On the occasion of the New Year, several gunboats appeared in the port of Zhigu, and under the urgent investigation of the Tianjin Intelligence Group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an inconsistent telegram was sent to Jinling, and the matter gradually became clear.

There are a total of five ships, two of which are junior steam gunboats, which are used for training in the Naval Academy of the Zhigu Ordnance Bureau, and the remaining three are armored steam warships with a displacement of about 2,000 tons.

The lights were bright, and in the east study room of the council hall, Ye Zhao urgently convened more than ten ministers and officials of the General Staff to discuss the matter, and the matchmaker who had just returned to Jinling from Guangzhou was also impressively listed.

The purchase of warships from the north of the country can be described as extremely secretive, and a British man was given carte blanche to operate it, and it was not until the warship entered Zhigu that the southern dynasty woke up, and the so-called official of the north sent to Europe to purchase it was just a false shot.

This happened before the embassy in London was built, and if it was a year and a half late, the embassy would always receive rumors.

Although the Southern Dynasties had signed agreements with Britain and the Netherlands, the war in the South Seas could not be said to have completely subsided, and in Pontianak, the Southern Dynasties had to temporarily maintain a naval force that could cope with the provocations of the Dutch. Second, the issuance of banknotes by the Southern Dynasties was imminent, and it was obvious that the important ministers of the Northern Kingdom had the insight and thought that the Southern Dynasties would not provoke because of the warship matter anyway.

Three armored ships, although the Yanjing from the steel plate to the turret and the power system and other designs may not be as good as the Guangzhou, but I am afraid that it is not far away, speaking of which, it is now the transition period from wooden sailing ships and armored ships to real steel ships, although there are two ironclad ships in the Southern Dynasties, Jinling and Guangzhou, but such as Dinghai, Zhenhai and other armored battleships, I am afraid that they are not as superior as the Yanjing surname, and the tonnage is heavier than the other two armored ships in the north, and there are more guns, but today's warships, However, it was precisely at the time of the transition from dozens or hundreds of battleships to heavy artillery batteries, and the number of guns was no longer the standard for measuring the true strength of gunboats.

What's more, half of the ships of the Southern Korean Navy Division were in the South Seas, including most of the main ships, such as the Jinling and Guangzhou, which were in Pontianak. If the gunboat fleet active near Nanking fought against these ships of the northern country, even if it won, it would definitely suffer heavy losses.

On the three armored ships in the north, more than 1,000 British sailors and sailors were employed, and the commander-in-chief of the fleet was originally British, called Li Daolin, but in fact, he thought that his surname was Daolin, and the pronunciation of his name was close to Li, and it was immediately translated into such a very neutralized Chinese name.

At present, the northern kingdom has appointed Cai Guoxiang, the commander of the Hunan army's naval division recommended by Zeng Guofan, as the president of the fleet, and Li Daolin has retired as his deputy, while the southern kingdom has selected sailors to be trained on the ship.

Ye Zhao flipped through the information, and sighed softly in his heart, it seems that the two purchases of warships in the north are the same idea as the prime minister's yamen, which was the first to purchase a naval army in history, the prime minister's yamen is a little confused, and the north country is somewhat forced to do it, and has to rely on foreigners to do it.

I think that the Prime Minister Yamen bought the British [***] ship for the first time, relying on the help of the Shanghai tariff consultants, seven gunboats, a total of 650,000 taels of silver, and the sailors and sailors on board were all selected by the British Navy Captain Aspen who commanded the warship to China, but after the fleet arrived in Shanghai, Aspen asked the Chinese emperor to appoint him as the commander of the fleet, otherwise he would refuse to accept the order. At that time, it was a lot of headaches for the ministers, and finally Zeng Guofan came up with an idea, transferred these gunboats to various countries, and issued Aspen and a group of sailors on board severance pay, and lost more than 700,000 taels of silver inside and out.

This is also known as the Aspen event in history.

Cai Guoxiang? If it weren't for the accident, it would have been the Admiral of the Aspen fleet.

Now it is obvious that the leaders of the northern country have a much clearer thinking, and the people selected are not dishonoring their mission, and they have not made jokes like Aspen, but this time the purchase of warships must have cost a lot of money, according to Ye Zhao's estimate, with the bargaining level of the northern country, how can these five ships cost between 1.5 million taels and 2 million taels.

