Classical Chinese is as sparse as history lessons, and Wu Chaoyue's letter to his eldest niece Cixi is, of course, half-literate and half-white, with punctuation marks that have just been introduced to China, and the full text is as follows:

"The guilty minister Huguang Liangjiang Governor Wu surpassed the Queen Mother of Baibaixi, the Empress Dowager Chitose Chitose Chitose Qianqiansui, kowtowed, and asked Emperor Qixiang to be safe, and dared to knock on the descendants of the Empress Dowager to greet the alcohol king Fujin. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

The Empress Dowager of the West, the previous criminal ministers took the liberty to send a book, but never heard back, and heard that the Empress Dowager of the West and the Empress Dowager of the East jointly issued an edict, and the oath clearly mentioned that those who made peace with the criminal ministers were immediately beheaded, and the criminal ministers immediately understood, knowing that the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager of the East must have been coerced by Yixun, Seng Lingqin and other rebellious ministers and thieves, for the sake of the safety of Emperor Qixiang's life, and had no choice but to issue the edict.

When the criminal minister personally raised troops to the north and killed the king of the capital to save the king, he would be executed by Ling Chi, and the bones were scattered, so as to avenge the shame of Emperor Qixiang and the two queen mothers!

The Empress Dowager of the West, the ministers had no objection, and the rebellion was completely persecuted by traitors such as Yixun, Monk Greenqin and Mianyu, and had to do it as a last resort. After the army, the minister not only still appoints Manchu and Mongolian civil and military officials, but also has been trying to restrain his subordinates, prohibiting the indiscriminate killing of Manchu and Mongolian banner people, Jingzhou's matter, it is completely Jingzhou general Mianxun was instructed by Yi Xun and other traitors, brutally slaughtered the people of all ethnic groups in Jingzhou, and inspired the people to retaliate. In order to seek wealth and power, Yixun and other traitors did not hesitate to sacrifice the bannermen of Jingzhou to slander the criminal ministers and slaughter the Manchurians.

The Empress Dowager of the West, the minister had the courage to propose to you that the three conditions for the surrender of the army will take effect forever, no matter when and where, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager of the East can send someone to negotiate with the guilty minister at any time as long as they want, or you can also let the criminal minister send someone to the capital to negotiate.

The minister also knows the bitterness of the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager Dong, and knows that the military power of Gyeonggi and Zhili is in the hands of Yixun and other traitors, if you agree to negotiate, Yixun and other traitors will definitely jump over the wall and launch another coup d'état, and may even kill the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and Emperor Qixiang and usurp the throne. Therefore, the ministers did not dare to force the two queen mothers to give an immediate reply, and also asked the two queen mothers to protect their noble bodies carefully, and when the time was ripe, it would not be too late to contact the guilty ministers.

The queen mother, the minister knows very well that among the usurpers of power, Yi Xun is the leader, and the most cunning and vicious traitor among the thieves is also Yi Xun. If you can punish Yixin first, the usurping thieves will leave the dragons leaderless, and they can be destroyed!

If the two queen mothers intend to kill this thief, the minister has a plan to kill Yixun, as far as the minister knows, the wolf ambition of the Rakshasa country, has long had the intention of annexing the northeast and northwest of the Qing Dynasty, and the rebel thief has also long been willing to sell the territory of the Qing Dynasty to protect himself. In this case, the two queen mothers may wish to deliberately make Yixun borrow troops from the Rakshasa country, and the Yixun rebel thief will definitely act for the Rakshasa country as a tiger and force the dynasty to cede the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and the two queen mothers can take the opportunity to cut Yixun to seize power, and send courtiers to borrow troops from the Rakshasa country.

Weichen dared to assert that even if the two queen mothers did not make any concessions on the territory, the Rakshasa Kingdom would definitely send troops to rescue when the Qing court was in danger! At that time, the shameless face of Yixun's traitor and thief betraying the country for glory will be obvious to the world, the people will be angry, the government and the opposition will be shaken, and the two queen mothers will issue an edict to give death to Yixun's name.

Please believe the judgment of the guilty minister, even if the Qing court does not give up half an inch of land, the Rakshasa Kingdom will never see the Qing court die and not save it! Because the criminal ministers have categorically rejected all the shameless demands made by the Rakshasa Kingdom, Yang Xiuqing of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has never had anything to do with the Rakshasa Kingdom, and hates the Rakshasa Kingdom for seizing the land of Xing'anling outside the Qing Dynasty, and swears to avenge this, the Rakshasa Kingdom has only one choice left in the Qing Dynasty, for the sake of their interests in the Far East, they will never allow you to be wiped out by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but can only help you resist Yang Xiuqing's attack at any cost.

