Jiangning, Dashengguan Wharf.

Merchant ships, cargo ships, and other civilian ships that were originally parked closely near the dock were driven out. Now all the naval warships are all in the river. The naval warships are cruising back and forth on the river bank. The fully armed soldiers on the river bank have three steps and one whistle, and a scene of slaughtering.

As early as ten days ago, naval warships and brigades of soldiers continued to gather in Dasheng Pass, and it had already spread all over Jiangning City. The imperial envoy and the governor of Liangjiang General Lin Zexu led his troops to Hangzhou to recover the Ningbo prefectures occupied by the British.

At four o'clock in the morning, Lin Zexu set up an imperial envoy to go to Dasheng Pass in a mighty manner. The civil and military officials from all over the city of Jiangning City all saw each other, and the gentry, merchants and people all over the city saw each other. The whole city of Jinling City was in full bloom, and many people were rushing to the river downstream of Dasheng Pass to watch the rare grand scene of the battle.

In recent times, Jiangning Daily has published every day every year that the British fleet has ravaged the southeast coast, attacked and plundered coastal prefectures, and occupied Ningbo Prefectures and other evil deeds. At the same time, it has published articles to praise the deeds of heroes such as civil officials and generals who died in the battle against the British. Reports of local gentry and villagers forming groups to actively fight against the British are also frequently published.

Of course, Lin Zexu won consecutive victories in his tenure as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and his achievements in defeating the British were also introduced. Now, Lin Zexu was the imperial envoy and led an army of 20,000 land and sea to Hangzhou to supervise the troops to fight against the British and recover Ningbo, which completely ignited the enthusiasm of officials, gentlemen and people in Jiangning City to fight against the British and.

The huge imperial guard of honor passed through half of Jiangning City to Dasheng Pass. Yi Zhizu, as the counselor, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He got out of the sedan chair and saw warships on the docks and flags waving. He thought to himself that the movement was really big enough. He made a big move and the idea of ​​holding the expedition ceremony was his.

This time when he went to Hangzhou, Lin Zexu drew 20,000 troops from Hunan, Anhui and Jiangsu, and marched to Hangzhou on the same water and land to create an illusion for the British army. Jiangning was empty in defense. Although Yi Zhizu had concluded that the British army would most likely attack Jiangning in July and August this year, he still hoped to create opportunities for the British army to attack Jiangning and enhance the confidence of the British army to attack Jiangning. To be honest, he was worried that the British army would delay. If it was delayed until next year and the court did not delay, Yuan Qi might be dragged down first.

After a simple ceremony, the navy warship full of soldiers slowly left the dock with the rumbling sound of cannons. On the deck, Lin Zexu, an imperial envoy, bowed and bid farewell to the crowd of officials and gentry who were sent to him. In the spacious official cabin, Senggelinqin, who had never seen British warships and rarely took boats, asked curiously: "How powerful are the British warships?"

After hearing this, the veteran Yang Fang also saw it. Although he had been in the inland for his whole life, he had never been in contact with British warships. Naturally, he was concerned. Yi Quezuo slowly smoked a cigar and then said slowly: "The situation is not clear. The largest warship that the British army invaded this time was a third-level battleship, which is their main warship. The standard configuration is 74 artillery, with a capacity of 680 people. There are more than 30 artillery on one side. You can fire the gun at the same time. Think about the power."

Yang Fang said: "I heard that the British warship is three stories high? How big is that?"

"There are four or five large warships we are riding on." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The British warships are not only tall, but also very strong. The sea ships and inland ships are not the same as each other, because the sea storms are strong and the sea is not strong, so it is impossible to sail far away without being strong."

Senggelinqin said: "How much does it cost to have a third-class battleship like that?"

"Western battleships are priced based on the tonnage of their displacement, with a unit price of one ton of 150 taels per ton. The third-level battleships generally have a displacement of more than 2,000 tons......" Yi Zhizu pondered: "Just the cost of warships is 300,000 taels, plus artillery, if Western artillery is used, it will be 400,000 taels."

A warship costs 400,000 taels of silver? Senggelinqin, Yang Fang's eyes were wide open. How much silver does it cost to build a fleet? Millions of taels? After a while, Yang Fang said: "The British are so rich?"

"English is much richer than we think." Yi Zhizuji said first: "This kind of third-level battleship is their main battleship, with at least sixty or seventy, and other auxiliary battleships are difficult to count."

After pondering for a while, Senggelinqin said: "If we want to protect the peace of the southeastern sea, how many fleets will the court build? How many warships? How much silver will it cost?"

