Chapter 50: The British envoy came to the north (1)

Chapter 50

Yi and a few people entered one after another, bent down on the worship mat and knelt down: "I respectfully invite the emperor and the emperor to be safe."

"Get up."

"Yes." Yi stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I received Hu Linyi, a member of the Tianjin Prefecture, and sent Ronglu to Tianjin to contact the British Yi: The British envoy has set off from Tianjin, and is supported by soldiers along the way, and has arrived towards Beijing."

The emperor smiled and nodded, "I am calculating the days, and it's almost done. The British envoy waited for a month at the sea. I think the sea breeze is cold, so it should be reduced in their hearts a little, right?"

"I think that the British and Yi Wu had no capital to bargain with the Celestial Empire. If they were to drift on the sea for ten months, it would just be a shame for their arrogance."

"Lao Liu, do you think that after this battle, I, the Celestial Empire, could say that even if the British and the whole country came, I, the Qing Dynasty, would not be afraid at all?"

Hearing the emperor's words, Yi did not dare to speak loudly. After thinking about it, he bowed and replied, "I don't dare to think like this. But I think that my emperor is wise and powerful, and the officials and people in the world are united. Even if there are any invading enemies, they should be dismantled and the army will be defeated!"

"You are just a tribute to the saints, and it's not a clever view," he said. "No need to talk about it for the time being. Does anyone know what's going on in the British this time?"

This question seems to be asking the entire Military Affairs Office. In fact, the only thing that can be answered is Prince Gong Yi, who is also in charge of the General Administration. In the past month, through contact with embassies of various countries, most of the information about the British government has been obtained. Although they are seen clearly, they are also very useful in solving the doubts. "My brother knows.—"

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On the ninth day of November, it took only three days to depart from Hong Kong, led by the flagship Wales, to reach the entrance of the Dagujia River. It was the cold winter and snowy season. There was no condition to enter the inland river. It had to anchor and moor outside the range of Qing army's shore defense artillery, preparing to see coalition forces appear on the shore, and they would go to the shore at all costs, take the soldiers to the ship, and turn back to the south.

After waiting for two days, only a small number of Qing soldiers were seen in the telescope. Occasionally, a few men dressed in civilians greeted them and said something. They hoped that even one of the coalition soldiers who appeared could not see.

Viscount Aldrich, who came on the same boat, discussed it with Bashari, thinking that it had been a week since Sir Erkin received the telegram from China. Even if he climbed, he should have climbed to the coast. At this time, he must have had a big accident. He set off from Hong Kong this time and thought that he would arrive at the shore and carry the coalition soldiers, so he immediately returned south. He didn't have many items to carry, so he could not afford to wait for more. He had to order the fleet to turn and return to Hong Kong first.

When the ship arrived at the dock, he immediately received extremely bad news: Like General Bomai, the coalition forces led by Sir Erjin blocked the Qing army on the line of Anshan Lake. They failed to break through and all surrendered!

Aldridge was shocked and asked urgently, "What, what does the Prime Minister say? But should we continue to send troops?"

Bao Ling shook his head, "There is no further news yet." He said, "But I think it is difficult to send troops at this time, let alone the election is imminent. Your Prime Minister has really made a mistake this time."

Those present have been overturned by the political sea for many years, so naturally understand the meaning of this sentence: if the Qing Dynasty can achieve such brilliant results as in 1842, Bamaitun will be re-elected, but if the war is lost, it will cause tens of thousands of coalition soldiers to be unaware of the life and death of the soldiers. China is a barbaric country in the East. As prisoners of war, the soldiers will definitely be bullied by the Qing Dynasty. But this arouses strong public resentment and anger. Bamaitun will not expect to gain power in the general election held in October next year. I am afraid that he will resign if he is not waiting for the general election next year.

This is true. In the more than ten years since the Sino-British War in 1842, it has been a chore in the UK. There is no need to mention the number of casualties and injuries, and there is no chance of rest. Especially shortly after the end of the Crimean War, soldiers were sent to the distant East to fight, but they were all defeated. Even Sir Erkin became a prisoner. I heard that the Chinese were the most barbaric, and there was a custom of eating human flesh there. This news was very popular, and Bamazun could not tell, so he had to explain it again and again, but there was no effect. The people's emotions became increasingly high, and they asked the government to come forward to save the children trapped in the distant East.

