After the farewell banquet, the officials from all over the country set off for their own places. Xiao Yungui's good mood didn't last long, and the next day Tong Qiangsheng came with news that the dead soldiers who infiltrated Hengyang to assassinate Rong Lu were half successful, they successfully stabbed Rong Lu, but failed to kill him. Bai Zetang lost five good players, and the rest temporarily hid in the people, waiting for the opportunity again.

"Weishenme doesn't feed poison on the blade?" Xiao Yungui roared and walked around the study, and after Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang on the side glanced at each other, Qian Jiang stepped forward and said: "The head of the Rong demon is cautious, he must be wearing soft armor to protect him, and the dead soldiers of Bai Zetang have done their best." The coming day is long, the head of the Rong demon can be prevented for a while, but it can't be prevented for a lifetime, as long as you wait patiently, you will definitely get rid of this fang, and the king of the west does not have to be angry. ”

Xiao Yungui naturally knew that assassination required patience, but in his heart, he was deeply jealous of the soul in Rong Lu's body that also crossed over, so he was anxious, and only thought about getting rid of Rong Lu as soon as possible. Because judging from the news sent back by Bai Zetang, Rong Lu seems to be intending to support Zeng Guofan's Hunan army, Xiao Yungui naturally knows that the Hunan army is the old enemy of the Taiping army, and Zeng Guofan has trained the world-famous Hunan army in Hengyang.

When he was in Changsha before, Xiao Yungui thought that if he captured Changsha, Hengyang and other places, the Hunan army would have no soil for its rise, and it would not become any atmosphere, but now, Rong Lu is relying on his liliang again, and wants to bring history back to normal, and this person must be eliminated.

Xiao Yungui coldly burst out a few words from between his teeth, which made Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang startled, "Ling Tong Qiangsheng will get rid of Rong Lu as soon as possible at all costs, even if Bai Zetang's group of dead soldiers are all killed!" ”

Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang had never seen King Xi so gaffe and ruthless, and the kind of gritted teeth and hatred seemed to be about to swallow Rong Lu alive, and they couldn't help but think to themselves. How did this Ronglu offend His Royal Highness the King of the West? But the two of them still bowed down to receive the order.

Hong Yun'er didn't know the news yet, because she took Li Xuanji to find Clifford early in the morning. In order to win over Clifford, Xiao Yungui and Hong Yuner presented a mansion with Suzhou gardens to Clifford to live in.

Early in the morning, Hong Yun'er and Li Xuanji came to Clifford's mansion, and Hong Yun'er was very surprised to see that the courtyard here was full of various stone carvings and inscriptions, and several people dressed as teachers were observing the stone carvings and inscriptions. Walking inside, the main hall is full of various literary and artistic works. From the folk nuclear carving, landscape calligraphy and painting, to the stone carving, stone statue, and even a stone lion used in the town mountain gate is also impressively on the main hall.

Clifford walked out of the room dressed in Hanfu from the Ming Dynasty, and said happily and loudly when he was still far away: "My wife." You're finally here, and welcome to the China Art Expo that I opened. I dare say that the collection of crafts and artifacts here represents almost a century of culture, and I can't believe that I really have an art expo of my own. Thank you so much, ma'am. You sent an angel by my side to accomplish this feat. ”

Saying that, Clifford came up enthusiastically and wanted to kiss Hong Yun'er. But Hong Yun'er smiled and clenched her fists. Let it go, although she is from the next generation, she is not used to letting foreign devils do this kiss ceremony. However, Li Xuanji's face turned red, and Hong Yun'er thought secretly after seeing it, this little girl must have been harassed by this enthusiastic foreigner.

Sure enough, Clifford saw Hong Yun'er get out of the way, and he also retracted his hand gentlemanly. Bowed slightly, there are rules for foreigners' hand kisses, and if the lady is unwilling, as a gentleman, she can't force a hand kiss. Then Clifford turned to Li Xuanji and stretched out his hand. Li Xuanji blushed and stretched out her pretty hand and asked him to kiss his hand.

Hong Yun'er couldn't help laughing, and whispered in Li Xuanji's ear: "Silly girl, if you don't want to do this kiss and hand salute, you can politely refuse, don't be accommodating." ”

Li Xuanji's face was red to the root of her ears when she heard this, because she was ordered to woo Clifford, and when they first met, they were with Mo Jiana. Pasteur met Clifford together, and she saw Clifford like Mojana kissing the hand, and Mojana told her that the kiss was a Western etiquette, representing the respect that men have for women. Li Xuanji didn't know that the kiss ceremony could be refused, but thinking that the etiquette should be done, she blushed and let Clifford kiss the back of her hand. At this time, when I heard what Xi Wang Niang said, I was so ashamed that I couldn't wait to find a crack to drill. She squirmed: "

followed Hong Yun'er smiled and comforted: "It's nothing, just don't let him kiss his hand in the future." ”

Clifford couldn't understand what the two girls were saying in Chinese, so he took care of himself and introduced the Chinese art treasures that Li Xuanji had collected for him. Clifford was also kind, he didn't think about packing these things and shipping them back to England, listening to his tone of voice was that he wanted to open a museum of Chinese art treasures in Suzhou, he intended to be the director, and at the same time open to the people, welcoming citizens and tourists to visit. A few teaching gentlemen I saw in the courtyard came to study a Ming Dynasty inscription. At the same time, Clifford also found a lot of folk handicraft craftsmen, all of whom lived in the mansion and taught him to make handicrafts, and he even wanted to open a Chinese handicraft firm, specializing in making exquisite Chinese handicrafts to sell in the West.

