"Wu! I have heard your name for a long time, but it is a pity that when I came to Shanghai to take office, you had already gone to the north of China to fight in the war, and I could not meet you, the Chinese who knows Europe best, earlier! To introduce myself, my French name is B· Edan, whose Chinese name is Aitang, is the new consul of the French Republic in Shanghai, China. ”

"Dear Wu, I am more than happy to help you in the case of the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom escaping into the British Concession, exerting diplomatic pressure on the British side to force them to hand over the soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to you, and inducing the British side to change their neutral position and cut off all economic and political exchanges with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

"Thank you very much, dear Mr. Aitang, if this can be true, of course it is very good, but how can I repay you?"

Wu Chaoyue asked Aitang, the new French consul he had just met, without smiling, and Aitang smiled more hypocritically than Wu Chaoyue, and said: "Very, very simple, after the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom captured the city of Shanghai, affected by the war, the economic and trade interests of our citizens have been greatly harmed, if you can persuade the Qing court to recognize Shanghai as a ****** to France and exempt all Chinese merchants from all import and export tariffs in Shanghai, then I am already very satisfied." ”

"Dear Mr. Aitang, you should shoot me to death." Wu Chaoyue directly handed a revolver to Aitang, and said with a wry smile: "Shanghai tariff is the most important source of money for our army to quell Hong Xiuquan's evil rebellion, if I agree to your conditions, even if our Qing court does not kill me, the soldiers of our Qing army will hack me to death." Instead of letting them kill me, it's better to ask Mr. Aitang to do it directly. ”

"Dear Wu, you're really direct." Of course, Aitang didn't take Wu Chaoyue's revolver, but smiled again and said: "Wu, I like your frank way very much, but I must remind you of two points, the first is that the current Shanghai Customs has been burned down by the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and all European and American countries have stopped paying tariffs, and it is still unknown which Chinese government will pay our tariffs in the future." The second is that I did not ask your imperial court to recognize Shanghai as a comprehensive ******, but only asked that Shanghai be made a ****** to France, that French merchants be exempted from import and export duties, and that your customs could still collect tariffs from other European and American countries. ”

When Aitang said this, the consuls of the United States, Prussia, Spain, and Belgium were also smiling beside them, and when Wu Chaoyue agreed to Aitang's shameless request, he immediately forced Wu Chaoyue to agree to exempt them from all import and export tariffs in Shanghai. It's a pity that Wu Chaoyue was not fooled at all, shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands and said: "Dear Mr. Aitang, thank you for the reminder, but unfortunately, my current position is the envoy of Jiangsu, and I have no right to meddle in diplomatic and customs affairs, so I can only agree to report your request truthfully to Mr. Xu Naizhao, the governor of Jiangsu, at most, and cannot directly agree to your request." ”

Aitang refused to give up, and asked Wu Chaoyue to make sure to promote this matter in exchange for putting pressure on Ali Guo, and the consuls of the other four countries also fanned the flames, pretending to be kind and suggesting that Wu Chaoyue carefully consider Aitang's friendly proposal, and went up the house to pump the ladder and constantly pushed Wu Chaoyue to the roof. Wu Chaoyue was hypocritical and polite with these jackals and hungry tigers, and at the same time wondered in his heart, "What the hell is Ali Guo doing?" Why are the other consuls here, but he, the main lord, hasn't shown up yet? ”

After waiting for a long time, the old acquaintance Ali Guo finally took a European-style carriage to the end of the pontoon bridge, and after leading a few entourages to cross the river, Ali Guo did not rush to greet Wu Chaoyue, but first spoke hypocritically and politely with Ai Tang, A Huawei, Qi Liyun and other consuls, and then gave Wu Chaoyue a look, and then bowed to the side, Wu Chaoyue understood, and immediately asked Wu Lao Comprador to temporarily be hypocritical and polite for himself and Ai Tang and others, and walked side by side with Ali Guo to talk alone.

Ali Guo directly led Wu Chaoyue to the bank of the Wu Yan River, facing the slowly flowing Wu Yan River, Ah Li Guo said directly: "Wu, I know you are looking for me, but I'm very sorry, just now I have let those Taiping soldiers leave the British Concession from Nichengbang, so no matter what you say now, I can't take it out." ”

Knowing that foreigners can do anything for money, Wu Chaoyue had been mentally prepared for not being able to meet people before this, but Ali Guo directly let people go without even saying hello, Wu Chaoyue was still very dissatisfied with this, and hummed: "Mr. Ali Guo, I really didn't expect the friendship between us to be so little." ”

"Wu, you misunderstood me, it is precisely because of the deep friendship between us that I released him without asking for your opinion."

