The deliberations of the Manchu monarchs and ministers in front of the palace can be regarded as completely determining their countermeasures, but the people who really want to do things actually fall on Hanchen in the end, which is why Yongzheng has always supported Zhang Tingyu, because this person can be used, it is better to use, and it is more convenient to use than Manmeng Xungui.

At this time, for Yongzheng, Zhang Tingyu's most valuable thing is not his talent, but his identity - the leader of Hanchen, which is not valuable in the past few decades in the Qing Dynasty, because such Hanchen is almost one after another, like Fan Wencheng, Yao Qisheng, Li Guangdi, Cao Zhenyong, etc., they can't be used, and they can be changed at any time.

But if it has changed today, with a Ning Chu as a competitor, the minds of the Hanchens will naturally come alive, and everyone does not want to kneel in front of the Eight Banners every day, so a loyal and obedient Hanchen like Zhang Tingyu has naturally become a baby pimple, and more importantly, he has also become the best bridge for Yongzheng to communicate with the Han gentry.

For the Qing monarchs, of course, they understood that the key to the Qing Dynasty's desire to control the world was not the hundreds of thousands of Eight Banners, but the Han people in the world, or the Han gentry, so if they wanted to protect the Eight Banners to the greatest extent, they must make good use of the power of the Han gentry in the north.

The next day, Zhang Tingyu came to meet Emperor Yongzheng with an excerpt, the purpose of which was to negotiate with Yongzheng for the gentry group in the north. After all, whether it is a betrayal of the country to Russia or the transfer of interests internally, he is nominally needed as the emperor to call the shots.

"Your Majesty, this is a note written by the old minister about the provincial governors and the regimental exercises, and I also invite the emperor to read it."

A thick yellow silk fold was taken by Su Peisheng, presented it, and placed on top of Yongzheng's imperial case.

But Yongzheng looked at the fold with a smile, he didn't take it at the first time, but deliberately asked: "Even if this fold can be passed, how can the gentry in the north obey me at this time?" ”

Zhang Tingyu frowned slightly, speaking of which Yongzheng was still a little suspicious of his influence on the Han gentry, and wanted to test it....... That's fine, then let the emperor see his Zhang Tingyu's true ability.

"Your Majesty, it doesn't matter whether the northern gentry obey or disobey, and the southern gentry don't obey in front of the land area gradient taxation bill, and then the emperor also knows that these people are afraid of power but not virtue, as long as I am still in the Qing Dynasty, they will not dare to make trouble for a day."

Zhang Tingyu said these words very respectfully on his face, but he took out a fold from his sleeve and handed it over, "Originally, the slave still wanted to wait for the matter to be completely settled before reporting to the emperor...... This is a joint letter sent by the gentry from the north to the minions, after they learned of the atrocities of the southern Chu rebellion, they decided to give the silver to the Qing Dynasty together, buy military funds to train the army, in order to resist the Ningchu army, this silver has not yet been determined, but the minions thought that there were four or five million taels at least. ”

Four or five million taels of white flowers, this is Zhang Tingyu's evaluation of his influence, and it is also his determination to show Yongzheng.

Sure enough, after reading this excerpt, a smile appeared on Yongzheng's face, he looked at the fold on the table, and slowly flipped through it, and the content in it did not surprise him, it can be said that it is basically a refined version of what Zhang Tingyu said before.

To put it simply, this is a bribe from the northern gentry to Yongzheng, they are willing to bear a military expense for Yongzheng, and the price of the Qing court is to hand over all the northern territories except Zhili and Manchuria to their own governance, whether it is tax collection or administrative management, the Qing court only has the right to interrogate, not the right to decide.

Of course, the military silver given by the northern gentry is not a small amount - 10 million taels of silver per year, until the end of the Qing Dynasty or the north is captured by Ning Chu, because by that time, both sides of the agreement have ceased to exist, and the agreement will naturally have no meaning.

10 million taels, plus the 5 million taels promised before, at most 15 million taels, Yongzheng was a little hesitant, he still felt a little less, but the northern provinces were already a poor hole that could not be poorer, and it was estimated that they could not squeeze more oil.

