The moon is bright and the stars are sparse. In the evening, there is not a cold feeling in the Nanyuan Camp. Instead, it is still a bustling scene. Although it is already midnight, the Taiping Army soldiers in the camp are still busy.

Among the Taiping Army soldiers coming and going, Ronglu, who was standing not far from the tent of the coalition envoys, seemed particularly abrupt. His bald forehead with long braids was really a bit alien against the torch. When the Taiping Army soldiers who came and went, they all looked contemptuous when they saw him, and some even spit a few mouthfuls of thick phlegm in front of him, cursing a few words such as dogs and demons, traitors, etc.

Ronglu smiled but didn't say anything, but felt that it was not easy for his old classmate to brainwash his personal will and thoroughly instill the lower-level officers and soldiers, but he still had no regrets at all. So what the people's will do? Isn't it the kind of personality worship? Compared with the actual benefits he can get, nothing is left.

The coalition envoys were limited to several camp areas and could not move around at will. Ronglu could not move around. He walked alone to the edge of this area, intending to observe the camps and fortifications built by the Taiping Army. Since he was transferred back to the capital, he had not fought directly with the Taiping Army for two years. The last time he fought against Lin Fengxiang's Taiping Army in Huai Shang.

Just as I was watching, a bold voice came from behind: "Faced with the world's scolding, you can still keep smiling. With such skill as spitting on your face, I am really ashamed of ≧Chang≧Feng≧Writing≧Study, ww↗+▽et."

Looking back, Ronglu saw Xiao Yungui. Xiao Yungui waved his hand and signaled to follow his guards to retreat a little, so he smiled and said, "You are so proud of me. I don't have such good cultivation skills. I am a very revengeful person."

Xiao Yungui walked up to him and stood still. He nodded slightly and said, "Yes, you are just a vengeful person. You can even betray Qingyun, what else can't be done?"

Ronglu sneered, "It's her who wants to deal with me first, so I can't blame me." He paused and continued, "You don't have to be complacent, if you are in a different place with me, you will definitely do this to me."

Xiao Yungui snorted coldly and said, "Didn't you always like Qingyun? You treat her like this now?"

Ronglu put away his smile and looked at Xiao Yungui in surprise. Finally, he laughed out loud and said, "I didn't expect you would say such childish words. If you like it, your career will be your career. She will naturally move away if she blocks my career. And I have thought about it. As long as my plan can be successful, I can take good care of her after Qingyun stepped down. What's wrong with this?"

Xiao Yungui said with a sneer: "I thought it simple. Not only do you just spit on your face, but you are also quite skilled in the study of thick black."

Ronglu smiled and said, "We are each other, during the day, you still said that you don't want to talk to me, a traitor. Haven't you talked to me for so long now? Xiao Yungui, Xiao Yungui, when it comes to the study of the black and black, where am I your opponent?"

Xiao Yungui was not angry, but said seriously: "Lu Sixuan. Now it is before the historical opportunities of the entire country and nation. We have grasped it well and the subsequent history will be rewritten. There will be no more than 150 years of suffering history. Now we are in this historical period, which is an inseparable factor in this time and space history. We all have historical responsibilities. I advise you to give up your plan, and you will understand the current situation. So what if your conservative Manchu and Mongolian nobles can overthrow Qingyun? Can you stop our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army?"

Ronglu's smile was a little stiff, and finally disappeared. He said in a deep voice: "Xiao Yungui, why don't you use the great title to suppress me? Do you have a half-cent relationship with me? Historical responsibility? I am not a great man, and I don't want to be a great man. I will die in decades. How can I care about historical responsibility after I die?"

Then Ronglu sneered and continued, "You are here to persuade me at this time, just to give the British and French a blow to the British and French during the negotiations tomorrow. If I give up the plan and persuade Mian Yu and others to give up the plan to overthrow Qingyun, there will be even more no reason for the British and French to continue attacking Beijing. Is that true?"

Xiao Yungui stared at him coldly and said, "I am giving you the last chance!"

Ronglu retorted: "I don't need it!"

Then the two of them were speechless for a while and stared at each other. The atmosphere in the air suddenly solidified. Both of them tried to overwhelm each other in their momentum, see through each other's hearts, and make the other party surrender under their own pressure, but in the end both gave up.

After each looked away, Xiao Yungui said lightly: "Okay, I can't help if you don't listen. Don't blame me for being ruthless in the future."

Rong Lu pondered for a moment and said, "Xiao Yungui, you know, this matter is no longer something I can change alone. Mianyu and Fuheng represent people from a class. What's the use of me not wanting to do it alone?"

