Wu Jianzhang recently had a headache that he couldn't sleep at night, and he was anxious, but he was helpless. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info He's been in this exotic place called London for a few months, and nothing has been accomplished.

At the end of last year, he came to the capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with the British consul in Shanghi, Ali Guo, and met with the British queen as a special envoy of the Qing Dynasty, asking the British to send troops to help the Qing Dynasty suppress the rebels. Wu Jianzhang was even authorized to expand the concession, reduce rents, and even cede Zhoushan, Chongming and other islands, and even at the cost of bringing the British army back to the Qing Dynasty.

But after coming to England, he found that the foreigners did not lie to him, and that Britain and France had indeed joined forces to fight a fierce war with Russia in the north, and these foreigners sent their troops to the battlefield called Crimea.

He asked to see the Queen of England and the other Prime Minister Earl Aberdeen three times, but they were all refused, only to be told that Britain could not send a large army until the end of the war, and asked him to be patient for a while, and when the Crimean War in Europe was over, Britain would consider whether to send a large army to the Far East.

Wu Jianzhang asked about it, and only then did he know that the Crimean War had just begun, and he didn't know when it would end. These damn foreigners just don't want to see themselves at all, so they perfunctory themselves!

But the situation at home did not allow him to wait any longer, so he asked to see the British Prime Minister again, but was told that the Prime Minister had been replaced, and the original Earl of Aberdeen, because of indecision hindered the effectiveness of the peace talks, which led to Britain's involvement in the Crimean War, and just resigned this month, and the new Prime Minister was Palmerston, the third Viscount of Palmston.

For this person, Wu Jianzhang is somewhat familiar. The first opium war between China and Britain was because of this person, when he was the British foreign secretary, and he made a tough decision to declare war on China. Wu Jianzhang assisted Lin Zexu in raising military expenses for the war in Guangdong, and knew some inside information.

I thought it would be the same as the previous times, and I would be denied another request to see him. At most, Mr. Goh could only see the Minister of War and the Minister of Foreign Affairs at a time, and through these two men, he asked to meet the hard-line prime minister again with an attitude of trying it out.

Unexpectedly, he got a response that he wanted to meet him in person. Wu Jianzhang was overjoyed!

When he met Palmerston, Wu Jianzhang found that this person was in his seventies, but he had a hooked nose, showing this person's tough style.

"Lord Wu, this is the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Viscount Palmston, and Mr. Palmerston." Secretary of War Sidney? Herbert stood between the two and introduced the two: "Sir, this is the emperor's envoy from the Qing Dynasty, Lord Wu. He came to see Sir and ask us to send troops to the Far East to help them quell the rebels at home. ”

"Hello, Prime Minister!" Wu Jianzhang stepped forward and saluted, but Palmerston stopped him enthusiastically and said with a smile: "Just call me sir." Envoy of the Qing Dynasty, I already know your intentions. Regarding the dispatch of troops by Great Britain to the Far East, the Prime Minister can only promise you for the time being that as soon as the Crimean War is over, he will send troops. As for the scale of the troops, it depends on the strength and sincerity of your Qing Dynasty! ”

"Sir, the Qing Dynasty has a vast territory, hundreds of millions of people under its rule, nearly one million strong soldiers, and strong national strength. It's just that it is inconvenient to mobilize too many troops because of the reputation of the rebels in the country. Now the rebels have captured the concessions of your country in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai and other places, and killed your merchants, and the Qing Dynasty is deeply saddened. The contemptible people have come to tell each other, and on the orders of our emperor, they have come to ask your country to send troops to recover the places occupied by the rebels. Although Wu Jianzhang was skillful in his tongue, he felt blushing when he said it.

Palmerston sneered in his heart: What a strong soldier with a million soldiers, but he was defeated by the domestic rebels! He received the latest news from the Far East yesterday, and it seems that this special envoy of the Qing State does not know about it yet. Also, they have no sources in the first place, and they have to rely on Britain to tell them some information.

Today's newspapers should have reported it, and The Times has always been very timely. Such a big event in the Far East will definitely be reported today.

Thinking of this, Palmerston still said to Wu Jianzhang with a smile: "Mr. Special Envoy, you are so fluent in English, you must also know English, right?" Seeing Wu Jianzhang nodded, Palmerston continued: "I wonder if Mr. Wu has bought the Times today? ”

Wu Jianzhang felt strange and looked at the Minister of War Sidney next to him? Herbert, seeing that the latter was also at a loss, said: "Sir, I came out in a hurry today, and the contemptible people are familiar with your Chinese language, but they are limited to oral language, and they have not studied much about words. I don't have the habit of reading newspapers. ”

"Oh, no wonder! However, I suggest you take a good look at it, especially in today's issue, which has important news about your country's Qing Dynasty. Palmerston sneered: "Maybe after you finish reading the newspaper, we will discuss the dispatch of troops tomorrow." ”

After speaking, Palmerston got up and motioned for the guest.

Herbert took Wu Jianchang out of Buckingham Palace, and the two went to a newsstand on the side of the road, where they each bought a copy of the day's "The Times".

Wu Jianzhang is not telling a lie, although he is fluent in English, but when he was a merchant in Guangzhou, he had a lot of dealings with foreigners, and naturally learned English, but it was limited to listening and speaking, and it was a little difficult for him to read and write English.

Holding the full version of English in large and small, Wu Jianzhang sighed, there was no choice but to go back to his residence to find someone and help him read it.

Herbert hadn't read today's newspaper, and he was still a little curious about the major news of the Far East that Palmerston said, so he looked at the "Times" in his hand, which didn't matter, and directly made him scream in shock!

"Oh, oh my God, oh my God, Lord Wu, come and see, Lord Wu, look!" Herbert's scream attracted Wu Jianzhang to him.

"Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty, was breached by Feng Yunshan, the rebel leader in the south, and the emperor fled north on the way back to Manchuria, died of fright and illness in the Rehe Palace of the Qing State. The southern rebels, led by their leader, Marshal Feng Yunshan, occupied the Qing Imperial Palace and the Old Summer Palace in the western suburbs of Beijing in one fell swoop, and a large number of Qing nobles and ministers were captured, including even the Qing Empress and Prince......"

"What!?" Wu Jianzhang heard Herbert's words read the newspaper, his face changed drastically, he didn't care about being polite, grabbed the newspaper, looked at the crooked words on it, and then remembered that he didn't recognize these words, and he already had a copy of the same newspaper in his hand, so he hurriedly returned the newspaper to Herbert, his face was pale, and he said to Herbert with shortness of breath: "Where did this news come from?" Is it true and when did it happen? ”