"Your ......, my lord"

An embassy staff member asked with concern when he saw Guo Songtao's face turned blue and his steps were heavy. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Guo Songtao shook his head, waved his hand, and did not speak, but walked towards his room.

After entering the room, Guo Songtao locked the door, came to his desk, took out the written notebook, and looked at it again, when his eyes fell on "Deputy Envoy Liu Xihong...... Straightforward and selfless, but he didn't appreciate the world's feelings at all......" when he surged up again, and he tore the piece to shreds in a few strokes and threw it into the paper basket.

It may be that he used too much force just now, Guo Songtao felt a little uncomfortable in his heart again, he sat down, tried to adjust his breathing, and when his mood calmed down, he immediately spread paper and polished ink, and began to write again.

Because Liu Xihong is dead, in line with China's traditional spirit of "the dead are great" and "everything is over", Guo Songtao did not participate in the impeachment of Liu Xihong in the new twists and turns, but only gave a detailed report on the work at this stage and the cause of Liu Xihong's death given by the London Metropolitan Police, and vaguely pointed out in the twists and turns that the cause of Liu Xihong's death may have been because of his "violent temperament" and "contemptuous language" that aroused the hatred of outsiders, resulting in his death. In the excerpt, Guo Songtao said that he was negotiating with the British Foreign Office, and asked the imperial court to "quickly come and take over" Liu Xihong's position.

At this time, Guo Songtao didn't know that now in Beijing, the music for his impeachment was flying like snowflakes.

Guo Songtao went from being ordered to be the British minister to the present Liu Xihong was killed, but in just a few months, the words and tables were repeated, and he enjoyed such "courtesy", which can be said to be unique in the Qing Dynasty.

The first is the impeachment of Guo Songtao by Zuodu Yushi Jinglian:

“…… Since the envoys of foreign countries have been stationed in Beijing, there have been insatiable requests and unreasonable requests, and so on. Prime Minister, Yamen Wang, Minister Wang, etc., either in a straight way, or in a tactful way, do not know how much money to operate, lips and tongues, must be checked in fact, in the overall situation is not hindered, only to allow their request, so to care for the outside and survive the national body. Although the slave does not know everything, he has repeatedly received official letters from the Prime Minister Yamen in the West Road Military Camp before, and he has already learned the outline. Recently, I heard that Guo Songtao, a squire of the Ministry of War, was in the Prime Minister's Yamen, and he was happy and happy,...... And its daily discussions, always think that all foreign countries have invitations, must be allowed, and everything is easy to handle, enlightening the heart and losing the political system, so why! ”

"Cha Guo Songtao once served the order of envoys to foreign countries, with paranoid, when he went to a foreign country, he encountered a negotiation incident, and asked for everything, fearing that the overall situation would be hindered. …… The fact that Guo Songtao was indifferent to the murder of the deputy envoy this time is a clear proof ......"

Jing Lian is a native of Manchuria Zhenghuangqi and a three-year jinshi in Xianfeng. He served in the northwest for a long time, and was awarded the minister of Qincha in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi, supervising the military affairs of Xinjiang, and later resigned because of Zuo Zongtang's participation. Soon he was recalled to the capital and moved to the left of the imperial history. When the news of Guo Songtao's "envoy to the British minister" came out, he contemplated the impeachment of Guo Songtao, but he never had the opportunity, and this time Liu Xihong's death caused an uproar in the government and the opposition, and Jing Lian immediately seized the opportunity to participate in Guo Songtao.

Judging from the content of the excerpt, Jing Lian's purpose was for the opposition Guo Songtao to send an envoy, asking for "another simple foreign affairs official to send an envoy to a foreign country"; The reason is that Guo Songtao "agrees with the people's hearts and fears that he will miss the overall situation", and Jing Lian's impeachment is very measured, and it is not that the opposition people are going to foreign countries, nor does he adopt the argument that the foreign envoy is a "ghost", but that Guo Songtao's set of ideas and propositions on handling foreign affairs is "flattering to foreigners" and "paranoid,...... In the event of a negotiation incident, we should ask for all permissions, and I am afraid that the overall situation will be hindered."

Jing Lian's ginseng was the first poisonous arrow shot by the Qing faction at Guo Songtao, and the public opinion that insulted Guo Songtao was overwhelming, "from the Beijing teachers and doctors and the elders in the countryside, they slandered each other, not to mention the number of people", although it failed to change the court's trust in Guo Songtao, but it made Guo Songtao feel the chills brought by the serious arrogance of the whole country!