Xiao Yungui looked at him coldly and said, "Everything was planned by you! Otherwise, could people like Mianyu think of cooperating with the British and French? Without you and Gong Cheng threading needles in the middle, can things reach this point? What's the use of saying this now?"

Ronglu smiled faintly and said, "I can't help myself. I just hope you remember our agreement a few years ago. Once one party is defeated, the other party will save the other party's life. You still remember it."

Xiao Yungui sneered in his heart. At this time, this person was still planning for his own way of retreat. He also saw that the Taiping Army was powerful and his plan might not be successful. But he still did not want to miss this opportunity, but he was also afraid that he would lose his life after his defeat in the future. So now he said that his so-called involuntary difficulties were in his own way. He shamelessly hoped that Xiao Yungui could abide by the previous agreement and use it to save his life if he failed.

Xiao Yungui snorted coldly and said, "I am not a villain like you who is untrustworthy. What you said will naturally count! I will save your life!"

Rong Lu smiled slightly relieved and said, "Thank you, it's getting late, I'll go back to rest." After that, he bowed his hand and left alone.

Xiao Yungui looked at Rong Lu's back and sneered to himself: "It was you who gave up your last chance. Don't blame me for being ruthless. It's easy to save your life, but don't you know what life is worse than death? Hahaha..."

The negotiations the next day were as difficult as ever. Although the British and French ministers proposed a concession plan and returned to the plan to fight with the Northern Expedition that they had proposed in Shanghai, hoping to jointly occupy Beijing with the Taiping Army and ask the Taiping Army to agree to hand over the members of the Qing royal family and officials to the coalition army for disposal.

Xiao Yungui refused without considering it, just as Sir Erjin was worried, the political purpose of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was to completely eliminate the Qing government, and it was impossible for him to agree to such a ridiculous proposal.

On the contrary, today the Chinese negotiating team proposed to withdraw troops from Tongzhou, Tianjin, Dagu and other places as soon as possible and hand over the above-mentioned places to the Taiping Army, because those are also Chinese land. As compensation, the Taiping Army promised to give a large amount of money as military compensation for the coalition forces.

Sir Erkin was completely angry. He now realized that the Taiping Army planned to occupy Beijing alone at the beginning and did not give the coalition forces any chance. The negotiations might just be to gain more time for defense. Last night, when the Taiping Army soldiers were resting all night fortifications, they should have seen it. It’s a pity that they were busy discussing countermeasures.

That morning, the angry Sir Erjin left the Nanyuan Camp with his envoys. It seemed that war was inevitable. Wu Shili expressed deep concern about this, but the backbone and passion of the soldiers still made him cheer up and prepared to go back and make an offensive plan based on the deployment of the Taiping Army he saw in the past two days and one night. Unfortunately, he failed to see the Gaobei Village Camp not far from Tongzhou. At this time, Wu Shili understood why the Taiping Army chose the negotiation location in Nanyuan Camp rather than the closer Gaobei Village, because he was worried that they would see the military deployment of the camp there.

After returning to Tongzhou, the coalition forces held a plenary meeting. The atmosphere at the meeting was dull and depressing. Wu Shili and several other officers reported on the military strength and deployment of the Taiping Army they saw in Nanyuan Camp to infer the deployment of the Gaobei Village Camp.

After analyzing several staff officers, they found that the situation was not optimistic, especially Major Commnon's assessment. The reconnaissance cavalry team he led had fought with the Taiping cavalry, and they were very impressed by the Taiping army's continuous guns. He believed that if the Taiping army was equipped with a large number of this new weapon, it would be a huge disaster for the coalition soldiers who adopted offensive tactics in individual firepower.

Another person who was even more worried was Grant. He had a deeper relationship with the Taiping Army and knew better how powerful the Taiping Army was. In the war with the Russians in the Northland, the combat effectiveness shown by the Taiping Army had always made Grant very afraid.

Finally, Grant said in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, since we are considering declaring war, we should not choose to fight the enemy here. I suggest retreating to the south and choosing a place with weak defenses in the south of the Taiping Army to attack, so that the backyard of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will cause fire. Only as long as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can they surrender."

General Montauban despised Grant's thoughts, "Retreat south? General Grant, are you going to retreat to Hong Kong or India? We French will not retreat!"

Grant was not angry. The French fleet was not strong, but their strong army was their greatest hope. In addition, most of the French who had seen the combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army back then have returned to China. Montauban did not know the combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army very much, so it is not surprising that he had such an idea.

But Grant still explained patiently: "We don't need to retreat far south. We must first withdraw back to Shanghai, Ningbo and other places, and then divide our troops to defend five treaty ports to ensure the safety of our concession. Then send a fleet to attack Shanghai, or even break into the Yangtze River, directly threatening Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In this way, we can be invincible..." (To be continued...)

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Chapter completed!