Ali Guo shook his head and said: "When you went to fight in the north with your army, our British Minister to China, Dr. Wen Han, returned to China after his term of office, and the first major thing that the new Minister Sir Bao Ling had to do after taking office was to ask for a revision of the Treaty of Nanjing, so that your stupid imperial court would open the country's ports and inland cities to British citizens, open the Yangtze River route, allow the opium trade to be legalized, and allow our country to establish an embassy in your capital. ”

"I know that your stupid court will never agree to these requests, and I also know that once Mr. Bao Ling intervenes in the Taiping army's escape into the concession to seek protection, he will definitely force you to come forward to match him with your stupid court, and your situation will only be more embarrassing at that time, so I preemptively released people to avoid further expansion of the situation and involve you in the negotiation of the study contract."

After listening to Ali Guo's explanation, Wu Chaoyue's heart was a little more comfortable - Wu Chaoyue knew very well that if he was really forced into the foreign negotiations to revise the treaty, then not only would he be in a dilemma between the Manchu court and the foreign bullies, but the new traitorous infamy would not be able to run away no matter what. And after understanding Ali Guo's hard work, Wu Chaoyue also said frankly: "Mr. A Li Guo, it seems that I really misunderstood you, thank you for your consideration of my position." But Mr. Aliko, what will happen in the future? In the future, if the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom runs into the concession as soon as it fails, then how can I fight this battle? ”

"I can't help it." Ah Liguo shrugged his shoulders and said with the same distressed expression: "Mr. Bao Ling has asked me to strictly observe neutrality and never provoke an armed conflict with either side; I had previously ordered that no outsider should enter the concession, but the merchants of our country, who were adamantly opposed for the sake of economic gain, forced me to withdraw the order; The army in the concession was formed by the consuls of Britain, the United States and France, and I could not directly command it alone, so I could not order the army of the concession to prevent the Taiping soldiers from entering the concession. So Wu, although I really want to help you, I can't do anything about it. ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't know whether what Ali Guo said was true or not, and he thought about it silently, and Ah Li Guo said: "Of course, Wu, if you want the consuls of the United States and France to also stand on your side, no longer provide any help to the Taiping Army, and even send troops to help you suppress the Taiping rebellion, it is not impossible, but you must also know that this must pay a corresponding price." ”

Wu Chaoyue was still silent, and after a while, Wu Chaoyue said: "Let me think about this, Mr. Aliguo, and forget to thank you for taking care of my family, if it weren't for your takeover, my family would be in danger this time." ”

"You're welcome." Ali Guo waved his hand, and then Ali Guo finally turned to face Wu Chaoyue, and suddenly showed a little smile, and said: "Wu, I forgot to tell you a good news, the exploration team you and I jointly invested in has found that cute little lamb in Hokkaido, Japan. Tell me where the other lambs are. ”

Wu Chaoyue suddenly realized, and then he knew why Ali Guo was so friendly to him, and took the initiative to help him without mentioning any conditions. After smiling bitterly, Wu Chaoyue said: "Dear Mr. Aliguo, there is a saying in China that greed is more than chewing, I think we should first take that gold mine, and when he produces gold for silver and pounds, then we will consider exploring new gold mines." Otherwise, even if we find more gold mines, what is the use of not being able to control them? Didn't you make a wedding dress for someone else? ”

"Little slippery, it seems that if you don't get the three percent of the shares, you won't speak again." Ah Liguo scolded in his heart, but he still had a smile on his face, and said: "Okay, that's it, I have already gone to Wen to implore Mr. Bao Ling to send troops to take down the gold mine, if it goes well, I will soon be able to officially mine that lovely big gold mine, you just wait for my good news." ”

Wu Chaoyue pretended to thank Ah Liguo, and then Wu Chaoyue's heart moved again, and he hurriedly asked: "Mr. Ali Guo, as far as I know, the population of Hokkaido seems to be quite sparse now, can you find enough laborers to mine the gold mines there?" ”

"It's really a big problem." Ali Guo nodded and said, "In fact, because of the ban of the Japanese shogunate on Japanese people from interacting with foreigners, including the already mining Kagoshima gold mine, there is a shortage of manpower. ”

