"When is this going to be!?"

To the north of Huangpu Port in Guangzhou, scaffolding encloses a building, and a steep and pointed style can be faintly seen. A group of people with different hair colors and peculiar costumes are talking while looking at them in the distance, and the pedestrians are curiously staring at it, it is a foreigner, but no one stops to watch, now this Guangzhou, foreigners come and go more, I heard that foreigners are also allowed to buy property in the north of Huangpu Port, and then maybe the streets are full of foreigners.

"Your Excellency Special Envoy, we are rushing to work overnight and guarantee that it will be completed within half a year!"

The foreman replied respectfully, thinking that the emaciated Frenchman was asking himself.

"The glory of our Lord shines on the earth, wherever it may be. Compared with the construction period of this church, I am more concerned about the war between the Emperor of China and the King of Guangdong, and when will it be resolved? This is about the sacred mission entrusted to me by His Holiness the Pope! Captain Popper, do you have an exact assessment now? ”

The papal envoy Charles Millard de Doro, who had been in China for ten years, was responsible for the decree of Pope Clement XI to coordinate the dispute between the Jesuits, the Dominicans and the Franciscans over the Chinese missionary policy, with the specific task of forbidding the Chinese parishioners to worship the heavens and ancestors, for which a dispute broke out with Kangxi in Yanjing, and was subsequently deported to Macau, where he was imprisoned by the Governor of Macau in a Franciscan monastery. 【1】

Originally, he was already sick in bed, dying, but he did not expect that two or three years ago, the situation in Guangdong changed greatly, and the previous Chinese emperor's rule in Guangdong was gradually taken over by a local merchant-turned-general. Last year, a new country was established and Guangdong was divided. Now no one cares about Doro, and the Governor of Macau can't see the situation clearly, so he revokes the house arrest. Encouraged by this new situation and feeling that he could still make a difference, Doro came to Guangzhou to observe the situation after recuperating for a while.

Kodoro has never dared to take the initiative to deal with this newly established kingdom, even if since last year, this kingdom called "Ying" has fought the "Qing" empire and regressed one after another, he does not dare to bet rashly. If the Qing Empire wins, the emperor, who was already prejudiced against him, will be held accountable in the name of colluding with traitors, and all the missionaries may be implicated.

Now that the Qing Emperor and the King of England had launched a huge decisive battle in Hunan, Doro felt that the wait had reached the last moment, but the battle situation had not been clear for a long time, and he began to worry about whether his sick body could support it.

"Your Excellency, the glory of my lord should not be influenced by the world, and it is not with such a will that you came to China? The war between the emperor and the king should not affect our determination to spread the gospel......"

A young man dressed as a priest interjected, and the Latin emblem of "sj" in the middle of the gold and silver mangs on his sleeve was eye-catching, which was the mark of the Society of Jesus.

Doro coughed angrily, all of you Jesuits are surnamed this virtue, relying on flattering the locals to preach, not only unprincipled, but also without a sense of the overall situation. Whoever is powerful will cooperate with whomever he wants, no wonder the local government would allow this priest named Lang Shining to repair a church in Huangpu.

"The priest is right, and His Excellency's worries are also justified, and the situation in Hunan has a great impact on those of us. Yes, we ...... Whether Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Catholics or Protestants, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Italians or Britons, all Europeans in Canton, are watching Hunan nervously, and this battle will decide our fate in China. ”

Another person said with deep concern, this person had dark skin, looked like a Chinese at a glance, but looked closely, but his eyebrows were deep, and he was actually a mixed race.

"O'Oliwang, if I am only concerned about the future of our Britons in China, you can honestly say that you are only concerned about what the king of Canton will do with Macau."

Captain Popper finally spoke, this Oliwang was the envoy of Ma Yu, the governor of Macao, after the establishment of the "British" in Guangdong, the people of Macao had always wanted to make a breakthrough in the issue of status, but the officials of the kingdom strictly followed the old practice, which made them very dissatisfied. O'Llion wanted to meet the king and gain a new status for Macau, but he was unable to do so because the king was away on a campaign.

Captain Popper is now the special representative of the United Kingdom East India Company in Canton to observe the situation, and he can get together with the special envoy of the Holy See, Doro, and the Jesuit priest Lang Shining, and it is also O'Llivan who can get together. Oliwang's intention is very clear, everyone must appear in one face, so that the voice is the loudest, in order to fight for the greatest interests.

But Captain Popper had a lot of money, and the East India Company was behind him, compared to Portugal behind Macau, and the Holy See behind Doro and Lang Shining, which were not only too far away, but also had little real power. Therefore, he has no scruples in speaking, and he also points out his position in advance.

"Judging by my vast military experience......"

Captain Popper has been in Macau and Canton since the Canton Rebellion last year, and even witnessed the chaos of Canton Night, so he knows a lot about the newly established kingdom. When Dorolang Shining and Ou Liwang and others found him, they also really wanted to hear his judgment on the battle situation in Hunan.

"The King's army is strong, though not as elite as our British army. But the king's army was too small in number, but the emperor had an endless number of soldiers, and only God knew what the outcome would be. ”

There was no sincerity in saying this, and everyone was exposed.

