At about 14 o'clock in the afternoon, in front of the statue of Mazu in the main hall of Tianfu Palace, in front of the wide "negotiation table" composed of eight square tables, the three British representatives Brandel, Bao Ling, and West Malaysia, and the three representatives of the Chinese Empire, Wu Ruxiao, Tan Tiyuan, and Zeng Guoquan, sat opposite each other. The rest of the Witnesses, including Tan Kim Sheng, a local Chinese leader in Singapore, were represented by seven parties and sat on either side.

Another person, Chen Jinzhong, who was also counted as a witness, stood aside and became an interpreter for both Chinese and English. And Chen Mingshui stood behind his father Chen Jinsheng, excitedly witnessing the upcoming scene: the negotiations affecting the Chinese in the entire Nanyang region officially began!

The envoys of the two sides were Wu Ruxiao, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire, and Brandall, the Governor of the British Channel.

Chen Mingshui looked up, Wu Ruxiao, the biggest official in the imperial court sent this time, seemed to be only three or four years older than him, but his demeanor was calm, where could he still see that he was born in a peasant rebel army at this moment?

At this moment, Wu Ruxiao's expression was as usual, and through his expressionless face, Chen Mingshui clearly saw a hint of a smile. Yes, the Chinese compatriots finally won a big victory in the Nanyang region, forcing the invincible British Empire to bow its head once, which can be said to be unimpressive. Thinking of this, the corners of Chen Mingshui's mouth also pulled up a slight arc, he turned his head to look at the foreigner opposite Wu Ruxiao, on the face of Brandel, the governor of the British Channel, this ordinary and arrogant governor, his face was tense at the moment, although he tried his best to appear calm and indifferent, Chen Mingshui still saw the melancholy between his eyebrows and the helplessness in his eyes.

This Governor, who usually looks down on himself as a Chinese, calls the Chinese a pig, and calls his father a yellow-skinned man, this time look at how he lowers his head that he thinks is noble!

Chen Mingshui suddenly became excited, and he was eager to see how the colonial governor who ruled Penang, Malacca, and Singapore was down, and how he was forced to accept the conditions of his ancestral court, Lord Wu.

People are like this, in the face of the once high-ranking "nobleman", Chen Mingshui is very happy to see his deflated appearance, he looked up at Chen Jinzhong, the translator in the field, and the other party also happened to look at him, and inadvertently passed a look, Chen Mingshui immediately understood that Chen Jinzhong also had the same mentality as himself.

"Mr. Governor-General, now that your country's Combined Fleet and our Nanyang Fleet have been out of war for a month, and more than 700 of your soldiers in our army have been stranded for more than a month, time is running out. In the early stage, we have already made several contacts between the two sides, and the basic conditions are generally clear, so we will directly sign the treaty this time, otherwise it will inevitably rekindle the flames of war, which will be extremely unfavorable to both our countries and the entire Nanyang region. Therefore, we have prepared a framework of terms and conditions so that we do not waste time arguing with each other. Wu Ruxiao, who was sitting in the middle, spoke first, and asked the assistant behind him to take out a treaty document in Chinese, English and Dutch, and directly handed it to the opposite British Channel Governor Brandel and the Dutch East Indies Governor Rokote, and then said: "I want to invite Mr. Rokote, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies, to also enter the negotiation table and turn it into a tripartite meeting." You see, we even have a tripartite treaty ready. ”

Chen Mingshui heard the outspokenness of the court official Wu Ruxiao, and directly threatened the resumption of the war and more than 700 British prisoners, asking the foreigners to directly admit defeat, and prepared the terms of the treaty in advance, and also pulled the Dutch foreigners into the negotiations.

He looked at Rokote, only to see that the other party's face was already pale, and he closed his lips tightly and said nothing, and he couldn't help but feel a dark feeling in his heart: Dead foreign devil, you also have today!

And the commander of the Combined Fleet, Sima, lowered his head in frustration, his head was almost hidden under the table, and his body was trembling faintly, presumably suffocating.

Only another Hong Kong Governor Bao Ling, who was a little bowed, had a smile on his face, and he actually said in fluent Chinese: "Lord Wu, don't worry? Since you have come to this Singapore, how about a good rest and visit this Tien Hok Palace? This is the largest temple built by the people of your country in the jurisdiction of the Channel of Great Britain, and I have heard that many things such as flowers and stones, wooden beams, etc., were transported from far away from Quanzhou and other places in your country, and it is very difficult and exquisite. There are tens of thousands of fellow villagers in the strait, so why not have a good gathering and wait a few days to discuss the treaty issue? ”

saw that Master Wu shook his head gently: "No! I can afford to drag it out, but I'm afraid that the soldiers of your country who are still imprisoned in Kuching and Pontianak can't afford to drag it out, and I forgot to inform you that since the past few days, due to the shortage of supplies in Kuching and Pontianak, only one meal a day can be supplied, and there have been soldiers fighting for food and beating each other to death, we express our great regret. ”

Bao Ling stopped talking, but looked back at Rokot, the governor of the straits, and realized that he was letting him take the decision.

