Xiao Yungui looked at Bao Ling with a very playful smile, touched his chin and said, "Mr. Minister, you may have calculated the real purpose of our participation in the war. At any time, the war is a continuation of politics. It should not be difficult for you to see the real purpose of our participation in the war."

Bao Ling frowned slightly and said, "Are you really going to form an alliance with us and declare war on Russia in the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and finally indirectly let Britain and France recognize that your army is China's only legal government?" Bao Ling thought about it for a few days and found that the Western King's true intention might be this. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could be recognized by Britain and France, it would be an unimaginable temptation for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, he did not know that the two big men in Tianjing didn't care about the recognition of Britain and France at all.

Xiao Yungui smiled and said, "I wouldn't think of such an unrealistic thing. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is so powerful, the Minister should know that we only occupy the territory of several provinces and are far from effectively controlling the country. At this time, the parliaments and cabinets of Britain and France will not recognize us anyway, so I will not consider this issue."

Bao Ling couldn't help himself and asked, "Why did Your Excellency Xiwang want to join the war?"

Xiao Yungui smiled and said, "Russia has begun to encroach on our northern territory since the Kangxi period. I believe that Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire will surely defeat Russia in the Crimean War."

Hearing this, Bao Ling and Blombour both smiled slightly, and Bao Ling nodded and said, "Thank you, the King of the West, for your support to Britain and France."

Xiao Yungui nodded and continued: "Once Russia's expansion in the west is curbed, the two-headed eagles will definitely develop eastward regardless of everything. From a long-term perspective, I think the soldiers under my subordinates need to fight a low-intensity war with the Russians. We need to be familiar with the situation in the northern border and the Russians' fighting methods. In the future, after we gain national power, Russia will become the biggest threat to our new regime. So I must consider attacking the Russians' power in the Far East as much as possible. Isn't it a good time now?"

Bao Ling's eyes lit up when he heard this. The strategic vision of the Western King was indeed very vicious. He was indeed a very wise and visionary leader. Bao Ling had almost never encountered such a person in China. Bao Ling pondered: "Can I understand the words of the Western King as, once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gained full control of China in the future, will the first enemy be Russia?"

Xiao Yungui said frankly: "Yes, Russia has a land border with our country for more than thousands of miles. The Russians have expanded into nature. We need to consider future threats. I don't want to drive away the Tatars and then come to the Russians. So until now, our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still does not recognize any treaties signed by the Qing government and Russia. Instead, we only recognize the treaties of Britain, France, the United States and other countries. Mr. Minister should see the difference. This is our strategic interests in the future, so we need to carry out this war."

Bao Ling said appreciatively: "His destiny of the King of Xi is indeed different from that of ordinary people, and his vision is long-term. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can really gain national power in the future, the United Kingdom will be the first to recognize your government, and will also consider the possibility of curbing Russia's cooperation in the future."

Blombur also expressed the same meaning. The ministers of Britain and France had a very consistent opinion. As long as the interests in China can be guaranteed, it would be very in line with the interests of both countries that can curb the emergence of Russia's allies in the Far East. After all, the Russians' expansion and the weak power of Britain and France in the Far East will inevitably not completely curb the ambitions of the Russians. If the Russians control northern China alone, it would be a great threat to the economically prosperous South China. Therefore, Britain and France also hope to see the Taiping Army be able to prevent the Russians from moving south, and then guarantee the interests of Britain and France alone in South China.

Xiao Yungui only revealed this long-term strategic plan first. Even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom acquires national power in the future, it will need to find suitable allies around the world. He will not imagine that once the national power is obtained, China will be so powerful that it does not need any allies. The current world pattern has basically been established, and it will be very difficult to break the sphere of influence of traditional powers. Even the powerful United States will completely break the traditional sphere of influence of British and French powers after two world wars. It is too early for China to challenge world hegemony.

Therefore, Xiao Yungui proposed the strategic idea that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could curb Russia in the Far East, and also dispelled the idea that Britain and France would re-establish other countries. Historically, Britain chose Japan to curb Russia for this reason. No matter what happens in the future, it is very necessary to promote this concept first. This is Xiao Yungui's political consideration for participating in the war. As for whether Britain and France recognize or not, Xiao Yungui is not worried at all, and there is no need to recognize Britain and France to recognize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime now. After gaining national power in the future, Britain and France will definitely admit that this is a natural thing, and there is no need to exchange it for participating in the war.

After thanking the support of both countries, Xiao Yungui continued: "However, considering the neutral position of Britain and France, we do not plan to directly participate in the war in the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. I plan to hire mercenaries and volunteer soldiers to join the war, which will also facilitate the parliament and cabinet of the two countries to reach a consensus."

Bao Ling finally felt relieved. If the King of the West insisted on joining the war in the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, this matter might be stranded, because the parliaments and cabinets of Britain and France would not agree to form an alliance with a non-government armed force. The King of the West's proposal was very consistent with the requirements of the envoys of the two countries. Bao Ling then asked: "What benefits does Your Excellency the King of the West want to obtain directly from the war? Land? Money?"

Xiao Yungui smiled and said, "We will ask the Russians for land in the future, and we are not short of money now."