Bamaitun was in a state of great anxiety and suffered such great losses. It was unreasonable that no one would bear the responsibility. As the prime minister, he was the main planner and initiator of the Qing war this time, so he naturally had to bear the responsibility for defeat. On December 14, 1856, he resigned in the British House of Commons and submitted a letter of resignation to the Queen. The last prime minister's order signed before he left the office was to let Hong Kong Governor Bao Ling, former Minister to China Viscount Aldrich, and former Consul General in Guangzhou, Bashali, be fully responsible for all necessary consultations with China to save and exchange for the coalition prisoners of war captured by China.

Aldridge and his men did not dare to stay for more. They rested in Hong Kong for a few days and set off north immediately. This time the boat sailed to the sea outside Tanggu, Tianjin, put down the anchor chain, and sent people to submit official documents to the landing, requesting to reach an opinion with the Chinese side on the issue of exchange of prisoners of war.

China intends to delay the time and has been left in the Tianjin Prefecture yamen for half a month before transferring it to Beijing with a post horse. After arriving in Beijing, it is still the case. Even in the New Year of 1857, Aldridge and his group spent the New Year on a sea boat.

Five days after the New Year, a reply finally came, and China was willing to negotiate with the British on the issue of prisoners of war negotiations. However, along the way from Tianjin to Beijing, in order to protect the safety of British envoys, the Qing Dynasty must send soldiers to escort them.

Of course, Aldridge refused to resist, saying that I was a negotiator sent by the British Empire and was not a criminal arrested by your country. Hu Linyi's reply was: "You are certainly not a criminal, but you are still in the position of a belligerent country. The people of the Celestial Empire are innocent and have no tolerance for the barbarians who invade our country. If there is no protection of soldiers along the way, I am afraid that even Beijing will not be able to arrive, and there will be a very unfortunate tragic event that will happen to the envoys and their group."

Aldridge knew that the other party was lying, but he had to guard against one or two. After the war between the two countries, the embassy areas of various countries located in Dongjiaomin Lane in Beijing were generally affected by the Qing government and the people. The people could not tell which country they were. In short, foreigners with red hair and green eyes were the same. Fortunately, the soldiers sent by the Qing Dynasty to maintain order, so no international disputes arose. Even so, the officials and families of the embassies in various countries were also frightened.

After much consideration, Aldridge had to agree to China's rude request and agreed to be protected by the soldiers and heading to Beijing.

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After hearing Yi say the passage about it, the emperor asked, "So, Yi, the General Administration Office, has any suggestions on what he asked for in the negotiation?"

"Yes. I have already joined hands with the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the General Administration to review the details. I thought that the most urgent task was to release the soldiers of the Celestial Kingdom captured by the barbarians one by one. When there was no worries, I would like to discuss other things with the British, French and British. As for whom to exchange, on November 25 this year, the emperor issued an edict. My brother also thought that it is not advisable to release the soldiers of both countries before the arrival of the special envoys of Britain and France. It is better to choose only Indian soldiers as exchange soldiers."

The exchange of Indian soldiers for Chinese soldiers was after he oral instructions a few days ago, and the imperial edict was approved, so there would be no hindrance in this section. The emperor continued to ask, "Yan Jingming and Weiren wrote me a few days ago. After calculation, by December 16, the various expenses of the prisoners of war in the Three Kingdoms in our Celestial Empire had exceeded 3.2 million taels of silver. What did the Military Affairs Office think about this?"

Yi frowned. Such a number was extremely fake, almost everyone knew about it. However, the emperor was determined to dig a few pieces of meat from the British. The common people also thought that the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the enemy, and it was both cede land and compensation. Now the feng shui took turns, and it was time for our heavenly dynasty to defeat the barbarians - it was a matter of course to ask them for money and ask them to cede land. As the chief military officer, he did not want to ignore public opinion. What's more, the emperor agreed to it?

"Um?"

"Yes, I think that the British may not agree to such a number. If it is really a yellow and white thing, it will cause the two countries to launch another conquest. I think, please let the emperor take a closer look at the overall situation."

The emperor looked one by one. Several people in the Military Affairs Office looked impatient, as if such a topic made them feel aggrieved: These scholars were full of thoughts about the words of saints, but they didn't know that sometimes it was such a yellow and white thing that was even more touching.

