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Overnight, the U.S. Asian Fleet was completely annihilated, seven warships, three were captured, four were sunk, more than half of the 3,000 U.S. Marines were killed or wounded, and the rest were captured, even Mai Lian and Perry became prisoners.

As soon as the news of this incident came out, the whole country was shocked, and a thunder seemed to fall on the court of the Qing court.

In the main hall, the civil and military courtiers, fanned by the Sushun faction, accused Li Weiguo of provoking foreign disputes without authorization, which would lead to the outbreak of war between Qingmei and the United States. This matter is the same as the Qingying War more than ten years ago, Xianfeng is having a headache with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at the moment, their Northern Expeditionary Army is still in Hebei has not been wiped out, if it fights with the United States at this time, the consequences are unimaginable, so Xianfeng is furious and wants to punish Li Weiguo severely.

Fortunately, Li Weiguo is not alone, and Prince Gong Yixin of the court has made several victories in Tianjin because of his meritorious work in blocking the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition into Beijing, and has severely damaged the Northern Expeditionary Army, so his status has improved, and he immediately helped Li Weiguo say good things. Xianfeng thought that at this time, the main forces of the Eight Banners of the Qing Army, the Eight Banners of the Mongolian Army and the Eight Banners of the Han Army were all in Jiangbei to suppress the Northern Expeditionary Army, and there were only Zeng Guofan's Hunan army and Li Weiguo's Shanghai army near Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Xianfeng hesitated for a while, and when the court did not make a decision, he returned to the imperial study.

Lan Guiren was summoned to the imperial study to accompany her again, and after learning about Li Weiguo, she found an opportunity to intercede with Xianfeng: "Your Majesty, do you still remember Lin Zexu Kangying during the reign of the emperor?" ”

Xianfeng knew that Lan Guiren had something to say, so he asked, "I naturally remember, what does Concubine Ai want to say?" ”

Lan Guidao: "How similar the events of the past are to today's events, if the emperor had fully supported Lin Zexu at the beginning, I am afraid that he would not have been defeated in the end." Today, the United States is not as good as the United Kingdom. Since Master Lee was able to destroy the sailors of the United States, how did he know that he could not win the war that followed? ”

Xianfeng said with a smile: "That is, Concubine Ai, you dare to speak boldly in front of me like this, if someone else said this, I would have already looked at his head." ”

Since Lan Guiren used the mask that Li Weiguo paid tribute to her, her skin has become more and more white and pink, and she is deeply loved by Xianfeng, and she is also a pet and arrogant who dares to speak like this, and at this moment she heard that Xianfeng did not blame, but Lan Guiren was still nervous in her heart, and hurriedly confessed.

Xianfeng smiled: "Aifei, you just tell the truth, what a crime!" ”

He paused. continued: "If there were no bandits in trouble, I would really appreciate Li Weiguo's courage. It's just that now there is a rebellion in the imperial court, and the suppression of bandits is not effective, and if there is another war with foreigners, the Qing Dynasty will be in danger. Therefore, I had to severely punish Li Weiguo, but I was afraid that it would affect Li Weiguo's fighting spirit to suppress the rebels, which would be detrimental to the overall situation. ”

Lan Guiren already regarded Li Weiguo as her foreign aid, so she naturally didn't want to see Li Weiguo punished and demoted, so she thought about it. said: "The emperor doesn't have to worry, the concubines have the best of both worlds." ”

Then Lan Guiren said her method, and Xianfeng was overjoyed when he heard it, and immediately adopted it.

The morning of the second day. Xianfeng issued an edict and ordered Li Weiguo to deal with the affairs with the United States and ensure that Britain, France and other powers did not intervene, otherwise Li Weiguo would be severely punished.

Lan Guiren was a popular concubine in the harem at this time. She asked the eunuch in charge of Ouchi to assign the eunuch Xiaochunzi beside her to go to Shanghai to announce the decree, intending to strengthen the connection with Li Weiguo.

A few days later, Koharuko arrived in Shanghai with the Holy Decree. Li Weiguo received the order to thank him, and then let Xiaochunzi into the back hall of the yamen.

