After Yan Yuting entered the room, she sat down on the couch with a dull face."
Who offended our Miss Yan again, why is her face so ugly."
Qiao Zhiqing looked at her curiously, asked with a chuckle, and sat down beside her."
Brother Qiao, I have bad news for you."
Yan Yuting shook Qiao Zhiqing's hands with some hesitation, and stared at Qiao Zhiqing's eyes with a worried face."
Tell me, you Brother Qiao haven't seen anything."
Qiao Zhiqing took a breath, his mouth was a little relaxed, but his heart was drumming.Zeng Dashuai died of illness a few days ago, Zeng Guoquan did not mourn until he withdrew to his hometown in Xiangxiang, and then he held a funeral for Zeng Dashuai.Zeng Jiyun's whereabouts are still unknown, whether it is Huaxingmeng or Fire Wolf, there is no news, she is a weak woman, it is very likely that she has already encountered an accident. ”Yan Yuting lowered her head, knowing Zeng Jiyun's position in Qiao Zhiqing's heart, afraid that he would be sad, and she swallowed for a long time before she finished speaking.Qiao Zhiqing's face really changed, and he helped up a little sadly, and stood staring at the window.He and Zeng Guofan were obviously incompatible opponents, but when they suddenly heard the news of his death at this moment, an endless emptiness came towards him.Zeng Jiyun must have hid because of his divorce, otherwise he wouldn't have been heard from for so long."
Ji Yun must hate me very much in his heart, there is no one in this world who can't be found, only people who don't want you to find it.She must still be alive, but we haven't found out where she is hiding. ”Qiao Zhiqing sighed softly, feeling extremely guilty about Zeng Jiyun in his heart, and secretly prayed for her.Yan Yuting saw that Qiao Zhiqing's expression calmed down, and she didn't say anything.In the past few days, my stomach has always been inexplicably nauseated, because I have been busy with official business, and I have not had time to check at the military doctor's office.After Qiao Zhiqing was busy with business at the desk, Yan Yuting took off her shoes and slept under the quilt alone.Qiao Zhiqing was busy all night, and only after the fourth watch did he go to the couch, and he fell asleep groggily with Yan Yuting in his arms.As soon as dawn was over, the troops stationed in various places had already taken action automatically according to Qiao Zhiqing's orders.The various departments of the government also began to move to Nanjing, and after Zeng Guofan ceded Nanjing, the engineer brigade of the special operations division was stationed in Nanjing.On the one hand, order was maintained in the city, and on the other hand, the palace of the Heavenly King's Mansion was renovated and transformed into the seat of the Presidential Palace.After a series of looting, the population of the city was drastically reduced to the extreme.Qiao Zhiqing also set up a special Ministry of Civil Affairs, which was responsible for the resettlement of migrants, and the minister was Zheng Guanying of Huaxing Sanjie.At the same time, immigration points were set up in the surrounding provinces, promising that as long as someone was willing to settle down in Nanjing, they would be rewarded with five taels of silver on the spot as travel expenses, and they would be responsible for providing work and accommodation after coming to Nanjing.After the promulgation of the immigration policy, a wave of immigration was triggered for a while, and displaced people from nearby provincial capitals rushed to tell each other.Suzhou also stopped accepting immigrants at this time, and most of the displaced people from Henan also fled to Nanjing.Within a month, millions of displaced people had migrated to Nanjing.The Pan family did not let go of this good opportunity to expand their careers, and united with the four major families of Nanyang, invested 10 million taels of silver, and set up a Jiangnan Light Textile Group in the east of the city that was ten times larger than the Suzhou Textile Factory.Powered entirely by steam machines, it is large enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of workers.It has jurisdiction over textile, food, papermaking, medicine, consumer goods production and other industries.The Suzhou Shipyard and the Suzhou Ordnance Institute were also relocated to the Yangtze River in the north of Nanjing.On the one hand, the water flow of the Yangtze River is used as power, and on the other hand, steam is used as power.The water system here extends in all directions, and it is more convenient than Suzhou, but I don't know how much.It turned out that the steel and coal transported from Shanxi were also shortened by one day.The two factories were expanded at the same time and renamed Jiangnan Shipyard and Jiangnan Military Factory.Jin merchants did not lag behind in this pursuit of interests, and the headquarters of many ticket numbers in Pingyao have been moved to Nanjing.The businessmen's sense of politics is always sharper than that of ordinary people, and according to the information they have obtained from various sources, it is clear that Qiao Zhiqing has the intention of setting up a separate court in Nanjing.Because of the relationship between the Qiao family, the owners of the ticket number naturally chose to stand on Qiao Zhiqing's side.Moreover, in the past cooperation, Qiao Zhiqing can always give the greatest preferential policies to the Jin merchants, and all the Jin merchants who come and go also make a lot of money.Under the mediation of Qiao Zhiqing's eldest brother Qiao Zhiguang, he united more than a dozen powerful ticket numbers such as Dadetong, Heshengyuan, and Zhongxinghe in Shanxi, from 20 million taels of silver, and prepared a Jiangnan Iron and Steel Plant in Nanjing, which was twice as large as Ma Xun's Taiyuan Iron and Steel Plant.High-quality iron ore resources are mainly provided by Ma'anshang in the upper reaches of Nanjing, and the coal mine still has to be transported from Shanxi according to the current mining conditions.Qiao Zhiqing slept lazily, and it wasn't until the sun shone into the room that he was tired and shouted by Yan Yuting.After washing, I hurriedly had breakfast and took my soldiers to Jiangyin Mansion by boat.Today is the launching ceremony of the warship, and Qiao Zhiqing was also invited by Huang Wenzhong, the commander of the naval division, to participate.The Navy had already repaired the three captured warships, plus three more sent by the British.The sailors also became wealthy all of a sudden, and with the Huaxing self-made warship, six large warships were expanded at once.To commemorate the battle, four 6,000-ton British ships were named after the cities along the route.It is called Anqing, Nanjing, Zhenjiang and Jiangyin.The other two 7,000-ton French ships and 8,000-ton American ships were named after the provinces where the provinces were located.It is called Jiangsu, Anhui.This naming can also quickly distinguish the tonnage of the ship, which is a common method used by rear divisions.As soon as Qiao Zhiqing arrived at the sailor base in Jiangyin Mansion by boat, he heard the sound of gongs and drums and the sound of military trumpets.The soldiers of the sailor division had long been wearing special white military uniforms, standing upright in formation on the warship, waiting for Qiao Zhiqing's review.As soon as Qiao Zhiqing came over, Huang Wenzhong, the commander of the Navy Division, hurriedly stepped forward, saluted Qiao Zhiqing with a standard military salute, and shouted, "Report to the commander, all the officers and soldiers of the Navy Division have been assembled, please review." ”"Let's get started."