Immediately after the impeachment of Guo Songtao, it was He Jinshou, the editor of the Hanlin Academy:

“…… The thief recently saw the book "Chronicles of the West" written by Guo Songtao, a squire of the military department, who said extravagantly that Russia and Britain were rich and strong, courteous and trustworthy, and the beauty of words; It is also said that the country is called the second hegemon, with a high palm and a distant foot, an eagle and a tiger's eye, and it is still heavy and heavy, not like China's arrogance and arrogance. Repeatedly praised, all kinds of flattery, heartbreak and loss of body, it is already appalling. Among them, the most absurd is to say that the West has been established for 2,000 years, and the political and religious cultivation is very different, which is absolutely different from the rise of Liao and Jin. Our country and other countries have made peace, and the ministers at home and abroad have thought about the changes in Gengshen, and they all want to lie down and taste the courage, and take the national self-improvement period to avenge the shameful place of the other day. Now Guo Songtao dares to say this, how can he stop the national body and become hostile, and directly destroy the righteous indignation of the world. I don't have such a courtier in the Qing Dynasty! ”

"Thinking that the ancients made it to the Quartet, they did not dishonor the king's life. Now Guo Songtao knows that it is difficult to tolerate the Qing discussion, so Zhang Da intimidated the words, using his own shortcomings to shock the court, so as to achieve merit in the future. Such intentions can no longer be asked. It is a book that shakes the hearts of the people of the world. In his book, he is still cowardly, and he hopes that he will resist the enemy's court, and he will not give in? ……”

He Jinshou's excerpt is also very strategic, he did not mention the killing of Liu Xihong, but began to criticize Guo Songtao's book "The Chronicle of the West".

After Guo Songtao arrived in London, according to the request of the Prime Minister's Yamen to "ask the envoy to record in detail the negotiation events and the customs and customs of various countries, and consult at any time", Guo Songtao sent a copy of his diary of more than 20,000 words during the 51 days from Shanghai to London after a little finishing and polishing, and then sending a copy of the banknote to the Prime Minister's Yamen, "so as to convey the information to those who seek foreign affairs." "There are two or three paragraphs in the book on the handling of foreign affairs, which are unheard of by many imperial courts."

After the publication of "The Chronicle of the West", it caused an uproar, and the voices of accusation and abuse spread all over the capital. Some people say that he has "been poisoned by foreigners", and some people accuse him of "I don't know what is sincere for this!" And what is the heart of the carver! Li Hongzao, Minister of Military Aircraft and Prime Minister of the Yamen, was even more "very unfair and slandered by others", and Jing Lian took the lead in participating in the impeachment of Guo Songtao, and in this atmosphere of public opinion, He Jinshou lost no time in launching an attack on Guo Songtao.

Judging from the content of the references, there are five main charges against Guo Songtao listed by He Jinshou: First, Guo Songtao was accused of repeatedly saying that Russia and Britain were rich and strong, in order to curry favor with foreign countries, "losing heart and body, which is already terrifying"; Secondly, he thinks that the most ridiculous thing is that Minister Guo actually said that the West has been established for 2,000 years, and it is politically and religiously cultivated, and it is intellectually victorious; Third, Guo Songtao's various words and deeds "will stop the national body and generate hostility, and directly destroy the indignation of the world with the conspiracy of Kuang Ji, the loyal ministers"; Fourth, "Therefore, Zhang Da threatened to say this", "coerced to shock the imperial court", "shook the hearts of the people in the world", and had ill intentions, "I have no such courtiers in the Qing Dynasty". In short, "the words are perverse, and the body is humiliated and the country is humiliated", so it is necessary to "strictly destroy the ban, and the hearts of the people in the world can still be remedied". In He Jinshou's view, he does not believe that the West will be richer and stronger than the **** Shangguo, with political and religious cultivation and intellectual victory, and Guo Songtao, who is so boastful of the West, is no longer a courtier of the Qing Dynasty! He Jinshou really deserves to be called Hanlin, and the poison of his words and the ruthlessness of his shots are very human.

He Jinshou's ginseng is another poisonous arrow shot at Guo Songtao. Guo Songtao, who had just arrived as the minister, was full of enthusiasm and reported in detail to the imperial court the plain and objective account of what he saw, discussed, and felt along the way, so that the people could have a better understanding of the world, but he did not expect to be impeached by He Jinshou in this way, and under such a vicious attack, it was not only Guo Songtao himself who was hit, but also a ruthless ravage of China's advanced scholars and doctors who were deeply aware of the crisis.

