At that time, the British minister Wei Tuma was entangled in the issue of Li Zhenguo's letter, and in addition to the lion's big mouth asking for benefits, Cen Yuying's crime must be cured, which once made Cen Yuying tremble.

A month later, Li Xiaoquan and Xue Huan reported the final conclusion of the investigation and handling of the Yunnan case to the imperial court, confirming that it was the "savages" who killed Ma Jiali and stopped Bai Lang's "rescue team" in the deep mountains and dense forests on the Yunnan-Burma border. During the interrogation of the minister, the British Embassy Counsellor Gwener, who had sent his attaché to observe, said in his report to Wittoma that the conclusions of Li Xiaoquan and others were not true, and that Wittoma had made great trouble about the Dian case itself. As early as after the occurrence of the Yunnan case, he repeatedly and arbitrarily insisted that the case was instigated by Li Zhenguo, the commander of the left battalion of the Yunnan army, and his purpose was to say that the incident had a direct relationship with the local government of Qianguo. Previously, he roared to Prime Minister Yamen many times: "The root cause of Ma Jiali's killing and Bai Lang's obstruction is that the officials in the imperial court are all concerned about the outside world, so Li Zhenguo is in accordance with the constitution, and Cen Yuying is in accordance with the order. "demanded" that Cen Yuying and all officials and criminals must be brought to Beijing for interrogation; Li Xiaoquan and Xue Huan investigated and handled the case falsely, and they should also be punished together." "If the country does not do so, the state is willing to let itself take the blame and bring great calamity upon itself." Its arrogance has reached new heights. By the end of May, in addition to continuing to dwell on the Dian case itself, Wei Tuma once again inquired about practical measures for preferential treatment of ministers and rectification of taxation. At this time, Premier Yamen had already received Li Shaoquan's report and Lin Yizhe's handling strategy for the case, and categorically refused a series of unreasonable demands such as bringing Cen Yuying and others to Beijing for interrogation. In order to achieve his own goal, Wittoma summarized the previous requirements. Listed as eight. He proposed to Prime Minister Yamen that this would be a quid pro quo for exempting Cen Yuying and others from being sent to Beijing. It was also categorically rejected by Prime Minister Yamen.

In order to induce the Qianguo government to agree, Wei Tuoma adjusted the requirements, saying that the issue of preferential treatment of ministers was not included in the eight articles for the time being, and the important requirements were: 1. Prime Minister Yamen should explain the occurrence of the Dian case and the investigation and handling of the ministers, and explain why the British envoys could not accept the conclusion of the investigation, and before the performance, the folded draft should be read by the British envoys; 2. The preceding paragraph and the corresponding edict shall be included in the notice and posted throughout the country. For a period of two years, British officials may at any time request to be accompanied by officials of the cadre to inspect the postings; 3. If a case involving the life or property of a British person occurs in the interior of the country, Britain may send personnel to observe the trial; 4. The Yunnan authorities should be ordered to send personnel to cooperate with British officials to investigate the situation of border trade in Yunnan Province and to negotiate trade regulations; 5. Britain may send consuls to Dali or other places in Yunnan to inspect trade for a period of five years; The same is true in Chongqing; 6. Dry businessmen and foreign businessmen can apply for tax stamps (half tax bills); Qianguo must open more ports along the coast, along the river, and along the lake, such as Dagushan, Yuezhou, Yichang, Anqing, Wuhu, Nanchang, Wenzhou, Beihai, Shuidong, etc.; If the Qianguo agrees to these demands, Britain is willing to negotiate an adjustment of the opium import tax; If the Qianguo agrees to exempt the "mouth boundary", Britain will also allow the Qianguo to increase taxes through an international agreement; 7. After the above six articles are stipulated, the envoys of the Qianguo State shall go to England, and the letter of state shall state that they regret the Dian case; The letters of state must first be read by the British envoy; 8. The compensation shall include the bereavement of Margaret's family, the compensation for the losses of Berlang, the dispatch of troops by India to escort Berlang, etc., and the dispatch of British troop ships, the total amount of which shall be determined by the British Government. In the ensuing negotiations. Wittoma offered to pay 200,000 taels of silver (not including the dispatch of the warships). Clearly, these eight articles further concretize the requirements of Britain for many years in relation to trade interests. But Prime Minister Yamen still unceremoniously refused. In addition, Liu Xihong, the deputy envoy of the Qianguo State to Britain, was assassinated in London, and the prime minister's yamen sternly questioned Wei Tuoma, and then put forward a demand for countermeasures. Wei Tuma refused and threatened to return to China, but Prime Minister Yamen ignored it. Angry as a result, he left Beijing and went to Tianjin, while Prime Minister Yamen pushed the boat to let Li Shaoquan, the governor of Zhili, be in charge of negotiating with Wittoma.