Nowadays, there is no radar, the vast sea, and it is not surprising that the northern fleet arrived in Zhigu silently, even if it is occasionally encountered by the southern merchant gunboats, the fleet is hung with the British emblem, and the sailors and sailors are all foreigners, they will definitely think that they are British ships.

In fact, similar to the military reform of the northern country, there will be an effect of throttling, carefully calculated, maintaining the same number of soldiers, than the rotten root of the system of greedy military spending is more silver-saving, even if you buy foreign guns, take the Lianzhu guns in the north as an example, the cost is only about 30 taels of silver, even if you equip an army of 100,000 people, ideally, not counting the cost of ordnance assistance, only three million taels of muskets are enough, of course, with the increase in the rate of fire of guns, Once a war breaks out, if there is no limit to the supply of ammunition, military spending will really be like water.

In any case, the idea of war preparedness in the north is very troublesome, a rogue country with reckless military force, Ye Zhao can't help but think of the voices of later generations who often wave a big stick to rebuke other countries, but now, Ye Zhao really feels the same way.

"Let's wait for Nanyang to decide on this matter." Yuan Jiasan spoke first.

The faces of the councilors and staff officers were grim, and everyone knew what it meant for the north to have an armed fleet with combat effectiveness.

"Yes, after the banknotes are issued, it will be safe to negotiate with the northerners." Zheng Zhen also agreed with Yuan Jiasan's opinion.

Li Hongzhang shook his head, "No, after a long time, this matter will become a foregone conclusion, and then negotiate with the northern country, and the division will be unknown." ”

Li Xiaocun moved his mouth, listened to Li Hongzhang's words, but shrank back, wanting to make him agree with Li Hongzhang's words, and felt awkward. The relationship between the two has long been in flames, and they have never hidden it. Today's party struggle is very superficial, and the wrong way is not the right way.

Ye Zhao smiled slightly, and said: "Yes, it is difficult to negotiate if it becomes an established fact, this matter, I will think about it again, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inform the three mediators and state our position, the Northern Naval Division threatens our trade routes, and we will have the next move." He took a sip of tea and said lightly: "If the negotiation fails, this banknote will not be issued, fight!" ”

looked at the matchmaker and said, "You go back to Suzhou and prepare for the war!" ”

"Yes!" The matchmaker responded crisply, her pretty face was clear, but her heart was soft, and the current Xianggong and Pingyu were naughty and did not have a proper shape, each with its own good.

"Scattered!" Ye Zhao waved his hand.

The crowd stood up and took their leave.

Looking at the back of the matchmaker, Ye Zhao sighed softly in his heart, and then they got together for two days and were about to separate.

…… Qianqing Palace South Study.

The Six Kings paced slowly, and in two or three years, the wrinkles on his forehead seemed to become more and more, and the person became deeper and deeper.

Below, kneeling was the military aircraft Du Han, and his voice was flattering: "Your Majesty, this letter has been thrown out, and there seems to be no movement in the south, so they can't do it, don't look at the south side is very lively, it's all fake, build roads and bridges, which one is not money?" South China Sea, the Dutch made trouble for them, and the British negotiated with them about the southwest, and he still wanted to send banknotes, this Jingxiang, even with eight hands, he couldn't be busy, right? The emperor chose this season, wisely. ”

The Six Kings did not speak.

Over the years, Jing Xiang has a few catties and a few taels and can also feel it thoroughly, if it weren't for this kid staring at the position of the ninety-five all day long, I'm afraid that he really can't help him, but now he, internal and external troubles, and Sun Monkey's surname, stirring up trouble everywhere, the longer this hand is extended, the more people will be offended, a while ago, the British Indian governor wrote a secret letter, saying that once the Southern Dynasty provoked a war, as long as the northern country sent an invitation, the Indian fleet was willing to enter the China Sea, restricting the supply routes of the Southern Dynasties, once the southern fleet dared to attack the treaty ports, In order to protect the diaspora, the British Indian fleet would probably have to intervene directly in the war.

Of course, at the end of the letter of the Indian governor, he hoped that the Qing Dynasty would agree to the construction of a railway from Jiaozhou to Jinan by several British merchants, and at the same time have the right to mine the mountains along the railway.

