June 1860.

After nearly a year of recuperation, Nanjing's economic order gradually returned to normal, this ancient capital of the Six Dynasties with a population of hundreds of thousands of people showed the prosperity of the past, on the banks of the Qinhuai River, there were many restaurants, strong wine and songs, painting boats such as weaving, countless merchant ships came and went to the river day and night, and the singers lived in it, singing and dancing, and the silk and bamboo were ethereal.

Several Western small buildings are Western, Rakshasa women, because Shanghai people often take steamers to Nanjing, the red light district to linger, but most of the Chinese women are reluctant to receive foreign devils, the rise of foreign records is inevitable, most of them come from Australia, and most of them are low-quality female prisoners.

On the banks of the Qinhuai River, the Xinyuan Grand Theater and the Xinyuan Club have been opened.

After nearly half a year of surveying and mapping, the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway finally selected a route and started construction at the same time in the first five months. The survey team began to survey the railway route of the Nanjing line in Fuzhou again, and with the good news of the Southland Railway Bond in the London market, this north-south artery is also expected to start construction by the end of the year.

The 3,000-ton Jinling was launched a month ago, construction at the Fuzhou shipyard was accelerated, and the Chinese Sea Fleet under the British East India Fleet became more frequent in Hong Kong waters. It seems that there is a greater concern for the development of the Chinese Navy.

In terms of hardware, with the completion of Nanjing's huge sewer project and the water supply of the waterworks to some areas, the Qianwang Palace is the same as the regent's palace in Guangzhou, and the water supply is extremely perfect.

In terms of electricity, the alternator purchased by Qianwangfu is the first commercial transaction of generators in the history of the world, and the light bulbs in the house are all new light bulbs with carbonized bamboo wire as the wick.

"Yue Bao", "Ning Bao", "China Times" and other mainstream newsprints in the south have reported on the transaction at large length, which is naturally Ye Zhao's instruction to comprehensively promote the application and development of electricity in the south.

The Guangzhou Military Factory and the Jinling Arsenal have made further breakthroughs in the technology of strengthening cotton, and the six towns of the Pingyuan Army are gradually replacing their Guangzhou manufacturing and patrol infantry regiments, and then they have begun to eliminate cold weapons and replace them with various kinds of fast and slow rifles.

The Beiguo Zhigu Ordnance Bureau began to make its own muskets, imitating the Henry M1858 type bead gun, which was the idea put forward by Thomas before it was made in Guangzhou, fifteen guns fired in bursts, just because of the use of black powder, it was easy to stuff the rifling with gunpowder residue and lead powder of the warhead, but under the experiment of firing a thousand times without cleaning the rifling, in addition to the dregs that need to clean the rifling, all the parts are intact and do not need to be replaced.

In addition, the cost of this gun is high, a rifle costs about thirty taels of silver, and a thousand rounds of ammunition also cost ten taels of silver.

The Zhigu Ordnance Bureau also began the construction of ironclad ships, and the first ironclad ship was heard to have a displacement of 500 tons, and it is expected to be launched within two years.

Xiyin Academy, Ye Zhao silently looked at the document in his hand, Nanjing Mansion has officially implemented the income tax system since the beginning of the month, and Ye Zhao is extremely concerned about the feedback from all aspects.

A lot of things have happened in the past six months, for example, not long after the matchmaker left, Zhu Sisi was transferred to the chief inspector of the Taiping Mansion Patrol and Arrest Bureau, that is, the second in command after the bureau, this matter was reported, Ye Zhao did not stop it, Zhu Sisi's work, he did not want to interfere, and yesterday it was said that in the transfer of officials of the patrol system presented by the patrol and arrest headquarters, there was Zhu Sisi's name, and he was transferred to the chief inspector of the Nanjing Patrol and Arrest Bureau, that is, the adjutant of the Nanjing Patrol and Arrest System.

Ye Zhao knew that Zhu Sisi's rapid promotion was because Zhang Jinfeng, deputy director of the Suwan Patrol Department and director of the Nanjing Patrol Bureau, liked her very much, Zhang Jinfeng was ready to match Zhu Sisi and his son, and invited Zhu Sisi to eat at home several times, but Zhu Sisi politely refused, but Zhang Jinfeng didn't think it was wrong, but repeatedly promoted her, thinking that Zhu Sisi was a talent, even if she couldn't become a family, she had to be pulled into her own small circle. Naturally, he knew that there was no harm or resistance in promoting Zhu Sisi.

