Not to mention how Katsu Haizhou educated Sakamoto Ryoma, it is said that this Li Hongzhang was as clever as a spring, not only obtained the name of employment from the shogunate, achieved the crusade of righteousness, but also received the support of the British and American troops in Japan, and it is said that the means are quite superb.

It's just that not everyone likes Li Hongzhang's set, for example, Tang Hailong, the commander-in-chief of the task force, thinks that Li Hongzhang is showing off his eloquence, or even doing it too much.

"Just one Changzhou Domain, we can take it all ourselves, why look for outsiders?" Tang Hailong looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "What kind of shogunate employment do you want to engage in, what kind of crusade against righteousness, well, it's up to you, but why do you want to pull the British with the Americans?" I wonder if this will give us a lot less benefit? ”

"Commander Tang Shao'an is not impatient." Li Hongzhang said, "Of course I did this for a reason......

"Okay, then you can tell me why!" Tang Hailong directly interrupted Li Hongzhang's words, raised his chin and said, "If you don't convince me, don't want us to listen to you!" ”

I can't help Tang Hailong to be so arrogant, it is really Tang Hailong who thinks that he followed His Majesty Li Yongji earlier, and he followed early before he ascended the throne, and this time he fought quite brilliantly in Japan, especially after avoiding a hurricane, which reduced the losses of the troops, so with the improvement of his reputation, this temper has gradually grown, and he has gradually become less interested in Li Hongzhang, the so-called central commissioner.

In the past, it was okay, but after discovering that Li Hongzhang actually had a faint tendency to direct them to act in Japan, he felt a little uncomfortable, felt that he should knock and knock the other party, and even planned not to follow the other party's wishes.

Of course, the reason why he is so bold is also because he is well-informed, and he knows that Li Hongzhang is a central commissioner of the Central Executive Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but he is actually Shen Shiming's subordinate, and he Tang Hailong is nominally a mercenary. But in fact, it is still a naval system.

Everyone knows that the navy is the pro-army of the Son of Heaven, all of them are Janissaries, and they are not considered national defense forces at all, and the system is different, so he is not afraid of Li Hongzhang.

On the contrary, Shi Dakai is different, after all, he is a general, and his personality dictates it, so he is much more low-key.

"Commander Tang." Li Hongzhang smiled, "I want to ask you something." Why did the expeditionary force come here to conquer Japan this time? ”

"Punishing the Japanese, of course." Tang Hailong said.

"Punish the Japanese? No, no, no, you're mistaken. Li Hongzhang shook his head, "If it was just to punish the Japanese, His Majesty would definitely not let people send you, a task force that does not belong to the Imperial Army." ”

"Then what do you say?" Tang Hailong said impatiently.

"Tempting Japan." Li Hongzhang said.

"Tempting Japan?" Tang Hailong was puzzled, "Temptation what?" ”

"To test how bloody the Japanese really are, and to test whether Japan is easy to conquer." Li Hongzhang said, "In other words, we are the pathfinder. It is to explore the situation in Japan, and then the empire will make a specific decision on how to treat Japan in the future based on our actions in Japan and Japan's response strategy. ”

There was a pause. Li Hongzhang then said: "Let's put it this way, in fact, we are mainly inspecting the central shogunate of Japan, if the shogunate is smart enough and weak enough." Then we will first support the shogunate, let Japan maintain a basically stable social environment, and let Japan become our semi-colony. Then the economic and cultural means were slowly transformed and digested.

If the Japanese shogunate is too tough, then we will use military means to suppress the shogunate, divide Japan, dismember Japan, and implement a cannibalization strategy. There are advantages and disadvantages to these two methods, and the above has not yet made up their minds, so let's let private armed forces like us come over first to explore the way and see how Japan responds. ”

"Well, even so." Tang Hailong nodded, "But what does this have to do with you pulling the British and Americans in?" ”

"Absolutely." Li Hongzhang said, "The temptation is over, I think the shogunate can still support it and make Japan our semi-colony, in this case, we don't need to do too much, at least the situation of burning Kagoshima can't happen again, it's too hateful." ”

"I still don't understand, what does this have to do with you looking for the British and the Americans." Tang Hailong continued to say with a cold face.

"I've gotten to this point, you still don't understand?" Li Hongzhang pretended to be surprised.

