1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 645 Guangxi Soldiers

On April 18, 1861, envoys from the Qing Dynasty arrived at Jinshan.

This was the first time that an official envoy from the Qing Dynasty went to a country other than Asia. Finally, some birds in the big birdcage of the Qing Dynasty were 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 when he saw that the Qing envoy was Liang Shaoqiong. "Why didn't you tell your nephew in advance that you were coming? My nephew could be prepared to take care of you."

"I am not the envoy visiting the United States. It is just the envoy appointed by His Majesty. When he arrived in Shanghai, he either pretended to be sick or did not dare to take the steamboat. He used various excuses to delay his departure. His Majesty Longyan was furious and had to leave me alone. Damn it." Liang Shaoqiong said as he straightened the beads on his chest.

"But that's fine. This visit to the United States doesn't have the eyes of the imperial court watching, so I feel at ease."

"Isn't America like a tiger's den?" Liang Yao couldn't help but shake his head, and at the same time glanced at the entourage around Liang Shaoqiong and asked, "Are you such a high-ranking official?"

"For them, the land of alienation is more terrifying than a tiger's den." As he spoke, Liang Shaoqiong pointed to several transport ships parked on the dock. "Uncle Wu knows a little bit about the situation here. Uncle Wu gave it to you. These people, I think you can use them.”

Liang Yao looked in the direction of Liang Shaoqiong's finger and saw a group of men with long hair walking off the ship in an orderly manner, being scolded by soldiers from Liang Shaoqiong's standard camp.

"Is this your captive's long hair?" Liang Yao asked.

"They are not ordinary longhairs. These captives are mostly longhaired Guangxi veterans. These longhairs have been battle-hardened for a long time and are brave and tenacious. You can use them with a little training and control." Liang Shaoqiong said, "If it weren't for Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyiduo You accuse me of harboring the long-haired rebels with evil intentions. I can’t bear to give you such a good prisoner. These are all good young men.”

"It's true that these prisoners are good prospects, but it's a pity that their God and I are not related. It's a bit troublesome to train these people." Liang Yao joked.

"What's so troublesome? They're all a bunch of desperate peasants. They'll work hard for you just to have enough food to eat. What's more, your military pay is more than ten times that of the Yue Yong. There are many long-haired ones now. Changmao himself doesn't believe it." Liang Shaoqiong pointed at the two men dressed as military attachés beside him and said, "These two former generals under Shi Dakai, Peng Dashun and Zhu Yidian, are sent to you together. "

"Uncle Wu is still thoughtful, so I will be disrespectful. My nephew accepted it shamelessly." Liang Yao said as he invited Liang Shaoqiong into the carriage, "Uncle Wu, please get in the car and come to my house to discuss business."

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

"The thing that Your Majesty is most concerned about is whether you can fulfill the ship purchase contract and the joint shipping management matter that were finalized last year. If you can, the establishment of diplomatic relations can be easily discussed." Liang Shaoqiong said.

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

After all, the Qing Dynasty is a major power in the world and the second largest trading country in the American Republic. Being able to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty will go a long way in stabilizing the commercial exchanges between the two countries. benefit.

"That's good. I can go back and do business. Don't worry, we can handle the matter of establishing diplomatic relations." After receiving Liang Yao's affirmative reply, Liang Shaoqiong nodded with satisfaction.

In addition to worrying that the purchase and management of ships would be affected by the political changes in North America and that the deposits paid would be wasted, the central government of the Qing court was not concerned about the great changes in North America.

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

"We are all members of our own family. There is no need for hard work. You are so promising, and even the most difficult things will be done for you by Uncle Wu." Liang Shaoqiong took a sip of tea and said, "Uncle Wu will tell you the truth. After seeing you, Uncle Wu will do it for you." Uncle Wu will also leave for Washington and the capital of the Confederate States of America in the south to meet their president and inspect them there before returning. I guess the Holy Spirit intends to establish diplomatic relations with all of you. "

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

"Why?" Liang Shaoqiong asked puzzled.

"Unknown to my fifth uncle, not long ago Texas also announced its secession from the Union and established the Republic of Texas." Liang Yao said with a smile.

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

"Is Fifth Uncle's governorship of these two rivers going smoothly?" Liang Yao asked about Liang Shaoqiong's current situation.

"Whether it goes well or not, you have to keep doing it. Uncle Wu has reached this point and there is no way out." Liang Shaoqiong said, "I am a high-ranking official in the border area who was born in Juren. I am very sharp. If it weren't for the imperial court who wanted to rely on me to make a long hair, , If Prince Gong speaks for me in the court, my career will 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 Army prisoners that Liang Shaoqiong had given him.

Although only 2,300 of the prisoners given to him by Liang Shaoqiong survived to Jinshan, as Liang Shaoqiong said, 80% of these prisoners were veterans from Guangxi, and the remaining 20% ​​were veterans from Jiangxi and Anhui.

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

However, Liang Yao's main forces are now deployed to North Platte, and the troops remaining on the west coast, except for his presidential guard, are all second-line militiamen.

The officers of these militia units were originally drawn from the standing forces. Liang Yao had no way to draw officers from these militia units to train these Taiping prisoners of war, so he could only send these Taiping soldiers to North Platte first. , and handed it over to Kruger for arrangement and training.

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In late April, Montgomery Blair, the postal minister of the federal government, arrived in Sacramento on a special train as a negotiator for the federal government to discuss with the American Republic government the ownership of the central border region and whether to demilitarize the central region as a buffer between the two sides. negotiate in the area.

"Federal Special Envoy Montgomery Blair is already waiting outside the presidential palace. Do you want to see him or not?" In the presidential office, Zeiss asked Liang Yao for instructions.

"No, let's have Foreign Minister Robinson talk to him." Liang Yao lowered his head and flipped through the translated message and said, "Lincoln did a good job of calculating. He shut down the Pacific Railway, dispatched troops to Omaha, and sent people to Omaha. Come to negotiate, how could he negotiate like this? There is no sincerity at all.”

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

This made Liang Yao more firm in his judgment. The troops mobilized by Lincoln for the second time were probably not used in the south, but in the west.

Liang Yao was determined to win the central region, and he felt that he could not allow a large army to exist around Omaha.

The "Land Plan of the American Republic" has been promulgated. Now almost all citizens know that there is such a bill. If the promises in the bill are not fulfilled, the American Republic will not only lose the trust of four million citizens, but also the trust of four million citizens in the republic. confidence.

What's more, as a negotiator, Montgomery Blair does not have enough weight. If Lincoln was truly sincere, he should have sent Seward to talk to him, not Blair.

"Excuse me, President, what is our bottom line?" Zeiss asked Liang Yao the bottom line of the negotiation so that he could convey the bottom line of the negotiation to Robinson.

"Test their bottom line with no bottom line." Liang Yao explained to Zeiss.

"Understood." Zeiss nodded in agreement.