Hong Yuner praised Clifford a few words, saying that Xiwang would support him to complete this dream, and also said that he would take a stake in Clifford's Chinese handicraft firm to help him find more folk craftsmen to make handicrafts.

Clifford was very pleased, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement, Xiwang will sponsor manpower and material resources to help Clifford open the Chinese Art Treasures Museum and Chinese Handicrafts Firm, Clifford is responsible for taking care of it, and the money will be divided into fifty or fifty. And those collections are nominally Chinese, and Clifford will not bring them back to China.

Hong Yuner is happy to find a new way to make money, Chinese folk handicrafts such as exquisite jade utensils, porcelain cloisonne, carving and other handicrafts in the West has a very wide market, such as cloisonne this handicraft later generations in the Guangxu years began to export to the West, got a lot of orders, Hong Yuner is very optimistic about the prospects of this industry.

After finally satisfying Clifford's interests and hobbies, Hong Yuner asked about the news in the UK, and Clifford got down to business, but in his opinion, art and cultural relics may be the main thing.

Clifford wrote a long report on his experience in China and returned to the UK, while Clifford gave a rare analysis of the prospects for investing in China. In his report, he wrote: "The glory of civilization is about to descend on this ancient country of the East, and an enlightened rebel army occupies most of the country (with exaggerated elements), and they control the Yangtze River, the longest river in this ancient country, and occupy open treaty ports such as Shanghai and Ningbo. They were not only killing and destroying, as some rumors and legends of the Manchu government had said, but on the contrary, they led the people to resist a large-scale plague and actively restored order and production, compared to the Manchu army that was the source of destruction...... One of their leaders, a virtuous king who nominally ruled the western part of the ancient kingdom, was an enlightened man who was well versed in commerce and trade, and his princess was fluent in English and French...... They wanted to expand trade and trade in the occupied territories and to build railways in the ancient country. To build a railway in this vast ancient country, what a huge return will it bring to Britain's steel and mineral industries...... I have no doubt about the combat ability of His Royal Highness the King of the West, who had more than 100,000 elite soldiers under his command and who were ready to sacrifice their lives for their ideals and beliefs, so it was only a matter of time before the Manchu government fell in this ancient country. Our family wants to expand its influence in the Far East, and this will be a very good opportunity. Therefore, I propose to influence the resolutions of Parliament and the Prime Minister to give more support to this emerging shili, whether it is military, commercial or political ......"

After the Rothschild family in Britain received this report, the family members held several meetings, at which they brought out the analysis report of the family's representative in the Far East, Jardine Matheson Alexander, although Alexander's report was more conservative than Clifford's, but it was still the same as Clifford's suggestion, which could support this new shili, or could give support to a limited extent.

At the same time, the Rothschilds saw the book of Jardine Matheson's investment in the construction of the Suzhou-Shanghai railway, and after discussion, they agreed to exert their influence to tilt the neutrality policy of the British Parliament and the Prime Minister in favor of the Taiping Army, but the neutral attitude will not change. He also instructed Jardine Matheson to continue to maintain friendly relations with the Taiping Army, to further expand the volume of trade in tea silk and foreign cloth, and to maintain the opium smuggling trade in the Manchu occupation areas to ensure the maximization of its own interests.

After hearing the news, Hong Yuner was very happy, and then Clifford said: "The family has appointed me as the commercial plenipotentiary in the Far East, and I can negotiate orders for railways, telegraph lines, and various types of production machinery, including joint investment and construction of factories." It's just that the production line of weapons still needs to be negotiated with the British government, but there may not be much hope, after all, the war between Britain and Russia is imminent, and the domestic weapons production line must first meet the needs of the British army. And as early as last October, Britain began preparations for war, restricting the export of weapons and weapons production lines, for all countries, not against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom alone. I am still sure that I can get my hands on other civilian equipment and machines. ”

Hong Yun'er suppressed the joy in her heart and said: "That afternoon, I will ask the personnel of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household of Xiwangfu to talk to you in detail, Mr., they already have a very detailed list of jihua and purchases." ”

Clifford nodded, but looked at Li Xuanji on the side and said, "I hope Miss Li can participate." ”

Hong Yun'er sighed slightly, secretly wondering if this foreign devil had fallen in love with Li Xuanji? But in the face of national events, Hong Yun'er automatically filtered the private feelings of her children, nodded and said: "Li Xuanji will participate in the whole process, as long as you are in China, Li Xuanji will follow you as a liaison counselor." (To be continued......)