That night, Cixi held a banquet in Ningfu Garden to reward Zhang Wei, chief of staff of the staff headquarters of the Nanyang Naval Division, and his entourage.

Cixi asked Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Tang Jiayao in detail, what is the lack of this chief of staff of the staff headquarters of the Nanyang Naval Division? Although Cixi was not familiar with military affairs, she remembered that the deputy general of Zheng Sanpin on Seng Lingqin's Zezi was equivalent to the deputy marshal of the foreign army!

Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Tang Jiayao all knew that Lin Haijiang was privately changing the military system and even bullying the monarch to commit the big crime of exterminating the nine clans, but Nanyang and the imperial court were already in front of them, so they almost pulled the flag and set off a cannon to rebel, and he was explaining to the Empress Dowager Cixi of the West Palace that he was also a villain in vain.

Zeng Guofan naturally disdained to do this kind of thing, Zeng Guofan was silent, Li Hongzhang and Tang Jiayao naturally did not dare to advocate for the above, so Tang Jiayao had no choice but to explain: "Each [***] team of the European powers has a staff system under the jurisdiction of the logistics headquarters, and the main responsibility of the quartermaster headquarters is to undertake the tasks of engineering service, selecting marching roads and camps, building positions, issuing orders, guiding the marching troops, and drafting reports and documents for the generals. At the same time, the Quartermaster Directorate is also the planning and leadership department of the reserve forces. ”

"Department?" Cixi frowned slightly, Tang Jiayao said many words that made her very puzzled?

Seeing this, Tang Jiayao hurriedly explained: "That's what our yamen meant!" ”

"Hmm!" Cixi nodded, crossed her hands and said, "Have you all arrived?" If I get there, I'll go and meet the chief of staff of the staff headquarters of the Nanyang Navy Division Lin Haijiang! ”

"Wow!" On the side, An Dehai trotted out all the way after receiving the order, and the palace maids and eunuchs on the side also cheered up when they saw the chief manager trotting.

The scene of the so-called Ningfuyuan banquet is not as big as Zhang Wei imagined, and the dishes feel very ordinary, not at all as luxurious as Zhang Wei imagined, but the tableware and dishes are very exquisite, a small table for each person, about sixty centimeters high, and a small chair? Only in the center is a large lifting table, which seems to be the chairman's seat.

The scope of Cixi's banquet today is very small, only Yixin, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Tang Jiayao and Zhang Wei and others, the young hall naturally seems a little empty, but on the side, a girl with a high cloud sideburns is playing the guqin, but Zhang Wei is very interested, from time to time to look around, provoke the palace maids on the side to pout the pleasure, they see such an unruly official, the queen mother gave the banquet not to wait respectfully, but to look around.

Yixin, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Tang Jiayao and others are also looking at Zhang Wei, a deputy general who is too young, you must know that even the children of Manchurian nobles are difficult to be in the position of deputy general at the age of twenty-three or four.

In the afternoon, Zeng Guofan personally went to the post station to send a reward of silver and a few pigs and more than a dozen sheep to the 200 gendarmes who came with Zhang Wei.

Later, Zhang Wei went out to greet him, and explained to him that the gendarmerie is the military police, supervising the army and the style of the soldiers, etc., Zeng Guofan realized that it was similar to the supervision team when the troops were released to fight, but the gendarmerie was more and more lenient.

After leaving, Zeng Guofan could only sigh that Lin Haijiang was really fucking rich, thousands of seven-grade officials, how could he use it like this? Obviously, these official positions were set up by Nanyang in moderation, and there was no record of the imperial court officials, which means that Lin Haijiang had to pay for all the food and drink of these people.

Li Hongzhang, who accompanied him to the courtenel, saw the benefits of the gendarmerie, but Zeng Guofan paid more attention to money, because he used the most money to open up the stall at the moment, even if he didn't engage in such a large scale, it was a lot of money to eat and drink for hundreds of people, especially the gendarme took the elite route, and he couldn't compare with Nanyang, so Zeng Guofan could only give up.