Unwilling to break off negotiations with Beijing, he sent his secretary Mei Huili to the Prime Minister's Yamen to discuss the wording of two documents, one of the eight demands mentioned above, and the second of a note inviting ministers to discuss commercial matters. Mei Huili said that the amount of money should be determined by the British government, and that "whether it is a thousand, or as little as tens of thousands, or as many as millions or tens of millions, the intervention state must agree to it, and there is no negotiability". Of course, the Qianguo side will not allow it, and the talks broke up unhappily. Subsequently, Wei Tuma again mentioned that Cen Yuying would be sent to Beijing, and he also sent a note to Prime Minister Yamen, overturning all the agreements reached through the previous negotiations. At this point, the negotiations between Wei Tuma and the Daqian Center finally broke down.

He was so arrogant and unbridled because he firmly believed that he had seen that the government of the Great Qian Empire did not dare to resolutely resist his blackmail, and that the prime minister, Yamen, was only giving in to him step by step, unwilling to submit all at once. But what he didn't expect was that Prime Minister Yamen showed an unusually tough attitude this time. After he left Beijing, the Qianguo government informed Li Shaoquan to make a settlement with him in Tianjin. Li Shaoquan once expressed his retention to Wei Tuma, but Wei Tuma said that "there is nothing to discuss in the Dian case except for Tijing" and "he is unwilling to discuss in Tianjin"; However, he did not close the possibility of further talks, claiming that "if he does not believe in Zhongtang, he will not be able to trust the Prime Minister's Yamen." If the Qianguo government sends "ministers with full powers and cheap actions" to Shanghai to make more concessions to him, there is still room for negotiations. Wittoma then left Tianjin and headed south. Li Shaoquan is no longer retained.

The sabotage of the negotiations in Beijing was reported to London, and at a time when Britain was in an international crisis on the Turkish issue, British military power must first be subordinated to the needs of the situation, so the British Foreign Secretary Derby strongly expressed in his instructions to Wittoma that he "very much hoped that the Yunnan issue would be resolved as soon as possible", which in fact set the limits of Wittoma's actions. However, on the outside, Wei Tuma still pretended to be tough, and he continued to intimidate the center of the Daqian court through Hurd. After his meeting with Wittoma, Hurd wrote to Li Shaoquan: "Listening to the tone of the Minister of Wei, Britain really sees this matter as very important, and I am afraid that it will not be easy to settle it by power. He also said: "The situation in the West is now changing in Turkey, and the British court is willing to take this opportunity to make other countries understand." The power of the country is capable of being the master of the West. and in the east, they could use their troops. Feel free to do whatever you want. The letter also named Li Shaoquan to go to Yantai for talks with Wei Tuma, but before leaving, "he must be given the order to act cheaply with full authority" and "he must have new ideas, and he must be generous in handling business matters." Only then can a consensus be reached. The letter also said that going to Yantai for negotiations is "the end of the road, and if we do not follow this discussion, there is really no other way to make peace." Implication. If you don't do that, you will only be subject to British force!

After learning that things had come to this point, Cen Yuying could be said to be extremely frustrated.

In his opinion, the imperial court will definitely give in to the threat of force from the British, and it is simply certain that he will be dismissed and questioned.

But what he didn't expect was that things then took an unexpected turn.

Seeing that the Qianguo government did not buy it, Wittoma was furious, and he believed that only by using military means could the Qianguo be subdued, so he said that the commander of the British Far East Fleet, Ryder, and the commander of the East India Fleet, Gillett, would send a fleet to the sea of Tianjin to assemble. "Military exercises" were used to demonstrate Britain's strong force and force the country to submit.

The build-up of the British fleet caused great unease in the imperial court. During the exercise of the British fleet, in the face of the provocation of the British, Deng Zhengqing, the commander of the cruiser "Princess Peshuo" of the Beiyang Naval Division, raised the banner of "this ship is out of order" and deliberately rammed the British ship "Otissa," forcing the British ship to flee in confusion and causing the British Navy to lose face.

After learning that Wei Tuma had gone so far as to mobilize a fleet to Tianjin to blackmail Qianguo in the name of an exercise, foreign newspapers, whether it was France's "Paris Times" or the United States' "New York Times," praised the weak Qianguo navy for challenging the powerful British fleet, and even the British's own "Times" paid tribute to the heroic performance of Deng Zhengqing, the captain of the Qianguo, saying that it was the embodiment of the "Nelson spirit" in the East, while they were extremely contemptuous and sarcastic for the cowardly performance of the captain of the "Odisha " Coles. This incident directed by Wei Tuma not only did not achieve the expected goal, but had a very bad opposite effect.