After hearing this, Yi Zhizu couldn't help but feel secretly happy. It seemed that Daoguang had intended to build a fleet to protect the southeastern sea. After pondering for a moment, he said: "Our Qing Dynasty coast is long and we need at least two large fleets - the Nanyang Fleet and the Beiyang Fleet. Based on twenty main warships and one hundred auxiliary warships, 30 million taels of silver should be about the same."

"Thirty million!" Senggelinqin murmured: "This is almost the year of the imperial court."

Thirty million, Yishisu is already a big discount. What he is afraid of is that he is scaring Daoguang. He hopes that the court will intend to build a fleet. In this way, the court will be in a hurry to lack silver. This will help him promote the construction of railways and also help the court indulge the development of Yuanqi. After all, Yuanqi has the ability to add enough silver to the court.

After smiling, he said without rushing: "Building a fleet is indeed quite expensive, but you can't just look at expenses, not savings."

"How do you say this?"

"The existing coastal defense of the Qing Dynasty, let alone resisting the invasion of fleets from Western countries, even the ability to investigate the smuggling of rookies. To put it bluntly, it is useless." Yi Zhizu said without hesitation: "The coastal defense strategy should change its thinking and change passive defense to offensive defense.

Building a fleet is an offensive defense. Two large fleets are completely enough to defend the Qing Dynasty's seafront. In this way, the navy from coastal provinces can be mass-deposited, and there is no need to maintain the coastal defense fortifications along the route. It only needs to guard a few important points, how much money can be saved every year?

Furthermore, building a fleet is not something that can be done overnight. You can invest in batches. It would be good if the fleet could be formed within ten years."

Senggelinqin nodded. The court could still take out the belt of the trousers and belts with three to four million a year. It seems that it is still feasible to build a fleet.

Just as the navy warships headed south along the river and headed to Hangzhou via the canal, a fleet of more than 100 large and small cargo ships also went down the river through Yueyang. All the ships were loaded with bags of grain, and the big "reliance on the floods in Anhui and Henan" were marked on both sides of the ship's side, and the two big words "Yuanqi" were written on the flags with white background and blue frames on the bow of the ship.

With Yuan Qi expanding in Jiangnan, there are not many gentry and merchants in the southeastern half of the provinces who do not know Yuan Qi's name. When passing ships on the river see Yuan Qi's large-scale disaster relief efforts, they are all secretly shocked. While sighing about Yuan Qi's strong strength, they also admire Yuan Qi's kindness. Such a large-scale kindness is unheard of. Many ships took the initiative to avoid it, and some even cheered for Yuan Qi.

On a large ship in the middle, Fan Xueju, who was in his forties, was sitting in the cabin and smoking leisurely. He was originally the second shopkeeper of the "Sihai Money House" in Xiguan, Guangzhou. When Yuanqi merged with Guangzhou Qianye, he took the lead in merged with Yuanqi. This risky move brought unexpected benefits to all the shopkeepers and clerks of the "Sihai Money House". As the second shopkeeper, he benefited a lot. Now he is the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi's Anqing Branch, but in fact he is the general manager of Yuanqi in Anhui.

This time, Yuan Qi provided relief to the flood in Anhui and Henan, and went to Hunan to purchase grain. Because of the huge amount, he was worried and took action personally. He knew very well that Yuan Qi's large-scale disaster relief not only helped Yuan Qi quickly open up the situation in Anhui, but also laid the foundation for Yuan Qi to expand to several surrounding provinces, so he naturally did not dare to neglect the slightest.

Looking at the boats avoiding the way and listening to the loud voices from time to time, he was really impressed by the shopkeeper Yi Shizu. This time, Yuan Qi's name was probably going to resound throughout the country. Although he had invested a lot, it was really worth it!

Hangzhou, Beiguan Wharf.

Zhejiang Governor Liu Yunke, with all the civil and military officials from Hangzhou City, were waiting at the dock to welcome the imperial envoy. The weather was the hottest time. Although he sat in a temporary long shed, the scorching sun was on the top and there was no wind. The officials were still sitting in a steamer. Although he kept shaking the folding fan, his chest and back were wet.

Liu Yunke was not old and was still one year away from knowing his destiny. He was a Jinshi in the 19th year of Jiaqing and had 20 years of officialdom. He went from a seventh-rank Xiaojing official to a provincial governor, and was also a governor of Zhejiang. In fact, it was smooth sailing. Of course, without this war, he was probably still serving as the governor of Sichuan. He knew very well that the reason he was able to take over as the governor of Zhejiang was because he was proactive in the war.

