The imperial court is actually very dissatisfied with Luan Yu, a foreign minister, interfering in the affairs of the imperial court, and changing to another person, even if it is heinous, the imperial court will consider internal and external issues, but Hurd is an exception in the sequence of Qing officials. No matter how Luan Yu is a foreign minister, he is also a Chinese, and Hurd is a foreigner although he is a minister, which makes the imperial court very embarrassed.

However, the imperial court is always good at change, and they see that it is not Hurd and Luan Yu, but the British Empire and the Manchurian Empire behind them. The dispute between Luan Yu and Hurd was nothing more than a struggle between Britain and Manchuria for the rights and interests of the Qing Dynasty, and both sides wanted to exert the greatest influence on the imperial court and obtain greater benefits from the imperial court. Seeing this clearly, the court happily became a fisherman, and let Luan Yu go to eat dog with Hurd.

Luanyu's purpose was to eliminate the influence of the British on the imperial court, especially the influence of the customs controlled by Hurd in the Jiangnan Trade Zone, and to truly turn the Jiangnan Trade Zone into an exclusive raw material source and dumping ground in Manchuria. Hurd, who was losing and retreating, did not have as much ambition as Luan Yu, he dutifully performed the duties of the General Department of Customs, ensured the financial revenue of the Qing Dynasty, and then gradually controlled the rights such as judicial power, water diversion rights, postal rights and other rights in a subtle and silent way. Hurd did not think that the British would monopolize the big cake of the Qing Dynasty, but built the Qing Dynasty into a relatively fair public area that everyone could do.

The imperial court chose to support Luan Yu in the dispute, but it was just for the sake of benefit. Luan Yu's idea was nominally to take back these rights to the imperial court, although the actual controllers were mostly Manchurian students, all of whom were under the control of Manchuria, but they were also industries under the name of the imperial court. And every time the imperial court supports Luan Yu, it will be very intimate to appease Hurd, so that this loser will not point the finger at the imperial court.

The process of the Qing court's revocation of the right to divert water was not complicated, because the court never promised anything, and the Qing dynasty was completely blank in this field, and all the rules and regulations were made by foreigners themselves. Over the years, the imperial court has not asked about this matter, they can play as much as they want, and now that the imperial court wants to withdraw the right to divert water, they have no way at all. Ministers from various countries went to the Prime Minister's Yamen to protest, but the imperial court with the support of Manchuria ignored them at all, and they did not have the ability to use force, so naturally they could only go back and sulk. Of course, countries such as Britain and Russia have all raised the spirit of twelve, and the actions of the Great Qing Dynasty have seriously infringed on their interests, but their opponent is not the Great Qing Dynasty, but Manchuria, which controls everything remotely.

After Luan Yu went down to three cities in a row and made Hurd disgraced, everyone thought that the matter would come to an end, but a bigger conflict came. The news of the defeat in the bloody battle of Majiang came, and the imperial court had only one choice left, but the war in the Qing Dynasty was different from the war in Manchuria. As the saying goes, the Qing Dynasty, which did not have a strong mobilization and transportation capacity, had to prepare a lot before the war, and it also needed a very, very much money, but the imperial court did not have so much money. Hurd has always been the God of Wealth of the Qing Dynasty, and if the financial problems cannot be solved, the imperial court naturally wants to ask Hurd for help, and Hurd is still very experienced in this area.

Since the beginning of the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty's financial revenue and expenditure have never been balanced, and it has always been in a state of making ends meet. In the later period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, due to a series of problems such as indemnities, the imperial court had to start borrowing foreign debts with high interest rates. The civil strife of the Qing Dynasty was not completely quelled until the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, and the income and expenditure of the imperial court were basically balanced, but foreign debts had to be repaid every year, and there was no surplus food at home. In the early stage, there was a huge deficit, and in case of emergencies, there was no way to tear down the east wall and make up for the west wall, and the only thing to do was to continue to borrow. Hurd has contributed a lot in helping the Qing Dynasty borrow money, not only being responsible for contacting business, but also using the customs he is in charge of as collateral to repay debts, and absolutely providing one-stop service from borrowing to repayment.

If there was a war against France, even if the war was suppressed in small areas such as northern Vietnam and the coastal areas of Fujian, the military expenditure that the imperial court needed to pay would definitely not be less than 30 million taels. In response to this situation, Hurd proposed a 50 million taels loan package plan to the imperial court, planning to borrow from Britain, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries. The imperial court was very frightened by the sky-high interest, but the situation made it necessary to borrow money to start fighting, and just as Hedra was preparing to officially launch the Prime Minister's Yamen, Luan Yu jumped out again.

"Ninety out of thirteen, isn't this usury!" Luan Yu especially likes to say strange things at the court meeting, which can have a good diffusion effect.

"The interest rate of borrowing from foreign banks is too high, it is tantamount to drinking water to quench your thirst!" Many officials at the court meeting echoed the agreement, and they had long been dissatisfied with high-interest loans.

"The war crisis is urgent, even if the interest rate is higher, you can only give it a go, and it's a big deal to save some this year!" Hurd did not come to attend the court meeting, and Wang Yixuan of Qingjun, who was in charge of the prime minister's yamen, could only come out to explain for Hurd.

"Alas...... Alas......" Qingjun Wang Yixuan's words were still very effective, and as soon as his words fell, there was a sigh in the court.

"Why do you have to borrow money from foreigners? These guys' hearts are blacker than ink! Luan Yu didn't understand, but he didn't deal with it either.

