The dying Manchu coup clique seemed to have ushered in a ray of light, and even Wen Xiang, who was currently in charge of foreign affairs for the Manchu court, did not expect that the operation of robbing the Taiping army's fleet of steam gunboats would go so smoothly that the British diplomatic counselor Li Tai, who is currently presiding over the matter, would agree that as long as the deal with the Taiping army fell through, he would immediately resell this powerful fleet to the Manchu court. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Of course, the Manchu court also had to pay a greater price than the Taiping army, and in addition to raising the price of the fleet from 870,000 taels to 1 million taels, Li Taitai also put forward two very harsh conditions: the first was that the Manchu court must pay 10 million taels of military expenses for four years in batches, and the second was that the British retired naval colonel Aspen must be the commander of this fleet, and all the sailors on board must be British.

The dawn that had just appeared in front of Wen Xiang suddenly disappeared, and in desperation, Wen Xiang could only do his best to bargain with Li Tai, and took the risk of making decisions in the negotiations, making great concessions. However, Li Taitai aimed at the Manchu court's failure to let the Taiping army get the death hole of this fleet, insisted on the conditions for selling ships and did not let go, and repeated negotiations were fruitless, and the negotiations reached a complete deadlock.

In the end, there was really no way, Wen Xiang had no choice but to grit his teeth and take the initiative to stop the negotiations, and make up his mind to wait for Li Taitai to negotiate with the Taiping Army first, and then see the opportunity to act. However, what Wen Xiang didn't know was that after he took the initiative to suspend the ship purchase negotiations, Li Taitai was quiet on the surface, but he gradually began to panic in his heart............

“SHIT！ Damn Chinese pigs! If Beijing withdraws from the purchase competition, and Nanjing resolutely refuses to accept my conditions, won't I be in big trouble? Once the truth is exposed, those bastards in China can still bypass me? But if I carry out the contract signed by Pashali exactly as it is, Aspen and his bastards won't be able to spare me, right? ”

In this case, Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng, the representatives of the Wu army who suddenly appeared in front of Li Taitai, of course, became angels in Li Taitai's eyes, especially after Guo Songtao claimed that he was here to understand the price and fleet situation for Wu Chaoyue, Li Taitai, who was notoriously arrogant and irritable, rarely put down his shelf, and talked and laughed with Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng, who could also speak English, and tried his best to encourage Wu Chaoyue to be the receiver and buy this fleet that was very likely to be returned by the Taiping Army.

"Dear Guo, dear Gong, I can vouch with my personality, if your army can buy this fleet, then the entire Yangtze River route will be completely in your hands, whether it is the Taiping army or the capital army, they will no longer be your opponents on the water."

"As for the price, you can definitely rest assured, we Britons and Marshal Wu have always been the friendliest friends, even the ship with weapons is only one million taels of silver, as for other aspects, we can discuss."

"Don't misunderstand our decision to let Colonel Aspen be the commander of the fleet, we made this decision mainly because there are two iron-hulled steam paddle steamer warships in this fleet, you Qing people can neither operate and drive, let alone use combat, only Colonel Aspen as the commander of this fleet can really give full play to the power of this fleet."

"Also, Colonel Aspen is not only an experienced naval officer, but also has fought on the water in Asia many times, and is familiar with China's climate and shipping routes.

Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng, who are both good people, didn't pay much attention to Li Taitai's tongue and lotus, and casually promised to just carefully look at the fleet's ship artillery list, not to mention, the British really didn't particularly cheat the Taiping Army on paper, although seven of the nine steam gunboats were newly retired British Navy warships, but the factory life ranged from six to eight years, and the quality was no worse than Wu Jun's Daode and Renyi, and the fleet also included two new iron-hulled warships that were not available in the whole of Asia. If this fleet can really be bought for 870,000 taels of silver, the Taiping army will not suffer a big loss.

What Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng are most concerned about is, of course, why Li Taitai took the initiative to pull Wu Jun to join this deal, and when Li Taitai was almost boasting, Guo Songtao also asked directly: "Dear Mr. Li Taitai, I have a question, I hope you can answer it truthfully, since you have agreed to sell this fleet to the Taiping Army, and Changmao has already paid half of the ship price in advance, why do you want to sell this fleet to us?" ”

"Because I'm a devout Christian." Li Taitai's face was full of holiness, and he said very solemnly: "The worship of God religion that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom believes in is a cult, and as a staff member of the British government, I have no right to prevent the sale of weapons and warships to cultists in China, but if possible, I would prefer to resell this fleet to you, our eternal friend of the British, the Hubei Provisional Government." ”

"Then you sold this fleet to us, how can you explain it to the Taiping Army?" Guo Songtao asked again: "Also, will your country ask about this matter?" ”

"Dear Guo, you don't have to worry about these problems." Li Taitai smiled and said: "These problems can be solved by me, as long as you are willing to buy this fleet, you can just accept it with confidence." ”

After that, Li Taitai couldn't wait to say: "Dear Guo, if you are willing, we can start business negotiations now." Don't blame me for not reminding you, in fact, your current enemy, the capital army, is also very interested in this fleet, and it is entirely out of respect for Marshal Wu that I specially gave you this opportunity to buy it. ”

Guo Songtao first discussed with Gong Cheng, and then said: "Mr. Li Taitai, in this way, please quote your price and proviso first, so that we can have a bottom in our hearts, and then give you an answer?" ”

As soon as Li Taitao heard this, he was overjoyed, and immediately took out the ship purchase contract that had been prepared for Wu Jun a long time ago and handed it to Guo Songtao, Guo Songtao didn't rush to watch it after taking it, but asked casually: "Mr. Li Taitai, when will the fleet arrive in Hong Kong, if possible, we want to visit the fleet first and then negotiate?" ”

"If it goes well, you will be able to arrive in Hong Kong the day after tomorrow." Li Taitai replied casually, and said: "Don't worry, when the time comes, I will introduce Colonel Aspen to you, and I will also arrange for you to visit the ship as soon as possible." ”

Guo Songtao thanked him, and agreed with Li Taiqing to wait for the visit to the fleet before starting negotiations, and then he also picked out the most worthless one of the calligraphy and paintings given to him by Yang Xiuqing as a meeting gift to Li Taitai, in exchange for Li Taitai's full of joy, and determined that Wu Jun did have the intention of buying a ship.

After leaving Li Taitai's office, Guo Songtao originally wanted to meet Wu Jun's old friend Xiao Bao Ling, but unfortunately, Xiao Bao Ling happened to go to Japan, so Guo Songtao missed the opportunity to understand the official attitude of the British through Xiao Bao Ling. At the same time, limited by his identity and no special reasons, Guo Songtao could not see Lao Baoling directly, so he could only submit his willingness to request a meeting and wait for a reply.

Before the matter was over, after Guo Songtao and Gong Cheng left the Hong Kong Governor's Palace in Mid-Levels Central, the Wu Jun spies who accompanied them to protect quietly reported that they had been followed. As a result, when he returned to the Wu Army's Hong Kong office, which Wu Xiaoping had financed, the accompanying spies immediately reported that the stalker spoke with a Beijing accent.

"It's really fast." Guo Songtao first snorted coldly, and then asked Gong Cheng: "Xiaogong, Wen Xiang's side has already targeted us, what should we do?" ”

"It's not easy." Gong Cheng yawned and said: "One fleet is robbed by three families, and now Li Taitai must be more fearless, even if he can't talk to us and Changmao, he can also talk to the chaotic party in the capital, anyway, he won't worry about selling it anyway." ”

After that, Gong Cheng also added, "If this matter is really Li Taitai in the middle, maybe he deliberately leaked the matter of our visit to Hong Kong to Wen Xiang, so that Wen Xiang knew that we also intervened, and he was even more anxious to buy this fleet." ”

"But we can't be sure that Li Tai is doing the trick in the middle?" Guo Songtao frowned and said.

"Yunxian, I said how come you are smart for a while, confused for a lifetime?" Gong Cheng scolded angrily: "Li Taitai gave us a contract to increase the weight in your hands, and you know the details of the contract for Changmao to buy a ship from a British foreigner, compared with the two, what price Li Taitai added, and what benefits can be obtained from the middle, don't you know everything?" ”

With a frustrated pat on the head, Guo Songtao opened the ship purchase contract handed over to him by Li Taitai and took a closer look, and compared it with the contract of the Taiping Army, Li Taitai's true face was completely exposed.