In response to He Jinshou's rampant attack, the Westernists felt threatened and began to fight back. In the midst of opposition from the government and the opposition, Li Hongzhang expressed his support for Guo Songtao's "Chronicles of the West". After Guo Songtao went abroad, Li Hongzhang corresponded closely with him. In a letter to Guo Songtao, Li Hongzhang said that after receiving his "Xinghai Diary" from the Prime Minister's Yamen, he "read it again and again" and praised him for "discussing the facts, which is better than Hong Taoshi's "Diary of the West", which can be said to have broadened his horizons. In an official letter to Prime Minister Yamen, Li Hongzhang bluntly said: "Although the scale of Western politics and religion has not been there, I have been paying attention to the consultation and study for several or two decades, and I have also heard a little outline." He also cited the fact that he and Lin Yizhe broke through many obstacles and overcame all kinds of difficulties to set up foreign affairs. Li Hongzhang and Guo Songtao held grievances: "Although Yunxian is stupid, and foreign affairs are indeed insightful, it is not said that the slander is so bad, if the officials and nobles are cited as a warning, there will be no period of rejuvenation in Middle Earth, and there will be no way to survive in the future, which can be chilling." ”

At about the same time as Li Hongzhang, Lin Yizhe also played "supporting" Guo Songtao. In a letter to Prime Minister Yamen, he very skillfully defended Guo Songtao. Because his relationship with Guo Songtao and his support for Guo Songtao are well known, he first did not directly defend Guo Songtao, but used the mouth of Li Fengbao, the superintendent of the shipmaster students who went to France to learn about the situation of Chinese students studying military affairs in France, to accuse Liu Xihong. Lin Yizhe first emphasized that Li Fengbao's character is reliable: "Supervising Li Fengbao is the most cautious", and when he reported back, he always only reported the study situation of international students and "not others", but in one letter, he reported that British newspapers had always "complained a lot" about Liu Xihong, and he emphasized that Li Fengbao "spoke a lot of subtlety, but he also saw a little bit of it." Then he talked about his views on Guo and Liu: "In all fairness, Guo Shilang is excellent in character and learning, and he can't help but be stubborn in his discussions. Liu Jingqing is polite, and his experience is too shallow. Its short and long see each other, forgive in the candlelight. Moreover, he reminded Prime Minister Yamen: "However, the responsibility for the Dian case is extremely heavy at present," and "the British have not yet spoken." The British press "has a lot of criticism" about Liu, which is in stark contrast to the British's "lack of words" about Guo. In the end, he tactfully but clearly put forward his own suggestion: "Now that Liu Jingqing has passed away, the General Administration can send a letter of condolences to calm his mind." If he did not send a deputy envoy and instructed Guo Shilang to negotiate the murder of Liu Jingqing, then Wei Tuoma must restrain his words and deeds in the Dian case, and the effect of the opposite system can be obtained. ”

With the strong support of Li Hongzhang and Lin Yizhe, and the protection of Prince Gong Yixin, who presided over the premier's yamen, and Wen Xiang, the minister of military aircraft, Guo Songtao was not only not deposed, but received "warm condolences" and the power to "negotiate the Dian case cheaply".

But what Guo Songtao never expected was that the most ruthless slash to his back was his old friend Wang Minyun!

Guo Songtao and Wang Minyun are both Hunan celebrities, the two met in their early years, became friends in the New Year, and have discussed academics together many times, but since Guo Songtao was enthusiastic about foreign affairs, Wang Minyun, who adhered to the moral bottom line of "Yixia Defense", went to the opposite side of Guo Songtao.

Wang Minyun first ridiculed Guo Songtao, he wrote in "Xiangqilou Diary": "I heard that Guo Songtao and Liu Xihong went to the West and took the order to England. After the premier yamen published Guo Songtao's "Chronicles of the West", Wang Minyun commented: "...... Reading "The Chronicle of the West", what I saw in the record was extremely exaggerated, and he praised its wealth and strength, which was beyond China's reach. Song Tao was called since the year before last, that is, the Qing Dynasty was cheap, last year Yi people to Changsha, will build the Catholic Church, its villagers to Song Tao Lord also, the group wants to burn their home, the value of Hunan Township test, almost to the boycott of the examination, this book out, and the trade yamen for the publication, all flesh and blood, all teeth. …… Recently, it was rumored that Yunxian Yilianyun was 'out of its kind, outstanding, and not allowed in the world of Yao Shun. If you can't help people, you can do ghosts, so why go to the state of your parents. 'Yunxian came out late, and with this slanderous name, Hunan was ashamed to be with him. …… Reading Yunxian's overseas diary, it has become a foreign poison! ”

And when the "in the court" gossip officials impeached Guo Songtao one after another, Wang Minyun, who was "in the opposition", was not willing to be lonely, and according to the rumors obtained from the "Declaration", he publicly criticized Guo Songtao.