After all, he had dealt with the Chinese Empire for a long time, but the more this was the case, the more he knew the changes. In the three years since the founding of the Chinese Empire, as the Governor of Hong Kong, he has completely lost his rightful position. Although the scale of trade in the Far East has increased greatly, it is more with Prussia, the United States, and even France, and although Britain still occupies the first place, its proportion has been decreasing year by year, and I am afraid that in a few years, Britain's trade with the Far East will be surpassed by Prussia and even the United States. Moreover, even so, most of the trade between Great Britain and the Chinese Empire was carried out by British merchants and the Nanyang Company on their own, and was no longer carried out through the Governor's Office of Hong Kong, and the protection of the Governor's Office was no longer needed in the process of trade, and even the British fleet in the Far East was completely destroyed and has not been rebuilt. As a result, he, the Governor of Hong Kong and the commander of the British fleet in the Far East, had long since lost his former glory. He just wanted to leave and transfer to another place as soon as his term of office was up, and perhaps he would be relieved by helping Rokote deal with this tricky matter this time.

As for the Earl Canning, the Governor of India, Bao Ling knew that this person was the son of the former British Prime Minister, and he had a very high status in the country, not only won the trust of Her Majesty, but also had the support of many members in the upper and lower parliaments, and his opinion was basically the opinion of London.

Everyone knew that Rocote was arrogant, but he had no real talent by virtue of his status as a nobleman, and it is estimated that the Earl of Canning also knew this, so he asked himself to help him in charge of the negotiations. Moreover, Bao Ling thought maliciously that someone must be responsible for this armistice meeting that disgraced the empire, and the defeated rear admiral Sima naturally could not escape, but his identity alone was not enough to bear this huge responsibility, and Rocote, who had always been unpopular, obviously wanted to become a scapegoat. And he is not enough to be the governor of Hong Kong, but he is just a victim of being implicated.

Bao Ling shook his head, sighed in his heart, and looked at Rokote next to him with some sympathy. The responsibility for this defeat, together with the outcome of the talks, can really only be borne by him. If you do this errand well, you will surely be able to get the support of Earl Canning in the future adjustment of your position.

However, Hong Kong is afraid that it will not be able to keep it, and this beautiful island, which has been in operation for 16 years, has been there for seven or eight years, and it has become a thing of the past.

Now that the Chinese Empire has risen, even the British Empire may not be able to suppress it. Unless the Prime Minister of the British Empire could persuade Parliament to send more than a third of its troops to the Far East at great expense, it would be impossible to stop the expansion of the new empire. It's just that Bao Ling understands that in that case, it is better to follow the trend, and he has been suggesting to London that he should either send a large army to unite with France and defeat this lion of the East completely, or accept the reality of its rise, and it is better to compete for a share of trade and obtain the greatest benefits.

When Bao Ling was full of thoughts, Rokote didn't even notice that there was a conspiracy coming at him, he just felt aggrieved in his heart, and his eyes were erratic. He never imagined that as the governor of the Channel, he would be reduced to such a point that the noble nobles of England would go to submit to the barbarians of the East. These compatriots, who were once refugees under their rule, have grown to such a point. He was furious, but when he thought of the order from Calcutta, he had to accept it. Although he was also a Governor-General, he was also subject to orders from the Earl of Canning, the Governor-General of the British Empire in India.

A month earlier, after the news of the defeat and peace of West Malaysia, the commander of the Combined Fleet, reached Singapore, Rokote immediately reported to the Indian Governor-General Canning, on the one hand, to London, and on the other hand, to send troops from India and Britain to defeat the South Sea Fleet once and for all, and to send further troops to Guangzhou and Shanghai in the Far East, so as to teach the Chinese Empire, which dared to offend the majesty of the British Empire, a good lesson.

Unexpectedly, the Earl of Canning soon sent an order, thinking that West Malaysia was doing the right thing, and asked him to negotiate a truce with the Governor of Hong Kong, Bao Ling. He also specially explained that after the Crimean War, the British Empire not only suffered heavy losses in soldiers, but also had heavy pressure on military spending. After all, only India is the fundamental interest of the British Empire, and as for the Far East, there is no way to take care of it for the time being, so it can only retreat first, and everything will wait until the Indian rebellion is quelled. For now, he can give up the interests of certain regions, and as for the Netherlands, he is even less concerned.

Because of this, Rokote had no choice but to reluctantly agree with the commander of the South Sea Fleet that the two sides would hold armistice talks here.

Thinking of this, Rokote raised his head, glanced at Bao Ling, and said with humiliation in his eyes: "We really can't afford to drag it out." The war can't start again, tell me what your conditions are? ”

Wu Ruxiao exchanged glances with Tan Tiyuan and Zeng Guoquan on both sides of the court, and after the three of them nodded slightly, they said directly: "If we have no choice, we don't want to continue the war." As for the conditions, we have already made them clear in this trilingual treaty document. After speaking, he took a thick document from the hand of the attendant behind him, divided it into two copies, and handed it to Chen Jinzhong, who was the translator, and asked him to distribute it to the British.

Rokote and Bao Ling took the treaty handed by Chen Jinzhong, found the English page in it, and quickly browsed it. After a while, the two of them looked unhappy, Bao Ling was still frowning, and Luo Kote, his face turned directly from white to blue, and then from blue to black, his teeth were tightly closed, trying his best to contain his emotions from coming out, and he threw the treaty documents heavily on the table and closed his eyes.

Seeing this, Bao Ling's face was more ugly than crying, and he pleaded with Wu Ruxiao: "Lord Wu, this, this condition is too harsh, it is really difficult for some strong people!" It's really hard for my British Empire to accept, this, and all this, must be revised! ”