In late July of the Yimao year, the Haihe River estuary a hundred miles southeast of Tianjin City. It is located at the Bohai Sea in the east, the Haihe Plain in the west, and the Tanggu across the river. It is the key to Jiuhejin, and the road is connected to seven provinces. It is Dagukou, which is known as the gateway of Beijing and Tianjin, and the throat of sea and land. After Zhu Di, the Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, built a city in Tianjin and built a pier in Dagu Haikou. In the 20th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, the governor of Zhili, Nar, built a north-south fortress of Dagu, added Dagu north-south forts, with more than 30 cannons and more than 2,000 defense troops.

The year of Yimao was destined to be a turbulent autumn. The land of Jiangnan was still trapped in the battle between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping. The murder of French missionaries and the Nissan incident occurred one after another in Guangxi and Guangdong, making the already complicated situation even more unpredictable. These two incidents directly led to the recovery of the Qing Dynasty's foreign relations in a crisis again. The tough attitude of Britain and France and Ye Mingchen's perfunctory response at the beginning led to the incident of British fleet bombarding Guangzhou City.

The dark clouds of war enveloped Guangdong. Just as the initiators Xiao Yungui and Hong Yuner celebrated each other, the Qing Dynasty's always arrogant attitude towards the outside world suddenly changed. Xianfeng issued an order to preside over the negotiations with Britain and France, Prince Gong Yi, the prince of the regent, in Dagukou.

After reopening negotiations with Britain and France, the joint fleet of Britain and France withdrew the siege of Guangzhou and escorted the envoys north, while showing off their military power. The Qing court appointed Shi Rongchun, a general of the Senggelinqin tribe, as the general of Dagu, commanded heavy troops to station in Jingu, supervised defense, set up five forts, and set up 64 cannons, arranged in a total of five characters, arranged in power, town, sea, gate, and high five characters, and set up more than 20,000 defense troops to build the Dagu Navy, planting stakes at the bottom of the water to defend against enemy ships.

On the sea of ​​Dagu, dozens of British and French Allied Forces fleets were floating quietly on the sea. One of them was wrapped in iron armor and a large ship with a tall chimney standing on the hull, which was particularly eye-catching. This is the flagship "Teria" cruiser of the British Far East Fleet. It is a new ironclad ship that combines steam power and sail power. It has a displacement of 1,459 tons, and the ship is equipped with 38 rear-mounted rifled guns and 136 crew members. In front of the surrounding sail warships, its huge dark gray body looks so dazzling.

John Bao Ling, the Minister of the British Empire to China, also served as the third governor of Hong Kong, stood at the bow of the boat, under the huge rice banner. On his thin face, his deep blue eyes looked at the various forts in Dagu from afar. He had high eyebrows, wide forehead, blond hair and gray eyes, and his face was shaved. He was wearing a snow-white shirt and a black satin bow on his Adam's apple. He looked very delicate.

A British Rear Admiral stood straight behind him, but Feltwood Pelo, the British Squadron Admiral, was in his thirties, with a medium-sized, thick sea lion beard meticulously combed. He was wearing a straight blue twill navy uniform, and a short sword hung on the left side of the belt. The hilt of the sword was embedded with a triumphant emerald. The British and French fleet anchored at Dagukou was just a squadron under Grant. Originally, after the end of the war against Russia, the British and French fleet was facing disband, but now because they had common enemies and targets, they forced them to unite again.

Looking at the Qing army's Dagu Navy's small sailboats wandering by the sea near the sea, Pei Luo held up a contemptuous smile on the corner of his mouth, and a pure London accent under his strong nasal voice said: "Governor. We have been waiting at the sea for several days. I don't think the yellow monkeys on the opposite side will give us a satisfactory answer."

