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"Your Majesty, this is the agreement reached between the minions and the British Minister to China, Sir Pottinger, after a meeting with Sir Pottinger. If the emperor can approve it, then, at most, three months, these weapons will be shipped to Beijing. At that time, the new army of the imperial court will be able to start training. "Minister of Military Aircraft, Shangshu Yucheng of the Ministry of War told Emperor Daoguang.

The formation of a new army was an idea of Emperor Daoguang. Whether it was in the Opium War or the war with Xinhua, the performance of the Green Battalion and the Eight Banners was very bad. And the army is the foundation of a country, and such an army made Emperor Daoguang feel a deep crisis. The invasion of the Xinhua Kingdom made Emperor Daoguang know that if he did not make changes in this regard, the Manchu Dynasty would really be over. Therefore, he will support Yucheng to buy weapons from Britain and form a new army.

Emperor Daoguang opened the fold presented by Yucheng and looked at it carefully. In the twists and turns, Yucheng listed the price, quantity and total price of each weapon one by one, so that Emperor Daoguang could see it at a glance. However, for the total amount of five million or seven hundred thousand taels of silver, Emperor Daoguang still frowned. At present, the annual financial income of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is only 40 or 50 million taels of silver, and after deducting all kinds of expenses, there is not much left at all. Spending so much money on weapons at once was difficult for the Manchu government to afford for a while.

"Yu Aiqing, will this price be too expensive? More than 5 million taels of silver is already equivalent to one-tenth of the financial revenue of the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Daoguang said with a frown. Plus the silver reparations to Britain in the Opium Wars, and the war that is now going on in the South. These had already made the Manchu government's fiscal revenues beyond their means.

"Your Majesty, this is the price that was brought down after the slaves and the British minister in China fought with reason. Otherwise. The price will at least double. The minions compared the price of weapons in other countries, which was not high. After all, the British had to travel thousands of miles to bring weapons from the land of Tessie, and the freight cost a lot. Yucheng argued vigorously. After all, if this deal is negotiated, he can get a commission of 400,000 taels of silver, which is a huge amount of money.

"Yu-sama. Can't my firearms workshop in the Qing Dynasty make these firearms by myself? You have to buy it from the British. Mu Zhang'a, Minister of Military Aircraft, asked. In his opinion, to buy weapons and equipment from the British at such a high price. It's just not a good deal.

"Lord Mu, if we can make our own, we don't have to buy it from the British. Sai Daren is in charge of the Ministry of Works, and he naturally knows this best. Sai Daren. Is that right? Yucheng asked. Seshana has just returned to Beijing. Because of the failure of the negotiation with the Xinhua Army, he was severely reprimanded by Emperor Daoguang. Fortunately, he was lucky, and Emperor Daoguang did not remove his officials. At that time, Yucheng also said a lot of good things for him. Therefore, Cezanne has always remembered his feelings.

"Your Majesty, what Yuda said is right, in terms of firearms technology, we are indeed far behind the West. Firearms of our own manufacture. Not to mention the high cost, it is far from being comparable with the firearms of Western countries in terms of performance. Therefore. Buying from the West is undoubtedly the most time-saving and labor-saving. Sezanne said. Because the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not attach importance to firearms, China's firearms talents withered, and it was originally in the leading position in the world, but now it is far behind the West.

Emperor Daoguang nodded, and then said, "Okay, Yucheng, just buy weapons from the British according to the agreement you reached with the British." The household department is trying to raise funds. ”

"Yes, the minions obey." Yucheng hurriedly said. However, Wen Qing, who was in charge of the household department, frowned.

"Your Majesty, it's just the end of the year, and the silver in the treasury has almost been used, and we don't have that much silver to buy weapons." Wen Qing said stubbornly. That's more than five million taels of silver, not five thousand taels. With such a large amount, he had no choice at all.

Emperor Daoguang's face suddenly looked a little unsightly, he was about to do a big thing, but there were all kinds of problems, which made him very unhappy. He has always believed that the Qing Dynasty is very rich, how can he not even take out such a sum of silver.

"Your Majesty, the slave is willing to donate all this year's money. Now that the country is in trouble, the minions naturally can't sit idly by. Yucheng was the first to jump out and watch the center. Anyway, he made a lot of money this time, even if he donated a year's money, it was nothing at all.

"Okay, Yu Aiqing really deserves to be the pillar of the country." Seeing that Yucheng took the initiative to stand up for the imperial court, Emperor Daoguang was greatly satisfied, and he also felt that Yucheng was much more pleasing to the eye. Of course, if he knew that Yucheng had eaten hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in this weapon purchase, maybe he would have immediately ordered Yucheng to be pushed out of the army and his head cut off.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are also willing to donate their money." The other ministers of military aircraft had no choice but to respond. You can't donate Yulu, they just look on the sidelines. In that case, what would Emperor Daoguang think of them?

