Ye Zhao smoked quietly, without a filter, a little choked, but he felt that there was a different kind of fragrance, is the tobacco of today better than that of later generations?

Next to the exquisite carved wooden screen, Hunan Governor Guo Jingzhi and Patrol Chief Military Officer Zhao Puyu stood solemnly, Zhao Puyu's forehead was slightly sweating, and it was a little weird in the faint light of the red gauze lantern, dressed in traditional military attache clothes, thin and stiff, and in Ye Zhao's eyes, he looked like a former Qing zombie in a ghost movie.

Zhao Puyu is a general, he is cautious, but he doesn't want to see it and stab the big basket, although the Miao rebellion is not made up by him, but he sent troops to quell the rebellion without a deep investigation, and even made trouble in front of the regent, if someone died, this crime can be big, the political climate of the Southern Dynasties, the regent is the most taboo to use civilian blood to dye the red top.

Bai Laoheng was still kneeling on the ground, not daring to speak.

The Southern Dynasties were not able to establish a telegraph network in all directions, and the telegraphers were only important towns, such as Hunan, where the telegraph reached the provincial capital of Changsha, and the rest of the beneficiaries were the prefectures along the route.

He has already sent people to hurry up 600 miles, so that the patrol infantry regiment that went to quell the rebellion will stand by in place, and it may be too late in time, but Zhao Puyu is afraid that something will go wrong in the middle link, and when the eighteen villages are killed, his top or even his head will fall to the ground.

"The head of the military army of a province, but he is confused, you say, how dare you use you with confidence?" Ye Zhao's tone was very cold.

Zhao Puyu came down in a cold sweat, her legs were weak, she fell to her knees, her forehead was against the red carpet, and she didn't dare to speak.

Ye Zhao looked at Guo Jingzhi again, and sighed: "Gongding, how to recover the hearts of the Hunan people, you also have to think about it more." ”

Guo Jingzhi was a little ashamed, bowed down and said, "Yes, the student is afraid." "He was really picked up by Ye Zhao, from the prefect of Huacheng during the Sino-British and French War, to the prefect of Guangzhou, and then to the governor of Hunan, he has been promoted several levels in a few years, and the rocket-like speed of the rise is a hot upstart in the Southern Dynasty.

Ye Zhao snuffed out the cigarette butt and said: "I have sent a telegram back to Guangzhou for this matter, and ordered the general's office, military room, and internal affairs bureau to transfer personnel to form an investigation committee to investigate the details of this incident, which officials are involved, and punish them according to law." ”

Guo Jingzhi nodded a little confused.

Ye Zhao said again: "This will also become a common practice in the future, if something happens in the place, the court will not send any ministers, this matter must be investigated from the root, every evidence, every person who handles it will be recorded and archived in detail, if there is a mistake, no matter ten or eight years, it must be held accountable and perverted." ”

Guo Jingzhi nodded silently, understanding Ye Zhao's words.

Ye Zhao looked at Bai Laoheng again: "You get up, stay in Changsha for a few days, and when the investigation team arrives, you will accompany them to Qianzhou." ”

"Lord Wangming!" Bai Laoheng kowtowed vigorously, although he seemed to understand whether he understood or not, he could hear that the regent was really too different from the officials next to him, and he didn't complain about being so famous.

…… When Ye Zhao went to Changsha to inspect, the Dutch consul Schneider chased after Changsha, but Ye Zhao took care of his own itinerary and made Schneider wait for two days at the Hunan Hotel.

On the third day, Ye Zhaocai returned to Changsha, and Schneider, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately asked to see him, but in Changsha, it was far from the situation of meeting the regent in Guangzhou.

The regent received him in the living room of the suite, but there were many officials who came in and out to report various matters, and the regent kept reading the telegram in his hand.

Ye Zhao didn't mean to belittle him, the battlefield of Anhui and Zhejiang was in full swing, Zhao Sanbao had just launched the Shaoxing Campaign, defeating the Qin Yuegang Army, Han Jinchun and Harwich launched a fierce attack on the Taiping Army camp in Hangzhou, and Zhao Sanbao asked for a telegram to attack Su Song via Jiaxing and disarm Su Song's Qing army.

Nowadays, the expansion of the towns of the Pingyuan Army is relatively chaotic, and the general soldiers of several towns naturally want to have as many soldiers under their hands as possible, and it is wartime, while fighting and replenishing, although the food and salary quota is placed there, but the soldiers and horses in each town are afraid that there are not less than 10,000 people, and there is no way, so we can only wait for the situation to stabilize before making a decision.