Bao Ling tightened the bow on the neckline and said, "My Major General, you don't know the temper of the Qing people. They always compromised in constant arguments and anger. We are much luckier than Lord Wenhan. He also arrived here four years ago, and was deceived back to Guangzhou by the arrogant Qing Prime Minister (referring to the then Grand Secretary Mu Zhang'a), but he got nothing. We were very lucky that this bombardment of Guangzhou finally made the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Ye Mingchen surrender, and the Qing government agreed to us to go north to negotiate. But this was not enough. We, like the French, hoped to visit the capital of this mysterious country." After the British and French envoys and fleet arrived at Dagukou, Britain and France were not satisfied with the Qing Dynasty's negotiations proposed in Dagukou, but proposed to negotiate in the capital. Yi? Naturally, he refused and the two sides fell into a confrontation again.

Pei Luo said in a deep voice: "Governor General, I am skeptical of the reputation of this country that is not friendly and does not believe in the treaty. You must know that the damn Guangzhou City still does not allow us to enter the city, and our compatriots cannot get any security here. So I think only war will teach them how to be friendly and keep the treaty."

"Do you think it's a good idea to go to war with the Qing people at this time?" Bao Ling and Pei Luo looked back and saw that they were the new British Consul in Fuzhou Walter Henry Maihuatuo. He was over thirty years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a high nose and deep eyes, a thick beard on his chin, and a gaze like a falcon. He looked very smart and capable. Mai Huatuo had been in China for more than ten years and was proficient in Chinese and Chinese national conditions, so he came with Bao Ling to serve as Bao Ling's deputy negotiating envoy. At this time, the Taiping Army had occupied Fuzhou and Xiamen was in danger. Mai Huatuo got along very well with the Taiping Army in Fuzhou. Bao Ling also hoped that a person who was familiar with the Taiping Army would be by his side, which would help put pressure on the Qing Dynasty.

Pei Luo's thick beard shook slightly and said, "When does the Consul think it's the right time?"

Mai Huatuo smiled and said, "You may have forgotten the adjustment of our policy toward China. For us, it is the best situation for the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Army to unify China. Drawing rivers and governing can make us have the best opportunities. Going to war with the Qing Dynasty alone will cause the Qing Dynasty to collapse soon, so that our Christian friends will unify China quickly."

Pei Luo uh and said contemptuously: "Even if the Taiping Army can unify China, they can't stop our fleet! Just like the turret on the opposite side, we can attack any warship!"

Mai Huatuo clapped his hands and said, "The courage of the Major General is indeed the best among the British Empire's Navy. Are you planning to send the Svenge to attack the coastal fortress of the Qing people?" The Svenge is a sailing gunboat with a displacement of only 300 tons. It is the smallest ship in the mixed British and French fleet that headed north this time.

Pei Luo realized that his grammatical disease had been caught by Mai Huatuo, his face turned red and he said angrily: "Sir, please pay attention to your words."

Mai Huatuo smiled sly and said, "I am just reminding the Major General that the range of naval artillery is only a little bit, and it cannot cover the entire Chinese continent."

Seeing that Pei Luo was still about to speak, Bao Ling waved his hand and signaled the two to stop arguing. He looked at Mai Huatuo and asked, "My consul, are you sure you can achieve the purpose of our trip without the need for naval cannons?"

Mai Huatuo nodded slightly and said, "The quick reply to this negotiation request is something I have never seen in the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years. Compared to the previous small thing, you can wait for a month or two months. This time, the Emperor of Qing Dynasty seemed to be enlightened and no longer avoided us, but was unprecedentedly generous. Although they still refused us to go to their capital to negotiate and revise the contract. But I believe that the Qing people were sincere in this negotiation. I judged that the Qing people were busy dealing with the Taiping Army's offensive and would not go to war with us now, so they would agree to our request."

Bao Ling nodded with satisfaction and said, "It is definitely the right choice to make you my deputy envoy. I also want to know if you proposed to the Qing Dynasty to lead troops into Beijing as a escort of the mission, purely out of temptation?"