Bao Ling also smiled and said, "Yes, the daily trade volume between Shanghai and Ningbo is increasing. The profits brought by the busiest trading port in the Far East are of course very generous. Moreover, the goods produced by several factories and handicraft workshops opened by His Excellency Xiwang have also begun to make profits. His Excellency Xiwang is indeed not short of money." The factories Bao Ling mentioned refer to the cigarette factories, soap factories and other civilian factories opened by Xiao Yungui in Shanghai. These factories are the ideas of Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er. Xiao Yungui, a smoker, is the biggest hope that he can no longer smoke the old dry tobacco. Hong Yun'er has enough soapcorn, so with the support of the research and development of the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau and Pasteur Laboratory, China's own cigarette and soap factories were opened. These projects were jointly established by Xidian and private merchants. It is also considered a national industry.

Those handicraft workshops became even more popular, from cloisonné to Su embroidery, from jade processing to stone statue carving, various folk handicrafts were greatly encouraged and developed under the new policy of the West Palace. Even ordinary straw hats and straw sandals could be sold overseas, which was something Xiao Yungui did not expect.

There are traces of Guiyun Business in these industries, and the business led by Zhu Changling and Wei Helin is getting bigger and bigger. Guiyun Business has even registered a branch in the United States and has begun to invest and participate in the construction of the American Railway. Xiao Yungui certainly knows how much profit the American Railway can bring in the future. In contrast, the funds for the previous investment in the construction of the Atlantic Telegraph Line are not worth mentioning. The funds in the Holy Custody Fund in the West Palace are specially used for investment every year, which means that Xiao Yungui uses the money from the Sufu Provincial Government to make money. The money is public funds, while Guiyun Business is completely Xiao Yungui's own internal warehouse, which is the money for him and Hong Yuner to retire.

Bao Ling, who knew a little about the relationship between Guiyun Business Name and Xiwang, said that the Western King was not short of money, and Xidian and Su Fusheng were not short of money. Under the guidance of Xiao Yungui, the officials of Su Fusheng learned how to invest money as soon as possible, whether it was to build railways, factories, schools, or water conservancy. Once there was a profitable place, the Ministry of Revenue in Xidian would spend money without hesitation. Money could only be generated in circulation. This is the most common sentence Xiao Yungui said to the Ministry of Revenue, which led to the economic prosperity of Su Fusheng today.

Blombul said with some dissatisfaction: "After the railway between Suzhou and Shanghai is connected, the profit is also very large. You should consider our country's construction of the railway from Shanghai to Hangzhou and Ningbo."

Xiao Yungui laughed and said, "Mr. Minister, the Ministry of Revenue is already making the base budget for these railways. You should be patient. The bidding will be open later. If French companies are interested, they can do some preparations in advance. However, everything follows the market, and I can't control who will win the bid in the end."

Bao Ling looked at the Frenchman dissatisfiedly. He thought that this Frenchman had undertaken the construction of the Shanghai-Suzhou telegraph line and wanted to get a share of the Shanghai, Hangzhou and Ningbo railways? The golden waters of the Yangtze River Delta are the interest territory of Britain. We must not let the Frenchman get too many in. He interrupted the two of them and said: "Mr. Bloomboel, the Shanghai Military and Political Department will issue bidding documents later on. There is no need to discuss it at this time. Let's get back to the point and talk about the cost of the Western King's dispatch of troops this time. Your Excellency Xiwang, if you don't need land or money, I really can't think of what you want."

Xiao Yungui smiled faintly and said word by word: "I need the two countries to provide at least ten third-layer battleships and thirty cruisers as the exchange price for our troops."

Bao Ling and Blombour were both shocked when they heard this. Bao Ling jumped up and shook his head repeatedly and said, "Impossible, this is impossible. The combined naval power of Britain and France in the Far East is not as large. You are joking, Your Excellency the King of West."

Xiao Yungui said slowly: "Don't be excited, our Taiping Army needs naval, Shanghai, Ningbo and other places to be smuggled seriously, we need naval inspections, and our long coastline also needs naval guards. We will start the naval plan sooner or later. We are already in contact with the United States and Prussia, hoping to buy naval ships from them. As for Mr. Bao Ling's belief that our naval plan will threaten Britain, I am very surprised that your country's fleet in India far exceeds the navy in this plan, and the dignified Imperial Navy is so afraid of our navy plan? We have a cooperative relationship, not a hostile relationship, our ships are just used to deal with the Russians, and the threat to Britain does not exist at all."

Bao Ling frowned and said, "His Excellency Xiwang, your naval plan is too large and needs to be cut a little."

Xiao Yungui was a little angry and rushed up. I planned how many ships the navy would want to approve? He said lightly: "The scale of the troops, logistics and ammunition costs of this time were entirely borne by our Taiping Army. It was estimated that it would require more than 1.5 million taels of silver. This is not considered as the pension for the dead and injured, as well as the rewards for the meritorious ones. If your country feels that it will not be able to come out so many ships for a while, we can first ask for half of the ships, which can be newly built by the British shipyard or arranged from the active ships. In short, the price can be negotiated. Mr. Bao Ling, what you should consider is that if we can take several military ports in the Far East of Russia, and in the future, how much land and interests you can win for the UK to exchange for when negotiating with Russia, you will never suffer any loss in this transaction." (To be continued, please search Piao Tianwen, the novel is better, updated and faster!
Chapter completed!