Yanjing, the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, the Yamen of trade affairs of various countries.

On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the capital is still filled with the joyful atmosphere of gongs and drums, firecrackers, dragon and lion dances.

The streets are bustling with people carrying gifts and visiting relatives and friends.

Even though the Prime Minister's Yamen is vast and deep, he can still hear all kinds of cheers in the street market outside.

There was silence in the yamen, and most of the Zhang Jing, extra Zhang Jing, and the clerical servants of the various departments and offices all went home for the New Year, leaving only a few hours to stay up on duty.

Listening to the noise outside, these Zhang Jing on duty were all anxious like cat's claws, and they just wanted to finish today, Ming'er also went to visit relatives and friends, wine and food, and listened to the flattery and praise of relatives and friends, so he was not at ease.

"Ahem, ahem—"

There were a few violent coughs in the prime minister's main hall, and the few Zhang Jing in the side room, as well as the additional Zhang Jing, immediately straightened their faces, made a busy appearance, and looked down at the paperwork with their heads bowed.

Today, the British Minister Og Gon came to visit, and Prince Gong came to receive him, and he has been talking for a while.

Listening to the coughing sound that is getting more and more rapid inside, it is estimated that there are no good words.

These foreigners are not a thing, they never know the rules, and they can't say anything after the fifteenth year, and they come to report the funeral on the New Year?

It's really boring!

Prime Minister's Lobby.

The sunlight outside the window is just right, shining through the expensive glass windows, shining on the blazing charcoal fire inside the house, full of warm warmth.

Coughing violently for a while, Yixun took out a handkerchief and wiped his tears and snot, and said helplessly with a bitter face:

"The mouth of the Orient is also too wide; North Korea is easy to talk about, open ports, extraterritoriality and concession rights, can also be negotiable; Freedom of navigation on inland waterways, cession of Liaodong, Taiwan, this is not negotiable at all. There is also an indemnity,—— which can be changed to some silver for the aid of the Imperial Benevolent Ways to the East, but 300 million taels? ”

Yi Xun grinned and said with anger: "A Dingyuan ship, that is, two million and eight hundred thousand taels of silver, is equivalent to more than a hundred Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships; It's like a lion opening his mouth! ”

Oggon also felt that the terms of the armistice in the East were too incredible, but the interests and positions of the British Empire in the Far East made this diplomat lose the most basic conscience and conscience of life.

"There are nearly 400 million people in your country, and one person has less than a tael of silver; Liaodong was originally a small uninhabited mountain, Taiwan, the Penghu Islands are even more barbaric overseas, Oriental ships sailing on the Daqing River, there seems to be no loss to the Qing Dynasty. ”

Oggon endured the shamelessness that could make him blush, and said with a smile: "You also said it, Lord Wang, this is a lion's big mouth; Isn't there a proverb in the Qing Dynasty, 'If you ask for a price in the sky, pay it back on the spot'? ”

Seeing Yixun's suddenly bright eyes, Ogerg's words changed, and he continued: "However, your country should also be mentally prepared, after all, it is a limited thing to make concessions; You must know that the tens of thousands of Oriental Japanese troops entrenched in Shanhaiguan are not the forced orders of our British Empire, and at this time the 19th has broken through the customs and is on the way to Yanjing. ”

Listening to Ogerg's warning, Yixun's body shivered heavily, and he felt that the heat wave in the house seemed to be so cold.

In the morning of the same day, Yixun sent Ou Ge away and hurried to the Summer Palace without taking a bite of a hot meal.

This matter, according to reason, he should go to report to Emperor Guangxu first.

However, these conditions proposed by Dongyang, in Yixun's view, are simply frustrated, and he really does not have the courage to face Emperor Guangxu who will be in a rage.

At the same time, the hot-blooded emperor, who is more afraid of losing his mind, is likely to drag this war into a deeper danger once he gives an improper holy decree.

