Among the people who went to Xin'an to watch the military parade, there were a lot of officers, these officers had participated in the battle with the Qing army, from the GD to the TJ against the Qing army, they did not participate in the battle of Guangzhou because they went north to TJ, but they later attacked the East Fort, attacked the Xin'an City, and also attacked the Shajing Market. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The last three battles impressed them.

"These people are different from the regular army of the Qing Dynasty, their fighting style is extremely tenacious, as if they don't know fear! As far as we can see today, and what we have come into contact with, the army currently defending Xin'an is this kind of army. The scary thing is that they are now armed with a considerable number of rifled rifles, as well as a small number of infantry guns. ”

Upon their return to Hong Kong from Xin'an, the delegation immediately reported to key senior officials, including military officers such as Sima Migoli and Grant, as well as civilian officials such as Bao Ling and Ergin.

"General Simami, do you think such a report is accurate?"

Ergin deliberately asked, after the two defeats at the East Fort and Shajing Ruins, Xima Mi Geli was the most determined main battle faction, and it was also the biggest obstacle to negotiations with Cantonese officials.

Simamiloli is a professional military officer, and the officer who made the report is also a professional officer, and he agrees with the report, but his attitude will not change.

"The report is very informative and reliable. However, as long as we can draw 10,000 troops from India, we can conquer Xin'an. ”

As soon as Xima Mi Li finished speaking, Bao Ling objected.

"It's impossible, India is much more important than China. I do not think that Her Majesty the Queen and the Government will agree to redeploy troops from India to support China until the rebellion is suppressed. ”

"We can also unite the French."

Grant added that, as an army officer, like all the army officers of the era, he had great respect for the French Army, and even the Prussian Army, which later crossed the continent, had unparalleled combat effectiveness by following the example of the French Algerian Legion.

Bao Ling snorted coldly: "French? That French Monsieur Napoleon is now obsessed with making Vietnam their territory. ”

Bao Ling has been plagued by Hong Kong's increasingly difficult supply conditions, the Chinese are constantly leaving, the sharp decline in trade volume has made tax revenues beyond their means, and Hong Kong's supply of materials still needs to rely on the supply lines established by the British government for the war, this huge cost is unbearable. Therefore, Bao Ling always wanted to resume trade as soon as possible, and for this reason, he preferred to take care of the Manchu officials in terms of face.

Seeing that the two sides were deadlocked, Ergin sighed under the pretext: "So we won't have enough troops in the short term?" ”

Bao Ling said: "Yes. ”

Ergin sighed: "In other words, we don't have the military strength to punish the Guangzhou government in a short period of time?" ”

Bao Ling continued: "Yes, sir. ”

Ergin said: "In this case, for the sake of Her Majesty's glory and the interests of Britain, we can only tolerate for the time being the provocative acts of the Canton (East) government, and strive to obtain trade facilitation as soon as possible by peaceful means." ”

After summing up, Ergin continued: "Mr. Bao Ling, you are responsible for forming a negotiation team and going to Xin'an and Guangzhou to negotiate as soon as possible, I think the Chinese should pay more for our patience, at least more than their imperial court promised." ”

Ergin's meaning was clear, they could keep peace with Canton, but in exchange, Canton should give Britain the preferential treatment that the TJ Treaty would have granted.

Although he found it difficult to get the Chinese officials to back down, Bao Ling was satisfied: "Yes, sir! ”

Simamyco and Grant were a little upset.

Ergin had long expected that the two men would not be satisfied, so he turned to them and said, "As for Mr. Simamigori and Mr. Grant, I need you to remain on guard and ready for military action at any time. I think you understand that war may break out again between us and the Chinese at any time, unless they can maintain good faith and maintain the treaty of double anti-dumping, but as far as I know, it is almost impossible to keep the Chinese honest. ”

When Simamiloli and Grant heard that Elgin had not abandoned his plans for military action, they were satisfied.

This is the shrewd politician who always achieves his goals and does not directly enmity with others.

The speed of the order was very fast, and in less than three days, a professional team was formed, and they drew up more than a dozen specific terms.

There are three main points: first, the government at all levels in Guangzhou must abandon the blockade policy against Hong Kong, and no longer impose sanctions and threats on businessmen who trade in Hong Kong; second, foreigners are allowed to trade in various parts of Guangzhou, and the local government is not allowed to dare to trade normally, and the lives and property of merchants are protected; Third, it is not allowed to continue to engage in any confrontation against foreigners, including military and non-military ones, such as sending troops to threaten Hong Kong, such as sending people to carry out terrorist acts such as poisoning in Hong Kong, etc.; Fourth, the provisions of the TJ Treaty and the Aftermath Trade Regulations were immediately implemented, and taxes were collected at the rates stipulated in the treaty, and foreigners were allowed to help with the customs duties of Guangdong. There are also requirements for freedom to preach.

After Zhu Jinglun saw these negotiation requirements, he sneered and said to the negotiators from Hong Kong:

"Do you want to reopen trade, or do you want war again?"

Charles, the senior counsellor of the Hong Kong government, insisted that they came with absolute sincerity and that they spared no effort to safeguard trade freedom.

