Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 732
As the sun rose, Wen Desi stood on the stern of the spy boat with his hands behind his back, a layer of golden sun shrouded his body, and his whole body radiated dazzling light.All the native naval officers and soldiers stood by, respectful and afraid to speak.I saw Mr. Wen looking at Guangzhou, with the pride of "seeing Wu Gou, photographing it all over the rails, no one will come and visit.".

"It's back to the place where we fought." Wen Desi whispered.Thinking back to the time when Wang and Xiao went back and forth to the wormhole to raise funds, I couldn’t help but feel a lot of emotion—a few years ago on the White Swan Lake, Ran Yao and others rescued them with a few small-caliber rifles and shotguns, and the whole group was in a panic. And the past of escaping is still vivid.

At this time, he led the fleet to come here, and the safety of the officials and people in the city depended on his thoughts, and his satisfaction was beyond words.

"I think back then, Lao Tzu's troupe just opened, and there were only a dozen people in total, with seven or eight guns..." Wen Desi suddenly hummed this Peking Opera song that he was not familiar with—there is nothing more familiar than this phrase right now. able to express his feelings.

Chen Haiyang was originally downstairs in the rear stern, so in order not to disturb Mr. Wen's elegant mood, he never walked forward.Unlike Wen Desi's emotions, he is thinking about how to proceed next.

The battle has gone beyond the military scope and has become a political battle—the task force's attack all the way to Guangzhou was not to take down this big East Asian city, but to force the other party to make peace.How to apply a certain amount of pressure to achieve one's own goals, without letting the other party simply come to death, one must be very precise.

"President Wen," Chen Haiyang greeted after seeing Wen Desi's enthusiasm for reminiscing about the past gradually faded, "What do you think is the next step?"

The Senate has no intention of occupying Guangzhou. They want to reopen trade and continue to obtain manpower, material resources and markets from Guangdong.For this reason, they cannot scare away the wealthy businessmen in Guangzhou—according to reports from the Intelligence Bureau, many wealthy businessmen have already escaped from Guangzhou. If Guangzhou is really captured, the entire Pearl River Delta will become a "war zone", and businessmen dare not Furthermore, there is no point in occupying this city.

Wen Desi and Chen Haiyang racked their brains along the way, trying to figure out how to make a big deal without letting the Guangdong government completely close the door to negotiations.

Now that the battleship has arrived at Baietan, the peace talks must start as soon as possible—although the Pearl River Estuary expedition has achieved great results, if it fails to achieve the results of the peace talks, it will be a complete failure strategically.

Chen Haiyang suggested: whether to immediately send people into Guangzhou to submit a note, and ask the officials in the city to go out of the city to negotiate.

"No, we can't do a note on this matter—this is no longer a 'two-state theory'? Li Fengjie would not dare to accept this note even if he was beaten to death." Wen Desi shook his head again and again, "We can only pass on news through private contacts! How can you be an official? They have their own way to deal with them above, we have to find a channel to contact them as soon as possible.”

The Foreign Intelligence Agency has Lin Baiguang and others lurking in the city of Guangzhou, so the task force on the situation in the city of Guangzhou can receive telegrams forwarded from the Lingao main station every day.

"Li Fengjie wanted to contact Gao Ju several times, but Gao Ju has always refused. I think we can now ask people from the Intelligence Bureau to contact Gao Ju and let him act as an intermediary." Wen Desi said, "Gao Ju has always been an agent of Australian products. He can't take off the layer of skin, so it's reasonable for him to come forward."

"Let's fire a few empty cannons first to scare them," Chen Haiyang said, "I don't believe that the officials and gentlemen in the city can pretend to be deaf and dumb."

Hold the door high to thank the guests, and no matter who comes to meet each other in the city, they all say "not in the house".This is not to put on airs - it is really because of his embarrassing position and it is difficult to confront all parties.

Guo Yi and others escaped, and after Zi's property was sealed up one after another, Gao Ju felt that he had greatly lost face. For this reason, he was very unhappy and wrote a letter to report the matter to Eunuch Yang.Of course, Eunuch Yang can't say much in the palace now, but he is still a centipede with a wide range of opportunities. As long as he catches any chance, he might be able to give the Tian family a hard eye shot.

