Compared with Zuo Zongtang's conceit, Li Hongzhang has always been very self-aware, Zuo Zongtang is the kind of person, knowing that Zeng Guofan has a very deep power and strategy to recuperate, and he will not be convinced, Li Hongzhang sees someone stronger than him, he can naturally accept the strengths of others, he definitely does not think about competing with others, but thinking about how to use the advantages of others. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Therefore, after Zuo Zongtang set up his own portal, there was very little communication with Zeng Guofan, but Li Hongzhang, who was farther away from the Ming Dynasty, corresponded with Zeng Guofan for a long time, and the letter was very enthusiastic about the situation of the Ming Dynasty, and discussed the general trend of the world with Zeng Guofan's market, not to mention that he benefited a lot, and he was already quite familiar with the Ming Dynasty.

Li Hongzhang has been in Qingdao for more than a month, and since it was taken over by the Ming Dynasty five years ago, it has begun to change.

When Li Hongzhang first came to Shandong, he had been to Qingdao, and he wanted to observe the officials of the Ming Dynasty intuitively, but at first he was very disappointed, he found that these officials basically did not do anything, and they did not worry about the money to build ports, nor did they build fortresses as soon as possible, and they seemed to be extremely indifferent to this place.

But once in a while, he would find that there was some change, and it was slow but it was evolving, and as it got bigger and faster.

Only then did he know that the Ming officials did not want to build a wharf, but that they had no money, and he had to raise money by himself. So he can only accumulate taxes step by step, renovate the road, and then attract businessmen, little by little development, so what Li Hongzhang sees is a different situation from the security that foreigners do in Shanghai, foreigners are bold and eager to obtain benefits, and Daming is steady and steady step by step, so although the change is slow, but it is always changing, that is because the officials of the Ming Dynasty are always doing things.

A few years later, Li Hongzhang found that there were docks here, telegraphs were also connected, and there were more merchants, but the British also came to collect taxes. So Li Hongzhang has always been a little incomprehensible, he doesn't understand why Daming wants this place, you built a port, repaired the road, and in the end the tariffs were taken away by the British, and they were handed over to Haoting, what is this picture of Daming?

If you talk about profit, there is no need to spend such a big thing, Yantai on the other side of Shandong, that is the largest port in the north, and Ming merchants can go there to do business, and they can't afford to toss in such a barren beach in Qingdao.

If you talk about the map, the Ming Dynasty captured the Beijing Division, so a good opportunity, it is not impossible to take advantage of the victory to pursue the change of dynasty, but it just withdrew from the Beijing Division, in exchange for a few barren beaches on the seaside, opened up into a new port, but also absent-minded. He thought of the power of the Ming Dynasty to build the railway, he knew from Zeng Guofan, what the railway was like, and what Zeng Guofan saw with his own eyes in the Ming Dynasty was a kind of iron car that was pushed by a fire wheel, running like flying on the iron track, and traveling thousands of miles a day.

Zeng Guofan said that wherever this car leads, it will bring life, commerce and trade have developed rapidly, and all things have been greatly enriched. Li Hongzhang thought that the railway could be used to transport troops. But the emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn't even care about the Jingshi, and he didn't seem to want to change the dynasty in one go, so it didn't seem meaningful for him to use the train to transport troops. Unless he is far away, he does not intend to fight for the world immediately, but intends to encroach step by step.

If this is the case, the patience of this emperor seems to be surprisingly terrifying, and at the same time, as long as he stares at Qingdao, as long as he sees that the Ming Dynasty has begun to build the railway, then it means that it is not far from them to start encroaching on the Qing Dynasty.

As for when they will be ready, Li Hongzhang guessed that it would probably be when his teacher would be able to help the emperor build the school. Ten years of trees and a hundred years of people, is it possible that this emperor plans to cultivate a generation of good talents before he plans to start encroaching on the Qing Dynasty? In that case, patience is not only terrible, but it also feels a little too cautious.