The Russians have long stated that they will spare no effort to support the Northern War once the Civil War breaks out.

Although the six kings heard the words of the foreign devils like this, Jingxiang, the monkey cub, obviously did not summon all countries to see, and if this really started, it was difficult to say who would lose and who would win.

What's more, the thief and the two palaces are inseparable, I heard that Yuan Jiasan is very close to the general soldiers of Zhejiang, Guizhou and other provinces, maybe someone will knife him behind his back, and he hasn't rubbed the gang yet, this battle, does he dare to fight now?

The dumb loss of the Zhigu fleet can only be swallowed, right? Without a water master, it feels like he is being choked by his throat all day long, but there is such an opportunity, how can he react? It's nothing more than complaining to the mediator country, and when the foreign devils drag it out a few times, this matter will be like this.

"Is Cai Guoxiang reliable? I heard that he is from Guangdong. The Six Kings stopped suddenly.

Du Han kowtowed and said: "The minister also heard that he came, but I heard that his family had already received the north, and he had always been the head of the sailor under Zeng Guofan, brave and good at fighting, and his younger brother died in Panyang Lake. ”

The six kings nodded slightly and said, "You get up." ”

Du Han slowly got up and bowed his waist.

"Is there any news from the Baltun League?" The six kings asked the Chechen Khan, I heard that the Khan King Ulihan was very close to Jingxiang when he was in Guangzhou, the Chechen Khan had a total of 23 banners, occupying the land of abundant water and grass in Outer Mongolia, with a population of more than 100,000 and nearly 300,000 horses, plus cattle, sheep, and camels, the total number of livestock made 20 years ago exceeded 1.5 million, and in recent years, the population and livestock seem to have made great progress, and the Khalkha people are brave and aggressive, if they collude with Jingxiang, it is really a disaster.

Du Han said: "It seems that the Khalkha people have no correspondence with Jingxiang. ”

The six kings nodded slightly, and then asked, "What about Su Shun?" ”

Du Han smiled and said, "It's still the same, and after drinking, he scolded Jingxiang for forgetting his ancestors." ”

The eyes of the six kings flashed, and they were silent.

…… The vast plain, here is the territory of Qinghai.

A team of more than a dozen people hurriedly walked in the loess desert, wearing thick cotton clothes and cotton hats wrapped around their ears, but the wind and sand blew their noses and eyes, like knives cutting people's faces painfully.

"Are the dognoses coming after you?" As soon as the burly man wearing a fur hat spoke, he heard that she was a woman, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, but she didn't look like her.

Someone fell to the ground and listened, for a long time, got up, and shook his head.

Everyone immediately collapsed in the yellow sand as if they had fallen apart, and let the wind and sand blow over their bodies.

"I'll leave a mark for this little bastard!" A stout man with red eyes suddenly turned over, pulled out a dagger, and dragged the timid seven or eight-year-old boy beside him.

"Stop!" The leading woman frowned, and saw the man grab the boy by the neck, and stab him in the face with a dagger, and the boy whined, although his mouth was gagged, and the stout woman immediately kicked the man out a few steps from behind, and slipped to the ground.

The man's eyes were split, his eyes were red, and he shouted: "Today, Lao Tzu doesn't want his head, and he has to leave a mark!" He threw himself up, and was kicked in the chest by a stout woman.

"Big sister! Xiaoliu, they died so miserably! The man screamed angrily and slammed the ground hard, like crazy.

"Then this little bastard can't move, he has to hand it over to the prince to dispose of!" The stout woman said coldly.

This woman is a member of the special land service regiment of the Pingyuan Army, and she is the captain of the operation, she is called Yang Ergu, Guangxi Hakka bigfoot, Su Hongniang's subordinate pro-army, and later transferred to the land service regiment. He can also stab people on a horse, and he will hit every shot, and the middle one will not stand up. The knife is seven inches long and extremely sharp. Every time he comes into battle, he hangs a leather bag on his chest, and those who are full of bags are all sharp blades, calling himself a flying knife god."

Nowadays, she rarely uses throwing knives, but the revolver is very good.

In the middle of last year, Yang Ergu received a secret order from the Lu Qin Regiment and selected more than 50 members of the Lu Qin Regiment to enter Qinghai in disguise.

