[Latest Broadcast] Tomorrow is 515, the starting point anniversary, the most benefits day. In addition to gift bags and school bags, this time the "515 red envelopes are flirted with" must be seen. There is no reason to not grab red envelopes. Set an alarm clock~

The arrival of George Yilu intensified the panic among the officials, gentry, businessmen and people in Guangzhou, and the panic atmosphere inside and outside the city. In the Huadi area of ​​Henan, Nanguanxiguan, whether rich gentry and merchants or poor common people, they packed up their gold, silver, and soft, dragged their old and young to Guangzhou. Shops of all sizes were closed, and the only one that was not closed was Yuanqi Bank. Not only were the small and small branches that were not closed, but even the Yuanqi General Account in Xiguan was open as usual.

Wu Changqing and Pan Shiming hurriedly entered Rongyuan. Seeing Yi Zhizu relaxingly in the study, Wu Changqing couldn't help but smile and said, "It's all a blazing moment. Brother Zhizu is still so leisurely."

Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "Isn't the eyebrows burning yet?" As he said that, he put down the book, took the cigar box from the table, handed one to each of them, and lit one by himself, then continued, "There are chaos and chaos. Did you come here to chat with me to relieve your boredom?"

"I came to report it." Pan Shiming squirted out a smog of smoke and said, "The people in the newspaper office were panicked and could not feel at ease. Today, 30% of them asked for leave. Will the business be closed for a few days?"

"The business cannot be closed." Yi Zhizu said without thinking: "The more panic the market is, the more the newspapers cannot be closed. The newspapers will be closed, which will cause even more panic. Those who work these days will be paid three times their salary. Those who ask for leave today will register in detail and have bad reviews."

This is really a bit heavy. Yuanqi's three-year assessment is one bad review. Not only is there no hope for the assessment in these three years, but it may also affect the next assessment. Pan Shiming frowned and said, "Has it passed some? After all, we did not declare in advance that we would not be allowed to take leave."

"They are unlucky." Yi Zhizu said unmoved: "The job of the newspaper is to control and guide public opinion. The more major events occur, the more they are not allowed to ask for leave. And they also work overtime. It has been two years since the newspaper was planned to be built. This is still unclear. If there are still people who ask for leave tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, they will be removed from the list directly, and Yuan Qi will not be hired for life."

After hearing this, Pan Shiming couldn't speak for a while. He originally planned to take this opportunity to rest for a month or two, but it seemed that there was no chance. Wu Changqing said gloatingly: "In this way, Brother Zecheng has been busy these days."

Yi Zhizu turned to him and said, "What? There are many people asking for leave in the shipyard?"

"It's quite a lot." Wu Changqing nodded and said, "I won't give them a bad review, right?"

"That won't be." Yi Zhizu said: "The shipyard is different from newspapers, but these people also need to record in detail. In the future, these people will not be allowed to contact core secrets."

OK, this is better than giving bad reviews to the assessment, it seems to be worse. Wu Changqing wanted to defend them for a few words. Thinking about it, these people were indeed unreliable, so he nodded immediately and said, "Let me, Brother Quasi."

After pondering for a moment, he said, "It's strange that Citi mechanics don't seem to be worried about the upcoming war, and basically no one asks for leave."

"Nothing is strange, they have different identities." Yi Zhizu said: "Unless Britain wants to declare war on Citigroup, even if the British army enters Guangzhou, they will not make things difficult for the Citigroup people. What are they going to worry about?" As he said that, he knocked down the ashes and said: "Look at this situation, the people in the various factories are afraid that people are unstable. Don't sit here, go down and stabilize people's hearts."

After hearing this, Pan Shiming asked quickly: "The huge British fleet is anchored outside the seakou. If you are content, you really don't worry about them coming in?"

Yi Zhizu glanced at him and said, "Don't your old man also want to go to the city to avoid disaster, right?"

"It really means this." Pan Shiming said: "The old man has to be careful about the safety of hundreds of people in the family. However, the Wu family did not move, and the old man had no nerve to leave."

"Old Master Wu is still calm." Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "The Yuanqi team trained 10,000 people. If even Henan Island could not protect me, I, the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi, would not be ashamed to go there." As he said that, he stood up and said to Pan Shiming: "Tell General Shang Pan that even if the British army passes through Humen, Henan Island is safer than Guangzhou City, and there is no need to move. Besides, the British army will not attack Guangzhou at all this time."