In short, Li Hongzhang always felt that he couldn't see through that emperor. But he saw through his teacher.

Li Hongzhang has long figured out that Zeng Guofan did not have the intention of rebellion, he is bent on preserving the famous religion, as for the Qing Dynasty, it can be guaranteed, and it is the mandate of heaven if it cannot be guaranteed, at this point, his teacher is much more free and easy than him.

But he was still quite worried about his teacher's practice of reviving the famous religion in the Ming Dynasty, Zeng Guofan said in the letter, but to make the Ming Dynasty respect the sages and practice benevolence, regardless of its rise and fall, it can be described as the luck of Confucianism. If the Ming Dynasty is dyed by foreign religions, it will be a peaceful heavenly kingdom.

Li Hongzhang felt that his teacher was too paranoid, although Zeng Guofan told him that the foreign religion used all kinds of complicated foreign rituals to confuse the people, restrain the people, and capture the people's hearts, and the methods of charming wisdom were extremely effective, on the other hand, Confucianism used the method of gradual and gradual education to educate the people's hearts, but the effect was too slow, and if it continued for a long time, I am afraid that the foreign religion would flourish.

Zeng Guofan saw that foreigners used various mass ceremonies, prayer ceremonies, worship ceremonies, hypnotic brainwashing of believers, he was very worried, he saw a more ceremonial and disciplined religion, compared with Western religions, the practice of Confucianism and Taoism is more personal, discipline is almost none, everything is in the hearts of the people, although Zeng Guofan firmly believes that Confucianism, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness is the best way to educate the people, but he saw the rigor of foreign religion, and there was a deep sense of crisis in his heart. It's no match for the temptation of believing in God and going to heaven.

Li Hongzhang didn't worry about these at all, he felt that Daming was too laissez-faire, and if they didn't let them preach, there would be nothing. Now that the Qing Dynasty is weak, he can't afford to provoke foreigners, and when the Qing Dynasty is in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the extermination of foreign religions is only a matter of raising his hand, didn't Kangxi drive out all the foreign religions at that time.

Li Hongzhang was more interested in Zeng Guofan's school in Daming, Zeng Guofan wanted a village and a Confucian temple, a temple and a school, he had known about this matter for a long time, even earlier than Zhu Jinglun knew, and he talked about it with him in Zeng Guofan's early conception.

Let everyone be able to go to school, so that everyone can become a gentleman under the teachings of the sages, this is Zeng Guofan's great wish. Li Hongzhang also thinks that this is a great achievement, once it is done, there is no doubt that Zeng Guofan will become the first person in the Qing generation to enjoy the Confucian Temple.

But he still regretted Zeng Guofan's approach, Zeng Guofan did succeed in setting off a craze for Confucian temples and schools in many places, and aroused the enthusiasm in the hearts of the group of scholars who were the least known at the time of the change of dynasty, but Li Hongzhang felt sorry for Zeng Guofan's over-accommodation to the literati in Guangdong.

Li Hongzhang has understood that the basis of foreigners' strange and ingenious skills is mathematics, although Li Hongzhang himself does not understand mathematics, but he feels that since this thing is useful, it can be used to learn. Unfortunately, Zeng Guofan saw that the Ming squires were very opposed to teaching mathematics in their home school, and in order to gain the support of these people, Zeng Guofan decided not to teach mathematics in the school he built. In this way, he won everyone's support, and he made efforts to help Zuo Zongtang run a school.

I don't teach mathematics, but what about the mathematics of the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty? Zeng Guofan's method is to invite famous mathematicians to give make-up lessons to those students who are the most intelligent and really read the sage books to the bones, he believes that if such a benevolent gentleman can continue to enter the Ming officialdom, and over time will be able to overkill, future generations will really not be burdened by mathematics and concentrate on reading sage books.

