Cixi's greatest concern was that once the Qing Dynasty went against the Ming according to the British, once the war started, to what extent would the Yingyi be able to help, would they send troops to attack the Ming from the south, and would they send warships to attack Guangzhou?

If this is the case, then the Qing Dynasty can go out to fight, on these issues, Li Hongzhang touched the details of the British, the British minister is honest, said that the British will provide economic and weapon assistance, give the Qing Dynasty a huge military subsidy, send the navy to blockade the coastal ports of the Ming Dynasty It is possible, but it is unlikely to send ground troops. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info That Li Tai was full of nonsense, dared to make any promises, and threatened that if the Qing Dynasty united with the British, he would be able to conquer the city of Guangzhou in a few days.

Li Hongzhang has long lost trust in Li Tai, a ruffian at the bottom of Hong Kong society, and what Li Taitai says is often the most unreliable, so he is used to verifying the negative from Li Taitai's mouth.

Cixi's political wisdom is not low, she knows very well that as long as Britain does not send troops and blockade alone, it is completely impossible for the Qing Dynasty to defeat the Ming Dynasty on its own.

However, she recognized Li Hongzhang's attitude, that is, to make peace with the British, use the British to contain the Ming Dynasty, and accumulate strength in order to achieve after-effects.

But the Jiangnan replacement case can not be delayed any longer, with Yunnan for Jiangnan, no matter how you look at it, it has a hundred benefits for the Qing Dynasty, that place in Yunnan, after more than ten years of Du Wenxiu Hui rebellion, mixed with the great plague, the population has decreased sharply, not to mention, Yingyi, Fayi want to move where, the Qing Dynasty is in charge of Yunnan, sooner or later something will happen, it is better to give it to the Ming Kingdom, let them compete with Yingyi and Fayi in Yunnan, and the Qing Dynasty will take advantage of the fishermen.

And if you don't reach an agreement with the Ming Dynasty, it seems that Zeng Guofan wants to take down Tianjing, and it is difficult to cut off the remnants of the Taiping Army in one fell swoop, the world is turbulent, the Shaanxi-Gansu rebellion has not yet subsided, Zuo Zongtang is also very hard where to fight, and the Qing Dynasty is really unable to fight a decisive battle with the Ming Dynasty in the south.

After the meeting between Cixi and Li Hongzhang, the Jiangnan replacement case was restarted again.

The main dispute between the two sides before was the issue of the interests of Jiangnan, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Jiangnan, the Ming Dynasty seized a lot of interests, such as the power to build railways, the power to open factories in Jiangnan, and the power to lease Xiaguan, the Qing Dynasty with the support of the British, originally wanted to take back these powers, especially it was difficult to accept that Xiaguan had been occupied by the Ming Dynasty, as for the construction of railways, it was not a big problem.

After getting Cixi's tacit approval, Li Hongzhang immediately bypassed Cixi and immediately reached an agreement with Xu Rongcun, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing court met all the interests of the Ming Dynasty, acquiesced in the status quo of Xiaguan to continue to lease to the Ming Dynasty, acquiesced in the power of Ming enterprises to continue to invest in Jiangnan, and acquiesced in the power obtained by the Ming Dynasty to build railways in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other railways located in the territory of the Qing Dynasty.

After the Qing court conquered Tianjing, the Ming Dynasty would gradually transfer Jiangnan to the Qing court, and the Qing court would hand over Yunnan to the Ming Dynasty, and the transfer would be gradually completed within a year, and the two sides would cooperate incomparably to make the local area peaceful.

The agreement reached directly by the Ming and Qing dynasties bypassing Britain made Britain very dissatisfied, but for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it was a nightmare.

Li Xiucheng has found that the arrival of the Ming army this time is completely different from the last time, they immediately occupied Xiaguan, and did not hesitate to threaten with force, and forcefully demanded that the Taiping Army hand over the military important places around Xiaguan to the Ming Dynasty, Li Xiucheng with a trace of illusion, handed over these places to the Ming Navy and Army.

