Sheng Xuanhuai said disdainfully: "What's wrong, now the land of China is still the world of my Qing Dynasty, and it is not the court of his overseas Chinese who is in power, we are willing to negotiate with that country, it is still the internal affairs of my Dachun, do overseas Chinese still want to interfere in the internal affairs of my Qing Dynasty?"

Zhou Fu shook his head and said: "I can't say that, this time the countries are willing to let me join the tripartite talks, it is really all the work of the overseas Chinese, how can we despise the overseas Chinese, not to mention how the powers of various countries are good at getting along, if we really put the overseas Chinese aside and negotiate with various countries alone, I don't know what harsh conditions they will offer, and the overseas Chinese are not good people, and if they are not good at doing it, there will inevitably be trouble, so please Zhongtang must not act recklessly, and must think twice before acting." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info”

Although Sheng Xuanhuai has no good impression of the traverser, he also knows that Zhou Fu is telling the truth, after all, he is also a pragmatic person, and he will not talk nonsense with his eyes open, although it is a tripartite meeting, but the Qing court is actually just a foil, and it is overseas Chinese and countries who call the shots. Therefore, he said: "What should I do, do you ignore England, and do you not offend England?"

Zhou Fu said: "Zhongtang, if you don't visit, you can report this matter to the imperial court, and the imperial court will decide, so that whether it is British or overseas Chinese, there is an explanation, and it is not to blame for Zhongtang's head." ”

In fact, Li Hongzhang also thinks so, with his understanding of the Qing court, as long as the countries do not hold the Empress Dowager Cixi accountable, they will accept any harsh conditions, and even ask Li Hongzhang to negotiate privately with various countries, but overseas Chinese will never agree, so this matter is handed over to the Qing court to decide, then this pot will be carried by the Qing court, and it has nothing to do with him Li Hongzhang. This is not to say that Li Hongzhang is not a person who dares to take responsibility, when the [Shimonoseki Treaty] was signed, the whole country called Li Hongzhang a traitor, and such a big cauldron, Li Hongzhang also carried it down for the Qing court, not to mention that now Li Hongzhang is a dying old man who is nearly eighty years old, to put it mildly, he is already a person who lives one day at a time, what are you afraid of.

It's just that now is the time when the [Treaty of Shimonoseki] was signed, the Qing court was defeated by the Japanese army on both land and water, and was unable to resist the enemy, and the court could only rely on Li Hongzhang to support, so Li Hongzhang went to carry this black cauldron, although his reputation was damaged, but everyone who understood knew that Li Hongzhang was enduring humiliation and burden, and at the same time bought a big favor from the Qing court, and there was a chance to make a comeback in the future. And now that overseas Chinese have sprung up, they have a good record, and now that the form is very good, Li Hongzhang will really kill himself if he goes to carry this black pot again.

So Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "It's okay, Youqiao, you come to draft and send electricity to Xi'an." ”

Zhang Peilun said: "Yes, Zhongtang." After a pause, he said: "Zhongtang, the press conference of overseas Chinese, should you also inform the imperial court?" ”

Li Hongzhang thought for a while, waved his hand, and said, "No need, so as not to cause extraneous branches." ”

In fact, after reading the contents of the press conference, Li Hongzhang was also quite dissatisfied, thinking that the remarks made by overseas Chinese at the press conference were really a bit excessive, and they were completely condescending, instructing the Qing court what they should do, just like instructing students. Although Li Hongzhang also knows that with the current strength of overseas Chinese and the current situation of the Qing court, there is really no need to be polite to the Qing court, but some things can be said in private, but don't put them on the table, let alone say in front of reporters, what are these reporters doing, lest the world be chaotic, and wait for it to be published in the newspaper tomorrow, which will make the court too unable to come to power. It is not known how the Empress Dowager Cixi will react.

Now Li Hongzhang doesn't dare to rest assured of the Empress Dowager Cixi, because after seeing the old lady's willfulness, no one dares to rest assured of her, dare to declare war on all countries in the world, and what else she doesn't dare to do, so it is really terrible to say that the old lady is willful, if the old lady knows the remarks of overseas Chinese, Li Hongzhang does not dare to guarantee that the old lady will not be willful again.

Although Li Hongzhang also knew that it was impossible to conceal it, because as soon as the newspaper was published tomorrow, the whole of Shanghai would know about it, and sooner or later it would be transmitted to the imperial court. However, there will be negotiations tomorrow, so don't make any more extraneous branches, it is a while to be able to hide it, as long as the negotiations are over and the three parties sign a peace treaty, Li Hongzhang doesn't care how willful the old lady is.

Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhou Fu and others are also human spirits, so they naturally understand Li Hongzhang's intentions, so they have no objections, Sheng Xuanhuai only said: "Zhongtang, how do the British respond?"

