The Manchu envoys Jing Shou and Bao Jun, who came to Hubei one after another, had a mission of course to collect all kinds of intelligence on the Wu army on the spot and spy on the next move of the Wu army, in addition to striving for formal peace talks with the Wu army. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

The good news also continued to reach Baojun and Jingshou one after another, Wu Chaoyue always refused to meet with the envoys sent by Yang Xiuqing, but instead summoned the envoys sent by the major military leaders of the Taiping Army who were fighting with Yang Xiuqing in three days. At the same time, the Wu army, whose strength has increased again, is also desperately preparing for war with great fanfare, and several Tsarist Russian steam gunboats captured from the battlefield have just been repaired and immediately handed over to the sailors for equipment, training day and night without stopping, and the training room also directly shouted the battle cry of leveling Jiangning City and capturing Yang Xiuqing alive.

In addition, several Chinese and foreign newspapers published in Hubei also continued to publish editorials, either condemning Yang Xiuqing's betrayal and threatening revenge, or encouraging Wu Chaoyue to provide assistance to the rebels of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or even providing direct military assistance, creating a public opinion momentum that Wu was about to take advantage of the Taiping army to loot.

As an envoy of the Manchu court, Bao Jun of course liked to see such newspapers and such public opinion the most, and every day he asked his entourage to buy the Hubei newspaper that had just been published and handed it over to him for viewing at the first time, and the next morning when he accidentally mentioned the allusion of Sa Bao Gong in front of Dai Wenjie, the "Hubei People's Daily" directly controlled by Wu Jun's propaganda department left the printing house less than half an hour, and one of them was directly put in front of Bao Jun.

The headline on the front page of this "Hubei People's Daily" was to report the news of the announcement of the formation of a naval division by the Wu Army in Shanghai, which had not formed a naval division because of the fear of being misunderstood by the Taiping Army and avoiding a direct threat to Nanjing, the old nest of the Taiping Army, which was too close to Shanghai. At this time, Yang Xiuqing took the lead in betraying the alliance and took care of himself, and the Wu army in Shanghai, which was controlled by the sea, was naturally no longer polite, and immediately announced the formation of a water army with six steam cannon boats.

"Old horseman, I have blackened so much silver in the imperial court, and it is really generous to buy a foreign ship!"

After gritting his teeth and reading the headline news, and scolding in a low voice the old comprador Wu who helped Sun Wei's abuse, Bao Jun turned his eyes to look at the second one, but only glanced at it, Bao Jun was stunned for a moment, and then rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and then took a closer look, Bao Jun immediately cheered, "Daqing is saved!" ”

As the mouthpiece of Wu Jun, the "Hubei People's Daily" for the first time directly spoke out on the matter of the Qing-Wu peace talks, declaring that Wu Chaoyue responded to the people's voice, satisfied the demands of the Qing people for peace, and formally decided to try to start peace talks with the Manchu court, and decided to meet Baojun in public and start peace talks with Baojun in person on how to hold formal peace talks, and also invited Chinese and foreign media and representatives of the southwestern gentry to visit and interview the situation at close range.

Wu Chaoyue has never joked about his credibility, so the news published in the "Hubei People's Daily" not only made Baojun overjoyed, but also caused a huge repercussion among the people of Hubei, most of the businessmen who suffered from the war were extremely supportive of Wu Chaoyue's decision, and hoped that the peace talks could be successful and peacefully resolve the war between the Wu army and the Manchu court. Coupled with the encouragement of other Chinese and foreign newspapers, the people of Hubei were soon boiling with public opinion and surging sentiments.

Under such circumstances, on the first day of the lunar month, when Wu Chaoyue summoned Baojun in public at the Wu Military Academy outside Wuchang City, it naturally attracted countless Hubei people to visit the scene, and the consuls of Western countries in Hankou and Chinese and foreign media reporters were all present, and many well-known representatives of gentry and landlords were also invited to sit in the audience to observe the negotiations between Wu Chaoyue and Baojun.

Wu Chaoyue and Bao Jun were sitting face-to-face on the parade platform to negotiate, under the gaze of countless public reporters, Wu Chaoyue, who had long been accustomed to this kind of scene, was calm and calm, talking and laughing, and Bao Jun, who was used to sitting in the official office and giving orders, was somewhat cramped, and his words did not dare to be a little abrupt, and he had fallen into a psychological disadvantage before the negotiations officially began.

