watch and binoculars to Ye Huaizhi: "From now on." You're my deputy! Any officer and soldier of our Philippine Expeditionary Force must carry out your orders, you have done the right thing, I'm sorry, I only have so much authority, and I only have so much honor for you! ”

Ye Huaizhi was stunned, he stood in place, and said a little dazedly: "I just think that the lives of so many of our officers and soldiers are priceless. These gold and silver are going to buy their lives, it's too cheap! ”

"That's right!" Lin Chumeng's eyes no longer stayed on the gold, and he said loudly: "You are right, every soldier's life is priceless, from now on, seal the treasury." You are responsible for everything, and no disobedience to your orders is allowed, not even me! ”

Lin Mengchu has expanded his goal to the whole of Luzon, the whole Philippines, and the whole world: "Let's go to Mr. Napuli and Mr. Sun Tianwei, we still have a lot to do......"

"Also, ask Zhang Sigui and the army for support, to occupy the entire Philippines, at least one infantry regiment is needed for reinforcements. Let the Navy immediately prepare a clipper ship and prepare it to deliver vital supplies! ”

Of the previous rulers in Manila, Lin Mengchu may not be the strongest one, but he is definitely the one who made the smartest choice.

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On the eve of Liu Chang's meeting with Huo Qiu, he received an urgent report from Lin Mengchu from the Philippines, and after reading this most urgent military information, he raised his head and said: "Huo Du, Lin Mengchu has good news from Manila, so please wait for a long time!" ”

Huo Qiu didn't dare to accept such a title. He was about to kneel down for Liu Chang: "Your Majesty is serious." His Majesty has every opportunity to meet with his ministers for an hour and a half in his busy schedule. The subordinates are terrified! ”

He had already seen the schedule, and there would be an additional hour of conversation between him and Liu Chang, and he was already the largest among the people he met today, many of whom only had fifteen or even ten minutes to spare, and some were even destined to wait for a day.

This is the limitation of the time allocation of the superiors, no matter how energetic they are, no matter how much wisdom they have, their time is limited after all, and the time they spend a day to deal with affairs is also limited, even with the diligent administration of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, it must be limited in all aspects, for example, the emperor can not handle more than 200 folds in a day, if there are more, the emperor himself will be dragged across, or the situation that the folds cannot be handled.

Liu Chang also spends at least four hours a day dealing with the various classified documents, and also spends several hours meeting with the various courtiers who come to report, these powerful ministers form the cornerstone of the empire, the backbone of the empire's rule, and Liu Chang must communicate with them at many times before making major decisions.

Liu Chang smiled and helped Huo Qiu up: "Huo Du, you are now sitting in Nanchang, and there are fewer opportunities for us to meet, so there is no need to be polite, what is the better to say it directly, how has the problem of Tianzong been handled?" ”

Huo Qiu didn't expect that Yun Tianzong's problem had dragged on for almost a year, he could only sigh and say: "Tianzong has finally figured it out now, and he is willing to come out to serve the country, but the position is not easy to arrange." ”

This is naturally something to say, it seems too low to arrange the position before Yuntian Zong's closed-door thinking, but with his qualifications, it must be arranged by the commander-in-chief, such a position is not his final say, so Liu Chang did not answer directly: "Then let Tianzong come to Hangzhou for a trip, I will try my best to arrange it." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, just now I heard that Lin Mengchu came with good news in Manila? But Manila has been restored? ”

Liu Chang had joy on his face, and he said: "Yes, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, I thought that Zhang Sigui's chess move was too risky, but I didn't expect the direct general to succeed, now that Manila has been recovered, Lin Mengchu has made a big discovery there, I am ready to immediately send a regiment over to support, and at the same time expand Lin Mengchu into a new infantry division." ”

Huo Qiu was slightly shocked in his heart, Liu Chang vaguely mentioned that "there is a great discovery in Manila", but that must be a great miracle, you must know that in the history of the Rainbow Army, all units have been expanded step by step, generally from infantry regiments to infantry brigades or units at the same level, and then expanded into infantry divisions.

But now Lin Mengchu's department doesn't even have the number of an infantry regiment, but just the name of the "Luzon Combat Detachment", and it must be a great miracle to directly expand into an infantry division: "That's a good thing, but if you take Manila, I'm afraid you will have to face the retaliation of the Spaniards, and one infantry regiment may not be enough, and now that the war in Hunan is coming to an end, you can transfer one or two infantry regiments out." ”

Liu Chang was not worried: "It is not so easy for the Spaniards to transfer troops from the mainland, it will take at least a few months, and the strength they transferred into the Philippines, as long as we maintain the strength of an infantry division in Luzon, we will be invincible in this battle." ”

This is the sorrow of an old imperialist, the Spaniard's now reigning Isabella II can be said to be walking on thin ice, in 1860 she barely conquered Monaco, across the sea from Spain, and gained a certain prestige at home, but in 1867 she lost the war to restore the South American colonies of the Chincha Islands, and she was also a queen who was strong on the surface but lurked in the undercurrent in domestic policy.

Therefore, Liu Chang is not worried about the war in the Philippine Islands, even if it fails, it will not affect the overall situation, but he is concerned about the situation in Hunan: "What is the situation in southern Hunan?" I don't want to run away with one or two infantry regiments. ”

As soon as Huo Qiu heard Zeng Guofan's old opponent, he also had a headache, this commander of the Hunan army was indeed a resilient, repeatedly defeated and indomitable strongman, Huo Qiu had announced three times that he would end the war in Hunan, but this Zeng Guofan had picked up the remnants of the defeated army again and again, and continued to fight with the Hong army, but Zeng Guofan was no longer resilient, this time he finally couldn't escape from the palm of the Buddha: "Your Majesty Duolao is concerned about the war situation in southern Hunan, Ziyun has already reported that within ten days, there will be good news!" ”

"That's good! Xiangnan is down, and Liangguang can be down in the future. Liu Chang attaches great importance to Zeng Guofan, and even caused a lot of controversy within the Hongjun, thinking that the Lianghu Front occupies too many resources, but it is a great joy to finally solve Zeng Guofan: "I came to you to discuss a particularly important matter." ”

His tone became extremely serious: "I want to ask you, what is your opinion on the cabinet candidates?" ”