Cixi, who was raised in the garden, listened to Yixun's breathless performance, and said with a smile: "Sixth, you are still a frizzy person who can't hold your breath, and you are in your early sixties; The ancestors have a saying, 'Fifty knows the destiny of heaven, sixty ears are smooth', this day can't fall, what are you anxious about? ”

Emperor Guangxu, who was soon summoned by Cixi, hurried to Dehe Garden.

Guangxu's ass had not yet sat firmly, and after listening to the terms of the Oriental armistice conveyed by Yixun, he suddenly jumped up from the chair, and his little white face instantly turned blood red.

"What are you jumping up for? You are the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, not a hairy monkey! ”

Cixi raised her wrinkled old face and reprimanded Guangxu unceremoniously: "As an emperor, the example of hundreds of millions of courtiers and people in the world, you must know how not to move like a mountain!" ”

"Dear father, this little widow is indeed too deceitful! I was really angry, and I hated it in my heart. ”

Emperor Guangxu endured the majestic burning flame of 'hulala' in his heart, sat down and said angrily:

"The little Oriental is really not enough to swallow the elephant! Our tens of thousands of troops in the Qing Dynasty were in Lushun, and Shanhaiguan was still holding on to them, and in the Chinese New Year's Eve, they also severely taught these soldiers who did not know the height of the sky and the height of the earth, and the sailors sank one of their large warships, and they were still so rampant! ”

Hearing that Guangxu dared to fight back, Cixi was very unhappy in her heart, since she entered the garden, the emperor has become less and less interested in her.

And listening to Guangxu's 'big words' in her ears, Cixi didn't know how to refute for a while, and her heart couldn't help but be full of anger.

"Can you guarantee that Liu Kun will be able to defend Shanhaiguan as soon as he is ready? If you can't hold it and let the Japanese soldiers come in, the emperor ——, where are you going to run with my wife and son?" ”

Guangxu was blocked by Cixi's words, his face was red, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

"You haven't seen it yet, this battle has been fought so far, and it is not bad to defeat Lao Li's Beiyang, but the elite flag soldiers of the three eastern provinces have also been almost wiped out; And now there is a more powerful young general who can write and martial arts! ”

"Lushun's twenty or thirty thousand Beiyang elites, now count them with their fingers; In addition to Jiang Guidi, Chen Yunhe's 4,000 men, Lian Shun left a few hundred banner soldiers, Xu Bangdao, Jiang Zikang, all wearing a pair of pants with the anti-Japanese army, how many people do you count him? ”

"Now in the three cities outside the Guanwai, eight or nine thousand people, through the blinding method of foreigners, they are held in his hands by He Changying;"

Cixi sniffed snuff, sneezed, rubbed her nostrils, and said in a cold voice:

"Zeng Guofan, Lao Li, when he was in power, he was already middle-aged with children and daughters, so he was naturally cautious and cautious, and he didn't dare to be easy to get better; He Changying has soldiers and generals in his hands, a large number of bullets and shells in Dalian Bay, a huge donation from Nanyang, and he is young and impulsive, what can you do to restrain his hands and feet? ”

"If he really repelled the Japanese soldiers and held tens of thousands of elite soldiers, who else in the world could match? Don't you wake up in a cold sweat when you sleep? What the East wants is only land and silver, but if the country is really in chaos, it is the foundation of our Qing Dynasty for ten thousand years! ”

Cixi's words, Prince Gong Yixun, who listened to this, closed his old eyes, and seemed to be asleep.

And Guangxu was sweating profusely, and said with a glutinous mouth: "Dear father, He Aiqing is not that kind of person, I see that he is sincere and frank, and he does not lose his pure heart." Moreover, the Qing Dynasty has been orthodox for the world for 300 years, and now the four seas are peaceful, and the people only want to live and work in peace and contentment; In this world, it's not something that a few people can pick up casually. ”

"Do you look at people?"

Cixi looked at the 'own son' in front of her who pretended to be obedient, and couldn't wait to smash the snuffbox in his hand in his face.

It's not the group of people you 'see' who are instigating the use of the East to fight the North Ocean all day long to weaken Li Hongzhang, how can they cause today's catastrophe?