On March 19, 1853, the Taiping Army conquered Jiangning, and the Qingting chief governor Lu Jianying, was killed. Reuters reporters and editors of the Telegraph did not understand the significance of Jiangning. Tang Ning told them that Jiangning was once the capital of the Ming Dynasty and had an important political and historical status. The Taiping Army conquered Jiangning, which meant that a southern regime that was enough to fight against the Qingting had taken shape.

Since Jiangsu and Anhui provinces were under the jurisdiction of Jiangnan Province in the early Qing Dynasty, the Governor was in charge of the government affairs of Jiangnan and Jiangxi at the beginning, so it was called the Governor of Liangjiang. The Governor of Liangjiang was originally the richest region in China and the reason for the rise of the neighboring Shanghai in international trade. The Governor of Liangjiang was one of the most important border officials in modern China.

Xu Rongcun, the Chinese intelligence collector arranged by Tang Ning, also specifically told Tang Ning that the Suiyuan of Yuan Mei in his favorite "Suiyuan Food List" was destroyed by the Taiping Army because one of Yuan Mei's grandsons had been the county magistrate in Suzhou and fought with the Taiping Army, which greatly damaged the Taiping Army's spirit. The Taiping Army hated Yuan Mei's grandson, loved the house and the Wuwu, so they hated Yuan Mei and destroyed Suiyuan.

The founder of Suiyuan is Cao Yin, the grandfather of Cao Xueqin, the author of the Dream of Red Mansions. Suiyuan is likely to be the prototype of the Grand View Garden in the Dream of Red Mansions. Cao Yin served as the recognized fatty man under traditional Chinese unspoken rules - Jiangnan Weaving. The Jiangning Weaving Agency was a special office set up in Jiangning Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty to provide imperial and official satin.

All the smart emperors knew what "fatty" was, but they always sent their confidants to the fatty position. The confidants can be said to be corrupt under the order. If the confidants no longer have close relatives, it is very simple, a reason for anti-corruption will be killed. Cao Yin was Kangxi's confidant. Emperor Kangxi asked Cao Yin to serve as a Jiangning Weaving Factory, not only to make him rich, but also to monitor local officials. Otherwise, this confidant would not be a waste?

In order to maintain his confidant status, Cao's confidant spent a huge amount of money every time Kangxi went to Jiangnan to make the emperor's itinerary gorgeous, which resulted in a huge loss. Galli, the governor of Liangjiang, reported to Kangxi that Cao Yin and Li Xu owed Lianghuai Salt Course 3 million taels of silver and requested public impeachment. Kangxi regarded Cao Yin as a "family member". Galli requested public impeachment, but of course Kangxi would not approve it. But it was of great importance. Kangxi had to privately warn Cao Yin and his brother-in-law Li Xu that he had to try to make up for the deficit.

Cao Yin was unable to make up for the vast sea of ​​debt and had no ability to save the situation. In July of the 51st year of Kangxi, he died in Yangzhou. Li Xu said in his memorial: On his deathbed, he calculated that the deficit was 230,000 taels of silver in the treasury, and Cao Yin had no assets to make up for it.

It's a long way to go. In short, Cao Xueqin's grandfather was a politician, poet, lyricist, and Kunqu opera writer. Suiyuan had its own unique features. After the Cao family fell, the garden went to another weaving without taste. This person's surname was Sui and named Yuanzi "Suiyuan". Because of his negligence in the care of the garden, the Suiyuan gradually became deserted. Yuan Mei knew the value of the garden and spent 300 taels of silver to buy it from the descendants of the Sui family, carefully repaired it, and named it "Suiyuan".

When Yuan Mei resigned from office in the 14th year of Qianlong, he saved 3,600 taels of silver. Suiyuan spent only 300 taels of silver to purchase the principal. After two years of construction, Suiyuan began to take shape, and his savings were almost exhausted. However, Yuan Xianggong had his own way to make money. First, he rented Suiyuan's fields, mountains, forests, and ponds to 13 families for them to plant grain, vegetables, fruits, and trees, and collect land rent. Second, he was selling articles to get royalties. Yuan Mei was the "genius master of the sacred world", and his reputation grew. Please

He wrote biography, and many people were investing in epitaphs, and he invested a lot. Yuan Mei's pen fee was quite expensive, so it was not surprising that he sold a few taels of silver for a single article. Third, Yuan Mei engraved a complete collection of Xiaocangfang to sell, wrote books by herself, printed books by herself, and sold by herself. Yuan Mei's works are best-selling books, so the income is naturally not low. Fourth, Yuan Mei also opened an account to teach and recruited students, and the tuition income was also very considerable. Fifth, the celebrity effect, was invited to play around for free, received gifts, and made a lot of profits.

