So Cixi gathered the ministers of civil and military affairs to discuss whether to accept the conditions put forward by overseas Chinese, in fact, she wanted someone to come forward and suggest that the court accept it, and she could go down the stairs herself, but no minister stood up and suggested that the Qing court accept the conditions of the East China government, and they all had the attitude of "relying on the queen mother", but a small number of Manchu magnates spoke against the conditions of the Qing court accepting the East China government, and they also clamored to fight to the end with the East China government.

Originally, one of the conditions for the East China government's peace was that the Qing court must severely punish officials who advocated launching an attack on the rivers and lakes, and this conquest was instigated by a group of Manchu magnates who were unwilling to be lonely, so once the Qing court accepted the conditions of the East China government, it meant that these Manchu magnates would lose their power, and at least they would lose their official positions and abandon their posts, and at worst they would be able to exonerate themselves if the Qing court and the East China government continued to fight.

Although Cixi's face was so gloomy that it was about to hail, it was a pity that no one brought a ladder for Lafayette. At this time, Wu Changjue, the commander of the fifth town of Beiyang stationed in Zhuozhou, and Wang Shizhen, the commander of the sixth town of Beiyang stationed in Bazhou, jointly submitted a letter to the Qing court, claiming that at this time the volunteers had been stationed in Dingxing County, less than 10 kilometers away from Zhuozhou. Moreover, the strength of the Volunteer Army was magnificent, and it was difficult for the Beiyang Army on both routes to resist, so the Qing court was asked to send reinforcements as soon as possible.

At this time, Cixi couldn't help but panic, if it dragged on any longer, maybe it could really be dragged into the second Gengzi State Change, so she could only ignore the face of the imperial court, and finally officially issued an edict to Yuan Shikai, saying that the imperial court was willing to accept the conditions proposed by the East China government, and asked Yuan Shikai to come to Beijing quickly to perform his duties, and then rushed to Qingdao to negotiate and sign a contract with the East China government. At the same time, the Qing court also issued an order to dismiss the two of them on the grounds that Tie Liang and Liang Bi were unfavorable to govern the army, and to serve in Zhangjiakou for three years, and to dismiss and demote more than 10 Manchu magnates who supported the army, which could be regarded as a response to the request put forward by the East China government.

However, now the Qing court is in a hurry and Yuan Shikai is not in a hurry, because he has already negotiated with the East China government, and it is not a matter of two days, so he still imagines that the Qing court wants more benefits. Therefore, Yuan Shikai recommended a group of personnel to the Qing court. The first is to place party henchmen in the DPRK for himself, and the second is to let those who are attached to him know that as long as he follows him closely, there will be a time when he will flourish.

At this time, Cixi was not even in the mood to bargain, so she did not discount the list of personnel issued by Yuan Shikai at all, and completely accepted all the orders, each with different seals, so for a time Yuan Shikai's power in the court increased greatly. Yuan Shikai was also very satisfied with this result, so he left Tianjin, came to Beijing, met Cixi and Guangxu, and accepted his position, and then left Beijing and rushed to Qingdao to negotiate with the East China government.

In fact, there is nothing to talk about, because the East China government has listed all the conditions, and the Qing court has accepted them all, so the two sides mainly negotiate the procedures and time for the implementation of the treaty, and then sign the contract. It is not very difficult to cede Henan, after all, the river and lake base areas have occupied most of the areas of Henan Province, and the remaining areas can directly send people to receive them, and the river and lake base areas should be returned to the Qing court Hebei Prefecture, but the compensation of 60 million taels of silver is not a small amount, the Qing court has just recovered from the Gengzi State Change, and the annual financial income is not between 90 million and 100 million silver, in addition to various expenses, it is a very good result to be able to leave a few million taels, and it is indeed a little difficult for the Qing court to take out 60 million taels of silver at once。

After several days of negotiations, the two sides finally agreed that the land to be handed over to the other party would be handed over to the other party within a month, and at the same time, the Qing court would first pay 20 million taels of silver to the East China government, and the remaining 40 million taels of silver would be fully paid within this year. The East China government also did not ask the Qing court for a mortgage, because the Qing court did not dare to deny it.

After the conclusion of the negotiations, the East China Government officially announced that it would henceforth add the word "China" in front of the name of the government in various documents, that is, "the East China Government of China". Previously, in order not to irritate the Qing court, although the East China government was already an independent political body, the name of the government was still vague, and only replaced it with a geographical name. Now that the last fig leaf has been completely unveiled with the Qing court, there is naturally nothing to scruple about, so the name "China" can also be used in a grand manner.

Of course, in order to show the goodwill of the East China government, a group of officers of the Qing army were also released, most of whom were Yuan Shikai's subordinates, including Duan Qirui, who were directly handed over to Yuan Shikai to take back to Beijing, which can be regarded as the result of Yuan Shikai's trip to Qingdao, at least let Yuan Shikai go back and have an explanation.