After going to the outskirts of the county for a few days, there were a lot of battle reports accumulated, Ye Zhao looked at them one by one, and found that the Pingyuan Army was advancing much faster than he thought, and it was not uncommon for the Taiping Army to reorganize its brigade to surrender, and it seemed that its morale was extremely low, and now it was only about how to take the ancient capital of the six dynasties at the minimum cost, and it was necessary to take the opportunity to clear the Northern Dynasty's stronghold in Jiangnan during this period.

Flipping through the telegram and looking at Schneider's face under the table, Ye Zhao shook his head and said slightly apologetically: "Mr. Schneider, the situation is troublesome, I'm sorry!" ”

Schneider tapped his pipe on the coffee table and said, "Your Royal Highness, do you have time to talk to me now?" "The more polite the regent, the more angry Schneider becomes, this seems to be a very kind Chinese prince, but he eats people and does not spit out bones.

Although the Southern Dynasty did not crown the king of the Daiyan Kingdom, its prime minister Yamen signed a trade agreement with the Daiyan Kingdom to purchase a batch of spices from the Daiyan Kingdom, and the Daiyan Kingdom was completely open to China, Chinese goods could be sold into the Daiyan Kingdom with low tariffs, Chinese merchants could enter and exit freely, and the entire territory of the Daiyan Kingdom was open to Chinese, and then the Guangfu Silver Account was signed to purchase a gold mine in its territory.

Schneider is going crazy, if the Chinese sign similar agreements with small kingdoms that have not yet been conquered by the Dutch, in the East Indies, then there is still a foothold for the Dutch?

Not to mention anything else, just with this agreement with the Dai Yan Kingdom, Chinese goods can justifiably enter Borneo, Dutch merchants are thousands of miles away from here, a shipload of goods to carry it will take several months, if the wind is not good, this year is also a year, how to compete with Chinese goods?

At this time, Ye Zhao put down the telegram with a smile and said, "Mr. Schneider, you say, I'll listen." ”

Ye Zhao's frequent attack on the European powers was largely due to the fact that the larger the industrial economy in southern China, the more inevitably the interests of the European powers in Southeast Asia would be challenged, and, in the long run, the Europeans had little chance of winning.

The Suez Canal has not yet been opened, the east-west trade routes are extremely unimpeded, and in Southeast Asia, China's industrial products are not a little bit more competitive than those of the West; as long as they can gradually obtain the right to trade in Nanyang, Nanyang will soon become a part of China's raw material base and industrial product dumping circle, and this is an undoubted result.

Europeans will inevitably realize this, and those businessmen who run the gang or invest in the Far East will naturally be happy to see it, but the industrialists in Europe will not be so happy.

So the process should not be too drastic, but let the Europeans get used to it a little bit, so that there will be less resistance in the early stages.

No, a small decision at the moment made the "red-haired ghost" jump to his feet.

"Your Royal Highness, Dai Yan is only a small indigenous tribe, disobeying the indoctrination and wounding our missionaries, and our Governor of Batavia is plotting revenge for his barbaric acts, Your Royal Highness, I don't think it is a wise choice for you to trade with the indigenous tribes at this time, and it is an insult to us Dutch."

Ye Zhao laughed, in fact, this Schneider is a strong and introverted figure, in the entire East Indies, the Dutch have about 20,000 soldiers, as for Borneo, the Dutch have not really gained a foothold, maybe there are one or two thousand armed men, there are many indigenous mercenaries, but if you really compete with the Chinese, the combat power of the mercenaries can be negligible.

It is not difficult to know why Schneider was so angry, after trading with the Daiyan Kingdom, Chinese merchants freely entered and exited the Daiyan Kingdom and even Borneo, and Chinese-made weapons and even Chinese armed personnel could also enter Borneo, what kind of combat effectiveness did the Pingyuan Army have? The Dutch also thought that they had little chance of winning the Southern Dynasty than the warships, but once the Chinese wanted to make trouble for the Dutch in Borneo, the Dutch would encounter unprecedented difficulties.

"Mr. Schneider, I would like to reiterate once again that my country respects your country's interests in the East Indies, and I am happy to act as a mediator in the dispute between your country and the Dai Yan Kingdom.

Schneider banged on his pipe, did not squeak, every time he fought with this Chinese prince, it was like hitting a marshmallow, and he kept saying that he respected your interests and respected your interests, but in fact, he was making trouble in a different way. Diplomats in China, a position that was considered the most leisurely and unchallenged a dozen years ago, often held by businessmen doing business in China, is now the most important and stressful position for politicians in the Far East.