"What do you think Brother Zhongrun?" Zhang Zhiwan is the best one in the gang of horses, and when Yiyun and the rest of the people are confused, he is the only one who can hear Luan Yu's voice.

"The imperial court was heavily paid, and the most important attrition was not on the battlefield, but on the march and transportation. As a part of China, I have an obligation to help the imperial court, so I can help the imperial court to save costs by sea. Luan Yu finally got a bit serious.

"Soldiers and supplies can be shipped by sea? Fayi crisscrosses the sea, if there is a mistake, wouldn't it be ......" Zhang Zhiwan also knows that shipping is convenient and can save a lot of costs, but first, the Qing Dynasty does not have such a large transport fleet, and second, the sea control is in the hands of the French, and going to sea is not a death.

"The eight-star sun-holding flag is the place under the jurisdiction of the general, and any attack on the eight-star sun-holding flag is a selection of the general's glory and the public enemy of the Manchurian Empire!" The weight of Luan Yu's words is sufficient, if the French army dares to attack the Manchurian transport fleet, the Manchurian army will directly participate in the war.

"When the imperial court sends troops, it is also necessary to dispatch strong troops from all over the country, and the possibility of endless coastal troops will be cut off, and it will be difficult to solve the crisis by sea alone!" Cixi rarely spoke in the court, but this time she opened her mouth directly.

"The foreign minister has a special performance, please let the Queen Mother take a look!" Luan Yu took out his own plan.

When Hurd was busy running relations in the embassy area, Luan Yu was recruited into the Forbidden City, and the central collective of the Qing Dynasty and Luan Yu had a big bargain, and then Hurd was busy in vain. The price offered by Manchuria was higher, and it gave the Qing court enough face, at least it was much better than the loan that Hurd advocated every day. The imperial court sold 500 mineral deposits demarcated by Manchuria to the Manchurian government for fifteen million taels. At the same time, the imperial court authorized Manchuria to build railways in the Jiangnan Trade Zone, the Shanxi-Zhili Economic Zone, Yunnan, Guangxi and other places, and in return Manchuria needed to help the imperial court transport troops and materials with its transport fleet. Manchuria took advantage of the big advantage and multiplied its power, but the imperial court did not suffer a loss, not only survived the immediate difficulties, but also its own infrastructure could be built for free.

"Declare war on France! At the same time, Taiwan was disarmed, and the General Department of Customs and Excise was ordered to be a leader! "After all the things on Luan Yu's side were arranged, Cixi gave a decree that no one understood.

"Queen Mother, Liu Mingchuan has a strong defense in Taiwan, and Fayi doesn't have a chance to go deeper, so why withdraw for no reason?" Yi Xun was not surprised by the declaration of war, but he was too surprised to give up Taiwan.

"Taiwan has long been no territory of the imperial court, so why should the imperial court work hard!" Cixi said it very clearly.

As early as the Tongzhi period when Guoxinga defeated Lao Maozi, the imperial court allocated Taiwan to Manchuria, and the excuse used by Guoxinga for the first time to invade Japan was that Japan invaded Taiwan. However, for many years, Taiwan's development has only been concentrated in Kaohsiung, and has not spread to the entire island of Taiwan. In the geometrically growing territory of the Manchurian Empire, Taiwan was only a very small part, and everyone regarded Taiwan as a port, so except for the port of Kaohsiung, nothing else was needed. With the exception of Kaohsiung, Taiwan has been under the control of the imperial court for many years, and no one has cared. But today Cixi remembered that Taiwan was no longer a territory of the Qing Dynasty, and if the French wanted it, they would let them go desperately to Guoxing'a.

"The Queen Mother's holy candle shines thousands of miles! If Fayi covets Taiwan, it will inevitably not be tolerated by Manchuria, and Guo Yunxian will inevitably send troops to participate in the war, and then this battle can be fought by them! Zhang Zhiwan and others praised the combo festival, Cixi's move is indeed very cost-effective.

"It's just that Hurd is not at fault, and he has a credit to the society, so he ordered him to give office for no reason, I'm afraid it's ......" Yiyun still can't seem to understand Cixi's intentions.

"Hurd's merits and demerits, everyone sees it! Which one is a good thing, Britain or Manchuria, one eagle looks at the wolf, and the other is just a tiger's eye! Take this opportunity to let them fight! It is not a clever plan to control the feudal domain! Cixi also admitted it, the strength of the Qing Dynasty is not good, so she can only use herself as bait and let the hungry wolves kill each other!

Cixi's decree was issued, and Hurd could only go home with the title of a Qing prince and Taibao, and the intrigue between Britain and Manchuria seemed to be about to begin, but at this time, something happened in the distant Americas - the Panama Canal was opened. The opening of the canal is great news, but it also comes great trouble. The Panamanian government wanted to plot independence from the Manchurians, Colombia wanted to regain lost territory, and the British wanted to intervene, and things became more and more complicated. The day before Cixi's decree, a coup d'état supported by Colombia broke out in Panama, shouting slogans of national independence and the expulsion of the Manchurians.

The garrisons of East Manchuria and South Manchuria each sent 50,000 troops to Panama, and soon drove out the local natives. However, Latin American countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Spain and other countries are all keeping a close eye on Panama, as if the war may expand at any time. In order to keep the results of more than ten years of digging, Changchun seemed to be crazy, not only constantly increasing troops in Panama, but also transferring all the Nanyang Fleet, which was the largest in Manchuria's combat strength, to Panama.