At this time, Jilins' breathing became rapid. No matter how contempt he despised Meng before he came, his previous plan was a little shaken in the face of such generous bribes. He stood up, bowed slightly to Meng Ji, and replied a little dryly: "Your Majesty, your kindness is really too...!"

"It's nothing! Isn't it?" Meng Ji interrupted Jilins' refusal: "I am a king. According to you Europeans, my actions must be in line with the identity of a king. It is inappropriate to refuse a king's gift. If I did something that was not so satisfying to you before, please remember that at that time I was not a king, at least a veritable king. You cannot ask me as a king!"

"Then I would like to thank the noble Majesty!" Jilins changed his mind and accepted this precious gift. Although he did not believe Meng Ji's defense, he had to admit that a considerable part of it was true, and the interests of the British Empire are now inseparable from this cunning king. Today he suddenly attracted himself. It would be better to accept the gift and watch it out.

"Very good!" Seeing Jillins and Duncan accept their gifts, Meng Ji smiled on his face: "Then we can talk about the serious matter now. Mr. Duncan, how is the training of the new army going on now?"

"It's so bad!" Duncan replied: "It rains every day, there is no dry place, there are too few people sent to train, the quality is too poor, and the weapons that should be shipped have not arrived as scheduled. I am still training the basic skills of those students to become non-commissioned officers and officers, and they will have at least three to four months to come in handy."

"Three days ago, the Shun Army had occupied Lashio, which was less than 300 kilometers away from Mandalay. The two children of the former Burmese King were in the army. They had claimed to have been enthroned by Emperor Dashun and served as the new Burmese King. But now you tell me that the army will not come in handy in three to four months. Do you have to use those old troops that are not trustworthy to defend my throne? Dear friends, do you think that the two princes will still abide by the agreements between me and Her Majesty the Queen after returning to Mandalay?"

Meng Ji's quick words dispelled the warmth in the room. Both sides took off their velvet gloves and exposed the hard and cold iron gloves below. The two noble girls widened their beautiful eyes at a loss. Jilins smiled gently at them and turned to Meng Ji, "Great Your Majesty, I think things are not as bad as you imagined. It is rainy now, and it is impossible to transport water through the Irrawaddy River. It is even more difficult to travel by land. The large army is very difficult to move. I think Shun people use bribes and bribes.

If I remember correctly, it was the territory of the Shan people, and it had a strong tendency toward the central dynasty of Myanmar. As long as you give enough benefits, it would not be difficult for the Shun people to do this. Large-scale military operations will not start until the end of the rainy season. At that time, you have enough time to consolidate your rule. Of course, as long as you are willing to fulfill your previous agreement, the British Empire will stand firmly behind you!" At the end of the words, Jilins's tone was strengthened in a calm expression to emphasize the key points in his words.

"You are right, Mr. Consul!" Meng replied with a smile, but he was very shocked in his heart. The British consul's analysis of the situation in Lashio was very consistent with the information just sent back there. Obviously, the other party had a deep understanding of the geography, humanity and climate within Myanmar, which was not good news. Meng Ji was not afraid of the Shun Army, at least not afraid before the end of the rainy season. His real purpose of summoning Jilins this time was to take this opportunity to obtain more arms from his opponents to build his own army. This is the real guarantee of his throne. But from now on, his plan failed, and it seems that he had to change his way.

"But time is precious! The rainy season will always pass. At that time, the Irrawaddy River will calm down, and the Shun people can flow down the river. I need rifles and cannons to resist their invasion. How many weapons are there to be transported to Mandalay so far? Let's take a look." Speaking of this, Meng Ji picked up a piece of white paper that had been prepared from the table beside him and whispered: "Li Enfeld rifles are 670, 250,000 bullets; Eight pounds of mountain cannons, each with 120 shells; Four Green cannons, 60,000 bullets." After reading this, Meng Ji raised his head and asked: "Mr. Consul, can you resist the invading army of Shun with these weapons?"

