In the British Embassy, Wen Han seemed to be very dissatisfied with Aliko's answer, his eyes flashed with a hint of aristocratic arrogance, and he said with a graceful manner: "I would like to hear the opinion of Mr. Thomas T. Meadows. Ali Guo gestured to the Indian waiter who was standing aside, and the waiter went out, and in a few moments brought Midile in.

Midile, the first secretary and general of the Shanghai Consulate (i.e., translator), is now Chinese New Year's Eve six years old, with high eyebrows, broad forehead, blond hair and gray eyes, and a shaved beard on his face. At the age of seventeen, he went to work in Guangzhou and spent 19 years in China, speaking Chinese very fluently. Three years ago he was hired by the consulate in Shanghai to gather information and intelligence on anti-government groups and gangs. This man was a low-ranking man who could provide expert advice to the British government, and Lord Wenham was very impressed with him, and was interested in him to succeed him as consul in Shanghai, but only when his term of office expired.

Wen Han saw Midile walk in, got up and shook hands with him, and said, "I have read the analysis report on the situation in China written by you, and I appreciate your vision and talent. You may be seated, Mr. Midile. ”

Midile sat down generously, and Wen Han smiled gently: "The rebels have occupied Jiangning and Zhenjiang, and Zhenjiang is only two hundred miles away from Shanghai. You are a China expert, and I would like to hear your assessment of the rebels. ”

"Your compliment," said Midile, "Your Excellency, as far as I know, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has not only captured Jiangning, Zhenjiang and other places, but also Wuchang, Jiujiang, Anqing and other important towns along the Yangtze River, and it can be said that one-third of the waters of the Yangtze River have fallen under the control of the rebels. We are faced with a new question: can the Manchu government of the Great Emperor survive? How long has it been around? The Manchu government of the Great Emperor was a government with the Manchurian aristocracy as the core, and it was a corrupt and unpopular government. For more than 200 years, the anti-Manchu struggle of the Han and other ethnic groups has never stopped, and I believe that in the near future, a rebellion will sweep the whole country. But the Taipings would undoubtedly be the largest rebel among them, and they were highly disciplined and had a good chance of gaining control of Zuihou. According to reports from mainland missionaries, in addition to the Taiping Army, the Twist Army in the Huai River and Yellow River Valley, the Elder Brothers in Sichuan and Guizhou, the Xiaodao Society and the Red Money Society in Fujian and Zhejiang, and the Triad Society in Huguang are also fighting against government forces. These gangs and rebels had a bitter grudge against the Manchurian Emperor. The Taiping army had already captured a third of southern China, and it was said that there were millions of people. According to the information I have gathered, as long as the rebels have the support of local gangs, it is possible to establish a new regime that divides several provinces and form a pattern of north-south confrontation with the emperor. I don't think it's very likely that the rebels will overthrow the Manchurian regime in the short term. However, the rule of the Great Emperor in South China will be gone forever. "If the British Empire intervenes in the Chinese Civil War at this time and helps the government of the Great Emperor, it will only prolong the war indefinitely, and it will not be of any benefit to our commerce." Can China's involvement in the Chinese civil war prevent the victory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? If you can't answer in the affirmative, the best strategy is to remain neutral and sit on the sidelines. "Medile is a big believer in his analysis.

Ali Guo squinted at this subordinate, he disagreed with Midile's opinion, and immediately retorted: "Your Excellency, I thought that Mr. Midile had overestimated the rebels. Yes, the rebels are inflicting a major blow on the government of the Great Emperor. But this is a good time for our country to intervene in China, and if the Far East Fleet meets Wu Daotai's request to assist in the defense of the Yangtze River, our country can take the opportunity to put forward more conditions to the Great Emperor and open up the major towns along the Yangtze River, uh, this premise is that we help the Great Emperor recover these areas. Not only will China gain more commercial benefits, but it will also take the opportunity to demand the establishment of a legation in Beijing. If the rebels are too strong, we can consider the Far East Fleet and French warships in China to take on the task of assisting in the defense of Shanghai. ”

Colonel He Bo immediately chimed in: "My fleet has only three ships, but China's shipbuilding and ordnance jishu are two hundred years behind our country. The emperor's river division ships are all vulnerable toys, and presumably the rebel sailors will not be much stronger. We don't have to turn to France, my three warships are enough to defend the waters of the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Jiangning. The British Far East Fleet's HMS Halmis was in Shanghai, HMS Sylamander was in Xiamen, and USS Rattler was in Ningbo.

Midil resolutely opposed the British intervention in the Chinese civil war, and he said excitedly: "We cannot blindly intervene in the Chinese civil war without the facts are clear, if the final victor is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and not the Great Emperor, our position in China will be very embarrassing." It will even be taken away by other countries a lot of the benefits that should belong to Britain! He was a very persuasive man, and Lord Wenham was inclined to remain neutral, and he nodded: "Mr. Midtil, your opinion is very informative, please compile a report at once, and I will send it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in London as soon as possible." ”

Ali Guo said with reservations: "The rebels will definitely attack Shanghai, if they refuse to recognize the Treaty of Jiangning signed between the British Empire and the Great Emperor, what should we do?" ”

"Well, that's a question," Wen Han pondered for a moment, "We must pay close attention to the political intentions, military movements, and diplomatic intentions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and no matter what the circumstances may be, we will never allow them to enter the Shanghai Concession." Colonel Hebo, please transfer all three warships to Wusongkou, and resolutely defend the concession once the rebels attack Shanghai. Mr. Aliko, please consult with the American Consul, the French Consul, and Wu Daotai to set up a joint defense committee in Shanghai and the concession, and form a volunteer brigade to deal with the possibility of war at any time. As for Wu Daotai's request for the Far East Fleet to assist in the defense of Shanghai, we must report it to London and let the Prime Minister and the Cabinet decide. ”

