Two more days of negotiations followed, but basically the travelers and countries were talking, and the Qing court watched from the sidelines. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 However, the negotiations in the past two days have not progressed much, because the crossers and countries have not relaxed their terms and are unwilling to make any compromises, so the negotiations have also reached an impasse.

In the end, Li Hongzhang suggested that there should be a one-day pause, and that all parties should go back to seriously sum up the contents of the three-day talks, adjust their respective objectives, and then resume the talks. The traverser and other countries have no objection to this proposal, after all, at this time, it is good to stop for a while, and the strategy for the next step of negotiation can be seriously discussed.

Since they could rest for a day, the travelers did not have a meeting to discuss that night, but only talked to the country and reported the situation, and after everyone rested, preparing to discuss it again tomorrow.

But early the next morning, Li Hongzhang took Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun to the Licha Hotel in person to visit Qin Zheng.

Qin Zheng was also a little surprised when he heard this, Li Hongzhang came to visit at this time, there must be something important, and nine times out of ten it was related to this negotiation, so he personally took Li Hongzhang and others into the Licha Hotel, and the two sides sat in the reception room, Qin Zheng said: "Zhongtang is visiting today, I don't know what it is for?"

Li Hongzhang said: "It's not a secret, the old man received a telegram from the imperial court yesterday, and the emperor and the queen mother urged the old man to sign a treaty with the foreigners as soon as possible, so that peace can be restored as soon as possible, and the two palaces should return to Beijing as soon as possible." ”

Qin Zheng remained silent and said, "So the imperial court intends to accept the conditions proposed by various countries?"

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "If you want to sign a contract with a foreigner as soon as possible, you can only agree to the foreigner's conditions." ”

Qin Zheng said: "Then dare to ask Zhongtang, the countries put forward eight negotiation terms, and the imperial court intends to accept which ones?"

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly and said: "The meaning of the imperial court, as long as you can sign a contract with foreigners as soon as possible, you can agree to any terms." ”

Qin Zheng didn't laugh angrily, and said: "According to Zhongtang, that is, the imperial court intends to accept the conditions proposed by various countries in its entirety, as long as it can sign contracts with various countries as soon as possible?"

Li Hongzhang nodded, his expression was a little unnatural, but he still said, "That's right." ”

Qin Zheng hadn't spoken yet, Li Sanjie couldn't help it, and said angrily: "What are these words, we fought bloody battles on the battlefield, and fought with other countries at the negotiation table, just to safeguard China's interests, the imperial court is generous, and with a stroke of the pen, all the interests we have worked hard for have been ceded to all countries, can it be said that the imperial court really regards the land of China as the private property of his Aixinjueluo family?"

This sentence can be said to be quite rebellious, and in the early decades, it was even possible to be sentenced to a decisive decision because of this sentence, but Li Hongzhang, Li Jingfang, and Zhang Peilun did not feel that Li Sanjie's sentence had any inappropriate meaning, first, because the Qing court was now weak, and there was no way to take the traverser; second, to be honest, they were also dissatisfied with the attitude of the Qing court, thinking that the concession was too much.

Li Jingfang said: "This is the meaning of the imperial court, not the original intention of Zhongtang. ”

Qin Zheng said: "Zhongtang, can I take a look at the telegram from the imperial court?"

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Naturally, the old man has already brought it." As he spoke, he took out the telegram from his pocket and handed it to Qin Zheng.

After receiving the telegram handed by Li Hongzhang, Qin Zheng read it roughly, and the basic content was indeed as Li Hongzhang said, and the Qing court did clearly indicate to Li Hongzhang that as long as he could sign treaties with other countries as soon as possible and return to Beijing as soon as possible, all the conditions listed by various countries could be agreed.

It turned out that after the conclusion of the first day of negotiations, on the evening of the same day, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to Xi'an about the main contents of the first day of negotiations, the conditions offered by various countries to the Qing court, and the attitude of the travelers, and reported it to the provisional court that was now temporarily residing in Xi'an.

The next day, Li Hongzhang received a reply from the Qing court, saying that he could accept the conditions put forward by various countries, and urged Li Hongzhang to negotiate agreements with other countries and sign treaties as soon as possible.

Although Li Hongzhang did not agree with the traverser's insistence on the principle of no compensation and no land cession, he also did not advocate accepting the conditions offered by various countries in their entirety, after all, the conditions proposed by various countries were too harsh, compared to the [Sino-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki] signed by Li Hongzhang five years ago. After all, now the Qing court can rely on the support of overseas Chinese, and it has enough confidence to bargain with other countries, at least it can further press the conditions of various countries, and even refuse certain conditions that are too harsh, and can sign treaties on terms that are relatively favorable to the Qing court.

Of course, the terms that Li Hongzhang thinks are relatively favorable to the Qing court are not like the non-indemnity and non-cession of land insisted on by the traverser, but refers to selective acceptance, for example, the indemnity can be cut again, and the indemnity can be cut from 300 million to 150 million, or even 100 million, at least compared to the [Treaty of Shimonoseki] After all, the level of foreigners' management of the concession is definitely higher than that of the Qing court, and it is still good to make business with foreigners, but it is possible to set fewer places in the new concession, the lease period is shorter, and the rent can be raised a little, and the Qing court can have a certain amount of power in the concession; the situation in the embassy district is similar to that of the concession; and allowing foreigners to garrison troops in China is a clause that should be rejected as much as possible, and if it is really impossible to refuse, it is also necessary to try to reduce the location and scale of the garrison. These were the results that Li Hongzhang believed to be beneficial to the Qing court.

