Wang Yide looked at the black outside the window and groaned. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Kinmen Island covers an area of 148 square kilometres, which is larger than Hong Kong Island.

Since the Ming army occupied Taiwan, Fujian began to make every effort to strengthen the construction of coastal defense. In order to prevent the Ming army from effectively using the islands around Xiamen to harass the mainland, all the residents of the outlying islands such as Dajinmen and Xiaojinmen were forcibly relocated to the mainland.

Speaking of which, the French and the British are now allies of the Manchus, and they are trying their best to help Fujian and Zhejiang deal with the invasion of the Taiping army and the Ming army. It's just that this Yiren is too mercenary, and always wants to get a lot of benefits from it.

Think about the war burning all over the country now. Shanghai and Hangzhou have been besieged by the Taiping Army for more than three months, but fortunately, Wu Jianzhang and Lin Shenhe are not weak chickens, and they firmly hold Shanghai and Hangzhou, absorb the main force of the Cantonese bandits, and prevent the situation in Zhejiang from collapsing.

It's just that Wu Jianzhang and Lin Shenhe's military resources and grass are too much, and the defense is more than enough and the attack is good, so that the Cantonese bandits have already stretched out to the Taizhou mountains in central Zhejiang.

It was precisely because of the containment of Wu and Lin that Fujian was able to dispatch 5,000 foreign spearmen to the north in a timely manner, and Qinglian, the envoy of Zhejiang, together with Yu Shufeng and Miao Zi of Wen Dao, established a defense line on the line from Tiantai to Sanmen and from Dongyang to Yiwu, and stabilized the crisis in central Zhejiang.

Speaking of which, the most hateful thing is that Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, abandoned the city and lost his division, collapsed for thousands of miles, gave up the good Jiangnan to the Cantonese bandits, and was imprisoned himself, and was handed over to Wu Jianzhang by the Shanghai Concession, and became a prisoner of the stairs.

Speaking of Wu Jianzhang, Wang Yide had to admire Wu Jianzhang's luck.

Wu Jianzhang was originally just a comprador businessman who was despised, but in just a few years, he was promoted to Shanghai Daotai, Jiangsu according to the inspection envoy, and Jiangsu political envoy, and entered the temple in a grand manner. Now that he has held the Songjiang line and repelled the attack of the Cantonese bandits, the position of the governor of Jiangsu can no longer escape.

If Wu Jianzhang had been supplied with Western ordnance in time, and then switched to a major counteroffensive, and then eliminated the Cantonese bandits entrenched in Jiangnan in one fell swoop, the location of the governor of Liangjiang would not have been known!

Wang Yide couldn't help sighing, the Qing Dynasty is now in turmoil, and it urgently needs the help of this Western power. If the French really occupied and controlled Kinmen Island, Xiamen's coastal defense would be even more impregnable.

However, as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, he can't just give up Kinmen.

Not to mention that the literati and gentlemen would be scolded and scolded to death; Even the Qing court would not agree, and the minister who commanded the south was about to go south, so he really couldn't act arbitrarily.

"Your Excellency, you really have a vision."

Xingquan Coopers Daotai Wang Shu has been carefully serving Wang Yide's left and right.

Seeing that the Governor had been silent for a long time, Wang Shu hurriedly took the words, "It's just that the houses, water sources, vegetation, etc. on Kinmen Island have all been completely destroyed, and there is not a single resident on it, all of this needs to wait until after the war, and we have to think about it in the long run." ”

Wang Shu glanced at Wang Yide and Shi Jinsha very carefully, "Besides, this Huayang Concession matter is extraordinary, and it is not something that Fujian Province can decide. ”

Wang Shu was originally Wang Yide's staff and knew about foreign affairs. He made great contributions to the eradication of the Hokkien bandits throughout the year, won the title of Taotai, and was appointed as the Taotai of Xingquan Coopers.

"It's a big matter..."Wang Yide eased from his contemplation, he nodded slightly, and then clenched his fists to the north, "I have to ask the imperial court for a decree, and His Majesty the Emperor will make a holy judgment!" ”

"There is an old Chinese saying that the beacon fire lasts for three months, and the family letter is worth 10,000 gold. Now that the war on the Yangtze River is like fire and water, the Forbidden City has specially granted Fujian and Guangdong military and political dictatorship. ”

Shi Jinsha has been a consul in Xiamen for many years, and he can be regarded as a China expert. He smiled slightly, "The Ming army's large-scale attack is just around the corner, and the right to make changes on the spot is not needed at this time, let alone when?" ”

In the face of the current crisis in Fujian, Shi Jinsha saw an opportunity for France. He was ambitious and wanted to gain a foothold in the Far East for France.

With great power comes great responsibility. Although the French consul was both soft and hard, Wang Yide did not dare to let go casually.

The Yi people are all a group of greedy and profit-heavy people, Wang Yide secretly slandered himself and glanced at Wang Shu, "Mr. Consul may not know that the capital has sent a Tianhuang nobleman who will go south in the near future." ”

The French consul Shi Jinsha was about to say something, when he heard a voice, "Everyone, everyone! According to the 'principle of unanimity with China', the British Empire believed that it was necessary for the great powers to communicate with each other! ”

The British consul in Xiamen, Leighton, and the U.S. consul in Xiamen, Franklin Pillier, saw that the conversation was very lively, and they both walked over with wine glasses.

Wang Yide and Wang Shu were very knowledgeable and politely retired.

"Your Excellency!" British Consul Layton glared at the bull's eye, "There has been a tacit understanding between the great powers, and France has no right to unilaterally change the existing situation in Fujian. ”

Fujian is an important tea-producing region in China. After the Opium ~ War, with the opening of Xiamen Port, the total value of British goods entering Xiamen was hundreds of thousands of pounds per year, and the tea transported away was also hundreds of thousands of quintals per year.

