June 28, 1840, the year of Gengzi (the Year of the Rat), the outbreak time of the Sino-British Sino-Japanese War in history, is also the trajectory of history specially arranged by Lin Hong.

Today is the last day of Sino-British negotiations, and in the nearly two months of negotiations, the delegation headed by Zeng Guofan has entered a tug-of-war and basically negotiated the basic text of the treaty, and China has made huge concessions. The contents of the treaty roughly include: 1. China shall surrender its colonies in North America except Columbia, Oregon and California, reduce the number of troops stationed in North American colonies by no more than 10,000, and Britain shall be allowed to enter.

2. China made a commitment to colonial expansion in East Africa and no longer colonized the northern regions. The number of troops stationed in the East African colonies was not to exceed 3,000 and the British were allowed to enter the East African region.

3. China surrenders the Chidaling region in northern India, and Britain will guarantee China's vested interests in the region. The Chinese garrison in Tibet must not exceed the number of British troops in North India.

4. China opened the ports of Pontianak and other Kalimantan islands, and allowed British merchants to enter China's protectorates and vassal states for trade activities.

5. China and the UK renegotiate trade treaties and tariff ratios

Basically, China made huge concessions in colonies, trade, tariffs, etc., and when the initial content of the treaty was reported in the British newspapers, the whole of England was praising China's friendship, and for a time the British stock market rose sharply, and in the eyes of businessmen and citizens, they saw a better life in the future. In particular, businessmen and capitalists celebrated with their crowns, praising the cabinet and praising the prime minister.

Of course, not everyone is a fool and will be deceived, including the Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne and the Duke of Wellington, although the treaty has been basically completed, but as long as it is not signed for one day, the treaty will not take effect, and Melbourne and Wellington will not be at ease.

On this day, Melbourne and Wellington met at the Prime Minister's residence, although the two had political differences, but for the benefit of the British Empire, Wellington took the initiative to find Melbourne.

"The Duke is here for this treaty between China and Britain!" Melbourne lit a cigar and said.

Wellington didn't care about Melbourne's attitude, sat down across from him and said, "Isn't it strange that the Prime Minister doesn't think it's strange?" How can China's existence as the hegemon of the Far East so easily give up vested interests to cheapen us. I believe that the Prime Minister is not one of those small citizens who can only shout in the streets! It seems to me that this treaty is impossible to sign. ”

"I have already put the Empire's armies and fleets on guard in the colonies, and we have received information from China that their troops have not been mobilized except for routine performances in the north and Burma, and I think China will not declare war on our British Empire, after all, the two countries are separated by the Mediterranean Sea and two oceans!"

"Have you forgotten that our Indian territory is in the southwest of China? Since the independence of North America, India has been our lifeline, and India cannot afford to lose. ”

"All we can do now is sit back and wait for the treaty to be signed. May God bless England. Melbourne put down his cigarette and said lightly.

"Oh no, no!" Melbourne's secretary, Bruce, barged in.

"What happened?" Wellington had a sense of foreboding, and hurriedly stood up and asked.

"Prime Minister, Mr. Duke, the Chinese envoy was assassinated at the gates of Hampton Court Palace." Bruce said with a sigh of relief.

"Is it ever dead?" Melbourne asked hurriedly.

"I don't know, but the attendants of the Chinese embassy were seen carrying a man back to the embassy."

"Has the murderer been caught?"

"I was caught, and he was a bankrupt businessman, because his company went bankrupt in China and now has nothing, so he decided to take revenge on China."

"Got it, you get out!" Melbourne said tremblingly.

When Bruce left the room, Melbourne slumped in his chair, smoking his cigar helplessly.

"Melbourne, looks like we're going to get ready." Wellington looked out the window and said firmly and forcefully.

In fact, this assassin was found by Lin Hong at the intelligence of the British station of the European Intelligence Agency, and the background is real. Now in the Chinese embassy, Zeng Guofan is recuperating in bed, although there are no casualties, Zeng Guofan and a military attache are still slightly injured, but everything is worth it in his opinion. Before the operation, the head of the intelligence station told him about the assassination. That's the excuse he's coming.

The reason why the Chinese envoy came with sincerity and friendship was assassinated by the British, and it was with the concessions made by China, was enough to start a war, and now international public opinion is on the side of China.

There is no way to turn around this huge change in Britain. In the end, the British people could only point the finger at the British cabinet. Melbourne came close to stepping down.

At 2 p.m. on June 28, Li Hongzhang, deputy head of the Chinese mission, formally submitted a letter of severance of diplomatic relations to the British government, followed by a deputy envoy Zuo Zongtang to submit a declaration of war, and the Viscount of Melbourne reluctantly accepted the declaration of war. Subsequently, Zeng Guofan took all the personnel of the embassy and the original embassy and overseas Chinese in Britain to France by boat. Visiting European countries is actually going to Europe to seek the suppression of British diplomacy and public opinion by European countries.

Yuanmingyuan, China.

Here, Chinese Emperor Lin Hong and Empress Liu Xiaoyu attended the reception of ambassadors to China in Beijing. In the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, the envoys of various countries lingered and praised China's food and exquisite architecture.

This is the first time Lin Hong and Liu Xiaoyu appeared in public after getting married, they spent their honeymoon in the three years after marriage, and in the past three years, they have traveled all over the north and south of the motherland, and appreciated the scenery of the north and south. It witnessed the transformation of the Chinese Empire from a semi-agricultural and semi-industrial society to an industrial society.

In the Renshou Hall of the Summer Palace, Lin Hong invited envoys to visit various places in the garden. After a while, envoys from various countries arrived one after another.

"Ambassadors, I am in a hurry to find you back, there is really something that needs to be informed to you." Lin Hong sat on the main seat and said.

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor, if you have anything, just say it! I believe in the friendship of France, and we in France will definitely support your country. The French ambassador to China, Etton, glanced at the British ambassador to China, Charles Elo. In recent years, with the deepening of trade between China and France and other European countries, France has paid more and more attention to its relations with China, because Britain has a huge trade fleet, so it has greatly squeezed the trade market of France, Prussia and other countries. Hearing that China had sent a mission to Europe this time, Aitang sent a telegram to China asking for domestic attention.

"Thank you France for your friendship, I will remember it. However, in response to the recent attack on the British mission that I have sent, and the near-death of my special envoy to the mission, Tsang Kuo-fan, I would like to express my anger at Britain's disregard for the friendship between China and Britain, and I can only regret that the war has begun. Lin Hong said helplessly to the ambassadors present.

Then he walked up to Yilu, and faced Yilu, who was in a daze and couldn't accept the facts, Lin Hong patted him on the shoulder and said: "Mr. Ambassador, although China and Britain have started a war, I see your friendship with our country over the years, I promise that you will not be hurt in any way, I have arranged a special train and a ship for you to return home, thank you for your efforts for the friendship between China and Britain over the years." ”――

King Louis Philippe of France had the mentality of watching the war between China and Britain from the other side, of course, he was willing to see the jokes of the British, after all, France had no interests in the Far East, but relied on Chinese trade, so Louis Philippe preferred to support China.

However, because of the conflict between the Dutch colonial interests and China in Southeast Asia, after the news of the declaration of war reached the Netherlands, the Dutch parliament actively responded in support of the British hope to retake the colony of Kalimantan.