Chapter 56 Old people

In a remote mountain village, on the moonlit night, you can see the snowy snowy mountain from afar.

The climate in a foreign country is extremely strange. The weather is still warm during the day. At night, even when wearing fur, you feel the wind is biting.

Sitting on a dead rock at the entrance of the village, Li Xiucheng sighed deeply. If he was seen by his former old friends, he would be shocked. It is hard to believe that the unshaven old man in front of him was Li Xiucheng, the loyal king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who was powerful in the Central Plains more than ten years ago.

Now he has gray hair and frowns all over his face, just like an old man who is nearly sixty years old, and there is no divine light in his eyes.

After years of hiding in the bitter and cold land, perhaps what has been wasted is not only the years, but also his spirit and glory.

When they came to the gathering place of the Akanders in India, it was naturally difficult to find fertile fertile land that could support thousands of people. There were such large fertile land. How could the Akanders give way to the alien race? Gradually, in order to survive, the remaining Taiping Army slowly split. Many people put down their weapons and moved to the south, intermarried with the locals, and became members of the local tribe. However, in this so-called "Chinese Heavenly Kingdom" village, there are less than two thousand settlers.

Especially after the British businessmen had the first close contact with the rest of the Taiping Army, they gradually discovered that this armed force did not bring any benefits, but instead became a hot potato. The enthusiasm gradually faded. In the past two years, even a penny of material support has not been seen.

The connection with the Central Plains was gradually cut off. Lu Yueting sent a telegram to Kolkata, and then sent it from Kolkata people to letters. However, the ethnic tribes in India were in chaos, and the messengers often disappeared. Perhaps, the bad nature of the Red Head Asan was lazy and untrustworthy, which made him not want to send the letters over the Kolkata commission, so he simply ran away.

Later, Lu Yueting sent letters from the ***, but they were often seized by the Imperial Border Guard. Li Xiucheng received the last letter from Lu Yueting a year ago. It is obvious that the imperial central government's control over the *** was becoming more and more powerful.

Nowadays, Li Xiucheng has no idea what the outside world is like, and he doesn't know the situation of the regent who became emperor in the north.

After placing the coat, Li Xiucheng slowly closed his eyes.

Behind him, footsteps came, and a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes sat beside Li Xiucheng. It was Li Xiucheng's deputy, Qian Guiren, deputy commander of the Kingdom of Heaven.

After being silent for a long time, Qian Guiren sighed deeply: "The wind in India is so cold!"

Then, there was a long silence.

Qian Guiren turned to look at Li Xiucheng and suddenly said, "Master, brothers and I can still go back to the Central Plains to see the scenery?"

Li Xiucheng turned his head and looked at Qian Guiren quietly, as if he had expected this day.

When he was staring at him, a trace of shame flashed across Qian Guiren's face, but it flashed in a flash. Soon, he raised his head, looked directly at Li Xiucheng, and said, "Master, let's surrender. The government envoy agreed to let the past go and will not execute a surrendered soldier."

Li Xiucheng smiled miserably: "You can trust the words of the Tartars?"

Qian Guiren nodded slowly and said, "You can trust me, Grand Marshal, the Central Plains have long changed the world, and there are no Eight Banners and no Beilebeizi. Moreover, over the years, the country has become stronger and stronger. It is not something we can imagine in the mountains that we are hiding in the mountains. In the eyes of others, we are no different from fleas."

Li Xiucheng said lightly: "So, you have been in touch with officers and soldiers over the years."

Qian Guiren immediately became alert and nodded slowly.

Li Xiucheng turned his head again, looked at the shadows nearby, and said, "If I don't agree, you will do it?"

Qian Guiren said in a deep voice: "I just want to find a way out for everyone. To be honest, the three brigade commanders are willing to surrender with me." Although the remaining troops of the Taiping Army also had brigade commanders, there were actually 2,000 people, and there were five brigade commanders. The organization was already in chaos, but Qian Guiren had three brigade commanders support, so most of the soldiers were willing to surrender.

Qian Guiren said again: "Brother, I don't want to see our own people kill each other. If the general does not agree, would he be willing to see the disaster on Xiao Jiang, and the old brother who has saved his life in a dangerous and difficult situation will kill him in a blink of an eye?"

