1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 645 Guangxi Soldiers

On April 1861, 4, envoys from the Qing Dynasty arrived in Jinshan.

This was the first time that an official envoy from the Qing Dynasty visited a country outside of Asia. Finally, a bird in the big birdcage of the Qing Dynasty was willing to fly out of the cage and take a look at the outside world.

"Fifth uncle, why is it you?" Liang Yao was somewhat surprised to see that the Qing envoy was Liang Shaoqiong. "Why didn't you inform me in advance that you were coming? I could have prepared a welcome for you in advance."

"I was not originally supposed to be the envoy to visit the United States. I was the envoy appointed by His Majesty. When he arrived in Shanghai, he either pretended to be sick or was afraid to take the steamer. He made excuses and delayed his departure. His Majesty was furious, so I had to go." Liang Shaoqiong said as he adjusted the court beads on his chest.

"But it's good this way. There are no spies from the imperial court watching me during this visit to the United States. I can be at ease."

"Is America a tiger's den?" Liang Yao couldn't help but shook his head, and at the same time glanced at the entourage around Liang Shaoqiong and asked, "Are you such a senior official?"

"To them, a foreign land is scarier than a tiger's den." Liang Shaoqiong pointed to several transport ships moored at the dock and said, "Uncle Wu knows a little about your situation. He sent you some people. I believe you can use them."

Liang Yao looked in the direction of Liang Shaoqiong's finger, and saw a group of men with long hair getting off the boat in an orderly manner under the scolding of the soldiers of Liang Shaoqiong's camp.

"Is this the long-haired guy you captured?" Liang Yao asked.

"They are not ordinary Taimao. Most of these captives are veterans of Guangxi. They have been through many battles and are brave and tenacious. You can train and control them with a little effort." Liang Shaoqiong said, "If Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi had not repeatedly impeached me for harboring Taimao rebels and having ill intentions, I would not be willing to give such good captives to you. These are all good seedlings."

"It's true that these captives are good candidates, but unfortunately I have no relationship with their God, so it's a bit of a headache to train them," Liang Yao joked.

"What's there to worry about? They are just a bunch of desperate farmers. They will work hard for you if you give them enough food. What's more, your salary is more than ten times that of the Guangdong soldiers. Many of the Taiping rebels don't believe in their tricks anymore." Liang Shaoqiong pointed to two men dressed as military officers of the battalion and said, "These two were Peng Dashun and Zhu Yidian, generals under Shi Dakai. I'm sending them to you together."

"Uncle Fifth is really thoughtful. I would be disrespectful to refuse. I will accept it with a thick face." Liang Yao said as he invited Liang Shaoqiong to get on the carriage. "Uncle Fifth, please get on the carriage and come to my house to discuss business."

After having tea and dinner at Tingtao Garden, Liang Shaoqiong and Liang Yao sat opposite each other and talked about business.

"What His Majesty is most concerned about is whether you can fulfill the ship purchase contract finalized last year and the joint shipbuilding contract. If you can, the establishment of diplomatic relations can be discussed." Liang Shaoqiong said.

"The warships purchased by the Qing Dynasty were originally built by the Jinshan Shipyard, and we are also responsible for training the personnel. Of course, we can fulfill our contract." Liang Yao said.

Although the Qing Dynasty was in a weak position, it was still a major power in the world and the second largest trading partner of the American Republic. Establishing formal diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty would be of great benefit to stabilizing commercial exchanges between the two countries.

"That's good. I can report back when I go back. Don't worry about the establishment of diplomatic relations. It can be done." After getting Liang Yao's affirmative answer, Liang Shaoqiong nodded with satisfaction.

Apart from worrying that the purchase of ships and the establishment of the Ship Administration would be affected by political changes in North America and that the deposit paid would be wasted, the Qing central government was not concerned about the great changes taking place in North America.

"Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Wu with this matter." Liang Yao took the teapot from Cai Si and poured a cup of tea for Liang Shaoqiong himself.