"Mr. Schneider, I still have some things to deal with, and I know your requests and requirements, and I will consider them carefully." Ye Zhao said and picked up the teacup.

Schneider had no choice but to get up and say goodbye.

…… In the evening, when Zhu Sisi went on a business trip, she saw a carriage parked under the camphor tree at the entrance of the Xiguan Patrol Bureau, and when she walked out, the curtain of the car door was raised, revealing Ye Zhao's smiling face, and beckoned to her: "Get in the car, I invite you to dinner." ”

Ye Zhao said that he had just come back from Changsha, Rong'er went to Guanyin Mountain, and Jin Feng took Shawa and Hua Ji to North Korea, saying that they were going to select a few Korean dancers for the Xiguan Theater, and they were originally going to go to Nanyang Borneo with the caravan that set off yesterday to select the black barbarian dancers, but Ye Zhao blocked it, after all, it was the territory of the Dutch, in case there was anything that could be whipped, as for going to North Korea, it was up to them, and it was also a good thing to scatter and open their eyes.

The General's Mansion was scattered, Ye Zhao remembered Zhu Sisi when he was bored, the last time he was in the Immortal Residence, it was very ruin for Zhu Sisi, so it was good to ask for it once.

"I'm not hungry." Zhu Sisi saw the prodigal son come up, but she inexplicably felt a little cordial, this elusive guy came to invite her to dinner, which made her feel even more funny.

"Then go for dessert, the dessert of Sava Coffee is good, bring your brothers and sisters." Ye Zhao beckoned as he spoke: "Come on, you can also change your clothes by the way, don't scare people with this black skin, your pale cyan dress was quite beautiful last time." ”

Seeing that there were a lot of patrols in and out, Ye Zhao was smuggling again, Zhu Sisi had no choice but to get into the carriage and said, "One person and half." "Recently, I have a little more money on hand, the two younger brothers study hard, treat them well, this loser is not much more knowledgeable, but he can pay attention to food, the younger brothers and sisters saw the neighbor's eggs for two cakes, hungry to death, these days can just grind themselves all day to eat trough cakes.

The restaurant chosen by the loser, the dessert must be delicious, right?

When the carriage arrived at Sava Coffee, there were already three more noisy children in the car, two little boys, and a little girl, which could make Ye Zhao noisy to a head or two.

The three of them were still curious, they had never been in a carriage, they were so excited that they asked Ye Zhao what the things in the carriage were, and even the little girl touched the curtains of the car window and timidly asked Ye Zhao what he was doing, Ye Zhaoli ignored them, but the three little guys just liked to talk to him, they had never seen such a beautiful and clean brother, and the children naturally wanted this brother to like them.

When she got off the carriage, Zhu Sisi hugged her little brother and got out of the car, asking Ye Zhao to help hug her sister, Ye Zhao carried the little girl's neck collar like a sack and carried the little girl out of the car, Zhu Sisi's nose was almost crooked, but her little sister was so happy that she couldn't do it, giggled, and came to Ye Zhao, turned her back to Ye Zhao, bowed her little body, and asked her brother to carry it again, which made Ye Zhao finally laugh.

In the Sava coffee box, I asked for a few famous desserts such as puff pastry egg tarts and taro biscuits, and the three little guys devoured them, Ye Zhao tasted the coffee, looked at them, and smiled.

Zhu Sisi glared at Ye Zhao and said, "You don't look down on people, my two younger brothers have grown up, and they must be better than you." ”

Zhu Sisi's younger brothers and sisters are called three boys, five boys, and five girls, and they want to be like ordinary people, and their children have died young.

The third boy was about thirteen or fourteen years old, and he swallowed the yellow puff pastry egg tart that drooled when he looked at it, and said vaguely: "Sister, it's better than the trough cake that the puppy exchanged for eggs, right?" ”

Zhu Sisi said: "You think it's delicious, it's delicious, what's there to compare?" ”

Ye Zhao said with a smile: "There is no progress without comparison, and human beings will develop rapidly because of greed, but I love to hear what you say." ”

The five girls were still entangled in Ye Zhao's carriage, obviously feeling very comfortable in the carriage, and secretly said to Ye Zhao: "Brother, will you come to pick us up next time?" ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "Next time I will collect money from you." ”

The fifth girl made a bitter little face, drooped her little head, and said for a while: "I, I have grown up, and I will give you the money when I make money." ”

Zhu Sisi glanced at Ye Zhao and said, "Little Wu'er, don't pay attention to him." ”

A few little guys are not honest, they don't know how many desserts they have eaten, they touch their little stomachs one by one, and they all run to the door of the box curiously to look outside, and point to a few foreigners secretly making exaggerated grimaces, Ye Zhao was helpless, so he ordered a guard to lead them out to play, so as not to affect other guests.

