Originally, he thought that it would take a lot of effort to recover Zhejiang, Fujian and Liangguang, and Wu Chaoyue was also mentally prepared for the long-term hard battle of the Wu army in the Eastern Expedition, but he did not expect that the Manchu court's Fujian and Zhejiang Governor Qi Ling and Liangguang Governor Lao Chongguang would be so knowledgeable and interesting, and did not wait for Wu Junbing to come to the city and took the initiative to send a table, asking to join the great team of the rebel army, which has unlimited prospects.

At the same time, the elderly and Lao Chongguang, who had not yet reached the end of the mountain, also put forward the conditions of surrender, all of which required Wu Chaoyue to continue to appoint them as feudal officials, and the conditions were also relatively harsh. However, considering the situation of the people on the southeast coast, the grain, grass and materials needed for the war and the long time, Wu Chaoyue still agreed to the conditions put forward by Qi Ling and Lao Chongguang without hesitation, and agreed to continue to appoint them as ministers of the territory, in exchange for the Qing army and the people of Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, and Taiwan Island who led them to lay down their arms and surrender, and accept their orders and management.

Of course, Wu Chaoyue will not be stupid enough to let Qi Ling and Lao Chongguang stay in their original positions, and continue to be their governors of Fujian and Zhejiang and Liangguang, the land and city have been robbed by the Taiping Army, and most of the governors of Fujian and Zhejiang, Qi Ling, were arranged by Wu Chaoyue to serve as the governor of Guizhou, and Liu Yuanhao, the former governor of Guizhou, was returned to the central government as the secretary of the criminal department because he has been performing well. This not only satisfied Qi Ling's desire to continue to serve as the minister of the feudal territory, but also rewarded Liu Yuanhao, who had not dared to play any tricks after surrendering, and encouraged other officials to learn from him.

For Lao Chongguang's arrangement, Wu Chaoyue's means are more ingenious - transferred to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang to fill the vacancy left by Qi Ling after leaving Fujian - although among the nine governors of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the fattest one is the governor of Liangguang, but Wu Chaoyue dares to bet that Lao Chongguang will never dare to dream that he can continue to serve as the governor of Liangguang! Wu Chaoyue let Lao Chongguang take over as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, not only to fulfill the surrender promise agreed with him, but also to give Lao Chongguang a chance to prove himself, so that Lao Chongguang would have the opportunity to continue to serve as the minister of Xinjiang after serving as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.

The result was not as expected by Wu Chaoyue, after receiving Wu Chaoyue's reply, the elderly who did not have many chips in his hand were really happy - Taiwan in this era was not very good, and he immediately led the army to change banners without thinking about it, threw away the red hat representing the Qing army, and put on the white hat of the Wu army that was first created by Wu Sangui in legend. Although Lao Chongguang, who could not continue to serve as the governor of Liangguang, had some regrets, firstly, because he had already made enough money in Guangzhou, and secondly, because the peasant uprisings in Liangguang under the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Tiandihui were also one after another, and Lao Chongguang, who had lost direct contact with the Manchu court, was unable to suppress it, so Lao Chongguang quickly decided to surrender and took Guangdong and Guangxi provinces to join the ranks of the rebel army. It quickly and basically controlled the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The world of the Qing Dynasty must have the surname Wu, which is not only recognized by the military and civilian gentry in the land controlled by the Wu army, but also recognized by the military and civilian officials in the land controlled by the Manchu Dynasty, and even the Manchu court had to admit this cruel fact. So much so that after receiving the news that the two Guangzhou, Fujian and Zhejiang had surrendered to the Wu army, the devil Ziliu who was in Tianjin fainted on the spot, and Ci'an and Cixi, who had already hidden outside the pass, received the bad news, and even hugged their heads and cried on the spot, shouting that the heavens are not blessed, and did not send down the thunder to kill Wu Chaoyue, a despicable and vicious thief of the country, and watched Wu Chaoyue snatch the Manchu Dynasty's Zongmiao Sheji, and the flowers and rivers and mountains.