However, the biggest gain of Zeng Guofan's trip was two M1855S rifles and M1856 revolvers made by the Old Port Arsenal.

Li Hongzhang, who was slightly proficient in ordnance along the way, was full of praise for these two weapons, but Li Hongzhang didn't notice that Zeng Guofan's face was getting more and more ugly as he rode forward.

Lin Haijiang is already able to produce his own weapons? And this weapon is far stronger than Britain, France, and Russia! The most important thing is that he didn't know this information before, and the information he got was that Lin Haijiang bought military fire from Prussia, how long has it been? Can you make your own? And the iron-making and tool-making stuff?

Thinking that he is now almost starting from scratch, the silver of the imperial court is more laborious than one stroke, and he has lost the opportunity, you must know that he is building Beiyang at the same time as Nanyang is also developing? And the Nanyang that is on track does not have so many elbows, and more importantly, Nanyang is rich, and Lin Haijiang is rich and rivals?

Originally, Zeng Guofan didn't believe it, after all, there are really too few rumors in the market, obviously it is a pug, after a circle in the market, it will blow you into a unicorn beast.

When he came back in the afternoon, he told Prince Gong that there were at least 300 staff officers like Zhang Wei, including the captains and second officers of each ship, the five brigade commanders of the Marine Corps, the brigade commanders of the two mountain infantry brigades, and the political training officers of more than 1,000 people.

At that time, Prince Gong's face was green, and Yixin, who kept saying that he wanted to dig the corner of Lin Haijiang's wall, didn't expect that this corner of Lin Haijiang was like iron beating copper, even if the officials of the Great Qing Kingdom were distributed to them, I am afraid it would not be enough!

As soon as he remembered that Yixin asked him to arrange someone to dig the corner of Lin Haijiang's wall, Zeng Guofan wanted to laugh a little, but now Yixin and Zeng Guofan have completely reversed, beware of Lin Haijiang secretly digging their corners, but Lin Haijiang only sent 200 gendarmes and a so-called deputy general chief of staff this time, which also made them really relieved.

However, what Zeng Guofan never expected was that the eyeliner he personally arranged on the periphery of the post station would go wrong, these eyeliner that was full of smoke was not bad at first, but after a long time, snot and tears flowed, they only paid attention to the actions of the gendarmes, and the dozen or so miscellaneous servants and the horse team quietly disappeared into the night, along with hundreds of new rifles and grenades.

Zhang Wei is in a good mood now for being able to taste the palace dishes, but he is also very depressed, because he was served with food, but he didn't give chopsticks? The little palace maid standing behind him held a pair in her hand, but no matter how he hinted, the little palace maid just refused to give him the chopsticks, and in desperation, she pinched a piece with her hand to eat, and Tang Jiayao on the side was so frightened that he hurriedly stood up.

As a result, a shrill queen mother drove to Tang Jiayao like a rabbit and ran back to his seat, everyone hurriedly got up to salute Cixi, Zhang Wei had received training in this area before, but after a long time in the old port, he was used to the salute, and kneeling was a little unacceptable, and the only feeling was that his knees were stiff.

Although Zhang Wei was obviously half a beat slower than the others, Cixi did not mean to blame at all, but waved her hand and said, "Everyone Aiqing sit down!" The palace has always liked light, today coincides with the fifteenth palace vegetarian, slightly overwhelmed with wine, today said to tea instead of wine to toast everyone a cup, in order to show the heart. ”

Everyone hurriedly got up, and Zhang Wei understood where the Führer's sentence was eating! It's the true meaning of suffering.

Zhang Wei, who finally got the chopsticks, also realized that he had to wait until the main owner arrived and raised the cup before he could eat? But Zhang Wei almost cried with the following chopsticks, and the ten exquisite dishes were all made of tofu and radish, which was really a gathering of heroes! Big turnip meeting!

