The Australian Consulate in the city of Guangzhou, originally a blue brick and black tile building with typical buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties in the south of the Yangtze River, was made a small change here after the Australians came here.

Originally, the two big lions at the door had been carried away by someone and replaced with two sentry posts, and there were soldiers from the national guard standing guard with guns on their backs day and night, which made people feel depressed as soon as they walked into the invisible center here, and this feeling was the same as the feeling of the common people walking into the county government and seeing the four big characters of the bright and upright.

Shen Youlong has been here more than once, although he is the governor of Liangguang, but every time he arrives here, the soldiers will still stop him for questioning, and then go in to report before he is allowed to enter, for this Shen Youlong is very admired, which shows that Australians are still very unruly in some aspects.

"Lord Shen is visiting today, I'm afraid it's not so simple to see me, let me guess your intention, you are worried about the safety of Liangguang."

Zhang Tianwen stood at the door of the living room, greeted him, and after the other party walked in, he opened his mouth to ask.

In fact, if he doesn't say it, Shen Youlong himself will immediately bring it up, and the conversation between the two will never be roundabout and talk a lot, this is the rule of Australia, so whether it is a Ming official or a businessman who talks to Australians, he will generally go directly to the topic to talk about things when negotiating.

As for those who are talking about business after a polite meeting, most of them have little friendship with Australians.

"Consul Zhang really expects things like a god, this official is indeed here for this matter, it is reported that Zhang Xianzhong has already had the intention of going south to Guangzhou."

Shen Youlong said this, sighing unconsciously, maybe he felt a little powerless, or maybe he felt that the army of the imperial court to suppress the rebellion was not strong, in short, he probably didn't have any good thoughts in his heart.

is like a god, Zhang Tianwen doesn't have that ability, this is probably just a random homeless person to ask. Shen Youlong just wanted to compliment him.

"Zhang Xianzhong has the intention of going south, this is inevitable, the land of Liangguang is rich, and there are gentry and maritime merchants who fled from all over the country, as long as they are not afraid of not being able to get money when they get here, if I will also choose to go south, I am afraid that the troops of Liangguang are not enough."

How many troops are in Liangguang, Shen Youlong himself knows in his heart, if he wants to say that it is insufficient, it is absolute, otherwise he would not think about expanding the army. It's just that the imperial court didn't allocate military salaries, and there is no place for this money to come at all.

The lack of troops is one aspect, and the other side is that the number of troops that can fight on the border between the two regions is probably not more than 10,000, and such a number of people will definitely not be able to face Zhang Xianzhong's more than 100,000 people.

"As Consul Zhang said, the strength of Liangguang is indeed insufficient, and for many years, I am afraid that the peasant army will not be an opponent at all, and at most it can only rely on the city for defense."

Shen Youlong also replied cheerfully and honestly, the lack of troops in Liangguang cannot be concealed at all, and the Australian people can know how much combat strength they have.

"It's going to be hard. If Zhang Xianzhong's army goes south, I am afraid that the land of Liangguang will fall under his iron hooves. ”

Zhang Tianwen said this, in fact, it is not entirely to scare the other party, but the facts, according to the historical data of later generations. After reading that the Yangtze River went all the way south to Guangzhou, the Qing army did not encounter any resistance at all, and the defenders in various places surrendered one after another.

"Lord Shen means that he wants to get help from Australia." Zhang Tianwen squinted and looked at the other party with a smile on his face and asked.

Old Shen frowned. Although he was reluctant to answer, he still had to answer that he had come to get help. Without the help of the Australians, I am afraid that I can't rely on my own strength, don't even think about it when I look at the court, let alone hope, the court has no silver to support itself.

"So do you want Australia to send troops directly or provide weapons, but judging from the current situation, I guess Lord Shen wants to get help with weapons."

In fact, there is no need to guess this, although Shen Youlong can approve the formation of a small-scale new army, but ask the Australians to come out to help, he doesn't have the ability or the guts, and the people in the court will first bite him to death and say that he has a heart of disobedience.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is like this, it is not easy to do something, but those who can do it do it do not do it, which caused the Ming Dynasty to finally perish.

The support of weapons, Australia will certainly not provide it free of charge at this stage, at least not to the point of patriotism, you must know that now Australia's interests are the first priority.

For the support of the Ming Dynasty, it will not begin until the Chongzhen regime is completely over, and the establishment of the Southern Ming Dynasty will not begin, and the current Shen Youlong will not give much benefit to satisfy the Australians, and he will not dare.

So it's all in vain to talk about anything now, to be honest, Zhang Tianwen doesn't want to talk to him, now if Australia promises to give him anything, he is doing a loss-making business, Australia doesn't have so much money.

"If Lord Shen wants to buy a rifle, we can indeed give you a discount on the price, but as for the rest, I can't promise you yet."

Zhang Tianwen directly cut off Shen Youlong's plan to mention sponsorship, because at present, the environment of Liangguang is not enough for Australian businessmen to invest here, and there is not much interest to occupy.

"Consul Zhang, my idea is whether Australia and China can start a new mode of cooperation, as far as I know, you have stationed hundreds of troops in Hong Kong to maintain law and order, I think if Zhang Xianzhong goes south to Guangzhou, can we cooperate to resist the enemy."

Having said that, it turned out that Shen Youlong had this idea, not to ask for assistance completely, but to borrow troops, in fact, to borrow the Australian army to fight against the peasant rebel army, if it was paired with the troops stationed in Hong Kong, in cooperation with the 200 new army in Guangzhou, it was indeed a force that should not be underestimated.

With the existence of such a force, I am afraid that Zhang Xianzhong will definitely be given an unexpected result at that time.

However, when he asked Zhang Tianwen, he only asked him to bring a word, after all, this matter is not something he can agree to, and it also needs the approval of the military and the Ministry of Defense, which also involves the issue of bereavement in case of injury and death.

"Lord Shen's proposal will be like the domestic proposal, but this is indeed a new cooperation model, Lord Shen seems to have premeditated, otherwise he would not have come up with such a method."

"Haha, don't dare, don't dare, Shen has no way to come up with such a method, everything is waiting for Consul Zhang's reply, and I hope you will contact as soon as possible." Shen Youlong didn't get a reply, but he wouldn't be at ease for a day, after all, maybe Zhang Xianzhong would go south when he did. (To be continued......)