The host and guest took a seat, and then Yang Yi looked at Xiang Rong carefully. It seemed that Xiang Rong had been doing well recently, with a happy and proud look. Seeing that Yang Yi didn't speak, Xiang Rong kept looking at him. He thought that Yang Yi would speak first, so he bowed and said, "Mr. Yang, Xiang is here for this visit."

Yang Yi raised his hand and said, "Sir Xiang, don't say it quickly, and I'll guess what you are coming." Since Xiang Rong listened to Yang Yi's advice, although there was no major victory in the battle against the Taiping Army these days, he had not suffered any defeat. Now the Taiping Army has occupied the three towns of Wuhan, and everything is consistent with what Yang Yi said in Yong'an. His admiration for Yang Yi is increasing, so when Yang Yi said this, he immediately acted as a stern gesture: "Xiang has been taught in this way."

Yang Yi smiled slightly and said, "I dare not be taught, but I still want it. Congratulations to you, sir, look at your expression, and combined with the recent battle situation between the two lakes, it must be that the emperor has ordered you to come to Beijing. I wish you to go here to increase your rank. If nothing unexpected happens, the emperor will appoint you as the imperial envoy, and the general will lead the military orders of the two lakes to encircle and suppress the thieves."

Xiang Rong immediately looked admirable and said, "Mr. He is very good at speaking. Xiang Rong is not talented, but he is highly praised by the emperor. Now that Feng Zhao has entered the capital, the emperor will definitely ask me about my views on the future situation. However, Xiang Rong Cai is not knowledgeable, and his heart is unpredictable, so I came to Shanghai to ask Mr. for advice. I hope Mr. Xiang Rong will be grateful to him." When talking about the emperor, Xiang Rong bowed to the north to express his respect for the emperor.

After hearing Xiang Rong's intention, Yang Yi picked up the tea cup without any haste, blew the tea leaves on his face, and took a sip. Xiang Rong was a little anxious when he saw that Yang Yi was not talking, so he quickly stood up and bowed to his mouth and said, "Please teach me sir." Yang Yi could not accept such a great gift from Xiang Rong, so he quickly stood up and held Xiang Rong and said, "Sir, don't worry, I just thought about how sir, how should sir, deal with the emperor's inquiries." Then the two sat down again.

Yang Yi pondered for a while and said, "The emperor now has three major worries in his heart."

Xiang Rong asked very cooperatively: "What are the three major worries?"

Yang Yi continued: "First is this thief who is a disaster for the two lakes. Now this thief is seizing Wuhan and is arrogant. It must be said that it has become a climate. As early as in Yong'an, I said that once Wuhan is lost, the river will not be protected. In my opinion, Jinling will fall into the hands of the thief within three months. At that time, the thief will also have a low tide in strategic offensives, and Jiangnan will have a relatively stable period. The second is the foreigners. In the eyes of the emperor, the foreigners are just greedy for our Chinese wealth and cannot threaten the court. The third worry is the Han ministers. The Eight Banners are now in a downturn. The emperor is worried that the Han ministers will be in great power from now on and will not be able to control them in the future. As long as the emperor advises the emperor to restrict these things, it will not be difficult to deal with. The only thing that is difficult to deal with is the thief, which is the emperor's confidant."

Yang Yi paused and took a sip of water and continued, "To say something that lords don't like to hear, now the Eight Banners are all people fighting cocks and horses, and they are no longer as brave as they were back then. The Green Camp has a loose military discipline and a poor morale, so it is impossible to compete with the thief. These are all to be punished in the future. The tiger entrenched in the dragon plate of Jinling, and is already the aura of an emperor. After the thief enters Jinling, it will be used as the pseudo-government. Compared with the thief wandering around, the strategic policy of the thief encirclement and suppression of the thief at that time is relatively easy to determine."

"Oh, how could sir do you think this?" Xiang Rong asked in confusion:

"Although Jinling is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, it is not a place of war. Jinling is backing mountains and waters, and the way out is narrow. Once the Yangtze River waterway is blocked, the generals of the thieves are like turtles in a jar and can only fight to the west. You can report to the emperor that two major camps in Jiangnan and Jiangbei will be established to attack Jinling. Most of the leaders of the thieves are from poor families. Once they enter Jinling, they will be nostalgic for prosperity and will not give up easily. At that time, Jinling will become their burden. They are restrained by Jinling in both strategic and tactical terms, and will no longer be as flexible as they were before. In this way, it is only a matter of time to destroy the thieves."

"Sir, indeed, it is a long-term plan. With this strategy, it is just around the corner to eliminate the thief." Xiang Rong's flattery immediately slapped over, and it seemed that he was also an old fry in the officialdom. The timing and timing of the flattery were just right.

Yang Yixin laughed inwardly: "This is inappropriate. What I said just now is just a rough idea. Just because these soldiers and generals in the court are not enough to pose a threat to the thief, we have to find another way."

When Xiang Rong heard this, he thought to himself that in Guangxi and Hunan, he sent troops in Guangxi and Hunan, he was short of food and rushed north. The officers and soldiers from all over the country were unable to do anything about them. He almost lost his life in Guangxi, and he still dared not tell others.