Zhu Jinglun shook his head: "I can't see your sincerity from these terms. I have here a letter for you to bring back to the Governor and to Mr. Elgin, and you will be here in ten days' time! ”

The foreigners didn't want to end the negotiation before it began, they just submitted a negotiation outline, and the normal procedure should not be that the other party also put forward their demands, and then the two sides first conducted preliminary consultations on their respective requirements, and after determining those terms can be negotiated, they are engaged in formal negotiations.

But the other party sent himself away with a letter.

Charles still wanted to fight for it, but was thrown out by a "send-off".

It's not that Zhu Jinglun doesn't want to negotiate, he wants to negotiate more than anyone else, the foreigners have already made a statement, and he now needs those officials in Guangzhou to show him.

"Fang Shan, you immediately rushed to Guangzhou non-stop and handed over these requests of foreigners to the adults. Adult decides. Tell them that the foreigners want to negotiate in Guangzhou. ”

The negotiation demands submitted by the foreigners gave Zhu Jinglun powerful firepower and vigorously frightened the firepower of Guangzhou officialdom. In these clauses, most of the Cantonese government did not dare to agree, for example, foreigners have the right to do business in various parts of Guangfu, and they will not agree to kill those adults, so that foreigners will wander around the whole Canton, and the devil knows what chaos will happen. Let foreign religion run rampant, it is not something that Huang Zonghan and other officials who are educated are willing to see, they can turn a blind eye, but let them clearly agree, in black and white, unless it is ordered by the emperor, no one dares to agree, that is a lifetime of infamy. But what frightened them the most was probably Zhu Jinglun who asked Fang Shan to verbally convey their request, that is, the foreigners were going to Guangzhou to negotiate.

It took a lot of effort to drive the foreigners away from Guangzhou, for which Huang Zonghan and Bai Gui first struggled, and then cooperated, and now that the foreigners want to come again, I am afraid that no official is willing to contaminate the foreigners.

Therefore, Zhu Jinglun's request to let Fang Shan go to Guangzhou to hand over the foreigners is actually to scare the Guangzhou officialdom, what the officials in Guangzhou will do, they must be issuing a strict order, asking Zhu Jinglun to drag the foreigners in Xin'an. Even Emperor Xianfeng refused to let the foreigners enter BJ to change the contract, and let Hua Shana and Gui Liang find a way to drag the foreigners in SH, not to mention these officials in Guangzhou. The entire officialdom is this kind of atmosphere that foreigners are afraid of, and Zhu Jinglun can easily take advantage of it.

The news brought by Fang Shan really caused panic in the officialdom of Guangzhou, and Bai Gui, who had been reinstated, Huang Zonghan, and political envoys and other senior officials collectively consulted, and no one dared to make up their own minds about this kind of thing.

Almost instantly, they reached a consensus: "Can't let foreigners enter Guangzhou!" ”

Fang Shan rode a horse for a day to arrive in Guangzhou, and these old men in Guangzhou, who were famous for their inefficiency, reached an agreement in less than half an hour, told Fang Shan their decision, let Fang Shan return to Xin'an overnight, and let Zhu Jinglun find a way to keep the foreigners in Xin'an.

One day and one night, back and forth, Fang Shan came back.

Zhu Jinglun is not in a hurry, there is no feedback from the foreigners, he has already written a long letter, I believe that Erjin can see it, in the letter he told Erjin his sincerity in maintaining trade, and put forward a lot of useful suggestions. It is hoped that the Hong Kong side will give serious consideration to it. He told Ergin that he was very interested in promoting the resumption of trade in Canton, but it was not easy, and that if the British were sincere, he was willing to work with the British to promote it.

He also replied earnestly to the demands of the British, telling them that because of the many wrongful acts of the British and their reckless military actions, the people of the Cantonese countryside were very hostile to the foreigners, and that under such circumstances, if the foreigners intended to trade in various parts of Canton, the Canton government could not protect their safety. Zhu Jinglun expressed his willingness to promote Chinese merchants to trade in Xin'an through the government, and if both China and the West trade in Xin'an for the time being, the security of both sides would be greatly guaranteed.

As for the issue of proselytizing, Zhu Jinglun believes that it should be put on hold for the time being, and it is not too late to negotiate this issue after the two sides resume trade and contacts, and after the TJ treaty has been renewed.

At the same time, Zhu Jinglun explained the current situation and told the foreigners that only in Xin'an can they have the right to decide and ensure normal trade, and that trade in other places is no longer within their authority, so they will not discuss it.

Zhu Jinglun's reply was quite professional and constructive, and Erjin really read the letter carefully, and specially invited Hurd to inquire carefully about Zhu Jinglun's situation.

After listening to Hurd's report, Ergin learned that Zhu Jinglun had considerable influence in the Guangzhou government, and decided to take this negotiation seriously, and specifically told Bao Ling to negotiate next time and let Hurd be an adviser.

On the eighth day, a fast horse traveled from Guangzhou to Xin'an, bringing a letter from Zhu Jinglun to the long-awaited appointment, and the Qing court officially appointed Zhu Jinglun as the county governor of Xin'an.

This is the reason why he dragged the foreigner for ten days, because calculating the time, his appointment should come down. Now he can legitimately negotiate with the foreigners about Xin'an trade in the capacity of Xin'an Zhi County, and it is a negotiation with the official support of Guangzhou, not a private negotiation.

It can be said that before the formal negotiations began, Zhu Jinglun cleared all obstacles for himself, including those from public opinion and the government.