PS: Try! Struggle! Updating at full speed!

Okay, Li Yongji now completely understands the purpose of their coming to him, it turns out that he wants not to attack the Taiping army, so that they can support the Taiping army, and at the same time he also wants to persuade himself to rebel and fight the Qing court with the Taiping army.

Although these powers did not know why, they were probably really determined to confront the Qing court to the end, so they began to support the opposition and look for potential oppositionists everywhere, with the aim of turning China into a divided situation of warlord warfare.

Looking at it this way, I'm afraid I'm not the only potential force persuaded by them.

In short, they should have come to seek their own help, at least to get their own non-interference attitude. After all, they want to support the Taiping Army, and they and the Jingwu Army can't get through this level no matter what, of course, this is what they are willing to see, and they probably don't know that they have already begun to hook up with the Taiping Army.

However, Britain and France are still very weak in China, and they should have come to ask for their help, but now they are still threatening and giving alms, is this really good?

"That's a nice thing to say, but you can't afford to send troops to interfere with us, right? As far as I know, your British and French fleets have just been wiped out, which is a heavy loss for you, and it is impossible for you to bring in any more troops in the short term. Not to mention the imperial court, let's just say that your garrisons in Shanghai and Ningbo, all combined, are only one or two thousand people, right? With such a few people, the defense is still insufficient, so what are you talking about sending troops to interfere? ”

"Perhaps." McHuato glared at the Frenchman after getting a roll of the other's eyes. I could only continue to say to Li Yongji with an indifferent look, "But." Although we are not in a position to intervene in the Qing court on land for the time being - for the time being, mind you! But we can continue to blockade your coasts with our navy. Perhaps this blockade is nothing to your court. After all, they don't care about the lives of the people under their rule, but for your territory and your army, the situation should be completely different, right? ”

As soon as he heard this, Li Yongji knew that the other party had misunderstood him, and he was afraid that he thought that the weapons and equipment of his army were also obtained by imports.

Think about it, under normal circumstances, how can China produce such advanced foreign guns and cannons? And the appearance of the modern copycat Sharps rifle is too bluffing, at least it deceives the spies they sent.

"Uh-huh. I see what you mean. Li Yongji suddenly laughed, "But why did you go out of your way to tell me this?" I'm just a commander, there are governors and generals above, and I still have to listen to their orders, that is to say, whether I fight the Taiping army or not, I don't count if I say it myself. ”

"Lord Admiral, you're just kidding us." McWarto smiled, "Actually, since you started recruiting the foreign spear team, we have been paying attention to you and your army. And we've heard a little about your power.

As far as I know, your unit has been completely reequipped with our Western-style equipment, and is heavily equipped with a firearm of American production. And it has also received systematic Western-style training, and it already has strong combat effectiveness, which is probably slightly worse than our European army. ”

Seeing Li Yongji, he just smiled. Mai Huatuo had no choice but to continue: "We don't care who is behind you for the time being, it doesn't matter anymore. But at least it shows that you are a caring person who is not willing to be lonely, otherwise you would not have quietly formed such a powerful force.

And also. After you defeated the Taiping army in the Battle of Suzhou, at least in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, your power was the strongest, and your army only obeyed your orders, and the imperial court could not order them at all. So, as long as you agree to neutrality, then the Qing court can't really order you to do anything, don't you? ”

"I'm surprised that you've done a good job of investigating." Li Yongji shook his head, "But I have a question, do the people of the Taiping Army know that you are so painstaking and laborious to do this?" Will they receive your affection? Their worship of God is not the same thing as your sect, and their king is not a wise man, so he may not be as you wish. ”

"Although I personally regret that the Taiping Army has gone astray in terms of faith, it is not a big problem." Mai Huatuo shook his head, "Even if their heavenly king is a fool, there are still a few smart people in the king below. For example, the King Chung, who was just defeated by you, and the brave King of England, seem to be wise people, and they will definitely accept our selfless help, and they must know what our help means to them. ”

"Okay, I see what you mean." Li Yongji smiled, "However, you came to me this time to ask me for help, and if you ask me for help, you will simply come over and threaten me?" Don't you give me some practical benefits? Do you think I'm really scared of your blockade? I really don't dare to do anything against you?