"Please also ask Master Li to make it clear!" Tang Hailong simply darkened his face.

Also, he was asked like this, but he still couldn't understand the reason, and he looked like he was stupid, which of course made Tang Hailong, who likes to maintain his demeanor and often boast of being a Confucian general, feel very unhappy.

"It's simple." Li Hongzhang sighed, "What you did in Kagoshima was too eye-catching, especially the burning of a large number of ordinary people, and the Japanese have begun to hate us Chinese because of this incident." ”

"So what." Tang Hailong said disdainfully, "It's just a war, how can there be immortals." ”

"But the problem is that we are likely to support the shogunate next, and it is very likely that we will engage in so-called Sino-Japanese friendship." Li Hongzhang said, "Since the shogunate is so upright, His Majesty has recently made it clear that he will not devote his energy to Japan, so the best way is to support and control the central court of Japan, and then sign a series of preferential policies with me, so as to make Japan our source of cheap raw materials, cheap labor and product sales market, and slowly control Japan economically."

At the same time, culturally, we also need to let Japanese people learn Chinese, write Chinese characters, and learn Chinese etiquette. I'm afraid you don't know, in fact, except for a very small number of Japanese people, in fact, most ordinary people do not have surnames, only names, we can take the opportunity to let the vast majority of ordinary people have Chinese names, learn Chinese living habits, and launch a Chinese movement...... Uh, it seems like you're not interested in what I'm talking about? ”

"Humph!" Tang Hailong narrowed his eyes, "Are you kidding me?" Of course, I know what you are talking about, but isn't it just to make Japan a colony like Britain's India? But I didn't ask you any of this, okay, I asked about the battle of the Choshu Domain, why did you want the British to mix with the Americans! ”

Seeing Tang Hailong's appearance, Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, as if he had just reacted, but in fact, as Tang Hailong said, he was teasing him.

The reason is very simple, just as Tang Hailong doesn't like Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang can't get used to this guy who doesn't have much ink in his stomach, but always pretends to be elegant. felt that he had tarnished the title of Confucian general.

"Ahem." Li Hongzhang cleared his throat, "Since you don't want to listen to the complicated things, then I'll talk about it simply." What you are doing in Kagoshima is too tragic to hinder our future operations in Japan, so we must minimize this impact in a short period of time.

However, the matter has been done, and the evidence is ironclad, and I am afraid that it will not work well if we go to play the game of buying people's hearts, so the best way is to find a more murderous guy than us to come out as a comparison. To prove that we are still civilized teachers, the previous Kagoshima incident was just an accident. ”

"Hmm......" As soon as Tang Hailong heard this, he immediately understood, "Are you pulling the British into the water with the Americans, just to find a comparison?" Make the Americans and the British more ferocious, to reflect our ...... Relatively civilized? ”

"Pretty much." Li Hongzhang nodded.

"Nonsense!" Tang Hailong said disdainfully, "How do you know that the Americans and the British will definitely be very murderous when they attack the Changzhou Domain?" How do you know that the Japanese will think we are more civilized because of them? If you think so, then I'm afraid I'm going to break my promise, and I'm not going to let the British and the Americans interfere. The entire Choshu Domain is ours, yes, it's ours! ”

When it comes to the end. Tang Hailong also waved his fist to strengthen his rhetoric, but he inadvertently exuded the demeanor of when he was a pirate, and all those pretended elegance were gone.

Seeing him like this, Li Hongzhang despised the other party in his heart. Only then did he say slowly: "Okay, even if you don't talk about finding a comparison, I'll be honest." Actually, I agree that the British and Americans joined for two main reasons. ”

"Two more reasons?" Tang Hailong said, "Okay, you say, see what nonsense you can say!" ”

"The first reason is diplomatic." Li Hongzhang raised a finger, "The British and the Americans have good relations with our country at present, not to mention that Britain is one of the largest exporters of our Chinese Empire, just talking about the current military mutual assistance relationship between China and Britain, we cannot lightly destroy this friendly atmosphere because of Japan."

Well, or rather, Japan is not yet our vassal country, and the British and Americans have good reasons to intervene, and they have made it clear that they want to intervene, and even the French will probably not be willing to be lonely.