As with the Manchu court, Li Taitai also opened his mouth to the Wu army, in addition to raising the price to 1 million taels, he also required the Wu army to bear the military expenses of 10 million taels for four years, and at the same time clearly stipulated that Aspen must be the commander of this fleet, and all the sailors on board were British soldiers.

In addition, Li Taitai also added a clause to the additional conditions of the Wu army, when the Aspen fleet fought hand in hand with the Wu army's naval division, Aspen must command the whole army to fight - in other words, let Aspen become the supreme commander of the Wu army's naval division, and control the Wu army's naval division.

"Phew!" Guo Songtao spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm very angrily, and scolded: "Foreign devils, think beautifully, and treat our Hubei Provisional Government as a fool." ”

Gong Cheng, who has a dissolute personality, didn't swear, but probably after reading the contract, Gong Cheng immediately yawned and said: "The truth is almost revealed, the price of 130,000 taels of silver, ninety percent of it all fell into Li Taitai's pocket, and it is estimated that he can share a lot of military expenses of 10 million taels of silver in four years, but most of it must go into Aspen's pocket." ”

"In this matter, Li Tai and Ben must be in a group, and they are ready to join hands to knock on the long-haired bamboo pole. Li Tai deliberately dragged us into the water as a precaution, not only to force Chang Mao to give in, but also to leave him a way out, and turn around and knock us when he couldn't knock on the long hair pillar. ”

"Also, nine out of ten on the side of the chaotic party in the capital were also deliberately pulled into the water by Li Taitai, if the chaotic party in the capital can agree to Li Taitai's sky-high asking price, Li Taitai will do whatever it takes to disrupt the deal and sell this fleet to the chaotic party in the capital."

After listening to Gong Cheng's point-to-point analysis, Guo Songtao was furious and did not hesitate, and immediately said to Gong Cheng: "Xiaogong, let's go, let's go see Dr. Bao Ling again, tell him about this matter in person, ask him to intervene, and bring this lawless Li Taitai to justice!" ”

"Yunxian, are you stupid again? Do you think that you can solve this matter by going to the package to file a complaint? ”

Gong Cheng first scolded Guo Songtao, and then said lazily: "Foreigners are not Christ Jesus, they are all white-skinned pigs, breaking bones and tendons between each other, it is profitable, they will never dismantle their own people's platform." You go to Lao Bao Ling to complain, as long as Li Taitai privately promises to give Lao Bao Ling a favor, Lao Bao Ling will definitely stand on Li Tailing's side and acquiesce to Li Taitai to stop trading with Changmao and resell the fleet to the rebels in the capital. ”

"Lao Bao Ling is not afraid of provoking Longhair and affecting the commercial interests of Britain in the territory controlled by Longhair?" Guo Songtao asked suspiciously.

"Someone carries a black pot, what are you afraid of using the old baoling?" Gong Cheng sneered and said: "If it really angers Changmao and affects the business interests of the British, the responsible person is also Li Taitai, and Lao Bao Ling only needs to push Li Taitai out on a business trip." When the time comes, Lao Bao will let his money fall into his pocket, how to explain it is Li Tai's business, only take advantage and not suffer losses, why is he not happy to do such a good thing? ”

"Bastard! I can't imagine that there are corrupt officials in Britain! Guo Songtao scolded a swear word.

"Nonsense, there are no corrupt officials in the world?" Gong Cheng snatched Guo Songtao's words, and said: "Also, this matter can't be handled by us, our Wu Dashuai still has to ask the British, this kind of thing to cut off the financial route of British foreigners must be asked to Hong Renji to do it himself." ”

"Tell Hong Renji to find Lao Baoling by himself?" Guo Songtao asked suspiciously: "But you have already said just now, it is impossible for Lao Baoling not to help Li Taitai?" ”

"Tell Hong Renji to find the newspaper." Gong Cheng suggested: "If my expectations are not bad, Li Taiji will definitely open his mouth to Hong Renji and extort bamboo poles, telling Hong Renji not to be angry and not to be in a hurry to tear his face, while arguing on the basis of reason, while bribing Hong Kong newspapers to criticize Li Taitai for destroying the business reputation of the British government, affecting the commercial interests of British businessmen on the southeast coast of the Qing Dynasty, and exerting public opinion pressure on Li Taiji, so that it will be much easier for Hong Renji to force Li Taitai to abide by the contract." ”

"Does it work?" Guo Songtao asked worriedly.

