Shanghai, Huangpu River, Olifen Pier.

Two large passenger ships with mixed steam and sails slowly drove away from the dock with a long whistle sound. This passenger ship belongs to the ship company jointly ventured by Yuanqi and Olivern Trading Company in the United States. It usually travels between Shanghai and New York. In recent years, the Qing Dynasty and the United States have been in a honeymoon period. The two countries have frequent personnel exchanges, so the ocean liner naturally came into being.

These two passenger ships carrying the first mission of the Qing Dynasty to various Western countries this time were going to detour Europe and cross the Atlantic Ocean to America. There were many people seeing off the docks, and they stood densely with the docks, and they waved farewell frequently. Yi Zhizu and Prince Hui Mianyu stood in front of the docks, and they also waved slowly. This farewell will probably take two or three years.

Seeing the passenger ship gradually moving farther away, Yi Zhizu turned around and got into the sedan chair and returned to Zhenhai Gong Mansion. After getting off the sedan chair, he issued Prince Hui's sedan chair and followed behind. Mian You, who was standing there, walked slowly over and said, "Is there anything wrong with the prince?"

Mian Yu smiled and said, "I don't know what I can do, come here to sit here in Guocheng."

"Your Majesty, don't worry." Yi Zhizu said as he reached out and made a gesture of invitation, and said slowly while walking: "The ocean liner travels to and from the Qing Dynasty and Western countries all year round. He is experienced and will not have any accidents. Besides, the two passenger ships are traveling together."

"This is not what I worry about." Mian You said softly.

What are you worried about? Worrying about the outbreak of war and the safety of the envoys in Europe and America? Yi Shizuo glanced at him and simply took on the conversation lazily.

Seeing that he didn't respond, Mian Yu continued, "Guocheng is so relieved to Citiguo?"

After pondering for a moment, Yi Zhizu said: "Citi Country has no strength to provoke the Qing Dynasty at all, and the two countries have no major conflict of interest. Moreover, Citi Country cannot afford to cut off contact with the Qing Dynasty. The prince will relax his heart."

"Since Guocheng said this, I will feel relieved." Mian Yu said, "I will be very expensive when the envoys visit the envoys?"

"Not too much." Yi Zhizu said uneasy: "While Western countries will inevitably receive warmly from the visit of the Qing Dynasty envoys, and there will not be too many places that require Yuan Qi to pay the silver."

The two chatted in disguise. After entering Changle Bookstore, Mian Yu said the serious matter. "This time, Guocheng urged Heilongjiang to use troops to fight quickly, and also reduced the scale of troops sent to the northwest. It also said that the invasion of Britain and France is inevitable. Isn't it true?"

Yi Zhizu knew clearly that it must be Xianfeng asked him to test the words. He also hoped that the court would be mentally prepared. Moreover, Zhang Lexing's troops moved to Xuzhou were also unconcealed. If he didn't explain it clearly, the court should be suspicious again.

After lit a cigarette and took a few sips slowly, he said: "The last time Britain, France and the United States joined forces to propose the terms of the agreement to revise the agreement, it is already very clear. What is the problem? Britain, France and the United States are very dissatisfied with the trade with the Qing Dynasty and hope to further open up the market of the Qing Dynasty.

I have said before that the Qing Dynasty's population of 400 million, accounting for 40% to 30% of the world's total population, is the largest market in the world. Opening up, occupying and continuously expanding this market is the most urgent task of Britain, France and the United States at present, and it is also most in line with the interests of the domestic bourgeoisie of the three countries.

It can be said that this is a strategic issue of national interests of the Three Kingdoms! After the end of the Crimean War, Britain and France will free up their hands and will inevitably resolve this problem as soon as possible.

In addition, in the Crimean War, Russia was defeated and was seriously injured. It needed to calm down and lick the wounds, which would inevitably slow down its expansion in Asia. As victors, Britain and France naturally would not miss this rare opportunity to accelerate the expansion of Asian forces.

What was the Qing Dynasty doing? The Qing Dynasty expanded in the northwest, Southeast Asia, the southern foot of Tibet, the Kamchatka, and suppressed Russia in the northeast. It can be said that in the Crimean War, the Qing Dynasty, who stood by and watched, became the biggest beneficiary! It also curbed the expansion of Britain's power in Asia. How could Britain and France give up?

Also, the Qing Dynasty has vigorously introduced and developed industries over the years and its national strength has become stronger and stronger. This is something that Britain and France cannot tolerate. They are unwilling to lose the Qing Dynasty, the largest market! They are even more unwilling to rise strongly, affect the trade between the East and the West, and destroy the pattern of the East and the West!”