As a result of Wittoma's insistence, Britain was in an unprecedented position of diplomatic isolation. At the very beginning, when the news of the Tianjin peace talks came out, it attracted the attention of other countries. During the meeting, the envoys of Russia, the United States, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Spain gathered in Tianjin under the pretext of "summer vacation" to closely follow the progress of the Qian-British talks. Over the past few months, Wittoma has formed estrangement and discord with other countries on the issue of interference and coercion, and the more he stresses that he will not allow other countries to interfere in his affairs, the more he shows that he has concerns about the overt or covert interference of other countries. As a matter of fact, at this time, US Minister Xihua repeatedly expressed his willingness to mediate with the Qianguo, and the envoys of Germany, Russia, Austria, and other countries also made similar expressions. Although they did not offer any positive means of mediation, this expression itself provided Li Shaoquan with an opportunity to "liaise with the envoys, so that he (the British envoys) could help the party and make public criticism", and Wittoma knew that if an agreement was not reached quickly, there was no interest in himself and the British. In addition, another event in the foreign relations of the Qianguo at that time also played an unexpected role in stimulating the negotiations, that is, the Qiande Treaty was revised. As early as 9073, the newly formed German Empire made a request to revise the 9061 treaty, but Germany did not take further action at that time. In May 9075, when Wittoma's coercion of the Qianguo was at its peak, the German minister to Qian, Barland, put forward a specific request for the revision of the treaty, focusing on the opening of ports and the expansion of other trade rights. During the Qianying negotiations in Tianjin, Barand took another opportunity to tell Li Shaoquan: "Trade and trade are all things to do,...... In the future, if it can be agreed (with Britain), Germany will revise the treaty as soon as it is implemented, and there is no need to start anew." This is tantamount to supporting Britain in exerting joint pressure on the dry country on the issue of opening additional ports. At the same time, while taking a hard line against Britain, Li Shaoquan also considered that in the future, Germany would "revise the treaty and add words, and it will certainly be handled according to the British agreement." He believed that if he could reject the blackmail of the British, it would be "a plan to kill two birds with one stone" and that he would be tougher with his attitude toward Britain. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Germans also learned that the British did not intend to share the rights and interests they had gained from the Qianguo with other countries in the Margaret incident; in fact, the course of the Qian-British negotiations led by Wittoma had clearly exposed Britain's estrangement from other powers on the Qian-related issue, and therefore the Tianjin talks this time became a sign of the end of the so-called "cooperation policy" of the Qian-China powers. Russia, the United States, France, Germany, and other countries took for granted that the new rights and interests that the Qianguo might grant to Britain should be "equalized," and they were very disgusted by Weituma's practice of abandoning them and acting arbitrarily in the negotiations with the Qianguo. The envoys of these countries treated with a cold and wait-and-see attitude towards the note sent by the government of the Qianguo country to Wei Toma not to regard him as a negotiating opponent. And when Wittoma issued a threat of war to the Qianguo. The French government was the first to express its "concern". Naturally, Russia, the United States, and Germany were not willing to be lonely and issued similar statements. As a matter of fact, they have already begun to consider uniting against Britain in exchange for the goodwill of the Qianguo and the expansion of their business rights in Qian.

After British Prime Minister Disraeli was impeached and resigned by Congress, Foreign Secretary Derby and other cabinet members also resigned one after another, and Gladstone was elected as the new British Prime Minister. It was replaced by Fu Lei, counselor stationed in the cadre.

Along with Wittoma, the commander of the British Far East Fleet (known as the "Dry Fleet"), Rydel was dismissed.

After being dismissed, Wei Tuma was not reconciled, and sent telegrams to the British government one after another, stressing the importance of negotiating with Qianguo and opening more ports for trade, and asking the British government to resolutely oppose Lin Yizhe's intervention. However, the British Government had lost interest in his proposal, and only wanted to put an end to the diplomatic turmoil caused by the Margaret and Liu Xihong incidents as soon as possible, so as to free up its hands to deal with Russia, which was on the verge of revolting because of the crisis in the Turkish Straits.

After repeated "friendly consultations" with Fu Lei, Fu Lei asked the British government for approval. An agreement was reached with the Qianguo side on the aftermath of the "Dian case": the Qianguo side compensated and compensated Ma Jiali's family with a total of 50,000 taels of silver, and sentenced 26 murderers to behead Ma Jiali (in fact, some death row prisoners were found. Because they were all "killed in prison", this item was dismissed), Li Zhenguo, Jiang Zonghan and other local military and political officials involved in the case in Yunnan were dismissed, and Cen Yuying, who was still the governor of Yunnan at the time, was dismissed and returned to his hometown in the name of "Ding Wei" (Ding Wei was reinstated after the expiration of Ding Wei's term). With regard to trade in Yunnan, the two sides agreed that all the extortion conditions previously proposed by Wei Tuma would be nullified, and negotiations would be resumed after the joint dispatch of personnel to explore the trade situation on the Yunnan border.

Cen Yuying was actually very grateful to Lin Yizhe for successfully ending the Dian case that year, but he did not deeply learn the lessons of the Dian case, and a few years later, he relapsed.

And this time, it was the late Lin Yizhe's brother Lin Yiqing who came to clean up this mess on the orders of the imperial court, just like his brother back then.

But this Lin Yiqing behaves completely differently from his brother.

It can be said that it is the first time since the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty that the imperial court can win so many governors at once.

For her crime this time, Cen Yuying actually knows very well what it will be, no matter how it is investigated, it is not a capital crime, but if the Dian case, which brought huge trouble to the imperial court back then and almost met with the British sword soldiers, is rediscovered, and the real role he played in the Dian case back then is traced, then his life is really worried.

It is a great sin to deceive the king!

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