Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 281: The Principle of Equality, Targeting Jose

Within a few days, the coalition forces that received Elgin's order swarmed in.

The main force of the Allied Fleet regrouped off the coast of Guangzhou.

While Elgin ordered the convening of representatives from various countries to discuss the matter, he also ordered people to take stock of the gains and losses of the coalition forces' attacks on the coastal areas of the Tang Dynasty.

"In reply to your Excellency, the Earl, according to statistics, during this raid on the Tang coast, our troops looted a total of about 2 pounds of goods."

Seymour came to Elgin with a report in his hand and reported.

These days, Britain's monetary policy has begun to use the gold standard, with one pound being exchangeable for approximately 7.32 grams of gold.

Based on the gold-silver exchange rate of that era, if one pound was converted into silver, it would be roughly equal to one hundred grams of silver (rounded off), which is approximately equivalent to two Tang Dynasty silver dollars.

The main reason is that silver has not started to depreciate on a large scale in these years, so the price of silver is not falling sharply.

2 pounds is about 4 Tang Dynasty silver dollars.

If we also take into account the items that the soldiers of the various tribes hid privately during the looting, the coalition forces' looting this time was not small.

But compared with the price the coalition forces had to pay for their expedition across half the globe, this little gain is actually not worth mentioning.

After reporting the harvest, Seymour paused for a moment and then continued.

"As for the casualties, they are also not small."

"Faced with the attack of our coalition forces, the Tang people did not sit idly by. In addition to the Tang garrisons in various places rushing to help, the civilians also organized militias to fight back. Therefore, all parts of our army suffered casualties."

"Louis' troops alone lost 312 men after landing, and the French troops lost 131 men after landing..."

"In the end, the coalition forces suffered 1759 casualties."

Elgin couldn't help but gasp.

"How could the Chinese people be so fierce? How could a group of villagers cause such heavy casualties to my army?"

"That shouldn't be the case. If the Chinese people are really so tough, then how did Great Britain win the Opium War with so few casualties?"

In one landing raid, the coalition forces lost nearly two thousand men.

You know, after two consecutive battles in Hong Kong and Humen, the coalition forces had only more than 20,000 people in total.

To put it in perspective, that means nearly one tenth was gone in an instant!

This is truly shocking!

Louis on the side said in a trance.

"This may be because the Chinese people recognize the Tang Dynasty, but not the Qing Dynasty."

"You know, Lord Earl, the Tatars were originally just a barbarian tribe on the border of the Ming Empire. Although they defeated the Ming Empire, their barbaric rule made it impossible for the people of the Ming Empire to accept them from the bottom of their hearts."

"So, when Britain attacked the Qing Empire, most people just stood by and watched."

"But this time, it's different..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but think of the difficult situation he faced after landing, surrounded by enemies on all sides.

The attacks kept coming one after another, as if everyone was hostile to him.

This kind of pressure is really too great, and Louis would never want to experience it again.

Elgin let out a long breath.

Gro, who was standing by, looked at the box of severed hands in front of him with a serious expression.

"It seems that it is time to have peace talks with the Tang Kingdom."

If Li Yi just warned them with empty words, they would most likely not take it seriously and would continue to rob as usual.

However, this time Li Yi directly sent a box of severed hands to them, forcing them to face up to Li Yi's threat.

To put it bluntly, it means bullying the weak and fearing the strong!

Not only Elgin, but also Gro and others read the hidden threat from the Tang Dynasty.

We have the hostages!
It’s up to you to decide what to do.

Elgin nodded and then spoke.

"That's true."

"Send someone to Guangzhou to contact the Tang Kingdom."

"Negotiate as soon as possible and redeem our people who are detained by the Tang Kingdom. Don't let them continue to be persecuted by the Tang people."

"Oh my God, these Tang people are so cruel!"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Everyone realized that the war could no longer be fought.

Only Shi Delu and Enming had complicated expressions.

Even the foreigners can't defeat the Tang bandits, what should the Qing Dynasty do?
Once the negotiations between the Tang thieves and the foreigners are concluded, then it will be the Qing Dynasty's turn...

……

Guangzhou, Tang Palace!

As the box of severed hands was sent out, news soon spread from the coastal prefectures of the Tang Dynasty that the coalition forces had withdrawn and stopped looting.

Li Yi felt relieved.

After not sleeping for several days, he finally put his worries aside and went to rest.

As soon as I closed my eyes, sleepiness suddenly came over me.

He slept for a long time until Fu Shanxiang came to him and called him softly, and then Li Yi woke up from his sleep.

"What happened? Why are you calling me so urgently?"

Li Yi rubbed his eyes, and he looked obviously a little sleepy.

Although he was not grumpy when waking up, he still felt a little unhappy when he was woken up when he was sleeping soundly.

Fu Shanxiang leaned over to Li Yi and spoke.

"Your Majesty, Director Zuo and Director Li are outside the palace asking to see you."

