In Guangzhou Prefecture, Guangxiao Temple, Six Banyan Temple, Haizhuang Temple, Hualin Temple, Changshou Temple and other southern monasteries have beautiful scenery and elegant layout, and since the Qianlong Dynasty, they have always been the place to receive foreign missions and Western missionaries.

In 1792, the British government appointed Macartney as a chief envoy to China in the name of the 80th birthday of Emperor Qianlong, which was the first time that Europe sent an official envoy to China, a full 100 years ago.

The mission of the Ocean Kingdom stayed at the Haizhuang Temple, and the king Li Fushou lived in the Li Family Garden next door to the Haizhuang Temple, which was an exquisite garden purchased by the Normandy Foreign Company to receive His Majesty the King's visit.

Haizhuang Temple sits in the south and faces north, with the Pearl River waterway as the main passage in and out of the temple, the scenery is excellent.

The layout of the whole temple follows the Buddhist temple system of "east inside and west outside" formed in the Ming Dynasty, that is, the middle road is the mountain gate, the main hall, etc., the east side area is mainly the inner room of the temple monks, and the west side area is mainly the guest room outside the temple, which is now requisitioned by the entourage of the Ocean Kingdom.

There are two mountain gates built in Haizhuang Temple, one mountain gate faces the Pearl River, and the front mountain gate is connected to the riverside wharf.

One is the back mountain gate, that is, the official mountain gate of the sea building temple, the front door is the wharf, and the left and right are shops.

Located on the banks of the Pearl River, the tide hits the temple walls, and pilgrims can take a boat to the stone steps of the pier and enter the temple directly.

During the period when the mission of the Ocean Kingdom was stationed in Hua, the temple was closed.

The big banyan tree in front of the gate of the Haizhuang Temple is extremely famous, it can be hugged more than ten times, and the shade covers the sun all year round. Qing Dynasty scholar Hang Shijun described in "Traveling to Haizhuang Temple with Zhang Zhentao":

"The three gates are still facing Guo, and they are rising to the bay. Green borrows trees before autumn, and green returns to the mountains after the rain. The clouds move and the flowers gradually fade, and the wind rises and the cranes should return. It's not a double movement, and the bed is all day long. ”

First time in Guangzhou

After Li Fushou and Prince Yiyun had a ceremonial entertainment, they drove directly to the Liangguang Governor's Mansion to visit Gu Yanchuan, the old Taishan who had just recovered from a serious illness.

At this time, the Liangguang Governor's Mansion was quite lively, and Queen Gu Liuyan had been serving her father here for more than two months.

Gu Mansion is a family of eunuchs for generations, and the door rules are strict, which is also a loss of Gu Liuyan's status, otherwise he can only recite scriptures and make vows in the Buddhist hall of the back house, which is unreliable.

Uncle Gu Yanshan's eldest son Gu Zhiwen, second son Gu Zhili, Gu Yanchuan's only son Gu Zhixue and other males are all in the governor's mansion, and there are more than 100 relatives and friends.

King Li Fushou arrived, and the old Taishan Gu Yanchuan led a group of clansmen to meet His Majesty the King, and then Li Fushou gave a nephew salute to greet the old Taishan Gu Yanchuan's condition.

It can be seen that Gu Yanchuan's condition is recovering very well, but because he is in his sixties and has just recovered from a serious illness, his spirit and reaction are a little worse.

This is a helpless thing, and it is the right way to recuperate slowly.

After retiring from the idle people on the left and right, Gu Yanchuan and Li Fushou, the son-in-law, discussed privately and talked about the long-term arrangements for the next few decades.

"Yuan Ding, I know everything you have done in recent years, establish the Ocean Kingdom, launch the Civil War, there are so many actions that people are dizzying, to be honest, it is really too aggressive, I looked at it and sweated, but fortunately, the gods and Buddhas blessed it without danger."

Speaking of this, Gu Yanchuan showed a smug smile on his face, stroked his beard lightly and continued; "The most proud thing in my life is to choose Yuan Ding as my son-in-law, I think I saw you eagle and wolf Gu, and I knew that Yuan Ding was far from being a thing in the pool, and I never thought that it would give me a big surprise so soon."

As he spoke, he couldn't help laughing, and his eyebrows blossomed, and he couldn't be more satisfied.

Regardless of whether the Qing Dynasty was in turmoil or not, the Gu Mansion was stable.

