This Gong Xiaogong is the person Guan Zhuofan has repeatedly seen in the British Army Headquarters and the Old Summer Palace. Not surprisingly, he is now back in the British delegation as an interpreter. Guan Zhuofan thought hatefully, since a person has become a traitor, it is not strange that no matter what move he makes to forget his ancestors.

The negotiations were not intense, for most of the contents had already been agreed upon in the previous negotiations - in fact, the situation was pressing, there was not much to fight for, and the court could only try to reduce some losses. The reason why I moved to the lobby of the Ministry of Rites was for the convenience of signing the contract after the negotiation was completed.

Zuihou's disagreement focused on two points, one was how to pay the eight million taels of soldiers paid, and the other was whether the Kowloon Peninsula should be ceded or leased. Guan Zhuofan pricked up his ears, listened attentively, and slowly heard the taste: The payment method of military expenses is nothing more than the question of how many years, where, and what is used as a guarantee, no matter how you talk about it, there is not much difference. The Kowloon Peninsula is about the future of Hong Kong, and the difference between cession and lease is very important!

However, the imperial court suffered from the level of translation and had a very difficult time talking. When the foreign soldiers entered the city, King Gong and the ministers, who were in charge of the Fu Bureau, could not find a suitable translator for a while, so they had to use a prefect surnamed Huang from Guangdong Province to act as a temporary one. Huang Zhifu is a half-bottle of vinegar, not only is it often difficult to speak English, but it is also difficult to understand Ergin's words. In this way, the negotiation between the two sides had to be completed through Gong Xiaogong, which gave him the opportunity to control it.

"Kowloon can say rent, but if it is ceded, it is really difficult to explain to the world." It was Zhou Zupei, a scholar of Tiren Pavilion University who spoke.

"Lord Zhou, Minister Erjin insists on ceding, you are procrastinating here, if the foreign soldiers give birth to other things, I'm afraid it will be more difficult to explain to the world, right? You have to know the importance of this! Gong Xiaogong's attitude was extremely arrogant, and his words were tantamount to teaching Zhou Zupei a lesson in person, the elderly "Mall Xiangguo".

In fact, according to Ergin's idea, the lease is not bad, as long as the lease period is longer, it is no different from a cession. The French negotiators, on the other hand, have nothing to do with themselves, and they just want the peace talks to be settled as soon as possible and get their share of the benefits that belong to the French side. Helplessly, Gong Xiaogong insisted on persuading Erjin, thinking that it was better to cede and prevent future troubles, as long as he persisted a little longer, these court officials would make concessions. Since he must have said so, Ergin was of course optimistic.

Zhou Zupei frowned and stopped talking, Gong Xiaogong threatened to activate the army, which was exactly what the imperial court was afraid of.

Guan Zhuofan saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. He had already understood the attitude of Ergin and the French minister, but he had no choice but to see that the court officials were ignorant and deceived by Gong Xiaogong, and said in his heart how to think of a way to be able to tell them.

was in a hurry, and when he saw He Yiwei, who was on guard with the whole audience, walking in front of him, he had an idea in his heart, gently grabbed him, and whispered: "And my lord, I have something important to report to you." ”

He Wing Lieutenant was stunned for a moment, looking at the newly appointed Infantry Military Academy, and didn't know what tricks he was going to make. After hesitating for a while, he nodded, and walked through the passage with Guan Zhuofan to the side room of the foyer. As soon as he entered the door, he said in a very majestic voice: "Xiaoguan, what are you doing?" ”

"I can listen to a few sentences of foreign language," Guan Zhuofan explained anxiously, "The translator of the foreigner, Gong Xiaogong, said untruthfully. And the adults must report to the adults to know that foreigners do not necessarily insist on cedion, and the lease can be negotiated! ”

"How many words can you listen to?" He Wing Lieutenant scratched his head and said in embarrassment: "I don't understand these things. ”

Guan Zhuofan knew that what he said was the truth, so he simply took the pen and paper on the table, thought about it, and wrote: "The chief does not intend to cede, but only filial piety." Or it can be described as a perpetual lease, when it can be negotiated. If you cede it, you will lose all the right of ownership, and if you have the right to govern it in perpetuity, the right of ownership will be in me, and the difference between the two will have a lot to do with it. After writing, I hurriedly looked at it, although the words were not good, the tone was still smooth, so I stuffed it into the hand of the lieutenant and the wing.