Xue Mingjiu still had no news, but Rui Si did not really publish his apostasy confession in the newspaper, but sent secret agents to the Western Regions according to Ye Zhao's instructions.

In the Shengchang case, the northern kingdom was forced to suppress the pressure of the mediation country and the southern dynasty, and finally died down, but it still imposed a heavy fine of 500,000 taels of silver on the Li family, and the governor of Shanxi also received a secret order to strictly monitor the Li family to prevent his family from fleeing south.

This may not be what the Six Kings want to see, but the bureaucracy in the northern kingdom doomed it to despise merchants, and I heard that a high-ranking military plane was extremely dissatisfied with such a light forgiveness of the Li family, and asked for his resignation.

In fact, not to mention the six kings, Ye Zhao looked at the folds in his hands, and now he doesn't feel that it is getting more and more difficult to do things? Therefore, it is easy to say that there is no new interest group in the change of dynasty, and as new interest groups are gradually formed, the resistance to change will become greater and greater.

Outside the steps, the guards gently pushed the door open, Li Hongzhang lowered his hand and entered, and when he approached, he knelt down to pay homage to the horseshoe sleeves: "Your Majesty Li Hongzhang see the prince." ”

Ye Zhao snorted, and Li Hongzhang stood up and stood aside with his hands down.

It was Ye Zhao who summoned him to see him, and looking at the fold in his hand, Ye Zhao said: "What do you think of Tian Yinong's fold?" "With the establishment of the Council and Political Affairs Office, senior officials in the south have also been adjusted, such as the former governor of Guangdong, Bai Gui, who was transferred to the Minister of Agriculture of the Government Council, Gao Qin, the former governor of Jiangxi, who was transferred to the governor of Guangdong, and Feng Dengfan, the governor of Zhejiang, who was transferred to the governor of Jiangxi, and so on.

Tian Yinong was formerly the political envoy of Hunan, and Ye Zhao also saw it, and at the end of last year, he was promoted to governor of Zhejiang Province.

In Jinhua Mansion, Zhejiang, there is a government-run rubber factory, and Tian Yinong issued a ban in the province to prohibit private enterprises of the same type, that is, to ban private rubber factories.

Tian Yinong gave an excerpt to the Legislative Affairs Office, saying that this move can make the Jinhua Rubber Factory stand out and be profitable, and even more express his affection for the Legislative Affairs Office, which can be promoted throughout the country, and the original private enterprises do not have to take care of it, but in the future, the industries operated by the government-run enterprises shall not be allowed to participate in the industry and shall not compete, so that the government-run enterprises will be prosperous, and the treasury will be more and more abundant.

Ye Zhao was a little helpless after reading the excerpt, shouldn't this regress the southern policy to the Westernization movement? Although there were government-run enterprises in the Southern Dynasties, in Ye Zhao's mind, in order to promote the development of private industries, they invested in some unpopular industries but played an important role in the economic layout of the southern country, and played a guiding role, so that private enterprises were inspired and encouraged by them, but it was never for the state to monopolize a certain industry.

What made Ye Zhao feel the most heavy was that the Parliamentary Affairs Office thought that this proposal was very good and advocated its implementation.

Of the six members of the council, only Li Xiaocun was opposed, and Li Jianchen, Yuan Jiasan, Zhou Jingshan, Zheng Zhen and even Li Hongzhang all expressed their approval.

I think it is, such as Li Jianchen, conservative in thinking, although he has been influenced by Ye Zhao for many years and highly agrees with the development of industry and commerce, but I think that it is understandable for government-run enterprises to monopolize several industries, and it is the way to have an abundant treasury, Yuan Jiasan and Zheng Zhen will not talk about it, they are more conservative than Li Jianchen, and even Yuan Jiasan is a little reluctant to run private factories.

Zhou Jingshan is strong in legal affairs and knowledgeable people, and is not very proficient in the economy.

