Li Weiguo's third large-scale expansion of the army expanded the entire 20 towns at one time, with more than 250,000 people, an unprecedented scale that shocked the government and the public.

The regent Yixin couldn't sit still, and the queen mother of the two palaces was also nervous, and the Shanghai army of the sixteen towns could easily defeat the 200,000 British and French troops and was invincible in the world. Now that the strength of the twenty towns has been expanded, the total strength of the Wu army in the entire East China region has exceeded 500,000, what is this going to do?

The answer is self-explanatory.

The queen mother of the two palaces also had illusions about Li Weiguo, after all, they were just two women, their knowledge was limited, and they were too young to have any experience in "facing the enemy", they issued a decree to ask Li Weiguo, Li Weiguo said that it was to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom faster, but these two women actually believed it, and in turn persuaded the regent Yixin not to worry, which made Yixin cry and laugh.

However, Yi Xin was born in a royal family after all, and had a special political vision, and he knew that although the relationship between Britain and France and Li Weiguo eased, and the two sides even established an alliance to jointly deal with the United States, the humiliation brought by the Battle of Songhu to the British and French coalition forces would never disappear, and Britain and France, as the world's first and second military powers, could not endure this breath.

Although Britain and France will not be able to defeat Li Weiguo for the time being in a short period of time, it is uncertain in the future, Li Weiguo has already sold his killer weapon Patriotic rifle, 59-type infantry gun, and other advanced weapons and equipment to the United States, and even transferred technology to Britain and France, and in a few years, the British and French armies will also have and be equipped with advanced Patriotic rifles and 59-type infantry guns, and when the time comes, there will be no generation difference in equipment between the two sides, so it cannot be ruled out that Britain and France will once again take the risk of launching a war of aggression against China, take revenge on Li Weiguo, and regain the face they lost.

Based on this consideration, Yixin's thinking suddenly opened, and his brain hole was enough. He quickly communicated with Britain and France in the name of the imperial court, and under the terms of the Treaty of Peking, he allowed Britain and France to establish a legation in Beijing. Yixin has changed the norm. Ignoring the collective opposition of the children of the clan bannermen, he personally attended the unveiling ceremony of the British and French legations in China, and was close to the British and French ministers in China, and soon established a "pure drop" friendship.

Yi Xin tested the attitude of the British and French ministers, and soon he saw that the British and French ministers had a very close relationship with Li Weiguo on the surface, but in fact they had bad intentions towards Li Weiguo in their hearts, and the seeds of hatred had been planted as early as the Battle of Songhu.

Yi Xin guessed correctly, the British and French powers will not forget how Li Weiguo humiliated them, and the defeat in the Second Yapian War not only caused heavy losses to Britain and France. It has made their international status plummet, and they will definitely take revenge for this revenge, but they are just waiting for an opportunity.

The first task of the British and French ministers is still to invade China, especially Britain, the huge profits of the Yapian trade support almost one-third of Britain's fiscal revenue, and the annual export of Yapian to China can not only offset the huge trade deficit with China, but also tens of millions of huge profits to be made. Now that the trade in Yapian has been banned by Li Weiguo, it is no longer legal, which makes Britain have to bear a huge trade deficit of tens of millions every year. This is absolutely inadmissible.

It's just that the British and French governments have taken into account Li Weiguo's strong military strength and equipment superiority, and they have now obtained the design technology of advanced weapons and equipment such as patriotic rifles and 59-type infantry guns, and they have begun to step up production and manufacturing in China. In a few years, the British and French armies will complete the replacement of new weapons, and then it will be time for them to take revenge.

As a result, Yixin and the British and French ministers smelled like each other. Instantly became close friends and began to collude with each other.

With the help of teachers, this is a new tactic proposed by Yi Xin. It was intended to weaken Li Weiguo's influence in the extermination of the Taiping army. At the same time, Yi Xin also began to borrow from the foreign powers on a large scale, with a scale of up to 10 million pounds, which was not given to Zeng Guofan's Hunan army, nor to Li Hongzhang's Huai army, let alone Li Weiguo, and the full amount of the loan was used for the Manchu and Mongolian Qing armies, which were equipped with a large number of firearms.

Because in Yixin's view, Li Weiguo will rebel sooner or later, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang are both Han Chinese, and they can't be relied on at all, rather than relying on others, it is better to rely on themselves.

Yi Xin's little abacus was very loud, and Li Weiguo soon knew about it, so Li Weiguo sent a separate note to the British and French envoys to make his position clear.

"You can lend money to the Qing government as you like, but what I want to tell you is that no matter how much money you lend them, don't want me to repay them to you in the future."

