After Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng, who were traveling at public expense, arrived in Nanjing, they were greeted with a grand welcome that surprised them a little, and Guo Songtao had just reported his identity as the envoy of the Wu army on the dock, and the commander of the Taiping army guarding the wharf immediately came forward to receive them in person, and while giving them warm hospitality, he sent people into the city at the first time and reported the matter directly to the officials of the Dongwang Mansion. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Then, something happened that made Guo Songtao a little blushing and embarrassed - the huge Taiping Army welcome team actually arranged a large sedan chair carried by sixteen people to take him into the city, Guo Songtao, who couldn't stand such a grand ceremony, repeatedly refused, and resolutely refused to get on the sedan chair, but the Taiping Army officials who came to pick him up also resolutely refused, and said that if Guo Songtao did not take such a sedan chair into the city, he would have no way to explain to the above. In the end, Guo Songtao had no choice but to sit in a sedan chair under the mocking eyes of his friend Gong Cheng, and enter the city in a sedan chair amid the deafening sound of ceremonial music.

Later, Guo Songtao learned that he was also lucky to receive such a warm hospitality, because the Taiping army in Nanjing was all descendants of Yang Xiuqing, and there was no blood feud with the Wu army, and after the Wu army and the Taiping army turned enemies into friends, they benefited the most, and were brainwashed the most by Yang Xiuqing's strategy of joining hands to break the Qing Dynasty, so the Nanjing Taiping Army attached so much importance to and welcomed the envoys of the Wu army. If it was replaced on the territory of other Taiping army generals, even if Yang Xiuqing personally ordered it, the Taiping troops in other places would never welcome the Wu army envoy so much.

Of course, this kind of etiquette not only made Guo Songtao uncomfortable, but also made Guo Songtao vaguely understand the real reason for the overall slowdown in the expansion momentum of the Taiping Army recently. Gong Cheng, who insisted on following Guo Songtao to travel at public expense, also muttered when he seized the opportunity, "It is worthy of the soil buns that came out of the ravine in Guangxi, and he was extravagant and domineering before he killed the chaotic party in the capital, saying that Yang Xiuqing has the life of the true dragon emperor, and Lao Tzu is the first to not believe it!" ”

What made Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng speechless was still behind, entered Nanjing City, and came to the gate of the legendary Dongwang Mansion, Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng, who had also eaten and seen in Beijing City, were extremely dumbfounded, compared with Yang Xiuqing's Dongwang Mansion, the palaces of those idle princes in Beijing were purely no different from ordinary houses, and Wu Chaoyue's Generalissimo Mansion was simply a broken grass house!

The luxury is too excessive, the area is almost ten times that of Wu Chaoyue's Generalissimo Mansion, not to mention, the two-zhang high wall is all painted bright yellow, not to mention, there are countless pavilions and pavilions built in the inside, Ziwu flowers and trees are intertwined, fish and birds are opposite, the indoor window lattices are painted with yellow paint, the lookout board is painted with dragon and phoenix, the tables and chairs are painted with yellow paint, and even the paving is also made of yellow satin, and at the same time, there are exquisite murals in each house. was so extravagant that Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng didn't dare to estimate the cost of building this Dongwang Mansion, and at the same time, it also strengthened Guo Songtao's opinion of Yang Xiuqing - definitely can't play a little spare money, and Wu Chaoyue, who will only think of building industrial facilities first.

When he was dazzled by the luxurious facilities of the East Palace, Yang Xiuqing's henchman Hou Shuqian came to Guo Songtao's front and told Guo Songtao very politely, saying that Yang Xiuqing was scheduled to meet Guo Songtao again the next afternoon and give a banquet, asking Guo Songtao to wait patiently, and also asked Guo Songtao what requirements he had in terms of diet and daily life, and said that he would do his best to meet them. Guo Songtao didn't care about Yang Xiuqing's stinky shelf, but just expressed his hope to see Hong Renji as soon as possible, Hou Shuqian agreed, but it didn't take long for Hong Renji to be invited to Guo Songtao quickly - but Yang Xiuqing's henchman Hou Shuqian was of course watching on the sidelines.