Even Li Hongzhang, although he is a new-school official, is limited by the limited surname of his gaze, and obviously feels that this excerpt is quite insightful.

Only Li Xiaocun, a businessman, has worked as a comprador and has been with him for nearly seven years, and he is the closest to his own thoughts.

Ye Zhao took the fold and asked Li Hongzhang, "What do you think?" "How cautious is Li Hongzhang's mind? Not only have they read this excerpt, but they also agree more, if the prince also agrees, why do they need to ask more?

He bowed down and said: "It's just a family's words, and I also ask the prince to judge." He also said: "Although the subordinates feel that their words have something, they are just scratching their boots and talking on paper. The subordinates and others boasted in vain, but it was just a sign of encouragement, and the provinces were contending with a hundred flowers, and they did not hinder the way, which was the holy theory of the prince. In a few words, he gently picked up the responsibilities of several councilors in the Parliamentary Affairs Office.

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, and said: "The monopoly of the government has many disadvantages, so you can discuss this matter again." ”

"Wow!" Li Hongzhang hurriedly responded.

Looking at Li Hongzhang's back, Ye Zhao sighed softly, although now he can rely on his prestige to forcibly force them to follow his track, but how long can this situation continue?

If the development of the southern country continues like this, the accumulation of contradictions will become deeper and deeper, and I am afraid that sooner or later it will be the end of a strong crossbow, and when my own government decree is not passed, there will be a big chaos. Fortunately, the continuous development of new technologies in the south, such as the emergence of electricity, can be digested well for a while, and to a certain extent, it can be regarded as adding a booster to this gradually weak strong crossbow, covering up the old contradictions.

Now the south is in the Great Leap Forward, with rapid development so that the collision of people's ideas can not keep up with the situation, as if now, the contradiction between the private government and the government has not intensified, suddenly electricity comes out, naturally quickly attracted people's attention.

It's just that this way of stepping on the tightrope is really frightening step by step.

On the way back to No. 35 Courtyard of Lantern Lane, Ye Zhao was still pondering the political affairs of the southern country, and it was really not an overnight task to solve the problem from the root, and ideological conflicts were inevitable, just like the bourgeois revolution caused by the great industrial development in European countries.

And where will the Eastern civilization go?

In the small courtyard, Sava is taking pictures of two young maids in Tsing Yi, photography technology has developed rapidly in recent years, and the latest camera that Sava now uses has an exposure speed of less than a second. I heard that some people in Europe even used dozens of cameras to shoot galloping horses, and then played them in the form of slides, which is the most primitive prototype of movies.

Sava wore a white gauze dress with a sense of surname, two slender and oppressive snow-white legs were exposed, and a pair of silver stiletto sandals were stepped on, the high heels made the instep arch gracefully, and the toes were painted with black rose nail polish, which was seductive and seductive.

When she saw Ye Zhao entering the courtyard, she happily ran over and took Ye Zhao's arm into the house, forgetting that the two little maids were still waiting for her to take pictures.

The little maids knew her style, and blushed and put away the camera and the long wooden frame under the willow tree, and could only beg her to take another picture the next time he was happy.

In the outer bedroom, Hua Ji is kneeling on the kang table and writing, small and delicate yellow plaid uniform skirt, lace and lace little white socks, as if thinking about a problem, the little feet in lace stockings are rubbing, but it is really getting more and more cute.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he saw Ye Zhao come in, hurriedly got out of bed, was hugged by Ye Zhao and kissed on the tender little face, and did not dare to speak, but his eyes flashed with joy.

Hua Ji came to Nanjing a month ago, brought by Ye Zhao when he went to Guangzhou, without Shawa as a companion, Jin Feng is not in the house all the year round, and Rong'er lives in Guanyin Mountain, Hua Ji is obviously very lonely, but she doesn't dare to say, not to mention that even if Jin Feng and Rong'er are there, she is also very restrained, how dare she talk to the eldest wife and the third wife? is still Rong'er careful, although Hua Ji has not completed her studies, and the female professor hired by the house is a teacher at Guangzhou National Middle School, with a cameo surname, similar to a tutor, it is impossible to come to Nanjing with her, but Rong'er still makes the decision to let her accompany Ye Zhao on the road, as for schoolwork, Ye Zhao can only do it himself.