The negotiation started in a pile of nonsense, loudly proclaiming a nonsense such as peace for the country, the people, and the people, and pasting himself with the golden suit of choosing peace talks for the sake of the common people in the world, Wu Chaoyue then turned the conversation to the topic, and said directly to Bao Jun in public: "Lord Bao, in order to get rid of the suffering of war as soon as possible for the people of Li in the whole world, this commander has decided to start peace talks with you, but before the peace talks officially begin, I have one condition, you must accept it, and then after it is honored, we can start formal peace talks." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue didn't give Baojun time to bargain, and said directly: "My condition is that you must unconditionally hand over the six rebel ministers and thieves who committed rebellion to our army, and our army will behead them in public to pay tribute to the spirits of the emperor, Zai Wangye, Duan Wangye and Su Shun Su Zhongtang, and then we can start formal negotiations!" ”

There was a whisper in the crowd of reporters and gentry representatives in the audience, all of whom were a little worried that Wu Chaoyue's conditions would not be accepted by Baojun - after all, Wu Chaoyue wanted the lives of Emperor Xianfeng's three younger brothers in one breath. Bao Jun also immediately refused, and said: "Wu Dashuai, this is absolutely unacceptable to this official, not to mention that the prince and the prince are both the younger brothers of the emperor, and the nobles of the heavens, the crimes you convicted them are also a bit too heavy, even if they are really guilty, they must be dealt with according to the national law of the Qing Dynasty." ”

"Yi Cheng and Yi Xun these traitors conspired to seize power, violated the will of the emperor, and instigated the queen mother of the two palaces to hang the curtain and listen to the government.

Wu Chaoyue refuted sharply: "Moreover, during the coup d'état and seizure of power, these thieves also injured the coffin of the former emperor with bows, arrows and muskets, and deserved to destroy the door for the crime of the Qing Dynasty!" Ben Shuai only beheaded them and asked them for the crime, which is already regarded as an extrajudicial mercy to them, and you still think that Ben Shuai is very heavy? ”

Bao Jun was speechless, and only after a while did he stubbornly say: "Wu Dashuai, the bow and arrow musket injured the coffin of the former emperor, it is just a folk rumor, whether there is really such a thing, we have to ask carefully." ”

"What a folk rumor!" Wu Chaoyue was furious when he heard this, and said: "Come on, invite witnesses to come to the stage, and let them tell the people of Li people all over the world in person that Yi Cheng and Yi Xun and other traitors and rebels have disrupted the party, and whether they have injured the coffin of the former emperor with weapons?!" ”

At the request of Wu Chaoyue, the men first reported their identities and names, saying that they were the Chahar cavalry captured by the Wu army during the Battle of Chenqiao, and had participated in the Qixiang coup under the leadership of Seng Lingqin, and testified that they saw the coffin of Emperor Xianfeng being hit by a stray bullet.

Although Wu Chaoyue had already announced the crime of the coup group, but after the parties at that time came forward to confirm the incident, the public reporters in the audience were still in an uproar, and Bao Jun was sweat soaked all over his forehead, Wu Chaoyue also shouted to Bao Jun again and asked: "Lord Bao, did you hear clearly?" Yi Cheng and Yi Xun and other traitors committed chaos and injured the coffin of the former emperor, is it true or false? ”

"Wu Dashuai forgave the crime, and the lower official was not at the scene at the time, so he didn't know the specific situation. Please rest assured, when the lower official goes back, he will write an excerpt to report the matter to the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, and ask the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces to strictly investigate the matter, find out the murderer, and execute Ling Chi. ”

Bao Jun's false defense was useless, on the contrary, it also attracted a disdainful voice from the audience - idiots knew that Bao Jun was lying in public. Baojun was helpless, so he could only hurriedly say to Wu Chaoyue: "Wu Dashuai, even if it is true that he injured the coffin of the first emperor, he can't kill so many princes and ministers of the imperial court at once because of this, right?" For example, Prince Xuan, Gui Zhongtang and Old Prince Mian, they were not at the scene, so they couldn't kill their heads because of this incident, right? ”

Wu Chaoyue pretended to calculate, and only said after a while: "Okay, for the sake of the common people in the world, in order to let the people of the Qing Dynasty enjoy peace as soon as possible, Ben Shuai will take a step and hand over the three parties who injured the coffin of the former emperor, Yi Xun, Yi Xun and Seng Lingqin, to Ben Shuai, and let Ben Shuai execute them to avenge the former emperor and avenge them in Suzhongtang, and Ben Shuai will immediately make a truce and peace talks with you, so as to change the peace of the people in the world." As for the other three, we will slowly discuss how to deal with them later. ”

The reporters in the audience quickly wrote down Wu Chaoyue's original words, but Baojun still shook his head and said: "Wu Dashuai, it's still not good, even if Prince Gong and Prince Alcohol are guilty, they must be tried by the imperial court." ”

"Judged by the imperial court? Big joke! Wu Chaoyue said angrily: "Now the imperial court is controlled by the gang of thieves Yixun and Yixun, and the officials of the three legal divisions of the Qing Dynasty are either their accomplices and henchmen, or their lives are in their hands, how to judge them?" How can such a so-called trial convince the people of the world and Ben Shuai? ”

"Hand over the three major culprits of the chaotic party, Yi Xun, Yi Xun and Seng Lingqin, and then we can negotiate." Wu Chaoyue added another sentence and said, "There is no discussion on this point!" ”

"Dashuai, why are you doing this?" Bao Jun said pleadingly: "Prince Gong and Prince Alcohol are guilty and can be sent in the future, why delay the peace talks for a few days earlier and a few days later?" Affecting the people of the world? ”

Bao Jun's plea was not strong, and he didn't expect to impress Wu Chaoyue, but to Bao Jun's great surprise, Wu Chaoyue, who was still full of anger just now, was obviously a little shaken, and after banging on the table for a long time, Wu Chaoyue actually said: "If it weren't for the sake of the people of the world, ......." ”

"Relieved?" Bao Jun was ecstatic in his heart.