The ruler of Kyushu in China was going to be surnamed Wu, and the Western powers who had been paying attention to the Chinese civil war recognized this fact earlier than the Manchu court, and even before the surrender of Qi Ling and Lao Chongguang, the British, French, American, and Prussian envoys to China had already come to congratulate him and began to discuss with Wu Chaoyue to further strengthen trade, political and economic exchanges. Although Wu Chaoyue, who had never made up his mind about becoming emperor, refused with a smile, saying that he had no ambition to be emperor, he did not hesitate to agree to conclude an alliance with Prussia as the self-proclaimed regent of the Qing Kingdom, and made it clear that he was willing to support Prussia to reunify Germany, and expressed his willingness to provide all the help he could in this regard.

To Wu Chaoyue's surprise, but not surprisingly, Russian Tsar Alexander II's newly appointed Russian Minister Plenipotentiary to China, Rhymeny, after arriving in Shanghai by boat, even made a request to Wu Jun to visit Wuchang, and also made it clear that he was ready to discuss specific matters concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations with Wu Chaoyue. Although Wu Chaoyue knew very well that Rhemeni would definitely open his mouth and was ready to force himself to make concessions on the territory in exchange for the establishment of diplomatic relations and the abandonment of support for the Manchu court, in order to find out the hole cards of the Tsarist side and show his position and attitude on territorial sovereignty, Wu Chaoyue still accepted Rhemeni's request without hesitation, and the day after Remmeni arrived in Wuchang, he took time to meet with Rhemeni and start talks with this greedy polar bear.

"Your Excellency Zhennan, Honorable King Zhennan of the Qing Kingdom, I have come to meet you with sincere friendship and desire for peace, and I would like to express my great regret that our army once had a bloody conflict with your army, and I would also like to express my strong protest against your army's forcing our prisoners of war to work at the mine site, and I hope that Your Excellency King Zhennan will abide by public international law and treat our soldiers who were captured in the war with kindness."

Even though the words were conveyed through the mouth of the translator, Remini's hypocrisy and shamelessness still made Wu Chaoyue feel sick, so Wu Chaoyue did not hesitate, and immediately retorted: "Mr. Rhemeny, you just express great regret for the conflict with your army and our rebel army of the Qing Dynasty? Would you regret it if the warships of our army sailed into the Volga, shelled your Russian military positions along the way, and killed your soldiers and people? Still angry? ”

"And." Wu Chaoyue added: "Your soldiers invaded our territory and inland rivers, killed our soldiers and civilians, and I did not execute them immediately after they were captured. Isn't it in accordance with public international law to let them work on the mine site and wash away their sins with their work? ”

"Damn yellow-skinned monkeys, it's really hard to deal with." Remeni first scolded in his stomach, and then said with a smile: "Your Excellency King Zhennan, let's get down to business, I came this time, in addition to wanting to ease the contradictions between your army and our army, I also want to discuss with you the specific matters of formally establishing diplomatic relations." If your Excellency is able to comply with the small demands made by our Tsar, my Government will not only immediately recognize your Provisional Government of Hubei as the sole legitimate power of the Qing State, but will also guarantee to immediately renounce all support for the Shengjing regime in your country. ”

"A small request?" Wu Chaoyue smiled and asked, "How small?" Do you want to release the Russian prisoners of war that we have captured, and you will give up all support for our rebellious court? ”

"It's ......, of course it's not enough." Rhemeni finally managed to squeeze out a smile and said: "Our tsar still wants two small pieces of land, one is the Ili region of your country, and the other is the cold land north of Heilongjiang. As long as His Excellency King Zhennan agrees, and signs a formal official treaty with me to cede these two pieces of land, my country will immediately cease all support for the Shengjing regime in your country, whether political, military, or diplomatic. ”

“NO！ I refuse! Wu Chaoyue replied very crisply, and said: "There is a saying in China, it is an inch of mountains and rivers and an inch of blood!" Every inch of China's land was created by our ancestors with their blood and lives, and even if I cede every inch of land, I am sorry for my ancestors and future generations, so I will never make any concessions in terms of territory! If your country wants to establish diplomatic relations with my Hubei Provisional Government, yes, but we can only negotiate cooperation and mutual benefit in other aspects, but in terms of territorial sovereignty, I will never make any concessions! ”

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's words conveyed by the translator, Remeni smiled, and of course his smile was hideous, and said: "Your Excellency King Zhennan, don't talk too much. Yes, our fleet lost last time, but it was just an accident, and you won't be so lucky every time. In the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, with hundreds of our armed steam gunboats and countless sail warships cruising, a powerful fleet can be formed at any time and return to the Far Eastern theater. ”