In his will, Yuan Mei once said: "Suiyuan is a wasteland. I opened a pond and scrub on the flat ground, built and changed the towers, and made three changes. The cost was uncountable. The strange peaks and strange stones were purchased at high prices, and green bamboos were planted by themselves. The utensils were made of sandals, pears, and carved lacquer and gold; the toys were made of Tang steles, Shangyi, and Xia tripods, and the books were made of yellow and frozen in green fields, and famous hand-carved in carved; the Duan inkstones were made of blue and white banana leaves, and many ancient styles, which were unprecedented in wealthy families in the north and south of the Yangtze River." It can be seen that the luxury of antiques and the huge cost of the artifacts that match Suiyuan.

Unfortunately, such a quality garden was destroyed by the peasant army.

Downing is increasingly concerned about the situation of his homeland, and visits Viscount Halifax every few days, or invites him to Stuo Garden for a drink. Viscount Halifax is the one who recently made the "toxic stocks" of Bank of England, East India Company and South China Sea Company. He is now the chairman of the Indian Control Committee in his new cabinet, with a position above the Governor of India. Downing hopes to establish good relations with Viscount Halifax and adds chips to continue to fight the Strait colony.

It is obviously not a long-term solution for a good relationship. Tang Ning still used the "Partner Program" he is familiar with to first show the Chairman the fuel cell technology he is developing.

Tangning developed a steam engine for himself. The company registered by the fuel cell laboratory is "General Power". General Power Laboratory's technology has made breakthrough progress. The power output by the fuel cell has reached "one horsepower". This unit was invented by James Watt, a steam engine improver, to represent the power of his steam engine relative to the horse's pulling force. Since hydrogen fuel cells can reach this "critical point", it means it is already very practical. At least it is completely fine to pull a round table Knight bicycle and run. Of course, fuel cells are very precious, and it is too wasteful to use them on bicycles. Donning has no intention of using it on bicycles.

Today's inventors are still keen on figuring out the vehicles powered by steam engines. They cannot have a future because the size of the steam engine is difficult to shrink, and hydrogen fuel cells have changed the inventors' dilemma. They are incredibly lightweight and smaller than the internal combustion engine that is still in the test stage. This also means that the vehicle equipped with it can carry more fuel and run longer.

Tangning predicted for Lord Viscount: "The first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will be launched in about a year and will become the most important means of transportation for middle-class travel. This is a big business. The biggest trouble for the Round Table Knight bicycle is that it is afraid of rainy days, and the car adopts a fully enclosed space to overcome this problem. Traveling around the clock is faster, more stable and safer. There are so many rainy days in London, which has too severely suppressed bicycles. The Round Table Knight's development momentum has slowed down recently. Of course, it is still a business of hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. As for cars, it will soon reach a scale of millions of pounds in the future. I am looking for investors for car companies, because rubber and oil will play an important role in the development of cars. These two things are available in the Straits colonies, so I remember you."

As the chairman of the Indian Control Commission, he didn't know that the Straits Colony had these two good things. Charles Wood was a little ashamed: "Isn't rubber in Brazil? There are also Straits Colony!"

Tang Ning: "Not yet, but you probably heard of it. I have offered a reward of rubber tree seeds. I had already obtained 80,000 seeds in October last year. Friends sent to Singapore to build a plantation said that the progress is good. The era of outrageously expensive rubber will not last long."

Wood: "The reward method is really good. The Portuguese are going to look good."

Tangning smiled: "You can also try it. I guess the oil palms in West Africa can also be transplanted to the Malay Peninsula. This is also a good business, you have to do it as soon as possible."

Oil palm fruits contain very high oil content, so they are eaten by many animals, even including two types of carnivorous birds - vultures and harriers. Palm oil is an important industrial raw material. Porcelain oil is used to make margarine, chocolate, ice cream and edible oils, and nut residue cakes are used as feed. It is particularly important to use palm oil for frying instant noodles; pulp oil is widely used in the production of soaps, soaps, candles, detergents, lubricants, glycerin, pigments, cosmetics, hair creams, iron anti-rust agents and automobile fuels. Fruit shells can be used as fuel and pave the roads in the palm garden. Palm oil can extract vitamins, proteins, antibiotics, etc.

Palm oil is so useful that it even replaces slave trade and becomes the most valuable commodity exported by Africa. Some people believe that the rise of African goods such as oil palm is the fundamental reason for the sharp decline in slave trade in Africa. There is a better and more humane business. Who is willing to hurt the virtues? How many black slaves will die before they can be transported to America? People with a little glass of heart cannot stand it. When capitalism develops to a certain stage, the cost of hiring is more cost-effective than buying black slaves, morality will be opened. It started to play a big role. In 1807, Britain passed the Slave Trade Act to prohibit all ships carrying slaves at sea. Even if they were not British, the Royal Navy had the right to fire artillery due to the maritime hegemony of the British Empire. Of course, since the slave trade was very profitable at the beginning, there were still many human slaves. When they encountered the Royal Navy, they tied stones to the black slaves and sank to the bottom of the sea! This also shows how important it is that African crop commodities such as oil palm exceed those of black slaves.

