The British want to negotiate, and the situation on the Chinese Empire's side is actually no better.

The cost of continuing the war with the British was too high, and although it was impossible to face the risk of complete defeat, there was a price to be paid for the war, and this price was difficult for the Empire to bear.

And when both sides have the intention to negotiate, the diplomats on both sides will begin to negotiate with each other.

What is also interesting here is that the French, in order to support the British in the direction of Asia, have been sending troops north from Nam Gi to launch a new attack on the Kingdom of Vietnam since April.

However, the imperial military reacted quickly, on the one hand, it increased the number of troops stationed in Vietnam, increasing the number of troops stationed in Vietnam from one regiment and two battalions in the past to an entire infantry division, that is, the 27th Infantry Division, with the division headquarters stationed in Hanoi and troops stationed in Hue and other places.

At the same time, officers were sent to directly command the new Vietnamese army in the name of advisers, and although the Nguyen Dynasty of the Kingdom of Vietnam was reluctant in recent years, it was still forced by the empire to expand its army and continue the war with the French.

Over the years, the new army of the Kingdom of Vietnam has been organized into a number of regiment-level and battalion-level troops, composed of two parts, the Royal Guard Army and the New Forbidden Army, with a total strength of about 10,000 people.

Vietnam's new Forbidden Army, under the command of Chinese advisers, faced the French colonial army, and then fought a great victory, annihilating the French army and the French-backed indigenous army of about 3,000 people, including more than 500 French troops.

After this defeat. The French still dared to continue to move north, and the remaining troops fled south. Then a strategic defensive posture was launched, and the Vietnamese New Army and the Chinese Army attacked Nam Ki.

Then the French minister to China made a timely public statement in Shanghai: France is neutral to the recent conflict between China and Britain in Hong Kong. At the same time, it also said that there were no French soldiers fighting with the Chinese Empire in the Hawaiian direction, and only some retired officers volunteered to join the army of King Kalahamiha V of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which had nothing to do with the French official.

This is because the French are afraid that the Chinese will attack Nanqi directly, and they have to make a certain gesture on a diplomatic occasion.

The French are so sensible, the empire will naturally not add another opponent in this dispute, so it is very kind to say that the empire's army will never take the initiative to go south to clash with the French army, and said that if the French are willing to make a certain exchange. The empire could promise to withdraw part of its troops in Vietnam.

In early May, the Empire and France reached an agreement of understanding on Vietnam, in which the Empire promised not to send troops to attack Nanqi on its own initiative, and promised to gradually reduce the number of troops stationed in Vietnam to less than 10,000 men. At the same time, the French also promised not to set foot in areas close to the Chinese border, such as Beiqi, Vietnam.

Of course, this agreement was only a statement, and it had little practical content, and it did not actually settle the war between the French and the Kingdom of Vietnam.

With the deliberate support of the Chinese Empire, the war between the French and the Vietnamese would continue, but the Vietnamese did not have enough ability to counterattack Nanqi. It will also be difficult for the French to move north on a large scale to capture Hue and other places, so the situation in Vietnam will remain at this stage of stalemate.

On May 26, 1866, at the Bund Hotel in Shanghai, China and Britain negotiated the question of Hong Kong. Soon after, the Americans and the French joined the talks, but the negotiations were about Hawaii.

But in this negotiation. The French are just soy sauce makers, and the Americans just care about Hawaii. However, due to the fact that the international status of the United States is quite low, it can be said that in the contemporary international environment. The international status of the Chinese Empire is higher than that of the United States, and in the eyes of contemporary Europeans, the United States is actually a colonial country, and the development of the industrial economy of the contemporary United States is far less than that of the early 20th century, so in all respects, in fact, the international influence of the United States is very limited.

On the other hand, although the Chinese Empire did not have a high international status before, with the establishment of the Chinese Empire and a series of industrial revolutions, the victory of the Second Opium War and the victory of the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary, it can be regarded as once again showing the muscles of the ancient empire in front of the world.

At the same time, the Chinese Empire did not close the sea and the country like the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but opened up with an attitude, supported industry and commerce, and actively engaged in international trade, which was a good thing for the Western world led by Britain.

It is good to know that with the rise of the empire in recent years, the trade volume between China and Britain has increased year by year, and it is not only the Chinese Empire that has benefited here, but also the United Kingdom and other Western countries.

When such an ancient empire actively integrates into world trade and carries out industrial and commercial reforms, it is of great benefit to the overall development of the world.

If nothing else, China's huge market with a population of tens of thousands is a source of covetousness for businessmen in many Western countries.

At present, although the empire's share of global trade is still limited, its overall share is rising steadily and rapidly, and the innate advantages of the ancient civilization empire have also brought a certain amount of international influence to the empire.

On the whole, the current international influence of the Chinese Empire is actually stronger than that of the United States, and if it is in Asia, it is a well-deserved power.

In this case, in the negotiations between the empire and Britain, France, and the United States, the imperial side also intervened to make a strong posture, and would not make concessions on some principled issues.

For example, the British strongly demanded that China withdraw its troops from Hong Kong and become a British colony.

On this point, the diplomatic officials of the empire did not intend to retreat at all, and insisted that Hong Kong Island is the inherent territory of the empire since ancient times, and the empire has undisputed sovereignty over Hong Kong Island.

