Zhou Lang withdrew from Guangzhou for the simple reason that he reached an agreement with Changlin.

This agreement can only be a secret agreement, and Changlin does not have the courage to sign something in writing directly with Zhou Lang.

But Zhou Lang also admitted the verbal agreement, because he believed that Changlin did not have the courage to repent.

The agreement was reached through Wei Lianli.

This time, Wei Lianli changed his attitude of not doing things positively in the past, and after learning that Changlin was the governor of Liangguang, he took the initiative to ask Ying to go to Guangzhou to negotiate with Changlin.

When Zhu Jue was there, he didn't even dare to enter Guangzhou City, and when he couldn't stay in Fuzhou, he hid in Macau.

But as soon as Changlin arrived, he immediately came to see Zhou Lang, looking loyal and courageous, and swore that he was willing to risk death for Zhou Lang to go to Guangzhou.

Wei Lianli knew very well the purpose of Zhou Lang's entrenchment outside Guangzhou, in fact, Wang Fuqian also knew that he just didn't understand and didn't accept it.

Wei Lianli is clear, he may not understand, but he can accept it, for him, what the boss wants to do, regardless of whether he has a reason or not, just do it.

So Wei Lianli went to Guangzhou, this time he wanted to negotiate with Changlin in person, in fact, it was not his initiative, but Changlin's master took the initiative to find Wei Lianli in Macau.

Hoping to negotiate with Zhou Lang, they also saw that Zhou Lang didn't seem to have the intention of fighting Guangzhou, so why not withdraw the army, what conditions do you want, as long as it is not excessive, Changlin can agree, such as giving a ransom fee.

In this way, Wei Lianli entered the Governor's Palace, and when he saw the Governor, he was not stage frightened, he still held his chest high and raised his head high, as if he could touch the sky as soon as he raised his hand.

In this way, in front of Changlin, the two sides reached a verbal agreement.

Zhou Lang didn't want money this time, the overall financial situation of the Thirteen Banks was not good, and if he really extorted a sum of money, I was afraid that the organization of the Thirteen Banks would disappear.

It's still useful to keep these people.

This time, Zhou Lang demanded that the two Guangxi provinces not take hostile actions against Fujian, and that Zhou Lang be allowed to send people to various parts of Guangdong to purchase any goods, and the government should not prohibit it.

In fact, this does not need Changlin's guarantee, through Wei Lianli's Lian Lixing, they can purchase anything they want, and Changlin is impossible to interfere. If there is trouble for the local government, it can be solved through Changlin. As long as Changlin pretends to be confused, it is unlikely that he will really be asked to come forward.

The first requirement, in fact, is not important now, the most important thing is that Changlin can not infiltrate Fujian like Zhu Jue, the world has changed, and now the landlords in Fujian can no longer identify with the Qing court so much before the White Lotus uprising.

Therefore, Changlin tried to slowly infiltrate into Fujian through the landlord's group training, so that Zhou Lang could only control the city, but the countryside was an enemy, and it was impossible to happen.

Therefore, this open-faced request is meaningless at all, but Changlin hopes that Fujian will not come to find trouble.

The second requirement is the real meaningful and practical purpose: Zhou Lang wants to trade with Guangdong.

Guangdong has a far more developed handicraft industry than Fujian, Foshan's iron-smelting industry sells well at home and abroad, ceramics industry, silk weaving industry are the main force of exports, can obtain goods from Guangdong, obviously can change the limitations of Zhou Lang's foreign trade. But foreign trade is not all, the development of private trade between Fujian and Guangdong, the prospect is not very bright, although Fujian's handicraft industry is not as good as Guangdong, but it can also be self-sufficient, after all, the old foundation of the Ming Dynasty is in, because of the loss of favorable conditions for foreign trade, the handicraft industry has shrunk, but it is not gone.

Fujian's greatest dependence on foreign countries is grain, while Guangdong is also dependent on grain imports. On the contrary, Guangzhou also needs Fujian tea to maintain trade.