But after Xu Rongcun came back from Beiqi, he directly brought Li Xiucheng a bolt from the blue.

"Nine thousand years old, admit it, the kingdom of heaven is powerless. You have done your best, and you can't afford to accompany the funeral of the Hong family! ”

After Xu Rongcun conveyed the agreement between the Ming and Qing dynasties to Li Xiucheng, he began to advise Li Xiucheng to follow him and give up Tianjing, promising to let Li Xiucheng enjoy glory and wealth in peace.

But Li Xiucheng was very sad, annoyed that he had no strength, he only felt infinite sadness.

"Da Ming is not afraid of the ridicule of the world when he does this, isn't he moralistic at all?"

Li Xiucheng lamented.

Xu Rongcun said ashamedly: "Nine thousand years old, the way of the world has long changed. After King Qin Zhaoxiang imprisoned King Chu Huai, there was no morality in this world. ”

During the Warring States Period, King Zhaoxiang deceived King Chu Huai into going to Qin, and then imprisoned him until death, and since then the classical etiquette system has collapsed, and Confucianism calls it the Rite Collapse and Happiness, and King Chu Huai is considered by history to be the last king cultivated in the Rite and Le era. In the era of Lile, it was common for kings of the world to see each other. They followed various etiquette systems, and even when they were fighting, Song Xianggong had to wait for the Chu army to set up a position before attacking, and he would never take advantage of the chaotic crossing of the river by the Chu people to attack them without dignity.

After the Qin and Han dynasties, although successive dynasties were trying their best to maintain a ceremonial face, Kelile is not only a system, but also a spirit, the system is easy to destroy, but it is difficult to rebuild spiritual beliefs.

After the arrival of Westerners, they pushed the pattern of the Eastern world directly to the Warring States Period, and also talked about morality, which was indeed too naïve.

Li Xiucheng said decisively: "It's just death, Lord Xu don't want to persuade me." For the sake of the friendship between you and me, those Mingren, you can take them away. ”

The group of Ming merchants detained in Tianjing City that Li Xiucheng said, including small businessmen, and some privileged businessmen, those people have friendships with all the princes in the city, and even the princes surnamed Hong, and during the period of detention of them, there are many people who plead for mercy.

Xu Rongcun sighed: "If the nine thousand years old don't think about himself, won't he think about the two young princes?" ”

Li Xiucheng's two sons, now still in the county seat of Shanghai, the Ming army surrounded here, but never launched an attack, and even opened a few passages, under the supervision of the Ming army, allowed to do business inside and outside the city, some people took advantage of this opportunity to escape, including some Taiping soldiers, also disguised as ordinary people, threw down their weapons and fled. But there are also many people who take advantage of this opportunity to do business in and out, and they also make a lot of money, among which the Ming merchants are the most outstanding.

But the two Xiaozhong kings are still trapped in the city, they can't run away no matter what, if it sounds good, it is to hold on, but if it is not good, they have already become hostages of the Ming army to threaten Li Xiucheng.

Li Xiucheng didn't know about this situation, he could be polite to Xu Rongcun, if it weren't for the sake of the two sons, how could it be like this.

Now Xu Rongcun took out his son to threaten him, which made him angry and almost out of control, can people not talk about morality to this extent, Daming is also a big country, and he disregards decency so much.

But he still had some scruples, he didn't dare to turn his face, and said very resentfully: "I, Li Xiucheng, have a son, and among the thousands of Taiping Army brothers in this city, which one has no wife and children?" Can you keep the riches of my family, can you keep their lives? ”

Xu Rongcun shook his head: "Zeng Guofan is resolute and very human, and the story of Anqing will definitely reappear!" ”

Zeng Guofan's massacre in Anqing had long since eliminated the possibility of the Taiping army surrendering to the Hunan army, so the Taiping army would fight to the death even in an unfavorable state, not because of how loyal it was to Hong Xiuquan, but because it was fighting for itself.

