Time flows in its own unchanging footsteps.

In the midst of the tight war reports and bad news, the Manchu Qing Dynasty went through the end of the second year of Guangxu, which made thousands of horses sigh.

Yunnan was defeated, Guizhou was defeated, Jiangxi was defeated, Fujian was defeated, Shaanxi was defeated, and the snowflake-like emergency folds annihilated the entire Forbidden City. This New Year's in the capital is very dull!

The situation is tense, and no one in the Manchu Dynasty has bothered to be lively. The military aircraft department is like Yizhuang, with a gusty wind and a low and condensed breath, which makes people breathless. The eunuchs and palace maids who were sent down in front of the Empress Dowager were more than several times that of previous years, and the palace maids and eunuchs in the entire Forbidden City were cautious......

In the third year of Guangxu, in 1877 in the Western calendar. On the eighteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, Liu Xian sacrificed to the heavens and called the king in Guangzhou, the king of Qin! The revival is the first year of revival.

Guangxi completely fell into the hands of the Qin army, Liu Zhuo led his troops into Yunnan, and the Zhou army entered Guizhou with a partial division led by Zhao Tong, but Liu Xian did not contact Shi Da. Liu Xian firmly believes that the changes in the current situation will force Shi Dakai to make his own decision!

Liu Xian has no intention of killing Shi Da's opening department, these hundreds of thousands of Taiping military personnel, Liu Xian is still very useful.

Hunan is one of the quietest provinces on the border between Guangxi and Guangzhou. As the lair of the Hunan army, what Liu Xian wants is to wipe it out in one fell swoop with absolute superiority. The recruit battalion in Guangxi is stepping up the training of new recruits, and in two months, the Qin army in Guangxi will be organized into a reorganized second division, under the jurisdiction of the strength of three integrated brigades, the strength of one brigade will be responsible for staying behind, and the remaining two integrated brigades will all attack Hunan!

Originally, Liu Xian attached great importance to Yunnan's and Guizhou's Xianghuai Army, and was only prepared to let Guangxi send out a reorganized brigade, another reorganized brigade to attack Guizhou, and then Guangdong to give another reorganized brigade. But since the Qin army fought with the Xianghuai army on the Yungui side. Liu Xian found that he had overestimated Xiang Huaijun.

With the strength of the Qin army now attached to the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, although Liu Changyou's subordinates have gathered more than 100,000 Hunan and Huai troops, he has to deal with Shi Dakai on the one hand, and deal with the Qin army on the other hand, and the strength of the Qin army seems to be enough.

Anyway, Yunnan and Guizhou, Liu Xian are not in a hurry to get into the bag. The reason for the attack was more to defend the Qing army from the two provinces into Guangxi. The latter was much more important to the Qin army than the territory of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

Of course, Hunan Governor Wang Wenshao and Admiral Ma Rulong, who were also very knowledgeable in Legion Yongzhou Guiyang, would never take a step south without authorization. During this period, a large amount of cement was bought into Hunan at more than three times the market price. Who is the seller. I don't have to ask.

In Jiangxi Province, Li Shien, Wu Jinzhu, and Li Xueming have already hit Nanchang. In the Battle of Linjiang before the attack on Nanchang, Wu Jinzhu defeated Liu Bingzhang again, and in the Battle of Fuzhou, Li Xueming and Li Shien also broke out Li Chaobin, the governor of Jiangnan who came from southern Jiangsu!

Nanchang is already close to the Qin army. But when the Qin army will attack is an uncertain question.

Wu Jinzhu, Li Xueming, and Li Shien all have to be expanded and rested. Moreover, there are many diehards in the vast areas of central and southern Jiangxi that need to be eliminated. What's more, because the Huai Army Wu Jianying and Yang Dingxun have arrived in Nanchang, Zhou Liangcai and Qin Liansheng, as well as the Hunan Army Guo Songlin, have arrived in Jiujiang.

The Hunan Huai army reinforced into Jiangxi was nearly 20,000 people, including the Taiping generals like Wu Jianying, the remnants of Bao Chaoting's army like Qin Liansheng and Yang Dingxun, and the Hunan army generals like Guo Songlin. and Zhou Liangcai, the elite of the Huai Army who was originally Li Hongzhang's personal barracks.

Not to be underestimated!

And Wu Jinzhu and Shuangli have been fighting on the front line since the beginning of the army, and their subordinates have never rested. Soldiers, even if they win one battle after another. It's also going to be older and need to rest.