The British and French envoys glanced at each other, and they both felt the resoluteness of Li Weiguo's attitude, they didn't know that Li Weiguo was preparing to rebel, so they asked together: "Your Royal Highness King Wu, thank you for your advice, we will convey it to our superiors." ”

Li Weiguo said coldly: "Don't misunderstand, this is not advice, but a warning!" ”

In the face of Li Weiguo's strength, the British and French ministers left weakly and quickly reported Li Weiguo's original words to the British and French governments.

In the end, the British and French governments, in consideration of not provoking Li Weiguo, temporarily abandoned the plan to borrow 10 million pounds from the Qing government, but they still played tricks to get some British and French businessmen to provide a loan of 3 million pounds to the Qing government in their personal names.

Li Weiguo did not stop the small actions of Britain and France, anyway, he would not pay back the money, so let the money of Britain and France be wasted when the time comes.

On the other side, the Hunan army and the Huai army have already fought with the Taiping army, and the enmity between the two sides is as deep as the sea, and it can only be washed away with blood.

Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang also learned the news of Li Weiguo's large-scale military expansion, although they were very worried about this matter, but they couldn't manage it if they wanted to, and they could only marvel at Li Weiguo's strong financial resources, and the expansion of the army by 250,000 at once, plus all kinds of weapons and equipment and personnel training costs, needed at least 20 million taels of silver, which was for Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, even if they scraped the ground in Anhui and Hunan, they would not be able to come up with so much silver.

That's the gap!

Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang were full of emotion, and let out an exclamation, they were really envious and jealous of Li Weiguo.

For Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, the worst thing they have now is money, as long as they have money, they can buy all kinds of weapons and equipment from the foreign powers, and as long as they have money, they can expand their millions of troops at will.

However, a penny is difficult to defeat a hero, Li Weiguo's birth seriously stimulated Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, because people are comparative, when the two of them surrounded and suppressed the Taiping Army in history, the largest army was only 150,000, of which only 50,000 troops were equipped with foreign guns and cannons, but now they are affected by Li Weiguo's strong military strength. Being led by the nose forced them to expand their armies on a large scale and equip them with foreign guns and artillery, which means that the Hunan army and the Huai army, which do not have any industry, can only spend several times or even dozens of times the unjust money to get more arms, which consumes all their money, making the people of Anhui and Hunan provinces now impoverished, and it is difficult to squeeze out any more silver.

Therefore, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang watched Li Weiguo spend money, but they only had envy.

However, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang still have many capable people under them. They learned from the former Shanghai army and the current Wu army, and learned all kinds of classic tactics, although they did not get a real chance, but it was enough to deal with the Taiping army.

In April, the Hunan army and the Taiping army fought a bloody battle in Anqing, and finally the Taiping army was defeated, and the Hunan army invaded Anqing. Due to the lack of pay for the Hunan army, Zeng Guofan had to order the slaughter of the city for three days, allowing the soldiers to loot the people. Served as military funds.

At the same time, Zeng Guofan also lamented that the consumption of modern warfare was too huge, and a fierce battle in Anqing actually used up more than half of the Hunan army's arms reserves. You must know that it was Zeng Guofan's family foundation that he had saved for five years, and he didn't go all out to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army, so he saved this family foundation, and it ended up in a big war. It's so huge.

The resistance of the Taiping army exceeded Zeng Guofan's estimate, and it was so difficult to ensure safety, let alone Tianjing. So Zeng Guofan was at the suggestion of his generals. He established an ordnance institute in Anqing, borrowed money from the British and French powers to purchase machinery and equipment, and began to produce weapons and drugs on his own to supplement consumption.

On the other hand, Li Hongzhang's Huai army also underwent great changes, and his subordinate Zuo Zongtang proposed to Li Hongzhang to imitate Wu's army to establish a new type of army, completely abandon cold weapons, and use all advanced firearms.

Li Hongzhang followed Zuo Zongtang's suggestion, and the most powerful new army at the moment was none other than the Shanghai Army, which was in the limelight in the Battle of Songhu, which is now the Wu Army or the East China Army. It was a pity that Li Hongzhang knew that Li Weiguo could not help him, and instead of going to Shanghai to see Li Weiguo being humiliated, it was better to send someone to contact the British and French powers, because the British and French powers could already set up a legation in China according to the Beijing Peace Treaty, so it would be convenient for the two sides to meet.

Soon, Li Hongzhang negotiated with the British and French consuls, and finally because the officers under his account did not like the British who had invaded them, they chose to cooperate with the French and build a new army in full accordance with the standards of the French army.

The representatives of the French army were the commander of the French fleet, Le Bouledon, and the French consul in Shanghai, Riyige, who received instructions from the French government to help Li Hongzhang to counter Li Weiguo.

