Less than 24 hours after the breakdown of the negotiations in Shanghai, the overseas Chinese captured Tongzhou with lightning speed, and the troops even pressed straight to the city of Beijing, causing a sensation far beyond the expectations of the traversers. Pen~Fun~Pavilion www.biquge.info Although all parties in Shanghai know that after the overseas Chinese withdraw from the negotiations, they will definitely not give up and will definitely take action, but no one thought that the overseas Chinese would act so quickly, so resolutely, and do what they say.

There are also many people who breathe a sigh of relief, no matter what, the overseas Chinese have chosen to attack Beijing instead of attacking Shanghai, at least Shanghai's security is guaranteed. Li Hongzhang is one of them.

Of course, Li Hongzhang's peace of mind is not all because Shanghai is safe, he is one of the few people who have long known that overseas Chinese will not attack Shanghai, and after the traverser captured Tongzhou, Li Hongzhang just had an excuse to stop negotiations with other countries, and he didn't even have to delay it anymore. So Li Hongzhang immediately sent Li Jingfang to inform the countries, suggesting that the negotiations between the two sides be stopped, and asked Zhang Peilun to immediately draft the draft, send a telegram to Xi'an, and inform the Qing court, explaining that it was no longer suitable for negotiations at this time, and suggesting that the Qing court wait until this round of war is over.

Originally, the next day, all newspapers in Shanghai announced the news and reasons for the breakdown of the talks, and although Qin Zheng's words strongly accusing the Qing court were only published by a few foreign newspapers, the news and reasons for the breakdown of the talks could still be published, after all, this could not be concealed. As soon as the newspaper was listed, the news came that overseas Chinese had sent troops to occupy Tongzhou, so the newspapers in Shanghai hurriedly started work and published additional issues in the afternoon to report the news.

At the same time, Li Sanjie held a press conference at the Licha Hotel in the afternoon of the same day, officially confirming the news on the one hand, and declaring in a high-profile manner that this was an action taken by overseas Chinese to safeguard China's interests.

For a time, there was a lot of discussion among the various circles in Shanghai, some applauded the actions of the traversers; some severely reprimanded the traversers for their behavior to provoke the anger of other countries and plunge the Qing Dynasty into disaster; and some people were worried and hurried, not knowing when the war would end as soon as it began. As a result, various newspapers also published comments and editorials one after another, with different views, and it was also very lively, which also led to a large increase in newspaper sales.

At this time, the consuls of various countries in Shanghai and the Ministry of Industry Bureau did not care about these matters, and the Public Concession and the French Concession Ministry of Industry Bureau jointly asked the consuls of various countries to take measures as soon as possible to end the war in China. Although the traversers did not attack Shanghai, they were prepared for danger in case the overseas Chinese turned around and attacked Shanghai after they captured Beijing?

The consuls of various countries were also shocked after receiving this news, because Tongzhou is only about 20 kilometers away from Beijing, although the Eight-Nation Coalition troops stationed in Beijing before swore that they would be able to hold Beijing, but once the war began, no one dared to say that they would win or lose lightly, after all, before that, since the return of the overseas Chinese, they have attacked everything and fought everything, which is also a fact. If the overseas Chinese really captured Beijing, then the countries really had no bargaining chips at all, and it was not known what conditions the overseas Chinese would put forward to the countries at that time.

On the one hand, they sent a telegram to Beijing asking whether the Eight-Nation Coalition could hold Beijing; on the other hand, they sent a telegram to Tianjin, asking the consuls of various countries in Tianjin to contact the overseas Chinese as soon as possible to test the objectives of the overseas Chinese's military operation. Therefore, the telegraph from Shanghai to Beijing and Shanghai also flew like snowflakes. And Li Jingfang sent a message on behalf of Li Hongzhang asking for the cessation of negotiations, and he immediately got the consent of all countries, who is still interested in negotiating now.

After a busy day, all countries had some countermeasures, and early the next morning, the British consul Huo Bilan summoned consuls from various countries to negotiate countermeasures to deal with overseas Chinese.

The consuls gathered at the British Consulate, and Huo Bilan said: "Everyone, everyone should already know the current situation, the overseas Chinese sabotaged this peace negotiation and provoked war again, which is a serious challenge to the international order and a serious provocation to our countries, we ......."

