Guangzhou, Pearl River Estuary, Lingdingyang.

This was originally the only trade port in the Qing Empire, with flowers blooming. However, since the First Raven War, with the five ports openings, Guangzhou's trade volume has been declining year by year. Especially after Li Weiguo's operation in Shanghai, almost 70% of Guangzhou's trade volume was stolen, which is even worse than before.

However, since the Governor Ye Mingchen of Liangjiang took office, he has stepped up the crackdown on "duck film" smuggling, which has made the British who are so close to him angry. The British, French and American envoys asked to meet Ye Mingchen several times, but they were rejected by Ye Mingchen, which made the conflict between the two sides become increasingly greater.

With the end of the Crimean War, Britain and France's strategy moved eastward. The various commodities produced on a large scale in their country during the war were unsalable, which aggravated the economic crisis and forced Britain and France to seek to open up the market of the Qing Empire and dump goods.

As early as the 1853 treaty was about to expire, Britain, France and other countries kept seeking to exchange contracts with the Qing government and expand their rights and interests in aggression, but they were ignored by the Qing government. If the Crimean War had not broken out, they would have used force against the Qing government. Now that the Crimean War is over, Britain and France have finally freed up their hands to use military power in the Far East.

After the Yaro incident in Guangdong and the Mashenpu incident in Guangxi, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ye Mingchen, became the Qing official that Britain and France hated the most. Britain and France, which had been ignored by Ye Mingchen, secretly formulated a combat plan for invading the Qing Empire by force in Hong Kong, with the excuses being the Yaro incident and the Mashenpu incident.

During the First Duck Film War, although the British army defeated the Qing army, its industry and military strength were not enough to completely overwhelm the Qing Empire, especially the British army did not have the confidence to win, so Britain could stop. Now the British and French coalition defeated the Russian army on land, which gave the British army enough confidence and dared to fight the Qing army in full swing on land.

At the same time, the Qing Empire was in a civil war, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom severely damaged the Qing Empire, making both Britain and France see the weakness of the Qing Empire. It further strengthened its confidence in going to war with the Qing Empire.

At the same time, the United States and Russia also received notes from Britain and France. Knowing that Britain and France were preparing to invade the Qing Empire by military force, the United States and Russia all agreed and prepared to get a share of the pie.

In the seventh year of Xianfeng (December 1857), more than 5,600 British and French invading troops (including 1,000 French troops) gathered at the estuary of the Pearl River and prepared to launch a large-scale attack. The US Minister Levitra and Russian Minister Putiyatin also arrived in Hong Kong and conspired with Britain and France to invade China. Subsequently, Britain, France, the United States and Russia respectively issued ultimatums limited to 10 days to Ye Mingchen.

Ye Mingchen was startled and hurriedly wrote to the court.

At this time, the Qing Empire was fully suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Tiandihui rebels who rebel in Foshan, Guangdong, with huge military expenditures. The Qing government's fiscal revenue in 1853 was 45.58 million taels of silver, and the military expenditures were 67.7 million taels that year. In 1857, the Qing government added heavy taxes, but the wealthy Jiangnan area was occupied by the Taiping Army and Tiandihui. Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province under the control of Li Weiguo even used methods to not pay taxes, and even intercepted the taxes paid by Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, resulting in the Qing government's fiscal revenue being only 32.8 million taels of silver paid by the provinces north of the Yangtze River. However, the military expenditure surged to 170 million taels of silver, which made the Qing government's salary difficult and it was really powerless to go to war with the great powers again.

Therefore, although Xianfeng was very angry at the rude behavior of Britain and France, he had to order the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Ye Mingchen to adopt the strategy of "stopping troops as the key" against the invasion of the great powers.

Ye Mingchen was a favorite minister of Xianfeng. He faithfully implemented Xianfeng's decree and pursued the strategy of "no war, no harmony, no defense" in Guangzhou.

