Out of the need to control the army, on the afternoon of the 10th day of the first month of March, close to dinner, Wu Chaoyue set up a banquet in the Generalissimo's Mansion that did not even have time to replace the plaque, and summoned the important generals of the direct corps, such as Qian Wei, Wang Fu, Xu Lai, and others, as well as the brothers Ding Ruchang, Peng Yulin, Duo Long'a, and Li Xubin, who were generals of Eyong, to have dinner with the generals, and also casually introduced to them the matter of his decision to raise troops on the side of the Qing monarch. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

I have long heard rumors that Wu Chaoyue is going to do this, of course, no one in Hubei is too surprised, Qian Wei and Wang Fu and others who have followed Wu Chaoyue for many years also immediately knelt down on one knee and swore to follow Wu Chaoyue to the death, Peng Yulin and Li Xubin brothers and other old people of the Hunan Army and Ding Ruchang, who surrendered from the Taiping Army, also expressed their hearts and swore to follow Wu Chaoyue forever and never betray. Only the banner general Duolonga remained silent and did not say anything to express his support, but he did not jump up to fight with Wu Chaoyue. - I can't fight anymore, Wu Chaoyue's pro-soldier team focuses on him.

"Thank you generals for not giving up on me, please get up, rest assured, if this matter is successful, I will not disappoint any of you! Your glory and wealth, your official positions and titles are all wrapped up in me! ”

After making a heavy promise to encourage the accomplice lackeys to rest assured that they would work for themselves, Wu Chaoyue first beckoned everyone to get up, and then turned to Duolonga, and said in a sincere tone: "General Duo, I know that as a banner man, you will definitely find it difficult to accept my decision, and you definitely don't want to follow me to raise troops on the side of Qingjun and meet your banner people with swords and soldiers of the same clan, I don't blame you." ”

"So, General Duo, if you can understand me, know that I am doing this to set things right for the imperial court, cut off the traitorous party in the court, and am willing to stay, I will never be disappointed to you, and after the matter is completed, I will definitely repay you as a high-ranking official. If you can't understand me, and suspect that I am doing this because I want to be the emperor myself, and think that I am plotting rebellion, then you can leave at any time, and I will send someone to send you out of the country and let you go where you want to go. ”

Duolonga raised his head, glanced at Wu Chaoyue with a complicated mood, and then said: "Wu Zhitai, the last general said something from the bottom of my heart, I really don't want to meet other court officials and saber soldiers. But I also know that you didn't do anything wrong in deciding that the Qing monarch did nothing, the queen mother of the two palaces colluded with the court traitors, destroyed the ancestral system of the Qing harem that was not allowed to interfere in politics, and used the army to besiege the coffin of the former emperor and arrest the ministers who were personally appointed by the emperor. But....... ”

"But what?" Wu Chaoyue asked.

"But I'm worried that if you really hit the capital, Lord Wu, you will be the emperor yourself." Duolonga said calmly: "If that's the case, I will help you raise an army to rebel, and you will become a shameless traitor who betrays the court and the banner people, which I absolutely cannot accept." ”

"General, you underestimate me too much." Wu Chaoyue said in a more sincere tone: "If I really have a rebellion and want to rebel and become the emperor, why do I need to use the banner of the Qing monarch?" Wouldn't it be more convenient to directly establish himself as emperor now? If the generals don't believe it, tomorrow my Jingnan inscription will be published to the world, you can see if I swear on the inscription that I will never peep into the throne? ”

"My lord, are you really not trying to be the emperor yourself?"

Duolonga was still a little skeptical, but Wu Chaoyue did not hesitate, and immediately made a poisonous and heavy oath, claiming that he had no intention of becoming an emperor, and then said in his stomach: "I just said that I don't want to be an emperor, but I didn't say that I don't want to be a king, president or chairman." ”

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's poisonous oath, Duo Long's suspicions eased slightly, but he asked again: "Wu Zhitai, then what do you plan to do with the banner people?" Is it the prosperity of the obedient and the death of the contradictory? Or is it indiscriminate slaughter? ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent for a moment before replying: "General Duo, in this way, I have decided to send an army to Jingzhou tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to contact Jingzhou General Mianxun and ask him to lead the Jingzhou Eight Banners garrison to join my Qinwang team." If my expectations are correct, the Jingzhou Eight Banners will definitely not accept my orders, and we can only talk by force, and at that time, you can see with your own eyes what the Jingzhou Eight Banners garrison is doing, and what I do, and then you will know the answer, can you? ”

