Chapter 542: The Qing Dynasty Is Unreliable, We Have to Rely on Ourselves

Chapter 536: The Qing Dynasty is unreliable, and we have to rely on ourselves

At the end of July 1857, Britain officially declared war on the Qing Dynasty.

Less than a week after Britain declared war on the Qing Dynasty, France also officially declared war on the Qing Dynasty.

Britain and France quickly reached a consensus on forming a coalition to expedition to the Qing Dynasty.

In view of the fact that the Battle of Humen caused considerable casualties to the British army, the British high-level officials increased the strength of the first batch of Far East Expeditionary Force from 49 warships of various types and more than 6,400 officers and soldiers to 53 warships of various types and more than 8,400 officers and soldiers.

The French side also increased the strength of the expeditionary force from 12 warships of various types and more than 1,500 officers and soldiers to 18 warships of various types and more than 1,800 officers and soldiers.

A large army of 71 warships and 10,200 people set out from the English Channel and rushed towards Guangzhou City in a mighty and aggressive manner.

At the same time, the officials of the Qing Dynasty were completely unaware of this matter and were still immersed in the joy of the Battle of Humen.

Emperor Xianfeng praised Ye Mingchen, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Bai Gui, the Governor of Guangdong.

"The late emperor often regretted and resented the Southeast Campaign during his lifetime. The Qing Dynasty has been established for more than 200 years and has never suffered such humiliation.

The late emperor often said that after the small humiliation of the "Jiangning Article", the Qing Dynasty must have a big extension. What is a big extension? The Battle of Humen is a big extension. This great victory is enough to comfort the late emperor and the spirits of our ancestors in heaven.

Among the officials of the court, no one who knows the barbarians and barbarians can be better than Ye Mingchen. Ye Mingchen has been the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi for more than nine years and has not allowed the British to enter Guangzhou City. I am very pleased.

Bai Gui also lived up to my high expectations. He personally attended the Battle of Humen. In the battle, he led his troops to kill more than 2,000 British barbarians and captured more than 500 enemies. This was the greatest victory since the Southeast Campaign in the Gengzi Year (1840).

There is also the Guangdong Navy Admiral Hong Mingxiang, who has made contributions to the rectification of the Guangdong Navy and the repair of the Humen Fort, and should also be rewarded.

Who said that there is no one who knows military affairs in our Qing Dynasty except Zeng Disheng and Liang Shaoqiong? I think this Bai Gui is proficient in military affairs. "

At the end, because Bai Gui was a Mongolian bannerman, Emperor Xianfeng did not forget to praise Bai Gui, and even had the idea of ​​using Bai Gui to eliminate the Hongyang Rebellion.

Zeng Disheng and Liang Shaoqiong, two Han ministers, held heavy troops, which was not a good thing for the Qing Dynasty.

"This great victory is the protection of our ancestors. The emperor knows people and appoints them well. God bless our Qing Dynasty. "

Seeing that Emperor Xianfeng was very pleased, Prince Gong Yi quickly seized the opportunity and mentioned the relevant matters of establishing the ship administration to Emperor Xianfeng.

"Shen Baozhen, the prefect of Fuzhou, returned from an inspection in the United States and said that the strength of American warships and the power of artillery were no less than those of England. Moreover, the United States has always been quite respectful to our Great Qing, and its subjects in our Great Qing also abide by the rules, unlike England, who is rude and unreasonable."

"The foreigners' tricks are only like this. With the lessons learned from the Battle of Humen, as long as the governors and governors-general of various places are as attentive as Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui, take more precautions, and improve military preparations, it is expected that the foreigners will not dare to violate the borders of our Great Qing again.

Foreigners are greedy for profit and have always liked to make a living. Since the United States is respectful to our Qing Dynasty, most of the foreign cannons used on the Humen Fort were purchased from the United States. We can purchase more foreign cannons from the United States as appropriate, and it can be considered that our Qing Dynasty is taking care of their business.

As for the establishment of the Ship Administration, we will discuss it later.

