Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 282 Dorgon: I am a good brother!

Under the current premise that the Tang Dynasty has defeated the coalition forces, it is entirely possible for Li Yi to use trade as a condition to make the great powers agree to trade with each other.

But the Netherlands and Spain are the exceptions!
Li Yi clearly intended to target the two of them.

The reason is that both the Netherlands and Spain are now in decline.

They are called great powers, but they are only supported by the foundation left by them as pioneers in the early days of the great voyages.

The strength is no longer as strong as before, so it is easier to control!

The second reason is that Manila and Batavia are relatively close to the Tang Dynasty’s mainland. To put it bluntly, they are right under our noses.

This is the place that Li Yi can truly reach!

Only when you can reach it can you cut it with the knife.

Even if the negotiations with other countries fail, the most Li Yi can do is impose trade sanctions and blockades on trade.

To be honest, it does not threaten the foundation of any country.

But if the talks between the Netherlands and Spain really broke down, Li Yi could send troops to attack them at any time as soon as the main fleet of the coalition forces withdrew.

With the current naval power of the Tang Dynasty, it is indeed impossible to defeat the coalition fleet.

But if it is just to deal with the power of the Netherlands and Spain in East Asia, it can still be done.

As for whether the coalition forces will withstand the pressure from the Tang Dynasty and defend the Netherlands and Spain?

Haha, what are you thinking about? Britain, France and other powers are not the fathers of the Netherlands and Spain. Why should they ignore their own interests and fight to the death with the Tang Dynasty for the interests of the Netherlands and Spain?
To put it bluntly, the so-called coalition is actually a group of bandits.

When there are benefits, people will naturally unite and flock to it.

But once the benefits are gone, they will disperse faster than anyone else!

Upon hearing this, Zuo Zongtang immediately nodded and agreed, indicating that he understood.

Li Yi nodded slightly, then waved his hand to signal Zuo Zongtang and Li Liang to leave.

Zuo Zongtang left as he was told, but Li Liang opened his mouth with an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Li Yi frowned slightly and scolded.

"Just say what you want to say. Why are you hesitating so much?"

Li Liang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, but still spoke.

"To reply to your Majesty, this is the news from the capital."

"One of Emperor Xianfeng's concubines gave birth to a child."

Li Yi was surprised when he heard this.

"Xianfeng's concubine gave birth to a child? But isn't Xianfeng already dead?"

"Could it be a posthumous child?"

"That's not right. Didn't your military intelligence department report to me earlier that Xianfeng was cut off by Hong Xuanjiao and had no descendants?"

"How come there is another posthumous child now?"

Li Liang continued to report with a strange look on his face.

"In reply to your Majesty, according to rumors in the capital, this child may be the new emperor Qixiang's."

"Rumor has it that before Emperor Xianfeng passed away, Qixiang had an affair with Xianfeng's favorite concubine, Concubine Lan, and then Concubine Lan became pregnant."

"Then Xianfeng was assassinated, Qixiang ascended the throne, and Concubine Lan gave birth to a son."

Li Yi's expression became more and more strange.

Lady Lan...

Isn’t this Cixi?

"So, the assassination of Emperor Xianfeng must have been done by Qixiang?"

Li Yi now has a complete story line in his mind. Guizi Liu and Cixi had an affair, Cixi became pregnant, and Guizi Liu chose to kill the emperor and usurp the throne in order to ensure the safe birth of his child...

Li Liang nodded and said.

"It is indeed possible!"

Li Yi was shocked and couldn't help but sigh.

"Tsk tsk, stealing the sister-in-law and killing the brother, the Manchu high-ranking officials are really in the same vein when it comes to cheating on their partners."

"However, Qixiang is much more decisive than Dorgon..."

The forbidden love between Dorgon and Dayuer as uncle and sister-in-law is nothing compared to what Yi and Concubine Lan are doing today.

Compared with Yi, Dorgon seems to be a good brother.

Well, at least Dorgon didn’t kill his brother, but Yi actually killed Emperor Xianfeng!

Li Liang said cautiously.

"Your Majesty, I think that our Tang Dynasty might be able to make a fuss about this matter."

"Once the news spreads that Qixiang stole his sister-in-law and killed his brother, and murdered the emperor and usurped the throne, there will definitely be turmoil within the Qing Dynasty."

"Even if it doesn't cause civil strife in the Qing Dynasty, it can at least undermine the prestige of the new emperor Qixiang."

"If this is accomplished, it will be much easier for our Tang Dynasty to march north again in the future."

Li Yi nodded slightly when he heard this.

"That's quite true."

"Then let the Military Intelligence Department handle this matter."

Upon hearing this, Li Liang agreed immediately.

……

Off the coast of Guangzhou, the Allied Fleet!
On the flagship, Elgin and other senior coalition leaders gathered together to discuss matters.

"Your Excellency, Lords, the Tang Kingdom has responded."

"The Tang Kingdom agreed to negotiate with us, but the King of Tang refused to negotiate with us in person."