"Father-in-law Chun came this time, the road is far away, it must be very hard, I will prepare a small gift for Father-in-law Chun, and I hope that Father-in-law Chun will not dislike it!"

Li Weiguo beckoned, and his own subordinates sent a letter of ten gold bars and 10,000 yuan, as well as a large box.

Xiao Chunzi is only sixteen years old this year, his status in the palace is not high, he can't make money, and he is very excited to have a reward of a few taels of silver on weekdays, and this is the first time he has seen gold bars, and it is ten.

"This-Master Li-this-minions-how dare you accept them!" Xiao Chunzi stumbled excitedly, his position is low, so he doesn't dare to call our family in front of Li Weiguo, he can only be called a slave.

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "These ten gold bars and 10,000 yuan were given to Gonggong Chun, and as for the big box next to it, it was given to the noble people of Lan, and it was annoying Gonggong Chun." ”

"Where, Lord Li is so cool, the slave will not shirk, thank you Lord Li first!"

Xiao Chunzi paused, pointed to the dozen renminbi and asked, "But what is this renminbi?" ”

Li Weiguo smiled and immediately explained to Xiao Chunzi.

"Father-in-law Chun brought this renminbi into Beijing, and it was convenient to carry along the way, and he would open an AIIB branch in Beijing in the near future.

"Thank you, Master Li!" Xiao Chunzi thanked him again, and then reversed the RMB to look at the past, the more he looked at it, the more amazing it became, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that this RMB banknote was really exquisite, much better than the Qing Dynasty treasure banknote, and even the foreign banknotes were difficult to compare, and he couldn't put it down for a while.

Li Weiguo asked, "I wonder if the Lan nobles have asked Gonggong Chun to pass the word this time?" ”

Xiao Chunzi then remembered the explanation of the Lan nobles before leaving, and almost forgot about the business, and was suddenly frightened into a cold sweat, and hurriedly said: "Thanks to Lord Li for asking, otherwise it would be a capital crime for the slave to forget the business of the Lan nobleman!" ”

It turned out that Lan Guiren intended to form an alliance with Li Weiguo, and Lan Guiren was in the inner harem, where he could see the emperor anytime and anywhere, and was the only harem concubine in the harem who could enter and leave the imperial study to help the emperor write the recital. Li Weiguo is outside, commanding tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, the Shanghai army can be said to be the most elite army of the Qing Dynasty, even the foreigners can be defeated, Li Weiguo will inevitably be able to become the governor of the town in the future.

One is in the inner and the other is in the locality, Lan Guiren and Li Weiguo have formed an alliance to support each other and take care of each other, only in this way can Lan Guiren sit firmly in the harem with the help of the real power in Li Weiguo's hands and survive in the cruel palace fighting in the harem. And Li Weiguo was also able to use the position of Lan Guiren in the harem to gain the trust of the emperor and sit firmly in the local government.

This is the alliance that Li Weiguo wants the most, and now Lan Guiren has no prince left, so her status is not high. was able to see Li Weiguo's strength, and even took the initiative to ask for an alliance. If you wait until Lan Gui gives birth to a prince and becomes a concubine, Lan Guifei at that time is not easy to stammer, and it is impossible to look down on Li Weiguo as a fourth-grade petty official.

Li Weiguo was happy in his heart, happy for the advantage of the traverser.

"Please ask Gonggong Chun to convey to Lan Guiren, just say that I, Li Weiguo, am willing to take the lead for Lan Guiren, and no matter how high or low my official position is in the future, I will fully support Lan Guiren and help Lan Guiren all the way to the queen's throne."

Xiao Chunzi hurriedly kept Li Weiguo's words in mind, and then said: "This time, Lord Li taught foreigners a lesson. Su Shun and other ministers of the DPRK and China have been holding on to impeaching adults, reducing their military power, and even killing adults. The master said that she had temporarily persuaded the emperor, but Lord Li had to ensure that the Americans would not start a war against the Qing Dynasty, otherwise if there was really a fight with the United States, no matter how much the Lan nobles pleaded, the emperor would have to kill Lord Li. ”