After the defeat of Chengmai, some gentry officials secretly acted, hoping that he would come forward to negotiate a peace. On the one hand, he was annoyed that the government had caused him to lose face and reputation in the Zi family's property, but on the other hand, he didn't know the depth of the water behind this matter, and dared not Just come forward and promise, just come "not at home", hide in the house and wait for the changes.

He stays at home, but the outside news is very well-informed.He knew all the "deeds" of the task force after it entered the Pearl River, which surprised and delighted him.I was so surprised that the Australians were so powerful. Not only did they defeat the officers and soldiers who attacked and suppressed them, they also chased them all the way to the inland river of the Pearl River.Bingfeng pointed directly at Guangzhou——if the two sides fought a big fight under the city of Guangzhou, the "paradise" of businessmen in Guangzhou would be destroyed in one fell swoop. I was so happy that I finally did not stand up in this "stretch" test. The wrong team, whether it is the government or the Australians, can handle it reasonably-when the Australians make a comeback, the Gao family can continue to make a fortune in Australian goods.

As the Australians got closer to Guangzhou and their momentum grew louder, he understood exactly what the Australians were thinking—they wanted to "force peace with war."

Since it is to "harmonize", there must be channels of contact.Gao Ju thinks that in the whole of Guangdong, there is no one more suitable to serve as this channel than him.Whether it is the government or the Australians, if they want to negotiate peace, they have to find him as the middle.

So in the past month, he has returned to the normal "at home" situation, although he rarely sees guests and does not talk much when he sees them.It is "for sale", ready to ruthlessly slaughter the government and the local gentry-if possible, and then slaughter the Australians.

Gao Ju paid close attention to every move outside, and when the Australian fleet was approaching, the city was gradually becoming turbulent, and when the big households began to flee for their lives, he did not move—he had a premonition that the Australians would not attack Guangzhou. At most, it's just posing outside the city.

He has already made up his mind, and he will not show up until someone from the government comes to ask him to negotiate again.Of course, he must first agree to a series of conditions.Not only did he want to save face for himself, he also had to save face for the Australians—of course, he had to vent his anger.Thinking of the rude and rebellious appearance of Tian Da in front of him, Master Gao couldn't bear it.

He just got up that day, had breakfast alone, and went to the yard where he was doing business, first to play with the birds for fun—Gao Ju likes to raise birds, he is different from the northern style of raising birds, and he wants the birds to be beautiful first , The feathers are colorful.Therefore, many rare birds that are not seen in China have been collected from various places in the West. They are colorful and beautiful to hang under the eaves.

When people and birds were enjoying each other, and there was a harmonious scene, suddenly the sound of rumbling guns came from outside.A few birds immediately slammed into the cage in fright.He raised his brows high and frowned, but followed the prestige to look in the direction of Baietan.

In the place of Baietan, besides flower boats and restaurants, where can you get cannons?Could it be that the Australians have already arrived at the White Swan Lake?While Gao Ju was in doubt, a house slave hurried in and told him, "The Australian fleet has arrived at Baietan and is firing empty cannons."

"Let them let it go." Hold high with a look of indifference—this is just a knock on the mountain.

"Master." The family member said with some hesitation, "Master Tian is here to pay respects..."

"Which Master Tian?"

"It's Tian Da—"

Gao Ju snorted, "Not at home." He didn't bother to see such a despicable and shameless thing.

"He refused to go, he insisted on seeing you," the family immediately took orders to leave as before, but continued to say, "He said that there will be a great fortune to be given to the master."

"I don't see it," said Gao Ju lightly.As he spoke, he looked at his family mockingly, "How much silver did you get from him?"

"The little one didn't..." The family members were shocked and hurriedly defended themselves.

"Go to the cashier and tell me what I say. I will reward you eight taels of silver, and throw back Tian Da's four taels of silver!" Gao Ju said expressionlessly.

"The villain doesn't dare, the villain doesn't dare." The family members were so frightened that they knelt down and kowtowed, "The villain knows it's wrong..."