Qiao Zhiqing chuckled and returned a military salute, and accompanied by Huang Wenzhong, he saluted the officers and soldiers again and again."
Long live the handsome, long live the handsome."
The officers and men on the warship didn't know who took the lead in shouting, and suddenly there were countless cheers that shook the sky.After the review, the six warships went to the front line according to the plan made in advance.The Huaxing has been properly deployed in Taihu Lake, and the Anqing and Nanjing have been deployed to defend Taihu Lake in order to completely control the control of Taihu Lake.The other four warships were deployed along the area from Nanjing to Jiangyin to guard against the Qing army in Jiangbei and the Huai army in Shanghai, and firmly grasped the right to control the river.The sailors finally had their own large warships, and they were no longer the poor acid troops who relied on cargo ships to support their façade, and their status in the Qing army also rose for a while, and they became more and more important.Huang Wenzhong's family and career have a bumper harvest at this time, and his wife has just given birth to a big fat boy for him, and he is very glad that he surrendered to Qiao Zhiqing at the beginning.After saying goodbye to Qiao Zhiqing, he got on the warship and went to the front line.After returning to Shanghai, Wilson returned to England in discouragement, and Blair's brain was seriously stimulated, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw the scene of Qiao Zhiqing killing people with a gun.Unable to command the navy anymore, he returned to England with Wilson.All British troops in China were also temporarily dispatched by Army Commander Smith Fordley.After Wilson returned home for help, a new naval commander was sent to China.Within the Ministry of Industry, an agreement is also being negotiated by the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and China.Li Hongzhang was also greatly surprised when he learned the news of Qiao Zhiqing's total annihilation of the combined fleet.The combined fleet was originally asked for help by the imperial court, so it went to Hankou to exterminate the Hunan army.Qiao Zhiqing dared to do this, knowing that he was preparing to break with the imperial court.Moreover, from the recent information that proves that Qiao Zhiqing is preparing to set up another imperial court in Nanjing, the rebellion is clearly exposed.After the French commander in China sent someone to find Li Hongzhang and inform him of the idea of the coalition forces, Li Hongzhang agreed to negotiate with the coalition forces without thinking about it.At this moment, only with the support of the coalition forces can they resist the attack of the Qingzi army."
Lord Li, we, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States are willing to provide you with funds and weapons free of charge.And what you have to do is to recruit troops and eliminate Qiao Zhiqing's Qingzi army. ”The commander of the British Army, Sergeant Defleur, was angry when he mentioned Qiao Zhiqing, and couldn't help but raise his hand and slap it heavily on the council table."
Your Excellency General, our Huai Army currently has more than 200,000 horses, but it is only equipped with 100,000 foreign guns, and the remaining 100,000 can you also be responsible for providing it free of charge?"
Li Hongzhang asked in disbelief."
Lord Li, please believe in our sincerity.Don't say it's 100,000 foreign guns, even 200,000 I can give it to you, but the premise is that you will attack Qiao Zhiqing immediately.I can't bear to be with this devil any longer, and none of us will have peace with him one day. ”Stevery nodded affirmatively."
Well, just 200,000 foreign guns and 20 million rounds of ammunition.The old man is preparing to recruit 300,000 Huai troops, and he will provide at least one million taels of military salary every month, can you do this" Li Hongzhang nodded with joy, this kind of good thing is tantamount to pie in the sky."
No problem, I will arrange for someone to send you in batches today, but you have an old saying in China, ugly words must be said in front of the most, if you take the gun and money and do nothing, then half a year later, we will reinforce the Chinese army, but we will not let you go."
Stifoli made a threatening sound, staring at Li Hongzhang's eyes with a serious face."
Please rest assured, we Chinese are people who keep our word.What's more, even if the old man doesn't provoke Qiao Zhiqing, Qiao Zhiqing will definitely come to the old man. ”Li Hongzhang smiled faintly, and after discussing some specific details with the commanders of Britain, the United States, and France, he returned to the Shanghai County Government after dark.Zhou Fu was anxiously waiting for Li Hongzhang in the study of the county government at this time, and when he saw him enter the door, he hurriedly asked nervously, "Dashuai, have you negotiated with the foreigners, have they agreed to our conditions?"