British Concession, British Army Barracks.

A French colonel and a British lieutenant colonel sat on the main seat of the rectangular conference table, and on the left and right sides of the conference table sat the generals of the British and French armies, including majors, lieutenants, and captains, and almost all the generals of the army gathered here.

The French colonel took the lead in asking: "Your Excellency Lieutenant Colonel, you participated in last night's incident, what do you think?"

The lieutenant colonel took a deep breath and had a look of apprehension on his face.

Thinking back to the situation of last night, the lieutenant colonel even showed a painful expression. After being silent for a long time, the lieutenant colonel said: "Mr. Colonel, the enemy we encountered last night was definitely not pirates, it must be a regular army. Looking at the whole of Shanghai, only Li Zhen has this strength. Looking at the entire Qing Empire, only Li Zhen had such soldiers. ”

The colonel looked solemn, touched his nose, and asked, "Are you sure?" ”

The lieutenant colonel said affirmatively: "Last night, the people I met were all dressed in black, and with the bullets flying around, I couldn't see the other party's face clearly. However, the firepower possessed by the other party and the ambush laid by the other party alone are enough to determine the identity of the other party. We have dealt with the officials of the Qing Empire, and they are all inaction. ”

"Qing soldiers use bird guns, or use broadswords, and it is impossible to equip them with advanced weapons."

"However, the enemies we encountered last night were all using the most advanced guns."

"It was their obstruction that led to the killing of Mr. Ali Guo and Mr. Ai Tong. Although Li Zhen pushed everything on the pirate Lu Shaochuan, the matter had nothing to do with Li Zhen. Even, I suspect that the pirate Lu Shaochuan is already Li Zhen's person, and he has been incorporated by Li Zhen, so what happened last night will happen. ”

The colonel raised his eyebrows and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel, how are you sure?" ”

The lieutenant colonel looked quite helpless, and said heavily: "Mr. Colonel, have you forgotten the merchant ships escorted by the British and French joint combat team?" And the thing about the sinking of three warships into the sea? ”

The colonel nodded and said, "This was a year ago, and it does exist. ”

"It's just a pirate at sea, with no ships, no guns, no troops, nothing more than a rabble," said the lieutenant colonel. If they want to win, they must have enough firepower, and the only possibility is that Li Zhen subdues the pirates and gives them weapons. With guns and artillery, pirates were able to gain a foothold on the seas. ”

"Shhh Hiss! ”

The colonel took a deep breath and said, "Your analysis is indeed reasonable. ”

The lieutenant colonel said in a deep voice: "It's not reasonable, it's true." Li Zhen actually incorporated pirates at sea, which means that he has the ability to fight at sea. If this person hadn't pushed the pirate Lu Shaochuan out to take the blame, I wouldn't have thought of the pirate. ”

The colonel asked, "Your Excellency, Lieutenant Colonel, since you have speculated that Li Zhen did the matter. We can't stand idly by, the French consul Aitang was killed, the French army can't turn a deaf ear, I think lead the army to attack Li Zhen and kill Li Zhen to take revenge. ”

The lieutenant colonel said coldly: "Mr. Colonel, do you know Li Zhen's intention to have a team of soldiers stationed in the concession? ”

The colonel suddenly stood up and said, "Watch and contain us." ”

The lieutenant colonel nodded and said, "As long as we have the slightest change, the troops stationed in the concession will take action." Once they make a move, Li Zhen's large army will also be killed, and we have no chance of winning at all. Not to mention a thousand soldiers of Mr. Colonel. Even if you add the only remaining 200 or so people here, you can't beat Li Zhen. When the Anglo-French alliance attacked Li Zhen, didn't it also fail? ”

When the colonel heard this, the two mustaches on his lips kept shaking, and he was already blowing his beard and glaring.

