Guangzhou, Pearl River Estuary, Lingdingyang.

It was the only treaty port of the Qing Empire, and it was full of flowers. However, since the First Opium War, with the trade between the five ports, Guangzhou's trade volume has declined year by year, especially after Li Weiguo ran Shanghai, almost 70% of Guangzhou's trade volume has been robbed, which is not as good as before.

However, since Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangjiang, took office, he has intensified his efforts to crack down on the smuggling of "duck chips," which has made the British people who are close at hand feel angry, and the British, French, and American envoys have repeatedly asked to meet Ye Mingchen, but Ye Mingchen has refused all of them, making the contradictions between the two sides bigger and bigger.

With the end of the Crimean War and the strategic shift of Britain and France to the east, the various commodities produced in their countries during the war were unsalable, which exacerbated the economic crisis and forced Britain and France to seek to open the market of the Qing Empire and dump goods.

As early as 1853, when the treaty was about to expire, Britain and France kept seeking to exchange contracts with the Qing government and expand their aggressive rights, but they were ignored by the Qing government, and if it were not for the outbreak of the Crimean War, they would have used force against the Qing government long ago. Now that the Crimean War is over, Britain and France are finally free to use their military forces in the Far East.

After the Yaluo Incident in Guangdong and the Mashenpu Incident in Guangxi, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, became the most hated Qing official in Britain and France, and the British and French, who had been ignored by Ye Mingchen, secretly formulated a war plan in Hong Kong to invade the Qing Empire by force, under the pretext of the Yarrow Incident and the Mashenpu Incident.

During the First Duck War, although the British army defeated the Qing army, the industry and military strength at that time were not enough to completely overwhelm the Qing Empire, especially the British army did not have the confidence to win, so the British could stop in moderation. Now the Anglo-French army has defeated the Russian army on land, which makes the British army confident enough to dare to fight the Qing army in an all-round way on land.

At the same time, the Qing Empire was in a civil war, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had dealt a heavy blow to the Qing Empire, making both Britain and France see the weakness of the Qing Empire. It strengthened the confidence to start a war with the Qing Empire.

At the same time, the United States and Russia also received notes from Britain and France, knowing that Britain and France were preparing to invade the Qing Empire militarily, and the United States and Russia were all in favor and ready to get a piece of the pie.

In the seventh year of Xianfeng (December 1857), more than 5,600 British and French invading troops (including 1,000 French troops) assembled at the mouth of the Pearl River and prepared for a large-scale attack. The American minister Levie-lian and the Russian minister Putiatin also arrived in Hong Kong and conspired with Britain and France to invade China. Subsequently, Britain, France, the United States, and Russia respectively issued an ultimatum to Ye Mingchen for 10 days.

Ye Mingchen was taken aback and hurriedly went to the court.

At this time. The Qing Empire was making every effort to suppress the rebellions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Tiandihui uprising in Foshan, Guangdong, and the military expenditure was huge, and the Qing government's fiscal revenue in 1853 was 45.58 million taels of silver, and the military expenditure that year was 67.7 million taels; In 1857, the Qing government added a heavy tax on gold, but the rich Jiangnan region was occupied by the Taiping Army and the Tiandihui, and Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province under the control of Li Weiguo even played tricks not to pay taxes, and even withheld the taxes paid by Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian, resulting in the Qing government's financial revenue only 32.8 million taels of silver paid by the provinces north of the Yangtze River. However, military spending surged to 170 million taels of silver, which made it difficult for the Qing government to pay salaries, and it really had no strength to wage war with the foreign powers.

Therefore, Xianfeng was very angry at the rude behavior of the British and French. However, he had to order Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, to adopt the strategy of 'stopping the army' against the aggressive actions of the foreign powers.

Ye Mingchen was Xianfeng's favorite minister, faithfully carried out Xianfeng's edicts, and pursued the strategy of "no war, no peace, and no defense" in Guangzhou.

