In May of the 11th year of Tongzhi, the Xianghuai army was defeated and defeated under the city of Yuanjiang.

The tens of thousands of Qing troops who advanced by the light division were directly beaten down by the Taiping army's sudden ferocity of countless times more firepower. The bombardment of more than 30 breech-loading guns, the accumulation of tens of thousands of breech-loading guns, and the heavy firepower of the Xianghuai army, which was all pulled north of the Yuan River, was completely unable to resist. As soon as tens of thousands of troops collapsed, Feng Zicai, the governor of Yunnan, was seriously wounded, Huang Guilan, the general of the Ming army, and Hu Hengzhang, the deputy general, were killed, and the Xianghuai army lost more than 5,000 people.

The Yuanjiang fiasco shook the whole of China in an instant.

Countless people set their eyes on the Taiping Army, who didn't care about it before. When did Shi Dakai have so many advanced guns? Did he buy it himself? Or is it funded by whom?

If it is to buy and sell arms, then who is the one who sold it?

If so, what is the purpose of the funders?

The answer to a qiē is so red fruit. The British are simply Sima Zhao's heart - everyone knows it.

……

"Shi Dakai!" Liu Xian's expression was a little gloomy, a generation of heroes, discredited, and now he has become a traitor in the mouths of countless people. But if we really have to look at the problem on an equal footing and think about it, Shi Dakai can agree to the British no matter how many conditions he makes, compared to the "Beijing Treaty" of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and compared with the various treaties of the Manchu Qing Dynasty against Russia, can he really surpass it? At least Britain won't claim land in Yunnan, right?

The Kingdom of Burma still exists. In the two Anglo-Burmese wars, Burma was defeated, and lost a large part of the country, the whole of Lower Burma. However, the country's elite core, Upper Burma, is still in the hands of King Min Dong of the Gongbang Dynasty.

This Min Dong can be called a generation of heroes in the history of Myanmar. During his 20 years on the throne, he continued to carry out political reforms, abolishing the fiefdom system and reforming the tax system. The capital was moved to Mandalay, and the people were encouraged to reclaim wasteland and build water conservancy. In order to strengthen Myanmar's ties with European and American countries, he sent diplomatic missions to visit European and American countries. In order to learn Western technology and develop the country's economy. More than 90 people were sent to study abroad. It also purchased machines from abroad and built more than 50 factories. Organize manpower to compile Burmese code and start telegraph communication business. The first Burmese-language newspaper was founded in Mandalay. A standing army was established, an arsenal was set up, foreign instructors were hired to train the army, and a mint was established with the help of French technicians...... Wait a minute.

If only Myanmar could have a good geographical location like Japan. Myanmar really can't fail to shine in the future. It is a pity that Burma has always been a piece of fat on the lips of the British. In front of the salivating British, no matter how much Min Dong developed his own power, he could only barely maintain the independence of Burma.

And six years ago, it was also in the year 1866 in the Western calendar. There was a fierce court battle between the royal family of Gongbang. Dissatisfied with his father, King Min Dong, appointing his uncle, Prince Kanang, as the crown prince, Mindong's two sons staged a palace coup in August and killed Prince Kanang. At the end of the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Min Dong and his younger brother Ganang overthrew King Bagan and established themselves as kings.

Many of his previous reforms relied mainly on his younger brother and the crown prince, Prince Kasang. Prince Kasang was a man of the Burmese royal family, similar to Prince Gong of China, who assisted his brother in implementing reforms for 13 years from 1853 to 1866. It has made a big difference in the country's situation. However, from the time of its founding, the Gongbang Dynasty did not establish a solid system of succession to the throne. The succession of fathers and sons, brothers and brothers, and concubines are all ways to inherit the throne. Therefore, whenever there is a change of throne, there is always a bloody palace coup. King Mindong appointed Prince Janang as crown prince, causing the displeasure of his two sons, Min Gong and Min Kun Teng, and the royal family's tradition of frequent coups d'état made them dare to take risks. Finally, in August 1866, the two princes staged a coup d'état and killed Prince Ganang. Although the coup was quickly suppressed by King Mindong, Prince Gasang died. Not only did King Min Dong lose his right-hand man and most competent heir, but it also caused a great split within the dynasty - Prince Min Gong went into exile in India after the failed coup d'état. But he still has many supporters and sympathizers, both inside and outside the Burmese court, who want him to make a comeback. And because of the fear of establishing another crown prince to guide a new dispute, King Mindong was slow to announce the son of Prince Ligasang as the crown prince. It also aroused the dissatisfaction of the officers loyal to King Kanang. King Mindong had no choice but to buy guns on a large scale and form his own troops to balance the strength of the army.

Burma's more than 10 years of reform was overturned, and the political situation in Min Dong was unstable, and the British forced Min Dong to sign a treaty the following year by allowing Min Dong to buy arms from India. In order to stabilize the political situation, Min Dong was forced to agree to lower tariffs, give up the monopoly of foreign trade on many products, and give extraterritoriality to the British in Burma.

This disposition made Mindong's own rule in jeopardy, and the reforms could not be sustained.

Six years have passed. For a country at stake, six years is precious. Myanmar has wasted it. It can be said that the strength and military strength of Myanmar at the moment are not comparable to those of Prince Gyang six years ago. However, Myanmar still has considerable strength. It is not a small princely state of India, and the British say swallow it and swallow it.

Therefore, it is still very convenient for the British to transport arms in Burma. But in such a country, the British really have no need for land in Yunnan. At least for now.

Liu Xian has been in Guangxi for more than two years, and he knows a lot about the situation of those countries on the Indochina Peninsula. Compared with King Min Dong of Burma, King Rama IV and King Rama V of Siam, King Duc of Vietnam is really a pure waste.

Liu Xian's inner feelings are very complicated. In the case of the fall of Tianjing and the pacification of the Central Plains, the reason why Shi Dakai was able to prosper in the southwest was that Liu Xian's role, or the impetus from it, had a very important weight. Back then, in order to let Shi Dakai master the ability to cast cannons, he even sent his absolute henchman, cousin Huo Guangcheng, to do it.

Time came to last year, when Shi Dakai's situation was difficult, Liu Xian never had the idea of helping him for the second time. It's not because Shi Dakai's 'role' has been played, if possible, he hopes that Shi Dakai can make trouble until he starts his army. It's because the situation in the Taiping Army is really bad to the point of being unsustainable. Stretch out your hand indiscriminately, and you may fall down.

Perhaps the current Liu Yongfu is the best result for Shi Dakai in the future. Myanmar and Siam are much stronger than Vietnam.

At that time, Liu Xian thought about it like this. He could even think that Shi Dakai would go to Southeast Asia incognito, but he didn't think that the British would come in.

"If you were Shi Dakai, what choice would you make?"

Is it 'those who do great things are not informal'? Or is it 'a gentleman who does something and doesn't do something?' ’

For Liu, this is an extremely difficult choice. Now Shi Dakai has chosen the former. (To be continued) R655