In that case, even if we don't let them get involved, they'll do it themselves, so why don't we let them get involved? Once they join us in the joint crusade, it will be able to restrain their behavior to a certain extent, and whether or not they are worse than us or not, at least they will reduce unnecessary accidents, you say. ”

"Better constraints? Hold on to unnecessary surprises? Tang Hailong thought for a moment, "Okay, this is one, but what about the second?" ”

"The second one, of course, is a matter of funding." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Although there were tentative reasons for letting the Eastern Bloc come forward to build an expeditionary force and a task force, a very important reason was actually the problem of funding. If you use the Imperial Army, whether it is the Janissary or the Wehrmacht, you have to pay for it with the state, but if you use it, it is actually out of the pockets of many major shareholders, which can reduce the financial pressure on the government.

Therefore, the main reason for using you is to save money, but the expeditionary force is just that, but Commander Tang, the approach of your task force does not look like saving money for the group at all. ”

"What's wrong with what I'm doing?" Tang Hailong wondered, "Isn't my approach enough to save money?" My fleet, under my leadership, basically has no losses, and the army basically has no casualties, is this not enough to save? ”

"Let's not talk about it, let's just say that Kagoshima will be burned." Li Hongzhang said, "As far as I know, in less than a morning, you have consumed nearly half of the longitudinal . Fire. Bullet, that's what made Kagoshima burn that virtue, that's right. ”

"So what?" Tang Hailong said, "It's just a few hundred shells, can't you afford to spend this money?" ”

"Hundreds of shells?" Li Hongzhang shook his head, "You really dare to say it." Do you know my General Tang, the kind of vertical you use. Fire. The bullet is not an ordinary shell, but a special shell made by the imperial scientific research institutions with great effort. Seed. projectile, the power is good, but the price is not comparable to ordinary shells. A hundred rounds, so to speak, are ordinary. Burst. Cannon. bullets, it is estimated that there is not a single shot longitudinal. Fire. Bullets are worth the money. ”

Li Hongzhang This is not nonsense. Fire. Bullet is actually condensation. Solid. Steam. Oil. Although the ammunition is manufactured by the national arsenal according to the technical data and drawings, the gourd is drawn in the same way. However, whether it is equipment or materials, almost all of them have to be imported from modern society, and Li Yongji did not import many raw materials at that time, so it is rare and expensive, and it is claimed to the outside world that it has become one of the special bombs and a high-priced test weapon.

On the contrary, due to the empire's recent rapid development in chemical processes, coupled with the comprehensive promotion of unified weights and measures, standard parts and assembly lines in arsenals, such as ordinary high. Burst. Flower. Cannon. bombs, which are already in a state of mass production. Although it can't be compared with modern arsenals, in this era, it is already quite terrifying in terms of output.

And no matter what it is, as long as the production is large, the price will naturally begin to fall sharply, so that many armies and navies are now conducting more and more live-fire exercises.

Anyway, although the task force carried the burning. Burn. The bullet is already of a real nature, but Tang Hailong is so wasteful, and it is indeed a little undeserved.

To know. To condense. Solid. Burn. Burn. The characteristics and power of the projectiles, coupled with the fact that most of the Kagoshima Port are wooden buildings, and most of them are characteristics of dense areas, so there is no need to fire so much fire. Burn. Play. You don't need to play all morning, in fact, only fifty or sixty rounds are more than enough.

"You know, a longitudinal. Fire. Cannon. It costs at least 500 taels of silver, and you burn Kagoshima Port. 372 shells were fired in one go, which added up to 1.86 million taels of silver! Li Hongzhang shook his head, "It's all according to your play." Not to mention the Eastern Bloc, even His Majesty's Praetorian Guard, I'm afraid it's a little unbearable. ”

This is of course fake and burning. Burn. Although the bullet is expensive, it is not so outrageous as 500 taels of silver per shot.

In fact, because this kind of shell is an experimental weapon, there is no real price set at all, and the claim of five hundred taels of silver is just a legend.

As for how this price came out, and who said it first, it is unknown. But there is no doubt that for those who have access to this weapon from the outside world, the saying that five hundred taels of silver is a shot.

