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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 309: Master of Art

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    After the farewell banquet, the officials from various places set off back to their own territories.  Xiao Yungui's good mood did not last long. The next day, news came from Tong Qiangsheng that the soldiers who sneaked into Hengyang to assassinate Ronglu were half successful. They successfully stabbed Ronglu, but failed to kill him.  .  Bai Zetang lost five of his masters, and the rest were temporarily hidden among the people, waiting for another opportunity.

    "Why don't you put poison on the weapon?" Xiao Yungui roared and walked around the study room. After Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang looked at each other, Qian Jiang stepped forward and said: "Rong Yaotou is careful, there must be something on his body."  Wearing soft armor to protect each other, the soldiers of Bai Zetang have tried their best. The days are long, and the Rong Yaotou can be defended for a while, but not for a lifetime. As long as we wait patiently, we will definitely get rid of this beast, and the King of the West does not need to be angry. "

    Xiao Yungui naturally knew that assassination required patience, but in his heart he was deeply afraid of the soul in Ronglu's body that had also traveled through time, so he was anxious and just wanted to get rid of Ronglu as soon as possible.  Because judging from the news sent back by Bai Zetang, Ronglu seemed to intend to support Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army. Xiao Yungui naturally knew that the Hunan Army was the old enemy of the Taiping Army. In history, Zeng Guofan trained the world-famous Hunan Army in Hengyang.

    When he was in Changsha before, Xiao Yungui thought that by capturing Changsha, Hengyang and other places, the Hunan Army would not be able to become a powerful force without the soil for its rise. But now, it seems that Ronglu is relying on his strength again.  If you want to bring history back to normal, this person must be eliminated.

    Xiao Yungui burst out a few words from between his teeth coldly, which shocked Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang, "Let Tong Qiang Sheng get rid of Ronglu as soon as possible at all costs, even if all the dead soldiers like Bai Zetang are killed."  He will not hesitate to die in the line of duty!"

    Zuo Zongtang and Qian Jiang had never seen the King of the West be so rude and cruel, with such gnashing of teeth and hatred, as if he wanted to eat Rong Lu alive, and they couldn't help but think to themselves.  How did Ronglu offend His Highness the King of the West?  But the two still bowed and accepted the order.

    Hong Yun'er didn't know the news yet because she took Li Xuanji to find Clifford early in the morning.  In order to win over Clifford, Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er gave Clifford a large mansion with Suzhou gardens to live in.

    Hong Yun'er and Li Xuanji arrived at Clifford's mansion early in the morning. Hong Yun'er was surprised to see that the courtyard here was filled with various stone sculptures and inscriptions, and several people dressed as teachers were watching.  Stone carvings and inscriptions.  Walking inside, the main hall is filled with various literary and artistic works.  From folk carvings and landscape calligraphy and paintings to large stone carvings and statues, even a stone lion used to guard the mountain gate is prominently displayed in the main hall.

    Clifford, dressed in Ming Dynasty Hanfu, walked out of the room. He was still far away and said loudly and happily: "My wife, you are finally here. Welcome to visit the China Art Expo I opened. I dare to say  The collection of handicrafts and cultural relics here can almost represent the cultural essence of a century. I can¡¯t believe that I really have my own art museum. Thank you very much, madam. You sent an angel to me.  The people around me allowed me to accomplish this feat.¡±

    As he said this, Clifford came up enthusiastically and wanted to kiss Hong Yun'er's hand.  But Hong Yun'er smiled and clasped her fists.  Let it pass. Although she comes from a later generation, she is not used to letting foreign devils kiss hands like this.  Li Xuanji's face turned red. After seeing this, Hong Yun'er thought to herself that this little girl must have been harassed by this enthusiastic foreigner.

    Sure enough, Clifford retracted his hand like a gentleman when he saw Hong Yun'er step aside.  He bowed slightly. There are rules for foreigners to kiss the hand. If a lady is not willing, as a gentleman, you cannot force a hand kiss.  Then Clifford turned to Li Xuanji and stretched out his hand.  Li Xuanji blushed and stretched out her pretty hand, asking him to kiss her hand.

    Hong Yun'er couldn't help laughing, and whispered in Li Xuanji's ear: "Silly girl, if you don't want to kiss the hand, you can politely refuse, no need to accommodate."

    Li Xuanji's pretty face turned red when she heard this, because she was ordered to win over Clifford. When they first met, she met Clifford together with Morgana Pasteur. When she saw Clifford, he was like Mo  Jiana kissed her hands, and Morgana told her that this kiss was a Western etiquette, which represented a man's respect for a woman.  Li Xuanji didn't know that she could refuse the hand kiss, but thinking that she had to follow the etiquette, she blushed and let Clifford kiss the back of her hand.  At this time, after hearing what Queen Xi said, she was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.  She said coyly: ""

    Hong Yun'er followed and smiled and comforted: "It's okay, just don't let him kiss his hands from now on."

