"Your Majesty, that's exactly the case!" Wu Chaoyue nodded vigorously, and said vigorously: "The emperor doesn't know, foreigners have a bad habit, before negotiating, we must do everything possible to spy on the bottom line of the conditions of the negotiation opponent, grasp the maximum concession of the negotiation opponent, and then force the opponent to make the greatest concession at the negotiation table, so as to make the greatest benefits!" ”

Noticing that the expressions of the civil and military officials next to him didn't seem to understand their explanations too well, Wu Chaoyue said again: "Your Majesty, for example, if a profiteer who lacks virtue goes to the tea mountain to buy tea, he will definitely try his best to figure out the lowest selling price of the tea farmer first, and then try to keep the price as low as possible in the bargaining, so that the tea farmer can sell the tea to him at the lowest price." And if the tea farmers on this tea mountain happen to catch up with the urgent need for money, or the tea farmers have too much tea inventory, which will not be sold out for a while and a half, and it will rot if it is left unchecked, then this immoral profiteer will definitely take advantage of the fire to rob and force the tea farmer to sell the tea to him at a lower price, so that the tea farmer will have no return for nothing, and work hard all year round, but the profiteer who lacks virtue will take the opportunity to make huge profits. ”

"Your Majesty, please allow the grass people to give another example of the existence of facts." Wu Chaoyue said casually: "During the Hundred Years War between the British and the French, the French were almost wiped out by the British, but a foreign woman named Joan of Arc suddenly appeared in France, who was more powerful than Mu Guiying, and defeated the British one after another and almost recovered the entire territory of France, but she was accidentally arrested by the Burgundians, the biggest bandits in France, just like the long-haired bandits of our Qing Dynasty. As a result, the British sent spies to find out the bottom line of the French negotiations, bought Joan of Arc at a higher price, and tied the French Mu Guiying to a wooden frame and burned him alive! ”

"Is there such a thing?"

Emperor Xianfeng asked in surprise, and the hundreds of civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty next to him also whispered, and some of them had really heard of the name Joan of Arc. Wu Chaoyue didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, it's true!" But the French later avenged this arrow, the French long-haired bandit Burgundians clashed with the British because of some trivial things, renegotiated the alliance, the French spies spied on the British to negotiate the bottom limit, and then the French king offered a higher price to recruit the Burgundians, the Burgundians suddenly stabbed the British in the back, the French foreigners took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, drove the British foreigners back to the island, and the British also lost hundreds of Hong Kong-sized vast land at once, There is no place left on the continent of European Loba. ”

"The! Deserve! Emperor Xianfeng nodded vigorously in gloating, and said with disdain: "Foreigners are not polite and righteous, and they are used to using this despicable means, which is really no different from our unethical profiteers in the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"Lord Song is very much like a spy who lacks morality and profiteers, and even more like a spy who spies on the bottom line of my Qing Dynasty negotiations for foreigners!"

Wu Chaoyue pointed to Song Jin, who had been unlucky to the extreme, and said even more eloquently: "The emperor's decree is to let the grandfather of the grass people assist Lord Qincha in negotiating with the foreigners, but Lord Song made up reasons to get acquainted with the grass people, and deliberately wanted to get the grass people drunk, and kept inquiring about the court secrets of the grass people's grandfather and the foreigners' negotiations with the grass people. Help the foreigners force me to pay more silver in the Qing Dynasty! Open more ports! ”

"Wronged!" Song Jin's soul was scattered, and he kowtowed desperately and said: "Your Majesty, you are wronged, Wu Chaoyue is spewing people in blood!" The criminal just wanted to test whether he and Wu Jianzhang were secretly colluding with foreigners, not spying on the secrets of the court for foreigners! ”

"Lord Song, are you an official of the Three Law Divisions, or a special envoy of the emperor?" Wu Chaoyue shouted and asked: "As the editor of the Hanlin Academy, you don't think about self-cultivation to govern the country and level the world, don't study the subset of scriptures and history, and what do you do to negotiate with my grandfather and foreigners?" ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue quickly turned to Emperor Xianfeng, saluted and said: "Your Majesty, there was Wu Dayuan, the servant of the grass people, who was present at that time, and he could testify that Lord Song not only repeatedly poured wine on the grass people, but also kept asking about the negotiations between the grandfather of the grass people and the foreigners, either asking about the compensation or the opening of the port, and even deliberately mentioned that the foreigners wanted to garrison troops in Tianjin!" Long live Mingjian, should the grass people suspect that Lord Song is spying on the confidential affairs of my Qing court on behalf of foreigners?! ”