The most important thing at the moment is to put an end to the Hongyang Rebellion as soon as possible. Foreigners are a mustard disease. Hongyang has long occupied the important tax-collecting area of ​​Jiangnan, which is a serious threat to our Qing Dynasty. "

Emperor Xianfeng interrupted Yi's words. With the victory of Humen in front of him, he is no longer interested in establishing the Ship Administration.

Since the Humen Fort can stop the foreigners, can the more solid Dagukou Fort not stop the foreigners?

In Xianfeng's view, the "Jiangning Treaty" and other treaties are just a necessary alliance under the city, which is a temporary measure at the time. It cannot be trusted, let alone obeyed.

Now that the face lost in the Southeast Campaign has been recovered in the Humen victory, this matter is over.

The Qing Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, how can it be so petty with these small Western countries.

Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind, Yi knew the character of his fourth prince, so he tactfully stopped talking.

But Yi was still worried. He didn't know much about Ye Mingchen, but he had met Bai Gui before, so he knew a little bit about him.

Bai Gui was good at managing internal affairs, but he was timid and cowardly by nature, and was not a good general.

The victory memorial said that Bai Gui personally went to the front line to command and supervise the battle, but Yi was skeptical.

If the memorials of the servants below were credible, the Hongyang Rebellion would have been quelled long ago, and there would be no chaos today.

After the court meeting, Yi met Shen Baozhen in the palace. He wanted to know the truth about the Battle of Humen.

Shen Baozhen was a fourth-rank prefect. His official position was not worth mentioning in the capital where there were many first- and second-rank officials. Not to mention entering the palace to listen to the court, he was not even qualified to stand at the door of the palace.

Until the end of the court meeting, Shen Baozhen didn't know much about the content of the court meeting. He only knew that the emperor was very pleased.

The emperor was very pleased. Did the shipbuilding issue come to fruition? Shen Baozhen's mind was full of shipbuilding.

He didn't expect that he would be hit hard as soon as he met Yi.

"The emperor's oral order: the establishment of the shipbuilding issue will be discussed later."

Hearing this news, Shen Baozhen was caught off guard and didn't come back to his senses for a long time. He didn't expect that this would be the result after working for a long time.

This shipbuilding issue, just don't do it? If the foreigners come again, they will go north and march straight into Bohai. What should we do if they clamor to enter Beijing?

"Youdan, stand up and talk. Let me ask you, is it true that more than 2,000 British were killed and more than 500 enemies were captured in the Battle of Humen?" Yi motioned Shen Baozhen to stand up and speak.

Shen Baozhen was startled when he heard this. He knew that Ye Mingchen was good at currying favor with the emperor, but he didn't expect that Ye Mingchen would be so bold.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

Shen Baozhen had just stood up, and he knelt down in fear.

Although Shen Baozhen had just entered the officialdom, he was not a rookie. At present, Ye Mingchen was favored by the emperor, and the emperor was also in high spirits. If he rashly told the truth now, he would slap the emperor in the face and ruin his mood. The consequences would not be borne by a small prefect like him.

Yiping dismissed the people around him, personally helped Shen Baozhen up, and gave Shen Baozhen a reassurance: "I want to know the truth. What you said today is known only to heaven and earth, you and me."

Shen Baozhen was supported by Prince Gong, and he knew Prince Gong's character very well. After taking this reassurance, he whispered the truth in detail.

It is true that the Qing Dynasty won the Battle of Humen, but this was not the credit of Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui, but the credit of Admiral Hong Mingxiang. Moreover, it was not a great victory, but a tragic victory. The Guangdong Navy lost nearly half of its troops in this battle. The current situation of Guangzhou City is precarious, and the British do not know when they will come back.

Yi was furious when he heard this, and he showed even more disgust when he thought of what Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui had done.

"You are so good, Ye Mingchen, you dare to joke with the country of the Qing Dynasty, this is a crime of deceiving the emperor!" Yi gritted his teeth and said.

Although he was angry, Yi could not do anything about Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui at this time.

"Prince Gong, calm down!" Shen Baozhen advised.

