Li Weiguo rolled his eyes and smiled at Chen Wu: "When I go back to the next generation, I greet my righteous brother and say that I thank him for his kindness." Yong'an is too far away, and I can't go. ”

Hearing Li Weiguo's euphemistic words of refusal, Hong Xuanjiao, Chen Wu and Fu Shanrui all showed disappointment, but they were already mentally prepared, after all, no one likes to rebel when they are full, it is a capital crime of raiding the family and exterminating the clan, not to mention that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is besieged by 100,000 Qing troops in Yong'an, can you persist or not, Li Weiguo should not follow you to rebel with a good county order, which is even more impossible.

However, Liu Shaoting frowned, snorted coldly, and said, "What is too far away?" Master Li clearly doesn't want to join the kingdom of heaven and looks down on us! ”

Ya, you don't talk to no one when you're dumb!

Can't you hear this kind of polite words? Do you have to make everything clear?

Li Weiguo suddenly rolled his eyes, grinding his teeth, very unhappy.

Chen Wu, Hong Xuanjiao and Fu Shanrui also frowned when they heard Liu Shaoting's words, showing displeasure, and the former hurriedly changed the topic and said: "My lord's words will be conveyed according to the truth in the future." However, when I came this time, there is another thing that the head of my family will explain, and I hope that Master Li can help. ”

Li Weiguo thought to himself that he really had nothing to do but climbed the Three Treasures Palace, and tunneled: "Brother Chen has something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it, since it is my brother-in-law's business, it is my business, if I can help, it will naturally be fine." ”

Chen Wu glanced at Hong Xuanjiao, saw the other party nodded, so he said: "It's not a secret, at present, my Taiping army is besieged by 100,000 Qing troops in Yong'an, although the soldiers are full of food, but the weapons and armor are very lacking, especially the batch of Western firearms that Lord Li sent us last time, the ammunition consumption is huge, and the firearms are constantly damaged in the battle, and there is no one in ten." ”

"Is there a war, war damage is inevitable!" Li Weiguo nodded and said, he is still very clear about the problem of weapon damage. It must be known that in any battle, weapons and equipment will be greatly damaged, for example, a knife will collapse and roll the blade or even break after cutting a few people, and it needs to be repaired and rebuilt, especially firearms, parts and components have a service life, which is why Li Weiguo only has 4,000 people under his hands, but is equipped with 5,000 muskets, and the extra 1,000 muskets are used to disassemble parts for maintenance.

Chen Wu saw that Li Weiguo understood, so he didn't say more, and went straight to the point, saying, "Therefore, my hall master hopes that Lord Li can help buy another batch of firearms. ”

Sure enough, they came to buy arms!

Li Weiguo had actually guessed the intention of Chen Wu and others, compared to the original intention of Li Weiguo and Su Sanlang to build a bridge and link of friendship with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the arms transaction was also the only means that Li Weiguo could impress the high-level of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"Is this what my brother-in-law meant—"

Li Weiguo said and glanced at Hong Xuanjiao, Liu Shaoting and Fu Shanrui, the meaning is obvious, brothers belong to brothers, and transactions belong to transactions.

Chen Wu hurriedly replied, "Even the meaning of my hall master, it is also the meaning of our Heavenly King. ”

Li Weiguo had a mirror in his heart, eighty percent of Hong Xiuquan was impatient to be besieged by the Qing army, and he saw the power of Western firearms from Su Sanlang, so he entrusted Su Saburo to send Chen Wu to negotiate a firearms deal with Li Weiguo.

Thinking of this, the tunnel: "Since the righteous brother and the Heavenly King have spoken, then I should do my best to help, I don't know how many firearms are needed?" ”

Chen Wu glanced at Hong Xuanjiao and Liu Shaoting, and saw that the two nodded, so he replied: "We need 50,000 muskets, 500,000 catties of lead bullets, and 5 million catties of gunpowder. ”

How dare you speak?

Li Weiguo was taken aback, you must know that when he negotiated with the British, he only asked for 10,000 muskets, but it took a lot of effort, and finally the British finally relented and agreed to provide him with 5,000 muskets, and there were preconditions, that is, they must not use these firearms to make enemies with the British, and if necessary, they must assist the British to guard the safety of the concession.

Now as soon as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom opened its mouth, they wanted 50,000 muskets and artillery, not to mention whether the British had so many weapons in stock in the Far East, even if they did, knowing that the Taiping army wanted to buy them, they would never sell them.

Li Weiguo knew very well that at the beginning of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in history, the British and French teams had already assembled to prepare for armed intervention, but later because the Taiping Army's sudden northern expedition almost wiped out the Qing court, and the Qing army's defeat after defeat made the Taiping Army huge, and the great powers did not understand the Taiping Army, etc., they deterred the Great Powers for a while, so that they did not dare to act rashly. Later, the great powers saw that the Taiping army was inferior in weapons and inferior to the Qing army, and was ready to attack the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but they never thought that the Crimean War broke out suddenly, forcing Britain and France and other powers to give up the initiative to attack the Taiping Army for the second time, and when the Crimean War ended, the great powers were ready to send troops to attack the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the contradictions between them and the Qing government suddenly intensified, and the second Opium War broke out, which made the great powers have not attacked the Taiping Army, and temporarily lived in peace with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but it was also forbidden to export arms and materials to the Taiping Army.

