"Hey, beauty, you keep scolding me. I don't think you are a woman as knowledgeable as you."
"But you can't always accuse me wrongly. First of all, I am a good official. I gave Zao households a way to live, gave food to the refugees, and organized everyone to cultivate fields. No one has ever called me a dog official, except those who bullied the people and had their homes confiscated by me.
Landlord. Secondly, I really rescued these women. Aren't these women kidnapped by you from Yangzhou? Did they want to leave their parents? Did you send them to Tianjing to enjoy happiness?
?"
Yang Ximei wanted to refute Dong Shuheng, but she didn't know how. She could only bite her lips and fight with her heart. She was kind-hearted, otherwise she wouldn't want to defend those women. But in her eyes, the imperial court
All the officials are bad guys who do all kinds of evil, and only the Taiping Army are the saviors of the people. But what the man in front of me said sounds very reasonable.
"Again, I'm really ready to let you go. Your wanting to kill me is a normal behavior on the battlefield. As a victim, I have the right not to hold you accountable. Also, I don't want to be an enemy of your Taiping Army. Now I'm attacking
You Taiping Army are in Yangzhou because this is my hometown, and I think it’s okay to take back the hometown you occupied, right?”
"You said that your Taiping Army brought peace to the people, but what did you do in Yangzhou? You forcibly divided people's families and did not allow them to live together. The men were pulled up on the city wall to defend the city, and the women were organized by you.
Adult women work in camps. How many women committed suicide by throwing themselves into wells, don’t you know? These girls are all sisters from my hometown. Shouldn’t I save them and go home? Why should the sisters from my hometown give it to your heavenly king?
My brother, what other kings are there, working as slaves and maids?"
"You Taiping Army keep saying that "the world is one family and we all enjoy peace" and "everywhere is uneven and no one is deprived of food and warmth." Why does your king want to build such a luxurious palace for himself instead of living in the same house as the common people?
?Why can the King of Heaven marry so many wives at once, but the common people cannot live together?"
…
…
Dong Shuheng talked a lot, as if the crimes of the Taiping Army were too numerous to write down.
"Stop talking, I won't listen..." Yang Ximei covered her ears and kept shaking her head, still crying.
"I will let you go back. I hope you can see with your own eyes what your brother Dongwang and his old brothers have done. If you still have a conscience, don't lie to yourself and stick to your true intentions. Of course.
, I can’t let you go now. I will let you go back when I take back Yangzhou after a while.” After saying that, Dong Shuheng left the cabin without looking back, leaving Yang Ximei sobbing alone.
It was almost noon after returning to Gaoyou, and the Navy returned to Qiaojiajian's base for repairs. Dong Shuheng also returned to his office. This trip could be described as a bumper harvest. Not only did they intercept a large amount of gold and silver that the Taiping Army escorted to Tianjing, but also
He took on a potential younger brother, a naval commander who was familiar with the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The remaining 500 heads were sent to Qishan's camp by Zeng Gong. If Jiangbei made no more achievements, Bauhinia City might have some objections to their new admiral.
He hadn't visited his sisters for a while recently. So he brought a gift - two bicycles that had just been made by his machine factory, and planned to go to Bai's house to visit his two sisters.
That's right, Dong Shuheng's machine factory made a bicycle according to his drawings. This thing has low technical content and is not difficult for Taipei Machinery Factory, which is now well-equipped.
Now Dong Shuheng is bound to be followed by a team of armed guards when he goes out. Especially what happened last night made the guards blame themselves. Cai Shusen is still recovering from his injuries. After his wounds were cleaned and sutured by military doctors, they were no longer serious.
Dong Shuheng is now an admiral known to everyone in Gaoyou, so his treatment at the Bai family is naturally different from last time.
The middle door opened, and the Bai family knelt on both sides of the door to greet him. Dong Shuheng did not show off. The Bai family treated him well last time. They knew that he had a bad relationship with his aunt, so they did not embarrass him.
Naturally, Mrs. Bai would not come out to greet her, but her two sisters came over. The eldest sister, Shuyun, was still as gentle, quiet, and knowledgeable as ever, while the second sister, Shumei, was still as playful.
The Bai family is in the grain business and must have its own channels for collecting grain. Dong Shuheng now needs to reserve a large amount of grain. Therefore, Dong Shuheng doesn't mind helping the Bai family. He discussed it with the head of the Bai family and gave the Bai family a huge
The food order. Naturally, Patriarch Bai burst into tears of gratitude again.
When they arrived at the small courtyard where Bai lived, Bai was doing embroidery. When she saw Dong Shuheng arriving, she simply nodded to say hello.
Bai is still wearing a long white skirt and a wide-sleeved top. She is running up and down with needlework in her hands, and her wide sleeves are fluttering, as if she is dancing. Thirties is the golden age for a woman, but Bai can only live here as a widow.
.
Thinking of this, Dong Shuheng also felt sorry for her.
When Bai saw Dong Shuheng always looking at her, she blushed slightly and said, "What important business does Shuheng have when you come here today?"