Mai Huatuo smiled and said, "There is a saying among Chinese people that you know yourself and your enemy will never be defeated. It is important to test the reaction of your negotiating opponents and is of guiding significance for our next negotiation deployment." He then looked at Pei Luo and said, "At the same time, he also wanted to give the Major General the Marine Corps officers and soldiers the opportunity to visit the capital of this mysterious country."

Pei Luo's anger was not gone. He also heard Mai Huatuo's teasing tone and said angrily: "My Marine Corps is more willing to step into their capital to visit with the enemy's bodies!"

Bao Ling frowned and said, "Enough Major General, you will make your statement until you have truly declared war. Before the Qing people showed signs of using force, it is best to endure it. Prime Minister Bamaitun and the entire UK are not ready to start a war in the Far East. We need time to digest the pain brought to us by Crimea."

Mai Huatuo pointed to Dagu and said, "It seems that the Qing Dynasty's reply is coming. Look." Bao Ling and Pei Luo looked back and saw a sailboat of the Dagu Navy slowly coming over. Pei Luo opened the Qianli Miles Miles and looked at it. There were only a few officials wearing Qing court uniforms on the sailboat. There were only bare-armed sailors on the ship, and no officers or soldiers or cannons were seen on the ship. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "There should be no combatants on the ship. It seems that they should be officials who came to exchange documents. But for caution, I still ordered my soldiers to be on guard."

Bao Ling said, "Go, Major General, put down the boat and pick them up. I can't wait to know how they responded to us. My Consul, please go and greet us."

Mai Huatuo bowed slightly and said, "I am happy to serve you." After that, he went to welcome the Qing Dynasty officials with Pei Luo.

After a while, several Qing Dynasty officials boarded the flagship of the British fleet, the Telia. The leader was Sushun, who was dressed in the costumes of first-class civil servants. Mai Huatuo was in China for a long time and was familiar with the costumes of Qing officials. He was also a little surprised that the officials who came to reply to the documents were so high. After coming to Bao Ling, Mai Huatuo introduced each other, although Sushun was still stern, he was not as arrogant as some Qing officials who had seen before. He did not bow and hold fists and other strange etiquettes. Instead, he stretched out his right hand and signaled to shake hands with Bao Ling, and said, "Good luck, Lord Minister."

Bao Ling was a little surprised. The Chinese official in front of him looked in his thirties, with a starry eyebrow, a majestic attitude, and a graceful attitude. The long beard under his chin made him look graceful and humble with a hint of rebelliousness. After listening to Mai Huatuo's translation, Bao Ling was stunned for a moment, and immediately shook hands with Sushun with a smile and said, "I'm very happy to meet the Minister of Minister of Minister of Revenue." When Mai Huatuo was translating, he knew that the Minister of Revenue in the Qing Dynasty was the department in charge of money, so he directly translated it into the Minister of Finance of the Qing Dynasty.

Because Sushun received the decree, he wanted to deal with the envoys of Britain and France, so he could not make up for some Western etiquette. With Xingzhen's guidance, he knew some etiquettes of the two countries. After listening to the translation, he continued: "I have obtained the decree of the court and came to reply to the minister's request to lead troops to Beijing together, so that you can wait at sea for a few days, please forgive me."

Bao Ling immediately said after hearing the translation: "Thank you, the Minister, for coming to answer this matter in person. We feel your sincerity. I wonder how Your Majesty the Emperor of your country will answer this matter?"

After listening to the translation, Sushun smiled and said word by word: "We reject this request. The British and French ministers wanted to enter Beijing to submit their letter of nationality. There was no agreement in the previous Jiangning Treaty. We cannot agree to this request under such circumstances." While speaking, Sushun looked at the ships around him and continued: "If your country and France want to use cannons to open the door to the capital, we will fight to the end!" (To be continued, please search Piaotianwen, the novel is better and faster!
Chapter completed!