Of course, in order to avoid trouble, Li Mingcheng used a pseudonym when he came, pretending to be an ordinary foreign merchant, and followed the secret agent sent by Li Yongji to Changzhou to contact Li Xiucheng earlier, so except for Li Yongji and a few other people, outsiders did not know that Li Xiucheng actually sent Li Mingcheng over.

For this kind of sincerity, Li Yongji was a little surprised, he didn't expect the other party to send such a person to talk, you must know that Li Mingcheng is Li Xiucheng's younger brother, not to mention the relationship between relatives, let's just say that the status is not low, although he has not yet been crowned king, but he also has a title of Yu Tianyi.

In 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had not yet wantonly indiscriminately crowned the princes, so the princes were still relatively few, and they were a little golden, but under the princes, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also made a sixth-class lord, namely: Yi, An, Fu, Yan, Yu, and Hou.

In other words, Li Mingcheng's Xuan Tianyi is a title second only to the prince, and if compared, it is similar to a duke.

In short, Li Mingcheng is a very important person, and it is indeed quite bold to send him over as an envoy, you must know that between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing army today, there is no such thing as not beheading, Li Mingcheng is one of the bandit leaders who have been registered in the Qing court, so it is a great risk to send him as an envoy.

In fact, Li Xiucheng sent his younger brother to the past, there was no way, in the first battle of Suzhou, most of Li Xiucheng was annihilated, and he himself was injured, although he only suffered a little skin trauma that time, but after that, his typhoid fever recurred, due to the ferocity of the disease, he is still bedridden, otherwise, he would not let Li Rongfa use his name to lead troops to fight Jiangyin for him.

At this time, Li Yongji actually saw through his strategy, and sent someone to sue him, the other party already knew about his affairs in Changzhou, and even wanted to do business with him.

At that time, Li Xiucheng did not come forward or reply, but just ordered the secret agent sent by the other party to be detained, treated coldly, and put on an unpredictable and profound appearance, guarding against the other party being bluffing and making a test.

But now, it was discovered that Li Yongji had begun to picket the whole city, recruited troops on a large scale, and put on a posture of making a big move, which made Li Xiucheng, who was at a loss, worried again, and could no longer play unfathomable tricks.

After thinking about it, Li Xiucheng decided to send someone to contact Li Yongji to see what the other party thought, after all, according to the combat effectiveness of the Jingwu Army, it was completely possible to fight directly, and there was no need to be so troublesome.

Although I wanted to find someone to contact, after looking around, I found that the people around me who could be trusted and used were rare, and most of them were of great use, and I couldn't send a pawn who didn't know anything to negotiate with Li Yongji, so after thinking about it, I sent my younger brother over.

Although Li Mingcheng is very important, he has always been an assistant in internal affairs and does not lead troops much, so even if there is a loss, it will not have much impact on the army, and at the same time, it can also show his sincerity, and of course, the most important thing is reliability.

You must know that because of the previous defeat, Li Xiucheng's subordinates were afraid and hated Li Yongji's elite army, and his prestige had plummeted because of the Battle of Suzhou.

After Li Mingcheng came over, of course he wouldn't say this, after he saw Li Yongji, he first simply asked how to say hello, and then directly said that he was interested in Li Yongji's business, asked what kind of transaction method, and didn't say anything else.

"Mr. Li is a happy man." Finding that the other party directly asked how to do business, Li Yongji smiled, "Since you are a happy person, then I will also say it quickly." Let's be clear, I can exchange grain and even weapons with you for gold, silver, jade, precious jade and other valuables, and the price is negotiable, but if you want to make this deal, you have to promise me a few conditions. ”

"On what terms?" Li Mingcheng asked.