Cixi, who had not eaten anything, gently wiped the corners of her mouth with a white square handkerchief, and then said to Zhang Wei: "Vice General Zhang, I have ordered someone to send the best imperial doctor in the palace to the post station where you are. ”

Zhang Wei was very funny in his heart, do you dare to take your supplements and medicines? However, he also expressed his feelings in his mouth, and then Zhang Wei said: "The Admiral of my family asks you, if the Queen Mother's Luan is ready, can you start immediately?" Our fleet of the Nanyang Naval Division is responsible for patrolling the southeast coast, and it is not easy to leave for a long time. ”

Hearing this, Yixin hummed on the side and said: "The queen mother's Luan drive is to wait for a good day and auspicious time to be calculated!" How dare you? Disturbed the Queen Mother's itinerary, do you know? ”

Yixin's tone was very disdainful, Zhang Wei remembered Lin Haijiang's previous advice, he might as well be a little more aggressive, so he didn't hesitate to say: "So if you say that, the war must be considered an auspicious time?" I said, how did you get the foreigners to get into Gyeonggi? It turns out that the time is not calculated, huh? Don't say that 10,000 people die, one person has one life, it doesn't take 10,000 times, and you will die once! ”

"You are presumptuous!" Yi Xin slapped the table, last time he was almost beaten into Gyeonggi by foreigners, and later thanks to the Nanyang sailors who turned the tide and played, and at the same time, the Nanyang soldiers entered Gyeonggi and also committed the taboo of Xianfeng, this matter has become a great shame for the Qing Dynasty, and now the court is very close to avoiding this problem, and more importantly, at that time, Yixin was just a character who couldn't even speak, how could he not let Yixin be angry when he was suddenly mentioned today?

But what was absolutely unexpected was that a small third-grade deputy general dared to argue with himself? What the fuck is this? A lieutenant general dares to argue with Prince Gong? Everyone present was stunned, Zeng Guofan glanced at the silent Cixi, and still had an idea in his heart, so he picked up the wine glass and drank a full glass.

Yixin slapped the table here before remembering that the main owner above hadn't spoken yet? I'm really redundant, what kind of heart do you have? How do you get down the stairs with a lap on this table? Pull Zhang Wei out and beat the board? It is estimated that Cixi will not agree, according to Lin Haijiang's reckless surname, will he be hit by a cannon?

Yixin never expected that he, the prince, would not be able to get off the stage? Looking around, Cixi coughed slightly, and Yixin finally breathed a sigh of relief, because he knew that the cough was the step for him, and the matter was over.

Cixi hesitated for a moment and said, "Vice General Zhang, does your admiral have any arrangements?" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Wei hurriedly stood up and said: "Qi Qi Empress Dowager, my family's plan is to set sail tomorrow after the fleet is replenished with coal and water, and your Excellency will accompany the Empress Dowager to patrol the maritime frontier of the Qing Dynasty to show the national prestige, visit the facilities of the old port, and review the marines. ”

Cixi nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good!" Then the mourning family will obey Admiral Lin's arrangement! ”

Cixi swept the surprised Yixin and the unfazed Zeng Guofan with the afterglow of her eyes, and the height between the two was immediately revealed.

As the saying goes, if you don't speculate for more than half a sentence, a group of people surrounded Zhang Wei and wanted to set something out, but Zhang Wei said everything he could say, and he naturally didn't say anything if he couldn't say it, and everyone had nothing to say, so the royal banquet ended hastily.

After the end, Zhang Wei returned to the post station, and the members of the special intelligence detective team who had quietly transported the ordnance to the intelligence station and pretended to be miscellaneous servants took back the intelligence collection in the Beijing-Tianjin area.

The intelligence officer smiled and said: "Originally, there were people, but after staring at it for a while, we were angry, and we waited for a while and found that several people had gone to smoke big cigarettes, so we took this opportunity to drive the mules and horses out." ”

Zhang Wei nodded and said: "Opium smoke is poisonous, poisoning tens of millions of people, now Zeng Guofan's Beiyang is recruiting a large number of soldiers, but I heard that the progress is slow, there are not many soldiers available, and many people can't pass the opium smoking alone, so the head of state ordered a ban on smoking, and I raised my hands in agreement." ”

Zhang Wei locked the summary brought back by the intelligence officer into a small safe, for the mission to be completed so smoothly, it was beyond Zhang Wei's expectations, most of the previous preparations were in vain, but Zhang Wei did not feel a pity, the most important thing is that the goal was achieved, Cixi's side agreed to board the ship tomorrow is the key.

