If Rong Hong had gone to other cities after returning to China, he would have seen with his own eyes the real situation in other cities in China under the barbaric and ignorant rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and would have personally understood how backward and primitive China was in terms of industry in this era. Needless to say, seeing the rudimentary weapons production line in the Wu Army Arsenal, as well as the advanced instruments and equipment in the Wu Army's weapons laboratory, Rong Hong must stay by Wu Chaoyue's side without saying a word, and help Wu Chaoyue strive to bring advanced Western science and technology into China, open China's industrial age in advance, and realize his long-cherished wish.

But it's a pity, Rong Hong's first stop after returning to China is Hong Kong, the second stop is Shanghai, the understanding of China's industrialization in this era is from Hong Kong and Shanghai, Rong Hong in addition to lamenting the huge gap between China's scientific and technological level and the Western powers in this era, but also preconceived that China's industrial science and technology in this era has a certain foundation, other cities may be better and more solid, as long as there is a reasonable advanced system, and then obtain their own advanced technology and knowledge brought back from the United States, Then China's industrialization era will definitely be able to start faster.

Therefore, as in history, Rong Hong also yearned for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom even more, and always felt that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that believed in God Jesus was easier to communicate with than those who believed in the Three Qing Buddhas, and it was easier to accept the advanced technology and systems of the West.

It was precisely this strong belief and lofty ideals that Rong Hong resolutely decided to follow Shui Qianyi to Nanjing to meet Hong Xiuquan, and as Shui Qianyi consulted with a large number of foreign missionaries, he also discussed how to go to Nanjing to spread Western culture and technology. It was also a coincidence that Xiao Baoling, the son of the former British minister to China, was about to arrive in Shanghai in the near future, and he would lead a large delegation of envoys to Nanjing to see Hong Xiuquan, striving to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and also to carry out more extensive commercial and trade exchanges, Shui Qianyi and missionaries from various countries planned to take this opportunity to go to Nanjing, and after Rong Hong hesitated again and again, he finally couldn't resist the demagogic persuasion of Shui Qianyi and some fanatical missionaries, nodded and agreed to go to Nanjing with Shui Qianyi.

It's not bad for Rong Hong, before that, although Wu Chaoyue also revealed the intention of soliciting him in the letter, he didn't directly invite him, let alone forcibly give him an official position and forced him to stay, he was still free, so Rong Hong also adopted Shui Qianyi's suggestion, and planned to refuse all Wu Chaoyue's invitations and appointments under the pretext of going to Hong Kong to do business, and as soon as Xiao Baoling's envoy arrived, he would go to Nanjing with Xiao Baoling.

On the morning of the second day when he made up his mind, Wu Chaoyue really sent someone to invite Rong Hong to meet him, and Rong Hong, who had received the kindness of Wu's old comprador, wanted to agree, but Shui Qianyi was afraid that Rong Hong would be brainwashed by Wu Chaoyue repeatedly, so he strongly persuaded Rong Hong to refuse, and told Wu Chaoyue's envoy on his own initiative, saying that Rong Hong had accepted the invitation of Father Yang of the concession and could not accept the invitation, so he sent Wu Chaoyue's envoy away. Rong Hong saw that although he felt that Shui Qianyi was a little excessive, he couldn't wipe the face between his friends, so he went with him.

At noon, after lunch, Shui Qianyi was about to take Rong Hong and himself to the church again, but he never thought that Rong Hong's original classmate Huang Sheng in the United States came to the door and invited Rong Hong to go outside with him. As a result, of course Rong Hong couldn't refuse this time, Shui Qianyi was unhappy in his heart, but he couldn't shake the friendship between Rong Hong and Huang Sheng, but Shui Qianyi still refused to rest assured, and continued to entangle Rong Hong with a dead face, and cheekily forcibly participated in the class reunion between Rong Hong and Huang Sheng.

Huang Sheng has been taking Rong Hong out of the concession, and directly took Rong Hong to the Huangpu River Waiyang Wharf outside the East Gate of Shanghai, and then pointed to a teahouse next to the wharf and said, "Brother Chunfu, how about we go in and have a cup of coffee?" ”

"Coffee in the teahouse?" Rong Hong laughed when he heard this, and said, "Pingfu, the teahouses in Shanghai still sell Western coffee?" ”

"Of course, there was no coffee in the Shanghai teahouses in the past, but because of Mr. Wu, almost all the teahouses on the Shanghai dock now sell coffee."