Zeng Guofan used the motivation to eliminate Westernism, which mobilized the enthusiasm of the squires, otherwise his personal prestige alone would not have been able to motivate so many people.

But Li Hongzhang thought to himself, since he didn't run a new school, what would he do with so many private schools, where would he need so many scholars, everyone would go to study, how could there be so many officials for them? After all, not everyone can read to the level of Zuo Zongtang, Zuo Zongtang did not rely on the imperial examination back then, and swore not to be in the imperial examination, but people like Zuo Zongtang will not rebel, and people like Hong Xiuquan will not rebel, and people like Hong Xiuquan will not pass the exam, and they will smash the statue of Confucius when they turn their heads, and then they will rebel.

If he didn't know that Zeng Guofan's personal cultivation was extremely high and he paid great attention to the word sincerity, Li Hongzhang would have doubted whether Zeng Guofan's education in Daming Daxing was intentionally trying to disturb Daming.

Li Hongzhang couldn't stay in Qingdao, he received the news that the Taiping army was about to move, and had begun to besiege Shanghai, Zuo Zongtang's self-righteous guy was a little unable to resist the enemy, which he was not surprised, he had dealt with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for many years, and he knew very well that people were not easy to mess with.

He wasn't worried about this, because he also knew that Zuo Zongtang was not hot, he was just curious, Zuo Zongtang was in a hurry, would he ask him for help, I'm afraid not. But he has to be prepared, Zuo Zongtang does not ask for help, in case of change, he still has to ask for help, rather than watching Zuo Zongtang be defeated and letting the Taiping army of outlaws come to Shandong to trouble him, it is better to take the initiative to support and limit the war to northern Jiangsu.

Of course, he believes that Zuo Zongtang will not be easily defeated, and there are Bao Chao and Zeng Guoquan over there, and it will be his turn to be early. If the Taiping Army really has a kind and can defeat Zuo Zongtang, Bao Chao and Zeng Guoquan successively, then Li Hongzhang doesn't have to be afraid of this kind of tired army.

He has to prepare, just in case, and if there is any new change, only with a strong army in his hand can he have the confidence to speak, and as for what the new change is, it is inconvenient to say it.

Li Hongzhang rushed back to Jinan, immediately gathered soldiers, rectified discipline, and brutally killed a few ruffians who drank, gambled, and recruited women in the army, so that the military style suddenly changed, and then he began to actively train the troops, from one practice on five days to one practice on three days, then two days, and finally one practice a day.

Just a month after Li Hongzhang prepared, Shanghai was captured under the strong attack of the Taiping army of 100,000 troops. The foreigners mobilized troops to defend the city, but not only failed to hold it, but even their own sailors could not gain a foothold in Shanghai, and were forced to withdraw the fleet.

It was not surprising that Li Hongzhang, the infantry who defeated the foreigners, but forced the foreigners to withdraw even the sailors, which surprised Li Hongzhang, and the real situation was soon transmitted from Shanghai to Qingdao by telegram, and then Li Hongzhang's spies in Qingdao were sent over on fast horses, and he knew that in the Taiping army, there was a very fierce cannon. According to the spies in Shanghai, the muzzle of the cannon was thicker than a person's waist, and the stones could be blown apart with a single shot, and it took only three cannons to blow up the walls of Shanghai.

If it were the past, Li Hongzhang would not believe it, but the withdrawal of the foreigner's sailor made him have to believe it, because he knew that the cannon on the foreigner's warship was also very fierce, and if there were no more fierce cannons, the foreigner's sailor would not have been able to withdraw.

Li Hongzhang was puzzled, where did the Taiping Army get such a fierce cannon? Could it be that Da Ming sold it to them? Does Daming have such a fierce cannon, and even if there is, they are willing to sell this kind of militaristic weapon? If this is the case, if Da Ming is willing to sell everything for money, then can he Li Hongzhang also sell two for use?

A series of doubts and thoughts flipped in Li Hongzhang's mind.