"Yes, how much?" Tang Hailong's mouth opened wide, he really didn't know that kind of cannonball was so expensive, "You won't be lying to me, right?" How can there be five hundred taels of silver for a cannonball? ”

"Do I have to lie to you?" Li Hongzhang said lightly, "The manufacturing process of this new type of artillery shell must be kept strictly secret, but it just so happens that our Central Executive Committee is one of the supervisors, so I still know a little about this kind of thing." ”

"Since it's such a secret thing, is it appropriate that you leak it to me so easily?" Tang Hailong asked.

"Naturally, it's because you're eligible for this information." Li Hongzhang shook his head, "Okay, is it necessary for us to continue the discussion on this?" ”

"No, no." Tang Hailong touched his nose, he was really embarrassed.

Also, it was very cool when he was firing the cannon at that time, but if he knew in advance that this kind of longitudinal would not be extinguished when it encountered water, and the more it fought, the more prosperous it became. Fire. If the bullet was so expensive, he would never dare to use so much.

"Where? Oh, and save money. Li Hongzhang said, "You burned Kagoshima, and you fought very well, but how much money did you actually loot?" But it's only 50,000 taels, right? If you count all kinds of inputs, it is completely a loss-making transaction.

On the contrary, our operation in Osaka was different, and in the process of attacking Osaka, we easily captured Osaka with almost no effort, and then it was me who managed to get 10 million taels of silver in a short time, which can be regarded as a little earning. ”

After a pause, seeing that Tang Hailong had begun to listen carefully, Li Hongzhang said: "Therefore, in the final analysis, fighting a war is a process of doing business, we have invested the capital, and we must get enough returns." ”

"Does this have anything to do with you looking for Britain and France to join?" Tang Hailong asked.

"Of course." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "This Changzhou Domain is not Osaka, they don't have the philistines of Osaka merchants, and they will not surrender lightly, for example, they will resist to the death." According to our intelligence department, although the Choshu Domain did not have as many warships as the Satsuma Domain, the coastal defense forts were stronger than the Satsuma Domain, and the army of the Choshu Domain was also quite powerful, and it is said that it surpassed the Satsuma Domain in terms of combat effectiveness, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was the strongest army in Japan. ”

Speaking of this, Li Hongzhang looked at Tang Hailong: "Therefore, against such a hard bone as the Changzhou Domain, if we still come hard, even if we still win in the end." But the cost of the investment is too great. If nothing else, even if it's not a vertical. Fire. shells, just with ordinary cannons . How much does it cost to smash all the defenses against it? During this period, if there is an accident and the opponent's artillery hurts our people, how much money will we have to pay for the compensation? If the ship is damaged, how much will it cost to repair it? Have you thought about all of this? ”

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Tang Hailong only felt that his brain was starting to get confused, "I know you must have an idea, but after such a big circle, can you say something clear?" ”

"Come and see." Li Hongzhang smiled. Then he pointed to the map of the Choshu Domain on the table, "This is the Choshu Domain." In terms of terrain, the Nagato country is in the north, the Zhou defense country is in the south, the Nagato country is mostly plain, the terrain is flat, easy to attack and difficult to defend, and the Zhou defense country is mountainous, relatively easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As far as I know. Although the Choshu Domain was much richer, they were also aware of their disadvantages, especially after the destruction of Kagoshima, and most of the main forces of the Satsuma Domain were concentrated in Yamaguchi Castle in the territory of the Zhou Defense Kingdom.

Other words. Although Hagi Castle is still their domain on the surface, it is actually just an ornament, and the main force is in the newly built Yamaguchi Castle in the Zhou Defense Country. They had long planned to abandon the coast and engage in a decisive land battle with us in the mountainous areas within the territory of Zhou Fangguo. When I say that, you should get the idea, right? ”

"Where did you get all this information?" It was not Tang Hailong who spoke, but Shi Dakai, who had never spoken. "Reliable or unreliable?"

"Intelligence from the CIA." Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, "There is no doubt about the reliability of the news. ”

Hearing the information from the CIA, Shi Dakai nodded and said no more.

Tang Hailong is not a fool after all, Li Hongzhang said so, and he slowly understood: "You mean to say that the Changzhou Domain has long known that we are going to attack them?" And then made the arrangement in advance? To abandon the coast, to concentrate the main forces inland, to fight a land war with us? ”

"That's right!" Li Hongzhang nodded, "According to the intelligence, most of their main forces are concentrated in the area of Yamaguchi City, and although Yamaguchi City is an unfinished new city, it is a mountain city, with complex terrain and many forests, which is not suitable for large troops to attack, and it is not easy to exert the power of firearms. On top of that, it's so far from the coastline that your guns won't be able to hit it, at least.