Li Weiguo knew the general direction of history, so it was impossible to buy weapons from foreigners and then sell them to the Taiping Army, so once the foreigners knew about it, he would definitely have endless contact with Li Weiguo, which would affect future cooperation.

From the very beginning, Li Weiguo's plan was to build a military factory and sell arms to the Taiping army in order to make huge profits, but the problem is that Li Weiguo's military factory has not yet been established, and it is impossible to sell arms to the Taiping army on a large scale.

Thinking of this, Li Weiguo sighed and said, "I'm sorry, this arms deal is too large to be done in the future." ”

"I said it couldn't be! It's not bad if a small county order doesn't report us and ask for merit and rewards, how can it be possible to sell arms to us! Liu Shaoting said with a sneer.

"Don't be rude!" Hong Xuanjiao drank Liu Shaoting's words, and then said to Li Weiguo: "Lord Li, I don't know how much you can provide us, please rest assured, we will never treat your adults badly." ”

Li Weiguo thought for a moment and said, "Five hundred muskets!" ”

"Five hundred muskets? You should be the one who asks for food. Liu Shaoting said in a strange voice again, and his tone was obviously not good.

Li Weiguo frowned suddenly, his face was displeased, and he thought to himself, you have to figure out whether it's okay or not, it's you who came to beg me, but not me!

Hong Xuanjiao scolded Liu Shaoting again, and said: "Lord Li, 500 muskets are too few, our Taiping army is 300,000 horses, and there is really a lack of weapons and equipment, if 50,000 muskets are too much, then 20,000 is fine, and the other 30,000 muskets can be replaced with swords and weapons." ”

Li Weiguo asked rhetorically: "You won't use me here as an arsenal, will you?" ”

Hong Xuanjiao didn't answer, but continued: "20,000 muskets, 1 million catties of gunpowder, 30,000 weapons, we will give 3 million taels of silver!" ”

Three million taels of silver is indeed more than enough to buy these weapons and equipment, which is three times higher than the market price.

Li Weiguo thought that the Taiping Army was really rich, and he had looted many landlords and wealthy businessmen, but he still couldn't agree, and said with a wry smile: "It's not a matter of silver, but I really can't come up with so many weapons and equipment." ”

"What garlic do you pretend? You recruited 4,000 recruits, and bought a large number of muskets and even artillery from foreigners, and we saw so many foreign merchant ships on the dock for a whole day to unload their goods a few days ago. Liu Shaoting said coldly again, and his tone was already very unkind.

Li Weiguo glared at Liu Shaoting angrily, thinking to himself, why are you here to beg me, why are you talking so arrogantly? Fortunately, he didn't think about joining the Taiping Army at the beginning, otherwise he would have been angry with him if he didn't die by this girl.

This time, Hong Xuanjiao didn't say anything to stop Liu Shaoting, obviously she also felt the need to talk to Li Weiguo in a different way.

Fu Shanrui said at this time: "I said brother-in-law, since you can get so many firearms from foreigners, why can't you sell some to the Taiping Army, and we don't give money!" ”

"Yes! My lord, we will not treat you badly! Chen Wu also chimed in, apparently he also thought that Li Weiguo could do anything.

Li Weiguo saw that his eldest brother also spoke, and then he remembered that he had also joined the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, originally Li Weiguo supported Su Saburo's firearms just to give a good impression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and cooperate in the future, but now it seems that he is in trouble.

Thinking of this, Li Weiguo smiled bitterly and said: "That's it, tell you the truth, I only have 5,000 muskets on hand at present, and I can only give you 1,000 muskets except for the four thousand muskets left for my soldiers." ”

Hong Xuanjiao finally said: "It's rare for Lord Li to tell him so frankly, but I believe that Lord Li can also buy more firearms from foreigners." Master Li rest assured, the silver will never be less for you, a firearm on the black market is thirty taels of silver, even if the foreigner's firearm is more expensive, it will not exceed fifty taels of silver, we are willing to pay an extra fifty taels of silver, as a price of one hundred taels of silver for a foreign musket, guns and gunpowder are counted separately, it is also double the price, so what do you think? ”

Li Weiguo glanced at Hong Xuanjiao and knew that he had to give her an explanation, otherwise he would completely offend her, and he would not want to do business with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom again in the future, so he said: "Since Hong Junshuai has said so, if you don't agree in the future, you won't give face." Having said that, my negotiations with foreigners will not be completed in a short period of time, so please allow me for a while. ”

Hong Xuanjiao suddenly smiled and said, "This is natural, we are not unreasonable people, there is Master Lao Li." ”

"No way!" Liu Shaoting suddenly stood up and said: "My hundreds of thousands of Taiping Army soldiers are fighting bloody battles, and they urgently need this batch of munitions, since Lord Li can buy arms from foreigners, then why don't you hand over the 5,000 muskets on hand along with other munitions to us first, and then Master Li will buy them from foreigners, so that both of us will be happy." ”

This Liu Shaoting is clearly kicking his nose in the face, and he actually started the idea of Li Weiguo's new army's weapons and equipment!