In the gorgeous and bright candlelight, Zhu Sisi, who is extremely delicate in the light green uniform, is slowly eating egg tarts, and the posture of eating is also delicate and cute.

Ye Zhao smiled: "Is it the first time to eat it, it's delicious, right?" ”

Zhu Sisi said "um" and said, "Give Daddy and Big Brother them a few pieces back." ”

Ye Zhao said: "Then, count it in." ”

Zhu Sisi shook her head and said, "No, I've said that I'll give each to each." ”

Ye Zhao was not reluctant, nodded, and said: "You come to give your family's, I'll give your share, go out to eat with girls, no matter how much I hate this person, I haven't asked them to pay." ”

Zhu Sisi was amused, very delicate, and said, "You still have a woman you hate?" ”

Ye Zhao rubbed his nose and could hear that at least in the matter of men and women, this little girl looked down on herself a little.

"Hey, Ye Zhao, to be honest, how many wives have you married?" Zhu Sisi asked with a little curiosity.

Ye Zhao counted his fingers, Zhu Sisi rolled her eyes, and said, "Women are so attractive in your eyes?" When you see a beautiful woman, you want to marry home, right? "The life of this gentleman, although absurd, has never been in contact with this group of people, and Zhu Sisi is somewhat curious.

Ye Zhao said: "That's not either, just talk about you, I don't have anything to marry home." ”

Zhu Siqiao's face flushed, and she glared at Ye Zhao: "The dog's mouth can't spit out ivory, you want to marry, who will marry you?" ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "You also said, I like green bud rice the most, what about you, it's the ripe daylily, which doesn't suit my taste." "Ye Zhao doesn't know how old Zhu Sisi is, seventeen or eighteen years old? Ten years old? In short, there is no twenty-year-old, and it is a virtual age, and if you are one year old, you will definitely be less than nineteen.

is less than nineteen years old, in the later generations, it is just sincere, and the tender can no longer be tender, but now, it has long passed the age of marriage, if the appearance is not good, it is a bit of a leftover woman.

Even if there is a feminist movement in Guangzhou, it doesn't advocate women to marry late, right?

Zhu Sisi was not annoyed, but after all, she was a woman, and when she heard Ye Zhao dislike her for being old, she was somewhat unconvinced, and said, "I don't believe that your wives are as beautiful as Hua Ji." ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "That's really not to hide it from you, Hua Ji is the ugliest one among my wives." ”

Zhu Sisi pouted: "Blowing the conch, blowing up to the sky, can't go down to the ground." ”

Ye Zhao lit a cigarette and said with a smile: "If you have the opportunity to see it in the future, you will know if I am bragging." ”

Zhu Sisi sneered with some disdain, but was full of troubles by Ye Zhao's words, more and more people came to her family to tell her about family affairs, and the threshold was broken, especially in the past two months, almost three or two days before someone came to the door to propose, and they were all new-style, asking men and women to meet and go on a blind date. It's not that Zhu Sisi doesn't want to get married, and she has been on a blind date a few times, but none of them have caught their eye, most of these men have decent careers, and even one of them declared early that she would not take a concubine, but Zhu Sisi just felt that it was very painful to sit with them for a while.

Looking at Ye Zhao, Zhu Sisi suddenly asked, "Hey, you said, a woman doesn't want to deal with endless matchmakers, is there any way?" ”

Ye Zhao knew that she was talking about herself, thinking that she had a lot of "ghost ideas", she was asking for advice with an open heart, Ye Zhao smiled: "This really stopped me." "If it is very simple in the later life, it would be good to find someone to pretend to be a boyfriend, but it is not available now, after all, the social atmosphere is here, it is not uncommon for men and women to fall in love freely, but it is all for the purpose of marriage, if they break up in the end, this girl will be ruined, in people's hearts, there is no difference from the abandoned woman who was divorced.

"Wait until I help you think about it, and I'll tell you when I think of it." Ye Zhao took a sip of wine and said with a smile.

Asked about Yu Blind, Zhu Sisi muttered in her heart and said, "Forget it, you don't have a serious idea." ”

(To be continued)