"Hengchen, do you think this fifteen million taels is enough?"

Yongzheng asked tentatively, he didn't say whether the money was more or less, but asked if it was enough, this was a little cautionary opportunity for him as an emperor, and it was the same thing to say it.

Zhang Tingyu was naturally able to understand the meaning of the words, and he did not answer directly, but said respectfully: "If it is to save the Eight Banners, it should be enough." If you save the Qing Dynasty, it will be ten times more difficult. ”

Yongzheng was silent, he knew that this was Zhang Tingyu reminding him again, don't have illusions about saving the Qing Dynasty anymore, let's think about how to save the Eight Banners.

"Since this is the case, then according to what Hengchen said, let's draft the purpose."

..........

In the faint light of the candlelight, Count Savawulla sat at the table, writing a quill pen on a letter paper with the imprint of the Count of Savaura's family, an eagle that looked out of the sky, flying against the wind in the sky, with a haughty look in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, your courtier, Savavila, has arrived in the capital of the Tatars, bringing with him the exciting news that the arrogant country is now in a crisis that almost destroys itself, and that a force called 'Chu' is about to rise from the south, and if nothing happens, they will defeat the Tatars and become the masters of this country."

"However, the great Russian Empire has become this accident, and if with the help of the Russian Empire, the Tatars should be able to maintain their rule, and they are willing to pay a sufficient price, not only on the Erguna River, but even for the entire Far East."

"In the strategy of the Russian Empire, it has always been our dream to find an outlet to the sea in the east, but this dream is about to become a reality, if the Russian Empire can completely take the Far East for itself, then we will get a natural ice-free port in the southern part of the Amur Peninsula, which is called Vladivostok."

"As long as Vladivostok is established, the empire will completely achieve strategic overwhelming superiority in East Asia, and we will completely encircle the territory of the Tatars like a pair of hands, and when the day is right, perhaps the whole of Tatar will become the territory of the great Russian Empire, just like the Siberian Khanate."

"Your Majesty, the only factor that prevents us from having all of this now is a country called 'Chu', and I firmly believe that if Her Majesty sends reinforcements to the Far East, 10,000, nay, even only 6,000 or 7,000 men, we will be enough to defeat it completely."

.......

As the sky began to lighten, Count Savavira raised his head, and in one night he wrote a report of more than 18,000 words, in which he urged Moscow to give him more support to accomplish this great goal.

After the letter was thoroughly written, Count Savadulla put it in an envelope, then dripped wax on the seal, and stamped a seal on it with the family seal ring in his hand, which would travel thousands of miles to Moscow, and then await the opening of the empress.

Count Savoyura is extremely sure that the current Qing Kingdom has fully accepted the good intentions from the Russian Empire, and they have completely lost the confidence to confront 'Chu' in the war, which is also the reason why Count Savoyura is full of confidence in this trip.

Of course, there is another very important reason why Count Savoyura wrote this letter, that is, the negotiations between the mission and the Qing court have also entered a critical juncture.

Among them, the negotiators of the Qing court have also undergone great changes, and they are no longer the stubborn and sensitive Tulichen, but a minister named Zhang Tingyu, who is extremely talented and charismatic, and more importantly, when he makes concessions, he is enough to satisfy the Count of Savosaila, which is why he is full of confidence.

When the Count of Savaura had done all this, he handed the letter to the Mission's liaison officer, and then washed his face in the service of his maids, and refreshed his spirits—he needed to meet Zhang Tingyu again in order to finalize the concessions of the Qing court.

It has to be said that at the negotiation table, people's appetite is always increased step by step, and under the guidance of Zhang Tingyu's theory of betrayal, the so-called land cession can no longer constitute the slightest emotional change, from the Ergun River to the distant Far East, from Linghui to Haishengwei, almost all of them have become the topic of discussion between the two sides.