Zhang Wei can sleep soundly, but some people can't sleep, Cixi looked at Yixin with a frown and Zeng Guofan who was silent through the light, as well as Li Hongzhang and Tang Jiayao who were hanging their hands on the side, obviously almost everyone was very dissatisfied with what Nanyang had done.

To put it bluntly, they didn't achieve their so-called purpose, Zhang Wei's mouth on the Nanyang side can be said to be extremely rigorous, and almost everything that should be said has been said, giving everyone the feeling that the power of Nanyang is almost to the point of destroying the city.

Yixin suddenly remembered the request of Duke Gomocherov and Vice Admiral Duravyev, the plenipotentiary representative of the Russian minister, so he pondered for a moment and said: "Duke Gomochelov, the plenipotentiary representative of the Russian minister, and Vice Admiral Duravyev expressed their desire to accompany the Empress Dowager to board the ship at Dagukou to help us find, analyze, and understand the weaknesses of the Nanyang Naval Division. ”

Cixi hummed and said: "The Russians are not a good thing, aren't they the ones who have fallen into the well for us a few times?" There is also the Citigroup country that only thinks about getting cheap everywhere, we can't completely rely on these foreigners, we have to take advantage of them, and we must guard against them. ”

Cixi said Yixin, Zeng Guofan and others said yes again and again, and Cixi suddenly said with high interest: "It is also very inappropriate to completely hand over Beiyang to the Russians, it is easy to let their family dominate, our ships pass through them, what if there is something else in the future, what if they get stuck in our neck?" In this regard, Beiyang must learn from Nanyang, big ships cannot be built, cannonballs, large and small cannons, and foreign guns can be built by themselves, and we cannot rely too much on foreigners, and we can let them help with training, but we must not allow foreigners to command our army. ”

Cixi said categorically, Zeng Guofan raised his eyelids and glanced at Yixin, who was only a promise, he knew that these words were equivalent to the latest errand instructions given by the palace.

Zeng Guofan's heart was extremely depressed, not only did he have Prince Gong Yixin on his Beiyang, but I am afraid that he would have to add the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces in the future to discuss the affairs of Nanyang, but he went off topic and ran to his Beiyang? It's just the opposite of each other, and the wind and horses and cows are not related.

As distressed as Zeng Guofan was Lin Haijiang, who was entangled in the war room of the Zhenyuan ship, Lin Haijiang was not worried about the immediate matter, but about what happened three months ago in Europe. The Earl of D'Avis arrived at the Old Port, and Lin Haijiang received the paperwork sent by Zhang Yunji on the training ship Loyalty. The envoy of the Count of Dewis himself awaited his reply in the Old Port.

As a result of his extensive arms deals with Prussia's Northern Alliance, Prussia's power had skyrocketed, and Bismarck, the iron-blooded prime minister noted in history, had already stepped onto the stage, and another heavyweight was born on October 26, 1800 in Helmut, a small town on the Elbe in Mecklenburg, Prussia? Cal? Bernhardt? Feng? Moltke, who was also nearly sixty years old, perfected the Prussian staff system, and as a descendant of the Junker aristocracy, Moltke and Bismarck became an excellent pair.

Lin Haijiang from Feng. Bismarck's diplomatic ability and political ambitions, combined with Moltke's ability and the Prussian army's pre-existing army armament in Europe, were the first in the world to be heavily equipped with breech-loading rifles and to treat artillery as infantry with offensive firepower.

With Lin Haijiang's many proposals for reform and a large number of orders, Prussia's arms production was completely beyond its own needs, and Bismarck's liberal and wealthy finances allowed Bismarck to carry out more ideas and to arm a large number of well-trained troops.

With a strong economic and military backing, Bismarck began to plan his battle for the unification of Prussia, and of course, as the only ally in the East, Lin Haijiang, Prussia needed his help!

(To be continued)