"We are all family, there is no need to worry about whether we have to work hard or not. You are so promising, no matter how difficult the task is, your uncle will do it for you." Liang Shaoqiong took a sip of tea and said, "I will tell you the truth. After meeting you, your uncle will leave for Washington and the capital of the Confederate States of America in the south to meet their president and inspect them before returning to report. I guess the emperor intends to establish diplomatic relations with all of you."

"Then Uncle Wu will have to go to one more place." Liang Yao couldn't help laughing when he heard that.

"Why?" Liang Shaoqiong asked puzzled. "Uncle Wu, you don't know that not long ago, Texas also announced its secession from the Union and established the Republic of Texas." Liang Yao smiled.

"Tsk tsk, the situation in North America is even more chaotic than that in the Qing Dynasty." Liang Shaoqiong couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.

"Is your fifth uncle's job as the Governor-General of the Two Rivers going well?" Liang Yao asked about Liang Shaoqiong's recent situation.

"Whether things go well or not, we have to keep going. Uncle Wu has come to this point and there is no way back." Liang Shaoqiong said, "I am a provincial governor who was born in a high position and I am very powerful. If the court didn't rely on me to suppress the Taiping Rebellion and Prince Gong didn't speak for me in the court, my career would have come to an end long ago."

At night, after settling Liang Shaoqiong to rest, Liang Yao began to look through the roster of Taiping prisoners that Liang Shaoqiong had given him.

Although only 2300 of the prisoners Liang Shaoqiong sent to him made it to Jinshan alive, it was true as Liang Shaoqiong said that % of these prisoners were veterans from Guangxi, and the remaining % ​​were veterans from Jiangxi and Anhui.

Guangxi soldiers, especially those who have been tempered by war for many years, are indeed a rare source of high-quality soldiers. After these veterans have completed their training, they are more than enough to be used as field troops. Liang Shaoqiong gave him a big gift.

However, Liang Yao's main forces are now deployed in North Platte. Except for his presidential guard, the troops left on the west coast are all second-line militia.

The officers of these militia forces were originally drawn from the regular troops. Liang Yao had no way to draw officers from these militia forces to train these Taiping prisoners of war. He could only send these Taiping troops to North Platte first and hand them over to Kruger for training.

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In late April, the federal government's Postal Secretary Montgomery Blair arrived in Sacramento by special train as the federal government's negotiator to negotiate with the American Republic government on the ownership of the central border area and whether to demilitarize the central region as a buffer zone between the two sides.

"Federal envoy Montgomery Blair is already waiting outside the Presidential Palace. Do you want to meet him or not?" In the President's office, Chase asked Liang Yao.

"No, let Foreign Minister Robinson talk to him." Liang Yao lowered his head and flipped through the translated telegram and said, "Lincoln is a very good planner. On the one hand, he shut down the Pacific Railway, on the other hand, he dispatched troops to Omaha, and on the other hand, he sent people to negotiate. How can he negotiate like this? He has no sincerity at all."

In the past few days, Chen Lisong sent him a lot of intelligence from the central region. The Union General George Brinton McClellan had arrived in Omaha and began to reorganize the army.

This made Liang Yao more certain of his judgment that the army Lincoln mobilized for the second time was most likely not used in the South, but in the West.

Liang Yao was determined to take over the central region, and he felt that it was not acceptable to have a large army around Omaha.

The "Land Plan of the American Republic" has been promulgated, and now almost all citizens know about the existence of such a bill. If the promises in the bill cannot be fulfilled, the American Republic will lose not only the trust of four million citizens, but also the confidence of four million citizens in the Republic.

Moreover, Montgomery Blair was not a strong enough negotiator. If Lincoln was really sincere, he should have sent Seward to talk to him instead of Blair.

"Mr. President, what is our bottom line?" Chase asked Liang Yao about the bottom line of the negotiation so that he could convey the bottom line to Robinson.

"Probe their bottom line by having no bottom line at all." Liang Yao explained to Cai Si.

"I understand." Chase nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)