In this case, if the expeditionary force is forced to gnaw on it, the losses will inevitably be very large, and it is better to let the British and American armies gnaw on the hard bones.

In other words, let's let the British and American armies fight first, and if they defeat the main force of the Choshu Domain in Zhoufang, then the main force of the Choshu Domain will be lost, and the Choshu Domain will be finished, then according to the agreement, Nagato will still be ours, and it can be said that we can get the Nagato Kingdom without spending a single soldier.

On the other hand, if the British and the Americans are unable to defeat Yamaguchi Castle, or if the losses are too great, then at least the main forces of the Choshu Domain will be attracted to the perimeter area, and we will take advantage of the situation to attack Nagato, and there will be a lot less obstacles.

When the time comes, we will still occupy Nagato, and Zhou Fang will continue to throw it to the British and play slowly with the Americans, wouldn't it be good? ”

"I see, do you want the foreigners to do it first, and we will watch the play on the side first?" Tang Hailong said, "You let the foreigners attack the Zhou Defense Kingdom, where the main force of the Changzhou Domain is located, and gnaw hard bones, whether we win or lose, we can take the richest Nagato Kingdom at the lowest cost?" ”

"yes, that's it." Li Hongzhang nodded, "Don't underestimate the army of the Choshu Domain. As far as I know, the samurai of the Choshu Domain were quite warlike, and they also had an all-foreign armed army, and their commander, Takasugi Shinsaku, was said to be quite capable. In addition, the terrain of Zhou Fangguo is mountainous and wooded, and if you enter rashly, even with the strength of our expeditionary force, I am afraid that there will be losses, so I have to pull some foreigners as cannon fodder and let them gnaw hard bones, and we will eat meat easily on the side. ”

"There's a problem." Shi Dakai suddenly said, "The fact that we are going to attack the Changzhou Domain can be regarded as a secret, the British and Americans have not known about it for a long time, how could the Changzhou Domain know that we are going to fight them so early, and make a move to shrink the forces in advance?" ”

"It's simple." Li Hongzhang grinned, "That's what I asked them to inform." ”

"You? Do you notify them? Tang Hailong was stunned, "How did you do it?" ”

"How do you do it, it's very simple, because I'm a central commissioner, and I have the right to arbitrarily act on the spot, and I can mobilize the CIA people to cooperate." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "I have long asked the CIA's secret agents in the Choshu Domain to spread the news, and although they have not confirmed it, after all, the Satsuma Domain has a history of burning Kagoshima, so it is normal to shrink the troops into the inland in advance and take precautions against us." ”

"Why are you doing that?" Tang Hailong asked.

"Why do you do this...... Li Hongzhang said, "It's obvious that I want the fisherman to profit!" ”

"Fisherman's profit?" Tang Hailong's eyelids blinked, "You mean, you have long wanted to let the foreigners join in, and then let the foreigners fight the people of the Changzhou Domain?" When they have a win, we will pick up the bargain in the back? ”

"Yes." Li Hongzhang said, "The weapons of the Choshu Domain are not much worse than those of the Westerners, and the Choshu samurai are also very strong, if the Americans and the British rashly start a war with them, especially if the other side retreats inland in advance and occupies the advantageous territory, I am afraid that the casualties will not be small." And the British and Americans stationed in Japan so little, if there is a little less, we will have less trouble when we colonize Japan in the future, don't you think? ”

"If Zhou Fangguo is really like you said, most of them are mountains and dense forests, then I agree with your plan and don't fight Zhou Fangguo." Shi Dakai nodded, "With such terrain, it is difficult for our firearms to give full play to their power, and if we forcibly attack, I am afraid that the casualties will not be small." Therefore, it is indeed more cost-effective to abandon the mountainous Zhou Defense Kingdom and only attack the Nagato Province, which is dominated by plains. ”

"Alright, that's it for my mission." Li Hongzhang spread his hands, "I have done everything I thought I could do before, and the rest is up to you to seize the opportunity and how to take the Changzhou Domain at the lowest cost." (To be continued......)