From the point of view of its own interests, Britain would never agree that Kinmen Island, outside Xiamen, would become the possession of France. Let France seize Xiamen's access to the sea, and Britain's trade with China will inevitably be squeezed out.

The unanimity of the powers, that is, the agreement of the great powers is required before it is allowed to change the existing situation or pattern. The implication is that the great powers have no right to infringe on the interests of other powers, so that fundamental exploitation conflicts between the great powers can be avoided and internal strife between the great powers can be prevented.

In the face of the protest of the British consul Leighton, the French consul Shi Jinsha ridiculed him, "The unanimity of the great powers is the unanimity of politics and economy, and now Britain has Hong Kong in the Far East and Portugal has Macao, what about the interests of the other powers?" ”

"Today is a happy day, why are you so disappointed!" Seeing that Leighton and Shi Jinsha became blushing and thick-necked like fighting cocks, the U.S. consul in Xiamen gently turned the wine glass in his hand, and sniffed slightly, "This champagne has a very positive fragrance, and it is worthy of being a famous product in France." ”

As he spoke, Barelli raised his glass, "Come on, let's have a drink!" ”

Layton smiled lazily and took a sip.

Shi Jinsha snorted coldly, and a glass of wine went down.

Seeing the movement here, the club's catering department Dapan Du Daoguang elegantly snapped his fingers, led the waiter who held the tray, and walked over.

"Your Excellency, it is a great pleasure to serve you!" Du Daoguang took out the wine bottle from the plate and personally poured Shi Jinsha full of champagne.

"Elias, there are a lot of people tonight, and the banquet is good, thank you!" Balelli nodded to Du Daoguang, who was temporarily serving as a waiter.

Du Daoguang looked as reserved as a British gentleman, "The guests are full of friends, and the guests are like clouds, this is the honor of our International Chamber of Commerce Club." ”

The head of the catering department of the International Chamber of Commerce Club is Du Daoguang's hidden identity. He is actually a member of the Crossing Regiment, and his English name is Elias.

Du Daoguang is a native of Yidu, Hubei Province, studied in Germany and obtained a master's degree, has an unusual love for sports, and is a national second-class athlete.

He pretended to be a Singaporean Chinese and obtained a senior position in the Xiamen International Chamber of Commerce. Because of the development of sports cells, Du Daoguang is often invited to participate in the field activities of foreigners in Xiamen, and he is also a well-known figure.

Watching Du Daoguang and the waiter turn away, Bileli continued, "We in the United States believe that the political and economic unity of the great powers must respect the interests of the original status quo. We are a great power and a civilized country, and we must also respect and safeguard the territorial and sovereign integrity of the China~ government. ”

"That's how it is!" Layton immediately agreed.

Shi Jinsha hesitated for a moment and shrugged his shoulders, "For me personally, of course I don't have any opinions!" ”

"France wants to have a concession, and the United States understands that." "Why don't we make a commons of nations?" ”

"The commons of all nations!" Layton and Shi Jinsha's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Opposite is Gulangyu Island."

Balelli pointed out the window, "Let's jointly open up and operate a residence and trade area here, and the Ministry of Industry Bureau is composed of consuls and expatriates from various countries, and we jointly exercise administrative power." ”

In 1842, the missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church in the United States, Grace Lee, and the American Episcopal pastor Wen Huilian and his wife came to Gulangyu to preach on a British warship.

The London Mission established a church in Gulangyu in 1844, and the Presbyterian Church of England came to Gulangyu in 1850 to preach.

For the European and American powers, they have been working on the small land of Gulangyu for a long time.

"That's a good idea!" Layton nodded slowly.

Shi Jinsha couldn't make a forest alone, so he had to say stupidly, "Wang Yide is an old man and cunning, he won't agree so easily!" ”

"He'll agree!" "If Gulangyu is designated as a public concession, it will be a situation in which the great powers jointly protect Xiamen." ”

The British, French, and American consuls laughed, "Cheers!" ”

Du Daoguang has been watching all this coldly.

In the dead of night, a radio wave flew out from the International Chamber of Commerce.

The telecommunications department of the Keelung Jinyiwei headquarters was brightly lit, and the sound of ticking and ticking telecommunications rang out from time to time.

In the duty room, Ma Jiayi picked up a newly received telegram and laughed, "Wang Yide is still in Xiamen tonight!" ”

The message was soon transmitted to the Ershawan Artillery Operations Command Room.

The walls of the command room are covered with high-precision military maps, and in the middle of the room is a large sand table in the Taiwan Strait.

At the southern entrance of the Taiwan Strait, the icons of four coast guard ships are inserted in the waters off Dongshan Island. This is to prevent and supervise the movements of the Qing army and foreign powers in the direction of Guangdong.

In the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, there are icons of dozens of ships. A huge fleet of the Ming army had already dived and reached the ocean forty nautical miles southwest of Xiamen.

Li Da, the commander on duty, read the telegram and instructed the operational staff officer to quickly report the situation to the maritime formation.

The Taiwan Strait, under the starry sky.

Dozens of ships silently dived on the vast sea, the red flag of the sun and the moon of the Ming Dynasty and the five-star red flag of the Ming army hunted and danced in the night wind, and the direction of the sea formation was Xiamen, Fujian.

Wang Tiehammer and Yunlan sat firmly on the flagship "Keelung".

Looking at the telegram sent by the staff officer, Yun Lan flicked the telegram lightly, "As long as there is no accident, this Wang Yide will become a prisoner of our subordinates before tomorrow night." ”