After introducing each other's identities with Hong Renji, and after a few polite words, Guo Songtao got into the topic and said directly: "Mr. Qianyi, there is something I hope you can tell me the truth, about the nine steamships you bought from the British, what is the specific content of the contract?" ”

Hearing this, Hou Shuqian next to him immediately pricked up his ears, and Hong Renji also glanced at Guo Songtao vigilantly, and then replied: "Mr. Yunxian, although I don't know why you are interested in this matter, I am very sorry, it is a secret of my heavenly kingdom, and without the permission of the East King, I dare not divulge a word." ”

"Are there nine steamers you ordered from the British, four big and five small?" Guo Songtao asked directly: "Is the total amount 870,000 taels, and you only paid half of it first?" Also, did you make an agreement with the British that each big steamer should hire thirty foreign sailors, and each small steamer ten foreign sailors? ”

Hong Renji's mouth opened wide and exclaimed in disbelief: "How do you know? ”

"So, these things are true?"

Guo Songtao didn't answer the rhetorical question, Hong Renji hesitated for a moment, and discussed a few words with Hou Shuqian in a low voice, and then nodded and admitted that there was indeed such a thing, but Guo Songtao also suddenly complained and said: "It turns out that this is all true, Mr. Qianyi, trouble, there may be something wrong with your deal." ”

Hong Renji was shocked, and when he hurriedly asked for details, Guo Songtao also roughly said that the British changed their hexagram and Li Taitai instigated Wu Jun to snatch the order, and also directly explained that Wu Chaoyue in order to maintain the alliance relationship with the Taiping Army, not only would he never fight this fleet's idea, but also specially sent himself to Nanjing to inform the Taiping Army of this matter, so that the Taiping Army could prepare early. Hong Renji and Hou Shuqian were even more shocked when they heard this, and hurriedly thanked Guo Songtao repeatedly, and also hurried to see Yang Xiuqing together and report the incident to Yang Xiuqing.

Then, of course, Yang Xiuqing didn't put on his stinky stand of Long Live the East King, and immediately ordered to summon Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng at the first time, and then without waiting for Guo Songtao to take a closer look at Yang Xiuqing's appearance, Yang Xiuqing had already asked with a slap on his face: "The foreigners really want their people to control the king's steamship fleet?" And I would like to persuade you to buy those steamships? Is the news you got from reliable there? ”

"Huidong Wang, the news sent to us by our Wu Dashuai's father in person, is absolutely reliable."

Guo Songtao replied respectfully, and immediately presented the letter written by Wu Chaoyue to Yang Xiuqing, but after Yang Xiuqing read the letter whose content was similar to Guo Songtao's oral introduction, he immediately lost his temper, patted the golden case in front of him and roared: "Foreign devils, Lao Tzu your eighteenth generation ancestors!" Tell Lao Tzu to pay for the ship, let your people control the fleet, you want to be beautiful! ”

"Long live the East King, please stop the anger." Li Shouchun, another henchman of Yang Xiuqing next to him, hurriedly opened his mouth to persuade, and deliberately glanced at Guo Songtao, and said with a pun: "This is just a rumor, no one knows if it is true or not, and please think carefully about His Royal Highness the King of the East, don't fall for other people's discordant schemes." ”

After being reminded by Li Shouchun, Yang Xiuqing suddenly remembered that Wu Chaoyue, who had a long history, was indeed likely to repeat his old tricks and fabricate such rumors to drive a wedge between the army and the British, and suddenly looked at Guo Songtao suspiciously. Guo Songtao looked calm, and said: "His Royal Highness the King of the East, if you suspect that we are dividing, then why don't you think about it, you only need to ask the foreigner who sold the steamer to you to know the truth of this matter, how can we separate the relationship between you and the foreigner?" ”

