After getting the joint letter of Burbulon and Pashali, he immediately sent Guo Songtao, who was temporarily appointed as the editor of the Hanlin Academy, out of the city and went south to Tongzhou to contact the British and French forces and ask for the resumption of negotiations. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 During the info period, no one was sent to monitor Guo Songtao, but a team of guards was sent to accompany him to protect him, which was very surprising in terms of measurement.

When Guo Songtao and his entourage hurriedly came to Tongzhou, they were just in time for the British and French troops to pull out the camp and prepare to go north, and the front of the camp was very heavily guarded.

Not much time later, a middle-aged Chinese man in a robe led a team of British soldiers to Guo Songtao, and said to Guo Songtao with a mocking face: "You are not small, you dare to come to meet General Ergin and General Gro, are you not afraid that the British foreigners and French foreigners will shoot you?" ”

"Of course it's false to say that you're not afraid. However, as far as I know, General Ergin and General Gro are both from European aristocratic backgrounds, so they must not do such a thing. ”

Guo Songtao's calm answer made the middle-aged man stunned for a moment, and after looking at Guo Songtao carefully, the middle-aged man asked Guo Songtao's name and official position again, Guo Songtao answered truthfully, and the middle-aged man laughed again when he heard it, and said with a smile: "Six-grade editing? It seems that the Qing Dynasty is really in a hurry, and in order to find someone who is not afraid of death, even the six-grade editor has been sent out. ”

"Come with me, General Ergin, they are waiting for you, don't let them wait. Also, when you see General Ergin, don't pee your crotch, don't let the foreigners look down on us Chinese even more. ”

Estimating that the middle-aged man was a translator or something, of course Guo Songtao, who was very cultured, would not mind his rude attitude, and nodded his head before following him into the barracks, and came directly to the door of the coalition headquarters under the surveillance of the British soldiers. ”

"Ask him for his official name and his intentions." A foreigner man in a military uniform said in English without raising his head.

The middle-aged man promised, and when he just wanted to translate, Guo Songtao preemptively said in English: "If I'm not mistaken, you must be General Ergin, right?" My name is Songtao Guo, and I am currently serving as the editor of the Hanlin Academy in the Qing Imperial Court, and I have been entrusted by the Qing State Council and the Minister of the Qing Dynasty, Prince Yiqin and the Vice Minister Prince Yixun, to deliver the official document of the Ministry of Communications and the letter from the consul of your country, Mr. Pashali, requesting the resumption of peace negotiations with your country and France. ”

Hearing Guo Songtao's English, which was not proficient enough but barely passed, the middle-aged man who was arrogant just now suddenly opened his mouth wide, and Erjin also raised his head in surprise and asked Guo Songtao: "Can you speak English?" ”

“yes。” Guo Songtao nodded, and said in English: "In fact, I am also the assistant of Mr. Chaoyue Wu Futai, the governor of Hubei Province of the Qing Dynasty, and I was entrusted by Wu Futai to come to the capital to help our imperial court communicate and negotiate with your army. ”

"It turned out to be Transcendence Wu's assistant, no wonder he can speak English." When Erjin heard this, he was overjoyed and smiled heartily: "Great, so it will be much more convenient for us to communicate." ”

Wu Chaoyue's name as a comprador traitor is also the most stinky among foreigners, and when he heard that Guo Songtao was Wu Chaoyue's accomplice lackey, not only the British army was happy, but also the French generals were also smiling, and they all came up to welcome Guo Songtao, and Guo Songtao used the etiquette learned from Wu Chaoyue and the Hankou foreigners to greet each other, and then presented the letters that the Wild Boar Skin Brothers and Pasha Li and others were forced to write.

"This is blackmail! Blackmail! The despicable Qing court, they are grossly trampling on public international law, we must take revenge! To make the Qing court pay the price! ”

The friendly atmosphere came to an abrupt end after reading the letters that Burblon and others had forced to write, and the leaders of the coalition forces, such as Ergin, Gro, and Pruth, all protested to Guo Songtao one after another, gritting their teeth and saying that they would never accept the blackmail threats of the Manchu court. Fortunately, Guo Songtao had already been mentally prepared for this, nodded and said: "Distinguished gentlemen, you are very right, this is indeed blackmail, intimidating and killing the members of the negotiation delegation, and forcing you to stop your armed actions, which is indeed a very immoral and barbaric act. ”

Guo Songtao took the initiative to condemn the barbaric ignorance of the Manchu court and succeeded in temporarily pacifying the head of the coalition army, and then Guo Songtao said: "In fact, Huang Sheng, another assistant sent by Wu Futai, and I also strongly opposed this barbaric behavior, but there was no way, neither the peace ministers appointed by our court nor the military commanders in Beijing accepted it. We have no choice but to persuade Mr. Pashali and Mr. Bourblon to write this letter, to temporarily stabilize the powerful figures of our court, and to temporarily ensure the safety of the members of the delegation, so as to buy time for you to save them. ”

After that, Guo Songtao introduced the current dangerous situation of Burbulon and others to Erjin and others, explaining that Burbulon and others would have their lives threatened if they did not write this letter, and finally explained his attitude towards Huang Sheng, expressing respect and understanding for the choice made by the British and French forces, and also saying that he would do his best to prevent the Qing army from poisoning Burblon and others, and buy time for the British and French forces to rescue the members of the delegation.