Li Hongzhang said: "Jing Fang, you go to respond to the British, only say that I have conveyed their meaning to the imperial court, and I am waiting for the imperial court's reply." ”

Li Jingfang nodded and said, "Yes, father." ”

While Li Hongzhang and others were discussing the proposal of the British, in the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, Consul Oda Kiri and Vice Consul Mansuke were also gathering a group of Japanese journalists to attend today's press conference on the Travelers.

It is not surprising that the Japanese press corps is composed of Japanese spy personnel, because the profession of journalists is often a natural cover for spy personnel, and many well-known spies are pretending to be reporters. Originally, the purpose of sending spy personnel to attend the Shinma press conference posing as reporters was to test the attitude of overseas Chinese, but they did not expect that someone would ask an almost provocative question to overseas Chinese. This is much beyond the expectations of Oda Kiri and Manjunosuke, because Japan has no plans to tear up its face with overseas Chinese, so the two naturally want to recruit members of the press corps to ask what happened, and they want to ask Kobayashi what he plans to do.

In one of the offices of the Japanese consul in Shanghai, Oda Kiri and Manjunosuke sat on tatami mats with gloomy faces, their waists straight, while all five members of the Japanese press corps knelt on the ground, their hands folded and their foreheads resting on the backs of their hands.

Oda said sharply, "What the hell is going on, why are you asking such a question. ”

One of the people kneeling in front of him said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Consul. It wasn't this question that we planned to ask overseas Chinese, but when we asked, Kobayashi-kun suddenly changed the question, and we didn't know why. ”

Oda Kiri said: "Kobayashi-kun, can you explain why you are asking this question, don't you know the consequences of your doing this? It is possible to push overseas Chinese to the opposite side of our Great Japanese Empire, which will bring great disadvantages to Japan." ”

The humane called Kobayashi said: "Mr. Consul, I think that our entire Great Japanese Empire has underestimated the overseas Chinese, and they must not be underestimated, and they will become the most terrible enemies of our Great Japanese Empire in the future, so we must not be on guard." ”

Manjunosuke said: "Shut up, even if the overseas Chinese will be Japan's most terrible enemy in the future, but now Japan's biggest enemy is Russia, we can't be the enemy of overseas Chinese and Russia at the same time, and at this stage, we should also unite with overseas Chinese to fight against Russia, these are not all Kobayashi-kun's proposals, and they have also been approved by the country." But the question you have raised like the one raised by the overseas Chinese is enough to undermine our alliance with the overseas Chinese, and may even push the overseas Chinese to the side of the Russians. ”

If anyone could see Xiao Lin's expression, they would definitely see that he had a look of disdain, but it was a pity that he was the same as the other four, kneeling on the ground, with his forehead bowed and the back of his hands, and no one could see his face. After listening to Manjunosuke's words, Kobayashi said: "Please rest assured, your Excellency, overseas Chinese will never unite with the Russians." ”

Manjunosuke said, "Why?"

Kobayashi said: "The reason is very simple, Russia is not only Japan's biggest enemy, but also China's most threatening enemy, and now Russia has sent troops to occupy China's three northeastern provinces, and overseas Chinese regard themselves as patriots and keep saying that they want to safeguard China's interests, so they will never unite with Russia. ”

Oda Kiri and Manjunosuke glanced at each other, and had to admit that what Kobayashi said was indeed reasonable, and Oda Kiri said again: "But your question still destroys the possibility of our alliance with overseas Chinese." ”

Xiao Lin raised his head, straightened his waist, looked at the two of them and said: "Don't worry about this, overseas Chinese are different from Qing Guo, they are all pragmatists, focusing on practical interests, and now they also need to cooperate with our Japan to fight against Russia, and they have never taken Qing Guo in their eyes, so such a small accident will definitely not affect our alliance with overseas Chinese." In the future, we will only look at the development of the situation and the needs of Japan, and then further provoke from them, so that we can completely drive a wedge between the overseas Chinese and the Qing and win greater interests for Japan. ”

Oda Kiri and Manjunosuke were speechless, because the two couldn't find anything to blame Kobayashi for a while, although Kobayashi seemed a little reckless about the improvement of overseas Chinese, but after listening to his explanation, he felt that there was indeed a reason. It's just that Xiao Lin's tone just now made the two of them very dissatisfied, quite like a teacher teaching a student. As consuls abroad, the two were taught a lesson by a young spy who had just joined the company, and they naturally couldn't get off the face.

After a while, Oda Kirichi said: "Okay, this matter is here, we will report Kobayashi-kun's behavior and explanation to the country, and the country will deal with Kobayashi-kun, so you had better go back to China immediately." ”

A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Xiao Lin's eyes, but he immediately regained his composure and said: "Okay, but before I leave, I still want to give you a little advice, that is, this negotiation will definitely not be successful, but in the matter of conflicts with overseas Chinese in the negotiation, it is best to let other countries come forward, Japan just hide behind, and don't take the initiative to target overseas Chinese." And in the matter of uniting with overseas Chinese against Russia, we should not take the initiative to find overseas Chinese, but wait for them to come to us. ”