After the rituals of the king and his subjects, they should get to the point.

"Previously, Guangxi Governor Ni Wenmo had ordered Admiral Huang Guilan to secretly deliver 2,000 foreign guns and 100,000 medicines to the Black Flag Army Liu Yongfu's troops. But Liu wrote to Governor Ni, hoping that the court would support some artillery."

After hearing this, Zaitian asked Weng Tonghe, "What do you think about this matter, Master Weng?"

Weng Tonghe said: "The Liu tribe was originally a remnant of the Heaven and Earth Association, and was wanted by the court to flee to Vietnam. Now the court has to rely on its tribe to fight against the French. However, according to what the Liu tribe does, it seems that it wants to take the opportunity to grow stronger. The old ministers think that if the court agrees to their request, they may be raising tigers in the future."

Zai Tian said: "So, Master Weng does not agree with continuing to support Liu Yongfu? What about King Gong's opinion?"

Yi? stepped forward and said, "Return to the emperor. The news from France is that its domestic cabinet minister Ru Feili seems to be interested in supporting the army's actions in Tonkin. Since last year, it has passed 2.4 million francs of military expenditure, it has recently increased its military expenditure by 3.5 million francs. Now, thousands of French troops have occupied Hanoi under the leadership of the military chief Li Weiye, and the battle in Tonkin is inevitable. If the court does not use Liu Yongfu's troops, it can only order Ni Wenmo to ask the Guangxi admiral to step up the preparations for war."

Both of them should not be given up easily from Tonkin, but they have their own ideas on how to fight against the French.

Zaitian turned his gaze to Liu Changyou. This time he asked him to go to Beijing, mainly to listen to the opinions of local officials on the front line.

Liu Changyou hurried forward, "Return to the emperor, the French's actions in Tonkin were on the surface to destroy Yue, but in fact they were for me. As King Gong said, the French hoped to open up the Red River channel and extend their strength into Yunnan. If Tonkin is not protected, the four provinces of Yun, Guizhou, Guizhou, and Guangdong will be exposed to the French's military peak. Now the French are increasing their troops in Tonkin day by day, but they have been unable to launch them for a long time. The main obstacle is the Black Flag Army. The legal person has offered a reward of 10,000 yuan to buy Liu Yongfu's head, and a reward of 100,000 yuan for the French army to defeat the victory. , destroy the old nest of the Black Flag Army. When I set off for Beijing, I heard that Liu Yongfu went to Liangshan to meet Huang Guilan in person, and expressed his common hatred for the enemy. In my opinion, the French may launch an offensive at any time. Instead of temporarily practicing Guangxi's army training, it is better to use the Liu regiment as a barrier first. On the one hand, it can buy time for our army to train, and on the other hand, it can also pluck the spirit of the legal person, consume their troops, food, pay, ammunition, and wait for the Liu regiment and the legal person to fight both sides. Our army has been trained properly. It is best to decide the victory with the top of Mount Tai.

Zai Tian nodded. It seemed that Liu Changyou's opinion was to temporarily support Liu Yongfu. Zai Tian also noticed that Liu Changyou seemed to believe in the combat effectiveness of the Black Flag Army, believing that Liu Yongfu was the real existence that the French were concerned about, and that the Black Flag Army had the ability to fight with the French to "severe losses".

Liu Changyou's confidence in the Black Flag Army made Zaitian very curious.

"Can the Black Flag Army stand in the way of the French?"

Liu Changyou thought for a while and said, "The territory of Baosheng is dangerous. The Black Flag Army has been operating in the local area for a long time and has been deeply rooted. If Baosheng has this unit stationed, the French army will never succeed. However, the Black Flag Army's headquarters is only three or four thousand people now. If they want to divide their troops to station in other areas of Tonkin, they may have insufficient troops."

Zaitian thought for a while, but did not continue to ask Liu Changyou, but turned to Zuo Zongtang and said, "What do the Ministry of War do you have?"

Zuo Zongtang stepped forward and said, "I think Lord Liu's opinion is very reasonable. The Black Flag Army once killed the Marshal General An Ye ten years ago, and fought to establish peace for ten years in Tokichi. The combat effectiveness of its army is expected. Instead of letting Huang Guilan's army train and fight bravely, it is better to use the Liu regiment to consume the spirit of the legal person. Maybe the legal person will suffer setbacks again, and it is unknown if another ten years of stability."