This is not a war, which means that Britain and France declare war on the Qing Empire, and once the British and French coalition forces attack, the Qing army declares war on Britain and France, and does not fight with the British and French coalition forces; the disagreement means that Britain and France send people to negotiate and want to sign a contract similar to the "Jiangning Treaty" (Nanjing Treaty). The Qing government does not sign a contract with Britain and France, nor does it take the initiative to seek peace; if it does not defend, it means that when the British and French coalition forces attack, the Qing army does not resist, takes the initiative to retreat, gives up the Qing army's positions, and allows the British and French coalition forces to occupy it.

On December 14, when six British warships crossed Humen and captured Liede and other forts in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou, Ye Mingchen was watching the martial arts test.

He smiled and said, "It's okay, they will leave naturally tonight."

Ye Mingchen ordered all red single ships and patrol ships in the Pearl River to collect flags, and even if the enemy ships enter, they should not fire their guns and fight back.

The next day, the British army captured the forts in Fenghuanggang, Henan, across the provincial capital. Ye Mingchen remained silent after hearing the news and continued to watch the horse-arrow competition for martial arts examinations.

Ye Mingchen's approach once made representatives of Britain, France, the United States and Russia very puzzled, and hesitated whether to continue to advance. However, the commanders of the British and French coalition forces were very confident. Faced with the Qing army's non-resistance policy, they quickly advanced.

On December 18, the British and French coalition forces easily captured all the forts and Qing positions around Guangzhou, and at the same time bombarded Guangzhou and landed on the siege.

The commander-in-chief Deng Anbang and others led their troops to resist stubbornly, and Guangzhou was lost the next day.

Guangdong Governor Bai Gui and Guangzhou General Mukdenne surrendered, and continued to serve as the original position under the supervision of the "Alliance Forces Committee" headed by Baxiali to serve as the enemy's command. Ye Mingchen refused to surrender after being captured and was transferred to Hong Kong by Baxiali.

However, when the British and French forces occupied Guangzhou, the local people launched an indomitable anti-aggression battle. The eunuchs near Guangzhou established a delegation training bureau in Zhongshan Town, gathering tens of thousands of people to fight against insults and kill the enemies. Patriots such as Hong Kong and Macau also went on strike to protest.

The news spread to the capital at 800 miles in a hurry. The Qing court was shocked and Xianfeng was furious. Because he believed the lies of Guangdong Governor Bai Gui, Guangzhou General Mukdenne and others, he mistakenly thought that Ye Mingchen was treason, so he removed Ye Mingchen from his position as governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and accumulated Ye Mingchen's whole family. Ye Mingchen was taken to Hong Kong and was taken to Kolkata, India to die in a foreign land. He never came back since then, and no one helped him to maintain his grievances.

Xianfeng was very irritable. The Taiping Army and Tiandihui Rebellion in the country had not been eliminated. In recent years, due to financial exhaustion and the Eight Banners vulnerable reasons, the Taiping Army gradually grew bigger. Zeng Guofan on the Western Front could not defeat Shi Dakai and lost most of the entire Jiangxi and Hunan. The southern front was led by Ye Mingchen, and the main forces of the Qing army in Guangdong and Guangxi were all restrained by the Taiping Army, resulting in Ye Mingchen not having any troops to guard against the British and French coalition forces. Due to the lack of food and wages, most of the local regiment training was disbanded, and it was inevitable that Guangzhou would be lost.

As for the Eastern Front, since the Shanghai Army and the Taiping Army fought to the death three years ago, Li Weiguo has always claimed that the Shanghai Army was seriously injured and has been recuperating. The Taiping Army did not launch a large-scale eastern expedition, making the Eastern Front very stable.

The Northern Front was not the case. The Taiping Army was very powerful and broke the Jiangbei camp twice. Although Li Hongzhang's Huai army recovered Yangzhou, Xianfeng did not give Li Hongzhang too much military salary, which made Li Hongzhang not that much money if he wanted to cross the river to fight. Although Li Hongzhang had a Hui merchant giant Hu Xueyan, after all, his financial resources were limited, and it was a bit difficult for Li Weiguo to support a 100,000 Shanghai army so rich. Not to mention Hu Xueyan, his financial resources were not as much as Li Weiguo.