Because Aunt Yang knew Lu Yueting, this task would fall on her shoulders.

However, the Qinghai desert is vast, and the action team has gone through a lot of hardships, and finally found out that there is a Taiping army in the upper reaches of the Lancang River, where the Su Mang people gather, but unfortunately Li Xiucheng and Lu Yueting are not here, and they don't know where the two are located.

Just when Yang Ergu was discouraged, it was a coincidence that Li Xiucheng's only son, Li Xuefu, accompanied by his father's personal guard generals, came to this town by boat.

Yang Ergu and others then used clever tricks to capture Li Xuefu alive, but what they didn't expect was that in the pursuit of the Taiping Army, the action team suffered a big loss, and several sabre cavalry of the other side swarmed out, and launched a bloody pursuit in this vast desert.

The Su Mang people wrapped in red turbans and wielding Xueliang scimitars coldly and brutally cut the throats of the soldiers of the Pingyuan Army, and the bandits were no longer as vulnerable as before, as if the wind and sand of the reckless desert had also refined their muscles and bones, blew their hearts and hardened their hearts, holding a horse pistol, and letting the horses under their crotch trample over the bodies of the outdated Pingyuan Army soldiers again and again, until they were trampled to death.

"Little Liu's skin was skinned by them!" The man howled and cried, and the dagger sank into the palm of his hand, bright red, ticking down the yellow sand, but he was completely unconscious.

Yang Ergu's eyes were wet, and she said word by word: "We will come back!" "Look to the west," I swear. ”

…… When he received the telegram from the Shiqi Hall in Guizhou, Ye Zhao was looking through the progress of the gasoline and diesel engine project in the Southern Dynasties.

In fact, for science and technology, Ye Zhao no longer wants to do anything to force the surname, and some of the main things can be solved. For example, rifles and ironclad ships in military science and technology, their own thinking is to make them skip the transition period and directly enter the technical category of the development of the Keliang surname, which is enough.

And now the Nanjing Firearms Bureau is studying the problem of continuous launch, which is probably similar to a machine gun, Ye Zhao did not give any advice, and it is good to develop naturally.

Because the current technology is relatively simple, such as the advent of Guangzhou, I believe that soon, similar high-efficiency rifles will be developed in Europe.

If we make science and technology too advanced, especially military science and technology, in fact, according to the industrial level of the Southern Dynasties, there is not much benefit, but European countries are inspired by this, maybe they will develop faster. Now it is just right, enough for the technicians and skilled workers of the Southern Dynasty to digest it well.

Moreover, some weapons have advanced along with the tactics of warfare, and it does not mean that everything will be fine if you get the weapons that later generations know that can be made today.

Ye Zhao now hopes that the technological progress of the Southern Kingdom will be the slow accumulation of itself, and no longer rely on its own seedlings to help grow, in fact, the weapon design of the Southern Dynasty now no longer needs its own points, which is of course gratifying.

Looking at the telegram sent from the Stone Hall, Ye Zhao's brows slowly frowned.

In the northwest, the desert yellow sand, as if it can temper people's will, the Taiping army and the local tribes joined forces, but I am afraid that it will slowly grow into a bloody and violent army, just like the Ma family army back then.

Perhaps, the bandits themselves have extremely distinct violent and bloody characteristics, and when they arrived on that vast plateau, the beast surname was further stimulated.

Although the message did not elaborate, one can also imagine the cruel fate faced by the soldiers of the Pingyuan Army who fell into the hands of these thugs.

Ye Zhao's heart ached, and he regretted even more that he sent a task force to Qinghai, because he didn't think it through!

Get up, look at the huge map hanging on the wall, look at Qinghai, this thorn, I don't know when I want to stab myself, even if I take Sichuan, I am afraid that it will be difficult to enter Qinghai to quell the rebellion for the time being, the vast desert grassland, there is no considerable number of cavalry, it is difficult to exterminate the bandits hiding in it now, and even, it will be difficult to walk, and be led by the nose by its highly mobile horse, causing huge casualties.

Moreover, the situation in various parts of the northwest is complicated, and the counterinsurgency must not rely only on force, but I am afraid that in the future, it will be a headache.