Needless to say, living in this No. 35 courtyard with Hua Ji and Shawa, Ye Zhao naturally has a very good surname, and he is very happy to sleep with him, and he loves him in every way.

"Hanahime, do you want to do something?" Ye Zhao sat on the soft chair and asked while taking the hot towel sent by the little maid to wipe his hands and face.

Hanahime lowered her head timidly, she didn't know what she could do, and she didn't have any ideas.

Ye Zhao took her into his arms in distress, like this, he really didn't worry about letting her go out to do things, he could only see what errands she could do in the palace in the future, and give them to her, otherwise every time she was bored in the mansion, wouldn't she be bored to death?

"Sava, you take her out for a walk." Ye Zhao rubbed Shawa's waterfall-like blonde hair, and Shawa nodded again and again, saying, "Tomorrow, I'll take her to go boating." ”

Ye Zhao snorted, and was about to say that he would go out to dinner with the two of them, when the little maid came to report that Mr. Zhu Sizhong and Mr. Zhu had arrived.

Ye Zhao was slightly stunned, Mr. Zhu and his wife are very discerning, although they live very close, but even when Sisi is in Nanjing, they rarely come to the door to bother, not to mention that Sisi is still in Taiping Mansion.

When Ye Zhao came to the flower hall, Zhu Sizhong was pacing, but after taking two steps, he was startled when he saw the footprints he had stepped on on the red carpet, and he was about to sit down obediently, when Ye Zhao arrived.

"Big brother, sit down." Ye Zhao smiled and Zhu Sizhong bowed to each other, although Zhu Sizhong didn't know the true identity of his brother-in-law, but the big boss with a net worth of millions could be so humble, but it made him believe that his sister was not married to the wrong person.

The little maid served iced sour plum juice, although the small courtyard was small, it was complete, and an ice machine was also purchased.

"Ho, that's fun." Zhu Sizhong took a sip of the drink, and felt a trace of cold lining on his stomach, which was extremely refreshing, and he couldn't help but praise it, and said, "Childe, your house is ice-making, right?" ”

Ye Zhao smiled and nodded, Zhu Sizhong couldn't help but praise a few times, now my brother-in-law has opened a restaurant with the capital, the business is good, and his wife likes to enjoy it, but she has also bought ice to cool drinks a few times, but if you want to talk about ice machines, it is not something that ordinary rich people can afford, let alone his family.

"Big brother, is there something?" Ye Zhao asked with a smile.

Zhu Sizhong couldn't help but be embarrassed, but his brother-in-law was really understanding, if he didn't ask, he really didn't know how to tell him.

Coughing twice, Zhu Sizhong's face flushed slightly, and said, "Yes, it's a little something, I don't know if it's convenient for the son?" ”

Ye Zhao was stunned and said, "Is there a problem with the turnover of the eldest brother's restaurant?" How much? "I'm going to ask the little maid disguised by the guard to get the silver ticket.

Zhu Sizhong said: "That, that's not it, fifty silver dollars, but it can't be paid from the restaurant's accounts." ”

Ye Zhaoqi said: "Why is that? "Fifty silver dollars, I think Brother Zhu and Sister-in-law Zhu can still get it now.

Zhu Sizhong couldn't hide it when he saw it, and said with a red face: "The son can't tell my mouth about this matter, it's like this, there is a country surnamed Li, and I don't know how to use money urgently, so I pawned my wife outside, I saw that woman, she looks very good, she looks like Zhou Zheng, she is very smart, two years of deed, fifty silver dollars." ”

glanced at Ye Zhao, and said hurriedly: "Don't worry, it's the line that my restaurant helper and cook pulled, it's definitely not the Immortal Party, I'm thinking, this is also helping people, isn't it?" Besides, that girl is really pitiful, if she wants to fall into some bad family, won't it be ruined? ”

Ye Zhao was speechless for a while, and said that men become bad when they are rich, it seems that it is really such a reason, I feel that Brother Zhu used to be a very honest person, how could he also do the act of pawning a wife?