In this case, Xianfeng really had no money to go to war with Britain and France, and there were Russia and the United States. Although Russia had not sent troops to participate in the war, it had already turned to Britain and France. Not to mention, the United States had already sent a fleet on its way, because the US Asian fleet four years ago was wiped out by Li Weiguo, which was a bare-slap in the face of the Americans. The Americans still felt hot and sent the fleet to take revenge this time.

"It's all Li Weiguo. If he didn't show off his ability to fight the American fleet, he wouldn't have even participated in the war now!"

Xianfeng cursed angrily. He was no longer reasonable and could not find a vent, so he led Li Weiguo to be shot directly.

Concubine Lan also helped Xianfeng copy the memorial in the imperial study. Now she has successfully given birth to the only prince of Xianfeng. She was promoted to the imperial concubine, second only to the queen, and was deeply loved by Xianfeng.

When he heard Xianfeng scolding Li Weiguo again, Concubine Lan smiled faintly and said, "Yes, Li Weiguo is just a naughty man. If he had become more mature, he would not have done such a thankless stupid thing."

Xianfeng was stunned and immediately smiled, "Lan'er, you scolded Li Weiguo as I said, but no matter how I heard it, I felt that you were saying good things for Li Weiguo?"

Concubine Lan felt nervous. She was like a tiger. She didn't dare to reveal her relationship with Li Weiguo too much in front of Xianfeng. It was because she had given birth to a prince recently, which made her feel a little arrogant and dared to say anything. When she thought about it, she was scared and sweated in a cold sweat and said hurriedly: "I am just thinking that Li Weiguo is only twenty years old now. Four years ago, he was only sixteen years old. It was the time when he was full of energy and was not afraid of the sky, so of course he was a naughty man."

Xianfeng felt it made sense and nodded immediately and said, "Yes, when I was sixteen years old, I thought every day that if I became the emperor one day, I would definitely teach foreigners a lesson. However, since I became the throne for seven years, I have been tolerant of foreigners everywhere. To be ashamed of speaking, I am not as brave as Li Weiguo and dare to attack foreigners directly."

Concubine Lan hurriedly said, "The emperor is the emperor and wants to lead the overall situation. Li Weiguo is just a naughty man. How can he compare with the emperor?"

Xianfeng immediately said happily: "Lan'er can speak, I'm happy to hear it!"

After a pause, Xianfeng suddenly remembered Li Weiguo's entry into Beijing and immediately recruited eunuchs to ask.

When Xianfeng learned that Li Weiguo was still on his way to Beijing and was injured and came to Beijing with injuries, he praised him very much. In addition, Concubine Lan said good things from the side, Xianfeng's suspicion of Li Weiguo was minimized.

But Xianfeng was the emperor after all, and the world of the bannermen was naturally not allowed to expand Han landlords, so even though the suspicion of Li Weiguo fell to the historical lowest point, he still remained suspicious.

"Your Majesty, foreigners have occupied Guangzhou. Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangjiang, traitor and surrender to the enemy. I heard that the foreigners' fleet is heading north. The next target is probably the two rivers and four provinces. Now Li Weiguo is on his way to Beijing. Will something happen to the two rivers?"

When Xianfeng heard Concubine Lan's reminder, he suddenly realized something, was scared and sweated coldly, and nodded, "Thanks to Lan'er's reminder, otherwise I would have almost missed the big thing. Li Weiguo is not in Jiangnan. Once Jiangnan is in trouble and is occupied by foreigners, the court will lose control of the entire south of the Yangtze River."

Xianfeng's concerns were correct. Now the Qing court's connection between the north and the south relied on Jiangnan controlled by Li Weiguo. Once Jiangnan fell into the hands of the British and French coalition forces, half of the Qing court's country would be lost.

"Quickly draft the order so that Li Weiguo does not have to go to Beijing and return to Jiangnan quickly. We must strictly guard against the great powers of Shanghai. Shanghai cannot make mistakes, and Jiangnan cannot make mistakes, otherwise we will be severely punished and not borrowed!"

