Xiao Yungui looked at Bao Ling with a playful smile, touched the beard on his chin and said: "Your Excellency, you may have calculated the real purpose of our participation in the war, any time the war is a continuation of politics, it should not be difficult for you to see the real purpose of our participation in the war." ”

Bao Ling frowned slightly: "Do you really plan to form an alliance with us, let Hou declare war on Russia in the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and indirectly let Britain and France recognize your army as the only legitimate government of China?" Bao Ling thought about it for a few days, the true intention of the King of the West may be this, if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can be recognized by Britain and France, it will be an unimaginable temptation for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but he doesn't know that the two bigwigs in Tianjing don't care about the recognition of Britain and France at all.

Xiao Yungui smiled and said: "I won't think about such unrealistic things, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is huge at the moment, Mr. Minister should know that we only occupy the territory of a few provinces, and we are far from being able to effectively control the whole country." At this time, neither the parliaments nor the cabinets of Britain and France will recognize us in any way, so I will not consider this issue. ”

Bao Ling couldn't bear it anymore and asked, "What does Your Excellency King of the West want to participate in the war for?" ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and said: "Russia has begun to encroach on the territory of China's northern Xinjiang since the Kangxi period, and in the Crimean War, I believe that Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire will definitely defeat Russia." ”

Hearing this, Bao Ling and Blombur both smiled slightly, and Bao Ling bowed his head and said, "Thank you for your support to Britain and France. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and continued: "Once Russia's expansion in the west is contained, the double-headed eagle will definitely develop to the east desperately, in the long run, I think we need my soldiers to fight a low-intensity war with the Russians, we need to be familiar with the situation in the northern Xinjiang, and we also need to be familiar with the Russians' combat methods." In the future, after we take power in the country. Russia will become the greatest threat to our nascent regime. So I have to think about striking the Russians shili in the Far East as much as possible, isn't it a very good time now? ”

Bao Ling's eyes lit up when he heard this, this Xiwang's strategic vision was really very vicious, he was indeed a very wise and far-sighted leader, and Bao Ling had hardly met such a figure in the whole of China. Bao Ling muttered: "Can I understand the words of His Excellency the King of the West to mean that once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gains full control of China in the future, the first enemy will be Russia?" ”

Xiao Yungui said calmly: "Yes, Russia has a land border with our country for more than thousands of miles, and the Russians are expansionist, so we need to consider future threats. I don't want to drive out the Tatars and then come to the Russians. So far, our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still does not recognize any treaties signed between the Qing government and Russia. And only the treaties of Britain, France, and the United States are recognized, and Mr. Minister must have seen the difference. This is our strategic interest in the future, so we need to fight this war. ”

Bao Ling said appreciatively: "Your Excellency the King of the West's spirit is indeed different from ordinary people, and his vision is also very long-term, if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can really obtain the national power in the future." Britain will be the first to recognize your government, and will also consider the possibility of co-operation to contain Russia in the future. ”

Blombull said the same thing. The British and French ministers were of great agreement. As long as the interests in China can be safeguarded, it is very much in the interests of the two countries to have such an ally in the Far East as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that can contain Russia in the future. After all, the Russians were expansionist, and Britain and France were weak in the Far East, so they would not be able to completely curb the ambitions of the Russians, and if the Russians controlled northern China alone, it would be a very big threat to the economically rich southern China. Therefore, Britain and France also hoped to see that the Taiping Army could prevent the Russians from moving south, and then be able to ensure the interests of Britain and France alone in South China.

And Xiao Yungui only revealed this long-term strategic plan first, even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom won the power of the whole country in the future, it would need to find suitable allies within the scope of Shijie. He would not have imagined that once he took power, China would be so strong that it would not need any allies. The current shijie pattern has basically been finalized, and it is very difficult to break the shili range of the traditional powers, even if the powerful United States later passed the two shijie wars, it completely broke the traditional shili range of the British and French powers. It is too early for China, a backward agricultural country, to challenge Shijie hegemony.

Therefore, Xiao Yungui put forward the strategic idea that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could contain Russia in the Far East, and also dispelled the idea that Britain and France could re-establish other countries. As for whether Britain and France recognize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Xiao Yungui is not worried at all, and there is no need for Britain and France to recognize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime now, after obtaining national power in the future, Britain and France will definitely recognize it, this is a matter of course, and there is no need to participate in the war in exchange.

After thanking the two countries for their support, Xiao Yungui continued: "However, at this stage, considering the neutral position of Britain and France, we do not plan to directly participate in the war in the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and I plan to let my soldiers and horses participate in the war in the form of mercenaries and volunteers, so that it is also convenient for the parliaments and cabinets of the two countries to reach a consensus." ”

Bao Ling finally relented, if the king insisted on entering the war in the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the matter might be put on hold, because the British and French parliaments and cabinets would not agree to form an alliance with a non-governmental force. This proposal of the King of the West was very much in line with the requirements of the envoys of the two countries, and Bao Ling then asked, "What benefits does Your Excellency the King of the West hope to gain directly from the war?" Land? Money? ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and said: "We will ask the Russians for the land in the future, and we are not short of money at present." ”

Bao Ling also smiled and said: "Yes, the trade volume between Shanghai and Ningbo is increasing every day, and the profits brought by the busiest treaty port in the Far East are of course very rich, and some of the goods produced by several factories and handicraft workshops opened by His Excellency Xiwang have also begun to make profits, and His Excellency Xiwang is indeed not short of money." The factories mentioned by Bao Ling refer to several civilian factories such as cigarette factories and soap factories opened by Xiao Yungui in Shanghai. Xiao Yungui's biggest hope is to stop smoking that old dry tobacco, and Hong Yuner is fed up with soap, so with the research and development support of the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau and the Pasteur laboratory, China's own cigarette and soap factories have been opened, and these projects are all set up by Xidian and private businessmen. It can also be regarded as a national industry.