As a result, the two sides colluded with each other to recruit soldiers in Yangzhou, equip them with French guns and artillery, and hire French officer instructors.

Due to Li Hongzhang's limited financial resources, the final size of the army was only 3,000 people, including 500 French troops, led by Zuo Zongtang himself, known as the "Changjie Army", also known as "Hua Tou Yong", "Hua Yong", "Huang Yong", "Xinyi Army", "Sino-French Mixed Army" and so on. With Leborough Dong personally serving as a military adviser, Li Hongzhang's Jiangbei battalion provided military salaries and cooperated with the Huai army to fight against the Taiping army.

The intelligence quickly flew to Li Weiguo's desk, Li Weiguo still knew the name of Chang Jiejun's army, and under the personal leadership of Zuo Zongtang, he put down the Xinjiang rebellion in the future, and made outstanding achievements, and it was an army with very strong combat effectiveness.

"Quickly grasp all the information of the Changjie Army, including their equipment, personnel training, and detailed information of officers at all levels!"

Li Weiguo quickly issued an order and instructed the China S.H.I.E.L.D. to be responsible for the investigation and make all preparations in advance, as if facing a great enemy.

At this time, Li Hongzao, the political envoy of Liangjiang, came in from outside, and after the salute, he reported to Li Weiguoyu: "Your Majesty, the negotiations on the issue of Hong Kong's reception and aftermath have been negotiated with the British side, and they have agreed that we will take over Hong Kong Island, and we will bid 2 million yuan to acquire the assets of the British in Hong Kong." ”

"This condition is okay, it should be the British bloodletting, right?" Li Weiguo said with a smile: The British have painstakingly managed Hong Kong Island for nearly 20 years, and have always used Hong Kong Island as a springboard for invading China and vigorously carried out construction, with residences, banks, factories, and shops, and building Hong Kong Island from a small fishing village into a big city with a population of several hundred thousand, and the investment in funds is not more than 2 million yuan, and tens of millions of yuan are undercounted.

Li Hongzao said with a smile: "The British have to give in, otherwise when the king's army arrives, they won't even get two million, and they will calculate this account very clearly." ”

Subsequently, Li Hongzao continued: "In addition, we have also sent people to Macau, but the Portuguese government does not agree to the conditions we have proposed. ”

Li Weiguo immediately said: "No need to talk to them anymore!" It's just a little Portugal, and it's of great use to keep it. ”

Li Hongzao suddenly realized and said with a smile: "Is the king preparing to fake the Dao Raid?" I heard Lord Wu say that the army of the Southern Expedition has been assembled, is the king preparing to conquer in person? ”

"This Wu Yong is also the chief of the General Staff, and this speech is enough to leak secrets." Li Weiguo smiled, he didn't blame, he already regarded Li Hongzao as a descendant, there was no need to hide it.

He continued: "This time it is to annex Fujian and Liangguang, if it is possible to take Yunnan and Guizhou together, to deal with the three governors of Liangguang, Yunnan-Guizhou and Fujian and Zhejiang, unless the king himself goes out, others will not be able to suppress them at all, and if it is not done, I am afraid it will be a big deal." ”

"The king is very worried!" Li Hongzao agreed, and asked rhetorically: "But your king is driving a personal expedition, how should the court reply?" ”

Li Weiguo said: "This king has asked the imperial court to set up a minister of trade in the south and south seas, and the minister of the south seas will naturally be served by this king, so that this king will have an excuse to annex the five provinces of south and southwest." ”

"The king is wise!" Li Hongzao praised: "I don't know who the Minister of Beiyang will be?" You know, it's an important position beyond the rank of governor, is there a king who has been elected? ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said with a smile: "Of course there is, this king has already asked for a performance and proposed Li Hongzhang!" ”

"Li Hongzhang?" Li Hongzao was surprised: "How is he?" Is he the king's future enemy? ”

Li Weiguo smiled mysteriously and explained: "You don't have to worry, this king chose Li Hongzhang for a purpose. Now Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang can be described as monolithic, although this king is not afraid of them uniting, but if they can be separated and each of them can be broken, it will save a lot of trouble, right? ”

Li Hongzao had a slight understanding and asked, "Did the king let Li Hongzhang be the minister of Beiyang and ride to the head of Zeng Guofan?" This is certainly a good strategy, but Li Hongzhang is a student of Zeng Guofan after all, and their teacher-student relationship is very harmonious, so I am afraid that the effect will not be great. ”

Li Weiguo smiled slightly and said, "The two of them have a relationship, can their subordinates think the same way?" ”

Li Hongzao was completely enlightened, admired incomparably, and bowed down and said: "The king is wise, a good move to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle, and I don't have to worry about the infighting between the Hunan army and the Huai army." (To be continued.) )