Zhang Tingyu just sat lightly on the side of the table, looking at the words of the ministers on both sides, his face did not fluctuate at all, nor was there any so-called shame, just a smile, as if those territories had never belonged to the Qing Dynasty.

"Count Savailla, in fact, you and I are sitting here, not just for these petty profits, if the Qing Dynasty can be saved, then the Russian Empire will naturally be able to get everything he deserves, but if the Qing Dynasty is destroyed by Chu Wei, then all the treaties we discuss are just a pile of waste paper."

Count Savoyra couldn't help laughing, he liked to chat with such people, at least much better than that Tulichen, he picked up the porcelain cup in his hand, took a sip of tea, and then said softly: "Lord Zhang, I think the dialogue between smart people should be very simple, I understand this truth very well. But you also have to be clear about one thing, there is a saying in your country, it is called 'no rabbit does not scatter eagles', and trying to persuade Moscow to send troops is not only my problem, but also your problem. ”

Zhang Tingyu nodded lightly, "My Qing Dynasty is naturally sincere, and the original "Nebuchu Treaty" naturally needs to continue to be fulfilled, but we can sign some auxiliary treaties on the basis of this treaty, such as the "Kyakhta Treaty", which is also where the sincerity of my Qing Dynasty lies." ”

"Kyakhta Treaty? I'm going to have to listen to it, it seems like a very interesting thing. ”

Count Savailla had a smile on his face, and his eyes were fixed on Zhang Tingyu in front of him, waiting for the other party's answer.

Zhang Tingyu sent someone to send a huge map, and then pointed out softly: "Your two sides, the biggest dispute before was the definition of the middle section of the border between China and Russia, it should be right." ”

"Yes. Please also speak clearly. ”

Zhang Tingyu smiled slightly, pointed to this line and said: "For the demarcation of the Sino-Russian border, with the emperor's permission, I can give up all the territory north of the Shabinayi Mountains in the northwest corner of the Tangnu-Ulianghai region, starting from the Ergun River in the east, passing through the Chuku River near Kyakhta in the middle, and ending in the west in the northwest corner of the Tangnu-Ulianghai region. ”

Count Savaulla looked at Yutu, hurriedly called the members of the mission around him, and began to communicate in a whisper in Russian, after all, he did not know much about these places, so it was up to the Russians who had lived here for a long time to judge.

According to the introduction of the members of the embassy on the side, Count Savaula only then understood what was going on, strictly speaking, the Qing court naturally gave up a lot of territory, such as some borders expanded the area of a few days' trip, while others expanded the area of a few weeks' trip, and the total area was increased a lot.

However, this was not approved by the Count of Savaura, and he was really a little dissatisfied, so he spoke: "According to the assessment of our personnel, your country lacks the relevant sincerity, in fact, these places are originally part of the Russian Empire, and you cannot take the territory of our country to negotiate terms with us. ”

This is a good thing, even though the ministers of the Qing court have long known the shameless face of the Russians, they are still angry enough at this time, I am afraid that only they can do such a thing of reversing black and white without changing their faces, and the atmosphere of the negotiations has become more solemn for a while.

Zhang Tingyu was also a little dissatisfied, and he said coldly: "Please also let your envoy know that all the lands south and southwest of Beihai have been ceded to your country, and the area of this place is not small. ”

Count Savaura still shook his head and said softly: "This place was originally the territory of the Russian Empire, and if your country wants to get help from the Russians, it must show sincerity. ”

Zhang Tingyu narrowed his eyes and asked calmly: "But I don't know what kind of sincerity can persuade Her Majesty the Empress in the eyes of your envoy?" ”

Count Savaulla was unceremonious, "The empire needs to have an outlet to the sea in the Far East, so the lands north of the Heilongjiang River and south of the Trans-Khingan Mountains, including the area east of the Ussuri River, need to be ceded to the great Russian Empire, which should include Sakhalin." ”

As soon as these words came out, they aroused strong dissatisfaction among the ministers of the Qing court, and almost everyone looked at the Russians with a murderous eye, because this request was too much, and it could even be said to be too shameless.