The Chinese sailors had routed the Dutch fleet at Penang Harbour, and even the American minister MacChason, who thought the Chinese would win in the end, was taken aback.

Macchason and Ye Zhao have known each other for a long time, and they have studied the new ideas of the Chinese more seriously, and the "China Times" and "Cantonese News" are the newspapers he must read, because he knows better than anyone the great potential that South China may have, and he is even convinced that as long as South China is ruled by the regent and does not cause chaos, it will inevitably become a new force that no one dares to underestimate.

And this day came earlier than he expected.

In fact, the Pingyuan Navy did not carry any reporters with the army this time, and a few photos of the Dutch warships were still trophies from the Battle of Pontianak, which had just been sent to the south, but were falsely written by several newspapers as Dutch ships captured in the Battle of Penang.

The southern country once again set off a fundraising boom, Wu Chongyao and other southern giants jointly donated one million taels of silver, please buy ships for the navy, said Shengchang Li family, and donated 200,000 taels alone to help the southern [***] preparation, I think it is also the regent's words, has always become the big stone in the heart of the Li family.

Donations from all walks of life in the south of the country exceeded 10 million taels, and even in Shanghai, a free trade port, Chinese businessmen also donated more than 1 million taels, and many Chinese businessmen joined the household registration of the Southern Dynasties. Even now in Shanghai, the Ministry of Industry Bureau of the British and French Concessions has begun to treat southern merchants and northern merchants differently, and is more prepared to recruit one or two southern businessmen to become directors of the Ministry of Industry, so as to better cooperate with the political axes of the Southern Dynasties and govern the Shanghai Concession.

More than 10 million taels of silver is timely rain for Ye Zhao, this war not only united the hearts of the people, but also accelerated the development of the military industry in the Southern Dynasties.

At the time of the trial production of the first steam ironclad steamer with a displacement of 500 tons at the Fuzhou Shipyard, Wuchang Shipyard, the third large shipyard in southern China, also began its inspection and preparation stage.

In the inland river, the retention of a large military ship production enterprise is of great practical significance, both now and in the future.

In fact, in Shanghai, the British businessman Nicosun began to operate the Xiangsheng Shipyard, and several shipyards in Hong Kong are also expanding, although they are far worse than the two steamship bureaus in Guangzhou and Fuzhou, but they can also be used as a useful supplement to the shipbuilding industry in the south, and even a shipyard in Hong Kong is already cooperating with the Guangzhou shipyard to provide the Guangzhou shipyard with some parts that it can produce.

Chinese businessmen have built or are building shipyards in Seoul, North Korea, Tuatan in Vietnam, and Nagasaki, or more appropriately, they can only provide necessary maintenance and repair for ocean-going vessels, and shipbuilding is nothing more than sand boats or fishing boats in the near sea, but its significance to the Pingyuan sailors is self-evident.

Sometimes looking at the map, Ye Zhao also sighed that unconsciously, in East Asia, the Pingyuan Sailor has gradually made his own brand.

Hilton's visit, Ye Zhao was not surprised at all, at this time, it was time to listen to the price of the British.

In the flower garden and pavilion of Xiyin Academy, Hilton admired the purple and red, tasted Chinese tea, and said comfortably: "In London, I can't drink such delicious tea." ”

Chinese tea, to the British, was like opium, and for a long time the precious metals they had scavenged from the Americas were shipped to the East in exchange for a drink that they craved.

In the end, the British merchants finally found the weakness of China, that is, opium, in fact, the British promoted opium in many countries, but only ruined a China, it must be said that a nation, if it is content with the status quo and imprisons its mind, it is easier to be controlled by such psychotropic drugs.

Ye Zhao smiled: "I'll help you send a few packs to the house when you go back." ”

Hilton waved his hand again and again: "No! Thank you, Your Royal Highness, for your kindness. He knew that the tea he was tasting now was extremely precious even in the East, as if only a tea tree on the top of Wuyi Mountain could produce such wonderful young leaves, and its value could not even be measured in money.

And the supreme ruler in front of him can almost be said to have the power to use the resources of the entire country, which even the European kings under the feudal system have never enjoyed, and in the West, perhaps only by extrapolating upwards to the slave state, the king has such a large and unfettered power to allocate resources.

However, what he admires is that the ruler of the southern kingdom has in fact been restraining this power, formulating various legal codes, without exception, adjusting the distribution of social resources, recognizing the ownership of social resources by individuals, and trying his best to make the lever of regulating the distribution of social wealth and resources more effective.

In fact, many theoretical things only dawned on him after reading the writings of His Royal Highness the Prince.

The breeze is blowing, the weeping willows are shady, and the stone pavilion is cool.

Ye Zhao had already turned around and instructed his subordinates, obviously about sending tea. Hilton smiled bitterly, this southern ruler is enthusiastic and heroic, of course, people also have the capital of arrogance, and the eastern royal family is really not comparable to the European royal family.