Li Xiucheng snorted: "Send off!" ”

He didn't want to talk to Xu Rongcun anymore, he knew that when Tianjing City was broken, that is, when everyone was killed, Wang Haiyang and Yang Fuqing could unite with him sincerely, wasn't it because he knew that the Hunan army would slaughter the city. In this way, everyone dies together, and there is a companion on the road.

Xu Rongcun sighed: "Since the nine thousand years old has made up his mind, he will not force it, but the nine thousand years old can rest assured, the two little princes will be handed over to the next generation, and the Ming Dynasty will have a place for them, and the worst can ensure their safety in their lives." ”

It seemed that he saw the last bit of morality from Xu Rongcun's statement, and Li Xiucheng's face became softer, but he really didn't want to talk about it anymore, because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to harden his mind, so he waved his hand and asked his subordinates to send Xu Rongcun away.

Xu Rongcun returned to Guangzhou from Tianjing and reported to Zhu Jinglun the details of his negotiations with the Qing court and with Li Xiucheng.

"He said he wanted to save the lives of the Taiping army in the city?"

Zhu Jinglun asked after listening.

Xu Rongcun said: "Your Majesty misunderstood, he was indignant, and he did not mention the need to save the lives of the people in the city. He understands people, and knows that no one can keep them. ”

Zhu Jinglun pondered for a moment: "It may not be impossible to keep it." ”

Xu Rongcun was stunned: "How to protect it?" ”

The agreement with the Qing court has been reached, the Hunan army's capture of Tianjing has become a foregone conclusion, and the Ming army will not interfere in Xiaguan, unless Zeng Guofan can not kill people, how to protect them.

Zeng Guofan killed people in Anqing because there was a group of stubborn people who had resisted for more than two years in Anqing City, and a group of Taiping army demons who did not hesitate to eat human flesh but also resisted, and it was impossible to educate.

Anqing is still like this, not to mention Tianjing.

Zhu Jinglun sighed: "I'm afraid I have to fight with Zeng Guofan again." I have to go this time. ”

Xu Rongcun was taken aback: "Your Majesty is going to Tianjing?" ”

Zhu Jinglun nodded: "Only if I go can I stop the scene." Only if I go can I make Li Xiucheng believe. ”

Of course, it is impossible for Zhu Jinglun to enter the city this time, as long as he dares to enter the city, he will definitely not be able to get out, he plans to meet Li Xiucheng in Xiaguan, if Li Xiucheng dares.

Li Xiucheng didn't dare to do anything, because he was already a dying man, the Ming army occupied Xiaguan, but instead of rescuing them again, they blocked their last retreat, and the people in the whole city were waiting for death, what else could he be afraid of?

Zhu Jinglun proposed that if the Ming Dynasty could ensure that the whole city of Tianjing would not die, would the Taiping army be able to surrender.

Li Xiucheng was surprised, he really couldn't imagine why Daming would make such a suggestion, it could be that Daming wanted to recruit them.

General Li Xiucheng tested Zhu Jinglun and said that the soldiers of the Taiping Army were loyal to the king of heaven and were afraid that they would not vote for the new master.

Zhu Jinglun knew that Li Xiucheng had misunderstood.

He explained his plan seriously: "It's just to give you a place to stay, and I don't dare to keep King Hong." ”

Li Xiucheng was puzzled: "Then how can we ensure that the Qing Demon will not be wiped out." Anyway, as long as there is a place to stay, we will not be afraid of the Qing demon, and it may not be possible to make a comeback in another ten years, and it is not known who will kill the deer. ”

Li Xiucheng maintained the last bit of dignity with his tone, but he misunderstood again.

Zhu Jinglun explained: "That place is not in China, but overseas, the Qing court can't control it, and I can't control it in the Ming Dynasty." ”