Believe it or not, you won't be able to get out of this door today? Believe it or not, I'll send troops directly to take back the concession in Shanghai next? Hmph, at best, there are only four or five hundred people left in your garrison in Shanghai, and the best weapons are only front-loaded Mini rifles, and there are few cannons, not to mention ships, at most they are armed merchant ships, and with this little strength, you dare to play threats with me here? Is it true that I'm a bully when I'm young? ”

As soon as Li Yongji said this, the four cheongsam girls who had been standing next to him with low eyebrows and pleasing eyes, looking very quiet and eye-catching, suddenly raised their heads and stared at Mai Huatuo and the others, and slightly separated the slit of the cheongsam, revealing the holster tied to the thigh, and at the same time, the right hand was also pressed on the holster, and there was a posture of facing the gun without saying a word.

"No, no, no, you misunderstood." Seeing this situation, Mai Huatuo also hurriedly waved his hand, "Actually, what I said before is the decision of our government, as far as I am concerned, I am more inclined to support you, because I think that compared to the Taiping Army, your strength is stronger, and at the same time, you are more open and reasonable." Unfortunately, my status is not high enough, and it will take some time to convince my government to change its strategy......

"Let's calm down first!" At this time, a Chinese translator in his thirties, who had been standing beside Mai Huatuo and had not spoken much, suddenly spoke. "Mr. Mai Huatuo, I think Master Li is an extremely intelligent person. In fact, I have long been very clear about your mentions, and there is also the sincerity of cooperation. However, cooperation requires the contribution of both parties. It's not just a blind request, Mr. Consul, don't you think so? ”

"Yes, yes, exactly." Mai Huatuo also reacted at this time, it seemed that there was something wrong with his tone before, a little too strong, which was obviously inappropriate for a young general who had just won the victory and seemed to be equally strong, so he hurriedly changed his words. "Please have something to say, what do you need us to do, or what conditions do you need, so that you can remain neutral, can you not attack the Taiping Army, and can you acquiesce in our support for the Taiping Army? Of course, please make sure that we can do it. ”

"How good you said that." Li Yongji smiled, raised the glass full of orange juice, and shook the ice cubes inside. "Actually, I like to cooperate with international friends, mutual benefit and win-win is the king. Since you have come to me so sincerely, then I will be gracious enough to say what I want. ”

"Speak, please." Mai Huatuo is completely honest this time. The Frenchman was silent, after all, Li Yongji had directly threatened their personal safety just now.

As for the American Howard, it seems that he is a soy sauce maker from beginning to end. Always eating, never talking.

"Article 1. Jiangsu and Zhejiang will be my territory in the future, and let the Taiping Army completely withdraw from it. If you don't return it, then I'll get it back myself, this condition is not too much, right? ”

"Not too much, not too much." Mai Huatuo nodded immediately, in fact, Li Yongji's condition had long been expected by them, after all, with Li Yongji's current situation, he should be bound to win these two provinces, and the Taiping army was obviously unable to control these territories.

After all, if the Taiping army were allowed to control these richest provinces in China, their strength would be greatly increased, and I am afraid that they would not be so obedient at that time, which is also something that Britain and France are not happy to see. Based on past experience, the Taiping Army was not an easy object to communicate with, but in the current situation, it was slightly better than the Qing government.

"Second, I don't care how you support the Taiping Army, but whether it is a person or a thing, as long as you pass through my territory, even if you go through the Yangtze River, you must pay me a toll, and the toll depends on the value of the goods you transport, and the proportion can be discussed by both of us, but as long as it is settled, it must be paid on time. This money should be paid to me in advance before you ship the goods, and then you will raise the price with the Taiping Army after you have shipped the goods, if there is any smuggling in the middle, all of them will be seized and will not be tolerated, how about it? ”

"Reasonable!" Mewarda nodded again. They had already expected this, after all, if they wanted to support the Taiping Army through his territory, it was normal for the duck to pluck its feathers, otherwise it would be necessary to consider whether there was a problem here. In fact, they also hope that Li Yongji and his elite military army will pluck their feathers, so that they will have a certain interest in the Taiping army, and when the time comes...... Hehehe.