"When did your navy become stronger than France?" Wu Chaoyue immediately asked rhetorically, and said: "Also, in order to prevent the British and French fleets from entering your inland waterways, all the twenty-one warships that sank themselves at the mouth of the sea have been fished up and repaired?" If this is the case, I would like to pay great tribute to the shipbuilders of your country, who have worked miracles in what even the British, the world's naval hegemon, could not do. ”

Remmeni opened his mouth and said secretly: "Oops, I didn't expect this yellow-skinned monkey to know so much about our domestic situation, and it is not so easy to scare him now." ”

While secretly frightened in his heart, Remini did not show too much panic, but changed his friendly smile again, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency King Zhennan, it seems that you are not willing to give in at all, but have you considered what kind of concessions will the Shengjing regime of your country make in order to gain the support of our Tsar for them?" ”

"What concessions?" This is indeed the point that Wu Chaoyue is most concerned about.

"Give in as much as possible." Remenyi smiled and said: "Including becoming a vassal state of our Russia, allowing our country to directly drive our army into the northeast and control Shanhaiguan, when the time comes, our Far East army and the army of your Shengjing regime together will be enough to defeat you on land." ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled and said with a smile: "Dear Mr. Rhemeni, in this case, I must once again express my high respect to the iron and steel industry workers and construction workers of your country, and marvel at the industrial miracle they have created, to be able to build a railway connecting Moscow and the Far East so quickly, and use this railway to continuously send troops and ammunition supplies to the Far East battlefield, and support your country's Far Eastern army in fighting a protracted war with us." ”

Speaking of this, Wu Chaoyue paused, and said with a smile: "Also, I have to pay tribute to the emperors of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, admiring their great spirit of benefiting others without selfishness, and being able to stand still when your country's power is moving eastward, and refuse to take the opportunity to recover the lost land, nor take the opportunity to reunite the German Empire." ”

"In addition, I have to admire the gentlemanly demeanor of the British, who refused to take Afghanistan in a hurry at such a good opportunity." Wu Chaoyue smiled and added: "It is rumored that both your country and the British are very interested in Afghanistan....... ”

"Enough!" Remeni couldn't bear it anymore, first rudely interrupted Wu Chaoyue, and then said viciously: "Your Excellency King Zhennan, don't show off your understanding of the international situation. Yes, there are some hidden dangers behind our Tsarist Russia, but you must not forget that if our country fully supports your Shengjing regime, you will have no hope of eliminating the Shengjing regime, and your China will lose the land north of Shanhaiguan forever. ”

After that, Rzemeni added, "It also includes Mongolia." As far as I know, the loyal minister of the Shengjing regime, Monk Glingbi, has assembled a powerful cavalry army on the Mongolian plateau, and he is still extremely hostile to you, and it is impossible for him to surrender to you. ”

This is indeed what Wu Chaoyue is most worried about, but Wu Chaoyue, who is dead and can't make any concessions in terms of territory, has no choice but to reply immediately: "Mr. Rhymeni, your Tsarist Russia has a chaotic puppet court that can fully support our Qing Dynasty, but I can also win the support of other countries, they are not as greedy for China's land as you are, as long as I make concessions in economy and trade, they will definitely lend a helping hand to me." ”

"And." Wu Chaoyue added: "The Holy See will definitely be on my side, and the Pope has always been very interested in China's 40,000,000 potential believers." And the Orthodox Church in your country has always been a heresy in the eyes of the Holy See. ”

Remeni's gray-yellow eyes glared at Wu Chaoyue, and after a while, he said with a fierce expression: "Your Excellency King Zhennan, so we don't have to talk about it?" ”

"If it's just an ordinary trade and diplomatic relationship, and an exchange of prisoners of war, we have everything to talk about." Wu Chaoyue was not afraid and said: "But when it comes to territorial issues, there is nothing to talk about!" ”

Remeni got up very rudely and left, and when he went out, he left this sentence and said, "Wu, you will regret it!" ”

"I hope you can do it."

Wu Chaoyue replied-for-tat, but as soon as Rhemeni left on the front foot, Wu Chaoyue immediately frowned, because Wu Chaoyue knew very well that the Tsarist side did not have the strength to launch a large-scale war in the Far East at present, but if the Tsarist side was determined to help the Manchu court split China, the land north of Shanhaiguan could really disappear from the map of China, just like Outer Mongolia before Wu Chaoyue crossed.