Emperor Xianfeng's face turned pale, and his eyes looking at Song Jin were full of murderous intent, while Song Jin was sweating like pulp, kowtowing like a chicken pecking rice, and cried on the spot, crying: "Your Majesty, wronged!" Wronged! The criminal minister mentioned the negotiation between Wu Jianzhang and the foreigners, but the criminal minister really didn't spy on the secrets of the court for the foreigners! Wechen can swear to God! ”

Crying and shouting, Song Jin fainted directly, and when Emperor Xianfeng's face was even more murderous, a young official who was somewhat similar to Xianfeng's appearance suddenly came out and said, "Wait! Wu Chaoyue, this king asks you, since you suspect that Song Jin is spying on the secrets of the Qing Dynasty on behalf of foreigners, then why do you forge foreign letters, pretending to be a secret letter from the French minister Bourblon to your grandfather, to induce Song Jin to steal it? How can this test Song Jin to spy on secrets for foreigners? If Song Jin was a foreigner's spy, why did he steal a foreigner's letter to your grandfather, isn't this a contradiction? ”

"This prince, the answer is very simple, the grass people don't have the courage to forge court documents." Wu Chaoyue replied: "The grass people also know that if you want to test whether Song Jin is a foreigner's spy, the best way is to forge an official document about the negotiation between the imperial court and foreigners, and trick him into stealing or peeking at it. But how important are the official documents of the imperial court? Lord Wang, you just borrowed a hundred guts from the grass people, and the grass people didn't dare to forge a word and a half, so the grass people had no choice but to forge the secret letter from the foreigner to my grandfather, so as to test whether Song Jin was a foreigner! ”

"Then how is it tempting?" The young prince was puzzled and said, "If Song Jin is really a foreigner's spy, he will definitely not obstruct the secret contact between the foreigner and your grandfather, why do you want to steal the letter from the foreigner to your grandfather?" ”

"The prince doesn't know anything, and the hearts of foreigners are not aligned." Wu Chaoyue was more and more vigorous, and said in a sincere and teaching tone: "Especially Britain and France, they have been feuding with each other for a hundred years, and they occasionally tie each other up for profit, but more often they stumble on each other's hind legs. They came in groups this time, and they must be wary of each other secretly liaising with our Qing Dynasty and selling out to other foreign countries to seek more benefits for their own country. ”

"Therefore, the grass people are sure that if Song Jin is really a foreigner spy, then he will definitely be interested in the secret letter from the French minister Bourblon to my grandfather, and he will definitely try his best to steal or peek at the contents, so that the foreign master behind him knows whether Bourblon has betrayed other foreign countries and traded privately with my Qing court alone, and the result is not as expected by the grass people, Lord Song really stole the letter."

The young prince thought very quickly, and after a little calculation, he said: "Okay, even if you are reasonable, but have you thought about it, if Song Jin is a spy sent by the French, why did he steal the letter from the French minister Bourblon to your grandfather?" ”

"This ......."

Wu Chaoyue was dumbfounded, and only then did he realize that there was such a contradiction, but it didn't matter, when the thought was turning quickly, Wu Chaoyue simply admitted it frankly, saluted to Emperor Xianfeng and said: "The emperor forgives the sin, the grass people are shallow in learning, and they are not thoughtful, and they were poured a lot of wine by Lord Song at that time, and they didn't take this into account when they were dizzy in their heads, and they forgot that if Lord Song was a spy of a French foreigner, it would be impossible to steal the so-called French minister's letter." The grass people didn't think of this at the time, the crime deserved death, and the emperor was asked to cure the grass people's misdeeds. ”

Wu Chaoyue admitted it so simply, the young prince didn't continue to ask - after all, he was just talking about things, and he didn't deliberately want to rectify Wu Chaoyue. And Mu Yin next to him didn't give up, and shouted: "Wu Chaoyue, you have to quibble, what kind of thoughtfulness, in my opinion, you are obviously deliberately framing Song Jin!" ”

Mu Yin opened this mouth, and Seng Lingqin, Lin Kui, and some civil and military officials who looked at the ancestors of the Wu family were not pleasing to the eye, and they all accused Wu Chaoyue of deliberately framing Song Jin by doing this, Wu Chaoyue listened to the cry and shouted: "Everyone, the conscience of heaven and earth, the grass people and Lord Song have no grievances before and no enmity after, why do you deliberately frame him?" Besides, what qualifications and abilities does the grass people have to frame Lord Song? ”

"That's enough, keep your mouth shut."

