When I returned to the capital, it was already time to hold the lantern, and at this time, I would definitely not be able to enter the Forbidden City as Guo Ye.

Guo Ye helplessly circled the horse and walked towards Prince Gong's mansion, Monk Greenqin was far away in Tianjin, and the only dignitaries in the capital who could speak to him were Prince Gong, Yi? recommended himself to Xianfeng, and he had to go to the meeting.

Guo Ye came to the door, knocked on the door knocker, it didn't take long, the door opened, and the steward Ergil walked out from inside, and when he saw Guo Ye leading the horse, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly walked out, and said with a smile: "General Guo, you can be regarded as arriving, our prince has been waiting in the house for a long time, come in with me!" ”

Saying this, Egil welcomed Guo Ye into the palace, and the horses were also led down by the subordinates on the side.

Guo Ye came to Yi? In front of the study, Egil on the side said in a low voice: "Lord Wang, General Guo Ye has arrived!" ”

"Come in!"

There was a message from the house? sounds.

Guo Ye pushed the door in, only to see Yi? He was sitting on the sofa chair in the middle, fiddling with a ruyi in his hand.

Guo Ye hurriedly said: "Humble Guo Ye see the prince, please say hello to the prince!" ”

Abundant? Ruyi gently put it on the bookcase and said: "Okay, Guo Ye, your own family, don't be polite, Egil, Guo Ye has come from afar, presumably he hasn't eaten yet, so I ordered to prepare some wine and food below, and we two should have a drink." ”

Egil hurried to prepare, and Guo Ye thanked: "Thank you for the reward." ”

Abundant? smiled: "Okay, Guo Ye, do it, last time, you were in front of me, but you blew out the cowhide, and now the ministers of the four countries are jointly forcing the palace, we are under great pressure, whether you can show your ambitions in your chest, it's up to you!" ”

Guo Ye smiled bitterly: "Lord Wang, last time it was just a humbling impulse, and you just said in vain, you really pushed me out in front of the emperor, didn't you and the monk king say that you don't want me to show my edge too early?" ”

Abundant? replied: "I originally planned to let you train the firearms battalion well, but helplessly, the ministers of various countries did not give us this opportunity, and jointly forced the palace, which is also a matter of no way, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty can't find a person who can be proficient in foreign affairs, look at Gui Liang and Wu Ren, the two of them can't take anything useful in front of the foreigners, and they can't be suppressed by the foreigners, and now it's only up to you!" ”

Guo Ye nodded, Wu Ren and Gui Liang? Where do the two of them know what foreign affairs and where do they know what diplomacy? Every time I pride myself as the kingdom of heaven and put on a stinky shelf, if foreigners can give them a good face, then hell!

Abundant? asked: "Guo Ye, if you go out in person this time, how sure are you?" ”

Guo Ye pondered for a moment and replied: "Lord Wang, the Americans are easy to do, I can persuade them to withdraw from the army with their incorruptible tongue, but the benefits must be promised to them, otherwise, the face of the United States will not look good; Tsarist Russia, don't worry, it's still the same sentence, the Tsarist devils are the most greedy in nature, and they must not be given any chance, if they are honest, it's okay, if they are not honest, then it is just right that they practice their hands, they are not talented, and they are willing to lead an expedition and meet them on the Ussuri River! As for the British and the French, I don't have a complete strategy now, I can only take one step and see one step, but what kind of degree should some of these compromises and concessions have, I really have no bottom line in my heart, I don't know what the emperor means? ”

Abundant? He said with a wry smile: "Now that we have signed several treaties with the four countries, the concessions that should be made have been made, and the difficulty now lies in implementation!" Execute! The emperor is reluctant to let the envoys of various countries stay in Beijing, and at the same time he does not want foreigners to spread foreign religion in the country, and at the same time there are territorial and trade affairs, and now the court is raging, no one dares to express their opinions indiscriminately, at this time it is really not appropriate to push you out, but it has to be, Guo Ye, above the court, you have to be careful, don't let those bigwigs pinch the weakness! ”

Guo Ye said with a straight face: "Lord Wang, I treat you as a teacher and a friend, and I have to tell you that some of the styles of our court are indeed not suitable for existing anymore, and they have reached the point where they must be changed." If it drags on like this, in the future, when we deal with foreign affairs, we will still have to suffer! ”

Abundant? After a moment's stunned, he asked, "Boy, since the monk king solemnly recommended you to me, if you have anything to say, just say it!" ”

Guo Ye looked around, Yi? Frowning, he shouted: "Everyone go out, send guards outside, and the idle people must not come within ten steps!" ”

All the subordinates retreated, and Guo Ye said: "First, the envoys of various countries are stationed in Beijing, this is a natural thing, in Western countries, Britain, the United States and France, plus Tsarist Russia, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries, each country sends ministers to each other, just so that once there is friction between the two countries, they can communicate and solve it as soon as possible, and the handling of the affairs of their own people in other countries will also be handled by the ministers." Not only do countries need to send ministers to Beijing, but we also need to send ministers to other countries to do the same. ”

Abundant? Said helplessly: "Since ancient times, the Qing Dynasty has been the upper kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and all countries either belong to the inner feudal domain, or belong to the outer feudal domain, and the imperial court is the same as the previous feudal system. It is a matter of the face of the court, so the important ministers of the court have to fight? ”

Guo Ye was almost angry and replied, "Lord Wang? Countries such as Vietnam and Korea belong to our foreign vassals, and Mongolia and Tibet belong to our internal vassals, but Western countries have nothing to do with us, and we have not conquered others, and people do not think that they are subordinate to the Qing Dynasty, and they are originally equal relations. That's pretty much the least thing to worry about! ”

"Style, style! This is the law of the ancestors! How can it be changed just by saying it? "Yi? Said in distress.

Guo Ye replied: "Wang Ye, put aside this first, and then second, now that there are more and more exchanges between the West and the Qing Dynasty, and trade is flourishing, we must also set up a special agency to be responsible for negotiating with foreigners, and the Li Fan Yuan is only responsible for the affairs of the clan, and they don't know anything about the affairs of Western countries, so let them be responsible for negotiations, it will only become more and more chaotic, and at the same time, an institution should be set up to teach various Chinese languages and translate books from various countries for future use!" These are all things that we need to do urgently. ”

Abundant? nodded and said: "Yes, Lord Wenxiang has repeatedly mentioned this matter to me, but unfortunately, we have a lot of constraints in the court!" ”