The chief steward Xu Cheng's face turned white, and he said in his heart that this is going to raid the house or what? Isn't our family talking to Shorthair, have you already torn your face? But it's not like it—it's still lively and polite inside, but there's no sign of a fight.

Fortunately, the short-haired soldiers dispersed after a short assembly in front of the palace gate, and under the command of several small army leaders, they dispersed near their own carriage in the posture of several people guarding a chariot, and talked and laughed with the coachman, obviously very familiar with each other, and it did not look like they were going to use force. Chief Steward Xu breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately became nervous again - the leader of the short-haired army looked up at the plaque on the door, and walked directly towards the gate.

If it was an ordinary person, of course, it would not make Xu Cheng feel nervous, but this one was different - he came on horseback and was tall. His skin is slightly dark, he seems to be running outside a lot, and his demeanor looks like he is about thirty years old. Wearing a gray-white coat, the shape is quite strange, but it feels very close and crisp, and he wears a round-brimmed hat on his head - Xu Cheng, a native of the Ming Dynasty, must have never seen "Shanghai Tang", otherwise he would be able to recognize at a glance that this is the popular "Brother Wen's outfit" - a long windbreaker with a top hat.

However, Xu Cheng could at least recognize that this was not the local attire of the Ming Dynasty. And the energetic and confident smile on the other party's face clearly shows his identity.

- This is another real shorthair! The object with whom his lord wants to marry!

Xu Cheng immediately straightened his body, but immediately bent down slightly after the other party approached - who knows if this one will become his own uncle in the future, his attitude must be good.

And the other party's attitude was also very polite, and when he walked in front of him, he took off his hat first and nodded at him:

"Hello, my name is Lin Hanlong, and I just arrived in Beijing today. There is an urgent message that needs to be communicated to the whole team. I heard that my companions were here, so I took the liberty to disturb them. ”

A standard Beijing accent - of course, this is what Lin Hanlong himself thinks, and God knows how much Xu Cheng, the old Beijing of the Ming Dynasty, can understand. But at least, this Steward Xu was flawless in dealing with it - he immediately nodded and greeted Master Lin, and personally led Lin Hanlong into the Hou Mansion from the main gate.

At this time, the main table in the front yard was almost over, and the guests were invited to the flower hall in the backyard to serve tea. This flower hall of the Xu family is very large and magnificent. Even though the two sides are separated by a screen, it is not crowded to accommodate so many male and female guests. When Lin Hanlong walked into the hall with Steward Xu, he immediately attracted countless eyes to gather on him.

The group of people who came in the morning were all wearing local costumes of the Ming Dynasty in order to show their affinity, but Lin Hanlong was different. After entering the door, he took off his windbreaker and hat, and he was still wearing a white suit inside, and the handkerchief on his chest was carefully folded into a fancy shape, which was the standard Shanghai Tang Xiaokai appearance in the early twentieth century. Although none of the people in the Ming Dynasty here knew him, only from this outfit and demeanor. Everyone can come to the same conclusion as Steward Xu before - this is another real short hair!

After being stunned for a moment, Guo Yi quickly stood up - Hu Wen was next door, and he was naturally the leader here.

"Ha, Brother Hanlong, have you come from Tianjin?"

"Yes, I just arrived in the morning, and I wanted to take a rest, but just now I suddenly received an emergency warning telegram from Lushun. The request was conveyed to each of us, so I rushed here on the fly. ”

That being said, Next, Lin Hanlong was introduced by Guo Yi first, and very politely extended greetings to all the distinguished guests present, and apologized for his presumptuous interruption. Under the leadership of Yongkang Hou, he went next door to meet the old lady - all the young ladies over there temporarily avoided the porch, but it was inevitable to sneak a few glances through the flower window.

After tossing and turning like this for a long time, he sat down again to talk about business, and at this time, his attention naturally shifted to Lin Hanlong-everyone here was very curious about what news he had brought. And Lin Hanlong didn't delay. While taking out the telegram and handing it to Guo Yi, he explained to everyone, including those in the Ming Dynasty:

"Our companions on the front line in Lushun have received news that in order to avenge his younger brother Derge, the chief of the Eastern Captives, Hong Tai, has strictly ordered his spy chief, Li Yongfang, to obtain at least one 'true shorthaired' head. It is used to commemorate his brother. Therefore, the commander of Lushun relieved his seat and demanded that from the moment he received the telegram, all comrades who went out to the field should strictly strengthen security and defense measures, and must not encounter the conspiracy of the Dongyu assassins like Xiao Lang. ”

"That's why we're going to be based on the criteria for being in the yellow zone in the safety regulations. I came with a platoon of guards, and when I returned today, I began to carry out escort duties. In the future, everyone must remember to carry weapons with them when they go out, cooperate with the security personnel, and try not to act alone. ”

As the deputy head of the delegation, it was only natural for Lin Hanlong to make such a request, and Guo Yi certainly did not object -- the telegram was quickly circulated in the hands of all members of the delegation, including Hu Wen next door. Everyone is in favor of strengthening their own security work, after all, these modern people are very afraid of death.