This non-war means that Britain and France declare war on the Qing Empire, and once the British and French forces attack. The Qing army declared war on Britain and France, and did not engage the Anglo-French forces; Discord means that Britain and France send people to negotiate and want to sign a treaty similar to the Treaty of Jiangning (Treaty of Nanjing). The Qing government did not sign contracts with Britain and France, nor did it take the initiative to sue for peace; Not defending, that is, when the Anglo-French forces attacked, the Qing army did not resist, took the initiative to retreat, gave up the position of the Qing army, and let the British and French forces occupy it.

On December 14, when six British warships crossed Humen and captured Liede and other forts in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou, Ye Mingchen was reading the Wuxiang test.

When he heard the news, he smiled and said, "It's okay, they will naturally leave in the evening." ”

Ye Mingchen ordered all red single boats and patrol boats in the Pearl River to collect their flags, and even if the enemy ships entered, they should not fire guns to return fire.

The next day, the British army captured the forts in Fenghuanggang and other places in Henan on the other side of the provincial capital.

Ye Mingchen's actions once puzzled the representatives of Britain, France, the United States, and Russia, and they hesitated to continue to march into the army. However, the British and French commanders were very confident, and in the face of this policy of non-resistance of the Qing army, they quickly marched into the army.

On December 18, the Anglo-French forces easily captured all the forts and Qing positions around Guangzhou, shelled Guangzhou at the same time, and landed to attack the city.

Dutong Laicun, Qianzong Deng Anbang and others led troops to resist stubbornly, and Guangzhou was lost the next day.

Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong, and Mukdenne, the general of Guangzhou, surrendered and continued to hold their original positions under the supervision of the 'Allied Forces Committee' headed by Pa Xiali, and were driven by the enemy. Ye Mingchen refused to surrender after being captured, and was sent to Hong Kong by Pashali.

However, when the Anglo-French forces occupied Guangzhou, the local people waged an indomitable anti-aggression battle. The righteous people near Guangzhou set up a regimental training bureau in Zhongshan Town, gathered tens of thousands of people, and killed the enemy. Patriots in Hong Kong, Macao and other countries also went on strike one after another to protest.

The news reached the capital in an urgent manner for 800 miles, the Qing court was shaken, and Xianfeng was furious. Because he listened to the lies of Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong, and Mukdenne, the general of Guangzhou, he mistakenly thought that Ye Mingchen was treasonous, so he dismissed Ye Mingchen from the official position of governor of Liangguang, and accumulated the whole family of Ye Mingchen. Ye Mingchen was taken to Hong Kong, and two years later he was sent to Calcutta, India, where he died, and never returned, and no one helped him to avenge his grievances.

Xianfeng was very irritable, the domestic Taiping army and the Tiandihui rebellion has not been cleared, in recent years, because of the financial depletion and the eight banners are vulnerable, etc., the Taiping army has gradually become bigger, and the Zeng Guofan on the western front can not beat Shi Dakai, and lost the entire Jiangxi and most of Hunan. The southern front was dominated by Ye Mingchen, and the main forces of the Qing army in Guangzhou and Guangzhou were all contained by the Taiping Army, resulting in Ye Mingchen having no troops in his hands to guard against the British and French forces.

As for the Eastern Front, since the Shanghai Army and the Taiping Army were stumbling three years ago, Li Weiguo has always claimed that the Shanghai Army has suffered a serious injury and has been recuperating. The Taiping army did not make any more major expeditions to the east, which made the eastern front very stable.

Although Li Hongzhang's Huai army regained Yangzhou, Xianfeng did not give Li Hongzhang too much military salary, so that Li Hongzhang had the heart to cross the river and fight without so much money, although Li Hongzhang had a Hui merchant giant Hu Xueyan by his side, but after all, the financial resources were limited, and even Li Weiguo was so rich that it was a little difficult to raise 100,000 Shanghai troops. Not to mention Hu Xueyan, his financial resources are not more than one percent of Li Weiguo's.