Li Weiguo was furious, glared at Liu Shaoting coldly and said, "Lord Liu, it's too much!" I respect you as a hero of the righteous army who dares to rebel against the Qing court, I am willing to sell arms to your department, that is also for the sake of my brother's face, I sell your arms is love, not to sell your arms is my duty, sell more and sell less, I have the final say, and it is not your turn to point fingers. ”

"Is it too much? I don't think so! Liu Shaoting spread his hands and continued with a weak expression: "But since Master Li has sold us a batch of arms, he is our friend, even if you don't treat us as a friend, then the Qing dogs will think that you are one of us." Isn't the adult recruiting troops in Chongming County just to join us in opposing the imperial court? ”

"Fart! How dare you threaten me! Li Weiguo stood up and said angrily, but he was shocked in his heart, he suddenly felt that what he had done recently was a little too impatient, and even Liu Shaoting could see it, so the Qing court officials were not all fools, and they would inevitably be suspicious.

Fortunately, the Qing court did not think that the Taiping Army could succeed, and had been encircling and suppressing with a large army and strictly sealing the news, so the civil and military officials on the border of the two rivers and three provinces did not know about the Taiping Army, and even if they knew something, they would not be associated with Li Weiguo's small actions.

However, once the Taiping army succeeded in breaking through Yong'an and the Qing court could no longer block the news, Li Weiguo's small actions in Chongming County would arouse their alarm.

Li Weiguo was thinking deeply, and others were also thinking deeply, and even their hearts were full of nervousness, after all, Liu Shaoting's words just now were almost a threat, which was equivalent to a showdown, and if one was not done well, this place would become a battlefield, and the two sides would be enemies from now on.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the room was tense, Hong Xuanjiao shook her head, gave up the idea of persuasion, and drank tea leisurely, Chen Wu and Fu Shanrui also had no intention of persuasion, it seemed that they had planned before, although they were extremely nervous, afraid that the conversation would collapse, but they were not surprised.

"It's not a threat, it's just a kind reminder!" Liu Shaoting suddenly said with an expression of confidence in Li Weiguo: "We are a family, your righteous brother is the commander of our Taiping Army, if your eldest brother Fu Xuexian does things well this time, he will be named the marquis by His Royal Highness the East King when he goes back, and he will be appointed to the important position of secretary of the Ministry of Rites." ”

"Fu Xuexian?" Li Weiguo looked at Fu Shanrui with a puzzled face, secretly thinking that his eldest brother's name was not Fu Shanrui?

Fu Shanrui smiled bitterly: "I wanted to finish the business and then tell my brother-in-law, but in fact, in order to avenge my father, I went south to join the Taiping Army, and in order to avoid being chased by Qinggou, I changed my name to Fu Xuexian, and now I am working under the account of the East King." ”

Fu Xuexian, the future Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Futianhou, he turned out to be his eldest brother!

Li Weiguo was silent.

At this time, Fu Shanrui, no, it should be called Fu Xuexian, he glanced at Liu Shaoting carefully, and saw that the other party nodded, so he said to Li Weiguo: "Brother-in-law, haven't you been looking for your daughter-in-law?" ”

Li Weiguo suddenly had a thrill, subconsciously grabbed Fu Xuexian's arm, and asked excitedly: "What?" Do you know the news of Sister Shanxiang? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Where is she now? ”

"Let go, let go, your arm is going to break!" Fu Xuexian was caught by Li Weiguo and screamed in pain, secretly thinking that his brother-in-law looked polite, how could he have so much strength, more than the soldiers of the Taiping Army.

"Speak quickly!" Li Weiguo shouted and let go of his hand.

"That-that-" Fu Xuexian hesitated, glanced at Liu Shaoting again, and said after a long time: "Shanxiang is all right, and now she is working in the Taiping Army Women's Camp, but I miss you very much, and I hope to reunite with you." ”

At this time, Liu Shaoting suddenly coughed, and Fu Xuexian immediately added: "That, our Taiping Army is surrounded in Yong'an, short of food and clothing, Shanxiang is weak and sick, I don't know how long she can last, brother-in-law, you have to save her quickly!" ”

When Li Weiguo heard that Fu Shanxiang was sick, he immediately said in a state of confusion: "Don't worry, I will never let Shanxiang suffer, I will go and save her!" ”

Seeing Li Weiguo's expression, Liu Shaoting immediately smiled and said: "It's very simple to save your daughter-in-law, give us the arms, and our Taiping Army will be able to break out of Yong'an, and then your daughter-in-law will be able to find a doctor to treat her illness." ”