So why does Zhou Lang still want to open up trade with Guangdong, after all, it is no longer the time to be in Fengshan County, and now the source of the world's tea is in Zhou Lang's hands, he has the trump card of China's foreign trade, what else does Guangdong want to do?

The answer is resources.

Zhou Lang needed Guangdong's resources, specifically Foshan's iron and iron-smelting capacity.

Foshan has an iron smelting industry, a wrought iron industry, and all iron-related technologies, Foshan in this era has reached the pinnacle of China. However, there is no iron ore in Foshan, but it is purchased from Luoding in the hinterland of Guangzhou, Yangjiang on the coast and other places, and then concentrated in Foshan for processing.

There are 20,000 or 30,000 iron-smelting craftsmen in the whole of Foshan, and the annual output is as high as more than 45.9 million catties according to the statistics of the Guangzhou government, which is larger than the output of the whole of Fujian, and it is much larger.

This is mainly due to the decline of Fujian, during the Ming Dynasty, Fujian had 27 counties producing iron, there were 58 iron ore mining, and the annual output of iron was as high as 50 million catties, which was higher than any country in Europe at that time. Whether it is quality or output, Fujian Iron ranked first at that time. Fang Yizhi, a philosopher and scientist known as a philosopher and scientist in the late Ming Dynasty, said: "The south is dominated by Fujian iron, followed by Guangzhou Railway, and Chu Iron can be used as a hoe." Mao Yuanyi, a general at the end of the Ming Dynasty who wrote the book "Wubei Zhi", said, "Fujian iron is used to make Weiyuan cannons, and Jin iron is second." Zhao Shizhen said, "Fujian iron must be used to make guns, and he is not available for iron dryness." Iron smelting, charcoal fire is the top, the north charcoal is expensive, and it has to be replaced by coal fire, so there are often many explosions. ”

During the Ming Dynasty, it was recognized that the well-made weapons, whether it was casting cannons or making firearms, the best were Fujian iron, and other iron was dry and easy to burst.

But now, Fujian Iron is not only in terms of output, but also in terms of quality and quality. At present, there are only eight iron-producing counties left, and there are only about a dozen blast furnaces for iron smelting. Because of Zhou Lang's relationship, the introduction of British hydraulic iron smelting blast furnace, the quality has been improved, but limited by iron ore, the output is far from enough, Zhou Lang even purchased Indian iron ore from the East India Company at a high price.

Guangdong's iron has surpassed Fujian in terms of output and quality, and Guangdong's iron production center is in Foshan. It has the reputation of "covering the world's iron-producing area, Mo Liang in Guangdong, and the iron smelting work, Mo Liang in Foshan".

Zhou Lang can also occupy Foshan, but that is meaningless, it is equivalent to cutting off the supply of iron ore raw materials to Foshan from other regions, there is no production capacity, and Zhou Lang cannot get iron from the occupation, if he occupies the whole of Guangdong, not to mention how much time it will take, even if he occupies Guangdong immediately, how much time will it take to stabilize the order and resume production?

Zhou Lang's time was too short, so short that he didn't have time to waste on stabilizing the local order after the capture of Guangdong, and he needed to get strategic resources from Guangzhou immediately to meet the needs of his arsenal.

Why is it so urgent, Zhou Lang originally didn't want to tell Wang Fuqian, if it weren't for Wang Fuqian's resignation, and Zhou Lang really needed him to stabilize the civil affairs, he would keep it secret, because this was a big move related to China's fate.