"Go."

He didn't know the reason why Tian Da insisted on seeing him, but he could probably guess it.This time, Tian Da’s attempt to annex the Zizi brand in Guangzhou failed completely—first, Guo Dongzhu and others mysteriously disappeared. When the news of Chengmai's fiasco came, even outsiders knew that Tian Da was hopeless.

It has been almost a year since Tian arrived in Guangzhou. Originally, he boasted that he was able to get the contribution of the Guangzhou Zizi Brand for his master, but now he got nothing.In recent days, he has been searching for all kinds of Australian goods and treasures, probably in order to have a way to prevaricate when he goes back.

Tian Da received a rejection in front of Gaoju's house.The family member at the door who had received his money with a smile on his face and kept saying "wrap it on your body" came back with a cold face, directly threw the money back to him, said: "not at home", and never I stopped talking.

Tian Da cursed and said, "Grandma's, everyone has eaten their hearts and guts!" This city of Guangzhou really can't stay any longer.This group of officials and gentry really turned their heads faster than turning a book. Originally, as long as he came to visit, no one would dare to see him. If he was in trouble, he would come out to say hello and give him dozens of taels of silver to socialize.Nowadays, no one with a little background is willing to meet him, and even if he is willing to meet, he will speak very rudely, let alone give him something as a gift.

The Purple Shop was completely hopeless—when the officials seized the Purple Shop after the Australians escaped, Tian Da asked the gatekeeper to let him in for a "visit" without much effort.In the end, he was disappointed. There were a lot of goods left behind to make money, but all the yamen servants took them away.In the Australian industry, apart from many common craftsmen's tools, there are only a few Australian machines that I don't know how to use, and the delicate copper and glass parts on it are either stolen by the yamen or broken by the rude yamen when they are sealed. , Without Australian craftsmen, it is absolutely impossible to repair and use.Before, he also heard that those people walked very calmly, without leaving a single word of evidence.

Not to mention that these names didn't fall into his hands at all, even if they really fell into his hands, they would be of no use at all!Unless there is a buyer willing to take over.But who has the ability to revive these brands?All the things they sell are Australian products, at least they are made according to Australian secret recipes.Needless to say, no one in Guangzhou knows how to make sweet water with bubbles, just drinking it makes your mouth feel numb.There are also ice cubes that can be taken out anytime and anywhere in summer...

"Hold up this damn old fox." Tian Da came out while cursing.He asked Gao Ju to blackmail him for a few rare Australian goods so that he could go back to work. After all, the matter of seizing Ziming Building this time has already gone to waste.But the Kun bandits pressed on every step of the way, and Tian Da vaguely felt that something was wrong—he had already thought about going back to the north.

But hold high the soft and hard, don't take him seriously at all.He originally wanted to get the Australian oil lamp that could shine brightly and bring it to the palace, but he didn't expect that the other party refused to even see him now, which made Tian Da feel very embarrassed.

"Go to Liu's house." After sitting in the sedan chair, Tian Da decided to go to Liu's house. This businessman has no power and is doing business in the north. It is said that there are some rare Australian treasures at home.This family has a lot to do with the Australians, and they are not afraid that they will not give in.After he succeeded, he left Guangzhou immediately. He also heard the sound of the guns at Baietan. Taking advantage of the fact that the city gates of Guangzhou are still open, he ran away quickly.

The sedan chair was being carried on the street, and when Tian Da was thinking about how to blackmail Liu's house in the sedan chair, someone suddenly shouted: "The cow is crazy, run away!"

Tian Da was about to poke his head out to have a look, but the sedan chair fell to the ground with a "ping", and he was almost thrown out of the sedan chair.Tian Da scolded: "You bastards! You can't even lift a sedan chair..."

The bearers have already fled.Just as Tian Da poked his head out of the window, he saw an extremely strong buffalo, panting heavily, and rushing straight towards the sedan chair with two extremely huge horns.

Tian Da screamed and collapsed in the sedan chair.

"Crackling" was the last sound Tian Da heard in the human world.