"The important affairs of the shipbuilding were all caused by these two people! Youdan, tell me in detail what you saw and heard in America this time." Yi said after calming down.

Shen Baozhen took out the records he made during his visits to various parts of America and the photos taken by the commissioners and explained them to Yi in detail.

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Lionel, the branch of the Rothschild family in the UK, had someone veiled to Liang Yao the news that Britain and France had formed an expeditionary force to send troops.

Deng Wenqi, the vice president of Umbrella Company, who was stationed in Borneo for Liang Yao, had also complained to Liang Yao recently that the French in Sarawak had become increasingly dishonest, frequently crossing the border to enclose land and attack the natives who were pro-Umbrella Company.

Martin, the president of Umbrella Company, even reported an important piece of intelligence to Liang Yao. The senior executives of the British East India Company said that they would suggest that the British and French coalition forces land in Xiangshan and then capture Guangzhou City. They had also included forcing the Qing government to cede Xiangshan after the war into the agenda.

In addition, Liang Yao also received a strange order from the Qing Dynasty. The Qing central government ordered 200 cannons and some ammunition from him at one time. The cannons and ammunition were transported to Dagukou by merchant ships of Jardine Matheson and Tongfuxing.

As for the joint shipbuilding between the Qing and the United States that was agreed with Shen Baozhen before, no word was mentioned.

The British and French coalition forces consisting of 71 warships and 10,200 people made Liang Yao's heart tighten.

What is the concept of the British and French coalition forces in the mid-19th century?

Equivalent to the Sino-US coalition forces in the 2020s of the 21st century

The British and French coalition forces of this scale are more than enough to deal with the Qing Dynasty, not to mention the United States.

If the target of the British and French coalition forces was only the Qing Dynasty, Liang Yao could stay out of this so-called trade war.

Whether it was the British and French attacking Guangzhou or the capital, he could stay out of it.

But according to various intelligence reports, the purpose of the British and French coalition forces' expedition this time is not just the Qing Dynasty.

It seems that the British and French coalition forces are very interested in his Xiangshan and Borneo.

If the British and French coalition forces move Xiangshan and Borneo, it will be equivalent to touching Liang Yao's core interests, and he will have no choice but to be a bystander in this war.

It seems that the rise of the West Coast region of the United States and the huge benefits it has gained in the Far East have aroused the jealousy and fear of Britain and France.

The great power that has benefited the most from the opening of the five ports is the United States, and the interest group that has benefited the most from the trade between the United States and China is the West Coast consortium headed by California.

Liang Yao himself and the West Coast consortium are the interest groups that most hope that the distribution of interests in the Far East will maintain the status quo, but this time Britain and France are determined to break the status quo in the Far East.

Liang Yao convened a meeting of California's senior officials for the first time at Weixiuju in Sacramento.

When they heard that the British and French coalition forces were very interested in Borneo and Xiangshan, everyone was not calm.

These California senior officials have been deeply bound to Liang Yao's interests, and they all have plantations in Borneo.

As the most important trading base for American businessmen on the West Coast in China, Xiangshan has complete port facilities, and many West Coast businessmen have set up businesses in Xiangshan.

Including Liang Yao himself, a lot of manpower, financial resources and material resources have been spent in the past seven years to build Xiangshan into a modern trading port, which can berth large ships of more than 5,000 tons.

"We can put pressure on the federal government and ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with Britain and France to protect our interests in the Far East." Someone suggested.

"It's useless." Fremont shook his head and said.

"America is a weak country, Britain and France are strong countries. They don't care about our voices, and our diplomatic notes will not have a good effect on Britain and France."

"We can't just sit back and watch Britain and France erode our interests in the Far East!" Sartre said angrily.

"Xiangshan Port, we have invested more than a million US dollars to make it what it is today. And North Borneo, although the rubber plantation is still some time away from producing rubber, North Borneo will be able to refine kerosene on a large scale by the end of this year.

The British and French now want to deprive us of the fruits of our labor and take advantage of what we have already done! I, Sartre, will be the first one to disagree!