Wang Minyun's list of Guo Songtao's charges are:

First, "slandering current politics to the British, saying that China will become India and will be annexed to Britain and Russia";

second, he was "particularly intimate" with the British, "commanded each other to fight like enemies", and "was bent on flattering outsiders and being despised by the British";

Third, the foreigner is still right, and said, "I am the system of the king of time";

Fourth, "if the name of the deputy envoy is included in the fold, the word Qincha will be erased";

Fifth, to foreigners, "show humility and courtesy to seek pleasure, and no longer care about the national system";

Sixth, the well-dressed behavior imitates foreigners, such as learning from foreigners to use foreign umbrellas, holding drama lists, pointing at cases, serving guests with silver plates and silver cans to hold sugar and cheese, wearing Western clothes, and so on, "not ashamed of forgetting the original".

Seventh, let the concubine learn foreign languages, socialize everywhere, and corrupt the Chinese boudoir religion;

Eighth, when meeting with the British Foreign Secretary, "often behind closed doors, I don't know what to talk about";

Wang Minyun made a detailed move, and listed the eight major crimes in one breath, and there was a great tendency to put Guo Songtao to death and then hurry up. Among the eight major crimes, the facts may be distorted, such as articles 1 and 2; or deliberately fabricating a crime, as in Article 3; or do not understand diplomatic etiquette, such as Article 6; or make a big fuss, as in Article 7; or malicious slander, as in Article 8.

What Wang Minyun said is really a ridiculous statement full of paper to confuse the public, and even to the extent that there is no excuse for the crime he wants to add, which is the most sinister poisonous arrow. The reason why Wang Minyun is like this is nothing more than to take the opportunity to show his prominence, gain the appreciation of the old-fashioned ministers of the DPRK and China, and re-become an official. After Guo Songtao learned the news, he immediately understood Wang Minyun's intentions, which also made Guo Songtao feel that Wang Minyun "can also be described as a vicious and dangerous thief in the world", and Wang Minyun became the most hated person in Guo Songtao's life.

Although he was scolded by the conservative diehards in the government and the opposition, Guo Songtao felt great comfort that the imperial court did not waver in its trust in him. Soon, the imperial court sent a telegram of condolences: "...... The waiter is sincere and tireless, and he is hereby commended. While comforting Guo Songtao, the telegram once again emphasized: "The murder of the deputy envoy must be strictly negotiated with the British, and will not be tolerated in a slightest", and pointed out as if hintingly, "Ma Jiali is just a translator of the British envoy, because of the harm of the border people, Wei Tu Mayou is endless, and he is extremely punishing Yunnan Fu, dismissing the cardinal, and demanding compensation to open the port again." My envoy, patrolling on behalf of the Son of Heaven, is his status compared to Margaret, isn't it more than Mount Tai? In the back, Guo Songtao was even reminded: "The former Lin Yizhe was assassinated in France, although there were only servants who died, I especially wanted to arrest the murderer and claim compensation, but now that the envoy has been killed, it must not be easy to do." Guo Songtao, who received the telegram, naturally understood it, completely let go of the bad mood caused by the wanton impeachment of the old domestic officials, and wholeheartedly launched negotiations with the British on the issue of Liu Xihong's murder.

When Wei Tuoma, who was far away in Yantai, learned the news, he immediately felt that something was wrong.

"I think your plan to negotiate with the Chinese is just not likely to come true." Rear Admiral Ryder, commander of the British Far East Fleet (i.e., the "Chinese Fleet"), looked at Wittoma and said.

"Nope! Not to that point yet! Wittoma waved her arms in rage, "These are two events, they can't be mixed up!" ”

"But it's pretty obvious." Rydel spread his hands and made a helpless expression, "We have a translator dead, and the Chinese have died a minister—in the eyes of the Chinese, he is the representative of the emperor." If we claim so many rights from the Chinese because of the death of a translator, what will the Chinese in turn demand from the imperial government? When they know about the conditions we are proposing, will they make more demands on the Imperial Government? ”

"It's possible." Wei Tuma nodded calmly, but he still said: "The Chinese do not have the courage to make conditions to the imperial government, because they are not as strong as us. We need not worry about the killing of the Chinese minister in London, we need to use our fleet to bring the Chinese to their knees. ”