The envoy who went to the Tang Dynasty to request peace talks walked up to Elgin and others and began to report.

After hearing this, several people looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

As for Li Yi's refusal to negotiate with them in person, no one took it seriously.

Given Li Yi's status, it's normal for him to ignore them.

Put yourself in their shoes. Their own king would not personally come out to negotiate with envoys from other countries, right?
Otherwise, what is the Foreign Secretary for?
Elgin began to question the messenger.

"Did the Tang Kingdom say where the negotiations would take place?"

Upon hearing this, the messenger opened his mouth and replied.

"Tang Guo said that if we want to talk, we should do it in Hong Kong..."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around couldn't help but look at Elgin.

After the Opium War, Hong Kong was ceded to Britain by the Qing Dynasty.

After the Battle of Guangzhou broke out, the Tang Dynasty captured Guangzhou and also recovered Hong Kong.

In other words, Hong Kong was taken back from Britain by the Tang Dynasty!
Moreover, the first battle of this coalition invasion also broke out in Hong Kong.

The confluence of so many factors has given the small island of Hong Kong a rather complex symbolic meaning.

To put it bluntly, the Tang Dynasty's intention to negotiate with the Allied Forces in Hong Kong was to show its power to the Allied Forces.

Especially for the UK, it's like they're just getting close to the target!
Everyone was looking forward to Elgin's reaction.

The corners of Elgin's mouth twitched, but he still spoke.

"Okay, let's talk about it in Hong Kong!"

Elgin wanted to move to another place, but after all, it was they who took the initiative to initiate the peace talks, which had already revealed their weakness.

Therefore, when facing the Tang State, one cannot help but feel short of breath.

Although he knew that the Tang Dynasty intended to humiliate him, he had no choice but to accept it in the end.

Everyone looked strange when they heard this.

Well, it turns out that the British Empire also knows how to give in.

……

The third year of the Tang Dynasty’s Zhaowu reign, March 20th.

Hong Kong Island!
The allied delegation, represented by Elgin, docked at Zhongmen Port on a sailing battleship.

At the port, two rows of Tang army soldiers, wearing neat military uniforms, steel helmets, slim belts around their waists, and carrying rifles, stood in neat rows, looking majestic.

As the delegation landed, the next moment, the sound of booming artillery fire rang out!
Of course, it wasn't the artillery that was firing.

Instead, it was the cannons deployed at the port that were roaring. For friendly countries, firing a salute is a welcome, but for enemies, it is a real deterrent.

Elgin and others got off the boat and walked forward under the murderous gaze of two rows of Tang soldiers on the dock.

Zhuang Yuandao, deputy director of the Tang Dynasty's Department of Diplomacy, took a few steps forward and said with a cold face.

"I am Zhuang Yuandao, Deputy Director of the Tang Dynasty's Department of Diplomacy. I have been ordered to come and welcome the coalition negotiation delegation."

"Everyone, please!"

There was no formality and Zhuang Yuandao went straight to the point.

The main thing is that the people in front of me are all enemies, so there is really no need to be polite.

Elgin and others just nodded, their faces serious and without any smiles.

Led by Zhuang Qiang, the group walked towards the city of Hong Kong.

Along the way, you can see Western-style buildings everywhere.

Among these, a considerable number were left by the British, but some were newly built after the Tang Dynasty regained Hong Kong.

After the Tang Dynasty recovered Hong Kong, it did not govern Hong Kong as an inland provincial capital.

Instead, a city will be established in Hong Kong and managed as a free city.

Not only do merchant ships from various countries are allowed to dock and resupply in Hong Kong at will, but foreigners are even allowed to buy property in Hong Kong.

Apart from stationing troops in Hong Kong and sending officials to manage it, the Tang Dynasty continued to use the governance methods of the British colonial period for all other matters.

The secondary purpose is for the development of Hong Kong.

The main purpose is that Li Yi wants to use Hong Kong as a pilot to conduct pilot work on the transformation of a prefecture-level city and accumulate management experience.

Therefore, there are a considerable number of Western-style buildings in the urban area of ​​Hong Kong today.

In order to facilitate trade in the Tang Dynasty, many Western businessmen bought houses in Hong Kong.

The group entered the city of Hong Kong and soon arrived at the Hong Kong City Hall.

This was originally the Governor's Palace of the British Governor in Hong Kong, but after the Tang Dynasty recovered Hong Kong, the Governor's Palace was converted into the City Hall.

As for the original town hall, it was converted into a library.

The reason for choosing this place for negotiation was not for any other reason, but simply to make things difficult for the British.

The Tang Dynasty really had no good feelings towards Britain, which sold opium, harmed its people, and even launched a war for opium.

Elgin looked unhappy, but he was still taken into the city hall.

The meeting door of the city hall was pushed open, and a long table came into view.

The left row of the long table was already full of people.

There are tea cups placed on the table.

Elgin and others entered the conference room and without thinking much, sat down in the row on the right.