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "Father-in-law Chun can rest assured. How can I, Li Weiguo, have nothing to do and find death by myself? The Americans don't have to take it to heart, and I can assure you that the Americans will never dare to go to war with the Qing Dynasty. In addition, Father-in-law Chun did not come during this time. I have recovered the American Concession and abrogated the Treaty of Wangxia, and the British and French ministers have made it clear that they will not intervene in this incident. They also renounced the revision of the Jiangning and Whampoa treaties. ”

After Li Weiguo completely turned his face with the Americans, Li Weiguo thought of the benefits of making things bigger, and the people have always been xenophobic and hateful of foreigners. So Li Weiguo simply took back the American concession and abolished the Wangxia Treaty, so that all the people knew that Li Weiguo was a patriotic national hero and added points for himself in front of Xianfeng.

At the same time, Li Weiguo also considered the knock-on effect of forcibly recovering the American concession and abolishing the Treaty of Wangxia, that is, the attitude of Britain and France. Obviously, Britain, France, and Russia will all think that if he Li Weiguo has recovered the American concession, will he take back the British and French concessions next; He Li Weiguo abolished the Treaty of Wangxia, and will the next one abolish the Treaty of Jiangning and the Treaty of Whampoa;

Of course, Russia is not in the scope of Li Weiguo's consideration, because Russia's interests are in the north and do not border Li Weiguo's territory, so Li Weiguo does not dump the Russians.

British Minister Bao Ling and French Minister Bourblon sent a joint note to Li Weiguo, expressing great importance and deep concern over this matter. Li Weiguo knew what they were worried about, and in order not to be hostile to Britain, France, and the United States at the same time, Li Weiguo told Bao Ling and Bourblon that he was only targeting the United States, not Britain and France, and that the Jiangning Treaty and the Whampoa Treaty were still in force.

Of course, Bao Ling and Bourblon would not easily trust Li Weiguo, as the privileged ministers assigned to the Qing Dynasty, they were both British and French political elites, and they had to threaten Li Weiguo and want to scare Li Weiguo.

However, Li Weiguo directly said that Britain and France were fighting the Russians in Crimea at this time, and that Britain and France had no energy to open up a battlefield in the Far East, and if Britain and France forced themselves to stand out for the Americans, I am afraid that the Qing Empire would fall to Tsarist Russia.

Bao Ling and Bourblon were very surprised, they never expected that Li Weiguo would know about the outbreak of the Crimean War and know the situation in Europe well, and even know more about many places than the two ministers in China.

Although Li Weiguo was also intimidating Bao Ling and Burbulon, his words were true, if Britain and France really stood up for the Americans, and the Qing Empire fought against Britain, France, and the United States at the same time, it would definitely ask Russia for help, and the Far East would fall into another big war, so Bao Ling and Burbulon had no choice but to give in, indicating that they would not help the United States, and even gave up revising the Jiangning Treaty and the Whampoa Treaty, in order not to overstimulate the Qing Empire, fearing that the Qing Empire would fall to Russia.

Although Xiao Chunzi didn't fully understand, he could understand a little, and roughly knew that Li Weiguo had a dead hand on the Americans, not only recovering the concession that had been forcibly opened up by the Americans in Shanghai, but also abolishing the Wangxia Treaty, and Britain and France actually chose neutrality, and even gave up revising the treaty, which has always been one of the heart problems of Emperor Xianfeng, and now it has been done by Li Weiguo, which is really unbelievable.

"Don't worry, Lord Li, the slave will definitely bring back the adult's original words, this time I'm afraid that Lord Li will be promoted, and the slave will congratulate Master Li in advance!"

Li Weiguo smiled and said, "I don't expect to be promoted, just don't demote me and cut off my head." ”

Speaking of this, Li Weiguo took out a written notebook, handed it to Xiao Chunzi, and entrusted him to hand it over to Prince Gong Yixin after returning to Beijing.

This is a memo of impeachment of Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, and Gil Hang'a, the governor of Jiangsu, which is full of Yiliang's interference in the military affairs of the Shanghai army, which almost caused a mutiny in the Shanghai army, and Gilhang'a forced the Shanghai gentry and merchants and ordinary people to donate. It led to a commercial strike in Shanghai, and the people complained about it, almost causing a civil uprising.