After asking, Wu Chaoyue added another sentence and said: "When the time comes, you can choose to enter Jingzhou Mancheng to fight side by side with the banner people, or you can take a boat to Sichuan to join your old boss Duxing, no matter what choice you make, I will never stop you." ”

After thinking about it for a while, and in a really curious situation, Duolonga nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to Jingzhou first, and then give you an answer." ”

After that, Duolonga took the initiative to ask for the surrender of the Eyong military power in his hand, and Wu Chaoyue did not refuse, while temporarily recovering Duolonga's military power, he personally wrote a passage order to Duolonga, so that Duolonga could enter and leave Wuhan City at will with his family, and pass through any Wu army checkpoint. At the end, Wu Chaoyue said more sincerely: "General Duo, if you must go, you might as well say hello in advance, and I will send someone to arrange a car and boat for you, and also give you a sum of money." ”

"Thank you Wu Zhitai, if the last general is determined to leave, he will definitely inform him in advance, and he will never be a person who will leave without saying goodbye." Duolonga knelt down on one knee to Wu Chaoyue and thanked him.

Early the next morning, on the morning of March 11 of the tenth year of Xianfeng, Wu Chaoyue's rebellious text was officially promulgated! In the inscription, Wu surpassed the three major crimes of the coup group, first, violated Xianfeng's edict, arrested the eight ministers who usurped power and seized power, and confused the dynasty! Second, the curtain of the two palaces violates the ancestral system of the Manchu harem that it is forbidden to interfere in politics! Third, the soldiers besieged Xianfeng Zi Palace, and the sword and gun wounded Xianfeng's coffin, and the crime is unforgivable!

The text called Ci'an Cixi as the demon woman of the country, and Lie Yicheng, Yixun, Yixun, Monk Greenqin, Guiliang, Wenxiang and Mianyu and others were the leaders of the rebellious ministers and thieves, and called on the heroes of the world to crusade against them, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue also appointed himself as the prime minister of the world, and the king of Qinwang rebelled against the generalissimo, and asked the provincial governors and civil and military officials to accept their orders and commands, gather under their own banners to kill traitorous ministers, and save the country from the side of the Qing monarch, and turn the chaos anyway to the Qing Dynasty!

In addition, there are two important contents that must be mentioned in the text, the first is that Wu Chaoyue swore that his move was not to peep into the emperor's throne, and that he would definitely return the power to Emperor Qixiang after the fact, and said that if he violated this oath, the heroes of the world could ask for it and punish it!

The second is a shameless treacherous scheme, Wu Chaoyue claimed that considering the great power of the traitor, the devil and the sixth rank of the rebel and the thief detained Qi Xiang in the deep palace, and coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and the governors of the provinces were either temporarily blinded by it, or forced by the thief, and had to temporarily shelter under the traitor's tent. The rebel Dayuan Lord Wu is reasonable, allowing them to temporarily disguise themselves to join the enemy to keep their useful bodies, and when the time is ripe, they will cooperate with the rebel army inside and outside, and break the thief rebellion! Then, they will not be held accountable for their rebellious acts, but they will also be rewarded for their meritorious deeds and rewarded severely!

In layman's terms, Wu Chaoyue allowed everyone outside his control to temporarily stand on the side of the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces and the Sixth Devil, save his life first, and then wait for the Wu army to rebel and join Wu Chaoyue's rebel army. Without forcing the provincial officials to a dead end, leave them an opportunity to sit on the wall and watch, so as to reduce the resistance and pressure on the Wu army to the greatest extent.

Not to mention, although Wu Chaoyue's essay is so hypocritical and shameless that it makes discerning people sick, the three major crimes of the coup group listed are genuine and irrefutable, not only accepted by many people, but even Wu Chaoyue's mother-in-law Nie Shi, who has a strong sense of justice, resolutely stood on the side of her son-in-law, encouraging Wu Chaoyue to rest assured that he would rebel against King Qin, and he must kill the rebellious ministers and thieves in the court, and also asked her obedient son Nie Shicheng to resolutely follow his brother-in-law and fight to the end with the rebels of the six groups of devils!

