The negotiations on the ownership of Hubei Province have been held, and Zhou Fu has been running around, wanting to do this thing in order to prove his worth.

For a small person like Zhou Fu, it is understandable for him to do so.

But if Zhou Fu had a little strategic vision, he would find that Li Hongzhang was not in a hurry to ask for Hubei, and he would also find that Li Weiguo did not put his mind on Hubei.

At this moment, the northern and southern oceanic blocs of the Qing Empire are in full swing to expand their armaments, and Hubei is only a critical point for both sides, and neither side will break this critical point first until they are really ready.

It's a tacit understanding, a brief calm before the storm.

In Wu Wangfu, Li Weiguo was sleeping in the study, and Zhuang Jiuxia, the head of the guard, came in to report.

"Lord Wang, Princess Duan, Princess Shu and Princess Xian ask to see you!"

Princess Duan is the title given by the Empress Dowager Cixi to Li Weiguo's wife Fu Shanxiang, and she belongs to the concubine. As for Shen Ziyan and Su Sanniang, they are side concubines, and they also have titles, respectively Princess Shu and Princess Xian, with a king word in the middle, indicating that they are at the level of the prince, if there is no such word, it is the first level of the emperor.

If it is just a title for his own woman, then Li Weiguo is very happy, but there is one more thing behind the title, that is, the Empress Dowager Ci'an issued a decree to give Li Weiguo a marriage, and the woman is the Empress Dowager Ci'an's sister Yilan, Niu Kulu.

Ci'an suddenly married her own sister to Li Weiguo, not to mention the iron law that Manchus and Han do not intermarry, just at this delicate moment of the situation, it is intriguing that she did this.

Needless to say, it was a political marriage.

Ci'an, a woman who just turned twenty-five years old this year, has been sitting firmly in the East Palace Empress Dowager for five years, and history's evaluation of her is that she is wise and foolish, because her light was taken away by Cixi, so future generations only know that Cixi does not know Ci'an, if you underestimate this woman, you will suffer a big loss.

Li Weiguo knew that he couldn't hide his three women. It was only half an hour after the news came, and the three women in the backyard of the palace couldn't sit still, so they came together.

"This is Xingshi's questioning!"

Li Weiguo smiled bitterly, asked Zhuang Jiuxia to let him go, and called the three daughters-in-law in.

Fu Shanxiang, Shen Ziyan and Su Sanniang still have excuses, and they prepared white fungus soup, ginseng tea and egg tarts respectively.

"Please taste it!"

The three girls said in unison, obviously having practiced in private.

I don't even call my husband anymore, I only call the prince, which shows that I am very angry!

Li Weiguo smiled faintly and said, "Okay." My husband is worried and has no appetite. The three of you come here one by one on weekdays, and if you show up together today, you must have gotten the news. ”

Seeing that Li Weiguo went straight to the point, the three daughters no longer concealed it.

Fu Shanxiang, as the boss, first said: "I heard that the Queen Mother of the East Palace gave the prince a marriage?" ”

"That's right! is Ci'an's younger sister, named Yilan, Niu Kulu. ”

Shen Ziyan then asked, "Then the prince is ready to accept it?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an is a big beauty, and her sister must not be far behind. ”

Li Weiguo frowned. Sighing, he nodded: "This matter is very complicated, but it must be accepted, even if it is to marry home as a vase!" ”

The third girl's face suddenly darkened. Su Sanniang couldn't help but say: "Okay, I like the new and hate the old so quickly!" What else is there to ask, our three sisters are old, hurry up and pack up to make room for the bride. Provincial eyesore that makes someone unhappy. ”

Hey, I want to rebel!

Li Weiguo saw that the third daughter wanted to leave. immediately got up to stop it, and gave a slap one after another.

It's just that the slap didn't hit them in the face, but on their buttocks, which was so elastic.

The three girls screamed one after another, glaring at Li Weiguo with shame and anger.

"What are you staring at? It's against you! Sit down honestly for me! ”

Li Weiguo suddenly took out the majesty of a man, and in the future life, if he could guard the three peerless beauties all day long, the otaku would like to put on a dog chain and be a slave, how dare they shout so much. But Li Weiguo is different, he was reborn in a world where men are superior to women, he has a good temper, but the women in his family are not allowed to rebel.

When the three daughters saw that their husbands were angry, they were immediately startled, and sat down obediently, ready to be trained.

Li Weiguo smiled, with a sense of accomplishment. Because if this is in the next life, how can the three beautiful wives be so obedient, it would be good if they didn't fight in groups.

"What do you like the new and hate the old? Is a husband like that? Li Weiguo began to retort.

Su Sanniang snorted coldly: "She is already an old woman in her thirties, so naturally she can't compare to an eighteen-year-old pink girl." ”

"That's it! People are almost thirty years old, and they are all old. Fu Shanxiang echoed with feelings.