100 years ago, the British envoy Macartney once said after returning to China to report on his work after meeting Emperor Qianlong; "The Qing Empire is like a tattered first-class warship, and the reason why it has not sunk in the last hundred and fifty years is only due to the support of a fortunate group of able and vigilant officers. And where it outshines its neighbors, only in its size and appearance. ”

Macartney could see the weakness of this huge empire, and as a minister of the Zhiyang faction who studied the East and the West, Gu Yanchuan knew even more that the Qing Dynasty was difficult to return to, and there were not many good days left.

"Lord Taishan is on top, I am also forced to be a stud, I have to do it!" Li Fushou can open his heart in front of his father-in-law and talk about his mental journey along the way, so he told the story;

"The origin of the conflict was last year's midterm election for the NSW assemblyman, which was an election that changed the balance of power between the North and the South, and also an election in which the Chinese forces in Queensland infiltrated the south on a large scale, a golden opportunity.

At a time when the political situation in New South Wales was changing, the Liberal Party, which was more friendly to the Chinese forces, was in power, and the legal status of the Zhi Gong Party and the legal status of the Chinese voters was restored one after another.

If the New South Wales gubernatorial election is dragged on two years later, because the votes of the Liberal Party and the Zhi Gong Party are highly overlapping, it is inevitable that they will fight each other, and the powerful white conservatives may return to power, which is as high as 80%.

The Zhi Gong Party cannot retreat, and neither can I retreat, and we must break the fence in this fateful battle, so that we can take the initiative in the confrontation between the North and the South.

Lucky to be invited to heaven

We won the midterm election for the NSW legislature, and since then we have held the initiative tightly in our hands, and the white conservative forces in the South have always been led by the nose until they finally perished. ”

"Yuan Ding, now I hear you still thrilling, doubly thrilling, I just wonder why the British, who have always been arrogant and belligerent, died down this time?"

"Huh...... It's not that the British don't want to fight, but they can't fight. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

Facing Gu Yanchuan's question, Li Fushou replied with a faint smile; "To be honest, we have made as many as a dozen response plans to the reaction of London, and now it is easy to say, and the huge pressure at that time was really suffocating.

Looking back now, we were right.

In the military's sand table exercises;

Once the situation in Australia changed, the London government decided to go to war with the fastest efficiency, and it was bound to draw large troops from the Viceroyalty of British India and the Governorate of the Straits to form an expeditionary force to intervene in the Australian war.

The Viceroy of India belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Governor-General of the Straits belongs to the Colonial Office, and it involves only a few departments of the London government to work together and speak in unison, which is a doubly difficult and cumbersome project.

In the fastest case, it would take two and a half to three and a half months to assemble an expeditionary force of no more than 50,000 men, and considering the long sea route to Australia, it would take almost a month.

That is, if we settle the Civil War in three and a half months, the probability that London will intervene in the war is no more than thirty percent.

If the war drags on, the risk of London intervening will increase dramatically.

Since the 18th century, the Royal Navy of the British Empire has been almost invincible, invincible, and firmly holds the hegemony of the world's seas, which absolutely no one can shake.

On the other hand, the British Army is very meaningless, and the land conquest wars often end in failure, the first Anglo-Burmese war, the first Anglo-Afghan war, well, the conquest of the small Gurkha tribes in Nepal, all cost a lot of money.

Based on the above judgment

After thinking about it repeatedly, I decided to make a desperate bet and turn the table to completely settle the situation in Australia in World War I, saving me a lot of dreams at night and starting again.

Even if the British Army landed in Australia, it was a big deal to destroy the stall and rebuild, and I was fully prepared for this thinking and took into account the most difficult situation.

Don't look at the British as a bully and threaten with force at every turn, in fact, before really making a move, they will repeatedly consider the trade-off, whether it is in line with the primary premise of the interests of the British Empire?

Fighting an expeditionary war of 100,000 men in Australia was clearly not the situation London wanted, and in my secret letter to Her Majesty, I mentioned my willingness to join the Commonwealth, which was perhaps the straw that influenced the decision of the London Cabinet. ”

"Commonwealth ...... What the hell is this? ”

"Huh...... Initially after the establishment of the Federal Republic of Canada, I wanted to become a British Overseas Territory, but London refused without hesitation, and in desperation, the Earl of Canafon put forward a motion of the Commonwealth, with Canada, the Orange Free State of South Africa, and the Transvaal Republic as the main body, to establish the Commonwealth of England that jointly honors Her Majesty Queen Victoria. ”

"Oh, draw bread to satisfy hunger!"

Gu Yanchuan suddenly laughed and nodded with great appreciation, in this kind of major event related to the luck of the nation, one more preparation will be more grasp, and it may be able to play a key role.

Weng and his son-in-law talked with great interest for a while, and the topic turned to the domestic layout of the Gu family.