Pan Shiming said with some confusion: "English soldiers outside the Humen, but they did not attack Guangzhou? Why?" "The reason is very simple. Even if the British army wins a complete victory in Guangzhou, they cannot get what they want, because Elliot is very clear about Lin Butang's personality." Yi Zhizu said: "Since that is the case, why should the British army waste ammunition, energy and time here?

Furthermore, Guangzhou is far away from the capital. Even if the two sides negotiate and file exchanges, it takes a month to go back and forth. The British fleet cannot afford time. Now, the British plenipotentiary representative and the commander-in-chief of the British army, George Yilu, has arrived, as short as one or two days, as long as three or five days, the British fleet will leave."

As it turned out, Yishishi's judgment was once again accurate. George Yiluo only repaired the coast outside Guangzhou for one day, and the fleet sailed northward, leaving only six patrol ships on the sea surface of Guangzhou.

When the news spread, all the officials, gentlemen and merchants in Guangzhou breathed a sigh of relief, but Yi Jingzuo was unaware of the slightest relaxation. He knew that the war between the Crow and the Chopin had begun.

Humen Village, Admiral’s Office.

Lin Zexu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, walked slowly in the study with his hands on his back, and with a grim expression. When the British army headed north, he not only felt relaxed, but was still heavy. To be honest, he would rather the British army attack Guangzhou, and at least Guangzhou is ready for war with all its might. Liangjiang and Zhili are afraid that there is no defense.

The specific situation of the British fleet was as early as the third day after Bomai led the fleet to Guangzhou, he had already recorded in detail and pointed out that the British army was very likely to go north, and the coastal provinces took strict precautions, and then reported to the capital, Fujian, Zhejiang, Liangjiang, and Zhili for 500 miles in a hurry.

Now that the British army has indeed gone north, how could he not worry? Although Deng Tingzhen took over as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, he had been in office for less than four months. Even if he had made every effort to prepare for the war, judging by the situation of the Eight Banners Green Camp, it is probably not optimistic. Not to mention Liangjiang and Zhili, the governor of Liangjiang Yili, does not know whether he has taken office in Jiangning. Zhili-Tianjin is the gateway to the capital, and I don’t know whether Qishan would believe his words and be prepared with all his might.

Then he thought of Yi Zhizu. This kid is not very old, but he is familiar with the West. He is meticulous and predicts things like a god. So far, almost all the things he said have come true. Thinking of this, he shouted to the outside world: "Come."

A long sui hurriedly bowed in and said, "What are the instructions of sir?"

"Send to Xiguan, invite Yi Zhizuo." After Lin Zexu said that, he slowly walked back to his desk and sat down. After pondering for a while, he picked up his pen. The news of the British army's large-scale northward was still fast enough to report to the capital. The British army ships were fast, and it was probably too late for Fujian and Zhejiang to go to the east, but Zhili still had time to guard against it.

Yi Zhizu arrived at Humen the next morning. When he arrived outside the Humen Village gate, he saw Guan Tianpei strode out. He quickly bowed and smiled and said, "How dare you send a military service to welcome him?"

"There are not many people in Guangzhou that can be welcomed by me. You can easily count as one of them." Guan Tianpei smiled heartily and said, "You don't have to be humble, you can take it."

The two entered the city side by side, Yi Jingzu still knew the degree. After falling behind a little, Guan Tianpei said: "The British army headed north, and the masters of the ministry are worried and unable to sleep. May the masters of the ministry share the worries of the ministry?"

Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "The Guan Junmen is so proud." After a pause, he continued, "The master of the ministry summoned him for this matter? Then I am really powerless."

Seeing that he replied so simply, Guan Tianpei changed his mind and said, "Will the British army come north to come to Guangzhou again?"

"It will definitely come." Yi Zhizu said unambiguously: "The British army goes north and will return to Guangzhou regardless of victory or defeat. If the negotiations are not going well, the British army may attack Guangzhou. The military gate should not be lazy because the British army has already gone north. I think that during this period, the military gate should rectify the navy."

When he heard him mention the rectification of the navy again, Guan Tianpei could only smile bitterly. This kid is good at everything, but he has too much prejudice against the navy. However, after thinking about it, the navy was really embarrassed and threw it home. He sighed lightly before he said, "It's time to rectify it well." But he knew in his heart that the navy's rectification is easy to say but difficult to do.

The two of them talked all the way into the Admiral's Office and went straight into Lin Zexu's study. After seeing the ceremony, Lin Zexu reached out and gave up his seat, and then asked directly: "The British army goes north, I am content to think, where will they attack first?"