Shen Ziyan also hurriedly added fuel and vinegar: "No, eighteen-year-old men like eighteen-year-old girls, twenty-eight-year-old men still like eighteen-year-old girls, anyway, no matter how old a man is, he will always like an eighteen-year-old girl." ”

Li Weiguo was embarrassed, but he still patiently explained: "Listen to me, in my heart, the three of you are my favorites." When you married Ziyan, did you snub Shanxiang? Didn't I work hard all day to get you pregnant? ”

"Phew, it's not serious!" Fu Shanxiang's face suddenly turned red, but he remembered in his heart that Li Weiguo did not marry Shen Ziyan for a long time, not because Shen Ziyan's father did not agree, but because he cared about Fu Shanxiang's feelings, so until Fu Shanxiang was pregnant, he did not marry Shen Ziyan into the door.

Fu Shanxiang thought that her husband still cared about her very much, and when she thought of this, her heart suddenly warmed.

I only heard Li Weiguo continue to say to Shen Ziyan: "And you Ziyan, I have snubbed you?" ”

Shen Ziyan knew that Li Weiguo had not snubbed her, but she just didn't admit it, and said darkly: "If you don't have it now, it doesn't mean you won't have it in the future!" ”

Syllable!

Li Weiguo slapped Shen Ziyan's buttocks hard again as punishment.

"I was wrong, you didn't like the new and hate the old!" Shen Ziyan immediately begged for mercy honestly.

Li Weiguo turned to Su Sanniang again and said, "I've been spoiling you for nothing these days, and the new one hasn't come yet, so you shout that you like the new and hate the old?" ”

Su Sanniang said coquettishly: "Even if you don't like the new and hate the old, but people are already old, how can you compare with an eighteen-year-old girl?" ”

Li Weiguo laughed: "You don't understand this, how can jerky peaches be as delicious as ripe peaches?" As a husband, I like your crazy energy in bed! ”

"What nonsense? You're crazy! Su Sanniang was thin-skinned, eager to find a crack in the ground to get into, and glared at Li Weiguo fiercely.

Li Weiguo sat among the three women. put Shen Ziyan on his lap, and hugged Fu Shanxiang and Su Sanniang in his arms left and right.

The three girls only struggled symbolically, and then threw themselves into their arms.

"You only know how to be jealous, but you don't know that your husband has been roasted on the fire now!"

Shen Ziyan patted Li Weiguo's chest and said coquettishly: "You are the dignified King of Wu, sitting on the ten provinces south of the Yangtze River, holding millions of male soldiers, who dares to roast you on the fire?" ”

Li Weiguo said: "It's because the husband underestimated the shamelessness of the imperial court!" The imperial court had no shame to ask for help from the British and French powers, and the conditions on the table included the resumption of the opium trade, consular jurisdiction and the reopening of the concession, and secretly sold the territory in exchange for the support of the British and French powers. ”

Shen Ziyan and Fu Shanxiang immediately looked at Su Sanniang. Su Sanniang shook her head, saying that she didn't know. She rarely went to the government office because she was pregnant, so she didn't know this.

Fu Shanxiang asked: "Didn't the Anglo-French army be defeated by Fujun last time?" Do they dare to come again? ”

Li Weiguo replied: "There is no real stop in the war, if you win today and he loses, it does not mean that the war is over, it only means that the other party loses one round, and he will win back in the next round." As long as there are enough interests to drive it, Britain and France will definitely fight again. ”

Su Sanniang snorted coldly: "Defeat them again!" However, what does this have to do with your acceptance of the imperial court's marriage? ”

Li Weiguo replied: "It's not the first time that the imperial court has given marriage. The last time it was Xianfeng. In order to plant a nail next to me, but I skillfully defused it. ”

The third daughter nodded suddenly, especially Shen Ziyan and Su Sanniang, the second daughter, that time. The two of them became Li Weiguo's side Fujin.

I only heard Li Weiguo continue: "At that time, Xianfeng just suspected that I didn't think I was capable of overthrowing the imperial court, so when Xianfeng learned that I married the two of you as side Fujin, he took the initiative to give up, because this is the dignity of the Manchu royal family." It is impossible to remove the banner woman from the shelves to the Han people, and they will not get a side blessing status. ”

There are only two places in Fang Fujin, and the three daughters are clear.

Fu Shanxiang asked: "Isn't there no place for side Fujin now?" Then why did the Empress Dowager Ci'an marry her sister? ”

Li Weiguo said: "This is why this is not what it used to be!" Previously, the imperial court also wanted the support of Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan, but now Zeng Guofan has been destroyed. There is only one Li Hongzhang left, and the court is not sure of victory, so he thinks about marriage, hoping to prevent the rebellion for his husband! ”

Shen Ziyan said: "But husband, you will definitely rebel, so the court can't stop it." ”

"That's right!" Li Weiguo nodded and said, "The court knows that even if I marry a princess at this moment, I can't stop me from rebelling?" Then they will change their tactics, and the Empress Dowager Ci'an wants to use this marriage to delay my rebellion. ”

Su Sanniang immediately said: "In this case, husband, you should rebel immediately!" ”

Li Weiguo shook his head and said, "Daughter-in-law, you don't understand, now it's not only the imperial court that wants to use this marriage to delay time, but also to prepare for war for the husband, and you need to plan to delay time." ”

"Husband, you are so powerful, do you still need to delay time?" The three women asked in unison, obviously not believing it.