Before he could finish his words, the German consul Knappe interrupted his speech and said: "Your Excellency, all of you here are politicians, so on this occasion, there is no need to say these high-sounding words, in fact, we all know the reason why the overseas Chinese withdrew from this negotiation, and wasn't it your Excellency who advocated bypassing the overseas Chinese and negotiating with the Qing court in the first place? Now that such a result has occurred, I hope Your Excellency can give me a clear explanation. ”

After Knappe finished speaking, the American consul Guna also spoke: "Yes, Your Excellency has assured us that it is impossible for the overseas Chinese to start a new war, but the result is the opposite, and it is Your Excellency's decision that prompts the overseas Chinese to start a war, so our country believes that Your Excellency and the British side should be fully responsible for this result." ”

The French consul Bai Zao Tai also said: "The current situation is the result we do not want to see, and the reason for this result is your previous wrong decision, it can be said that your Excellency misjudged the reaction and action of overseas Chinese, for which our country also believes that Your Excellency and the British government should be responsible for this and must find a way to save it." ”

Hearing the consuls of Germany, the United States, and France questioning him, Huo Bilan was also sweating profusely and didn't know how to answer. It turned out that at about 2 o'clock this morning, Huo Bilan received a telephone call from China, in which he was quite dissatisfied with his performance during the negotiations, and he severely criticized Huo Bilan's decision to bypass overseas Chinese and hold negotiations with the Qing court, and demanded that Huo Bilan must take effective measures to make amends and prevent the situation in China from continuing to deteriorate.

Of course, Huo Bilan knows that his political future is definitely over, and now he is just trying to make up for it, so that the losses are smaller, so that his responsibility is smaller, and if the situation in China deteriorates further, and the overseas Chinese not only capture Beijing, but also turn around and attack Shanghai, then he will not lose his political future, and he will face the accountability of the parliament, and if he does not do well, he may be imprisoned.

If we want to prevent the situation in China from continuing to deteriorate, we can only accept the terms of the overseas Chinese and immediately restart the negotiations. However, the war resumes, and it will not be so easy to end it, and the overseas Chinese will definitely increase the original negotiation conditions, and the extent to which countries can accept concessions is also the main content of Huo Bilan's discussion with the consuls of various countries today. Knowing that this has not yet entered the main topic, he has become the target of other consular attacks, and Huo Bilan is also bitter and unable to speak.

At this time, the Russian consul Dmitriev said impatiently: "What's the use of talking about this now, since the overseas Chinese have chosen war, then it is better to start a war, and we should immediately reorganize the Eight-Nation Alliance and declare war on the overseas Chinese." ”

Japanese consul Oda Kiri immediately said: "I am against war with overseas Chinese, and I should still find a way to save this negotiation." ”

Dmitriev said contemptuously: "Cowards, you Japanese are cowards, I know that you dare not go to war with overseas Chinese, you have been frightened by overseas Chinese." ”

Oda Che stared at Dmitriev and said: "We Japanese will never be afraid of any enemy, but we will not go to war with overseas Chinese when the relationship within the Eight-Nation Alliance has not been clearly coordinated, because we have a certain despicable behavior of a country that will use this battle to achieve our own ulterior goals." ”

"Smack!" Dmitriev slapped the table, knocking the teacups on the table to the ground, stood up, and said, "What do you mean by this, what do you mean by 'a certain country that behaves despicably', make it clear." ”

Oda Kiri also stood up and sneered: "When we say 'a certain country that behaves despicably', we mean that country, we know it in our hearts, and everyone knows it in our hearts, do we still need to find out?"

Seeing that the two of them were getting stiffer and stiffer the more they talked, they were about to quarrel, but this time they diverted everyone's questioning of Huo Bilan, and it was regarded as relieving Huo Bilan. Of course, Huo Bilan couldn't watch the two of them quarrel like this, so he said: "Don't quarrel anymore, we are gathering here now to discuss how to deal with it, and it will be useless for you to quarrel like this." ”

When Odaki and Dmitriev heard this, they both stopped arguing and sat down in their seats again, and Huo Bilan said: "Everyone, I admit that it was my mistake to cause such a result, so I summoned you all to come over to negotiate countermeasures, at this time, complaining, blaming, and arguing with each other will not help the current situation, I hope you can put down the previous things, and everyone will work together to deal with the current situation." ”

When the other consuls heard this, they all stopped talking, after all, Huo Bilan did have a point, and after a while, Dmitriev said: "Okay, I'll just talk about my suggestion, in fact, I have already said it just now, that is, to face the battle." ”

Huo Bilan nodded and said, "Okay, Russia's attitude is to start a war with overseas Chinese, so what about the attitude of other countries?"

Oda Kiri immediately said: "We, the Japanese government, oppose war with overseas Chinese, unless we can first coordinate our internal relations. ”

Dmitriev glanced at Oda Kiri and snorted, but did not speak.

At this time, Guna said: "The U.S. government is against war. ”

"The French government is also against war. ”

On the one hand, Germany has always supported Russia's gaze on the Far East, so it really hopes that Russia will continue to invest troops in China; on the other hand, Germany has already reached an agreement with the traversers, so naturally it cannot agree to war with overseas Chinese, so it has no choice but not to make a statement at this time.