"Third, I want MFN status for trade. That is to say, as long as the legal goods sold to you from my territory are not allowed to be subject to customs duties, in the same way, your goods also enjoy duty-free treatment with me, and the two sides are mutually reciprocal zero-tariff and most favored treatment, and carry out complete free trade. Fair and reasonable, right? ”

"I'm afraid I'll have to discuss this with people in China, and it's not good to answer you now." Mai Huatuo shook his head, "But in principle, I think this should be fine, it should be easy to get to guò." ”

Indeed, if it is complete free trade, then it is inevitable that the industrial power will make a lot of money, and the industrial weak country will suffer, and Li Yongji will do this, in Mai Huatuo's view, it is equivalent to giving them the market and the origin of raw materials.

You see the rotten Manchu Qing Dynasty, they were all beaten like that bear at the beginning, and they still refused to give up the tariffs, if it weren't for the damn tariffs, the cheap foreign cloth of the British Empire would have been unified long ago!

As a result, the tax-free agreement that Britain couldn't get with all its efforts, but Li Yongji proposed it himself, which is simply self-destructing the Great Wall!

You know, if the tariffs are completely abandoned like that, the cheap industrial products of the British Empire will fully occupy the territory controlled by Li Yongji, and eventually make the other party a colony and puppet of the United Kingdom. Mai Huatuo felt that the other party could put forward such a stupid opinion, which could only be attributed to the fact that this little guy was young and ignorant.

Well, you must take advantage of your illness to kill you, you must sign this agreement with him, if you don't seize such a good opportunity, then he will really be called a fool.

But in fact, Li Yongji is not able to laugh in his heart, because once the two sides really start free trade, their modern industrial products will have no constraints at all, and they may not be conspicuous at first.

"Since you can't call the shots now, put it aside for the time being, and then let's talk about the fourth." Li Yongji continued, "Article 4 is mutual recognition of each other's patent laws and intellectual property rights, that is to say, all kinds of technology patents registered with me also enjoy the same patent protection measures in your Britain, France and the United States, and similarly, the patents registered with you also enjoy the same protection in me. ”

"Good!" Before McHuatuo could speak, Howard, an American who had not spoken, suddenly shouted hello first, "Don't say anything else, I'm sure we in the United States will definitely agree to this!" ”

"Well, we agree on that." Mai Huatuo nodded, "But I still have to go back and report it, I'm sure there will be no problem." ”

"Me too." The Frenchman also nodded repeatedly.

Seeing the other party's smile, Li Yongji understood what they thought too well, it was nothing more than that he felt that his technology was strong and the patent law made a lot of money, but unfortunately, once this article is implemented, sooner or later it will make you cry.

"Fifth, I am allowed to invest in your country or sphere of influence in my private capacity. As long as I invest in a project, I must get the same preferential treatment as you locals. For example, if I want to buy some land in the United States, a winery in France, or a ranch or mine in Australia in the United Kingdom, I am not allowed to make things difficult for any investment and construction in my name, and at the same time, I am not allowed to discriminate against the employees I dispatch, and I must be treated like a native. I can't help it, I've got to find a way back for myself. ”

"That's totally fine." Mai Huatuo smiled happily this time, "A valuable friend like you, our British Empire is completely welcome, and I believe that our French friends and American friends are also the same, so your investment requirements are absolutely fine, you can rest assured." ”

"If that's the case, then I'm fine." Li Yongji smiled, "When you give me a formal answer to these five requests, I will agree to let you support the Taiping Army, and I will not help each other." You'd better not play tricks and do something about it, or don't blame me for being rude. (To be continued......)