The originally appointed negotiators were headed by Zhang Shaoquan and co-organized by King Qing and Na Qinxuan. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Xu Jingcheng, who was proficient in foreign affairs in the imperial court, agile and capable, was beheaded, and Zhang Yinheng was executed, resulting in the withering of diplomatic talents. Although Na Qinxuan is smart, he is not a capable member in diplomacy, and he has a sudden illness because of the change of seasons. Zhang Shaoquan is very old, and he has a sense of powerlessness, and if he doesn't adjust Zhao Guanhou, there is no one available.

However, he broke the Cossack cavalry on the road, made a mortal enmity with the foreigners, and when he went to Beijing, Yuqing was worried that he would be killed, so he stopped it with one force. Cuiyu also said urgently: "This is absolutely impossible." The Tiele people are so savage, when they meet, they must use force. The lord can't go, he can't go on adventures. ”

"Don't worry, the capital is not one country, but eight countries. Countries restrain each other and restrain each other, and it is not something that the Tiele people can do whatever they want. Besides, I didn't enter Beijing by myself, but I also had to lead the troops. Even if they tried to kill me, it wouldn't be that easy. If we don't go to Beijing, it's not easy to talk about those captives, and it's not a way for more than 500 foreigners to eat and live in our place for nothing, so we have to let them redeem them with benefits. Cuiyu, do you want to go to Beijing with me to meet Zhang Juexiang, and Yuqing, you can go to Beijing with me to see my father-in-law. ”

Yuqing snorted, "What, aren't you angry at this time?" ”

"Who says not to be angry? I'm so angry that tonight, neither of you will try to escape, but give me a fire." ”

Cuiyu moved the brazier away, and when she came back, she saw that Yuqing had been held down by Zhao Guanhou, although she was struggling with punching and kicking there, she couldn't escape. She shook her head and said, "If you don't even eat, you eat people first, it's true." ”

At dawn the next day, the wind and snow had stopped, and Zhao Guanhou had not been standing in front of the door for a long time, and the palace called him up. After the meeting, I asked about the negotiation. Cixi did not give a direct order, but said in the form of inquiry: "What do you think yourself, I want to listen." If you feel risky, you don't have to go. There are still many errands to be done in the court, and you can't take risks. ”

"Lafayette rest assured, the minister is sure, first, they may not have bad intentions, and second, even if they have, they can't catch the minister. As a minister, it is his duty to share worries for the country, and this time the minister is willing to go to the capital to help the prime minister handle the negotiations. ”

Cixi nodded with joy on his face, "Loyal minister, this is loyal minister." Doing things for the country, risking your own life, this is the real loyalty! Guanhou, don't worry, I won't let you risk it alone and take a battalion of soldiers with you. In Baoding, there are also four battalions of our new army stationed, which can call you. If the foreigner has a bad idea, you just have to do it, and we don't have to lose money. ”

"The Queen Mother can rest assured that the ministers will complete the negotiations and live up to the grace of God."

"There's no need to rush to leave, there's one thing to do, and it's not too late to leave when it's done." Cixi pondered for a moment and said: "The foreigners ask for the culprit to be punished, this matter cannot be delayed, Zhang Shaoquan has said it a few times, but it can't be done." The culprits of the foreigners are the Chengyi brothers, Chengxun, Xu Tong, Ganglie, Zhao Shu, Li Bingheng, and Yuxian. Among these people, most of them are gone, and the ones who are alive now are Cheng Lian, Cheng Lan, plus one Zhao Shu. Chenglian's two minions, even if there is no foreigner's business, they will not be able to escape justice. But Zhao Shu ...... It's a pity, his sin deserves to die. ”

What was the situation that day, Cixi knew best, Zhao Shu was the one who was coerced, and he couldn't make decisions for many reasons. It's just that the foreigner refuses to let go, even if she has the heart to preserve, she is powerless to save her. Now the foreigners not only demand that these ministers be punished, but also demand that the two palaces return to Luang, and if they do not return to Luang, many peace treaties will not agree to be signed.

Cixi saw very clearly that it was false to let himself return to Luan, and when the time came, in the name of the pilgrimage, it was probably true that he would be forced to return to power. Of these, Prussia's attitude was the clearest. Wadexi said that the premise of the peace negotiation is to punish the culprit, and it also depends on whether the power of the two houses has been sidelined. If it has been sidelined, the representatives sent to the peace conference will not be qualified to negotiate.

This seems to be a suspicion that the two palaces have been held hostage by the ministers, and they are not in charge, but in fact it refers to the power of the emperor and the hands of the queen mother.