So Zhou Lang personally went to visit the sick Wang Fuqian and explained the reason to him:

"I didn't want to tell you, because I knew you wouldn't agree. Whether you agree or not, I will have to go on an expedition next year, and it is imperative, so I will continue to stock up on supplies for the expedition now. The iron of Foshan is a matter of success or failure, and it is the most urgent, and the capture of Guangdong, although it is important, is not very urgent! ”

Wang Fuqian is interested, Zhou Lang is finally going to act, he has urged Zhou Lang many times, if he does not go to the Northern Expedition, he should also go south or west, Jiangxi is boiling under the governance of the greedy governor, and the bandits who were driven out of Fujian are making a lot of trouble in Jiangxi, if Fujian sends troops to Jiangxi, it should not be difficult to take it. Jiangxi is different from Fujian and Guangdong, Jiangxi is a large grain-producing province, and if it occupies Jiangxi, Fujian's grain supply will be guaranteed; Whether it is the southern expedition to Guangdong, Guangdong is rich, there are slightly more people than Fujian, and it occupies Guangdong, and the foundation is even thicker.

But Zhou Lang neither marched to the south nor to the west, and it was clear that Fujian had stabilized, so he only required continuous training, and those soldiers had already been trained into machines, and they had to strengthen training.

Only a few troops were sent to fight Guangzhou, Wang Fuqian thought that this was the prelude to the southern expedition, who wanted to withdraw again, how could he not be annoyed.

This time, Zhou Lang finally made it clear that he was going on an expedition, but where do you need to add a long word?

Wang Fuqian couldn't help asking, "Where does the marshal want to capture?" ”

Zhou Lang only said two words: "Beijing!" ”

Even if Wang Fuqian was really sick, he sat up all of a sudden.

What is the point of fighting Beijing now, where is the center of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, not to mention the heavy troops stationed, it is too far away from Fujian Province, even if it occupies that lonely city, how can it be defended. The biggest possibility is that the labor division went on an expedition, lost troops and lost generals, and finally returned in vain. At that time, Zheng Chenggong just sent troops from Xiamen to Nanjing, and in the end he was defeated and became a big loss of vitality, and now he is going from Fujian to fight Beijing, which is a very low chance of victory. Even if he finally made a huge sacrifice to occupy Beijing, as long as he could not capture the two emperors of Qianlong and Jiaqing, he would have to face the key suppression of the Manchu Qing Dynasty with the strength of the whole country, and in vain made a shield for Chen Zhouquan, the White Lotus Sect and other forces.

In Wang Fuqian's view, Chen Zhouquan and the White Lotus Sect, both of which are Zhou Lang's future opponents, may be more dangerous than the Manchu Qing Dynasty, just like Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng are to Zhu Yuanzhang, which is a big trouble. So no matter how you look at it, the expedition to Beijing is not a good move!

Wang Fuqian was about to object.

Zhou Lang explained: "It's not about attacking Beijing, it's just about fighting and deterring." ”

Zhou Lang has no special thoughts about Beijing, if the city is really fought, with the weapons of this era, it is still a huge challenge, as long as the other party can resist, the price paid for the fight is too heavy, and the roots of all the Manchus in the world are basically in Beijing, because after the death of the flag people everywhere, the bones must be sent back to Beijing for burial, where is the root of the flag people. Although the Eight Banners have been abolished, if they defend their own feelings, there is really no possibility of fighting them. The Anglo-French forces did not directly conquer Beijing back then, in fact, they only occupied the Old Summer Palace outside the city, which scared the emperor away.

Zhou Lang also planned to scare Qianlong and Jiaqing, and hit the prestige of the Manchu Qing Dynasty hard, as long as his troops arrived at the city of Beijing, it would be a huge victory politically, and the prestige of the Manchu Qing would inevitably fall to the bottom, and when the Manchu Qing Dynasty fell, I am afraid it would be realized soon.

But this kind of blow in a purely political sense, an expedition in vain, Zhou Lang thought that Wang Fuqian would never agree, because there was no practical benefit, far less than the benefits of attacking Jiangxi and Guangdong, and the price paid may be higher, and he would push himself to the front line of the Qing court's attack, which was completely inconsistent with Wang Fuqian's superstitious strategy of "building a high wall and accumulating grain to slowly become king".

But what Zhou Lang didn't expect was that Wang Fuqian nodded fiercely: "Okay!" ”