After thinking about it carefully, Yang Xiuqing immediately scolded Li Shouchun, forced Li Shouchun to close his stinky mouth, and then said to Guo Songtao: "Mr. Guo is right, we can't spend your gentleman's belly with the heart of a villain in this matter." Don't worry, I owe you more than the little demon ...... for this matter, oh no, I owe you a favor for this matter, Wu Dashuai, and as long as there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely double the reward. ”

"Your Royal Highness the King of the East, if it is convenient, can you let your majesty know the specific details of your negotiations with the foreigners? In this way, you can have a good heart, and maybe you can find the real reason for the sudden change of hexagram by foreigners. ”

Guo Songtao asked tentatively, and clearly told Yang Xiuqing: "Also, we have received accurate information, Wen Xiang, the military minister of the Qing Demon Imperial Court, who you call Wen Xiang, has been in Hong Kong during this time to attract foreigners to deal with your two armies, and our Wu Dashuai is worried that he will take the opportunity to intervene after hearing the news, not only to buy these steamships to enhance the military strength, but also to take the opportunity to drive a wedge between you and the British foreigners." ”

Considering that Wu Chaoyue had basically figured out the details of this arms deal through other channels, and that he knew nothing about diplomatic business, Yang Xiuqing gritted his teeth, and still ignored the opposition of Yang Yuanqing, Yang Zhuanqing and other brothers, and asked someone to bring the arms purchase contract he signed with the British and handed it to Guo Songtao to watch, and asked Hong Renji, who was helping him to negotiate at that time, to introduce as much detail as possible, and asked Guo Songtao to help the staff to find the cause of the problem.

To Guo Songtao's surprise, the warship contract signed by Yang Xiuqing, the native bun, and the British counselor Pa Xiali was quite detailed and thorough, and it was very clear that the warship was handed over and the method of payment was very clear, and it was not possible to order the warship in advance like Wu Chaoyue, and it was quite genius to order the fleet with the total displacement tonnage and the total number of artillery, and at the same time, it did clearly agree on the number of foreign sailors to be hired.

However, there is also a small loophole in the contract, that is, it is not stipulated that the commander of the ordered fleet must be the commander of the Taiping Army, and at the same time, it is agreed that if there is a dispute, it can continue to be resolved through negotiations, so if the British side resolutely plays on this ground, it is not without words.

At the same time, after listening to Hong Renji's introduction to the process of negotiating the deal with the foreigners, Guo Songtao quickly discovered a big problem - the person who is currently responsible for the execution of this contract with the Taiping Army is not Pa Xiali, who signed the contract, but Li Taitai, who leaked the news to Wu Jun!

"His Royal Highness the King of the East, Mr. Qianyi, why is the foreigner who is now in charge of delivery and collection is Li Taitai? Did you mention this when you signed the contract with Pashali? Guo Songtao hurriedly asked.

"I didn't mention it at the time." "Later, Mr. Pashali sent us a letter from Hong Kong, saying that he had received an order from China to return to England to report on his duties, so he decided to entrust the transaction to his negotiator at that time, Li Tai, to complete the transaction, and hoped that we would allow it. Long live the East King saw that Pasha Li was quite polite, and there was really no way to stay and wait for the ship to arrive, so he replied and agreed. ”

Speaking of this, Hong Renji suddenly remembered one thing again, and hurriedly said: "By the way, at that time, Pa Xia Li also hoped that Long Live the East King would agree to the British foreigners to establish a consulate in Tianjing, and let that Li Tai serve as the consul, but Long Live the East King did not agree considering all aspects of the situation. ”

When Guo Songtao frowned, Gong Cheng, who had not spoken all the time, suddenly thought of something and said: "If you don't get it, the problem is this Li Tai, you are blocking his way to be promoted, he has a grudge and wants to take revenge, so he wants to deliberately stir up this transaction, so that you can't buy a steamer with money." ”

"We're in his way to promotion? How did we get in the way? Hong Renji asked in surprise.

