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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 163: Gift Exchange

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    The "HMS Harmish" cruiser of the British Far East Fleet is a three-masted wooden-hulled ship with a steam engine and sail, dual power, and a wooden hull. The ship is 76 meters long. The hull is made of double-layered oak boards, each layer is 42 centimeters thick.  , to build such a large ship, at least 600 huge thousand-year-old oak trees must be used. Its total sail area is 1,120 square meters, the turbine power is 360 horsepower, and the bow of the ship is equipped with a strong attack angle.  , with a displacement of 1,300 tons, the ship is equipped with thirty-four breech-loading rifled guns and a crew of 116.

    A wooden ship of thousands of tons like this may be nothing in the eyes of Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er. In later generations, they have seen ships of 10,000 tons and even giant steel ships of hundreds of thousands of tons.  But in the eyes of Zuo Zongtang, Wang Kaiyun, Shuiying Luo Outline and others, this ship was really big.  Although Zuo Zongtang read in the book that China had such a large ship when the Sanbao Eunuch sailed to the West, but it was later lost. The largest ship of the Taiping Army in front of him was only a merchant ship of several hundred tons.

    After boarding the ship, Midile led the officials of the West Palace around, but Lord Wenhan invited the King and Queen of the West to sit in his reception room.

    When they came to Lord Wenhan's reception room, Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er felt as if they were in another world. They once again enjoyed the soft sofa and rich coffee.

    Lord Wenhan was afraid that the two of them would not drink coffee, so he explained: "This is pure Arabic coffee. It has no alcohol content and is similar to the tea you drink. You two can give it a try."

    Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er looked at each other, smiled, and each took a sip. They felt really good.

    Wenhan smiled and sat down and said: "I heard from Midile that the teachings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are somewhat similar to Christianity? But they don't seem to be like Christianity. We are very curious that if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom takes power across the country in the future, will it establish a country that combines politics and religion?  "

    Xiao Yungui took a sip of coffee. He could only understand a rough idea. After listening to Hong Yun'er's more accurate translation, he slowly said: "Lord Wenhan, regarding our teachings, my wife will explain it to you. As for the future,  We can¡¯t tell you about the political system issue yet. Personally, I hope for the separation of politics and religion, but I will also follow the will of the people of the Kingdom of Heaven. If they like the unity of politics and religion, I will fully support it. All I can say now is  So much." Xiao Yungui was very cunning and left this very difficult question to the emptiness of the people's will, but it was extremely pleasing to the ears of Wenhan, a British man who respected civil rights very much.

    Wenhan nodded and turned to look at Hong Yun'er. Wenhan was surprised by the beautiful Mrs. Xiwang in front of him. After all, she was the first woman Wenhan met in this country who could speak English.

    Hong Yun'er smiled slightly and said: "There is nothing wrong with the fact that the doctrine of our God-worshipping religion originated from Christianity, but there are differences. After Christianity spread to the East, we have a new understanding of this doctrine. Our Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan has a new understanding of this doctrine.  Christianity has made some changes to adapt to the religious needs of our people. Lord Wenhan need not be surprised, Christianity has many branches, such as Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Reformed Christianity, etc."

    Wenhan came to some understanding. He was a devout Christian, but his mother was an Orthodox Christian. He knew the difference between the two branch sects, but every time a new branch of Christianity appeared, it was always regarded as a heresy by the orthodox sect, and even  Religious wars broke out. Although in Wenhan's opinion, having an additional branch in the East had no impact, it would be considered a heresy by those Christian fanatics.  Wen Han frowned and pondered for a moment before saying: "Unfortunately, Your Majesty the King of the West, I have to report truthfully to the country regarding matters of doctrine. I am worried that the difference between worshiping God and Christianity will make your doctrines be regarded as heretical doctrines.  Is it possible to allow orthodox Christian teachings to correct your teachings? We would also be happy to see the rise of an enlightened and Christian country in the East."

    After Xiao Yungui finished listening to the translation, he fell silent. He turned to look at Hong Yun'er and asked, "Yun'er, what will be the consequences if we change the doctrine?"

    Hong Yun'er sighed and said: "The faith of the old brothers will collapse unless we are prepared to implement the separation of church and state, downplay the impact of doctrine on military affairs, replace the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven with something else, and let people have new beliefs and serve the Kingdom of Heaven.  If we strive hard for a great cause, we will have no way out.¡±

    " Xiao Yungui was silent for a while again. It is terrible for people to have no faith. In the liberation wars of later generations, the older generation of revolutionaries had Marxism faith, so they were fearless and finally succeeded.  And if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom abandons its current teachings, what beliefs can replace it?  But Xiao Yungui felt that it would never be Christianity.

    Wenhan didn't know what King Xi was thinking, but he pondered for a long time before saying: "Lord Wenhan, I can guarantee that Christianity will be protected in the treaty port, but it is not the time to change your faith now. As for how the Western world views our doctrines  , I hope they can be more sensible. After all, the way of thinking of Easterners is very different from that of Westerners.?But our teachings also lead people to do good, and this is no different from Christianity.  "

    Wenhan nodded and said: "I understand this, and I respect your beliefs, just like I respect my mother's beliefs. I think everyone has the right to choose their own beliefs. I found that temples, Taoist temples, and even  The mosque is well preserved, and I know that King Xi is also a person who respects other people's beliefs, and I will do my best to explain the situation here to the country."