After Zuo Zongtang finished speaking, Yi said again: "The current excuse for the legal person is only Vietnam. If our dynasty directly sends troops to the war, it will inevitably lead to a substantial population. And Liu Yongfu is the deputy admiral of the Three Propaganda of Vietnam. It is justified that he uses the Black Flag Army to resist the law."

Zuo Zongtang and Prince Gong both clearly expressed their support for Liu Changyou's proposal and continued to support Liu Yongfu. At the same time, Zuo Zongtang did not forget to step on the Huai general Huang Guilan.

Among the six auxiliary ministers, Li Hongzhang is not there, and two of the remaining five have expressed their attitude. Now it depends on Prince Chun Yihuan's vote.

Under the gaze of everyone, Yihuan stepped forward slowly and said, "I will discuss it."

It was already late at night, but Zhang Zhidong still sat in the study and did not go back to rest.

Two months ago, Zhang Zhidong received a secret decree from the emperor, and told him to do two errands by himself. One of them was to ban smoking and quit drugs.

Shanxi was greatly affected by opium. People in Shanxi say, "The Jin Dynasty is not in disaster but in smoke." People who are addicted to smoking opium are ten and six in a village, ten and seven and eight in a city, and almost everyone is sucked by officials, soldiers and soldiers, which shows how deep the poison is.

The harm of opium caused everyone in Shanxi to be barren and every family was rising. The whole province was in disgrace and devastated, like a ghost country. Therefore, in addition to recruiting talents, organizing troops, investigating warehouses, rectifying officials, reinvigorating cheating, and impeaching county officials who indulge in corruption and harming the people, Zhang Zhidong came to Shanxi to ban smoking.

The emperor thought about this with him, but it seemed that the emperor thought more thoughtfully than himself. In the letter, the emperor gave a prescription for "quitting smoking", saying that it was a prescription for prescriptions. Those who smoked cigarettes could quit smoking after taking them for one month. This is much better than forcing smoking to ban. After all, for those who have been eating opium for a long time, once they force themselves to quit smoking, they will be in danger of their lives immediately.

Moreover, forcibly quitting smoking will inevitably involve opium tobacco restaurants. Most of these tobacco restaurants are behind them. Once they are forced to ban them all, they will not be told if they are offended, and they may even lead to international disputes.

But the emperor said that opium is not harmed by one person, but a family. If this person can quit smoking with drugs, his family will definitely not let him smoke again. Without the guests who eat opium, the tobacco restaurant will naturally not be able to open it. At the same time, the court will impose heavy taxes on the tobacco restaurants, which will subsidize finances on the one hand, and restrict the opening of opium tobacco restaurants, both of which will be beautiful.

Of course, pharmaceuticals require money, but no matter how expensive the medicine is, it is cheaper than opium. And it only takes one month to take it. Letting those who eat opium get some money is more beneficial than disadvantages.

But another thing really made Zhang Zhidong scratch his head.

This matter is actually not complicated. In the letter, the emperor instructed Zhang Zhidong to contact Shanxi merchants, set up a joint bill number "Shen Shang Bank", and to establish a channel for wealth and goods to Mongolia outside the northwest.

Things are not a big deal. It is normal for the court to seek profit, but the problem is that the Ministry of Revenue should be handled by the Ministry of Revenue. He handed over such a thing to a governor, and attached so much importance to it. He said so seriously that Zhang Zhidong was confused.

The emperor said in his letter that Prince Chun originally wanted to recommend himself to the south to supervise Guangdong and Guangxi to deal with the French. However, the emperor believed that his affairs were more important than arranging himself to go to Guangdong and Guangxi, saying that it was related to the life and death of the Qing Dynasty ten or twenty years later.

Now the French are having a good time in Vietnam, and this battle may be fought at any time. Zhang Zhidong cannot understand that a governor of Shanxi is more important than a governor of Guangdong and Guangxi? A ticket number is more important than Vietnam? A freight channel is more important than a Frenchman's troops at the city?

Is the little emperor crazy?

But the crazy emperor is also the emperor. No matter how reluctant the emperor has given the matter, he has to do it well!

He slapped the table, venting his dissatisfaction, and then shouted: "Come here!"

The butler arrived in response.