Naturally, it is not possible to return to Luan, and the punishment of the culprit must be done, and only in this way can we further negotiate with the foreigners. King Zhuang had already been sentenced to exile, and the others were in Jinan. Cixi said: "Zhao Shu is loyal, I have to let him say goodbye to his family, you also stay in Jinan for a few days, wait until Zhao Shu is on the road, and then take his head into Beijing It is not too late." ”

Out of the line, and run to the political yamen, Yuan Weiting and Zhang Renjun co-office here, the two are sworn brothers, there is no problem in official affairs. Although there is news that Zhao Guanhou may set up his own door, Yuan Weiting's performance is much more atmospheric than Zeng Wenzheng at the beginning, and after meeting, he still treats him as a relative, and he has no precautions. did not take this opportunity to accept Zhao Guanhou's military power, on the contrary, he allocated a large amount of money to handle the aftermath of the compensation of the fallen soldiers, as well as the treatment of wounded soldiers.

Even the weapons and equipment that Zhao Guanhou transported to Shandong from the Xigu arsenal, Yuan Weiting and Zhao Guanhou also paid three or seven accounts, and thirty percent of the ordnance was allocated in full and was not deducted. The two met, and the place where the two met was in the small flower hall of the Buzheng Yamen, and there was no one else in the room, and the two could talk secretly. After recounting the incident in Beijing, Yuan Weiting said:

"Negotiations must be done, and the war cannot be fought forever. These foreigners are holding the two palaces and want to force the queen mother to hand over power, but this thing will never be done. As you know, the Emperor has a knot in my heart, and if he regains his authority, it will be no good for us. ”

"Brother-in-law, don't worry, the younger brother understands the importance of this. If the foreigner says that the heavens are broken, I will not let the Queen Mother hand over the authority back. Even if this world is sparse, it is also the country of the Wanyan family. If the Son of Heaven gains power, it will harm the interests of our group, which will never be done. ”

After Emperor Tianyou arrived in Shandong, his attitude towards Yuan Weiting did not change, and he was still cold-faced and resentful. In addition, some news in the palace also made Yuan Weiting very uneasy. It is said that the emperor's greatest hobby was to draw turtles on paper, then write the name of Yuan Weiting and shoot them with a bow and arrow.

This is Xiao Dezhang personally dictated, I don't think there will be any mistakes, he hates Yuan Weiting so deeply, regaining power, and there is no good fruit for Yuan Weiting to eat. Although Zhao Guanhou's words were very rebellious, Yuan Weiting was very useful when he heard it

"It is enough to say this in front of our own people, but we must not mention it outside, otherwise it will be a sin to kill our heads. The foreigners wanted the emperor to take power, but they decided that Lafayette was hostile to the foreigners, and as long as they made this matter clear, they would back down. And if you want them to understand that the Queen Mother's attitude towards foreigners has changed, she has to show sincerity. ”

"Three relatives and nobles, the life of one Zhongtang, is enough to be considered sincere."

"That's right, I didn't expect the Queen Mother to spend a lot of money this time, kill three clan ministers in one go, and kill another Zhongtang, foreigners can no longer be recognized, then I have to fight with them. In addition to handling negotiations, another thing you need to do when you enter Beijing this time is to get to know more people. After the foreigners retreat, we Dajin must train the new army, and today, there is no justice, only force. Whoever is strong in force is the truth. If you want to have force, you have to train the new army, and the training of troops is inseparable from silver, equipment, and instructors. These three things, in the final analysis, mostly fall on foreigners. Therefore, it is beneficial for us to know more foreigners, but remember, you must not damage the court to marry foreigners, and the rest are at your disposal. ”

The meaning of this is naturally that you can harm the interests of the imperial court in order to marry foreigners, as long as it is beneficial to your own group, everything else can be. Yuan Weiting took over this time, and Zhao Guanhou saved Han Rong's children, and he was the minister of Beiyang and the leader of the Xinjiang ministers. What I want now is to pave the way for future development, and by the way, push the people in my group to a high position as much as possible.

He is different from Zeng Wenzheng's thinking, and he is not afraid of his subordinates getting positions, according to him, he will be able to get the loyalty of his subordinates if he is united by kindness and righteousness. No matter what position they are in, they can handle it. Not only did he not exclude the expansion of Zhao Guanhou's military group, but he also used Xu Ju to enter the cabinet and use him to contain Zhai Hongji.

There is a military plane from Hanlin who was born in Hanlin and has a good relationship with him, presumably Yuan Weiting is also deeply distressed, and only thinks about training into an army and confronting each other with military power. Zhao Guanhou wrote them down one by one, and Yuan Weiting sent him another 30,000 taels of silver tickets, asking him to bring himself to King Qing as a New Year's tribute.

When he got out of the political yamen, Zhao Guanhou did not return to his home, and went straight to the prisoner of war camp in Jinan.