    Xiao Yungui laughed. His efforts to protect other sects finally achieved some results, but he did not think that other foreigners would think like Wen Han. He knew that the Taiping Army's teachings would definitely cause trouble. At the moment, he could only hope that the great powers would deal with the Taiping Army.  Without understanding the situation, he could quickly occupy Shanghai, and then use attractive enough benefits to prevent those greedy powers from intervening in China's civil war for the time being.

    After drinking a cup of coffee, Xiao Yungui stood up and walked around. He saw an exquisite rifle in the display cabinet in the reception room. This rifle was slender. What was very special was that it was neither a flintlock gun nor a matchlock gun.  It has a very obvious hammer.  Xiao Yungui's former interest was like that of most boys, he liked firearms. He had collected some firearms albums and knew some ancient firearms. This gun was a percussion gun.

    In 1807, the British pastor A.J. Forsyth invented a percussion ignition device using mercury percussion percussion powder, and later someone invented a flash cap.  Put the flash cap on the anvil with the fire door, and strike the flash cap to ignite the gunpowder in the chamber. This is the firing machine. A gun with this kind of firing machine is called a firing gun.

    "What kind of gun is this?" Xiao Yungui asked knowingly.

    Lord Wenhan snorted and said with a smile: "This is a test rifle from Enfield Arsenal. It has not yet been fully formed."

    Xiao Yungui rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Can you give it to me?"

    Lord Wenhan raised his eyebrows slightly. This Western King was nothing like a traditional Chinese. He was really thick-skinned and openly asked for gifts, unlike other reserved Chinese who hid their desires.

    "How about I trade this exquisite snuff bottle with you." Just when Lord Wenhan was surprised and hesitant, King Xi took out a mutton-fat jade snuff bottle from his arms and said, "Lord Wenhan, this is between our friends.  Giving each other gifts is not a trade in arms.¡±

    Wenhan likes Chinese jade very much. The mutton-fat jade snuff bottle in front of him is small and exquisite, as white as mutton fat, and the paintings on it are lifelike, which makes him very excited.  Seeing that Wen Han was a little moved, Xiao Yungui didn't wait for his answer. He stuffed the snuff bottle into Wen Han's hand and said: "That's it, let's make a deal. Lord Wen Han, you should be more decisive. Giving each other gifts is not a shameful thing."  Not to mention we are old friends."

    Wenhan opened his mouth wide, and saw this old friend who had known him closely for a day turned around carelessly, opened the small window of the display cabinet, took the rifle in his hand and started playing with it.

    Hong Yun'er blushed with embarrassment. She felt that Xiao Yungui was like a child who had not grown up, and his face was almost as thick as the city walls of Nanjing. Being an interpreter for him made her want to find a place to hide.

    Wenhan obviously accepted this reality. This rifle was a new Migne-type front-loading percussion gun manufactured by Enfield Arsenal. It had not yet been installed in the British army. It was a gift given to him by a friend in the Admiralty.  A friend hopes that Wenhan can work hard to install a large number of such guns.  Wenhan didn't like the rifle very much, but he still put it in the display cabinet. Unexpectedly, he was forcibly exchanged as a gift.  Wenhan coughed lightly and laughed: "Since His Excellency King Xi likes it so much, let's just exchange gifts."

    Xiao Yungui laughed evilly, walked to Wenhan, and whispered: "Old Wen, I know you have a lot of cannons, muskets and gunpowder on your ship. My men also like these things very much. How about we exchange more?"  This is not an arms deal, but a meeting between friends to exchange gifts. What do you think? Anyway, you and I have exchanged a rifle, so we don¡¯t care about exchanging more. If I carry this rifle on my back later, I will leave.  If you go out, what will your men think of you?"

    Wenhan was shocked when he heard this. This King of the West was not only thick-skinned, but also very cunning. He hurriedly said: "This, this is not possible, Your Excellency the King of the West"

    Before Hong Yun'er could translate, Xiao Yungui also heard that he was refusing, and immediately rushed to say: "Lord Wenhan, don't worry, I will give you enough silver. This money will be enough for you to make up for the arms sold to us in Shanghai.  , and then every soldier on the ship will get a gift from us, and no one will tell it, you just exchanged some gifts."

    Xiao Yungui was like a cunning fox, constantly coaxing. His methods were sweet and full of temptation. Hong Yun'er responded quickly and immediately translated, leaving Wenhan with almost no chance to speak. It was obvious that the two of them cooperated  More and more understanding.

    Wenhan hesitated for a long time and finally?Agreed to discuss it with Midile and Uncle He, Xiao Yungui agreed with a smile.

    As a result, when Wenhan summoned Colonel Midile and Colonel He, he found that the two of them had made a friendly exchange of Suifa short guns as gifts with the general of the West Palace, and they had several exquisite gold objects in their pockets.

    The three people discussed it well, and almost no one objected to this exchange method. In this way, half of the artillery, half of the muskets, and half of the gunpowder on the Hamels were swaggeringly carried off the ship by the rebels, and several mouthfuls were filled.  The chests of silver and gifts were carried on board.  The British naval soldiers cheered. They liked these rebels who believed in God. There was even a class of British soldiers who taught the rebels how to use these weapons. Both sides were immersed in their own joy.
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