Huang Sheng smiled and led the way, and then casually pointed to the workers who were reciting the Bible aloud and neatly on the dock and said: "And these dock workers, it is also because of Lord Wu that they are so hard to memorize the Bible, many of them have already entered the church, and there are many children of poor workers who have entered the church school founded by Lord Wu to learn Western culture and knowledge. ”

"Lord Wu still has a church school?" Rong Hong asked in surprise.

Huang Sheng nodded, and then casually pointed out the direction where the church school was located, and said: "Master Wu not only funded the establishment of the school, but also came to the school several times to give lectures, transmitting physics, chemistry and English geography to students. ”

"Lord Wu is so enthusiastic about education? Still so proficient in Western knowledge? Rong Hong was even more surprised.

"Chunfu, you won't believe it." Huang Sheng said lightly: "Master Wu's mastery of Western physics and chemistry is still above me, a foreign student, and the new gunpowder he has personally researched, even Britain, the United States, France and Prussia have to pay a high price to buy the formula. ”

"Is there such a thing?" Rong Hong opened his mouth and stammered, but Shui Qianyi pouted quietly, and the lackeys who secretly surpassed the little demon really dared to blow.

While speaking, Huang Sheng had already led Rong Hong and Shui Qianyi into the teahouse, and also led Rong Hong and others directly to the door of a private room, and when he pushed the door open, Rong Hong was immediately extremely embarrassed - Wu Chaoyue, who was refused to meet by him not long ago, was actually in the room, talking and laughing with two blonde and blue-eyed foreign priests.

Fortunately, Wu Chaoyue didn't mention what happened just now, just smiled and got up to invite Rong Hong and others to the table, and took the initiative to introduce the two foreign priests to Rong Hong, saying: "Brother Chunfu, let me introduce you, this is Father Maidosmer, an Englishman, he has been in China for eleven years. This is the Rev. Martin Mar of the Presbyterian Church of North America, an American, and my best American friend. ”

Rong Hong hurriedly hugged Maadows and Martin, and Martin also hugged Rong Hong and said: "Rong, I have heard Wu say your name a long time ago, it is amazing, it is a great miracle to be able to graduate from Yale University in the United States and achieve excellent results." ”

Rong Hong was polite and modest, and Wu Chaoyue's two Western fox friends were extremely polite, and then after they each sat down and asked the guy to bring coffee, Wu Chaoyue opened his mouth again, and said with a smile: "Brother Chunfu, please Brother Pingfu trick you here, I don't mean anything else, in addition to wanting to introduce you to Father Mak and Pastor Martin, I also want you to see someone again." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue made a gesture to Wu Dada, who was beside the waiter, and Wu Dadao went out willingly, and after a while, he led two personal soldiers to escort in a Taiping soldier who was tied up with flowers. Wu Chaoyue pointed to the captive and introduced to Rong Hong: "Brother Chunfu, by the way, this long-haired man is called Zhang Shaoqiang, and he once achieved the position of the commander of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It's just that he was captured by our army some time ago, and my sister-in-law and little niece were exchanged for chips by our army, so he was demoted to an ordinary soldier, and when our army recovered Shanghai, he was also caught for the second time. ”

Looking at Zhang Shaoqiang, who was full of scars and angry faces, Rong Hong was confused, and asked Wu Chaoyue: "Lord Wu, then what are you doing with him?" ”

"Let you know the real Taiping Heavenly Kingdom." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "This Zhang Shaoqiang, who used to be a middle-level general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, is also an old man who joined the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom when he was in Hunan, and he knows the internal situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom very well, I want him to tell you what the real Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue didn't care whether Rong Hong agreed or not, and asked Zhang Shaoqiang directly: "Let me ask you, who is the Heavenly Father?" Who is Heavenly Father's second son? ”

Of course, Zhang Shaoqiang, who was quite loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, refused to answer, and Wu Chaoyue smiled again: "Zhang Shaoqiang, this official clearly tells you that this is your only chance to return to the long-haired army, as long as you answer my question honestly, I will let you go immediately after the incident, and give you the road to go back to Suzhou directly." ”

Zhang Shaoqiang was of course very moved when he heard this, and asked the general: "Really? ”

"Of course it's true." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "With so many people here, does this official have a truth that he has no promises? In addition, I can tell you clearly that I am only asking you some simple questions, and will never involve your secrets, and if you feel that the questions I ask are not good for you, you can also refuse to answer. ”