Speaking of this, he paused and said in a stressful tone: "So, I would say that this war with Britain and France is inevitable! Since it is an inevitable war, since it is a war related to the strategic level of national interests, Britain and France will not delay it. They will take advantage of the unfavorable situation of the Qing Dynasty using troops on the frontiers to launch a war!"

Mian Yu listened for a while and couldn't speak, and after a long time he spoke, "Since that is the case, why didn't Guocheng recover its troops and strictly prevent it, perhaps this war can be avoided."

"Did the prince not understand?" Yi Zhizu knocked the ashes, "This is an inevitable war. Even if the Qing Dynasty takes it seriously, Britain and France will launch this war! It is very likely that this is a war between the East and the West, and the Qing Dynasty may face the coalition forces of six countries including Britain, France, the United States and Russia, Spain and the Netherlands!

Even if diplomacy is successful, it may face a large-scale invasion by the five alliances of Britain, France, Russia, West and the Netherlands! In my opinion, if the Qing Dynasty wants to rise strongly, it must go through the test of war. This battle is both a test and an opportunity for the Qing Dynasty!”

The Six-Nation Alliance, the Five-Nation Alliance? Mian Yu-ting was frightened. The Qing Dynasty that Britain could fight back then was covered in dust, let alone the Five-Nation Alliance. After calming down, he thought for a while, and realized that the other party's tone was wrong. What does it mean to be both a test and an opportunity?

Thinking of the other party's super predictive ability, he could assert the outbreak and scale of the Crimean War several years ago, he hesitated for a while and said: "When Guocheng was about to end the Crimean War, he was using troops everywhere. Could it be that it was deliberately done?"

Yi Zhizu smiled, "Yuan Qi is not so arrogant that he thinks he can compete with the coalition forces of several Western countries. Moreover, now is a critical period for Yuan Qi's development, and what he fears most is war. After all, the destructiveness of war is too great."

After hearing this, Mian Yu nodded slightly. Indeed, although Yi Zhizu was bold, he never fought a war without confidence. Knowing that he might face the coalition forces of several Western countries, he would never take the initiative to provoke or lead a large-scale war without confidence.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "How much chance does Yuanqi have to win against this inevitable war?"

Yi Zhizui said lightly: "There is at least 60% chance of winning."

"Sixty percent chance of winning?" Mian Yu looked at him in disbelief. This was a coalition of five countries or six countries. How could he have such a high chance of winning?

"What are the biggest advantages of our Qing Dynasty? Two points: one is that the territory is vast and has a great strategic depth, and the other is that it has a large population and a continuous source of troops." Yi Zhizu looked confident, "What are the biggest disadvantages of Western countries? The trans-ocean expedition is too long, the logistics supply line is too long, the scale of troops is large, and the logistics supply is a big problem. The scale of troops is small, so it is not enough to fight at all!"

Isn't this nonsense? Western countries have huge naval fleets and huge merchant fleets. Moreover, Britain has huge colonies in Asia. What is the logistics supply? Mian Yu glanced at him and said, "In the Crimean War, the military equipment of Britain and France was equipped with Minnie guns."

"Aren't we equipped the Minnie gun?" Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "Fight for casualties? Fight for population? No one in the Qing Dynasty is afraid!"

Seeing that he was full of confidence and Mian You no longer rambled, he was eager to go back and sort out the remarks and talked to Yi Shizuo, and was afraid that something would be missed. He immediately laughed and said, "Guocheng is talking about the Qing Dynasty, with a population of 400 million, and it is a thousand miles away. I am afraid who will come." As he said that, he stood up, "Guocheng is busy with affairs, and I will not disturb you much."

Yi Zhizu naturally would not try to keep him, so he immediately stood up and saw him off. At the gate of the yard, he stopped and said goodbye. However, he saw the gatekeeper leading Tang Renhui, the chief manager of Baoshan Ordnance Factory, coming over. He couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He was planning to take time to go to the Military Ordnance Factory these days. It seems that it should be good news, otherwise, Tang Renhui would not come to the door.

Tang Renhui brought it to good news. After entering the study, he took out a few yellow bullets and smiled and said, "Big shopkeeper, after nearly a year of test firing and continuous improvement, all tests have passed, and the response is excellent, so you can produce in large quantities."