After everyone was seated, Zuo Zongtang, who was sitting in the first seat on the left, stood up and spoke.

"I am Zuo Zongtang, Director of the Operations Department of the Tang Dynasty General Staff."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang An, who was sitting below him, stood up and spoke.

"I am General Wang An, the commander of the Great Tang's Guangdong and Guangxi War Zone."

Afterwards, Feng Zicai, Guo Songtao, Fang Haiyang and others introduced themselves one by one.

After the people from the Tang Dynasty finished introducing themselves, Elgin and others also stood up one by one to introduce themselves.

"Elgin, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces!"

"Gero, deputy commander of the coalition forces!"

"Seymour, Fleet Commander!"

"..."

After both parties finished introducing themselves, the clerk in the conference room spoke.

"The first negotiation between the Tang Dynasty and the Eight-Nation Alliance has officially begun!"

After the conversation, the translators took their positions and several clerks began to prepare to record the negotiation process between the two parties.

The negotiation process will be presented to Li Yi for review afterwards.

As soon as the negotiations began, Guo Songtao, Director of the Tang Dynasty's Department of Foreign Affairs, took the initiative to speak.

"The responsibility for this war lies entirely with the coalition forces."

"Since the coalition forces have voluntarily admitted defeat and requested peace talks with the Tang Dynasty, they must be held responsible for this battle."

"Pay compensation for the losses caused to our Tang Dynasty by this war!"

Upon hearing this, Elgin on the opposite side immediately retorted.

"No! No! No!"

"Director Guo, this is not true. The reason why we actively requested peace talks was just to end the war and reduce the injuries to soldiers on both sides. It does not mean that our coalition forces have admitted defeat."

"It is impossible for the coalition forces to make any compensation!"

Elgin's attitude was tough.

This time, the coalition forces traveled across half the globe to fight against the Tang Dynasty, but ended up returning empty-handed, which was already a serious offense for him.

If he agreed to the Tang Dynasty's demand for compensation, Elgin couldn't even imagine how many times he would be shot in the back and commit suicide after returning to Britain.

Upon hearing this, Wang An slammed the table and roared loudly.

"Then fight!"

"Keep fighting!"

"The Tang Dynasty has hundreds of thousands of troops ready to fight at any time. We have well-trained soldiers and sufficient food. How could we be afraid of you barbarians?"

The reason for such behavior is not that Wang An is cunning.

But as a representative of the military, he must remain strong in this negotiation.

To put it bluntly, he is the bad guy!
Gro on the opposite side also slammed the table immediately.

"Just hit us!"

"Our coalition fleet has more than a hundred warships and tens of thousands of elite soldiers. We can land on the mainland of Tang and be invincible. We can also blockade the coastal areas of Tang and roam the ocean."

"The initiative of the war lies with me, not you!"

Feng Zicai said in a cold and sarcastic voice.

"Tens of thousands of elite troops? Haha, are you talking about those people who were beaten to a pulp by our Tang soldiers on the front battlefield, and then ran to bully the defenseless Tang civilians, with more than a thousand casualties?"

"Are they worthy of being called elite? In my opinion, they are nothing but cowards!"

"What can a bunch of cowards accomplish?"

His voice was obviously not loud, but it made the expressions on the faces of the coalition forces on the opposite side freeze.

The two sides quarreled for a while, but eventually parted on bad terms.

The translator, clerk and others left the stage one by one.

That afternoon, the negotiations continued, and there was another afternoon of quarreling.

The coalition forces threatened to invade again, and the Tang Dynasty said they would fight if they had the guts.

The Tang Dynasty threatened to close the country and cut off trade, but the coalition forces said they would not surrender.

The coalition forces threatened to harass the Tang coast again, and the Tang said it would kill all foreigners in China and chop off their heads to build a Jingguan...

After several days of negotiations, there was no agreement at all because the demands put forward by both sides were too different.

The coalition forces put forward conditions, requiring the Tang Dynasty to return Hong Kong and Macao to Britain and Portugal, pay compensation for their war losses, and fully open up the market and tariff agreements, allowing their merchants and missionaries to freely enter and exit various parts of the Tang Dynasty...

The Tang Dynasty would not agree to these conditions even if it was defeated, let alone now that it was just a draw, so it was naturally impossible for it to agree.

The Tang Dynasty also made exorbitant demands, demanding that the Netherlands and Spain cede the colonies of Manila, Batavia and Malacca, that Britain and France give up some of their interests in India, and that Portugal, Sardinia, Austria, Prussia and other countries pay 10 million silver dollars as war reparations to compensate for the Tang Dynasty's losses.

Naturally, the coalition forces could not agree to these demands.

So both sides argued until they were exhausted, but there was still no result.

During this period, the two fleets had several confrontations on the sea and almost opened fire again.

It is obvious that both sides are asking for exorbitant prices.

It is called negotiation, but it is more of a test of the other party's bottom line.

The real negotiations haven't started yet!

(End of this chapter)