Zhang Shaoqiang was skeptical, but in order to fight for this opportunity to be released, Zhang Shaoqiang still replied honestly: "Heavenly Father is God, and Heavenly Father's second son is long live the Heavenly King of our heavenly kingdom." ”

"What?!" Rong Hong's eyes almost didn't pop out, and he exclaimed, "God has a son? The second son is Hong Xiuquan? ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled and nodded, while Martin and Maadows over there had a wry smile on their faces, and said to Rong Hong: "Rong, when we first learned this answer, we were more surprised than you. But it is true that the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did believe that God had two sons, and the second son was their heavenly king, Hong Xiuquan. Before they were driven away by Wu, we tried many times to reverse their erroneous thinking, but not only did it not have the slightest effect, but we were beaten by them. ”

When Rong Hong was even more speechless, Wu Chaoyue asked Zhang Shaoqiang again: "Then when Heavenly Father God descended to earth, who was he possessed?" Who in your Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is the reincarnation of our Heavenly Brother Jesus? ”

"Heavenly Father descended to earth, of course, he possessed the body of our East King who was nine thousand years old!" Zhang Shaoqiang raised his head and replied: "The 8,000-year-old King of the West of our Heavenly Kingdom is the reincarnation of his heavenly brother Jesus, and he has been called by the Heavenly Father to ascend to heaven!" ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled and asked, "Since Heavenly Father was possessed by your Eastern King Nine Thousand Years Old when he descended to earth, then in your Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who has the final say between the Heavenly King and the Eastern King?" ”

"Usually the king of heaven has the final say, and when the father of heaven descends to earth, the king of the east has the final say." Zhang Shaoqiang replied truthfully.

"Good." Wu Chaoyue nodded with satisfaction, and asked again: "Then your Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, how many princesses did you have when Yong'an was founded?" How many princesses are there now? ”

Zhang Shaoqiang hesitated and remained silent, while Wu Chaoyue smiled and said, "This is my last question, after you finish answering, you can go back to Suzhou." ”

Unable to resist the temptation of freedom, Zhang Shaoqiang still replied truthfully: "I heard that when the Kingdom of Heaven was established in Yong'an, Long Live the King of Heaven canonized thirty-six princesses. I don't know how many queens there are in the king of heaven now, anyway, there must be a lot, when he was in Wuchang, Prime Minister Xu took us to select many beauties among the people to present to the king. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, he kept his promise and didn't ask Zhang Shaoqiang any more questions, but just turned his gaze to Rong Hong, smiling and admiring Rong Hong's shocked expression, but what made Wu Chaoyue very suspicious was that although Rong Hong was indeed stunned and full of disbelief at this moment, Shui Qianyi, who was sitting next to Rong Hong, did not have the slightest surprised expression, on the contrary, he was still a little timid and afraid, and kept peeking at Rong Hong's surprised expression.

After being silent for a moment, something happened that made Wu Chaoyue even more suspicious, Rong Hong suddenly turned to Shui Qianyi, and asked sharply, "Why have you never told me these things?" ”

Shui Qianyi's expression was quite sad and he replied, "I don't know either, I've never heard of it." ”

Glaring at Shui Qianyi angrily, Rong Hongcai turned to Wu Chaoyue again and said, "Lord Wu, thank you for letting me know these things, I really didn't expect that Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing would be such people." ”

"Why bother with a little effort?"

Wu Chaoyue smiled and waved his hand, with a pair of triangular eyes the size of mung beans, but he always stared at Shui Qianyi, who was already sweating on his forehead, and suddenly asked, "Mr. Shui, is it hot?" Why are you sweating? ”

"No ......, no huh?" Shui Qianyi hurriedly denied it, but quickly wiped his forehead with his hand.

"Mr. Shui, you are a Hong Kong evangelist, so who are you? Who is the priest who baptized you? Wu Chaoyue asked again.

"Pakse." Shui Qianyi replied honestly and said, "It was Father Han Shanwen who baptized me. ”

Hearing the answer, Wu Chaoyue of course immediately went to see Maddox and Martin, two insiders, and the result was not bad for Shui Qianyi, Maddox immediately nodded and said: "Yes, there is such a Father Han Shanwen in Hong Kong, a Swede, who was appointed by the Swiss Pakse Society to preach in China, and he is a very good friend of mine. ”

When Shui Qianyi breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't think that Mai Dusi said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Father Han Shanwen and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are also very related, Hong Xiuquan's clan brother Hong Renji accepted his baptism and became a believer, and he also wrote a book about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising dictated by Hong Renji, which is ready to be published in Hong Kong, and said that he would give me a copy after publication, so that I could help him sell it in the Shanghai Concession." ”

Hearing Maddox's unintentional words, Wu Chaoyue's history knew who Shui Qianyi in front of him was, and Shui Qianyi, that is, Hong Renji, was pale, cold sweat was rolling on his forehead, and he quietly pressed the table, ready to get up and flee at any time.