"First of all, you have to hand over Changzhou to me, as well as Jiangyin, Huzhou, and even Hangzhou, Ningbo, you can fight, but if you fight down, you have to return it to me in the end, of course, in terms of the process, you can play a trick of you retreating and I enter, as if I beat it down." Li Yongji smiled, "In short, after you fight in front and break the city, I will give you three days, during which you can fish and rob as much as you want, as long as you don't rob ordinary people, and you don't plunder, you can catch as much as you can." After three days, we pretend to attack, you pretend to retreat, and then I take back the lost territory, and you leave with the gold and silver treasures, or you can exchange the looted gold and silver treasures with me for food and weapons on the spot, understand? ”

"You're good at it." Li Mingcheng immediately understood Li Yongji's intentions, "Do you want us to drive forward, and then you take over these territories?" ”

"That's right." Li Yongji nodded, "So you guys have taken down these places, in order to reduce trouble for me, you must kill the local officials for me, otherwise, I won't do business with you in the future." In short, the two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang will be my territory in the future, if you don't provoke me, I won't take the initiative to fight you, and I will do business with you, if you don't know how to lift, then I can only take you under the knife. ”

"You're right." Li Mingcheng frowned, "But why should we listen to you?" ”

"Because I have the strength." Li Yongji shrugged his shoulders, "I believe that after experiencing the Battle of Suzhou and the Battle of Changshu that just ended, you should be very clear about the fact that the gap between you and me is not a little bit." Seriously, I didn't contribute much to those two battles at all, if I concentrated my strength, took advantage of the victory to pursue, and continued to chase after you, you would have no chance of winning at all, and would have been destroyed a long time ago, and even if I went directly to Nanjing now, I was seventy percent sure that I could fight down. But why didn't I do that? That's because it's not good for me. ”

"Oh, so, my lord, you and the Qing court are not of the same mind?" Li Mingcheng's expression moved, "That's not as good as ......"

"No talk!" Li Yongji immediately interrupted him, "Even if I am not of the same mind as the Qing court, I am even more incompatible with you." In this case, you don't talk nonsense to persuade you to surrender, it is better to have a simple secret cooperative relationship, at least for a year we will continue to cooperate in this tacit way, no longer meet each other, and make a fortune together. As for how to get along in a year's time, everyone will rely on their own abilities, and then discuss it when the time comes, what do you think? ”

"That's fine." Li Mingcheng nodded, "But how can we trust you?" ”

"It's simple, you see." Li Yongji pointed to a green iron machine on the table, "When you leave, I will send a few people back with you, and they will take this machine with you." This kind of machine is called a radio intercom, and with this radio, you and I can talk freely even if we are thousands of miles apart, as if we were talking to each other. Of course, if the distance is too far, more than 500 kilometers, that is, thousands of miles, it is better to speak at night, and it is better to speak clearly at night, but during the day, the signal may not be very good. ”

"Can you talk from thousands of miles away?" Li Mingcheng was really surprised this time, "Is this true?" ”

"It's naturally true, can I still lie to you, anyway, it's true or not, just try it." Li Yongji smiled, "This thing comes with a hand-cranked generator, don't worry about energy, after my people go, Ziru will tell you in detail how to use it." In short, with this thing, we can easily communicate with each other, and when the time comes, how to cooperate between you and me, how to do transactions, you can arrange this in advance, and even let your commander Li Xiucheng talk to me directly, which saves the effort of sending secret agents to each other, and can also avoid a lot of misunderstandings, and the security is enough to guarantee. ”

"If it's true, it's for the best." After all, Li Mingcheng is also in his thirties, and his temperament has always been relatively calm, so he quickly recovered from the previous shock, "I believe that our prince will also agree to this cooperation plan." However, in terms of food, it is easy to say, but in terms of weapons, will you sell us the weapons you use? ”

"That's definitely not going to work." Li Yongji smiled, "The weapons I prepared for you are still mainly cold weapons with broadswords and spears, but these cold weapons are all made of stainless steel, not shoddy goods, and the power is still very good, if you are equipped, your combat effectiveness will immediately go to a higher level." In addition, if you particularly like foreign guns, then I have some front-loading foreign guns, which can also be sold to you, and the price is naturally negotiable. Although these foreign guns are not as good as the ones we are using, they are also good goods that have just been replaced by foreigners, and they are definitely much stronger than the piggybacks you use. ”

"That's the case, can I take a look at the goods first?" Li Mingcheng said.

"Actually, I'm afraid that you won't see it, if you don't watch it, it means that you don't have the sincerity to cooperate at all, since you want to see the goods, it's naturally the best. Come on, I'll take you to the warehouse to see, it's all good things, I guarantee to make you satisfied! ”