In this case, Xianfeng really had no money to go to war with Britain and France, and there were also Russia and the United States, although Russia had not yet sent troops to the war, but it had already fallen to Britain and France. Not to mention, the United States has already sent a fleet on the way to arrive, because four years ago, the US Asian fleet let Li Weiguo be completely annihilated, and this is a slap in the face of the Americans. To this day, the Americans still feel hot, and this time they sent a fleet to take revenge.

"It's all Li Weiguo, if he hadn't been able to fight the Americans' fleet at the beginning, he wouldn't have even joined the war now!"

Xianfeng scolded angrily. He was already unreasonable, and he couldn't find an outlet, so Li Weiguo went straight to the gun.

Concubine Lan Guifei also helped Xianfeng transcribe and approve in the imperial study, and now she has successfully given birth to Xianfeng's only prince. Promoted to the imperial concubine, her status is second only to the queen, and she is deeply favored by Xianfeng.

heard Xianfeng scold Li Weiguo again. Lan Guifei smiled faintly and said, "Yes, this Li Weiguo is a stunned young man, if he is a little older, he will not do that kind of thankless stupid thing." ”

Xianfeng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly smiled: "Lan'er, you scolded Li Weiguo according to my words on the surface, but no matter how I listened, I felt that you were helping Li Weiguo say good things?" ”

Lan Guifei's heart tightened, she didn't dare to show her relationship with Li Weiguo too much in front of Xianfeng, it was because she had recently given birth to a prince, which made her a little fluttering and dared to say anything, thinking about it at this moment, she was suddenly frightened into a cold sweat, and hurriedly said: "The concubine is just thinking, Li Weiguo is only twenty years old now, and he was only sixteen years old four years ago. ”

Xianfeng felt that it made sense, and immediately nodded: "Yes, when I was sixteen years old, I also thought every day that if I became the emperor one day, I would definitely teach foreigners a hard lesson, but since I ascended the throne for seven years, I have tolerated foreigners everywhere. Speaking of which, I am ashamed, I am not as brave as Li Weiguo, and I dare to fight foreigners directly. ”

Lan Guifei hurriedly said: "The emperor is the emperor, and he wants to lead the overall situation, Li Weiguo is just a stunned young man, how can he be compared with the emperor." ”

Xianfeng suddenly said happily: "It's still Lan'er who can speak, and I'm happy to hear it!" ”

After a pause, Xianfeng suddenly remembered Li Weiguo's entry into Beijing, and immediately summoned the eunuch to inquire.

Knowing that Li Weiguo was still on the way to Beijing, and that he was injured and brought into Beijing, Xianfeng praised it greatly, and Lan Guifei said good things from the side, Xianfeng's suspicion of Li Weiguo was minimized.

But Xianfeng is the emperor after all, and the world of banner people naturally does not allow the Han landlords to become bigger, so although the suspicion of Li Weiguo has dropped to a historical low, he still remains suspicious.

"Your Majesty, the foreigners have occupied Guangzhou, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangjiang, has committed treason to the enemy, I heard that the foreigners' fleet is heading north, and the next target is estimated to be the four provinces of Liangjiang, and now Li Weiguo is on his way to Beijing, will something happen to these two rivers?"

Hearing Lan Guifei's reminder, Xianfeng suddenly realized, was frightened into a cold sweat, and nodded: "Thanks to Lan'er's reminder, otherwise I would have almost missed a big thing." Li Weiguo is not in Jiangnan, once Jiangnan is lost and occupied by foreigners, the imperial court will lose control over the entire south of the Yangtze River. ”

Xianfeng's concern was correct, and now the connection between the north and the south of the Qing court relied on Jiangnan controlled by Li Weiguo, and once Jiangnan fell into the hands of the British and French forces, half of the Qing court was gone.

"Quickly draft the decree, so that Li Weiguo does not have to enter Beijing, return to Jiangnan as soon as possible, and must strictly guard against the powers of various countries in Shanghai, Shanghai cannot afford to lose, Jiangnan cannot afford to lose, otherwise it will be severely punished!"

