On February 18, 1881, the Governor of Cochinchina issued an order to march into the army, and the next day, Li Weiye led 500 marines and 1,100 Annam colonial troops to carry 6 gates of the mountain

guns, 5 Gatling hand-cranked machine guns, and set off north on two ironclad ships, the "Doulac" and the "Basval".

Arrived in Hanoi on February 22.

On February 24, Li Weiye stationed troops outside Hanoi and met with Huang Yao, the governor of Hanoi.

"Your Excellency the Governor, the French Republic has an obligation to protect the safety and dignity of its nationals abroad, and the Government of the French Republic and the Governor of Loumere are very outraged by the armed attacks against Monsieur Gudding and Monsieur de Villeroa in your country,

On behalf of the republican government, the Governor of Lou Mei has entrusted me to lodge a solemn protest to you, and you must immediately order the Chinese army and the armed forces of the north to stop the attacks on the citizens of France, and you must hand over the plotters behind the attacks on the citizens of France within half a month. ”

"The citizens of your country have snooped on military secrets without the permission of the DPRK, and the DPRK has not taken into account your excesses in line with the principle of peace and friendship between your two countries.

After listening to the interpreter's explanation, the Governor of Hanoi retorted, "Besides, two citizens of your country did not listen to the advice of the army of the DPRK and blindly provoked, and the DPRK only expelled them from Quang Ninh Province and did not harm the two of them, so how can we talk about an attack!" ”

The Annam interpreter on the French side was willing to relay the words to Li Weiye, and after listening to them, the other party did not back down at all: "Your Excellency the Governor, even if you don't talk about the attack on Monsieur Gooding and Monsieur Villeroa, but a week ago, the ship carrying more than 20 mining engineering delegations was intercepted by the Chinese army on the coast of Halong Bay, and they aimed their guns at the French citizens on board, so that the ship could not dock normally, and the ship was flying the flag of the French Republic, and they knew that the ship was not carrying weapons, They also threatened the French citizens on board with guns and cannons, and their actions were a naked insult to the French Republic, and if the Annam government could not deal with this matter fairly and justly, the government of the Republic would never let it go. ”

"Then according to Governor Lu Mei's wishes, how should this matter be handled?"

"You should order the Chinese troops to withdraw from Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces, and hand over the Hongji coal mine and all military installations in the two provinces to the French Republic in their entirety."

The French did not yet have the ability to wage a large-scale colonial war 4,000 kilometers away from the mainland, and Lu Mei sent Li Weiye to meet with the governor of Hanoi. First, the cowardly and incompetent local authorities in northern Annam should be subdued by political and diplomatic methods, so that the soldiers would not be bloody

It established French colonial rule in the north, but tried to avoid a large-scale conflict with the Nanyang Army and the Manchu army, lest France be drawn into a war it did not want to fight.

Annam has been deeply influenced by Chinese culture since ancient times, and the French strategy of sowing discord and dividing the relationship between the Annam government and the Nanyang Army is easy to see.

In order to give the country time to recuperate and avoid Annam being invaded by the French, Huang Yao, the governor of Hanoi, even if he knew that the French were unreasonable, could only choose to calm the situation as much as possible.

"The Chinese armies of Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces are the divisions of the national dynasty, and if they only transfer the troops of the two provinces because they refuse to allow the ships of your mining expedition to dock ashore, I am afraid that they will not be able to convince the people."

"The Chinese army has repeatedly seized the customs revenue of Quang Ninh Province, they have used the illegally withheld customs revenue to buy a large number of rifles and artillery, their behavior has threatened the safety of the French garrison in Annam, your government must order the Chinese army to withdraw from Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces, this is the last bottom line of the French Republic, if your government is still unable to do it, then be ready for war with the Republic!"