And those handicraft workshops are even more folk, from cloisonné to Suzhou embroidery, from jade processing to stone carving, all kinds of folk handicrafts have been greatly encouraged and developed under the new policy of the West Palace, and even ordinary straw hats and straw shoes can be sold overseas, which Xiao Yungui did not expect.

There are traces of Guiyun firm in these industries, and the business presided over by Zhu Changling and Wei Helin is getting bigger and bigger, and Guiyun firm has even registered a branch in the United States and began to invest in the construction of American railways. Xiao Yungui certainly knows how much profit American railroads can bring in the future. In contrast, the money invested in the construction of the Atlantic telegraph line is not worth mentioning. Every year, a sum of money in the holy treasury of the west temple is specially used for investment, which means that Xiao Yungui uses the money of the Sufu provincial government to make money. These money are public funds, but Guiyun's business name is completely Xiao Yungui's own treasury, which is the money he and Hong Yun'er have for their retirement.

Bao Ling, who knew a little about the relationship between Guiyun and the King of the West, said that the King of the West was not short of money, and the West Palace and Sufu Province were not short of money, under the guidance of Xiao Yungui. Officials in Sufu province learned how to invest their money as quickly as possible, whether it was to build railways, factories, schools, or water conservancy. Once profitable place. The household department of the west hall will not hesitate to spend the money. Money can only be born in circulation, this is what Xiao Yungui said the most to the household department, so there is today's economic prosperity in Sufu Province.

Blombur said with some dissatisfaction: "After the railway between Suzhou and Shanghai is connected, the profit is also very large, Your Excellency Xiwang, you should also consider our country to undertake the construction of the railway from Shanghai to Hangzhou and Ningbo." ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and said, "Mr. Minister, the Ministry of Household Affairs is already working on the base budget for these railways. You better be patient, there will be an open tender later, and French companies can make some preparations in advance if they are interested. But everything follows the market, and I can't influence who wins the bid. ”

Bao Ling looked at the French dissatisfied. I secretly thought that this Frenchman had already undertaken the construction of the telegraph line from Shanghai to Suzhou, and still wanted to get a piece of the Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Ningbo railways? The golden waters of the Yangtze River Delta are the territory of British interests, and the French must not be allowed to intervene too much, so he interrupted the words of the two at the moment: "Mr. Blomble, the Admiralty will issue a tender document after the railway, and there is no need to discuss it at this time, let's get down to business and talk about the cost of the West King's dispatch of troops this time." Your Excellency the King of the West, if you don't need land or money, I really can't think of what you want. ”

Xiao Yungui smiled faintly and said word by word: "I need the two countries to provide at least ten three-tier battleships and thirty cruisers as a price for our troops. ”

Bao Ling and Blombur were taken aback when they heard this, Bao Ling jumped up and shook his head again and again: "Impossible, this is impossible, the British and French navies in the Far East do not add up to so much, Your Excellency the King of the West, you are joking." ”

Xiao Yungui said slowly: "Don't get excited, our Taiping Army needs a navy, Shanghai, Ningbo and other places have serious smuggling, we need a navy to inspect, and at the same time, our long coastline also needs naval guards, and the navy will be activated sooner or later." We are already in contact with the United States and Prussia in the hope of purchasing naval vessels from them. As for Mr. Bao Ling's belief that our navy will threaten Britain, I wonder if your country's fleet in India far exceeds the navy in this navy, and that the imperial navy on which the sun never sets is so afraid of our navy? We are in a cooperative relationship, not a hostile relationship, our ships are only used against the Russians, and the threat to Britain is not at all. ”

Bao Ling frowned and said, "Your Excellency King Xi, this navy of yours is too large and needs to be cut some." ”

Xiao Yungui was a little angry and rushed up, how many ships does Lao Tzu's own Jihua Navy want and you need to approve it? At the moment, he said lightly: "The scale, logistics and ammunition costs of this dispatch are completely borne by our Taiping Army, and the preliminary estimate is that more than 1.5 million taels of silver will be needed, not counting the pensions of the war dead and wounded, as well as the rewards of the meritorious." If your country feels that it is not possible to come up with so many ships at once, we can first ask for half of the ships, which can be built by British shipyards, or transferred from the ships in service, in short, the price can be negotiated. Mr. Bao Ling, what you should consider is that if we can take a few military ports in the Russian Far East, how much land and interests can you get for Britain in exchange for negotiations with Russia in the future, you will definitely not lose this deal. (To be continued......)