Li Xiucheng stopped talking and slowly looked into the distance.

Qian Guiren stared at him, his eyes filled with complex expressions, and he felt guilty and cruel, and his breathing gradually became heavy.

Just when Qian Guiren's face turned determined, Li Xiucheng suddenly said lightly: "Okay, if you are in trouble in the future, don't forget that it is your own fault."

Qian Guiren felt a little hesitant, then said loudly: "I will not blame others." He also said: "The officers and soldiers are in the Black Wind Forest more than ten miles away, so the general can follow me."

Li Xiucheng was stunned for a moment, slowly got up, and murmured, "A dozen miles away? More than ten miles away?" Obviously, if he did not surrender today, he would be hit by the officers and soldiers in a blink of an eye.

...

The Black Wind Forest is naturally a name given to Chinese people such as Li Xiucheng. In the mouths of the local Akand people, this primeval forest that is beyond the end has another long and strangely pronounced name.

On the edge of the dense forest, in a military tent, Li Xiucheng and Qian Guiren met Yang Qing, the commander of the Mountain Infantry Battalion of the Imperial Royal Heavy Infantry Guard Brigade.

Yang Qing was originally an officer of the Peacock Infantry Corps. Now the Peacock Infantry Corps has been reorganized into the Peacock Railway Guard Regiment, completely withdrawing from the combat sequence and becoming a Central Plains Railway Guard Force. Although many female officers strongly demanded to go to the front line, they were rejected and were able to transfer to the combat unit with only one lucky person, that is Yang Qing.

Her name was derived from Matchmaker. Her martial arts skills were guided by Matchmaker and her strategy was indeed a talent who was independent. She was finally absorbed into the heavy infantry guard brigade. She planned to build a mountain camp three years ago and was selected all the way. Finally, Yang Qing was appointed as the commander of the mountain camp. She was originally a Hakka mountain tribe, and she was like walking on flat ground. She was the only way to lead the mountain camp.

The heavy infantry mountain camp was originally rated for 613 people, and the light machine gun was installed into the squad. It was equipped with a mortar company (whistle) and did not carry heavy weapons such as bead guns. It was equipped with dozens of camels for large-scale transfers.

Later, the mountain camp merged with the Luoba mountain camp recruited by the Imperial Border Defense Army in southern Tibet, becoming the reinforcement camp with the largest number of rated personnel in the Empire. In addition, more than 600 Luoba warriors, the entire mountain camp was organized to 1,297 people, and hundreds of camels were equipped.

The Luoba people live in southern Tibet with a primitive social structure. A small tribe has killed more than a hundred British expedition teams with bows and arrows, which has caused trouble for the British.

The tribe now has a population of more than 100,000, but in later generations, it was ruled by China only more than 3,000 people, and the rest of the tribes' living areas were controlled by the Indians, and the struggle for returning to the motherland never subsided.

Nowadays, the southwestern Tibet is controlled by the imperial border guard checkpoints. The Luoba tribe naturally surrenders to the entire tribe. The clan has no written words, and the Central Plains texts are also introduced. Its elite warriors are selected to set up mountain camps.

In today's heavy infantry mountain camp, the Luoba warriors are still equipped with bamboo bow poisonous arrows. However, the bows and arrows have been transformed by the Central Plains machinery, and the light and agile style makes their firing faster and longer ranges. Some Luoba warriors are equipped with imperial steel crossbows. In addition to relying on their tribe's special talents to reconnaise and deploy whistles, the mountain camps have many surprise attacks, with these archers from a thousand participating, and their tactics are also more diverse.

Li Xiucheng naturally didn't know about these situations, but along the way, he was surprised to see a "savage man" wearing animal skin jumping quietly from a towering tree.

When he saw that the highest commander of the Emperor *** team was a female officer, Li Xiucheng couldn't help but sigh deeply. There is a female top scholar in the Kingdom of Heaven and the female general. Is the same true for the Xin Dynasty?

When Yang Qing saw Li Xiucheng, he was really surprised. This dry little old man is King Zhong? How could he have a trace of heroism?