Jillins did not answer immediately. He smiled and looked back at Duncan. Duncan stood up and saluted Meng Ji, and replied: "Your Majesty, please allow me to say bluntly that as an instructor, compared to insufficient military equipment, I think the biggest problem now is the lack of qualified officers and non-commissioned officers. No qualified officers and non-commissioned officers. Your new army is nothing but a mess. Frankly speaking, in just a few months, it is impossible to turn the students you sent to me into qualified officers and non-commissioned officers. I have only twenty subordinates. Although they are all good officers, the number of people is too small."

"Then your suggestion is!" Meng Ji's face turned gloomy.

"My suggestion is to hire more foreign officers, at least at the first level of the platoon. Your cadets can be trained in the army as reserve officers; or simply hire three to four battalions from the Indian territory army to be the core of your establishment of a new army. These Indian troops have been well trained, have rich combat experience, and are adapted to the climate in Myanmar. I believe that under the command of the British Emperor, they will become loyal guards of His Majesty's throne."

"No!" Meng flatly rejected Duncan's suggestion, and he understood very well what kind of evil intentions contained in the other party's suggestion. If he agreed to the other party's request, his fate would not be different from the countless chiefs of India, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia. He would sooner or later become a puppet in the hands of the British. Meng Ji slightly eased his tone and replied: "The Indians are a group of evil people who do not believe in Buddha. I am the Burmese king who believes in Buddha. It is impossible to allow such an army to protect it. As for foreign officers, it is impossible to platoon one level, and at most they can only be configured to the company level, and they also hope to speed up the transport."

Jilins did not expect Meng Ji to agree to the request of hiring Indian troops, and to increase foreign officers to the company level, he had achieved his purpose of this trip. He suppressed his complacent heart and replied: "His Majesty, your wish is the order, just do what you said, but I hope you can agree to our country to send engineers to detect the road from Yangon to Mandalay. After all, a large number of weapons must be transported to Mandalay, and good transportation must be provided."

"Okay, I will issue an order to the officials along the way. Within a month and a half, you must transport three thousand best rifles and bullets, as well as corresponding artillery to Mandalay!" Meng Ji stood up from the throne, which means that the conversation was over and he was about to see off the guests.

"As you wish, your majesty!" Jilins stood up together and bowed to Meng Ji. After Jilins got up, he pointed to the wine glass and the beautiful girl beside him, and smiled at Meng Ji on the throne and said, "Also, thank you for your generous gift, Your Majesty!"

The road from Lashio to Mandalay is a rammed earth road parallel to the Mie River. This river will flow into the Irrawaddy River in Mandalay. Under the erosion of heavy rain for three months, many parts of the road have been washed away and submerged, turning into a series of shallow bays and half swamps. The surging river water also makes shipping impossible. On the other side of the road is a large forest that stretches to the mountains in the distance. Occasionally, a few villages can be seen.

Residents rely on hunting, fishing or ploughing small pieces of wasteland in the forest to make a living. Compared with the forests here, the forests around Lashio can only be regarded as small woods on the outskirts of the city. The woods by the river are like a huge green rock, and all the spaces in the woods are filled with plants, which is daunting. In order to cross the destroyed road, Shunjun had to open the road with machetes in the forest, otherwise people would never be able to pass through the woods, let alone the baggage team composed of livestock and elephants.

The woods were very quiet, with only the soldiers' shoes stomping in the rotten leaves and mud pits. Sometimes people could hear heavy breathing sounds. The trees that were hugging two or three people could be seen everywhere, up to thirty or forty meters high. If you want to see the top of the tree, your neck would be sour. In order to win the sun, even climbing plants and wooden vines must be as thick as wine barrels. They either tangle, or use tendrils and hooks to grasp the tall trees. The forest was wet and wet. Although it was noon, it was just like dusk. The soldiers of Shunjun looked at the strange environment around them with awe, subconsciously speeding up the march.

Chen Zaixing and Badu both rode on a Dian horse and walked with bridles. There were many such animals in the Shun Army. Before setting off, Chen Zaixing bought most of the Dian horses in Lashio City, and left the Mongolian horses and three hippos in the Shun Army there. The reason was very simple: these short, hard-working livestock should be more adapted to the environment here than their taller and taller northern compatriots, otherwise the humid environment and continuous march would be enough to kill more than half of the horses.

"The brigade, the barbarians in the village in front of them quarreled, and they were unwilling to collect cash." An officer rushed to Badu and bowed and reported.
Chapter completed!