Lan Guifei was overjoyed in her heart, she was most worried that Li Weiguo would be killed by Xianfeng if she didn't agree with Xianfeng after entering Beijing, so she would lose a strong foreign aid. Of course, at present, her status is second only to the queen, and it seems that she no longer needs to rely on Li Weiguo, Kelan Guifei is shrewd, she knows that accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger, and the emperor's woman is that there may not be no other princes born in the future, and she may not be able to raise an adult if she has a prince now, let alone successfully ascend the throne, everything is variable, so she can't give up Li Weiguo yet, although she guessed that Li Weiguo is ambitious, but she has to help him for the time being.

Before Xianfeng's holy decree left the palace, Lan Guiren sent someone to notify the people of the Beijing Station of the China Aegis Secret Service Bureau, and quickly passed the news to Li Weiguo through them.

At this time, Li Weiguo, under the protection of a thousand pro-army guards, had just arrived at the Yangjiamiao set in Huai'an Prefecture, and in front of the mountain was Qinghe Town, where he could take a boat from the canal to the capital.

Along the way, Li Weiguo could only sit in a sedan chair because of his "injury", slowly moving forward, traveling at most twenty or thirty miles a day, and delaying his entry into Beijing as much as possible.

At noon, the group stopped and set up camp.

Li Weiguo got off the sedan chair and moved outside.

At this time, a carrier pigeon flew in and was found by Li Weiguo's men, and soon Zhuang Jiuxia came to meet him with information.

Li Weiguo opened the information, and after reading it, he was immediately overjoyed and said: "As expected, Xianfeng ordered me not to enter Beijing, and asked me to return to Shanghai as soon as possible." ”

"That's great!" Zhuang Jiuxia suddenly said excitedly, as Li Weiguo's chief of guard, his pressure to enter Beijing this time was unprecedented, because Xianfeng was moody and would kill Li Weiguo if he was not careful, so Zhuang Jiuxia had already prepared to save Li Weiguo from the capital when he set off with Li Weiguo, and even he himself was ready to sacrifice.

Now that Xianfeng does not let Li Weiguo enter Beijing, Zhuang Jiuxia naturally breathes a sigh of relief, as if relieved, and his whole body is relaxed.

"But-" Li Weiguo was not too happy, he said: "But this also means that the British and French forces have already attacked Canton, and soon they will go north, and they may not be able to start a war with us!" ”

Li Weiguo only knew that the Second Opium War broke out in Guangzhou, and he was not very clear about the specific time and duration of the capture of Guangzhou by the British and French forces.

It stands to reason that Li Weiguo's China S.H.I.E.L.D. also set up a station in Guangzhou, but something went wrong, Ye Mingchen implemented a policy of non-resistance, which led to the British and French forces easily entering the city of Guangzhou, and a shell destroyed the secret residence of the Guangzhou station of S.H.I.E.L.D., resulting in the unfortunate death of several agents of the Guangzhou station, the destruction of carrier pigeons, and the failure to deliver the news in time.

When Zhuang Jiuxia heard Li Weiguo say that the British and French forces were likely to attack Shanghai, he immediately became nervous and said, "My lord, then let's go back quickly!" ”

Li Weiguo nodded, he had long prevented the British and French forces from attacking Shanghai, so he would vigorously expand the county seat of Shanghai, build the outer city defense fortresses of Shanghai County, Wusongkou Fortress and Jinshanwei Fortress, all connected by railway and highway, once the war started, the Shanghai army could quickly support all places.

"Quickly send an order to the General Staff Headquarters and the Military Command Department, quickly mobilize the first-line and second-line combat personnel of the Shanghai Army, and all parts of Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province have entered a state of first-class combat readiness, and all work must be completed before I go back!"

"Yes!"

Zhuang Jiuxia immediately received the order, wrote the order, and sent the carrier pigeon.

At the same time, Li Weiguo was no longer riding in a sedan chair, he rode on a horse, led more than 1,000 pro-army cavalry to quickly whip up his horse and return quickly. (To be continued......)