"Dashuai, don't give in!"

The sudden loud shouts interrupted Wu Chaoyue's vacillation, and in the commotion in the audience, when Bao Jun also turned his head angrily, he immediately found in his heart that the person who interrupted Wu Chaoyue was the number two person in Wu Jun - Zhao Liewen!

"Dashuai, Yi Xun and Monk Lingqin can discuss, but Yi Xun must be killed first!"

Zhao Liewen stood up and said loudly: "Don't forget the lessons of Zaiyuan Zai Wangye, Duanhua Duan Wangye, and Su Shun Su Zhongtang!" Repeat their mistakes! Otherwise, not only you, but also the thousands of soldiers of our Hubei rebel army, everyone will not want to live! ”

Wu Chaoyue patted his forehead in remorse, but Zhao Liewen turned to the audience and said loudly: "Everyone, our rebellion against King Qin's army is for the sake of the people of the world, and we must also kill Yixin first before we can negotiate peace with the capital!" Why? Because Yi Xun is not only the leader of the coup d'état and the anti-party, but also a jackal who eats people and does not spit out bones! A despicable villain who is ungrateful and will take revenge! If we don't kill him, we will be harmed by him! ”

The crowd in the audience was in a commotion again, and Zhao Liewen first beckoned everyone to be quiet, and then said loudly: "Everyone, I am by no means alarmist!" Don't forget, after the first emperor Yan drove, Yixun conspired to seize power, disguised himself as a shaman and lurked into the Rehe operation, and rumors bewitched the queen mother of the two palaces to help him coup d'état, and was found and captured by the prince and Su Zhongtang! ”

"At that time, Yixun had already restored the title of county king, as the prince of the imperial court, a relative of the emperor, regardless of his identity, disguised himself, sneaked into the palace to misbehave, and turned his back on the private meeting of others and lost his wife's humanity, and he should have been executed on the spot! But Zai Wang Ye and Su Zhongtang were deceived by Yi Xun's bitter pleading, and they thought that he was the brother of the first emperor, and they did not kill him for the time being, but what happened to Zai Wang Ye and Duan Wang Ye? ! What happened to Su Shun Su Zhongtang?! ”

Zhao Liewen said it to this point, and of course the party at that time, Guo Songtao, also came to the stage to testify, telling everyone that he found that Devil Six disguised himself as a shaman and lurked in the Rehe Palace. Then Shengbao also came to power at the request of Zhao Liewen, and also exposed the truth of the cruel execution of Zaiyuan and Duanhua by Devil Six and others in public as a party, as well as the vicious torture and killing of Su Shun, which attracted bursts of exclamations from everyone in the audience, and they were speechless about the insidious and vicious nature of Devil Six.

"If you want to negotiate peace, kill Yixin first!"

Among the generals of the Wu army who maintained law and order in the distance, they did not know who was taking the lead, and suddenly took the lead in shouting this slogan, and the result was immediately a hundred responses, and everyone present was furious and shouted, "If you want to negotiate peace, kill Yixin first!" If you want to negotiate peace, kill Yixin first! ”

"If you want to negotiate peace, kill Yixin first! If you want to negotiate peace, kill Yixin first! If you want to negotiate peace, kill Yixun first!! ”

The chaotic shouts gradually turned into rhythmic and neat roars, and under the infectious atmosphere, the ordinary people who watched the excitement outside the school field and the gentry representatives in the audience also shouted, asking to kill the devil six first and then negotiate peace.

Sure enough, after finally waiting for the slogans in the audience to stop, Wu Chaoyue really turned to Bao Jun and said loudly: "Lord Bao, you heard it too!" Huifu is right, I don't regret my death, but in order for the civil and military officers of our rebel army not to be retaliated against by Yixun afterwards, and in order to prevent the southwestern gentry and children and the military and civilians who supported our rebel army from being brutalized by Yixun afterwards, I must take precautions and kill Yixun first! ”

"First hand over Yixun to Ben Shuai for execution, pay tribute to the emperor and Su Zhongtang and their spirits in the sky, and then we can negotiate peace! If not, I will wave my army to the north, go straight to the capital, and capture and kill the rebels! It's a war or a peace, Lord Bao, you decide! ”

The difficult choice was put in front of Bao Jun in front of everyone, and he thought about it for a long time in a cold sweat, out of friendship, and he really didn't dare to be such a big master, Bao Jun could only reply stubbornly: "Wu Dashuai, the officials dare not call the shots in this matter, and they must ask the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces to decide, and then they can reply." ”

"Oh——!" The audience booed......