At the same time, on the issue of Hawaii, Britain, France, and the United States stated that the Kingdom of Hawaii was an independent country and not a vassal state of China.

In this regard, the imperial diplomat said that the decision on whether the Kingdom of Hawaii became a vassal state of the empire did not lie with Britain, France, and the United States, but with the Kingdom of Hawaii itself. The Empire accepted the Kingdom of Hawaii as a vassal state in response to the Kingdom's strong request. In this way, the Kingdom of Hawaii accepted its own subjects.

Of course, in order to avoid a strong attitude that could lead to a breakdown in negotiations. The Reich also said that if the negotiations could reach a relevant agreement, the Reich was willing to unconditionally release the more than 1,000 British soldiers who surrendered on Hong Kong Island and were captured in the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary.

As a sign of sincerity, the Empire allowed the British delegation to observe the living conditions of the prisoners of war in the POW camp in Huizhou Province to show that the Empire did not mistreat the British POWs.

At the same time, it also indicated that the subsequent empire would continue to open Hong Kong as a treaty port, and the property of merchants from various countries on Hong Kong Island would not be harmed.

The port of Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii will also continue to provide supplies for merchant ships traveling to and from the Pacific Ocean, and even indicate that warships from various countries can enter the port for replenishment under the premise of abiding by the laws of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Hawaii is, after all, the only large archipelago in the northern part of the western Pacific Ocean. The port of Honolulu played an irreplaceable role for merchant ships traveling to and from the Pacific, and if it could not be replenished at the port of Honolulu, it would have a serious impact on the trade between the west coast of North and South America.

However, Britain, France, and the United States were naturally dissatisfied with these concessions of the Empire.

And relatively put forward more requirements.

However, in this kind of diplomatic negotiation, we are not afraid that they will not mention conditions, but we are afraid that they will not mention conditions, and only if the two sides have conditions, then through various trade-offs and exchange of interests, it will always be possible to reach a mutually compromise agreement.

And in the negotiations. The military operations of the countries have not stopped either!

In June, a small fleet arrived in Singapore, and although there were no large ironclads in this small fleet, there was one ironclad of more than 1,000 tons. This can be regarded as increasing the strength of the East India Fleet to a certain extent.

At the same time, the Empire's diplomats in London had received accurate information from various sources, and the British had already transferred a fleet from the Mediterranean Fleet in April, including one 10,000-ton ironclad ship and two large ironclad ships, to the Far East. Needless to say, this reinforcement fleet would join the East India Fleet upon arrival. When the time comes, it will pose a serious maritime threat to the Empire.

On the Hawaiian side, the Anglo-American-French forces attempted two more attacks on the fort and the port of Honolulu. However, under the stubborn resistance of the imperial Hawaiian garrison, it was resisted.

At the end of June, the third batch of reinforcements from the Imperial Navy arrived at Honolulu Harbor, including a Zhenguang-class ironclad ship, the Zhenguang. The ship was transferred from the Pacific Fleet, and after the ship was transferred, the Pacific Fleet stationed in Japan's own waters was completely empty, with only two small ironclad ships of about 100 tons and a number of wooden gunboats remaining.

However, although the civil war in Japan was still going on, because there was not much foreign intervention, and the Japanese shogunate and the shogunate faction did not have a large-scale naval force, the emptiness of the Pacific Fleet was not a big problem.

In addition to the reinforced Zhenguang small ironclad ship, there were also a large number of supplies and an infantry battalion of the army.

This reinforcement effectively alleviated the current shortage of supplies and losses of the Hawaiian garrison, giving them a better chance of defending the port of Honolulu.

As for the navy, although only one Zhenguang was reinforced, with the addition of the previous two Zhenguang-class small ironclad ships, the Hawaiian task force has three Zhenguang-class ironclad ships.

This kind of strength is no longer something that ordinary wooden warship fleets can compete with, and the British, French, and American combined fleets can only reinforce more ironclad ships if they want to gain the previous maritime superiority, and this is not easy for Britain, France, and the United States.

On the whole, with the exception of the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary in April and May and the landing of British, French, and American forces in Hawaii, the situation remained relatively stable in late May and June, and neither side expanded the scale of the war as a result.

Of course, this is actually related to other external situations.

In June, for example, the war between Prussia and Austria brought about a major battle between the two sides for the leadership of the German Confederation, which attracted almost the attention of the rest of Europe.

Although there is no sign of any country sending troops to intervene in the Austro-Prussian war, it does not mean that they are not paying attention, Russia, France and Britain are all staring at it with wide eyes.

As for Italy, it was even more directly involved in the war.

Although the United States does not care much about the situation in Europe, the United States has just ended the civil war for a year, and the domestic voice is that disarmament will take place in the economy and people's livelihood, and the restoration of people's livelihood is the focus of the contemporary United States.

Many people do not understand why the United States wants to go thousands of kilometers away to fight a war with the Chinese, just to fight for Hawaii, a small land.

Considering that most of the western part of the United States is still undeveloped, and for modern Americans, Indians and Mexicans are the greatest enemies.

Just as the empire generally doesn't care about Hawaii, most Americans today don't care about Hawaii.

In this overall situation, the negotiations between China and Britain, France, and the United States have also been able to enter the actual negotiation stage, rather than just a simple bargain as before.

On July 13, 1866, China, Britain, the United States, and France finally reached a relevant agreement and signed the relevant treaty. (To be continued.) )