However, her expression was as usual, and she bowed to Li Xiucheng. Qian Guiren said, "Welcome to surrender in front of the army. The emperor has issued a special amnesty order. The remaining troops of the Taiping Army, who surrendered the army, will be pardoned for death, except for the horse bandits who had killed our soldiers." He looked at Li Xiucheng and said, "General Li's crimes will be tried by the military court, but the emperor has a statement first. No matter how guilty you are sentenced, the emperor will pardon your death penalty."

As he spoke, soldiers on the side had already brought Jinpan to him. Yang Qing took out the imperial edict from Jinpan, opened his eyes and said, "Please look, two generals, this is the special amnesty order issued by the Emperor."

Li Xiucheng waved his hand dejectedly and looked for a chair to sit down. Now he is no longer as energetic as he used to be, and he no longer cares about life and death.

Yang Qing said again: "I will tell you good news, your only son is safe and sound."

Li Xiucheng was stunned: "What?" He stood up suddenly and said: "You, what did you say?" He could hardly imagine that his son still survived in the world. He had been arrested for nearly ten years. Even if he was not executed on the spot and was locked up in a cell, he would not live today, right?

Yang Qing said: "You will be sent to Beijing tomorrow and you will know when you return to Beijing." He asked Qian Guiren again: "Have the people from Akand contacted?"

Qian Guiren hurriedly smiled and said, "Yes, there are a few Akand tribes willing to join the Central Plains."

Yang Qing nodded slightly and said, "Okay, maybe I can go around Delhi."

Delhi is hundreds of miles away. It was originally the capital of the Mughal Empire in India. After the British occupied India, they moved the colonial capital to the port city of Kolkata. However, Delhi is still the largest city in northern India.

Li Xiucheng's excitement gradually calmed down. He heard Yang Qing's words and felt even more confused. The prosperity of the new dynasty's military force was beyond his imagination.

...

A few days later, the news that the Chinese infantry battalion captured Dehradun, a city more than 200 miles north of Delhi shocked the world.

When the British Minister filed a serious protest to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that Chinese soldiers were pursuing the Taiping Army Rebellion and helping the Akanders to free themselves from the rule of the Taiping Army Rebellion.

A few days later, an Indian infantry battalion that was rushing to rescue was in a hurry, with heavy casualties and almost completely wiped out. None of the British company reinforced from Delhi escaped under the extremely fierce firepower of the Chinese.

The news came out, and the Indians were in an uproar, and the most shocked were the Indians. The Indian uprising, which had just been bloody suppressed, had the seeds of hatred yet to fade. In the rumors spreading between the Indians, the Chinese had already started a full-scale war with Britain. Nationalists immediately rose up to support the Chinese and fight against the British colonists.

There are movements everywhere in India to expel the British, and in the Akand area, several tribes issued joint statements to establish the Akand Dominion and no longer pay taxes to the British government.

Obviously, the development of the situation was much beyond the expectations of the British and even more beyond the expectations of the Chinese. The situation felt a bit out of control.

In Beijing, the Empire's Foreign Affairs Department and the British Minister held a discussion around the clock.

Ye Zhao couldn't help but smile bitterly, are he going to play with fire?

The original goal could only hit the British's arrogance. Who knew that the heavy infantry mountain camp had taken great force and wiped out an infantry company in the UK. This was the most painful defeat that the British had encountered in the colonies in recent years. The news came out and it became more and more exaggerated. It was used by Indian nationalists and promoted that China and Britain had a full war to help the Indians independence. Moreover, the powerful neighbors in the north had the strength to compete with the British, which made the Indians, whose hatred for the British, rise up one after another.

It was heard that the British Mediterranean fleet had already passed the Suez Canal and began to issue conscription orders in various colonies. Obviously, the highest level of the British had determined that the Chinese intended to get involved in India and supported the Indian independence movement. In order not to lose this pearl in the queen's crown, they could only use force to teach the increasingly domineering Far East overlord in the East, so that they knew who was the master of this world.

The Russians also began to get ready to gather troops to the southeast line.