To say that this pawn wife, it is also a long history, in fact, it is equivalent to renting a wife, that is, the pawn and the original husband sign a contract, one or two years, three or five years, the pawn pays the original husband a certain amount of money, within the contract statute of limitations, the woman belongs to the pawn, but the relationship between husband and wife with the original husband remains unchanged, but the surname relationship is not allowed to occur again, and after the contract period, the woman will return to the original husband's house to continue living.

In fact, generally speaking, the families of both parties who buy and sell pawn wives will not be very good, and the exception is that the pawn wives of large families have children. However, because the behavior of pawning wives is inconsistent with etiquette, it is strictly forbidden in all generations. However, Jiangsu and Zhejiang have always been extremely popular.

Ye Zhao rubbed his nose and said, "Big brother, this is not good, it's not that I don't want to help you, the pawn wife violated the criminal law, and besides, I want to be known by my sister-in-law, who have I become?" Sisi won't let me go, huh? ”

Zhu Sizhong sneered: "This, that, forget it." He got up and said, "Trouble son, I, I shouldn't have opened this mouth." "I'm a little ashamed.

Seeing his appearance, Ye Zhao sighed, to say that the eldest brother Sisi is indeed an honest person, but in this era, concubines are common, with the current identity of the owner of Zhu Sizhong's restaurant, Sichun is inevitable, after thinking about it, he glanced at the female guard beside him: "Go and get a silver ticket of one hundred yuan for Brother Zhu." In fact, what Zhu Sizhong said is right, the poor woman followed Zhu Sizhong, it is better than not knowing who to fall into or even being in the dust.

Zhu Sizhong was stunned for a moment and said, "This, I don't need it, you have already helped us a lot, I, I really shouldn't come." ”

Ye Zhao waved his hand and said: "Big brother, in this way, you just buy her as a concubine, if a hundred yuan is not enough, you can take it again, however, buying and selling human beings and pawning wives are all illegal, you can do it yourself, help his husband's family deal with the difficulties, and then ask her husband's family to divorce her, and marry her again She is willing to come." ”

Zhu Sizhong was startled and said, "This, take a concubine, no, no." Shaking his head again and again, even if it is an outer room, there is no impermeable wall, and sooner or later his wife will know about it.

Ye Zhao said: "Anyway, you look at it, let's live a mess now, take your time." ”

The guards sent the silver ticket, Zhu Sizhong thanked him for his resignation, Ye Zhao looked at his back, and couldn't help sighing, only when the poor population is getting smaller and smaller can the phenomenon of human trafficking be curbed to the greatest extent.

There is still a long way to go to get the majority of the people of the South to benefit from this industrial revolution.

I thought again, I don't know if Zhu Sisi knows about this, whether she will beat herself. Follow herself, her honest big brother has learned badly, and it doesn't count on her head?

Ye Zhao smiled bitterly and rubbed his nose...... Early in the morning of the second day, Foreign Minister Zou Kaizhi came to ask for an appointment, and he was arranging for the Prince Regent's visit, of course, it was only an intention now, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was negotiating with the Imperial Family and the Shogunate on the specifications of the reception etiquette for the Regent's visit, and so on, and the Southern Dynasty insisted that the regent be more honorable than the Emperor Moto, and proposed that when the regent visited, the Emperor Moto would go down to the Edo port to welcome the regent's visit.

Although he knew that the regent was the de facto ruler of southern China, he was only willing to recognize the equal status of the two sides, as if Emperor Moto and the emperor of China were on an equal footing, and he refused to agree to the emperor going to Edo to greet the regent of the southern country, and the two sides had been discussing this issue for more than a month.

Chinese businessmen and British businessmen had already set up a joint venture telegraph company and began to erect a telegraph line from Shanghai to Nagasaki, but it was still early before it was officially put into operation, and the exchange of information between the envoys of the southern countries in the south and Nanking was often asymmetrical, and by the time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the south received the original news, in fact, there had already been new progress in the negotiations between China and the country.

Although the Chinese have obtained the right of passage in their own country in the attached clause, there are almost no Chinese merchants going to the interior, and the scope of activities is limited to port cities such as Nagasaki and Edo, and of course, they are the most prosperous and commercially developed cities in the country.