"Give me instructions and give me a post to the major merchants in Jin Province in my name, and ask their bosses to have dinner in Hongyanlou ten days later."

"Yes, I'll do it now."

He moved his mouth from above and ran off his legs from below. At the command of the governor, several quick horses separated their heads.

‘Bang bang, bang bang bang!’

"Open the door! Are you breathless? Open the door quickly!"

A burst of footsteps came, and the one who smashed the door finally stopped smashing it. Then a small gap was opened in the door and a black head was poked out.

"Oh, it's Jun Ye!"

The doorman Lao Cangtou saw that he was wearing a uniform and didn’t know what he was doing, but he definitely couldn’t afford to offend him. As the saying goes, the people don’t fight with the officials. Even if our family is rich, don’t mess with the people in this yamen without provoking him.

"Sorry, sorry, I don't know if it's your old age, so I've been waiting for you for a long time. Please watch the tea inside."

I haven't seen any scene before, so I wouldn't pay attention to the door guard. When I saw the door open, I kept my waist and raised my foot and walked in.

Lao Cang didn't dare to stop him, so he let him go into the living room to serve tea, and then hurried to notify the butler.

Soon, the tea was served and the housekeeper arrived.

Goshha looked at the person with a squinted eyes and saw that the clothes were a manager, so he stood up and lit up his waist: "I am the guard beside the governor Zhang. I will come to visit your master at the order of the governor."

The butler didn't see clearly what was written on the thing that flashed in front of him, but the name of the governor's personal bodyguard was really heard. The so-called seventh-rank official of the prime minister's gatekeeper, the governor's guard, no matter whether he was of good character or not, he could not afford to offend him.

"Oh, look, it's really hard, thank you for always going this trip. I wonder what the Lord Futai summoned?"

Nagoshiha sneered, then sat back and tasted the tea, then slowly said: "My master told me to come to visit your master, not you!"

"Yes, yes," listening to Goshha's tone, it seemed that the visitor was not good. The butler immediately saw beads of sweat on his head and hurriedly said, "You always sit down, I'll go and invite the master now. Please wait, wait."

Soon, Zhi saw the butler running in a slight stroll, following an old man wearing a cucumber hat, and came in a hurry.

The old man entered the living room, quickly looked at the visitor, and then bowed: "Old King Benchang, I have met the adults."

Nagoshiha followed Zhang Zhidong and was a cognitive person. Although the old man who came here was simple in dressing, he was elegant and could tell at a glance that he was not an ordinary rich man. Since the master came, he stopped controlling it. Then he pulled out a gold-burned greeting from his arms and said, "According to the order of the governor of Shanxi, Mr. Wang, please go to the banquet in Taiyuan Hongyan Tower this month at the 17th." As he said that, he handed over the post.

Wang Benchang hurriedly took it and said, "I dare not, I dare not, what good is I capable of, how dare I work to help the Lord of Taiwan to invite a banquet."

Nagoshha sneered and said, "I don't know what you are capable of. In short, I have sent the post. As for whether to go or not, you can do it yourself, so I won't leave it anymore. Say goodbye!"

As he said that, he bowed his hand and walked out.

Wang Benchang hurriedly gave him a look and gave the butler a wink. The butler understood and hurriedly ran to seal a bag of silver, which was about fifty taels and stuffed it into Nagoshiha's hands.

Goshha weighed the silver bag in his hand and smiled and said, "Old Master Wang is intent. Okay, please stay. I have to go to the next house, so I won't keep it anymore. See you in Taiyuan."

Wang Benchang smiled and said, "Yes, thank you for your hard work, hey, walk slowly, walk slowly."

Seeing the horse raising its four hooves and leaving, Wang Benchang shook his head, sighed, turned around and walked into the door.

The so-called banquet is not good. Compared with the "red and white bombs" more than a hundred years later, the invitation at this time is truly a "bomb". As the saying goes, "the county magistrate who destroys the family, the prefect who destroys the family." If this banquet for a provincial governor is not good, it may be the ending of a family ruined and his family.

Fortunately, the fifty taels of silver were not spent in vain. The guard said something that contained information before leaving. This time the governor invited more than his family. If he calculated this way, then maybe all the well-known merchants in Jin Province were on the post. Thinking of this, Wang Benchang quickly ordered: "Come the sedan chair quickly, I'm going to the waiting house."
Chapter completed!