Then there is the Fujian side, Zhangzhou, Tingzhou, and Longyan have all been included in the Qin army, Liu Xian now only has one coastal defense battalion in Taiwan, and a 2,000-strong team, and the rest of the Qin army and 3,000 people have all drawn closer to Guangdong and Fujian.

Hence the sudden intensity of the offensive. A few years ago, he broke the Chu army and swallowed the southern Fujian region into his stomach.

Now the Qin army has captured the capital city of Quanzhou. Wang Debang's Dingbian army is still holding on in Anxi. But it depends on when Yanping Mansion will be captured by the Qin army, or when the Qin army in Haitan will attack Fuqing.

If there is a loss in Yanping. He will immediately lead his troops to retreat to Yongchun Prefecture, and then Xianyou, Putian, and run all the way back to Fuzhou. It was only because the Qin army was able to advance eastward from Yanping and directly attack Fuzhou, the core of Fujian, along the Min River.

If the Qing army in Haitan landed in Fuqing, it would be that the Qin army would directly attack Fuzhou. As one of the big battalion leaders of the Chu army, Wang Debang must take his troops back.

Of course, the reason why the Qin army was able to completely annex the three prefectures of southern Fujian, and with the strength of only one battalion, plus 1,000 Japanese troops, they attacked Yanping. The reason is that the main force of the Chu army, more than 20,000 people, was completely attracted to Fuzhou by the Qin army in Haitan.

Liu Xian has an absolute advantage on the sea, and the southeast coastal strategy is really too easy.

In the Chinese New Year's Eve, three warships of the Qin army broke into Hangzhou Bay, shelled Dinghai and Zhenhai, and then went straight into the Qiantang River, frightening Zhejiang Governor Yang Changjun to spend his Chinese New Year's Eve dinner on the banks of Hangzhou Bay.

Later, these three warships also went north to the Shanghai area, and after making a circle, they turned back to Ningbo, Zhejiang, and are still stranded in the Zhoushan Islands.

Guangzhou Pier is full of passenger ships, most of which are from the United States and Germany.

Since the Qin army took Guangdong, the restrictions on private factories have been opened, and dozens of small factories have sprung up one after another in Guangdong.

There are various types, including silk mills, textile mills, sugar mills, spinning mills, match factories, cigarette factories, rice mills, flour mills, and so on.

Its capital is as large as 100,000 silver dollars, and as small as 10,000 yuan, it is even less than 10,000 yuan.

However, after gathering sand in piles, gathering less into more, dozens of orders of business, Maisheng and Jardine Matheson also have a lot of surprises. In particular, the current United States is not the future super empire, and the reputation of American goods in the world market is much worse than that of European goods, more precisely, the old British goods and the new German goods. Therefore, in this era, American goods also represent cheapness. In the competition with the Germans and the British, the two giants, taking advantage of the cheap characteristics of its own products, Maisheng won nearly 50% of the market. Lihe & Co. won 30%. The rest are British.

Guangzhou is close to Hong Kong, the influence of the British is too great and too heavy, even if the British goods are expensive, the military government's recommended list is only the Germans and the United States, and some people still choose the British Empire with a hard brand!

……

In the city of Beijing.

"Lord Wang. The plan to visit Europa has been made, led by Guo Songtao. ”

Wen Xiang's body is really not good. Abundant? , Baojun These old friends only hope that Wenxiang can survive until spring, and the climate is warm, to see if there is still room.

But even on the sickbed, Wen Xiang also recommended a talent to Prince Gong - Guo Songtao.

Guo Songtao, later generations who have an understanding of the history of the late Qing Dynasty should have heard of this name. An indelible mark in China's modern diplomatic history. China's first diplomatic mission abroad.

This person was admitted to the Jinshi as early as the twenty-eighth year of Daoguang. In the first half of his life, the official fortune was prosperous, and in the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Su Song was awarded the grain storage road, and the two Huai salt transportation envoys were relocated. The following year, he became the acting governor of Guangdong and suppressed the remnants of the Taiping army in Guangdong. In other words, he sat on the throne of the governor of a province in 1863. He has only been in the company for 16 years, and he is only 45 years old, and he is still a rich place in Guangdong.

However, two years later, Guo Songtao fell out with Ruilin, the governor of Liangguang, dismissed his official position and returned to his hometown, and lectured at Changsha Chengnan Academy and Sixian Lecture Hall.