After a pause, the colonel asked, "Since you can't move, what do you say?" ”

The lieutenant colonel said slowly: "The main armies of Britain and France are stockpiled in Guangzhou, and the commander of the British army, His Excellency Adams, and the commander of the French army, His Excellency Lawell, are also in Guangzhou. All we have to do is to report the news here to the two commanders, and ask them to consult the British and French envoys to China to make corresponding countermeasures. At the same time, I suggested that the two commanders send a fleet north to destroy Lu Shaochuan's warships at sea and cut off one of Li Zhen's arms. ”

"Good!"

The colonel stood up, slapped the desk with a slap, and said, "Li Zhen killed the two consuls, and I have written down this hatred." We forbear for the time being, waiting for Lu Shaochuan to be exterminated. ”

The two men made an agreement to unite the two armies again to avoid being attacked.

……

Bauhinia City, Beijing.

Xianfeng often lives in the Old Summer Palace, and it is rare to go back to the Qianqing Palace.

In the palace, Xianfeng is dealing with the twists and turns.

Compared with the previous emperors, Xianfeng's life was obviously not easy. Internal worries and external troubles, there is chaos in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which is as powerful as a tiger, and there are foreigners who are eyeing each other outside. Whether it is a bandit or a foreigner, it makes Xianfeng restless. Xianfeng looked at Han Laiyu who was standing next to him and asked, "Tell me, what has Li Zhen done recently?" ”

Han Laiyu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you and Li Zhen really have a heart. ”

"Oh, what do you mean?" Xianfeng asked.

Han Laiyu said: "You care about Li Zhen's affairs, he will give you an excerpt." ”

"Take it and see!"

Xianfeng was interested and asked Han Laiyu to take out the fold.

After taking over the fold, Xianfeng browsed quickly. The content of the fold is completely different from what happened, the general content is that Li Zhen learned through his eyes that the pirate Lu Shaochuan was preparing to attack the British consulate, but secretly concealed the news, and when Lu Shaochuan killed the British and French consuls, Li Zhen led his troops to stabilize the situation the next morning, and took the opportunity to enter the concession to regain the interests seized by the British.

After Xianfeng read it, a bright smile appeared on his face, and he said with a smile: "Li Zhen's slippery head is really cunning enough. This time I made Yingyi suffer a dumb loss, and he deserved to be the person I chose. It's a pity that Lu Shaochuan ran away. ”

Han Laiyu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the minion thinks that Li Zhen may have done this on purpose?" ”

Xianfeng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Do you mean that Li Zhen deliberately raised bandits and wanted to rebel?" Xianfeng was very sensitive to bandits, and immediately became vigilant after listening to Han Laiyu's words.

The corners of Han Laiyu's mouth twitched, and he wanted to slap himself.

Li Zhen sent someone to give him a gift of silver money during the New Year, and asked him to say a few kind words. Now that something bad has changed, doesn't it offend Li Zhen? Han Laiyu's eyes rolled and said, "Your Majesty, Li Zhen was personally promoted by you, he is loyal, and it is impossible to rebel." Besides, Li Zhen still likes the eighth lady of Lord Guiliang's family, and it is impossible for him to rebel. The slave felt that Li Zhen deliberately let Lu Shaochuan leave Shanghai, so that Lu Shaochuan and the foreigners would continue to fight, and then the fisherman would benefit. ”

"Well, after you say it, that's true."

Xianfeng's mood turned cloudy, and suddenly he got better again. Suddenly, Xianfeng said again: "Han Laiyu, what you just said mentioned me. Since Li Zhen is to be controlled, someone must contain Li Zhen. You go and tell Gui Liang's daughter that Li Zhen has settled down in Shanghai and let her go to Shanghai. ”

Han Laiyu gave a thumbs up and praised him: "Your Majesty, you are a wonderful move." Even tied Li Zhen up, and also became a moon old. ”

"Hahaha......"

Xianfeng was in a good mood, felt extremely happy, and said with a smile: "Han Laiyu, Han Laiyu, you really have a clever mouth." Okay, let's go ahead and arrange it, finish it sooner, and have peace of mind sooner. ”

Han Laiyu nodded in response, bowed and withdrew from the Qianqing Palace.

ps: one of the three watches;