"Of course, I didn't agree to let him be the consul of Jiangning." Gong Cheng said casually: "You have not worked as an errand in the diplomatic department of foreigners, I don't know how much difference there is between being a consul and being a counselor, although the salary is not much different, but the counselor is only a deputy to the minister or ambassador, and there is not much oil and water to make after listening to people's orders." ”

"The consul is completely different, not only has great power, but also has a special amount of oil and water, and now those foreign consuls in the Shanghai concession, which one is not rich and rich? You didn't let Li Taitai be the consul of Jiangning, not only blocked his promotion, but also prevented him from getting rich, can he not hate you to the bone? ”

A word woke up the person in the dream, Guo Songtao and Hong Renji suddenly realized together, and immediately began to suspect that the sudden change of fortune in this transaction was likely to be a ghost by Li Taiji, and Yang Xiuqing, who was confused over there, was so angry that he directly overturned the gold case in front of him, and yelled: "Foreign devils, dare to play this king like this, this king wants to divide your whole family into five horses!" ”

Everyone hurriedly persuaded him, and Guo Songtao also opened his mouth to persuade a few words, and then said: "His Royal Highness the King of the East, at present, we are only suspicious of this Li Tai, and we are not sure that it is really him who is doing the ghost." Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will go to Hong Kong to find out the situation for you, and I will tell you as soon as I have any news. ”

"You're going to find out what's going on for the king?" Yang Xiuqing asked vigilantly and suspiciously, obviously refusing to believe that Guo Songtao could have such good intentions.

"Not bad." Guo Songtao nodded calmly and said, "Don't hide it from His Royal Highness the King of the East, in fact, I just want to go to Hong Kong and pass through Tianjing, and bring you a letter by the way." The purpose of our Wu Dashuai faction in going to Hong Kong is to inquire about and understand the business situation of this fleet, to help you buy this fleet as smoothly as possible, and to prevent the chaotic parties in the capital from buying this fleet at any cost. ”

"Can you Wu Dashuai have such a good heart?" Yang Xiuqing pondered for a while before asking.

"It's just a cold mouth." Guo Songtao replied more frankly, "If the rebel party in Beijing really buys this fleet, then not only will you regain the upper hand on the battlefield of the Yangtze River, but it is also very likely that you will turn against the British foreigners, and the Yangtze River waterway, the only outlet for our Hubei, will not be able to live in peace." That's why Wu Dashuai is so concerned about this issue, and he will do his best to help you buy this fleet, so that Your Royal Highness the East King can continue to protect the safety of our Yangtze River waterway. ”

After saying Wu Chaoyue's kindness, Guo Songtao put the gentleman first and then the villain, and said: "His Royal Highness the East King, I have to say a villain word below, we are really not afraid that you will start a war against us after you get the fleet, because even if you successfully get this fleet, the strength of the sailors is only slightly stronger than ours, but we are in the upper reaches and have strong fortifications to rely on, even if your sailors go west, at most they will only have a tie with us." Your Royal Highness the King of the East, your wisdom and martial arts, and we will fight for such a stupid thing as losing both sides and cheapening the party in the capital for nothing, we believe that you will never do it. ”

Yang Xiuqing's bearded face rarely showed some kind smiles, and said: "It's hard for you Wu Dashuai, that's right, you and I have two armies fighting to defeat each other and lose everything in vain, we must not do it!" Deliver the decree and prepare the best banquet, and the king will personally thank Mr. Guo. ”

After countless delicacies from the mountains and seas were placed in front of Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng, Yang Xiuqing and Guo Songtao agreed to let Hong Renji also go to Hong Kong with Guo Songtao on the same boat, not only to understand the situation on the spot, but also to facilitate contact and negotiation with Li Taitai in person. When Guo Songtao agreed, Gong Cheng, who was drinking shark fin soup over there, suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Hong Qianyi can't take a boat with us, he must go separately." ”

When Yang Xiuqing, Hong Renji and the others looked at Gong Cheng in puzzlement, Gong Cheng first swept away the shark fin soup in the golden bowl in front of him, and then slammed his mouth and explained: "If it is really Li Tai's ghost in the middle, he will definitely worry that we have confronted you face to face and exposed his conspiracy, and we will definitely find a way to cover it up, and we will not tell the truth to us, so that we will not know the details of him, and there is no way to stop him from selling the steamship fleet to the rebels in the capital." ”

