Zuo Zongtang picked up a chess piece and landed lightly on the chessboard. A chess game, it's time to get entangled. On half of the chessboard, the two big dragons are tumbling and strangling together, but the other half is sparse, which is really weird to the extreme.

Playing against Zuo Zongtang was Lin Zexu, the governor of Liangjiang in the Qing Dynasty, the world-famous leader of the Qingliu looked old and dying, and the pigtails of his sparse white hair hung weakly behind his head, but his eyes still revealed a bit of sharpness, and there were some martyrs in their twilight years, and they had a strong demeanor.

Li Hongzhang and Shen Baozhen stood around Lin Zexu, one tall and big, the other short and short, but the contrast was stark. Both of their faces looked solemn, but Li Hongzhang's solemnity couldn't hide a mood of eagerness. Shen Baozhen just looked at his father-in-law, Old Taishan, and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice.

Lin Zexu seemed to hear a soft sigh, and said with a wry smile: "Young Dan, why sigh?" ”

Shen Baozhen said: "The world is in chaos, flesh and blood are separated, and the people are miserable, can the little son-in-law not sigh?" ”

Lin Zexu stroked his beard and asked, "Shaoquan, what do you think?" ”

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Although the world is chaotic, the world of great rule is not far away. Although the country is divided into three, the period of unification is not far off. Although the people are suffering, they can live and work in peace and contentment. In the world of great rule, it will come from the chaos, and there will be a world of chaos, so that the heroes can sweep away the demons and rebuild the foundation for the world. ”

"Ji Gao, you and Zhu Tianzi are probably the heroes who swept away the demons in Shaoquan's mouth, right? I don't know the demons...... Who are they? Lin Zexu looked at Zuo Zongtang with a smile.

Zuo Zongtang also smiled: "The winner is the hero, and the loser is the devil." The Manchu Qing Dynasty is dying, and it is naturally a demon. But this hero ...... It could also be the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! ”

"Oh?" Lin Zexu nodded noncommittally. "The first to enter Beijing is the king. This is the agreement between the Zhu family and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, right? ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled bitterly: "Who would have known that it would be self-defeating." Does Muon have a good plan for me? ”

"Isn't it ready-made to defend the famous religion?" Lin Zexu raised his eyebrows, "The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is an enemy of the world's scholars, and an enemy of the world's gentry, in a vain attempt to use the teachings of Western Jesus to judge my Chinese Taoism, even if such an enemy can be strong for a while, but in the end, it is inevitable to be defeated!" ”

Zuo Zongtang looked at Lin Zexu blankly, and couldn't help but ask: "Mu Weng, do you really think so?" ”

Lin Zexu snorted: "It's not bad." Zuo Jigao's mind is really still sober...... You really understand Confucianism. Then Zhu Tianzi probably thinks that the world is already in his hands now, right? ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled bitterly and nodded, Confucianism is very soft, and there is never a shortage of official fans and surrenderers. Now it is not Confucianism that is resolutely opposed to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is resolutely anti-Confucian! If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could change its policy and change its opposition to co-optation, the Confucian scholars in the north would not necessarily be loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Didn't Confucianism fall to its knees at the feet of the Mongols and Manchurians in history? The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has come to this point, and there must be people among them who understand! In the past, he was anti-Confucian, firstly, because he wanted to use religion to unite the team; The second reason is that at that time, the people were rogues, even if they pretended to be corporal Lixian, no gentry would go with them. But after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom entered Beijing, it was different. People are Zhengshuo who is chasing the Tartars to restore China - no worse than Zhu Jishi in terms of righteousness! Moreover, the northern gentry have only seen the fists of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and they don't know how powerful Zhu Ming is! This Confucianism has always had the habit of holding thick legs. Since the legs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are thick enough, how can no one hug them?

And what is the attitude of the British Empire, the hegemon of the world? The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom believes in God! And the British Empire doesn't seem to support China's reunification, right? If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is supported by the British, and the foreign guns and artillery instructors are not short, Zhu Ming is still sure of victory?

Therefore, the emperor's throne of Zhu Datianzi has not yet reached the time to sit down!

In addition, if the Manchu Qing lost Beijing, there must be no way to live?

"My son of heaven is worried about Russian interference, so he has sent people to Vladivostok to establish a stronghold, and has also sent troops to attack North Korea, preparing to turn it into an anti-Russian rear." Zuo Zongtang changed the topic and talked about the matter of defending against Russia and resisting Russia.