Dinghai! Yi Zhizu is quite clear. The first city captured by the British army was Dinghai County. However, he did not say it directly, but asked: "I don't know the specific situation of the British fleet - the number of warships, the number of artillery, the number of soldiers, etc. Can the masters and military gates have detailed information?"

"Yes." Lin Zexu said, searching on the table, then handed him a list, saying: "This is the summary of the English fleet. The number of artillery is roughly accurate, but the number of soldiers is difficult to estimate."

Yi Zhizuo has his own intelligence source. The intelligence network formed by Lin Da'an and Ren An has developed rapidly in the past two years, recruiting many people, and has also recruited many students from Yixue and Citimen who are not skilled. The collection of intelligence on the British fleet is naturally the key point. The reason why he wanted the two to ask for information on the British fleet was, one was to cover it up, and the other was to compare it.

The data on British fleet collected by the navy was quite detailed, and statistics were made, with a total of 74 sailing warships, auxiliary gunships, steam tugs, troop transport ships, and transport ships, totaling 74 ships, more than 600 ship-based artillery guns and more than 7,000 sailors. The main warships were all arranged separately and detailed records were made.

After reading it carefully, Yi Zhizu put down the order and said, "I have said before that coastal port cities, such as Xiamen, Ningbo, Dinghai, Nanjing, and Tianjin, are all targets of the British army." As he said, he looked at Lin Zexu and said, "I have heard it vaguely. England is envious of the way Portugal rents Macau. He has made the same request. I wonder if this matter is true?"

After hearing this, Lin Zexu glanced at Guan Tianpei. He had not been in Guangzhou for a long time and had been paying full attention to the ban on smoking and preparations for coastal defense. He had never heard of this before. Guan Tianpei was even more unaware of it. He had fewer contacts with Guangzhou civil servants, and had not much contact with Thirteen. He had never looked at the English merchants several times. He did not know about this matter, so he simply kept silent.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Zexu said: "This matter is not clear about the government. I need to summon Guangzhou officials to ask. Is this matter related to the British army's target of attack?"

Yi Zhizu nodded and said, "If this is true, then we will determine that the British army's first attack target may be Dinghai County."

"Dinghai County in Dazhou Mountain?" Guan Tianpei's face darkened and said, "Dinghai has always been a key military base, and is the throat of Zhejiang. It has always been a guarantee for the trip to Liangjiang and Fujian and Zhejiang. If the British occupy Dinghai, all the coastal ports will be restrained."

Lin Zexu asked, "What is content? The British have the intention to rent Dinghai?"

"The Guan Junmen said it is right." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Dinghai is a key military force. It occupies Dinghai, which is enough to control the sea trade between the two rivers and Fujian and Zhejiang. One, the British were meant to rent and divide the Dinghai. The British fleet came from afar and needed to occupy a foothold, either as a springboard or a bridgehead.

Furthermore, because Dinghai's position in coastal defense is extremely important, once the British occupy Dinghai, it can also threaten the court as a bargaining chip for their rude request. In short, Dinghai's geographical location is prominent and isolated overseas, which is completely enough to give full play to the advantages of British maritime combat, and can also kill a few at one stroke, which can be regarded as the must-attack target of the British fleet."

"Dinghai is in danger." Guan Tianpei sighed lightly. As the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, he naturally knew the layout of the Qing Dynasty's coastal defense. He also had a brief understanding of the situation in Dinghai. The British army had such a large-scale fleet and the Humen Fort's defense was so strong, and the officers and soldiers were even afraid of Dinghai, not to mention that they were unprepared, and their defense was far inferior to the Dinghai in Humen.

After a while of silence, Lin Zexu said, "What's outside Dinghai?"

"After conquering Dinghai," Yi Zhizu said after pausing, "If you are the commander of the British Navy, you will definitely not delay any further along the way, but will take the monsoon and head straight to Tianjin."

Monsoon, yes, the British are sailing warships, and they must use the monsoon to go straight to Tianjin! Lin Zexu felt nervous, and he didn't know what kind of shock the British fleet suddenly appeared on the sea surface of Tianjin! After a while of silence, he spoke: "How long will it take for the British fleet to arrive in Tianjin?"

"It's a good wind right now. Based on the normal navigation speed of the British warships, one hour and ten knots are calculated to be 200 nautical miles a day." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "If you don't delay along the way, it will only take about twelve days to go from Guangzhou to Tianjin."
Chapter completed!