This one fell down, and the Daqing officialdom did not hear it for nine years. It was not until the beginning of the first year of Guangxu (1875) that Guo Songtao was able to go out of the mountain again. Awarded the Fujian Provincial Inspectorate.

When the Qing government was planning to set up a strategy for foreign affairs, Guo Songtao wrote his own ideas and views on foreign affairs as "Tiaochen Coastal Defense Matters". It is a mistake to attribute the strength of the West to the strength of ships and artillery. If China simply learns the "last skills" of Western military science, "if it seeks self-improvement, it may be enough to be self-defeating." Only by studying the politics and economy of the West, "first engaging in business and using the foundation of the West", that is, the development of China's industry and commerce is the way out.

This insight is insightful. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was definitely first-class in China. Guo Songtao became famous because of this.

Because of the appearance of Liu Xian. The "Margaret case" that should have happened in Yunnan in the first year of Guangxu did not happen, and Margaret still honestly stayed in the British Legation in Beijing as his own little clerk.

Naturally, the British could not use this to blackmail China. China was asked to send senior officials to Britain to apologize, and the Qing government would not take the initiative to send Guo Songtao to Britain to "apologize".

But Liu Xian reversed, the Qing Dynasty was defeated in successive battles, and the prime minister Yamen was from the previous year. , Bao Jun and other officials are discussing the conditions with the ministers of Britain, France and Russia.

Then the Qing court itself thought of a trick, that is, to send envoys to Europe again to extend heartfelt greetings to Britain, France, Russia, Germany and other countries. intends to curry favor with the foreigners' court in the foreigner's nest and strive for more favorable terms for themselves.

Moreover, the situation has developed to the present, and the Qing court is also feeling the need to set up envoys in Europe, so that it can communicate directly with the foreign government when necessary.

Guo Songtao was chosen! Because Guo Songtao is a well-known 'foreign affairs talent' in the government and the opposition.

In the original time and space history, this day was Guo Songtao's lucky day, and it was also the unlucky day for him to go to ruin.

Before going to Britain, he was a master of the Huxiang School in China, experienced as a eunuch for a long time, and served as a governor and a waiter. In the eyes of the world, although there were some bumps in the road to becoming an official before, it is not difficult to walk smoothly and live a lifetime with his talent and deep friendship with Li Hongzhang, an important minister of the imperial court.

But after arriving in Europe, seeing the development and power of modern industry with his own eyes, Guo Songtao truly worshiped Western civilization. An old man who is about to be a young man, who has read the Confucian classics for most of his life, is full of old concepts such as "the Celestial Empire" such as "I have heard of the Xia to change the Yi, and I have not heard of the Yiyi", but now he dares to admit the advanced of the West and the backwardness of China, and he admits it so thoroughly, what courage was required at that time.

Because of this, he is intolerable to the old society of China. Under the conditions of the time, he had gone too far in terms of the social group to which he belonged. As a result, he was unable to settle down and was constantly attacked, and the most vicious attack came from his deputy Liu Xihong.

How exactly the attack, if you are interested, you can check it on the Internet yourself. Anyway, Guo Songtao was scolded and accused from the court members to the Shilin doctors, and he didn't even have a full term of office, and he was taken over by Zeng Jize after only one year and seven months.

Guo Songtao was disheartened after returning to China, resigned and returned to his hometown, and arrived in Changsha by boat, when the old-fashioned xenophobic trend happened to occur in Xiangyin at that time, and he was quite nervous, and the slogans scolding Guo Songtao for "colluding with foreigners" were posted all over the street.

Guo Songtao's reputation for half of his life was ruined. Twelve years later, he died of depression in his hometown.

But in this time and space, the Manchu court has a broken brain, so it will let Liu Xihong, a stubborn conservative cadre known to the government and the opposition, go to Guo Songtao as his deputy. Therefore, Guo Songtao didn't know that his fate had been changed by Liu Xian unconsciously.

Now Guo Songtao is longing that Liu Xian can choke to death at dinner tonight.

Since the Qin army raised its troops, Hunan Prefecture and County have been shocked and surprised. I was afraid that as soon as the morning dawned, the Qin army would enter Hunan Province. Guo Songtao alone received three letters from his family to Beijing.

Now the deputy of the mission who is going to Europe with Guo Songtao is Li Fengbao!

Guo Songtao personally served as minister to Britain, France, and Russia, and Li Fengbao served as minister to Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Oh, yes. The state of Idully has now been successful. It's also a great power in Europe. (To be continued) R466