To use a vulgar analogy, the Rakshasa Kingdom is like a merchant who came to the Qing Dynasty to do business, among the three shops in the Qing Dynasty, the criminal minister and Yang Xiuqing's shop have issued an expulsion order to him, if he wants to buy and sell goods, he can only do business with the Queen Mother, your last shop. Please think about it, Queen Mother, will the Rakshasa Kingdom still allow Yang Xiuqing to smash your last shop, so that he can no longer find a business partner in the Qing Dynasty?

Therefore, the Queen Mother, there is absolutely no need to be afraid of the threat of the Rakshasa Kingdom, you can even threaten the Rakshasa Kingdom in turn, just say that if the Rakshasa Kingdom does not borrow troops and weapons, you will let the army lay down its weapons against the criminals, and let the criminals enter Beijing to take over the leadership of the rebels! The minister dared to assert that the Rakshasa Kingdom would never want and would not dare to let this situation happen!

The queen mother, the guilty minister really said so many heartfelt words for the sake of the Qing Dynasty's territory, and the criminal minister is not afraid that the Yixun rebel thief will use the Rakshasa soldiers to deal with me, the sinner just hopes that you and the Eastern Empress Dowager will not be intimidated by the threat of the Rakshasa Kingdom and Yixun, and give up a large area of territory in a daze, and the sinners will kill Yixun and other thieves in the future, and then want to recapture the northern territory for the Qing court, it will be difficult to climb to the sky.

The queen mother, the heart of the criminal minister can show the sun and the moon, and the criminal minister raised troops to rebel against the king, all in order to kill Yixun and Monk Greenqin and other usurper thieves, and there is no intention of peeping at the emperor's throne, hoping that the queen mother will investigate clearly. Sincerely, the guilty minister Wu transcends goodbye. ”

It is rare for Wu Chaoyue, who is lazy in writing, to write such a long letter in person, and the reason is really not that Wu Chaoyue wants to trap Yang Xiuqing and deliberately instruct the Manchu court on how to borrow troops from the Russians to deal with the Taiping army. Rather, Wu Chaoyue was really afraid that the coup clique would get into the water, and under the intimidation and threat of Tsarist Russia, he would sign some kind of traitorous treaty and cede tens of millions of square kilometers of northern land to Tsarist Russia. Therefore, Wu Chaoyue could only do his best to give Cixi a way to deal with Tsarist Russia before the Taiping army launched a joint Northern Expedition with him.

Of course, Zhao Liewen, Yan Jingming and others were also very worried about Wu Chaoyue's approach, fearing that not only would it not be able to stop it, but it might even have the opposite effect, allowing the Manchu court to make greater concessions to Tsarist Russia at the negotiating table. Wu Chaoyue was quite confident, and said: "Don't worry, my eldest niece is very smart, even if she suspects that I am lying to her and the Russians, she will at least try it first, and if it works, she will know what to do." ”

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After Wu Chaoyue's writing, calligraphy and calligraphy were also miserable and sent to the palace by Gui Xiang, although Cixi scoffed at Wu Chaoyue's shameless quibbles and demagoguery in the letters, she also suspected that Wu Chaoyue wrote this letter to deceive her into turning the other cheek with Tsarist Russia and cutting off the only external aid from the Manchu court. However, after reading it several times, Cixi was still a little tempted, and wanted to try Wu Chaoyue's suggestion - after all, the bear's paw, lion's mane mushroom and eel in the Northeast were all frequent guests at Cixi's dinner table, and as the first foodie in the late Qing Dynasty, Cixi had to consider her own food supply even if she didn't think about the border territory.