After listening to Guo Songtao's explanation, Erjin and Ge Luo and others first thanked Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng for their efforts, and said that they would not forget this friendship. Then Erjin and Gro and others replied to Yi Cheng and Yi Xun brothers in letters, saying that they would never accept the wild boar skin brothers' blackmail, and would never stop the military offensive, and also clearly agreed to negotiate with Yi Cheng Yi Xun brothers, but the premise of the negotiation was first of all the unconditional release of all the delegation members captured by the Qing army, and secondly, Yi Cheng and Yi Xun brothers must prove that they were the negotiators of the Manchu court, and finally asked Yi Cheng and Yi Xun to negotiate in the barracks of the British and French forces.

Knowing that Yi Cheng and Yi Xun would definitely not have the courage to enter the foreigners' military camp to negotiate, Guo Songtao defended a little with an attitude of trying his best, and suggested that Erjin and others reconsider this clause, but Erjin and others categorically refused, directly saying that they did not want to see the members of the negotiation delegation kidnapped by the Qing army again. Guo Songtao had no choice but to give up, and was forced to bring back the request that the wild boar skin brothers would never dare to agree to, so that Yi Cheng and Yi Xun were worried.

In the end, although he was a little sorry for the Manchu court, in order to prevent the Yi brothers from jumping over the wall in a hurry and really killing all the members of the delegation, causing the foreigners to kill in anger and affecting the innocent Han people, Guo Songtao still reported to the British and French forces the place where Burbulon and others were held, and suggested that the British and French forces first attack the Old Summer Palace to rescue the kidnapped members of the negotiation delegation. Erjin and the others were even more overjoyed when they heard this, and they thanked Guo Songtao again, and said that they would definitely attach importance to the important information and suggestions provided by Guo Songtao.

In the end, because the army was about to be opened, Erjin and the others could not entertain and thank Guo Songtao with a banquet, so they could only clink glasses with brandy to thank them, but when pouring the wine, the middle-aged man who was the translator of the villain before suddenly came to Guo Songtao, nodded and said: "Lord Guo, I'm really sorry, the little one should be damned, the little one doesn't know that you are a person sent by Wu Futai in Hubei, I offended you a lot just now, I hope you have a lot, don't care." ”

Guo Songtao just wanted to shrug his shoulders and say that it didn't matter, but Ergin, who happened to come over, pulled the middle-aged man away and scolded: "Go aside, you don't need you here." Come, Guo, a toast to our friendship. ”

"Thank you, a toast to friendship."

Guo Songtao smiled and toasted to Ergin, and followed Wu Chaoyue's tricks when dealing with foreigners, inviting Ergin and Gro and others to toast the health of Queen Victoria and Napoleon III, in exchange for Ergin and Gro's smiles and surprises. While exchanging glasses with foreigners, Guo Songtao inadvertently glanced at the middle-aged man before, and saw him shrinking in a corner of the hall, his expression seemed to be a little gnashing.

"You are not rampant, now you know what the end of leading the way for foreigners is, right?" muttered in his heart, Guo Songtao completely left the middle-aged man behind.

…………

Guo Songtao expected that the two brothers, Yi Cheng and Yi Xun, really said that they would not dare to agree to negotiate in the foreigner camp together, and forced Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng to find a way to make the foreigners give up this request no matter what, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng suggested that the members of the foreign delegation be released first to show the sincerity of the negotiations, and then persuade the foreigners to change the location of the negotiations, but they were categorically rejected by Yi Cheng and the Yi Xun brothers.

The two brothers Yi Cheng and Yi Xun wasted precious time in vain, but the British and French troops quickly advanced to the foot of the capital without stopping, and when the frightened Hui Lao Wang Ye and the monk who made meritorious contributions hurriedly landed in the city to prepare for battle, they were also pleasantly surprised to see that the British and French troops suddenly changed their route to the west and killed in the direction of the Fengtai camp. Then the old prince Hui and the monk did not hesitate, and immediately happily ordered Ruilin, who was in charge of commanding the Fengtai garrison, to guard the camp with all their strength and block the footsteps of the foreigners.

The messenger who went to give the order to Ruilin soon returned to the old prince Hui and the monk prince, and reported with a sad face that the Fengtai garrison had just seen the foreigners approaching, so they immediately abandoned the camp and fled, and Ruilin couldn't stop it at all, so he had to abandon the Fengtai camp and turn to Liangxiang. The old prince Hui and the monk scolded together, but they were helpless.