Concubine Lan was very happy. She was most worried that Li Weiguo would be killed by Xianfeng after he entered Beijing with Xianfeng, and that she would lose a powerful foreign aid. Of course, her status is second only to the queen, and it seems that she no longer needs to rely on Li Weiguo. Concubine Lan is smart. She knows that accompanying the king is like a tiger. There are some women of the emperor, and there may not be no other princes in the future. She may not be able to raise an adult with a prince now, and she may not be able to ascend the throne smoothly. Everything has variables, so she cannot give up Li Weiguo. Although she guessed that Li Weiguo was ambitious, she still had to help him for the time being.

Before Xianfeng's imperial edict had left the palace, Concubine Lan sent someone to inform the people from the Beijing Station of the China ASUSSR Secretariat Bureau and quickly passed the message to Li Weiguo through them.

At this time, under the protection of a thousand personal guards, Li Weiguo had just arrived at Yangjiamiaoji in Huai'an Prefecture. Before climbing the mountain, it was Qinghe Town where you could take a boat from the canal to the capital.

Along the way, Li Weiguo could only sit in the sedan chair because of his "injury" and moved forward slowly. He traveled at most twenty or thirty miles a day, and delayed the entry time to Beijing as much as possible.

At noon, the group stopped to camp.

Li Weiguo got out of the sedan chair and was playing outside.

At this time, a carrier pigeon flew over and was found by Li Weiguo's subordinates. Soon Zhuang Jiuxia came to meet with information.

Li Weiguo opened the information and said happily after reading it: "As expected, Xianfeng told me not to go to Beijing, so I will return to Shanghai quickly."

"That's great!" Zhuang Jiuxia said excitedly. As the chief guard of Li Weiguo, he was under unprecedented pressure to enter Beijing this time. Because Xianfeng was unhappy and would accidentally kill Li Weiguo. Therefore, when Zhuang Jiuxia set out with someone, Li Weiguo, he had already made plans to save Li Weiguo from the capital to the death, and he was even prepared to sacrifice himself.

Now that Xianfeng did not allow Li Weiguo to enter Beijing, Zhuang Jiuxia naturally breathed a sigh of relief, and he felt as if he was relieved of his weight, and his whole body felt relaxed.

"But" Li Weiguo was not too happy. He said: "But this also means that the British and French coalition forces have attacked Guangzhou, and they will go north soon, and they may not start a war with us!"

Li Weiguo only knew that the Second Opium War broke out in Guangzhou, and he was not very clear about the specific time and duration of the British and French forces' capture of Guangzhou. He thought that Guangzhou should be able to last for more than ten days, but he didn't know that Guangzhou had fallen.

Logically speaking, Li Weiguo's China SHIELD also set up a station in Guangzhou, but it made a mistake. Ye Mingchen implemented a policy of non-resistance, which led to the British and French coalition forces easily invading Guangzhou City. A shell destroyed the secret residence of SHIELD's Guangzhou Station, resulting in the unfortunate death of several agents at Guangzhou Station and the destruction of the carrier pigeon, and the failure to convey the news in time.

When Zhuang Jiuxia heard Li Weiguo say that the British and French coalition forces were likely to attack Shanghai, he became nervous and said, "Sir, let's go back quickly!"

Li Weiguo nodded. He had been on guard against the British and French coalition forces to attack Shanghai, so he vigorously expanded the Shanghai county town and built the outer city defense fortress of Shanghai County, Wusongkou fortress, and Jinshanwei fortress, all connected by railways and highways. Once the war begins, the Shanghai army can quickly support various places.

"Quickly send the General Staff and the Military Command to quickly mobilize the front and second-line combat personnel of the Shanghai Army. Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province will enter the first-level combat readiness state. All work must be completed before I go back!"

"yes!"

Zhuang Jiuxia immediately received the order, wrote the order, and sent the carrier pigeon.

At the same time, Li Weiguo was no longer riding in a sedan chair, riding a horse, leading more than a thousand personal cavalry to whip the horses and quickly return. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!