The emperor smiled bitterly in his heart and said to Yi, "Lao Liu, the British Prime Minister has resigned. Do you know about this?"

"Yes, I know."

"Bamazun cannot judge the situation and is dedicated to the temple with the power of the warships traveling across the rivers and seas. However, he did not know that his own position could not be saved! But in my opinion, what you said just now, the British people gathered together to discuss the peace of the expeditionary soldiers, which was also one of the reasons why it was difficult to protect their position. Zeng Guofan, do you think, am I right?"

"Yes. I also think that as a commoner, the stability of the family and the country is the first concern. Once a family suffers, the most unsuccessful thing is the word "family affection". China and Britain are thousands of miles apart, and their families are defeated and captured, and their messages are isolated from each other, and their people are resentful, which is reasonable."

"So, the last order of Parmesun was to go north by Aldridge and work hard to bring the captured soldiers back to the motherland safely. Naturally, this matter would not be successful, and the public was resentful. The British government would not have much thought to deal with the matters. Therefore, in my opinion, the Expeditionary Army soldiers safely set foot on the land of their homeland, there would be no foreign troubles in the Celestial Dynasty."

Yi thought about it and admitted that the emperor's words were unreasonable. He bowed and bowed first: "Yes, the emperor admonished him very well. This matter was not comprehensively considered by me, so I asked myself to deal with it."

The emperor did not continue to question, but changed the topic, "After the British envoy arrived, the General Administration Office, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War sent people to the Xishan Camp to meet them and let them meet the captured generals, soldiers, and it is also possible to confirm that they have bullied them in the past few months?"

"The emperor is a Bodhisattva with compassion. I think that after seeing him, the British envoy would be grateful to the holy grace and convey the news back to the country, which would greatly dispel many people's concerns and be hostile to our heavenly dynasty."

"In addition to these, if anyone is willing to trust with letters, the Celestial Empire does not have to stop him. The envoy brings him back to Hong Kong, then it has nothing to do with our Celestial Empire."

"In addition, the issue I asked you to discuss the treatment of each other's prisoners of war the day before yesterday has answered the embassies of various countries?"

Speaking of this, Yi's voice increased a little, "Yes. After I informed the Emperor of the Holy Intentions to the Leyi Embassy, ​​all countries thought that this kind of intention of being kind to the people, benevolent to the people and love to the things is truly the good governance of our emperor who is to benefit the world. The ministers of various countries expressed their willingness to report the words of the Emperor's Emperor to their country. I think that there will be replies from various countries in the day." He paused and said, "Only Britain, because of the war between our Celestial Empire, has not yet been made, so he still does not know."

The emperor also felt very proud and asked with a smile: "If the prisoner-of-war convention can be achieved, can you say it be considered as my contribution to civil governance?"

Judging from his proud look, who dares to make a sound of horses? Think about it carefully, if this matter is successful, it is indeed a proud act made by the Celestial Empire in the surrounding area of ​​the barbarians. For a moment, the flattery in the Palace of Heartfelt is like a tide and surging.

With free political affairs, the emperor has been in a very good mood in recent days. Zaiyuan saw that it was an opportunity and replied: "Emperor, I have something to do. I want to ask my master for his will."

“What is it?”

"Last month, Su Shun had a stern speech and offended the emperor. Since January, he always thought about it and felt regretful. He..."

The emperor's tone immediately turned cold, "What? Are Sushun tired of staying in the mansion?"

Zaiyuan shrank his neck. He was not good at speaking at all. This scare was even more like a verbal person. He couldn't speak. "It just so happened that after you retire, you went to Sushun's mansion and told him that with his actions over the past few years, he was the one who was the one who had done for the past few years. He was also responsible for his crimes. I had already paid great mercy to protect him because of his duty for many years. Let him stay in the mansion for a long time. When will he learn to be a pure person, and when will I use him again!"

Zaiyuan originally intended to ask for a few words for Sushun, but now it was counterproductive and screamed in his heart. He lay down and touched three times, and replied, "Yes, I have all recorded it. After the refund today, I will go to Sushun's mansion and tell him these words."

"And you." The emperor looked at him, "The prince's salary alone is 20,000 taels of silver. If you don't mention taking on various errands, you can get an investment if you take on one. Isn't it enough for your house to spend money? Don't always think about reaching out everywhere and having no future." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations from ***(***.***). ***. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter completed!