During this period, even Zhou Yanru, Xu Yingyuan and others saw the contents of the telegram - even if it was just out of politeness, the content of the telegram should be disclosed to them. Otherwise, it would be rude for a group of people to go to someone's house as a guest, and suddenly take out a note and circulate it only in the hands of the guest, but throw the host aside.

These Ming people didn't really care much about the content of the telegram, but they were very interested in the wireless telegraph itself - originally in this negotiation with Shorthair, one of the most important plans drawn up by the Ming side in advance was to try to get the telegraph technology, or at least the right to use it.

So the topic naturally turned to the relevant aspects, Zhou Yanru and others originally thought that Shorthair must be secretive about this technology, after all, the advantages brought by this long-range communication technology are too great - whether it is in the military, politics or economy, the whole is an all-round improvement. Previously, when Wang Pu quietly sent information to Daming on Hainan Island, he only said that he had heard that Shorthair had this technology, but it was very tightly guarded, and he couldn't learn more.

However, as Chen Tao settled in Beijing and frequently used telegraph to communicate with the rear, the technology became more and more widely known. Moreover, Chen Tao is very generous in this regard, in addition to his own use, those political and business partners who are close to Qiong's navy can also use it. Later, he simply opened a telegraph office next to Mingguangtang, and as long as customers are willing to pay as much as five dollars of silver per word, they can use it!

-- As a result, even the Ming Dynasty government was able to use this technology, but because the places where there was wireless telegraphy were limited to those Qiong naval strongholds and the transit stations they set up in the coastal areas, its radiation range was of course seriously insufficient compared to the vast world of the Ming Dynasty's two capitals and thirteen provinces. So recently, there has been such a strange phenomenon in the Ming officialdom: Hainan Island, thousands of miles away, and even Luzon, if necessary, its message can be transmitted to the city of Beijing in one day. Elsewhere, even in a place as close as Tongzhou, it was customary to communicate once every few days - by messenger.

There was no need for anyone to appeal at all, and such a strong contrast naturally put great pressure on the Ming government. Even the most obsessive, least enterprising bureaucrats are aware of the huge difference. Therefore, for the Ming court, trying to get the short-haired wireless telegraphy technology has rarely become a "good governance" in which all the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are unanimous and have no objections.

However, there are some differences in the specific method of obtaining it - some people advocate that Shorthair should donate all their skills, which must be something that has not yet been understood. Most of the people who have a bit of a brain don't have this luxury, hoping to spend money to buy a few more telegraphs from Shorthair and arrange them all over the country. It was only when they found Chen Tao and expressed the above wishes that they found that this matter was not so simple.

-- It is useless to have a telegraph without a corresponding operator, and the so-called "operator" is not only responsible for a daily task of sending and receiving telegrams, but also such as power supply, daily maintenance, follow-up maintenance, and other work -- some work in the Qiong Navy requires "real shorthair" to do it himself. If you want to train a group of Ming Dynasty technicians who can replace them, even if the Qiong Navy is willing to cultivate them with all their might without concealment, you can't expect to become a talent without a few years of hard work.

On the other hand, although the committee agreed to open up the technology to the Ming Dynasty, its goal was not to make a few money selling telegraphs. It will certainly be used in exchange for some political leverage, and what will be exchanged will be decided through negotiations - and the mission is here for that.

Therefore, at this moment, Zhou Yanru and the others took the initiative to mention this matter, but they fell into the hands of Lin Hanlong -- the engineering team he led was specifically responsible for the construction and maintenance of such "high-tech" projects in the Qiong Navy, from hydropower stations to telegraph stations, all within his scope of business. After crossing, it is not that he hides in the green area all day long and does not see outsiders, and he often has to deal with the locals of the Ming Dynasty when he engages in construction, from rich merchants to old farmers. Although the official he met this time was older, as long as it was within the scope of engineering technology he was good at, Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, was no different from an ordinary squire in Qiongzhou Mansion - they didn't know anything anyway. (To be continued.) )