Although he was only a prisoner for a month, after meeting Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui's heart couldn't help but feel ashamed and ashamed, thinking about how hesitant he was before he sent out the army this time. And Yuan Shikai didn't care about his past suspicions and rescued himself, so Duan Qirui knelt on the ground and said: "Comfort the commander, there is a heavy trust under the mark, and the wounded soldiers are damaged, and it is really shameless to comfort the commander in front of him." ”

Yuan Shikai was secretly refreshed in his heart, an ungrateful person should end up like this, but at this time, there was no need to throw himself into the well, on the contrary, he should be more generous, so he put his hands together, helped Duan Qirui up, and said: "Zhiquan, there is no need to be like this, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, not to mention this defeat, you can't be blamed all for this defeat, but Tie Liang, Liangbi is jealous and jealous, and intends to harm each other, I will definitely defend Zhiquan in front of the court." ”

When Duan Qirui heard this, he was even more grateful in his heart, and said, "Comfort Shuai, mark the ......"

Yuan Shikai said: "This is not the place to talk, let's talk about it when we return to Beijing." ”

After the negotiation was over, Yuan Shikai really folded to the Qing court again and defended Duan Qirui, and finally Duan Qirui was dismissed, but he was exempted from investigation and punishment. Yuan Shikai recruited Duan Qirui to the Baoding Soldier School as an instructor, which can be regarded as a job that can support his family, Duan Qirui is grateful to Yuan Shikai, and others also praise Yuan Shikai for his magnanimity and sincerity.

Of course, negotiations with the Qing court were only a minor episode, when the U.S. consul in Qingdao, Will Jackson, conveyed to the East China government that U.S. President Roosevelt's intention to mediate the war in the Far East.

The war in the Far East had almost come to an end, and without the intervention of external forces, there would have been no suspense about the victory of the East China government, and President Roosevelt believed that now was the best time to mediate the war, so he issued an intention to mediate with the three parties involved in the war and tested the attitude of the three parties.

After receiving President Roosevelt's intention conveyed by the US consul, the military working group also held that this was in line with the overall plan of the East China Government, and that the KPA had already achieved tremendous results on the battlefield, and that it would depend on the performance of the negotiating table to turn these results into actual benefits. However, negotiations cannot be initiated by the East China government, so President Roosevelt's mediation intention is exactly what the East China government needs, so that it can respond to Roosevelt's intention with a positive attitude.

So Foreign Affairs Commissioner Li Sanjie immediately met with Consul Jackson and started talks.

Li Sanjie first said: "Mr. Consul, first of all, I would like to thank President Roosevelt for his concern for the situation in the Far East and for our concern for the East China government. ”

Jackson hurriedly said: "Mr. Commissioner, the president has always had good intentions towards China, and has always attached importance to the relationship between the United States and the East China government. It is hoped that peace will be restored to the Far East as soon as possible, which is not only in the interests of the United States, but also in the interests of China. ”

Li Sanjie said: "We, the East China Government, have always loved peace and hope to restore peace in the Far East as soon as possible, so we thank President Roosevelt for his efforts to bring peace to the Far East and are willing to accept President Roosevelt's mediation." ”

When Jackson heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and if the East China Government accepted mediation, he would certainly have a share of the credit, so he hurriedly said: "That's really good, thank you for the efforts made by the East China Government for peace, and I believe that President Roosevelt will be very happy after receiving this news." ”

Li Sanjie said: "But Mr. Consul, you should know that peace cannot rely on the efforts of only one side, but on two sides, or even three sides to work together, although we are willing to accept the mediation of President Roosevelt, but the attitude of Russia and Japan is not yet certain." ”

When Jackson heard this, he hurriedly said: "Mr. Commissioner, although you can rest assured, I think Your Excellency the President will be able to persuade Russia and Japan to accept mediation, and I think that Russia and Japan will probably want peace more than the East China government, right?"

Li Sanjie nodded and said, "That's good, but Mr. Consul, although we love peace, we will never beg for peace, so we have conditions for peace." ”

Jackson was not surprised to hear this, because it was strange that the East China government did not have conditions, so he said: "Mr. Commissioner, then what are your conditions?"

Li Sanjie said: "Russia and Japan must admit the defeat of the occupation and promise to compensate us for our losses, and only under this premise will we accept peace." ”

Jackson understood that Li Sanjie's meaning was to put it bluntly, that Russia and Japan must promise to pay reparations to the East China government before they could start negotiations, but this condition did not exceed the expectations of the United States, after all, the East China government won the war, and also paid a lot of price for winning the war, and in the United States alone, it issued bonds worth 30 million pounds, which even reached nearly 40 million pounds with interest, so it did not ask Russia and Japan for reparations, and the money came out from there. Therefore, Jackson nodded and said, "Okay, I will truthfully report the conditions of the East China government to President Roosevelt, and I believe that President Roosevelt will also convey them to Russia and Japan." ”