After listening to the lecture of the fierce mother-in-law, Wu Chaoyue hurried back to the lobby, and above the lobby, the ministers of Britain, France, the United States, and Russia had already been invited to the scene, ready to accept the external announcement announced by Wu Chaoyue in his capacity as the foreign minister of the Manchu Dynasty.

"Distinguished ministers, I have to regret to tell you that there was a shameful palace coup d'état in the capital of our country, and the coup group headed by Gongjun Wang Aixin Jueluo Yixun colluded with the empress dowager of the two palaces who violated the laws of the Qing Dynasty to arrest the auxiliary cabinet members appointed by the Xianfeng Emperor of our country by force, shamelessly stealing the power of our imperial court and forming a despicable and illegal regime."

"Now, in my capacity as Prime Minister and Minister of State appointed by Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty, I declare the present regime in Peking illegal, null and void, and request the Western countries to sever all diplomatic relations with them. He also announced the formation of a legitimate provisional Qing government headed by me, and asked the Western countries to recognize it. ”

"In return, the Provisional Government which I have formed will unconditionally recognize all diplomatic treaties signed between the former legitimate Government of our country and the Western countries before March 20, 1860, and inherit the foreign indemnity promised by the legitimate Government of our country before March 20, 1860, and promise to continue to return them on time, and if there is any delay, to pay interest in accordance with the provisions of the treaties signed between the former legitimate Government of our country and you until the full return is completed."

"In addition, on behalf of the Qing Provisional Government, I solemnly promise that after the Provisional Government of the Qing Dynasty has eliminated the illegal regime in the capital of the Qing Dynasty, it will open all its territory to the Western countries and allow the merchants and people of the Western countries to visit, preach, do business, and invest freely with their passports. He also promised to introduce advanced Western systems, culture, and science and technology, gradually reform the constitutionalism, and abolish all unreasonable old laws, so as to make China a normal civilized country. ”

Like Chairman Sun Cannon Chiang in history, even if he was unhappy, in order to win the support and neutrality of the Western powers, Wu Chaoyue still stubbornly agreed to inherit a series of unequal treaties signed by the Manchu government with the Western powers before, promised to continue to repay the money for the Xianfeng Emperor, and also took the initiative to make some concessions that seemed to be traitorous, indicating that he would never harm the interests of the Western powers in China.

Seeing that Wu Chaoyue formally promised to inherit the treaty and pay indemnities in a diplomatic note, as well as promised to fully open up the Chinese market, the country was plagued by the economic crisis, and the British Minister Pruos and the American Minister Hua Ruohan immediately made a formal statement, promising to convey a note to their own government on behalf of Wu Chaoyue, asking for their own government's attitude. The French minister, Bourblon, only questioned the legitimacy of Wu Chao's provisional government, and agreed to report and ask for instructions from China, and also promised to do his best to persuade China to recognize the provisional government formed by Wu Chaoyue.

In addition to strongly questioning the legitimacy of the Hubei Provisional Government, Ignatiev also asked Wu Chaoyue: "Dear Wu, since you have promised to inherit all the treaties signed by the Western countries and the former legitimate government of your country on behalf of the provisional government of your country, does it include the Treaty of Aihui?" On the basis of the "Aihui Treaty", can we make further adjustments to the territorial division between China and your country? ”

Wu Chaoyue was in great difficulty, because the "Aihui Treaty" was a traitorous treaty signed by Heilongjiang General Yishan with Tsarist Russia without the consent of the Manchu court, and ceded the territory north of Heilongjiang and Sakhalin Island, which Wu Chaoyue finally asked Britain and France to return, to Tsarist Russia, and the Manchu court had not recognized it before, and Ignatiev asked the Manchu court to recognize this treaty under the pretext that reconciliation needed remuneration during the Raven War, and the Manchu court also formally agreed to recognize this treaty through negotiations.

After the Second Raven War, in order to save this million square kilometers of precious land, Wu Chaoyue won the opportunity to negotiate with Tsarist Russia through Sushun, and he never relented and agreed to recognize the "Aihun Treaty" under the pretext that he had not obtained the approval of the Manchu court, and Ignatiev has always expressed strong dissatisfaction with this. If Wu Chaoyue continues to categorically refuse, the Tsarist side will naturally stand on the side of Devil Six without hesitation.