There have been several incidents of attacks on compradors in the interior, and even several armed groups have jointly dispatched nearly 1,000 people to attack the Chinese garrison in Nagasaki.

The extermination of these armed organizations is also the focus of the current negotiations, but the shogunate and the imperial family obviously turn a blind eye, and the shogunate still seems to have issued several edicts urging the local daimyo to crusade against the Shinshokumi, the Raven Group, the White Tiger Troo, and other armed forces, but the Imperial Family, hearing this, is secretly supporting these organizations.

How to appease the people of Yu and make their increasingly fierce movement against Chinese aggression no longer rise, or even slowly extinguish this fire, is undoubtedly one of Ye Zhao's most troublesome problems now.

Now listening to Zou Kaizhi's explanation of the domestic situation, Ye Zhao closed his eyes slightly and thought.

"Have you read Zhang Youcun's excerpts, what is your opinion?" Ye Zhao picked up the teacup, and Zhang Youcun proposed to use infantry to strike at several strongholds of radical armed forces in his country, capture and arrest several feudal lords who acquiesced in the activities of radical armed forces in his territory, and set an example for everyone.

Zou Kaizhi looked at Ye Zhao's face and said: "Your Majesty thinks that this matter is not urgent, and if you are in a hurry, you will change, and you still have to appease the main thing, unless the prince is ready to overthrow his royal family, otherwise the action should not be too drastic." ”

Zhang Youzhi presided over the signing of the "Sino-Chinese Treaty of Friendship and Commerce" in Nagasaki, and became famous, and was an out-and-out upstart in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, and said: "Now it is still stable trade, but how to guarantee this trade line is also a problem. ”

"Yes." Zou Kaizhi bowed slightly.

Ye Zhao said again: "Then Wu Guanghuai and his wife are still arguing to see me?" ”

"Yes, yesterday he asked the officials of the Tongwen Pavilion to meet the prince."

Wu Guanghuai was the fourth ruler of the Dai Yan Kingdom, which was located in Borneo with a population of just over 10,000 people, and Ye Zhao met his clan relative Wu Guangyi, but did not agree to his request to become a tributary state to canonize his king, but the Southern Dynasty signed a trade agreement with him.

Who knew that in March this year, the Dutch and their mercenaries suddenly launched an attack on the kingdom of Daiyan, and the lord Wu Guanghuai and his wife, Wu Guangyi and other relatives, under the escort of dozens of personal soldiers, with the assistance of Chinese merchant ships, fled to Guangzhou, and from Guangzhou to Nanjing by steamer, and now live in the Tongwenguan Post House of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tongwen Pavilion is a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its main responsibilities are to arrange for the envoys of the tributary countries to live in the pavilion, be responsible for the management of the supply of daily necessities, forward the tributary documents, inspect the tribute, guide the tributary envoys to perform the tributary etiquette, and be responsible for the translation of tributary affairs, and cultivate translation talents.

The post house that can live in the Tongbunkan is only the treatment of the envoys of the tributary countries, and it is obviously different from the ministers of the European countries.

Wu Guanghuai, however, listened to the officials of the southern kingdom talk about the functions of the Tongwen Post House, and his spirits were lifted, and if China regarded its Daiyan Kingdom as a tributary state, it would naturally be able to find refuge.

In fact, Wu Guanghuai never thought about returning to the country, after all, it was an indigenous country, and it was a small country with a population similar to that of a town in the south. He was only worried that China would be forced by the Dutch to hand him over, and then everything would be over.

Wu Guanghuai proposed to the officials of the Tongwenguan the matter of recognizing his ancestors and returning to his ancestors, that is, he wanted to re-enter the Chinese nationality, but the officials of the Tongwenguan told him that the matter could only be decided by the regent Shengju.

That's why he was anxious to see the regent of the southern kingdom, after all, the longer this matter dragged on, the more dangerous his situation became.

Ye Zhao slowly sipped the tea, in the past six months, domestic and foreign affairs, all are extremely delicate, if the decision is right, it is the trend of breaking the cocoon into a butterfly, and if the judgment is wrong, the Chinese giant ship is afraid that it will collapse because of his decision.

The most difficult thing to decide is the situation in the South Seas.