Speaking of this, Gong Cheng pulled a plate of bear's paws in front of him again, and then said: "But if we go south separately with Hong Qianyi, Hong Qianyi will negotiate with Li Taitai in the open, and we will pretend to be very interested in that fleet in the dark, it will be difficult for Li Taitai not to tell us the truth." After we help Hong Qianyi find out the true details of Li Taitai, it will be much easier for you to force Li Taitai to abide by the contract and sell the ship to you? ”

Hong Renji was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said to Yang Xiuqing: "Long live Dongwang, this is a good idea, go on the road separately and negotiate with foreigners, you can easily find out the foreigners' hole cards, it is much easier than us going to Hong Kong together to find that Li Taitai directly." ”

Yang Xiuqing didn't answer, there was still some suspicion in his eyes when he looked at Gong Cheng, and Gong Cheng, who was chewing a bear's paw, guessed what Yang Xiuqing was thinking with his toes, so he said directly: "Your Royal Highness the East King, why don't you want to think about it, if we plan to take the opportunity to buy the steamship fleet, how can we send this fleet to Hubei?" Your Jiangyin Battery, can you promise to let our fleet pass? ”

The suspicion on Yang Xiuqing's face disappeared, and was replaced by an even more rare embarrassed expression, and said with a smile: "Mr. Gong wants to go there, how can this king have such a villain's heart?" This king is worried about your safety, when you contact foreigners privately, you must be careful of your safety, if there is anything, you can just say hello to Hong Renji, he will do his best to help you. ”

After laughing embarrassedly, Yang Xiuqing patted his chest again and said that as long as Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng could help the army successfully buy the fleet, he would definitely be grateful. Guo Songtao pretended not to do so, saying that as long as the Taiping Army and the Wu Army could continue to be friendly, he would be satisfied, but Gong Cheng was unceremoniously and said: "Your Royal Highness the King of the East, thank you for not daring, but if we help you buy a steamer smoothly, there is a reluctant request below, and I hope His Royal Highness the King of the East will allow it." ”

"What Mr. Gong wants, just say." Yang Xiuqing replied very cheerfully.

"Antique calligraphy and painting." Gong Cheng replied very unceremoniously: "I heard early in the next day that His Royal Highness the King of the East and the princes of the Kingdom of Heaven are not interested in antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and after the antiques seized on the battlefield are transported to Tianjing, most of them will reward people at will without even entering the holy treasury. ”

Yang Xiuqing laughed, and immediately said: "Okay, as long as you help this king successfully buy the steamer, those antiques, calligraphy and paintings in the Heavenly Sacred Treasury, Mr. Gong and Mr. Guo, you can take as much as you want, as long as your ship can fit it!" ”

After that, Yang Xiuqing, a native bun, also asked someone to bring ten pieces of antique calligraphy and painting that he didn't understand at all, and gave them to Gong Guo and the others on the spot as a meeting gift. Gong Cheng and Guo Songtao were overjoyed when they saw it, and hurriedly thanked Yang Xiuqing repeatedly, and said together in their hearts: "It's developed, and I've made a fortune this time." ”

"I can't imagine that the little demon can help this king so repeatedly, it seems that for a period of time, this king can rest assured that he will go north." Yang Xiuqing was also making his own calculations in his heart, and said secretly: "When the steamer arrives, while organizing the Northern Expedition fleet, Shi Dakai and Ji Wenyuan will fight further north, contain the main force of the Qing Demon in Shandong, and also strive to force the Qing Demon of Zhili to go south for reinforcements, and then suddenly send troops from the sea, follow the example of the foreigners and go straight to Beijing!" ”

"After the city of Beijing is defeated, this king can't rush to eliminate the Qing demons in other provinces, he has to leave them behind to continue to contain and surpass the little demons, and then this king will immediately block the Yangtze River waterway and force the surpass little demons to keep their promises and submit. If he doesn't keep his word, hum! ”