Now, it's really one thing after another, and there are a lot of things to be decided.

Ye Zhao paced, thinking about what had happened in the past few moments, there was no doubt that it was most important to solve the affairs of the northern kingdom first.

"Slave Rigi greets his master!" Outside the hall, Rui Si hurriedly entered, knelt down and kowtowed.

Ye Zhao sighed and said: "The matter of the northwest, let's leave it to you, and then send the intelligence team in, don't startle the snake, but this person, you choose well, maybe you will have to stay there for a few years." ”

"Wow! Slaves know how to do it! ”

"Get up and tell me about the situation in Tianjin." Ye Zhao paced and said, "Cai Guoxiang, you made a good move, and you set up people around him a few years ago, so you don't need to play it?" ”

Rui Si lowered his hand: "Yes, that's what I said, but it's a donkey, and we have an enmity, according to his master who was bought by the slave, money and beautiful women can't make him tempted." ”

Ye Zhao waved his hand, "People, how can there be no weakness?" You can inquire again. ”

"Yes, the slave calculates carefully, and he eats and drinks Lazar and the slave goes to inquire about it."

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, and said, "Last time, you said that there was an assistant leader in the new army in the north who wanted to defect to this dynasty?" ”

"Yes, he is a cultural person, he reads the newspaper all day long, but he is full of praise for our southern country, according to Huai'an's secret letter, he himself said that he can bring thousands of people over, and I don't know if it is bragging."

Ye Zhao shook his head and said, "If you brag or not, what do you have to do with a thousand people, don't we have any soldiers?" He's better to keep it for the news. ”

Rui Sidao: "Yes, yes, but he is not as bold as a needle, I am afraid that he will not dare to do this." ”

Ye Zhao smiled slightly: "It's up to you, what has happened to our Rui Da Manager?" ”

"Yes, yes, the minions don't dare, don't dare." Rui Si said in fear, but his bones were inevitably light.

Ye Zhao is actually not too concerned about this matter, now communication is inconvenient, and the strategy and tactics at war are only a few axes, that is, it is not as complex and changeable as the era of cold weapons, and it is not as complex and changeable as the era of hot weapons with radio waves fluttering, and the role of this spy is far inferior to that of later generations, and it is just to find out the deployment of the opponent's troops, but the war is together, the soldiers and horses are frequently mobilized, and when his intelligence arrives, it will take a few days or even a dozen days, in fact, the battlefield situation is afraid that it will not be like that for a long time. Even whether the information can be sent out is a question, it depends on secret letters, it depends on people close to the cronies to send it, and how many times can it be sent?

However, the officials of the northern kingdom yearn for the life of the southern dynasty, which is a good sign.

"Go down." Ye Zhao waved his hand.

Rui Si hurriedly kowtowed and retired.

…… Back at Duanning Garden, Rong'er is talking to Lan Guiren, the first month is almost over, Lan Guiren has not returned to Guangzhou, and I don't know what idea I have in my heart, is it really a good place, or are I going to find an opportunity to take Niu Colu and Xiao Elder Brother over and start listening to politics in Jinling?

"Xianggong!" Rong'er jumped off the kang, let Ye Zhao onto the kang, kicked off her cute little shoes, climbed onto the kang, knelt behind Ye Zhao to help Ye Zhao pinch his head, and said, "Xianggong, let's go play tennis in a while!" ”

In fact, Rong'er usually bullies and bullies her sister, she can't beat others, and she bullies her sister and says, where will Lan Guiren accompany her to go crazy?

So Rong'er hates tennis and never gets off the court, because others let her, she can still see it.

Today, she took the initiative to say that she was going to play tennis, naturally knowing that Xiang Gong had thousands of knots in her heart and wanted to tease Xiang Gong's heart, she knew that Xiang Gong liked to see her embarrassed, and liked to see her deflated appearance when she couldn't hit the ball with a big tennis racket.

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Another day." "When I think of Qinghai, my heart is like a needle prick, and I really have an impulse to rush thousands of troops and horses into Qinghai and crush the locusts.

Rong'er sighed, and was hugged by Ye Zhao again, so she sat quietly with Ye Zhao.

Lan Guiren glanced at Ye Zhao a few times, then got up and said goodbye.

(To be continued)