So Li Hongzhang did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly gave another book to the imperial court, saying that the terms issued by various countries were too harsh, and there were many clauses that could be argued on the basis of reason, so that he could use overseas Chinese to put pressure on various countries in order to make countries lower their conditions, which would also be beneficial to the imperial court. However, Li Hongzhang immediately received a reply from the imperial court, still asking Li Hongzhang to sign treaties with various countries as soon as possible, and if the countries were unwilling to make concessions, they could also agree, and also specially explained that the two palaces should return to Beijing as soon as possible. However, in these two replies, the imperial court did not mention overseas Chinese, and it seems that overseas Chinese have been forgotten.

If the first reply of the imperial court did not mention that overseas Chinese were still willing, then when Li Hongzhang specifically mentioned that the power of overseas Chinese could be used, the imperial court still ignored this, and still asked Li Hongzhang to sign treaties with various countries as soon as possible, and even did not hesitate to accept the conditions of various countries in full, the meaning of which is intriguing.

Who is Li Hongzhang, who has been in the officialdom of the Qing court for nearly 50 years, and knows the movements of the imperial court well, but at this time, he still does not understand the meaning of the imperial court, to be precise, the Empress Dowager Cixi. It seems that the imperial court's precaution against overseas Chinese is much greater than it expected, isn't this a clear reluctance to let overseas Chinese make meritorious contributions in this negotiation?

In fact, the Qing court's attitude towards the traverser was basically to appease and take advantage of it, and after learning the news of the Shanghai negotiations, the Qing court also planned to use the traverser to fight for more interests in the negotiations. This is not to say how concerned the Qing court is about safeguarding national interests, but mainly because it is afraid that the countries will hold the Qing court accountable for provoking this war, and punish the parties involved as a condition for negotiation, so they can only rely on the travelers to check and balance the foreigners.

However, each country made it clear that as long as the Qing court accepted the conditions put forward by the countries, it would not hold the Qing court responsible for provoking this war, nor would it require the Qing court to punish the parties involved, and support the Empress Dowager Cixi to continue to be in power, and the status of the crown prince of the eldest brother could also be recognized. This immediately made the Qing court breathe a sigh of relief. Because he is Prince Duan, Zaiyi, his attitude towards foreigners is even more hairpin, and he strongly advocates accepting the conditions of foreigners.

Since his son Fu Jun was established as the eldest brother, Zai Yi began to dream of being the emperor, before Zai Yi took the lead in supporting the Boxers and opposing the foreigners, and even did not hesitate to forge the notes of the foreigners, instigating the Empress Dowager Cixi to declare war on all countries, the most fundamental reason is that the foreigners do not recognize the big brother. And now that the foreigners have changed their attitude, Zaiyi naturally no longer regards the foreigners as his enemies.

And the foreigner recognized the eldest brother, and the position of the son and daughter was stable, but the eldest brother Bi Jing was not the emperor yet, so Zai Yi wanted to become the emperor, and the biggest obstacle was changed from the foreigner to Guangxu. Although Guangxu's health is not good, after all, he is in the prime of life, and the eldest brother wants to succeed to the throne, which is probably not a matter of a short time, but if he can get the support of the foreigners, if the foreigners hope that the eldest brother will succeed to the throne as soon as possible, then there is a lot to do, and accepting the negotiation conditions of the foreigners is a signal of goodwill sent by Zai Yi to the foreigners.

Of course, Zai Yi also knew that the overseas Chinese also wanted to pull Long, but things had to be done step by step, and it was not too late to show goodwill to the overseas Chinese when he returned to Beijing, and they didn't want to return to China? As long as he spoke a few good words in front of Lafayette, the imperial court issued a decree, and he could still do it to appoint a few of them admirals, and then he would naturally be able to pull over the overseas Chinese.

Zai Yi is not an ordinary idle prince, because he is the niece and son-in-law of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and he is quite trusted by the Empress Dowager Cixi, otherwise the Empress Dowager Cixi would not have made his son the eldest brother. Moreover, before fleeing Beijing, Zai Yi also served as the prime minister, the chief minister of the Yamen of various countries, and the chief soldier of the Tiger God Battalion of the Praetorian Guard, and his brother was the hereditary auxiliary Gong Zailan, who served as the chief soldier of the right wing of the Shenji Battalion of the Praetorian Guard; and Zaixun, the hereditary Prince Zhuang of another distant family, served as the commander of the infantry battalion of the Praetorian Guard, holding the nine gates of the capital and commanding the infantry of the Eight Banners. Moreover, around the Zai family brothers, there are also a group of ministers, so it is a very powerful force in the Qing Dynasty, and even has considerable influence on the Empress Dowager Cixi. He advocated accepting the conditions of the foreigners in its entirety, and a considerable number of officials responded to it.

Of course, the final decision-making power is still in the hands of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and Zai Yi's careful thinking, the Empress Dowager Cixi is naturally well aware, but she thinks about things much more far-reaching than Zai Yi, even if foreigners are no longer a threat, then the value of overseas Chinese will be greatly dismantled. And foreigners can't be trusted, but overseas Chinese are also unreliable. In the Empress Dowager Cixi's view, there is actually no difference between overseas Chinese and foreigners, and even greater danger than foreigners, because they are overseas Han Chinese. It's just that the Qing court is now weak and powerless to restrain overseas Chinese, so it can only pull one side to fight the other, and must not completely rely on either side.