"Rest assured, it's definitely useful." Gong Cheng said confidently: "Foreigners are different from the chaotic parties in the capital, and their authorities pay great attention to the influence of public opinion. Moreover, the British merchants in Hong Kong, in order not to damage their interests, would definitely stand on the side of Long Mao and put pressure on Lao Bao Ling and Li Taitai to keep them into their contracts. ”

Guo Songtao nodded suspiciously, ready to tell Hong Renji about this method. Over there, Gong Cheng frowned again and said: "But this method is not perfect, first of all, there are many loopholes in the contract signed between Changmao and the foreigners, if Li Taitai is determined not to sell this fleet to Changmao, there are also excuses and reasons to interrupt this transaction." At that time, the rebel party in the capital will definitely buy the fleet at a higher price, so the idea we gave to Hong Renji may help the rebel party in the capital. ”

"What then?" Guo Songtao hurriedly asked.

The resourceful Gong Cheng rarely didn't ask a question immediately, and after thinking about it for a long time, Gong Cheng asked Guo Songtao in turn: "Yunxian, if you are Wenxiang, under what circumstances will you choose to quit and not buy this fleet?" ”

"Of course, it is a condition that I absolutely cannot accept." Guo Songtao replied without thinking about it, and then pointed to the contract drawn up by Li Taitai in front of Gong Cheng, and said: "For example, the conditions on this contract, not to mention that we don't want to buy this fleet at all, even if I really want to buy it, I will never dare to sign this contract, otherwise Wu Dashuai can peel me alive when I go back!" ”

Gong Cheng was silent, and picked up the shameless and domineering contract to look at it carefully, after thinking about it for a long time, Gong Cheng suddenly put pen to paper, and drew up a list of Wu Jun's quotations in a moment, basically agreeing to most of the conditions offered by Li Tai, just to change the military expenses of 10 million taels of silver borne by Wu Jun for four years to 5 million taels, add an article to Asben's army to send several supervisors to supervise the operation, and at the same time promised to give Aspen a Hubei provincial city house covering an area of more than 10 acres. In the end, Gong Cheng threw down the brush, clapped his hands and smiled: "Okay." ”

"Xiaogong, do you really want Wu Dashuai to skin me?" Guo Songtao was dumbfounded and said: "I handed over this contract to Li Taitai, what if he agrees and takes this contract to Wu Dashuai to ask for silver?" ”

"Then you don't give it to Li Tai, won't it?" Gong Cheng said angrily.

"So what does this contract do?" Guo Songtao hurriedly asked again.

"Of course, it's for Wen Xiang and Li Taitai."

Gong Cheng smiled treacherously and said, "Think about it, if Wen Xiang saw this contract and saw us make such a big concession to the foreigners, what else would he have the courage and confidence to buy that fleet from Li Tai?" If Li Tai had seen this contract, would he have sold that fleet directly to Wen Xiang? Will there be any other strings attached? ”

Guo Songtao suddenly realized, and quickly gave Gong Cheng a thumbs up, and then asked, "Then how can we let Wen Xiang and Li Taitai see this contract?" ”

"Simple." Gong Cheng carefully dried the ink on the contract, folded it and put it in the pile of documents on Guo Songtao's desk, and said with a smile: "Just put it here, Wen Xiang and Li Taitai naturally have a way to see this contract, such a big thing, saying that they don't want to spy on our idea of the reserve price, I don't believe it first." ”

When Guo Songtao gave Gong Cheng a thumbs up again, Gong Cheng had an idea, forcibly pulled out a hair from Guo Songtao's head, cut off a piece and clamped it in the contract, and then said with a smile: "Qi, now whether Wenxiang and Li Taitai have seen this contract, we can also know." ”

Guo Songtao shook his head and sighed, arched his hand to Gong Cheng again, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Xiaogong, thanks to you, you just followed me to eat and drink and enjoy the mountains and rivers." ”

"Don't just say it, you have to be real, and I won't knock you on the bamboo bar, as long as Yang Xiuqing gives you the Melan picture of Zheng Sixiao in the Song Dynasty."

"Dream! That Melantu is my life! ”