The personal impression of His Royal Highness the Prince is excellent, but the embarrassing thing is to say that Hilton will not forget his identity in Jinling City, saying a thousand ways and ten thousand, and it cannot make the Far East a Chinese family, not to mention that after it controls the waters of the East Indies, it will face the Strait of Malacca. I have to give the Dutch a breather, so let's let him and the Dutch toss in the South Seas, neither of these two can really overpower the other.

Ruyi is fighting like this, but Hilton knows that this prince is not easy to deal with, besides, this Dutch country is in small decline, and the Chinese have pierced the cowhide lantern in the South Seas, and the French will take advantage of the fire to rob and limit the power of the French on the European continent, which has always been the most important national policy of London.

"Your Royal Highness, it's time to end the war in Nanyang." After Hilton and Ye Zhao got along for a while, they no longer threw out cold diplomatic rhetoric, what East Indies War destroyed trade prosperity, etc., those are all words on the negotiation table, and they seem rusty to use in private.

Ye Zhao smiled and said: "I want to stop, I'm afraid that the Dutch won't agree, besides, you should have heard that the Dutch have started killing people in Sumatra and Java, and it is my people who are killed." Speaking of the back, his face became serious, and he said, "That's it?" You say, should I, the regent, step down? ”

Hilton was also dissatisfied with the actions of the Dutch, and it was easy to kill people to vent their anger, but it was difficult to end it.

Perhaps Hilton and other Westerners themselves do not realize that from this moment on, they really regard the Chinese as a member of civilized society, and the human life of the Chinese has become human life, and there is a significant difference between killing Chinese and killing indigenous people.

Hilton pondered, "I am also indignant at the behavior of the Dutch, as long as you agree to an armistice, my country is willing to mediate so that such incidents do not happen again, and at the same time urge the Dutch to improve the living conditions of Chinese laborers." ”

Ye Zhao nodded slightly and said, "If the Dutch agree to our country's free trade in the South Seas, I have no objection to the armistice." ”

Hearing Ye Zhao say this, Hilton finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

In fact, with Ye Zhao's surname, it is to take advantage of drilling holes and stealing holes, not to mention that the situation is very good now. But sometimes it's all about taking a step back.

This is the first time that China has challenged the sea power of a European country, and in any case, in terms of cultural tradition, there will always be a gap between the East and the West, and if it relies on the current battlefield superiority to pursue it, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance of the British, and the sudden rise of an Eastern empire will certainly make the European powers unaccustomed to it, and if it is coupled with aggressiveness, it will be even more uncomfortable.

Not to mention the golden sea lanes such as Malacca, will even this empire threaten India? I'm afraid that the British will start thinking about this problem.

Now that China is fledgling and has just stepped onto the world stage, there is nothing wrong with being cautious. It is easier to gain respect by showing one's strength appropriately, and like a hedgehog, it will only be offensive.

Moreover, at the negotiation table, there may be more things that can be obtained, and Ye Zhaozi will not easily stop the truce, sipping tea, and continued: "However, before the armistice, I hope to form an inspection delegation with your country and send officials to Sumatra and Java to inspect the living conditions of overseas Chinese, and to ensure that the Dutch respect the various personal rights of our overseas Chinese." ”

"Delegation?" Hilton is a bit of a novelty.

"Yes, people from the private sector can be selected, and officials can also be used to investigate the two islands in an objective capacity."

Hilton nodded, and said in his heart that this prince was really a new idea, and it sounded pretty good.

Ye Zhao said again: "Mike, let me reiterate once again, armistice negotiations can only be negotiated on the basis of the existing control areas of the two sides. ”

Hilton understood what Ye Zhao meant, which was naturally the Chinese's demand for most of Borneo, including Penang and other Sumatran ports.

Nowadays, it is difficult to transmit information, and the telegrams of Xinjiapo and Batavia have not been communicated, so that the Dutch know his bottom line clearly, and save the mediator the pain of traveling.

Hilton was slightly embarrassed, and the Dutch were afraid that it would be difficult to agree to peace talks, let alone negotiate on the basis of agreeing to the Chinese occupation of Borneo and Penang.

Ye Zhao smiled at this season: "Mike, when I move to the new mansion, I will hold a grand dance to entertain the envoys of various countries, and I will invite you to enjoy the glory at that time." ”

Hilton's heart sank, and he thought of the power plants under construction in Guangzhou and Nanjing, and heard that the power installed in the Qianwang Palace had been tested at full load for five days and five nights, and everything was normal.

At present, the AC and DC generator orders of Nanguo Tai and the electric bank are general, if the current generator assembly speed is followed, I am afraid that the orders are scheduled for ten years, and the electric company is improving the generator components in order to be able to assemble and produce efficiently.

I was going to order one to send back to China, but I couldn't get the goods in a short time, so it seems that I have to ask the regent for help. Although Hilton is not a scientist, he is also keenly aware that the popularization and application of electricity will inevitably bring the industrial production model into a new stage.

South China, a vigorous South China, is becoming more and more despiseable.

Hilton nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Certainly, thank you for the invitation." ”

(To be continued)