Of course, he must not agree, Wu Chaoyue can't afford to carry this black cauldron, Ignatiev also left a trap in his words, once Wu Chaoyue agrees, he will be forced to renegotiate the boundary division with Ignatiev, and Ignatiev will naturally continue to open his mouth and force Wu Chaoyue to cede more land.

Fortunately, Wu Chaoyue had considered a compromise plan before, which would be just perfunctory, so after a little calculation, Wu Chaoyue quickly replied: "Dear Mr. Ignatiev, I am very sorry, because my country's Xianfeng Emperor died of a sudden illness and did not make a decree to ratify the "Aihui Treaty" before his death, and at the same time, our new emperor Qixiang Emperor was also detained by the illegal government, I could not get in touch with Emperor Qixiang, and I don't know his attitude towards the "Aihui Treaty", so I can't answer the question about the "Aihui Treaty". ”

"So, I can only go to the capital and ask the new emperor of your country?" Ignatiev's polite smile was full of hideousness.

"I don't think it's necessary." Wu Chaoyue replied with a smile: "First, I believe that the Hubei Provisional Government I formed will soon be able to eliminate the illegal regime in the capital, rescue Emperor Qixiang who was imprisoned by the illegal regime, and directly ask Emperor Qixiang for advice. Secondly, in the meantime, with regard to the land covered by the Treaty of Aihui, I have a proposal that will surely satisfy you, Mr. Ignatiev. ”

"Oh, Mr. Wu, please speak." Ignatiev was somewhat interested.

"Shelving disputes and developing together." Wu Chaoyue threw out a term for later generations, and said eloquently: "I suggest that during the period when the provisional government of our country has eliminated the illegal regime in Beijing, the governments and peoples of your two countries should jointly develop the land involved in the Treaty of Aihui, and after the legitimate provisional government of our country has won the victory and formally taken over the sovereignty of our country, the ownership of the land will be resolved through diplomatic negotiations." ”

"In other words, the land involved in the Aihui Treaty is temporarily shared by you and me?" Ignatiev understood what Wu Chaoyue meant.

"Yes." Wu Chaoyue nodded, and said: "Of course, as compensation, our country will pay your country the cost of negotiations delayed due to the civil war, as well as the cost of your country's loss of complete sovereignty over the land involved in the Treaty of Aihui, and I propose that it be 100,000 taels of silver per year, to be borne by our provisional government. ”

"And." Wu Chaoyue added: "If the development investment made by your country in the land involved in the Aihui Treaty is transferred to China in the future negotiations, the Chinese government will also return it in full. Dear Mr. Ignatiev, are you very satisfied with my proposal? ”

After forcing Yishan to sign the "Aihui Treaty", the Tsarist army had actually occupied the land in question a long time ago, and what was missing was the official recognition of the boundary demarcation by the Manchu government. Wu Chaoyue only asked for a delay in the negotiations and did not categorically refuse, and at the same time promised to compensate Tsarist Russia with 100,000 taels of silver every year, such a good thing Ignatiev was of course quite tempted. Therefore, after thinking about it for a while, Ignatiev also agreed to ask for advice from China, and also accepted Wu Chaoyue's request, promising to do his best to persuade China to recognize Wu Chaoyue's Hubei Provisional Government as the legitimate power of the Qing State.

After passing the test perfunctorily, Wu Chaoyue also quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and said secretly: "Although the 100,000 taels of silver every year are distressing, as long as you keep the hope of coming back." When I was poor, I developed together, and since ancient times, courtesy, righteousness and honesty are not the last word, and I have to learn the means of diplomacy in the Later Qing Dynasty. ”

On the same day, Wu Chaoyue sent Wang Fu to lead a Hubei naval division with two medium-sized steam gunboats as the main force to protect the troop transport fleet carrying 3,000 Hubei troops, and went to Jingzhou to give an order to Mianyu, and asked Mianyu to lead the Jingzhou Eight Banners garrison to join his command and go north to crusade against the six groups of devils.

"I estimate that the possibility of Mianyu accepting the order is very small, if he flatly refuses, he will immediately open artillery to attack the city and take Jingzhou Mancheng by force! Those who resist will be killed! Those who surrender decide to stay on their own, and if they are willing to stay, they will obediently pay taxes and food, and go to the national disaster together! Those who do not want to stay, they are allowed to roll back to the north with their personal belongings! (To be continued.) )