Li Weiguo's crime of asking the imperial court to treat Yiliang and Gilhang'a was actually to force the imperial court to remove or transfer the two of them out of Shanghai, and prevent them from coming to Li Weiguo's territory to interfere in Li Weiguo's work.

Xiao Chunzi immediately received the order, and because he was in a hurry to go back to his life, he left Shanghai and returned to the capital on the same day.

A few days later, Xiaochunzi returned to Beijing and handed over Li Weiguo's recital to Yixin. Then he returned to the palace and brought Li Weiguo's words and gifts to Lan Guiren.

The next morning is upward. Yi Xin handed the fold to Xianfeng, who first heard a lot of good things about Li Weiguo from Lan Guiren, and then learned that Li Weiguo not only recovered the American concession and abolished the Wangxia Treaty, but also made Britain and France neutral and non-interference, and forced Britain and France to abandon the revision of the Jiangning Treaty and the Whampoa Treaty. The former raised the prestige of the Qing Dynasty, and the latter made Xianfeng even more happy, because he was having a headache with Britain and France asking for a revision of the treaty for three days, and Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, had repeatedly rejected the British and French ministers' notes and reported to Xianfeng that Britain and France wanted to revise the treaty. Xianfeng has always had a headache, and now that Li Weiguo has solved the problem, Xianfeng is suddenly overjoyed.

Therefore, when Xianfeng saw Li Weiguo's impeachment of Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, and Gil Hang'a, the governor of Jiangsu. Subjectively, he thought that Yiliang and Gilhanga were wrong, and immediately ordered the two of them to be dismissed from their posts and sent to prison.

"Your Majesty, this matter is just Li Weiguo's words. It should not be decided hastily, Yiliang and Gilhanga should be transferred back to Beijing for a detailed investigation, and they should be the holy judges. ”

Su Shun hurriedly came out to intercede. After all, Yiliang and Gilhanga are both his people, and once they are implicated, it is not a joke, it is called forming a party for personal gain, and committing a royal taboo.

As for why Su Shun didn't directly refute Li Weiguo's impeachment for Yiliang and Gilhang'a, it was because Su Shun knew too well what kind of goods Yiliang and Gilhang'a were, and this kind of thing was eighty percent true, so he didn't dare to refute it, for fear of setting himself on fire, after all, there was a sworn enemy in the court, where Yixin was eyeing him, and Su Shun had to take a small form to prevent Yixin from seizing the opportunity to attack him.

Xianfeng saw Su Shun pleading for mercy, and also felt that it made sense, so he agreed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Li Weiguo has made so many contributions, how do you think I should reward him?"

As soon as they heard that Xianfeng was going to be rewarded, all the people in Sushun and the faction shut up and looked unhappy.

Yi Xin was the most excited, he immediately said: "Brother Qiyu, the younger brother thinks that Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, and Jierhang'a, the governor of Jiangsu, misbehaved and lost the official system, after they left their posts and returned to Beijing, no one in the two rivers and three provinces was controlled, and now the flood thieves are powerful in Jiangxi, and the two rivers and three provinces must not be vacant, and the ministers and brothers thought that Li Weiguo could be promoted to the governor of Liangjiang to show their merits and inspire the soldiers of the three armies to fight bravely to kill the enemy and wipe out the rebels as soon as possible. ”

Xianfeng was on his head with joy, nodded immediately, and was about to agree, when Su Shun saw that it was not good, he was startled, and hurriedly jumped out to stop it.

"Never! How old is Li Weiguo, and it is really a joke to make him the governor of Liangjiang before he is crowned. Besides, Li Weiguo previously served as the commander of Qipin County for less than two years and moved to the fourth rank of Su Songtai's military preparation officer, which is no longer in line with the law of the imperial court's promotion, and now he has served as Su Songtai's military preparation for less than two years, if he is promoted to the governor of Liangjiang in Zhengyipin, the minister is worried that Li Weiguo is too young and lacks experience, and is not suitable for the position of governor of Liangjiang. ”

Xianfeng also knew that the promotion of court officials must be completed within a term of office, for example, the county order needs to be full for three years before it can be considered for promotion, Li Weiguo is indeed less than twenty, let him be the governor of Liangjiang, Xianfeng also feels not very relieved.

