The people in the Guan family's mansion and the Jiangsu Guild Hall have already begun to pack up and prepare for the road.

Before leaving Beijing, he routinely asked for training in front of the saint, but this time, Cixi didn't say anything, but the Empress Dowager Ci'an, thinking of the danger of his trip, was grateful, and said a few very practical words.

"It's a big sea, how you fight over there, our sisters can't know, you yourself have to be careful."

"Empress Dowager Xie. However, the United States can also send a telegram to Hong Kong, and the minister and the military plane have already discussed that all the excerpts that have been reported will be sent from Hong Kong to Shanghai, and then transferred from Shanghai to Beijing. ”

"Oh, that's great." Ci'an was overjoyed, "I don't know how long it will take to fight this time?" ”

"Back to the Queen Mother's words, the things above the battle array, the situation is changing, and I can't say it clearly for a while. With the knowledge of the minister, the itinerary of the sea is not counted, and it will be known within about a year. ”

"After that year, our sisters are waiting to hear your good letter!"

You sisters.

After Guan Zhuofan looked at the veil, Cixi, who was silent, and the uneasiness on the side of the embroidery bed that day came to his mind again - what happened between himself, a Han who had crossed over, and the queen mother of the Manchurians?

When he left the palace, he threw away these troubled thoughts. The day after tomorrow is about to set off, and what we need to do now is to concentrate our minds on the big things in front of us.

When he returned to the Guan family's mansion, as soon as he walked in the door, he snatched out two officers from the ear room next to him, one was short and strong, and the other was full of beards, and they came up without saying a word. A thousand children hit the ground. And they gave him a salute.

"Say hello to Master Hou!"

"Old? Lao Cai? Guan Zhuofan was very pleasantly surprised. One by one, he picked them up, and hahadaxiao said, "You still came to see me, I thought you had forgotten about me!" ”

These two are the two eldest brothers he recognized in the barracks at the beginning, and they are also in the Miyun Change. He joined forces with him to kill two of Lebao's best friends, Alhatu and Caierga.

"How dare you forget Master Hou?" Cai Erjia put on a smile, "Our three battalions are stationed in Xiangshan, and I didn't hear that Hou Ye came back until a few days ago, so I made an appointment to see you." Fortunately, I was able to meet Hou Ye in time. ”

"Lao Cai, don't always wait for the lord," Guan Zhuofan said with a smile, "I sound awkward." Just like the original, call me Zhuo Fan. Otherwise, you still call me Xiaoguan and Guan San. That's fine. ”

"Don't you dare." Alhatu had been smiling innocently, and only now did he speak, "I saw that you were the dragon and phoenix among people, and now you are different from each other, don't you want to embarrass the two of us when you say that?" ”

This is also the truth, Guan Zhuofan thought with emotion, shook his head with a smile, and invited the two of them to sit in the flower hall very affectionately. When the servant served him cigarettes and tea, he called Tuber in again.

"Tuber, these two are my eldest brothers in the army, and when they come in the future, you can't let them wait in the ear room." Guan Zhuofan specially instructed, "Even if you have to wait, you will wait here." ”

"Huh."

When Tuber went out, Guan Zhuofan turned around and looked the two up and down immediately.

"Old man, even you are so good at talking. You and Lao Cai, what kind of officials are you doing now? ”

"Thanks to the Hou Ye, I am now the leader of the cavalry," Lao Ah replied, "Cai Erjia has transferred to the forward battalion and also become a forward guard. ”

"Oh, that's also the third-grade and fourth-grade officials, I want to congratulate the two big brothers!"

The two of them didn't even dare to say it. So I started to talk about it from here, and talked about everything in Beijing and Jiangsu in the past three years. At the end, Lao Ah said with emotion.

"To be honest, Cai Ercanon and I have today, all of which were given by the support of the Hou Ye at the beginning, I don't know when I will have such an opportunity again? This time, I heard that Hou Ye is going to go abroad and go to the country of foreigners to investigate, and next time there will be such a thing, why don't you ask Hou Ye to bring us both with you, and we will go to Hou Ye to be a guard, and we can also open our eyes by the way. ”

"Riding on a sea boat, that's not for fun." Guan Zhuofan smiled and said, "In Beijing, there are also benefits in Beijing." ”

When the two said goodbye, Guan Zhuofan stuffed another envelope into each of them before sending the two out of the door. As I walked back, I pondered in my heart.

A cavalry leader, a forward guard, that's not bad.

In Kyori, there are also benefits in Kyori.

*

*

On 19 August, Guan Zhuofan, the minister of the Imperial Mission and the second-class Marquis of Jiayong, was ordered to go to the United States to inspect the convoy of ordnance and ordnance industry, and officially set off from the capital and rushed to Tianjin. The U.S. Minister to China, Anson Pu, took four men with him and was allowed to go to Shanghai to coordinate for him.

To put it simply, this person is the one who is really closest to China among all the US envoys to China from the past to the future, so much so that he not only served as the minister of the United States, but also served as the minister of China - in history, he was the head of the first diplomatic mission sent by China, "Minister Plenipotentiary for Handling Chinese and Foreign Affairs Negotiations", and visited the United States and Europe.

And his death is also quite embarrassing.

When the diplomatic mission he led, Zuihou, was received by Tsar Alexander II when he went to Russia. However, during the talks, the tsar tried his best to avoid substantive content such as the territorial dispute between China and Russia, which made Pu Anchen feel depressed and depressed, and he pondered day and night - "Russia and China are adjacent to the land, thousands of miles. I am afraid that the method will be a little worse and I will lose my face to China, and if the words are not properly worded, I will laugh at the Russians." After the meeting, he contracted pneumonia and fell ill, and his illness worsened, and finally died in St. Petersburg, which can be regarded as giving his life for the diplomatic cause of the Chinese people.

Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, this time, Lao Tzu was ordered to go to the United States to investigate this matter, although it was just a "hat", but the name of the first diplomatic mission, of course, should be counted on himself. But because of such a good impression, along the way, I chatted with Pu Anchen very warmly. And Pu Anchen, like Charles, is often surprised by this Marquis Guan's understanding of the United States, and has an incredible feeling, and has more confidence in Xuanjun's participation in the war.

With a person like Pu Anchen as a companion, I won't feel bored when I talk along the way. When I arrived in Tianjin, I ate Liu Changyou's "coarse tea and light rice" as usual, and listened to him talk about cross-sea operations with a lot of flowers, nodding his head and calling him "Mo Weng Gaoming", hiding that smile in the bottom of his heart.

When I got on the ship at Dagukou, I was still sitting on Jin Nengheng's 1,200-ton "Pujiang". There was no wind on the sea, and the ship was fast and steady, and finally drove into Wusong Wharf before the end of the month.

Looking at the crowd standing on the pier to greet him, and looking at the chimneys and sails around the pier, Guan Zhuofan's heart was full of emotion.

Which of these ships will send me across the Pacific?

*

(This chapter is a little short, please forgive me.) ）

*(To be continued......)