    Clifford couldn¡¯t understand what the two women were saying in Chinese, so he kept to himself and introduced these Chinese art treasures that Li Xuanji helped him collect.  Clifford was kind enough and never thought of packing these things and shipping them back to England. He sounded like he wanted to open a museum of Chinese art treasures in Suzhou. He intended to serve as its own director and at the same time open it to the public and welcome citizens and tourists.  All the guests came to visit.  The few teachers I saw in the hospital just nowI came here to study an inscription from the Ming Dynasty.  At the same time, Clifford also found many folk craftsmen who lived in the house and taught him how to make handicrafts. He even wanted to open a Chinese handicrafts business to make exquisite Chinese handicrafts and sell them to the West.

    Hong Yun'er praised Clifford a few words and said that Xiwang would support him in realizing this dream. She also said that she would invest in Clifford's Chinese Handicrafts Company to help him find more private craftsmen to make handicrafts.

    Clifford was very happy, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement. The Xiwang Association would sponsor manpower and material resources to help Clifford open the Chinese Art Treasures Museum and the Chinese Handicrafts Store. Clifford would be responsible for the management, and he would split the money 50-50.  Those collections nominally belong to China, and Clifford will not take them back to the country.

    Hong Yun'er was happy to discover a new way to make money. Chinese folk handicrafts such as exquisite jade utensils, porcelain cloisonne, sculptures and other handicrafts have a wide market in the West. Handicrafts like cloisonn¨¦ were popular in Guangxu in later generations.  It started exporting to the West only in 2001 and received a lot of orders. Hong Yun'er is very optimistic about the prospects of this industry.

    After finally satisfying Clifford¡¯s hobbies, Hong Yun¡¯er asked about the news from the UK. Clifford then got down to business, but in his opinion, artworks and cultural relics might be the real business.

    Clifford wrote a long report on his experience in China and returned to the UK. At the same time, Clifford gave a rare analysis of the investment prospects in China.  He wrote in the report: "The glory of civilization is about to come to this ancient country in the East. An enlightened rebel army has occupied most of the country (an exaggeration). They have controlled the longest river in this ancient country, the Yangtze River, and occupied  They opened open treaty ports like Shanghai and Ningbo. They were not just killing and destroying as some rumors and the Manchu government said. On the contrary, they led the people to resist a large-scale plague and actively restored order and production.  In comparison, the Manchu army was the source of destruction (some comparisons are omitted here). One of their leaders, a wise king who nominally ruled the west of the ancient country, was an enlightened man who was familiar with trade.  and trade, and his princess was proficient in English and French (some words of praise are omitted here) They hope to expand commerce and trade in the occupied areas, and hope to build railways in the ancient country. To build railways in this vast ancient country, for the British  What rich returns the steel and mineral industry will bring (Some economic analysis text is omitted here) I have no doubt about the combat capability of His Highness the King of the West. He has more than 100,000 elite soldiers under his command, ready to fight for them at any time.  Dedicated to his ideals and beliefs, it is only a matter of time before the Manchu government falls in this ancient country. Our family wants to expand its influence in the Far East, which will be a very good opportunity. Therefore, I suggest influencing the resolution of the Parliament and the Prime Minister to give this  More support from emerging forces, whether in military, trade or politics"

    After the British Rothschild family received this report, family members held several meetings. At the meeting, they produced an analysis report by Alexander, the family's representative in the Far East. Alexander's report was compared with Clifford's.  Although it is more conservative, it is still the same as Clifford's suggestion. It can support this emerging force, or it can provide support with a certain limit.

    At the same time, the Rothschild family saw Jardine Matheson's investment plan to build the Suzhou-Shanghai railway. After discussion, they agreed to use their influence to tilt the neutral policy of the British Parliament and the Prime Minister towards the Taiping Army, but their neutral attitude remained  It won't change.  He also instructed Jardine Matheson to continue to maintain friendly relations with the Taiping Army, further expand the trading volume of tea, silk and foreign cloth, and at the same time maintain the opium smuggling trade in the Manchu-occupied areas to ensure the maximization of their own interests.

    After hearing the news, Hong Yun'er was very happy, and then Clifford said: "The family appointed me as the plenipotentiary representative of the Far East region. You can come to me to discuss orders for railways, telegraph lines, and various types of production machines, including  It is also possible for both parties to jointly invest in building a factory. However, our family still needs to continue to negotiate with the British government regarding the weapons production line, but there may not be much hope. After all, Britain and Russia are about to go to war, and the domestic weapons production lines must first satisfy the British government.  As early as October last year, Britain began to prepare for war and restrict the export of weapons and weapons production lines. This applies to all countries, not just the Taiping Rebellion. I am still sure to get other civilian equipment and machines.  .¡±

    Hong Yun'er suppressed the joy in her heart and said: "In the afternoon, I will ask the personnel from our Xiwangfu Industry Department and the Household Department to come and have a detailed discussion with you, sir. They already have a very detailed plan and purchase list."

    Clifford nodded, but looked at Li Xuanji beside him and said, "I hope Miss Li can participate."

    ?? Hong Yun'er clasped her jaw slightly, wondering whether this foreign ghost?Falling in love with Li Xuanji?  But in the face of national events, Hong Yun'er took the initiative to filter out the personal relationship between her children and nodded: "Li Xuanji will participate in the whole process. As long as you are in China, Li Xuanji will follow you as a liaison counselor." (To be continued.  Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!
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