The so-called prisoner of war camp was actually converted from a small school yard, and the more than 500 prisoners of war captured by Tiele were all imprisoned here, except for the Cossacks, all of whom were beheaded. In the camp, the prisoners of war were divided into several groups, one was the children of the nobility who were mainly members of the Guards Lancer Company, and among them were divided into relatives and distant relatives. The other part was a group of the sons and daughters of the landlords and squires of the Guards cuirassiers and hussar battalions, and finally a group of ordinary soldiers and gray cattle.

The construction of the new palace in Jinan is nearing completion, and the reason why it is progressing smoothly is inseparable from the efforts of these laborers. Hundreds of free laborers, without any labor security, are engaged in heavy manual labor every day under the supervision of supervisors. Among them, the group of children of the nobility only provided technical support, including drawing, engineering guidance, and even debated over whether a building should be beautiful or in harmony with the overall building, and what color should be used for painting.

The gentry group served as overseers, and the specific work was still carried out by the local laborers of Shandong and those gray livestock. Since it was the Tiele people who supervised the work of the Tiele people, no matter what means were used, the observer missions of various countries could not accuse it of being inhumane, but could only call it an internal affair of Tieler. In fact, the efficiency of these Tiele overseers is far higher than that of the Han overseers, and even the Han overseers are a little frightened when they wield leather whips at their compatriots, and they can't help but discuss: These Tiele people are really ruthless.

Now that the project is about to be completed, these people have no work to do, so they are locked up in prisoner of war camps and waiting for the next step. As soon as Zhao Guanhou arrived, the supervisor immediately came up with a smile on his face to give a salute, and Zhao Guanhou pointed inside and asked, "How is it, it's nothing, right?" ”

"Your Excellency, we have a battalion of brothers guarding here, what can we do. Besides, as you commanded, prepare liquor for the leaders of the gang, and give them some meat for five days, and Tiele Daleba to supply, and each one is more honest than his grandson. If anyone acts rashly, without our action, those companions will take the initiative to report and denounce them, and they are more reliable than their own people. The poorest Tiele people usually can't eat enough in the army, but this time they can eat enough in our place, and I'm afraid they won't be able to catch up if they want to. ”

"If you do a good job, you want this layer." Zhao Guanhou nodded approvingly, and walked to the first house in the corner of the prisoner of war camp. It was a single room with only one prisoner of war. The prisoner of war was in his early thirties, tall and burly, with a meticulously trimmed golden beard, a shirt, trousers, and even gold threads on the cuffs and necklines. If it weren't for the environment, almost no one would think that this was a prisoner, just a tourist who came here to relax and relax.

In front of the prisoner of war, there was a grilled steak, and in a goblet, there was half a glass of wine. Zhao Guanhou walked into the room, and the prisoner of war got up and gave a military salute, "Your Excellency, Commander, welcome to you, I really didn't expect you to come and have lunch with me so soon after I sent out the invitation." ”

Zhao Guanhou looked at him and said with a smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Seryosha, the commander of the second company of the hussar battalion. As far as I know, your father was a Count, and if you had not been taken prisoner, there was a good chance that you would have become an Earl in the future. For a future earl, do you find our hospitality too shabby? ”

"No...... That's good, except for too little wine, there are no other blemishes. You know, even in Tessie, there are not many gentlemen like you, and in my opinion you are as great as Saladin. Of course, it would be nice if you could give me more wine. ”

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, you called me here, and the only request is this? If that's the case, all I can say is that you should report directly to the officer in charge of this makeshift camp, who will report to you......"

"No, I have some other things to discuss with you." Seryosha took over: "I know that negotiations are going on, and the exchange of prisoners of war will be implemented soon, right?" Those of us can't stay in Shandong all the time. Until then, I hope you can do me a favor...... You know, I shouldn't have bothered you so much. After all, it's not polite enough. I actually wanted to do it myself, but your camp management system is too strict for me to have a chance to do it. ”

Zhao Guanhou was a little embarrassed to see him talking and sneered: "During the construction of the palace, there was an accident on the construction site. Originally, this was a very common thing, but what was unusual was that it did not happen to the construction personnel, but to the engineering surveyors, which is too unusual. A pillar fell suddenly, and if it weren't for the luck of Commander Mihai, he would have broken not one leg, but his entire head. And you, as his cousin and his only relative in the camp, should visit him. It's just that you're always trying to get him to eat something of unknown origin, and that's weird. For example, we all know that some mysterious minerals are not beneficial to his health and recovery, unless the medicine of your country is different from ours. ”

Alyosha smiled awkwardly, "Well, Your Excellency, Commander, you are more shrewd than I thought, I can't fool Your Excellency." I'll be honest with you, I'm here today to discuss this matter with you. You see, Mihai broke his leg by a pillar, fractured, crushed. He can already say goodbye to his military life, I know, he is a real soldier, a person who takes pleasure in fighting on the battlefield, and it is more uncomfortable to let him leave the battlefield than to let him die, in that case, why can't we let him free from the pain? (To be continued.) )