Rong Hong was also very nervous, quietly paying attention to Wu Chaoyue's reaction and expression, but what made Rong Hong and Hong Renji extremely strange was that Wu Chaoyue had been silent all the time, as if he hadn't paid attention to Maadows's words. After a while, Wu Chaoyue smiled slightly and said: "It's a pity, if this Hong Renji is hiding in the Shanghai Concession, then I just need to find a way to deceive him into the rental world, it will be a great achievement." ”

Wu Chaoyue's joke was not funny, only Martin, who had a relatively low laughing point, laughed and said: "Wu, if such a situation really occurs, then don't worry, I will never go to the Shanghai County Government to sue you to force you to release that Hong Renji." On the contrary, I will go to the prison to beat that Hong Renji to see if he dares to tamper with our Western teachings. ”

Martin's joke finally amused everyone, and even Hong Renji laughed a few times with everyone, and at this time, Zhang Shaoqiang, who had been left out in the cold, roared angrily, "Beyond the little demon, you promised to let me go, do you keep your promise?" ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled, took out the road strip that had been prepared a long time ago, and asked his own soldiers to escort Zhang Shaoqiang out and secretly release him. Seeing this scene, of course, Maddox and Martin and others vigorously praised Wu Chaoyue's words and kept his promise, Wu Chaoyue smiled and was modest, and then said to Rong Hong: "Brother Chunfu, take this opportunity to tell you something serious by the way. I can also guarantee that I will not treat you badly, and you will definitely have the opportunity to show your strengths in my shogunate, and spread the advanced knowledge you learned from the United States to the land of China, take root, and carry forward! ”

Rong Hong was very shaken and hesitant, and Maadows on the other side also said: "Rong, I don't think you have to think about it, you have just returned to China after living in the United States for many years, and you don't know the degree of resistance and hatred of Western culture and modern technology in various parts of China. Only Wu is an exception, he is a person who really understands the West, and he is also the only person who knows how to spread Western culture and technology in China. ”

Martin and Huang Sheng were also beside him to persuade Rong Hong to join Wu Chaoyue's shogunate, but although Rong Hong was very moved, he still had a little concern, and after thinking about it for a long time, Rong Hong said: "Lord Wu, you want me to stay and help you, I am willing, but I have one condition, I hope you can agree." ”

"Brother Chunfu, please speak." Wu Chaoyue replied with a smile.

"Allow me to resign at any time." Rong Hong replied.

"Absolutely." Wu Chaoyue laughed when he heard this, and said: "Brother Chunfu, don't worry, if you are under my account, if you find that you are not in harmony with me, or find that I am a dou who can't be supported, it is not worth your service, and even if you think that if other places are more suitable for you, then you can leave at any time!" Not only did I not force you to stay, but I also gave you the passage money and sent someone to protect you from leaving! ”

Wu Chaoyue had said it to this point, of course Rong Hong had nothing else to say, so he immediately got up and bowed to Wu Chaoyue, and said respectfully: "Lord Zhentai, student Rong Hong, I will dispatch you in the future." ”

Wu Chaoyue laughed, quickly got up and saluted Rong Hong, and immediately decided to let Rong Hong serve as the principal of his church school and the deputy director of the arsenal at the same time, and the salary offered was twice as high as that of Huang Sheng, who had only studied abroad for one year. Rong Hong thanked him modestly, and Wu Chaoyue, who was full of joy, immediately invited everyone to his own banquet to celebrate Huang Sheng's entry, and everyone agreed, but Hong Renji insisted on refusing and said: "Lord Wu, Brother Chunfu, I'm really sorry, I'm a little unwell, I can't drink, and I want to go back to the concession to rest first." ”

Pretending to invite a few more words, seeing that Hong Renji insisted on refusing, Wu Chaoyue was not reluctant, and nodded and agreed to let Hong Renji go back to the concession to rest first. When Hong Renji hurriedly thanked him with relief, he didn't notice that Wu Chaoyue's triangular eyes were flashing with an incomparably poisonous light............ (To be continued.) )