The Ocean Kingdom and the Gu family are actually one inside and one outside, supporting each other, taking care of each other, and developing together, and the interests are closely linked through in-laws.

This time, Gu Yanchuan, the governor of Liangguang, was attacked by malaria, and an old life was almost lost, which gave both families a wake-up call;

In case something is not harmonious, the Gu family line is of course the building overturned, and the "Guangjitang" is equivalent to losing its backer, breaking a leg and becoming lame.

The Eagle School is related to the foundation of Australia, and the thousands of enthusiastic young students trained from here are the most staunch believers of King Li Fushou, the main channel to supplement Australia's high-quality talents, and the indispensable backbone of building an industrialized society.

Weng and his son-in-law have the same interests, and they both need to support another pillar of the minister, and it is much more stable to walk on two legs than to jump on one leg.

"Big brother Yanshan doesn't need to think about it, he has lived in Beijing for a long time, he is full of pedantic, and his stupid and loyal thoughts will only ruin your big things." Talking about the affairs in the court, Gu Yanchuan regained his graceful bearing from the first grade, and said after a little silence;

"In the next generation of the Gu Mansion, only the two sons of Zhixue and Zhiwen are acceptable.

Zhixue lost in indecision, not much courage, but the ability to keep this is still there, now he is from the four Huai'an prefect, serious herdsmen official, the evaluation of excellence, walk the road for a few years as a Beijing official, release can be done to supervise the officer.

As for this path, it still has to fall on Prince Yiyun, who now only recognizes silver in his eyes, and can do anything as long as he gives silver.

The best place to go is, of course, the Inspectorate left and right to supervise the imperial history, this Qing noble official has the right to impeach the locality, which is invisibly a deterrent, and those who want to move Guangjitang have to weigh whether they can afford to bear the offense?

Secondly, he can be appointed as a political envoy, which is somewhat helpful, as for the official positions of Zhan Shifu Zhan Shi and Taichang Siqing, they are not of much use, which is equivalent to being idle for a few years.

Zhiwen This son is a donor official, and there is not much room for him to go up, but fortunately, he is a subordinate official under the rule of the governor of Liangguang, and he can find an opportunity to promote him to the position of Guangdong Xuanzhi and take charge of the new army.

Gu Zhiwen and General Li Ping joined forces to control the military power, and the new army was a backyard where needles could not be inserted and water could not be splashed, and no one should think about it.

My old bones can last a few more years, it is estimated that the imperial court will not move me for a while, and there is no suitable position arrangement in Beijing, the stronger the Dayang Kingdom is in the limelight, the more stable my position as the governor of Liangguang will be. ”

Li Fushou was not familiar with the things in the court, and he would do whatever the old man Taishan said, so he nodded and said at the moment; "It's easy to do if you love money, I brought 300,000 pounds to the bank cashier's check, you can do it if you want."

"How can you use so much, no matter how big Prince Yiyun's appetite is, 50,000 pounds is enough!"

The prefect of Huai'an is a four-grade herdsman, and the inspectorate is a three-grade superintendent, and there are several grades in between, and the mayor of a place wants to be equivalent to the position of deputy director of the National Audit Commission at once, how can it be done without bleeding?

This is also the important identity of Gu Yanchuan, the governor of Liangguang, who dared to worry about it, thinking about finding an important position for his son, and it was useless for others to borrow another guts.

"Old Taishan is on top, this is originally my filial piety, you can use it as you like." Li Fushou thought for a moment and said again; "Since you want to be active, then simply mention Li Ping up, is it possible for the Guangxi General Army?"

"Well, Li Ping has the merits of the Sino-French War, and he has given "Baturu", and the qualifications he has experienced over the years are enough, but the current Guangxi General Army has only been more than a year, and if he wants to top it, it is estimated that Prince Yiyun will loosen his mouth, and he will have to pay almost 20,000 pounds. ”

"As long as he is willing to accept us, we will give it to him, and there is never a shortage of money."

"So that's fine." Gu Yanchuan responded in one bite. As for how to operate, he, an old bird in the sea, is naturally familiar with it, and he doesn't need others to bother.

Li Ping was originally the big housekeeper in Li Fushou's mansion, and he was left to take care of him in Gusu Mansion, and he was a man who did things clearly, and after Gu Yanchuan became the governor of Liangguang, he brought them to Guangdong for development and became one of the big leaders of the new army.

The group of people who met Li Fushou just now, including Li Ping and his wife, respectfully respected the etiquette of their subordinates.

Such a discerning person, of course, should be promoted!

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