Once the war breaks out, there is no doubt that China will face strong pressure from Britain and Russia at the same time. One is the well-deserved world overlord, and the other has unfathomable potential for war.

In early November, the Empire issued a mobilization order for the entire army. A few days later, the Imperial fleet appeared in Pontianak and confronted the British and Indian fleet in Singapore.

The imperial citizens who read the newspapers and were a little concerned about the international situation could feel the danger of a war with the British.

Soon, the Suzaku Society launched the "Everyone donates money, go to the national crisis together", and responded to it. In just half a month, the number of donations across the country exceeded 100 million yuan (10 million silver dollars).

...

Buckingham Palace, London.

The Queen's 50th birthday celebration was just held in various colonies this May. The Queen of England, known as the European grandmother, led Britain to the strongest Victorian great woman. At this time, her face was grim and she was quietly listening to the statements of Chinese envoys.

The spectacular white living room is decorated in white and gold, and the interior is exquisitely aggravated and luxurious carpets. They are all works of art by British and French craftsmen and are symbols of European culture.

Liang Chongming, the empire's minister to London, went to England since the empire was not established. Now, it has been almost nine years. In a few months, it was the time when the new minister was in office, and the news of the capital was that he would be appointed as the chief deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Who knew that when he was about to step down, he encountered such a serious incident, and I don't know whether it was his luck or misfortune.

Liang Chongming's English is already fluent. In the reception room, except for the maid standing by the luxurious golden gate, there are only Liang Chongming and Queen Victoria.

Liang Chongming knew that although Britain was a constitutional system, Queen Victoria had extraordinary control over the political situation in the UK. In the current conflict with China, the propositions of various parties in the UK were extremely chaotic. Whether it was a clamor for the declaration of war or a calm approach, it was necessary to play games for their respective political interests. Even some arms dealers were involved, so that they would rather communicate with the queen directly to deal with those politicians with different ulterior motives. Queen Victoria seemed to have thought of this and took the initiative to meet him without waiting for Liang Chongming to request a visit.

"As your Majesty know, our country has no ambition to compete with your country for India, and our country will not support the Indian independence movement."

"My country is not afraid of war, and your country's policy in the Far East is quite questionable. Why can't our navy enter the Indian Ocean to attack pirates to escort our merchant ships? Our country is willing to trade fairly with all European countries, but your Majesty, I have to say that the Europeans are arrogant and have not yet regarded our country as an equal member."

Listening to Liang Chongming's generous speech, Queen Victoria smiled when she said this, "Mr. Minister, please stop playing with the word games of the Oriental people. You should know more than anyone else that your country has caused panic in some European countries. I believe that the Dutch and the Spanish will have different opinions on your grievances."

If I had known that Queen Victoria was powerful, I wouldn’t have felt the polite visits in the past. Only when Liang Chongming sat in front of the queen today did he feel the huge pressure.

Liang Chongming said with a solemn expression: "Her Majesty the Queen, isn't this kind of panic a kind of discrimination? In Nanyang, any military action in our country is extremely restrained, and Her Majesty the Queen should also be aware of this."

Queen Victoria stirred the coffee without saying a word.

Liang Chongming said again: "I hope I have clearly explained our country's propositions for Her Majesty the Queen, eliminate misunderstandings, and resolve this crisis. I believe that there will be no winners in this war."

...

In December, the Chinese fleet sank a pirate ironclad ship of unknown nationality in the waters of Penang Port. The power of its main ship's rapid-fire cannon frightened the Netherlands. It actually began to contact the Chinese side and ask about the possibility of purchasing warships from the Chinese.

After months of negotiations, in January 1870, China and Britain issued a joint communiqué in Beijing. In the communiqué, China recognized Britain's rule over India and extended rights. At the same time, the two countries will survey the boundary between the Sino-Indian border. The issue of the Akand Autonomous Territory was unanimously agreed to be listed as a disputed bill and will be left to be negotiated and resolved by both sides.

With the release of the Joint Communiqué, the danger of war was temporarily eliminated, and the Chinese gaining port lease rights in Greater Aceh became a small matter and there was no longer any obstacle.
To be continued...