Let Britain and France be strong! We are not easy to mess with either! If Britain and France insist on touching Borneo and Xiangshan, I will fight them to the death! "

Sutter is not only one of the shareholders of Xiangshan Port, but also spent huge sums of money to build an oil refinery in North Borneo. He is waiting for the production line of the North Borneo refinery to be set up, and will produce kerosene on a large scale and directly transport it to Xiangshan for sale.

Now Britain and France want to move both Borneo and Xiangshan. This is something Sartre cannot bear. Sartre was therefore very emotional.

"Then we will support the Qing Dynasty in fighting against the British and French!" Wu Yuanhua was also filled with indignation.

But there were very few responders. The Qing Dynasty must be able to resist the British and France, and defeat the two major powers at the same time, so that sows can climb trees.

Maybe other American consortiums don't know the virtues of the Qing Dynasty, but the members of the West Coast Consortium have more or less some business in the Qing Dynasty. It's not like they don't know the virtues of the Qing Dynasty's army.

The Eight Banners Green Camp of the Qing Dynasty, to say they are public security police is to praise them, but they cannot be called a professional army at all.

The Qing Dynasty claimed to have an army of one million. In fact, the only troops in the Qing Dynasty that could truly be called professional armies were the elites of the Guangdong Army and the Hunan Army.

Not to mention that Guangdong Yong was fighting against the Taiping Army in the Jiangnan area and had difficulty getting away.

Even if the Qing Dynasty could bite the bullet and mobilize the Yue Yong to fight against the British and French forces, the Yue Yong not only lacked enough heavy artillery cover, but also lacked sufficient sea power to project troops. What's more terrible is that the British and French forces dispatched tens of thousands of people this time. army! The Yue Yong also had no numerical advantage over the British and French forces.

Therefore, the Guangdong Yong's confrontation with the British and French coalition forces was in everyone's opinion, and there was little chance of victory.

"I will personally negotiate with Britain and France. If Britain and France turn a deaf ear, we will only have one option left: supporting the Qing Dynasty." Liang Yao looked grim.

"But we cannot place our hopes on the Qing Dynasty. To defend our interests in the Far East, we must ultimately rely on ourselves."

"Yes! The Qing Dynasty can't be counted on, and neither can the gang of turtles in the federal government. In this case, we will organize our own armed forces to defend Xiangshan Port and Borneo." Sartre was very active.

"Just like when we attacked the Dutch East India Company, we spent our own money and sent troops!"

As one of the founding fathers of California, Sutter was a wealthy man in Sacramento. He also personally owned an armed force of up to 300 people. If necessary, Sutter's financial resources could hire a considerable number of troops. He is not bragging, but he really has this ability.

Among the tycoons on the west coast, there are only three people who are armed with a professional army. The first is undoubtedly Liang Yao, who controls the most powerful armed force in the western region.

The second is Fremont, who comes from a military family.

The third is Sutter, the powerful local man who was born as the owner of Fort Sacramento.

As for others, such as Robinson, Wu Yuanhua, Pan Zhengwei and others, there are also a certain number of armed forces responsible for the company's security work and colonization in inland areas. But the quality of their armed forces is not very high.

Liang Yao looked around at the crowd, wanting to see other people's attitudes. The Chinese businessman only followed Liang Yao's lead, so there was no need to elaborate.

After hesitating for a moment, Fremont agreed. But Fremont made a request.

That is, there cannot be direct military conflict with Britain and France in the name of the United States. The interests in the Far East and Borneo must be defended, but at the same time, Fremont does not want the war to spread to the mainland.

Liang Yao's ideas coincided with Fremont's, and he did not want the war to spread to the mainland.

As long as the war does not spread to the mainland, no matter how bad the war overseas is, the worst outcome will be the loss of some overseas interests.

California and the West Coast are his base. As long as California is not bad and the West Coast is not bad, the status of himself and the West Coast consortium in the United States will not be shaken.

Liang Yao's idea was also to defend his interests in Borneo and Xiangshan Port in the name of Umbrella's mercenary force.