It also happened that Wu Chaoyue did not mention the dirty things between Cixi and Ci'an in this letter, and Ci'an had explained it before, and Cixi gave Wu Chaoyue's letter to Ci'an to watch after thinking twice. As a result, Ci'an was immediately very moved when he saw it, and said: "Sister, Wu Chaoyue, this traitor, is quite reasonable, for the Rakshasa people, now if they want to do business in the Qing Dynasty, only we are the last one, if they still want to do business in the Qing Dynasty, they will definitely not watch us defeated by the Wu thief or Changmao, even if we don't give much, they will also choose to send troops." ”

"I'm afraid that this is Wu Chaoyue's trick of that traitor, tricking us into taking the initiative to break off diplomatic relations with the Rakshasa Kingdom." Cixi frowned and said, "After all, none of us is more proficient than him in dealing with foreigners. ”

"Give it a try." Ci'an proposed: "Let's be tough at the negotiation table first, and then see the reaction of the Rakshasas, if they are really like Wu Chaoyue's analysis of the traitors, even if they don't want land, they will help us, then we will resolutely not give in." If Wu Chaoyue is lying to us, and the attitude of the Rakshasa Kingdom becomes tougher, then it will not be too late for us to turn around again. ”

"You can't try that." Cixi shook her head and said: "We now have a request for the Rakshasa people, and if our attitude suddenly hardens and then we are forced to go back and beg them, it will only give the Rakshasa people a chance to extort more money, and we have to use an ingenious way not to provoke the Rakshasa people, but also to find out the true attitude of the Rakshasa people towards us." ”

"What's that going to do?" Ci'an hurriedly asked.

Cixi didn't rush to answer, and after pondering for a long time, Cixi said: "In this way, first withdraw the envoy who negotiated between the sixth and the Rakshasa people, and exchange Wenxiang to negotiate with the Rakshasa people, so that Wenxiang deliberately went to the ** wind in the negotiation, just say that we have the intention of cleaning up the sixth man in exchange for reconciliation with Wu Chaoyue traitor, and then look at the reaction of the Rakshasa people, we will know what Wu Chaoyue's traitor is for." ”

When Ci'an heard the applause, he immediately accepted it, and Cixi said: "Sister, this matter must be known to the sixth child, first, to let him know the reason for the sudden removal of him, and second, if the Rakshasa people really don't want to see Wu Chaoyue enter Beijing to take charge, if they want to do something, they must start with the sixth child, let the sixth stand on our side, so that we can know the true attitude of the Rakshasa people, and in the future, we can also let the sixth continue to sing duets with us and force the Rakshasa people to send troops." ”

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Devil Ziliu knew the reason why he was suddenly removed from the negotiation mission with Russia, but Ignatiev, who was currently waiting for the extortion in the capital, was so confused that when Wen Xiang, the new prime minister of the Manchu court, and the minister of national affairs, ran to Ignatiev to announce that he would take over the negotiation task, Ignatiev also asked Wen Xiang, who had just returned from Hong Kong not long ago: "Wen Zhongtang, what happened to Prince Gong?" Why did you suddenly remove him? ”

"Don't hide it from your envoy, the queen mother of the two palaces of our country is very dissatisfied with the slow progress of the negotiations on Prince Gong's borrowing troops from your country to help suppress him, so she decided to remove him and replace him with her own official to take over."

Wen Xiang replied according to Ci'an and Cixi's instructions, but Ignatiev sneered when he heard it, and said: "Wen Zhongtang, the problem of the slow progress of the negotiations is not with Prince Gong alone, he has worked quite hard, and it is your imperial court that is unwilling to make sincere concessions, so the negotiations have not been fruitful. ”

"Mr. Ignatiev, our concessions are not sincere enough?" Wen Xiang said with a sad face: "In addition to ceding Sakhalin Island again, we have also promised to bear all military expenses, pay remuneration, be responsible for the pensions of your country's soldiers who participated in the war, and open a number of border cities in the north and several ports on the Liaodong Peninsula, so you are not satisfied?" ”

"Far from enough!" Ignatiev replied categorically: "In addition to these, we also want Outer Mongolia, the Northeast, and the Northwest!" Otherwise, we will not send troops! ”

"Mr. Ignatiev, you are asking for too much, can you give in a little more?" Wen Xiang asked cautiously.

"No concessions!" Ignatiev replied even more categorically, and threatened: "As far as I know, your rebel Taiping Army has purchased a fleet with good strength from the British, and it may go north by sea at any time to directly attack Tianjin and Beijing. ”

Wen Xiang, who already had some diplomatic experience, was full of panic, and pretended to be speechless: "If that's the case, the two queen mothers may have no choice but to go to Wu Chaoyue to negotiate." ”

"What did you say?!" Ignatiev, who is fluent in Chinese, asked in surprise.