Captain Popper, of course, was not obliged to be an adviser to the people, and casually said perfunctorily, adding, out of good intentions, "The king is by comparison more enlightened than the emperor, and as far as the position of our East India Company is concerned, of course we hope that the king will prevail." But this king is also more powerful, and he will not allow too many things to be out of his control, so ...... For the two venerable priests, as well as for Macau, it was not necessarily a good thing that the king would win the decisive battle. ”

While talking with provocative and bury holes, Popper was still thinking about the history of his grievances with the loach ship, and at the same time reminiscing about the changes. In the past, the East India Company did business in China and faced customs and merchants, but in Guangdong it has become the customs and the Nanyang Company. The customs did not want to exploit them layer by layer, so they collected the total price of tax and silver according to the ship, and all trade affairs were also taken care of by the Nanyang Company, and even the previous restrictions on living in the merchant mansion were abolished, and you can also buy a house in Whampoa, and if you only do business, this place is almost a paradise.

If the king could gain a foothold, the East India Company's business in China would grow rapidly, a clear judgment that Popper had gained after several months of observation, and for this reason he even wrote to the company asking him to obtain permission to contact the king to discuss the support of the king with arms and supplies, but the company refused on the grounds that it might affect the prospects of the whole Chinese trade, and he was so angry that he scolded the company officials for being indifferent.

Later, Popper noticed the rise of Guangdong's gun and military industry, and then thought of the new warships that popped up at a rate of almost one per month, and Popper was faintly worried in his heart. With this new kingdom, the prospect seems to be mixed with a shadow of inconclusiveness.

"It is important for the company to maintain a good relationship with the kingdom."

After all, the South Seas are not the focus of the company, even if this kingdom wants to dye the Guide Ocean, it will be a headache for the Dutch, Popper's worry turned to schadenfreude, and he began to plan his future mission, but ...... "But this must wait until the war situation is clear." ”

Popper was only a captain, not a general who had been in charge of the entire war, and his knowledge of the military situation in the north and south was still limited, and it was difficult to make any judgments.

He was meditating, and so were Dorro Lang Shining and Oriwang, but after thinking about it, it would be difficult to achieve results after all, and they could only do one thing: wait.

At Guangzhou Huangpu College, a father and son are also discussing the war in Hunan.

"Father, it is absolutely difficult for this puppet country to compete with the imperial court, why do you insist on going your own way and have to take the imperial examination of this puppet country!?"

"What a fake! As long as I keep my Chinese clothes, it is not a fake! As for the new dynasty suppressing Confucianism and rejuvenating Yang Zhu, what's the use of scolding? It is precisely because of the need to support the Taoist system that he must enter this imperial examination. Once we and other scholars are full of the new dynasty, and fight with such greedy businessmen and women to return to the Taoist system, even if this new dynasty is not Zhengshuo, we will be able to stand up Zhengshuo in our hands and our hearts. Such a feat, but it can leave a name for a thousand years! ”

"But my father never thought that it was you who entered the imperial examination one after another, which lifted the spirit of Li Xian, and made him think that he was right, and he wanted to set off the bloody wind in the world, such a sin, but he also wanted to leave a name!"

"Confused! My father has never taught you such a boneless and heartless truth, the Manchu Taoism was stained by Yidi's braids, and it is difficult to be considered Zhengshuo. Now that the people of China are angry, even if the direction is a little off, we Confucian scholars should also help, this is the great righteousness! Always shouting about what kind of war together, the lives are ruined, that's Xiaoren! ”

In the spacious library building, the voices of the two fathers and sons turned from low to high, causing a cough to sound nearby, as if the person in charge of the library appeared and shouted at the two of them very dissatisfied: "Zheng Zhiben, Zheng Xie, this is the library building, and you have to quarrel in the Huoyan Hall." ”

Zheng Zhiben stared at his son fiercely, and hurriedly apologized to the steward and the others.

"Father, once this puppet country is defeated in Hunan, our Zheng family will be punished for the crime of extermination!"

Out of the library building, Zheng Xie was still unwilling, his father participated in the imperial examination, and this name was blacklisted by the Qing court.

"I said before leaving, if you don't want to, you don't have to come along, just serve the Qing country, our father and son, divided in the north and south, can always keep the family ......"

Zheng Zhiben was very annoyed, this son's brain was really problematic, let him leave him alone, he had to follow him, and he complained all day long.

Zheng Xie said helplessly: "Filial piety comes first, the father throws himself into the land of calamity, how can the son stand by and watch?" ”

Zheng Zhiben was stunned, and after a while, he sighed faintly: "I'm old, it's nothing to gamble, you...... Alas! ”

The father and son were relatively speechless, and at the same time looked to the north, Hunan...... What will be the end?

Li Xi waited in Chenzhou with itchy bones, and the new Anglo-Chinese country under his rule, all the characters were also eager to see through, too many calculations, too many choices, all of them were in front of the threshold of the Hunan war. Together, these onlookers converge like a vortex, hovering over Yinghua.

"I can't wait! The army is on its way! ”

Changsha Mansion, Yinzhen waved his arm angrily, so far, the civil and military calculations, have killed more than a dozen officials who neglected the military aircraft, but the army still has two percent of its long tails, dragging on all sides, and it has not been able to gather for a long time. It's June 25th, and it's hard for him to wait.

(To be continued)