"Oh, it's just that I haven't seen my two sisters for a few days and I'm worried about them, so I came to see you. There was a war and chaos some time ago. It's Shu Heng's fault that I couldn't come to visit my aunt and sister. I came here today and I have something to do in the city.
It's in a courtyard, so my aunt and sisters can move there, which is more convenient."
"I will talk to my brother about this." Ms. Bai also knew that it would be inappropriate for her to live in her natal family for a long time, and she did not want to move to Dongtai, which would make her feel controlled by others. Therefore, she could only agree to Dong Shuheng's request.
At this time, the two sisters pushed their bicycles into the courtyard.
"Brother, how do you ride this bike?" My sister and I couldn't ride it.
Helpless, Dong Shuheng could only ride the bicycle a few times around the courtyard, and push Shumei to ride a few more times. As for Shuyun, he was unwilling to learn. Bai on the side saw that the two-wheeled bicycle was surprisingly easy to ride.
Not really, but also very curious.
"Auntie, do you want to try it too?" Dong Shuheng asked.
"I'll forget it, you young people can just have fun." Bai said with an embarrassed look.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't hurt to give it a try. This car is even more powerful than Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and flowing horse!"
"Yes, mother, just come and give it a try!" Shumei on the side also cheered.
"Then just run one lap." Bai was also quite curious. With the recent meetings with Dong Shuheng, his grudge against Dong Shuheng gradually subsided, so he agreed half-heartedly.
She imitated Shumei's look and sat astride the bicycle. Her long skirt was caught by the crossbar of the bicycle, revealing her light yellow trousers. Dong Shuheng was holding the back seat from behind. Bai's hand holding the handlebar was a little nervous.
Her hands turned slightly white from excessive exertion.
Dong Shuheng was also a little nervous. He pushed the car slowly. At the corner of the corner, Bai turned the front of the car 90 degrees because of nervousness. The car suddenly stopped. Bai suddenly lost his balance. Dong Shuheng could only stretch out a hand.
He went to help Bai Shi. This move immediately made Bai Shi blush.
Dong Shuheng didn't pay much attention. He supported Bai with one hand and the car with the other, preventing Bai from falling.
"Okay, Shuheng, stop quickly and put me down." Bai said. Dong Shuheng stopped quickly, and Bai also got out of the car. Only then did Dong Shuheng see that Bai's face turned red.
Dong Shuheng thought: "Maybe he is too nervous to ride a bike?"
At this time, Shumei came over and said: "Brother, I have something to ask you for help. Recently, many workshops have been opened outside Gaoyou City. My sister and I also want to open an embroidery workshop."
"This is a good thing. In this way, I will ask shopkeeper Li to help you handle the factory affairs, but you have to do the recruitment yourself. It is difficult to recruit female workers who can embroider now." Dong Shuheng said.
"We have all heard. Didn't you rescue more than 1,000 sisters this time? My sister said that some of them must be willing to stay and do it with us?"
Dong Shuheng looked at Shuyun who was silent and realized that his eldest sister was not only well-educated but also extremely smart!
"Okay, you can go to the place where they are temporarily placed and give it a try. I will give your workshop another 50,000 taels of start-up capital, and the rest will be left to you."
Mrs. Bai on the side saw the three brothers and sisters chatting so happily, and she felt very happy. She had already put aside her grudge against Dong Shuheng.
…
The Strait of Malacca was experiencing rare calm at this time, and a young Chinese man was standing on a plywood admiring the scenery on the sea.
"We'll be arriving in Singapore soon. I'll take you down there for a visit. There are many Chinese people living in Singapore." At this time, a bearded foreigner came over and said in broken Chinese with a Suzhou accent.
Karl learned a lot of Chinese from Wang Tao, a foreign language genius, but Wang Tao's Suzhou accent was very strong, and so did Karl.
They set out from Shanghai and chartered a Portuguese merchant ship, a fast clipper ship that could reach Europe in about fifty days. They were accompanied by more than 100 young students, most of whom were recommended by major families.
A descendant.
Wang Tao had four things to do during his trip. The first was to inspect the customs and customs of various countries, write travel notes, and hire a group of European technicians. For this purpose, Dong Shuheng even wrote a talent introduction list for him; the second was to visit a French shipyard.
Discuss the purchase of ironclad ships in the name of the Governor-General of Liangjiang. The third is to visit Prussia on behalf of Dong Shuheng, establish a strategic partnership with Prussia, discuss the acquisition of Krupp Company or cooperation with Krupp, and at the same time inspect the development of Prussian heavy industry, and introduce new materials as appropriate
Heavy industrial production equipment. The fourth is to arrange matters for these students to study abroad.
Wang Tao felt that his life had just begun when he met Dong Shuheng. He became a scholar at a young age, but after having more contact with foreigners in Shanghai, he became more and more disgusted with the imperial examination system. China will continue to follow the path of imperial examination education.
, will only fall further and further behind. That’s why he took advantage of the opportunity to visit Europe this time to suggest that Dong Shuheng send overseas students to go with him.
On the way, he also took the initiative to teach foreign languages to these international students. Due to time constraints, these international students sent to Europe had to undertake heavy foreign language learning tasks every day. This actually made their journey less boring.