"I didn't say anything." Wen Xiang hurriedly covered his mouth and said, "I'll just say it casually, Mr. Ignatiev, you don't have to take it seriously." ”

"You want to negotiate with Wu Chaoyue?" Ignatiev's voice became even more fierce, and he said viciously: "Do you know that Wu Chaoyue bastard not only wants to be the emperor of your Qing Kingdom, but also wants your life?!" ”

"Mr. Ignatiev, don't say it so scary." Wen Xiang defended: "In fact, the queen mother of our two palaces knows very well in her heart that Wu Chaoyue's rebellion was forced by Prince Gong, he seriously offended Prince Gong, and his backer in the court was killed by Prince Gong again, if he didn't rebel, the next person killed by Prince Gong would definitely be him, so he had no choice but to rebel." ”

Peeking at Ignatiev's expression, Wen Xiang lowered his voice mysteriously and said, "Mr. Ignatiev, in fact, in our Qing court, there have long been voices that want to appease Wu Chaoyue's rebels. Because although Wu Chaoyue rebelled, he always considered himself a courtier of the Qing Dynasty, and still recognized that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the empress dowager of the two palaces were his masters, and he was not like the long-haired bandits, who killed the banner people indiscriminately, and also clearly listed the list of war criminals in the army uprising, saying that the rest would not be prosecuted, so many of my colleagues thought that we had hope to negotiate and reconcile with Wu Chaoyue's traitors. ”

Ignatiev's face was obviously a little ugly, and after rolling his eyes a few times, Ignatiev asked directly: "Then why don't you directly negotiate with Wu Chaoyue?" ”

"Because Wu Chaoyue is a traitor, he must want the court to give death to Prince Gong, and he must also enter Beijing to govern, maybe there will be some constitutional monarchy, so the queen mother of our two palaces did not agree." Wen Xiang stretched out his hands, and then said with some words: "But judging from the fact that the two queen mothers suddenly removed Prince Gong's envoy, I'm afraid they ......, alas." ”

Ignatiev didn't ask any more questions, Wen Xiang didn't say anything more, and after agreeing on the time for the next negotiation, he took his leave and left, leaving Ignatiev to grit his teeth and curse in a low voice in the newly built Russian legation......

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That night, the devil six had a complicated mood in his home ushered in Ignatiev's sudden visit, during the conversation, Ignatiev just pretended to greet a few words of the suddenly dismissed devil six, and then said directly: "Gong Wangye, don't you think that your sudden request to withdraw from the negotiation is an extremely dangerous signal?" I've heard it a long time ago, and in the court of your country, there have long been calls to sacrifice you in exchange for being a traitor to Wu Chaoyue. ”

According to Ci'an and Cixi's request, Devil Six nodded calmly and said, "Yes, I'm also worried about this, in fact, when Wu Chaoyue broke through the Yellow River and entered Shanxi, I was already very worried. ”

"And what are you going to do?" Ignatiev asked bluntly.

"The king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die." Devil Ziliu replied with a painful expression: "If I can really sacrifice me in exchange for Wu Chaoyue's submission and submission, for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, I will also admit it." ”

"Gong, you must not be stupid!" Ignatiev hurriedly said: "Who is Wu Chaoyue, you know better than me, he not only wants your life, but also wants the supreme ruling power of your Qing Kingdom!" When you negotiate with him, in the words of your Qing Kingdom, you are seeking skin with the tiger! ”

"But what can I do?" Devil Six smiled bitterly and said: "If the two imperial sisters-in-law insist on doing this, I can only obediently take poison and commit suicide, lest Wu Chaoyue will die even more miserably after he enters Beijing to take charge." ”

"Gong, don't worry, I will help you." Ignatiev patted Devil Six on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I will refuse to negotiate with Wenxiang and ask your court to reappoint you as a negotiator, and then when it comes to the negotiating table, I will also make some more sincere concessions to you, and then when our Russian troops help you stabilize the situation, you don't have to worry about anything." ”

Looking at Ignatiev's sincere and friendly smiling face, a modern term involuntarily popped up in the mind of Devil Six - paper tiger!

At the same time that he completely saw through the true face of Ignatiev's foreign powerhouse, the devil Liu's heart was even more worried, and he said secretly: "Even the attitude and position of the Rakshasa people have been expected by Wu Chaoyue's traitor, and now my two sisters-in-law must be even more shaken in the negotiation with Wu thief, if they really have any secret deal with Wu thief, my head will definitely not be the first to be saved?" ”