Yi Xin saw Xianfeng shaking his head, and he also knew that he was in a hurry, and he shouldn't call Li Weiguo such a high official position, I am afraid that it will not be good to arouse Xianfeng's suspicion.

So he retreated and said: "Just now, the younger brother forgot Li Weiguo's age, he really does not meet the conditions of the governor of Liangjiang, but he is now a part-time Su Songtai soldier and Songjiang prefect, and he has made great achievements in the local area, and has made remarkable achievements. ”

Seeing Yi Xin say this, Xianfeng just had a trace of jealousy in his heart and disappeared, and was about to nod in agreement, but Su Shun jumped out again to stop him.

"Your Majesty, the post of governor of Jiangsu is not suitable for Li Weiguo. Because the Yangtze River divides Jiangsu into southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu, Li Weiguo is in southern Jiangsu, leading the Jiangdong camp and the Jiangnan camp, but in northern Jiangsu, Shengbao controls the Jiangbei camp. If Li Weiguo serves as the governor of Jiangsu, I am afraid that the supply of the Jiangbei camp will be reduced, after all, Li Weiguo will give priority to supplying the Jiangnan camp and the Jiangdong camp, which is not conducive to the overall situation of the imperial court's suppression of the rebels. ”

Xianfeng thought about it, but nodded again, and he didn't know if he really didn't know or deliberately looked at Su Shun and Yixin pinching each other.

Yi Xin glared at Su Shun viciously, if his eyes could kill, Su Shun had been ravaged to death by Yi Xin hundreds of times.

Su Shun also smiled with a smile on his face, and replied to Yixin defiantly.

Xianfeng saw that Su Shun and Yixin's eyes were sparkling. He couldn't help but show a mysterious imperial smile on his face, and he said: "I don't think it's as good as this, Northern Jiangsu is still under the governor of Jiangsu, assisting the Jiangbei camp, and another person is selected." Southern Jiangsu was separated from the jurisdiction of Jiangsu, Jiangnan Province was established, and Li Weiguo was appointed as the governor of Jiangnan and the governor of southern Jiangsu. ”

High. It's tall!

Su Shun and Yi Xin shouted at the same time in their hearts, they suddenly found that they had underestimated Xianfeng's IQ, they didn't expect Xianfeng to have such a clever strategy, which caught Su Shun and Yi Xin off guard.

In addition to Jinling and Jiangning Mansion, which were in the hands of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Other places were already under Li Weiguo's control, and Li Weiguo was appointed as the governor of Jiangnan, but his official position was promoted by one level, which blocked Yixin's mouth. However, the actual territory has not changed in the slightest, because northern Jiangsu is still in the hands of the governor of Jiangsu and is not under the control of Li Weiguo. It also satisfied Su Shun's heart.

However, Su Shun is still powerful, he is unwilling to be promoted to the governor of Li Weiguo, and suddenly said: "The emperor is wise, now it is a wartime state, you can rush to follow the power, and set aside southern Jiangsu to establish Jiangnan Province, which is intended to support Li Weiguo's Jiangdong battalion and Jiangnan battalion to fight against the enemy, and wait until the rebellion is quelled, and then this Jiangnan province can be transferred back to Jiangsu Province." ”

Xianfeng smiled, or Su Shun could guess his intentions.

That's right, Xianfeng is indeed this purpose. Set up a separate province in southern Jiangsu and appoint Li Weiguo as governor. In this way, Li Weiguo has the responsibility to expel the Taiping army as soon as possible and recover Jinling and Jiangning Mansion, because Jiangning Mansion is within the Jiangnan Province, and if Xianfeng wants to move Li Weiguo one day, he can blame Li Weiguo on the excuse that Li Weiguo did not recover the lost territory.

This is the emperor's mental technique, Su Shun understood it, and slapped Xianfeng on the back, and Yixin also understood it, but he didn't dare to say more.

The matter was settled, and the decree soon reached Shanghai.

After Li Weiguo received the order of thanksgiving, he convened a meeting of the members of the staff group.

"Congratulations on your promotion to governor of Jiangnan!"