"It's too much of a deception! The armies of Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces are the army of Annam, and it is not surprising that you French people have forbade other countries to export guns and weapons to the DPRK, and even interfere in the matter of the armies of the DPRK purchasing weapons on their own. ”

In order to reduce the human losses caused by the occupation of the Annam region, the French forbade other Western countries in Southeast Asia to sell weapons to them, which is a matter on the bright side, Annam is surrounded by the sea on both sides, and Thailand and Cambodia in the south have either become colonies of Western countries, or they are difficult to protect, and it is impossible to obtain advanced weapons from the north, and the Great Qing Kingdom in the south said that it was carrying out a Westernization campaign, but the weapons and ammunition relied on external purchases, and the small strength of Annam was weak, and it could not take out a huge amount of money to buy muskets and artillery that had been traded by both hands, therefore, Following the relationship of the Nanyang Legion, the purchase of muskets and artillery produced in the Han country at a reasonable price was almost the only way for the Annam government to obtain foreign weapons.

Hearing the almost shameless request of the French, Huang Yao, who paid attention to appearance, couldn't help the anger in his heart.

"The original words tell the Xiyi foreigners, Huang has been favored by the country and the dynasty in the world, and he will definitely not make a traitorous act that humiliates the courtiers, if you threaten the military again, this official will not be able to prepare a thin coffin, personally command the army of the ten northern provinces, and repay the great favor of the country and the dynasty with the heart of death!"

"Stupid barbarian, I hope you won't regret today's decision in the future!"

"Send off guests, the country will take a step back, you foreigners will go further, if this official makes concessions today, I am afraid that the disaster of the country is just around the corner, and this official would rather die than agree to your request!" …………

The meeting showed that the positions and views of the two sides are very different. In response to Li Weiye's provocative action of sudden arrival in the city, the Vietnamese government had no choice but to take three countermeasures.

First of all, Nguyen Chengyi, the left attendant of the household department, went to Saigon to negotiate with the governor of Cochinchina, Lu Mei, hoping to control the development of the situation and avoid conflict.

Secondly, he instructed Huang Zuoyan, the governor of Beiqi, Zhang Guangli, and Ruan Youdu, deputy envoys of Jingbian, to persuade the Nanyang Army to make concessions in order to ease the hostility of the French army. Later, he sent officials to the book

Ruan Zhengchong was the envoy of the Beiqi Economic Strategy, and Pei Yinnian, the counselor of the household department and the deputy envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, went to assist Huang Zuoyan and others in handling this matter. He also instructed them that in the event of a clash between the French army and the Nanyang Corps, the Vietnamese army should remain neutral: "If he (referring to the French army) only defends himself, he will deal with it well, and do not provoke first; or if you want to retaliate against the Nanyang Legion, you will be kept away by the commander. If he is forced to go to Shanxi to fight, he will do it as appropriate. In my counseling, be fair, and do not take sides with anyone. Fortunately, if there is nothing to do, if you don't get it, those who are recruited should do it immediately. ”

Finally, just in case, the Vietnamese government also secretly ordered the provinces of Beiqi to prepare for war in contingency: "Fa Yi wants to seek Beiqi, in the name of being a Nanyang Army, the deep meaning is unfathomable, in me."

Be prepared. ”

Accordingly, the Vietnamese government instructed the governors of Ninh Binh, Hanoi's Nam Dinh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Shanxi, Hung Hoa, Yi Quang, Bac Ninh, and Thai Nguyen provinces: "Everything must be done in a general manner, and no traces must be moved." If he can submerge and solidify, if he dares to go to the end, he will not be able to do anything, and he will be allowed to do whatever he wants, so as to fulfill the responsibility of guarding the land. “

According to the instructions of the Vietnamese government, the governors of Hanoi and Shanxi provinces, Fu Hoang Yao, Nguyen Dinh Run, and Hoang You Liang, secretly stated their precautionary measures, saying: "The situation in Beiqi is from Ninh Binh to Virtue Mountain, and on the right is from Ninh Binh to Virtue Mountain, and on the right side of the North Pacific and the east tide of the sea, all of which have mountains to rely on.

Nanding Province asked to defend the river road and set up fortifications and artillery; Huang Zuoyan demanded that the Vietnamese officers and troops who were being cleared everywhere be scattered, and invited the Nanyang Army to help defend Hanoi.