"He said there is something important that needs to be reported to the king!"

When Li Yi heard this, his expression changed and he immediately started to give orders.

"Please ask him to go to the study! I will be there soon." After he finished speaking, Fu Shanxiang bowed and accepted the order, then turned and left.

After changing his clothes and washing up, Li Yi walked towards the study.

The reason why Li Yi had the leisure to change clothes and wash up instead of going to meet him immediately was actually because the matter was not urgent.

Otherwise, when Zuo Zongtang and his men came to report, they would not have said it was an important matter, but an urgent matter.

Li Yi came to the study. Zuo Zongtang and Li Liang had already been brought in and were waiting inside the study.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

They both bowed in greeting.

Li Yi waved his hand slightly, indicating that the two should take their seats, and then he also sat down behind the desk.

After sitting down, Li Yi asked.

"Tell me, what is the important matter that has caused you two gentlemen to come together to see me?"

The two looked at each other and Li Liang spoke.

"Your Majesty, this is the news from Humen. The coalition forces have sent envoys to land and send a letter requesting peace talks with the Tang Dynasty."

Li Yi was stunned when he heard this, but then he suddenly understood.

The war has reached this point, and peace talks are indeed the best option for the coalition forces.

After thinking for a while, Li Yi continued.

"In that case, let's talk."

"Now, it is indeed time for peace talks."

Zuo Zongtang continued.

"Your Majesty, the envoys from the coalition forces request to enter Guangzhou to meet with Your Majesty and have a personal meeting with you."

"I wonder if the Tang Dynasty will agree?"

Li Yi shook his head and said.

"Rejected."

"I am busy with government affairs and don't have time to argue with those foreign devils."

"The negotiations will be handled by Director Zuo, Director Guo, Commander Wang, Commander Fang, and Chief of Staff Feng."

"After the discussion, I will review the specific treaty."

As the leader of a country, Li Yi would naturally not go to negotiate with the enemy country in person.

So embarrassing!
Even after the Qing Dynasty was defeated several times and its national dignity was damaged by the foreigners, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty still would not show up during the negotiations between the two sides.

At most, they would send an imperial envoy to be in charge of the negotiations.

All the emperor had to do was nod or shake his head after the negotiation results came out.

Not even signing.

Well, the main reason is that the treaties of the Qing Dynasty were too humiliating and detrimental to the country. Anyone with a sense of shame would not sign them.

By the same token, Li Yi does not need to personally attend negotiations. He only needs to make the final decision on whether the negotiated conditions are passed.

If a person in a high position really has to do everything himself, then no matter how much energy he has, he will eventually become exhausted.

Appropriately delegating power to subordinates is a skill that a mature leader must master.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Zongtang immediately agreed.

But still asked.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, what are the rules for this negotiation on the Tang side?"

Zuo Zongtang was actually asking about Li Yi's psychological bottom line.

Only by knowing Li Yi's bottom line can he negotiate based on that bottom line.

Li Yi thought for a while and then said.

"The Tang Dynasty can continue to open up trade to other countries, but they must compensate the Tang Dynasty for the losses it suffered in this war."

When the coalition forces invade, Li Yi cannot let them come and go as they please.

Peace talks are possible, but the coalition forces must bleed!

After saying this, Li Yi suddenly had an idea and said something else.

"The reason why the Eight-Nation Alliance is called an alliance is because they will never be of one mind."

"During this negotiation, our Tang Dynasty can talk separately with representatives from various countries."

"First, it can divide the various parts of the coalition forces and prevent them from working as one."

"Secondly, we can use this opportunity to gain as much benefit as possible from the coalition forces."

Zuo Zongtang seemed to be thinking about something and asked.

"What does your Majesty mean?"

Li Yi tapped the table with his fingers and spoke softly.

"We can talk to Britain and France and ask them to open the Indian market. Our Tang merchants will go to India to trade."

"We can discuss with Prussia, Austria, Sardinia, Portugal and other countries about opening up their homelands and colonies to each other for merchant ship supplies and trade."

"We can negotiate with the Netherlands and Spain to cede concessions. I intend to set up concessions in Luzon and Java and assign officials and troops to station there, paving the way for the Tang Dynasty to restore the Three Xuans and Six Weis of the pre-Ming Dynasty in the future."

Although Li Yi wanted to impose an unequal treaty package of cession of territory, compensation, agreed tariffs, extraterritoriality and other aspects on the Allied Forces.

But he also understood that the Tang Dynasty had only tied with the coalition forces this time, and at most had a slight advantage.

Instead of attacking the European mainland, the only thing they could use to control the Allied Forces was trade.

Under such circumstances, it would undoubtedly be impossible to make the European powers accept the unequal treaties of the Tang Dynasty.

In that case, let's get practical.

Since you want to trade, then fine, I can open trade with you, but you must also open your homeland and colonies to me.

This is called the principle of reciprocity.

(End of this chapter)