"Mr. Aliko, I have a solution to this problem." Wu Chaoyue hurriedly said: "I came back this time to quell the rebellion in Shanghai, and I will definitely be able to capture a large number of Taiping prisoners in the future, and when the time comes, you will come forward to contact businessmen from various countries and sell the prisoners I have captured to Japan as laborers, which not only solves the problem of insufficient manpower for gold mining, but also allows us to make a small amount of money, isn't it the best of both worlds?" ”

As soon as Ali Guo heard the great joy, he immediately agreed, and while Wu Chaoyue and Ali Guo high-fived each other, he also secretly said in his heart: "Long hairs, thank me, anyway, if I hand you over to the Manchu court, it will be a death, it is better to go to Japan, maybe you can break into a new world, and also help us solve a hidden danger in China." ”

Because of the protection of the Western powers, Wu Jun Lian Yong finally missed the great opportunity to severely annihilate the main force of the Taiping Army, but the results were not small, in addition to killing the enemy and destroying more than 1,500 enemies, the Wu army also successfully took the Taiping Army's Zhabei camp, controlled the vast space north of the Wu Yan River, and also opened the way to continue south.

The slow-flowing Wusong River is full of ferries, and pontoon bridges can be built everywhere, and at the same time, Wu Jun Lian Yong can also borrow a road from the concession to cross the Wusong River to the south, and the Taiping army certainly does not dare to dream of relying on such a river to resist the southward footsteps of the Wu army. As a last resort, Zeng Lichang and Xu Zongyang had no choice but to make a painful decision, taking the initiative to lift the siege of the Wu Army Arsenal, concentrate the main force of the Taiping Army, which was exhausted and suffering heavy casualties, and temporarily camp one mile outside the West Gate of Shanghai, and seize the time to build some fortifications to protect the communication road with the West Gate of Shanghai. Zhou Lichun's defeated army also fled to the southwest corner of Shanghai to set up a battalion of its own, continuing to maintain a distance from the main force of the Taiping army.

After the Taiping army took the initiative to lift the siege of the Wu army arsenal, Wu Chaoyue of course immediately crossed the Wu Liao River south to join Deng Siyuan, replenish ammunition and weapons, and give Deng Siyuan's army a chance to rest and recuperate. After meeting, Wu Chaoyue naturally had to praise Deng Siyuan fiercely, saying that he was not wrong to let Deng Siyuan stay in Shanghai, and then praised Zhou Tenghu for his courage and strategy, bold and careful, and a little arrogant Zhou Tenghu calmly accepted Wu Chaoyue's praise, and then took the initiative to say: "Wu Zhentai, this is just the beginning, although our army has successfully joined the division, but the strength of the enemy has not changed, how to annihilate the main force of Changmao and recapture Shanghai City, we still need to plan carefully." ”

"What's the plan for this?" Wu Chaoyue asked.

"Mount Tai is overwhelming, and the thunder is so thunderous that Changmao can't gain a foothold outside Shanghai!" Zhou Tenghu replied: "Force all the long hairs to retreat to Shanghai to defend the city, then our army can have a good chance of winning." ”

If it were someone else, they would basically think that Zhou Tenghu was going crazy when they heard this suggestion - the enemy was already a large number of soldiers, and he wanted to let all the enemies retreat into the city to occupy an absolute geographical advantage, so how could Shanghai City be recaptured? But Wu Chaoyue was not, after a little calculation, Wu Chaoyue said: "What does Mr. Tao Fu mean is to let the enemy retreat to the city and eat the dog, and civil strife on his own?" ”

"Exactly." Zhou Tenghu nodded and said: "Although there are many long-haired troops, but the battalion is complicated, the orders are not uniform, Zeng Lichang, Liu Lichuan and Zhou Lichun The three thief armies are not subordinate to each other, each into a department, if you try to force Zeng Lichang and Zhou Lichun to retreat into Shanghai, Liu Lichuan does not allow them to enter the city, and Longhair will inevitably have civil strife; If Liu Lichuan allows them to enter the city, then after entering the city, the three thieves will fight for power and profit, and Longhair will also give birth to civil strife. At that time, our army will not only be easy to defeat the enemy, but will also be able to greatly reduce the casualties of non-commissioned soldiers. ”

"It can also make it impossible for Long Hair to run back into the concession." Zhou Tenghu's brother-in-law Zhao Liewen added: "Let Changmao be stationed outside the city, and Changmao will run to the concession as soon as he loses the battle, and when we retreat, he will come out of the concession to fight us, when will it be a head?" But if Longhair is forced to retreat into the city to defend the city, Longhair has no choice but to run to the concession. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, and did not ask how to force the Taiping army to retreat into Shanghai, because the best and most direct way was to use force. The result was also a coincidence, in the afternoon of the same day, Xu Naizhao, the governor of Jiangsu, sent someone to send good news, saying that the acting governor of Jiangnan and Chun had rushed to Wusongkou with the second wave of reinforcements sent by the Jiangnan battalion, and estimated that they would be able to join forces with Wu Chaoyue tomorrow to join forces, and asked Wu Jun to prepare to help the Qing army go south. Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard the report, and immediately replied to Xu Naizhao, asking Xu Naizhao and He Chun to join forces to go south, if the Taiping army sent troops to stop it, he would definitely send troops to respond.