Emperor Xianfeng finally spoke, waved his hand and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, don't embarrass Wu Chaoyue anymore, although it is a little inappropriate for him to do this, it is also because of the misdeeds of the Song and Jin dynasties, and it is also out of his loyalty to the Qing court!" For the sake of him always having a clear heart, I will not pursue his recklessness this time. ”

"As for Song Jin, whether he is a foreigner or not, just because he spies on the secrets of the imperial court is enough to kill him a thousand times! Come on, escort Song Jin and Weng Tongshu out, and hand them over to the three law divisions to reconsider the crime! I also carefully checked whether they were secretly in contact with foreigners! ”

"Thank you, the emperor, the emperor's grace, the grass people are unforgettable! In the future, the grass people will always keep in mind the emperor's holy grace, always think of the Qing Dynasty, and swear allegiance to the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court, and the emperor. ”

Hearing the words of Emperor Xianfeng, Wu Chaoyue was of course flattering and gushing, and Mu Yin, Seng Lingqin and others were also sullenly kowtowing to receive the order, but the guards over there were unceremonious, and immediately dragged Weng Tongshu, who was desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy, down from the Jinluan Palace, and also carried out Song Jin, who had passed out with fright. Then it was also at this time that Emperor Xianfeng smiled and said: "Wu Aiqing, let's be flat, and Wu Chaoyue, you should also be flat." ”

Wu Jianzhang, who had already knelt and lost consciousness in his legs, kowtowed to thank him, struggling and couldn't stand up at all, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly went over to help, and asked Wu Jianzhang in a low voice about the situation, Wu Jianzhang nodded, and patted his grandson's head appreciatively, and the grandparents were affectionate.

At this time, Emperor Xianfeng spoke again and said: "Okay, now that it has been proved that Wu Aiqing did not secretly collude with the foreigners, then hurry up and agree on the minister who will negotiate with the foreigners, and then set off tomorrow to negotiate with the foreigners in Dagukou!" Dear Aiqing, who of you would like to take on this responsibility? ”

Seeing this scene, Emperor Xianfeng inevitably lost his temper and said angrily: "None of you are willing to share my worries?" ”

"A capital offense."

In addition to the ancestors and grandchildren of the Wu family, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty knelt down together and confessed their crimes, Wu Jianzhang also quickly pulled Wu Chaoyue to kneel, Wu Chaoyue was full of anger, but he didn't dare to attack, but he secretly hoped that Emperor Xianfeng would quickly designate an unlucky bastard, so as not to kneel his legs numb.

Fortunately, the heavens fulfilled the wishes of the people, and the angry Emperor Xianfeng quickly designated this unlucky bastard - pointing to the young prince who had embarrassed Wu Chaoyue just now and shouted: "Yixun, you are my sixth brother, it is related to the Qing Dynasty, you should not let it!" It's you, you take Wu Aiqing to Dagukou to negotiate with foreigners! ”

Wu Chaoyue heard the music and said secretly: "Okay! It turns out that you are the devil Liuyixun, who embarrassed you kid and Lao Tzu, and you deserve to carry this big black cauldron! No matter what the result is, you will never be able to run away from the infamy of the traitor six! ”

Next, the change of things was once again beyond Wu Chaoyue's expectations, although the devil Zi Liu kowtowed with a sad face and received the order, but said: "Your Majesty, the courtiers will do their best, but the courtiers still have a request, and I hope that the emperor will approve it." ”

"Say!" Emperor Xianfeng drank heavily.

"The younger brother wants to ask the emperor to send someone to act as an interpreter for the younger brother to assist the younger brother in negotiating with foreigners." Devil Six replied respectfully.

"Do you still need a plea for this? No matter who you want, I will send you the interpreter! Emperor Xianfeng shouted angrily.

"Your Majesty, the interpreter of the Imperial Court, it is enough to send one or two to the courtiers." The devil kowtowed six times and said: "The younger brother wants this translation, because it is also involved in the foreigners' bombardment of Dagukou, and it stands to reason that he should avoid suspicion, but the younger brother sees that this person is outstanding in learning, intelligent, and can speak well, and the export is a chapter, and a sharp mouth can be used as a hundred thousand male soldiers." Therefore, the younger brother was brave and wanted to ask the emperor for special permission to let him act as an interpreter for the younger brother and help the younger brother negotiate with the foreigners. ”

Before Devil Liu's words were finished, the eyes of Emperor Xianfeng and the Manchu Dynasty had already focused on Wu Chaoyue's thin and ugly face, and Wu Chaoyue's thin face began to turn a little pale, and he said secretly: "It won't be me, right?" My current cheap grandfather comprador is a comprador, and he is also a translator for Lin Zexu, and he also participated in the Humen cigarette sales, which is somewhat glorious. This devil is six, but he gave more than one million square kilometers to Mao Zi's super selling ****, and gave him a translator to help him sell the country, and my name will not be able to stand up to the wind and smell for hundreds of miles in the future? ”