Tian Da's death did not cause any ripples in the city of Guangzhou -- except those who knew about Tian Da's grievances with the Australians.People who praised Tian Da's stinky feet at the beginning couldn't help feeling extremely guilty, while those who suffered from him secretly applauded.After Gao Ju heard that, he just smiled slightly.

The drama is being staged in full swing in the city, and the task force outside the city is also not idle.The Fubo army landed in Baietan, requisitioned several restaurants as headquarters and dormitories for senior officers, and built a temporary naval pier on the trestle where the flower boats were moored.Many rocket launchers and Hale rockets were offloaded and erected outside the city.If the officials in the city still lack a sense of urgency for peace talks, Wen Desi is going to use rockets to remind them.

In order to facilitate the bombardment of Guangzhou from all directions, all the bombardment boats of the bombardment boat squadron were temporarily refitted, the 280mm mortars were removed, and rocket launchers were refitted.In this way, the bombardment boats can maneuver along the Baietan and inland waterways, and bombard the city of Guangzhou from any direction.

The Hale Rocket Fleet transported from Hong Kong brought more than 300 rockets. Wen Desi decided to give Li Fengjie three days, and immediately set off a big fireworks for them if there was no response.

Some veterans proposed to use the intelligence system in the city to send "relationships" to find Gao Ju and propose peace to Li Fengjie.

"For peace talks, it's better to let the other party propose first. Besides, if we go to ask for high praise, he will be complacent, and he will inevitably take advantage of this in the future and ask for greater benefits from us." Wen Desi said, "We'll wait a few days and see how they respond."

In order to avoid being attacked by the enemy, Chen Haiyang ordered the mixed battalion of sailors and sailors to carry artillery, and initiated the expulsion of the defenders on Fenghuanggang, the west point outside Guangzhou, and Dongsheng Temple, the east point.The enemy was wiped out in less than a day.The two defenders fled without fierce fighting, leaving behind 90 corpses and more than 200 various old cannons. The Fubo Army suffered 10 casualties, including 3 killed.

The fall of Fenghuanggang and Dongsheng Temple made Guangzhou's defense situation more passive.Li Fengjie had no choice, so he had to make up his mind about the matter of suing for peace and payment.

Li Fengjie thought that the biggest obstacle to peace talks was Gao Shunqin. If he found out, he would definitely be strongly opposed--he might immediately submit a memorial to impeach him. As soon as the memorial was released, and the public opinion in Beijing came together, he would be unable to eat and walk away.

After much deliberation, he decided not to come forward as usual, and divided into two ways: Guangzhou prefect Yu Baocun directly took the matter on the Guangzhou side—anyway, Yu Baocun was the first one to be responsible for guarding the land, so I'm not afraid that he would refuse.

The other road was carried out by Li Luoyou in Macau.Macau is a Portuguese place, and the two sides can talk openly and honestly. Some things that cannot be said but can only be hinted at in front of Yu Baocun can be clearly stated with Li Luoyou.

Right now, it is for Yu Baocun and Gao Ju to come forward to persuade the Australians to withdraw as soon as possible, and then discuss other conditions in Macau.The longer the Australian warship stays here, the harder it will be for him to explain to the court.

Yu Baocun arrived at the governor's yamen and had a secret discussion in the middle of the night.Early the next morning, he took a sedan chair to meet Gao Ju himself.

"Is this what Fu Jun means?" Gao Ju asked after hearing Yu Baocun's request to go out to drink with the "Kun Bandits" and discuss the retreat.

"Grandpa Gao, you are so wise, don't you want me to explain clearly to the students?" Yu Baocun smiled wryly, "It is the responsibility of guarding the land, and everyone can't help themselves. We have to rely on Duke Gao for this matter."

"Where is the old grandpa?" Gao Ju made an indifferent look, "Gao is just a merchant. I am afraid that this matter is beyond his ability."

Yu Baocun secretly scolded the old guy for being hypocritical again, he must be asking for sky-high prices.Right now, I have something to ask for from him, so I had no choice but to express that as long as he is willing to show up, everything can be discussed.

(End of this chapter)