A cadre of staff have given Li Weiguo congratulations, they are very happy, what is called a person who has won the Tao chicken dog ascended to heaven, watching Li Weiguo rise step by step, the identity and status of these staff members have also risen and followed the promotion, and they are full of hope for the future, and they are naturally beaming.

Li Weiguo is also very happy, from the second grade of the Jiangnan governor, he is also a provincial-level cadre, which is worth celebrating.

It's just that Wu Yong poured cold water on Li Weiguo and said: "My lord, do you know what the emperor meant?" Why didn't he directly give the governor of Jiangsu to the adults, but divided Jiangsu into two and established a new Jiangnan province for the adults? ”

Li Weiguo smiled: "What does Mr. Wu think the emperor means by this?" ”

Wu Yong smiled and said, "Didn't you see that the emperor was already jealous of you?" ”

Li Weiguo snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "It's a mediocrity not to be feared!" What if the emperor is jealous of me? He can only be jealous of me now, but he doesn't dare not give me a promotion, what does this mean, it shows that the emperor doesn't dare to touch me easily, and he doesn't dare to touch me now, so he will have no chance in the future! ”

Li Weiguo's words were quite arrogant, although he did not explicitly say rebellion, but the meaning of disobeying the royal road was already very obvious.

The staff members suddenly became excited, they didn't care whether Li Weiguo rebelled or not, since they joined Li Weiguo's staff group, everyone's interests were connected, and the higher Li Weiguo climbed, the higher they could get a higher status. To put it bluntly, if one day Li Weiguo has the strength to win the Ninth Five-Year Plan, then even if Li Weiguo does not rebel, these aides will force Li Weiguo to rebel for their own interests, and give Li Weiguo a yellow robe.

Seeing that Li Weiguo was so confident, Wu Yong immediately smiled, he was just testing whether Li Weiguo's mind was firm, and now hearing Li Weiguo's answer, Wu Yong was very satisfied.

But soon Wu Yong frowned again and said: "My lord, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is located in Jinling, and Jiangning Mansion is the nominal jurisdiction of the adults. ”

Li Weiguo nodded and asked rhetorically, "What do you mean?" ”

Wu Yong said: "My subordinates think that when a large-scale battle is launched, at least most of Jiangning Mansion is recovered, and it is shown to the imperial court, it proves that the lord is doing his duty, and he should not easily give excuses to his political enemies to make trouble, especially now that the emperor is jealous, he must be even more careful." ”

Fu Xuexian said on the side: "What Mr. Wu said is very true, but the problem is that we will have a showdown with the Taiping Army, and in the future, the war will continue and the military spending will surge, which is not a good thing for us. ”

Wu Yong said with a smile: "Master Fu doesn't have to worry, Wu Yong has a clever plan, he can continue to play a scene with the Taiping army, and we will recover most of Jiangning Mansion and show it to the imperial court." In order to make the Taiping army willingly cooperate, we allowed the Taiping army to go south to Huzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province and gave them a few county towns in exchange. ”

Fu Xuexian said: "This Zhejiang is our strategic hinterland, how can it be easily given to the Taiping Army?" ”

Li Weiguo's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately smiled: "Mr. Wu, isn't it killing two birds with one stone?" ”

Wu Yong was suddenly surprised, and then asked with a smile: "Why do adults think that it is two birds with one stone?" ”

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "This is not simple, exchange territory with the Taiping Army, we will recover most of the Jiangning Mansion and show it to the imperial court, this is one thing." Second, although we regard Zhejiang as the hinterland, we have no excuse to send troops to occupy it, if the Taiping army gathers to invade Zhejiang Province, then I will not have an excuse to send troops to Zhejiang, and then take Zhejiang into the bag? Do you think I'm right, sir? ”

Wu Yong suddenly took a deep look at it to the end, and said loudly: "My lord is wise, Wu Yong admires it." We have adult leaders, so why worry about hegemony! ”

The other staff members also admired Li Weiguo's wisdom, and became more determined to follow him, and immediately became excited, and they all shook it to the end, and said in unison: "We are willing to swear allegiance to your lord!" ”

Li Weiguo suddenly laughed and said: "I, Li Weiguo, am so lucky, with the help of all talents, why worry about not succeeding in hegemony!" (To be continued......)