Tangning: "If I have an ideal plan for the automobile industry, Singapore is one of the most important places. There is oil for fuel, rubber for tires, and palm oil for lubricating oil, and in desperation, it can be used as fuel directly. Palm's oil production is huge, one ton per hectare, and it can be harvested every year and will never end. It is a living money tree. I said this is a good business, it's really not a blow."

Often Tangning's encouragement, Wood was finally moved. At least he wanted to build an oil palm plantation, which was a business that he could see and understand. As for cars, this old man was not very confident. Tangning thought that the most tempting thing was not taken seriously by Wood. Fortunately, he mentioned oil palm inadvertently, which could also play a role in binding a partnership. Wood did not know how to plant. And Tangning already has a relatively mature team to transplant tropical plants, which can provide technical guidance to the plantation Wood wants to build and incorporate his plantation into his automobile industry chain in the future.

These days, by planning the transplant of oil palm in West Africa, Downing and Chairman Wood became more and more familiar with each other, and finally came to the point: "It is not peaceful on the Malay Peninsula. There may be conflicts between indigenous people and local plantations. Conflicts caused by some cultural differences are inevitable. In order to defend our plantations, I want to form an armed security force for the plantations. Of course, major conflicts can be resolved through the army of the East India Company. Small conflicts can be resolved by our plantations themselves. What do you think of this idea?"

In colonies, private armed forces are very common. The key is the scale. Tangning wants to form a private armed force of one thousand people, which is not small. It is a bit unusual to have such a large formation without rubber, oil palm and oil, so Tangning wants to seek support from the Control Committee.

After some discussion, Wood felt that keeping the team at 500 was relatively low-key, so Tang Ning had to agree with his opinion.

There are quotas for summoning soldiers, where do the soldiers come from? Tang Ning himself can't fight and has no energy to manage the soldiers himself.

Wood advised Downing: "Have you heard of the Hessen Mercenaries?"

Tangning: "No."

Wood: "This was when the Americans were fighting for independence. The German mercenaries recruited by our England, mainly from Hessian troops, so the Americans liked to call all of these soldiers Hessian mercenaries. At that time, England spent three million pounds to rent 22,000 Hessian mercenaries. These people were good at fighting. Some retired Hessian mercenaries lived in England, and you can ask them to help you recruit German mercenaries."

Since Wood has recommended it, he must know some soldiers. Tang Ning decided to meet these mercenary soldiers and see if it is reliable.

At first sight, Tangning was overjoyed. The two soldiers recommended by Wood were Hessen-Cassel Hunter, which was Downing's favorite.

Hunters, as the name suggests, are elite troops performing hunting missions. They are the prototypes of sniper troops. Unlike the heavy infantry who use smoothbore guns that rely on shooting queues to form killing, hunters use rifled guns. Their guns are very accurate and do not need to be arranged. They attack opponents outside the range of smoothbore rifles in the form of scattered soldiers, or attack opponents in the dark.

It sounds like hunting soldiers are stronger than ordinary infantry, and shooting in a scattered manner is indeed the development direction of the infantry in the future, but in this era it is not the choice of regular soldiers. The reason involved the technology of rifles. Since the tolerance of the barrel caliber cannot be controlled within a certain range, the bullets of the rifle must be in line with the rifle, and the breach must be used to stab the breach with force from the front bore. Moreover, the existence of the rifle makes it more troublesome to remove the residue of gunpowder. The rifle of the hunter is not advanced than the smoothbore rifle in a sense. Hunter can only exist as an auxiliary force.

Of course, auxiliary troops can also cause great harm to the enemy. During the American War of Independence, the most troublesome thing about the US military was the guerrillas composed of hunters. They used long-range rifled rifles to snipe the British army, and they secretly shot black guns from afar, like terrorists. The British army also had this kind of sniping special forces, and they were even more skilled. At that time, the gun designer Ferguson invented the rifled rifled gun with a range of more than 180 meters. For a long time,

The rifle uses black gunpowder as the launching medicine. Breeze loading means a small explosive is right next to your face. This is a dangerous design and requires a powerful and safe locking mechanism. Obviously, Ferguson's invention overcomes this shortcoming and makes his sniper special forces the most advanced hunting soldiers at the time. Breeze loading allows Ferguson's snipers to load in a lying concealed posture, and the loading speed is faster, far better than North American guerrilla snipers who use borehole hunting rifles.

Ferguson himself is also an excellent sniper. He performs everywhere when promoting his designs, such as shooting bull's eyes 90 meters away. And his most famous thing is that he once used his sniper rifle to aim at General Washington, the founding father of the United States. If his gun was shot out, the United States might still be a British colony.

The Ferguson rifle only produced more than 100, and in the end the British army abandoned this advanced but unreliable gun. It is likely that the problem of gunpowder residue was not solved.
Chapter completed!