The Dutch were increasingly anti-Chinese in Borneo, and incidents of Chinese merchant ships being seized without reason became more frequent, with five in the last month alone.

I have read the report on the naval strength of the Dutch in Nanyang, because there is only a golden line of Nanyang left in its overseas colonies, because its Nanyang fleet is almost larger than the local fleet, and there are more ships than the Pingyuan military and naval divisions, but most of them are armored warships, there is no real ironclad ship, and the power system is not as good as the Pingyuan military naval division, and even more pure sail warships.

But the Pingyuan Army, after all, has not really fought a naval war, although the Netherlands has been reduced to a third-rate country in Europe, but in the past, it was said that it was a maritime hegemon, in East Asia, the psychological advantage is obvious, naval officers and sailors are all old oilmen, compared to them, the Chinese naval army is just a toddler, in East Asia with artillery bombardment of a few ports, where can it be called a sea war?

If the challenge to the Dutch fails, the thriving economy of the Southern Dynasties will only be fatally dealt a fatal blow immediately, and the navy will be lost, and the trade routes in East Asia and the South Seas will no longer be guaranteed, and the six kings of the North will take advantage of the fire to rob and provoke war, which is inevitable, and the efforts of seven years will be ruined in one fell swoop, not to mention the treaties and indemnities that the Dutch and the European powers who took advantage of the fire and robbery flocked to them.

This is also the reason why Ye Zhao endured it again and again, but.

Ye Zhao slowly pulled out a photo from under the inkstone, which was a photo of the Dutch soldiers killing overseas Chinese in Borneo, taken by a Chinese businessman at the risk of his life, just a month ago.

More than a dozen corpses were lying in the muddy water, all naked, men, women and children, some had their heads cut off, some had half of their necks connected, and some had their stomachs cut open, revealing the intricate intestines inside, which was extremely bloody and miserable.

The photo Ye Zhao has been pressed under the inkstone, but he doesn't look at it, because he is afraid that anger will blind his eyes and affect his judgment.

But today, he slowly pulled it out and quietly looked at this tragic picture.

"Summoning Ma Dayong to the staff room to discuss matters." Ye Zhao said lightly.

Behind the desk in front of the door, there was a clerk who hurriedly ran out to deliver a letter to the staff room.

Ye Zhao said to Zou Kaizhi again: "Tell Tongwen Pavilion that I will set up a banquet to entertain Wu Guanghuai tonight." ”

"Yes!" Zou Kaizhi bowed down and retreated.

Ye Zhao turned his head again and looked at the photo silently.

…… In the staff room, the military attachés circulated photos, and the air in the room seemed to be frozen, and it was extremely depressing.

Yuan Jiasan and Li Jianchen, the two first assistants, were also present, and this war was likely to be a declaration of war on the Europa countries, and the two first assistants naturally had the right to know.

According to reason, the matchmaker, the deputy commander of the whole army, and the commanders of the towns of the army should also come to discuss the matter, but the generals of all lines are near and far, and if they want to gather, they are afraid that it will take half a month, which will affect the combat readiness of all soldiers and horses.

It was Ye Zhao who convened this military meeting within the smallest scope, and it was even more secretive. In fact, under the current power framework, Ye Zhao can completely give orders to the navy, but the matter is too big to be considered. Even Ye Zhao still can't make up his mind, once he is defeated, he will become a sinner who cannot rejuvenate the Chinese nation, and he may open the sky if he endures it for a while.

"The sailor can gather in Nanping after three days." Ma Dayong's face was like a stone carving, without a trace of expression, but his attitude couldn't be clearer in this tough words.

Only then did Ma Dayong know why the regent asked the sailor to go down to Nanping half a month ago, and it turned out that the regent had long wanted to fight this battle.

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, Nanping is actually Vietnam Fan Cheet, the southernmost port of Vietnam, Chinese merchant ships going to Borneo to trade, will stay in Nanping, the name Nanping, is also given by the Chinese.

Li Jianchen and Yuan Jiasan glanced at each other, Yuan Jiasan's eyes were full of worry, and he declared war on the Dutch, this, this is a bit arrogant, if this battle is lost, how can the south deal with itself? Although it will inevitably shake the foundation of the regent, and it may be able to promote the return of the two palaces to power, after all, the loss is great.