However, since the British army captured Ningbo, he had a few small fights with the British army, but he was a little shaken. The British army's combat power was too far from what he had imagined before. It could be said that it was not the same level. This time, Lin Zexu led an army of 20,000 to Hangzhou. He was not happy at all, but deeply worried. He was very clear about Lin Zexu's toughness. He was worried that Lin Zexu would be bleeding in Ningbo.

"Here you! Come!" There was a commotion in the long shed, and the officials all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, they came, and there was no need to suffer this.

The imperial envoy's ship arrived at the dock. Liu Yunke hurriedly led a group of civil and military officials to welcome him. After the ceremony of the imperial envoy, Lin Zexu stepped forward and reached out to help Liu Yunke. When he got up, he smiled and said with a smile: "Brother Yupo is in Hangzhou and is actively preparing for war, which has caused the British to dare to commit lightly. It is really a great contribution."

"Shame, ashamed." Liu Yunke said politely, but he thought to himself, "Why don't Yingyi dare to offend lightly? Yingyi had no intention of attacking Hangzhou at all. As he said that, he reached out and gave in and said: "The imperial envoy was exhausted when waiting for the boat and the train. In the lower class, he had prepared a banquet to welcome you all."

"The banquet will be spared." Lin Ze said slowly: "After retreating to the British and regaining Ningbo, I will hold a celebration banquet to celebrate with you."

After hearing this, the officials in Hangzhou became tense immediately. Seeing this attitude, the imperial envoy was impatient to use troops to recover Ningbo. Liu Yunke's heart was also sank. However, in front of everyone, he didn't want to say much, and quickly reached out and said, "I respectfully invite the imperial envoy to enter the city."

Lin Zexu arranged the imperial envoy to stay in the Gujing Jingshe on the southern foot of the Gushan Mountain in Baidi, West Lake. This was founded by Ruan Yuan, the former governor of Zhejiang. It was not long, but the scenery here is good and not far from the city's official offices.

When I got off the sedan chair, I saw that the West Lake was opposite the imperial envoy was so happy that I heard about the name of West Lake for a long time. Now I have time to take a good tour of West Lake. Although they led a 20,000 army to Hangzhou this time, they were just doing it. They would not fight with the British army at all, and they had their spare time.

Lin Zexu got out of the sedan chair and glanced at the officials in Hangzhou and said, "You are all dispersed."

The officials had been waiting for his words for a long time and bowed out at the ceremony. However, Zhejiang Governor Liu Yunke did not leave and accompanied Lin Zexu to the headquarters slowly. Lin Zexu asked casually: "What's the situation in Hangzhou now?"

"It's quite stable." Liu Yunke replied.

"All the way into the city, the city is not very prosperous."

It’s not just not prosperous, but it’s clearly depressed. Liu Yunke smiled bitterly and said, “The British have occupied Cixi, only two or three hundred miles away from Hangzhou. It can be reached in three days. Most of the people in the city have left the city to avoid disaster. How can there be prosperity?”

The two of them entered the yard as they spoke. After sitting in the hall, Liu Yunke hesitated and said, "There is a saying that I don't know if I should say it..."

Lin Zexu glanced at him and said, "Brother Yupo has something to say, just tell me frankly."

"The British did not intend to attack Hangzhou." Liu Yunke said in a deep voice: "After capturing Cixi, the British did not attack the north again, and seemed to be interested in peace talks..."

After hearing this, Lin Zexu's face turned cold and said, "How much does Brother Yupo know about the power of the British combat?"

"I'm sorry to say it bluntly." Liu Yunke said in a deep voice: "The British and the British rely on are not just strong ships and cannons. They go ashore to fight land. The Eight Banners Green Camp is definitely not the enemy of the British and the British. The British and the British muskets are sharp and the formation is skillful, enough to block ten. Now, there are at least ten thousand British troops stationed in Ningbo prefectures, including Dinghai."

As he said that, he sighed softly and said, "Ningbo, our Zhejiang people don't want to recover. General Li Tingyang and Censor Jiang Wenqing fought with the British in Shaoxing for several times, but they only increased casualties. In order to prevent the morale of the army and caused panic, they have been suppressing the matter and dared not report it."

The taboo of defeat is not repaid. This is the official style. Lin Zexu didn't want to blame him. After all, the other party dared to fight. It is not a little better than those who fled without fighting. He knew the meaning of the other party's words. He was also clear that this was a tactful way to ask him not to send troops to recover Ningbo, so as to avoid a big defeat.

...
Chapter completed!