The fixed-loaded metal bullet shell bullets were carefully played with the yellow bullets, and his heart was undulating and he felt extremely emotional. He didn't have much contact with this thing before, but he never cared about it before. Now he knew how difficult it was to manufacture this bullet, six years, six years! With his specific idea, drawing drawings, and spared no effort, it took him six years to make it. How could he not sigh!

"Let's go back to Baoshan." Yi Zhizu stood up, hearing is false, seeing is true, and seeing is true, and he has to witness it with his own eyes.

"Bang bang bang" a crisp gunshot sounded at the shooting range behind Baoshan Ordnance Factory. After a sound of pulling the bolt, the gunshots sounded again, and the gunshots followed by waves. The whistle sounded, and the gunshots stopped.

Although you can also smell the smell of gunpowder, there is no smoke. This is the most obvious difference between smokeless gunpowder and black gunpowder. Of course, the power of smokeless gunpowder is far greater than that of black gunpowder. It is reflected in the range of range. The range of smokeless gunpowder is much farther than that of smokeless gunpowder.

Smokeless gunpowder - nitrofiber, can be said to be the first developed by Yuanqi. In 1846, some chemists invented nitrofibers, but nitrofibers are very unstable and cannot be used as ammunition gunpowder.

However, under the guidance of Easy to Content, the Research Institute of the Shanghai Ammunition Bureau dissolved nitrocellulose in ether and ethanol to make it a gelatinous substance. Then, it was pressed into sheets, cut strips, and dried and hardened, so that smokeless gunpowder could become ammunition medicine. Of course, Easy to Content is still a secret for this technology.

After the gunshot, Yi Zhizu raised his telescope and looked at the target card opposite. He placed it on the dozen badge targets at a distance of 400 meters, with almost eight or nine bullet holes distributed. It is already very good to have this hit rate at this distance. Not only is the gun good, but the bullets good, but the shooting skills are also very good.

Seeing Yi Zhizuo put down his telescope, the company commander Sun Changgui reported lightly: "Reported to the big shopkeeper, the effective range is 800 meters, the farthest can reach 1,100 meters, the rate of fire can reach ten to twelve rounds in one minute, and the combat state can reach at least seven to eight rounds per minute. You can use station, squat, horizontal loading and shooting."

Yi Zhizu waved his hand and said, "Try five hundred meters."

Sun Changgui was not long-winded and quickly ordered the target to move. Yi Zhizu took advantage of this gap to ask several soldiers who were shooting the target, "Have you found any stuck?"

"Yes." A soldier whispered: "But it's rare, sometimes you may not encounter it once even if you fight for a day."

"How about this gun?"

The gun used for shooting targets was the Baoshan rifle developed by Yuanqi himself - a rear-mounted gun that uses a rotating rear-pull bolt lock. It was finally finalized after several years of repeated modifications. Compared with the most advanced Dress bolt firing gun in Europe during the same period, it was completely a fire stick! The front-mounted Minnie gun is not even comparable, and it is a world of difference.

When asked about the rifle, the soldiers' eyes were shiny and said in a lingering manner: "That's great!"

"It's countless times better than Minnie's gun!"

"It's simply incomparable. The Minnie gun is even worse than the fire stick."

"Not only is the shooting speed fast, but the hit rate seems to be improving."

"Totally crush the Minnie gun, just like the Minnie gun crushes the smoothbore gun."

There was a lot of cheers, and Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "Are there any shortcomings or inconveniences?"

After hesitating for a while, a soldier spoke, "I really didn't find anything deficient."

Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "This rifle is still a transitional product and is not perfect. You are welcome to report any unreasonable parts or defects in the gun design at any time so that researchers can make targeted improvements."

As he said that, he changed his mind, "How high is the hit rate of the effective range of 500 meters and 600 meters?"

Sun Changgui rushed to answer: "The hit rate of 500 meters is only half, 600 meters, less than 30%. However, an excellent shooter has a hit rate of 600 meters, and can even have a hit rate of 100% or 20% at 800 meters."

Can you have a hit rate of 100% or 20% in 800 meters? Yi Zhizu couldn't help but be amazed. Nowadays, there are no scopes for rifles. How did they fight? Sharpshooter? Yuan Qi's new recruits especially like shooting and killing officers. He also wanted to trick out the scopes, but he didn't know the principle of that thing.

A long whistle came, and the target card had been set. Sun Changgui quickly ordered the whole team and the soldiers entered the shooting position. Yi Zhizu caught a glimpse of Tang Renhui leading a team of people to come quickly with a long box. He couldn't help but smile. Without guessing, he knew that it was a grenade!
Chapter completed!