"Very good, all the Aiqing are willing to dedicate themselves to the national disaster, and I am very satisfied. Then, I decided that this time the funds for the purchase of weapons from the British would be borne by the Neku. Emperor Daoguang said. The inner treasury is the treasury of the royal family, and the money in it is used by the royal family. How to use it has to be decided by the emperor. Although the treasury of the Manchu government was empty, the inner treasury of the imperial family was not short of money at all.

In eighteenth-century China, although the vast number of people were poor to death, the whole country was very rich. It's just that all three of these riches are in the hands of a few. In the hands of the Manchu bureaucrats, large landowners, and Manchu aristocrats, the vast majority of the country's wealth was in their hands. Officially, their frenzied accumulation of wealth has made the lives of the masses of the people worse and worse.

"Your Majesty!" The ministers of military aircraft said one after another. Although he lost a year's worth of money, it was worth it to be able to satisfy Emperor Daoguang. Besides, none of these ministers of military aircraft has a lot of money and runs a large number of industries. The annual payment is nothing to them, it is just a symbol.

"Yu Aiqing, the problem of weapons has been solved, then, the recruitment preparations for the new army must begin immediately. Once the weapons arrived, the training should begin as soon as possible. I hope that in a few months, these warriors will be able to appear on the battlefield and defeat the Xinhua army, so that they can know the power of the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Daoguang said in high spirits. He has great confidence in the Xinhua Army.

"Yes, the minion obeys. However, the emperor, the soldiers of the new army, are they recruited from the banner people or from the Han people? Yucheng asked. The combat effectiveness of the banner people is worrying, and even if they are equipped with new weapons, it is estimated that they will not be able to exert much combat power. It's still more reliable for the Han people. It's just that once the Xinhua Army is established, it will definitely become the most important force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and if such a force is not in his own hands, will Emperor Daoguang rest assured?

"The soldiers of the new army should be recruited from among the bannermen. The Eight Banners of Manmeng and the children of the Han Army Banner can be recruited. However, the middle and high-level commanders of the military must be trustworthy. Emperor Daoguang said. Although he also knew what kind of virtue the Dao Banner Man was, recruiting the Banner Man was undoubtedly the safest way. Otherwise, the Manchu dynasty would be really dangerous.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Shangshu Yucheng of the Ministry of War nodded, he could understand Emperor Daoguang's thoughts, this was for the sake of the entire Manchurian country. The Han minister among the ministers of military aircraft did not raise any objections, as if they took it for granted. After being the courtiers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty all their lives, they have long been dead set on the Manchus and have long forgotten their ancestors.

"Your Majesty, there is one more problem. Trainers of the Forces nouvelles. At present, the generals of the imperial court do not understand the training of firearms. If those generals are appointed to train, I am afraid it will not have much effect. Yucheng said.

Emperor Daoguang couldn't help frowning, didn't he buy weapons and equipment from Britain and train the new army just to defeat the Xinhua army? If this cannot be achieved, then what is the use of forming a new army.

"Yu Aiqing, do you have any solution?" Emperor Daoguang asked.

"Your Majesty, we can hire foreigners to be instructors of the new army. In this way, we will be no worse than the Xinhua Army in terms of tactics. Yucheng said.

"Lord Yu, the army is the most important weapon of the country, how can it be in the hands of foreigners? This is a no-go. Minister of Military Aircraft Pan Shien retorted.

"Master Pan, foreigners are just instructors, and the transfer of the army is still in our own hands." Yucheng explained.

Emperor Daoguang hesitated for a moment, but nodded anyway, agreeing to hiring instructors from the British Army to train the Manchu Army.

This decision of the Manchu government greatly excited the British minister to China, Sir Pottinger, who, in his opinion, was moving closer to Britain. He immediately said that British weapons would be sold to the Manchu government as soon as possible. In addition, the training instructors of the new army, the British army will also draw capable officers from the active army, and they will soon be able to take up their posts.

When the Manchu government was actively organizing a new army, the wars around Guangdong began to change. The Qing army of 300,000 people besieged Guangdong, but did not make any progress, but suffered heavy losses. With the passage of time, the 20 infantry brigades newly formed by the Xinhua Army have gradually completed the training of recruits and can be put into actual combat. After more than a month of defense by the Xinhua Army, the counterattack is finally coming. (To be continued......)