With Wu Chaoyue's promise, in the early morning of the next day, Xu Naizhao and Hechun's army really joined forces to go south to Shanghai, of which Hechun's army was about 3,000 people, Xu Naizhao's army was about 3,500 people with the green battalion and Xiangyong, plus Wu Chaoyue's six battalions and Qin Ruhu's more than 1,000 green battalions, the Qing army's strength finally broke through the 10,000 mark, both in quantity and quality, it has exceeded the main force of the Taiping Army stationed outside Shanghai.

After finding out that the Qing army was reinforced and joined forces to go south, Zeng Lichang was shocked and once sent troops north to block it, but the Taiping army's army had just been dispatched, and Wu Chaoyue had already sent two battalions to the north, and the chrysanthemums of the Taiping army's blocking troops were violently exploded. Xu Zongyang, who was ordered to block the attack, was afraid of being defeated by the enemy on his back and did not dare to fight, so he could only quickly retreat to the pontoon bridge of the Wu Yan River built by the Taiping army to take a defensive position, and watched Wu Jun Lian Yong join forces with the main force of the Qing army and continue to cross the Wu Yan River smoothly.

When the news came back to the Taiping military camp, Zeng Lichang, who had too many elite casualties, did not dare to force Xu Zongyang to forcibly march, so he could only quickly recall Xu Zongyang to give up the blocking plan, and then discuss the next battle plan with Xu Zongyang. In view of the reversal of the situation, the Taiping army actually had only three options left, the first was to enter the city of Shanghai and join forces with Liu Lichuan to defend the city, the second was to build a strong camp against the Qing army with the back of the city, and the third was to withdraw to Suzhou to regroup, waiting for the appearance of new fighters and waiting for the second wave of reinforcements promised by Yang Xiuqing.

Considering the powerful destructive power of Wu's artillery to the civil fortifications, the second option was quickly abandoned, Zeng Lichang and Xu Zongyang also considered a safe choice to retreat to Suzhou, but Shanghai was also extremely important to the Taiping army, if it could gain a foothold in Shanghai, the Taiping army could not only cut off the important financial resources of the Manchu court, but also obtain guns, ammunition and foreign ships and cannons through trade, which further strengthened the military strength of the Taiping army. So Xu Zongyang quickly said: "Prime Minister Zeng, I mean, it is best to persuade Liu Lichuan to allow us to enter the city and wait for the reinforcements sent by Prime Minister Lin. Anyway, we have already seized a large amount of grain from the Qing Demon, as long as we ensure that the city is not lost, there is no problem in holding on until Prime Minister Lin Cheng comes to help. ”

"Of course, it's best to go into the city and stick to it." Zeng Lichang's face was a little gloomy, and he said: "But there are two questions, first, what if Liu Lichuan doesn't agree to let us enter the city?" Second, Zhou Lichun's secret report that the little demon had asked people to give Liu Lichuan two letters on the battlefield, but Liu Lichuan has not handed over the letters to me so far, I am worried that this Erwuzai is no longer reliable, and I am afraid that there will be danger after we enter the city. ”

"I have a way to get into the city." Xu Zongyang, who is quite resourceful, said: "Liu Lichuan's cronies Chen Alin and Li Xianchi are both greedy for money, as long as we pay money to buy it, we are not afraid that they will not speak for us." Then we had a showdown with Liu Lichuan and said that either we should go into the city and garrison him and help him defend the city together, or we would retreat to Suzhou and let him lead the army to defend the city alone. This Erwuzi is greedy for life and afraid of death, and Chen Alin and Li Xianchi help us speak, I am not afraid that he will not agree to let us enter the city. ”

"As for after entering the city." Xu Zongyang said again: "Let's be careful first, secretly observe Liu Lichuan's actions, if he can be trusted, we will join forces with him to defend the city." If he is unreliable, and even has a different heart, then he ....... ”

Speaking of this, Xu Zongyang viciously made a gesture to kill his head. (To be continued.) )