Li Weiguo smiled bitterly and replied: "This is why the husband just told you about the British and French alliances?" Because they were far more involved than imagined, not only did they gather 200,000 troops in Cambodia and Burma, but 100,000 British and French troops were incorporated into the imperial army in the form of mercenaries, and the British and French navies also gathered more than 100 warships, ready to fight against us again! Today's Anglo-French forces have obtained our advanced rifles, and we no longer have an advantage in rifle equipment. ”

The third girl was immediately shocked, she didn't expect the current situation to be so complicated.

"No wonder my husband has been frowning lately, it's us who blame you!"

"I'm sorry! We shouldn't have caused you trouble! ”

The third girl immediately apologized to Li Weiguo.

Li Weiguo naturally won't care about them, the husband and wife quarrel at the head of the bed and the end of the bed, it's not a big deal, just talk about it.

"Don't worry, my husband has already thought of a way to deal with it, just give me a few more months."

Hearing that Li Weiguo was confident, the three girls immediately breathed a sigh of relief and laughed.

"Since my husband is busy with official business, we won't block you, so we'll go back."

Fu Shanxiang got up first and was about to take the lead to leave, but he was unexpectedly hugged by Li Weiguo, Shen Ziyan and Su Sanniang were the same, and the three girls were immediately hugged by Li Weiguo.

"I want to go, no way!"

"Since you're here, let's comfort my husband!"

"The three of us together?"

"Of course!"

"Don't!"

"What don't! I'm sorry for you, bahaha! ”

In Li Weiguo's laughter, the third daughter was quickly pushed down by him, and the house was suddenly full of spring, so unhappy.

On the second day, Li Weiguo came to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau refreshed.

Accompanied by the ordnance director Shen Baozhen, the group arrived at the weapons test site.

On today's weapon test site, the protagonist is a new weapon, which is also the key reason why Li Weiguo wants to delay time, he is not afraid of fighting with Yi Xin, Li Hongzhang and even the British and French forces, but if the war can be shortened as much as possible and the enemy can be defeated with the smallest casualties, it is still necessary to consider.

The new weapon is a machine gun, known as the Gatling Gun.

The reason why the unit is a machine gun and not a machine gun is because the Gatling machine gun is so large that it is not much different from a 59 infantry gun.

The Gatling machine gun, which has been famous all over the world since the day it was born, was recognized as a weapon of mass destruction before the birth of the Maxim machine gun.

Since it is called a Gatling machine gun, it is obviously a weapon invented by Gatling.

However, Gatlin is no longer in the United States at the moment, because the American Civil War caused Gatlin to flee overseas to avoid trouble, which happened to be the attention of the Chinese S.H.I.E.L.D., so he was invited to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau as the leader of the machine gun scientific research project.

As early as 1861, Gatling had already invented the Gatling machine gun, but at that time the Gatling machine gun only had 4 barrels, and the ammunition used was still the most primitive bullet and gun powder to be filled, but there was a loading bucket, and all 100 rounds of ammunition were installed into the feeding bucket at one time, and then the bullets were loaded into the steel barrel chamber through the crank to fire.

Originally, Gatlin was proud, thinking that the machine gun he had invented was the best in the world.

However, when Gatling discovered the Patriotic rifle and the 9mm standard rifle cartridge in the United States, he was shocked and thought that if the technology of the Patriotic rifle was transferred to the Gatling gun and the 9mm standard rifle cartridge was used, the rate of fire would be greatly improved.

It was precisely because Gatling wanted to spy on the secrets of the Patriotic Rifle, so he willingly followed him to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, he wanted to get the technology of the Patriotic Rifle and left, but unexpectedly made a bet with Li Weiguo and finally lost the bet, so he could only obediently work for Li Weiguo in the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

Of course, Li Weiguo did not treat him badly, and gave Gatling the position of the leader of the machine gun scientific research project team and provided abundant financial support.

Gatlin has always looked down on the Qing people, but with his in-depth understanding of Li Weiguo and the entire Shanghai military group, coupled with the great changes in Shanghai, it has reached the level of New York in the United States, which is shocking. So Gatling felt that there was hope for staying in Shanghai and decided to give it a try.

Under Li Weiguo's far-sighted guidance, Gatling was completely convinced, and based on the theoretical knowledge provided by Li Weiguo, the Gatling machine gun was quickly improved and upgraded. (To be continued.) )