C3486 Coastal North

The autumn rain had finally started to fall. In the autumn of 1871, which was also the autumn of Tongzhi's tenth year, the horse-tailed boatyard held a grand ceremony to send off the Tongzhi Emperor and the New Imperial Army.

Tongzhi had only stayed in Fujian for a week, but the entire situation in the city had changed. First, he comforted the new army and ordered Shen Baozhen, who was in deep sorrow, to bring in an advanced bank in Fuzhou to improve the financial system of the city.

At the same time, Tongzhi also exempted all the families of New Imperial Army from paying taxes for ten years, and there were also taxes for a year for ordinary citizens. When such a good governance was introduced, the entire public opinion went into an uproar, and the praises for the ten thousand years old spread throughout Fujian Province like sparkling water, to the point that even half of the southern part of the city was shaken up.

The Mawei Shipyard quickly reached a preliminary agreement with the Asian president of Standard Chartered Bank of Hong Kong, who had arrived in Hong Kong on the news. The UK made an initial capital injection of one million pounds to help Horse-Tail introduce the latest shipbuilding equipment and dig deeper and wider dry docks to increase the production capacity of the Mawei Shipyard.

Not just the British Bankers, many foreign merchants who had heard the news also came here to try their luck. Although they did not have the qualifications to see the Tongzhi Emperor, they could still get some high-quality orders from him.

Under the secret instructions of the Tongzhi Emperor, with the Mawei Shipyard as the core, a small sized Industrial Zones that belonged to the Tongzhi himself had already appeared on the design.

Having previously suffered in exchange for a bank note, the little emperor finally understood that governing a country is not something that one can do as he pleases. The higher your status is, the more you have to act according to the rules.

A sudden attack on the spur of the moment is not an option, because your status and weight are too great and your influence is too great.

So he had sent detailed schedules to Shanghai and Beijing before he left the ponytail, and this time he wasn't going to investigate the surprise attack.

During this week, Hong Kong and Shanghai dispatched almost all of their steamers, galloping at top speed to the horse tail. Thirty thousand imperial guards were going to head north from the sea, and with the technology and size of their steamships at the time, this would be a very large fleet.

Even if a ship could fill up to a thousand people, it would still take thirty steamers, not to mention a lot of smaller steamships that only had six or seven hundred people.

Zai Chun was unable to take all of the soldiers with him at once, so he could only choose the most reliable ten ships and select 8000 Hippi to accompany him north.

When the imperial carriage left Minjiang Estuary, the hundred thousand citizens on both sides of the river kneeled and offered up to the Holy Son. Just one year of tax exemption was enough to move the entire people of Fujian Province to cry bitterly.

"Respectfully sending this His Majesty back to the capital … Long live! Long live! "Long live!"

The Minjiang Estuary was a gathering of ten thousand sails, all the European Seagoing Ship Group honked their flute to send the Great Qing's emperor off to the north!

When Tongzhi returned to his own country, his influence immediately rose. The officials along the coastline had already prepared a fast boat and knew that the Emperor would not stop at his own prefectural city, but they couldn't miss this chance to kiss ass to him.

The big and small officials brought tribute to pay their respects to Tongzhi from the sea. In order to greet the local officials, the entire fleet's speed was reduced to the lowest.

From the north of Fujian to Shanghai, the British have witnessed the Chinese worship of imperial power!

Many officials were puking on the sea for three days in order to kowtow to the emperor from afar!

Once the warship with the Dragon flag appeared in the sight of the Qing government officials and civilians, everyone could not even kneel before the sea and call out "Long live the battle".

There were also countless local merchants. Even though they knew it wouldn't do them any good, they still brought in special products, and even paintings of Real Gold and Silver and antiques to present to the emperor.

Many times, when these treasures were delivered to the side of the Tongzhi Emperor, even the little emperor would not know who gave them to him!

The imperial power was like a giant magnet, attracting the attention of the entire empire!

Gradually, Zai Chun started to feel that, he had slowly recovered his identity of a ninety five Great Elder. Standing at the bow of the ship and watching the citizens kneel, he did not feel that touched anymore. It was only when he saw the eight thousand New Imperial Army s accompanying him that Er Mao could see the burning emotions in his eyes.

"How long until Shanghai?" Zai Chun waved towards the merchant ships at sea and saw that countless fishermen were pacifyingly offering the most fresh seafood to the emperor.

"The speed is too slow. I've asked the British, and like this, we won't be able to get to Shanghai until the end of the month …" Er Mao smiled and said, "Shanghai has already called back. Almost all of Jiangnan's top fourth-grade officials are gathering in Shanghai!"

"The Prince Chun from Beijing led his welcoming party and departed on the fastest steamer from Da Gu Kou …"

"Let's go back and forth until the end of the year! To be able to eat the dumplings of the Forbidden City during the Spring Festival, it can be considered fast! "

"I wonder when Master will be able to return …" Will Master come to my personal ceremony in the future? "

"The Führer left late... But we had a series of storms on the way, and a lot of time wasted in the Indian Ocean... I estimate that it's already pretty good to be able to enter the Southern Sea during the Spring Festival! "

"When we reach the Southern Ocean, the Head of the Guards will definitely go to Luzon, Borneo and even Annan … Whether we can go back to Beijing next year is hard to say! "

Deep in his heart, he really hoped that Xiao Letian would be able to participate in his grand marriage and pro-political ceremony, there were many complicated feelings contained within.

These few years, Xiao Letian had completely filled the hole in the heart of the Emperor in which the position of father was left empty. He said that he was a teacher, but Zai Chun really treated Xiao Letian as if he were half a father.

It would not make sense if he lacked Xiao Letian at his wedding and personally conducted celebration!

On the other hand, there was also the fear in his heart. He knew that his path of personal governance would not be smooth sailing. He was no longer the emperor-child that was raised in the palace without any reputation.

He was the Great Qing Tongzhi Emperor who had truly seen great storms and great waves, who had experienced great hardships. He now had a very clear understanding of the ruthlessness of political struggles!

No one would be willing to give up their rights. It was unknown how many accidents would happen to their own government. If there was a master backing them up, they wouldn't be afraid of anything!

"Two Hair..." How many soldiers do you think the Xishan Camp has? Will my royal uncle really give me the authority to do so? "

This topic was too hard to talk about, and Er Mao was unable to answer the two of them silently blowing the sea breeze. At this time, the British lookout hand suddenly shouted from the watchtower.

The chaos attracted Zai Chun's attention, and they successfully changed the topic.

"The South has discovered a fleet that is rapidly approaching … Measuring Sail battleship with your eyes … "The speed is between twelve and fourteen knots..."

When the British army heard that it was the Sail battleship s, they did not panic. Instead, they made all sorts of preparations, and only now did they see through the elite parts of the Royal Navy.

All the departments had methodically raised the alert level. All the soldiers knew what they were doing, so they didn't say anything and only moved.

As the speed of the Tongzhi Emperor's fleet was extremely slow, the following battleships only took half an hour to catch up to them. When the lookout hand saw that the Chinese banner was flying in the sky, he immediately heaved a sigh of relief.

"It's the Ryukyu's navy … The two Sails Cruisers escorted the three scissor boat s … A total of five cruisers with a speed of 13 knots! "

"Look …" They sent a flag message... Long live His Majesty Emperor of Great Qing Kingdom! "

"Alert Dismiss... Is Ryukyu Navy... Alert Dismiss... "