Originally thought that the foreigners would definitely seize the Fengtai camp to gain a foothold, and then use it as a base to attack the city wall of the capital, Hui Lao Wang Ye and the monk Wang Ye hurriedly discussed the mobilization of heavy troops to guard the southwest corner of the capital, and did not want to scout and suddenly came to report, saying that the foreigners did not all enter the Fengtai camp, but divided an army, with cavalry as the vanguard to continue north, and the speed of advance was still very fast.

"What are foreigners going north for? Do you want to go to Rehe? ”

The monk once suspected that the British and French forces wanted to chase down the Emperor Xianfeng to Rehe, but after his heart moved, the monk suddenly exclaimed: "Could it be that the foreigners want to go to the Old Summer Palace?" Hit the Old Summer Palace to save those foreign devils? ”

Unfortunately, the monk and the prince expected, the British and French troops really killed directly outside the Old Summer Palace, and the Qing army guarding the Old Summer Palace guard camp here scattered with a bang, and fled everywhere, only about 20 eunuchs were loyal to their duties, guarding the gate of the garden and not allowing the British and French troops to enter - the result was, of course, all of them died in their duties. The Anglo-French forces took the Old Summer Palace, known as the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, almost effortlessly, and successfully rescued the 43 surviving negotiators.

At this point, the Mianyu, Seng Lingqin, Yi Cheng, and Yi Xun brothers who stayed in the capital of course immediately suspected that there was a traitor and told the foreigners, so that the foreigners knew where the delegation was detained, and naturally pointed the finger at Guo Songtao, who had sent an envoy to the British and French forces, although there was no evidence to directly punish Guo Songtao's crimes, but they also immediately kicked Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao out of the shogunate, and casually found an excuse to drive Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao to live in the Hubei Guild Hall, and sent people to secretly monitor.

Of course, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao also understood that the Yi Cheng and Yi Xun brothers had already suspected themselves, so after moving to the Hubei Guild Hall, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao never left the Hubei Guild Hall to cause fire for the sake of prudence, but only learned about the external situation through other people in the guild hall. As Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao expected, after successfully rescuing the hostages, only one day later, the British and French forces launched an attack on the capital.

The first to hear the sound of artillery is the southwest corner of the direction of You'anmen, knowing that there are many defenders in the capital and the city is strong, it is not easy to be breached, worried that the war will drag on for a long time, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng also let the Hubei Hall prepare a large number of grain and vegetables to prevent food shortage, that once thought that the sound of artillery on the side of You'anmen only sounded for more than half an hour and then suddenly stopped, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were very surprised, and once thought that the British and French forces were just a tentative attack, ready to find the weakness of the capital's city defense. Outcome......

"You'anmen was blasted open by the cannon of foreign devils! The foreign devils have come into the city! Run, the foreign devil is in the city! ”

Hearing the shouts coming from the street, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao stared at each other, their expressions became more and more incredulous, and they both said: "I remember that when we were still with the fifth prince and the seventh prince, Prince Hui and the monk said that they would increase the garrison on the side of You'anmen?" What, this is coming in? So fast?! ”

"Maybe it was Prince Hui who temporarily decided to abandon the outer city, retreat to the inner city with stronger fortifications, and save combat power to fight a decisive battle with the British and French forces in the inner city."

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao quickly came up with such a judgment again, but it was only in the evening, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao found that they were very wrong - the entourage who ventured out to find out the news reported that it was that the British and French troops had just arrived at Zhengyangmen, and before they had time to set up artillery to bombard the city gate, the Eight Banners warriors guarding Zhengyangmen had already strode forward under the personal leadership of Hui Lao Wangye, and retreated to the north of the inner city.

In addition to this, there are also rumors that the monk prince has run out of the city from Quang Ninh Gate with his army.

After looking at each other in disbelief for a long time, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao couldn't help but mutter, "I decided to go to Rehe to hunt without thinking about it, and now it seems that our emperor is really wise and martial." ”

After waiting patiently for another day in the Hubei Guild Hall, until there was no longer any gunfire on the street, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao, under the protection of their entourage, cautiously found the nearby British * team, identified themselves and asked to meet with Erjin and others. As a result, when the British soldiers received the headquarters of the coalition forces located in Xiannongtan, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao were quickly brought to Erjin and others, but Erjin only shouted a paragraph, which made Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao almost faint......

"Guo, where are the negotiators of your court? Why have we all occupied the Forbidden City, and none of your negotiators have shown up? Who should we talk to now to negotiate with your court? ”

Supporting each other and barely standing firmly, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao glanced at each other again, and a bad premonition rose in their hearts, and said secretly: "Oh no, this time, shouldn't it be to catch ducks on the shelves, and we will come forward to sign a traitorous treaty, right?" (To be continued.) )