When Lord Wenhan's report was sent to London, the Taiping army launched an offensive on the eastern front, and the Qing army fought a big battle with the Taiping army in Jurong, Lishui and other places, and after the battle lasted more than 20 days, the Taiping army broke through the defense line of the Qing army, divided and surrounded the two important places of Jurong and Lishui, and Xiang Rong had to retreat to Jintan, Danyang, and Liyang, but under the fierce offensive of the Taiping army, the above three places did not hold for long. More than ten days later, the defense line of the minister Xiang Rong retreated again, and they were divided into Changzhou and Huzhou.

Faced with the unusually rapid development of the rebels, Lord Wenhan found that his report was not accurate even on the way, because the rebel Shili was about to reach Shanghai.

After anxiously waiting for more than a month, Lord Wenham finally received an approval from British Foreign Secretary Clarandon to "remain neutral", and Clarandon asked him to go to Tianjing as soon as possible to find out the situation in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although Wen Han was a little disappointed, he decided to immediately take the "Halmis" to Nanjing in person to meet the most highly rewarded leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and find out the political intentions of the new regime.

In the face of the threat of foreigners, Wu Daotai had no choice but to issue a pass survey and consult the Qing army's naval divisions, land battalions and forts on both sides of the Yangtze River not to obstruct them.

According to the "Sino-British Jiangning Treaty," British merchant ships and military ships could only pass freely at the five ports of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Xiamen. It traveled very slowly against the current, and the officers and sailors on the ship used various instruments to measure the waterways, draw charts, and record the topography of both sides. Lord Wenham believed that within a few years, the Emperor would open up the interior under the threat of strong ships and artillery, and sooner or later the Royal Navy of the British Empire would be free to patrol the Yangtze River as if it were entering and exiting five ports.

In order to make way for the Chinese civilian ships traveling along the river, the sailors on the "Harmis" rang the bronze bell on the bow from time to time, and the long and loud bell attracted the attention of the people and the water warriors along the river, and the barefoot boatmen on the civilian boats, the peasants plowing the fields on the shore, and the Qing army sailors patrolling along the river all looked at the foreign ship, and their eyes were mixed with confusion, amazement, hatred, and curiosity. The sailors chirped, adjusted their spinnakers and schooners as if they were skillful, and looked down on the Chinese divisional ships and boats with a haughty attitude.

Near Zhenjiang, the "Halmis" ran into a little trouble. This is the intersection of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, Chengping years, the northbound boats sailed into the Yangtze River from Dantu, and the southbound boats sailed into the Yangtze River from Liuwei. But at present, the Qing army and the Taiping army confronted each other across the river, the Mabu army of the Jiangbei camp was fortified on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and Guazhou and Dantu were occupied by the Taiping army. Wen Han stood on the side of the ship and raised his clairvoyance to look south, the legendary rebels were busy like ant colonies, building forts, carrying ordnance, and the Guazhou River defense fort on the north bank was also as busy as the south bank, only the Qing army's position did not move at all.

The rebel battery on the south bank fired a cannon at the "Halmis", and the cannon fell 200 meters in front of the battleship, setting off a huge column of water. This was a warning from the Taiping army to stop the British ships and accept inquiries. Wen Han and Midile knew that the shore cannon of the Taiping Army was an old-fashioned iron cannon, more than one meter long, fixed on the fort, using a spherical solid cannon, using a fire arquebus to ignite the cannon, the explosive power was weak and the firing range was short, and only when the enemy ship sailed into the firing range did it play a blocking role, and that kind of iron cannon was not the same as the breech gun on the "Harmis".

Not wanting to cause trouble, Vanham ordered the Halmis to anchor underground, and Midile rowed to the south bank in a sampan, escorted by six sailors. He saw the legendary Taiping army for the first time, they wore red short shirts, wearing a number of uniforms, with Chinese characters written on them, wearing red scarves, stepping on straw shoes, holding spears and swords, and long hair exposed under the red scarf.

Midile told the rebel generals at the Dantu Fort that the British warships were not to help the Qing army in their wars, but to be friendly envoys, and that the Minister Plenipotentiary of the British Empire was on board, and that the purpose of the trip was to visit their leaders and discuss important matters.

The fort generals were curious about Yingyi's visit, and instead of embarrassing them, they said that the Taiping army and the foreigners believed in the same God, and called Midile "foreign brothers". The "Harmis" was delayed on the river for a whole day, and the commander of the battery, after asking for instructions, allowed it to continue its westward journey.

After four days of sailing against the current, the "Halmis" arrived at the Xiaguan wharf in Nanjing, and the British cruiser HMS Halmis docked on the shore. Eleven years ago, the British Cornwalla also docked here, and the British Lord Pu Ding Cha and the Qing court's minister Qi Ying signed the "Sino-British Jiangning Treaty" on the ship. On the deck of the Halmis, the British minister, Lord Windsham, stood straight, he was in his forties, with a typical Saxon head, blonde hair, a high nose, deep eyes, a thick beard on his chin, and a cold look with a bit of melancholy in his eyes. He looked at the Tianjing city wall in the distance, thinking back to the great achievements made by his predecessor, Lord Pudingcha, here, and his heart was stirred, and he really wanted to create the same feats as his predecessors during his tenure and seek greater benefits for the British Empire.