"Sir, please continue." Xiang Rong asked quickly:

"In war, one must have money, two must have soldiers, and three must have good equipment. These three are the foundation of victory. The court will allocate funds for the government. If the soldiers are not mentioned at present, as for equipment? Is the foreign gun I bought for the adults last time easy to use?"

When Yang Yi talked about foreign guns, Xiang Rong became excited: "Sir, the foreign gun I bought last time was really good. When the situation in the enemy and we were difficult to resolve, I adjusted the foreign gun and attacked him hard. The thief immediately retreated. In addition, the foreign gun bought by the Mr. is much better than those sold by other foreigners. It takes a lot of time to charge the other foreign guns. The ones he bought can be fired again as long as the bullets were replaced. It is really good. I wonder if Mr. can help Xiang Rong get hundreds of them? If there are any bullets, please help me replenish them."

Yang Yi laughed secretly: It’s not that when Xiang Rong was beaten away by the Taiping Army, he used a foreign gun team to cover it, and even said that others were defeated. In fact, this firearm was always highly valued by those in power during the Qing Dynasty. During the Qianlong period, a minister wrote a letter to propose that the martial arts examination should be regarded as one of the items. However, Qianlong considered that the number of firearms among the people would increase sharply. If the people had powerful firearms, once someone made the rebellion, it would be more difficult to suppress them. In Qianlong’s view, firearms should be unique to the government and as the most powerful weapon to suppress rebellion. How can it flow into the people? Therefore, Qianlong rejected this proposal, and China missed it.

An opportunity to fully enter the era of hot weapons. However, the imperial court has always attached great importance to the construction of firearm troops. Each dynasty has set up a "Shen Ji Battalion" but the number is small, and its power and range are much worse than that of foreign guns and cannons. At the same time, the Qing Dynasty controlled firearms very strictly. The people did not allow private possession of firearms. A major player found that it was a crime of treason. Speaking of Yang Yi's Sino-Public joint venture, it was considered an illegal factory. The last time I bought a gun was considered a lucky fortune. Hoffman brought Chinese guns was the latest product of the Kingdom of Prussia. Even the troops were not equipped, and it was one of the most advanced rifles in Europe at present. Yang Yi felt very frustrated when he thought about it.

"Foreign guns and cannons, I will be responsible for you to get the money you can pay, but I'm afraid the price will be much more expensive than before if you want it last time." Yang Yixian raised the price first

"Oh? Why is this?" Xiang Rong asked with distress when he thought about spending a lot of money.

Yang Yicai said in the process of how he met Hoffman from Prussia in Guangzhou and how he made friends. When Xiang Rong heard that Yang Yi saved Sir Hoffman from Prussia by chance. In order to thank Yang Yi for his kindness, the two of them even bowed and bought and gave Yang Yi a batch of guns half and half to buy and gave Yang Yi, so that they could buy bargains.

After saying this, Yang Yi said again: "Although he is brother to Hoffman, he is clear about the accounts of his own brothers. He can't let others go far away from Europe and make money without making money. This is really unreasonable. Besides, even if he puts the money in front of me, I will take out a gun and have to wait for someone to transport it to you, right?" It means you can do it. In short, if you think of such a good thing, you have no hope of it. Now that you don't have enough money, you can't afford it.

"Okay, sir, let's do it. sir is happy, sir is happy, I am so happy, sir, sir, sir." As Xiang Rong said that, he took out a large denomination silver note and placed it on the table. Yang Yi looked at it roughly. It looked like he was about 100,000 yuan. It seemed that Xiang Rong had tasted the sweetness, and he really invested a lot this time.

"Okay, I'm going to buy a foreign gun." Yang Yi ignored Xiang Rong's distressed gaze and took the silver notes into his arms.

"Sir, let's talk about this soldier in the end."

"Seeking the sir,"

"Old man, the people's hearts are available. It is a disaster for the thief to cause disaster. Many civil gentry hate them. When you come to the capital to meet the saint, you can ask the emperor to issue an order to encourage the people to set up group training at their own expenses, assist the official army in suppressing the thieves, and the court rewards them according to their merits. In this way, the court will have a lot of military courage and can save a lot of expenses."

"If you listen to a good advice from Mr. Xiang Rong, you will have a clear idea. It's a pity that Mr. Xiang is very talented and has a far-sighted vision, but why didn't he join the court as an official and share the worries of the court? With Mr. Xiang Rong's talent, it is not impossible to be a minister in the court when he is a minister." Xiang Rong began to use his official position to win over Yang Yi.

"My lord has been too awarded. Actually, I really have the idea of ​​becoming an official in the court. I wonder if I can help me?"

When Xiang Rong heard this, his interest came. He always thought that Yang Yi was not interested in being an official, and wanted to win over Yang Yi but could not find a way. Now Yang Yi took the initiative to say that with his current status, he would recommend Yang Yi as a small official, which was not like playing. He always asked Yang Yi, which made him not tough in speaking in front of Yang Yi. Now that the opportunity to turn over has come, Xiang Rong couldn't help but feel excited.
Chapter completed!