Zhu Jishi's use of troops against North Korea was indeed to resist Russia, not to covet North Korea's land wealth. The use of a chartered trading company is a last resort, and if the regular army is dispatched with at least one division of the army and most of the navy, it will not be possible to defeat it without a special military expenditure of 2 million. After the fight, the annual cost of garrisoning troops in the DPRK is afraid that it will be hundreds of thousands, and at present, Zhu Ming has too many places to spend money, and he really does not have such spare money, so he simply let a group of pirates and maritime merchants run it by themselves.

Lin Zexu nodded when he heard this: "For Chinese patients, after all, for Russia...... Zhu Tianzi's vision of the outside world is not bad, and I am not worried. Some time ago, the French advisers in my training army received orders from their countries to go to Guangzhou to help Zhu Ming. How did Zhu Tianzi do it? ”

"That's not what my son of heaven meant, it's ...... The work of the Duchess de Ségur, whose father was Minister of War in the Provisional Government of the French Republic. ”

"It's really hand-eyed." Lin Zexu turned his head to look at Li Hongzhang, "Shaoquan, can other people's razing be clever?" ”

"Gao Ming is Gao Ming, but he can't deal with Russia, and the student heard that Emperor Daoguang has sent Bai Siwen to Moscow to move rescue troops."

"Brother Ji Gao, can you Ming start a war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Great Qing Dynasty and Russia at the same time?" Lin Zexu looked at Zuo Zongtang with blazing eyes.

Everyone knows that after the main force of the Eight Banners New Army is destroyed, Beijing will not be able to hold it no matter what. And once Beijing was taken by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zhu Ming's short-lived alliance with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be over. The rule of China's troubled times has always been that the winner takes all, and Zhu Ming and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom divided the world equally is just an illusion.

Moreover, the two moves of using troops against North Korea and occupying Vladivostok have already revealed Zhu Ming's bottom. Zhu Jishi has a big heart, and he wants to take the whole world! In this way, not only will they be enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which occupies Beijing and half of the Central Plains, but they will also start a war with the Manchus and Russia behind them. With one enemy and three enemies, it is difficult to say whether it can win the most rearly.

"Fortunately, there is Mu Weng to help." Zuo Zongtang looked at Lin Zexu with a smile, "Mu Weng is a credit to the country and the nation, and this credit will be remembered by the son of heaven in my family." ”

Lin Zexu went north to King Qin not only to give himself a step, but also to help Zhu Jishi a lot, otherwise north of the Huai River, within the Shanhaiguan, I am afraid that there is no strength to resist the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After a dragon and tiger fight, even if Zhu Jishi can win the most reluctantly, he will probably not have ten or eight years of recuperation, and he will not be able to compete with Russia for Manchuria, Mongolia and Xinjiang.

"Don't come to these vain things, Zuo Jigao, you see that my old man is desperately going north to give you the Ming Dynasty to contain the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he is still hanging on to the little thoughts of the Manchu Qing Dynasty...... What benefits should you give me? ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled, stretched out a slap and shook it in front of Lin Zexu: "How about giving 5 million yuan in military salary first?" ”

Lin Zexu waved his hand: "It's not about this, this doesn't need the old man to open his mouth, Zhu Tianzi will give it." The old man is now asking for a reward for future generations...... Jing Feng'er wants to go north with the old man, and I don't know if she can come back alive. However, listening to Sun and Xinbei, they all stayed in Jiangnan. How about giving each of them a Hou Ye? ”

Zuo Zongtang laughed: "Mu Weng is really joking, if the two sons can return to the Ming Dynasty, how can they stop the future of the marquis?" At least one duke and one marquis. Even Brother Jingfeng will return to the south in the future, and he also has the qualifications to be a marquis. In the future, the Marquis Lin clan will be a three-duke marquis. By the way, Muon, there's one more thing I want to trouble you. ”

"A trifle? Shanghai Concession, right? Lin Zexu smiled, "No problem, this is a good thing for the country and the people, and I should do it." ”

Today's meeting is a great joy so far, Zuo Zongtang is not rotten and said Jiangnan, and when he returned to Zhu Jishi, a Xiangyin county prince did not run, and he will either be crowned king or national prince in the future. Old man Lin is the king of Qin, who is at his age and in poor health, so it is estimated that he will not see the time when the Qing Dynasty will be completely closed.

It is really a life for the country, for the people, for the king, for the world, with two sleeves and a clean breeze, and a perfect generation; At home, you can also be a filial son, a virtuous grandson, a loving father, a good grandfather, a family and three princes, loyalty and filial piety.

The Qing Dynasty had such loyal ministers, and Emperor Daoguang probably died blindly. (To be continued......)