He Yiwei took it carefully, swept his eyes twice, and said suspiciously: "Xiaoguan, don't harm me!" ”

"How dare I? And adults just hand, you will see your credit! Guan Zhuofan urged, "I'll return to the post first, please hand it over to the adults, if it's too late, I'm afraid it will be too late." So saying, he went out of the house first, and walked back to his place to stand. He must not let foreigners see that this note is from the hand of a small military attache from the sixth grade.

The miserable thing is that He Yiwei, holding this piece of paper, is like a thousand catties, three steps and one stop, secretly scolding Guan Zhuofan in his heart, I don't know why he took such a hot potato in a daze. However, thinking of the warning of "I'm afraid it's too late", in desperation, he gritted his teeth, walked behind Wen Xiang, who was sitting at the negotiation table, bowed down, and whispered tremblingly: "Lord Wen, there is a ...... Chen" Wen Xiang is his chief official, and others only regard him as a warning matter, which does not seem abrupt.

When Wen Xiang heard this, he was furious, and said in his heart that you don't know a lot of words, what kind of bastard can you write? It's just that at this time, there is no way to attack him, frowning and staring at him fiercely, and taking the paper.

When He Yiwei saw Wen Xiang's eyes, his heart was cold, knowing that this time he was probably going to be finished, and he hated to grab Captain Guan and strangle him. He took two steps back in a daze, and came down in a cold sweat.

However, Wen Xiang looked at the note, his face gradually relaxed, thought for a moment, and quietly handed the note to King Gong. The dying man saw a glimmer of hope again, and thought: Could it be that this little pass really has a bit of a doorway?

Although King Gong did not know who wrote the note, he could understand the meaning of it - Erjin did not necessarily have to insist on ceding. After thinking about it, I think the word "perpetual rent" is a good statement. With a bottom in his heart, he said loudly: "Please tell Minister Erjin that the cession of Kowloon is difficult and absolutely infeasible." If it is a lease, it can be indefinite, and rent is also negotiable. ”

Erjin has been in China for many years, and he can listen to some Chinese roughly, and he understands the meaning of King Gong's words. There is no fixed term, which means that it can be rented forever, and the rent can only be paid for a symbolic amount. was about to speak, but saw Gong Xiaogong wave his hand, and said to King Gong domineeringly: "This is pure whimsy, I have never heard of such a thing!" Let's be honest, non-ceding aside! ”

This is tantamount to refusing to translate even King Gong's words, and he is too much! King Gong was furious and pointed his hand: "Gong Xiaogong!" Your family background is favored by the country, but you are willing to be a traitor for the tiger, and make things difficult in every way, what is the reason? ”

Gong Xiaogong rolled his eyes and said arrogantly: "Although my father is an official of the imperial court, my path to advancement has been blocked by you and others, how can I ever receive half of the favor from the imperial court?" They had to beg for food from the Gentiles. Now you call me a traitor, but I see you as a national thief! ”

It is unbelievable for an interpreter to be so arrogant that he insults the plenipotentiary of the imperial court, the noble Prince Heshuo, to his face. For a while, the hall of the Ministry of Rites was silent, and the ministers and attachés of the imperial court were all stunned and did not know what to do.

But when he saw a young military attache standing in the hall, he didn't squint and said loudly: "Everyone has Wulun, and foreigners also talk about etiquette." But you have no king, no father, no brother and no friends, abandon your wife and children, only raise a concubine, and mix every day, among the five Lun, there are four and a half missing, how is it different from an animal? Since he is a person like a beast, what face does he have to roar at the court and be ashamed? ”

This paragraph, sentence by sentence, reveals all the despicable and filthy places of Gong Xiaogong. Gong Xiao was arrogant, he had ever been accused of being so heart-wrenching, his face was pale, his hands trembled, and he pointed at the young military attaché: "You...... You ......" I don't know why he knows his details so clearly. After a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence, he finally sat down in his chair in a dejected manner.

The joy in Prince Gong's heart was indescribable, and he unconsciously had a smile on his face. As soon as Gong Xiaogong's obstacle was removed, the rest of the negotiations were much smoother, and the status of Kowloon, not a ceding but a perpetual lease, was finally written into this "Treaty of Yanjing".

Captain Guan under the hall, seeing that everyone was looking at him, tried his best to put on a righteous and awe-inspiring appearance, but he was thinking in his heart: Lao Tzu has won the bet, and Lao Tzu is about to be greatly promoted.