It's just that Yuan Jiasan also knows that it is not easy to be allowed to participate in the deliberations of the Pingyuan Army, so he spoke out against it? That's Meng Lang.

Li Jianchen looked at the information in his hand, but nodded secretly, when Daoguang and Xianfeng were alive, they fought with the Europa people, it was really a black eye, Mo said that the strength of the people was not clear, and even thought that people were evil demons and foreign ways would use magic. Nowadays, in any case, the pre-war preparations are first-class, and the situation of the Dutch ships and soldiers cannot be more detailed.

The first time he participated in the Pingyuan Army's combat readiness meeting, Li Jianchen sighed in his heart, it seems that the Pingyuan Army's victory in a hundred battles is really not a waste of fame, let alone a fluke.

Feng Zicai stood up and said loudly: "Lord Wang, the Dutch have coveted our maritime frontier for a long time, and they have been constantly invading our country in the past, and now they want to monopolize the trade in the South Seas and kill our Nanyang nationals. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has long informed other countries that although the Nanyang expatriates are not our people, they have the same roots and species as our country, and all disputes with other countries need to be informed of our country. Not to mention, Borneo is not the land of the Netherlands, its killing of my compatriots, the means are cruel, people and gods are angry, if we don't fight with one, how can our Pingyuan army talk about protecting the territory and the people? His face was full of righteous indignation, and his hands were bruised.

In fact, most of the generals of the Pingyuan Army came out with a sea of blood, and the tragic situation of the photos may not shock them, let alone empathize with Ye Zhao. Ye Zhao also knew this very well, and taking out the photo was just releasing a message.

Ye Zhao nodded, made a gesture of pressing down, and Feng Zicai sat down.

Yuan Jiasan finally couldn't help it and said, "Lord Wang, the British and the French ......"

Ye Zhao said: "There is no need to worry about it. ”

Looking at the few officers who were frowning at him, Yuan Jiasan sighed in his heart and stopped talking.

A staff officer whispered to the general next to him: "The navy is victorious, we may not be able to win, is it the advance navy to send the infantry to Borneo, Luzon and other places, then we will definitely beat the Dutch devils to the mother, when the time comes, we will take the initiative to negotiate and make peace." ”

Although his words were soft, he didn't want to be heard by Ye Zhao, looked at him, and said with a smile: "What's your name?" ”

The staff officer was startled, he sat at the end, far away from the prince, plopped down to his knees, and stammered: "The little one, the little one is called Ding Yuechang." ”

Ye Zhao nodded, and said in a harmonious voice: "Get up, what you said is right, this is the safest way, but the Dutch have woken up, this naval battle will not be easy to fight, if they can take advantage of their unpreparedness to divide and annihilate their fleet, then the situation in the South Seas will be settled once and for all, don't you say?" ”

"Yes, yes." Ding Yuechang kowtowed repeatedly, got up, sat down carefully, and after a while, he seriously pondered the words of the prince, and couldn't help nodding secretly.

It's just a sea battle with foreign devils, with this courage, who can help the prince?

Ye Zhao put down the teacup and said, "It's decided, declare war on the Dutch!" If you play well, let's go to the sky in one step, if you don't play well, it's a big deal for me to step down! ”

Everyone was startled and fell to their knees.

Ma Dayong kowtowed and said loudly: "The sailor of the Pingyuan Army swears to follow the prince to the death!" If you lose this battle! Ma Dayong raised his head to see you! ”

Ye Zhao snorted and waved his hand, "Get up and send a secret message to the commanders of all towns." ”

Next, they were going to discuss how to fight, Yuan Jiasan and Li Jianchen hurriedly retreated, Ye Zhao nodded and said, "Keep it secret." The two of them bowed down.

Ye Zhao slowly picked up the teacup, determined to make up, but became more and more calm, just silently flipped through the information of the Dutch navy, and one thought after another flashed in his mind.

Jinling, saber rattling, the South China Sea, the Chinese fleet is cloudy.

In this sudden collision, the new forces of the Far East and the strongest navy of the European continent in the past will meet, who will be killed?

(To be continued)